Chapter 41: The Doctor is missing II
K didn’t wait for the medical attendants to finish.
The moment Bak turned away, he pushed himself off the stretcher.
"K."
"I said I’m coming with you."
His legs nearly buckled beneath him.
Bak caught his arm before he hit the floor.
"I didn’t object to it and besides you can barely stand."
"I’m standing."
"That’s not the same thing...whatever you say."
K pulled his arm free of the nearest nurse.
"Where are you going?"
"My office."
"Why?"
"Because that’s where we will get our answers."
K stared at him.
"Then I’m coming."
Bak’s eyes narrowed.
"I don’t recall objecting to it, Lex is injured and your friend too."
"And Thira disappeared."
That silenced him, K trudged behind the Admiral.
"You said his original body is missing. His laboratory was left running. Nobody knows where he went." His voice hardened. "I’m not staying in a medical bed while you investigate."
Bak studied him for several seconds.
Then he sighed.
"Fine."
K raised an eyebrow.
"But if you collapse, I’m not carrying you back myself."
"I won’t."
"..."
They left the medical wing together. Two soldiers immediately fell into step behind them.
The corridor was unusually quiet.
K noticed it.
Usually, Meredith’s central medical sector was loud. Engineers, soldiers, scientists and Miwa moved through the halls constantly.
Today, everyone seemed to be watching them.
Or watching him.
K couldn’t tell which. He was probably imagining things, he had never really been in central medic to begin with. It had always been Thira’s lab.
They reached the elevator. Bak pressed his palm against the scanner.
The doors beeped with a green light and opened.
K stepped inside.
"Admiral."
One of the soldiers approached before the doors closed.
"We recovered the surveillance feeds."
Bak’s expression changed.
"From Thira’s laboratory?"
"Yes, sir."
"Bring them to my office."
The soldier nodded.
"Already transferred."
The elevator descended. K leaned against the wall, his chest throbbed painfully. He couldn’t tell why but it hurt, it felt like several nails were being driven into it.
"How long was Thira missing before you noticed?"
Bak’s jaw tightened.
"I...I really don’t know."
"How long?"
"A few hours maybe."
K looked at him.
"You should’ve noticed sooner."
"...I know."
The doors opened.
Bak’s office was almost completely dark.
He walked straight toward the central display and activated it. A holographic projection appeared.
Timestamps.
THIRA’S PRIVATE LABORATORY.
K moved closer.
The footage showed Thira stepping out of his laboratory. He was wearing his usual lab coat.
His expression was relaxed.
Almost cheerful. Pleased.
Four soldiers or so surrounded him.
K frowned.
"Those are yours, aren’t they?"
Bak didn’t answer.
The footage continued. Thira laughed at something one of them said. Then the group disappeared down the corridor.
K looked at Bak.
"Where are they taking him?"
Bak shook his head.
"I didn’t order an escort."
K’s expression hardened.
"Then who did?"
"I don’t know."
The footage changed.
A different camera.
Thira and the soldiers entered another corridor.
K watched carefully.
Something about the soldiers bothered him. Their movements were synchronized. Too synchronized. Thira seemed completely unconcerned. Although, his movements felt a bit sloppy.
"That’s when he switched from his flash clone to his original body." Bak pointed out. "His waking posture has changed...like a child remembering how to walk."
Then the footage jumped.
HANGAR ACCESS—SECTOR SEVEN.
K leaned forward.
The group emerged from a corridor. The hangar doors were visible in the distance.
"Pause."
Bak froze the footage.
He zoomed in.
The soldiers’ uniforms were visible.
K stared.
"Those aren’t regular escort uniforms."
Bak’s eyes narrowed.
"Enhance."
The image sharpened.
The insignia on their shoulders appeared.
Bak’s face changed.
"That’s impossible."
K turned toward him.
"You know them?"
"No."
"Then what?"
Bak pointed toward the insignia.
"That emblem hasn’t been used by my security division in over fucking years."
K’s stomach tightened.
"So whoever took Thira was pretending to be your soldiers."
Bak immediately turned toward to his comms.
"Find every soldier assigned to Hangar Seven during this timeframe."
"Yes, sir."
"And find out who authorized their movement."
"Yes, sir."
K looked back at the footage.
"Continue."
The video resumed.
Thira walked toward the hangar. Then, he stopped.
His head tilted.
K frowned.
"What?"
Bak didn’t answer.
Thira looked around. The soldiers behind him remained completely still.
Thira took another step.
Then his body jerked violently forward.
K’s eyes widened.
"What the—"
The footage distorted. Static crawled across the screen.
Thira’s fingers clawed at the floor.
His body was dragged forward once more.
No one touched him.
K stood straighter.
"Stop."
Bak didn’t.
