by C. A. Wilke
“It’s not a fetish, per se.”
“Alright, I’m going.” She jutted her chin out one last time then resigned to be satisfied. A black business suit and briefcase completed her disguise. She picked up a pair of cosmetic glasses and put them on.
A small heads-up display appeared in her right eye’s vision. Holographic lines traced the nearby topography and highlighted potential moving targets. A small, transparent video feed of Dax sitting at his computer appeared in the lower right corner of her augmented display. “You’re coming in clear, Dax. How’s my feed?”
Dax’s fingers tapped. “Yep, looks good. I see what you’re seeing.”
“Good.”
Scarlett slid out of the car with her briefcase in hand. She left the parking garage and crossed the street to the research facility. The facade of the building was different from the last time she’d been there. Her rediscovered memories of the place she had been employed before her amnesia were spotty, but she could tell the mirror face of the structure was new.
A six-foot tall concrete sculpture of the company’s logo letters, UDI, blocked a direct line to the front door. The logo sculpture was a smaller version of the one she encountered right after she started getting her memories back.
Flowing lines of people entered the building, curving around the oval pond surrounding the sculpture. She felt as if a hundred eyes were watching her but resisted the urge to shiver.
As if on cue, Dax spoke. “Based on everything I can find, UDI has more cameras and sensors behind that fancy glass front than you can shake a stick at. And that’s just this side of the building. It is impossible to get in without being noticed.”
Scarlett replied with a faint grunt and headed straight for the front desk.
“And to answer your question, since I know you can’t ask it, no, I can’t get past their firewalls without being noticed. That place is locked tighter than the Pentagon. Believe me, I know.”
When Scarlett arrived, the woman behind the counter held one finger up. With her other hand, she swiped at a holodisplay. Finally, she tapped her earpiece and looked up at Scarlett. “May I help you?” Her tone was flat and bored.
When Scarlett spoke, she used an English accent. “Yes dear, I’m afraid I’m here to see a...” She held up her commpad and tapped a few times. “Oh, here it is, so sorry. I’m here to see a Michael Fellhouse.”
“And you are?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Dolly Carson, dear.” She gave the receptionist an innocent smile.
“One moment please.”
Scarlett thanked her. She turned around and gazed at the throngs of researchers and administrative staff coming and going through the lobby. The glass wall from the building’s facade let in a vast amount of daylight, making the space feel larger than it really was. The vaulted, twenty-five foot ceiling helped with that as well.
She noted the full-body weapon scanners blocking the entrance to the rest of the complex. Definitely don’t want to go there.
“Uh, Ma’am?” The receptionist’s voice caught Scarlett’s attention. “Mr. Fellhouse is not in today. He’s in New York until next week.”
“Is he? But my appointment message says right here...” Scarlett held up her commpad to show the woman but stopped. “Oh my. It appears I’ve gotten the week all wrong.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
“Well then, I suppose I shall see you next week.” Scarlett waved to the woman behind the counter, but she had already answered another line.
“Universal Dynamic Industries, Carmine Research Facility Lobby, how may I help you?”
Scarlett whispered a thank you. The receptionist ignored her, so she turned to leave. She took a few steps then turned back. “I’m terribly sorry to bother you again, but could you point me the way to the loo? I mean, restroom?”
The woman rolled her eyes and pointed. Scarlett thanked her again and strolled off.
Her comm beeped. “Well played. Who knew you could do Brit?”
The corner of her mouth curled up. She continued the accent in a whisper. “There’s quite a lot about me you don’t know, young man.”
“Touché.”
Inside the restroom, new marble tile covered the floor and the walls were freshly painted.
Dax whistled. “So this is what women’s restrooms are like?”
Scarlett set her briefcase down on the sink counter and surveyed the room. There were three women’s stalls. A bench sat in the corner next to a stainless steel trash bin. She looked up at the ceiling and cursed. “Son-of-a-bitch.”
