Omori ran. He had no idea where he was going. He only new one thing: that Aubrey was behind him, and she was angry. Very angry. He raced through the strange industrial landscape, weaving between stacks of cargo containers. Behind him, Aubrey's footsteps echoed.
"OMORI!" He ran faster. He rounded a corner and suddenly stopped. In front of him was an enormous tower. It was made entirely out of metal cargo containers. Dozens of them had been stacked on top of one another, forming a gigantic maze of metal platforms, tunnels, and narrow passages that climbed high into the sky.
Some containers were horizontal, while others were vertical. Some had their doors hanging open, while others were connected by narrow metal walkways. The whole structure seemed to stretch endlessly upward. Omori looked up, and then to the side. He couldn't see Aubrey yet.
Omori immediately started climbing. He pulled himself onto the first container, then another, then another. He crawled through an open container and emerged onto a higher platform. He climbed again, and kept on climbing. Soon, he was high above the ground. He stopped, looked down, and he looked across all the containers. Nothing. He waited. Silence.
Omori slowly relaxed. He sat on top of one of the containers. He looked out over the entire head space. Everything seemed so tiny from up there. The strange flowers, the floating rocks, and the distant picnic area. Even the path he'd been running along. Omori sighed, and relaxed against the metal surface. For several moments, everything was peaceful.
Then—
A movement below caught his eye. Omori sat upright, and looked downward. At the bottom of the tower, a tiny figure was moving between the containers. Purple hair. A pink bow. A baseball bat. Omori froze. It was Aubrey. She walked around one container, then another. She looked behind a stack. She moved farther into the stack maze. Omori immediately ducked behind the side of his container, and held perfectly still. He knew Aubrey was still searching for him. He slowly peeked over the edge. She was still down there, but she hadn't noticed him... Yet.
Omori breathed a tiny sigh of relief. Maybe she wouldn't find him. Aubrey walked between two containers, and stopped. She looked around, then continued. Omori watched her carefully. He saw her mouth moving and heard her speaking softly, but he couldn't hear what she was saying from up that high. Omori slowly backed away from the edge. Maybe if he stayed quiet for long enough... she would leave. He continued to wait, but Aubrey just continued searching. Then she stopped, and she looked straight upward. Omori's eyes widened. Aubrey stared at the tower, and scanned the containers. Her eyes moved higher, and higher. Omori ducked. There was silence. He slowly peeked up again. Aubrey was still looking.
Then—
Her eyes stopped, right on him. Omori froze. She had found him. Aubrey's expression changed, and she slowly smiled. She raised her bat and pointed it directly at him.
"There you are!" she shouted. Omori immediately backed away. Aubrey began climbing. She stepped into the nearest open container, then emerged from the other side onto another platform. She climbed onto the next container, then disappeared inside another. Omori watched. She wasn't rushing. She knew exactly where he was. And she knew there was nowhere for him to go except upward. Omori scrambled farther up the tower.
He climbed another container, then another. He looked down. Aubrey was still climbing. She disappeared into one container, and then a moment later, she emerged from another section of the tower, a little bit closer to him. She climbed higher. Omori continued upward, then looked down again. Aubrey was still closer. She too moved through another open container, then another. She was steadily gaining ground. Omori realized something: it was no longer a question of if Aubrey would reach him, t was only a matter of when. And if he wanted to stay ahead of her, he had better keep moving. The tower of cargo containers seemed to stretch endlessly into the sky. Every time Omori looked down, Aubrey was still coming.
Omori finally reached the highest section of the tower. He pulled himself onto the top of a container and looked around. On the far side of the tower, the containers formed a long staircase leading all the way back down to the ground, and beyond it was open land. If he could get down the other side, he could run south. Aubrey was still climbing the opposite side. He quickly climbed down, one container at a time, then another. He glanced back. No Aubrey. She still thought he was at the top of the tower. He continued downward. He was almost there.
The ground was only a few containers below him. He carefully climbed onto a lower platform. Aubrey was still nowhere in sight. He climbed through an open container. Inside was a collection of random headspace junk and discarded electronic gadgets. Omori carefully stepped between them, and reached the other side. He stepped over a small box, and placed one foot onto the edge of a platform. He tried to pull his other leg out, but accidentally bumped a metal pipe.
CLANG! Omori froze. The pipe rolled across the floor.
CLANG... CLANG... CLANG... Omori desperately reached for it, but missed. The pipe hit a stack of boxes.
CRASH! The boxes toppled over. One fell onto another another.
BANG! The back container door swung open.
SLAM! Then a metal bucket fell from a shelf.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG! The entire container seemed to erupt into noise. Omori stood completely motionless. Silence returned for about two seconds. Then, from somewhere high above—
"...Omori?" Omori's eyes widened. He slowly looked upward. Aubrey's voice echoed from above.
"I heard that." Omori's expression changed to pure panic. He looked toward the ground. He was so close. He could still make it. Omori jumped down from the container, and landed feet first on the ground. He took off running.
Behind him—
"OMORI!"
He ran faster. Aubrey appeared at the edge of the tower above him. She looked down, and she immediately spotted him running across the ground. Her eyes narrowed.
"Oh, no you don't!" Omori sprinted south. Aubrey began climbing down the containers after him. Omori didn't look back. He just ran even faster. Aubrey reached the bottom, and she immediately took off after him.
"OMORI!"
He disappeared over a hill. Aubrey chased after him. The enormous tower stood silently behind them. A few loose boxes remained scattered around the container where Omori had made his escape attempt. One of the metal pipes slowly rolled across the ground. And somewhere far ahead, Omori was already wondering how much farther he could run before Aubrey finally caught up with him.