Bright light illuminated the clean white corridor.
Click—
With a crisp sound, the tightly shut electronic door opened on its own.
The plump staff member in a white uniform looked up and walked through the electronic door.
The light above the electronic door flickered twice.
The plump staff member looked up, glanced back at the light overhead, and scratched his head in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
A young man approaching from the opposite direction looked up at him curiously.
"This door seems broken," the plump staff member said as he looked at the slowly closing electronic door. "I remember the light only flashes once per person, right?"
The young man glanced at the light, then lowered his head to look at the plump staff member in front of him. "Maybe it recognized you as two people?"
The plump staff member's face darkened. "That was a little too hostile."
"Enough. A new batch of experimental materials just came in." The young man took out a scroll and unfolded it into a tablet. "We need to sort them and put them into storage."
"More materials?" Hearing that, the plump staff member's face darkened. His body unconsciously leaned back as he rasped, "Why have there been so many materials lately?"
"Nothing we can do about it." The young man shook his head. "Too many people are dying."
"Street deaths again?" The plump staff member lowered his voice, seemingly suppressing the nausea that rose with the memories. "Why do we always have to do this? Can't they rotate someone else in?"
"They've all been here several years longer than us. We're the only ones who haven't fully become permanent employees yet." The young man sighed and looked at the plump staff member. "Who else would this fall to?"
As he spoke, he waved his hand.