Charles and Robert were working in the computer room to replace some old network cables, a task that took up much of the day but one that at last began to fix some of the problems with the network.
“Almost done,” Charles said. “All we need to do is run these cables under the floor so we can hook them up to the network switch in the corner. Get the suction cup thingy, will you?”
Robert looked on the shelf in the computer room and shook his head. “It’s not back here. It must be in Kevin’s office. I’ll go get it.”
Robert left the computer room and walked into Kevin’s office. It was empty because Kevin had called in sick that morning as he had done all week. Robert looked on the bookshelf in Kevin’s office and sure enough, there was the suction cup thingy, which resembled two suction cups attached to a metal handle and was used to lift sections of floor to allow running network cables through the crawlspace under the floor.
“I wonder why Kevin always keeps the suction cup thingy in his office,” Robert wondered. Out of curiosity he stuck the suction cup tool on the floor in Kevin’s office and lifted the section of floor out of the way to see what was underneath.
Robert gasped.
Under the floor was a concrete shaft with a ladder mounted on the side that descended into the darkness below.
“What’s taking so long?” Charles appeared at the doorway to Kevin’s office.
Robert pointed to the space under the floor and Charles too gasped. They both reached a silent agreement that the next thing to do was to see what was down there. The re-wiring would have to wait.
Robert went first and climbed down the ladder into the dark shaft. Charles stood by and watched as Robert disappeared into the darkness below.
“I’m at the bottom of the ladder,” Robert called out. “It’s not a long climb at all, maybe 20 feet down.”
“Anything down there?” Charles replied.
There was a brief moment of silence before a bright light illuminated the bottom of the shaft. Robert had found the light switch. Charles climbed down the ladder and joined Robert at the bottom where they saw a panel of lights on the wall arranged in rows and blinking in random patterns.
Robert wandered off to explore the rest of the narrow shaft while Charles stayed behind to study the mysterious blinking lights, trying to grasp their meaning.
Then Robert’s voice interrupted Charles’ thoughts.
“Charles, I think you should see this.”
Charles turned and saw Robert standing at the opposite end of the shaft some 8 feet away, staring silently at something hanging from the wall. He walked to where Robert was and when he saw the item of interest, he let out a barely audible gasp.
Hanging on the wall was a latex mask bearing a realistic likeness of Kevin’s face.
This does not look good.
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