All of Space and Time

The Heart of Kerblam

"We made it! We're totally not dead!" Ryan exclaimed. We all started to laugh and I took the time to look around the room. There were hundreds, no thousands of conveyor belts running through this entire room. Miles and miles of it. Up, down, left, right. All I could see were conveyor belts all carrying Kerblam boxes.

Soon our belt past through another shoot with protective plastic. "Disinfection post. Get down!" Charlie shouted and we did. We all ducked as far down as we could covering our heads.

"Organic contamination detected." The system said shooting down compressed air and disinfectant. "Initiate disinfection." We passed through another set of protective plastic. "Disinfection unsuccessful."

"Ugh," Ryan groaned. "It tastes like-"

"Organic contamination persists. Hygiene defenses activated. Initiate disintegration." The system said.

"Run!" Charlie shouted. We got up and ran to the end of the belt as fast as we could. Dodging the system's disintegration beams. "This- This way! Follow me!" He shouted and we did as he said. We ran as fast as we could to the end.

Charlie was first to run out, I was second, Yaz was next, and Ryan stumbled lastly into a pile of garbage. I bent over and began to catch my breath. "I'm never doing that again!" Ryan shouted when he got to his feet.

"So, we're at the foundation level." Yaz said looking around. I stood up and followed her gaze. It was completely empty. Just cement columns and empty space.

"Yeah." Charlie nodded.

"Hello?" Called a muffled voice in the distance. I looked to the others and they seemed worried. "Help!" She called again.

"That's Kira's voice." Charlie said as we all continued to slowly work are way down towards where we heard the voice.

"I think it came from this way..." Yaz said.

"Maybe, room like this?" I said looking around. "The echo could be coming from anywhere." I said. The lights started to dim all the way out before coming back on again. "Our best bet is to just go this way and see where it leads." I said taking the lead down the now dark and scary tunnel. I thought I saw something move out the corner of my eye and I jumped.

"What?" Yaz asked. "What is it?"

"Nothing." I said in relief. "Just a shadow." I kept moving forward and the lights grew darker before getting lighter again. "If something appears in the darkness out of nowhere. I just want to say ahead of time, I'm running the other way. With or without you..."

"Now who's the chicken shit?" Ryan said smugly.

"Shut it, Sinclair." I said.

"Hello?" Came Kira's voice again. This time we could tell where it was coming from and we ran towards it.

At the end of the tunnel was a room with a glass window. "Kira!" Ryan shouted banging in the glass. She didn't seem to hear us, or see us.

"One way glass." I said I knocked on it and listened to the echo. "It's to thick for her to hear us. This is strong, stronger than bulletproof glass on earth." I said as a Kerblam box appeared in front of her on the table. "Why would someone need protective glass this thick? It could stop a bomb." As soon as I said it I realized what was going to happen. "We need to get her out of there now!" I shouted.

"Let us find the entrance!" Yaz shouted. She went one way and I went the other. The walls were sealed up tight. Not a single crack. Who ever built it knew what they were doing. After searching the walls and the back of the room, Yaz and I returned to the others. "There's no access for me."