"Why?" Based on what Elyas had observed, Defenders acted as guards while Enforcers did the job of policeman. So he had figured he needed to become an Enforcer to be able to meddle with Sandl's case.
"I'm not supposed to tell you this but…Despite what they tell you in the novels or over the radio, we Enforcers have a high mortality rate, especially the office folk. So just don't. Remove any idea of becoming one, take it from me, it isn't worth the trouble."
"I'll keep that in mind sir,"
"Good. Also, about the Sandl case, I can't disclose anything. It's already been marked as a high priority investigation. It's confidential." Gen added after some deliberation, "I know your friend suffered a lot and I'm sorry for what he had to go through, but I'm sure he'll understand my position. I can't risk my job over this."
'...'
Why does this keep happening? It was ridiculous at this point. Not a single thing had been going his way this entire week! At this rate, he half expected himself to be dead by next Monday.
Well, I better buy a grave then. Cause I'm neither letting go of that Enforcer position nor getting any good luck as it seems. He didn't have a choice. He had to become an Enforcer to access the investigation and ruin it from inside.
"I understand, I'm sure he'll do as well. Sorry for bothering you with this Mr. Gen." Elyas said as he opened the door and left the Forensics Lab.
As he walked down the dark hallway towards the elevator, he ruffled his hair. Uuuhg! The paranoia is killing me! Every second they might figure out something and link me to the case…But I can't do anything about it…
Elyas heaved a deep sigh. Panic did no one good. If I can't meddle as a civilian, that just means I need to become an Enforcer faster. Sooner. With that thought in mind, he picked up his pace and stepped inside. Pressing the button for the fifth floor, the doors of the elevator closed before it rattled and began to move down.
Moments later, it shot back up with tremendous speed and not long after, it came back to the fourth floor. The doors of the elevator parted, and a woman with the small body of a child stepped out.
…
Closing the door of the storage unit while holding onto a package of blood samples, Lena turned to the lab. But as she did, she was met with a peculiar child.
"...!" She immediately saluted, getting a nod from Ryu in response.
I'm just one Grade higher than you, no need to act like I'm a war hero. Ryu said to herself as she stepped inside the lab. Closing the door silently behind her, she was hit with the strong smell of preservative chemicals and meat. It was like walking into a butcher shop. A very cold butcher shop.
"Hi Gen." The middle aged man jumped, startled by her voice. Instead of sewing the stomach of the body he was working on, the involuntarily action caused his needle to puncture a hole in it.
"For the love of the Suns, knock! It wouldn't kill you to learn some manners girl." He shouted, receiving a giggle from said child as a response.
"I just said hi, am I supposed to drop even that bit of etiquette?"
Gen caressed his brows. "That's not what—Never mind, why do I even bother… Just what do you want here Ryu? Aren't you supposed to be working on the Sandl case? You know if Mr. Telly comes knocking at our door we need to have an explanation to give, right?"
The small lady nodded. "Then you'll be surprised why I'm here." She said while climbing a stool before putting a hand on his shoulder. "Gen, I need your opinion on a suspect."
"A suspect? You already have a suspect? I gotta admit, you're getting better. You didn't need west or south's help this time…Is it that Stanton fellow? Didn't you confirm his innocence yesterday?"
"No. It's not him. Do you remember the guy who was with silver?"
Gen nodded, making Ryu smile a bit. "Good. It's him. He's the killer. Elyas Mortalle."
…
Why is the layout so damn confusing?! If it was ancient times, Elyas could have bragged about his daily steps for a week straight. It had been an hour and half since he came to the fifth floor, and all he had managed to accomplish so far was getting lost and just walking. A lot of walking.
The fifth floor consisted of short interconnected corridors each housing two or more rooms. The hallways and their twists and turns gave the form of a labyrinth to the office section of the protocol, making navigation needlessly hard.
Thankfully, at least he could see in front of him. Unlike the fourth floor, The light bulbs of here were bright and stable, allowing Elyas to see the details.
Cold uncaring stone lined up the walls, creating a clear line between it, and the faded green wallpaper. Doors, both wooden and metallic, housed small windows that had long lost their transparency.
