The first thing Nyx made out after opening their eyes was the deep blue hue engulfing everything in the area. Then the remnants of the fallen corridor caught their attention. The detached segment had pierced through another section below it, breaching its ceiling before collapsing on its floor.

The new location looked more similar to the place they met the others in two hours ago, except the Blue Channel was tainting its otherwise grey corridors. Yet, Nyx could breathe normally, as if the air didn't escape to the blue void above.

"Grmblflrrrr…"

Nyx's thoughts got interrupted by Ale's grown. Turning to face him, the alien saw the M.E.G. explorer on the floor, collapsed.

It would be so easy to leave this nuisance behind, this so-called leader incapable of maintaining cohesion. Nyx would be far more efficient without him, yet they knew Anthony would disapprove of such a decision.

Nyx remembered how surprised the historian was by their resilience before he told them humans were much weaker biologically. "Death" was still an abstract concept to the alien, but they knew how terrified Anthony was of it. Could Ale experience "death"? It certainly looked unpleasant.

Yet, Anthony trusted them with working alongside the exploration team, and Nyx didn't want to disappoint him. With a sigh, they started walking to Ale's location, ready get help him get back up.

As they approached him, Ale slowly opened his eyes. Identifying who was approaching him, he tried to back off, frantically looking for a weapon in his pocket.

"I not wish harm, stupide. Nyx can help you." The alien muttered, annoyed by his behavior.

Finally standing up amongst the rubble, he tried adopting a defensive stand, whispering:

"No… You won't get me… I can't… join them already…"

Nyx expected anger, yet they only felt fear emanating from him. True terror. In many ways, his reaction reminded them of how the Hermes operatives acted the first time they met.

In an attempt to calm him down, Nyx tried to smile, but their sharp mandibles only made the situation worse, with Ale almost falling, slowly backing off. The alien sighed again.

"Ale, you scared and hurt. Not good for mission. When I try help, people scared sometimes. But Hermes men went through it, so can you."

"How can I be so sure?" He responded. "So many creatures tried to decieve me in the past. I lost friends to these things. I…" He hesitated. "I won't get fooled by another Backrooms monster."

"I not from Backrooms, I said." The alien retorted. "I from Styx. Different Frontroom. I saw Yellow Halls. You know Yellow Halls?"

The M.E.G. operative seemed to hesitate again.

"Entities can't get to Level 0… I think. I mean, we're in the middle of nowhere and everything is breaking. I guess I can't do anything but trust you." He conceded.

"Good." Nyx smiled again, before turning to the giant hole in the ceiling. "Now we wonder why air didn't escape to Blue Channel. Do you know Blue Channel?"

The question caught Ale offguard. "Well… Not really. We don't have a lot of knowledge about it, and the one we do have I never really bothered learning. Science isn't really my stuff you know?"

Ale slowly approached the hole, although they stayed at a reasonnable distance from Nyx.

"All I can say is that there's a weird conduit… energy thing above the ceiling. Like, before the void, there's like a transparent shield or something."

Nyx concentrated, looking more deeply into the anomalous force field. It seemed to envelop the entire corridor from the exterior, separating it from the void of the Blue Channel. Looking through it revealed the same phenomenon on other concrete appendages visible from afar. While it looked different than the ones Nyx used to work on, its purpose was obvious to the alien.

"This a matrix. It's exterior skeleton. It guides growth."

"Well, it moves to the right. Does that mean the control room is somewhere in the left?" Ale questionned.

"Perhaps. With no map, is only track we have. So we have to walk." Nyx concluded, before starting walking to the opposite side of the room, following by a slightly relieved Ale.

The travel had been through in the last hour. With the entire level progressively crumbling, Nyx and Ale had to be more careful than ever to avoid falling again.

Sometimes, they had to hop over fragments of walls or ceilings, with the holes around them letting them see the translucent energy coat outside, guiding them to its source. Some other times, entire parts of the floor were missing, forcing them to either perform risky jumps or take a different road.

