by Candice Lim
33
ROXY
“Didn’t Derrick tell you not to come?” asked Vaxine.
The images of Derrick on the pier swirled in my head.
“He’s dead, Vaxine.”
“I know.” Vaxine’s face was a melancholic painting. “But one life sacrificed is enough. This battle is never yours, to begin with. There’s no need for you to put your life at risk.”
I braved myself to look her in the eye. “The battle isn’t mine, but the revenge is.”
Vaxine parted her lips when a loud thud echoed through the empty room.
Our heads turned to my left where Axon’s fist had connected with the metal cabinet. It was still in one piece, but the dent was evident; the imprint of Axon’s fingers marking its surface. His veins, green and bulging, stood out on his sinewy arm. No denying his wrath.
Axon turned to us. His eyes red as blood. “The revenge is ours.”
I nodded. I gladly took out the four extra Zappers and handed them over to the seniors. “Here you go.”
Vaxine and Axon checked their loot and pocketed them.
“Should have brought my bazooka.” That was Axon’s first smile since I came. I had missed it.
“Let’s go get Hershey, shall we?” Vaxine cast her eyes at us in turn.
Axon nodded when I whipped out the tablet and took the lead. Once out of the room, we heard running footsteps. I felt a tug on my shoulder and gasped.
“Watch it!” Vaxine grabbed Axon and me and ran to a corner.
I straightened up and glanced around. We retreated behind a wall. Heavy footfall filled the corridor. They gained and throbbed in sync with my heartbeat. After a couple of seconds, all the shapes and sounds diminished into the distance.
I closed my eyes and listened. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Wait!” Axon pulled me back. “Something’s not right. The guards don’t usually patrol like this. They must have learned of the breach.”
“So?” I shrugged. “That’s old news.”
“So, you think Cash would still conveniently release Hershey for us to rescue?”
Vaxine grabbed the tablet from me. “Dr. is not in the lab. She’s in the animal holding center.”
“Um, Vax, thought you should know, the animal holding center spans ten thousand square feet,” noted Axon.
“She’s in the Mammal zone.”
“Oh, neat. Let’s go then.”
“Um, how did you even know that?” I raised a hand.
“Well, there are more features than accessing the CCTVs alone. Did you even explore the software?” said Vaxine with a patronizing smirk. She walked past me and reclaimed leadership. “Come on, guys. Follow me.”
“Okay, then.” I sighed and took up the rear.
☣☣☣☣☣☣
Miserable was an understatement for the animal holding center. I would have described it as Purgatory. Dim and stuffy, it reeked of animal fear and excretions. Worse than an enclosed zoo without ventilation. It was an incubator of diseases. An oven of doom. We were only in the corridors and already felt overwhelmed. My eyes were teary. I covered my nose with my sleeve.
Axon’s mouth was twisted in disgust yet Vaxine was unaffected by the eye-watering stink. She consulted the tablet and our surroundings. “It’s here.”
We stopped in front of a heavy-looking metal vault. Propped right next to it was a security keypad, red and green lights blinking. I tipped my head up. It looked like the one back in Hershey’s lab. “Hmm, looks like a problem.”
Vaxine sneered. “Only to you.” She tapped the screen and pushed the numbers on the keypad. Stepping aside, the door unlatched itself and swung open with a creak. Vaxine stepped in. I pursed my lips and followed suit. Axon took up the rear.
The room was lit as though the sun had descended from the sky. Minutes later, the interior and furniture took form, revealing another sparse room. Ivory ceramics stretched over the walls and floors. Fluorescent lights spanned the ceiling in three straight rows.
Glowing actinic blue, the cylinder in the middle of the room caught our eye. Hershey was inside the BioTomb. Unconscious as the day in the Underlab. As though history was repeating itself.
A chill went through me. With great effort, I tried to banish the unpleasant memories welling up inside me.
“Now what?” Axon shut the vault behind us. When he did that, every sound had an echo.
“It’s all yours, Roxy.” Vaxine stepped aside.
I gazed up as I neared the cylinder.
☣☣☣☣☣☣
“Isn’t this―” Sam looked up from the tablet with awe in his eyes. “The BioTomb?”
“You can say that again,” I said. “You familiar with it?”
“Um, yeah. I think I reviewed it before.” His eyes stilled on the tablet. “Where did you get this?”
“Let’s say, I have friends who do things for me.” I shrugged.
“Then, you have pretty capable friends. The BioTomb was commissioned under government contracts and has a highly secure system. This is gold.” Sam rotated the tablet. “But lemme tell you a secret. There’s a glitch they still haven’t figured out.”
I stared at him intently, interestedly.
“The glass isn’t unbreakable,” whispered Sam with a wry smile. He produced a gun with a black casing and passed it to me.
