Two hours later, the Captain is organizing the reboot of plantations E and F. He is in the monitor hall of tower two. His focus is entirely on the complex switchboard in front of him, making sure he turns the switches in the correct order, a task his fingers perform from memory. CJ is monitoring the measurements on the wall.

  Two hours earlier, the worm was pronounced eliminated by CASTEL. The exoskeletons cleared the rig from all active mouths. One exoskeleton carried the crystal apparatus to the mountain, where the humongous cadaver was half buried. Once installed, the apparatus drew an enormous electrical arch from the nearest tower and relayed it to the worm, electrocuting the dead giant for an hour.

  In a few hours they will be having a funeral for the fifteen men they lost that day. CASTEL has assured him they have all turned into ashes, one less task to do for the funeral.

  Now, he just needs to restore balance and continue surviving. The rig lives. But something in his mind... something about that woman.

  His gut feeling has always been impeccable in the past. Accurate, decisive, reliable. For that woman though, his gut drags him into a snow storm.

  "Captain, they are ready to depart." Doug announces on the radio.

  "I'm coming, tell them to hold."

  He jumps the spiral staircase two steps at a time down to the exhaust stadium and runs to the positive portal.

  In front of him, exoskeletons vanish in the bright portal one by one. Next to the portal, he can see three feminine silhouettes, chatting. As he runs closer, he can identify Jane, Karen, and their commander. Her white hair is impeccably clean. He can see dried blood on her black jacket and some on her neck. But her hair, not a single spot.

  She turns to him and smiles "Captain"

  The Captain does not respond. Indeed, her smile makes her look like a child.

  "We are ready to depart."

  'Listen," he finally recruits his thoughts "I have questions about the worm," he pauses to read the expressions of the three women, "what caused it?"

  "A Vermillion worm can be born of any lump of pluripotent cells growing on radiated organic matter," Karen jumps to enthusiastically explain. Rayne calmly observes the Captain as Karen continues "pluripotent cells can morph into any type of cell." Karen pauses for a reaction. Rayne keeps her eyes on the Captain.

  "Chicken embryos are made of pluripotent cells." Karen continues when she sees no response from any of them. "They are frequently found in chicken farm waste."

  "We will review your waste disposal protocols shortly," Jane utters in her baseline monotonic voice "we appreciate your..."

  "Actually!! Any embryo can make a Vermillion worm!" Karen interrupts as if a light bulb was suddenly switched inside her head. "As long as it has a spinal column, any embryo can potentially cause a Vermillion worm! We showed that a few years ago in our experime..."

  "Thank you Karen, you may go now." Rayne interrupts Karen harshly. Her smile is disappeared, her scolding gaze fixed on Karen.

  Karen looks embarrassed, she drops her head and strides to the portal. Rayne glances at Jane and nods, Jane follows.

  The Captain's mind is racing, "chicken embryo?"

  "You saved my life on the mountain." Rayne breaks his chain of thoughts. "Thank you." She smiles.

  The Captain feels it again, the snow storm. This time the winds are stronger, wheezing in his ears, deafening him. The spiraling snow encircling him, blinding him.

  The woman turns her back and walks to the portal. On her final step she hesitates and looks at the exhaust, her smile turns solemn as she notices something. The Captain looks in the direction she is staring at. Something in the darkness of the exhaust?

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  A light breeze touches his face. She is gone.

  He watches the bright portal as it shuts down, leaving a pile of cables and a dark platform.

  Tiq Tiq Tiq

  Something is making a clicking noise in the far corner of the stadium. The Captain tries to distinguish in the dark. A small window moving in the wind.

  Tiq Tiq Tiq

  Thirty minutes later the Captain is sitting in front of tower four's control panel. His boots resting on the table, he is checking the list CJ gave him. He stops on one item's description: the charcoal bags. The employees found the negative portal filled with piles of powdered charcoal and torn paper bags. The negative portal has a reputation for shredding its cargo.

  In front of him, monitors show workers filling up a hole with liquid cement.

  "What about the water fountain?" the Captain finally asks.

  "The water fountain?" CJ sounds confused.

  "A water fountain was the last thing I dropped in the negative portal. Did they find it?"

  "No. I'll tell them to look for its pieces. How much do you think it weighted?"

