Chapter 5

Even if it was nonfatal, knowing that it was going to hurt made Tim afraid of finishing this particular test. But he had to do it. He took a breath and forced himself to grab the grid.

There was a strong shock that made his whole body tense up for a second and he couldn't help but cry out in pain as the electric current flowed through him. So much for it being a trick, not that Tim had really thought it was.

...but the current ended almost instantly. He was able to let go and the grids retracted. He couldn't move for a moment as his muscles relaxed. His knees nearly buckled, but he managed to keep on his feet by leaning against one of the racks, breathing heavily.

"You may proceed. There will be another test."

Another? Tim wasn't sure if he could handle yet another test, something that would probably also be fatal if he didn't pass, but he didn't have any other choice but to keep going. He started forward once more.

As he walked, he couldn't help but think that it was a really good thing Tony hadn't been the one to do this. He would have failed the first test and while Tony wasn't stupid, Tim would bet that Tony hadn't ever done linear algebra in college. Although this really wasn't the time to feel proud of his education, Tim did. Just a little bit. He hated this whole situation, but he was doing it and he hadn't failed yet. If he did, he'd be dead.

When he reached the next junction, he looked to the right. Lo and behold, there was the station! At the very back of the room and in the middle, if Tim guessed rightly. It was such a relief to see a regular work station, an interface that he could control, something he could actually use to get this to stop.

He started toward the station and was only mildly surprised (and deeply disappointed) when yet another glass panel slid into place, blocking his path. Two more panels slid into place, making a retreat also impossible. Tim couldn't help but look up. No pipe over his head this time.

"You must pass the test in order to be allowed to proceed."

"What is this test?"

"I cannot tell you what the test is. That is not part of the instructions."

"Then, how can I be tested?" Tim asked, his brow furrowing. This made no sense. Was this part of the bug or was it intentional?

Without a response, the glass panel in front of him slid back, leaving the path apparently clear for him to walk. But Tim didn't trust that in the slightest. This didn't feel right. A test that he wasn't being told about. The previous tests would have been fatal had he got it wrong. He couldn't imagine that, whatever this test was, it wouldn't have the same result.

"You must be tested. You must walk forward."

Tim swallowed nervously. He looked around the space. How long had he been in this room? It felt like forever, but he really had no idea. He even looked at his watch, but he couldn't think of what time it had been when he went in. How long had they been in the building before all this had started? It was like time had lost all meaning for some reason. What if he'd taken too long? How long would it take for all the oxygen to be removed from the alcove where the others were trapped? He couldn't just stand here and let them die because he was afraid to move.

He took a tentative step forward.

Nothing happened.

Another step.

Nothing happened.

One more step.

The glass panel slid into place behind him. Now, there was only one way to go. Forward.

He took another step and another and another.

Another glass panel slid into place behind him. Again, no retreat.

It was like he was being herded forward with no option of changing his mind.

But herded forward to what?

Then, suddenly, there was a loud grinding noise that he could hear over the roar of the CPUs. He stopped moving, trying to figure out what was going on. Was this the test? If so, what was it?

Then, lights began flashing and an alarm went off. The alarm was ear-piercing. He had thought the roar of the computer itself was loud. This was high-pitched and intense. It was actually painful.

"There has been a breach in the system. Legion must protect. Defense measures will be deployed. All human presence is suspect. You must verify your identity now."

The warning itself was roared above both the CPUs and the alarm. It felt like this was going to leave him deaf.

Tim looked around wildly. What had happened? Who had set off the alarm? It wasn't him. He was sure of it. He would be dead already if it had been him. Unless this was part of the bug, but there was supposed to be another test. It seemed that test had been overridden and that indicated an external problem. Had someone come down and tried to break in? Had the others become desperate and tried to break out?

What was he going to do? The alarm continued to blare, feeling like spikes in his ears. It was hard to think through the cacophony. He needed to get away from it, but there was nowhere to go.

Only forward.

Tim looked ahead. The station was only about twenty feet away from him. The glass panels took time to move into place. It was fast but not instantaneous. Could he run and get there?

He'd have to try. At this point, he guessed that Legion was about to undertake extreme measures, if it hadn't done it already.

He sprinted forward, wondering if it was possible to take a computer by surprise.

"You must verify your identity. If you do not, you will be considered a threat."

"I'll do that. At the computer," Tim muttered, not knowing how sensitive Legion's hearing might be.

He heard more than one glass panel slide into place as he ran. They moved fairly quickly but he was faster. He hoped. Desperately, he increased his speed, hoping that he could get to the computer before it was too late.

...if it wasn't too late already.

The last glass panel nearly got him. In fact, he felt it scrape against his heel, and it hurt more than he expected, but he lurched forward and got to the station.

"You must verify your identity. If you do not, you will be considered a threat."

"Not for long. I hope," Tim whispered.

He activated the station and was dismayed to see the need to enter a code.

But he already knew a code and the code being asked for was the same length. It could be the same one he had used to get in. He really had no other choice. With 20 numbers, there were over a million possible combinations. If he didn't try the one he already had used before, the odds of getting it right were very slim.

Why didn't Dr. Kosir tell me about this code?

Oh, well. He couldn't change that now.

He panicked for a moment as he thought back that eternity previous when he had typed the code into the keypad to gain entry. Could he remember it?

He closed his eyes and breathed in and out and visualized the keypad.

Then, he reached out to the keyboard and opened his eyes only long enough to make sure he was on the keypad.

He started typing and saying the numbers out loud as he typed.

"18583920384921035869."

He paused before pressing Enter. What if he was wrong and got locked out of the computer?

No other choice.

He pressed the key.

And then let out a deep sigh of relief when the password was accepted and he was admitted to the mainframe.

"You have not verified your identity. You have been considered a threat and must be neutralized."

That didn't sound good.

Three more glass panels slid into place. He was now trapped at the computer station. That would have to be all right. He didn't have any other options. He started searching for the place where he could tell Legion to go out of protective mode and give the instruction to release those trapped in the alcove. Then, he realized that the air was getting a little thin. He looked around and then overhead and there was a pipe. He reached up. Air wasn't getting sucked out. It was getting piped in. But it wasn't oxygen. Whatever it was, he was going to suffocate if he didn't get this done.

This was more complicated than any computer system he'd ever seen, and it didn't help that he was feeling breathless. He was gasping a little bit as he jumped through the system.

Finally, he thought he found it. There were black spots in his vision as he typed in the command. The first thing he did was send the command to release those in the alcove.

He took a breath and felt like it didn't do anything for him at all. He almost couldn't see as he typed in the command that would take Legion out of protective mode and tell it to resume normal operations.

He couldn't see anything and he sent the command with roaring in his ears, completely blind, gasping for air that wasn't there.

Then, suddenly, he couldn't hear anything at all. Everything faded away. He couldn't see or hear and it was as if he falling through darkness.