Per 
A cloud of dust whizzed past and I began a coughing fit. Typical. I gazed down at my maintenance staff uniform. Covered in dust. Sighing, I fingered my walkie talkie and yanked it out of my back pocket. "Ventilation Shaft 082 analysis; dusty, but clear". A satisfying static click echoed through the vents and I began inching my way back.
"Well, about time someone came to visit me!", boomed a voice. I thought I was having a heart attack.
"Who-?", I managed to wheeze out.
"I could ask you the same question", challenged the voice.
I pondered my situation. Then I stopped because nothing in this situation made sense. Ventilation systems don't talk. "Then again", I reminded myself, "I am in a top-secret Foundation used to contain things exactly like this"
"I remember people back in my day", the voice continued. "There were no rude silences by young people, we just wouldn't have it; you'd toughen up or get out"
I considered this statement and then began moving backward again.
"Did I say you could leave?" The resonating metal around me made my ears throb.
"What do you want then?"
The voice paused. I seemed to have taken it off guard. "I remember when people used to visit me all of the time. Weird sorts, but nice all the same". I began thinking. Wasn't this system directly above a D-Class containment unit? "Some of them weren't too nice", admitted the voice. Another pause. "There were a few that I especially liked though; Roy and Vincent from Florida were nice lads"
I squinted, thinking hard. Those names rang a bell. Not like a church bell, but like a light tinkle of a child's toy… and then I remembered. "They came together didn't they?"
"Yes, I believe so"
Four years ago a pair of men were brought in as D-Class. I don't know why exactly they were brought in. Something about leaking the Foundation's secrets to the public. Until the end they swore they were innocent. I watched flakes of dust whirl past. "What were they like?"
"Well I never really spoke to them", said the voice, "but I have to say when people start using your body as a method of communication, you're are somewhat obligated to listen", the voice finished, somewhat guiltily.
I considered this. "What did they talk about?"
The voice made a noncommital noise and I knew it was trying to remember. "They talked about this bell… how it was just an idea, but the Foundation believed that they had somehow found out about it. I believe there is one like it somewhere in the foundation, see?"
"Why weren't they just amnesticized then?"
"Search me"
There was a long silence.
"They spent most of their nights crying", said the voice eventually. "They admitted to terrible things", I seemed to be holding my breath. "The murdering of their siblings, for instance", my blood went cold. "I might just be a wheezing ventilation system, but something tells me that's not a good thing to do"
"No", I agreed.
Another long pause. I began shimmying backward again.
"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?", said the voice tentatively.
"That there is a living ventilation system in Site-82?", I weighed my options. "No", I said simply. There are much worse things to keep than secrets, as any hardworking maintenance staff member should know.
