The room is dark.
A young boy enters, and switches on the lights.
He sets his backpack down, takes off his tie and puts on his sun emblem.
The news had hit this morning.
An unidentified individual had breached private premises and stolen a valuable asset from one of the vaults of the Volvanas.
The boy was unsure what to think, as he was the head of the lineage yet– too young. Way too young.
To make things worse, the vault had been deemed illegal and was ordered to be shut down multiple times, yet it was still open and maintained to this day.
“Kiri Volvana. May I enter the room?” said a voice coming from the door.
Kiri sighed, “You may.” Meanwhile, he takes out a lollipop from his pocket.
A woman entered the room, and her face stern.
‘‘I know you must be stressed.”
Kiri rested his head on his hands and sucked on his lollipop. ‘‘Stressed? No, of course not! I'm actually delighted to know that my own clan wanted to surprise me with an illegal vault all this time-’’
‘‘If you'd like… We can forget every word of this incident and disregard all the claims. After all, it was sent to you to review first before it gets released in the news. Not many people know about it.’’
A short pause. Kiri thought of his options.
‘’No.’’ Kiri said bluntly. He fidgetted with the lollipop between his fingers. ‘That wouldn't fix anything.’
‘‘Miss Vera, inform every person involved in the illegal operation that we will be having a meeting this saturday– and I refuse refusals.’’
“And as for him–”
Crack– the lollipop snapped between his teeth
Kiri spun his head towards a board, where a single image of a hooded man in a camera footage was stamped.
“I'll see to it myself.”
—----------------------------
He had to skip school today.
This hadn't been his first time, Kiri had once left school to investigate an anomaly associated with mirrors. He referred to the creature as ‘Man in the mirror’.
It was already evident to him that such supernatural creatures exist.
He brought with him a bag, containing important tools and items for the investigation. Things like flashlights, a notebook, a small knife and a worst-case-scenario serum which he kept in a separate compartment than the rest.
The first place he visited was the vault.
The vault was located in the last place Kiri would ever check. It was an urban area in Porcupine city, people referred to it as ‘The backstreets’.
The place was now evacuated. Nobody remained after the incident had occurred – either because they feared the head’s anger or because they knew that they could no longer keep the vault hidden to the public anymore.
Kiri rolled his eyes, ‘At least they had the decency to not show me their faces.’ as he put on gloves.
At first, he was faced with a passcode lock.
A password used by the Volvanas over the years of secret, illegal vaults. Kiri did not like to do his research work on Volvana history, but he was glad he did for this part.
Kiri walked through the place, watching all the artifacts that were stored illegally.
From weapons, to substances, to even technology that Kiri himself created.
‘That just hurts my soul.’ Kiri pouted.
His brows furrowed as it made him wonder just how much the other Volvanas were hiding and if there were other vaults that were also hidden.
He’ll have to ask Miss Vera for that one.
He kept searching.
Eventually, he found a separate room around the corner.
He entered, and he found yet another door.
‘That's fun, a room inside another, like a Matryoshka Doll.’
Kiri sighed, clearly not amused by this phenomenon.
Along the walls, there were paintings of men and women that seemed like they were from the 16th century.
He opened the door, and– voilà, another door.
‘Let's stop now.’ He muttered before opening the door again, and was greeted with an iron door this time, and another digital passcode lock.
Enter the 20 digit code.
‘A 20 digit code…’
10 possible digits for each slot. Twenty slots. Ten multiplied by itself 20 times.
Kiri paced back and forth, biting his thumb.
One hundred quintillion different combinations.
He stared at the lock.
‘Hypothetically, one attempt per second, one hundred quintillion seconds, divided by sixty, and sixty again, then twenty-four.’
He paused for a second.
‘Three-point-one-seven billion years. No– wait.’
He closed his eyes and did the calculation again.
‘Three trillion years.’
Guessing is out of the question.
Even remembering a number that large was almost impossible, it had to be written.
