Finding the stairs is not a difficult story to explain - just find the exit and go down them. At least that's what I thought until I got there. Before I stepped into the stairwell, I heard a breaking noise:

"do not move!" Rosalina stopped me before I noticed the surroundings - there were no stairs. Everything there is hollow like an abyss, with some cracks and holes with vegetation between the walls. I almost walked to my death and I just stood there pale at the thought before backing away and closing the exit door.

"Can you give me an alternative plan?"

"Yes!" she replied before returning to her usual silence. I was looking for things that might help, so she replied:

"You can use the magnet function of the suit and try to cling to the walls of the stairwell. I calculated your weight, the equipment and the suit and the amount of battery available in it - if you descend without a break, it will take two hours and 12 minutes on average to reach the base of the building"

"that's for sure?"

"There are too many missing factors to accurately calculate right now. Could you examine the elevator room and the teleportation room to assess the situation?"

I proceeded to the elevator room, where there was a large steel door. It was always used in case the teleportation room was overloaded, but the wide door with all my might at the moment is pretty useless. I did what I always did before - took the plasma knife and cut holes before the door started to come off its hinges and fall toward the shaft. I saw them fall into an abyss similar to the stairwell. I waited long seconds before hearing them all echo down the shaft just as they crashed to the bottom, but the shaft was too dark for me to see the show. Right after that I advanced to the teleportation room and there the machine stood without a scratch!

I quickly moved forward to examine it, but with no energy to activate it, it was pretty much useless. So all I did was survey the place before leaving the room back by the stairwell.

"I looked at the other options after you reviewed the other rooms. Unfortunately, none of them are as good as the first one"

"That I feared would be an answer, but in a situation like this, I think I should have expected it." I answered her before walking back to the stairwell. I checked all my equipment and tied things well. I took a deep breath and began to bend toward the wall.

"Here, stick your hand to one of the sides of the wall" Rosalina warned me before I started to place my left hand on one of the walls. suddenly I feel the force being drawn to it and stuck to it like glue. I held the other hand on the beam of the exit door.

"Now put your left foot on the same line of your hand"

I put my foot down and the same force stuck me to it. It feels strange to season my training program for investigation. It feels useful for a change that reminds me of this period.

"Don't lose focus Colin" She brought me back to this dangerous reality and I put my weight on the glued leg. It felt like a floor to me rather than floating or climbing once I released my hold towards the sticky part.

"Now lay like a lizard down on this area" Laser got out of the suit and revealed the place I followed her and put my legs in a downward bend and she also feels stuck to the wall. This feeling is exciting, only if I don't remember being over an abyss.

"Great, now I'm releasing the first leg" and then the sticky feeling went away as my left leg started to come down. I almost lost my balance and threw my foot down and it stuck back. A rock fell from my soul the moment it happened.

"Be careful Colin" she said in her usual voice before I took a deep breath. Fear and sweat are already surrounding me because I know that a small mistake will drop me to my death. Even staying there is death. I prefer a quick death to a tedious slow death. I moved my left hand that had just come loose and threw my hand down before it stuck back. I finally freed my right hand from the exit door beam and placed it on the wall while a laser suit indicated the position to place. I have officially started climbing down. Gently I started to go down, like a lizard on a wall, I put my limbs down one by one, and more and more I started to go down gently while Rosalina guides me. I quickly started to pick up the pace.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The stairwell was lit from the outside by the many holes that appeared from the outside. I didn't look out, but I noticed other things that appeared - part of the wall was covered in black-gray ash and with every step I went down, it left behind my footsteps as a signature. Further down while going down I passed by a climbing plant coming out of one of the holes. At a closer look they looked strange to me. Maybe I have never seen such a plant before or my memory is worn out. I was not interested in these plants much, I continued to climb down. The light began to fade as time passed and my legs began to creak with every movement. The pain of climbing as someone who doesn't do this feels terrible, even after training for such similar environments, it still feels terrible.

"How much longer do I have to get off?" I asked her as I continued to struggle through the pain and fatigue of the seemingly endless descent.

"In another 27 steps down" she answered quickly and my motivation grew as I started to pick up the pace despite the pain. Another step and another step I took as I went down. Suddenly I hear something from above.

"Warning! A large object is falling above you! 6 seconds to hit!"

Oh no! Why must it be so?! Fear and panic began to fill me and the will to live began to take shape as I began to try to pick up the pace.

"5 seconds to hit"

I look around to try for a faster way down, but the light is too dim to see anything. The adrenaline started to be felt even more and the pain disappeared. I try to think quickly what to do. Time feels slower as I continue to descend.

"4" Rosalina continued to beep the count and I thought of something - a few more steps I'll know down. Suddenly I feel all my grip release from the wall and I started to fall. I try to grab hold of the wall but it doesn't stick anymore and I slide on the wall while falling.

"3" I try to hold the bag tightly in my body and bend down to prepare for a collision with the bottom. In my heart I had already written my will for my fictional self. Within a few moments I felt a collision

And I feel a blow to my body, I screamed in pain before I flew to the side and rolled towards one of the walls, but I didn't feel an obstacle blocking my way. I closed my eyes all this way and then I hear a big boom from behind and splinters started to hit me. I've already lost consciousness before it's worth predicting what happened next.

"Colin"

I hear voices before they get louder

"Colin"

I opened my eyes and pain began to envelop me and I find myself lying in the fetal position and slowly regaining my senses.

"Colin, you managed to regain consciousness" she answered me.

"How can I regain consciousness?" I asked rhetorically before trying to sit up but only managed to sit up. I feel great pain in my back and try to rub it, but the suit prevented me from doing so.

"Rosalina, why did you release the magnets before I was down?" I asked with slight anger, knowing she was an AI and she probably did the best for me.

"This is the best way to save your life" she replied

"Can you tell me the damage?" I try to look around, but moving my body hurts me like a burn.

"Analyzing the request... Summary - moderate injury with slight internal bleeding in the back. The injury was mostly absorbed by the bag. Your pain levels are high. Property damage - all the water and food for printing crashed in the collision. The plasma rifle sustained minor damage but can be used without problems. The suit was not damaged and neither were the other objects"

I try to gently stand myself up and push myself to stand. In the end, I succeeded despite the pain and turned around to see the damage - the floor I was on was particularly dark, especially for the flashlight that illuminated the suit and it shows the area of impact - the entire bag was torn and dust from the food and the puddles of water mixed, and they all came from a deposit of steel cables and concrete that crashed At the time of the impact, together with the case. The damage was obvious everywhere I looked. I approached him before I hit him out of frustration.

"So what now?" I asked

"Thought... offers rest to heal wounds. As for food and water I'm afraid all we had is gone."

"Agreed with that, and what are my chances of survival now?"

"Still the same data, only worst"

"It was obvious" I let out a small puff of air as I gathered up the rest of my belongings and the remains of the bag. I put the plasma rifle and the knife at my side while the torn bag improvised something and inside it I put the cables, the printer, the energy center of the respirators, the black cube and the channeling device in it. It didn't last until all the things fell off before I even pinned them down about the pain.

"I'll take care of it tomorrow" I said to myself in the air while the pain finally overwhelmed me and I lay on the stale floor inside the suit. I look to the sides and the flashlight went out and everything became very dark. I'm trying to understand how I was so lucky today, but if it just started like this, what awaits me in the next few days?" Fear seeped all over my body as I lay down. I couldn't fall asleep at that moment.