If you happen to know a thing or two about optics, then you are likely aware that darkness is merely the absence of light. This is what allows a lantern to glide easily through a cave, or what permits a torch to part the night like a knife through a cake. So, it was a little strange that the lights on the floor of the Lavender 1 seemed to be dimmed by the bleakness coming from the mimicked hallway.
The group stood still, like they had come to the edge of a very high cliff. There was no obvious danger in sight. In other scenarios, they would have been relieved that what they were seeing was only an empty corridor. But this was different, and they felt as the atmosphere shifted around them. They could sense that a chill was seeping through from the other side, like the cold itself was clawing its way inside.
Sophia had taken the lead and stood in front of her friends, her Blazer held tightly in her hand. Despite the vague promise of safety the weapon provided, no one wanted to move. They were like animals holding still, waiting for any sign of danger to pounce.
“Hello?” Timothy asked loudly, startling everyone. “Is there anybody there?”
His words resounded into the dark abyss, echoing back to him in a faint whisper. There was no reply.
“I’m Timothy! We can’t see you, or hear you, but it’s nice to meet you if you’re there.” The boy reached out his hand to the empty entryway. “Sorry, it’s rather dark, and it’s hard to make anything out.”
“Did you just introduce yourself a hallway?” Alex said, his confusion breaking through his trepidation. “Tim, there’s literally no one there.”
“I know, but I thought I better try- to make sure.” He spoke as he awkwardly put his arm down.
Sophia took a step closer to the other hall. “It looks fine.” She said, not sounding too sure. “But I don’t trust it.”
“If you did, I would be very concerned.” Alex admitted, as his focus narrowed. “This has to be the other Lavender. It’s like we’re connected now… maybe a docking procedure or something?”
“Well, whatever it is, I’m glad we didn’t take off.” Sophia responded with a trepid glance back at one of her friends. “If that thing got taken with us when we left, who knows what could’ve happened?”
Neil caught the look and grimaced. How the hell could I have known that?
“I’m glad you’re here.” Alex spoke up, giving him the faintest flash of a grin. “Would’ve hated dying without ya.”
If he was in a better place mentally, Neil still probably wouldn’t have laughed. “Yeah… me too.”
“Holy shit, Timothy!” The girl cried as she turned around, seeing that the boy had already entered the bleak hallway. “What are you doing?”
He looked back, eyeing them all curiously. “Oh, I’m sorry. Was I supposed to wait?”
“Yes!” Alex answered, exacerbated. “Sophia is the one with the weapon, remember? She should go first!”
The girl in green rushed forward, grabbing the boy by his arm. “Stay behind me, okay? We don’t know what’s in here.”
Timothy’s brows furrowed. “Not to be brash, but is it a good idea to lead with a gun? Someone might get hurt!”
Sophia’s grip on her Blazer tightened, and her knuckles went a pale red. It was frustrating to have this constantly brought up. Couldn’t he see that she was just trying to protect him? Though there was a side of her that couldn’t help but agree. It was the same side that felt the twinge of guilt for shooting Mr. Ham. But she needed to ignore that for right now.
“It’s for our protection.” Her words came out slowly, like a teacher trying to explain something to a student. “I’m not going to use it unless I absolutely have to. Okay?”
The boy pursed his lips, but then nodded. “Okay.”
“Not to cut into your conversation, but maybe I should go first?” Neil couldn’t believe that he was saying that, and neither could his friends.
“Did someone swap places with you, or did I just hear you right?” Alex asked.
The boy in the tattered coat sighed, crossing his arms across his chest. “I know this place better than all of you, so I should lead. Besides, I figured out how this thing worked.” He gestured to the goggles on top of his head. “Night vision.”
Sophia let out a muffled chuckle. “Find the instruction manual?”
“No, just followed my gut instinct and went from there.” Neil replied with a ‘I’m clearly lying about this subject,’ grin. “It’s easy when you know the trick.”
Her brief bout of good- humor fading, Sophia bit her lip as she concentrated. “Fine, you go first, and I’ll be behind you. Alex and Tim… you do whatever you want, but stick close with me.”
The two stragglers nodded as they took their positions behind the girl. “Well?” She said, waiting for her friend to take the lead. “No time like the present.”
Neil smiled, but deep down, he knew that was just a cover for how he really felt. His eyes flickered to where the two ships had met. A thin, barely noticeable line connected the two seamlessly, like a master seamstress with a needle. He pictured an event where the Lavenders split a part, sending him and his friends flying into breathless space. The more he looked at the divide, the more it seemed bigger than it really was. It was like he was standing in front of an open mouth, preparing to jump right down the gullet of something he didn’t understand. The cold air was no longer just a breeze, but rather the breath of something waiting in anticipation.
