2: Wander

I look around the corridor. There are small horizontal lights on the walls and pillars that glow dimly. Their light reminds me of the gleam that the vertical crystals in my room gave off. I look to my right, and then my left. I decide that my left is a better bet. I don't know why, but something tells me that I should go that way. After walking for a bit, I come upon stairs that lead downwards. I walk down them to the bottom, then exit through a door.

After a few minutes, I hear a noise, and I duck into a nook in the wall. The sound gets louder, and I recognize it as the noise of boots against the floor. I peek my head out slightly and see a group of men walking by. They're all holding some sort of guns, and they are dressed similarly. I duck back into my corner, hardly able to breathe.

"This way," one of them says. Are they coming towards me?, I think. Please don't see me, please don't see me. I hear their footsteps getting louder....and then they turn, and go down my corridor in the opposite direction.

I hold my breath until I can't hear their footsteps anymore. I exhale, and for a few minutes, I stay still, afraid that they'll come back. Then I relax, and step out of my nook. Bad move. There's a man standing in front of me. He's kind of short, but the lethal-looking metal rod that he's holding in his hand makes up for his height (or lack thereof). He's wearing glasses, and I can see that he isn't dressed the same way as the others.

I jump, and the man raises the rod above his head, ready to strike. But just when I think my adventure is going to come to an abrupt end, he speaks. "You're not a soldier." He lowers the rod. "Uh...yeah," I say. "I'm not a soldier." Another thing to add to my list. The man looks around. "I heard voices a little while ago, and footsteps, so I thought you might be one of them." He keeps looking around nervously, as if he thinks the soldiers will be back any second. He has a curious accent that I can't place.

I decide to ask him about the labs. "Hey, do you know any place called the labs, because--" He cuts me off. "You need to come with me."

"Why do I--"

"If you don't, the soldiers will get you."

"Get me? What do they want?"

"I don't know. No one does."

"You mean there are others, besides the soldiers?"

"A few, as far as I've seen. But if the soldiers get you, they shoot you, and take you away."

"You mean they're going around killing people?"

He shakes his head in frustration. "No, no, no, no, no, when they shoot you, you fall asleep." I give him a confused look. "When you get hit by their...their...it's not really a bullet, more like a burst of light, but when you get hit by it, you faint. Or fall asleep. Or something."

"And do you wake up?"

"I don't know. Look, the point is, you have to come with me."

I look at the little man. He's short, but he seems very able, especially with that metal rod of his. I look at him, then back down the corridor. I open my mouth to answer.

[[Obviously, the first choice is whether to join up with the man or not, but please comment on further decisions that the protagonist can take (i.e., questions that she can ask the man, etc.)]]