Elyas could hear the click of typewriters through the doors. Could both see and feel the smoke and smell of cigarettes coming from the break room to his right. But despite all of it…
Why are there no tags? This place is a literal maze, how am I supposed to find my way through?! as he had observed, there were no tags assigned to any of the rooms. He could hear people or see silhouettes moving inside, but he didn't know what kind of office he was looking at.
The only type of marker on the whole floor were single letters assigned to each hallway. For instance, the corridor he passed a minute ago had a giant yellow "Z" on the wall. He had already passed all the letters of the alphabet.
Guess I just have to knock on random doors like a used car salesman. Come to think of it, why didn't I think of that sooner? Elyas went to the nearest office door and turned the handle.
Three sets of eyes suddenly fell on him. One black and two blue. Two women and an especially tired looking man. All three wore the white uniform of the Enforcers, sitting behind desks and using their respective typewriter in a daze. It was as if Elyas's entry had broken their perfect flow state, since the workers were staring at him with knitted brows.
There's something…wrong. Ever since he stepped onto the fifth floor, Elyas couldn't help but feel a strange tug at his heart. A feeling that grew ten fold as soon as he opened the office's door. It was like he had found himself in the black void again. He felt small, dizzy and confused. Elyas wanted to sleep so badly he would kill for it. But he had just woken up a few hours ago…how was he this tired?
The unfamiliar voice of a woman brought him back to reality. "What are you doing here? Who are you?"
Elyas answered with a stammer, "My name is Elyas ma'am, I just came here to… um… I wanted to… I-i don't know." He had forgotten. But how can that be? The only thing that never failed him was his memory, and now he had just forgotten something important?
…Was it important?
"Oh by the red light, Dany, Dena, call code black!"
The tired man and the other woman in the office both got up and rushed to a room in the back of the office. Soon, the power went out and shortly after, everything was covered by a harsh, red fading light. It came and went, one second it was dark, the next, all red. The walls, the desks, the Enforcer's terrified faces.
A lady's voice from the speakers reverberated in everyone's ears. "Attention to all staff, code black is active. I repeat, code black is active. Do not dismiss your experiences as auditory or visual hallucinations. Do not under any circumstances talk to it, listen to it, or look at it. It will know." Suddenly, the voice turned ten decibels higher and grew deeper.
"And so will I."
What is happening?! Elyas not wanting to deal with whatever was transpiring here, clenched the still open door, and slowly closed it behind him.
One of the Enforcers clocked his movement, notifying Dena and prompting her to raise the pistol by her waist. "Don't you dare move an inch!" Her voice was commanding, but one could also find remnants of fear in it.
Facing a gun in a small office with less than a dozen meters of moving space was not ideal. On top of that, Elyas couldn't outrun or dodge bullets even with his top speed.
So he released the door and raised his hands in the air. "Ok, let us all calm down, alright? I don't mean any harm." He said, trying to de-escalate the situation.
"Why should we believe you? How can we make sure you're not the anomaly?" Dany chimed in with a revolver of his own, pointed at Elyas. Seeing her brother allowed Dena to relax a bit and steady her aim.
"Look, I don't know what is happening here, but according to the speaker you can't talk to or see the thing. You're doing both and nothing bad happened."
Hearing Elyas's explanation, both of the blue-eyed, blond-haired Dany and Dena heaved a small sigh of relief. Just as they were ready to put down their guns, their coworker spoke. "Yet. Nothing has happened yet. Dany, go get something to tie him up. Me and Dena will keep watch."
Dany was quick to object, "But Claire—" She was even quicker to reply. "No buts and ifs. Go!" Claire shouted as she opened her desk drawer to get her own firearm. Throughout all of this, Elyas remained silent and watched.
He knew that in a situation like this any provocation, no matter how small, could be the end of him. So, he just stared at Dena and Claire, one sitting comfortably behind her desk, the other cowering behind hers.
As the women's faces faded in and out of sight with the red light. As their grip around their guns tightened with every second Dany didn't return, Elyas only held onto one thought.
Just what have I gotten myself into?