by Ian Williams
“What’s wrong?” Elliot said.
Graham again raised his finger to his mouth, but this time accompanied it with heavily drooped eyebrows. They were too close to risk talking aloud. If they were spotted too soon then their chances of quickly trapping the corruption would be gone. The time for a plan of attack was more important than ever. To show his intentions to Elliot he chose to demonstrate with hand gestures. He pointed to the cone devices in Elliot’s hands and then to a spot just inside the door of the room. Elliot nodded to acknowledge the plan.
Before they could do anything, Graham first wanted to catch a glimpse – and an image – of the MARC. To do this he slowly angled his tablet around the corner to see roughly into the room. He made sure to deactivate the virtual overlay beforehand, so the picture he captured was clear and revealing in equal measures.
What he got back was the best image he had ever managed to take of a MARC; certainly something to show off once back at the office – and to show his own daughter. Despite only being a still image, it still showed the blur of motion as a ghost like entity flashed across the wall display of the little girl’s room. Whatever shape the thing had decided to take, it was ethereal enough to have been easily mistaken for a ghoul straight from a kid’s scary story. No wonder the guy’s so pissed off, this thing would have scared the shit out of his daughter, Graham thought.
Edging further forward, the two of them soon caught another glance of the thing. Why it had fixated on the little girl’s room was anyone’s guess. Rarely had Graham seen any real reason why these things did what they did; they were just random, and often chaotic once cornered. Its white and blue shading suggested it had taken a liking to those colours. It had settled on a shape as well, with hardly any fluctuations to be seen. This was normally the sign of a more developed corruption and one that urgently needed dealing with. In his experience at least, leaving one as developed as this alone usually ended up causing serious harm to any people nearby.
Graham turned to Elliot and nodded at the floor in the right hand corner of the room, just next to the bed and its scattered display of teddy bears. He moved back to allow Elliot to sneak into the room, where he began to quietly extend the cone device and place it down – checking over his shoulder while he did. It was the first and most important part of their plan to isolate the exit of the room with one of the cones.
“It’s done,” Elliot said, as he plugged the device into a small shoebox-sized black box – the power supply.
To Graham’s side a small orange light began to flash in a random fashion, at first once every few seconds. The first isolator was working just as planned, and so far had been ignored by the MARC. But soon enough the ghost-like image began to move in a more suspicious manner, like it somehow knew roughly what to expect.
“Set the other one up over–”
Before Graham could finish the sentence the wall display began to pulsate as the MARC sped from one side to the other. It had quickly gone from a serenely flowing blue and white image to a frantically whizzing and popping rush of the two colours. At the edge of the wall screen it began bunching up until slowly the image began to vanish. Once it had gone completely the room was dark except for the still randomly flashing orange light from the cone shaped isolator.
“Shit, where’s it gone?” Elliot asked.
They stood in a disturbingly quiet room with no sign of any disturbance at all remaining. Wherever the thing had gone, it was trying its hardest to hide.
“We spooked it. Let me have a look.” Graham activated the virtual overlay on his clear plastic tablet once more and began to wave it around the room, scanning for anything that should not be there. Within a few quick swings of the device he came upon a small cluster of red glowing wires that throbbed like a digital heartbeat. These wires were hidden in the ceiling, either for the heating or part of the inbuilt health monitoring system. Regardless of which, it now harboured the corruption. “There, look,” he said.
Elliot took a peek after deciding to set up another of the Isolators in the far corner of the room, next to a wall of drawers that were set into the wall itself. It sent more orange light around the room, making it just that little bit easier for them to see. With two now set up and a trail of power cables running back to the power box, they were ready to continue.
“Want me to shock it?” Elliot said.
“Set up the last Isolator over there first.” Graham gestured to the left side wall, just by the wall screen that previously contained the MARC.
The ominous red glow had not changed or moved at all for at least a couple of minutes, which pleased Graham – who kept a persistent eye on it throughout. All hell would break loose the moment it decided to move, so he was ever ready to act. For the time being it seemed content on waiting out the storm he and Elliot were planning on unleashing upon it.
Another rustle from behind Graham told him that Elliot was again searching for the correct implement. Never keeps his tools tidy, he thought. Eventually Elliot returned with a stick like tool in hand, which at one end housed a coil of wiring encased in a glass bulb and at the other a rubber handle.
“You sure the room is isolated correctly?” Elliot asked as he passed the strange device to Graham.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Graham replied. He had done this enough times to know it was never simple and rarely the same each time. If the room remained fully cut off from the rest of the house then the MARC had nowhere to go. All wireless connectivity had been blocked off too, so there was no jumping ship at the last moment; something Graham had seen happen once before and had been punished for allowing to happen.
“What shall I do?” Elliot asked.
“OK, just do as we did last time.”
“When you scared the shit out of me by screaming like a little girl?”
Graham laughed. “Will you just let that go already? I didn’t scream like a girl anyway.”
“Sounded like it to me,” Elliot added.
“Whatever. As soon as I shock it and it makes a run for it, you punch up the Isolators until it really begins to kick-off. I’ll then grab the Cage.”
