The moment the lights went out, the sounds of smashing, pushing, and shattering shelves began. They were loud.
The darkness was pitch-black. In fact, it was not darkness, but black light. Farid launched with his flashlight and bag at the maximum speed he possessed. His flashlight barely illuminated in front of him. Farid felt a shelf being pushed behind him. He swerved and increased his speed, barely maneuvering the objects being thrown at him. Farid continued running and knocking things down, then heard a friendly, joking laugh. He turned around to see the monster, which was taller than him, chasing him and getting closer and closer. It opened its mouth slightly, and the creature's smile changed into a very angry and hateful face, and it said in a deep, echoing voice:
"Come on, Farid, aren't we friends? Why do you want to leave me in this dark place..."
Farid's memory was blurred. A foggy creature in the shape of the dog began entering it. He remembered that he was defending him.
But Farid felt a manipulation of his memories. He was too cowardly to accompany a creature like this.
But moments of scattered thought allowed the creature to almost touch him. Then Farid suddenly turned around and shone a light, which looked like five million lumens, into the creature's eyes. The flashlight was so strong that it illuminated the black light and defeated it, all the way up to the ceiling. The creature felt super pain. Farid had literally destroyed its eyes and burned its retina forever. The creature stopped and let out a deep and powerful scream that Farid felt was shaking his bones and would break them. Farid took out a set of pointed knives and threw them at the creature, but they only increased its anger. It stood up enraged. Farid ran as fast as he could, and on the way, he opened bottles of oil and poured them behind him. The creature, sensing Farid with only its sixth sense without its eyes, did not notice the motor oil on the ground and slipped on it and could not get up. Farid approached and expanded the oil slick by pouring more. Farid took a lighter from his bag, ignited the oil, and ran away from the sound of the burning creature's screams.
Farid felt the pleasure of victory, and he reached the baked goods and juices section. He filled some bottles there and tried to eat some of the baked goods, but before he took the first bite, he noticed that the food was rotten. He checked and opened his bag. All his food was rotten and smelled of mold. He didn't know what to do. Should he throw it away? Should he leave it? What if it only rotted at night and returned to normal during the day?
Everything was illogical, so Farid dealt with everything with logic open to all possibilities. He turned off the lights that might attract attention and began walking with his radar-like sixth sense, closing his eyes because they were literally useless. He continued deeper and learned to use his sense, which was confusing, as it only monitored twenty meters at maximum range, and this range came at the cost of decreasing its accuracy. At this range, it only monitored large objects, but when its focus was increased, it could even monitor microscopic things at the expense of its area.
Minutes passed. Minutes turned into hours. Thousands of meters, and the center did not seem to end. Farid was tired. The lack of lighting made drowsiness gnaw at his consciousness. He felt that the corridors were repeating themselves but with different arrangements of objects, so he wanted to search for the bedding corridor in the depth again but to no avail. However, he found a camping equipment store. He entered a tent and closed it on himself.
The next day, the lights came back on. Farid woke up in his tent, but when he came out, he found himself in a different corridor. He was surprised. He climbed the shelves and found himself in the heart of the maze, infinite spaces of shelves in every direction with shopping music as usual. Obsessions began to invade Farid's mind:
< The idea was fun at first, but
What if I'm stuck here forever?
How long will I survive with these creatures?>
Farid did not have a tent, so he took the one he found. The food was indeed spoiled. His hypothesis was not correct, but the food on the shelves was new now. He decided to eat food directly from the shelves when it became edible after the transfer. He encountered some aggressive rat-like monsters, but he always managed to eliminate them.
The paths repeated every time, and he climbed the shelves several times. The place was infinite. There was no hope. He spent another night in his tent. Today, even here, was one hundred and eighty hours—ninety hours of it at night, or rather, with the lights off, and the others in the morning when the lights turned on. His daily cycle became the operating hours of this center, and every time he woke up, he found that he had been randomly transferred, and there was no hope on the horizon. He climbed the shelves several times, and nothing. The maze was infinite in every direction.
His brain was literally on the verge of hysteria. He cursed delta sigma, cursed Lusihar, cursed everything, and it was useless. Another night. This time, he did not even set up the tent but slept in the open, trying to capture the moment of transfer, but he captured nothing. He covered his eyes and slept in the bright light in the morning and transferred exactly when he slept.
The place was mocking him. Farid lost his temper and began breaking everything. He hit the shelves and knocked them down. This sound attracted the creatures. Farid, in a fit of hysteria, killed them and tore their bodies as a form of revenge. The annoying music increased his nervousness. He broke the small speakers above the shelves and the shelves with them.
