Iron Gates

Two days have passed since C. and Inna arrived in 'The Machine' room.

C. groaned in boredom, palm pressed against his face as he stared up at the corroded ceiling.

"Will anything happen in this damn place?"

Slumped against the wall with the rest of the gang, he could feel the weariness in the air; their once lively expressions had faded.

Suddenly, the large doors creaked open, but this time, something felt different.

"Mar, get up, man. The doors are opening."

C. shook his arm, trying to rouse him.

Mar groaned in protest.

"Huh? What is it?"

He glanced at the doors, which were slowly sliding open, then checked his watch.

"It's only 4:30. They don't bring the food until 8."

A worried look replaced his exhaustion as he stood up, his gaze fixed on the doors.

"Hey, Inna, wake up."

She yawned groggily.

"What is it?"

C. pointed toward the doors.

"Look."

The iron gate was nearly wide open, which was highly unusual. Normally, when they brought food, the door would only crack open, never allowing them a clear view.

They both stood, C. helping her to her feet.

"That's strange."

Inna rubbed her eyes and took another look. Just then, a distorted female robotic voice echoed from an intercom behind them.

"The iron gate is now open."

Everyone in the room rose to their feet, some already moving toward the imposing doors.

The group exchanged glances.

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?"

Mar sighed, a smirk spreading across his face.

"Let's go check it out."

The group approached the gate, with Mar leading the way and Inna trailing behind. As they got closer, they could make out more details inside the room. It was dimly lit, but enough was visible to notice a few key features. Three smaller doors, each situated on a different wall, stood in stark contrast to the imposing iron gate. Above each door, there was text, but it was too dark to read.

"C., take a look at that."

Mar pointed to a lever in the far right corner of the room. They exchanged a brief, uncertain glance.

"Should we pull it?"

Mar sighed.

"I'm not sure. Who knows what—"

Before he could finish, someone had already yanked the lever. They turned to look at it, panic rising.

We're so dead, Mar thought.

But just moments later, a flicker came from the ceiling, followed by a burst of bright light. The room illuminated, revealing a bit more than they had seen before. Not much had changed, except now they could clearly read the text above the three doors.

Mar approached the door on the right, with the others close behind him.

"Electrical, huh?"

He grasped the doorknob but hesitated, glancing back at the others.

"You don't have to come in with me if you don't want to."

With that, he turned the knob and stepped into the room, which was bathed in a blue glow. He sighed and walked further in. The room was filled with exposed wire boards, and countless wires snaked out from the walls and floor. A bookshelf in the corner held a wrench, screwdriver, and hammer. Mar's gaze lingered on the wrench.

"Great, how useful."

He began to explore, opening wireboards and prying open covered crates.

Clank

The sudden sound of metal hitting the floor startled him, and he spun around, only to find his two companions standing there.

"You two scared me half to death. Good grief."

He wiped his forehead in relief.

"Sorry, Mar, we got too curious."

C. was holding Inna's hand, and Mar couldn't help but smile.

"How sweet of you to hold her hand during a scary moment like this."

Inna's face turned bright red, realizing she had grabbed onto C.'s hand, and C. blushed in turn.

Inna quickly withdrew her hand, a hint of sadness lingering as she did.

"Did either of you grab any tools from the bookshelf? I got distracted and forgot them."

C. pulled the hammer and screwdriver from his pockets, holding them up like trophies.

"Got them," he said with a grin.

Mar winked and smiled.

"Good thinking. You never know when you'll need them."

They continued moving through the room, checking crates as they went. Eventually, they reached the far end, where a robotic figure sat motionless. It appeared to be deactivated. The group exchanged wary glances.

"Uh, not sure what to do here... other than leave," Mar said.

C. nodded in agreement. "Yeah, better safe than sorry. Don't want to mess with that thing."

He sighed, rubbing his eyes and forehead. "What a weird room."

They retraced their steps, making sure they hadn't missed anything. Once back at the door, Mar took one last look into the room. His eyes lingered on the vacant robot.

"We should stay away from that thing for now," he said, closing the door behind them.

As Mar walked over to the others, he noticed the door on the left was open. The text above read, "Storage Room." But it was the door directly in front of the iron gates that really caught C.'s attention.

"The hell could that room be?"

A black substance seeped from underneath the door, oozing from the edges as well. The sign above read, "Lobby." C. bent down to touch the substance. It was dry and rough.

"Strange," he muttered to himself.

Standing up, he grasped the door handle, only to find it locked. Turning back to look at the others, who were gathered by the Storage Room, he sighed.

"Guess I'll need a key to open it," he said, scratching the back of his head before walking over to join the group.

Mar was speaking to one of the men who had been with them in the waiting room.

"I see," Mar said, nodding. "We'll head over and search."

C. interrupted, "Hey, I just tried to open that door. It's locked—looks like we'll need a key."

Mar turned to him. "Yeah, I was talking to Leo here. He told me the same thing. We were just about to search the Storage Room since we didn't find anything in the electrical room."

C. nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Let's get started."