[Behind the Curtain-3]
The dim glass gradually became clear.
Light slowly poured in from one side, revealing the entirety of the scene behind it.
In a dark room, a golden-haired young man sat against a wall. He was bruised and battered all over, with his head held down perfectly still, as if sunken into a coma.
A hand was pressed against this side of the one-way mirror. Outside the glass stood a man with insidious eyes sweeping over the plain space.
??: It seems he’s finally going to do something.
The malicious grin spread across his face was both scornful and mocking, and the scar across his face appeared ghastly.
Beside him stood a woman dressed in black leather. Her eyes rested on the wounds of the man locked inside, and her brow furrowed slightly.
Woman in Black: He’s been comatose like this ever since the Queen awakened. His new Evol isn’t stable yet.
Woman in Black: The one who did this to him didn’t destroy our only successful test subject, did they?
Hearing her question, the man let out a sneer.
??: A test subject is just a test subject, after all.
After tossing out this cruel fact about their organization, he then turned away without another thought.
But what he didn’t see, was that the person locked in that room… suddenly lifted his head and looked at some being in the darkness. In a twinkling, his whole body disappeared from view.
On the other side of the wall, the woman in black looked back from the doorway, seeing only a room shrouded in darkness, without anyone in it.
Her eyes widened slightly, and a flash of shock darted across her steel grey eyes.
Woman in Black: Notify Ares.
Instead of rashly rushing into the room to check, she immediately sent a message over her comms.
Communicator: *Beep– beep–*
The sound of hurried footsteps came from down the hall, and then a white door was pushed open.
Subordinate: Ares, Artemis just sent an urgent message — 3684 suddenly disappeared from the dark room after his punishment. Should we issue an internal notice immediately?
The man standing by the window turned his head, his right eye covered by a bandage, but the gaze from his left was still enough to cause the subordinate to shiver.
Ares: No need. He’ll be back.
In the depths of that eye was a shadow darker than the eternal night.
In a black abyss, a lone body was curled up on itself.
On his forehead was a keyhole-shaped light that cast countless jumbled silhouettes all around him.
The scene before me suddenly started to vibrate violently, and an error signal appeared, as if by some interfering force…
Warning: This dimension is too high. Unable to sync. Would you like to view in a lower dimension?
*Thump-thump-thump-POW—!* The sound of a musical instrument being pounded on came from the other side of the door.
A golden-haired boy with headphones around his neck and a song on his lips came walking into the room. He closed the door behind him, shutting out the noisy rock music, then deftly turned the lock.
Even though the music wasn’t backing him anymore, he kept on singing the tune and drumming along to the beat in the air.
He started up a computer and entered a string of complex code. His fingers flew across the keyboard in a blur, and lines and lines of code flashed across the screen.
An error warning popped up from time to time, interrupting his motions, but he didn’t seem to mind and just moved on to another method to break into this database.
Boy: They always like to make it complicated.
The boy frowned, then backed off the keyboard, reached out behind him, and smoothly opened up a mini fridge and took out a can of soda.
He slugged back a big gulp of ice cold cola, a look of satisfaction in his eyes. Just as he was selecting a CD off the desk, a “ding” sound was suddenly heard.
The boy swiftly set aside the cola and looked at the screen, his eyes shining.
Boy: Yes! I’m in!
He tapped rapidly on the keyboard, the rat-tat-tat sound merging almost perfectly with the drumming seeping in from the crack in the door.
Soon the boy came to a halt. He had discovered a strange string of code, and a puzzled look came over his face.
Boy: Coordinates… it’s a location?
Before he’d gotten a full understanding of this string of code, a warning in red letters that took up almost half the screen appeared before him, and all the data started melting away.
Boy: Oops. They caught me.
The boy stuck out his tongue. He didn’t show a hint of panic at being discovered, but rather a look of total relish.
He systematically starting covering the tracks of his intrusion, and after confirming nothing was amiss, he turned off the computer, then resumed singing and walked out of the room.
The jaunty little tune was once again muffled by the closing of the door.
A heavy, stained metal door was pushed open with a creak. The red-painted door was spotted with flakes of crimson rust that fluttered down at the slightest disturbance.
This was a long-abandoned building that had never finished construction, and never been visited by anyone.
The person who pushed open the door pulled a baseball cap low over his head. Beneath the cap were several locks of golden hair, and a young face, not much over twenty. A name suddenly popped into my mind: Kiro.
Kiro… The name quite suited him.
Kiro: Finally found it.
Kiro walked through the maze of empty rooms, a computer in his hand upon which he would enter something, then delete, checking repeatedly until he finally stopped at a room that was all white.
His upheld finger trembled slightly, then he finally hit the return key.
The wall, suffused with a metallic glow, started to flicker, and soon the outline of a person had formed out of a bunch of ones and zeroes.
