To your surprise, the room isn't locked. You let yourself in, clicking the flashlight you had found conveniently laying on the floor a few hallways ago. It takes a while, but it finally turns on...
You shine the light, locking the door behind you so you don't get caught. To your surprise, this appears to be a regular working room. A little dustier, and full of weird papers and junk scattered around...wires and small machines are scattered around the tables, but they appear to have not been touched for a long time. You start to think that was all an unnecessary risk... The tapping ceased after you entered the room. But still, you decide to not give it up, not after all that sneaking. You find a cable to a lamp, and decide to turn it on. The light only shines dimly, but that's a little better than just a flashlight. The room feels a little less small now... There are more tables, more machines, and more dust than you first saw. You walk, and walk... it starts...feeling eerie. The machines, they feel as if they're still revving. There are...so many. Ranging to useful machines to...quite silly ones, really. There's a little robot on a table, but despite how much you try, it wont turn on, so you just leave it. You keep looking around, trying to read the paper scattered around. Some read info about the junk in the room, some are illegibile, as if they've been ripped up or scribbled up on purpose. No matter how you try, you can't make up a single word. Once again, you give up.

You start to think that maybe that really was all useless...to think about it, the tapping was probably coming from some leak. You start making your way to the door...when suddently...

Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.

There it is again.

You turn around. A door. You swear you did not see it before. But that's where the tapping is seemingly from. You have nothing to lose, so you get closer, and place your ear on the door.

Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.

You open the door.

You cant believe your eyes.


A hallway, a long dark hallway. Each side with long, endless rows of test tubes. Most are empty, some filled with a fizzing, green neon liquid. You notice some is leaking onto the ground, so you're careful on where you're stepping. You walk, and keep walking, and the test tubes appear to be endless. You stop to look at them.

The labels...they vary with words like "Failed.", "Undergoing", "Available."... some are covered by curtains, and you can barely see the green shine behind the black cloth covering the tubes. Some tubes...they have weird things within them. The label "undergoing", you notice small floating creatures within them, all fleshy and nearly too tiny to see. You have to get closer to each to see them...They all look the same. Yet they vary in shape and...health. Each tube has details about the creature within it, and its status. Some are healthier than others...some have odd labels. Such as dates. To your sad realisation, it seems they're labels for the ones that aren't gonna make it. But why? What are these things? They don't seem to have actual names...they're just variations of numbers. "9.3"..."10.7"..."7.8"... youre not quite sure what that means. But you notice as you keep going the numbers go lower. The labels started off as around 15...and are now at around 7. As you keep walking, the small creatures seem to be older and bigger, some getting reasonably more visible and...developed. They look like tiny fleshy lizards. Honestly, you find them quite disguisting.

...

...

6.8... 5.3... more and more appear to be covered with curtains. The last you probably saw clearly was 6.3. They're all blurred, or covered. You're not sure why, but maybe it's better like this.

Yet...you start noticing something wrong.

Heartbeats.

Ranging from 5.2 and under, they all seem to be blurred and have a recorded heartbeat.
Perhaps these are the fully developed ones? Adults, maybe...? Whatever these things are...perhaps they are alive. But no matter how many questions you have, you're not able to see them. They're all blurred out. The hallway feels less longer though, even though you can't see the door you came from anymore.

Finally, 3.5.

This time it feels...creepy. You can no longer see the shine from the green liquid, and instead, it looks blue. The room feels...chilly. ALmost freezing. There's no more heartbeats... and no recorded info. Instead, there are file logs about performance.

"3.3. Initial success, lifespan of about half a year. Reached first birthday, but showed signs of thought loss shortly after. Good in performance, developed own personality but wasn't as noticeable. Collapsed with a still heart, reason is speculated as the organism not being able to handle its form anymore. Shut down on AUG 3, 20XX. Currently in frozen state, attempts for revival not currently in schedule."

You back away from the frozen tube, your heart beating faster out of shock. Inside that test tube...a creature once alive? "Not being able to handle its form"...you have no idea what that means. But honestly, you don't like this hallway anymore. You keep looking at each test tube, each with records of how the creature lived...and died...and how long it lasted. And to make it worse...some didn't even have shut down dates, and not even performances while awake. It appears some were alive, but kept for...emergencies. Or ... future attempts...? Attempts for what?
You start feeling as nothing makes sense anymore...this room. Something terrible is going on in here, and you start to regret coming here. You start to regret being aware this was happening.

And yet, you keep walking.

"1.0"....

You skipped 2.0, as apparently the tube was empty.

However, the 1.0 tube looks showcased. It's not present in a row, and instead, it has its own section. The tube is larger, and has some wires attached to it. Perhaps this was important? You lean and look at the recorded info.

And your heart shoots out of your chest.

The first.

This is the first being made here.

Lasted for seemingly 3 whole years... passed in March. Said to be the closest to perfection, with wonderfully balanced health and performance. Like the original, it says. It was true hope. Basically human, basically the original, the joy of the company. A miracle... and so lucky to have been the first one. A miracle, a miracle...

But every good time is bound to an end.
Because their joy and hope was seemingly murdered.

Out of spite, out of rage, fear? Sadism? It is unknown. But their joy was forcefully taken away. One some sunny day. A day which was seemingly special.

It was sad, so sad.

"Attempts for revival have been made, but none successful so far. To be kept safe and most importantly alive for now. Shut down is strictly prohibited at the moment and it may result in execution."

You step away. You wish to run away, run far and far away from the horrors of this hellish hallway. What the fuck is going on here? Who is doing this and...Why? Why did you have to be here...? Is this world really so fucked up?

You take deep breaths, trying to get those thoughts of you head. You...you can't run away just now. You're angry...you're afraid. But you refuse to leave without answers.

Next to the test tube, there's a door with a hazard sign.
Perhaps you should go...perhaps you shouldn't. But should it matter anymore...?

Avoiding the wires, you slowly open the door.
A strong and blinding dust cloud hits you in the face, causing you to cough. Your own echo frightens you, but you refuse to take the hint and slowly make your way in.

....
...
What... the fuck?

A gigantic tube appears your way, several wires, pipes and machinery are attached to it. The light coming from it is blinding, as it nearly lights up the whole room. if it weren't for the huge curtain in front of it, you'd most likely be blind by now. A strong smell of dust and chemicals fill your lungs, and you feel as if you're suffocating. You cough, and cough. And struggle to catch your breath.
The master tube just stands there, with several little lights and wires beeping around it. A loud, slow heartbeat crushing the silence.

"The Originator."

...

Do you see now?

You should've turned back when you still had the chance. Do you regret coming here...? Or perhaps, you were waiting...no, expecting this?

Breathe, it's okay.

You got your ending.
Are you happy?

Are you happy? Scared? Disappointed...Angry...or even, amused?

You realise you can't turn back now, so how you feel doesn't matter to me.

Do you want to see it?

This is the last chance you have, to turn back, and hope for a better ending.

Whatever choice you make, I won't judge.
Its not up to me after all.


...

You notice the curtain has a small opening. You feel your heart beating faster and faster, your hands and legs trembling and fear and anticipation.
You get closer, swallowing your nervous lump. And you place your hand on the curtain.

Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Are you happy?

(Tap. Tap.)

This is it.

(Tap. Tap.)

The answers you want...the ending you seek.

(Tap. Tap.)

It's all behind it,

(Tap. Tap.)

> All behind a click.