Chapter 17: Falling
Consciousness was like a stone sinking into the deep sea, passing through icy layers of water, through lightless pressure, and through the rifts of time and memory.
Andy was falling in the darkness.
No direction, no weight, no sense of time.
Only eternal, absolute darkness enveloped him, like a womb around a fetus, or amber around an insect.
At first, he was still resisting.
Trying to grasp something, an anchor in his consciousness, that point of burning rage he'd buried deep within.
But that point seemed to grow distant, like a candle flame seen through thick glass—present, but unreachable.
Gradually, the resistance weakened. The darkness became warm, soft, and... familiar.
Like a blanket covering him in childhood, or a mattress he sank into when exhausted. He stopped struggling, letting the darkness envelop him, swallow him.
Then, as if waking from a dream, he was floating in an endless void one second, and the next, his feet were on solid ground.
Andy opened his eyes.
Then, he froze.
Everything before him was suffocatingly familiar.
White walls, as smooth as an operating room, reflected the cold white light cast by the fluorescent tubes on the ceiling.
The familiar rainbow decorations on the walls were spotless, clean to a near-pathological degree, as if they'd never been touched by a human.
Toys were scattered around the room—carefully selected toys designed for psychic training.
Beside these toys sat children.
About seven or eight of them, ranging in age from five to twelve or thirteen, wearing uniform light-colored hospital gowns.
They played with their toys individually, their movements mechanical, their expressions blank. There was no conversation, no laughter, not even eye contact.
The entire room was so quiet that only the slight clinking of toys and the steady, rhythmic breathing of the children could be heard.
Andy stood there, his mind a complete blank.
He knew this place.
Every detail, every inch of space, every child—he remembered it all.
This was the Rainbow Room.
Andy had once spent countless hours here, playing with those boring toys, following those strict rules, waiting for Dr. Brenner to nod and say, "Very good, Twelve."
Then, he realized something even more terrifying.
He looked at the children.
Not a quick glance, but a careful, one-by-one identification.
Sitting in the corner, quietly stacking blocks, was a thin little girl with hair shaved so short you could almost see her scalp—that was Eleven.
Eleven from three years ago looked smaller and thinner; she was still stubbornly playing with her ball-drop toy.
Beside her, a boy was trying to make a small ball levitate using telekinesis, but the ball only trembled slightly, unable to actually leave the table—that was Number Fifteen.
Andy remembered him; his ability was telekinesis. Although he was really young, he would secretly ask Andy for candy.
Next to him, a girl had her eyes closed, her fingers lightly tapping the table as if listening to something—that was Number Six.
Her ability was precognition; she could foresee events that would happen in the future. She was also one of the few children who'd shown him kindness.
And... Andy's gaze swept over every child.
Number Seven, ability: sensory perception.
Number Two, standard telekinesis, but he'd always bullied Andy.
Number Three... Number Nine... every number, every name, every ability, Andy remembered them all.
Because they were once "family," "brothers and sisters." In this isolated place, they were the only people he knew besides Henry.
And they should have died more than three years ago, on that night when Henry lost control.
Killed by Henry.
Andy remembered the chaos of that night clearly: alarms, screams, shattered glass, splashing blood.
Wherever he went, guards fell, researchers fell, children fell... but now, they were all sitting here, alive, playing with toys, breathing, existing.
This was impossible.
"Twelve, what's wrong?"
A voice came from behind him, and Andy's body instantly stiffened.
That voice—gentle, with a hint of concern.
The voice he'd heard countless times, once relied on, once feared, and eventually fled from.
He slowly turned around.
Then, he saw him.
Henry Creel.
But not the Henry from the Upside Down, the unrecognizable monster merged with vines.
It was the Henry from three years ago. Eighteen or nineteen years old, his short blond hair combed neatly, his skin pale but clean, his blue eyes as clear as laboratory glassware. Wearing a crisply ironed white shirt and white pants, he stood there like a perfect lab assistant stepped out of an old photograph.
He had a look of moderate concern on his face, his brow slightly furrowed as he watched Andy, as if observing a test subject showing an abnormal reaction.
Andy's breathing stopped.
His heart pounded frantically in his chest, hitting his ribs with a dull thudding sound that was abnormally clear in the silent Rainbow Room.
His gaze moved from Henry's face to Henry's body, then back to Henry's face.
Every detail was exactly as he remembered: the curve of the slightly open shirt collar, the wrists exposed by the twice-rolled cuffs, the barely visible scar on his neck left by a childhood experiment.
This was impossible.
Henry had changed. He'd become a monster. Just a few hours ago, he'd been restrained by that monster Henry, spoken to, and witnessed Will being transformed.
Now, this "normal" Henry stood before him, asking in that familiar, mentor-like tone: "Twelve, what's wrong?"
