Explore the passageways

As Thomas waited for Alisha to be completely converted, he looked around the area a little more. He moved to the far side of the room from where he was standing, and saw that one passageway over here led to a storage area. One or two lights were out, but he could see around the area well enough. He saw a few 55 gallon drums that appeared to be the "production formula" (as it had been called in the lab book) based on the stenciled paint marks on the sides of the barrels. Several shelf units held various electronic components, and others held different sized pieces of metal. A separate area had both machining tools and electronic assembly tools. All in all, it was a storage area and a small shop.

The other corridor was different. It was lit at random intervals due to some of the lights not functioning. He followed it for what he thought might be several blocks of the city above them, and then saw a set of stairs going up, though the corridor continued on.

He moved to the stairs, then carefully climbed them, moving upwards about forty feet, as far as he could tell based on the stairs. Ahead of him was a door, and he found the door opened out. He slid a deadbolt open, then listened at the door for a moment, and he heard only some kind of machinery. Finally, he opened the door. He came out in a small nook filled with crates that nearly covered the door--he had to shove some out of the way as he opened it.

Thomas was in some sort of storage area, and when he walked out of the nook, he saw that he was in the downtown mall! He was standing next to a mechanical room that had air handlers running--the sound he'd heard. The mall had seen better days, like a lot of malls, but it still had customers attracted to the stores that remained. He slid back behind the boxes and closed the door, which seemed to lock securely from his side, sliding the deadbolt shut.

He checked his phone--it had been about an hour and a half since Alisha had been put in the tube--then headed back to the lab area.