Chapter Text
“There’s no way this is real…” Squiddo said as she scratched her head in confusion, “This is way too crazy.”
“Have you seen my videos?” Wifies replied, “This is basically lightwork.”
The video from the channel they were watching was called ‘the lobby’, which showed a 1st person perspective of a person running, from what? They didn’t know yet.
The person's breathing filled the room, you could see the desperation without the person showing their face. From their arms, you could tell they were wearing a hazmat suit. They ran through corridor after corridor. With each passing moment, the video becomes more bizarre, with furniture half-imbedded into the floor, random road signs sticking out edgeways and objects severely out of place with the times, like a typewriter.
Wifies’ tail twitched in thought. “It's like it's trying to mimic real life…”
“... But it's like trying to draw something you’ve never seen before, right?” Squiddo finished.
“Exactly!” Wifies replied. He pointed at his forehead and then drew a line to Squiddo's:
“Great minds think alike.”
“Ayyy you right- OH MY GOD WIFIES LOOK!”
The pair looked back at the screen to the person entering a room with a large radio on the table, trying to connect to it.
They frantically pressed the buttons on it, trying to connect to anyone, anything. But it was futile, as it seemed something was blocking the message from leaving. The person breathed hard, desperate gasps. Offscreen, heavy footsteps sounded just outside the corridor, coming for them. They started to press the buttons faster, they were typing a string of numbers. It looked like-
“Coordinates?” Wifies said. “Bro, open the notes app on your phone.”
“I’ve already started doing it,” she replied, her fingers shakily typing each number. “This is way too creepy…”
The person started to back away, “N-NO!” They sobbed, “STOP, P-PLEASE.”
The camera was dropped unceremoniously on the ground. We see the person in full view, running off camera. The entity let out a horrific whining sound, its footsteps faster than before. The video suffers severe static, before a sickening crunch sounds out.
“Wait a minute,” Wifies started slowly skipping back, “I think there’s a frame where you can actually see the entity.”
Squiddo chuckled nervously, “I don’t know, Wifies, do we really need to see it?”
The dog-hybrid ignored her, he was too locked in to listen to Squiddo's nervous chatter, “… Found it!”
The pair looked closer towards the screen, the camera had pointed towards the hallway where the person started running, and if you zoomed in, you could see something humanoid watching him. Its body looked to be a long, twisted mess of wire and cable, its elongated arms grazing the floor of the backrooms, it looked to be around 3 metres tall, maybe even more.
