She was in; she managed to avoid being detected by the security cameras.
In front of her, there was a small shack with a guard inside it, fiddling with his cell phone.
The entrance to the inner parking was heavily protected by a metallic bar door that only opened once you scanned your identification badge.
It was also equipped with a special protective elevated ramp that would block the passage of any intruder who might attempt to force their way in.
“I managed to find a way to open the metallic doors.”
“They will only stay open for three seconds.”
“You have to be very quick, as I’ll not be able to activate them again,” Neo said. “Tell me when you are ready and use the outside noise to distract the guard.”
She crouched and gently moved underneath the guard’s window.
A car was approaching, and Lydia gave the order. “Now, Neo.”
As he executed the command, the metallic door swung open.
The guard was monitoring the various cameras, and with the noise from the passing car, he did not notice Lydia.
She carefully crawled past the barrier and then inside the building through the revolving doors.
“Gosh that was close,” Neo said, relieved.
“Now you have to run. Avoid the light…”
Lydia started running, and after a few hundred meters, she was in, at -4, the lowest floor of Berlaymont’s underground parking structure.
It was still a long path from there to the 13th floor.
“You’ll have to keep a low profile and avoid the video cameras installed on the top of the pillars. Have a look around. They’re easy to spot.”
“I have to be a shadow; this was not taught in any of my classes…”
“Now, you have to go on the right side. You’ll see a set of doors that will take you to the ground floor.”
She quickly avoided video cameras and entered a small corridor with rolling escalators.
“Lydia, you need to run up; there is no time to lose.”
She started to jump the stairs passing through the -3, -2, and -1 floors at a rapid pace.
Now she was finally in front of a glass door next to the building’s main reception.
Several guards were discussing the risks of the COVID-19 virus, and she could clearly hear their voices. They were worried because in a few hours, Belgium was entering into a full lockdown due to the rapid spread of the virus across the globe.
“I cannot believe I have to cancel all my holidays; I’ll not be able to leave this rainy country for a little while,” a disappointed guard complained to his colleagues.
“I’ll create an incident to distract the guards and clear a path for you,” Neo informed her with a sense of urgency in his voice.
“Wait, I have the card that Helene gave to my dad. I think it can open any door.”
She hastily swiped it, and the green light indicated she could pass.
“No… Lydia, now there is a trace that you’re in the building! I don’t know if I’ll be able to delete this from the access log,” Neo said and sounded quite worried.
§CHAPTER 14§
“I DIDN’T HAVE time to explain the entire plan; I still have to find a way for you to pass undetected. I need to distract the guards while they are monitoring all the video cameras; I’ll trigger an alarm now. Be ready to run.”
Lydia understood and acted instinctively. She was still hoping Helene might be alive.
In the next second, an alarm started to sound at the main entrance of the building.
“Intrusion porte principale, alerte d’intrusion…”
The message triggered the guards to leave their office and head towards the noise.
“Now Lydia, go scan your badge and head towards the main elevators. I’ll scramble the rest of the video cameras.”
Running, she passed the dimly lit windowed corridor, which on the right side boasted a stony esplanade with perfectly trimmed trees that unnaturally sprung from the asymmetrical concrete.
“I have ordered an elevator for you. It will arrive in two seconds. Elevator B,” Neo quickly announced.
Lydia looked above, and indeed the six elevators were each labeled with one letter. You could not simply push the button on the floor you wanted from inside the elevator. You had to enter the floor number on the outside panel, and a computerized system would indicate which elevator you’d have to take.
“Thank you, Neo. I don’t know how I would have managed to pull this off without your help.”
Inside the elevator, Neo made sure to deactivate the security cameras. Lydia was looking at herself in the wall mirror.
You need to pull yourself together and stay focused. You cannot fail Helene!
She took off the mask because the latex was almost suffocating her. Her reflection revealed she was shaking.
She could not pinpoint what was happening to her body, was it anger, or fatigue, or perhaps both?
§CHAPTER 15§
00h18
Berlaymont 13th floor
THE DOORS of the elevator suddenly swung open.
“Now pay attention. You’ll have to outsmart the security guards on this floor and then make your way to Helene’s office on the right.”
The Berlaymont’s 13th floor boasted an elegant yellowish parquet with leather couches.
The security system was mostly A.I. driven, instantly recognizing the biometrics of visitors or employees.
As instructed by Helene, Neo was first notified of her death, and he managed to block the security system in triggering the alarm, which would have made Lydia’s attempt to enter the building impossible.
After exiting the elevator, she quickly swiped her badge to open a set of glass doors.
Two guards, both well into their sixties, were sitting on opposite corners of an asymmetrically shaped lobby.
“Alfonso, I’ll come back in a minute; I need to use the toilet,” informed one of them via a walkie-talkie lying on his desk.
