Shards of Old

-Well… okay… That’s something I’ve heard while working here… That there exists an emergency system they call “cleaning protocol”. It’s actually one of the first things I’ve had to learn after… taking over.

-Taking over?

-After our last janitor. I mean, he was a lot better, but…

It was all sorts of strange hearing someone was a “better janitor”, but far from the weirdest thing, to be honest.

Meanwhile, we managed to reach the end of the stairs. He led us towards one of the doors, the lowest one, which seemed like it led underground.

Another hidden pass? Basement maybe?

-Anyway, it is in case one of our alpha subjects escapes.

-Alpha?

He froze, realizing that he said too much.

But I was not going to let him off the hook that easily.

-Come on. Spit it out - I said, poking him once more.

He shuddered, but continued talking, at the same time looking for the key to open the door in front of us.

-Er… I’ve never seen those. It’s just what they are called. I’ve heard that those are the most important ones for the whole Institute.

-That important, huh?

-Well, yes… but I find it strange that the main directive is just to burn everything to the ground…

-Burn? That’s “cleaning”?

-I was surprised, too. If those are so important, why destroy them? I mean if it’s a last ditch effort, I’d understand, but… To burn on sight?

-Huh…

Of course I knew why.

It was to not let anyone see what exactly was going on in the depths of the research bases. Like our project. Of course there would be a lot of problems if anything like that would come to light.

“Cleaning protocol”. Fucking right.

More like murder.

I mean, I knew it first hand. That was my job, after all.

So he was my replacement, huh?

At least in that department.

Honestly, it seemed like they were cutting costs or something. To make him also do menial work? That’s odd.

-I see “janitor” can have a lot more definitions, hm…? - I mumbled to myself.

-Hah… yes, well…

He paused.

-Ah, got it.

He finally found the key and opened the door.

It led to a dark, empty room.

A bit strange… at least it would be anywhere else. Here, it kind of did fit. MIRE had a lot of weird chambers, and all of them had strange purposes…

This one, though…

Before I managed to finish my thought, the door behind me closed.

I didn’t feel any magic from it, so I assumed that it was a physical lock, and sure it seemed that way. The whole room seemed lacking magic of any type. While maybe not “void-level” lack, but still, noticeable.

-”Janitor” is just what they call me. And the regular janitor is just my hobby.

A hobby?

Cleaning can be a hobby?

Talk about weird people…

-The real “janitor” is to clean the mess after the experiments. And I assume you’re one of them.

The lights suddenly came to life, brightening the surroundings.

The room we were in was a lot larger than I thought.

It was the size of at least a football field, including in height. It was completely empty, besides the electric, old halogen lights hanging on the ceiling, just like in some old hangar. And just like an old hangar, the walls were completely mundane, made of boring concrete, with hardly any cracks to be seen.

Although, here and there I could see some scorch marks that were dirtying up the place.

-You thought I didn’t know what you are? A janitor is always the most informed person in the building after all - he said, turning towards me.

-You sure got surprised, though - I pointed out. And you did lead me to this cozy spot. I bet not a lot of people know about this one.

-Not everyday someone appears out of thin air…

-I never did… well, never mind. So, what now?

-Now… we commence cleaning.

Yeah, sure. Like he could do anything.

-By all means. Try.

-I will.

No matter how trained he could be, he couldn’t do a thing without mana. And for some reason, it didn’t seem to bother him. I mean, he had to realize I was draining his magic all that time, right?

I just was standing there, looking at him with anticipation.

Nothing?

No mana activity. Nothing at all.

Sure, I drained him, but if he was to try something, I’d notice at least. Or, well, he’d notice and not just stand there, waiting.

If I wanted, I could just get rid of him at any moment.

-So…? What are we doing? - I asked, breaking the silence.

-Waiting.

I gazed at him, stunned.

-Waiting.

-Yeah.

-And that waiting is going to get rid of me, how?

-Rid of you? Well, not yet. I still need confirmation from the higher-ups. Without the confirmation, you are to stay here and be a good prisoner.

-Prisoner? Ha. - I couldn’t help but laugh. - And what’s stopping me from… I dunno, escaping?

-Doors?

I had to control myself.

Doors?

Come on. He could’ve thought of something better.

-I managed to get through plenty of those. Yeah, sure. Let’s say that's correct. What about you?

-Me?

-You seem awfully unconcerned about your own well-being - I pointed out. - If I am to be that threat, why to relegate yourself to standing here with me?

-You better worry about yourself. I just need confirmation.

-Yh, sure. Sure.

Again, silence.

-You know… that confirmation… Who do you need it from?

-Not your business.

-By any chance, is that from the guy that is the security chief or whatever on the main floor? Didn’t really pay attention to the looks, was kind of occupied, but got a lot of people under him, using those magical assault rifles or something.

He flinched.

Ha, so I was correct.

-I see I guessed right - I commented. - Well, sad to say, but at this point, I don’t think you’ll be getting any word from him.

-Why? He’s… - he reflexively asked, immediately stopping himself from saying anything else.

-Oh, well, at this point he’s probably either on fire or got carried out of the building. I bet the first one, though, judging by the lack of any emergency services inside.

-Burned?! The protocol…

-Nah, not your protocol. Well, at least I don’t think so - I shook my head. - There was a certain… altercation beforehand… and it managed to leave all of those people unconscious and the room on fire. - I said.

