As I promised, it always gets better!

Chapter 14: The Outside

People are not meant to be trapped in white rooms. It does things to them. Stormkrigeren was pretty sure it made her insane because only an insane person would try to escape so close to being released.

It had been obvious from the start that she was meant to be in the Outside. War assassins did their deeds on the battlefield, not trapped in some damn laboratory. As she grew older, it became more obvious, though the event was rarely discussed. Mr. Wilson would occasionally mention plans for her to work with a mercenary team and revealed that she was meant to complete assignments with them until it was finally decided she was ready to fly solo, albeit under Lex's attentive eye.

"One of the Demon's Head's covert action teams," Mr. Wilson had answered casually when Stormkrigeren had asked who she would be working with. "Not the best in the business, but they get a little action from time to time. They'll get you the experience you need, and some recognition to boot."

"What if I do not want to work with them?" she had questioned, and he'd raised an accusatory eyebrow at that.

"You're a student of Deathstroke the Terminator. You should be honored the Daughter even considered accepting you," he replied in a low voice, "though Luthor's pockets might have helped a bit."

Stormkrigeren had frowned at that, but Mr. Wilson only nodded as he'd picked up his blade to continue their training.

"Do not waste the opportunity, Storm."

Despite her efforts to rebel against Lex's plans for her, she knew Mr. Wilson was right and the prospect of completing her training in the Outside was thrilling. Out there she could do what she was meant to do, and she could do it without the threat of white walls for the rest of her life. Out there she could be free. The problem with having more opportunities to be free of Lex's grip was that there were more opportunities for him to tighten it, which meant she would have to get out soon. But Lex had been right all those times he had gently reminded her of the truth: the Rooms were not exactly an easy place to escape from.

She did have a few things to her advantage, the most important being a doctoral-level degree in cybersecurity, which had led to Lex allowing her to "use that smart little head" of hers and write some of the code involved in keeping LexCorp's new LexOperating System up and running. LexOS just so happened to be the system involved in all the automated aspects of the LexCorp Research Park and its outer buildings, which included her Rooms.

Her first issue was the constant scrutiny of her computer activity. Dr. Schreyer, and subsequently Lex, could see everything she did via a monitoring application. Stormkrigeren had tried not to laugh when it'd first been installed and simply tweaked the software so it couldn't track anything she did using the Onion Browser. Occasionally reloading other applications created the perfect alibi for anyone tracking her actions.

It was not that hard to get into the operating system's main server as somehow Lex's genius had forgotten to revoke her permission status as a low-level monitor, so signing in took her all of twenty seconds. It took her another hour to weave through the various directories of companies that used LexOS until she found the one she wanted.

As a subsidiary of LexCorp, it was only natural that Lex Construction would use the operating system, and like any well-run business, kept all of their records neatly organized and compiled on the online server, practically waiting for Stormkrigeren to sift through them until she came across the multi-level blueprints for the LexCorp Research Park's various buildings. The documents were not as accurate as she had hoped and had barely any information on the schematics of her Rooms, only listing them as 'Private Storage Units' with minimal electrical mechanics located below one of the smaller buildings, but it would have to do.

The next step would be to dig deeper into the operating system's code in search of the electrical portals that powered her Rooms when she was confronted with the disastrous problem of having what the computer called 'limited access'. After about twenty minutes of swearing under her breath and taking it out on the punching bag, Stormkrigeren sat back down determined to continue.

Her initial plan was to 'borrow' an access code from an unsuspecting monitor, but that would be too complicated, and unfortunately, this wasn't the 1980s where she could sneak in the backdoor with a Joshua password. Yet even with the technology of the 21st century, it was a war game nonetheless.

A DDoS-attack would be blatantly obvious, and in all likelihood would be shut down within seconds, but would still provide a good distraction while she tried to convince the computer to give her unlimited access. Orchestrating both attacks was a bit of an effort, made even harder when she had to route both of them through multiple VPNs and virtual machines to evade detection, but her hard work paid off. The server granted her a temporary all-access passcode after she had finally convinced it that she was only an innocent maintenance coder.

