After those short whispers, my mind seemingly drifts off into nothingness, leaving me in a white space. 

I was once again swimming inside my mind, like a passenger, forced to watch their life move for them.  

The place was filled with faint static noise while the background shifted like an ancient television screen.

Slowly, a room formed around me, starting from the floors and ceiling which were textureless base plates, the same was for the walls that enveloped me soon after. 

The room exuded an eerie drab, not quite bright or dark, yet tingled my skin as the seconds ticked. Then, 

My eyes spot a person’s silhouette on the corner, facing away and sobbing on a desk despite the room’s neutrality, they remained shaded which seemed impossible for a lightless room. 

“Hello? Who are you?” I called out, but they didn’t answer and continued their quiet sob. 

Begrudged, I inched towards them with my hand over my chest, while my eyes glued on their unmoving frame. 

“Ow!” I stub my toe on a short table, causing me to fall on one knee, my eyes lose the figure and move elsewhere.

Since when did this furniture appear? More concerningly, I spot things on the floor. Paper, lots and lots of paper, specifically crumpled and torn pieces lay scattered as far as the room reached. 

“It’s not like I have a choice,” I mutter, returning my eyes to the figure once more, they were as stiff as a pillar yet, they slid just a smidge towards me that just didn’t feel right.  

Did they even move? I’m starting to doubt even myself. Forget it.

I pushed myself on my feet and continued my approach. 

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” I demand frowning. 

Each step grew heavier and heavier, draining, the crunching of paper sounded my way forward as the air grew scarce and the darkness shrouded the room. 

Worse yet, an unimaginable stench pierced through my nose, as the figure lay within my reach. By then, the textureless room had twisted into a ruined— almost twisted— painting with too much detail than I’d personally handle.  

It was late at night, in a concrete apartment, and water leaked from the walls, as a downpour was made evident upon the appearance of a window beside the figure. 

She stood, shoulders slumped, face unexposed behind the veil of her hair, and worse yet her insistent sobbing continued. 

“Save yourself…” she murmurs, her hands holding onto her face, the wretched odor emanating from her, 

“I’m good, worry for yourself first.” I reply, waving my hand to fan out the smell. nervous as I may, I held onto my composure firmly.

I didn’t want to show weakness, especially not to whoever is in front of me. 

Past their sobbing she continued to murmur, “My success… what if I’m too late…” she whines, catching me wide-eyed…evident with disgust as my mouth hang agape.

This person in front of me… no, I’d be insulting myself at that point. This had to be some sort of caricature, she just had to be one, right?  

I slam my hand on her desk, disgust turned to anger,“Just who are you?!” I roared with demand. 

This sobbing excuse of a person couldn’t possibly be me.  

“Answer me right now!” I yelled, hoping that my discomfort and unease could be concealed with my frustrated demeanor.

However, much to my chagrin this only escalated the situation, promting her to lower her arms, snarl as she did before catching me by the throat.

She pounces on to me, causing me to lose balance and slip on the hard concrete floor, while her tightening grip sapped my breath and my vision to dim.  

I had my shaky hands on her arms to desperately free myself of their coil, but from their pitted eyes, disheveled hair and sharp nails digging under my skin, I could only feel my hands tense up and freeze the longer she held me down.

The longer I looked the frailer I turned… without a face— only polygons— the figure before me was a husk of me… a disheveled ghoul lost to time and their own distractions.

The becoming of me If I’d let myself stagnate into paradise and be eaten up by my delusions; If I stayed in Eden for long enough.  

“DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU, ESCAPE THIS PLACE BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.” She screams, yet she had no face, mirroring the terror that I had with her initially… but perhaps she’s voicing my concerns…

Leave? Of course, I understood that, there must be a way out… but how could I possibly fight to achieve that right now, I had to wait until I grew stronger, and eventually regain my independence first?

Her desperation.. Could she tell me that I’m running out of time? 

“SAVE YOURSELF FROM THIS DELUSION!” She yells in tears while her grip loosened, only for her to slam her head up against mine, snapping me awake.  

“AGH!” I gasped,  clutching my chest, eyes widened and my mouth agape while my heart raced 60 kilometers a minute. 

That scenario, a nightmare… possibly? It shouldn’t make sense but, it felt too coherent to my overall situation. 

