Chapter 39: Chapter Thirty-Seven

The overall outlook was grim. Those who were fortunate enough to survive the Doomsday illness were either sick or mourning the loss of loved ones. Either way, the general attitude of hopelessness was predominant. Many people had stopped going to work to remain indoors with their family and friends, counting down the finals days until the world ended. This was a fortunate set of circumstances for Alex and Milo since many of the security guards had stopped showing up as well.

Milo and Alex were still hanging on, but their health was declining rapidly. Between the nose bleeds, lightheadedness, and coughing fits, they carried out their important mission.

Being a resident and alumni, they both had access to the Facility. However, they did not have access to Level III. They entered through a back entrance and made their way through the labyrinth of seemingly endless hallways. If anyone was watching the security feed, they would have been spotted instantly. Fortunately, no one was.

They came across an equipment room and decided to help themselves to some items. Milo placed his thumb on the scanner box and the door slid open. Alex quickly ran in and knew exactly what she wanted. She grabbed a precision laser scanner and a portable nano-constructor.

With the devices in tow, they proceeded down a long hallway until they reached a staircase, which lead to the secure Level III.

Alex aimed the precision laser device at the scanner box and activated it. The laser scanned the oils left behind on the pad and created a digital read of the fingerprint. She then uploaded that data into the portable nano-constructor. Kneeling on the ground, Alex paired the two devices. Milo felt faint and began to wobble. He crouched down and braced himself against the wall. Soon after, his nose started to bleed. Alex handed him a cloth and asked him if he was okay. It was one more reminder that time was not a luxury they could afford.

“Hang in there, Milo. We’re almost done.”

When the nano-constructor was ready, it processed the information from the laser device to produce a thin, transparent strip. Within seconds, the small object ejected from the printing dock, allowing Alex to place it over her finger. She was sure the technique would work since she and Milo had done it before.

With the artificial nanobot fingerprint fastened over her thumb, Alex pressed it against the scanner box. A green light scanned her thumb then said, ‘Access Denied.’

“What?” Alex said in frustration. “This should have worked. Did they change the system?”

“I don’t know, try it again.”

Alex scanned her thumb one more time. Again, the same message appeared. She ripped the fake thumbprint off her thumb and tossed it on the ground.

“Now what do we do?” Milo asked.

Alex took a deep breath, looked at all her gadgets, and tried to think of something else.

“There might be another way,” she said.

Alex took her multi-use tool and pried the fingerprint scanner off its mounting bracket. Once it was loose, she gave one final tug and yanked it off the wall.

“Here,” she said as she handed it to Milo.

“What do you want me to do with this?”

“I don’t care, keep it as a souvenir.”

In the place where the fingerprint scan pad used to be was an assortment of exposed wires. Alex rearranged the configuration of wires. She cut a red wire and a green wire and merged them together. As soon as the wires made contact with each other, the door split open, with both sides retracting into the wall.

“That was easy,” Milo said. “Why didn’t we just think of that in the first place?”

It was one of the byproducts of growing up in the high-tech world – people had a tendency to think of overly technical solutions to problems that came up.

They entered the cement stairwell to the forbidden Level III. The cold air conditioning chilled the cement, making it feel like they had stepped into a large refrigerator.

“Wow, it’s actually kind of nice in here,” Milo said.

“Don’t get too comfortable, we won’t be staying long.”

They descended one level to the Level III subfloor and had yet to see a single person. Nevertheless, they still exercised caution. Alex poked her head out of the stairwell and into the hallway.

“All clear,” she informed. “Let’s move.”

They ran down the hall and located the room that contained what they were looking for. Again, they were presented with another scanner box, but Alex made quick work of it and within seconds, the doors split open.

As soon as they entered, they triggered the motion lights. The room was larger than Milo had expected. As for Alex, she had downloaded the floor plan so she knew what to expect.

Inside the room were many shelves, displaying highly-complex and expensive machines, but they only came for one.

“Here it is,” Alex said as she walked up to the device.

“Are you sure this is it?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“How do you know?”

“Cause it says right here on the side of it.”

“Oh.”

“You know, when these first came out, they were the size of a small city. Now I can hold it in my hands,” she said, admiring the beauty of the device.

“Stop right there!” a stern voice commanded from the doorway.

Alex was so startled that she nearly dropped the device. Had she done that, it would have been a terrible misfortune for the human race.

Both Alex and Milo slowly turned around and saw a uniformed security guard standing at the entrance. He was not the law-enforcing variety; he was a part of the Facility’s in-house security and was not nearly as intimidating.

“Finally!” Milo emphasized, “I paged you ten minutes ago. Someone broke into this room, we didn’t see who did it, but we reported it right away.”

The guard looked confused, but wasn’t convinced just yet.

“Luckily we came along or else someone could have stolen this valuable equipment.”

“Do you two have clearance to be down here?” the security guard asked.

“Of course, do you not know who we are?” Milo said as he approached closer.

“Hold it right there. Don’t move.”

“I was just coming over so you could scan my identification chip.”

“Very well then, but move slowly,” the guard instructed nervously.

“Certainly,” Milo obliged. He walked closer and spun around to allow the guard to scan the chip implanted in the back of his neck. When the guard held up his scanner, Milo completed the revolution and clocked the guard in the mouth. The unexpected punch caught the security guard by surprise and knocked him unconscious.

“Milo, what did you do?” Alex said in shock.

“Oh sure, you break into a government Facility – twice – steal a priceless device and I’m the bad guy?”

“You didn’t have to hit him,” Alex protested.

“What would you have preferred I do?”

“How about trying to reason with him? Explain who we are and why we’re here. Come on, there’s a reason why we don’t use violence to solve our problems anymore, it’s barbaric.”

“Barbaric or not, it solved our problem.”

“It’s a temporary solution, which may end up causing greater harm in the long run.”

“Says the woman who gets into prison fights.”

“Well, that was different. I was acting in self-defense.”

“Are you going to lecture me, or are you going to help me stash this body?”

“You know, I never imagined you would ever ask me that.”

“Come on, grab his legs.”

“Never mind that, just leave him. We have what we came for, now let’s get out of here.”

They ran back to where they had come from. They entered the cold stairwell, ascended the cement steps, and ran toward the exit.

“Milo, I’m not going to lie, that was actually kind of impressive what you did back there. Where’d you learn that?”

“I downloaded the Kung Fu app last week, just in case Aris gave me any more trouble."

Alex and Milo continued to run. They figured once they made it outside the Facility, they would be home free. As the last set of doors slid open, they discovered they were sadly mistaken.