After he left the walkie-talkie informed:
“All stations be alerted of the fire alarm activated at the ground floor. Please remain vigilant as we don’t know what triggered it. A team is now investigating the fire sensors.”
“Good news, Lydia. Our job just got easier,” Neo said with an optimistic tone.
Alfonso chuckled when hearing the alert over his walkie-talkie. At least I don’t have to worry about a fire here on this floor; we’ll just crack the ceiling and let all the rainwater extinguish it…”
Via the Wi-Fi hotspot, Neo managed to hack into Alfonso’s cell phone.
Suddenly, Alphonso received a text message from his wife: “There is an emergency at home, please call me now.”
He knew that the internal security protocol did not allow any phone calls.
What should I do? I cannot leave my post. The President is still working in her office.
My wife will kill me; I will just move away from the cameras and make a quick call.
“Lydia, you have precisely forty-five seconds to swipe your badge on the door and enter Helene’s office.”
She quickly ran along the windows while the guard was distracted with calling his wife.
Lydia became distracted by the grandiosity of the opposite building; the strange multi-floored lantern-shaped sphere inside a wooden box made of windows—the Europa building.
The architect had such a wild idea, but at least it’s seen as a beacon of light and hope in this godforsaken night, Lydia thought with a sigh.
At that moment, people were coming out of another meeting. The European Commission seems to be working around the clock, Lydia thought, also recalling the long hours her parents dedicated to their jobs.
Lydia was lucky as Helene de Moncler’s assistant was sick. His replacement left earlier as well, too tired to cover the night shift.
She swiped, and the sliding doors silently opened. She had a strange feeling she knew this place…
“Neo, I t
hink I was here before when I was a little girl.”
The wooden corridor was adorned with pictures of all the previous European Commission Presidents. It gave her the chills.
The office of the President had a waiting room with heavy black leather armchairs and minimalistic furniture, including several red pots with green plants for a splash of color.
Lydia quickly passed through the secretariat, and now she was in front of a heavy wooden door with a discrete card reader on the right side.
The flickering red light indicated that the President was busy and should not be disturbed under any circumstance.
After swiping her card again, she finally arrived inside Helene’s office.
Looking around, she gasped…Helene was collapsed on the floor in a pool of blood, her eyes still open.
“I am so sorry, Helene, if only I could have saved you…”
“Lydia, there is no time now.”
“The alarm from downstairs made the security system reboot their firewall.”
“They will be alerted of the President’s status at any moment.”
“And be careful. The killers might still be watching you. They must have used a military-grade weapon that managed to penetrate the thick glass.”
§CHAPTER 16§
LYDIA LOOKED around at the stylishly decorated office, with pictures hanging on the wall of various world leaders posing together with Helene.
“The magnetic card mentioned the seed of life …will reveal the way to the underground path.”
“Where can I find this symbol?” Lydia asked
“Neo, can you help to scan the office visually? I’ll rotate 360 degrees to give you a panoramic view.”
“Yes, I am setting up a search algorithm now to scan all the visual data to match this symbol.”
“I have it; it’s in the library on the side cover of a purple book,” Neo roared.
“Yes, there it is!” Lydia quickly took out the book, which had a golden flower of life, barely visible on its thick spine.
Inside the flower of life, there was a faint stylized seed of life, almost invisible to the naked eye.
Peering through the space left by the book, she could spot a secret badge reader pad.
Holding Helene’s card, she put her hand inside the bookshelf, and after swiping it, a loud alarm was triggered through the entire building.
At the same time, from the library, a hidden door popped open made from the bookshelves, a cleverly hidden secret door accessible only with Helene’s card.
A narrow tunnel revealed itself in front of her, with metallic walls that reflected a faint light coming from the ceiling.
The air seemed damp; clearly, this passage has not been used for a long time, Lydia thought while slightly hesitating to step in.
“Lydia, you need to hurry. People are approaching the President’s office,” Neo warned.
She returned into the office and replaced the flower of life book. As she stepped back inside the metallic corridor, the secret door began to close behind her.
She glanced back one last time towards the office and spotted Helene’s face. Her kind eyes, still open, strangely seemed to be fixated on the secret entrance or Lydia. It was hard to tell.
One last goodbye beyond death. Helene seemed to have anticipated this moment. May your soul rest in peace, Helene.
Lydia was heartbroken. With her eyes in tears, she turned and headed deeper inside the tunnel, the door closing silently behind her.
“I know it is difficult, Lydia. Helene loved you like the daughter she never had,” Neo said, consoling her while also profoundly affected by what he saw trough Lydia’s XGlass: “We’ll find her murderers and make them pay. I promise you, Lydia!”
§CHAPTER 17§
THE ASSASSIN WAS CLIMBING back to the rooftop, drenched from the heavy rains, but it did not bother him.
