Leave The Monster Alone

The cave was surprisingly empty if it could even be called a cave at that point. The inside was actually built like an office space with every comfort one could imagine in modern times. Not only was the electric outlets up and running, but it even had a dedicated ventilation system in prime condition.

That had been the first thing Mark had noticed when he did his first sweep of the place. Every corner indicated that someone had likely been here and had used this pace recently. 

Why had his system led him here?

The only thing peculiar about this whole situation was the lack of communication equipment inside the place. There was no computer, no control panel nor any telephone. Even the communication signal had been cut off as soon as he had entered this part.

"I did another sweep but there is no indication anything is here. We cannot communicate out of here" great. If this was a trap then they both were stuck here for good. Hopefully, Kuro would be able to sniff them out if needed.

"So, what should we do now. My system shut down so I don't know any further instructions" Mark could go out to get more instructions but it would prove to be difficult. And there was no guarantee that he would be able to come back here at all.

"Should we check the drawers? Maybe someone left a note?" Mark had not been the only one who had noticed the condition of this place. Even Alan could tell someone had recently been here.

Anyway, this was the only chance they had so they got to searching through the drawers. There was nothing significant that caught their eye, just a lot of official documents Mark could not read and a storybook.

"Let me scan them. We can translate them once we get back to the home base. Should we take the storybook as well?" Alan asked as he eyed the storybook with distaste. These tense times were no place for fairytales but children could find them interesting?

There was not much entertainment anyway so this was the best they could do. Mark handed the files over to the teen who already had his arms full. It caused the pile to temple over and pages were sent flying along with the storybook.

"Sorry, I did not see. You alright?" Alan made a pained expression as the storybook fell right on top of his foot but that was more due to the shock of the moment than anything else.

"I'm alright. Let's pick them all up again" a lot of pages had flown out of the files and made it difficult to tell which one belonged to which. However, the difference in language and writing did help in the end.

"Where do I put this blank page? This is the only blank one so I don't know what to do" a blank page? It was peculiar, especially if this was the only blank one that existed.

"Wait. I'll take a quick look" Mark went through the file once, then twice but there was no blank page. Alan also went through two more just to be sure and as they had experienced - there were no blank pages anywhere.

"Can it be from the storybook? Someone put it inside there?" That was the only possibility if they eliminated the field. However, they could not be sure.

"I think this is an important page we need to be careful about. Let's hurry on out" Mark was the one who suggested it and yet he was the one to hesitate. Someone, he felt like he would never see this place again.

There was something about this place that was familiar to him. Maybe it was the desk that was so reminiscent of his university dorm, (What dorm? Hadn't he gone to a local university?) or maybe the bookshelf (He remembered his room had a similar pattern of colours).

It just screamed familiar.

"This place is weird. Let's hurry out" Mark agreed. He did not want to stay here any longer than necessary. Especially if it was affecting his memories. Their systems acted as a security system of a kind and he felt unsettled without one.

It just reminded him of the helplessness of the time they saved Rika and that was a feeling he wanted to leave behind.

"Should we make another check?" Mark asked but he did not get an answer. The teen had his face turned toward the opening they had entered and he quickly bolted to push it shut. The very next second, the metal of the door had a circular dent bigger than their head.

"Heard monsters, buzzing, did not get a clear look but looked like bees. Mutated bees. We need to make an escape" Monsters were here already? Obviously, this place was not a safe spot so it was possible to encounter them but still.

Mark had not expected to meet them so early at all. Not to mention, there had been no monsters when they had entered this place.

"Did the insects mutate when they left this place?" Mark could not think of another reason this might have happened. However, that opened many new possibilities. Then, did no animal under this earth mutate?

Mark had never seen an unmutated insect before those bees but he had not really excavated the earth as well. 

"Maybe. However, we now need another way to get out safely. Any suggestions?" Alan's attention was mostly on the outside, tracking those monsters. There was certain unrest in his body that said to defend himself.

Fundamentally, he knew he was stronger than all of those monsters combined and his brain knew that as well. Still, the instinct to assert his dominance would not quietly go down. No matter how much he tried repressing that instinct, it reared its ugly head again and again.

And Alan could not help himself but growl at the irritation that was building up inside him. He did not like it and it did not want to leave him alone.

"Maybe the vents? They had to open someplace outside to pump out the unclean air? Should we try them?" That was an idea that they could use. It was safer than waiting around because the door would give in eventually.

Also, they had to get out before they suffocate here. 

"Give me a sec. I'll scan everything I can and then we can get out. You find the vent mesh that we can break into" Mark would not be able to break it even if he found it. Alan had better hearing and he would be able to follow the wind's sound. Hopefully, follow that sound.

"There is one here. Do I pull it open?" Mark gave a confirmation to the other and scanned every document into his storage system. As a precaution, he even scanned the whole library and the desk into his storage. The room looked quite empty once he was done but it had to be done.

"You want water to drink?" Mark asked Alan who had to be too tired at that point. The other nodded and chunked down a huge portion of the water but made a face as soon as it hit his taste buds.

The fallen water fell onto the empty page that was about to be left behind.

"Yuck. This is the blend we made" Alan complained in a pained way. Mark could sympathise since he had a taste earlier as well. It was different when you were expecting the taste but to drink it unaware was something else. 

"I'm sorry. It even spilt onto the page" Mark gave a sigh as he picked up the wet page but then froze as soon as his eyes met the wet paper.

It was no longer plain white but had letters. The water had exposed the ink beneath, or maybe the mixture had but that said something.

"Let me scan it" Mark quickly scanned the note and also stored it for safety measures. Now it was a matter of getting out before the fragile door gave way. Cracks were beginning to form in the support wall which was essentially mud and fragile.

"Hurry, Alan I'll push you up" the vent would not be reached without assistance and Mark gave Alan the final push needed. Alan had to be the one to pull Mark up which was easier since he had the divine core inside him.

As a measure, Mark did replace the grill that had covered the vent to buy them time. The bees had discovered their space and they could hear them banging on the grill. Hopefully, this would buy them more time than the door.

"Can we not torch them like before?" Alan asked, being fed up with that noise. It was loud and even got on Mark's head, never mind Alan who had even more sensitive hearing than Mark.

"Airflow would not allow that. When we get out, I'll burn the rest of it inside" hopefully it will be soon.