As he got up, Blake was shaking a little.
He was not even physically strong, but the mask plus the buff truly did magic on his abilities.
"Okay... okay. Let’s do this right."
No one was getting out, there was no alarm, so he undressed the guard of his uniform and put it on, along with the gun.
There was a slight tugging on the pocket. As he reached to check, he saw it was a single key.
’This will definitely help ...’
Then, he picked the helt, carefully putting it over his head, making sure it didn’t make the mask slip.
Then he dragged the body and hid it in the corner.
"Not that it’s not noticeable... still..."
Shakingly, he got into the building, trying to maintain his composure so as not to get caught.
The interior was as dull as it looked on the outside.
Gray walls, flat lighting, the faint hum of machinery sowhere deep within, it all felt lifeless.
As he stepped further in, Blake spotted a group of guards stationed down the corridor.
His heart imdiately spiked.
Without thinking, he pulled back, pressing himself behind the nearest corner. His breath caught in his throat as he leaned against the wall, trying to make himself as small, and as invisible, as possible.
’That was close...’
He didn’t dare peek right away. His mind ran through worst-case scenarios in rapid succession: being seen, being questioned, being shot on the spot.
But nothing happened.
There was no shouting ot footsteps rushing toward him. So, slowly and cautiously, he leaned just enough to glance.
The guards were still there, talking and even laughing.
None of them looked in his direction.
’Huh...? I was confidently walking towards them like a second ago!’
Did they really not see him?
He stayed still for a few more seconds, just to be sure, then let out a long, quiet sigh of relief.
His shoulders lowered slightly as he forced himself to calm down.
He couldn’t afford to panic. Not here. Not now.
With careful steps, he moved forward again, this ti sticking closer to the walls, avoiding direct lines of sight whenever possible.
As he went deeper into the building, he began trying the key he had found.
On the first door, it didn’t fit.
On the second door, still nothing.
On the third there was no movent.
"Tch... figures..."
He kept going, trying every door that looked even remotely important. So were locked tight. Others required keycards instead of physical keys.
Each failure chipped slightly at his confidence.
’What does this even open...?’
Still, he didn’t stop.
The deeper he went, the quieter it beca. Fewer guards. More isolated corridors. The hum of machinery grew louder, like he was getting closer to the core of whatever this place really was.
Then, he turned a corner, and froze. There was a woman was walking straight toward him.
Their eyes t instantly.
"Hey you."
Blake’s mind jolted violently.
’Shit!’
But he held still.
The woman approached with a tired but sharp expression. She looked exactly like the kind of scientist you’d expect in a place like this: white lab coat slightly wrinkled, glasses slipping down her nose, dark circles under her eyes.
She stopped a few steps away from him, frowning.
"What is a guard doing here?"
Blake opened his mouth, the cllosed it.
Opened it again.
"I—uh—there was—"
His brain scrambled for anything remotely believable.
"Orders. I got orders to check... this section."
God, that sounded terrible.
Even he could hear it.
The woman narrowed her eyes slightly, clearly unconvinced.
"Orders? From who?"
Then, a deafening siren tore through the building.
Both of them flinched.
The sound was incredibly loud and scary, an unmistakable alarm.
The woman’s expression shifted instantly from suspicion to alarm.
"What the...?"
Without another word, she turned and ran past him.
Blake stood there, stunned.
His stomach dropped.
’That’s, that’s because of the guy I knocked out, most definitely...’
Those guards from earlier, there was no way they hadn’t noticed by now.
The entire place was going into lockdown.
’Okay, okay, this is where I have to take advantage and use chaos as a—’
"Are you just going to stand there?!"
The woman had stopped a short distance away, turning back toward him with clear annoyance.
"Move! You’re supposed to protect !"
"R-right, I’m here!"
Blake quickly followed after her, mumbling under his breath.
"Sorry..."
He didn’t want to follow her.
Not at all.
Every instinct told him this was dangerous, getting tied to soone, especially soone observant enough to question him.
