Story Reader / Affection / Roland: Flambeau / Story
The journey over to the laundry room goes smoother than you expected.
Avoiding the patrolling mechanoids and passing through the dusty old cells and interrogation rooms, you find most mechanoids ignore you as they carry on with their preset routes, doomed to repeat for eternity until they eventually join the corpses littered on the floor.
Twenty minutes later, you find yourself inside the laundry room.
The laundry room is big, with four rows of washing machines on each side. There are carts scattered about with faded fabric decorating the floor. You edge toward the door on the other side of the room while keeping an eye on your blind spots.
If your speculations are correct, then the person who responded to your distress signal should be behind that door.
You try the door handle but it does not budge. None of the keys you got from the guard unlock it.
Just as you contemplate using force, you hear a rhythmic tapping from a pipe in the corner.
This time there is no melody to it. It only serves to nudge you in the right direction, to "pay attention to here."
Heading toward the sound, you follow the vibrating pipe to a washing machine in the corner, and you can hear the taps coming from the wall behind.
Carefully pushing away the washer, you find a small hole at the bottom of the wall that seems to connect to the other room.
Just as you are about to bend down and inspect, a small black cube rolls out of the hole and stops by your feet.
Without much thought, you bend to pick up the cube.
You instinctively retreat, only picking up the cube after confirming that it is not an explosive.
It looks like a PDA used by the office workers of the prison, almost identical to the device you found in the warden's office.
But this one seems to be operating just fine. The screen wakes up as you wipe away the dust with your fingers.
The monitor displays an online diary of a guard, but most of the content has been turned into random codes due to data damage.
What catches your attention is the topmost message.
Hello, stranger.
Apologies that I can only communicate with you like this.
After a few seconds of silence, the message refreshes again.
I believe you are stuck here like me. I'm sorry to spring this on you, but I need your help.
And thus, things are unfolding in a way out of Roland's expectations once again.
That person really did traverse through half the prison to where he is.
...Ha, to be wrong twice in a row, what a peculiar experience.
The unfamiliar and tingly feeling dissipates not long after. Roland forces himself to focus on the message he just sent on the device.
Hm... Was this a tad too dramatic as an opening line?
But it does look like an interesting start to a story.
Oh Roland, looks like you still have what it takes to do improv.
Roland's lips pull into a wry smile. Sitting in the corner against the wall, he props his chin on one hand while he stares at the device in his other.
This was an unexpected find while he was wandering around the prison. The specially designed device can send and receive messages just like the fixed comms equipment in the prison.
While he had waited, he spent his time repairing it. Although tthe audio module was completely destroyed, the other functions are still operational.
Will you play along with me?
After a while, the message refreshes.
Oh, hook, line, and sinker. What a kind person.
...
After understanding the usage of the device, you replied to the other person in the form of a new dairy post.
Confirming that the laundry room is not under the threat of the Corrupted, you sit down by the wall.
Only a wall separates you and the person who is in the same situation, but the two of you are only able to communicate through the small device in your hands.
They explained their situation. They were looking for supplies when the doors suddenly closed and thus trapped them here.
It seems that they also do not know why the emergency mode was activated, so you place your focus on how to escape.
First, you think about breaking down a wall or door with force, but you immediately realize why that would not be possible.
The weapons you currently carry are not strong enough to destroy a prison door or wall, and you can guess that applies to the other person as well.
Looks like you'll have to come up with another plan if you want to converge with the other person.
You recall the memory of the map you found in the office, and realize something.
The main control room that controls all exits is not far from where you currently are, while the warden's office is situated in the middle of Zone B.
If you can find hints regarding control commands in the warden's office, then there is a chance that you can crack the command in the main control room and open the main gates of the prison.
Understood. What do you require of me?
And so you tell the other person your plan.
I see...
Working together, huh? All right, it has been a while. And it is more interesting than breaking out by force.
Getting to the warden's office is like a stroll in the park for Roland, but... for a weak and trapped person, getting past all the Corrupted on the way is impossible.
Right, for authenticity, I need to increase the difficulty.
Hm... "But there are lots of Corrupted blocking the way to the warden's office, I can't take care of them all on my own."
That sounds about right.
After a while, he receives a reply.
Okay. I'll distract them, wait for my signal.
...Distract them?
How? How can one distract Corrupted that they couldn't even reach?
