Eric forwarded through the lab footage since that moment. Alice seemed more distracted after that, and he found that she was often twiddling wires or cables with her right hand.
Even more peculiar than that, he saw that she would randomly smile at nothing. Eric was growing more and more disturbed as he watched.
What's going on in that mind of yours, Alice?
Then he came to part of the recording a few days before when she actually laughed out loud. She seemed to be thrilled at something. But what?
He noticed that her eyes flitted to the computer screen right before her strange outburst. Had something on the computer screen given her that reaction? Eric switched feeds until he found the camera that was behind her, pointed at the screen. He played it in parallel with the other footage so he could see what was there the moment she looked at the screen.
Alice's hand had once again been holding the wires near the computer. At the instant she turned to look up, he paused the playback and looked at the other video. It was just some random diagnostic program running on the screen.
He rewound the back footage and it was then that he noticed something unexplainable. The program hadn't been running before that. The computer screen was blank and on the desktop.
So, seconds before this unexplained laughter, she looks up at the computer screen and notices that some program just starts arbitrarily running. And her hands are nowhere near the keyboard or mouse… How is that possible?
Eric sat back and let the full effect of his observations sink in. It was as believable as any of his theories about her were, yet he couldn't help but think it was true. Alice was like no one he had ever met. But this? Could this really be the explanation?
If it was true, then she was beyond a doubt, the most important thing that ever happened to him. She was the future and she was in his possession. She would be his, forever.
Of course, she would not remain in his possession long if she had indeed discovered that she could manipulate data signals with her mind. It was slightly comforting to notice from his observations that it seemed she had to place her right hand near the transmissions in order to control them, the same right hand that had been burned. She wasn't completely invincible.
If he were Alice and he had such powers, he would be biding his time until he could escape. If Eric waited until then to act, Alice would be long gone. He would have to take measures to ensure that did not happen. How could you keep someone from escaping that could theoretically control every electronic device within hand's reach?
Eric would be the last person to admit it, but in this case, extensive use of technology seemed to put him at a disadvantage. He would have to start fixing those issues right now.
She would have to be completely isolated from all exterior signals. They could retrofit one of the cells with their signal-blocking technology. It was an expensive technology that essentially blocked all types of radio signals from passing through a material. That way, she would not have access to their wireless network. They would also have to shield all wiring in the same material, so she would not be able to manipulate the data using the electromagnetic fields surrounding the cabling.
It was a start, and perhaps he was overreacting, but he was not prepared to take chances. Eric picked up his phone and made the appropriate calls to start the project. They would begin work immediately on this new "super cell."
In the back of his mind, Eric was still incredulous. No matter how much evidence he saw showing that Alice possessed extraordinary abilities, he was not prepared to accept the fact that it could be real. If only he could find some way to test her without her knowledge... He would have to think of something before his mind could rest.
Eric looked up at the clock on his desk. They had just brought Alice her dinner and she would be sedated soon. He would not have time tonight to test any of his theories. It was probably just as well because he hadn't established how he would do that anyway.
Since he did his best thinking in his own lab, Eric shut down his office for the night and headed to his estate. As he stepped outside, he felt the normally refreshing cold wind hit his face, but it did little to ease his troubled mind.
The only thing that will fix this feeling is to get to the bottom of this…and do so before Alice has a chance to act.
***
Alice woke up instantly when she heard her door open. She held her eyelids shut and listened. There was no conversation this time and she tensely waited to see what would happen.
She knew that it was 6:30am and she was still supposed to be unconscious. Footsteps approached her and she heard a small clink as her glasses were returned to the table.
Once the door shut, she opened her eyes and sat up. Her stomach rumbled uncomfortably. It was unfortunate that they didn't leave her breakfast, but it was only a small inconvenience.
She sighed, squared her shoulders and stood up. She felt an ever increasing need for urgency that she didn't understand.
I have to get out of here now. I can't put it off another day. The last time I didn't listen to my gut, I ended up here again. And now it's telling me I'm out of time.
No one would expect her to be awake now, so it was the best chance she would have for a while.
Alice gazed around her small room. There wasn't really anything there worth taking with her. Even the creations that she had so ingeniously slipped through the hole in the bathroom wall were no longer necessary.
Why am I even hesitating? It's not like Eric's going to suddenly come to his senses, walk through that door and apologize for all the wrong he's done, then just let me go, wish me the best, and move on with his life.
Not going to happen. There's no reason to wait another second.
Alice knew he was inherently evil, but she had seen another side of him…one that had the capacity for good.
But, the time for those thoughts had passed and Alice had to look out for herself, as she had grown so accustomed to.
No one is going to do what's best for me, except me.
She reached up to disable her glasses once more, but was interrupted when an all-too familiar voice began speaking inside her cell. The initial sound made her leap up and left her heart rapidly beating in her chest.