Yet where would they write it? Kiri took into account that every Volvana member had a paper containing the digit, but what if it were lost? Knowing them, they would never give a replacement.
Right. Fingerprints.
One way or another, if there were fingerprints on the lock, it can help Kiri decipher the code by narrowing down the numbers…
He took out a UV flashlight from his bag and shined it at the digital passcode lock.
But when he checked for fingerprints..
He noticed something out of place.
The lock was clean– not a smudge, not a bump, no fingerprints.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
It wasn’t just clean, it was pristine. As if untouched.
Kiri smirked triumphantly.
Just a fake. Nobody had actually used this lock.
Knowing it's fake, the real entrance should be nearby.
He took a step back, and examined the walls.
A hidden contraption requires space, and space means architecture.
He brushed his fingers on the wall, and dust was collected onto his fingertips. Dust had built up on the walls from years of neglect.
The dust layer was so thick that touching it would leave a visible trail.
Almost the entire wall was covered with dust.
Except for one section– the far, dark corner.
The same principle. One brick tile was oddly cleaner than the rest. As though it's been disturbed for quite a while. Kiri leaned forward, putting his face right in front of said brick. A subtle draft blew on his face.
Kiri froze.
Wind– but a sealed wall shouldn’t be letting air through? Pressing his hand against the wall– click.
The brick set out of place. The giant iron door opened as Kiri was greeted by a descent of stairs.
—------------------------------
Heading down the flight of stairs led to a dark room.
Kiri lit on a lighter that he kept in his bag.
He could hear the sound of rodents crawling.
The entrance, dilapidated, run-down, terribly maintained.
Looking around, Kiri found a decent sized hole in the wall. It was a secret entrance to the place, not the one he had gone through.
But by the carves, he could tell. This is where the thief had entered from.
‘How incompetent.’ Kiri scoffed. He’d expect the people running the vault to be at least a tad bit smarter.
This section of the vault included more dangerous stuff.
Weapons of history, armour, chemicals that could kill. He walked through the place, looking at the items one by one.
Something eye-catching. Not what he was looking for but–
‘Neat… A Swiss saber! A well-maintained one at that! I'll take this for safekeeping.’ He kept it inside of the sword's scabbard. It could be useful later. He kept moving.
Then… Kiri found a room, a special exhibit.
This was the place.
Kiri entered the room, cautiously.
Sure enough, in the middle of the room, there was an empty pedestal.
‘The Core of Darkness…” Kiri muttered as he stared at the pedestal with an uneasy expression.
Kiri had heard of it before. An artifact sought out by the government and by certain, rare, collectors.
The core had been stolen multiple times before...
Once in a vault in the south side of a neighboring city, Maplewood.
Vivid memories passed through Kiri’s mind.
The vault was on fire, as he looked around with his tear-filled eyes. A man stood there, carrying a pulsating orb in his left hand, holding it up to his face, and in the right, a dagger– a skean. Smiling as if amused, as if he pitied Kiri.
Kiri suddenly stopped himself from delving deeper.
His breath had quickened and his left ear started ringing.
‘Even after years… I recall it far too well.’
Kiri takes out two things from his pocket. A hearing aid which he inserts into his left ear and a lollipop.
Kiri unwrapped the lollipop as he tried to calm down.
After some time, Kiri resumed his investigation. Checking around the room for any trace of evidence. He used the UV flashlight again for footprints– but the footprints are everywhere. Theoretically, it seemed to be a chase, not good. He kept searching for any bit of evidence.
Maybe, something the thief dropped.
Someone who has as much experience as to sneak through a heavily-guarded building unscathed is wise enough to not bring excessive items. However, it's not out of the question.
After thoroughly inspecting the area, Kiri was on his way to go back to the hole from where the thief entered. On the floor, he saw a silver necklace. ‘A necklace? This is from Princess Ma'ra of Egypt, worth a ton. Looks like the thief wanted more than just the Core.’
He picked up the necklace, and stored it in a case, knowing he can use this as evidence later on.
