Searching For Andromeda 18 What Happened?

". . .muel!

"Can you hear him?" Samuel exclaims. "He's on the other side!"

Both Samuel and Esmeralda listened eagerly one more time. They could still hear the consistent beeping sound. They were waiting for Berthold to utter a word. To call their names.

"Esmeralda!"

"Berthold . . .!" Esmeralda utters. It seemed like a team member was alive.

"Don't worry, Bert! We'll get you outta here—wait, screw that! You have a beeper, don't you! Call the HR!"

"I called already called the HR! Rescue will arrive shortly now!" Berthold answers from the other side. "Who's with you?!"

"It's me, Sam! Esmeralda's here too!" Samuel exclaims. "Are you with Ninja guy and Lame leader?!"

"No! I was hoping they were with you," Berthold shouts back. "Is there anyone injured right there?!"

"S-sam's injured!" Says Esmeralda.

"I'M FINE!" Samuel shouts back. "Don't worry about me!"

"But—" Esmeralda mutters.

"Don't worry about me," Samuel repeats to Esmeralda, way quietly. "I'm fine."

". . . anyhow, stay put! Cover your heads at all cost!" Berthold exclaims. "Don't do anything ras.h.!.+"

"Are you also trapped?" Asks Samuel, practically screaming to the walls. "Can you get us out of here? We won't survive at the next aftershock!"

". . ."

"Berthold!"

". . . I'm not locked out," Berthold answers. "But I think it's impossible for me to dig you two out of the concrete!"

"He . . . he's got a point, Samuel," says Esmeralda. "I don't think it's possible to get out here, especially if Doctor Wagner is the only one on the other side. We need to wait for the HR's rescue,"

"d.a.m.n it," says Samuel. "Rescue. It's a game of chance. It's either the rescue gets here or—"

And before Samuel could articulate the end of his sentence, he was stopped short by a slight rocking in the ground. Esmeralda yelps, and the ducks as she covers her head and nape. Samuel cursed as he goes near her, s.h.i.+elding her with his body as he covers his head as well.

At a time like this, there wasn't anything he could do.

One tends to be vulnerable and on the losing end when nature takes its course. He embraced her trembling body with his, as he shuts his eyes tightly in return. He knelt motionlessly and awaited the enshrouded concrete above and beside the two of them to fall at any moment. The quake wasn't ending at any moment now—he could feel it. Berthold was yelling on the other side, telling them to take cover, to not forget the drill.

Samuel embraced Esmeralda's trembling body as she sobbed fervently.

"Hag, stay put!" He says. "I'm here! You won't die!"

Esmeralda cried and yelped as she hyperventilated. Samuel cursed—he didn't know how to handle crying women, let alone handle people. He only held her tight, his heart beating hard against his chest. Not from shame nor embarra.s.sment—no. It wasn���t a pleasant feeling. It was fear. Fear of his body getting smashed and crashed by pillar debris. He didn't want to have such an early death—and not in this way, too. He wasn't ready for it yet.

But if it meant protecting another—

He had the feeling it would be worth it.

It could be.

He shut his eyes and embraced the trembling stature, shawling her with his body as he listens to the ground shake, and the smell of concrete powder wafting against the air as the blocks rubbed against each other in the upheaval.

**

It was afternoon when all of them were able to obtain information regarding ANDROMEDA. From Berthold's perspective (or from anyone's perspective at all), 'ANDROMEDA' didn't exactly look like a laboratory at all. He couldn't really put his mind on it, especially when the task force arrived inside.

The night before, Ephraim gave them specific subjects to work on. He was given the substances, along with Samuel and Esmeralda (Ephraim said to take note of everything they encounter, whether big or small). He was a.s.signed the right-wing of the 'lab' or more specifically, the 'house'.

"How in the world is this a lab . . ." Berthold exclaims as he arrived in the right-wing, where the kitchen and dining hall were located. He opened his journal and started to take notes of everything he could see.

[Creepy. Everything is creepy.]

Berthold wasn't able to think of anything. The right-wing was indeed creepy.

"Haah," he sighs exasperatingly.

Berthold Wagner started to scribble down his notes. He stares at the spectacle through his gla.s.ses. He had myopia, and so his eyes really required gla.s.ses. He stretched his back for a bit. It's been a while for Berthold to really walk around, and be outside (although he was well-nigh and literally inside a house). He was, after all, usually stuck inside the hospital doing days.h.i.+ft and graveyard s.h.i.+fts nonstop. He was a surgeon. He couldn't even leave the hospital even if he wanted to—taking care of patients was both his duty and responsibility.

It's been a while. It's not like he was inactive (he works out about four times a week). It was because he wasn't capable of hanging out outside. He wasn't a workaholic—but he was a busybody. He hadn't had a social life ever since he graduated (or stepped up) to med school.