Elliot nodded, then walked over to the shoebox-sized power unit. He knelt beside it and placed his hand on a dial atop the box. The moment Graham gave him the order, Elliot was to spin the dial all the way round, in a clockwise direction. This would place the Isolators in their highest setting, but was only ever advisable for a few seconds. Any longer and they usually began to smoke like 5th of November bonfires. They had only ever melted one unit in the past, by now they had figured out the best way to use them.
Nearing the red cluster of glowing wires, Graham had to hold up his tablet as well as the bulb-like implement. He could guess the exact position of the corruption, though he knew never to do this. It was a cumbersome process to hold the two while delicately approaching his target, all without spooking it again.
Graham stopped just short of reaching the point on the ceiling where the red cluster was and turned to his partner. “You ready?”
“Ready for what exactly?” Daniel asked from the doorway.
This was not the best time for Graham to be answering questions, not that he expected Daniel to understand. He chose not to stop and left the job of liaising with the customer to Elliot instead.
“We’re about to shock it,” Elliot said.
“Shock it with what? What’s going to happen?”
“Sorry, can you be quiet for a bit while we work? This is really crucial,” Elliot snapped back.
It was an effective strategy to silence a curious customer, except Graham knew they would pay for it later. Unlike him, Elliot never shied away from aggravating people for treating them rudely. For now, Daniel had accepted he was getting in the way and had stepped back into the hall. He did not leave entirely, instead choosing to hover around just outside the door where he could see everything still. It was far enough away to keep Graham from ordering him back downstairs at least.
“Right,” Graham said. “On
three. One… two… three!” As soon as he started the three he touched the bulb-like tool against the ceiling, just beneath the red glowing cluster. Upon making contact it flashed a bright blue as sparks shot about inside the bulb. Within seconds the room burst into life, with coloured shapes rushing about the wall screen and casting reflections everywhere in the room.
Graham immediately dropped his tablet to the floor and pulled the bulb-like device away from the ceiling. Holding it there any longer not only threatened to strain his shoulder muscle but also to burn out the room’s wiring. No wireless signals would be getting about in this room if all of the items were melted inside. That would mean no communication, no entertainment, no vital sign monitoring and health systems running at all, and no life management in sight. That was no way to live for those in the cities, which pretty much meant the entire population – at least in the UK.
A humming noise began to emanate from each of the Isolators as soon as Elliot had cranked up the power unit. Each started to flash faster than earlier, sending orange light around the room where it merged with the plethora of colours already bouncing from wall to wall.
Leaping like a surprised cat, Graham sped toward Elliot’s bag, which contained one more special item. What he needed, called the Cage, was exactly that. Only this one intended to trap something very different to a wild animal. Unfortunately, once at the bag he was left empty handed and scrambling about the floor in case it had fallen out. “Where’s the damn cage?” he asked furiously.
A wide eyed glare returned from Elliot, suggesting things were about to go horribly wrong. “Shit! I think I left it in your bag,” he replied.
Only one option remained for Graham. He would have to run back down to the lounge and grab his own tool bag, and just hope that he could get back in time. Without waiting to think it over any more he jumped up and over the Isolators’ cabling, scattered loosely across the floor. He hurled himself through the doorway. The speed he moved instantly robbed Daniel of his balance, who unintentionally blocked his path. It left their nosey customer leaning against the wall and reaching for something stable to grab hold of.
“Move your ass!” Elliot shouted from the bedroom.
The fastest Graham could move still felt too slow. He took two steps at a time as he continued down the stairs, almost missing the last entirely. His foot slipped off the edge and made his landing anything but flat footed, causing his ankle to buckle under him. After managing to regain his stance he turned on the other foot and raced to his bag. If the Cage was not there then they were about to lose track of one of the most dangerous of corruptions, and they would be held responsible for any chaos that ensued.
“Come on, come on, come on… yes!” Graham said to himself. Thankfully he found it and was instantly heading back to the bedroom. In the distance he could hear the humming of the Isolators increasing in volume. He had only minutes now before one of them would begin to malfunction and burn itself out.
Once up the stairs, and aiming straight for the room, Graham noticed Daniel had moved inside. Nosy git! he thought.
“About time,” Elliot said.
“You try running with this gut,” Graham retorted with a gentle punch of his own stomach.
By now each of the Isolators had begun to urgently flash for attention as they tried their best to keep the MARC within the confines of the room. The Isolator nearest to the wall screen flashed much faster than the other two. This was expected. Its close proximity to where their target was stuck and unable to flee from meant it had to work the hardest.
Graham stepped over the cabling and stood in the middle of the three Isolators with the Cage in hand. This device was a small metal box roughly twenty centimetres in size and with a hinged lid on the top. What sat inside did the important job, the box merely blocked any wireless signals from penetrating and thereby releasing the corruption again. Without the box, what was about to occur inside the device would be for nothing. MARCs were more than capable of setting up a wireless link with some other device outside.
