Searching for another room to explore was taking longer than I anticipated.

The next few doors I checked were all locked. No amount of effort on my part would get them to open or even budge open a little. It was obvious I wouldn't be able to get into them, but then... why was the storage room left unlocked? Why was I able to get into that room and not the others?

I couldn't shake away the idea that someone intentionally left the door open for me — that all of this exploration wasn't something I chose to do but something that was expected of me.

But was I really that important to go through all of this trouble? Or was I just another body to fill a quota? This building was large — larger than it needed to be for just one person.

There had to be other people here — people like me, lost and afraid, but where?

Unless... they were all dead and I was next on the list to be killed.

I forced myself to discard the thoughts and kept walking. Every door I passed felt familiar but when I checked the label, I was reassured by the different markings I encountered. I wouldn't end up back at the storage room again. Not yet anyways. The hallway was much bigger than that.

"Please," I whispered to myself, "if someone is really watching... show me a sign."

▬▬▬

Right as I felt like giving up for the millionth time, I spotted another open door a few feet away. I checked for its label to make sure it wasn't a room I've been in before but this door had no label.

It was definitely a trap — it had to be. What kind of door had no label? The labels were my surefire way of making sure I at least understood where I've been already and where I haven't gone. And if I worked here as an employee, I'd need the labels to make sure I didn't get lost.

Unless... someone removed the label. But I didn't see or hear anyone else roaming the hallways. Could ninjas be responsible? Someone that quiet definitely could've done it.

It took me a few seconds before I realized where my train of thought was going. Ninjas? Seriously? Then again, it wasn't the craziest thing to imagine. I could've done much worse.

I glanced left and right just to be extra sure. The coast was still clear. Or at least if there were any people out in the hallways, they were hidden well enough for me to not see them.

Either way, I felt like I was alone, and whether that was good or not, I wasn't sure.

All this time, I was hoping and wishing for a sign, but this seemed too convenient. It showed up right when I was getting tired of searching — right when I was losing hope in ever finding anything. But if I didn't go inside, then where would I go from here? How far would I have to go?

The last time I went inside a room with the door wide open, I ended up back where I started.

Though, the bathroom did have a label, so I was at least sure it wasn't that room again. Same thing with the storage room. Whatever room this was, it most likely would be a new one to me. At least if I ignored the whole ninja theory of someone secretly removing the label. That was crazy.

As cautious as I wanted to be, I couldn't help but wonder what was inside.

So, I chose to do the reckless thing and I walked right into the room as if I owned the place. What a twist that would be if I really did own this place and completely forgot I did.

The room wasn't empty — it was far from it. There were so many items scattered about on the floor that I wouldn't even know where to begin. It was as if I walked into a mini trash room.

No tables or cabinets or even shelves lined the walls. The walls were all white and empty as I've come to expect. There wasn't even a window. I was hoping to see if the view here was different — if an outside world still existed and if the view of the moon was just an illusion.

The only major difference between this room and the rooms I've been in before was all the assorted items sprinkled across the floor. There wasn't a spot in the ground where I could walk without stepping on something. It was like someone had meticulously placed garbage everywhere.

Reaching down, I picked up the nearest thing. An empty bag of chips. It wasn't the only one. There were also soda cans and empty containers of candy and even some larger bags with unrecognizable logos on them. One of the logos was a large and yellow arch — shaped like an M.

Besides all of the food waste containers, there was paper practically everywhere. I picked up a few balls and uncrumpled them to see if anything important was written but they were all blank.

I dug around a bit more and after seeing the same things over and over again, I decided it was a good time to leave. I looked around a bit, I learned basically nothing, and I didn't get caught.

When I turned around to check the door behind me, I realized it was closed. I dropped what I was doing and then ran over to the door and wiggled the doorknob but it wouldn't budge.

I yelled, finally letting myself collapse under the frustration. After all this time, after all I've been through, would I really die in a room filled with trash? Would it really end this way?

Having nothing else to do, I went back to digging around in the garbage. It felt absolutely pointless but I'd rather waste my time looking through trash instead of panicking in a corner.

After what felt like ages, one of the items caught my attention — a plastic coffee cup with its lid still on. I ripped the lid off and dug my fingers inside to see if there was anything there.

When I pulled my hand back out, I was holding three tiny but very shiny seashells. They felt cool to the touch, almost as if someone had just picked them up from the beach recently.

I held one to my ear and if I closed my eyes just tight enough, I swear I could hear the ocean.

"Why did you bring that with you, Aura? Where we're going, we can't take earthly possessions."

It was just a wisp of a memory but it was enough to make me feel sick to my stomach and drop the seashells on the ground. The ground that was no longer covered in trash — only seashells.

I frantically looked around the room, wondering if I had really lost it this time. There was trash everywhere. I felt like I could've been buried in it but now, now, it was all gone. Did I imagine it?

My head began to spin, so I lay backwards, using my backpack as a pillow.

The ceiling was just as white as the walls, but when it began to flicker like a screen coming to life, I knew I had really lost it. The entire ceiling lit up as if it was one giant tablet. Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, the mechanical voice made a reappearance.

"Greetings, Aura. We have noticed that you seem to be distressed lately, so we are here to help."

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