Chapter 20: Tracks
"But... but... these tracks are too small to be Dr. Hudson's... I mean, I only saw him once, but I don't remember him being that small..." she answered, bending slightly on the floor and looking closely at the trail, as Layton pointed at it with the light of the torch.
"There is a larger trail in the center and many small lines around it, distributed on the floor irregularly, joining to the largest central shape... there are no handprints on the floor, so I'd think the injured subject was standing on his feet, but... there are no bloody shoe prints either! And then, why would Hudson visit Klein if he was bleeding and dying? Is it possible that no one saw the camera footage of that day?" Layton reasoned aloud, touching his chin and looking around every now and then, to make sure they were really alone.
'We don't know if any of them have seen the videos, but given the uncertainty with which they talked about recent events, I doubt they've been able to get relevant information out of it! In my opinion, they don't know more than us and..."
*boom*
A sudden noise caused Layton and Faith to freeze their blood, who were petrified in the middle of the hallway with the light pointed in front of them, exactly where they heard the noise.
"Wh... what... what was it, Lay? I... I want to go back!" Faith whispered in a flickering voice, resting both hands on her partner's shoulders and hiding her face behind his back.
Layton's eyes remained grainy in the darkness, trying to identify the source of that single noise, which never repeated itself.
"Where did it come from?" the frightened girl repeated, taking a step forward with him, who seemed to want to go and check with his own eyes what was going on.
"It was the noise of something falling to the ground, but in this corridor, I don't think there is any stuff resting precariously, there being no support surfaces... no, the noise has to come from one of these rooms, maybe... perhaps just that of Dr. Klein!" he exclaimed, after careful reworking.
Continuing to look at the traces of blood and walking forward with circumspection, when the two young janitors discovered that the red trail on the floor disappeared under the door of a room, a chill of cold ran through their back.
*Dr. Phillip KLEIN*
In a flickering voice, Faith subtly read the name on the tag, as if she too had a hard time believing what she had just seen.
"Blood! Blood leads right into his room! What the hell happened?! Maybe he killed Hudson, or Hudson first tried to take his own life and then went to Klein's room, dripping his blood all over the hallway! No wonder, after all this time spent on Voyager, you risk going crazy!" Faith said again, trying to analyze that somewhat superficial clue.
"Suicide? But don't be ridiculous! Why would he? And then, if he came out wandering wounded in the hallways, don't you think anyone would have noticed and alerted the security men?"
"How can you be sure of that! Too many things are happening, Lay, and they're one weirder than the other! I don't understand anything anymore, it all seems so surreal!" the girl replied again, who did not know how to proceed and looked Layton in the eye, waiting for his directives.
The dark-haired boy looked on the wall next to the door, noting that the gas masks used by Dr. Tyler and Lucius' men accompanying him into the room were still there.
"You're not saying that you want to try to get into the room, right?! Are you crazy?!"
"I'm 90% sure that the noise we heard earlier came right from here... perhaps Dr. Klein has regained consciousness! With any luck, he could tell us the truth about what's going on and we could report everything to old Sam, the Captain, and all the crew members!" Layton replied, grabbing one of the masks and making sure it was working.
Faith looked again at the bloodstain on the ground, then looked up at her partner, as if she didn't want to believe he was going to do such a thing.
The red trail on the floor ended right under that door and the curiosity to know what had happened even overcome the fear she was feeling, so, before thinking again, the girl handed a hand to Layton, who passed her one of the gas masks.
After wearing them, they securely fastened the straps that served to keep them tied well on their heads and made sure their breath did not tarnish the glass in front of their eyes, allowing them to have a clear view.
"And now? How do we get in? If Sam's key card couldn't open the lab door, why would it open the first doctor's private room door? It seems absurd to me!" Faith said, touching the mask she was wearing and continuing to stare at the blood on the ground, trying to be brave.
"When Tyler and the guards walked out the door, I noticed that the lock sensor didn't go red. It wasn't closed from the outside and I doubt anyone closed it from the inside, so... I think the chip in Sam's ID tag is more than enough..." Layton replied, reasoning aloud and hoping that, this time, luck would be on their side.
He once again pulled out Sam's card and in a convincing gesture, without wasting any more time, approached the green sensor of the door, but it did not react in any way.
"How is that possible? I'm sure Dr. Tyler used his ID tag to get in... how did he do it?" Layton said, turning the card in his hands and noting that in no way it reacted in contact with the opening sensor.
As he continued with several attempts, placing the object at different distances and positions from the panel that gave off green light, Faith stood still to think, taking off her gas mask for a moment.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone