Oscar wasted little time flicking the flashlight on. They had barely escaped Gabe’s grasp, and he wasn’t keen on navigating through the dark.

Jacob had the gun tucked in waistband, the safety off. Tao was the only one empty handed as the bat he had was left behind in the Observation Room. He felt oddly naked. 

The Cells were colder than the rest of the floor. Not just physically, but in a way that made Tao’s head feel like it was about to explode.

The air carried a smell that resembled old newspapers. Something old. Something forgotten.

Jacob placed a hand on the gun, but didn’t raise it. “Stay close.”

Oscar scoffed. “Like we have a choice.”

Then…something moved in the dark. 

The darkness concealed the figure, but the noise it made was…unnatural. 

A soft shuffle. A dragging sound.

Jacob didn’t seem to see it because Oscar was the first to stop. 

“Wait…did you guys see that?”

Tao didn’t. He was at the very back, and had mostly been in his own headspace the entire time. 

Jacob raised the pistol at the darkness, a brave display which could have otherwise been valiant.

A shadow raised above Oscar and in one fell swoop, he disappeared into the darkness.

No scream. No struggle. Just…gone.

The flashlight dropped with a hard thud, illuminating what it could.

“Oscar!” Tao shouted at the dark, he didn’t have any time to react.

There was no response, just silence. 

Then a soft humming echoed throughout.

Somewhere deep in the Cells.

A lullaby.

Jacob collapsed to the floor, letting out a soft chuckle. “We are so fucked…”

Tao, enraged, walked up to Jacob, yanking the gun from his hands. 

“What do you mean? What the fuck was that?” Tao’s voice was stern, rage storming inside him.

Jacob raised his hands in surrender. “I know what that was. I know what these monsters have been trying to fabricate. I can’t believe they actually did it. Sick bastards.” He swallowed hard, his bravado slipping.

The lullaby continued, this time growing softer, the sound moving farther away. 

Taking Oscar with them.

Tao’s grip tightened on the gun. “What is it?”

Jacob slung his head up, gaze meeting Tao’s.

“That was what they call ‘The Mother’.”

Tao froze, the name sent chills down his spine. “The Mother? What does that even mean? Make some sense, Jacob.”

Jacob let out a heavy sigh, standing back on his feet. 

“The Ark has been trying to perfect a human specimen for the longest time now. But what they didn’t expect was these inhumane side effects to the experiments they were conducting. Once they experimented enough, they found out what works and what doesn’t. The Mother is a being they have been curating for the longest time. I guess it finally succeeded.”

Tao gasped. Could it be? Was he too late? 

Jacob noticed Tao’s face. It was as if all the air was zapped out of him.

“It isn’t her. The Ark wouldn’t go this far to just use her as a throwaway. She’s still alive. I promise.” 

Tao reached down and picked the flashlight. The beam was slightly dimmer, but was still better than navigating in the dark.

“Can I have the gun back?” Jacob muttered.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I just…really want to see my sister again,” Tao whispered. 

“I swear you will,” Jacob said, putting a shoulder on Tao’s shoulder and taking the gun from him.

“Now, come on. Let’s go get Oscar back first.”

“But how? We don’t even know what it is,” Tao questioned. 

“Doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, we’re gonna kill it,” Jacob stated, checking the clip on the gun. 

14 rounds left. Plenty.

“Allright, I don’t know my way around the Cells because very few people have been here before, but The Mother most likely resides at the very back. Near where we were headed anyway. The plan is to find her, kill her, and get Oscar back. Once that’s done, we take the elevator to head to the bottom floor,” Jacob explained. 

Tao nodded. There was nothing we wouldn’t do to get Lucy back.

With that, the duo pressed forward, moving through the dark corridors with nothing but a flashlight and a pistol.

The lullaby grew softer, drifting deeper into the Cells.

Rows of empty cells lined the walls. Most of them were empty, but some had remains of blood and other bodily fluids.

Some doors were wide open, others hung off rusted hinges.

