she’s seeing. Why would the system radically change the air?
Miranda is starting to panic. She is completely trapped. There’s no way forward and no way back. The key-finder is going wild, almost a continuous beep. She twists in the hot darkness, and finds a loose steel plate above her. She manages to raise her foot and kick at the plate. It’s not bolted, and flies away.
Felix’s rotting corpse falls on top of her.
Miranda screams, fighting off the maggot-infested cadaver as it leaks over her neck and arms, its putrefying face falling against hers, its stomach bursting open in a liquefied mess, releasing its gases. Fumes roll off the body, travelling up through the ventilation shafts, all the way to the sensors in Room 3014 …
… which go wild as they try to rebalance the air composition.
The sensors react to the rotting cadaver, sending chemical gauges into red-zone overload.
An electronic alarm starts whining somewhere. Lights flash. It’s never a good sign when systems in public places do this.
Bathed in pulsing crimson light, Ben and Meera see the startling effect on the sensors. They are connected to tanks of air additives, the mechanical valves of which start rotating. Now they are unstoppably turning by themselves, until they are wide open.
‘Whoa!’ Meera jumps back. ‘Something big just hit the sensors.’
‘Was it something we did?’
‘I think we should get out of here.’ The pair of them duck out of the room, shutting the door behind them.
Above Swan’s desk, next to his framed Bible quotes, a sensor light starts pulsing red. Newly toxic air is pumping out of the vent above him. He’s sweating, and Bible-thumping mad.
Above Clarke’s head, too, a sensor light starts pulsing as poisoned air pours through the vent in an unpleasantly warm stream.
Above Fitch’s head, an identical sensor light pulses as the deadly air pumps in more heavily than ever before.
Air vents above all of the remaining working staff start to deliver corrupt air as the remaining green LEDs switch over to red.
In the security guards’ station, the same thing is happening. Poisoned air pumps in, and red lights flash. One guard pulls his Taser from his holster, and cracks it into life with a wicked grin.
All over the building, the air is being replaced.
8. FRIDAY 12:07 PM
Miranda desperately hammers on the wall of the pipe. The matching key on Felix’s collapsed, putrid body is flashing with the finder. She can’t move back because the corpse is blocking her exit. There’s no way of moving forward. The air is clouding up, getting hard to breathe.
Through every floor, staff members are feeling the effects of the contaminated air. Collars are torn open, work is stamped on and thrown into bins – it’s an effect they have been feeling for weeks, but infinitely multiplied.
Clarke comes out of his office, looking crazed. He sees Ben’s, Meera’s and Miranda’s empty workstations. ‘Where are they?’ he asks, in his softest, most menacing tone. ‘What the bloody hell is going on around here?’ He ignores the fact that half his staff seem to be missing. That’s the trouble with obsessives; they home in on one thing and won’t leave it alone. ‘Young people think they’re so clever,’ he rants. ‘We’ll see about that. Why is there no discipline in this office?’
Swan picks up his Bible and moves towards June’s desk. ‘Miss Ayson, you always know where they are.’
‘I’m sorry, Mr. Swan, I don’t,’ June is happy to tell him. ‘And I wouldn’t tell you if I did.’
‘Then we’ll find them together,’ grits Swan. ‘It’s time we made an example of these slackers for Mr Clarke.’
He drags the surprised June toward the fire escape stairs.
Meera and Ben call the lift – none of the lifts have a thirtieth floor marked, but apparently they do come up here. They look up at one of the giant hissing ventilator grilles, working right above their heads. Ben studies it suspiciously.
Miranda is starting to panic. She is completely trapped. There’s no way forward and no way back. The key-finder is going wild, almost a continuous beep. She twists in the hot darkness, and finds a loose steel plate above her. She manages to raise her foot and kick at the plate. It’s not bolted, and flies away.
Felix’s rotting corpse falls on top of her.
Miranda screams, fighting off the maggot-infested cadaver as it leaks over her neck and arms, its putrefying face falling against hers, its stomach bursting open in a liquefied mess, releasing its gases. Fumes roll off the body, travelling up through the ventilation shafts, all the way to the sensors in Room 3014 …
… which go wild as they try to rebalance the air composition.
The sensors react to the rotting cadaver, sending chemical gauges into red-zone overload.
An electronic alarm starts whining somewhere. Lights flash. It’s never a good sign when systems in public places do this.
Bathed in pulsing crimson light, Ben and Meera see the startling effect on the sensors. They are connected to tanks of air additives, the mechanical valves of which start rotating. Now they are unstoppably turning by themselves, until they are wide open.
‘Whoa!’ Meera jumps back. ‘Something big just hit the sensors.’
‘Was it something we did?’
‘I think we should get out of here.’ The pair of them duck out of the room, shutting the door behind them.
Above Swan’s desk, next to his framed Bible quotes, a sensor light starts pulsing red. Newly toxic air is pumping out of the vent above him. He’s sweating, and Bible-thumping mad.
Above Clarke’s head, too, a sensor light starts pulsing as poisoned air pours through the vent in an unpleasantly warm stream.
Above Fitch’s head, an identical sensor light pulses as the deadly air pumps in more heavily than ever before.
Air vents above all of the remaining working staff start to deliver corrupt air as the remaining green LEDs switch over to red.
In the security guards’ station, the same thing is happening. Poisoned air pumps in, and red lights flash. One guard pulls his Taser from his holster, and cracks it into life with a wicked grin.
All over the building, the air is being replaced.
8. FRIDAY 12:07 PM
Miranda desperately hammers on the wall of the pipe. The matching key on Felix’s collapsed, putrid body is flashing with the finder. She can’t move back because the corpse is blocking her exit. There’s no way of moving forward. The air is clouding up, getting hard to breathe.
Through every floor, staff members are feeling the effects of the contaminated air. Collars are torn open, work is stamped on and thrown into bins – it’s an effect they have been feeling for weeks, but infinitely multiplied.
Clarke comes out of his office, looking crazed. He sees Ben’s, Meera’s and Miranda’s empty workstations. ‘Where are they?’ he asks, in his softest, most menacing tone. ‘What the bloody hell is going on around here?’ He ignores the fact that half his staff seem to be missing. That’s the trouble with obsessives; they home in on one thing and won’t leave it alone. ‘Young people think they’re so clever,’ he rants. ‘We’ll see about that. Why is there no discipline in this office?’
Swan picks up his Bible and moves towards June’s desk. ‘Miss Ayson, you always know where they are.’
‘I’m sorry, Mr. Swan, I don’t,’ June is happy to tell him. ‘And I wouldn’t tell you if I did.’
‘Then we’ll find them together,’ grits Swan. ‘It’s time we made an example of these slackers for Mr Clarke.’
He drags the surprised June toward the fire escape stairs.
Meera and Ben call the lift – none of the lifts have a thirtieth floor marked, but apparently they do come up here. They look up at one of the giant hissing ventilator grilles, working right above their heads. Ben studies it suspiciously.
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