The duo was barely talking. With Ale still staying at a reasonable distance from Nyx, discussion was barely an option. The alien didn't mind the silence, however. They agreed to help him, but only by the bare minimum, not bothering to slow down or engage in a conversation. All that mattered to them was finding the Central Network, saving the day, then getting back to Hermes-5 to finally reunite with Anthony.

Yet, the alien could feel Ale's fear of being alone gradually replacing his fear of them. Even if he didn't trust Nyx, they were his only chance of survival, and he knew it. With a pressing step, he approached them, trying to start the conversation.

"I hope we'll find the others soon. I kinda miss them now, despite their constant arguing."

"I hope Katya alright." Nyx responded. "I know she good at exploring, but alone, in dying level, can be hard alone for humans." They added, worried.

"I'm sure she will be fine." Ale tried to cheer up. "She looks very capable, and I don't think she would go on her own without Rey. Hard situations can create bonds, after all."

The parallel Ale was making was obvious, but it did reassure Nyx. If Ale could go beyond his fear, if Nyx could try their best to work with foreign humans, perhaps Katya would too.

"Thanks, Ale." Nyx simply nodded.

The moment was interrupted by the heavy sound of a part of the ceiling collapsing onto the floor, breaking into pieces in front of them. Without a word, the duo accelerated, both aware of what would happen if they didn't find the control room in time.

"Well… That no good."

After half an hour spent walking in increasingly unstable corridors, the duo was now facing a dead end, the elevator and its track having collapsed before they came. Instead, a makeshift mountain of rubble and concrete surfaces was in front of them. Nyx groaned.

"We no time to take other roads. Building dying. But tall pile here is flat enough to climb."

"Maybe you're agile enough, but I don't think I can go there safely." Ale objected.

In response, the alien advanced towards the concrete pile. "Then I go alone."

"Wait!" The operative shouted immediately, making Nyx turn around. "I'll try, just… don't go too fast, okay?"

The alien sighed but nodded, hoping the operative wouldn't slow them too much. "Come, then. We can't wait too much, level still in danger."

Ale hurried up, joining Nyx without adding a word, as the alien started climbing.

The ascention was no easy task. Despite Nyx's species having higher strength than humans, they were an engineer, not an athlete. Yet, Nyx was still doing better than Ale, who, despite their explorer training, struggled to keep up.

The environment around them wasn't helping either. The duo was regularly going below other hallways, with their floors equally as unstable. Small projectiles coming from above were legion, and both of them had to watch out for them as they were climbing.

"I see top!" Nyx announced joyfully, relieved. "Hopefully we're close to-"

Nyx got interrupted by a heavy sound, far louder than anything they heard during the rest of the ascention. Looking up, the alien shivered, seeing a corridor junction slowly detaching itself. They had to hurry up and get to the top before it fell down on the middle of the mountain.

"Look up! Danger!" They shouted as small concrete rocks started to fall down.

But Ale didn't respond.

Expecting him to be paralyzed in fear, they turned but were instead horrified to see him knocked over the ground, unconscious.

The corridor above was about to collapse on them. Nyx could easily leave the area in time alone, but this would condemn the M.E.G. operative. Without a second thought, Nyx ran down to Ale's body, lifted it, and then started to climb the rest of the rubble mountain, hoping they would leave the zone before the corridor fell on them.

Each step was harder than the last. It had been mere seconds since they had picked up Ale's unconscious body, but Nyx was already shaking, their arms and legs burning as if they were holding steel plates. Their thorax was bending under the weight, despite them trying to ease up their back.

Ale might be a terrible leader, but he was still quite a muscular operative. While his weight wouldn't be an issue for Nyx under normal circumstances, having to climb the uneven concrete mountain while dodging projectiles made it far harder.

A dozen times they thought about leaving his body behind, but every time they fought the thought, determined to same the human from the crumbling level. If Anthony trusted Nyx with collaboration, then they would make their historian friend proud.

