Randomly picking a door, it automatically opened itself after getting close enough. As Sunny took a step inside the echoing room, the sound of his shoes bounced off the walls and the floor, making him feel even more insecure against the unknown that looms in the shadows.
His breathing quickened, but he didn't let fear control him from the past or future, for he had come this far to find the escape pod in finding his true path in life. It was an obsession that refused to let him be; the drive to discover his purpose is worth anything he ever dreams of.
In the depths of this room, the emergency exits stood out like shining lights within the darkness. Each door, reinforced with a sturdy glass window, was adorned with keylocks and screens, designed to prevent anyone from entering without proper authorization.
The fluorescent lights above them flickered, casting long, eerie shadows across the floor, with abandoned mechanical equipment and computers filling the room. Sunny's gaze drifted over the doors, each one labeled with a different number and a set of codes.
"I'm finally here," tense sigh flowing from his lips, the young man couldn't help but admit this is rather becoming to much for him, "I'm actually going to do it," he said to himself, unable to believe he had gotten this far to reach this point.
Looking at the number label 137, he studied the screen next to the glass door, requiring 6 digit code to unlock much to his dismay, "dammit!" Sunny cursed under his breath, "this is just getting more and more complicated," rubbing his own forehead with the back of his hand, he realized how frustrating this has become.
"I was this close..." He can't finish the sentence as he closed his eyes, mentally preparing for the task at hand, "it doesn't matter, I will get through this, like I always do," praying for the best outcome, he turned around and went to every available door he could find, all leading him to the same outcome.
"Every single one of these doors require their individual passwords," studying each label above the door, he tried to find any pattern or clues only to lead dead end, "there must be something I'm missing."
Then idea came into mind, "what if some of these computers possess the code?" It doesn't sound like bad first step, he thought, so he began to search for a computer that might hold the key to unlocking any of this doors that is preventing him fro reaching to the surface world.
But as each one he found was covered in dust, cobwebs, a thick layer of grime or other fungus, and growing vegetation, he realized each of them had been left untouched for years. And no matter how much he tried to turn them on, none of them won't fly to life.
What are the chances of finding a working computer after all this time?" Sunny found himself feeling stupid for ever thinking about it.
"I guess I'm out of luck," he sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "If only there was a way to know which code leads to any of the escape pods," he muttered, running his fingers through his hair in frustration and the anger his feeling. "I need to keep looking," reminding himself to be encouraged at finding the solution to his problem without stopping.
He needs to stay strong, especially when the odds are against him. As he continued to search, he stumbled upon a small, hidden cassette tape tucked away behind a pile of debris that caught his eye.
It was marked with a series of numbers and letters: "639824," he read out loud, a possible clue to his solution to fixing the troubling problems he has at the moment. "Better to see what it is," he said, gently taking the tape from the ground. He held it within the grip to fixing the troubling problems he has at the moment.
"Please, let there be one." Sunny knows for a fact that if any item he finds in this place has a purpose, then finding one is not impossible.
After a few minutes of searching, he managed to find an old but seemingly functional cassette player lying underneath a mound of dusty equipment that filled the room. Holding his breath, he carefully cleaned the player before using his other hand to carry it at arm's length.
Placing the object at the top of one of the computer terminals, he inserted the tape, gently pressing play, the low hum of the machine filling the silence of the room as the first words of a Russian's woman voice reverberated through the speakers.
"842103, dash, 428310, dash, 141263, dash, 79038, dash."
She continued onward without stopping as random patterns of numbers are spelled out in firm tones. Sunny's heart skipped a beat as the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place in this confusing field of codes.
Could they be...?
It was possible, likely possible, for these said codes to be the very password necessary to unlock any of these doors. But the problem still remains: which code is for what door? That is the question that needs to be answered as he continues to listen, finding the answer to his dilemma.
It felt like forever since he remained standing, listening to it slowly, the suspense building up inside him in absorbing all the "important information needed for him to pursue his journey. In what felt like forever, it finally came to an end, the final words echoing through the room.
"999999."
Frowning from the logic of these last numbers, finding it to be odd before having to pause the cassette player, "nine consecutive nines? " He repeated, pondering over the meaning of it, "maybe it's a master code or something?"
A smart person wouldn't use the same letter or numbers for a password in all places. It wouldn't make sense, but at the same time; its still possible for it to be true as there are dumb enough people to use such weak and vulnerable passwords for smart hackers to bypass.