To keep her operation discreet and unnoticed, Stormkrigeren allowed herself a short day of complete normalcy after saving her progress and clearing any evidence of her movements from her computer and the server. Learning, working, and training continued as usual, though she could not shake the sense that Mr. Wilson suspected something as they went through series after series of high-intensity krav maga drills.

"You're slipping," he panted, his fist swinging close, but she easily dodged the blow.

"I'm feinting," she countered and quickly gained a strong position to aim a strike at his side. It barely missed him.

"Nervous?"

The question made her tense just as he landed a punch on her shoulder, though she didn't let it stop her for even a moment as she shook her head. " Is there any reason I should be?"

"You're going to be let Outside. He's already organizing assignments for you and the merc team," Mr. Wilson growled in reply, bringing his leg up for a powerful kick. Stormkrigeren saw the move just in time and deflected it.

"I will complete them to the best of my ability," she replied calmly. Her teacher nodded and the lesson continued, the conversation deemed over. She got back to working on her escape plan the next morning, this time with a renewed passion for the taste of freedom.

From there, it only took another week of weaving through the lists of indexes and routers and switches, bypassing security at every checkpoint to eventually obtain live camera feeds of the LexCorp Research Park. Being just the humble laboratory of a philanthropic billionaire, there were hardly any guards stalking the clean halls, only a few scientists, assistants, and the occasional security guard appearing in the areas Stormkrigeren would have to pass through to reach the nearest emergency exit.

The other advantage of having unlimited access was her newfound ability to give commands directly to the system's script, which meant she could wreak havoc if she had the time. Stormkrigeren was tempted to throw a wrench into Lex's revered operating system, but any monitors might start to suspect something if she gave the server too many commands in such a short span of time. It would be enough to simply be out from under his control before she took her revenge for everything he had done to her, yet for now, Stormkrigeren decided to keep it simple and refrain from doing much more than initiating an electrical fault in the Watching Room.

Obviously, she was not idiot enough to do it immediately and alert anyone to her plan before she was fully prepared.

The next week was spent immersing herself in Google Map's street view of the surrounding city, memorizing the location of every gas station and Greyhound stop in Metropolis, especially along the route she would have to take to escape to relative safety. From her limited view, the City of Tomorrow seemed like a nice place to experience, but she had neither the time or the freedom to properly see the coast city in all its glory. Her focus was mostly on making her way out of the United States and into Canada, where hopefully she could catch a plane bound for India and quickly disappear into the mountains before contacting Mr. Wilson. There was the chance the assassin would come after her, but Stormkrigeren had known him for years and was confident that he would only give chase if there was a price on her head big enough to interest him. She would cross that bridge when she came to it, if she ever reached it. For now, her only goal was a chance at life without Lex in it, and Stormkrigeren knew she would kill to make that goal reality.

One interesting thing about automated doors is that according to the State of Delaware's detailed building laws, they were required to unlock and open automatically in the case of a fire or an electrical fault. Causing a fire, though tempting, was a bit of a hassle simply because of how often she worked with fire both in her training with Mr. Wilson and her daily studies, so her Rooms had not been installed with smoke detectors and convincing the doors would require more time than she had. Her other option was an electrical fault that would have to A, not affect the Wi-Fi signal, and B, remain limited to her Rooms and the Watching Room. Keeping the blackout limited to the lower levels of the building made sure that whoever was watching her would not be able to spread the news that the Project was escaping. Causing the fault would be easy and only required a few simple commands to the LexOS running the building to shut off power and a few additional tweaks to LexCorp Research Park's safety system would craftily keep the 'emergency' limited to her Rooms, and then the doors should open by themselves.