☣☣☣☣☣☣
I felt the bulge on the left side of my jeans. Proudly, I pulled the black gun; the sonic emitter. Aiming it at the cylinder, I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. A sharp ringing sound later, nothing happened.
“What the―” I lowered the gun as disappointment slapped me right in the face.
“Um, maybe you need to stand a bit closer?” said Axon.
My gaze dropped in my hand in disbelief. Sam wouldn’t fail me. I know he wouldn’t. I trusted him. “No, it’s impossible.”
“Oh, like this is the first time you’ve failed.” Vaxine rolled her eyes. No denying the vexation.
A hologram materialized in the air in front of us.
“Intrusion detected,” a disembodied mechanical voice stated. “Auto-destruct sequence initiated. Vacuum pump will activate in five minutes. Use palm-print ID for deactivation.” The digital timer started counting down.
Axon aimed his Zapper at the BioTomb but Vaxine stopped him. “You don’t know what other security measures this thing has.”
“Enroll hand!” I waved frantically.
“Not your hand!” hollered Vaxine. “I told you, only George has access to the system!”
“But your mentor is dead!”
“Stop saying he’s my mentor!” Vaxine gritted her teeth as she stabbed her finger at the cylinder. “The vacuum pump is activating in five minutes. The pressure inside will fall so low Hershey will explode into pieces!”
Axon’s eyes whisked between the cylinder and us. Worry mapped on his face. Vaxine smacked her own face and turned away.
I licked my dry lips and gazed at the peaceful trance of Hershey. My heartbeat quickened as I recollected what Sam told me.
☣☣☣☣☣☣
“Wait, don’t go first,” Sam called me back when I was about to leave. “There’s always a need for Plan B. In case the sonic emitter happens to fail.”
Sam grabbed my hand, placing an inch-wide glass chip into my open palm, and closed it. He was still holding on tight when we both looked up and our eyes locked in a gaze. “Take this with you. It has the protocol to deactivate the self-destruct sequence.”
“Where do I plug it in?”
“There’s a slot at the back of the BioTomb. You will find it.”
☣☣☣☣☣☣
Three minutes left, the digital clock read.
The two seniors turned to me before looking away, contemplating their own schemes. They must be thinking I’d come up with yet another redundant idea only going to end up wasting their time.
I sprang into a
ction. However slim the chance we had, however foolish my idea sounded, this was my final chance to accomplish anything. I ran around the cylinder to the back. I flipped open the cover and found assorted slots. Big and small, narrow and fat, and where colorful wiring crawled out.
“A slot, my ass,” I mumbled, chucked the sonic emitter aside, and pulled out the glass chip. Dropping into a crouch, I held it close to every opening. Nothing seemed to be the match. A bead of sweat bled down my face. “Hey, a little help over here, please!”
With a flurry of footsteps, Vaxine and Axon reappeared. The look on their faces did not spell approval.
“What, you trying to detonate the whole facility now?” asked Vaxine.
“Anyone good with chips here?”
Axon went down on one knee and snatched the glass chip out of my fingers, inspecting it closely. “Where did you get this?” He inserted it into the nearest slot.
Nothing happened.
That was all Sam had told me.
That was the first time I had muttered profanity before my seniors.
Sadness in their eyes, Axon and Vaxine stared at the unconscious Hershey. Perhaps they wanted to take their own sweet time to look at her face for one last time, in one piece.
“This is it, isn’t it?” sighed Axon. He bowed and shook his head.
“No, we must keep trying. We can’t give up. I’m not one to give up.” I threw my head behind where three plugs in a single row propped on the wall. My eyes traced the rainbow-like cables back to the machine. Another idea lit up in my brain.
“Warning. Sixty seconds left,” the mechanical voice reminded.
I hopped forward, my hand reaching for the plug.
Vaxine was faster, grabbing me by the coat and hauled me back.
I almost keeled over.
“I will not allow you to try another of your stupid ideas!” Vaxine’s eyes were flaming red, unforgiving.
“Ever repaired a computer before?”
“It’s not that simple. If you unplug, there will be no oxygen inside. And Hershey will die!”
“She’s gonna die anyway!”
Vaxine gasped with a shocked expression.
I kicked away and snatched the cables. With a strong tug, I pulled the plugs.
The hologram died away, the vents stopped exhaling with a wheeze. The air went so still all I could hear was breathing.
“At least, the vacuum pump isn’t activating,” I said.
Hershey’s head drooped. She opened her eyes and blinked.
Axon’s eyes shone with bliss when he jumped to his feet and went to the front where he tapped on the glass. “Dr. Hershey! We are here!”
A faint smile grew on Hershey’s face as she reached her hand out to Axon. When she looked behind her and saw me, her face fell.
I felt slighted.
