She awoke with a deep breath of air, slowly exhaling as her surroundings came into focus. The entire room, from floor to ceiling, was very... well, white. It smelled heavily of antiseptic, she noted. Was she in a hospital? This is what hospitals were like, right?
She sat up, the blankets that covered her slowly sliding off. She wasn't connected to any machines, so she maneuvered to the side and lowered herself to the floor, almost jumping at its cold touch. There was nobody nearby so she figured she should... what, find somebody? That was a good idea, right? Or should she wait for somebody to come to her? Surely somebody would notice she was awake eventually...
Finding somebody else would be faster, she decided. She took a single step before her foot touched against something on the floor. She looked down and found a pair of slip-on shoes just as white as the rest of the room. Taking note of her own clothing, she noticed it most certainly was not a hospital gown as she had initially presumed, but instead a pure white dress.
She slipped on the shoes, glad that at least her poor feet wouldn't have to be cold, and made her way to the open door. She peeked out, glancing left and right, and found... nothing. Just a white hallway in either direction, although the one to the right ended in an inky black abyss that she was not a fan of.
"Left it is..." she mumbled, taking her first step out of the room.
There were no sounds, apart from her echoing footsteps, as she made her way down the hall.
She made her way to the first intersection, once again glancing left and right. Both sides were lit this time, so she chose to go right.
She made it a few steps down her chosen path before there was a strange groaning sound of something electric dying, and then... She grimaced as the lights in front of her went dark. She took a deep breath before turning around and going in the opposite direction.
Thankfully as she continued to the left the lights stayed on.
The next intersection was more similar to the first one, but this time the left hallway was dark, so she continued right.
Thankfully, at the end of this hallway, she could see what seemed like the outline of a person. They seemed strangely shadowed, considering the lighting, but they were definitely humanoid, so she breathed a sigh of relief and began a slow jog toward the figure.
"Hello!" she called out. "Um, do you know where we are!?" But the figure did not answer. Instead, it bent over, placing something on the floor before turning and running out of sight. She huffed a breath of annoyance as she slowed back into a walk.
When she finally made it to the intersection, she stopped before the object that the shadowy figure had placed on the ground. She glanced left where the figure had run and found darkness. Then she glanced to the right and found... more darkness. Was it a dead end?
She sighed before finally looking down at the object on the ground. It was jet black, a stark contrast against the pure white of the seemingly endless hallways.
It was rectangular in shape, with a long piece jutting out of what she presumed to be the top, along with a strange knob. On the right side were two buttons, which she pressed both of.
Nothing seemed to happen, so she shook it around to no avail. She wondered if perhaps it was dead—or worse, broken.
"Um... Hello?" she asked the device as if it could answer her. "How do you work?"
And then, from the device came a voice.
"I would run if I were you."
"Huh?"
"Look around you."
She looked up from the device, looking around. To her left and right was the darkness, the same as when she had last looked at it... Except it was slowly moving forward, and picking up speed.
"Why is it doing that?" she wondered out loud.
"I'll explain later, but long story short, it's dangerous. So, please, run."
She turned back the way she came and took off into a sprint, and as if taking that as its cue, the darkness suddenly began drastically speeding up.
As she passed the first intersection, she idly noted that the layout wasn't the same. No, rather, the inky darkness had changed locations and was now the way she had come from.
"Turn left up ahead," The voice told her, and at the next intersection, she did so. "Turn right next."
She kept running, listening to the directions of the voice until she made it to a final hallway which ended in a door.
"Once you're through this door, you should be safe."
She pushed through the door, slamming it shut behind her and pressing her body against it. After a few minutes of nothing happening, she breathed a sigh of relief and pulled up the black voice box.
"What was that, Mr. Box?" she asked. "I mean, I don't know a lot, but I'm pretty sure shadows don't move like that, right?"
"Keep moving and I'll explain on the way."
She did as it said, continuing onwards. She had finally made it out of the hallways and into an area that actually had stuff like chairs and tables.
"Some time ago, the world ended…" the voice started.
"Huh? How did it end if it's still here?"
"Not... Literally."
"Oh. Keep going then."
She pressed against another door but found it didn't open.
"Try pulling it."
"Oh."
She successfully made her way into the next room as the black box continued speaking.
"Most humans died, and the world collapsed alongside them."
"How did the world actually end, though?" she wondered. "What happened to it?"
"Something arrived on the planet, but nobody really knows what it was or where it came from. And then it started spreading, corrupting the world around it, transforming anything with even a hint of consciousness into... well, monsters, for lack of a better word," the black box explained. "Humans were immune, at least to the initial effects. But then the corruption spread to the water and the sky, and eventually, the rain began to turn black. Anyone caught in the black rain was lost to the corruption. Between that and the monsters, well... Humanity didn't stand a chance."
"Um, and where do I fit into this? I mean, who am I? And where is this?"
The black box was silent for a moment before it continued.
"To tell the truth, I don't really know. As far as I can tell, it's some form of underground research facility which was attempting to combat the corruption. It would seem they hadn't anticipated the black rain and it corrupted their water supply, though."
"And me?"
"My best guess? The daughter of somebody important. How you never fell to the corruption, though... Well, that is a question we'll have to find out together."
Her shoulders slumped. She really hoped she'd have been able to get answers.