He came back to the hole. Most likely, it was also used for escaping. Kiri crouched down, and flashed the light through the tunnel.
Something eerie.
Dead rats, 5 of them, piled up, no physical trauma, no blood, not rotten– definitely recent.
Their fur is a darkened, unnatural colour.
Under the pile, a liquid, with the consistency of goo…
The colour is pitch-black.
Kiri took out a blue pen, and poked at the goo with it–
It reacted. Kiri recoiled back. The pen turned to a darker shade of blue.
‘Could it be…’
His expression hardened.
He took the pen out. The substance wasn't merely coating it, but spreading through it. Veins of black crept throughout the pen, consuming its colour.
Kiri snapped the pen in half. The growth of it stopped.
He observed the goo.
‘Living matter… Or something supernatural, like that mirror monster.’ He zones out.
As if compelled, Kiri reaches out for it, but cuts short.
‘That’d be stupid…’
But then, suddenly, the goo jumped up towards Kiri’s finger. He didn't have time to react as it made contact with his finger. It latched onto him.
For a second, everything went blank. Lights off.
Visions passed Kiri’s mind, some of his own, some that belonged to another organism.
None of them made sense, it couldn't, it wasn't his own.
Kiri dropped to his knees, bewildered by everything that just happened. A sharp pain in his core.
One name echoed throughout his mind, it sounded as if it were a concept or a feeling or anything other.
‘Warning.’
‘Must find Warning.’
The goo repelled back.
Kiri stumbled out of the vault and leaned onto a wall.
His right hand was shaking, and it hurt to move it.
He put his left palm on his head, ‘Why can I not remember what just happened only moments ago?’, sweating bullets.
But one thing he knows for certain, there's a bigger problem at hand than the thief.
He stored the air-tight jar containing the goo and a few rats inside of his bag. He sat at a nearby bus stop, dialing someone up.
“Vera, I need a ride.” heavily breathing.
‘...’
“Vera?”
“I appear to be in a predicament, sir.” she replied.
“How come…”
Sounds of high-pitched yelling and shouting can be heard in the background. “Are those… children?” Kiri asks.
“Embarrassingly, yes. It’s a side j-” Before she could finish, Vera cut off, her tone changing significantly.
‘‘H-hey! For the last time, don’t put the crayon in your mouth, Micheal!’’
‘I understand.’ Kiri hung up. Just then, he saw a taxi passing by. He raised his hand, ‘Taxi, please.’
‘‘For how many?’’ The man asked, shameless.
Kiri looked around, no one else around. “Uh-”
The man continues to stare into Kiri blankly.
“...Just me, I suppose.”
“And the destination?”
The sound of glass breaking and rubble collapsing can be heard…
“Follow the sound.” Kiri immediately entered the vehicle.
“Got it, boss!”
A minute passed by.
The car stopped.
“We're here, boss!”
Kiri put the $20 in the back seat and left.
“The total is… 50 cents– where’d he go?”
The sound came from around the block.
Suddenly– a loud, ear-piercing screech…
Kiri closed his ears. ‘That sound…’
A thud.
Kiri ran across the street. Everywhere he looked, it was in ruins.
Suddenly, he heard shattering of glass, loud enough to make someone’s ears burst.
Kiri’s ears began to ring. He started feeling nauseous, and was about to vomit right then and there. He swallowed it.
The sound of footsteps. Kiri heard them too.
He walked around the corner to come face to face with a man in a green hood, around his age.
He immediately knew who it was.
Kiri smirked as he came face to face with the man.
“My, my,” A two second pause. “What have we got here?”
Kiri spoke confidently. If he could strike fear into the thief, it can make them confess and from the looks of it, the man was in no shape to fight.
Kiri cracked his neck, “I'll cut to the chase.”
He pulled out a sword, the Swiss saber he had grabbed earlier in the vault and pointed it at the man, dropping its sheath to the ground.
“Were you the one who stole from The Volvana?”