Despite the hundreds of times she had told herself that hesitation for reminiscence would be a waste of time, Stormkrigeren allowed herself one more day to mentally prepare herself. Mr. Wilson was thankfully on a contract out of the country, she had no reason to say goodbye to him and he would only criticize how tense she was. She tried to work it off by training and practicing drills on her punching bag, attempting to seem as normal as possible to avoid suspicion, yet Stormkrigeren could not shake off the nervous excitement that came with the possibility of experiencing the Outside.

The lights turned off at exactly four-forty-eight AM that night. Following the rules that had structured her entire life in the Rooms, Stormkrigeren obediently closed her laptop and made her way to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She kept her back to the kitchen camera as she passed through the small room and with practiced ease blocked its view of the kitchenette's utensil drawer. It only took a second for her to find the utility knife and slip it into her training pants as she entered the bathroom, where she followed the schedule as normal. Stormkrigeren spent the next fifteen minutes showering, brushing her hair, and changing into a fresh pair of baggy training sweatpants, a loose long-sleeved sports shirt, and her running shoes, glaring at herself in the mirror the entire time. The silver streak she had dyed into her hair last year had almost faded away by now, and the scar through her left eyebrow was showing again, but she still had her good looks and stormy blue eyes.

Stormkrigeren opened the mirror cupboard to grab her sole possession, the key-spike that was the only inheritance she had. She fingered it for a long moment, adjusting the wide end between her third and fourth fingers like a shank before tucking it safely into her bra. The utility knife back in the waist of her pants and her hair done up in a braid, Stormkrigeren left the small bathroom and the traumas that had occurred within behind her.

Her breath caught in her throat as she stepped back into the overwhelming darkness that filled the main Room, but she did not allow the fear to cloud her mind as she moved towards her desk. Stormkrigeren knew she had maybe twenty or so seconds before the Watcher on duty noticed that she was deviating from the schedule, and another forty before they did anything about it. Opening her laptop, she brought up a pre-loaded tab in her browser for her purchased Greyhound ticket and quickly prepared the file to send to the unsecured Wi-Fi printer upstairs. A few more clicks of the tap pad brought her to the basis of the network she had spent the last month meticulously diving through, the code's insertion point blinking expectantly for her to execute the command that would set her escape in motion. She silently rested her finger on the Enter key, the light from the screen illuminating her face as she took a deep breath and glared up at the Watching Room window.

"Long live the Stormkrigeren," she smiled, "The Game ends here."

After a minute of scrambling in the dark for her flashlight, Lisa eventually found it and with a sigh tried to open up the electrical box while holding the torch in her mouth. The Project probably would not even notice the blackout, and it wasn't like Lisa could contact anyone to fix the problem with the landline refusing to cooperate.

"Stupid thing," she muttered, glaring at the rows of switches and wires that confronted her, "I'm a psychologist and a pediatrician, not a damn electrician-"

"But I am."

Dr. Schreyer froze as she felt the steel come to rest beneath her chin and she suddenly remembered her phone in her back pocket, but Stormkrigeren reached it first.

"What do you want-" the doctor started to say when the assassin's hand came over her mouth.

"You know what I want," she whispered in reply, "When you wake up, tell him that I will not hesitate to kill anyone who comes after me. So consider this mercy and get some sleep."

The knife was removed from her throat and Lisa felt the butt of the handle hit her skull with a sharp crack before promptly losing consciousness.

Stormkrigeren caught the body as the doctor slumped into her arms and gently lowered her to the floor. She considering tying her up, but that would waste precious time and the older woman was in no shape to give chase even if she was awake. Turning off the woman's flashlight, she made her way down the long concrete hall, where exactly as the stolen blueprints had predicted, she found the elevator - the only way out of the Rooms. She had been extra careful in making sure that it remained powered during the electrical fault and it worked perfectly when she pressed the single button pointing upwards. The doors slid open with a soft ping and Stormkrigeren stepped inside but didn't stay long, hopping up on the support railing to force the maintenance panel up. The few screws that held it in place snapped under her blow and Stormkrigeren leaned back down to select the button for the first level before hopping up through the new hole in the ceiling out onto the top of the car. It only took her a few moments to complete the entire process and replace the maintenance panel, leaving a small crack so that she could see inside the elevator as the cables tightened and pulled the lift upwards.

