by Aman Gupta
Emma and Kate walked quickly, trying to open the doors on their left. Every door was at least 20 feet apart, solid iron with grey metallic luster. Some doors opened, some didn’t. Most of them looked like inside of a prison cell. A bed, a shower and a toilet with a sink. All of them were unoccupied, except one. Emma didn’t recognize the person, but it wasn’t Joey or Sam, Kate mentioned. She wanted to get the man out, but Kate stopped her. Kate closed the door before the person could reach the door. Emma looked at Kate, but didn’t say anything. She understood her intentions.
The corridor was going circular. Kate and Emma would hide from the guards by entering a room long before the guard would be near them. After waiting a few minutes for the guard to pass them, they would exit the room. The circular corridor helped them in creating blind spots. As they almost completed a round of the building, they ran into Joey.
“Oh my god, Joey,” said Emma.
“Hurry, we have to get out of here,” said Joey.
They turned around and went the way they came from. Emma and Kate would occasionally look at Joey, who looked broken.
“Where’s Vik?” Emma asked when they were hiding in one of the rooms.
“He freed me. He told me to run, while he had some other stuff to do,” said Joey.
“What other stuff?” asked Emma.
“He didn’t say,” said Joey.
They made it to the elevator, and saw Vik running towards them. He got on the elevator and pressed the basement button. As the elevator went half way, he put his hand around Joey, who pushed him.
“This happened because of you,” said Joey, in anger. “You left me.”
“Get over it,” said Vik, coldly.
Joey pushed him and punched him in the gut. Vik threw a right hook. Joey went down. Kate and Emma separated them.
They arrived at the basement, and saw ten guards waiting for them. A guy in an overcoat came forward and revealed himself. It was Morgan.
Joey was the only one who didn’t recognize the guy.
Morgan asked the guards to lay down the bodies of two guards that Vik had shot.
“I see you are learning well, Jay,” said Morgan. “Two bodies in two days.”
“You were a great teacher,” said Vik.
“We had a deal,” said Morgan.
“What deal?” asked Vik.
“Not talking to you. Talking to Kate,” said Morgan.
Emma looked surprised. So was Joey.
“Kate, what is he talking about?” asked Emma. Kate was silent.
Morgan said, “I’ll tell you. She made a deal with my employer. She delivers us Jay. We let you and the girl go, which of course now includes your little broken pet too.”
He smiled, sadistically.
He asked two guards to grab Vik. Vik tried to resist but he was easily overpowered.
Morgan continued, “Kate, you better walk out, before we change our mind and hold you all, too.”
“Let’s go,” said Kate.
Emma didn’t walk forward.
“Let’s go, Emma. Now!” said Kate.
“We got to go, Emma. Let’s go, Emma,” said Joey.
“Oh, one more thing,” said Morgan. “I got a present for you.”
He opened a car door of an SUV behind him. Eric and Ginny exited the vehicle.
“Do you want them or should I just keep them?” said Morgan.
“They weren’t a part of this. Eric and the girl comes with me. You get him, I get my team back,” said Kate.
“Okay, if you say so,” said Morgan. “Here.”
Morgan threw a key to Kate.
“For the ride home, and I mean home. Don’t show up here, again or we’ll kill every single person in your town,” said Morgan. “Now you better run, Kate. You have twenty seconds before I change my mind.”
Kate, Emma, Eric, Joey and Ginny ran towards a car parked fifty yards away. Kate unlocked the car. Eric pushed Ginny into the car and told Emma to get in, while he waited for Joey who was running slowly due to a leg wound. Emma, Kate and Eric were standing outside the car.
Morgan reached the end of the countdown, “9….8.”
Kate, Eric and Emma got in the car, when Joey was only twenty feet away.
Vik looked at them in fury and pushed the guard standing on his right. He grabbed a gun from the guard’s belt on his left, and shot at Joey’s right leg.
Joey fell on the ground, writhing in pain.
Morgan continued, “4..3”
They tried getting out of the car to help Joey, but saw that all the guards were pointing their machine guns at them.