Until he vented his anger, he carried his bag and continued on his way, only going deeper. He climbed the shelves, looked at the infinite space, and then returned. Food, drink—everything was available. He even relieved himself on the shelves and products as a form of expression and protest. He tried to maintain his sanity. Another morning, another random location. Farid adopted the absurd myth of Sisyphus. He adopted this routine, merged with this routine, and enjoyed this routine, but it was useless. The place was infinite. He thought of exiting through the ceiling, but with what would he dig it?!
And even if he arranged the shelves and climbed up, he would eventually get tired and sleep, then transfer to a very distant random location.
He wanted to end his life, but he resisted. In truth, he was a coward. Lusihar's words flashed in his mind. What if he transferred to the felt void? It was hundreds of times worse than this place.
Ten days passed by Earth standards.
Farid was still going deeper and fighting the easy monsters. On the eleventh day, as he was walking in a corridor, spreading his aura and sensing his way, he came across a severely distorted human. His scalp was flayed and opened to the sides, held by a black metal crown. He had no eyes, and his mouth was slightly torn at the sides. Several metal stakes pierced his body, some in his ears, and the separation between the flesh and the muscle, and several metal accessories in his nose, fingers, and lower lip. His skin was human-colored but slightly reddish in some parts, which he had drawn lines on with a sharp tool. He wore human clothes. Farid knew immediately that this person was suspicious because he had hidden his body from his aura.
Farid quickly ran away, but he heard a deep human voice behind him speaking with difficulty and slowly, as if he was beginning to forget how to speak:
"Stop... You are the solution to getting out of here. Let's cooperate to breach the ceiling. Don't waste the opportunity."
Farid noticed that the creature was not chasing him, so he stopped from a distance to listen.
"I am also human, and this is how I look, but it keeps me sane... Cooperation is the key to getting out of here. Believe me, even suicide doesn't work. You are immortal in torment here."
Farid took out his knife and began approaching the creature, who raised his hands. Farid pretended that he put his knife back and was waiting for an attack, but it did not happen. The creature said:
"I also have a weapon, but I won't use it on you. You can take it to be reassured."
Farid searched him and took his sword and a few knives and scissors and asked him:
"What is your name? Where are you from? And how did you get here?"
"My name is Armando from the continent of Achylia, and as for how I got here, the Gods sent me..."
< He must be crazy.>
"They were running logical experiments on us to discover loopholes in reality."
Farid replied:
"And how long have you been here?
And why do you look like this?"
Armando replied:
"I am sorry if my appearance has become unacceptable. I have been here for three years. Fortunately, I have maintained my sanity. I tried to commit suicide several times, but I don't die. My parts remain alive even if I cut them. I feel them separate from me. I tried to commit suicide, but it's useless. The place preserves your life... This pain and talking to myself sometimes is what kept me sane and made me feel my existence, and now, finally, with your presence, we will be able to get out.
What is your name, man?
And how long have you stayed here?"
"M-
< Should I tell him my name or not >
-y name is Farid.
And this is my eleventh day here."
Armando replied:
"Pleased to meet you."
Armando extended his hand to shake. Farid was tense. He remembered the bloody videos he was watching and also considered the possibility of a trick until Armando was about to raise his hand, so he shook it. Armando said:
"I tried digging the ground for several meters. There is nothing. It continues forever. The hope is in the ceiling. I tried arranging the shelves, but in the end, I surrender and sleep, and I transfer to a random place. No matter how much I trained to stay awake, I eventually sleep and transfer again. The randomness of this place is the disaster, so I suggest we tie our hands together, so you don't turn a corner and transfer to another place."
Farid replied:
"Why?"
He answered:
"This place constantly changes. If you go back now the way you came, you won't find the place as it was. A wrong turn and you might find yourself lost, and this golden opportunity to leave will be gone from you and me."
Armando took off the rope he had placed on his shoulder and gave it to Farid so that he would tie his wrist and feel comfortable. Then Armando did the same to him. The rope was long, about fifteen meters, tied and stitched together to avoid any possibility of opening. They both began pulling the shelves closer to each other, creating the base of the giant pyramid they would build. Farid relied on engineering knowledge to determine its dimensions so that the base would be perfect until Armando also took a bag for himself. He finally felt his exit approaching. Farid got used to his appearance despite the oddity of each one of them to the other until closing time came and the lights went out.
Farid asked:
"Now what? How will we sleep?"
Armando replied:
"You sleep, and I will guard. Then I sleep, and you guard, and let's get out of this place."