But he didn’t have a choice.
If he stayed behind, he’d stand out even more.
So he followed.
They moved quickly through the corridors, the alarm continuing to blare overhead. Red ergency lights began flashing intermittently, casting everything in a pulsing glow.
Blake kept glancing around as they moved, half-expecting ard guards to burst in from every direction.
But strangely, no one stopped him.
No one questioned him.
Even the few people they passed barely spared him a glance.
’...This skill of mine is so useful...’
I’ll sneak for my lover never failed to work but, today, it was better than he had expected.
They reached a room and rushed inside.
Two other workers were already there.
And they were panicking.
"What’s happening?!"
"How did this even...?!"
Both of them were frantically moving between monitors, their voices overlapping in confusion.
Blake stepped in behind the woman, taking in the room.
Walls covered in screens.
Cara feeds from all over the facility.
’"This is surveillance!’
The woman stepped forward sharply.
"What’s going on?"
The two workers turned to her, clearly stressed.
"We, we don’t know! Soone breached the periter but—"
"But what?"
"We didn’t see them co in!"
Silence.
The woman stared at them.
"That’s not possible."
"I know! That’s what we’re saying!"
"You’re telling soone got inside this facility and none of you noticed?"
They hesitated.
Then one of them gestured toward the screens.
"Look."
Blake’s eyes followed hers as she turned.
At first, there was nothing.
Just an empty piece of boring land.
"There."
One of them pointed.
There was a tall, buff figure walking.
Right in the middle of an open deserted space.
Clearly visible.
And yet, they were struggling to keep track of it. The figure didn’t disappear or move erratically.
It was walking in a straight line,and still, their eyes struggled to follow.
"What...?"
The woman leaned closer to the screen.
"I, I can’t see properly..."
She frowned, visibly frustrated.
"It’s like it’s slipping out of focus."
They switched caras.
The figure appeared again.
Then, gone.
Then, visible.
Again and again.
Blake felt a chill run down his spine.
’So that’s what it looks like when I activate it...’
It was definitely reassuring, because even when soone looked directly at him, it wasn’t stable.
It looked as if their perception couldn’t fully lock onto him.
’Unless they’re locking eyes with ...’
He glanced around the room. Even now, no one was paying him any mind.
Even though he was standing right there.
Every person he had avoided so far hadn’t noticed him at all.
Myles aside.
’But he’s a whole different type of human, so it’s not as unexpected.’
Blake swallowed.
The realization was both comforting and terrifying.
Comforting because it ant he had an advantage.
Terrifying because it ant he didn’t fully understand its actual potential.
The woman straightened abruptly.
"This is ridiculous!"
She turned sharply and walked out.
"You, co with !"
Blake flinched slightly before following.
"Y-yes!"
They moved quickly again, the alarms still echoing throughout the facility.
Blake’s mind raced.
’What am I even doing...?’
This wasn’t exactly what he had in mind.
He didn’t even really have a plan, since he also didn’t really know what to expect.
And yet here he was, following a random woman that doesn’t even actively rember his existence.
But, at least, it seed like she clearly knew where she was heading.
’Well, she’s dressed like so lab worker, so maybe this is for the best...’
As he followed, Blake never stopped scanning everything, he tried to rember everything as best as he could for when he had to go out.
Turns.
Doors.
Hallways.
Eventually, they reached a dead end.
Or at least, it looked like one, because there was only a plain wall with no markings or visible entrance.
But the woman didn’t hesitate.
She stepped forward and pulled out a key.
Blake’s eyes widened slightly.
It was identical to the one he had found in the pockets.
’No way!’
She inserted it into a nearly invisible slot in the wall.
There was a soft click.
Then, a section of the wall shifted, it was a hidden door sliding open just enough to reveal the space beyond.
The woman stepped inside without waiting.
Blake hesitated for a fraction of a second, then followed.
And as he crossed the threshold, his breath caught.
Inside, he finally found sothing worth his efforts.
Sothing close to what he had been looking for.
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