THE MOMENT
"We're here to help," the red-headed stranger spoke with an even tone and kept a respectful distance from Kennedy. She was pushing herself back as far as she could in the corner of the corridor as he approached her, but she relaxed when he reassured her.
"We?" She asked. He was currently alone, but she was hopeful there were more of them. It meant she could do her job.
"Yeah, I'm part of a group; we were sent in to collect some stuff," he shrugged. "My name's Keys, what's yours?"
"Keys?" She smiled. "That sounds like a nickname. Are you a lockpicker? I could use one of those. Please, call me Kennedy," she added as she became more comfortable with his presence. He was a teenage boy with neat red hair, green eyes, and freckles, while she currently appeared to be a pale adult woman with blue eyes and dark hair. She was taller than him, which she was glad for. He'd be easy to impersonate.
"It's my full real name," he nodded. "Keys Smith, but I am good with locks. What do you need opened?"
"We... my party... found a secret treasure room...," she said it with a somber tone. "It was trapped. The rest of the party didn't survive, but we triggered all the traps already. I only know because nothing else happened to me, but the treasure chest is there, unprotected now. I got lost trying to find the way out, but if you know the way out, I think I can lead you back to that room from here. We can pick up the treasure, and then you can lead us out, right!?"
"I should check with my group...," Keys said.
"No, wait!" Kennedy shook her head. "How many are there? Right now we're only splitting the treasure two ways... 70," she gestured at him first, then herself. "30, for getting me out of here. Are you going to split your 70% even more?" She looked down into his eyes and held his gaze; she was unaware of the glowing text on the inside of his wrist while they were staring at each other.
"There're six of us," Keys shook his head. "When you put it that way, I don't feel like sharing. Lead the way," he said.
"Okay.. uhhh...," she stepped out to the intersecting halls and deliberately made thoughtful noises as she glanced down every hall. The truth was, the treasure chest would be wherever she needed it. But, she also wanted to be sure and lead him away from the entrance. "This way!" She chose a direction and started walking.
Keys followed her in silence through a maze of twists and turns through the white liminal hallways. The walls were white and seemed to almost glow with soft ethereal energy. This wasn't a typical dungeon; it was an abandoned Sharp Development lab. His team was sent in to recover three objectives, and the six of them split off into teams of two. Keys and Frost were tasked with searching the underground levels, and after realizing they wouldn't get anywhere sticking together, they split up to map out the facility more efficiently. It felt very much like a normal dungeon with long, narrow halls, vast rooms, and unknown dangers, but it was all presented with a Sharp coat of paint. Even Kennedy wore the scraps of a Sharp Development uniform; she had on a frayed white jumpsuit with a pair of red scissors on the chest.
"We're almost there!" she made an effort to sound excited, and Keys smiled.
"Hey, Kennedy, can I ask you a question?" He asked as she took another sharp turn down a hall that looked exactly the same as the one they came from.
"Sure," she nodded.
"What's your favorite number?"
"Sorry, no," she shook her head. "If there's one thing I've learned in all my adventures, it's that weird questions are always dangerous. I don't know what you might do with that information, so I don't feel comfortable sharing it," she said. "There are a lot of unsavory types out there. I'm not saying you're one, but stranger things have happened."
"That's entirely understandable," Keys chuckled as Kennedy came to a stop in front of a blank white wall.
"This should be..," She touched the wall, and a section of it disintegrated into white dust. "Here we are!" She rushed in, and Keys followed her. A large chest made of red crystalline glass sat in the center of the otherwise empty white room.
"Can you open it?" she asked. Despite being the first to rush in, she stayed near the door as Keys approached the chest.
"Yeah, I think-," Kennedy didn't hear the rest. She rushed out of the room while sealing him inside. In seconds, her body shrank, and her appearance changed as she took on a form identical to Keys.
"Yeah, I think I can," Kennedy laughed as she tested out Keys' voice with what were likely his last words.
"Hey, there you are, Keys! We've been looking for you, Keys." A pale teen boy with blue hair started down the hall toward Kennedy. "You look a touch rattled, it's me, Frost. Your buddy! C'mon, we're almost done. Turbo needs you to open a chest so we can get the node archives; and that's the last objective."
"Yeah, sorry... rough encounter..." Kennedy nodded and apologized in the boy's voice. "But, I know I can count on my friends," she added. She was thrilled to tag along; normally it was a chore to lead groups to their deaths one by one. But, if they were headed to the archive room, she could activate the guardian there and eliminate them all at once.
"This was a tough mission for all of us," Frost kept talking as he led the way. He talked freely about their mission, and frequently used team members' names along with their descriptions as they navigated the endless halls. As thankful as Kennedy was for all the information, part of her was wondering how dumb Keys must've been. Frost was practically dumping a lifetime of knowledge as carelessly as poorly written exposition, as if Keys didn't actually know any of them. She felt like she hit the jackpot, and her job had never been this easy. By the time the two of them entered the archive room, she felt like she knew the other four personally. Turbo was the team leader wearing red spectacles, Riot was the tough girl with wild orange hair, Outbreak was the nice girl with neon green hair, and Surge was Outbreak's twin brother, except he had neon blue hair. All of them, including Frost and Kennedy in Keys' place, wore a white school uniform with red accents, a lot like the Sharp Development jumpsuit she'd been wearing in her other form.
"What's up guys? Need a thing opened?" Kennedy asked. She could see another large red crystalline treasure chest near the control panel on the far wall. She just had to get close enough to activate the guardian.
"Oh, c'mon, I'm not playing along with this," Riot shook her head. "It doesn't even sound like him."
"Something wrong, Riot?" She knew their names, and she was going to use them.
"Trust me, you guys don't know Ozone well enough," Turbo said. "We accomplished all three designated objectives, but that doesn't mean those are the only ones he set out. Keys was right, it's probably worth some bonus points if we bring it back safely."
"What'd I miss?" Kennedy smiled as she casually strolled closer toward the control panel. But Outbreak and Riot seemed to be deliberately standing in the way. "What was I right about?"
"You were right about .. uh, something back at base. And, you missed when we beat the boss," Turbo said.
"Let's head back, and you can open the chest we need opened." He started moving toward the door.
"Isn't this it?" Kennedy dashed forward, but didn't make it very far before the two girls caught her.
"No, Keys, that's not important," Outbreak smiled at Kennedy as she and Riot herded her toward the door. Did she know what Kennedy was? She was starting to feel like she was on the wrong side of a trap. Maybe Outbreak was actually more than the nice one; she was probably the sharpest one too. But, Kennedy had limited options once she was in a role. The only thing she could do was play it out until she managed to ambush them, or until she was found out beyond any doubt.
"Seriously," Riot shook her head. "Up close, it barely even looks like him. If Ozone is going to use NPCs, he needs higher-level shape-shifters."