Birth of a Phantom part 1

Chapter 2
Birth of a Phantom

Felix caught his breath, buttoning up the freshly stolen uniform, while Maria stuffed the torn up clothes into the hole behind her.

White lights flashed open, bouncing off light green-tint walls, revealing the expansive interior. Floors were divided into sections, resembling a mix of a shopping mall and something akin to an office area. Half of it remained dark, still under construction.

Felix walked over to the fountain, washing his face with the cold water.

A holographic interface flicked out from Maria’s watch, a thin blue screen that displayed a map of the building’s interior.

“Uh-oh…” She blurted out.

“What?” He let out a gargled breath.

“This doesn’t look like the map they gave us.”

His mismatched eyes widened slightly as he remembered the robin’s words, “Construction… they renovated the entire building. We need a plan.”

“They patched the map mid-game, but the quest stays the same.” She shrugged and spoke in a wistful tone.

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll be more fun this way.” She pressed her watch, and the holographic projection vanished.

Maria moved forward towards the atrium, while Felix followed behind, scanning their surroundings, listening to the sound of voices and footsteps.

With measured breathing, they went deeper into the facility, darting from cover to cover, moving through the spaces where the artificial light could not reach them.

They ascended the staircase, crouched under its railing, rushing towards the first door they saw.

It creaked at the slightest nudge, Felix eased his head through it, only to pull back from the harsh brightness. They stepped into a tight corridor, the only other sound besides their footsteps and breathing were the electric hum of fluorescent bulbs.

“Where are we headed?” He asked.

Maria pulled out a knife, glancing up at a blinking camera mounted in the corner of the hall.

“A lot’s changed.” She chucked the knife towards the camera, shattering it, “But since the security cameras still work, I doubt they changed the location of the surveillance room.”

“So we take out communications and leave them blindly looking for us?”

“Yup.”

From corridor to corridor, they navigated through the many white halls as silently as possible, yet he noticed the faint sound of footsteps through the other side of the corridor.

“Go, go!” He whispered.

She opened the green door, and they were struck with an unexpected sight.

Shafts of moonlight shined down, revealing the lush greenery and blooming flowers. The faint scent of disinfectant hung in the air, mixing with an earthy aroma that seemed out of place.

“A garden?” Maria muttered.

Bushes and fauna arranged between a network of rocks, and the sound of flowing water echoed from a rectangular onyx base in the center. Perched atop it was a golden dragon statue, holding a sun, illuminated under the moon’s glow.

“What even is this place? I thought it was a shopping mall.” She whispered, staring at the statue.

“They could be making a military facility disguised as a commercial district.” He replied, looking not at the statue, but at the moon shining over them through the glass ceiling. His gaze wistful.

“That explains why it’s crawling with guards. The surveillance room should be right over there.”

Both of them headed toward the door at the far end of the room. Felix’s iron-heeled boots crunching over the loose rocks stone.

Halfway there, he stopped and raised his hand, signaling Maria to hold.

A guard in a bloodied uniform stumbled out of the surveillance room.

Felix whipped out his cobalt pistol. But before he could fire, the guard toppled into the white gravel.

“He wasn’t running toward us…” He lowered his weapon, looking at the blood pooling beneath the guard, “He was running away from something.”

Bracing himself beside the doorway, he nodded to Maria, who eased the door open. Felix moved in to strike, only for his expression to go cold.

The twitchy eyed guard’s words echoed back at him.

“Who are you? Are you with the intruder?!”

Inside was a scene of carnage. The flickering monitors cast pale, uneven light over three corpses on the floor.

“So that’s why…” He murmured.

“Looks like someone beat us to it.” Maria marched past him.

Felix swallowed, looking away.

“Queasy?” She asked, “I’ll just be a minute. Gotta kill the cameras. Keep watch outside.”

“No, I’ll be fine.” He crossed his arms.

“Suit yourself.” She said, hopping over the dead bodies, unbothered, “Hyup.”

While she combed through the consoles, two thoughts replayed in his head.

First, Maria’s words from the jet:

Only if you lived in the twelve agencies’ bubble. The world is a big place, it’s full of monsters.

Followed by the Professor’s words from that morning:

There are many monsters out there, even from projects outside our own. If you really intend to climb the ranks, your chance will start now. But I’m sure you’ll surpass them all, even David.

“Monster…” Felix weakly mumbled, the broken bulb flickering above his head. He pressed his knuckles against his chin, and winced, “Tch… bollocks.”

Maria asked, still staring at the screens, “You alright?”

“Just… from the wall earlier.” He glanced at his bruised knuckles, only to shake it, “You done?”

“Just about.”

One by one, the screens transformed into a sea of static.

“This way, we won’t have to worry about them tracking us.” She smiled with a wall of white noise behind her.

“What about tracking the other intruder?”

“If he was here, he was likely hiding in a blind spot.” She shrugged.

“Understood.” He said, pressing his back against the door.

Tilting her head, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

He said, gesturing for her to stay quiet, outside, he heard several sets of footsteps crunching against the rocks.

“Four footsteps, maybe five.” He whispered.

~