"Damn it, we need some light." Kace turned and faced Orette, who was busy staring into those red eyes. "You here with me?".
He snaps his fingers at Orette for her attention.
Orette blinked her eyes twice and turned to Kace. "Yeah, we need light, right? I'll look for a source."
Orette gave one final look at those red, crimson eyes before wandering in the dark. One step at a time.
Her legs kept her hold, her feet slowly made pace, and tapped on dust, creating a 'Chipped' sound.
She extends her arms in front of her, carefully feeling for a wall. She continues like this for a minute or two until she finally bumps into something.
It was hard, but not a wall. It was warm, but not a light.
She tried knocking the object, only to hear a metal being jammed. She then wanders her hands, her fingers smoothing around the metal, feeling its surface.
Her left hand was gently searching the upper surface, while her right hand was busy feeling the surface in front of her.
This continues for fifteen seconds, until Orette's fingers halt against a button. She took the liberty to press it, but stopped.
Her left hand caught a grab of something hard. It was warm and hard like metal. Orette stretched her toes to get a better hold until she heard the sound of chains colliding with each other.
The chains were pulled up, attached to the object. They were ten times bigger and thicker than the chains Orette was tied to while being locked up in her mirror.
Nevertheless, she pulled that memory away and focused on the situation ahead. Something told her that maybe these chains had something to do with this room.
They were too massive to be stored in this building, and they needed intense willpower to be dragged all the way here. But what is their purpose?
"Hey", Kace was behind her. "What's wrong? You found something?".
Orette gave one last touch to the object before turning away from the lilac eyes that were illuminating in the dark.
"There is a machine thing right in front of us", Orette glitened her eyes blue. "It's right there". She points ahead of her.
Kace headed in the pointed direction and carefully extended his hands, only to be touched by something hard and warm. "There is a button here, and somehow this object is supported by chains".
Kace exclaims very calmly, smoothing his hands whenever it's necessary. "You should go check on her," Kace says this without lifting his eyes from the object. "She could use your company".
Orette blinked and tried to debate, but she knew deep down she wanted to meet the brat. The brat in question was staring at her with her emblazoned red eyes.
"This is going to be fun". Orette said as she smirks and walks forward to what she believed, a girl restrained with chains. Even her mouth was chained with thick silver metal.
Orette stopped and sat down in front of the brat, staring deep into those red, flaming eyes. She clears her throat and talks.
"How are you doing, 002?". Her smile widened. "Hope you're hanging in there, considering it was never my intention to help you".
Those red eyes said nothing but anger. "Don't look at me like that. I had to choose between you and him; the best option. Turns out it was not him, nor you."
Orette's eyes never lost their blue, nor did the girl in front of her. "But right now I don't want to think about my options; I would rather tell you about my vision. I want to turn back to normal, to my original state, and to do that, I need your_".
"Hey!" Kace yelled from behind, "I figured it out."
Orette turned around only to hear a set of chains being pulled up, an engine being powered on, and the sound of electricity being generated.
"Need some help?" Orette asked.
"Could you power the engine with your...", Kace motions his hands as if he is casting a spell.
"Yeah, I got the idea".
Orette walks towards the noise and lays her hand on what she believes is an engine. Seconds later, a blue current emerged from her hands, leading more head-on. The current sparks the engine that ignites the room with yellow light.
The interior couldn't be described with words, since the room was covered in chains, huge, big chains. All scattered here and there, causing a mix in their trails. Orette couldn't figure out where they were fixed, but she knew where they ended.
She turned around to face the brat in question, who was tied to those chains from head to toe. Judging by her red checked skirt, it seems she, like the rest of them, was captured from her school.
Her brown hair was tangled and messy, and her mouth was locked with a metal mask, possibly to keep her quiet. Her arms were around her back and were chained to her back, which was layered by a metal plate.
The same cannot be said of her legs, since, unlike the hands, they were free and covered with long socks, but were missing one shoe.
Orette couldn't help but feel a faint apologetic for the brat since, to her claim this was too much. She observes Kace's reaction. Goddness, the guy was disgusted.
That frown could never be deeper than it is. "Buddy, I can hear your teeth grinding from here. How about we focus on releasing your cousin?" Orette tried to remark, but was obviously ignored.
