<br /><br />An Outbreak of Alchemy: Part 9 – Going Down?

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Sunday, November 16

An Outbreak of Alchemy: Part 9 – Going Down?

The air whistled past Jim-Bean as he flew down the elevator shaft. The odds of him landing on the elevator without reaching terminal velocity were looking increasingly slim.

He became aware of a distant clatter, like thousands of hammers punching into metal, above him. When he looked up, he caught sight of a black-and-white centipede-like thing with a human face.

The thing was climbing downwards at a terrific rate, spiraling the entire length of the shaft as it sought to keep up with Jim-Bean's descent. The horrible face paced him, clicking and growling. Jim-Bean couldn't reach his gun; it was all he could do to hold onto the cable.

Jim-Bean let go. He was close enough. The elevator had stopped when he snapped the cable.

He missed the emergency door and slammed into the roof of the elevator. Ribs cracked. Temporarily stunned, Jim-Bean could only think of what the centipede-thing was going to do when it caught up with him.

To his surprise, it slithered past him through the door.

Gritting his teeth to focus through the pain, Jim-Bean drew his pistol and peered down into the elevator.

He caught sight of Ko's feet being dragged out through the elevator doors.

"What the hell…" said Jim-Bean to himself. Was that thing actually trying to SAVE Ko?

He hopped into the elevator after it. When he turned the corner into another office hallway, the second elevator had just opened and closed nearby.

"Hey guys?" asked Mung I Peng, who had just stepped out of the elevator. "Has anyone seen my badge?"

Jim-Bean handed him his badge. "You dropped this."

"Oh thanks."

Jim-Bean ran for the stairs. [MORE]