Awakening V

I stand, my hunger sated, and walk towards the doorway of the bunk room. Though I'd stayed several minutes after I'd collapsed the bunk bed (eating my lunch), no-one appeared to investigate; yet there was a bag lunch in here. Someone must live here. Curious, I walk out the door, and look each way.

To the left, the corridor extends further, with open doorways leading off it. To the right, though... I take a step backwards in shock. The rough stone covering of the bunk room and corridor opens up into a vast cavern, easily several hundred yards in length and height, and at least a hundred yards wide. Yellow crystals in the ceiling, walls and floor glow faintly to give the cavern an eerie yellow light. At the other end of the cavern, watched by robed figures (!), a gigantic man easily as tall as the cavern hangs - no - is nailed to the wall! He wears nothing more than a simple loincloth.

He's completely impossible, of course. No one that tall could live. His heart would be unable to pump blood. His muscles couldn't support the least part of his weight. His organs would collapse onto themselves.

But... given the gigantic pulsing heart through which I climbed to get down here, this may not be the best time to question the physical plausibility of the giant - especially with the possiblilty that one of those robed figures might glance my way at any moment, and - assuming that these are indeed my captors - decide to put me back into a somewhat more secure cell.

I duck back into the bunk room, breathing fast. I look at myself. Somewhere in my series of falls and exploration, I've lost my robe. No way I can pass for one of those guys in jeans. I look towards the other leg of the corridor. Time to take a little risk.

The first few rooms appear to be conference rooms - they have blackboards, but they're unused. Not even chairs! After that is a dining hall - I think I see someone in there, so I pass by quickly and quietly - and then an office. Jackpot. I walk in and rifle through the papers. No computers, no fax machine, nothing more advanced than a typewriter. The papers I skim aren't too interesting - financial stuff. I think there's a lot of money moving through here, but I'm not certain - I'm no CFA.

Other loot on the desk - scissors (which I grab), scotch tape (which I consider but reject), and a paper cutter (no.). Also - a clock on the wall! It's two o' clock, by its mark. Good to know. I look around a little further, but there's no calendar. A shame.

At the end of the corridor is a gigantic, black iron door. Rivets on the side, a big wheel in the middle... a real vault. I try the wheel, hoping, but it's locked somehow. Somehow I doubt that this will succumb to a bash from my lockbox.

I stand at the end of the corridor and consider my options. I have my clothes, a nearly-depleted roll of duct tape, a dented lockbox (locked), scissors and a full stomach. And no robe. A robe... as before, memory flashes into my conciousness. I'm looking at the giant heart, my girlfriend next to me. Robed figures sweep into the room, seeming almost to hover above the floor in the dim lighting. My girlfriend and I huddle back, and I try to gesture them back... and the memory fragment ends. AGAIN. I don't even bother examining it further.

Just in case, I check in the office again. There's a closet - I opened it before and, seeing only paper clips and paper sheaves, closed it again. Now, I go through it more thoroughly, alert for any sound of someone coming up behind me. Buried beneath the supplies is a musty-looking robe. I take and don it, and stride out into the corridor to test its fit. Whoever owned this isn't my size, but robes are shapeless enough that it doesn't even matter.

Now properly robed, I take a minute in the corner to gather my courage, and then stride out into the cavern. In rather an anticlimax, not one of the robed figures even bothers to spare a second glance at me. As I walk, I try to keep my curious stares to a minimum, but the wonder of the cavern is (I fear) nearly enough to undo my disguise.

Finally, I reach the giant figure. He is nailed to the wall in a sort of sitting pose, bleeding from the nails in both hands and feet, with that strange expression in his face - a sort of combination of pain and serenity.

He opens his eyes.

You are new. Who are you, little one? his voice booms in my ears.

WHAT?