On My Knees

With a ding and the sound of metal scraping against itself, the doors of the elevator soon opened themselves yet again. While the trio of friends were sure they went up, they couldn't help but feel like they were below ground. The windows on the outside of the building were merely a facade as all the walls of the large open office space were covered with machinery. Hardly any natural light made it in through the cracks.

Lining the entire height of the walls were rows and rows of computer equipment. Giant boxes with flashing and glowing lights flickered on and off. With only little cubicles sectioning off the different spaces, it seemed like this one floor was able to house over a hundred employees. The lights on the ceiling were dull. The main source of light seemed to be coming from the hundreds of computer monitors within the room.

But while the floor itself was mesmerizing to the friends, they first had to get past their first obstacle. Just outside the elevator doors another checkpoint resided. Similarly to the first floor, there was only one guard seated at the desk. With his feet kicked up onto the desk face with a newspaper in his hands, the man didn't even seem to notice their arrival.

Leaving the elevator as they approached the security desk only a few feet away from them, the trio of friends cautiously neared.

Clearing her throat, Nina and her friends watched as the guard dropped his newspaper into his lap just far enough to see over it. Seeing his eyes scan them briefly before putting his newspaper down slowly, the man soon stood fixing the belt around his waist as he did. He easily towered over all three of them as he inspected each and everyone one of them. "What brings you three here?" He asked.

"We're here to see someone." Nina replied trying not to let the intimidation of the guard frighten her.

"Who?" The guard preceded to ask as he cautiously looked at them. It wasn't everyday people who didn't work here wandered onto this floor. Their presence alone was suspicious. Adding Nina's response only made them seem guiltier.

"Why do you care?" Lauren asked instead before Nina had a chance to respond. Crossing her arms over her chest, Lauren held her head high as she looked the guard straight into his cold eyes. "Last I checked, we don't answer to a man who sits at a desk all day long checking ID's." Both Nina and Alex seemed surprised by Lauren's fearless attitude towards the man. "Now are you going to let us through or not."

Stuck in a standoff, Lauren and the man maintained eye contact seemingly waiting for the other to drop their guard. But both of them weren't giving in. Lauren kept her eyebrows furrowed as she watched the man closely. She wasn't going to break.

Scowling as he didn't care enough to put up with what he presumed was more of Mallix's stuck up acquaintances, the guard's glare subsided as he quickly scanned the three friends ID's before letting them in. Once inside, the guard went straight back to his light reading while the friends began their search.

For as many computers as there were the room was eerily quiet. The buzzing sound of machinery seemed to be the loudest on the entire floor. Walking down the rows of cubicles in search for Eric, it felt like walking through a maze trying to find the right cubicle out of the hundreds. Left and right the friends twisted and turned reading every name tag on the outside of the cubicles. Most of the men and women working paid them little to no attention, and the ones who did couldn't help but shrink into their small plastic seats turning as far away from the friends as they could.

"This place is weird." Lauren commented, keeping her voice low, after turning down another long line of cubicles. "It seems like it would take over a year to learn the layout of this place. Who sets up an office like this?"

"Someone who doesn't care about them." Nina retorted.

"So are you guys ever going to tell me who Eric is?" Alex asked seeing as they had time to kill while they searched for the right room.