Story Reader / Affection / Roland: Flambeau / Story
Beep, beep... Beep, beep, beep...
You were not expecting such a prompt response, so you rush back to the comms device.
The green indicator flickers in the darkness. A series of rhythmic beeps emits from the device, long and short, starting and pausing—you immediately realize that someone is responding to your distress signal.
Although you do not understand why the other party is not directly speaking, you focus on the frequency of the beeping and start to decipher the message.
There is someone other than you who is trapped in the prison. You do not know the stranger's identity or allegiance, but right now, you latch on to it like a ship finding its course on a foggy sea.
However, the beeps do not make sense at all. There is no rule nor sequence to them, leaving you confused after trying numerous deciphering methods.
You originally thought it was Morse code or Polybius cipher, but no matter what you try, you end up with nonsense. For some unknown reason, you feel an odd familiarity.
The beeping repeats relentlessly, reverberating in the silence of the room. Your fingers subconsciously tap the desk while you think.
The tapping and beeping intertwine. Your fingers move to the rhythm of the beeps as if it is the drummer in this performance.
Wait... Drums?
If your tapping is the drums and beats, then the beeping is—
As if the thorns tugging at your mind are ignited, a point in your memory calls for your attention.
This is the melody of the theme song of the Golden Age movie "Fort/da".
In the movie, the protagonist is jailed after being framed for a crime they did not commit. One day during work, they notice that the sequence of threads is wrong and thus decipher a message from a prisoner they have never met before. In the end, they are able to cooperate and escape from prison.
In the story, the two characters live in different cells and work at different times, so they can only communicate passively.
This melody first plays when the two characters formally "meet" each other. They have spent a month deciding the best time and place and are able to meet up for five minutes without anyone noticing. Thus begins their escape plan.
Now, what exactly is this other person trying to convey by sending over this melody?
After a moment of thought, you focus on "where" this melody is played, which is an important location in the movie—
Is this what the other person is trying to tell you?
Uncertainty floods your mind. You once again place your hand on the device. You search deeper from your memories as you send another message to test the waters.
You send the message, but it is not the SOS you sent before—you send the next segment of the melody.
After repeatedly sending it over three times, the beeping from the device stops.
The silence lasts less than ten seconds before the beeping starts again.
Three short, three long, and then three short beeps again.
This time you understand the message.
There is someone else who is also trapped in this prison and, for some reason, unable to send a voice message. For all you know, this person may not even be able to move, which is why the message is a location.
These are all your speculations, and you cannot rule out the possibility of a trap, but it is enough information for you to go on and take action.
There is one more question on your mind, which is why the other person had to indicate the location in such a subtle way.
But staying here will not get you the answer. The only thing you can do now is to take every chance you get.
You confirm the location of the laundry room on the map. Good thing this old prison only comes with one laundry room, and it is situated right between the two buildings.
Overlapping the mental image of the map of Corrupted signals you went over before the mission started with the blueprint in front of you, you plan the safest route.
You are currently in Zone A, which has a lower virus concentration, while the laundry room is connected to Zone B, which has a higher concentration. From the map, you can see that the warden's office in Zone A is just next to the laundry room.
Looks like that is where the signal is coming from.
Roland has to admit that things are exceeding his expectations.
His message was not only deciphered correctly but was responded in kind. This unexpected development has thrown him for a loop.
He was not expecting someone to be able to respond to his message when he played that melody as a joke.
He was only interested to see what kind of confusion the calm and collected person asking for help would fall into upon receiving the nonsensical signals and what action would be taken.
Never in a million years does he think that he would be the one confused instead.
Heading toward the target location.
That is the last message the other person has left. It seems like that person has already moved from where the signal originated.
...Is that person coming over here? Or would that person choose to ignore him and leave?
Is there really anyone out there who would be willing to risk their lives in an abandoned prison where danger lurks at every corner just to respond to an unknown distress signal?
...
Of course not.
Roland reaches the conclusion as soon as the question pops into his mind.
Someone like that does not exist.
However... that little interaction over the beeps just now did leave Roland "pleasantly surprised."
God knows how long it has been since he last felt that.
...Anticipation?
Even he does not know what he is anticipating and how this will play out.
He has anticipated quite a few times in his life but never did they not end in disappointment.
To him, the feeling of "anticipation" itself is a kind of cruel punishment, as if it is the Sword of Damocles hanging above his head.
—Cowardly prayers cannot save oneself, nor can the suffering he has experienced.
That is the truth of his world.
Ha, anticipation.
...
...I guess it wouldn't hurt to wait, just for a while.