So it is still realm of possibility despite being likely flawed. "I guess I have to try it," he decided, seeing no problem of doing the best he can even though it looks fruitless of doing anything.
Moving his eyes left and right, he saw atleast less than two hundred doors leading to their individual escape pods. An difficult task at hand when he first thought of it. But he will start somewhere, anyplace. Better to remain determined than finding excuses of his final destiny in reaching his goal.
Utilizing the nine consecutive nines as the password for each door at the screen, Sunny felt the mental fatigue bearing down on him each moment and time it beeped with red glow coming from their screens.
His fingers grew weary as he pressed the numeric buttons one after another, only to be met with same response of denial.
Door after door, he persisted at finding the one who could finally yield. Its the struggle of staying awake, the weight of his eyelids growing heavier with each passing second.
The sound of his own breaths were amplified in the silence of the room, the only thing keeping him company. He could feel the sweat trickling down his temples and the fight to stay focused a constant battle.
Being firm on the edge of taking short break, Sunny still refused to take the white flag and surrender. With each door's failure, his fingertips stung from the repetitive motion and the dull pain in his head was becoming more intense.
Yet it wasn't enough to make him stop. He kept going, firmly believing that the next door would be the one to open.
And yet he never gave up on his quest. In the depths of exhaustion and despair, he carried on, driven by the relentless pursuit of purpose, "one of these doors must be the password linked to it," the words barely audible above the sound of his own labored breathing.
The strength in his limbs began to falter, and his vision blurred, but still he persevered in the end, "this is so tiresome, I..." He didn't finish his sentence when the next door finally gave way with a low hum as it unlocked itself, the red light changing to green in a sign of success.
Happiness flooded Sunny's mind from the mere sight of it, "just one more step for me and my purpose will soon be revealed," anticipation filled his very being, showering him with enough energy to be refreshed from the painstaking time of typing the right numbers in each screen he had just gone through.
The escape pod lay before him, the door opening to reveal a small, cramped space, but it was the key to his freedom and the answers he sought for so long he thought that it was mere fantasy.
But before he could even step forward inside, crowd of people entered inside this very room; "don't you dare put your foot in there, Sunny! " Mei's voice filled the once silent room, carrying demanding authority filled with motherly concern as several armed tasers and stun weapons were visible in every Angeloid present.
"Turn around slowly and do not make any sudden moves while you are it," she commanded, her eyes scanning him from the back as if searching for any signs of danger.
Complying to her demand, he carefully turn around with pained expression; "Mei..." He whispered her name, his eyes glancing at his two accomplices who were currently held with their arms folded together from their backs by the handcuffs restricting them for doing anything rash.
"I have good reason for doing this," raising his arms up in the air, he continued to try convincing them despite all of the androids are currently pointing their weapons at him like some hostage situation.
"Sunny, I know you mean well but you can't just go barging into restricted areas, do you understand? "Her tone was stern but also hinted of genuine betrayal. "However, this isn't what I came here for," the image of Mei's hurt expression flashed in his eyes.
"You lied to me." Her words were firm and final, the disappointment evident in her voice. "You lied to everyone," she finally added. Her eyes filled with tears as the reality of the situation dawned on her. "Why must you break the Ark's laws by murdering those men? "
Hearing this, he quickly defended himself in haste. "I didn't know my powers could be this destructive! Besides that, I was just defending the establishment of my friend's restaurant because it is the right thing to do! I had no choice anyway; those guys didn't even want to be reasoned with!"
Sunny explained, trying to justify his actions to her, his heart breaking to see the woman he had grown to care for in such a state of emotional turmoil at the thought he had betrayed her, which in his case he did not.
However, Gale scoffed at his excuse, "You shouldn't have reported this to the authorities then! Hiding it makes it seem like you're guilty of something!"
All of her sisters agreed with forceful nods: "Moreover, you are making it worse for yourself by deciding you are above the law by even thinking of leaving the Ark." Her voice was laced with disappointment at the human's actions: "As a citizen in this space vessel, you are required to surrender to us at this moment for the actions you and your group have caused! "
"Mei," Sunny begged in a low voice, "don't let them do this." He stared at her with a firm plea in his eyes. "They don't understand why I'm doing this." His eyes showed immense desperation and fear from his own statement.
"I tried to do the right thing; I only wanted to protect the ones I loved, and I only wished to see what life has to offer outside of these walls." The young man stumbled, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I never wanted to break your trust, Mei. I just thought it was for the best you didn't know."