The moth-hybrid gasped, she grabbed his arm in fear, “Oh my god… What the fuck is that??”
“Bro I don't know,” Wifies replied, equally terrified, “But, I think there is a lead we could track.”
Wifies moved the zoomed in screen towards the person, and zoomed into the logo on their hazmat suit.
Squiddo squinted at the blurry logo, “A… Async? Is this like a company or organisation?" She snapped her fingers, “Wait, reverse search the logo!”
Wifies swiftly took a screenshot and put it through a search engine. The pair were taken to multiple websites and links to official news channels and old websites. Wifies tapped onto the first link that popped up. It loaded to show a corporate-style, unsuspecting page. He scrolled through all the standard legal jargon until he found the summarised timeline of Async:
“Founded in 1983 by physicist Lawrence Altman, in addition to being funded by the United States government, the Department of Energy (DoE), The Async Research Institute initially manufactured Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machinery. However, this line of work was discontinued for the pursuit of a project ţ̸̠̦̻̥̳͈̭͑̀͒̋͐͒h̷̩͍̲̜̪̾̊̑̓̀a̸̛̫̮̲̰̓̈̒͜ṭ̷̡͍̫̾̌͒͆̂͛͋͝ ̶̻́̽̀̑̀̐̚͜ẁ̵̤̻̇̋͝i̶̠̊̇͐̃̎̕̚ͅḷ̷͚͘l̸̢̿̓̕͜ ̵̖̠̪̝̳̼̜̗̋̎́͊s̵̛̯̭̘̙̃̏̕͠ơ̸͍̇l̵̨̥͇͈̹̤̩̑̇͠v̸̛͚ȅ̶̩͕̯͖͍̯͈̝͒͗̊ ̵̞̓͜͜a̷̝̖̼̱͙̻͂̊̂̊͝l̶̡̥̫̘͈͖̊̆͂ͅļ̵̼͖̻̠͔͇̦̎̓̄̈́͛͘͠ ̵̫̺̟̊̋̐͛̔̈͗c̷̛͔͖̰̲̤͒́̈́͛́̓͘u̵̥̰͓͓̓͊͒̈́͝͠ͅr̴͈̽̓̅̊̑̅̈́͝ȓ̸̯̲͖͇̭͙̺̉ȩ̵̝͍̔n̷͙̲̠̘̰̬̈́͠͝t̴̥̤͖̜͔̚͜ͅ ̷̜̘̝̑͑̀̌̄̍a̴̠̙̬͗̋̿̔̒̕̚̕n̴̹̝͙̠̖͈͚̑̂d̷̨̗̣̒͂̉̉ ̴̺̒̇̊͛͘f̴̛̙̞̪̠̱̯͙͛͆͘ǘ̵̗̟͙̜̼̳̓́͗̌̇́ͅṭ̴̺͇̆̈̕ṷ̶̙̻͓̄̑̀͝r̵̢̟̦̖͓̭̝̅̅̒́͝ę̴̱̩͍̯̞͂͑̌̈́̚͘ͅ ̴̣͕̞̝̘͐͂͝ṡ̴͍̰͉͍̔̂̒̂͗̊t̶̡͓̹͚̻̣̲͗̉͐̓ͅǭ̴͇͎̝̭̗́̈́̎̚r̴̪̻̺͈͈̓̍̌͗͊̈́̔ͅa̸̧̛͕͙̼̠̲̯̪̐̀̒͊̈g̴͉̮̘̹͋̔e̷̦̗̫̮͓̯̾̆͋ͅ ̵̢̞͚̯̺̮̼̫̇̚͘ã̶͖n̶̨͎̟͚̱̬̐̏͂͑̿̊d̸̡̢͔̣͇͕̄ ̸̧͔̽̇̓͗̂̑̕r̴̹̟̦͍̞͖̳̖̀ę̷̧̛̳̜̫̖͐͗̋̏ş̸̲̺͚̿́̓̊̚ĩ̸̜̠̘͐̋̚͝d̸̹̯̭͙̘̠̞͊̎̅͠͠ͅe̶̱̲̮̠͎̱̎͑̾̂͜n̵͈̣̯̱͓̔͛̑̌͐t̶͕͍͈̍̃̔̓̈͝i̸͈͛̔͛̐̎ä̵̢̭̟̲́͑l̸͍̖̫̄͂̈́̒̽̕͝ ̵̛̼̳̳͍̜̹̻̿͑̍̏̿ǹ̸͖̈́͊ͅe̴̢̛͎̫͖̭̟͂̈̈̅e̸̮̎͐͑̆̿d̶̢̘̼̯͈͗͐̾̾͐s̸̬̗̔̋̒͝ ̵͓͖͈̬̙̙͍̀͝͝ạ̵̩͓̇̽̅̕n̴̝̳̠̟̘͂͌̉̍͋̓͛͌d̷̮͕̣̰̙͙͙͙̂͠ ̴̣̏̍̏͂s̶͈̪̖̣̳͍̯̍͂̑̏̐̐͜ą̸̽͛̈́͑̔̿̕ṿ̵̡̨̩̱͇̙͋͛̋̂͛̑͠ͅę̷̻͌́ ̷͇̪͙̠̆̈́̍͜͜͝ḇ̷̱̌̚i̶̝̜̭̳͎̺̾̈͛͐̓̚͝l̷̢͖̫̅̂͘͝ļ̸̜͈̖̠̫̌́̔͜͝ͅȉ̴̬̯o̷̭̤̙̝̫̬̼̟͛̌̚n̵͔̫̱̼̍͊̑s̵̼͖̼̬̙̔̈͌͒̈́͗͑̈́ ̴̩̿̄̾̅̈́̌͘ö̸͓̹̣̪͎̐̀̇̈͒̿n̶̛̪̗̿͒̓̓̋̊̾ ̷̱̹̐̑p̴̄̽͛̈́̈́̿̽ͅŗ̵̛̫̺̪̥̹̩́́͘͘ó̸̱͙͍̰̒̎̆̈́͛̐p̶̣̼͖̹͈̈́́͘̚͘e̶̲͆r̴̰̼̟͐̅͒̈́͂̋ţ̵̠̮̗̫̜̽͐̏̓͊̏͘̕y̴̛̫̑͆͝ ̷̰̓̿̔̀͘c̶̛̯͙͕̰̾̌̾̏̒o̵̮̱͋͌n̴̲̱͊̎́̓̏̔̽s̴̘̥̖͎̣̟̟̈̋̀̅ͅt̴̢͚͙̞͔̯͔̽̐̎̈́̾̅͒̀ͅṟ̴̨̖͍́̾̿͜u̸͉̞̽̍͛̈̌͘͝c̸͇̩̬̖̮̻̈́̑̃̐̕͠t̴͕̤̺̻̀̒̔ͅȉ̸͉̳͙̲͓͛ō̷̺̺̱̻̓̈n̷̹̪̲̓̈̋̈́̐ ̸͉̮͌̀̚à̴̠͝ñ̴̛̫͙̮͙̞̈͑̍̍͆̕d̵͎͖͐̄ ̴͓̩͚̤̑ͅm̴̧̜͙̲͍͚̬̈́͝͝á̴͚͈͕̟́́n̷̨̛͚̐̋̊ả̵̼̼̯͛̇̒̈́̕g̶͔̺̜͍̳̯̋̄͒͠e̶̡̼̓m̴̝̈́̕é̸̻̩̳̰͔̓͋̾̂͊̉ǹ̵̡̳͔͎̀͗̔͂̔͝͝t̸̢̜̄.̴̝̙̺̖͐”
The moth hybrid’s eyes practically fell out of her skull, “Bro, what the hell is going on?”