Strange as it sound, that’s what frightened me most when remembering it. Is that how I’ll end up as if I don’t find my way out of here? 

A precautionary tale about the gruesome reality waiting to unfold onto me as soon as I leave this fleeting paradise?  

I struggled to swallow as these thoughts consumed my mind. It gnawed on me from the inside shifting my initial shock into lifelessness, knowing my years of preparation had been for naught. 

“Hello?” called a soft spoken voice beside me, waving their hands before my eyes. 

My eyes shift towards them after I’ve been snapped off my thoughts.

“You’re finally alright,” She mutters with hesitation "Erm… please relax we’re here to help.”

It dawns on me that my HUD no longer flashed red, my attire was completely dried and that I’m inside a used-to-be hospital room, far from the railside that I’ve last remembered— right, we were snuck up on.

“Where are we?” I concern, rocking the hospital bed as I sat upright on it “H-huh, oh! Well I’m not really qualified to speak on their behalf.” she replies, perking my eyes. 

“You’re not qualified for an easy question like that? What’s wrong with voicing yourself?” Don’t tell me w 

“No no! I just thought it wise to spare the chit-chat when everyone’s here.” She calmly reasons while motioning her hands “I didn’t wanna spoil the conversation… that’s all!”  

I remained silent, unconvinced and growing cautious the longer our silence met. I could see through her like glass and cracks are showing the more I examine it.

Black hair with neon blue streaks on the edges, she had the same blue on her pair of eyes, while wearing a black antique blouse— the likes you’d see in your great-grandma’s— while cupping her hands together as if to pray. 

“Ah!” She jumps, sparking— more like feigning — enthusiasm to drive the conversation longer “How about names? I’m Patchnotes— hope that helps…” She mutters as her voice dies down completely.   

“I’m Malware, nice to meet you.” I reply, tagging along while I look around. 

Just like with the office, the room was in-tact and well-kept with the furniture remaining as is, though a look out from the window, or rather, the lack thereof as vines and greens completely enclosed the view.

“W-wait, what If I get us a drink? Maybe we’ll be able to talk alot easier that way!” She before resigning herself out the room.

After a second past, the door clicks to sign it’s closed before I hopped off my bed “Tsk, I’m not staying.” 

I rushed for the door soon after, nudging the knob and realizing it’s unlocked.

“Did she really expect me to stay inside?” I mutter in disbelief while peeking both ways through the empty hallway.  

Let’s hope her boss won’t be too harsh on her after they discover I’m gone.

The door closed behind me with a soft click as I make my getaway and onto the empty hallway. 

?:?? O’clock, broken tiles, mising window frames, and dim lights. The hallway has seen better days… 

Although the rooms all had doors for the most part, the one parallel to mine was distinctly chained; barricaded to keep something within, or to keep us out from entering.

I merely gave it a passing glance and thought little of it as I sped down the hall and to a staircase.

Keeping with the trends, the staircase had, annoyingly it had these littered crates and containers blocking the steps. 

The only way was down with a faded white three crudely painted on the wall, meaning whoever brought me here had the patience to send me all the way up to the upmost floor… 

Hold on— if that were the case then where’s Firewall? I didn’t notice any open doors or aything to imply any room was occupied by a person 

I ruminate while gripping the staircase railing, I was already on the verge of the ground floor when I’ve realize. I stop my descent in place as my head turned up, eyeing the third floor once more, while a bead of sweat fell from my face. 

He wasn’t in one of the doors was he? I knew leaving this place was top priority but I needed him with me.

Perhaps this is my time to split apart, our deal was about finding a settlement and then we’re on our own right—? 

What was I thinking about! I can’t do this on my own! I NEED HIM. Not again, I can’t fight and I can’t survive, I’ve already attempted once and I’m a fool for considering it again…

Like a perfect photograph, every living second I could still picture that fight in my mind. Burned brightly into my memory, a painful embarassment, when my wishful thinking skirmished with reality and lit ablaze, leaving me with only the ashen remnants of my naivete. 

I subconsciously squeezed the railing as my other hand held firm on my rapidly pacing heart as I felt my breath shorten and my chest constrict.

Unbeknownst to me, I’ve left myself completely stunned in front of the open stairwell, staring blankly into nothing as one of my captors approached, seemingly holding a tray bearing two mugs of something warm, he’d bear some initial resemblance to Firewall, having the signature red and black, however he had a sniper rifle strapped to his back as opposed to his sword, perhaps the very same one I’d been knocked unconscious by.   

