I groaned as I woke up. My side hurt. Was I on the floor instead of my bed? I opened my eyes, but all I saw was darkness. I lifted my ears, but no sound came, it was completely silent. I stood up, stretching a little as I did.
"Hello?" I called out. No response.
My eyes were now as adjusted to the darkness as they could be, so I chanced a look around. I was certainty not in my home. Looking up, there was slight illumination on the ceiling, a reddish orange light covering sections that were higher than others. I couldn't tell if that was just a design choice, or if the lower sections was the actual ceiling and the rest just collapsed at some point.
I looked around again, squinting in the darkness, but it was too hard to tell my surroundings. I decided to walk around. I found the edge of the room I was in soon enough, so I walked the length of it to see if I could find a light switch or something.
Eventually, I found what appeared to be a desk, as I bumped into it. Walking to the front, I could tell there was a terminal there. Such devices were only found in hospitals... I think. I don't know what they are used for or how to use them, but turning it on could provide some light, at the very least.
I found the power button easily enough, remembering where it would be from various pictures of terminals I came across previously. As soon as I hit it, the terminal immitted a static sound and a low hum which replaced the complete silence of the room. The screen turned on in a flash of white light, giving me some much needed light. The screen was a blank white and did not change after waiting a couple of seconds to see if it would, but now I could at least look around.
Doing so, I didn't like what I saw. There were various objects in the room that I didn't recognize, all thrown about on the floor or on random boxes. The room itself was a dull grey, the walls a metallic material, and everything looked damaged and out of place. There were parts of the ceiling on the floor, which explained my earlier question. There was also two doors on either side of the room, with one close to me and the terminal, which marked my way out of here.
I chanced a look up to the celling once more, finding the orange light interesting. There were pipes and wires of all shapes and sizes, and while I couldn't determine what was making the glow, I assumed it was powering the terminal. At least this place still has power, it would be very unfortunate if it didn't.
I tried the doors, but they didn't budge. There was no handles or locks. I assume they ran on power as well, but I don't know how to activate them.
I spent at least ten minutes looking for a switch or a lamp with the little light I had available, but with no such luck.
A loud click resounded in the room, and I turned my head quickly to determine the location it came from. It didn't take long. I was gazing at the white terminal screen. Only, the white screen had some new black additions.
HELLO.
The terminal was talking to me. There must be somepony controlling the screen display somehow. But, how?
I walked over to the terminal once more, trying to figure out how to respond. The keys had strange symbols in addition to the regular Equestrian alphabet. I tried typing some words like "Hello" but it didn't seem to do anything. Every second I spend in here, I'm only getting more and more frustrated. How did I even get here again?
Click.
YOU HAVE SOME QUESTIONS.
A new message appeared on the screen, replacing the previous one.
Five seconds later, another click.
BUT WE HAVE LITTLE TIME.
Same time, a click.
I WILL HELP YOU.
I waited a while, but no more text came from the screen. This situation was too strange for my liking. I wake up in a dark room that looks like somepony did their best to tear it apart, and somepony is talking to me through a terminal of all things. What was going on? Well, it's not like I can do much but wait for more messages, right? Hmm, maybe I could use something to try and force one of the doors open...
Another click halted my thought process, and I turned back to the screen.
WE ARE ON BACKUP POWER.
Click.
POWER IS RUNNING OUT. DONT LET BACKUP POWER SHUT DOWN.
Click.
YOU CAN TURN ON THE POWER.
Click.
I WILL OPEN A DOOR. FIND THE POWER.
Another click.
DO NOT LOOK AT THE HOLE.
Hole? What hole?
Wait, they could just open the doors at any time? Why not just let me out now? It's not like I have to do what whoever this is tells me to do. If the door just leads to an exit out of this place, I'm leaving.
The sound of metal grinding against metal reached my ears, and sure enough I looked over to see the door closest to me open, with both halves of it sliding to opposite directions. What lay beyond the room was a mystery, it was just as dark as it was in here when I woke up. Well, I might as well turn on the power before trying to leave... it's kind of creepy in here now that I think about it.
I walked to the open door, squinting inside to see if I could make out anything. No luck of course. I decided to follow the wall of this new room like I had the other one, and the silence of this place returned with the terminal out of hearing range. Maybe I'll get lucky and bump into a generator. Wait... the message said "power." Does that mean a generator, or something else? It should have been more clear...
The walk was going slowly, as I was being extra careful trying to avoid random parts and strips of metal that were no doubt from the celling.
I lapped around the entire room in about five minutes, I could tell it was much larger than the other one. Unfortunately, I hadn't found anything of notice just yet, asides from some large obstacles that I couldn't make out, so the generator must be somewhere in the center. If there even was a generator. I hadn't heard any clicks either, so I assume whoever it was, was still waiting for me. Hold on, how did they know I was here in the first place? Was it because I turned on the terminal? Yeah, maybe.
I really didn't want to move away from the safety of the walls. The dark never really bothered me before, but something about this place...
Sighing, I moved back to the door, keeping one foreleg on the wall to direct me as I head back, figuring I should double check for another message just in-case I missed the sound. I was at the door when my foreleg that was on the wall caught on something.
I looked to see what it is, and immediately facehoofed. Seriously? How the hay did I miss this?