It was Garrett's voice! But what on earth was he doing here? She quickly realized it was coming from the intercom on the terminal near her door.
"Alice, I hope you're in there. I've managed to hack into EngineerCorp and upload a super-virus into their mainframe. It won't hold them back forever, but it should give you enough time to escape without them noticing. The security system should be down for at least ten minutes.
"When you get out, don't try to find me. It's not safe. Make a new life somewhere where they can't find you, Alice. Now get out while you can!"
At the end of his frantic message, the door to her cell slid open. The terminal lit up and showed an error message, "MALFUNCTION – DOOR MECHANISM UNRESPONSIVE."
She smiled in spite of her racing heart. If there was ever a perfect time to escape, this had to be it. It didn't get much clearer than this.
Alice was about to flee her cell when she remembered her glasses and the bracelet. She had to disable them first! She knew she had to calm down if she was going to be successful, but she found it was the most difficult thing she ever had to do.
Pull yourself together! This is a limited time offer!
She breathed deeply and attempted to concentrate. Alice dealt with her glasses first. Reaching her hand up to the frames, she worked as quickly as possible to disable the transmitter again. Even though she had become adept at the process, it took longer than it should have.
When the transmitter was disabled, she turned her attention to the bracelet. It had already taken two minutes to handle her glasses… two minutes that she couldn't afford to spare. Her right hand hovered over the thick, metal band as she opened her mind up to let the information flow. Perspiration broke out on her brow as she worked.
Three tens
e minutes later, the bracelet clicked open and she sat back with relief. She stared down at the opened manacle, glad to be finally free of it. She jumped up, bracelet still in her hand, and turned to the doorway to make her escape. Her flight was cut short when she met a pair of familiar, icy blue eyes.
She instinctively leapt backwards, appearing to be as shocked as Eric already was. He was alternating between staring at her and staring at the open bracelet in her hand. She could see his mind whirring at the scene before him, trying to make sense of it and not wanting to believe what he knew was true.
How did he always do that? Does he just inherently know the worst possible moment to show up?
He still stood in the doorway, and Alice could tell that he was not himself. She felt the window of opportunity closing before her and she knew she had to do something. She was afraid to break him out of the strange trance he was in, for fear of what he would do.
"I knew you could do it, Alice. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe it, even though it was staring me in the face the whole time. Do you know what this means? Do you realize how important you are? Do you know what we can accomplish together?"
Alice stared dumbly at him, not sure how to respond. He stepped forward into the room, still dazed.
Speaking more to himself than her, he continued his rant. "I don't know how you did it, but I'm going to find out. It will take a fair amount of time, I'm sure…"
He turned abruptly to face her. "But with you on our side, we will be unstoppable!"
Not to go all "Luke Skywalker" on you, but no…I'll never join you!
He came towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders as he stared wildly into her eyes.
"Alice, this exceeds any expectation I ever had! You are the future of a new age!"
Eric seemed to be completely immune to the fact that her door was mysteriously stuck open and he interrupted her in the middle of an escape attempt.
While he was still deep in his discussion of the future that he envisioned for her, Alice made her move. She acted faster than she thought she could, but her aim was true. She snapped the bracelet on Eric's wrist and took two large steps back.
He stared dumbly down at his wrist. Alice knew he didn't carry the deactivator with him. He told her that in the beginning. It would have been too accessible for Alice to steal it and escape. Eric thought he had sufficient foresight to only carry the activator. However, he saw too late the truth of the matter.
His gaze turned cold. "You'll never escape Alice. I don't know what you're trying to accomplish by this."
They were interrupted by the sound of alarms and the sight of flashing lights outside her door. A voice sounded over the intercom system in the hallway.
"LEVEL FIVE SECURITY BREACH. NUMEROUS SYSTEMS COMPROMISED. ALL PERSONNEL REPORT TO STATIONS IMMEDIATELY."
Thank you, Garrett!
It was like music to her ears.
Eric's face was contorted by rage.
"Alice, what have you done?"
Alice took that as her exit cue. She took one look at him, stopping only to say, "I haven't done anything…yet. That doesn't mean I'm going to let this opportunity pass me by. It's been nice, Eric!" and she bolted for the door.
Eric moved to go after her, but stopped a hairsbreadth from the door when he realized what he was about to do. The moment he stepped over the threshold, the bracelet on his wrist would activate. Fury boiled up in his eyes.
Eric's anger was exceeded only by Alice's own happiness. The moment she had been waiting for was finally upon her.
Freedom!
Alice fled down the hall, leaving an infuriated Eric in her wake. He already had his phone out, madly punching in numbers. It would take him time to reach someone in the middle of the crisis that was going on.
