Chapter Text
Grace was a regular middle school science teacher.
Key word is was.
That was before everything that had happened to him. Grace had gotten himself stuck in a sticky web that was becoming his new life. Willingly, or unwillingly, he was too trapped in it now to turn back.
He wasn’t completely normal in the first place. Falling out of the academic world had already forced Grace to pivot. In all honesty, teaching had never been his first calling. Grace felt about teaching the same way he felt about wine. The taste had been too bitter for him when he was younger, but sweetened as he aged. Now, he took full pride in his students and the full bodied classroom he built from the ground up.
In recent years, he found he spent more time writing lesson plans and grading tests than reconnecting with old colleagues or checking on the scientific community. He had never had a real place in the latter anyways. In his mind, he had his kids, and they were enough.
But life, like any good mystery, loved to throw Grace for a loop.
Again, it started out with a regular old field trip. Grace had somehow convinced the school to let him bring his kids down to their local lab. If anyone asked, Grace was doing it for the kids.
He was still astonished that it was located so close to the heart of San Francisco. The laboratory was one of three owned by the wealthy company running it.
His eyes lingered on the massive, glass dome that lit up the main atrium. It had a clever design, in Grace’s opinion. Spectrums of light swirled down into the space, creating an intricate spiralled pattern on its floor. He traced its path till he reached the centre of the room.
Grace turned to his class, quickly doing a head count before he stretched his hand up high.
“Now that we’re here, I’m just going to remind you guys that we need to be quiet and respectful. And let’s stick together, alright? I don’t want to lose any of you guys, not again.”
His eyes scanned over the class, giving the group a comedically stern look. Sweet, giddy laughter erupted out of the kids, putting a lopsided smile on Grace’s face.
“But before that, who feels like a quick game of ‘the ball is lava’?”
His class let out a cheer and began to chant, while Grace brandished his beloved earth hacky sack from his pocket. This game was one of his favourites, always a crowd pleaser that eased everyone into any activity. He chose to start with an easy question.
“The name of this building is…” He looked around the room, “Mariah?”
With a quick throw, she caught the ball, already speaking before it landed in her hands.
“Weaver Station.” She answered hurriedly.
“Right, you got it!”
He heard a few students groan in jest, murmurs breaking out across the gaggle of preteens. A few were complaining about the lack of difficulty, making Grace shake his head in jest.
“Be careful what you wish for, guys. I can make this way harder! I’ll give you another easy one, and then we can do a harder one. Deal?”
That seemed to satisfy his class, going back to their chanting as they each eagerly hoped to get passed the ball.
“What’s the name of the organisation running this place, Jake!”
Further away than Mariah had been, he had to swing his arm a little harder to get it over to the boy. He could have sworn he heard his elbow click at the movement, yikes. Guess his age was finally starting to show.
Jake fumbled for a moment, blinking a few times before he gave his answer.
“The Consolidation of… Of…”
He gave the boy a second, sending him a smile of encouragement.
“Of Iron?”
“The COI, yes! Nice one, well done Jake. For our next question…”
The game ran on for a few more rounds, before a man with a dull lanyard approached the group. Grace had been juggling the Earth hacky sack with his Venus one, the former slipping out of his hand and rolling right to the foot of the supposed tour guide.
With a cough, it was handed back to Grace. At least his class thought it was hilarious.
***
The tour had been shorter than Grace hoped. They were led down many halls, glancing into offices full of hunched, haggard scientists. Occasionally they were given an explanation as to what they were studying, followed by a quick translation from Grace for the kids stuck in the back.
He couldn’t help but linger on some of the displays. He was initially surprised by what he saw, till he looked closer at the ‘futuristic’ equipment. Most of it was stuff that he remembered, even if it had been a while since it was used by him.
There were a few things that did spark Grace’s curiosity, like the rows of blacked out windows. It wasn’t something completely out of the ordinary, but what was strange was the lack of signage. It wasn’t any of his business, so he decided to focus on making the odd, silly quip rather than whatever the researchers were up to.
They eventually stepped outside, entering a small pavilion with scattered benches and food trucks. Grace could already feel his mouth watering at the glorious sight. How could anyone not love a food truck? But suddenly, a shocking realization hit.
He needed the bathroom.
Walking over to the guide, he gave him an awkward nod as he shoved his hands into his pockets. The man could handle a couple of preteens for a few minutes, right? He shifted from foot to foot, trying to look the guide in the eye.
“Hey, thank you so much for the awesome tour around the labs, really cool stuff! I know it took a bit of convincing to let me bring my class here, so I'm genuinely grateful you gave us a chance. You mind if I-”
The man looked unimpressed, waving his hand at Grace.
“After you get through the second set of doors, take a right, and it’ll be the fifth one to your left.”
Okay then. Grace gave him a thumbs-up, another nod, and turned on his heel. Better to be as quick as he could, than waste time reacting to the other’s bluntness.