I let out a defeated sigh, and opened the panel, guided by the limited light from the other room that was bleeding through the door. There were some switches, and a single red light near the top. Not knowing what to do from here, I just flipped all of them in the same direction. When nothing happened, I did the same for the opposite direction.
After flipping one of them, a hum similar to that of the terminal started sounding off in the background replacing the silence which I was thankful for, and small white lights on the unruined parts of the ceiling turned on, though they weren't nearly as bright as the terminal. A quick scan of the ceiling of this new room made me aware of five hanging lights in total. Better than nothing, I guess.
I let out a breath in relief, and decided to take a new look of the roo-
I gaped. At the same time, my heart dropped and my mouth fell open in disbelief.
There was a giant hole in the floor.
I couldn't take my eyes off of it. There is just... a hole. In the floor. It covered most of the room, originating from the center. If I had taken only two steps to the right when I was over there...
I couldn't see the bottom.
A chill ran up my spine. I shut my mouth and turned my gaze away. Even with the new dim light, I was more freaked out with this place now than ever. Just... how is that even possible?
I glanced at the hole again. My heart dropped once more and I shuddered in fear. It was getting harder to look at it. That... it should not be there. I should not be here. Why am I here?
There was sudden crackle coming from somewhere near the door, which made me jump.
Ah! I see you have turned on the power! Good, good. I'm sure you have some questions... but do not fret, I will provide you with all the answers you need!
The voice resonated from a dark circle in the doorframe. It must have been some kind of speaker. The voice was hard to make out because of the static that came with it, but it was male. I opened my mouth to respond, but got cut off.
Oh, of course! Where are my manners. My name is Doctor Greyhoof, but you may call me Grey. And yours?
"Ahem... yes, it's-"
Oh! My mistake really, I forgot! This thing is really only one way, so I won't be able to hear you. But I can see you! Wave to the camera! The voice, Grey, said joyfully.
I huffed, but looked around anyway. What camera?
Anyway, I'm sure you have noticed the absence of most of the floor, yes? Well, you're here to help me with that! All I need you to do is determine how deep it is, do that and you're free to go!
How... deep it is? How do I even do that?
Of course, you will have to write down your observations in a notebook, there should be one lying around... maybe in one of the drawers? Should be a measuring tape somewhere too... or you can just drop some stuff in there and record how long it takes to hit the bottom. Anyway, I've got to go. Good luck!
Another crackle resounded, and the room returned to silence.
"I... what?" I said, dumbfounded. This guy, Grey was it? He wanted me to tell him how deep it was? Why? Wait, did he kidnap me or something? He said he would "let me go" if I do what he asks, that's basically kidnapping, right?
"Hey Doctor! Let me go or I'm going to press charges!" I yelled to the door. I'm still not sure where exactly the voice was coming from. Somehow, I doubt he would respond if he actually could hear me.
I sighed. "Well, guess I'll give him what he wants, then."
First things first, the notebook. I chanced a look around the new room once more, purposefully avoiding looking at the hole, for obvious reasons.
Nothing stood out to me right away, other than two boxes on my left and a smaller desk than the one in the first room on the opposite side.
"Boxes first, I guess."
I walked over to them without issue, and opened them. There was a few black objects and wires inside. No notebook. I really didn't want to go to the other side of the room... It's too close to the... yeah.
Click.
I paused, confused. Why bother using the terminal if he can talk now? I entered the first room once more to check the terminal.
ARE YOU THERE?
"Yes...?" I stared at the screen, waiting for it to change. Now what?
YOU NEED TO TURN ON THE POWER.
...what? Didn't I just do that? I looked back to the door to the other room, and sure enough, I could see the faint lights that were now on, with the hum of those lights giving me some comfort.
Click.
WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME.
Was there another thing that I needed to turn on? The panel wasn't a generator after all, so that made sense.
I shrugged and made my way back to the second room. I just wanted to get out of here.
My eyes glanced at the hole for a moment, then focused on the desk. "Okay, find notebook, look for power, measure... okay."
I walked up to the desk. There was nothing on it, but it did have a drawer. Opening it provided just what I needed: a notebook! Perfect.
I placed the notebook on my back, grabbed a random black item off of the floor, and walked towards the edge of the hole.
"Alright, now to drop something in, record how long it takes to hit the bottom. Easy enough." I figured the item would be heavy enough to make a sound, especially on hard floor. Holding it in my teeth, I positioned it above the bottomless pit, and let go.
I listened carefully. The silence of the room was deafening.
Click.
CRACK! There it is! The sound of the object hitting the bottom of the hole echoed loudly around the room.
"That was about... 4 seconds?" I took a few steps away from the hole, took the notebook off of my back, and wrote down the time.
Click.
Crackle.
Perfect! Thank you so very much for your time, 4 seconds, was it? This will just be so very beneficial to my research! Oh, yes. You are free to go, exit is just over there. Bye now! I can't thank you enough. The Doctor's voice echoed around the room, and ended with the same static noise as it began with.
Click.
I looked ahead, and sure enough, there was a door that I somehow missed before not too far away, with a red EXIT sign just above it. Thankfully, the glow of the exit sign was enough to illuminate the door in contrast to the surrounding darkness. Now I can just leave, and never look back. I feel a headache coming with how quite it is in here.
I walked up to the door, stepped into the exit, and fell into the hole.
Click.