Wifies clicked off the website and looked at the rest that came up, each produced the same results of glitched text, and some even deleted upon clicking on them. This wasn’t something that he ever encountered before. It was clear that something, or someone, didn't want them to keep looking down this rabbit hole.
“That was our safest lead,” Wifies said, furrowing his eyebrows. “Squiddo, if we want to get more information, we need to go inside.”
“Do you actually go to Harvard? Why would we do that??” Squiddo stood from where she was sitting, her voice stuttering, ”We saw th-that thing chasing that worker to do God knows what to him, and now you want to go inside?!”
"Squiddo, someone died in that footage."
"Wifies-"
"If there's even a chance someone's still trapped in there, I have to check."
His voice wavered, “I can't let anyone down, not again.”
Squiddo looked at him with pity.
He looked away, “...Listen, it won't take long, basically in and out,” Wifies rested his hands on her shoulders, “I’ll go alone, okay? I will not force you to do anything you don’t want to do, ever.”
Squiddo started at Wifies for a while, her thoughts were a mess in her head. He was right. Their only clue had been actively scrubbed off the internet. They had to go inside if they wanted more information. But this is such a dumb thing to do, but whether she went with him or not, Wifies would go in. And…
“... I can't let you go alone.” Squiddo sighed, “I’ll go, but we need to be extremely quick. We need to find that room with-”
“The radio?” Wifies cut off, stepping away, “I know, and the moment we find it, we’re out of there. Let’s get prepared, alright?”
“Alright.”
Jaden knew, deep in his bones, that they were absolutely cooked.
Every corridor led to another room, and every room led to another corridor. It was a confusing, endless maze that he couldn't wrap his head around. Wemmbu had nicked his finger to smear blood arrows on the walls, but Jaden swears they had circled around them a few times.
Eggchan looked around in terror. On Wemmbu’s life, he felt something watching him. But it might just be paranoia talking.
“Yo guys,” Eggchan started, “From a scale of 1 to 5, how cooked are we?”
Wemmbu glared at him, “Shut up bro.”
“Guys, seriously?” Jaden sighed in disappointment.
They continued to walk for what felt like ages, time dragging on and on. Rooms led to other rooms with the same yellow walls, same textured wallpaper, and the same carpet. Wemmbu's steps started to drag on more and more, he was so bored. Where was the stupid exit-
What was that?
Something was just spying on them, just beyond a wall of the maze, he was sure of it. From what Wemmbu saw, the thing was tall, its head literally touched the ceiling, and fast as well, due to the fact it hid the moment the demon-hybrid glanced at it.
Wemmbu looked at Jaden and Egg, judging on how their bodies tensed it seemed like the pair saw it as well. Eggchan started to tremble, that thing was following them this entire time.
He took out [Gambit] and [crucible], clutching the handles tightly. “Jaden, how are your resources?”
“It’s not looking good, you?” Jaden replied, taking out his trident.
“Fuck, same.”
A rare frown painted Eggchan's lips, he took out his bow and arrow, but his hand slipped and dropped it on the floor. He quickly picked it back up into his trembling hands. The others had noticed, but they couldn’t bring themselves to laugh. They all felt just as horrified as Egg was.
“B-Bro,” Eggchan stuttered, “we’re actually done for.”
“Guys, on the count of three, start running,” Wemmbu declared, his eyes trained on where it was hiding.
“Three.”
Jaden tightened his grip on his trident.
“Two.”
Eggchan started taking steps back, creating distance.
“One!”
They all turned around, and started sprinting for their lives. In the background, slow steps sounded behind them. It moved with the jerky motion of a puppet, trying to drag its limbs towards them. But as the chase dragged out, the entity behind them picked up its pace. It let out a chilling, high pitched screech, its voice deafening.
The group kept on running blindly, trying to lose the strange entity. Eggchan's heart throbbed violently, like it wanted to escape his chest. The seraphim pushed through the pain, the exhaustion despite his body shouting to rest. He could only rest when this bone-chilling entity was off his arse.
“Fuck!” Wemmbu yelled.
This was an extremely shitty situation, they had hit a dead end. Jaden rushed towards the wall, feeling around for anything, cold seawater had coated his body, his hands shaking. Finally, when his hand touched a part of the wall, his hand went straight through.
“There’s an exit!” Jaden shouted in excitement,
“Hurry!”
They all started to rush through the wall one by one, leaving the strange being behind.
.
.
.
.
.
Eggchan gasped, trying to get oxygen into his lungs, “Oh my god, guys, we actually escape-”
The seraphim looked around, trying to find the familiar tiara and pirate hat.
There was no one there. Eggchan laughed nervously.
“… Yo, guys?”