“I have to go,” John said.

“Okay, be home before dinner,” his mom replied.

John closed the door behind him and headed to his car. The drive to N.L. Industries—as he was told to call it—was about thirty minutes, so he made a few stops along the way. At one point, he pulled into a small roadside restaurant to grab a quick snack.

As he turned around with food in hand, he froze. Just outside the window stood a shadowy figure. Tall. Still. Watching.

A deep, indescribable dread filled his chest.

He blinked—

And it was gone.

“Are you okay?” the employee asked, noticing his pale face.

“Y-Yeah… I’m fine,” John replied, clearly shaken.

The employee gave a strange smile. “Good luck.”

That simple phrase sent a chill down his spine.

John walked back to his car, uneasily munching on his snack. Eventually, he arrived at the monolithic building labeled N.L. Industries. He stepped through the two massive metal doors—only to find nobody inside.

No chatter. No footsteps. No greetings.

Just silence.

He wandered the halls, confused. The facility felt… off. Like the air itself was heavier. Wrong. He eventually stumbled across the door labeled:

M.A.R. - CELL

His stomach dropped. That same feeling from the restaurant returned: cold dread.

Gathering what little courage he had left, he opened the door and stepped inside.

The room was massive. In the center stood a towering glass tube, surrounded by aging computer equipment embedded into the walls. Everything hummed with a strange, low frequency. John muttered under his breath:

“This looks like something from a sci-fi movie… but creepy.”

SLAM!

The doors shut behind him. He spun around.

Suddenly, a handprint formed on the glass tube.

A voice, low and hissing, whispered into his ear:

“Run.”

He sprinted to the door, yanking at the handle with all his strength.

Locked.

Turning back, he saw it.

The shadowy figure.

But this time, it had glowing red eyes locked on him.

It began walking toward him.

Click. The doors behind him hissed open. Without hesitation, John bolted, running faster than he ever had, the echoing groans and screams of something unnatural chasing after him.

He darted around a corner and dove into a nearby room, scrambling under a dusty table. His breathing was erratic. He curled up into a ball, whispering to himself:

“This is just a nightmare. This is just a nightmare. This is just a—"

Whsshhh.

Like a gust of wind, the creature passed the room.

Silence.

Beep boop?

John jolted, slamming his head on the underside of the table. Dazed, he scrambled out and grabbed an old keyboard for defense.

In the shadows, glowing white eyes stared at him. From the darkness emerged a small, legless, armless creature. Its skin looked like glowing green circuit boards.

Confused and panicked, John whacked the creature with the keyboard.

BEEP!!

It squealed, tumbling back. Then suddenly—

RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

A roar erupted from an old computer on the desk.

John turned in shock. “THE COMPUTER HAS AN EYEBALL!?”

The computer, with a single blinking eye in the center of its screen, spoke:

“Keep it down before that wild beast comes back here!”

John’s mind raced. Am I going insane? I need to get out of here.

The computer continued, in a calmer voice, “My name is Vermont. What’s yours?”

“J-John. My name is John…” he replied nervously.

“Alright, John. Calm down. We’re not here to hurt you.”

John tried the door again—still locked. But it felt like more than a simple lock… something was holding it shut. His eyes drifted to a nearby air vent.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Vermont warned.

“Why not?” John asked.

“Because I believe… there’s something—or somethings—inside the vents of this facility.”

John was torn.

If I go into the vents, I might run into something worse. But if I stay, that thing—M.A.R., or whatever it is—might get me.

The room was small but enough to walk around. A single flickering light buzzed overhead. Dust filled the air. Vermont’s old computer shell clicked quietly beside a rickety table, and next to him sat the same small green creature—still recovering from being smacked.

John approached. “How do I get out of here?”

Vermont replied, “That little green thing is called a Codey. They come in all different colors. Most are friendly and helpful—many personnel had one. But never trust the black and white Codeys.”

John squinted. “That explains why it looked familiar…”

CRASH!

A violent bang hit the door. Then another.

Each slam shook the room as the door slowly splintered.

“RUN!!!” Vermont yelled.

John hesitated—but only for a second.

He ripped open the vent cover, the little green Codey darting in after him. The vent door slammed shut just as the creature burst through the room, its distorted voice screaming:

“I’LL FIND YOU!!”

Then laughter.

Horrible, warped laughter.

John had been crawling through the vents for about ten minutes when suddenly, the metal gave way beneath him.

Whoosh!

Splash!!!

