Snapping out of his trance, Oliver realised that in his stupor - he somehow made it to the manufacturing ward.
"Did I really walk all the way over here?" Oliver thought to himself.
"Hey! Hey! Earth to kiddo!" The voice spoke again.
Oliver turned to face the speaker, seeing a woman with brown hair crossing her arms. She seemed to be a bit older than him, and was wearing one of those jumpsuits mechanics would use.
"Ya finally awake? Ya looked like a damn zombie..." she said, chewing on some gum.
"S- sorry... I was... lost in thought" Oliver said, rubbing the back of his head.
She continued to chew her gum as she looked him up and down. While scanning him, she noticed the lanyard with the medical department logo on it.
"So you're telling me... ya were so "lost in thought", that you walked all the way from the medical ward, to here? Are ya high or something kid?" She said, sounding suspicious.
Oliver shook his head before messaging his nose bridge.
"What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I always do this... no matter how much I try, I still end up doing the same things over and over again..." Oliver thought to himself.
The woman looked at Oliver's declining mental state, causing her to let down her guard a bit.
"Hey you okay?" She asked.
Oliver was caught off guard by her question. Not that the question was anything serious or strange, but it was because Oliver had been so deluded into thinking that he was nothing, that he didn't realise there could be people who were worried about him.
"I'm... I'm not okay..." Oliver said, lowering his head a bit.
The woman crossed her arms and closed her eyes; she seemed to be thinking. A few seconds passed before she suddenly perked up and raised up her index finger, as if an idea popped into her head.
"Would a tour of the manufacturing department cheer ya up?" She asked, pointing to Oliver.
Oliver thought about it for a few seconds before nodding. She nodded her head as well, then gestured for him to follow her.
The manufacturing ward was huge. According to the woman, the ward was the second largest ward in the building, the biggest being the detention ward.
"Oh yeah by the way, I forgot to tell ya my name. I'm B tier Researcher, Cecilia" she said.
She looked at Oliver expectantly, as if she was waiting for something.
"O- oh! Right... My name is Oliver. I'mma C tier investigator…" Oliver said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“Investigator... whatcha doing here then? Shouldn't all the investigators be on that big mission?" Cecilia asked.
Oliver's mood dropped again after hearing that, making Cecilia worry.
"Alright... I'm sorry for asking then. L- let's just continue the tour shall we!" Cecilia said, laughing awkwardly.
As he was led around by Cecilia, Oliver honestly felt bored. He didn't really care about anything she was saying, which made him feel bad.
"She’s trying to cheer me up, despite just meeting me... yet here I am feeling nothing... I really am the worst..." Oliver thought to himself.
Bringing him to a long line of hanging coats, Cecilia began pointing at them as the rail system brought the coats along their predetermined routes.
"And here's where we make all the coats B tiers and above wear..." Cecilia said, turning to Oliver.
She noticed the bored expression on his face, making her sigh.
"Geez this guy is hopeless... although, all I've shown him was the boring stuff... I might get in trouble but..." Cecilia placed her right hand on her hip before smiling.
"Hey, ya wanna see where we keep the attachment units?" Cecilia asked.
Hearing that peaked Oliver's interest. Seeing the light fill his eyes, Cecilia smirked.
"But we gotta be really careful! I might get fired if they catch me bringing unauthorized personnel in there..." Cecilia said, rubbing the back of her head.
Oliver was weirded out by the lengths this stranger would go through just to make him happy. To him, he was just a background character everyone ignored. So he didn't like it… There had to be another reason for her kindness.
"Why...? Why are you being so nice to me? You barely even know me..." Oliver said, clenching his fist and lowering his head.
Cecilia was taken aback by Oliver's reaction, but soon calmed down a bit.
"Because ya looked like ya needed some help. Do I really need another reason?" Cecilia said, patting his head.
Hearing those words, Oliver began tearing up without even realising it. His crying caught Cecilia off guard, causing her to panic. She thought she maybe said something wrong, or maybe Oliver didn't like being patted on the head.
"Shit shit shit! Hey kiddo I didn't mean to make you cry! I'm so sor-" but before she could finish her sentence, Oliver grabbed onto her shoulder, lifting his head up.
"I'd love to see where the attachment units are made!" Oliver said, a happy look plastered on his face.
His expression caused her to chuckle a bit, before lightly hitting him on the back.
