"So… where are we at again?" Allen asked as he stared down the massive metal door. The room surrounding him was all white, save for the checkered tiles beneath his feet. It reeked of bleach and cleaning supplies despite the fact no one had been there prior. He glanced over to his left to find that Rex was too enveloped in his work. He cleared his throat.
Rex's head shot up and glanced over at Allen. His head was slightly cocked to the left.
"Whadd'ya say kid?" He asked.
"Where are we at?" Allen asked again. His brows slightly furrowed as Rex hummed, seemingly deflecting his question, an occurrence that happened all too often. Allen was ready to walk away to ask another when the pen click and Rex stopped.
"055's cell. Do you remember why you're here?" Rex asked in an all too earnest of tone. Allen stepped back weary of him.
"055?"
"Yeah, do you remember why you're here," he muttered, the pen clicked again. Rex's eyes met Allen's, the cold blue piercing his soul.
"No, what even is it?"
Rex scribbled something on the page and shrugged.
"No one knows, it's why we're here today."
Allen weakly nodded and glanced towards the door
"What do you mean by, 'it's why we're here today'?"
"We can never learn what 055 is, we can only learn what it isn't, right? So we send people in there so that we can eliminate our options as to what it is," he smiled at the last bit and took a seat in a folding chair.
"Wait, why don't we just send in D-class? Could that thing be dangerous?"
"Didn't kill the first person that went in. Anyways what if it was, oh let's say an "explode the whole Foundation" button, they'd hit that in a heartbeat." At the last word he clicked his pen again. Silence fell on the room and Allen swallowed to keep from his mouth going more dry than what it was.
"Are ya gonna go in?"
"I… I guess?" Allen asked turning back to Rex.
"Great. Now then, before you go in, I have a question for you to remember. Got it?" Rex asked his tone now serious.
Allen nodded.
"Good. It's a simple question, "Is it living?""
Allen nodded, repeating the question to himself. Rex gave a thumbs up and pointed toward the door.
"Best go in kid. We don't have all day."
And at that, Allen opened up the large metal doors, and took a step in.
It was a white room, like most containment chambers. It's floors were pristine and the light above him was practically blinding. He covered his eyes and glanced around. There, in the center of the chamber, was a staircase seemly built into it that lead down. It was white like the facility, though the lights in it were far more dim.
He went down it for what seemed like ages, step by step he tracked the area until he reached a landing. He looked around. There was nothing, except for a fire hazard sign that he had seen a thousand times throughout the above ground facility. He gulped and began to turn the corner when he found himself stumbling backwards in horror. Though it was quickly replaced with relief as all that was there was a single horse staring back up at him. He chuckled and glanced past it. There was nothing behind it. Strange. He shrugged his shoulders and turned around.
It was the least weird thing to happen at this place he supposed. He walked up the staircase again his memories of the event already fading. He covered his eyes as he approached the entrance of the stairs. He walked out of them and was met with a metal door. He looked around the room again. Weird. Maybe it was a spatial anomaly at play. It wouldn't be his first time getting caught in one.
He pushed on the door and walked out only to be met by Rex's piecing gaze.
"So, is it living?" He asked, his voice monotone.
"Is what living?" Allen asked. His hand went up to his neck, scratching it slightly.
"055?" Rex replied.
"What's that?"
"The chamber you just went in," Rex said slightly annoyed.
"Oh the anomaly in there?" Allen asked pointing to the door behind him.
"Yes, that. Is it living."
"Neigh."
Rex sighed and scribbled something down before motioning for Allen to follow him down the facility's winding halls.