It was the strangest thing.

The way it went so seamlessly like we really were just walking through a normal doorway. There wasn't even the slightest feeling of vertigo, no sensation of disorientation to wobble my legs and mind unsteady.

Yeah, the transition from the inside to the outside was surprisingly smooth… well, it'd probably be a lot more smoother hadn't there been the continuous twinge of pain shooting upwards with every left step taken. Luckily Ash stood by my side, always at the ready to offer a helping shoulder to lean on.

We hobbled and limp, doing away with the clack of concrete from within and instead, meeting with the crunch of gravel from the out. It took a few more distancing steps before a precise understanding of our exact whereabouts could be discerned.

"We're out front again," spoke the displeasure in Irene's voice from up ahead. "Back to where we started."

And indeed we were… a quick spin backward displayed an all too familiar sight. The narrow doorway we stumbled out of had gone, as if it had never really been there, to begin with… because it never really had, hadn't it?

Magic was like the rebellious teenager to the laws of reality. Every time reality would say 'no you can't do that.', magic would just give the finger and proceed to go about doing it anyway.

There were the double glass doors of the entrance again, complete with the greens of potted plants and the typical lobby-entrance furnishing you'd find everywhere else staring back at us from the inside.

If I didn't literally just see myself walking out of a magical door-portal from the third floor not even mere moments ago, I'd have assumed we simply walked out of the entrance without even noticing.

I was fully convinced that our little romp through Cyberware Game Studio was speedily approaching an abrupt and painful end - made even worse by the fact that we had absolutely nothing to show for our little venture either, apart from a few answered questions… and some painful ouches that won't be going away anytime soon.

"Should just cut our losses," I said through painful winces. "Let's just go home - rest. We'll brainstorm for other ideas."

Ash was all for proper recuperation and refuge, expressing no dissent, and nodding along with my proclamation in a show of full support. Yet alas, the decision on what to do next did not rely upon a majority vote. If it did, you bet we'd be clambering our asses into the car in a heartbeat.

No, despite all signs pointing to a fruitless endeavor, Irene chose to ignore it all, strolling along in the complete and total opposite direction, more determined than dissuaded, passing Ash and me hurriedly by with only a brief word spoken in a whisper.

"You guys wait here..."

Props to her, I suppose. I absolutely no clue where this tenaciousness of hers was coming from - it's almost frightening, really. Not even a mangled arm was enough to deter her away… I had a feeling she wasn't going to stop till she breathed her last.

Like hell we're waiting for that…

"Ash…" I looked to the glittering greens at my side, just a single glance… and she immediately understood.

The Elf nodded, and carefully spun us around again. "Understood."

Guess we'll be breathing our last together, then.

With the usage of both legs available to her, it was only natural she'd reach the entrance first. By the time we manage to play catch up to her hasty strides, Irene was already rapping an assertive finger against the paned glass.

"No one's going to buzz you in just cause you're knocking politely, you know?" I said, detaching myself from Ash's shoulder to lean against a nearby column. "It's not like anyone's gonna hear you…"

The rapping only further intensified. "Not necessarily."

Ambiguity was not my forte. It'd have taken forever if I had been left to my own devices to try and find meaning behind her incessant rappings. Hadn't it been for Ash nudging, Ash pointing, I'd never would have caught it.

That little blink of red, the small shimmer of lenses veiled beneath a compact piece of machinery…

"Those timely blinkings," Ash muttered, giving it a precarious leering. "The clocks back home that I've disposed of, it bears an uncanny resemblance."

"Good eye," I said, giving a slight smile. "But don't go disposing of this one, please. We're gonna need it."

So, CCTV cameras, huh? It was blinking, it was also pointing squarely straight at us - guess that's the plan then, be enough of a ruckus that you can't be ignored.

Though it'd really be easier if we just brute force our way in… but I guess Irene's no barbarian.

"Okay, let me rephrase," I said, glancing back to the clinking of glass. "Security isn't going to buzz you in just cause you're knocking politely."

Again, all I got in return from her was ambiguity. "Not waiting for security…"

Ash couldn't offer any hints this time around, so instead the both of us just opted for the wait-and-see approach… it took a while but sure enough, something else could be heard beyond the continued chinking. Ash's ears perked first, heard first… her eyes immediately veering away from the suspicious red light.

"Someone's approaching," She said, an edge to her voice… taking a stance close by me which blocked most of everything from view. A literal human shield bracing for any sort of impact.

I wasn't going to try and argue against her overprotectiveness, after everything, she had every right to be… so I fell in line, and too brace myself alongside her, even though I knew there wasn't anything to worry about.

Irene stopped knocking - and there, just as it was the first time through, the echo of footsteps could be heard fast approaching the vicinity. Only this time, we weren't greeted with the sight of a tall, lanky bespectacled figure gasping desperately for air.

No, instead this time, we were met with a different tall, lanky non-bespectacled figure gasping desperately for air. Widened ocean-blue eyes stared back at us from behind the glass panels, murking the surface with fogged breath. It took only a second's glance to recognize that expensive attire, that neatly-groomed hairstyle coated with the most dazzling wax out in the market.

Not every day you'd see a figurehead of a studio so readily eager to greet a visitor at his doorstep. Can't say I saw this coming...

"Hello again, Howard," Irene said.

Howard looked back at her as though he was staring at the devil in the face, not that he was far off the mark, really…

"Security… informed… weird people outside," wheezed Howard, bending down and clutching both knees. "Didn't even know... you left the building."

"Trust me, not like we wanted to."

Suddenly, Howard's wide-open eyes widened even more, nearly tripping over his feet as he stumbled slightly backward. "Your… your arm… what the hell?!"

Irene clicked her tongue, and without even flinching, simply drew her arm away from view. "Looks worse than it actually is, okay?"

From one grotesque sight to another, Howard continued gaping away in pure horror. "Your partner's leg!"

"He'll live!" She snapped, while also snapping her fingers. "Focus! We need to talk with one of your employees - He's somewhere in there, I know it."

"Talk? Talk?" He repeated like a disoriented parrot. "Who? Why? What about? Oh no, my employees, they - look I'm the only one! No one else is involved, alright? It's just me. They're all innocent!"

I scoffed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure your sound girl will have a thing or two to say about that, actually."

"Y-you know?" Howard turned pale. "Okay, okay, she's not - look I dragged her into it, alright? She didn't want to, I forced her! The blame's all mine, don't - don't incriminate her too, she has nothing to do with - "

"Howard, I don't care!" Irene shouted, nearly fracturing the glass with a tightened fist. "Open the door, now! Your employee, the intern, the idiot called Jay! He's the one I'm really after. And I'm gonna find him. You can either help him on that front… or you don't. Your choice. You make sure you choose wisely."

"Help… help…" He parroted again, blinking rapidly. "Help you how?"

"You can start by letting us in," She said. "We'll look for him. Turn the whole damn building upside down. If I don't find him, then that's when you come in again. You give us all of his information. His address, his background, his email, anything and everything that has to do with him, you give up otherwise it's - "

Wait, clarify! Clarify!" Howard interjected, raising both hands up. "You want who's information now?"

Irene looked almost as if she would have choked him dead had she only full usage of both arms. "The two-year intern. Jay… what's-his-name! The one that brought us to you in the first place!"

Howard cowered further back in fear, but that bewildered look on his face stayed unchanged. His lips quivered, reluctantly… he spoke again.

Reluctant - because it seems he knew that what he was about to say, was what we didn't wanna hear.

And he was right.

Too right.

"We don't… we don't do internships here. Jay… there's no one by that name that works here."