Tao drifted the beam across the floor revealing scratches, drag marks, and something weird.

A dark and congealed substance covered the floor. 

Jacob broke the silence. 

“The Ark…they really tried this hard to perfect something for a while. Once their plan for a perfect human kept on failing, they pivoted to a pet project. This is what is the result of it.”

Tao kept walking. “Why? What’s the whole point of this?”

“They want vessels,” Jacob muttered. “But they made a mistake.” 

The flashlight flicked, its beam landing on a twisted mass in one of the cells.

Tao gagged.

It wasn’t a body. There were several. All of them were fused together. Limbs hung from every part of the mass. The dark substance covered the mass. Its skin was paper-thin, stretching all over the bones that didn't align.

“Jesus Christ…” Tao whispered, covering his nose from the revolting smell.

Jacob’s face twitched. “Failed attempts. This is what happens to the people unfit for the procedure. They become a hollow version of themselves stuck in neverendless purgatory. It’s sad. I’ve never been here myself, but I would see the transformations first hand and it was…” 

Jacob put a hand over his mouth. “Never mind…let’s keep walking.” 

They pressed forward, finding more cells. Each of them is worse than the last. Each of them leaves a permanent imprint on their minds. 

One contained a figure slumped in a corner, a pair of skeletal hands were stuck to the cell wall. The dark substance covered their entire body like a type of parasite. The figure’s eyes pierced Tao’s soul. Its eyes were so empty, wanting death. 

Kill me. 

Another cell had a child-sized figure sitting upright, its head tilted sideways. Tao thought it was dead until it began to twitch. 

Its fingers began moving in erratic speed, emanating a crunch sound that reverberated in Tao’s ears.

Tao moved instinctively. 

He rushed towards the figure, kneeling down just before it. His hands wrapped around its frail body, dark sludge seeping onto his shirt.

“Tao, no! You can’t help them! I’ve tried!” Jacob shouted, sprinting to him, attempting to pry the figure from him.

“But he’s hurting! He needs help!” Tao cried back, pulling the figure closer.

The figure’s head twitched. Then its neck snapped, and its head rotated backward.

It had no eyes, the dark substance slipping out like a tear. 

“Waaaaaah,” it cried, an infant-like wail.

Its tiny hands gripped Tao’s shoulders, pulling itself closer.

Its jaw began tearing open revealing blackened teeth beneath the stretched flesh.

Tao froze, panic setting in.

Jacob didn’t.

BANG

A single shot was fired, tearing through the figure's head. Its body went limp instantly, slumping in Tao’s arms. 

13. 

Tao flinched, his chest heaving.

There’s no saving them.

He was covered in the dark substance, the smell sticking to his skin like glue. 

Jacob grabbed him by the collar and yanked him backward, away from the corpse. 

“You can’t save them,” Jacob hissed, his voice strained with regret. “They’re gone. All of them.”

Tao’s hands trembled. The figure’s wail echoed inside his ears.

For the first time, he felt it. This feeling was draining. 

He wanted to curl up and disappear. He wanted to be back home with his mom. He wanted to sit on the couch watching TV with Lucy.

That’s right. Me and her would watch the morning cartoons together just before we left for school. Mom would be in the kitchen preparing breakfast while our laughter echoed in the living room. 

I want to be back at school goofing around with Oscar during lunch or computer class.

That’s right. Me and Oscar would often eat our lunch quickly, so we could sneak off to the computer lab. We would play games all lunch period or go on weird websites and have a blast. 

That’s right. If I didn’t click that link, I wouldn’t be here. 

Oscar wouldn’t be here.

Lucy would still be safe.

Mom wouldn’t be alone.

Tao’s breath quickened, his chest moving up and down. 

He bit down on his lip, blood seeping out. He pushed these memories away. 

Tao’s vision blurred, tears mixing with the grime on his face. 

“I have to fix this,” he whispered, voice cracking.

“I swear to God…I’m gonna fix this.”