A Fishy Man

The man's voice was so deep to the point that it was hard to believe someone had a voice like that. He didn't sound angry when speaking to them but he did sound annoyed.

"Why are there kids like you up here? This isn't a place where you could just come and mess around you know," the man told them. His voice was monotone but also had an edge to it at the same time. He readjusted the bag behind his back a little and there was a rustling sound followed by the sound of objects hitting against each other in the bag. It was hard to tell what exactly was in the bag but it definitely didn't sound like trash. Furthermore, there wasn't any need for the man to even be carrying a garbage bag since there was a shute that

"Hey, we have adult supervision here for your information," said Zack.

"Hm?" The man looked at him, trying to figure out what Zack meant.

Zack stuck his thumb at Samantha and said, "That's our adult."

"..." The man narrowed his eyes at the three and said, "Whatever. You kids best get out of here before something bad happens."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"Don't know. I just have this weird feeling. A word of advice from me, my guts are never wrong. So watch out." After giving the three his warning, the man turned and quickly walked away.

After the man walked out of earshot range, Zack looked at the other two and asked, "Should we report this? That man looked very fishy. I bet you that whatever he is carrying in the bag is something dangerous."

"Who exactly do we report this to?" Samantha pointed out. She and Zack then looked at Jean, seeing that she is the one who would likely have the answer to her question.

"I'm not sure either," Jean told them. "I guess we can tell one of the staff here." As if on the cue, a woman appeared from around the corner where the suspicious man disappeared off to and walked towards them.

"Oh, some new faces," the woman commented. She was wearing all black, had glasses, and her hair was neatly tied into a bun. She looked like your typical serious office lady. She smiled at the three while walking by but was stopped by Zack.

"Hey, wait." He called out to her just as she walked by.

"What is it?" The lady turned and looked at Zack with a neutral expression on her face. "I'm not busy since it is my break time but I still got things to do," she said while holding up the folder in her hand which was overflowing with documents.

"Oh uh, did you pass by a suspicious-looking man carrying a garbage bag over his shoulder?" Zack asked her.

"No, I don't believe I did," the lady answered after thinking for a bit. "And what do you mean by suspicious?"

"He had a face-mask on and he also had this creepy look in his eyes," Zack described while trying to mimic the eyes that he saw. He didn't get it perfect but it was close enough that it made Zack look like some sort of killer. The only reason why he was able to mimic it was that Zack had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, which was also exactly what the man had.

The lady raised an eyebrow seeing Zack's face. "I see..." she said. "I would definitely have seen that person if I passed by him." The lady took wedged the folder in between one of her armpits, took off her glasses, and wiped them on with a piece of cloth she pulled out of her pocket before putting it on. "Well then, I will inform security of this man- oh speak of the devil."

"Jessie? And who are the rest of you?" Another person appeared behind them from the same corner that the suspicious man had gone. He was dressed in a uniform and had a badge pinned to his shirt. He walked up to the group and looked at each of the three intriguingly. "Huh, you're all pretty young. Interns or something?"

"No, we're just looking around," Jean told him.

"Oh Nick, they have something important to tell you," the lady told the security guard. "I have to hurry off to do something, so please listen to them."

"Alright, will do." After the man said that, the lady walked away and left the three of them with him. "So, what is it that you guys want to tell me?" the security guard asked after the woman left.

Zack once again describes to the security the person they saw. The security guard looked blankly at him as he gave the demonstration and after Zack finished, the security guard rubbed his chin. A short moment of silence passed before the security responded.

"Yea, that man does sound odd," the guard agreed. "Though, I haven't seen him at all. You say that he walked through where I came from but I haven't seen anyone like that. Wait..." The guard crossed his arms and thought about something for a second before his eyes widened. "Oh, I think I might know where he went."

The guard walked hurried off without saying anything else. The three looked at each other and didn't say a thing but all three of them followed after the guard. By the time they reached the corner and turned, they saw that the security guard was already very far ahead of them. He was waiting outside the door to a room. After getting a bit closer, they saw that it was the room where they had found the strange note.

The three of them caught up with the guard who was pressing his ear against the door, listening for any sound coming from the inside. The guard saw them as they arrived and gave a strange look as if he was trying to say, 'Why are you here?' He pressed his index finger against his silences to tell the three to be quiet and not make a noise.

Clanking and other mechanical sounds could be heard coming from the room. There was someone inside there messing around with the machines. The noise went on for a few seconds before there was a pause, but it continued again after a bit. The security guard moved his head away from the door and stepped to the side, slowly opening it without making a noise, and peeked inside. The three also tried to do the same and went behind the guard and tried to peek through the crack.

They weren't able to see much. They saw a few tables, computers, and other machines but they couldn't find where the source of all the noise. However, they did find the garbage bag lying open against one of the walls. They weren't able to see the contents since the bag was hunched over and was blocking sight of whatever it was carrying inside.

The guard opened the door just a bit more but still couldn't see the person responsible for all the noise. He tried a few more times but once he realized that the person was all the way to the side of the room, he sighed and just slammed it opened.

The sound of the door slamming startled the man inside and he dropped a tool of some kind and jumped up from whatever it was that he was doing. The man looked at the security guard and the guard looked at him back. The man then looked at Jean, Samantha, and Zack who were behind the guard, and then back at the guard.

"Is there something you need from me?" the man asked the guard.

"I haven't seen you around before. What are you doing here in this room?" the guard asked while pointing at the screwdriver which was lying on the floor along with a metal covering.

"Fixing the computer?" the man said slowly and uncertainly. "I was told that there was something wrong with some of the stuff in this room." As if to prove his point, the man tapped his fingers against one of the computers which turned on only to reveal a blue error screen.

"Okay, and that garbage bag?" the guard asked.

"This? I carry my tools in there." The man walked over and lifted the bag to reveal a bunch of tools in there. Though it was strange to carry tools around in a garbage bag, the man wasn't lying.

"Okay, I see that too, but why are you wearing a mask?"

"Oh, cause I burnt my face when I was young and I rather not go around showing people it." The man placed his hand on the left side of his mask to indicate the spot where the scar is.

"May I see it?" the guard asked the man. The man gave the guard a confused look but did as he was told and pulled the mask down just enough to show a small part of the burn. "Oh..." It wasn't a pretty sight and it justified why the man was wearing a mask.

"Is there anything else?" the man asked as he lifted the mask back up to his nose. "Since I really need to get back to my work. I have other places to be as well after I finish fixing the things in here," he told the guard.

"No, sorry for disturbing you."

"It's all good," the man waved his hand to show that it was no big deal and then looked at the three behind the guard again before going back to his work.

The guard closed the door, looked at the three, and said, "Well, I don't blame you for thinking that he is up to no good with a garbage bag and outfit like that but he's just a repairman."

"Yeah, sorry," Zack apologized to the guard.

"No, this is my job. I get paid to do this so it's okay." The guard waved goodbye and was just about to walk away but stopped himself for some reason. He turned back and opened the door, interrupting the man who was working. "Say, were you the one that fixed the elevator the other day as well?"

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