After half an hour of wandering aimlessly through cubicles in the dim light, Vince got the genius idea of actually searching the cubicles. Most of them were empty and bare, with facades of appliances instead of real ones like in an IKEA. It reminded Vince of those real or cake TikToks. Is this computer real, or is it just a cake?

When the cubicles were “real”, they seemed just like someone’s actual cubicle, as if it had been plucked out of their office and dropped here. There were pictures hung on the walls, post-it notes stuck with stupid reminders, and personal effects littered around. Sometimes, there would be a jacket hanging on the chair and a wallet inside, but that was a bit rarer. Maybe the cubicles had been taken later in the day when most people were gone.

In one of the cubicles, Vince found a proper medical kit, so he was able to disinfect and bandage his wounds, replacing the shoddy rags he’d been using to cover them. In another, he found a new shirt and tie, which fit well enough.

Vince wandered for two more hours until he stumbled on a trap door in one of the cubicles, hidden underneath the swivel chair. The door was marked simply with a plaque that said, “Out.”

A Way Out:

Doors like these will lead you out of the Labyrinth, for now. For some reason, people can never stay out long.

Vince shoved aside the chair and swung the trap door open. On the other side, he saw his cubicle in the Dellway-McCoy office from above. Vince breathed a sigh of relief and dropped through, landing with a crash on his chair.

April, the newbie, and his cubicle neighbor, squawked in surprise as she received a rude awakening. Vince gave her his award-winning (half-)Italian smile and checked the clock. It read 3:15 AM.

Huh.

“Wha—” April said, her eyes darting around wildly. Vince held up his hands calmingly.

“It’s late, you should get going home,” he said. April yawned and checked her watch. She put on her glasses and ran her fingers through her mohawk.

“What about you?” she asked, peering at Vince. Was she crazy, or did he look even worse than usual? Sure, she was used to her coworker looking worn out, but the bags under his eyes were enormous, and there were small scratches on his skin. He also had a kind of wild, dazed look in his eyes that scared her.

“I guess I’ll go home too,” Vince said, suppressing a yawn.

—

Vince didn’t remember getting home. This wasn’t a function of some disease or ailment, but rather the monotony of the activity directing the memories of it straight to the wastebin of his brain. What he did remember was lying in his bed, staring at the Personal Key he’d found in the Labyrinth.

His wallet, lying on his bedside table, was stuffed full of bills. There were twenties, fives, twos, and two hundreds, almost entirely taken from the Labyrinth. There had been a few ones, but he’d used them to buy two cokes from the vending machine for him and Alice as they left the office.

He’d been a bit nervous that the machine wouldn’t take the Labyrinth’s money, but it did, so that meant the bills were real, right?

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Vince shook his head. He had tomorrow off, so he’d sleep in, get some shopping done, and then head into the Labyrinth.

Before he fell asleep, Vince put the ID and photo he’d taken from the Red-Collar onto his bedside table.

—

The next day, Vince mainly went through the motions. He went grocery shopping, cooked enough food to give him leftovers, and thought about the Labyrinth. Finally, when all his chores were done, Vince walked over to his front door, willed it to connect to the Labyrinth, and opened it.

Instead of the bright daylight and narrow hallway facing a parking lot that Vince was used to the door connecting to, he was met with the foreboding darkness of the Labyrinth. Vince stepped through.

Immediately, Vince found himself face to face with a Red-Collar, who looked just about as surprised as Vince felt. Unfortunately, the Red-Collar reacted faster than he did, so while Vince was staring, slack-jawed, the Red Collar shrieked and pounced at him.

The two of them went tumbling into a cubicle wall, which collapsed as they wrestled. Vince wrapped his hands around the Red-Collar’s neck, ignoring its claws, which were taking chunks out of his flesh. Vince squeezed harder and the Red-Collar let out a gasp. It’s swipes became weaker as it began to trash, trying to break free.

Vince didn’t let go. He got on top of the Red-Collar, planting his knees on its shoulders, and continued to choke the life out of it. Tears and snot were streaming down its face as it tried to force Vince off. It let out a gurgling scream, muffled by Vince’s crushing grip around its esophagus.

After three minutes, Vince let go of the monster’s limp form.

Achievement Unlocked: Jesus Fucking Christ!

Wow. That was, I mean…Wow. That was kinda brutal. I mean, you just choked him out. You know he had a family once?

Vince spit out a glob of phlegm onto the floor and climbed to his knees. His hands weren’t shaking at all. “I know,” he said, replying to the System. “Once.”

Brutal. Absolutely brutal. And I’ve seen some fucked up shit…but I’ve never seen a human just choke the life out of something. That was a lot more traumatizing than I thought.

“Get over it,” Vince said, stumbling forward, his head woozy. Blood dripped down all over his body, pattering raindrops onto the floor.

Reward: I don’t think you deserve this, but…you clearly need therapy, and there isn’t any in here.

A Way Out Key!

A small brass key materialized in Vince’s hands.

A Way Out Key:

This extremely valuable single-use key can get you out of the Labyrinth anytime and anywhere, just press it against a wall and a door will appear. You’ll come out somewhere safe, hopefully.

Vince clipped the key onto his key ring and looted the body. He didn’t find much, just some bills in a clip. He stuffed those into his wallet and began limping to cubicles, searching for another medkit.

Achievement Unlocked: When God Opens a Door…Ignore It.

“Shut up,” Vince growled. He took another step forward and his legs buckled. He managed to catch himself on a cubicle wall and dragged himself into a swivel chair.

Blinking away the darkness at the edge of his vision, Vince threw open the desk’s center drawer.

Packet of Crisps:

…is what we’d call a bag of chips if we were British. But we aren’t. Well, you’re not, you’re American, and I’m…well, I don’t think I really have a nationality. Anyway, it’s just a bag of chips, though the brand is one from an alternate reality, so that’s cool. But it won’t stop you from bleeding out, so I don’t see the use of it right now. Maybe you should use that key.

Vince slammed the drawer shut and opened another one. Inside was a flare.

Flare:

I’m going to be real, I don’t have anything funny to say about this one. I guess you could use it to call for help, though.

Vince opened the other drawers, but they were empty. His hands were slick with blood and he fumbled with the flare, but after a few seconds, he cracked it open.

Or it could attract things that want to kill you. It’s really 50/50.

Bright, red light exploded from the tip of the flare, which rolled out of Vince’s hands. He tried to pick it up, but his limbs didn’t respond.

Skill Increase:

Dying (1>2)