Andy's brain refused to process this information; the cognitive dissonance was too severe.
He staggered backward, but his foot slipped, he lost his balance, and he fell heavily onto his butt.
The floor was hard; he could clearly feel the pain from the fall, but the psychological impact made him feel as if he were falling off a cliff.
Seeing Andy fall, Henry's face showed surprise.
He walked over quickly, knelt in front of Andy, and reached out a hand: "Are you feeling okay?"
That hand was slender, clean, with neatly trimmed nails.
In Andy's eyes, however, it was like a viper's tongue, like a monster's tentacle, like the embodiment of everything terrifying.
Almost instinctively, he violently swatted Henry's hand away.
"Don't touch me!"
His voice was sharp with fear, sounding like shattering glass in the quiet Rainbow Room.
The other children stopped what they were doing and turned their heads in unison to look at Andy and Henry.
There was no curiosity, no worry, no surprise on their faces.
Only that trained indifference unique to lab children.
It was like seeing a piece of experimental equipment malfunction or a lab rat becoming abnormally agitated in its cage—not an emotional reaction, but an observational record.
Andy's gaze swept across those blank faces, across those hollow eyes, and finally returned to Henry's face.
Henry's hand froze in mid-air, a look of genuine confusion on his face.
His brow furrowed deeper, his blue eyes fixed on Andy.
"Twelve?" There was a hint of alertness in Henry's voice. "What happened? Where do you feel sick? A headache? Or..."
Andy didn't answer. He struggled to stand up, but his legs were as weak as jelly, and his body trembled with fear.
He looked around; the walls of the Rainbow Room were like prison walls, the indifferent children like silent wardens, and Henry... Henry was the jailer.
"No... it shouldn't be like this..."
Andy murmured to himself, his voice so low it was almost inaudible. "Where is this... how could I..."
He remembered the Upside Down, remembered being bound by vines, remembered Will being transformed, and remembered Henry's crazy talk about "purification" and a "new order."
Then he looked at the Henry before him—this Henry in a white shirt, with clear eyes, looking completely normal.
Which one was real?
Which one was his madness?
"I need to leave..." Andy whispered, more to convince himself. "I need to get out of this place..."
He pushed off the floor and stood up unsteadily.
Henry tried to support him, but Andy jerked back, avoiding his hand.
"Don't come near me!" Andy shouted, his voice filled with pure terror. "Stay away from me!"
Henry stopped his movements and raised his hands slightly in a soothing gesture. "Twelve, calm down. Tell me what happened. We can help—"
Andy didn't listen any further; he turned and ran toward the door of the Rainbow Room.
Andy grabbed the door handle and pulled hard.
The door opened.
He rushed out and entered the corridor.
The corridor was exactly as he remembered: white walls, smooth floors, and rows of fluorescent tubes on the ceiling casting cold, even light. The air was thick with the smell of disinfectant and some kind of cleaner.
He ran along the corridor, his shoes making rapid patter-patter sounds on the floor that echoed through the empty hallway.
He didn't know where to go; the layout of the Lab was as complex as a maze. As a kid, he was rarely allowed to leave the Rainbow Room and the adjacent living quarters.
But he knew he had to leave.
He had to find an exit, escape this place, and figure out what the hell was going on.
At a doorway stood a guard wearing the gray uniform of Lab security, with a taser and a walkie-talkie hanging from his belt.
He was leaning against the wall, looking down at something in his hands.
Hearing footsteps, the guard looked up and saw Andy running, his face showing a look of surprise.
"Hey!" The guard straightened up and reached out to block the corridor. "Stop! Get back inside!"
Andy ignored him and kept heading for the exit.
Seeing that Andy had no intention of stopping, the guard frowned and reached for the taser at his waist.
He pulled out the taser and pressed his thumb on the switch. The tip of the taser made a slight bzzt sound as blue electrical sparks jumped at the end.
"I said, stop!" The guard's voice became stern. "Get back to the Rainbow Room! Now!"
Andy saw the taser and stopped. He was panting heavily as he looked at the guard and the crackling taser.
Fear filled his body like ice water.
He glanced back.
Henry was walking out from the room, his pace seemingly anxious, his blue eyes fixed on Andy as if he were worried.
A guard in front, Henry behind.
The original tension and shock were instantly replaced by fear. Andy looked at the guard who was calling for backup, then at the approaching Henry.
That familiar, long-suppressed power suddenly surged from the depths of his consciousness.
Instinctively, Andy transformed his psychic power into an invisible shockwave and pushed it violently toward the guard.
The guard was hit as if by an invisible battering ram, and his entire body flew backward.
His body traced an arc in the air, his back slamming heavily against the wall with a dull thud.
