Waiting Shapeless

Chapter 23. Gnumus

In her absentmindedness, Tyler almost walked straight into a wall. She had finally reached the end of the hallway.

She glanced around. The passage branches off on both sides of her, she just needed to decide which one to pursue: right or left.

She studied the right side. It looked no different than the corridor she had just walked though, although she still couldn't see much.

She turned to the left and frowned. It looked the same.

Wait.

She peered down the left side, examining it intensely. There was something different about the left side.

Light. There was more light on the left side. It was a very slight difference, but the difference was definitely there.

Tyler hesitated. Was more light a good thing? Maybe it was better to stick to the darkness. She was wandering through the residence of a murderous maniac after all.

She felt herself drawn to the light though. She was tired of not being able to see anything. Plus, maybe it was a way out?

Tyler turned and started down the left passageway. Her movements were slow and weary as she prepared herself to encounter Short or any other menacing character.

Unlike the rest of the passages, the increased light was not coming from the faint blue plasma flowing across the ceiling, but instead it was coming from up ahead.

The floor was still pooled with the thick fluid. She noticed with disgust that the goop got deeper as she pressed forward. The mysterious fluid now enveloped her entire foot as she stepped.

She cringed as the bile finally began seeping into her shoes. She could now feel it squish between her toes.

The light was coming from an open doorway that broke off from the hall to the right. Tyler continued to move slowly towards it, quietly squishing through the oily muck.

As she drew closer to the light, she was able to make out more of her surroundings. The walls in this section were no longer splashed or smeared by the thick black liquid, although the fluid still filled the whole length of the floor. Deep and thick scratches marred the walls on both sides of her, reminding her of the scarred arm she had examined earlier.

Tyler breathed heavily, her eyes wide as she approached the lit doorway.

She began to miss the blackness; this dull lighting cast uncanny shadows against the walls that continued to trick her into thinking she was seeing something out of the corner of her eye.

She reached the lit doorway, approaching the entrance cautiously. Gripping the thin metal shaft in her hand readily, she peered into the room.

The chamber was small, about the size of a humble bedroom. The walls were defaced with deep claw marks like the ones she had seen before, and the floor was also filled with four or five inches of the sickening black ichor. Besides a long, low lying metal table in the center of the room, the room was void of furniture and fixtures.

The most startling part of the scene were the two Circuit bodies in the room.

The first Circuit that caught her eye was where the light was originating from. The Circuit was hanging in the corner motionlessly, it's eye illuminating the room dully. It was a larger Circuit, similar to the bulky guard Circuits she had seen back in the Queen's mother ship. The long metal pole coming from its top was still connected to the faint lifeline that flowed through the ceiling, which meant that it should still be alive.

Despite that, the Circuit was motionless, eerily staring unblinking towards the center of the room.

The second Circuit was lying face up in the black fluid next to the long table.