A guard kept their eyes glued onto a security camera, a general annoyance overwhelming him. "How long has John been at the john?" he asked with frustration oozing from his voice.
Another of the two guards in the room turned to him. "Half an hour," she said as she placed one of many cell keys back onto the wall of keys.
The guard just brought his hands to his unmasked face, "this is why everyone gets mad at him. He wants to get promoted, and yet he pulls stunts like this!"
Before anyone could respond to him, an alarm from outside the security room went off.
"What's going on," he said, panic now in his voice.
"It's just the fire alarm!" she said as she quickly grabbed her protective mask visor from on top of one of the monitors. "Protocol is to exit the building before we burn to a cinder."
The other two guards compiled and grabbed their protective masks, rushing out the door in hopes of escaping the incoming flames.
Susan watched as the trio ran out of the room in a panic, her mask visor in hand. Before the door to the security room could close, she slid it from her hiding spot, stopping the door from closing. She then looked up at the fire alarm as it suddenly stopped. It looked back at her. "Keep watch out here. Who knows how long before they realize they've been duped."
She quickly bolted to the door, snatching the mask before closing it behind her. With the numbers in mind, she began her search.
Zero removed the scarf and sunglasses that covered his face as they quietly entered Niki's private lab.
"So who else knows about this," Xero asked.
"No one else. I have not told a soul. I did have some suspicions beforehand, though. When you two came to me after your lunchroom fight with Zack, I was amazed by how quickly he could heel. So I told you both it was nothing unnatural and forged his medical records to reflect that." she looked at them coldly as she said, "if the council ever found out about his… condition, who knows what they would have done. Criminals like Vein have been using augmented people for years. The council might jump to the conclusion that Zero is some sort of double agent."
Xero looked at Niki, her arms across herself, her stone-cold face softening at Niki's confession. "Thank you," she finally said under her breath.
"So what is wrong with me," Zero asked bluntly.
"There is nothing wrong with you," Xero said as she put a hand on his shoulder. "This must just be some bad reaction to the medicine from yesterday."
Zero gave her a kind yet concerned smirk. "Can you tell me if this is a mutation or … something else?"
"I'm here to do what I can to help you," Niki said as he grabbed a lab coat off the nearby rack. "I just need a few samples from you. Blood, skin, and of course, a quick heart and lung check. I will compare these to the ones before your change."
"So where do we start?" he asked.
"I need you to remove your shirt so Xero can check your heart rat," she said as she tossed Xero a stethoscope.
"Wait! Why me?" Xero yelled as her face turned a rosy red.
"I need to get my equipment propped and Zero's old files. Besides, I need an assistant, "she said as she rushed to the door, giving Xero a slight wink as she left.
"I'm not qualified!" Xero yelled before turning back to Zero.
The duo just looked at one another, both faces as red as radishes.
"So I guess I-you- should remove your shirt," Xero said as her hands trembled onto the stethoscope.
"Yea," Zero said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Can you uh," he said as he made a spinning motion with his finger.
"Oh, of course," Xero said as she quickly spun away, only slightly turning her head back.
"ok," Zero finally said.
Xero slowly turned back to her shirtless partner, sitting upright on a medical bed in the middle corner of the room.
"You can do this. You already saw him shirtless last night," she whispered to herself as she slowly walked next to him. "So I'm going to press this," she said awkwardly, holding up the stethoscope, "on your chest."
"Right," he said as calmly as he could.
It was then that she had noticed several things she had missed before. His front two canines appeared sharper than they had before. He could easily pass for a vampire if he wanted to. He was also warmer than she had remembered, like a towel out of the dryer. "Was this because of his change or because of me," she wondered to herself.
"Uh, Xero," he finally whispered, breaking her back to attention. She realized her hand was no longer holding onto the stethoscope and was instead over his heart, its beat running to her touch.
She quickly pulled her hand away from him and held her hand within her grasp as though she had burned herself. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely, "I don't know why I did that."
He only reached out and placed her hand into his, "it's ok," he said sadly.
She looked into his new eyes and found the same comfort she had before.
"Xero, I-"
Suddenly Niki barged into the room, "sorry about the wait. I had to cross-reference with some inventory." She stopped in her tracks at the scene.
"It's not what it looks like," Xero said as she pulled her hand away.
Niki didn't say anything as she pulled out a voice recorder from her lab coat. "note, "she said into the device, "subject blood still appears to be red despite the change in pigmentation, at least according to flushness in the face. Yet, the subject appears to lack fingernails but now possesses oversized canines. Look into those patterns."
Niki then turned back to the duo, "Now for those samples," she said as she pulled out a large needle.
Zero felt his blood turn cold, and Xero grasped onto his hand, this time for his support.
Susan tucked the keys inside her stolen uniform as she then made her way to the security cameras. She then pulled out the USB chip she had brought in. as she plugged it up into the closest computer port, all the screens flickered for a moment. To the untrained eye, all looked well, but she knew. The USB had inserted a program that delayed the camera feed by 15 minutes to whatever cameras she selected. She moved the mouse cursor over several cameras that held the prisoners they were after. After placing the loop, she moved the cursor to the base's hangar bay video feed, her eyes already set on the plane they would use to escape. With a few clicks, the majority of the cameras were infected with the delay. Her hand stopped as she reached one camera that overlooked the entrance to the hanger bay. She felt a bead of sweat run down her face as she tried to reason with herself to infect the last camera, yet another voice within her said, "this is your last chance."
Susan and Katz both rushed from opposite sides of the same hall towards the elevator.
"Was your part successful," Katz whispered as he and Susan stood together waiting for the elevator.
"Yes," Susan said as she avoided looking him in the eye, a detail he failed to notice.
"Excellent," he said with excitement. "Now, let's get back and reproduce these keys."
They were about to rush into the elevator as the doors opened, that was until they witnessed the sole occupant within.
Barron Vein stood within the middle of the elevator, a frustrated frown on his face. "Come come now; I don't have all day."
"We'll take the next one, sir," Katz said quickly.
"This one is here now," Vein said coldly.
The duo slowly stepped inside, one on either side of him, hoping not to raise suspicion.
"Which floor," Vein asked.
"Main lobby," Susan said hesitantly as she struggled to bit her tongue.
The trio stood in silence as the elevator started to make its descent.
"Katz could feel the sweat racing down his face as he kept his head lowered, the whole time counting his blessings that Vein's henchmen wore masks.
They heard a ding as they hit the 3rd floor.
Vein exited the elevator, having now reached his destination.
Katz let out a sigh of relief as the doors began to close.
Suddenly a grey, death-like hand came between the closing doors, and Kats and Susan felt the breath leave their bodies.
"Wait a second," Vein said as he forced open the doors.
Katz and Susan could feel their breaths locked within their thoughts.
Vein looked at Katz coldly.
"John, I have personally evaluated your email regarding a possible promotion, and unfortunately, there are no positions you qualify for at the moment.
Katz let out his breath once again as he said, "I'm sorry to hear that."
Vein removed his hand with that now settled, and Katz and Susan continued their descent in silence.