It was only then that Stormkrigeren realized how heavy she was breathing and her pulse was thundering unnaturally loud in her ears, probably caused by a mixture of excitement and the sudden change in atmosphere from her regulated Rooms. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself, shutting out the flood of sounds as the elevator slowed to a halt at the selected floor and the doors opened automatically. Only after she had counted twenty seconds did she finally descend from her hiding place and out into the clean white hall, mentally applauding herself for her impeccable timing. Most of the scientists employed at the research park would not arrive at work for a few more hours, and Stormkrigeren only had to sneak past one nightguard and eight cameras to reach Laboratory 5. Its project file had said something about studying meteorites, but she had merely glanced over it and was far more interested in the fact that the research room was equipped with both a first aid kit and an unsecured printer connected to the internet.

Security had not bothered to change the factory passcode for the keypad to the lab door, and Stormkrigeren had no trouble breaking in and avoiding the security cameras while she found the first aid kit under a counter. Opening it up, she sifted through the plethora of treatment tools that were standard for rooms where chemical analysis was taking place, conveniently including an instant-cold pack and a morphine sulfate injection. Personally, Stormkrigeren was a little averse to using painkillers when a chug of whiskey could dull the pain just as well without any nasty side effects, but she was in a hurry and it would do the job. She stuffed both items into her pockets along with some bandages and alcohol wipes before dumping the other contents in the trash to take the first aid bag itself.

The printer had done its job and the Greyhound tickets were ready by the time she reached it. Neatly folding the papers, Stormkrigeren tucked them into her bra and silently headed for the nearest emergency exit a few doors down from the ransacked laboratory. There was a security camera aimed at it, but she had no trouble cracking the lens with her stolen knife before it was able to get a clear picture of her, and successfully slipped out without raising any alarms.

The fresh air hit her like a wall and Stormkrigeren almost stumbled as the roaring in her ears suddenly increased in volume till it felt like there was jet engine rumbling in her head, but she knew she could not let the pain stop her when she was so close to getting out. Gritting her teeth, she mentally went over what she had learned about the area from studying Google Maps' imagery. The first obstacle would be the thirty-meter gap between her building and the fence surrounding LexCorp Research Park, then there were the three cameras that if aimed correctly might catch a glimpse of the muscular young woman legging it across the parking lot. Luck was with her and all of them eventually turned to another direction just long enough for her to sprint to and hide behind the bush conveniently growing against the fence. Stormkrigeren spread out the empty first aid bag into a sort of clumsy mat, resisting the urge to cover her ears against the noise in her head as she arranged it over the five strands of barbed wire on the top of the fence. The bag was not as tough as she had hoped, but it worked to protect her from the barbs as she clambered over the wall, panting hard as she dropped to the sidewalk on the other side. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, but she did not stop to rest and instead turned towards the skyscrapers in the distance and ran like her life depended on it, because for all she knew, it did.

Once Stormkrigeren was out of sight of the Research Park, she forced herself to slow down to a moderate jog. Hopefully, anyone who saw her would think she was only an early-morning runner and not bother trying to stop her before she reached her destination. She had memorized directions to a gas station a little over three klicks away, chosen because it had an ATM that allowed cash-withdrawals using only a PIN, not to mention a bathroom. The noises in her head were getting louder with every step and she struggled to shut them out and carry on. Something was wrong with her eyes as well, her vision flickering now and again as weird versions of her surroundings appeared and vanished. It occurred to her that Lex might have poisoned her with something that reacted with the air Outside and caused a sensory overload, but Stormkrigeren was able to control the effects enough to stop the hallucinations and reduce the noise down to a low buzzing, so she doubted it was the results of a drug. She didn't have the time to wonder why her senses were so overstimulated and carried on running.