“What’s the problem?”
She looked up again. “That.” The ceiling’s smooth surface was broken only by the half-dozen recessed lights.
“Oh.”
“Yeah. That ceiling used to be made of removable tiles. It’s been remodeled, and recently.”
“So... what now?”
She spun around and unzipped the front pouch of her briefcase. “Now we improvise.” Scarlett was thankful she’d decided to stock the briefcase with actual business supplies, including a pen, paper and clear tape. A few minutes later, she stood back to admire her handiwork.
Dax snorted. “Out of order. Cute.”
“Thanks.”
Scarlett stuck her new sign to the middle stall door. She took a seat in the third stall.
“Why didn’t you sit in the out of service one?”
“Just in case someone comes to check on it. Later I’ll move there as it gets closer to closing.”
A long, awkward pause followed. Dax broke the silence. “You know, I had sex with this girl once in a—”
Scarlett scrunched her face. “Do not finish that sentence.”
“Sorry, just trying to make conversation.”
“Well don’t. I—”
The door to the rest room burst open and the room echoed with the voices of two women. Scarlett froze. The women chatted about some office romance.
One of the women cursed. “Dammit. This one’s in use, this one’s broke, and some sick freak left this one a mess.”
The other woman spoke, her voice farther away. “That’s nasty.” The faucet turned on for a few seconds then off again.
The first woman sighed. “Whatever. I’ll just wait till we get inside.”
The two women were gone a minute later.
Scarlett let out a breath that she didn’t even realize she was holding. “Look, Dax... No conversation please. K?”
“Sure thing. So, then... What now?”
“Now,” she sighed and leaned back. “Now, we just sit and wait.”
Chapter 40
The Core
There’s no point in killing an innocent, no matter how evil his employer is.
* * *
The door burst open, the sound echoing in the small bathroom of the Universal Dynamics lobby.
Heavy footfalls entered the room accompanied by the clanking of metal tools. “Son of a bitch. I’ll bet that lazy shit Brent left this for me.” The maintenance man’s voice was tired and angry. “I bet he didn’t even look at it.”
Scarlett crouched on the toilet, keeping her feet out of view from under the door. Not that it mattered. The maintenance man was about to open the door and get a big surprise. The augmented reality display projected from her contact lenses highlighted the man’s likely location based on sound. She held her breath and lifted a small spray can.
The man outside the stall cursed and tore off Scarlett’s makeshift sign. “Lazy son-of-a-bitch.” The small lock turned and the door was yanked open.
Before Scarlett stood a short, middle-aged man in a jumpsuit. He wore a leather workman’s belt that was loaded down with various tools and he held an additional toolbox in his left hand. Above his left breast was an embroidered patch with ‘UDI’ in block letters just above his name, Alvin.
Alvin stood with his mouth open, unmoving. His toolbox crashed to the floor.
Scarlett smiled. “Hello.” She pressed the button on the canister, spraying A
lvin’s face. Alvin blinked and collapsed to the floor.
“Good night.” She hefted the unconscious man, propped him up on the toilet, closed the stall door, and replaced the sign. She snatched her briefcase from the back of the stall door. “Dax. Dax, you there?”
The video feed of Dax’s webcam was blank. At the door leading out of the bathroom she stopped. Her shoulders sagged.
She set the briefcase down and turned to the sink counter. Tapping the side of her glasses, a keyboard of made of light appeared on the counter. Scarlett typed out a few commands. A moment later, a shrill siren erupted in her ear. As loud as it was for her, she knew it was much louder for Dax.
The snorts and grunts of Dax waking up were almost drowned out by the siren. “Huh? What? I’m here.” The small square in the upper right corner of her vision changed from black to Dax’s reddened face.
