Escape (1)
D Company Logistics Center. According to Unique Company's intel, this place handled more than half of all the horror logistics. Fitting its reputation, the core here was grand and awe-inspiring. Countless conveyor belts twisted together like a roller coaster from hell.
"Time to head out?"
Yoo Se-rin couldn't comprehend Han Yujin's calm words. Head out? Ride this? On the conveyor belt?
It's not some amusement ride.
Yeah, from afar, it did look like a roller coaster. Conveyor belts shot up toward the sky, curving toward the ceiling before plummeting straight down like a cliff drop. The tangled pillars below resembled the bones of massive beasts intertwined. Delivery boxes squeaked through the gaps, only to get sucked upward into the distance. Vanishing into the unseen darkness.
"...Haha."
Yoo Se-rin's voice trembled. Roller coasters at least had safety bars—this didn't.
"...I-isn't there another way?"
Her face drained of color as she asked. But no response from Han Yujin. Was she sulking because of Section Chief Lee Kanghyeok? Where'd she go?
Yoo Se-rin scanned around. It didn't take long to spot her. There was only one place she could be.
Inside a delivery box on the stopped conveyor belt.
"........"
There was Han Yujin, curled up tight. Her eyes stared upward at the box lid, visible whenever her hair swayed in the breeze.
Not like some cat getting shipped off in a box.
She actually looked kinda cute up close.
...Or so she thought, until.
"What're you doing? Get in."
The brusque words, tossed out like some prickly guy, sent a chill down her spine. Right, this kid's that monster newbie.
"I mean..."
"Cargo's shipping out soon. If you don't wanna board now, chase it later."
Glancing back, she saw Kruru and Lee Kanghyeok already lined up in boxes. Lee Kanghyeok up front was crammed into a box ready to burst, yet his face stayed dead serious.
"...Haa."
What could she do at this point? Reality check. Yoo Se-rin climbed into the rearmost box.
"Catch."
Han Yujin tossed each of them a staff-like stick.
"When switching conveyors, use it to vault across. You know the jar game, right? Careful not to smash yourself jumping between boxes."
No, I don't! What's that?!
Before Yoo Se-rin could yell,
Small Cargo Line, commencing delivery.
Clank, clank, clank. The boxes jolted into motion. Creeping forward slowly at first, then hitting the lift section.
An endless upward climb straight ahead. Pillars lined up beside it. Felt like being dragged to the heavens against your will.
Please, please, please, please.
Each step up made her stomach lurch. Like her guts were riding an escalator. Wind whipped her face. No courage to look down. She just glared at the endless rail ahead.
And at its peak.
"Wait...!"
Yoo Se-rin's voice quivered in terror.
"Th-that thing...!"
At the top of the ascent track, a massive arch scanner glowed red.
Yoo Se-rin knew it well. It was the same one from the waste processing plant where she'd waited with Kim Jah-ha—the [Recycling] line!
"W-wait, Yujin. That's a bioscan scanner!"
"I know."
"You know and you're fine with it?! We'll pass out going through there!"
Passing out meant no movement. Straight to the compressor after that. Yoo Se-rin's lips trembled.
"You want me to smash it?"
Lee Kanghyeok asked, frowning. The scanner now targeted him.
Han Yujin shrugged and pulled out a pill bottle.
"Memory-loss pills."
"Why bring those now...?"
Han Yujin popped one out without hesitation, bit it into quarters with her teeth.
"Open up."
She tossed a quarter into her own mouth, the rest to the three others.
"This'll wipe 15 minutes of memory. Same as passing out—no consciousness for those 15 minutes."
Lee Kanghyeok hesitated one second. It was a gamble.
But the scanner light hit his head. His scarred face twisted, then he caught the pill and swallowed.
No time to notice his piece was sliced bigger.
Seeing it, Han Yujin grinned and chewed hers. Kruru and Yoo Se-rin followed suit.
