Kenmei could feel her heart pounding through her whole body as she rode the elevator up to the seventh floor, a piece of paper crumbled tightly in her hand. Taking in a deep breath, she unfolded the paper, attempting to read the words as they shook with her trembling. On it was a detailed map of the seventh floor, describing each section and room location in detail. Scribbled on top was the notes she had taken over the past few weeks, observing the technician who worked there daily. Oddly enough, the break room was on this floor, so she was able to observe his routine. It was nearly identical every day, and she calculated the perfect times for her to complete her mission.
It had to be today. Judar was scheduled for extraction in two days, and she couldn't allow it to happen. She was prepared, dressed in shoes and clothing that she could easily run in if necessary. Unable to bring weapons into the building, she was defenseless, except for a letter opener she had found in her desk drawer last minute. The sharp end was slid into her pants while her top covered the handle, and she was ready to use it if necessary, hoping that she would be fast enough to escape.
Jumping in shock as the elevator gave a pleasant ding upon arrival, she quickly crumpled the paper into a messy fold before shoving it into her pocket, regaining her composure as she exited. The room was lively with the chatter from the nearby break room, one of the large double doors propped open. Casually, she made her way down the hall to the left, coming to stop at the large window that overlooked the facility. Her stomach churned as she watched one of the armed guards on his patrol, and she felt herself only growing more nervous.
You have to be quick, she told herself, crossing her arms over her chest as she tried to calm. Judar knows to watch for his cage opening… Just turn off the fence, and then open the door. Turn off the fence, open the door, and run. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, eyes moving to watch as one of the creatures was pulled from their habitat, limp. It was the orange one with white hair that she had marked for extraction a few days ago, and she felt her heart grow heavy. She would not be able to save them all.
Forcing herself to look away, she took a moment to glance over her shoulder at the large metal door that was tucked away in a small hallway not too far from her. She knew that in ten minutes, the technician came out for his lunch. Usually, he was gone for about thirty minutes, and returned with his meal to eat inside. That is all the time she had, not only to get inside, but also to figure out which controls did what. She had only a vague idea of what it looked like inside from the short stop there during her tour, but it had confused her greatly just glancing at it all.
This morning, Kenmei had also remembered something very specific that she had learned during training. Not everyone has access to all doors, she had been told. The only ones who have access everywhere are the superiors. Probing a finger into her pocket, she felt the keycard resting inside. Keneiji's keycard, to be exact. Today was his day off, and while he had been sleeping, Kenmei took it from his wallet. Another reason why she had to do this early. Once he found out, he could come here, and everything would be exposed.
Attempting to calm her nerves, Kenmei looked back down towards Judar's habitat. She could see the brilliant red of his scales right beneath the surface, pacing. He was obviously anxious, just as she was, but seeing him prepared calmed her. Glancing around, she noticed that many of them were doing something similar. Furrowing her brow, she walked a bit closer to the window to be able to see more.
He must have said something to them… Somehow.
In fact, Kenmei still had no idea how they communicated under the water. She knew they couldn't actually speak under the water, though they did have that strange language that Judar had shown her a little bit of. She couldn't ever get a grip on it, as it was horrible complicated and hard to pronounce. In fact, she picked up on the other sounds he made much easier. The high pitched squeaks, clicks, and even a soft sound that reminded her of a purr were more recognizable to her than any of the words he tried to tell her. She quite enjoyed listening to them.
Her mind was pulled from daydreaming by the sound of the metal door opening up behind her. She stood her ground, trying to stay casual and continue to look out at the horizon. Through the reflection in the glass, she could see the technician walk out from the hallway and head towards the dining hall. Right on time. With a deep breath as he vanished behind the doors, she glanced behind her, making sure no one else was in sight. She was quick to dash into the small hallway, out of view of anyone in the main hall, moving up to the door silently.
Pulling Keneiji's keycard out of her pocket, she held it up to the sensor on the door, feeling relief flood through her as it flashed green and the door slid open. She slipped herself inside, starting to feel her heart pounding with adrenaline. Her eyes immediately landed on the large set of computer screens, showing nearly every important part of the facility. She pulled herself from the distraction, looking down at the large command board in front of her. It was huge and had so many different buttons, switches and lights that Kenmei already felt discouraged. Fighting back the tears, she tried to make sense of the board, finally noticing that there were labels along the top of each section.