For the briefest of moments, Mei eyes showed a glimmer of belief in his words only to vanish in the last second. "I'm sorry, you shouldn't have..." She murmured, closing her eyes.
"I'll give you a fair trial later, but for now, you will be detained with the others." Glancing at each of her sides, she saw Tom and Muri looking down at the floor with fixed stares.
"Bring him," she ordered, her voice hard and firm, the look of sadness and betrayal still lingering in her face as her women wasted no time in approaching him.
"Stop! "
Muri finally found her voice, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Look at yourselves and tell me, is this what any of them wanted? "Everyone stopped in their tracks, their eyes turning to her, who dared to speak against them.
"We all have reasons to stay here, are we really going to turn our backs on someone who wishes to just be different?" She asked, her voice almost cracking, "Is this how we treat those who they believe in us? Is this the way of the Ark? For this reason, why were we created in the first place?"
While they were distracted, Tom silently began using a hidden lockpick on the handcuffs that are perfectly attached to his own wrists.
"Come on, come on! " Saying quietly under his breath, sweat flowing down the sides of his face as he struggled to unlock the cuffs, his hands began to tremble from the exertion. "hurry!" Forcing fingers to work faster, he knew he had to succeed in this or else it would be the end of everything.
"Sunny isn't in the wrong, his—"
Having already gotten enough of this mess, Gale quickly interrupted Mei with an irritated huff, "enough, Sunny has broken the laws of the Ark and now he must pay the consequences for his actions," she growled, her eyes flashing with anger,
"No matter what you says, we are made to serve Singularity in all her forms and you," everyone then looked dangerously at Muri, "are anomaly of ever having the thought crossing the line by betraying her way of rule," she finally added, her voice dripping with venom, "you should be ashamed of yourself for even considering this, now, let's go! "
"Hey you, son of bitches! "
Gathering everyone's attention, Tom was now broken free with his right hand holding up an electromagnetic pulse grenade while smiling wildly like a manic, "how about you taste what it means to be human?! "
Then without warning, it exploded, releasing a wave of blue and white electricity around them that rapidly made every android present suffer from an intense seizure engulfing them, resulting in Mei and her sisters falling to the ground, writhing in agony, the visible electricity consuming their whole bodies.
"Lei! Mei! "Sunny screamed in horror only to be stopped by his friend.
"Their fine man," Tom approached him with a casual wave. "They'll recover in a minute, but this isn't what matters anymore." Looking over his friend's shoulder, he said, "Go, get out of here and find the path in life you always wanted to explore; I'll handle the rest," he urged, his expression filled with determination.
"I'll keep them occupied while I can." The final words were spoken with a reassuring smile, "Just go." With a deep breath, Sunny took a moment to take in the sight of his friend before him.
"I can't explain how much words mean to me right now," his voice wavered slightly, "but I'll remember this for the rest of my life." Taking one last firm look at the room around him, he turned on his heels and left, the escape pod door slowly closing behind him before he finally managed to get in.
Shutting it close as Sunny turned back, expecting to see his friend giving a farewell. Instead, what he got was Mei recovering from the shock.
"Tom! Look out—"
It was too late. Before Tom could process his friend's warning, he felt the sudden hand chop at the back of his neck before immediately falling face flat on the floor, unconsciousness settling in quickly as the world went dark.
Leaving an exhausted Mei standing over his body as she held her other arm for support, the force of the shock from earlier still lingered on her body.
Walking towards the glass door, she looked at him dead in the eye. "Sunny." Sadness, worry, concern, and deep need to protect those she cares about, "Will I ever see you again?" The unexpected question floated in the air, hanging heavily between them while surprising him from what she had asked.
He expected her to beg him from not going but instead, she only wanted to a confirmation from something he didn't thought she would say, "yeah," he hesitantly answered, finding it hard to believe himself that he will ever have the chance to do so.
"I don't know what will happen when I'm out there but it won't to try in returning once in a while," smile flashed across his face, showing just how much he still cares for them regardless how separate they are.
Relief flowed through Mei's heart, "I'm glad..." she answered lowly before falling on her back, collapsing from the pure fight of emotions and exhaustion, "I'll be waiting then," she whispered, eyes closing as she drifted off to sleep, her body slowly shutting down from all the adrenaline and stress she had to endure.
Sunny remained standing, his face unwavering from fixed expression, closing his eyes briefly, he then opened them, "farewell," turning around, he walked away; tears flowing freely down his cheeks as he made his way to the escape pod, the guilt and sorrow of leaving all of them behind was difficult choice to do.
