Side Story: House of Wonders 2 (Patreon)

Val shoved his hands into his pockets as they walked in the dark, leaving the brightly lit pseudo hallway behind them. He glanced over his shoulder only once to see Greg and Alex making their way towards the first door they saw. Val reached down and scratched at his elbow, sniffing a little and glancing over at John. Among their little circle of friends, he was closest to John. The guy’s stoic silence was something he was used to so he didn’t mind the flat expression on his face even as he returned Val’s glance.

Val looked past him at the walls before glancing at the wall closest to him, he reached out and ran his fingers along it, “Everything’s mismatched in this place,” He muttered, “Fuckin’ weird.”

“Testing new ideas,” John muttered as they neared the first door on their left which turned out to be a pair of double doors. There was another ahead of them before the hallway turned sharply to the right, wrapping around the building. 

Val glanced at him, “She’s using her own summer house for prototyping?” He asked, then pursed his lips before raising his eyebrows, “Yeah, sounds like her. Bet all this stuff is made by Dr. Carter. He hooked me and Snow up after all,” He said, flexing his arms. They couldn’t be seen with the hoodie he was wearing for their little ‘incursion’ but the underplates for his gear were still affixed to his skin to conceal and protect the physiological parts of his ability. They were light and small enough that they could be worn under clothing.

He turned to the doors and tilted his head, “Way out you think?”

“No, kitchen probably,” John muttered, he gestured to the hall they’d come from, “Large opening for easy traffic, close to the entry to the common area.”

Val shrugged, He’s talkative today. He thought and pushed the doors open. They swung out easily and revealed exactly what John had predicted. A spacious and well lit kitchen. He tilted his head and listened for the sound of artificial lighting as he stepped inside, scanning the windows that looked out towards the garden that wrapped around the rear exterior of the building. He could see the path leading out towards the thick trees beyond. Val walked over to the glass and ran his fingers across it before tapping his nails against it. It made a dull sound almost like plastic.

“Something unusual?” John grunted, walking past him to examine the counters for a moment before beelining in another direction.

“It’s some kinda reinforced glass,” Val said thoughtfully, “I dunno, it's weird.”

“Everything here is,” John mumbled and Val turned to see him holding a kitchen knife. It was an off-white color and had the ASTA logo on the handle, “Monster bone.”

“Damn,” Val murmured and walked over. John handed it to him and he turned it over in his grip, “I’ve never touched monster bone before, this is sick man,” He said, marveling at the texture of it. It was oddly smooth and felt denser than bone. To be fair, I’ve only ever handled chicken bones, he thought. He glanced up from the knife, “Anything else interesting?”

“Visibly, no,” John said and turned in a stiff circle, “Standard service kitchen, if well equipped. Anything interesting is well hidden.”

Val shrugged, “Well I’m not gonna waste time in here then,” He grunted as he walked back out into the hall, scratching his head, “Though you’d think there’d be more staff.”

“Handmaiden? She is a maid,” John commented as he joined him, the pair glancing at the next door.

“Oh yeah,” Val said thoughtfully, “All I can think of is her throwing people on TV at the Hague incident,” Val pointed out and started walking towards the door. “Dining room you think?”

“Mm,” John grunted and pushed the door open, they slipped inside and froze. While the kitchen had been pretty standard for all intents and purposes, the dining room was anything but. 

“What the fuck!” Val blurted as he stepped out onto what amounted to a balcony with stairs going down and to the left. Across from him was a fish tank that hung from the ceiling, stretching out across the entire room and supported by metal supports that went through the water before affixing themselves to the walls and ceiling. There had to be hundreds of fish inside, all provided gentle illumination from skylights that fed in from above. He gaped as he walked down the stairs, looking up at what felt like the ocean above his head. “Woah…” He breathed.

“Yes,” John agreed, his own words coming out a little breathy too. They looked at one another before glancing around the open space beneath the fish, illuminated with the ripples of water from above. The room was large and given its location stretched out beneath the soil outside. There were over a dozen tables set up with chairs and plenty of space for other activities. 

A shadow darted over Val’s head and he looked up quickly to see something metallic and silver move through the water, it stopped near a gathering of fish before expelling a cloud of flakes and darting away again. “Robotic fish keepers,” Val muttered.

“Bar,” John murmured.

Val turned to John who was pointing towards a long, fully equipped bar built into the wall beneath where the balcony had overlooked. The bottles were all sitting on top of black shelves with white rings around their bases. Occasionally a little flicker of light would flash through the bottles giving it an appealing effect.

Val grinned and hurried over, sliding up to it and slapping his hands down on the counter, “Oh man, Luke’s gonna love this!” He laughed and leaned over the counter. He was about to reach out when John grabbed him and pulled him back. Val opened his mouth to protest when he noticed a floating sphere drift down from the ceiling of the bar, it rotated and flashed a faint red light as John pulled Val back around the corner and to the stairs. “Holy shit,” Val whispered, “Security?”

“Likely,” John murmured, “We should move on.”

“Yeah,” Val agreed.

They both hurried up the steps and out into the hallway, shutting the door behind them. They glanced to their left, down the hall where two more rooms remained. Val smirked, one run in with security wasn’t enough to chase him away. Not when he hadn’t seen the real prize. He hustled down the hall towards the next room, John close behind, and pushed the door open. He took one look at the interior and threw his fists up, only a look from John silencing the whoop that nearly escaped his lips.

The walls were just like those in the living room, except these had a pink flame in them, steadily flickering and glowing around the perimeter of the space giving a bit of an eerie ambiance. To the left side of the room was a long heavy-looking table that’s entire surface was slowly pulsing with a very faint pink glow, like it was on standby or something. Surrounding the table had to be at least ten bookcases filled with books, boardgames, and other things. One full bookshelf was lined entirely with neat rows of small plastic boxes filled with dice.

The right side was by far more appealing. Separated from the table with a long rug was a ring of sofas like the ones in the living room facing the wall. There was no sign of anything besides the Sofas but he wasn’t fooled for a moment. He grinned and hustled over, John going over to the board games to inspect them. Val crouched and ran his hands along the lower part of the wall right in front of the sofas, pushing here and there, “Cmon, there’s gotta be a-” He heard a click and grinned, “Yes!”

A very faint seam in the wall appeared as it popped open, revealing a drawer that slid out. Inside was a treasure trove of gaming controllers from any number of consoles and brands, old and new. Some of the older ones had been fitted with some sort of black spike where their cords should be. He picked one up and turned it over in his hands, it had a funky shape to it but there was a clear start button. He got to his feet and took a few steps back, pushing the button. The drawer retracted at his feet and the pink flames in front of him went dark.

The next thing he saw was a familiar logo across the entire wall, “Holy, fucking, shit,” He breathed, turning from the screen and looking around, “I need snacks, oh man,” He murmured as the sound of hooves came from all around him followed by piano. He spotted a cluster of cabinets, one looking like a refrigerator, resting against the wall to the left of the door they’d come in through. String instruments started playing and some kind of flute. He raced over and reached for the fridge only to see a flashing red light glinting down at him from above it.

Another sphere! He gasped and turned, “Joh-” The sound like a zipper being pulled quickly interrupted him followed by the feeling of his entire body getting bound up in thin black strands of something. He spun, startled, and fell right on his face only to hear a similar sound ring out a second later as John came running. He tried to pull himself free, but whatever the black stuff was, it didn’t budge an inch. A light shone down above him from the sphere and he squinted at it. “Ah damn it.”

“I’d rather you didn’t mess up my save data, Val,” Sonya’s amused voice came from the sphere, “Your exploration time is up, boys.”