The footage continued. Thira dug his fingers into the ground. His nails scraped against the metal floor.
His ring flared.
Even without sound or a mouth, K could see him screaming.
The soldiers didn’t move. They simply watched.
Something invisible pulled Thira harder.
His body lifted. His heels floated above the ground.
Then his entire body rose several feet into the air.
K stepped toward the screen.
"Admiral..."
The Admiral’s expression had gone rigid.
Thira twisted violently.
His hands reached toward the floor. His fingers clawed against the empty air one last time.
And then...
He disappeared.
Not through the hangar doors or into a ship.
He was simply pulled into empty space.
The footage flickered.
The soldiers remained standing.
For three seconds.
Five.
Ten.
Then, they all collapsed simultaneously.
The screen went black.
Silence filled the office. K stared at the dead display.
"Play it again."
Bak replayed it.
K watched.
Again.
And again.
Something caught his eye.
"Wait."
He pointed.
"Zoom in on his hand."
Bak did.
The image blurred as the system enlarged it.
Thira’s ring was flashing.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Pause.
Then...
Two rapid flashes.
A longer one.
Three rapid flashes.
K frowned.
"What’s he doing?"
Bak stared at the projection.
The pattern repeated.
Three short.
Three long.
Three short.
Then two.
One.
One.
K’s eyes narrowed.
"Is that...?"
Bak looked at him.
K didn’t finish.
He didn’t need to.
The ring flashed again.
Three short.
Three long.
Three short.
SOS.
K’s expression dropped.
"He was asking for help."
Bak immediately looked toward the door.
"Get me every available unit."
"Sir?"
"Now."
The soldier hurried out.
K was already moving.
"Where are you going?"
"The hangar."
"K—"
"I’m going!"
Bak cursed under his breath and followed. They moved quickly through the corridors.
K barely noticed the pain banging at his chest anymore.
His mind was racing.
Thira had been taken.
Kidnapped.
Those soldiers weren’t Bak’s.
Something ’invisible’ had dragged him away and Thira had known.
He had tried to warn them.
They reached Hangar Seven.
The doors opened.
K froze.
The soldiers from the footage lay sprawled across the floor.
Exactly where they’d fallen in the footage.
He rushed toward them.
"Thira!"
Nothing.
Why did he even bother?
He had just watched the Miwa vanish into thin air.
K dropped beside one of them.
"Hey!"
He grabbed the soldier by the shoulders and shook him.
"Wake up!"
The soldier groaned.
K shook him harder.
"Where is he?"
The soldier’s eyes fluttered open.
"What...?"
"Where did you take Thira?"
The soldier stared at him.
Confusion slowly replaced the sleepiness in his expression.
"Take...who?"
"Thira!"
The soldier looked around the hangar.
His breathing quickened.
"I..."
He pushed himself upright.
"How did I get here?"
K’s fingers tightened around his armor.
"You were standing here."
"What?"
"You were here!"
"Sir...I...I don’t remember."
K released him and stood.
His chest rose and fell rapidly. He looked at the empty hangar.
There was no ship or even remnants of a portal, if that was what had taken him. There was no footprints of what took him either.
Nothing.
Only several deep scratches carved into the metal floor.
Thira’s fingers.
K crouched and ran his fingertips over them.
"Have those soldiers put under interrogation! I want to know what they fucking did to Thira!"
"S-sir—"
"Do as he said."
Bak nodded at K and motioned for his soldiers to arrest the unconscious ones with the conscious one.
His jaw tightened.
"Where did you go...?"
Bak approached from behind.
"K."
K didn’t answer.
His eyes remained fixed on the scratches.
Thira had been taken.
And nobody knew where.
For the first time since waking, K felt something colder than fear.
Helplessness.
His fist clenched.
Then...
The familiar mechanical chime sounded inside his skull.
...
[NEW QUEST]
» FIND THE KEPT ONE «
...
K’s eyes widened, his breath hitched in his throat.
The soldiers around him looked confused.
Bak stared at K.
"What is it?"
K didn’t answer.
The translucent interface expanded before his eyes.
QUEST: FIND THE KEPT ONE
Objective:
Locate the missing individual designated as THE KEPT ONE.
Current Status:
UNKNOWN
Location:
UNKNOWN
Life Signs:
UNABLE TO DETERMINE
Time Remaining:
UNDEFINED
Quest Condition:
LOCATE THE KEPT ONE
Failure Condition:
UNKNOWN
Reward:
CLASSIFIED
Additional Information:
THE KEPT ONE IS NOT WHO YOU THINK HE IS.
...
K stared at the final line.
His breathing stopped.
Then another message appeared.
[QUEST ACCEPTED]
K’s eyes hardened.
"Thira..."
The name left his mouth like a promise.
"I’m coming."