"Alrighty then, but first.... we gotta make ya look the part" Cecilia said, a devilish look on her face.
"...Eh?"
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Cecilia pulled Oliver aside into one of the many dedicated break rooms located in the manufacturing department.
"You get your own break rooms? That's totally unfair…." Oliver commented, looking around the room.
"Would ya really want to share one or two break rooms with over a thousand people?" Cecilia responded, placing her hand on her hips and looking at Oliver disappointedly.
"I- I guess not..." Oliver said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Cecilia sighed before rummaging around the store closet. Oliver tried to take a peek at what she was looking for, but the objects she was pulling out and subsequently throwing away became a problem for him. It was like trying to dodge those automatic baseball shooters on the pitches. Each time he dodged a flying wrench, a hard hat came flying at him next! Cups shattered, pipes dented, screws strewn about on the ground. It was a total nightmare!
"Ah found it!" Cecilia said, pulling out what seemed to be a container of tar.
Oliver was confused as to why she was looking for tar of all things - but after thinking about it for a second, Oliver realised what she was going to do.
"You're not putting that on my face..." Oliver said, taking a step back.
Cecilia tilted her head a bit, as if confused.
"Yer’ face...? I'm not going to put this on yer’ face. I needed it for this thing" Cecilia said, pulling out a small round device.
"What is that thing? It isn't some sort of torture device right?" Oliver asked, suspicious of her antics.
Squinting her eyes at him, the researcher looked hurt by his statement.
"Dude... if I wanted to torture ya, I'd definitely use one of the attachment units under my desk, not this tiny thing" Cecilia said, pouting a bit.
Crossing his arms, he tilted his head to get a better look at the object.
"If it's not a torture device, what is it then...?" Oliver asked.
"This is a voice modification unit. I made it myself" Cecilia said proudly.
Oliver was surprised that a voice changer could be that small, curious as to where it would be placed.
"Oh yeah by the way... you gotta stuff this down your throat" Cecilia said, smiling with her eyes closed.
Oliver paused for a moment, before running to the door. He desperately tried to open it, but to no avail.
"Kukuku, go on Oliver... put it in yer’ mouth. The tar will help it stick..." Cecilia said, in a rather creepy tone.
The closer she got to Oliver, the more fear was instilled into Oliver.
"G- get away from me!" Oliver shouted, still trying to open the door.
The door still wouldn't budge, so the only option Oliver had was to accept his fate. He closed his eyes, waiting for her to stuff the device into his throat. Cecilia opened her palms wide ready to strike.
"Beep, voice modification unit, online" a robotic voice said.
Oliver was confused. Where did that sound come from? He opened his eyes, realising that Cecilia had attached the device onto his shirt.
"And that's why ya don't fucking accuse people of torture, ya dummy" Cecilia said, flicking Oliver's forehead.
He rubbed the part where she hit him - in an attempt to soothe the pain - as he looked up at her with a confused look.
"Geez are ya that stupid? The voice modification unit clips onto your shirt. I only said that earlier because I wanted to get back at ya... it's really hurtful when ya accuse someone of something like that ya know" Cecilia said, crossing her arms and pouting.
"T- then why did the door lock... and why did you grab that container of tar?" Oliver asked, still a bit shaken.
Cecilia sighed before opening the door for him. Instead of pushing, as Oliver had been doing, she pulled it inwards instead. The door swung open, causing Oliver to feel extremely embarrassed.
"I fear what ya'd do if there was a fire..." Cecilia said, looking at Oliver disappointedly.
"I get it, I'm dumb! But you still haven't answered the tar part!" Oliver shouted, defensively.
"Simple, I needed to waterproof it," Cecilia said, shrugging.
Raising one eyebrow, he looked at her with a confused expression.
"Why would you need to waterproof it?" Oliver asked.
Cecilia paused for a moment before smiling.
"You'll see... now put these on" Cecilia said, grabbing a spare uniform and safety helmet.
Oliver put the uniform on, and almost immediately he could feel himself sweating.
"Geez this thing is so hot... how do you wear this everyday?" Oliver asked, fanning himself.
"Well ya get used to it after some time. Besides, most people go commando underneath instead of wearing it over normal clothes..." Cecilia responded.
"Makes sense.... wait are y-" but before he can finish his sentence, Cecilia gestured for him to follow her.