"Okay, maybe I should focus on that matter". She muttered and headed towards the chained brat. One step at a time, she carefully placed her foot and avoided the chains. Truth be told, they made her sick.
Finally, Orette peeks at the back of the brat and, through her index finger, draws a way to meet the start of the chain. She twirls her fingers, from up to down, left to right, and narrow way.
It was difficult to trace them since they were times when they were tangled in clusters. But hope was on Orette's side when she caught a glimpse of a rectangular cabinet that was the size of one cluster.
Integration took over Orette as she marched towards the cabinet. Her steps were light, but her determination was heavy. She cracked open the cabinet only to find control panels.
Twenty-five buttons on the left. Two levers on the right. Ten small buttons at the bottom and an insert card option at the top.
"This is not my cup of tea", mumbles Orette with regret. She turns to find Kace to help her with this, but not to her surprise, he was busy tending his cousin.
"Damn it, he won't listen when he is that attached", she turns to the panel, "I guess it's just you and me".
Orette couldn't figure out what to do; this time, she really needed prayers, holy ones. Her hands were trembling, and her face was beginning to sweat. Even she couldn't deny the tension she felt.
"Oh Lord!" she prayed, "Please don't make a fool of me in front of those two".
Her eyes scanned the panel, and she saw that the small ten buttons were numbers and the twenty-five buttons on the left were alphabet. And in front of the control panel was a big black screen with nothing.
Orette noticed that there were no traces of dust, meaning someone had already entered these premises. She found a small button on the bottom left of the screen and pressed it.
A green light formed in the middle, taking the shape of a circle. Then it disappeared and showed nine blue boxes. Orette assumed them to be some sort of files. She noticed a small arrowhead at the bottom and immediately got an idea that this was some sort of computer.
"How am I supposed to drag this without a mouse?" She jerked her head to the sides, but there was nothing. Then, in the bottom, right beside the arrowhead, a small text appeared stating: Use the lever to move.
Orette took a good look at the two levers. She pulls one, and it moves left and right. While the other just controls the motion.
"How can I drag it up and down? Should I...". Orette pulls the lever up and drags it up and down. Turns out it was much easier and simpler than turning up left and right.
She opened the first file at the top and continued doing so until she reached file number six, which showed information of some sort of data.
Orette scrolled down and down and down, until she found something.
FILE DATA 907
INCREASE FACILITIES
OPERATION 45
INSERT CARD FOR FULL ACCESS
_0337
Orette had no idea what this was, but something told her it was related to her. The thing that caught her mind was INCREASE FACILITIES and INSERT CARD FOR FULL ACCESS.
What does that even mean? Orette thought of something; she didn't know what kind of card they were referring to, so she took out the only card she had.
She pulled out Zion's identity card, which she borrowed (Stole), when she first encountered him. She inserted his card and saw how the screen loaded. It later showed a small four-digit PIN code to access further files.
Orette couldn't think of any four-digit code, so she went with what she already knew.
She typed: 0337.
Access denied, try again.
"You've got to be kidding me, how am I supposed to crack this open?".
On the next try, she typed: 0002.
Access denied, try again.
On her third try, she typed: 0907.
Access denied, try again.
"Okay, this is embarrassing", she muttered to herself. Without a second doubt, Orette took extreme measures. She rushes towards Kace, who was still tending his cousin.
Orette took careful steps till she was in front of the case.
She lightly kicks his shoes to get his attention, but it didn't work. She took one look at those envy-red eyes and kicked Kace on the waist.
He groaned and fell on the chained floor, landing on his shoulder. Orette then again looked at those crimson eyes; she thought the brat would cause a fuss. To her surprise, she was still and silent.
"I guess you wanted me to knock some sense into him, ashamed you couldn't be the one to do it". She turns to Kace. "You know we don't meddle with our emotions too much, as much as I would hate to say this, your bratty cousin needs our help, and it seems to me you aren't of much use."
She walks towards him as he wipes the blood from his mouth. "Don't make me repeat myself", she points at the cabinet, "You see that, that's where you should be, working to help her". She then points at 002, who was now staring with her brown eyes.