The Words on the Wall

Ren woke up on a cold stone floor. A pale blue light came from the walls, but there were no lamps. He sat up slowly. His head hurt, and he could not remember how he had come to this place.

The last thing he remembered was a small black box at a train station in Japan. Someone had dropped it near the stairs. Ren had picked it up. Then there was a bright flash, a terrible sound, and nothing.

Now he was in a round room with one metal door. Strange marks covered the walls. At first they looked like lines and scratches. When Ren touched the nearest wall, the marks became clear words in his mind: DO NOT MOVE.

Ren read the message twice. He understood every word. Still, the room was silent, and nothing seemed dangerous. “Maybe it is only an old warning,” he said. He moved one foot toward the door.

A red line appeared under his shoe. It ran across the floor like fire. Deep below him, a machine began to turn. The sound grew louder: click, click, click. Dust fell from the ceiling.

Ren froze. “Stop,” he whispered, but the machine did not stop. Small holes opened in the wall. Thin metal arms came out of them and turned toward him. Each arm had a glass eye at its end.

The metal door suddenly opened. A woman in a dark coat stood there with a short sword in her hand. “Do not take another step,” she said. Ren wanted to explain that he already knew that, but this was not the best time.

The woman threw a silver disk onto the floor. A soft sound filled the room, and the metal arms stopped. She pulled Ren through the door and closed it. “You woke the room,” she said. “No one has done that for a hundred years.”

Her name was Mira. She pointed at the marks beside the door. “Can you read those?” To her, they were only ancient symbols. To Ren, they said: SUBJECT AWAKE. SEARCHING FOR READER.

“I can read some of it,” Ren answered. Mira looked at him carefully. “Are you sure?” Ren looked back at the closed door. The clicking had started again. “I think so,” he said, although he was no longer sure of anything.

At the end of the passage, another wall lit up. Large numbers appeared above a map of a town: 30 DAYS REMAIN. Mira could not read the words, but she knew the numbers. “Thirty days until what?” she asked. Ren had no answer.