He plunged into a pool of a thick, dark red liquid that looked disturbingly like blood. It churned and swirled like a nightmarish ocean. Struggling to stay afloat, John gasped for air, trying desperately not to inhale the foul substance. He spotted large pipes nearby, sucking the blood-like fluid away to some unknown destination.

As he attempted to swim away, a cold, clammy hand shot up from the depths and latched onto his leg. Panic surged through him. He kicked and twisted, trying to break free, but the grip was relentless. The thing beneath dragged him downward.

He couldn’t breathe. His vision blurred.

Darkness.

---

Gradually, John regained consciousness to the voice of a robotic-sounding little boy.

"Hey, you awake, John!!?!?"

He blinked, looking around groggily.

"...Yay," John muttered weakly.

Beside him was the small green Codey, resting against his arm. He picked up the little creature, relieved to see it.

"I'm glad you're awake," the Codey said sweetly.

John stared, stunned. “You... you can talk?”

Trying to stand, John was hit by a sudden, searing pain in his leg—like a thousand tiny piranhas tearing into his flesh. He screamed in agony. The room around him began to shake.

Faces emerged from the walls.

One of the mouths opened, and out crawled the shadowy figure again—only this time, John saw it fully.

M.A.R.

It stood ten feet tall with massive red eyes, jagged claws, rows of razor-sharp teeth, and a grotesquely stretched smile. It looked like a twisted fusion of human, werewolf, and demon... with a halo hovering ominously above its head.

It was like something not from a horror movie, but from hell itself.

M.A.R. let out a deafening screech. But instead of charging, it walked toward John slowly... grinning.

John tried to crawl away, but his body wouldn’t move. Then—without warning—M.A.R. vanished and reappeared in flashes around him, slashing at him from every angle. It picked John up and opened its grotesque maw, revealing an endless, gaping void inside.

John screamed one last time as the creature swallowed him whole.

---

Back in the room, the green Codey had hidden under a table, shaking in fear. It whimpered, crying softly. Then, from the cracks in the wall, whispers echoed through.

Curious, the Codey crept closer.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the crack and yanked it inside.

---

John opened his eyes.

He was falling through blackness—surrounded by floating monitors, each displaying images of people screaming and begging for help. The further he fell, the more distorted and nightmarish the sounds became.

He clutched his ears, squeezed his eyes shut, and wished it would all go away.

Then...

A bright yellow light appeared in the distance. The cries and screams grew fainter.

A voice echoed in the void:

"Go."

John floated toward the light. The closer he came, the more peace returned. When he touched the light—

He woke up.

---

John found himself lying on a bridge above the same blood-like liquid as before. A weapon lay at his side. He stood up and realized the pain in his leg was gone.

But the little green Codey was missing.

He moved cautiously down a long, dark hallway. After a few minutes, he came across a set of numbered doors: F-000 to F-030.

Starting with the first door, F-000, he opened it slowly—only to find a clown standing silently in the corner, staring directly at him. A chill ran down his spine. He shut the door immediately.

He moved to F-001. Inside was... another hallway lined with even more doors. Confused, he closed that one too.

Next was a room with a teddy bear sitting on a chair.

"Aw..." he muttered.

Then, the bear's chest ripped open, revealing jagged teeth and writhing tentacles. It lunged toward him.

Slam.

John shut the door just in time.

Finally, he reached the last door. Inside, the green Codey was tied up against the wall.

"Are you okay, little bud?" John asked, rushing over.

No response.

Not even a beep.

Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind him.

The Codey began to giggle.

"...What's so funny?" John asked.

The Codey’s metal-green skin began to melt and peel away.

Underneath was something else.

White.

"You fool!" the now-white Codey shouted. "You fell for our trap!"

The floor gave way beneath them.

---

John plummeted deeper into the facility.

---

He landed hard, gasping as if he'd just fallen six feet straight down.

The story was far from over.

Meanwhile John's twin brother Phil is searching for him.

"So he's been missing for how long now!?" Phil said.

"For 3 months now. I tried to call him and text him, but he won't respond." Elizabeth said.

"Have you tried calling his job yet?" Phil said.

"Yes, for a couple days now but they would barely answer, but when they answer the same guy answers and says this, (Sorry but I have not seen him), then hangs up. I don't know why but every time I hear that voice, I just feel something sinister. I don't know if he's playing some kind of prank because It's not funny." Elizabeth said.

"You know what fuck this, I'm going to NL Industries to see what the hell is going on." Phil said.

"Ok but you're not going by yourself." Elizabeth announced.

So they got in the car and drove to NL Industries. 30 minutes later they made it to NL Industries wondering what to do next.