“You shouldn’t have left her room— Hey!” He shouts, passing the tray off beside him, presumably to Patchnotes who’s with him. 

Only then did I snap from my trance and hurriedly ran back up the stairwell, leavng him to chase after me.

“Shit!—” I mutter under my breath while ascending the stairs, hands on the railing while avoiding the littered containers and boxes altogether. 

“Tsk, Stop right there!” He yells in hot pursuit. I kept the chase with my new-found strength, as I scattered the boxes and containers to slow him on his way up. 

This worked, albeit only for a short while, as the building had only three floors, and I was currently on my way to the second one, something had to happen— I had to make something happen to get back down without him.

There could be no other person besides him, he must’ve been the one to knock me out with his weapon stock. Given how much of a pushover Patchnotes has been I’d be able to deal with her, so I must rid this pursuer first somehow. 

Reaching the second floor but this time, with a bit more demand on my next course of action, as opposed to just running away without a clue. 

I caution the three hallways before me, not that I intend to go through them and knowingly corner myself. Instead, I’ll aim for the

I stretch my hand, manifesting my protocol as I pulled one of the containers with me to the hallway besides the stairs leading to the first floor.

“MALWARE PROTOCOL: (TIER 1) CAST STRINGS” 

“You better not break anything!” He yells, when he should’ve been oblivious to it.  

He… saw my use my protocol? Wait, no he didn’t, but he must’ve been warned somehow. 

Now that I remember something similar happened when firewall and I were being chased in that decrepit coffee shop, that rocketeer’s protocol also flashed in my hud right before the place was decimated. Maybe, to make things even anyone around a protocol activation would be informed by an approximate distance. 

Not that this info was helpful at the moment, but I’ll keep it in mind, for future use; just like with most information learned in life.  

I wrap the container around my strings and hung it around a protruding pipeline on the ceiling like tire swing and pulling it as far from the stairs as I could before holding it place with flimsy tripwire attached to the railing on the other side.   

After that, I ran towards the center hall with my trap, waiting, as he charged his way upstairs. We met eyes, his was wide, dilated— like a predator catching a cornered prey— and that only invigorated him to move faster. 

His sudden eagerness did amuse me as shortly after, he trips on the tripwire stumbles forward and returns me a look of suspicion with hints of anger— despite the strings glowing vividly in the dark, he managed to miss them entirely— and the suspended container swung right to the side of his head. 

He stumbles to the side reeling from the hit and I nail the final strike by shoving him aside and down on the floor as I rushed past him and down the stairs. 

“Nggh, bringing you here was a mistake!” He roars while also tinkering with his rifle soon after, and as I turned to descend for the first floor.   

BANG

He fires his rifle in retaliation and scores the wall behind me, inches close to my actual head. Shit! Despite his concussion he almost nailed me in the dome, I must’ve really pissed him off with that stunt. 

No matter, because once I vacate this building I’m good as free…

As for Firewall, I sure hope he’s down here somewhere, because I’m not coming back in there, no matter what. 

Besides that, once I reached the ground floor the rest was smooth sailing, besides him no one else came to catch me during my escape. 

I sprint as fast as I could down the dark expansive way forward littered with medical equipments, more containers and plastic bags which was the ground floor hall and rushed out the opened entrance of the hospital.    

Oddly enough, my pursuer quit the chase when I got the better of him, although that concussion would keep anyone down… besides Firewall. If I were him, where would I go?

It was dark out, yet the moon was nowhere to be seen, while the light drizzle of rain and humid air blanketed the streets with traces of fog.  

I watched my surrounding with my every move while the buildings towered over me like vantablack spires eyeing my every step. 

Despite the unnerving darkness shrouding the place, I had my convictions firm on leaving, rather than wait up until morning; besides, I’ve been more than acquainted with walking streets this late at night and also, It’s not like I’ll be seeing any muggers around, especially with how scarce people here now. 

I hazard my back every so often, seeing if I’m being tailed on, which thankfully, I wasn’t. I detoured off the main sidewalk and onto a back alley to make things quicker and to further obfuscate my pursuers, if there were any at this point. 

The narrow one way route made things simple and easy to handle, I could gaze an intersect between the alleys at the end of my current one.