Under The Cherry Blossoms Chapter Ten Point Two
#15 of Under the Cherry Blossoms (NEW)
(Fang-Yu)
While I understand that sometimes you just can't make it to work it wasn't like my usually reliable human employee to miss work. Even less likely that he wouldn't have called and given a reason as to his absence. It had been about three days since I've seen or heard from him. So after pulling up the employee records to find out where he lived I resolved to go pay him a visit to see what was going on.
After a quick jog I was brought to what was supposed to be his front door so I knocked. And the sound of my knock seemed to echo back to me as if no living thing were in that apartment period.
I frowned and popped out a claw fixing it into the lock and picked it within moments. It was a crappy cheap lock after all. Not really going to keep anyone out of the place. Once the door was open I let myself inside and sniffed the air. While I could still detect My Employees scent it was faded. As if it were about two weeks old. I called his name. "Kyle?" and my voice echoed around the entryway and seemingly around the apartment. No response was evident as I walked forwards up the stairs. The kitchen I could see from the door which was completely clean though had some dust on the counters and the dishes.
Looking around I noticed the faint layer of dust on seemingly everything that I could see at the moment. Even the carpet was not spared from the dust. Not I wouldn't consider Kyle a neat freak that would freak out at the slightest sign of dust...but Achooo! My sneeze stirred up the dust bunnies and as I sneezed again I made a quick few steps in the kitchen opening the window and letting in fresh air. That stopped my sneezing though I snagged a somewhat clean dish rag. Shook off the excess dust over the dirty dishes and tied it over my face as best as I could manage in an effort to get a mask to shield myself from inhaling further dust particles.
Now that I had accomplished that mini objective I moved to see if I could find the bedroom of the place. It honestly didn't take me long. Just past the kitchen was a closed door that I claw picked and when it popped open though the room was once more carpeted and covered in dust I also noticed a sleek silver pod that seemingly dominated the room while beside me as I walked in was another door presumably either a closet or bathroom. I didn't check. I walked imperiously to the pod and knocked hard on it's surface.
That seemingly brought it to life and the interior became visible. Kyle was seen floating in the nude inside and while I wasn't quite necessarily interested in that part. There was a mask on his face and despite my next serval attempts to open the device or get his attention he didn't stir within. It was as if he were trapped inside endlessly floating in what I assumed to be water.
I noticed a side panel which I tapped on with a fat finger it blinked to life showing his vital signs and a small menu. I attempted to hit the power down option after a few moments of flicking through the screens. Nothing happened.
I frowned heavily and attempted to hit the button again another screen popped up. "Unauthorized User" Almost the instant I finished reading it the screen was gone and the interface seemingly stared back at me innocently. I honestly debated trying to rip the screen off to see what would happen or attempting to pry it open with my claws but I was unsure if that would cause any harm to him.
I noticed there was a bell icon with a small red number 7 beside it. I frowned and tapped it imperiously. The small icon expanded into a screen and the notices were as follows.
NEW USER REGISTERED.
FIRST NAME KYLE
LAST NAME GLITTERFOX
I cancelled that one as I already knew that information.
The next one.
USER BANK ACCOUNT RECORDS FOUND! INTEGRATED SUCCESSFULLY.
Cancelled.
CURRENT USER CREDITS EARNED &8000
TRANSFER LIMIT SET TO &2000
That...was interesting. Was he playing a game or something while he was floating?
I scrolled down.
BILLS FOR ELECTRIC/WATER/RENT DETECTED
BALANCE DUE &2500
So...he was kidnapped by the game and someone initiated a program or sequence or something to keep him alive and trapped? The other odd thing was the credits mentioned...was it to keep the machine going to keep him alive? The world ran on solar power and mother nature alone. While rent could be charged and the systems for water required a bit of a spark to keep going they didn't cost this much. So unless the machine before me was drawing a lot more to keep running it was odd that the owed amount was that high.
I once more scrolled up the screen looking for and ignoring the other notifications until I got to the final one.
LOCKDOWN PROTOCOL ENGAGED. PROJECT ETERNITY RUNNING
SUBJECT IS ALIVE. BREATHING NORMAL. POD SEALED.
NUTRIENT SOLUTION BEING APPLIED 5000/5000.
ALL READINGS NORMAL.
POD PARAMATERS NORMAL.
I raised an eyebrow and decided that it would be good to get someone a bit more technology inclined than myself. Which would mean a visit to the fox tribes. At the very least if they couldn't crack him out they would be better at keeping him alive than I. Of course they would likely require a payment of sorts...I mentally shrugged and figured it would be worth it in the end.