“Neil?” Timothy spoke up.
“Right, yeah. I’m coming.”
Taking a breath, Neil lowered the goggles to his eyes. The warm lenses felt unexpectedly nice in the current climate, as the way before him lit up brighter than it was before. Carefully, he tied the strap behind him, just so that he could at least feel secure about something.
It surprised his friends to see him rush forward, walking like he was stepping on hot coals. It was like his arms were bolted to his sides, and someone had taken away his ability to turn his neck. “Let’s go.” He said stiffly, pushing past Sophia.
The group started to move, but strangely, it felt like they hadn’t left at all. The hallway so closely mimicked the one they just came from that it was a bit like stepping through a mirror. With the Lavenders facing opposite directions, all the dimensions had shifted. Left was right, and right was left. But this didn’t seem to bother their travel guide. He could find his way around this place even if he was blindfolded.
“It’s so dark.” Timothy muttered, stating the obvious.
On the floor, the lights were producing a small glow, but the power they produced was clearly not substantial. Occasionally they flickered, as if to say ‘hello’ as they passed.
Neil’s goggles stared rapidly at the surroundings. Everything was the same as it had been on his Lavender, down to even the lining of the round walls. ‘My’ Lavender? He caught himself wondering. Why would I think of it like that?
They had reached the point where the first set of doors was, and they all stopped in unison. The empty doorways greeted them like a pair of fangs- a smile, yes, but not the type they hoped for. Neil could see better than his friends that nothing was inside, but he knew that anything could be hidden around the corner.
“Let me.” Sophia whispered, holding the Blazer steady in the air.
She moved away, but Neil grabbed her by the shoulder. “Hey…” He said, giving her shoulder a soft squeeze. “Be careful.”
The girl nodded and continued.
Sophia wasn’t sure what she would do if there was really something waiting for her inside the darkened room. The truth was, she had never fired this gun before, and she was only assuming that the safety was off. Actually, she didn’t know whether or not it even had a safety, or ammo for that matter. But when it came down to it, she was still holding a solid piece of metal. If she couldn’t shoot, she could still swing.
With a fluid motion, she swung around the corner and found herself aiming at nothing but a pile of dust. Not wanting to waste time, she ran over and checked the adjacent room, finding nothing there as well. “It’s clear.”
“Wait, what’s that?” Neil asked, getting a better look inside. “Is that fog?”
“No, it’s just a bunch of dust.” Alex observed, waving a hand in front of his face. “Do your goggles make it look weird?”
“Yeah, everything’s a lot fuzzier with them on.” He admitted. “It’s brighter, but it’s like I’m seeing without glasses.”
“Well, let’s keep moving. I want to get out of this place as soon as possible.” Sophia said as she relaxed her shoulders.
Timothy opened his mouth to speak, but instead coughed as a bit of dust entered his lungs. After a moment he managed to regain himself. “Where are we going?”
“I thought that we’d head to the control room.” Neil replied. “That’s like the most important area, right?”
Since no one could disagree, they regained their formation and kept going. With each new set of doors or group of halls, Sophia would march in and make sure it was safe. After a while, it became routine, but the dread that every open passageway presented never fully went away.
Passing the sanitation room, Timothy couldn’t help but peek in. He had just been there a while ago, well, at least on the other Lavender. It surprised him to see that it was a little different from what he had remembered. The large glass tubes were all open, with their glass exteriors appearing grey in the dark. But that wasn’t the only thing that had changed.
“They’re broken.” He said, rubbing his eyes. “Look, you can see the glass on the floor.”
He wasn’t lying. On the ground, barely noticeable in the fading light, were remnants of the machines mixing with a layer of dust. In a peculiar way, it looked like someone had dumped out a puzzle but never got around to finishing. It wasn’t all of them, with there being some spare survivors that went undamaged.
“Why would someone want to break them? I thought that they were very helpful.” Timothy pondered with a pout.
“Who knows… maybe they broke on their own?” Alex was thankful that no one could see his face because they would have surely noticed the uncomfortable wince he made as he held something back.
Pushing onward, Neil spotted a closed door through the sight in his goggles. Well, actually he spotted three. Two were large and massive, and he recognized them as being the ones that had always guarded the control room. The third was a small one that he knew all too well from his occasional self-imposed bouts of isolation.
“The private room.” He said, gesturing to draw their attention.
Sophia started forward, but once again, someone stopped her. This time it was Alex, and he spoke quickly. “Be careful! The door is shut, and if anyone is in there, they’ll have the perfect drop on you.”
Timothy raised a finger, “perhaps we shouldn’t go in there, then?”