Kiro looked wide-eyed at the person who had appeared on the wall. He jerked forward half a step and called out:
Kiro: Master.
The outline on the wall shifted around unsteadily, and an electronic voice played through the computer in Kiro’s hand.
??: Kiro. It’s been a long time.
Although he knew this was a message saved years ago, this young man who was usually so composed now grew red around the eyes, and his pupils glistened with water.
??: Don’t worry about me. I never left this world, only changed modes of existence.
??: This existence is more than physical, but it’s not spiritual either. You can see me as a string of code, or as a spirit in a stream of countless data.
Kiro: But still. It’s not the same…
Kiro muttered these words as he stood there in the center of the room, just meters away from the silhouette of the man, yet clearly more alone than ever.
??: I cannot control my location right now, so I can only use this method to entrust you with a very important matter.
Hearing this, Kiro’s face grew solemn.
??: I placed a code in your computer’s database composed of ten layers. The final layer will self-destruct after 30 minutes. You must commit this layer firmly to your memory.
At those words, his fingers flitted over the keyboard to open the database. A string of code flashed across the screen.
??: This code is the key to opening all doors.
??: You must use it to open a door, and see an important person.
The string of code seemed to be a signal. The figure composed of digits started to float away, and the electronic voice started to flicker and fade from the computer.
??: After this code disappears, you will be this world’s last key… You must remember the key’s mission…
Even from the emotionless, synthesized voice, Kiro could hear that this was goodbye. He tried to get him to stay.
Kiro: Master, I still–
The digits forming that silhouette were all but faded. His final words came through hazily, yet incredibly determined.
??: Kiro, you must remember. We shall stand in darkness as we defend the light.
As the sound of the last syllable faded, this empty room started to disintegrate. The wall caved in, and then the bricks reorganized themselves, forming a pitch black passageway.
Kiro stood dazed where he was for a long time, an empty look in his eyes. When all of the changes finally settled into place, with somewhat of a grimace, he bent at the waist.
Kiro: I will remember, Master.
A bead of water rolled down his jaw and fell on the dust-covered floor.
He straightened up and walked resolutely through the floating dust down the black passage.
Me: Don’t go in–
I couldn’t help wanting to call out to him, but I forgot, my voice couldn’t reach him.
But he really did seem to sense something. He turned his head and beamed a smile at me in the empty space. Just like when he was a boy, incomparably dazzling.
The whole room collapsed completely. The black passage, the white walls, and the figure of the young man all gradually receded into the distance.
From on high in the dust-filled air, I saw the building lean and collapse into a pile of rubble.
A group of people in the distance shouted in shock, and the sound of police sirens came… Was this the end?
Then, a placid sound of piano music wafted in the air, drowning out all the other noise, and all was calm.
Time started to sprint backward. The collapsed building erected itself once again from the ground up. I was also brought involuntarily down the stream of time back into the building.
The row upon row of newly-risen walls had me trapped securely within.
The tight space became more and more cramped. I could actually touch the walls all around me, but I also couldn’t escape.
The oxygen was getting used up, and my breathing felt more and more labored as my consciousness gradually grew hazy.
The vibration of piano strings seemed to sound in my ears once again, and a flat, unfamiliar voice spoke out.
??: An unknown observer has appeared.
Then an aged voice spoke up, sounding a bit familiar.
Old Man: Now, tell me your name.
??: Helios.
It was that young man who responded. Did he meet the person at the end of the passage?
Old Man: Remember what you promised me.
The old man laughed. The sound of his laughter sent me into a deeper trance, and the sound of a whirling current swept over me, as if carrying me away.
Prof. John: This must be the code that we’re looking for!
Prof. John: Quickly! Give me the passage key!
The voices of all kinds of people constantly reverberated in my mind, colliding and overlapping with each other, making my head feel like it was about to burst.
Helios: Look at me!
The young man’s outburst broke through all the voices and reached my ears.
An unknown power seemed to take over my body and force my eyes open, and I hazily saw a streak of gold.
A moment later, the streak of color came into focus. I was looking at a golden eye.
That silver-haired youth raised his head and seemed to look at me across the endless void, his one eye changed into a golden hue dangerous and unnatural.
He seemed to transform into two phantoms, one of gold and one of silver, continually interlacing and changing, like an overlap that couldn’t hold together.
Me: Kiro–
*Bang–*
The young man leapt at me, or perhaps he only wanted to shatter the glass in front of him.
In an instant, shards scattered all around, glinting with fierce light. He walked toward me through the light-suffused air.
I saw reflected in the shattered glass the panicked face of someone else.
Helios: I’m here. You can rest.
He spoke coldly.
That stifling feeling also scattered instantly, much like the shattered glass.
I finally come out from the “wall”.
no
ERROR
ERROR
ERROR
Error_reporting(ZGALA – 00 – K02)not found.
Please exit the current latitude and start monitoring again.