The drywall on the wall dented inward, cracks spreading like a spiderweb. The guard slid to the ground, the taser falling from his hand and rolling a few times before stopping at Andy's feet.
The guard didn't move. His eyes were tightly closed, his head tilted to one side, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Andy stood where he was, looking at the fallen guard, the dent in the wall, and his own trembling hands.
His power was back?
In the Upside Down, in front of Henry, his abilities had been suppressed, devoured, and unusable.
But now, in this place that seemed to be the Lab, his abilities had returned.
Only, they seemed weaker?
"Hey, Twelve, what are you doing?"
Henry's voice came from behind, filled with genuine shock and... concern?
Andy spun around to see Henry walking quickly toward him. His face no longer held that calm observer expression, but instead a mix of surprise, worry, and some more complex emotion.
"You attacked a guard?" Henry's tone was anxious. "Do you know what this means? Papa will—"
Andy didn't listen any further.
Henry reached out to grab him, but when Andy saw Henry, his mind suddenly flashed back to that monster-like version of Henry.
All the fear, all the confusion, and all the cognitive dissonance converged at this moment into a pure conditioned reflex:
Push him away.
Andy poured all his fear and anger into this strike, pushing violently toward Henry.
Henry didn't even have time to react.
He was too close to Andy, and he clearly hadn't expected Andy to attack him.
In their past interactions, Andy had always been one of the most obedient and dependent children.
The invisible force hit Henry in the stomach.
Henry let out a muffled groan, his body arching backward as his feet left the ground. He flew back like he'd been hit by a speeding car.
He flew further than the guard had; Henry's body slid across the floor until he hit the wall of the Rainbow Room and finally stopped.
His head was down, hands clutching his abdomen, his body trembling slightly. His blond hair messily covered his face.
Andy stood in place, panting, looking at the fallen Henry and the emergency lights that had flickered on due to the commotion.
Andy's brain fell into chaos once again.
Just then, more footsteps approached.
From both ends of the corridor and from behind the door that had been knocked open, guards in gray uniforms appeared from all directions.
They held tasers, and some carried riot shields, quickly forming a perimeter to surround Andy in the middle.
"Drop your weapon! On the ground! Now!"
The guards shouted, their voices overlapping and echoing in the corridor.
Andy looked around at those wary faces, the buzzing tasers, and the shields reflecting the cold light.
He took a step back and moved into the room.
But now, all the children in the room had stood up, looking at Andy with either shock or terror.
Andy looked around; there was nowhere to run.
And, he felt it.
A familiar sense of weakness.
His nose began to bleed, and his head started to spin. Like a top that had spun too much, the world was shaking and his vision was blurring.
His psychic power was rapidly receding like a low tide, leaving behind emptiness and exhaustion.
The drain from those two attacks just now seemed much greater than he'd imagined.
"Number Twelve, final warning! Get down!"
A guard shouted, simultaneously taking a step forward.
Andy looked at the guard, trying to gather his strength again. He could only watch helplessly as the guard approached, the taser was raised, and blue sparks jumped at the tip.
"Where is this? I... how can I be here?"
While Andy was still in a daze, he suddenly saw his own reflection in a reflective steel plate in front of him, his eyes filled with shock.
That thin, small boy with only blond fuzz on his head was exactly how he looked when he was eight years old.
"Twelve, what have you done?" Another familiar voice came. Andy looked toward the sound; a white-haired man in a suit was standing at the end of the corridor, looking at him with concern.
"Papa..." The newcomer was indeed Dr. Brenner. Seeing him walking toward him, Andy's eyes were full of disbelief. "No, this is impossible!"
Seeing Papa and the guards walking toward him, Andy raised his hand, wanting to use his superpowers again, but this time his telekinesis felt as if it had no follow-through.
Having just knocked back a few guards, the dizziness in his brain almost made him pass out.
He glanced at Dr. Brenner, who was still walking toward him, then turned to look at Henry, who was struggling to get up and move toward him.
He looked around at the familiar corridors, the cold guards, and the straight back of Dr. Brenner ahead.
Everything was so real.
The texture of the walls, the reflection of the floor, the smell of disinfectant in the air, the strength of the guards' grip, the metallic taste of his nosebleed, the dizziness in his brain... but if this was real, then what was the Upside Down? What was the monster Henry? What was Will's transformation? What was Barbara's bravery? What was Joyce's search?
Was it a dream?
Was it a hallucination?
He didn't know.
The only thing he knew was that the scene before him was becoming increasingly blurred.
The world was spinning, shaking, and dissolving into patches of color and spots of light.
Dr. Brenner's voice came to his ears, sounding as distant as if it were coming from underwater:
"...Abnormal brain waves... likely a side effect of a power surge... requires deep sedation..."
Then, darkness descended once again.
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