“But what if there is someone there, and they sneak up behind us when we pass by?” Neil was aware that he was being paranoid, but he also knew that he was right.
The girl paused to think about it. It seemed to her that she had two choices: go willingly into the potential ambush, or be caught by surprise by the potential ambush. Not great options, but that’s the hand that she was dealt.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“If I scream, run.” She said after a pause.
Neil gulped. “Well, that’s not reassuring.”
Gripping the Blazer tightly, Sophia pressed her body up against the doorframe. Slowly, she reached down and popped it open, sending herself barreling inside. “Shit.”
“What’s wrong?” Alex called, sounding worried. “Are you alright?”
Instead of a coherent response, all he got was a fit of coughing. Unsure whether that was a bad thing, the three boys quickly made their way inside. Just like the version on Lavender 1, the private room was pitch black. Only, somehow, it was darker, which didn’t seem possible. Their friend was standing in the open, a hand over her mouth.
“Damn… dust.” She spat in-between coughs.
“Jesus.” Said Alex, bending down.
His hand traced along the floor, lining where the door had pushed up a thick layer of the powder. It was almost like an anthill had been made at the entrance, with the sole purpose of being destroyed. He let a bit run through his fingers, feeling the grit between his skin.
“Curiouser and curiouser.” He muttered to himself.
“This is very odd.” Said the boy who had just introduced himself to an empty hallway. “Back at the orphanage, I would have never let anything get this dirty. Maybe they didn’t have a feather-duster, or a broom?”
Neil could help but tilt his head. “They made you dust, too?”
Timothy acted like the question confused him. “Who else would do it?”
“I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to stand in allergy-city anymore.” Sophia stated, with an extra cough for good measure. “Let’s get to the controls.”
Thankfully, they wouldn’t have to travel very far.
The gigantic metal doors stood before them, blocking any view of what lay inside. “Are we sure we want to do this?” Neil asked, eyeing his friends with his awkwardly large lenses. “We can just go back to the Lavender, and like… not?”
“Then what?” Alex asked. “We just ignore the giant ship attached to us? We need answers, and this might be the best place to get them. This could be the key to getting back home.”
Sophia wasn’t waiting for them to decide, since she was too busy opening the doors. The metal creaked as she put the full weight of her body on one, and already a bit of red light was starting to show through the opening crack. No one had any time to protest before the deed was already done.
“You could’ve at least waited until we were ready.” Alex said, with a pensive look.
She shrugged. “I decided for you. We would’ve done this, anyway.”
“How very captain-like.”
Twitchy, Neil said, “guys, c’mon. We have things to worry about.”
Everyone started to feel the weight of the moment come to them. Inside this room, they could find the answers that they all have been looking for. Or, if luck was not with them, they could find their doom. Either way, something was going to happen, and there was no use standing around and waiting for it.
As they entered, they immediately felt that something was off. Much like everything else, this dome room was identical to the one they knew. A row of control panels lined the edges of the room, and the glass walls looked out listlessly into space. This was the standard fair, but the differences stood out immediately. All the buttons, the idle screens, and dimmed bulbs were now on, and flashing a dastardly red. The brightness was jarring, and it took the group a minute to adjust. Even as they did so, they could tell that this place had seen better days.
On the Lavender 1, there were tangled wires and broken switches, but here was an entirely new level of disrepair. Panels were busted and cracked down the middle like open coconuts. Sparks flew from random points, skittering to the floor like bits of confetti. The glass of the dome was smeared, and the stars that sparkled in the distance were blurred as a result. It felt as though there should have been a noise, an alarm, or a beep, but it was eerily silent. The group stood still, surveying the scene with caution. But the first thing anyone could focus on was what was written on the floor. The words were in bold text and stretched the length of the entire room.
“Lavender 9?” Timothy read aloud.
To everyone’s surprise, Neil was the first to enter. Instead of going to one of the controls, or see out the dome, he instead went to the center of the floor and knelt. Shakily, his hand traced the edges of the number 9, like he was struggling to understand the meaning behind it.
“This should’ve been obvious, shouldn’t it?” He asked, his voice a distant cry. “If my ship is called the Lavender 1, it makes sense that there should have been more, right? I thought that was a possibility! Like, why number something if there’s only one of them? But I hoped… I really hoped that I was wrong.” Abruptly, his head flew back and he let out a strained chuckle. “Good news, everyone! My prison just got bigger!”
His smile dropping, Timothy walked over to him and knelt beside him. “Would you like a hug?”
A pair of wide-eyed goggles stared back at him. “What?”