It took them a few hours to write down the most intricate details they could even muster to evoke from such an abandoned building. When Ephraim summoned all of them in the common area, Berthold sighs as he realized all of them failed to retrieve a certain 'research' in this certain 'laboratory.'

All of them decided to show their journals. Berthold eyed Esmeralda's. It had contained sketches of the Arachnida cla.s.s, some cobwebs, and some numbers with purpose Berthold couldn't decipher.

"Where's Hiroaki?"

Berthold also wanted to know, and as he opened his mouth to add a follow-up question—

"Everyone, get down!"

"Team, remember the drill!" Ephraim says.

Suddenly, as if in the blink of an eye, he watched the pillars dwindle, as the ground started to shake. The concrete danced, and it danced to their deaths. Berthold opened his eyes only to see he was the only one left.

"Ephraim . . ." He murmurs. "Sam . . . Esmeralda . . . Hiroaki . . ."

Berthold Wagner was alone.

**

Ephraim started to walk forward with Anna to his side. He wasn't sure if he's doing it exactly right. He was still wearing his boots, and his clothes had dried up a little, although it still embraced his skin. He looked around. It was indeed a laboratory—it had doors, several rooms with window walls designed and equipped with medical technologies.

"This is the . . . abandoned forensics lab of ANDROMEDA?"

"Aye," answers Anna. "We're underneath the 'house.'"

"House?"

"Aye; it's a secret lab hidden underneath Peru." Anna answers. "Scientists thought it was easier to conduct a top-secret experiment in . . . well, a secret place? If that wasn't obvious enough?"

Ephraim remained silent for a few minutes as they walked to a seemingly endless path.

". . . this really is unused for many years, right?"

"Yes," Anna answers. "Unfortunately, it is unused. Inhibited. No one had stepped inside here for many years."

". . . are you sure?" Ephraim asks.

"What do you mean?" Anna frowns and stops walking. "I'm not lying."

Ephraim stares at her. "You said you're a fragment of the real you, right?"

"Yes, so?" Anna scowls. "You don't believe that?"

"It's not like that." Ephraim stops walking as well, as he faces her. "I'm wondering if your other 'fragment' or 'you' yourself is wandering around here in the lab,"

Anna chuckles.

"Lookie here, it doesn't work like that. 'I' am slumbering somewhere else. 'I' am incomplete."

"Can you walk me through that?" Ephraim kneels to level himself to the hologram's height. "And I'm fascinated with your appearance as well. Why would the scientists program you to be a child?"

Anna sighs. "This isn't 'my' appearance," she says. "As I said earlier, 'I' am incomplete. I'm a mere fragment of 'myself'. She—I—is slumbering within these walls. 'I' am somewhere else . . . I couldn't exactly remember because 'I' have missing chips. They contain the main information. As I am now, a fragment with no data . . . is deemed useless." She paused. "But at least you got the chip for the security. It's a step forward."

"How many chips do you exactly have?" Ephraim asks.

"I don't . . . remember." Anna answers. "But I know there are specific chips for every different action. Think of it as doors. There're only particular keys to be able to go inside to one."

"But couldn't you lock pick?" Ephraim asks. "Kidding,"

"You mean 'hack' to the system?" Anna asks. "It's technically not impossible, but it's going to need high-level tech skills."

"Hmm," Ephraim nods. "I'll take note of that."

Anna nods. "So are we done?"

"Not yet, I have a pressing question I'm harboring ever since I saw you in hologram form," Ephraim says.

"Okay, spill the beans,"

Ephraim thinks of the girl—the one Hiroaki was pointing at before they fell down to the falls. The figure of the girl who was glowing.

"Are you the only 'fragment,' around?"

Anna blinks. "Now that you say that . . ." she pauses. ". . . maybe? I'm not sure. 'I' am a fragment of the real 'me,' if there are other fragments, they should have collided with me a long time ago. There couldn't be other fragments."

"Oh, I see," Ephraim retorts.

'Maybe I was hallucinating?' Ephraim exclaims at the back of his mind.

"Unless . . ." Anna stares vacantly.

". . . unless?"

"N-nothing!" Anna smiles and continues to stroll forward. "We should head to the research site!"

"You know where it is?" Ephraim's eyes lit up.

"Well, when my chip synthesized, I had the data for the rooms and what kind of things are conducted there!" Anna grins. "And you're searching for the 'research,' right? I know where it is! Just follow me, and we'll get there eventually!"

Ephraim blinked for several seconds until he finally flashed his usual smile.

"Okay." He says.

Anna strolled forward, sauntering childishly. He turned to look behind.

And then he wondered.

What happened to his task force?