They actually did that. Armando had found a clock shelf before. On that clock, there was only one hand, the hour hand, and it was the best clock he found. As for the rest, either they had no hands or they calculated time randomly. He had calibrated this one himself and discovered that it calculated hours. He would examine it with his aura, which penetrates even solid objects, in the light of boredom. During his shift, Armando decided to remove all the metals securing his head. Farid was eyeing him with his aura, for neither could he see him in the dark nor did he feel him waking up. Armando removed those needles and metal pieces piercing his body quietly so as not to wake Farid, according to his belief, and then he began undoing that crown and that ring that secured his scalp.
He glued his skin onto his head above his skull, and from the tight rope, he pulled out a thread and began sewing himself amidst the blood and pain, a pain that was now unburdened by the dose of dopamine that used to grant him addictive happiness in the past, getting him out of his depression and loneliness and his numbness to the world. After a difficult night, he succeeded. Farid woke up, and they exchanged roles. Farid's aura was not that large to cover the entire base, so he added the flashlights he had collected, operating them alternately. Armando slept for only three hours and regained his energy. Farid guessed that this was due to his excitement. In the pitch black, they continued building. Some creatures came, but Armando quickly finished them and returned to building.
Shelf after shelf, the structure rose. Hours passed. Opening time came, and the lights came on. Farid finally saw Armando's shape. Although he did not have eyes or hair and a massive stitching cracked his head, Farid deduced that he was a handsome person. The construction did not stop. They found the construction tools aisle. They carried hammers and axes and hung them in their bags while they filled their bags with what was necessary, more lights.
The construction finished around closing time. They both rested on the top and shared the guard alternately. This time, Armando completed the four hours of fatigue, then he woke up, and they began demolishing the ceiling. The loud noise attracted the creatures, and Farid had not seen some of them before. Besides the rodents, there were creatures that attacked in groups resembling ordinary brown monkeys but with tails several meters long that they tied together when sleeping. Both Farid and Armando rained down on them with cleavers. Farid barely kept up with them and was careful to maintain a distance between himself and Armando so as not to hit him, while Armando was more superior.
Suddenly, the dog that Farid had burned rushed toward them abruptly, with glowing eyes in the darkness. Armando intercepted its path with his sword, but the dog grabbed the sword with its mouth and broke it with its teeth. Armando tried to punch it, but the dog blocked his hand. Farid intervened with his knife and tried to stab it, and Armando took out his other knife and stabbed the dog's hand. Farid stabbed it in the side. The dog's attention was scattered, and Armando took the opportunity and hugged it tightly. Farid began stabbing it. The dog threw itself, causing both of them to fall, and they began rolling down that pyramid of shelves, with the rope wrapped around them. Farid followed them, trying to catch them. He fell a few steps, but Armando curbed their rolling with his foot. Farid advanced and began stabbing the dog, which began screaming, and both Farid and Armando felt their bones shaking. Armando's grip began to loosen, but Farid continued tearing and stabbing and began pulling out its organs. The pain in their bones was unbearable, as if the rot was gnawing at them from the inside. Farid endured the pain amidst Armando's screams to hurry. Farid removed the idea of disgust from his head, as this dog did not die. He put his hands in and pulled out its guts while the dog's screams intensified with the pain. Farid grabbed its heart, tore its lung, and pulled it out, and its screaming stopped, and he heard a familiar static sound.
"The ███ shopping mall in ████████ city opens its doors. Welcome."
The lights came on, revealing the blood covering their bodies and the red corpse of the dog on top of Armando, whose fur was almost all burned off, and his face had turned into a demonic shape. Farid extended his hand to Armando to get up and free himself from the corpse around which the ropes were wrapped, and concluded it with a manly hug.
They were still next to the exit pyramid. Armando had maintained his aura, focusing it on it. The ceiling had reached its end. Farid felt that the cement had become thinner. They only needed to add one or two more shelves to get out, but first, they headed to the water section to wash themselves of all that blood and dirt, while Farid's sight was completely focused on the exit path. In fact, he was blinking alternately to avoid any trick from the place. They added two shelves. A final strike opened the ceiling, revealing the distinctive azure sky. A few more strikes widened the opening. Farid climbed onto Armando's shoulders and exited the opening. Armando said:
"How does the place look?"
Farid answered:
"It seems we will need a lot of water. The weather is hot, and as you expect, it is an infinite concrete space... Wait a moment...
I think I see a slender black tower extending deep into the sky."
Farid went back down, took the tent and a lot of frozen water from the refrigerators, and while they were looking for what to take, Farid found a recorded video camera with an articulated screen, in addition to a regular camera. After preparing, they headed for the exit. Farid exited first and pulled Armando, who noticed that he had eyelids now and his black hair began to grow. In a moment, Armando fell, crying and kissing the ground upon his final exit. He felt the sun's rays and a different atmospheric temperature, then he hugged Farid, thanking him for his help, and this time, the destination was clear: that giant tower on the horizon.