Shards of Old

Damn.

That was my first thought.

Ouch. Pain. A lot of pain.

That was the second one.

I don’t know what exactly he did to his body beforehand, or maybe what were those bullets actually made of, but he was definitely feeling pain. Quite a lot of it, in fact.

There was no time to complain, though. I had to get my shit together.

First things first, I had to check how damaged the body actually was.

It was…

Well, it was not horrible.

I was able to move my extremities, but I could tell that actually standing up would be a hard task.

Better start healing then.

I had to thank Il. Or whoever that was last time, because after the recent show of Mike’s I honestly had no idea. Without that lesson, getting out of there quickly wouldn’t be possible, I think.

I managed to at least rebuild my legs to the point where I was able to stand without supporting myself with anything.

Sure, it didn’t look the prettiest, the crystal was clearly uneven and weird in places, but I didn’t care at that moment, it was function over form.

Meanwhile, the rest of the company was still lying on the floor, and the flames had already managed to consume at least half of the room. It even started spreading outside, through the door.

Without even hesitating, I left all that bullshit behind. I wasn’t going to stay and try saving all of them. Besides, they were already as good as dead. Now, when I was actually in control of this body, I could tell that Mike’s attack did work: everything was in place, with the pieces of crystal embedded within their bodies, it was only a matter of time.

I did briefly consider tossing a water spell to quench some flames, but after hearing some sirens downstairs, I thought that was going to be unnecessary.

Now, to leave the place.

My first idea was to leave the same way we entered: through the window and down the street, away from the building.

I quickly backtracked to the small room where we entered, just to remember what exactly we left there.

Or, who.

The poor janitor.

He was still stuck inside the stone coffin that was glued to the wall. And he was awake.

I am uncertain how, but he managed to regain his consciousness inside and even managed to crack the stone in some places.

Was the spell defective? I kinda was doubtful, it was Mike we were talking about…

But, it quickly got explained when from one of the cracks I saw a glow and felt the stone along with the wall shudder.

Inside, trying to escape, the janitor was launching some kind of spell, trying to break the rock with shocks.

It kind of was working

For a second, I wondered if I should try and trap him even more, but one look at the stone and then another at the door on the other side told me that if anything I should free him.

Considering the circumstances, I doubt that he’d be able to free himself before the fire reached the room.

The firefighters should get him, though. Same with the rest inside the other room…

I gazed outside and realized that it might not be that easy.

Both for them and for me.

Sure, the firefighters did arrive on scene. But, they were not entering the building.

For some reason, at the entrance there was now a small crowd gathered and was blocking the entrance for everyone that was trying to access the main door.

The immediate reaction from the emergency services was to try and use the ladders towards the windows, mine included, but before I even managed to think of ducking away so I wasn’t seen, someone had literally grabbed the ladder and pushed it away from the building.

What the hell?

They were literally going to let this place burn to the ground, and that included people here as well.

Sure, I didn’t feel any attachment to those guys, especially to the whole security force. Both after having to deal with them and seeing as their operatives were now preventing the firefighters from doing their job.

Hey, they were fucking their own colegues. Their problem.

But, I couldn’t help but to feel bad about the poor janitor.

I mean, he was just here by sheer chance. He didn’t deserve this kind of treatment. If not for Mike and his bullshit, he’d be most likely home by now and not stuck in a literal coffin.

I probably should at least free him before jumping out…

But, jumping was going to be a problem as well.

I mean, not because of height or something, no. It was just that the street right under the window was completely covered with people.

Hell, now even more than before: I think some random people that were passing by started paying attention and gawking at the whole scene.

If I was to jump down, I surely would get spotted.

Was there any other window that would lead me to a bit more secluded spot…? Or some other exit?

It would be nice if I knew the place…

Or had someone who knew…

Eh, fuck it.

With an annoyed sigh, I turned back to the vibrating growth on the wall and slammed it right in the center.

-FUCK!

I forgot that that was not my body any more.

Sure, Mike was a crystal person. Mostly.

But he did modify his flesh and was a lot less durable than what I was used to being. And on top of that he was able to feel pain.

I am pretty sure I broke something.

The next attempt was a lot more careful and used magic instead of physical power: I just decided to meld the rock.

Of course after fixing my hand.

Noticing as his prison was getting destroyed, the man inside doubled the efforts to squeeze out, and soon he was free.

-Thank you! I was trapped by some burglar that…

He froze mid-sentence.

I don’t think he expected to see the mentioned burglar to free him.

He stopped, his mouth wide opened, and taking a breath he was about to scream, but I didn’t let him.

I grabbed him with the hand that I just fixed and silenced him before he managed to make any sound.

It probably would’ve been lost in the noise of the sirens downstairs and a slowly creeping in noise of flames, but it was better to try and not to be too obvious.

-You shut the fuck up and not try something stupid - I said and instantly started draining his mana. - Be quiet and follow orders and you’ll be fine.

He didn’t react, just was looking at me, quite scared.

Can’t blame him. The situation was indeed fucked up, and he didn’t even know about the fire next door.

I probably should mention that…

-Is there any exits from this place that do not lead through that door? - I asked, pointing at the door towards the raging fire. - I sort of need to bail.

He slowly nodded his head.

-Great. You are leading me towards it. Understood?

A slow confirmation, once more.

