I cannot take this.
I didn’t have “some time” to waste. I didn’t even need to see Mr. Dirtbag Jenkins, CEO. Not when I knew which floor was my destination. And it might be better if I didn’t see him, not until I was leaving at the earliest.
The older woman blinked at me again, still giving every impression that she was a few seconds from naptime . . . or perhaps bored with life at the top of her son’s world. Boredom could make anyone lazy.
That realization brought me an idea, one that could work. I snapped my fingers and said, “Oh, shoot! I’m such a dumb bunny!”
The woman looked at me like I can’t believe you just called yourself that. I wanted to say Me neither. But that wouldn’t get the job done.
And this was a job. If I didn’t execute my part of the plan, none of the rest mattered. Devin was probably down there getting initiated into the experiment right this second.
The thought spurred me into motion. I stood and crossed to the desk, messenger bag still looped over my shoulder.
“I left my notebook downstairs in the lobby. I’ll just hop down there in the elevator and get it. I’m so glad I realized now and not when I’d have to keep Mr. Jenkins waiting. Good thing he’s going to be awhile. I just need that key, and I’ll be right back.”
Only then, so as not to appear over-eager, did I let my hand dart out to grab the key from the desk.
“I don’t—” the woman started.
I brandished it. Triumphant. “I’ll be right back. You stay here. Don’t move a muscle. Rest. I wouldn’t dream of making you go back down. I can tell this is an exhausting job.”
I closed the key into my fist and backed away, going slowly at first, then speeding up and turning around to hit the call button. The elevator binged and opened in an instant, eager to please its master.
And I was inside, jamming the key into the opening above the rows of buttons and tracing my hands down the rows in tandem to push the fifth floor and the door close buttons at the same time.
The doors whisked shut and the car dropped rapidly, with beep after beep as it flew past floors. I raised my hand to salute my fellow elvish warrior princess.
“Here comes the cavalry,” I said.
The elevator came to a smooth halt, and I tried to prepare myself for whatever came next. When the doors opened onto the fifth floor, I stepped out, crossing my fingers that SmallvilleGuy had counted the beeps on the recording correctly.
Gone was the bright white and sterile air of the lobby and the top floor. This was more like the hall to the Morgue. Well, not quite that bad, but close enough.
Everything was clean, but the walls were a light gray and the overhead lights seemed purposefully dull, casting a low, diffuse glow that made everything look like part of a nightmare.
The question was, where on this floor were they?
I pocketed the key from the elevator and moved farther into the hallway, listening as hard as I could. I took care to keep my thick boot soles from making noise, and I swung my messenger bag around so that it was accessible.
The first room that had voices coming from inside also had an open door, and I paused outside it. From where I stood, I could see a row of techs manning a bank of flat screens and keyboards and other equipment. They were also miked with headsets that curled around in front of their lips, presumably to allow communication with whoever was on the other side of the wall of one-way glass they stared at. The men at the controls were typing or adjusting knobs, swearing excitedly and nodding their heads at what was beyond the glass. There was one woman among them, but she wasn’t talking nearly as much as the others, her face pinched in disapproval.
I couldn’t see through the one-way glass from this angle, but it seemed like a safe enough bet this was the control room for the experiment. And that the rest of the workers running it, with that one disapproving exception, were far more gung ho than the man from the recording, the one SmallvilleGuy had been in contact with through the developer forum.
Judging from their chatter, today’s session was in full swing. There might have been things to learn from eavesdropping on them, but today wasn’t only about discovery. It was about disruption.
I kept going, continuing up the hall. If I was right, the one-way glass meant the next room would be the one I needed to find. I’d see Project Hydra in full-throttle mode.
I pulled aside the flap of my messenger bag and moved to the next doorway, which was also open.
And I stopped, gaping at what I saw in front of me. Had I somehow stepped out of reality and into the game?
But it wasn’t the game in any way I’d ever seen it.
CHAPTER 25