It was a cathartic cold shower, washing all his thoughts and worries away.
Immense satisfaction colored his face. My Master will be proud of me.
His mission was accomplished as Helene’s lips were frozen by the kiss of sudden death.
He knew he had to vanish as quickly as possible.
The Assassin carefully grasped the glasslike surface using his special anti-slip gloves.
The force and precision of his hands were almost inhuman.
Guided by instinct, he turned his gaze to have one last look at his trophy. His protective glasses zoomed in on the office of the President, and to his surprise, a tall, slender brunette woman was standing in front of the library. Startled by what he just witnessed, he wondered: How is this possible? Who is she?
My Master did not warn me of such an encounter. Did she sound the alarm?
I need to climb back to check from a closer angle.
His satisfaction was soon replaced with fury, and he started his descent again towards his shooting point, hoping to catch a better glimpse of the stranger.
The rain pounded even harder.
The wrath of the creator is punishing me. Who is this woman?
The rain clouded his vision, and even with the filter algorithms embedded into his XGlass, he could not accurately see the face of the young woman.
His frustration grew at not being able to identify her. He would not be able to find a name match with her via the internet.
His anger reached its peak as the sound of the alarm grew louder. The glass shielding panels on the building began to close, triggered by a protective mechanism within the building’s security system.
He had to go back. He couldn’t let her escape alive. While making his way down, he caught a glimpse of Lydia just before she vanished inside the library.
This baffled him even more.
Now it’s too late; they must have already discovered the dead body; I need to hurry.
I only have to make one more leap of faith, and with that, he plunged again, vanishing into the darkness of the storm.
§CHAPTER 18§
AT THE END of the corridor, she could spot her reflection. Is this a mirror? For a moment, Lydia was scared of her reflection, thinking that it was somebody else.
It was just another elevator from the same metallic composite as the walls of the tunnel.
“Neo, do you know where this elevator is going?”
There was no answer through the headphones, just a crackling sound.
“Oh no, there is no signal here, our direct link must have gotten interrupted. XGlass, try again to establish the connection with Neo Moore!”
“The is no network coverage for the moment, should I try again later?” the A.I. assistant asked.
I am on my own.
I just have to find the underground path Helene mentioned. How hard could it be?
Inside the elevator, there was no card reader; instead, a pad with the floor numbers was gently pulsating.
What now? Which floor should I go to? Lydia wondered.
◆◆◆
13 12
11 10
9 8
7 6
5 4
3 2
1 G
-1 -2 -3 -4
I need to read the card again; maybe I missed something…
“The seed of life is planted underneath the number of the infinite. Make it vanish from the height of the cruciform, and it will reveal the way to the underground path.”
The building has thirteen floors, so if we deduct the number of the infinity, eight, we get five.
Could it be on the 5th floor?
She pushed the 5th floor button, but nothing happened.
But if it’s an underground passage, could it be located at the bottom floor; the -4 level? She pushed it and again, nothing happened.
There must be something I am missing. Looking more carefully at the elevator numbers pad, she noticed there was a little protrusion, a small hole below -4. Reaching into her back pocket, from the space behind her cell phone’s protective shell, she took the metallic sim card needle kept for em
ergency and pushed it inside the hole.
Instantly the metallic plate sprung on the elevator’s floor, reveling another floor mark, which was now pulsating: -5.
13 12
11 10
9 8
7 6
5 4
3 2
10
-1 -2
-3 -4
-5
It must have been all along -5, and with her hand shaking, she pushed it.
The doors of the elevator silently closed, and her descent begun.
§CHAPTER 19§
LYDIA COULD SEE the floors rapidly passing by, and then after -4, her descent continued for several minutes towards -5.
The elevator began to slow down but didn’t seem to stop its advance into what almost felt like a bottomless pit.
Helene, where are you sending me? Lydia wondered, her eyes still in tears while an immense rage ravaged her mind.
She crouched down on the floor and cupped her hands over her face with tears running down her cheeks.
Suddenly, Lydia’s gaze fell on the metallic plate she had detached from the elevator’s floor pad.
She picked it up and noticed that engraved on its back was the tree of life inside the flower of life symbol.
While carefully studying the drawing, she noticed it was showing a double helix DNA structure, but something wasn’t quite right.
In the typical structure of DNA, there are ten base pairs in one helical turn. However, in simplified models, four base pairs are used. The major groove occurs where the backbones are far apart, the first visual twist; the minor groove occurring where they are closer together.
Looking at the base pairs instead of four after the first major groove, there were only three base pairs, then two, and for the last one again three.
Is this another clue, 4 3 2 3? I should maybe remember this sequence for later.
The elevator finally stopped with a rather aggressive jolt.
The Jesus Christ Cypher Page 5