She canceled the alarm and shook her head. “Sure you are. Listen, Sleeping Beauty, it’s time to get going.” From in the briefcase she pulled a black backpack and a pair of soft shoes. Scarlett pulled off her suit coat and unbuttoned her blouse. She let the blouse and her pants fall to a heap on the floor. In the mirror, she saw herself clothed in the black bodysuit she’d been wearing under her business attire. Thin, flexible armor plating covered most of her skin. “Much better.”
Scarlett dumped the heeled shoes she’d been wearing into the trash bin and slid her arms through the straps of the backpack.
“Hmm? Yeah, right. Okay.”
Scarlett stepped out into the lobby. Small blips appeared across her vision, indicating where the cameras were. All of them faced outward. When she spoke again, her voice was low and quiet. “Dax, c’mon. I can’t hang around here all day. Already had to put the maintenance man to sleep.”
“Really?”
“Dax.”
“Uh, yeah.” His fingers clacked on his keyboard. “Okay, here we go. Schematics are up and... First you have to get past the scanners. They stay active and will sound an alarm if anyone passes through them.”
“Already on it.”
A tunnel-like structure had been erected over the security scanners for traffic control since Scarlett had worked in the building. It was comprised of an arch of rigid hexagon tubes. She looked at the structure and noticed a small gap between the top of it and the ceiling of the hall. The gap was just big enough for her to squeeze through.
Scarlett wedged her fingers into the crevices between the connecting tubes and climbed to the top of the arch. She opened her mouth to tell Dax she was past the scanners when footfalls silenced her. Scarlett lay flat against the top of the tunnel.
“Dax, someone’s coming,” she whispered.
“It’s probably just the patrol guard. They roam the area past the scanners. Just wait a sec and he’ll be gone.” Dax’s eyes darted from his screen to his webcam.
Scarlett held her breath and waited but the footsteps still grew closer.
Finally, the guard stopped just below Scarlett. The plastic surface reverberated as the guard slapped the wall twice.
Scarlett cursed. Her hand slid to the plasma pistol at her hip. The snap holding the weapon in place silently released and her fingers wrapped around the grip.
The guard slapped the wall again. “This is Scott at Checkpoint Delta. All clear.” The footfalls started again and headed away.
Peeking over the edge, she saw the back of his head as he turned the corner. “Whew, he’s gone.”
She slid the backpack off and squeezed through the gap. Her silicone-soled shoes hit the floor without a sound. She re-donned the backpack and continued down the hall.
“Alright, up ahead you’ll turn left. You should be safe to follow that guard for a little bit.”
Scarlett made her way through the white halls, keeping her distance from the guard. She let the guard turn each corner before she followed. When the man passed a door leading to a stairwell, Scarlett slipped inside.
She leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. The sound of the air leaving her lungs was loud in her own ears. Scarlett forced her breathing to stay slow and quiet as she started her descent.
The soft crunch of every grain of dirt and dust echoed as she stepped. The sound of an opening door made her stop in her tracks just two levels from the floor where the data room was.
Heavy footsteps echoed up the stairwell from below. “This is Almasi. I’m heading back up to the ground floor.”
Scarlett backed up to the door leading out onto B3 level. She glanced through the small window and turned the handle.
The approaching guard’s radio squawked. “Roger. We’re just waiting on you.”
She slipped out into the hallway and waited for the guard to pass. Scarlett wondered what the other guards were waiting to do. “Dax. What’s going on?”
The image of Dax typed away at a virtual keyboard on his desk. “I have no idea. I show nothing scheduled for tonight. Maybe just a card game?”
Scarlett thought for a second. “Maybe. Maybe not. Let’s get this done.” After Almasi passed her door, she re-entered the stairwell and made her way down the last few flights of stairs.
In the hallway, something about the white walls struck Scarlett. Even though they were exactly the same as the ones above, she felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity. Memories of the halls she was walking through started to force their way back into her consciousness.
In her mind, she saw herself walking side by side with Derrick. They talked about the Centarus Project and what it would mean for both of their careers. She saw the faces of other researchers pass by, researchers dead for more than five years now.
