I walked down the empty, mold-smelling hallway. An acute ringing sounded in my ears, and the world tilted as my vision spun. My head throbbed simultaneously, forcing me to stop and lean on the wall. The cold stone momentarily brought relief from the pain as I pressed my forehead against it. The world righted after a moment, and I continued to walk, letting my feet take where I needed.

Jace, or whoever hit me, must have done more damage than I initially thought. The day had truly been a rollercoaster of emotion. I didn’t expect my rise in rank, and my desire to get on a team for missions would’ve angered Jace and the other Welders so much.

I hated that he had enough power to just walk around and assault others as he did. I wondered why the cadre did nothing to stop him and the other Welders. Then I thought about how all the Carpenters were treated by the cadre. We were only good for keeping the garden and food supply up.

I was the first Carpenter to be allowed to move freely, and based on my interaction with Jace, it turned out to be a bad idea. Thinking of Jace brought up questions about what he was talking about. As he said, I needed to find out what was going on.

Screeching metal echoing down the hallway brought me out of my head. I took stock of my surroundings and realized I had no idea where I was. I wanted to be mad that I could still get lost after four years in the camp, but I didn’t have time.

A door a half-dozen paces ahead of me was starting to open. Luckily, there was a small alcove behind me shrouded in darkness. I swiftly fled from an unknown entity to the dark concealment it offered. I made it in the nick of time and froze, hoping I was genuinely hidden from the person who came through the door.

Sergeant Michel flipped off a light switch in the room and then exited. He closed the door and spun a large dial above the handle. I was worried that he would look around and see me after that, but he just pulled his ever-present clipboard from under his arm and started staring at it as he walked in the opposite direction than me.

I let out a silent breath of relief. Sergeant Michel was a person I did not want to meet in a dark hallway, or especially somewhere I shouldn’t be. My heart thumped in my chest, sending spikes of shivers through my body.

They could be watching me if I was somewhere I shouldn’t be. I immediately activated my power to look around for any sign of electricity along the ceiling and corners. I didn’t see any signs of cameras or other monitoring devices.

I breathed deeply through my nose to calm my nerves.

“Screw it,” I whispered to myself.

I decided I wouldn’t get a better chance to search for information. I didn’t know what was in the room, but it was important enough to be locked up. There were things about the situation I didn’t know, such as where I was in the camp, what time it was, or if anyone was coming back. However, I knew the light was off, I wasn’t being watched, and I yearned for some more information.

I stepped from the gloom and zipped to the door. My ability was still activated, and I hastily examined the door. There was nothing electronic about it, but when I focused on the lock, I could make out the multitude of interconnected parts on the inside.

It was so complex I couldn’t figure out what parts to adjust. My attention was fixated on the large bolt that secured the door to the seal. I smiled mischievously. I didn’t need to manipulate the entire lock.

I touched the lock and let my power spread through the mechanism. With my vision, the metal parts were grey with coppery glints that sparkled throughout. I made a thin line through the middle of the bolt, separating the two pieces.

It took a couple of seconds, but as soon as it was done, I gave a quick tug on the door, and it slid open easily. I peeked inside to ensure the room was empty and slipped in afterward. I closed the door and took the time to fix the lock’s bolt.

I turned and looked around the office. Various glows emanating from the blurry objects were all browns, light greens and grays. The only indication of electricity came from the light switch to my right and the lights in the ceiling and table lamp. Metal glinted from all over the room from what I assumed were filing cabinets lining the walls.

I instantly knew where I was going to look first and what I was going to look for. I would start with the closest filing cabinet in the right corner, just a few paces away and look for my personnel file. I moved toward the cabinet and deactivated my ability.

I was plunged into darkness. Unable to see or stop my momentum, I slammed chest first into the filing cabinet. I silently cursed to myself, activated my power to see where the light switch was and turned it on.

With the lights on, I could move the cabinet without running into it. Eight identical cabinets lined the room. They were all dark grey with a button next to the handle.

I tried to pull it open, but it wouldn’t budge, so I pressed the button in, but it still didn’t move. It had to be locked, so I quickly scanned the room. I found the lock on the side of the cabinet’s middle drawer.

I pressed my hand against it and used my powers. My hand changed to match the vibrational colors of the lock, which was slightly different than the cabinet itself. The lock was a simple mechanism that I quickly disengaged, then slid the drawer open. The drawer was heavy and packed tightly with thick manila folders, each crammed with paper. Luckily for me, they were alphabetical.

I flipped through the folder’s tabs and found that I was in the letter Z. Since I was in the top drawer of the cabinet on the right, I looked over to the cabinet that would have been on the left when I entered. If the order went in a circle, that should be the A’s. I closed the drawer, locked the cabinet, and leaped to the next one. I quickly unlocked that cabinet and flung the drawer open.

“J?” I whisper-yelled. “Damn it, where is it.”

Sergeant Michel had filing cabinets all over his room. I didn’t know how much time I had, but I needed to find my file. I looked toward his desk but decided to look in the cabinet on the left side.

I unlocked it.

I flung it open.

I looked at the letter on the first folder.

The letters started with A, so I triumphantly rifled through the contents toward my name. When I got to where my name was, the files went from Allen to Austin, skipping right over my name.

“Son of a-, “I exhaled.

It wasn’t there, and I didn’t think it would be in any other cabinet. The only place left was the desk. I didn’t know if it would be there, but if it was, it should’ve been an easy find.

His desk wasn’t messy, but a few files were scattered on top. I didn’t even know why Sergeant Michel had so many files. As I looked through the first couple of files on his desk, I could see that they were the folders of some of the younger Welders in the camp.

I didn’t know that he dealt with any of them. I thought that we were his only squad, but it seemed that I was either wrong, or he had another role at the camp. At times, he did seem to have a lot of influence with the other cadre.

I went to the drawers of his desk. The smaller top drawers only had pencils and other office supplies in them. In the lower drawers, there were papers but no files on anyone.

Suddenly, I heard the spinning of the door’s combination lock. I was out of time with nowhere to go.