LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 14
I’m starting to get good at forming these computers into a physical representation. It only takes a few seconds to mold these three computers into something more comprehensible.
The white void is less comforting this time, now that I know I can be harmed. The house I’ve become so accustomed to is nowhere to be seen. Instead, a long warehouse stands in front of me. Its doors sit wide open, inviting me deeper. I know better than to walk straight in.
To each of my sides sits two lines drawn across the ground. Some force prevents me from passing over them with seemingly no way through. Beyond, I can see the other two computers I’ll have to get to eventually. One looks like a massive office complex, and the other is no more than a giant hole in the ground. A small metal room in the center connects the three computers. And of course, the only way in is through the warehouse.
I take a look inside, making absolutely sure to keep every part of my body out of the doorway. A platform sits 30 feet in the air, suspended by chains from the ceiling. I can see crates full of documents up there, but no easy way up. Climbing from the outside is absolutely impossible, the smooth metal walls offer not even the smallest hint of a handhold.
Inside isn’t much better. Every wall is made up of that same smooth metal. A few concrete pillars stand at regular intervals, holding up the roof. But even if I could climb up them, none are close enough to reach the platform from.
I can think of one possible way up. I punch the wall as hard as I can in an effort to make my own handhold. My hand shatters on impact, and my mind with it. Fractures race across the landscape of my mind. My thoughts strain to weave the growing canyons together, keeping me in one piece. I can still think clearly, just slower. I’m so dumb, I can’t afford any more mistakes.
There’s nothing more I can do out here, I guess it’s time to head in. There has to be some way up from the inside. Nobody creates a system where you can’t access your own files.
Stepping over the threshold is uneventful, almost suspiciously so. The door behind me remains open and no traps are set off. At the end of the room sits a closed door, which I’m sure is locked, even if I’m too afraid to test it.
I turn my focus to the task at hand. How do I get up there? Climbing is impossible. If I could somehow string something between two of the pillars and raise them up together I could get up there, but I don’t have anything like that. Even if I did, making a lasso and climbing up would be far easier.
Maybe I don’t need to get up there at all, if I can bring the platform to me that would work just as well. The chains that hold it up are bolted directly into the ceiling and platform, with no sign of a winch or anything to bring it down. But what if I break the chains? My left hand is already ruined. If I cannibalized it for sharp pieces, my digital body may just be strong enough to make it work. Screw it, I don’t have any better ideas.
Ripping chunks off my mangled hand hardly impacts my brain any further. My body follows my mind perfectly, and my throw lands perfectly where I aimed. A chunk of ice encases the shackle I hit.
Did I cause the Ice? Or does the chain have the same security as the door handle? Regardless of why, a second chunk of my hand shatters the link. Two more throws on a second chain sends every file plummeting 30 feet to the floor.
Now that I have access to the core of the computer I can take control. My awareness spreads out, where I stop and the warehouse begins is a fuzzy, indistinct blur. I can feel every crevice in the wall, every mechanism hidden below the ground, every hidden platform waiting for me to climb. Now that I can see everything, it’s easy to see how I was supposed to get up, but it would have been impossible to guess.
I grab the file I need and turn to head deeper. I unlock and open the back door without touching it and head through. A fork in the path leads to my two options. A big pit in the ground that I almost certainly have to jump into, or a building I can probably walk out of at any time. That’s the easiest decision I’ve made today, and at this rate, probably the only easy decision I’ll make.
The building looks like the blown out skeleton of an office building. Thirty stories tall and sporting no doors or windows, just gaping squares in unpainted concrete. I walk in cautiously, examining every step for traps, only to find nothing.
The first floor is filled with concrete cubicles, each desk has a copy of the file I’m looking for proudly sitting on it, daring me to grab it. I don’t touch any of them, I’d have trouble imagining a more obvious trap.
I try to summon the files to my hand, but find them unwilling to move. I guess because I don’t have admin access to this computer I can’t manipulate the files. I have no idea how to get access though.
A staircase sits in the corner, leading to thirty identical floors. Not a single desk on any floor has even the smallest hint of which is the real document. I guess I just have to try one. I rip off a small bit of my ruined finger, tossing it onto one of the desks. No response. I reach down with my ruined hand and touch it, once again, to no response. When I attempt to slide the paper off the desk my mind goes blank with pain.
Next thing I know I’m staring at the ceiling. That’s weird, I wasn’t doing that a second ago, right? Why am I on the floor? I move to stand up, only to fall onto my left side. Oh. I used to have a left arm, right? Where’d it go?
In front of me the desk has folded in half, with the remnants of an arm smashed between the two halves. It’s sheared just below where the shoulder would be, mirroring my missing arm. It hurts to try to think through what this means, instead I just take it at face value. Someone lost their arm, and I never had one. Yeah! That makes sense.
Right, I’m here for something. Paper! I’m here for a file! And it’s right there on the desk! What luck! Something deep in my mind is desperately trying to make a connection.
Right! Someone lost their arm to one of these traps, and I don’t have any spare to lose. Well I guess losing one leg wouldn’t be the worst thing, I can hop around. That same thing deep in my mind is telling me that’s a bad idea, it hasn’t steered me wrong yet!
Hmm. Wait! Nobody’s using this arm! At least I hope. I grab onto the metal core of the arm and wrench it free. Using my new pole I poke each paper one by one, pulling back my pole just before the trap slams shut. Occasionally I’m just a little too slow and little by little my pole shortens.
When my pole is barely more than a nub, I reach a desk which doesn't slam shut. That’s weird. I even test a few more times just to make sure. When I touch it with my hand the entirety of the building assaults my mind. It’s too much, I hate it. I grab the paper and sprint out of the building, only feeling the pressure lessen when I reach the crossroads.
Ugh, that was miserable. My brain hurts. I want to go home. I can’t though, can I? I have one more thing to do. I shuffle over to the pit. Jagged walls disappear into the darkness only a few feet below the surface and a strong wind nearly blows me back when I stand at the edge. I can’t see anything else around us. If I want to go home there’s only one solution.
I stretch out my three limbs and lean forward, letting the wind carry me. I fall into the void as the light quickly disappears above me. Soon enough it’s just me in the void. I float there alone expecting any moment to reach the bottom.
Moments stretch into seconds and yet I still fall. Some small part of my mind that still works is telling me I’ve fallen over a mile, saying something is wrong. The wind! A fast enough wind could keep me in place! The solution is easy! I maneuver myself until I’m vertical, the wind blows faster as I fall. I’m a genius!
Floor hurts. Abs gone. Pain. Thinking hard. Glowing light off in the distance. Pull self. Move. Go. Again. Again. Again. Pedestal. Push. Paper. Grab. Dark.