“Whenever I feel bad, I always thought that having a hug would be nice.” The boy explained softly. “And I think that a lot of bad things are happening right now. Or, if you don’t want to do that, I can just sit here with you, if you’d like.”
“Well, Timbo, thanks for the offer.” Neil said, his voice a husky gravel as he pat his friend on the shoulder. “But I don’t think anything could make how I’m feeling better.”
Alex’s attention had already focused on the control panels. Carefully, he walked around the room, investigating them all with careful precision. He had made an effort to try to note the placements of all the controls when he was back on the Lavender 1. The effort paid off, as he could tell that everything was in the same place.
He jumped as a spark erupted and nearly singed his eyebrows off.
“Careful.” Sophia called out, rubbing her eyes. “Don’t touch anything. Who knows what it does?”
“There isn’t anyone here.” The boy replied, already switching topics. “No one to tell us what’s going on.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing?” Neil said from the floor.
“Did we check all the rooms? Perhaps we missed them?” Timothy reasoned.
Alex shook his head, “if anyone would be anywhere, it’d be here… wait a second.”
They all watched as their friend bent over a section of the control panel, his body straining as he reached for something. “Let me help.” Sophia said, coming up beside him.
Together, the two wrapped their fingers around the edge of something thin and round. They jolted as it gave way, sending them stumbling back as it crashed to the floor.
Neil stood and moved closer. “What is it?”
Whatever the strange contraption was, it served as market difference from the rest of the machines. It was a small and thin box, with two circular shapes jutting out from the top and bottom and meeting at the center. The wheels, or maybe gears, wobbled in the air, like the legs of an overturned bug.
“I have no idea.” Alex admitted as he dusted himself off. “But it’s the only thing I could see that was new. Look here, there’s paper.”
Sure enough, a tiny piece of paper was poking from a slip on the box. Timothy attempted to grab it, but no matter how hard he pulled, it wouldn’t budge. “That’s str-”
Suddenly, the boy found himself unable to finish his sentence. It took him a moment to realize why, but once he did, it became obvious. After all, it’s a little hard to talk when your mouth is on the floor. Stranger yet, there appeared to be more stars than there used to be, swirling all around in his vision. He would’ve said how pretty they were, but again, his mouth was on the floor.
The Lavender 9 had shuddered, like an animal trapped in the cold. The red barrage of lights flickered as everyone struggled to maintain their balance.
Sophia had tried to catch Timothy before he fell, but the poor boy went over like a house of cards. Instead, she and her other, more balance-prone friends grabbed hold of the control panels. “Shit, is everyone alright?”
While no one could see it, Neil’s eyes had gone wide. The idea of the detaching ships came back to him like an incurable rash. “We need to leave!”
“We can’t!” Alex protested. “We just got here! There could be so much more to learn!”
“What good will it do us if we’re all dead?”
Tenderly, Sophia helped Timothy to his feet. In addition to his purple chin, he was now sporting a swollen lip. “What happened?”
Ignoring him, Sophia glanced around the room, weighing her options. “Neil’s right. There’s no telling what happened to this place. We should go back. At least on the Lavender 1 we know nothing works. Here, anything could be happening.”
The boy with the tie looked displeased but conceded. “Fine. But we take this thing.” He said, reaching down and picking up the dislodged contraption. “It could be useful.”
The girl nodded. “Everyone, follow me.”
Neil wasn’t going to argue about heading back to safety, so he hastily fell in line. He adjusted his goggles, ready to call out if he saw anything dangerous. You should be shouting at the top of your lungs now. This place is a deathtrap. It was reassuring that the Lavender 9 remained still, although the quiet may have added to his tension. At least when there’s a storm you can expect the thunder, but when all is motionless, you never can tell what’s coming.
The trip back took less time, without the need to check each and every doorway for a foe that never appeared. Despite this, they couldn’t help but feel that something was watching their backs, even though they knew that no one was there. The corridor went on and on until eventually they found themselves back at where the ships connected.
Not waiting to be invited, Neil hurled himself through the entryway. His chest heaved as he let out a breath that he hadn’t known he was holding. “I’m never going in there again.”
Instinctually, the group headed back to the control room. Admittedly, it was strange as they made their way there. It was like they were stuck in a loop, committing the same actions over and over. Only this time, they could at least see where they were going.
On the way, Alex turned to Neil. “Hey, maybe you can fix this.” He said, holding up the contraption. “You got those goggles to work. Why don’t you hold on to this?”
Without agreeing to it, the boy in the tattered coat found himself holding the bulking thing. “Sure… that’s why you want me to have it.”
With a chuckle, Alex watched as Timothy and Neil continued on down the hall. His smile quickly dropped as he spun on his heel, turning to face Sophia. She was already giving him a look that could only be described as ‘what are you up to?’