The man was reminiscent of the parents Grace was occasionally forced to talk to. This was especially true for the ones who always asked what he was teaching their kids, giving him a questioning look when he gave them the same, simple reply he always did - science. Of course then he would be forced to elaborate, even if they didn't really care about his answer.
For some reason, the world Grace knew had always loved crushing any sort of curious thinking. In response, the man had decided to make his classroom one which was built on the basic principle of it. He hoped his efforts would mean something some day, even if his kids never remembered who taught them second period science.
He did his best to track the instructions he was given, or at least he thought he was tracking them till he made it to the ‘second set of doors’. Crud. Had he told him to go left, or right?
If he was going to treat this place like a maze, which it was, the left-hand rule was unbeaten. He planted his hand on the blank wall, tracing his fingers over its subtle grooves as he walked down the hall.
The whole building was creepily sterile. Yes, it was a serious science lab, but would a pop of colour hurt every now and then? Grace wished this place had been properly mapped out too, instead of choosing to be all secretive and annoying. You wouldn’t leave something like a radiology room unmarked, not if you wanted to avoid an OSHA violation.
Grace stopped once he hit a large set of doors. This couldn’t be for the bathroom, could it? He should turn back. Think about the kids, Grace! He told them not to wander off, now look at him.
He was alerted by a set of beeps that tore his eyes away from the door. Pulling his hand from the wall, a keypad was revealed to him. All of a sudden, the reasonable, responsible adult inside of him evaporated. Surely he had a second to spare.
He first tried inputting as many numbers as he could before the screen flashed red. Only a 4 digit code? It had to be the bathroom. There were 10,000 possible solutions to this problem, since the numbers ran from 0 to 9.
If Grace looked closely, maybe he would be able to spot some smudges on the screen? He checked, but even with his glasses, he couldn’t see anything.
That was a total bust. Maybe there could be a note lying around? Which there wouldn’t be, considering the hall was completely empty, bar the locked, windowless doors that lined the walls. They hadn’t even been numbered. Really, COI?
This was hopeless. Shifting his belt, his lips spread into a thin line. Guess it was time to get experimental.
It could be a year, some voice from the back of his mind screamed. That wouldn’t be impossible, it was common practice to use the date of establishment for basic door codes. When was their company founded again? Grace knew it was fairly recent, say, 20ish years ago?
He may as well start from 2006, and work his way up till something lets him in. Staring at the keypad with determination, he input ‘2006’. The device paused for a moment, as if it were considering what he had tried.
Grace’s heart leapt in his chest, come on little keypad!
The screen flashed bright red, as it had done last time, yet was accompanied by a deeply soothing message.
Incorrect. 3 attempts left.
Awesome. Grace was going to lock himself out of the only bathroom he could find, and probably call security over in the process. He shook himself out, running his hands through his hair and fixing his glasses atop his head. He wasn’t going to let this dumb door beat him.
He ran through ‘2007’ and ‘2008’ before his hubris eventually withered and died. What else could it be but a year? It seemed so obvious, at least to Grace. Sweat started to pool in the palms of his hands as they clenched by his sides. His heart pounded, the sound of it echoing in his ears. He knew he was right. He knew it.
Chewing his already chapped lips, Grace gave it one final shot. Typing in one final code, he input ‘2009’.
This time, after a few moments of deafening silence, his stubborn attitude was rewarded by a beautiful emerald hue.
The doors parted like a pair of arms spreading open wide, beckoning him inside. Grace was too relieved to care, running in with glee. It was only when the doors shut behind him that he realised he was in the wrong place.
Lights flickered to life overhead, revealing rows of specialised lab equipment he specifically recognised. They were all machines he had used as a young molecular biologist. Grace was slammed by a wave of nostalgia.
He should have been frightened, really. But instead, he was drawn further inside. Something urged him forward, calling him closer.
He ran his hand over one of the work benches, met with a smooth, clean texture. At least he hadn’t stumbled into some abandoned part of the building. He already got this far, what was another few minutes? The place was empty anyways, not like anyone was around to object.
Grace caught sight of a microscope centered on one of the tables, a few dark slides lined up beside it. He searched around for a pair of gloves, pulling them on as he walked over to the desk.
Grabbing a slide, he nudged it beneath the microscope, eyes narrowing with concentration. He leaned down, twisting the coarse, then fine adjustments till it came into focus. As it did, a few things became glaringly obvious upon first glance.
This slide had animal blood in it, except it looked entirely wrong. There were normal cells within the bunch, but surrounding them were cells unlike any he had ever observed. Rather than being a mixture of pink and purple like their neighbours, they were a lightning blue. Furthermore, they had strange, light strings crossing over them. The only possible comparison he could make was to a spider’s web.
This was absolutely absurd. Whatever they were studying had piqued Grace’s interests, and now he felt himself falling down the rabbit hole laid out before him. He borrowed a sticky note from the desk over, picking a pen from his pocket.
