"Are you sure you know the way?"
The duo had begun their search for the server, moving cautiously through the warehouse.
Ethan had noticed that his information was slightly outdated, forcing him to improvise as they went.
"Ethan... this place reeks," Rosalina muttered.
The walls were corroded, making them unstable and brittle.
Cracks marred the ceiling, and water dripped steadily, filling the air with a sharp, urea and chlorine like odor.
"This is so odd... why is a place like this so empty? A server is important, right?"
Ethan didn't look at Rosalina but nodded at her observation.
The number of guards was far less than he had anticipated based on his research, and the warehouse was eerily deserted except for the operational section.
"Oh... what's that?"
Rosalina's voice dropped to a murmur as she pointed toward a dimly lit room ahead, the duo moved silently, slipping through the open doorway.
The room was a wreck littered with rotting boxes, coated in a thick layer of dust.
Ethan scanned the space and whispered, "I can smell the dust... it's old."
The labels on the boxes caught his attention, though most were faded or obscured by grime.
'Judging by the markings, these boxes are old but important. We don't have time to check everything... but what if..'
Ethan glanced at his Stand, Ethereal Divergence, who appeared beside him with a faint shimmer.
The Stand nodded, understanding his unspoken intent, Ethan waved his hand, giving it permission to act.
"VRA-DA"
Ethereal Divergence immediately slammed its palm onto the ground, activating GateKeeper.
Large doors materialized beneath the boxes, their surfaces glowing faintly with dim golden light.
The doors creaked open, and the boxes began to disappear, one by one, swallowed by the doors below and with a simple snap of Ethereal Divergence's fingers the doors closed and disappeared.
Rosalina watched the whole thing and began to rub her temples as she felt herself getting a headache.
The way Ethan used his Stand, for someone who only had it for four days, was too precise from her perspective.
"Ethan, have you practiced your abilities during the weekend or something?"
Ethan looked at Rosalina with a frown and said:
"No... I only used them when necessary. Why?"
"No, I was just wondering," Rosalina brushed him off with a smile, but internally, her thoughts were all over the place.
What Ethan didn't know was that every Stand's ability relied on precision.
Ethan's adaptability in using all his abilities meant his precision was high and accurate.
"That wall looks strange... or is it me?"
The duo moved closer to the wall with a skeptical walk, Out of curiosity Ethan touched the wall but his hand passed through.
Ethan turned his head to Rosalina, and seeing her nod, he looked through the wall and noticed stairs that formed a descending pattern.
"Let's go."
As soon as the duo began to descend, countless needles flew toward them, giving them no chance to retaliate.
Ethan felt his body getting hot with each passing moment.
His vision and perception began to disorient as he lost consciousness while feeling every needle pierce his body and the same applied to Rosalina.
"TSK TSK so cautious yet noisy... how should I deal with them"
.....
"What happened... where am I?"
Ethan grunted as his eyes fluttered open.
He noticed that he was surrounded by monitors and different types of servers.
He was quick to catch that this was the room they were looking for, just before being ambushed.
But then, a skeptical thought flashed through his mind.
'Was that an ambush? No, maybe not. They wouldn't have used needles covered in... Propofol, or is it Ketamine? No, whatever entered my body was too instant.'
"OH MY... Rosalina, don't scare me like that! Why are we wrapped tightly with rope and hanging from the ceiling?"
Rosalina looked at him with a gaze of disappointment and said, "We both passed out at the same time, and you're asking me that question?"
"HEY, YOU TWO... SHUT THE F*CK UP! HOW DARE YOU FLAUNT YOUR DISPLAY OF AFFECTION IN MY PRESENCE!"
The duo stopped talking and looked down as they heard the shouting voice.
Below, they saw a man with a robust figure, his body covered in blisters, emitting a foul, rotten smell.
"That disgusting smell... are you a zom.." Ethan started.
"FILTHY TRASH!!!" the man bellowed, cutting him off.
The duo fell silent watching as the man, or rather the zombie, began throwing a tantrum.
Ethan leaned slightly toward Rosalina and whispered, "Umm... how can a zombie speak? It looks intelligent."
"IT?! YOU DARE CALL ME AN IT? WRRRRRYYYYYY!!!" the zombie screamed, its voice shrill and furious.
Pointing directly at Ethan, it continued, "You're wearing a mask and have the voice of a teenager, yet you dare disrespect me... Mardon! WRRRRRYYYYYY!!!"
Mardon began to scream again making the duo uncomfortable, Ethan had noticed that his mental gears were not spinning the right way.
Mardon pointed at the duo with shaking fingers and said:
"Everyone in this warehouse has a fleshbud making them smell the same but you do not.... meaning you're invaders HOW DARE YOU INVADE THE TERRITORY OF LORD KROWE WRRRRRYYYYYY!!!! DIE DIE DIE WRRRRRYYYYYY!!!!"
Mardon began scratching his head with his claws, mutilating himself as he tore into his body. This continued for a while until they heard...
BANG!!!
BANG!!!
BANG!!!
"WHAT IS GOING ON OUT THERE? ARE THOSE MONKEYS DISOBEYING ORDERS? NO, THIS IS ALL WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! WRRRRRYYYYYY!!!" Mardon screamed, his voice filled with rage.
Ethan was just as confused but he glanced at his watch and noticed that thirty minutes had passed since they had arrived at the warehouse.
He then looked at Rosalina who was focused, quietly circulating Hamon throughout her body.
Rosalina clenched her fists, and the rope tying her burst apart as she got released.
She immediately used Hamon to enhance herself and landed on Mardon's body with a drop kick as she fell.
Ethan looked at the crater created by Rosalina, his mouth open and muttered: "How is that... possible? Even steroids can't do that."
He brushed it off and summoned Ethereal Divergence, who freed him from the rope and helped him reach the ground safely using GateKeeper.
"WRRRRRYYYYYY!!! YOU DARE..."
"SHUT UP AND DIE, YOU ROTTING PIECE OF SH*T!"
Ethan turned to look at Rosalina, intending to help, but seeing the beating was one sided and that she held her own, he simply left and ran toward the main server.
He quickly retrieved his briefcase, opened it, and pulled out a USB drive.
Without hesitation, he inserted it into the server's USB port, then took out his netbook and began surfing through the server's net security and tried to log in.
After a few minutes, he muttered to himself, "How... is this possible?"
...
My dear Readers
I usually post daily but I couldn't due to being occupied, I'll try to be more consistent from here on.