-What did you…

-Why is it always supposed to be me? - I sighed. - I mean, it kind of was… it’s a bit complicated…

I didn’t finish my sentence, because I suddenly felt a surge of magic coming from him.

Strange. I didn’t think he’d have enough mana to even form a spell. And yet, that’s exactly what was flying right at my face.

I wanted to reflexively shield myself with my hand, absorb the mana, only to realize that this is not going to work: there was not enough crystal in me.

Just as the spell was about to connect, I managed to cast my own spell.

-Visu nysu!

A small layer of rock sprouted from my palm, covering me from the ball of fire that was about to connect with my face.

He wasn’t kidding about his “cleaning protocol”.

-Gh!

Hm.

His spell… was pretty strong.

Where the hell was he getting the mana from?

By all means, he should…

But, before I managed to finish my thought, I understood.

From the fold in his suit, I could see peeking tiny particles of some kind of crystal. A crystal that definitely was hosting a rather large amount of mana.

I guess he was prepared, but that was not unexpected.

What was surprising was the fact that I didn’t notice it sooner. How?

By all means, I should’ve seen that coming, especially after keeping him so close to me all that time. Was I getting senile or something?

But, there was no point in dwelling about this, I had to get rid of him.

At this point, I started having second guesses about being merciful, so I was reconsidering my options.

And my opinion was quickly changing. Especially after another fistful of flame that was tossed right at my face.

Why was it always fire?

In any case, I just slapped the embers away, my hand already fully covered with rock, so I could easily get rid of any simple nuisance like that.

Well…

-Gymnu tehu.

I sent a jolt of electricity his way.

I still was feeling merciful enough to not be outright murderous, so I used rather small amounts of mana.

I instantly regretted that.

While the projectile landed true and in a blink of an eye stuck him right in the middle of the chest, he didn’t even shudder.

That was… unexpected.

What the hell? What kind of person does not respond to getting electrocuted?

I probably just used too little of a jolt. Should’ve known.

Slapping another orb of fire away, I sent another one of lightning bolts towards him. This time, I was not holding that much back, and the created projectile was at least three times larger.

And louder.

And yet, it didn’t do jack shit.

The hell?

I was getting annoyed. What did I get myself into?

At this point, I probably should’ve changed my approach, try a different spell, but me being stubborn, and a bit curious, I decided to see how much exactly he can take.

So, I didn’t hold back.

-Jepqo wokz.

A third level spell. Something like that would definitely leave a mark, I mean unless he was a pure crystal person, that is. And that was definitely not the case here: I could clearly see his fleshy body.

I think he realized that. Whoever he was, he had a good understanding of magic, at least elemental, so he knew what was about to hit him.

Didn’t matter though, the spell was faster to reach him than it was for me to speak the words. He couldn’t react.

With a loud thunderclap and flash, he got struck by a massive lightning. I could smell the ozone in the air, in addition to a distinct odor of burned synthetic clothing.

But, there was a distinct lack of the smell of burned flesh. By all means, he should be fried by now, but it was just his clothes that were singed.

I was amazed. To be still standing?

It’s not like my spell had no effect, though.

The impact of the lightning has left a rather large stain on the floor right next to him, similar to the other ones that were already here. He was also pushed back quite a bit, plus, of course, his clothes were completely black.

But that was it.

-The fuck are you…? - I mumbled, stunned.

He didn’t reply. Sure, he was standing and well enough, but the lightning definitely did stun him.

-Eh, whatever. Why do I always complicate things? - I said to myself, and decided to return to the more primitive methods.

Physical trauma it is.

Since that was already here, I decided to be as simple as possible and just swing at him with my fist.

My sudden approach made him snap out of confusion. He quickly stepped back, dodging the initial strike with stern expression, but quickly realized that this was not my attack.

Along with the swing, I sent him a rather large piece of stone. I split it off my hand, seeing as just a straight up projectile would be great against him.

He did guard himself with his hands, but was too late to cast any spells.

I was half-expecting for it to straight up not work. That he was actually made of stone and I was just looking at some kind of illusion, but not this time.

This time, he got hit, straight up. And I even managed to draw some blood, too!

At least that confirmed that his arms were still regular…

But, the random projectile was not enough to knock him out.

I mean, if I was to use something larger… or harder, then maybe.

But, it was too late for that.

Seeing as I turned to physical damage, he mirrored me. Just like me, he covered his own hands with stone and stepped forward.

What, he’s going to box with me?

I was joking, but it actually seemed like that was what he was planning to do.

He jumped forward and tossed a right hook at me.

Not expecting this to turn into a brawl, I managed to get hit, but he was weak. I think he finally was feeling the effects of my draining, because he almost managed to fall on his ass when the next swing went wide.

I was not going to let that go and jumped towards him, as fast as I could, trying to knock him over and tackle him down to the ground.

I kind of overestimated my own weight, expecting him to just fall under my momentum, but I got reminded once more that I had a different body now. Still, it was effective enough that he stopped for a moment, trying to find his balance.

I grasped the occasion and started pouring mana into the stone I created, trying to make it larger, heavier.

It worked.

He fell down, flattened by a large rock, with me connected to it.

I wanted to ask him some questions, seeing as he was drained and completely trapped… but that was a bit too soon.

He still had some fight left in him.

And by fight, I mean he still had some resources left to regenerate his mana.