The sky was still dark when she reached the gas station she had chosen on the outskirts of Metropolis, but the sun would be up in about half-an-hour and her bus left around the same time. Stormkrigeren slowed her pace as she approached the building, trying to look casual for anyone watching and resisting the urge to stare at the two people filling their cars. It had been almost a year since she had seen anyone new and she found it fascinating watching them move and speak, but she did not dare stay long and instead concentrated on keeping her face out of view of any cameras.

Finding the ATM, she quickly signed into her account using an authentication PIN and withdrew as much money as it would allow in fifty-dollar-bills. She had done a lot of work online throughout her life in the Rooms but had never needed to purchase anything, so she had a considerable stash at her disposal, as long as Lex did not close the account.

Stepping inside the station, she was immediately hit with a fresh wave of sights, smells, and sounds threatening to overwhelm her again, but she quickly shut it out as she moved through the small shop. Stormkrigeren grabbed a large water and couple pre-made meals from one of the fridges, then a backpack, a trucker hat, and a souvenir sweatshirt with a picture of the Metropolis skyline emblazoned on the front before bringing her pile to the checkout counter. The tired cashier did not even bat an eye when Stormkrigeren added a cigarette lighter and began scanning the items, only pausing once to ask if she wanted a bag.

"No, thank you," she answered politely, packing her purchases into the backpack.

"All right. Yer total's forty-six dollars and seventy cents."

Stormkrigeren handed over one of her fifties and accepted the change as she hefted the bag over her shoulder before asking, "Where is the bathroom?"

The cashier pointed out the woman's sign on a door next to a rack of chips, and Stormkrigeren thanked her before going inside. Choosing the stall that looked the cleanest, she put the toilet seat down and locked the door before emptying her pockets.

By now, she had been out of the Rooms for almost twenty-five minutes, which meant she maybe had ten before her escape was discovered and Lex sent someone to follow the tracker embedded in her hip. And that meant she only had five minutes to get rid of it.

First things first, she snapped the activator inside the ice pack and pulled her pants down enough to press it over the small bump on her left hip. While it numbed the area, she broke the seal on the morphine sulfate injector and wiped the skin with an alcohol wipe before lining up the needle, but it refused to penetrate her skin. She swore as it bent skew and tried again, but it just bent even more. She did not have the time for this or to wonder when the hell her skin had gotten this tough, so swearing under her breath, she grabbed the stolen utility knife and the not-stolen lighter, turning the flame on under the knife to sterilize it. The process took a good thirty seconds before she was able to use the blade to carefully made a small slit in her skin and inserted the needle to administer the localized dose. The morphine worked quickly while she sterilized the knife again, then Stormkrigeren made another, larger incision immediately above the small bump on her hip. Gritting her teeth, she used the knife to dig out the small disc-shaped tracker, eventually removing it without too much damage to the surrounding area. Now came the hard part.

She heated the knife again, hotter than before and kept the flame focused on the flat side instead of the tip. Once again she wished she had some whiskey to dull the pain, but gritted her teeth instead and pressed the hot knife against the wound. Stormkrigeren did not flinch as the heat cauterized the injury and calmly removed the blade after a few moments. After wiping the area again and applying a bandage, she hurriedly packed up her supplies, pulling on the sweatshirt and trucker hat while everything else went into her bag, but the knife she kept tucked out of sight in the hem of her pants. It had worked, but she would have to get a better one soon.

Exiting the building, she found a car at one of the pumps with its passenger window open just enough for her to slip the tracking disk inside before she left the gas station, half-hoping whatever mercs came after her would not give the car's owner too much trouble. Putting the thought behind her, Stormkrigeren quickened her pace to a steady jog as she headed towards the nearest Greyhound stop just over a klick away. She had her ticket already, though security might give her a little crap for not having any identification, but Stormkrigeren knew she would be fine with just a confirmation code and at the most, an eighteen-dollar fee. The bus for New York City left in twenty minutes, and the sun was just beginning to light up the night sky to the east. Stormkrigeren was still was not sure what her freedom had cost, but it was definitely worth it.