Emma and Kate looked furiously at Vik, who smiled.
Morgan said, “1.”
Kate drove the car, narrowly missing the first round of bullets fired by the guards.
“No, no, no, no, no,” said Emma in anger. Kate didn’t utter a word. Eric hugged Ginny, who was visibly scared.
Morgan asked the guards to pick up Joey, and take him to the medic floor.
“Jay, let’s go. Your new master bedroom awaits,” said Morgan.
Vik was thrown in a cell on the 50th floor which was more secure of the two. The temperature was lowered to below freezing, as he laid on the floor, trembling. The temperature would automatically change periodically for few minutes before fluctuating again. Vik would smile whenever that happened.
After five hours, couple of guards came and took him. He was put in a conference room on the 52nd floor, with his hands taped to the chair arms. Few minutes later, Olivia entered.
“Your friend is alive. Just a flesh wound,” said Olivia.
“Sorry, a bigger gun was harder to obtain,” said Vik.
“You’ve lost Jay, again,” said Olivia.
“When did I lose the first time?” asked Vik.
Olivia laughed. “I thought it was rather obvious. Only thing now is there are far less casualties.”
“I doubt that,” said Vik.
“See that look on your face? That’s arrogance. Thinking that you can outsmart anyone. Out-think anyone. Everyone. But you lost,” said Olivia.
“Yet, I’m alive,” said Vik.
“Not for long,” said Olivia.
“You always were a terrible liar. You’ve been keeping me alive for a reason. Come on, tell me what it is. I won’t bite,” said Vik.
Olivia smiled.
“I’m surprised you could live with all you have done,” said Olivia.
“What exactly is that?” asked Vik.
“Of course, you don’t know. You don’t even want to face the truth. That’s why you decided to live in this bubble you created for yourself in this dead county. That’s what you did back then too. As long as it fit your narrative. Do you even know what the survival rate is?” said Olivia.
“Last I checked, it was 42?” said Vik.
“You’re off by around 17 points,” said Olivia.
Vik showed no compassion. Olivia wasn’t expecting any.
“Like Victor once said, every now and then, market corrects itself,” said Vik.
“If it makes you feel any better, he doesn’t hold a candle to you now,” said Olivia. “I feel like I deserve some recognition for disposing the likes of you.”
“You know why I never played poker with you? I didn’t want to rob you down to your skin. So, please stop pretending to be omnipotent. I know I’m your backup plan,” said Vik. “In case you don’t get what you want.”
“That’s true,” said Olivia. “But if things go as planned, you’ll be as useful to me as an umbrella inside a building. Bye, Jay. I’m afraid this is the last time you’ll see me.” She turned out and began to leave.
“I can help you,” said Vik.
“I doubt that,” said Olivia.
“Okay,” said Vik. “There’s a reason you let me play today. Come on, the dead guard. That should’ve rattled you but I didn’t feel any change in the building’s security. You wanted me here. I just didn’t want to let you down.”
Olivia walke
d out and a minute later, walked in again.
“Help me how?” asked Olivia.
“Just a mutually beneficial deal. You help me, I help you,” said Vik.
“What do you need?” asked Olivia.
“Sam, for starters,” said Vik.
She looked at the guard outside, and told her to bring Sam.
Few minutes later, Sam was brought to the room.
“You want your friend Joey, too?” asked Olivia.
“Keep him,” said Vik. “He’s useless for me now.”
“I’ll give you few moments to catch up,” said Olivia and left.
Olivia went to the 55th floor, and entered the room where Joey was receiving treatment.
“Hey, I got a message for you from your friend, Jay,” said Olivia.
She showed him the video clip of her conversation with Vik, cropped down to the last part.
“I’m afraid we can’t let you leave, but you can help by bringing down your friend,” said Olivia.
Joey stared at the phone for a minute.
“He’s not my friend,” said Joey.
“Great. Now get the other password from him,” said Olivia.
“Okay,” said Joey.