Grace was too focused on the strange specimen to notice something had begun to crawl up the microscope’s side. A small creature, no taller than Grace's thumb, no wider than his pinky. It found its way to Grace’s sleeve, disappearing beneath the fabric. Up his arm, crossing his shoulder, moving straight to the nape of his neck.
It was then that a cold shudder raced down Grace’s spine, causing him to jerk away from the microscope. Whatever had been creeping around his body fell into the depths of his shirt.
That wasn’t the only thing Grace had missed. Once he straightened up, a voice rang out in the empty room.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
***
Grace has never felt this scared in his entire life. With a yelp, he flew away from the workbench. He was a fox caught in the chicken coup, feathers stuck between his teeth. Quickly, he scrunched the page up with his hand. As if that would hide the evidence. Holy moly, he was screwed.
“What the fuck are you doing.”
The voice repeated evenly, only a hint of frustration between his words. Grace, who had briefly lost the ability to speak, let out a few dry coughs. He slowly turned to respond.
“Nothing? Or, just, I- I was looking for the bathroom?”
A few paces ahead, a stranger stood in his path. Despite being an inch or two shorter than Grace, he felt like he was staring straight at a brick wall. Dark eyes ran over him, peeling back the very layers of his soul. Grace shuddered from the intensity.
There was anger in that look, Grace could see it barely conserved behind the twitch in his brow. But, it dissipated, replaced by an unreadable expression.
The stranger let out a half sigh, face tightening with confusion.
“This isn’t the bathroom,”
“I can see that,”
“It’s down the hall.”
“Of course it is!”
Terrified, Grace’s words stumbled out of his mouth without thinking. The other must have been taking pity on him, because he stepped back, offering Grace an escape route.
“I’ll show you where.”
While Grace could still feel his hands trembling in his pockets, his heart went back to its regular pace, and he no longer wanted to run for the hills. The man gestured for Grace to follow, holding the door open and tailing him as he scurried out.
Grace walked ahead of him, feet pulling him where he needed to go. The instructions he had failed to remember suddenly decided now was the best time to return. What an absolute idiot Grace was, mixing up his lefts and rights. He of all people should remember them.
The journey was done in deafening silence, apart from the sound of Grace’s shoes squeaking against the linoleum floor, followed by boots which clicked against the cold surface. Once they arrived at their destination, Grace mumbled a quick ‘thank you’, disappearing inside.
A minute later, he reappeared, face freshly doused with a splash of water. His glasses sat precariously on the edge of his nose, threatening to fly away. On top of it all, he was covered in nervous sweat which clung to his forehead.
The man went back to his glaring, leaning against the wall. Grace could get a better look at him now that he wasn’t so panicked.
He was profoundly reminded of a stray dog, looking the other up and down. He wasn’t sure why, as the man wasn’t particularly scruffy. His clothes were rather neat, and he held his head up high. The exception was his hair, which tangled and curled like vines.
His train of thought was interrupted once again by the stranger, who spoke in a balanced tone.
“You need to tell me who you are, and why you’re here. Then you get to go. Alright?”
All Grace could manage was a nod, slowly piecing together a delicately doctored story.
“I’m Doctor Ryland Grace, I teach middle school science. I'm on a field trip with my class.”
Adding on ‘doctor’ might have been unnecessary, but it helped him feel like he had some sense of authority and wisdom. A boost well needed in a situation like this. He continued carefully.
“I was trying to find the bathroom, but I got lost. This place is just,” He waved his hand around, it landing on his head. “Confusing. A nightmare to navigate. Why is nothing marked? I mean, seriously, how is anyone supposed to find anything?”
Grace had to mentally restrain himself from going on a tangent. His frustration was met by an empty expression. He couldn’t imagine how he looked right now, but trying to wasn’t going to help. Grace took a breath before he told the next part.
“And then, I found that door, and I must have accidentally opened it somehow because I wandered inside, and… You saw the rest. That’s all that happened. You can check the cameras, whatever you need to do. That’s it.”
The man, who had been as still as a statue till now, raised an eyebrow at Grace.
“Sure. You didn’t take anything, right?”
“No, no! Of course not. Some paper, maybe, but I thought I’d grab some while I was there. To use, for a game. With my kids. Well, not my kids, but the- you know what I mean.”
His words were met with a slow nod. Like before, the man stepped back, clearing the way for Grace to go.
“Well, Doctor Ryland Grace, it seems like you’re all clear.” The man drew out his words, eyes glancing over Grace's shoulder.
Before he could stop him, Grace walked briskly past, arms stuck to his sides. How he managed to survive that encounter, and not piss himself in the process, Grace did not know. Either way, he took his mercy where he got it.
He finally returned to his class, taking them off of the tired looking tour guide’s hands. Grace couldn’t wait to receive a million emails from concerned parents once he got home. God forbid the man took a 15 minute bathroom break.
At least he got back in one piece, as if they cared.
As it would turn out, that wouldn’t be the most exciting thing to happen to Grace today. The real fun began once he finally got home.