Page 122 of Immersed
“The building reconfigures itself,”Levi explained, noting how Asher had positioned himself between him and the newcomers.“It’s part of its security system.”
“Security against what?”Maddie asked, moving further into the room.“What is this place protecting?”
“Faine, maybe,”Asher answered before Levi could.“Or what’s left of him.”
Tyler approached the glass cabinet, studying the timeline of Faine’s transformation with poorly concealed disgust.“He did this to himself?Voluntarily?”
“In pursuit of immortality,”Levi said.“He believed the human body was just a machine that could be maintainedindefinitelywith the right replacements.”
“That’s insane,” Maddie murmured, hugging herself as if suddenly cold.
“We found a key that might help us get out of here,”Levi said, redirecting the conversation to their immediate goal.“Do either of you have something that can play one of those tapes?”
“Surprisingly, yeah, I do!” Maddie pulled off her backpack and felt along several pockets before she produced a small, battered cassette player, its metal surface scratched but functional. “Jasper insisted we bring this thing. He said it was backup in case someone dropped their digital recorder in a puddle again.”
Tyler snorted. “You mean in caseJasperdropped it in a puddle again.”
“Exactly.” Maddie moved to the cabinet and selected one of the numbered tapes. “Let’s see what Dr. Faine had to say.”
She inserted the cassette and pressed play. After a moment of static, Faine’s voice filled the room: clinical, precise, but with an undercurrent of growing obsession:
“Patients 461 and 078 did not adjust well to internal brain stimulation. It appears sedation during procedures can reduce the effectiveness. Preparations for the next batch should be conducted without the use of sedatives—”
Maddie shut it off with a frown. “That’s enough of that.”
The dictation machine hummed to life, internal mechanisms whirring with surprising vigor for their age. After several tense seconds, a cheerful chime sounded and a cylinder ejected from the machine, presented like a gift. Levi grabbed it.
“Two down, one to go,”he said with a nod toward Asher.
He has to realize now why we need them, and why we can’t let more of them disappear.
“We should go,”Levi said, tucking the cylinder into his pocket alongside the blood vial.“The Observation Deck is next—that’s where we’ll find the third key.”
As if in response to his words, a low rumble emanated from within the walls. The floor beneath them vibrated.
“What’s happening?”Maddie asked, alarm edging into her voice.
The rumble intensified, and the floor lurched beneath them, tilting at a slight angle. Picture frames slid from the walls, crashing to the floor. The massive desk began to inch across the carpet.
“Run!”Levi shouted, pointing to the door.“Now!”
They bolted for the exit, the floor’s angle increasing with every second. The doorway was their only escape route, but it was shifting, contracting before their eyes as the walls themselves began to fold inward like massive origami.
Tyler reached it first, shoving Maddie through before following himself. Levi was next, with Asher close behind. They emerged into a corridor that was already transforming—the ceiling descending in alternating panels, the floor buckling in waves that traveled its length like ripples on a pond.
“This way!”Tyler called, taking the lead as they navigated thechanging architecture.
This isn’t right, it didn’t move like this before. This is impossible.
Walls didn’t just move; they folded, bent, reconfigured into new forms. The corridor ahead split into multiple branches, then recombined like a kaleidoscope in action.
“Look out!”Levi shouted as a section of floor ahead of Maddie began to fold inward.
She leapt forward,narrowlyavoiding the collapsing segment. But the movement and constant reshaping continued, the floor behind her folding upward while the section ahead folded downward, creating arapidlynarrowing funnel.
“Maddie!”Tyler lunged for her.
The space where Maddie stood contracted from all sides. She screamed, the sound cut offabruptlyas the sections sealed together, forming a perfect cube.
