Elian.
It smelled like noodles and bleach. It always did.
I woke up to the familiar smell of instant noodles and disinfectant in the break room that I was used to. Somehow, it calmed me. The yellowish ceiling lights and its flicker greeted me next. The TV murmured in the corner, low volume.
Hollow breach, eleven casualties, Neutralized.
I lay back against the torn bench, a warm pack tucked beneath my neck. My limbs ached, my vision still a bit foggy.
"Still breathing, dude?" Felix, another cleaner, dropped into the seat across from me. Same stained uniform. Same half-dead eyes. The man who works the shift after mine. He handed me a steaming cup of synthetic coffee.
"Barely" I muttered, forcing myself to sit up. My hands trembled slightly as I took the cup. "Found you passed out in the east hallway. Thought you were dead." he said, casual as ever. "I almost called it in, but… figured it's better not to stir things up if we don't have to."
I looked at him. You didn't call the medics?"
"No reception" He paused. "And calling medics? That's like screaming, 'Hey, come audit us!' You don't want that. Do you?"
I nodded. He is right.
He leaned forward, tapping a finger on the edge of his cup. You remember anything?"
I hesitated. "Just...lights flickering. Maybe I pushed too hard."
"Right," he said, not pressing. "Figures…..Thirty-plus overtime hours this cycle. They logged it all. No surprise, really."
"Well-"
The door to the break room slammed open. Two figures stepped in. One wore the deep blue jacket of a tech specialist, the other the white of a site supervisor. They both looked serious. Too serious for a routine visit.
"Elian Rook?" The tech asked, scanning a pad. "You were logged in for sanitation duty in E-12 during your shift."
"Yes, sir" I nodded.
"There was a blackout in that section. Drone feeds failed" He eyes me. "Why wasn't the incident reported?"
I stiffened. "I think I collapsed before it happened. Overexertion. My friend helped me back" I gestured to Felix.
"Felix Gray" The tech looked at Felix and scanned the pad.
"You reported the black out. "
"Yes." Felix said. Short. Flat.
"Why not report his collapse?" the tech pressed. I tensed. Crap. I should've come up with something better. I didn't want Felix tangled up in this.
"Sir, for the Forgotten staff, we're often told not to report minor incidents. Keep it internal." Felix said calmly.
The tech narrowed his eyes. "Who told you that?" Felix didn't respond. Just stared blankly, then flicked a look at the supervisor. The tech sighed. "Nevermind... We're verifying access logs and need to account for anyone who passed through during the downtime. Was it only you, Elian?"
"Just me," I said. "Cleaning duty"
They exchanged a glance. The tech scribbled something on the pad. "We'll confirm with your route log and badge pings."
"Should I be worried?" I tried to sound casual.
"Standard protocol," the supervisor replied. "Drones fail, we check. Nothing personal."
They turned and left without another word.
Felix exhaled loudly once they were gone. "That didn't feel like 'standard protocol' to me"
"No," I murmured. "It didn't."
The rest of the day is like usual. Sanitize. Mop. Dust. Repeat. I kept moving because stopping means thinking. And I don't want to do that.
But the image kept flashing behind my eyes even when I blinked too long. The hollowed. The rotting stench, twisted limbs. It all feels like a nightmare.
I kept telling myself I imagined it. Maybe I passed out from exhaustion before anything actually happened. Maybe it was a hallucination.
It had to be.
There were no breach alerts, no sirens, no evacuations. No wounds. Nothing on the log. Nothing on the news.
The system doesn't miss things.
And if it didn't make it onto a screen, did it really happen?
At least... I didn't think it did.