As Nyx approached the top, ready to access a sturdier corridor present there, they heard the one which used to be above them just some minutes ago falling, breaking on the side of the mountain, the shock almost making the alien fall over. Turning back to face their destination, they saw a light emerging from the hallway above, flying around before going back to where it came from. Nyx could recognize this shape from a mile away thanks to Anthony's Lost rants. It was a Scaraback. Katya and Rey were close.

With this newfound hope, the alien finally arrived on top, gently deposing Ale onto the floor before collapsing, their muscles tired from the climb.

"Wake up sleepyhead! You still have to save the universe." A familiar feminine voice called near them.

Opening their eyes, the alien witnessed a familiar face above them.

Katya… how did you find us? They asked, confused, as they gathered their thoughts together.

"Hey I'm here too!" Nyx heard Rey shout in the distance, as they approached them with something in his hands.

"Take this. I gave some to Ale too. Don't ask me where I got it unless you like the concept of stealing." He added, handling them a slice of Royal Ration.

The sight of food, even one they weren't used to, made Nyx realize how hungry the climb had made them feel. They bit into it hungrily, expanding their mandibles to chew the food better as Rey watched with apprehension and disbelief..

"How did you escape the breaking corridor place?" Nyx asked, still chewing.

"Well, first we yelled at each other for like five minutes, and then realized the whole situation was kind of our fault." Katya narrated. "Since we knew you'd find a way here, we used the map to arrive before, while Rey used the Scaraback to try to find you two. Which worked!"

"Way to here… What is here?" Nyx questioned, their meal finally fully eaten.

Katya smiled. "You didn't get it? We're at the center of the level! Which means…"

She stepped aside, revealing a seemingly unassuming door, safe from the words engraved on it.

"It's control room! We can stop level!" Nyx happily shouted.

Katya and Rey nodded in response, while Ale walked up to them, albeit with some difficulties.
The alien slowly approached the threshold, fixing the gilded words as they moved forward. In such a dire situation, their meaning became almost comical. They chuckled, the illogical nature of this entire place finally getting up to them. How could a level so big and labyrinthic be efficient for the Company? How could the most important part of it, the nexus of its growth and stability, look so bland and unnoticeable?

Humans were already difficult to comprehend, but the Remodelling Company was another deal. Was Nyx even meant to understand this group? Or were they merely an attempt of the Backrooms to mimic their job, like a nonsensical force of nature twisting these realms without reason?

With a deep breath, Nyx set their thoughts aside and opened the door.

Sealed away from the destruction of the rest of the level, the control room was pristine, devoid of the blue mist engulfing the corridors. Its contents were far from ordered, however, with messes of computer parts, notebooks and tools scattered around, as if the workers had left in a hurry.

The technology used was rustic and primitive, yet it took little time for Nyx to understand the purpose of the many buttons and screens all around them.

It had been so long since they spent some time in their element.

Yet, the technology was… Odd. Primitive, even. The alien wasn't used to such old monitors, let alone anything created by another species.

I can figure this out, but afraid it will take time. Nyx mumbled. Old technology, anomalous too. Confusing very much.

Maybe I can help? Ale moved forward close to the alien. I'm not that good with computers, but my parents back home have always been reluctant about new tech. That seems retro enough for me to assist you, what do you think?

With the offer of the team leader, the alien felt it. The heart of collaboration. A mutual alliance, sometimes flowing in friendship, sometimes with grudges and fears to put aside. Katya and Rey let go of their different view of exploration to instead use their skills together. And just like them, Nyx accepted Ale as a teammate just like he did for them.

And here, Ale was standing near them, not shaking, not fearful. Simply offering help and assisting their teammate. There was something.

It wasn't as big as what they felt when they were working in Hermes with Anthony and the others, of course. Yet, in a situation where mistakes could bring up the doom of every living thing, collaboration felt even better as a consequence.

Perhaps they could work with humans after all. Perhaps they could understand this species.

Nyx nodded, not adding a word. With little time left before the level would inevitably enter an event horizon, the two started working together, mixing their talents.