I turn around to see that he had already disappeared. I walk to the end of the hallway, the white walls of offices with glass doors surround me from left to right. The subtle sounds of keys tapping and buttons clicking seep out through the thin glass doors. As I reach the end of the hallway, I look to the left and I see more doors and offices and on the right was a fire escape. I go to the fire escape and hear the tapping sounds of shoes. I approach the handrails and see the custodian from earlier limping his way down the steps.
I slowly follow suit while keeping a look out by the bar rails as to not lose track of the custodian. He went down to the third basement. I open the basement three door slightly and peek inside. The custodian stopped at a door which was the seventh door from across the hall. He knocked in a very distinct manner, knocking four times in rapid succession and two times in a much slower pace. The door opens and I see him enter.
I walk out of the staircase and slowly approach the door where the custodian entered. I reach the door and slowly turn the knob to check if the door unlocks but as expected, it's locked. Should I just force it open? Probably not. The needed repairs would be unexplainable. I went with my instincts and made the most uncanny move that I can think of.
I walked back to the door and knocked the way he did and waited for an answer. There was a brief moment of silence until I heard something click. The door slightly opened and from the slither of opening I saw the woman blocking the view inside the room with half of her body.
“Yes, madame, how may I assist you?” the strange woman said as she keeps the inside of the room hidden behind her while looking surprised.
“Yes, someone dropped this piece of paper, I believe it was a custodian you're with,” I said to her.
“I apologize but there is no custodian here with me madame,” she replied as her voice cracked with a sense of panic.
“Oh, alright, I may have mistaken, but what is this room you're in?” I replied to her with deep interest.
“Oh, this is the pantry madame, and unfortunately, we're having a break right now, so I must get back to eating while I'm still on break,” she hastily replied while trying to forcefully close the door.
“A break? It's already 5 PM, you should be heading home,” I said to her while pushing the door open with one hand, preventing her from closing it shut.
I push the door open as the woman blocking it flies a few meters behind, three men behind her catch her to break her fall. I look around and see about ten personnel, mostly Sevenites. The room was smaller than it seems as there were a lot of boxes and old equipment placed on the sides. The room smelled like rusted metal and antique wood furnishings. It was a bit warm inside and I can only imagine the sweat these people perspired as they stay in here.
“So, what's happening around here?” I asked.
“Well, we're—“ a woman from the right said until the man beside her held her shoulder, stopping her from saying anything else.
“We're just people trying to gather for some after office fun,” the man beside the woman firmly said.
“Yes, but you do know that it's illegal to hold unauthorized gatherings inside the Encephalon, correct?” I replied.
I started to look around trying to find something worthwhile. I scan the room and see a whiteboard that was placed at the corner. I approach it and two short men walked in front of me. The raise their arms to their sides as if to block me from going any further.
“Move out of the way, no one wants to get violent,” I warned them.
I suddenly feel a bit of heat coming from behind me. I can hear the deep breathes of the eight individuals from my back. I took a step and speedily dashed through the small room, pushing everyone to the walls and corners, making sure to not badly injure them the best that I can. The path to the board was cleared and I approach it once more. I turn it around and see a list of high-ranking individuals with pictures on them, most of the individuals written down, I believe, are the department heads within the building.
There are circles and other details pertaining to targeting, execution, and outcome written on the board. It seems that these individuals wanted to drag these people down and take charge of the departments. But their end goal is still a question.
“I see, so you people want to overthrow the Rinnamad department heads and take their place,” I said with utter curiosity.
“But then what? It's not as if the President will allow simple Sevenites to run the departments without the guidance of a Rinnamad,” I added.
No one was answering or even flinching the least. So, I thought of a way to try and fish out some information from them in a non-violent way. I pulled out a steel folding chair that was jammed by the side of some boxes and sat in the middle of all of them. I look every single one of them in the eyes as I say,
“I don't want this to be messy and end up in me bringing you guys to The Forgery for realignment, is that clear? I just want some answers,” I assured to them.
“We…We can't. You’re the head of the Ward Smiths. How can we be so sure that you won't take us in and realign us if we tell you?” one plump man said.
“That's the thing, I'm the commander of the Ward Smiths, I have power over most of you and most of the other Smiths in the Forgery. So, you can take my word for it and I believe, in this case, you do not have any other choice,” I replied to him in a very calm tone.
