I said angrily, “Why was no one notified of the emergency calling light? Where was the nighttime security? And …” John interrupted me and said, “Glass room is limited to high leveled personnel that possesses a certain level of authority in this compound. Not even machines can access it.” I quickly said, “Well, I can go into to the glass room.” He said quietly, “Yes you can. And you are authorized to go into the Project Merge sector too.” I gasped and said, “Since when? Why me?”
John looked at me for a few seconds, and opened his mouth to say something but Zack furiously said with a loud voice, “We don’t have time for this. She has to go in! Now!” My eyes widened and I stared at them. Joseph said with a demanding tone, “You first.”
I remembered growing up in the Triangle compound and was taught that everyone here has earned their social place based on intelligence and skills. I always wondered why Zack and Joseph were in their position as only right hand men to John. They couldn’t replace John until he died it seemed. Yet, John possessed something that Zack and Joseph will never have; a commanding power, high intelligence, and compassion.
I started walking slowly down the corridor and then turned to the left. I saw a long empty faint hallway. I looked up and there were no surveillance cameras hidden anywhere. The ceiling was clear. John looked at me and gestured that I should keep walking. We walked down the hallway and I saw a metal door with a strange symbol in the middle of it. It was an upside triangle with and M on top of each other but almost connected. I didn’t know what it meant, but John sighed as he was looking at it and said, “There is the security panel on the right side to open the door. It requires you to insert your arm in the hole below, and your head in the upper small indentation area to identify you.”
“How did John know that?” I thought to myself.
I walked to the right and I saw the lower hole. I lifted my arm slowly and inserted my right hand. I glided my hand inside the hole, then my elbow and the rest of my arm. I felt two metal objects squeezing my arm in place, then the screen above the hole turned on and one word appeared in green, “Go.”
I placed my head near the indentation. I didn’t know how far in it I should shift my head into, but I kept moving my head forward. I then heard a click and a faint blue light glowed. I heard John say, “It worked.”
I moved my head back, and I tried to remove my arm from the hole. I glimpsed at the screen right above the arm hole and it blinked continuously with two words in purple, “Sara Authorized.” I was confused and stared at the screen. I kept my arm in the hole, John sighed heavily, and dumbfounded by my reaction to what the screen read. He said, “Lina… It’s not the time to explain.”
I stared at John and unconsciously moved my arm out. The door was sliding slowly to the left, and another short hallway appeared. It had a black door at the end of it. John hesitated and looked worried. He stared at me and said, “There is an invisible shield in this hallway that only allows authorized individuals pass it. Anyone else will die by the laser beams that strike from every corner.”
I looked at him shocked and I said, “Really? There are laser beams?” He was wide eyed and said, “You need to take your gun out and stay alert. Find Ellen. We are counting on you.