Vision blurred fast. As consciousness faded, a faint system voice echoed.
Scanning... Scanning...
Target 1: Organic matter detected. Consciousness: None.
Target 2: Organic matter detected. Consciousness: None.
Target 3: Material composition unknown. Consciousness: None.
Target 4: Organic matter detected. Consciousness: None.
[...]
All cargo status: Unconscious. Classified as normal cargo.
The red beam died. The conveyor carried the four boxes safely through the checkpoint.
Han Yujin woke with a blank face.
Slurp. She wiped drool from her mouth on reflex—and saw black writing on her arm.
- Right now, I'm riding the conveyor belt.
Only then did she notice the jolting around her.
...Lost my memory?
The next note confirmed it.
- Just took Forget-Me-Not pill (amnesia: 10 min).
10 minutes. Vaguely, she recalled bickering with Lee Kanghyeok at the conveyor. He'd tried prying info on Kruru.
- Gave Lee Kanghyeok the 20-min dose.
"Ah."
So he'd forgotten her answer? Up ahead, Lee Kanghyeok turned with a dumb look, checking the situation. Definitely amnesiac.
Good, that's fine.
The lost 10 minutes couldn't be recovered. But she could infer.
Twisting her arm awkwardly, the last scrawled note appeared.
- Switch conveyors at the red conveyor intersection.
Han Yujin pieced together the missing bits. Boarded small conveyor. Split Forget-Me-Not to dodge gimmick. Next up: compressor waiting.
—Thud!
The belt to the peak halted briefly. No belt ahead. Meaning: descent zone.
"Kyaaack!"
Yoo Se-rin's scream rang out briefly. Then the box rocketed downward.
"Don't close your eyes—watch!"
Landscapes whipped by. Somewhere among them: the red conveyor junction.
"Up ahead, ahead, ahead!"
Yoo Se-rin's scream again. Front view: square compressor closing in.
—Grrrind!
Boxes compressing to fit it—right then.
"Here!"
About 1m below. Red conveyor intersecting.
Han Yujin thwacked the floor with her staff and dropped.
—Boing!
—Thump!
Lee Kanghyeok and Kruru followed successfully.
"What the fuck!"
Thud, thud! Yoo Se-rin gouged the conveyor a few times before barely landing.
"I-I thought I was dead."
"Not over yet! Snap to it!"
—Thud! Now the conveyor dropped backward!
"Uwaaaack!"
"This is insane!"
Yoo Se-rin and Kruru screamed.
"Grip the boxes tight!"
Heart-dropping freefall, literally.
"I'm dying, for real dying!"
Even Yoo Se-rin's wail drowned in the wind roar.
"One more drop!"
"Kyaaaaack!"
Makes sense—the waste line was on sublevel 13, one of the bottom floors!
Kruru and Yoo Se-rin clutched their boxes amid screams. Safety wasn't an issue. Logistics wouldn't damage cargo carelessly.
"What a batshit strategy. I like it even more, Han Yujin!!!"
Hmm. That musclehead seemed certifiably nuts.
—Whiiish!
Plummeting through wind, Han Yujin fought to keep eyes open. Red was waste line! Had to be a merge point with the mid-size conveyor we sought!
Just as her eyes screamed from the strain.
"There! Lee Kanghyeok!"
Mid-drop. Purple conveyor merging.
"Purple's mid-size cargo!"
That all-white employee anomaly zone. She'd noted the purple line passing through—full of human-sized packages.
Problem: purple belt floated 1m up.
"Grab on!"
At Lee Kanghyeok's shout, Han Yujin seized his box.
"You too!"
Kruru grabbed Han Yujin's, Yoo Se-rin grabbed Kruru's—
"Graaaah!"
With a bizarre yell, Lee Kanghyeok dangled from the purple conveyor. Bent his back like a gymnast on rings, hauled all three onto it, then.
—Thud.
Pulled himself up onto the conveyor upside-down with raw arm strength.