Scarlett realized she’d been walking in a daze and shook her head. Sudden awareness brought her to a halt. She found herself standing just before the next corner.
The hallway was silent, devoid of the guard’s footsteps. Scarlett peeked around the corner. The next length of hall was short and turned after twenty feet. She let out a deep sigh and leaned against the wall.
“Scarlett, you’ve stopped. Everything okay?”
She smiled to herself and started walking again. “Yeah. I just... nevermind.” Near the next corner, she slowed down to check behind. Clear, she turned and found herself face to face with security.
The lone guard’s eyes were wide and his mouth dropped open. A soft “Uh...” escaped his lips.
Scarlett stared at the man for a moment. With each heartbeat, Scarlett knew whoever snapped out of their shock first would have the upper hand. A voice in the back of her mind screamed for her to move and take down the man before he could make any noise.
The guard’s posture twitched and he was in motion.
Scarlett leaned back and shoved at the guard. He stumbled backward. She felt the breeze of the guard’s fist passing the tip of her nose.
The security guard held his comm up and opened his mouth to speak. Scarlett closed the distance. Her fist smashed into his hand, crushing the comm between his hand and his teeth.
He stumbled back. Blood poured from his mouth. He looked down at his hand covered in red and looked back up. Scarlett didn’t wait for him to recover. She spun around and whipped her leg out, catching the guard across the cheek.
He fell to the ground unconscious.
Scarlett froze as the hallway echoed with the sound of the collapsing guard. She backed up and peeked around the corner. The coast was still clear.
Dax punched at the air. “That was awesome!”
“Thanks, I did it just for your benefit.”
“Really?”
“No.”
Scarlett pulled the senseless guard to the door at the end of the hallway. An interface screen next to the door displayed the word ‘secure.’ Below the screen, a small black scanner with glowing green lines stuck out from the wall.
“Okay, so you’ll need the nanocloth I gave you.”
She slid the backpack from her shoulder and retrieved a square of what looked like heavy grey canvas material. Despite its pl
ain appearance, Scarlett knew it was an interface relay that would allow Dax to hack into the palm scanner to open the door.
Scarlett carefully laid the relay over the hand scanner and stepped back.
“Fuck me like a monkey.” Dax’s brow wrinkled.
“What?”
“Um... Their security with the scanner is a little more than I expected. Apparently, the system is looking for a subdermal ID chip. It looks like all scientists who work in this lab get them.”
She looked around, hoping to find something that would help. “What can I do?”
“Ah...” Dax leaned back and forth, typing madly at multiple keyboards. His eyes darted across his several screens.
The screen next to the door flashed red with white letters: “Unauthorized.”
“Um, Dax?”
“Yeah, I know. Just a sec.”
The screen flashed again.
“Da-ax!”
“Yes, I know, dammit!”
Scarlett walked back down the hall and peeked around the corner again.
“Son of a bitch, it’s... wait.”
She felt the gun along her back. “We’re running out of time here Dax.”
“I just need...”
The screen flashed red again, then changed to green.
“Got it!”
Wary of other guards, Scarlett stepped backwards and pulled on the door handle. The door swung open easily. She pulled the unconscious guard into the room and let it close.
The screen inside changed from green to red.
Dax leaned back and wiped his brow. “That was close.”
“Yeah, let’s not do that again.” She shoved the guard against the wall beside the door and stretched her back.
“Right. If that third time hadn’t worked, there’d be alarms going off all over the place.”
Scarlett looked to her left and right. “Then let’s really not do that again.” She turned around to look at the rest of the room.
Inside the door was a room walled in glass. Doors at either end lead to a cavernous space with thirty-foot high ceilings. The far wall was more than fifty yards away.
Two rows of three massive columns reached from the floor to the ceiling. At eight feet thick, each was covered in reflective metal panels, crosshatched bars of light, and dozens of cooling vents.