After breaking free from his bewildered stare at the briefcase, Mercer looked up and saw the disappearing, reappearing man still standing there. The briefcase was on the ground, standing upright next to the man as if he'd previously been holding it by the handle and simply let go, dropping it in it's still upright position. The handle stood upright, waiting for someone to put it to use. "Is that yours?" Mercer asked the still silent man. The man gave no indication of response other than to hold his finger to his lips with a silent "shh" gesture, pointed at the suitcase, and went back to his original no-indication-of-response position. He was once again motionless. Mercer wasn't sure what the man was trying to indicate. Was Mercer supposed to be quiet because of the suitcase (or what might be in it)? ...was the man pointing at the suitcase so that Mercer might take it? The voice had said "Don't open it"... so what would be the point of taking it? ...and that tapping was curious... Was something trapped? ...was there some gadget that had momentarily powered on? There were as many reasons to be curious as there were to just walk away like a good New Yorker. The train suddenly jerked to motion again as it began to enter the tunnel to return down it's original path. The train lights flickered mid-tunnel in a strobe-like fury against the pitch black... and the man was gone again... and the briefcase was still there, abandoned again. The train jerked as the engine dramatically accelerated more, shaking the briefcase and causing it to fall. One of the brass clasps next to the combination lock popped open. Mercer noticed the combination was set to 0000... factory defaut. It's not like such a clasp was going to stop a determined thief, but the least the man could have done was changed the default combination. Another knocking sound from inside the briefcase. It wasn't urgent. It didn't sound like anything was trying to get out. The knocking was more as one might knock on a door... but an interior door, not a front door... a more patient knock, as if the person who's attention you were trying to get was just nearby. "Well..." thought Mercer, "We're half way there... might as well... " Mercer set the second combination to 0000, flipped open the latch, and lifted the lid to the briefcase. The bottom was completely empty. The lifted top was filled with some sort of shimmering, flowing, glowing liquid that moved in ripples and waves across the surface. Mercer didn't have the chance to respond when a hand that looked like it could have belonged to the missing briefcase owner flew out of the liquid goo, grabbed Mercer by the collar of his winter jacket, and yanked him face first into the liquid.