Red emergency lights were flashing around her, casting an eerie glow. The audio alarms had stopped sounding, but Alice paid no attention. Even though there was no small task ahead of her, she somehow knew that it would work out.
It had to…
Chapter 22
From her most recent download, Alice knew that the maintenance elevator no longer stopped on her floor, not that it mattered. She had the power to do almost anything she wanted at her fingertips.
She was nervous and excited. Her heart was racing, but she had something that eluded her before. She had confidence. Alice was confident in herself and her abilities and knew she could do what she needed to when the time came.
The plan that had been forming in her mind for weeks was finalizing as she made her escape. She had always desired to exonerate Garrett from his ruinous past. During her detainment, she agonized over how to do it. Then, all at once, the perfect solution came to her.
EngineerCorp's diverse involvement in industry gave them access to an extensive satellite network. What better way to broadcast the information she needed, than to use their own network against them? She didn't particularly care for the fact that she had to be inside the complex to use it. She would have loved nothing more than to flee for the nearest exit, but she had work to do.
If all went as she hoped, not only would she help Garrett, but she would help herself as well. By showing Garrett's innocence, she would cast a heavy shadow of doubt on the lofty corporation that ruled global technology unchecked.
Alice knew that her attempt to restrain Eric would not last long. Undoubtedly, even in the chaos that ensued from Garrett's virus, men were rushing immediately to release him… and then, they would be searching for her.
Only, they wouldn't expect to find her deeper within the complex. They would assume, at least initially, that she would find her way out as quickly as possible.
The main controls for the satellite network were located on Level Six, which was one level deeper than where she was. With the security system temporarily down, she would be able to get there before they found out where she was going. She steeled her nerves against the irresistible impulse to turn back.
I can do this. Don't think about it. Just go.
Looking up, she saw that she had arrived at the maintenance elevator. She peered quickly back down the hall, the same hall where she had bested Eric during her first escape. Alice shuddered and turned back to the panel to work. She had little time to spare for her memories or anything else.
Alice raised her hand against the panel and began concentrating. It was a relatively easy task in spite of her circumstances, and she was rewarded when the elevator dinged softly, doors opening in front of her.
Taking one last glance back, she entered the elevator and went down.
It seemed to take forever for the elevator to make it to the level below. When the doors opened again, she cautiously peered out, hoping that her task would not be complicated by the presence of guards or other workers.
Mercifully, no one was there. She was still in the maintenance hallway, but it was empty. If there had been people lurking about before, they were more than likely trying to contain the situation that had set off the alarms. Alice silently thanked her friend for his very effective distraction.
Accessing her internal map, she saw that the main satellite control panel was inside a room central to the floor. There were two doors to enter the room, on the north and east sides. The east entrance was the closest and the best option, unless circumstances forced her to find another way.
Connecting the maintenance hall to the main hall was a double door made of steel, with two windows lined with wire mesh. She moved her face as close to the glass as she dared, but saw no one in the main hall.
There was a numeric keypad that opened the door, and she made short work of that. As she entered the hallway, she felt exposed in the large, open space.
I need to get out of the open. The entrance is located… twenty-five feet down, at the end of the hallway on the right.
Just as she turned right at the second hall, she heard anxious voices in the distance. Panicking, she turned to the nearest door which her mind instantly informed her was a jani
torial closet.
Deftly opening the electronic lock, she slipped inside just as a group of nervous lab technicians walked hurriedly by down the main hall. Her heart was racing again and she did her best to quiet her breathing so she would not be heard.
She had not been paying much attention to what they were saying, but once inside the closet she could only hear muffled tones. They were heading in the direction of the main elevator. Beyond that, she was unsure of where they were going. She was relieved to notice that they were not guards, but she could not risk being seen by anyone.
She turned around and surveyed her surroundings. There wasn't much of use. Most of the closet was filled with brooms and cleaning supplies. Even in a high tech facility like this one, it was almost reassuring to her to know that they still relied on such everyday objects. It made them seem more human somehow.
When she had not heard anything for several minutes, she ventured out again. Whoever had been walking by was nowhere in sight now. Alice dashed to the end of the hallway.
The security on the entry was considerable. It took her a full minute to coax it open. Her nerves certainly weren't helping her speed.
The door slid open and Alice quickly slipped inside. Garrett's distraction had been perfect, pulling most employees away from their posts to the areas that were hit hardest by the virus. He had targeted the security systems first to aid Alice in her escape, so most technicians and engineers were helping out in the security center on Level Two.
…All except for the lanky technician in front of her, staring at her as if he'd never seen a female before, much less expecting one to be standing in front of him.
Her mind pulled up his personnel information. He was, as she guessed, a low-level technician. Certain information in his annual reviews caught her attention. They all had average ratings and said that he was "eager to please but had little ambition or independence."
Mind Trace Page 28