“I need to tell you something.” He whispered, not wanting to draw attention.
Sophia raised an eyebrow, which was her way of saying ‘go on.”
The boy gritted his teeth. “Back on the other ship, I noticed a detail in the sanitation room that may be a bit, well, alarming.” He waited for to reply, but she just gave him the same look again. “The broken glass… none of it was inside the tubes. Do you get what that means?”
“I’m sure you’ll tell me.” She said, breaking her silence.
“Well, if detective stories have taught me anything, it means that whatever broken them must’ve done so from the inside.”
“So?”
“So, that means someone would’ve had to have broken out, not in.” He explained, with a flair of his hands.
Sophia was confused. “Why didn’t you tell us when you saw?”
“I didn’t want you to worry, and I still don’t.” He sighed, rubbing his eyes like he was tired. “I thought that I’d let you know, since you’re the one with the gun and all. But if I had said anything, Neil probably would’ve bolted.”
“You think that there’s something still in there?”
“No, no. That probably happened long ago, considering how filthy the place was when we found it.” Alex observed, twiddling with his tie.
The girl sighed and shook her head. “You should’ve told us. That might’ve changed things.”
“We needed to know what was inside.” He countered.
“Still, you should’ve said something when you saw it! I could’ve… I could’ve… I-I…”
It was Alex’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Sophia?”
“What?” She blinked, forgetting herself. “I… never mind. Forget it! Just don’t do it again, okay?”
Inside the dome room, Neil had just made a discovery. Looking up at his blond friend, they matched smiles as the boy ripped the goggles from off of his head. “Who needs an instruction manual?”
As Sophia and Alex entered, they saw their friends sharing stupid grins. “Look!” Timothy said with glee. “He got it working!”
Neil was kneeling on the floor with the contraption on his lap. Currently, he was twirling his arms around, making circular motions as he held onto the two jutting wheels. “I worked on an old movie projector like this before. Kinda gotta keep it turning until it works.”
As he spun the mechanical gears, the little piece of paper began to unravel from the end. He couldn’t help but be reminded of how a receipt used to be printed back on Earth.
“What does it say?” Asked Timothy, with red, eager eyes.
The boy in the tattered coat reached over and ripped the paper. One the scroll, printed in a dark black ink, was a series of words going down in a line.
T
T
T
T
“Just some letters. Gibberish.” He muttered as he continued to spin. “Unless you guys know what it means.”
Alex stepped forward, although he didn’t seem to be looking anywhere near what was happening. “I’ll be careful.” He said slowly.
“Sure, knock yourself out.” The boy tossed his friend the slip of paper.
He neglected to catch it.
Sophia titled her head. No, it was more like she rested her skull on her shoulder. “Five more minutes.”
Neil furrowed his brows, confused. “… until?”
The contraption whirled, spitting out a fresh new line of paper.
There i
There i
There i
There i
“Well, at least we know we can understand it.” Neil said with a chuckle.
No one responded.
For some reason, as the boy in the tattered coat continued his work, he got a familiar feeling. It was so sudden that it took him a minute to identify it. It was one he knew all too well, but yet felt alien, especially now. For some odd reason, he felt alone. It was like he was back during those first months, yelling at his own echo. But that time was over now, and he tried to push it away.
“I’m sorry, I’ll do better.” Timothy said, his cheery smile on his lips. “I’ll do better.”
There is n
There is n
There is n
There is n
“Guys, you’re not making sense.” Neil spoke, the feeling not going away. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry, I’ll do better.” Timothy repeated, kindly.
“Just five more minutes.” Sophia replied.
“I’ll be careful.” Alex finished.
Neil’s smile dropped, his mind a mixture of confusion of worries. “If this is a joke, it’s not funny. Especially not right now, guys… guys?”
Sophia looked at her friend with the same eyes that she had used to comfort him a thousand times- but today he found no solace in them. Her hand reached down, unstrapping the Blazer from the ring of her jacket. “Just five more minutes.”
“I’ll be careful.” Alex said, as he walked over to a group of wires and plucked out a long cord. His steps were staggard, like they had been when he was too exhausted to stand.
“What are you doing with that? Why are you…” Neil’s sentence was cut off as he twitched violently, unable to contain it.
Timothy took a step forward, his hands reaching out as the muscles in his arms strained. “I-I-I’m sorry, I-I-I’ll do better.”
From the ground, the contraption whirled. Though perhaps it didn’t matter, seeing how no one was there that would focus on it. But, if there had been, they would have read the following words:
There is no dust.
There is no dust.
There is no dust.
There is no dust.