Rei sat cross-legged on the floor, the paper unfolded in front of him, and the vial untouched beside it. A single dim bulb swung faintly overhead, casting shadows that shifted across the walls like restless specters. He had been staring at the page for nearly an hour, rereading the words over and over, trying to pry meaning from them. Every line seemed familiar, but somehow… wrong.
Place the clear solution beneath three silent windows.Do not let it face the narrow passage.Allow it to rest where metal screams before it moves.
He ran his hand through his hair and muttered aloud, more to himself than anyone else. "I've tried everything… everything. The angles, the windows, the train… it's still… nothing. Still nothing."
The words tumbled out in frustration, soft, uneven. "I… I don't understand. It's like it's mocking me. I followed it exactly. Every step. Every line. And yet… nothing."
He slumped forward slightly, pressing his forehead against the cold floor. "Maybe I'm just… not doing it right. Maybe it's… me."
The air in the room felt thicker now, heavy, almost pressing down on him. His eyes drifted to the paper, and for a moment, he stared at it blankly. Then, almost involuntarily, his hand moved to push the sheet aside.
And that's when his eyes caught the first line again — three silent windows.
A slow breath escaped his lips.
"Wait…" he whispered, almost to himself. He leaned back slightly, sitting up. "What if… what if windows here don't mean that I need to put these vials in front of windows? What if… it doesn't mean that at all?"
His heart thumped faster. The thought made him pause, holding the paper delicately. For a moment, he just stared at the words, trying to let the idea sink in. "What if… it's not about the cure at all?" His voice was almost a whisper, half-frightened, half-excited.
Then it hit him. Slowly, as if someone had tapped him on the shoulder. "Wait, wait, wait…" he muttered, eyes widening. "This… this could be it. The clue. The location. Exactly what that scientist said — he hid the location in this briefcase!"
His hand trembled slightly as he lifted the paper in front of his face again. "Letsss goooo…" he whispered, a small grin breaking through his exhausted expression. For the first time since opening the briefcase, a spark of hope lit in his chest. A spark that maybe — just maybe — he was on the right track.
But then his excitement faltered as reality hit him. He exhaled slowly, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. "Wait… if I wasn't able to figure out that this is the address for this long… how am I supposed to crack the puzzle now?" His voice dropped to a murmur, heavy with self-doubt. "It's… it's so complicated. I mean… I don't even know where to start."
He looked down at the paper again, scanning every word as though staring harder might force a hidden solution to appear. Three silent windows… narrow passage… metal screams before it moves… bell no longer answers… His mind tried to latch onto some logic, some pattern, but it slipped through his fingers like smoke.
"I… I can't just… guess," he muttered, his fingers tightening around the edge of the paper. "That would be… stupid. I have to… I have to figure it out properly."
Rei stood slowly, pacing the room. The small sound of his footsteps echoed in the empty space. "Maybe… maybe I need to treat it like a real puzzle," he said, almost aloud to himself. "Like… a riddle, not… not medicine. The instructions are just… hints. Clues. I have to… think differently."
He stopped in front of the small window at the far side of the room, looking out at the darkened city. The streets below were empty at this hour. Even the hum of the distant trains sounded softer here. He rested his hands on the sill.
"Okay…" he murmured. "Step one. Understand the clue. Not the cure… the clue. If the solution is the location… then all these instructions must… point somewhere."
He sat down again, spreading the paper in front of him on the floor. "Alright…" he whispered. "Think logically. The first line — three silent windows. I thought that meant windows… maybe it doesn't. Maybe it's… something else. Something I'm supposed to see. Something outside of the lab. Maybe… maybe it's a building… maybe…"
His voice faltered. He paused, pressing his forehead into his palm. "No. That's… probably wrong. That's just a guess. I can't… I can't just guess. I have to solve this properly."
He sat like that for a while, staring at the words without moving. Minutes passed in silence. The dim light shifted slightly, the shadows stretching across the floor. Rei muttered quietly, almost as if the words would answer if he spoke to them.
"Three windows… silent… what does silent mean? Not noisy… not… empty? Forgotten? Abandoned? Closed? Locked?"
He jotted notes in the small notebook he had brought with him, scribbling each interpretation. Every one felt… plausible. Every one felt… wrong.
"I can't tell," he muttered. "It could be… anything. It could be a building, it could be a street… it could even be… something inside a building? I don't know…"
He dropped the pen, leaning back. "I thought… I thought I could just follow it like instructions… like a recipe… like the other scientist thought I'd understand. But… I can't. None of it makes sense if this is… not medicine. If this is… directions. Then… it's so… complicated."
Rei's mind wandered through every possibility. Could the windows mean literal windows? Could they mean a room? Could "metal screams" be anything other than the rails? Could the bell… the bell… he didn't know any bell that no longer answered. Was it a code? A landmark?
He rubbed his temples and muttered softly, "Maybe… maybe it's too hard. Maybe… I'm not smart enough. Maybe that scientist… he made it impossible. And… and now it's up to me. Great."
He sank lower to the floor. The paper lay on his lap. He picked it up again, tracing the first words with his finger. Three silent windows.
"What if… what if the words aren't instructions at all?" he whispered. "What if… they're a map… disguised as instructions?"
A spark of excitement returned, tiny but insistent. He leaned closer to the words, reading them slowly. "Yes… yes… that makes sense. That's why the cure didn't work. That's why nothing happened. The scientist… he hid it. He hid the location. That's why it never 'activated'."
He felt his chest tighten. Adrenaline hummed faintly in his veins. "I'm… I'm onto something," he whispered. "I just… have to figure out how."
And then reality intruded. His hand went limp. "But… if I couldn't figure it out until now… if I only just realized it's the location… how… how am I supposed to solve this puzzle? It's… it's so complicated. It's… too much for me alone."
He leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling. "Maybe… maybe I can't. Maybe it's meant for someone… smarter. Someone who… someone who knows how to read riddles… how to understand hidden meanings… someone like… that scientist."
He shook his head. "No. I can't think like that. I… I have to do this. If I don't… then no one will. And the cure… the cure… it's useless if I don't find him. I… I can't fail."
His gaze fell back to the paper. Slowly, deliberately, he spread it flat on the floor. He leaned closer and began reading aloud softly, word by word, pausing after each phrase.
"Place the clear solution… beneath three silent windows… do not let it face… the narrow passage… allow it to rest… where metal screams before it moves… from the point… where the bell no longer answers…"
His voice faltered slightly. He shook his head. "I… I can't see it. I can't see it at all. Every interpretation… everything I've tried… it's all wrong. All wrong."
He pressed his hands against his eyes, leaning forward. "Maybe… maybe it's not about logic. Maybe it's… I don't know… intuition. Maybe I have to… feel it."
He sat there for a long while, motionless, the paper in front of him, the vial forgotten at his side. The dim light shifted again, and outside, a train's distant cry echoed softly through the night.
Rei's eyes finally opened. He exhaled slowly. "Okay… okay…" he muttered. "I can't give up. I… I need to figure out how to solve it. Somehow. I'll try everything… again… differently."
He leaned forward, tracing the words with his fingers once more. "Three windows… maybe not windows… metal screams… maybe not rails… the bell… maybe not… nothing… nothing I do seems right. I… I'm missing something. I have to… I have to see it differently. I… I'll figure it out. I have to."
And for the first time since opening the briefcase, Rei felt that mix of fear and thrill — the sort of pulse that comes when the edge of a secret is almost within reach.
His hand hovered over the paper. He didn't move yet. He didn't know how. But he was certain of one thing.
The scientist had hidden something here.Something vital.Something alive.
And he would not rest until he understood it.