It outlined each floor, but the buttons and switches themselves were not marked. On the section labeled SURFACE, there was a large switch that was surrounded by a square of black and yellow stripes. She touched it lightly with her finger, assuming that it was the switch for the fence. Below that were rows of buttons, all of them bright red, with a green one beside them. Taking a moment, Kenmei counted.
One, two, three… Twenty-five. There are twenty-five buttons, and twenty-five habitats. One of them is green, that must be for the orange female they pulled out. These have to be the habitat controls!
Taking a moment, Kenmei looked up at the screens, noticing that she had a view of the one open habitat. Needing to test her theory, she hit the red button beside the green one, and she watched as the habitat began to close. A loud voice from a speaker beside her startled her, and she looked down at a walkie-talkie resting on a small table.
"Hey, what the fuck are you doing? Open it back up, you moron!"
Panicked, Kenmei quickly switched it back to green, and the door started to slide back open the other way. Though she was startled and her body trembled more than ever, she was glad that she was correct. Moving her fingers three buttons over to the left, she hovered over the one that she assumed controlled Judar's door. Taking in a few deep breaths to calm and ready herself, she looked up at one of the screens, her eyes landing on the time. Crap, I don't have much time! Only ten minutes left.
How time went by so quickly during stressful situations, Kenmei didn't know. All she did know was that she needed to start pressing buttons, and she needed to do it fast.
Flipping the switch to the fence, she looked up at the screen that showed it the clearest, watching as the lights that lined the top powered down. The guards next to the fence all seemed to notice immediately, turning to investigate. Another voice came from the walkie next to her, but she ignored it, her eyes moving to Judar's habitat.
As quickly as she could, she pressed the green buttons at random, and she watched as the doors began to slide open. At first, she was surprised that none of the creatures moved from the water, and she was nervous that they were too scared to go or that Judar had not communicated with them. Nearly ready to close the doors back and abandon her mission, the first one sprang from the water, attacking a passing security guard. From there, it became chaotic, creatures jumping from their habitats, either making straight for the fence or attacking nearby guards.
Holding her breath, she watched as Judar cautiously made his way out, immediately latching onto the fence and starting to pull himself up. Kenmei couldn't help but to release a gasp as he suddenly fell, writing with blood escaping a bullet wound on his tail. As the guard who shot him approached, Judar attacked, ripping the gun from him and tearing into his neck. Kenmei covered her mouth, the carnage unfolding before her making her nauseous. All around, bodies littered the surface, both human and non. Some who tried to escape had been shot, while others had already climbed the fence.
Finished with his victim, but still struggling in pain, Judar began to climb the fence once again. As he reached the top, he glanced around hurriedly before throwing himself over and into the open ocean.
Seeing him escape seemed to flip a switch in Kenmei's brain, and she suddenly became aware of a blaring alarm, prompting her to cover her ears. In a panic, she slammed her hand onto a large red button, and the facility physically shook as all power was shut down and the door behind her opened. She remembered, that in the case of an emergency, all electronic doors would open to allow easy escape. This was perfect, as she could cause confusion with the shutdown and darkness of the building.
Pulling the letter opener out of her pocket, Kenmei made her way towards the door at the far end of the room towards the stairs. She used the confusion from the massive amount of workers in the room to stay as inconspicuous as she could. Once she crossed the doorway to the stairs, she made her way down them as quickly as possible, dodging past people and squeezing through them if necessary. Shouts and curses of annoyance where thrown at her, but she didn't care. She had to get out.
Before she knew it, she was running full speed down the main corridor towards the parking lot exit, makeshift weapon still in hand and tears pouring down her face. In her rush, she had made it out before everyone else, and she could see the bright light of the sun from the exit. After crossing the threshold, Kenmei paused for a moment, panting heavily to try and catch her breath.
As she felt the warm summer breeze against her skin, she was flooded with relief. She couldn't believe that she had actually done it, that Judar had escaped and she had made it out of the facility without being caught. Though her entire body ached and her lungs burned, she smiled, reaching up to wipe the tears from her cheeks and cold sweat from her forehead. Now, all that was left was to get out of the parking lot and back to their spot, where Judar had said he would meet her if everything was successful.
Taking a quick glance around, she spotted a familiar car, immediately recognizing it. All feeling of relief faded into fear, and she felt as if her body had become frozen. Oh no, he's here! I have to hurry, he'll know it was-
Before she could move, she felt a intense pain to the back of her head, and darkness devoured her.