  "Around 50k"

  "The weight of a small woman" Doug replies. Startled, CJ and the Captain turn their heads. Doug is startled that he said his thoughts out loud.

  CJ and the Captain look at each other and laugh. They did not notice the newbie cleaning their lunch leftover on the map table. He was wiping the switchboard during their conversation.

  CJ, stands up, puts his jacket on. Grabs the radio "Excellent work guys, get some rest when you are finished with this one. The rest is for tomorrow." He grabs his list, nods at the Captain, and walks to the door. As he passes, he puts his right hand on Doug's shoulder: "Get some rest".

  Doug nods. The sound of his boots echo in the spiral staircase and fade away.

  The Captain is searching his jacket. He cannot find it. He removes the jacket, searching the pockets he finally finds the cigarette. He puts it between his mouth, now he is searching for his lighter. He needs his cigarette. He needs nicotine. Or perhaps he just needs sleep.

  He stops, takes a deep breath.

  "I am going to my room, will take a shower and perhaps a nap."

  Doug nods. The Captain grabs his Jacket and walks to the door. Doug salutes as the Captain passes him. He is almost at the staircase when Doug finally collects all of his courage "Sir! We the employees have a favor to ask." He holds his breath when he finishes the announcement.

  The Captain stops, removes the cigarette from his mouth: "You want a fight night?"

  Doug is shocked by the response. He fidgets nervously.

  "You have permission."

  One hour later, the Captain is in his comfortable bed. His three German Shepherds curl at the foot of his bed; one by one they fall asleep. The cigarette is lying intact on his bed stand.

  His resistance to the temptations of smoke is paying off. His eyelids are getting heavy.

  Good, finally.

  "The weight of a small woman" Doug's voice echoes in his head. He opens his eyes.

  Sigh...

  They have been checking cameras for hours. Everything is accounted for.

  Wait. Was he clear when he instructed the newbie? "Only in the Rabbit Hole, nowhere else. Is that clear?"

  His eyelids are heavy.

  Tik Tik Tik

  His omni-meter is ticking on top of him, hanging from a hook attached to the bed frame.

  The oak bed frame is glued to the wall behind him. Elaborated by leather cushions and bronze hooks on each side, it occupies the wall to his top. To his right a large round window occupies most of the wall expanding down to his bedside, the glasses are tainted black. Outside the bed's cubicle, a large desk is piled with clipboards and paper reports. His guitar is resting against the chair.

  Outside his window someone starts welding. The bright electrical sparks are filtered through the tainted glasses. But the remnant is strong enough to play with his eyes. He covers his eyes with a pillow.

  "Sleep!" He yells in his head.

  Tik Tik Tik

  That damn watch, and those eyes.

  Her eyes when she was saying "thank you"

  Her mouth, pronouncing "...you".

  He suddenly sits in the bed. His dogs wake up. One of them stands.

  He needs to check something.

  Ten minutes later the Captain is walking down corridor C18. The concrete walls striped with bronze pipes are lit by yellow lights. He is wearing a simple grey T-shirt, his cargo pants, black belt, and black boots. He stops in front of a pipe loop protruding from the far end of the corridor.

  He checks the nearest camera, it is conveniently pointing at another direction. He checks the pipe loop. A warning sign attached to it shows a hand being scorched.

  The Captain grabs the pipe and pulls. A crack opens in the wall to his right. A hidden door perforates the ostensibly concrete wall.

  He pushes the door to darkness.

  Click, the door closes behind him. The darkness gets heavy.

  It takes his eyes a few seconds to adjust. He finds himself inside a sewage. A row of plasma torches on the round wall start burning one by one, weakly illuminating a path into the tunnel. He walks down a short metallic staircase and continues into the tunnel, following a narrow stream of water. Plasma torches in front of him illuminate the brick walls one segment at a time. After a few minutes of walking he reaches an intersection. Inside, a short tunnels ends in a dirty staircase leading up to a rusty double door and a guard; an employee, wearing simple T shirt, cargo pants, and black boots.

  The employee salutes.

  The Captain nods and walks past him to the door. On top of the double door a dirty plaque reads "RABBIT HOLE".

  The Captain pushes one door open. Glued on top of its handle, a rusty sign reads:

  WHAT HAPPENS IN RABBIT HOLE

  STAYS IN RABBIT HOLE

  The door opens to a wave of yelling and screaming.