"You have your pistols with you?" Elizabeth asked.

"Of course." Phil said.

Elizabeth and Phil enter NL Industries armed and ready for whatever lies ahead. Meanwhile John is trying to find his way out. Suddenly he hears a phone ring\, so he follows the sound of the phone until he makes it to an Orange Room. He tries to open the door\, but it doesn't budge. So\, he bangs and pushes on the door as hard as he can over and over and over\, until finally.  * Smash!!!!* The door broke.  John looked up and there was an ominous light on the telephone\, on a mysterious table in the middle of the room. John realized that there was a very awful smell in the room\, as if there was a whole mountain of corpses in the room. John ignored the smell and walked towards the phone. *RING RING!!! RING RING!!!* John picked up the phone and said.

“Hello?”

“JOHN!?!?! JOHN IS THAT YOU?!!?!!”

“Who is this, and who's asking?”

“It's me Dex!!!”

“Don't tell me that I'm stuck here, and I can be Prank called too…” John said to himself.

"NO!! I'm the Codey that was with you in the vents."

"Ohh... Wait just a minute!! Why wasn't you talking like this before!!?!!?"

"I was. You just couldn't understand me."

"Oh." John said embarrassed.

"Anyway, you need to be careful. There are Dreamares all over the place, especially at SR-2. Which is where you are currently in. Good news, there is an elevator. Bad news, you are hours away from the elevator, and there's more hostile threats there. Luckily this facility is not like the other world, or what you would say: (The outside world.) This world that you are in, it's almost like a video game. So, you don't have much to worry about. Expect death."

"Okay." John said with a little more confidence.

"PLEASE HURRY AND SAVE ME!!! I don't know how much longer I can be out there without getting caught again!!" Dex said with fear in his voice.

The phone hangs up and a notification pops up in John's face. It says, "You must escape before He finds you again." Confused John won those what it's talking about, suddenly a flash silhouette of M.A.R showed up in his mind.

John felt a chill when down his spine. Horrified of whatever, it has become. John walks out the room thinking of where to go next. Until you feel something behind him. John turns around, but there's nothing there. John, ignoring the feeling decides to continue going forward. John enters a large office room. The lights are dim, it looks old and abandoned as the place is trashed and no one has cleaned for several months, and most of the monitors are destroyed. John walks up to one of the monitors then it turns on.

" Hello, I'm a A.I.C. Which stands for (Artificial, Intelligence, Computer.) How may I help you today?" the monitor said cheerfully.

"Luckily this A.I.C works." John said with a sigh of relief.

"A.I.C, what happened here?" John asked.

"Experiment V-9081 also known as (V.G.C-9081(has escaped (Y.V.P-4781) also known as (Yuno Virtual Pod-4781.) It escaped with a virus named; (Zekirin Infinix), which is linked directly to M.A.R. Since M.A.R got his other half back, he decided to distort the facility and wreak havoc on the facility. There are good news and bad news about the M.A.R situation. Bad news: 80% is M.A.R and V-9081's unquenched rage. but the Good news: 20% is a mind of a scared and confused child."

"What is this supposed to mean?" John asked.

"This means that you have a 20.01% chance to be able get through to M.A.R."

"This is interesting information." John thought.

Suddenly loud gun shots were heard, followed with distorted ravenous screams of different animals. John hides behind a office desk. He feels his heart about to thud out of his chest with fear. Two people dashed in guns blazing and slammed the door behind them. Horrified they searched the room. John tries to sneak away, but he gets caught.

"Hey, stand up and turn around, slowly."

So John gets up and turns around slowly. He looks up...

"John!?" Phil and Elizabeth said in surprising and disbelief.

"Philip and Elizabeth!? What are you doing here!!!??!??"

Phil ran to his twin brother and gave him a big hug.

"We came here looking for you!" Elizabeth said.

"What!?!!?! Why!?"

"Because you were gone for 6 months straight." Phil said.

"6 months!? I just got here an hour ago!!" John said yelled.

Phil and Elizabeth look at him in confusion. and then they start continuing the conversation, while the creatures on the other side was still banging on the door. Then John made a hypothesis that they are in a parallel universe and that time works extremely different than normal time. Philip and Elizabeth confused they talk about whatever they're going to do. Suddenly the door busts open! The group looked up as the Dreamares towered over them, with the distorted and mixed growls and snarls. There animal and insect heads on their bodies are extremely adorable and lovable, but their bodies are horrendous complete nightmare fuel. John horrified wondering what those things are, Elizabeth and Philip grab John and run straight through the door on the other side of the room.