“She can’t last long without oxygen inside,” snapped Vaxine. “We must do something.”
I looked at her and Hershey in turn, still debating if I should go on with the plan I had in mind. But time was luxury.
Hershey’s face twisted as though agonizing pain had struck her. Her breath hitched and she coughed and spluttered. With the power cut off, I took a chance. I aimed the black gun and fired it at the BioTomb. The glass shattered into minute shards. The damaged BioTomb hissed and its lid swung open like a coffin.
Hershey staggered out and Axon and Vaxine hurried to her side. It wasn’t long until she reclaimed her composure. Their arms interlinked with one another as smiles blossomed on their faces.
“Axon, Vaxine, I’m so glad you are all right.” Hershey’s voice was ragged but there was no denying her elation. “I hope Cash hasn’t hurt you.”
“Nothing serious, Dr. Hershey. Let’s get out of here while we can,” hurried Vaxine.
I sighed in relief and made towards the group, as slowly as I could.
They pulled away. All heads pivoted in my direction.
“Why are you here, Roxy?” A small frown creased Hershey’s forehead. My lips parted. Why did I always have no answers to Hershey’s questions?
“Roxy rescued us, Dr. Hershey,” Axon answered instead.
Hershey’s frown deepened. “How is that possible?”
“Edmund helped me―” I regretted it.
“Edmund?” A confused look grew on Hershey’s face. “Where is he now?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
Hershey turned to look at her two other students, but they gave her the same answer.
“We must find him.” What I feared most had been spoken. It made me regret even more for telling the truth. We only had so much time. And saving Edmund wouldn’t do any of us good. For someone who’s wronged my mentor and ruined my project. For nothing.
Signs of displeasure marked Vaxine’s face, but I took the move. “We have no time. We must leave now.”
“I’m afraid for Edmund’s safety, especially after he has helped us. There’s no predictability in Cash. Well, I presume you are well-informed.”
“Don’t you remember what Edmund has done to you? He’s wicked.” I didn’t know what came over me. I couldn’t tell if that was pity or contempt in Hershey’s eyes.
“When fighting monsters never become one of them.”
I gasped. Edmund helped us. And I wanted to leave him to Cash’s mercy. But I didn’t want him to stand in the way of my escape plan and spend another second in this despicable place. Was it wrong?
Had I already turned into a monster?
☣☣☣☣☣☣
The munching of chips and sounds from streamed videos filled the air, clear and crisp like in a large movie theater. Sam had long escaped the reality surrounding him. He needed temporary relief from the mission and now floated in a world free from worry.
As at home, he sat back in a revolving chair and laughed at something on the main display. His stomach bounced along with his amusement. The contents of the bag were emptied into his mouth, spilling crumbs everywhere. There was pleasure in being sloppy.
It was all cakes and ale until he heard a loud thump. And it was not from the movie. Sam stopped chewing. Another blast sounded and shook the vessel.
Fear propelled him to his feet. The bag of chips was flung science-knows-where. His sticky fingers glided across the holographic keyboard. He tapped a series of codes. The displays showed footage from the minute camera on every side of the submarine. The torpedoes coming from the base of the ORF hit the submarine’s plasma shield and detonated with a muted thump. The pressure from the detonation shook the vessel.
Sam gawked and his lips curved into an excited smile.
“Hell yeah!” He wiped his hands on his pants and activated the weapon systems. He already would be in trouble when Jason’s boss found out he’d taken the submarine for a joyride. Why not make full use of it then? He deactivated the plasma shield and locked on the target.
With a sigh, Sam pushed LAUNCH and watched the two missiles gliding towards the building. All the years of training with virtual reality shooting games would pay off today.
☣☣☣☣☣☣
“How are we supposed to find him?” Of course, I knew how. We had the tablet and Vaxine had the right skills.
“Exactly how you found me,” said Hershey.
That was so typical Hershey. She knew everything. I opened my mouth to protest when Hershey reached out for the tablet. I looked at Hershey’s hand and stared at her blankly.
Vaxine dutifully gave my tablet to Hershey. I shot a disapproving glance at Vaxine, who gave me an apologetic shrug.
“Thank you, Vaxine.” Hershey shot me a patronizing look and fiddled with the device. She turned to Axon and Vaxine. “Edmund is not far. I believe we can make it there easily.”
The two seniors nodded. Three of us needed no instructions. Hershey shot out of the wretched room when we skidded to a halt.
A dozen men had milled in the corridor, all in identical black uniform
s. All so heavily armed that they could take down an army. Through this, I heard the familiar clinking of heels. Cash was with the armed men and was holding a Zapper to Edmund’s temple, digging deep into his skin. Edmund looked displeased, but not in the least threatened. Perhaps anger had canceled out his fear.
