Despite my fears, I started planning my escape by making sure there wouldn’t be any extra waste in my pocket bags. This was easier than expected, and was accomplished by not eating anything, which wasn’t as difficult as it sounded. I'd grown tired of eating the same thing day in and out, and was too anxious to eat anything else. But I still had to keep my strength up, so I ate whatever portions I could still reasonably handle, and covertly moved my portions to the plates opposite of me when nobody was looking. If my co-lunchers noticed, they certainly wasn't raising any objections.
I also took the opportunity to stock up on soap supplies to cover up my smell, since I didn’t want to be scented out too early before the game was up. Slowly, gradually, I underwent the painstaking process of pulling my catheter out. It would be incredibly difficult for me to move around with it in the way, and I needed to remove it first. The proper process would’ve been to treat it like a band-aid, but it was hard enough on my own, and I still needed someplace to hide my urine without anybody noticing.
“...you....do this. ....nothing....”
When the bell rang for the latest meal gathering, I purposely delayed my time to stay at the back, claiming my waste bag broke again. This wasn’t difficult to pull off, since spilled drinking water was virtually indistinguishable from urine when soaked on your pants... as long as no one took a close look...
I was shunted to the Hospital wing where I’d be placed in the waiting room, before being moved to the Doctor’s waiting room. I’d made the trip multiple times before, both due to mandatory checkups and necessary appointments for when I actually broke my bag, and needed a proper replacement, having already used my spare one for writing.
As soon as I was out of the guard’s sight, I started by unscrewing the grill to the air ducts, only to find out it was already loosened for me. From there, I entered the ludicrously large duct vents and closed the grate behind me. Then the alarm sounded, much earlier than I expected. I started crawling down the pathway, feeling my way through the labyrinthique path which snaked in multiple directions at once.
Making my way through the narrowly enclosed spaces, I came into a large expanse with multiple windy tunnels twisting off in multiple directions. This clearing was a welcome reprieve from the claustrophobic tubes, and gave me confidence that I was going along the right path. Anybody without a clear sense of where they were going would’ve been lost.
I passed multiple rooms without having to suffer waiting for the sliding doors to open. After some time, I took a peek through the grail slits underneath me. The room below didn’t look familiar at first, until I recognized the seating patterns. It was somewhat unusual to see the cafeteria from a different angle. Especially since I could see the food tubings up close. Just a little further ahead of me was the plumbing containing our food source. In the dim light, they extended far beyond the ceiling, into a vast expanse that stretched towards an horizon I couldn't see. Out of curiosity, I held the metallic base in my hand. I felt the squishy sensation of an organic part that must've been part of the concoction we'd been eating every day. Like the metallic wall, it seemed almost alive. I almost opted to take a look at where those things went towards, but soldiered on. I had no idea what I'd been eating all this time, and didn't want to ruin my appetite any further.
Finding my way was surprisingly easy, due to so many people having traversed the same path. The tunnels that had remained unexplored territory were dusty with no evidence that anybody’d used them since their foundation.
...Then I started to get nervous. It just occurred to me that I was now venturing the same path to madness that I’d seen numerous people take, along with abject warnings to ward me off. This was further compounded when I overheard some guards casually talking about the missing patient, i.e., me:
“So, what do you think? Number 73, or 86?”
“Nah, there’s no way he’ll ever get that far. I’m guessing either a 13 or a 33.”
“It’s all pretty moot, isn’t it? He’ll find out, and then we’ll have one less thing to worry about.”
“That is, unless he happens to take an alternate route, which NEVER happens.”
When they left, I was paralyzed with choice. Either I continued along the same path to certain doom, or I give up my attempt, and get shuttled back being none the wiser. Sooner or later, they’d get annoyed at not flushing me out, and they’d devise more elaborate ways of getting me out of the vents. I didn’t know what those ways could be, but instinctively knew they couldn’t be any good.
Sure enough, I heard the sounds of discomfort from the guards, wondering where I was, and half-beating, half-blaming myself for not being braver, and holding back.
I stayed still, feeling the commotion of activity below me. Then a little later, I was surprised to feel some commotion on the wall to the right of me. As far as I knew, according to the map, I was supposed to be sandwiched between two supply rooms. My confusion was only compounded when I heard activity to the left of me, then above me. I heard voices that sounded like they were in continuous despair, having wandered in a vast expanseless landscape with no means of escape. All these people were running around in spaces that shouldn’t have been possible, but they didn’t seem to be getting any closer to finding me either.
Then - impossibly enough - I felt the unmistakable vibration of footsteps rumbling right beneath me. From my vantage point, there should’ve been no way anybody could be walking on the ceiling. The meandering footsteps seemed to go on forever as I waited for their ceaseless marching to end. It felt like there were more people walking than I’d seen thus far, making me wonder just how large this facility actually was.
I couldn’t tell how long they walked over my stomach - time seemed to lose all sense of meaning inside there. But it eventually did stop, and I was relieved at the brief reprieve. That was until my heightened senses noticed some previously undetected sounds. At first, I thought it was more people walking on the walls, until I listened closer. From the vent opposite of me was something that sounded like muffled speech and rhythmic tapping that sounded like Morse Code. However, since I didn’t know what Morse was, I couldn’t make out what was being said. I stared uncomprehending at the steady noise, then startled back when it suddenly degenerated to desperate banging. Not wanting to stay in this disquieting place any longer, I decided to hightail it out of there.
I was just about to move, when I felt the the Room do it for me. It’s a difficult sensation to describe, but it was like I was inside my cell when the center of gravity changed. Only, the gravity changed from the floor to the walls. I looked “down” at where the floor used to be, and the guards were no longer there. Instead, the room looked completely different, and the furnishings had changed as well.
Internally, I debated whether I should get out here and give myself up, or continue further, with the air ducts all twisted up? I decided to leave.
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