"Ya wanna see the weaponry or what?" Cecilia said, already walking out ahead of him.
Not wanting to be left behind, he quickly followed her. As they were walking there though, Oliver could swear he saw something running about in the rafters. He tried pointing it out, but Cecilia dismissed it as rats.
“Or maybe a rogue experiment… lotta crazies in ere’...” Cecilia retorted.
This did NOT help Oliver feel any better.
Eventually she led him to a rather guarded area of the ward with a huge mechanical door lined with turrets. A large and heavily armed man stood in front of the mechanical door, his presence alone was enough to cause Oliver worry.
"Just act calm... I'll deal with em’...." Cecilia whispered to Oliver.
Oliver nodded, taking a step back so Cecilia could work her magic.
"Hey James? How's it goin'~?" Cecilia said, trying to act as friendly as possible.
The man lowered his gaze to look at Cecilia, then to Oliver.
"Who is this? Unauthorised personnel aren't allowed past this point" the guard said, in a serious manner as he got closer to Cecilia.
Oliver was getting nervous at this point, but Cecilia was still as calm as a millpond.
"Oh I know that! But this guy isn't unauthorised personnel. He's actually my new assistant!" Cecilia said.
The man raised his eyebrows, before returning back to his post.
"...And where's his identification?" The man asked.
Putting on a cool expression, she began digging into her pockets.
"Right here dontcha worry" Cecilia said, handing the man a card.
He snatched the card away, putting it close to his face to examine.
"Hmm... seems legit... but fakes these days are way too professional... Especially if they were made by someone from the inside..." the guard said, glaring at Cecilia.
"I assure you. It's a genuine ID card. This is a manufacturing line, not a club. There's no need to give a fake id..." Cecilia said, still sounding calm.
The man paused before laughing.
"You're right! But since you're so confident, why don't we check it anyway?" The guard asked.
The moment he said that, Oliver was already thinking of ways to run away without getting caught. However, Cecilia was confident.
"Go on... check" Cecilia said, smirking.
Oliver quickly pulled her away, and began whispering to her.
"What the hell are you doing?! We're going to get caught!" Oliver said, starting to panic.
"Chill dude... I got this" Cecilia said, very confident in herself.
"I don't think you do..." Oliver said, sounding very unsure.
Whilst the two continued to argue with each other, the guard checked the fake ID card using the device clipped onto his belt.
"Hey you two!" The guard yelled.
Oliver perked up in fear, turning around to face the man. The guard slowly walked up to the two, each step filling Oliver with terror. He raised his hand, Oliver was already expecting the worst.
"Your card..." the guard said, handing Oliver his ID card.
"W- what?" Oliver asked, confused.
"Your id card... you need it to access the rest of the headquarters don't you?" The guard said.
"R- right..." Oliver said, taking the card.
Cecilia could practically see the relief wash over him.
The guard turned to the keypad behind him, inputting some sort of code. The mechanical door opened, Cecilia gesturing to Oliver for him to follow her. Noticing the growing suspicion on the guards face, Oliver quickly followed Cecilia into the weaponry to avoid any “hey wait a minute” situations.
They walked through a dark empty hallway, which started to give Oliver the chills. He felt like something real bad was about to happen, yet he couldn't put a finger on why. Sticking close to Cecilia, he tried to strike up a conversation to calm himself down.
"T- that was close right? Remind me never to doubt you ever a-" but before he could finish his sentence, he bumped into Cecilia.
"Oh sorry... wait... are you okay?" Oliver asked, noticing her standing completely still.
"It's... gone... it's all gone..." Cecilia said, falling to her knees.
She sounded completely horrified, which confused Oliver. Even if all the weapons were gone, it probably just meant that they were being used on the front lines. However, after taking a better look, he realised the situation. It wasn't just the weapons, it was everything. Even things like racks where the weapons were stored had been ripped out. All that was left was an empty room.
A device attached onto Cecilia's uniform began beeping, but she was too stunned to even react to the blaring alarm. Oliver quickly grabbed the device, and pressed the button on the side. The device produced garbled speech for a moment, before clearing up. What Oliver heard shook him to the core.
"Attention all operators still in the headquarters! A fester has infiltrated HQ, please evacuate immediate-" but before the message could finis
h, Oliver's attention was diverted to the sounds of screaming outside the room.
At that moment... true fear was born in Oliver's heart.