Chapter 33: N & dungeon
Alex, Thomas and the newbie were ready to explore the dungeons. The newbie officer, Tara, was excited. She scurried along as soon as she heard about the dungeon training. Alex and his teammates were ready for the training.
Although the training was just a pretence Alex cooked up. It served its purpose of getting their team access to a dungeon within their scope of work. Getting paid to 'train' was a nice change of pace for Alex. And he needed it to finally explore a dungeon.
Holding his luggage, he stood in front of a large hexagonal building. It had the name Department of Dungeon Management written on it.
A large number of people were leaving and entering that building each second. It was a crowded place.
Alex, who hated crowded places, felt uncomfortable standing there. He wanted to quickly enter and be done with it.
Thomas moved forward after clearing their paperwork. As the team leader, he authenticated their identity and entered the building.
"Follow me and don't make trouble. Although this building is part of our city. No government, even our own, does not have total control over what happens inside. This building and everything inside comes directly under the department of dungeon management which is controlled by the Alliance. The moment you step in, be careful of what you do. Tara, I am saying this for you." Thomas chided Tara, the new member of his team.
She was a troublemaker. So, he thought it was important to give her due guidance.
Alex, who was with them, quietly followed. He knew that Thomas also was explaining things to be considerate of his condition. As far as Thomas knew, his amnesia condition has yet to be cured.
After taking multiple escalators. They finally reached their destination. It was a large open area at the core of the building. And in front of them, they could see a large fissure in space-time. It looked like a glowing silvery ball half sunk into the ground. The top hemisphere occasionally glowed brightly and surrounding machines hummed whenever objects passed through it.
It was a door into the dungeon. It was a permanent portal connecting this world to a dungeon.
Alex observed this absurd combination of science and fiction in awe. The large portal that spanned thirty metres in diameter and the people passing through it was something he never thought he would see.
"Get a hold of yourself and move forward. Only twenty minutes left before the portal shifts. We don't have much time to waste. Remember to always wear your armband when travelling through the dungeon. If not, it is hard to predict which portal you would exit from." Thomas said while holding up the armband. The arm bands were distributed by the Department of Dungeon Management to specify the portals they would be appearing at. It was a handy tool made for the purpose of portal traversal.
Thomas didn't want to wait until the next time slot to enter the demon world. So he walked faster towards the portal.
If they were unable to enter the portal within twenty minutes, they would miss the time slot when the portal is synched to the demon world. It would not be a great experience to wait until the portal connects to the demon world again.
Due to the permanent portals being a rare resource, the department of dungeon management controls when the portal is connected and to which dungeon while closely managing the schedule to ensure fairness. Or else it would demerit the Alliance and its existence.
The alliance was formed by many large and small countries to ensure their right across dungeons. And the department of dungeon management was an organisation created by the alliance to uphold the rights of all alliance members.
So, any discrepancies in the management of the dungeon would spell trouble.
After ensuring that everything is in the correct order. Alex moved towards the portal.
Like most people, he walked into the glowing three-dimensional hole in space-time. But unlike what he expected, he didn't reach the other side instantaneously.
He felt the space around him shrink and everything around him disappear. He was shrouded in darkness floating in the emptiness of space without any control whatsoever. A familiar feeling woke him up from his stupor.
What happened?
Alex thought, trying to make sense of what was happening around him. Other than the familiar feeling he was getting from the empty space around him. Nothing was making any sense.
Suddenly, like a supernova explosion, a blinding flash of light shrouded his vision. Alex was momentarily blinded by the white light.
But the moment he opened his eyes, he could see a ghostly silhouette in front of him.
What was that?
Again a futile thought popped into his mind.
The ghostly figure was floating in the deep empty space like plumes of smoke slowly coming closer and closer to Alex.
Finally, barely inches away from Alex, it stopped moving. Just like how Alex observed it. It observed Alex.
Why am I not afraid? Alex thought.
If it was an average person, thrown into a random place, alone with a ghost. He or she or they would have freaked out. But for some reason, Alex was feeling at peace. Seeing the floating ghost near him.
"Who are you?" Alex asked, hiding his emotions.
"N" The ghost replied. It was not clear where the sound came from. But Alex was sure that it was the ghost that answered.
"What do you want?" Alex asked, once again a template question from the handbook of a wannabe ghost hunter.
"N plus One….We will meet again." The ghost replied before dissipating into thin air. He was trying to say something more, but his words were cut off before he could talk.
Was it an equation or something? The theory of everything is compiled into a simple equation that governs space-time and quantum physics. Is it something like that?
"What did I do to see the ghost of a mathematician?" Alex was perplexed by the situation. A random ghost popped up when he walked into a portal and disappeared just as fast. It was perplexing.
But before he could think more, a hand was placed on his shoulder.
"Why are you standing there dazed? Let's go." Thomas said to Alex.
The team of detectives were finally inside a dungeon.
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Sailfish
Sailfish Short chapter
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