There was a silence once again. Then a large man pulled a chair from the side and sat in front of me. He looked around and the others started to follow suit. They all gathered in front of me and started talking. Apparently, they are the Sevenite League of the Encephalon.
A group or as they say, organization of Sevenites that are against the tyranny and maltreatment of all Sevenites in the Encephalon. I never heard of any Sevenites being mistreated in any part of the city and mostly, in this building.
“Are you sure these things are happening? I mean, there are laws— “
“Yes, there are, which makes us even more furious,” a woman replied to me with vigor.
“You don't understand, madame, they ask so much of us and we receive so little. We help run this city, but our efforts seem unimportant,” the woman blocking the door earlier said.
“Yes, we want the playing ground to be equal, not servant and master, but colleagues trying to maintain and stabilize this city,” another woman added.
I can see the hunger in their eyes, their words filled with desperation, wanting to be validated. But the truth is, I can’t do much of anything about it. I am a servant of Extol. The only help I can give them is to not foil their plans and let them be. I think it through and try to formulate a plan that wouldn't get me court martialed in the process.
“I shall investigate on this matter firsthand to understand both sides of the coin and have better judgement. Do not worry as your voices have been heard and considered,” I said to them.
“But first, I need something from that man on the back,” I said while pointing at the back of the group.
The group of people look behind them towards the custodian. I use my hand and beckon him to come to me and say,
“I need you to get me into the Runic. I believe some of your custodian friends have access to the Runic tonight,” I said to him.
“But the Runic is a myth, madame,” the custodian replied.
“Yes, as most people say, but you and I both know that it’s indeed there,” I replied to him.
“There might be information there beneficial to me and all of you as well, plus, you owe me a favor, correct?” I added.
“Yes, but… I understand. I'll try to do my best, but once inside, I do not know how to access the records or do much of anything, we are only instructed to clean the outer shells of the chamber,” he said to me.
“I understand, get me inside and I will handle the rest,”
I waited for an hour, and lo and behold, I heard a knock on my office door. I open it and no one was there, only a brown envelope on the floor. I pick it up and take it inside my office, locked the door and check what's inside. The envelope contained two folded papers and a golden key card along with a note.
“To Ms. R,
Please take care of the keycard, you have about four hours max before the custodians need to clean the Runic. Please return the key card to us immediately before dawn tomorrow so that they can clean everything out before the day starts. Do not worry about the security cameras in the elevators as we have set them to repeat the last five hours. You have about three hours of safety time to get everything you need. Before the cameras go back to the live feed.
-The C”
In my hand is the key that I need to be able to know the truths behind the questions I have. It's already twelve in the morning. I set my alarm for three hours and thirty minutes, enough time to give the key card back to the custodian. I open the final piece of paper underneath are instruction on how I can get inside the Runic.
First, I get to basement five then go west towards stock rooms A and B. Behind those rooms is the access shaft that leads to the hidden elevator. Then, I search for a hidden button by the brick wall. Upon pressing, it reveals a monitor and I put the access codes 617517 which opens the elevator. I ride it down to the lower floors. I stopped descending and see a bright light creeping out from behind the elevator doors as it slowly opens.
I step out of the elevator and see a corridor. At the end are large double doors. I push the button on the side and it opened the seemingly large but empty chamber. The walls wore a reflective gold but darker, closer to the shade of brown rather than actual gold. The chamber was spherical in shape but unexpectedly, there isn’t much of anything there but a large rounded table in the middle as the rumors say. The rumors were true after all, but the hidden golden chamber looked empty and uninteresting unlike what I imagined.
I look around and try to find something unusual. A switch or a hidden latch, maybe even an access terminal of some kind. I walk towards the walls and run my hands through the cold golden plates, trying to feel if there is something or anything that is hidden. I keep looking and feel a tiny gap. I check the other parts of the walls and it seems that there are these gaps throughout the walls of the Runic. Each golden plate stretches at about six feet tall and about eight feet wide which would be hard for me to muscle through if I ever I wanted to pull one of these off the wall.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
I heard my watch alarm, signaling that my three safe hours are almost done, leaving me with thirty minutes before the security cameras return to their normal functions. I need to get what I need and safely exit the Runic without anyone noticing. The golden walls may undoubtedly be just the furnishings, but I won't leave this place empty handed.
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