-Now, be good and don’t try shit… - I said. - If I feel anything strange from you, or any noise that is too loud, you are going to regret it.

He nodded again, so I slowly removed my hand from his mouth.

I already managed to drain most of the mana from him, making sure that what remained was not enough for anything that would be too problematic.

I was half-expecting for him to yell, but it did not happen. He was surprisingly calm.

-Where?

-This way.

I was a bit suspicious.

I didn’t really think that there’s something like that here… I mean, there was literally no other door between the door I pointed out and us.

Besides, it would’ve been way too convenient.

And yet, it didn’t seem like he was trying to trick me.

He led me towards one of the filing cabinets and… moved it aside.

It was surprisingly easy for him, and no wonder: the actual cabinet was on rails, it was really a hidden door.

-Why is something like that here? - I said out loud, not hiding my surprise.

-It leads to the main staircase. In case of… break-ins.

That’s… an unusual reason.

Who would even want to break in here?

I mean, Mike, of course, but we were kind of a special case, you know.

-Good. You first - I said to my guide.

I was not going to walk in blindly.

He nodded and slowly walked in.

I took a step in, carefully, and closed the cabined behind us, moving it back to its correct place.

The corridor went immediately dark, so I reflexively used a light orb to light a way.

It made me realize that I once more needed actual light.

I was no longer seeing the world around me with just magical senses.

I guess that was a confirmation that this body was still mostly flesh.

Probably was not going to be for long, though. As long as I was in charge and shit was going south.

He flinched, seeing me cast a spell, but realizing as I wasn’t going to attack him he calmed down again and started walking forward.

The corridor we found ourselves in was a very thin one. I was barely able to fit just a singular person, and if I was still in my own, crystal form, I was pretty sure I’d have to walk sideways. Mike’s body was a bit more lithe and dexterous than mine, even after a few “modifications” I had to implement earlier.

Same with my guide.

Speaking of, I didn’t get to properly take a look at him before, but now when I was following him and trying to not get ambushed or something, I had time to look him over.

He was thin.

He honestly looked like he was just some poor, underfed fellow that could barely scrape by.

I mean, knowing who he was being employed by, that was a likely scenario.

Even though he looked young, his hair already had some hints of white and gray. Stress from work much?

I mean, I wasn’t helping with that issue, that’s for sure…

He was wearing a onesie, white with blue and black markings. I guess colors of whatever institute we were in.

-Now, the stairs - he warned me.

It wasn’t the main staircase yet, just a small set of stairs that lead to a dead end.

He pushed the wall and I heard something click.

The wall moved by a hair forward, and just like with the other end, he moved aside something to open the passage.

We found ourselves in the main stairway, just as he said.

Behind us was just a flat wall: the spot where it opened was not even visible after moving the wall back: if someone didn’t know about the spot, it would definitely never be discovered.

Hell, seeing it from this side I wasn’t sure how I would even open it: it was completely merged with the wall, and there was no magical signature either. It had to be just a purely physical setup.

They definitely stepped up their game from what I’ve discovered before… I mean, last time I was able to destroy the mechanism that opened a passage like that.

I guess having access to the appropriate technology helps a lot.

I stopped thinking about the marvels of technology and hidden passages, because I noticed something more pressing: smoke.

It was also the first time my guide realized that this was not just a simple break-in, a situation apparently common in here, since they even made a hidden passageway in such circumstances…

-A fire…? - he muttered, looking up.

-And why do you think I wanted to avoid the corridor? - I asked him and pointed towards the window.

Downstairs, the building was still being crowded by the emergency services, also still getting blocked by the security.

Persistent.

Strangely, the amount of people had shrunk. And that included the firefighters and all.

Did they think that they had it under control?

Hm… If only I could hear more.

I focused, trying to eavesdrop on something maybe. But, I only managed to pick up one word: “cleaning”.

Not much to go off of.

-Security…? The cleaning protocol…?

Oh. I wasn’t the only one who tried listening in.

And he managed to get more. But wait… what did he just say?

-The what?

“Cleaning protocol”?

That caught my attention.

He clearly didn’t mean to say it out loud, and seeing as I noticed, he immediately wanted to change the subject.

-To leave this place… I assume you want to be hidden… We need to use the first floor and then maybe use the side window to…

-What’s “cleaning protocol”? - I asked, not letting him.

-Just me rambling… Doesn’t matter… I mean…

-Oh, we have time, just let’s walk and talk…

-Erh… I…

-Come on.

I poked him lightly in the back with my finger, draining a tiny bit of mana from him.

He shuddered, feeling something off, but I am not certain if he understood what happened.

But, it worked.

-I… I am not sure… I heard some stories… about escaped subjects… and how they were cleaned…

-And what does that have to do with anything?

-I… I mean, that time they also supposedly were destroying everything with fire… but that was just some old stories… from decades ago! A myth!

-A myth?

-Yes! About a janitor that was tasked to clean up the mess! And… I didn’t want to talk about something stupid that never happened…

-A janitor. Who cleaned up a mess with fire. Mess that included “magic that went out of control”?

-Y…yes…? You know about this…? So you know why I didn’t want to talk about it. It’s just a story! No point even…

I couldn’t believe it.

A story?

-Tell me. I wanna hear it.

-Eh?

-Come on.