Olivia returned to the 52nd floor and went to the conference room.
“Okay, catch up time’s over. Back to your cells,” said Olivia.
She continued, “On second thought, I think all of you should share a cell together. Really spice things up for a change.”
They were taken to a cell on the 50th floor where Joey was also brought, in a wheelchair.
“Well, this is awkward,” said Sam, after a few minutes of silence. “Actually more like poetic justice.”
“Shut up, Sam,” said Vik.
“Don’t tell me to shut up, Jay,” said Sam.
“Sit down, Sam,” said Vik.
“Don’t tell me to sit down, Jay,” said Sam.
“Piss off, Sam,” said Vik.
“Don’t tell me to piss off, Jay,” said Sam.
Joey looked frustrated and yelled, “Oh for the love of god. Please shut up, both of you. Or shoot me now. This time, in my ears.”
“Sorry for your leg,” said Vik, a minute later. “I guess, I was angrier at Kate than you.”
“Its fine,” said Joey. “We all do unbelievable things in unimaginable times.”
“That’s what he does. Screws you over once you have outlived your purpose,” said Sam.
Vik didn’t say anything. He was just looking down at the floor.
After five minutes of deafening silence, Sam came over and sat beside Vik, while Joey rolled towards him.
She gave Vik a side hug on seeing his eyes tearing up.
“It’s going to be okay,” said Sam.
“I don’t know. I feel I’ve failed. Again,” said Vik.
“Look, whatever you did, it saved the life of Ginny. That’s more important than any of this,” said Joey.
“I’m sorry to have put you in that position,” said Vik. “It’s because of that drive, isn’t it?”
Joey nodded.
“What drive?” asked Sam.
“I gave him a thumb drive back at Stanton. It’s my life’s work. Olivia knew about it. In hindsight, my guess is that’s the only reason she masterminded a diversion for us. And I couldn’t let it all in the wrong hands. So I gave the drive to Joey before we arrived at Atlantis,” said Vik.
“They took it,” said Joey. “I had to give it to them.”
“I know. But they’ll need the passcodes. The first one I told Joey. The second one is only known to me, which they’ll never get from me,” said Vik.
“As long as you have the password, you’re going to stay alive,” said Sam.
“We all are,” said Vik.
They shared a group hug, while Olivia looked at them through the hidden surveillance camera.
The next morning, two guards came and took Joey. Vik tried to protect him, but was threatened with Joey and Sam’s life. Few minutes later, a video started on the panel behind them.
Joey was stripped down completely and thrown into a freezer. The second screen was Olivia telling Vik that Joey would die a slow, agonizing death. Several minutes passed.
“Stop!” yelled Vik. “I’ll give you the passcode. Just let him go.”
Olivia didn’t budge. Vik kept shouting, telling her to let Joey go.
“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. Just let him go. Let him go!”
A minute later, they saw the guards carry Joey out of the freezer.
The cell door opened and a guard escorted Vik to Olivia.
She was sitting in the conference room. Vik sat down across the table. Olivia took out the drive that they had gotten from Joey.
“You know, I believe that you planted this on Joey,” said Olivia.
“Why would I do that?” asked Vik.
“So that I’ll need you. You planned to have this conversation. Joey was just a pawn,” said Olivia.
“So you believe that I’ll risk something that important just for a conversation. The problem with arrogant people is that they believe that the world revolves around them,” said Vik.
“You think I’m arrogant? You of all people?” said Olivia.
“Yes. And that says a lot,” said Vik.
Olivia stopped smiling.
She asked for a laptop and plugged in the drive.
“Once I tell you the passcode, that laptop would be the most precious thing in the world. Hope it’s yours,” said Vik.
“Every laptop is mine,” said Olivia.
“That’s not what I meant,” said Vik.
Olivia thought about it for a minute and took out another laptop, from her bag. She plugged the drive in that one.
“You give me the wrong password, and you’re going to wish that your friends had died,” said Olivia. “I won’t walk out a loser in this arrangement. I can’t.”