All right then, let's see what you've got.
I'll wait for your good news in the warden's office, my dear stranger.
Roland stands and heads toward the warden's office.
He whisks through the dim corridors as if he is taking a stroll and window shopping.
Suddenly, a piercing static noise interrupts the peace from afar.
The volume of the static quickly lowers, replaced by piano music. Due to the lack of maintenance of the prison's audio systems, the song is mixed with static noise, turning the originally soothing piano music into something from a horror movie.
?
The piano music barely lasted a second before it got turned into elegant cello music. It looks like someone is accessing the prison's audio system.
Has that person already reached the control room?
All over the prison, rackets of mechanoids crashing and noises of damaged audio modules can be heard. The Corrupted realize where the sound is coming from and start to make their way over from different directions.
So this is what they meant when they said they'll "distract them."
Not bad.
The music changes again, this time from the elegant cello music to death metal.
The wild voice of death reverberates within the prison walls, sounding even more spine-chilling than the wailing of the Corrupted.
...?
The Corrupted rush over, gathering under the speaker.
The death metal stops and a pop song starts to play, followed by jazz, rap, and even the prison's 15th set of radio calisthenics.
...What are you, a DJ?
Not long after, the music changes again.
Flamenco music plays from the prison speakers, startling Roland a bit.
That is the same song that is used in the prison-themed movie. The protagonist deliberately starts a group fight to avert the attention of the guards, while the other character go and steal a metal piece for lockpicking when the guards are busy stopping the fight.
The director brilliantly chose to use flamenco as the background music to create a humorous yet exciting scene.
The message on the device finally refreshes.
Sorry for the wait. That was my signal.
You can head toward the warden's office now.
Pft... Ha... Hahahaha!
This human is more interesting than I thought.
Looks like I won't be bored for the time being.
With the path all cleared, Roland soon arrives at the warden's office.
It doesn't take him long to find the command and passcode. Old safes are easy to break, and no secret can hide from Roland.
What intrigues him more at the moment is his "partner."
Roland sends over the command and passcode through the device, and receives a swift reply.
The door is open. Nice working with you.
There are still Corrupted outside so we can meet in the cafeteria area first before breaking out together. I've already planned our routes.
The following message simply explains their intended way of escape and route. It also details possible situations and their solutions.
...Tsk, I thought our cooperation would end here, not develop into a meeting.
Well, this sure is a first, someone who goes looking for trouble.
The stunt you pulled just now would've earned you a bit fat zero from an angry instructor if you were in an F.O.S. tactical simulation class. After all, no one would use popular music as a signal on the battlefield.
While adding in a little "extra something" for the other person.
You had looked at the map in the control room to decide the best place for carrying out the distraction, and then made the loudest noise you could with the speakers, leading away the Corrupted on the route toward the warden's office.
The other person found the warden's office fairly quickly. You thought it might take some time for them to find the command and passcode, but it is sent to you soon after.
You immediately key in the code on the control panel to unlock the gates. The indicator lamp on the monitor labeled "Control Area Door" turns green.
The outermost lock is removed. You can finally leave.
You shake your legs as you take in a deep breath, and notify the other person that the gates are open. But that doesn't mean you're safe yet. The Corrupted who are lurking around are still a threat.
Which is why you suggested to the other person to meet up first.
Why would you go through all the trouble?
I might hinder you though.
The gates are open, I've lost all my value, you could've just abandoned me here and left.
Why would you still want to take the long way and converge with me first?
...
There is a pause in the refreshing of messages.
Even though I only sent over a melody from an unpopular movie?
...I doubt anyone else would've understood.
Maybe it's best that there's no next time.
Even though you cannot see the expression of the person on the other end of these messages, you can feel their wryness from their words.
Because the only Morse code I know is 'SOS'.
^-^
An emoticon shows up on the screen.
That's because the passcode was just stuck to the underside of the table.
You couldn't stifle the smile on your face.
Maybe we can have a chat.
About the movie, among other things.
...
Roland reads the replies on device, his face void of emotion.
Even though he's just playing a character in the chat, he still feels a tinge of real emotion there.
Bitterness, joy, and slight anticipation, they slowly flood out of his heart like bubbles, only for him to crush them with his bare hands.
An actor does not show their own emotions.
To seek truth in an illusion will only come back and stab him in the back one day.
...Ha.
What... am I even doing?
