After looking around for a while, they stumble upon a poster on the wall. It was a map of the entire floor.
The entire floor's layout is a circular hallway with doors leading to different rooms outwards the circle. There's also a single, large room inside the circle with only one entrance at the north side of the compound.
Using their watch to take a photo of the map, the twins immediately switched their displays of that on the photo. They began to mark up the map for the area they have searched for.
After studying the map for a bit, Zhenin pointed at the largest room in the map and tapped it twice.
Ninzhe understood what Zhenin wanted to say and nodded. He, too, believed that whatever they're looking for is highly likely to be in that room.
Unfortunately for them, there were no labels for the room.
Yet, even with the lack of information, the twins decided to head to the largest room in the entire lab.
Such is the impulse of the youth.
Besides talking at the entrance of the lab, the two didn't speak afterward. They realized their blunder, they were helpless. Gestures wouldn't work due to darkness, so at that moment, they had to speak up.
Over time, beasts had evolved and gained various abilities. Some beasts can see in the darkness but are deaf, some beasts can hear through walls yet blind.
It was only a bet for them, just in case that one of Buvire's experiments involved living specimen.
All of their communications were in the form of gestures and pointing.
Drowned in silence, the only thing that the twins could hear is their own footsteps.
Along the way, they scoured each room they pass through. One look, they could tell that the rooms were cleaned up during evacuation.
While their main goal is to look for the anti-radiation device, even a notebook or smart device would suffice as it could give them a lead, yet none of these were present.
So far, besides looking wholly abandoned, there was nothing noteworthy in the entire journey to here. That is also besides its large hall that took them a full ten minutes to get to.
While keeping their guards up, the twins couldn't help but feel down.
It looks like its looking to be another unfruitful day. They thought. Besides from dead plants and dusty furniture, most of the rooms they peeked on to were empty.
Sure they didn't scrutinize it for the smaller parts, but is something that could protect an entire city from constant radiation be something so little that can be placed in a drawer?
Now right in front of them, they suddenly feel more energized.
After spending over an hour scouting, they finally reached their primary objective.
A large metallic gate, consisting of two thick metal doors, blocks their way.
On top of the door reads "Office of the Head" engraved on a silver plate.
But just beside the entrance, signs of biohazard and radiation leakage were plastered all over warning the personnel not to enter without proper protective gear.
What a joke.
"If even a star's radiation isn't able to affect us, what could a mere experiment do?" the twins thought. Blissfully unaware of what researchers do that did not involve escaping the planet or what biohazard actually mean.
"How should we open this?" Ninzhe asked.
"It looks to me like a sliding door, try to look for a control panel or a vent. If the workers here were this rich, they should've escaped the planet already. I doubt they'll leave the keys too." Zhenin commented.
After scrutinizing the wall with the gate, Ninzhe spoke first.
"Here, bro, it's a proximity pad. It looks like we'll need something like a card or a dedicated security device (DSD).
Zhenin nodded. "Then, let's begin looking for things that look like one. Whether it is a card or a gadget, take them all."
"Roger, Should we split up to look for 'em?" Ninzhe considered.
"Yup, I'll go forwards since I have the gun, you go back to see if we missed something," Zhenin ordered.
"Alright, big bro, I'll do that." Ninzhe nodded and went on along with his dagger.
Zhenin trudged on forward, with the revolver in his right hand and a minimap displayed on his watch.
So far, the twins have covered half of the ring hallway. Ninzhe went back to check the places they have passed through already, as it was safer.
Unlike a typical twin whose birth gap only consist of minutes, exo twins could go for as long as eight months.
That three months gap gave Zhenin the superiority over Ninzhe, and Ninzhe entirely agrees.
Over the year after their parent's disappearance, Zhenin had taken care of Ninzhe as a filial older brother.
They've only got each other, so they have the need to have each other's back against all the odds.
So far, Ninzhe had relied on Zhenin for decisions and guidance. It's not like he's completely helpless alone. Still, if it were an option, he'd look at Zhenin for instructions before proceeding.
...
An hour had passed, and the twins have found nothing. After covering 80% of their respective areas, they also began to scrutinize the hallway in search of an alternate entrance such as vents.
With three more rooms to go through, Zhenin entered an unlabeled an unadorned door, which is almost every door in the entire compound.
Just as he opened the door, Zhenin's face immediately scrunched up. The rotting stench of a decaying body blasted all over Zhenin's face.
Without trying to adapt to the smell, Zhenin immediately placed his watch over his mouth.
"Switch to a mask," Zhenin whispered nasally.
With a soft whirring sounds, the watch unlatched itself from Zhenin's wrist and clung onto his ears. The watch's display suddenly lifted by a thin, mechanical arm and moved towards his right eye, like a monocle.
In Zhenin's vision, a loading bar appeared that transitioned into completion.
"Filtration: On."
And with that, the stench was suddenly blocked by the mask.
In one glance, Zhenin saw a bulge on a stretcher. It seems like someone left a dead body and covered it in a blanket.
"Whatever the person's experimenting on in this room, it can't be right," Zhenin thought.
After sending a magnifying glass emoji to his brother, Zhenin entered the room.