Lifting the lid of the box, Graham set about activating the Cage. First he flicked the power switch. After a few seconds of whirling the thing suddenly lit up in dazzling blue. The Cage had started to boot-up and the vents down its sides glowed to confirm that. He was overjoyed to see it operating so smoothly; the Cage was the one device he could really rely on.
His mood soon changed when he spotted his clear plastic tablet resting in two pieces on the floor. He had accidentally stamped on it during his race to find the Cage.
“Hurry, the Isolators won’t last much longer,” Elliot said.
Taking his eyes away from the Cage for a split second was enough to confirm Elliot’s concerns. The Isolator by the wall screen had begun to flash so rapidly that it looked to be almost a constant light. Yet that was the least worrying thing Graham saw; a steady column of smoke had started pouring out the back of it. It soon blocked out a portion of the light-show. Minutes had become seconds, and with each puff of thick black smoke that bellowed out of the Isolators, those seconds were quickly vanishing.
When the round light on the front of the Cage turned blue, it was finally ready. Graham hit the activate button and covered his eyes with his hands.
“Close your eyes!” Graham heard Elliot shout. He was confused until he remembered that Daniel had been watching all too closely with no idea of what to expect. Without the warning he would have been temporarily blinded.
The humming of the Isolators was joined by another, more invasive sound that resembled metal being dragged across metal. It quickly overpowered all other sounds in the room until eventually levelling out. This continued for a second or two before a flash of light burst from the Cage and seeped through Graham’s fingers. Even though he had covered his eyes he could still see the light shining through.
The room became silent as soon as the Cage had stopped its violent outburst. Only an occasional crackle, as electronic devices fizzled and popped, remained. When Graham uncovered his eyes he was pleased to see the fruits of his labour. The Cage had trapped the MARC as intended. All he had to do now was close the lid and lock it tight.
What he noticed next impressed him less: the wall screen had completely shattered and was beyond repair, while the light panel on the ceiling had turned a charcoal black and now contained a large hole that had been burnt through. Worse still, all of the emergency systems were having a hissy-fit.
“Emergency, emergency, you are in danger,” the automated emergency alarm system said. “Please evacuate the building. Mr. Watson, you are suffering from a Pulmonary Embolism, please seek medical assistance immediately. Mr. Watson… Watson… Watson,” it continued in a much lower tone. “You are three months pregnant, congratulations…”
“Please shut that thing up,” Elliot shouted.
Graham was thankful to see Daniel exit the room and begin tapping on a small screen on the wall in the hall. The emergency alarm soon stopped and finally the house had become completely quiet, apart from a chorus of panicked and heavy breathing.
“That was not how I saw this going,” Graham said. He quickly turned to Elliot with his eyebrows lowered and half covering his eyes. “How many times have I asked you to keep the bloody Cage in your bag?”
Elliot raised his hands in defeat. “I know, I know. I forgot, you deal with the people and I deal with the tools. I’ll remember next time, I promise.”
Offering his hand to help raise Elliot to his feet soon brushed the incident away and Graham was again smiling with his partner. They shared a laugh and each let out a relieved sigh at having caught the MARC without destroying the entire house. Their job was done and they were now left to clear up after themselves. Of course some of the damage was beyond their job remit. That news was well and truly Graham’s to share with the customer; Elliot had previously proven himself incapable of doing this with any semblance of tact and once suffered a black eye because of it.
In the hall, Graham gently approached Daniel after lea
ving Elliot to quickly clear their tools away. He waited as Daniel wiped his tired eyes, which were now a few shades redder than before. His blonde hair stood up in areas after all of the excitement too.
“Hi,” Graham said as calmly as he could manage, in spite of the recent madness.
“That was absolutely insane,” Daniel replied, unable to even blink as he stared into his daughter’s room, now with a layer of dark smoke hovering around the ceiling light panel – itself adding to the toxic gas.
“That was milder than some of the ones we’ve dealt with believe me. There’s just one little thing I need to mention.”
Daniel suddenly snapped out of his distracted state and studied Graham head on. “OK.”
“We’ve removed the corruption for you.”
Daniel nodded.
“Unfortunately, there is some slight damage to the room.”
“Isn’t that covered? After all it’s your company’s fault this happened?”
Graham always hated this part. The only concrete way he had of proving they were not responsible for repairs was to present the customer with their own digital signature on the permission application. He turned back, ready to ask for the proof, when Elliot instinctively handed his own tablet device over with the form already there on the screen. He had anticipated this part well in advance.
The form appeared slightly distorted due to the continued interference. To compensate, Graham slapped the device a couple of times to clear the image up before he allowed Daniel to see the rest. He was already missing his clear plastic tablet; nothing beat his own, organised screen.
“Is that mine?” Daniel asked naively of the digital signature in front of him.
“I’m afraid so,” Graham said. “All I can do is recommend a repair team.” He scrolled through more options on the device until he found the one he wanted. Then with a quick swipe of his finger out toward the hall’s wall mounted screen, he instantly passed on the details. The small wall screen beside them flashed a message that simply read, ‘Repairs’.