“I changed my mind,” said Vik.
“What now?” asked Olivia.
“As soon as I give you the password, you’ll kill me, Joey and Sam,” said Vik.
“You should’ve thought about it earlier. Now, it’s too late,” said Olivia.
“I got all the time in the world,” said Vik, laying back in his chair.
“What do you want?” said Olivia, in anger.
“Let’s go for a ride. You, me, Sam and Joey,” said Vik.
“No, I don’t trust you,” said Olivia. “Hope you had said goodbye to Sam and Joey earlier.”
She went out.
“When have I ever broken your trust?” shouted Vik.
She stopped in the hallway and came back in.
“Every day when we were together. Every single day, you have lied to my face. I didn’t see it then. But I see things clearly now,” said Olivia.
“I never lied to you. I just didn’t tell you things,” said Vik. “If this Olivia 2.0 means so much to you, then take a risk. Show some courage, Olivia 2.0.”
She left. The guard was still positioned outside the room.
Half an hour later, she arrived with her laptop.
“Pick one you wish to save, Joey or Sam,” said Olivia.
“Sam,” said Vik.
She made a phone call and showed a video to Vik on the screen behind him that Sam was safely escorted outside the Atlantis perimeter. Vik saw as she ran towards the forest.
“She’s a smart girl. I believe she’ll make it out alive,” said Olivia. “As for Joey, I genuinely feel bad for him. As you can see, he’s enjoying some delicious lunch in the food court.”
“Thank you,” said Vik.
“Now the password,” said Olivia.
“You got the one Joey gave you?” asked Vik.
“Yeah,” said Olivia.
“What’s that?” asked Vik.
“dq5yq4w8s58j3,” said Olivia.
“Good. Enter that,” said Vik.
“We checked the thumb drive. It’s similar to the one we used to create at Verati.
One wrong attempt and the data is gone. Don’t play me,” said Olivia.
“I know. I hold the patent for it in my pseudo name. Now, enter his password first,” said Vik.
Olivia entered the password. The prompt asked for the second password.
“What’s the second password, Jay?” asked Olivia.
“There isn’t any. Press enter,” said Vik.
Olivia was astounded. She pressed the button without typing a letter.
The folders unlocked. Olivia browsed the files with a huge smile on her face.
“He had the password all along,” said Olivia.
“Yeah,” said Vik. “Told him he didn’t so we could have this conversation. The moment I revealed myself to you, I knew you would try to bargain for that drive. You’re the only one who knows it exists.”
Olivia called her guard and told him to take Vik to his cell.
The guard escorted Vik outside the room, when Olivia shouted, “Wait!”
“The files are encrypted,” said Olivia.
Vik turned around and said, “You want me to spoon feed you the entire thing? That information is more valuable than the world around you. Of course, it’s encrypted.”
“Decrypt it. Now!” exclaimed Olivia.
“It’s a 256 bit AES encryption. Use your stupid quantum supercomputer and decrypt it yourself,” said Vik.
“Where’s the key?” asked Olivia.
“I didn’t write it down. That stuff is powerful. You don’t want it to be out. Trust me, Olivia. Don’t do it,” said Vik.
“I have to,” said Olivia. “Take him away.”
Vik was taken to his cell. Joey was given a small bedroom apartment on the 64th floor. Olivia planned to keep him until the files were decrypted.
Most of the server resources were redirected towards the decryption process. Vik spent most of his time lying on the bed looking at the ceiling. Joey spent his day sleeping and eating.
After several hours, around 8 PM, Olivia came to Vik’s cell.
She asked the guard to wait outside.
Olivia took a seat next to Vik.
“I thought you would want to know about Sam,” said Olivia.
“What about her?” said Vik, still looking at the ceiling.
“She found, and destroyed, 4 more of our communication boxes. Now, all we have left is one. The people I work for, didn’t appreciate her attempt of sabotaging our operation and are now actively looking for her. I doubt she’ll make it past this week,” said Olivia.
