I cracked my neck, once to the left, once to the right. I’d reviewed everything in my head. The plan was mostly flawless. Today was the day. Today, it began. Today, I’d finally be free of this place. The door slid open, revealing a bland, off-white hallway, and another face in a doorway across it. I stared at Isaac’s eyes, trying to read anything behind them. There was nothing. He’d been caught trying to get out. The Isaac I’d grown to tolerate over the year and change I’d been here wasn’t there anymore. They, whoever they might be, were rewriting him from the ground up. That meant I couldn’t get caught. Taking a deep breath, I stepped out from my bland, off-white room into the bland, off-white hallway. The door slid shut behind me.
The walk to the elevator was slow, methodical. I was in a line with the others of Block Epsilon, headed in groups of four down to the mess hall. They never let more than four into an elevator, so that the cameras saw our every move. The overseers needed us to become broken, and they wanted us to become their broken toys with our brilliant if somewhat damaged minds intact, but they couldn’t afford us causing problems for the facility. That’s why people like Isaac got their heads fried. So that people like me didn’t even contemplate doing what I was about to do. Reaching the elevator area, I stumbled on my feet. Part one of the dastardly escape attempt. I touched nothing, but it caused a tad of a commotion. Many people all around me stopped and stumbled as a result. Importantly, Huck, the obnoxious individual next-door who made it his life’s goal to torment me and mine, got tripped up in my feet and fell into Isaac-No-Longer. Isaac-No-Longer caught himself on the wall, exactly where there happened to be a fuse box. The force of the fall was all I needed, so that one specific fuse, which had already been slightly misaligned when I was on maintenance duty, would begin to dislodge itself from its slot.
Together, I got into the elevator with the same four I always did. Isaac and Dex beside me, and Matt in front of me. As the four of us stepped aboard, we turned around, and I pressed the button before me for the mess hall. It was breakfast, and I had co-conspirators to meet with. The doors closed, and with a pleasant smile, we descended towards the mess. Matt leaned over to my right ear, away from the other two. “So,” he whispered, “How’s it feel to be just as sloppy as the rest of us for a change?”
I smiled and didn’t whisper my response. “Blame that one,” I said, nodding my head towards Isaac-No-Longer, “He kept the whole Block up with his ‘mental adjustment situation’.”
Matt sighed. “That you did,” he said, patting Isaac-No-Longer on the shoulder, “Whatever we call you.”
Isaac-No-Longer stared ahead. “I am 13-Epsilon,” he stated calmly.
Dex laughed. “That’s annoying and long. I’m just gonna call you 13 and hope you’re the only 13 dumb enough to try and run.”
I smirked. “Never know,” I joked, “Seems like the sorta thing Lin would pull.”
Matt leaned back in the elevator. “Well, I can talk Lin out of it, next time we meet up.”
Dex looked judgmentally at Matt. “Like you to TALK during your secret, closet rendezvouses.”
Matt looked at Dex’s judgy face, then at my smug smirk and, shaking his head, sighed. “Is it really that obvious?”
I shrugged. “You and Lin? A thousand percent, yes. Have you talked to you?”
Dex added, “Andrew’s right, when you’re trying to keep a secret, you start acting like Isaac used to, jabbering away about everything except what people’re talking about.”
Matt, after making a rude gesture towards Dex, leaned against the wall. “Fine.”
“To be fair,” I continued, “Lin isn’t much better about keeping secrets. She’s better, don’t get me wrong, but it ain’t like us Block Epsilon fellows are the only ones in the know about your, let’s call it situation.”
“No need to belabor the point,” Matt said, turning to me.
“True enough,” Dex replied to me, completely ignoring Matt’s very presence, “But there’s a difference, you know? When people break down to a friend versus when people break down to strangers in the elevator with them.”
Matt turned again. “Dex…” His voice trailed off.
“I’d hardly call us strangers. I mean, he used to practically be friends with Isaac, and at least friend-adjacent acquaintances with us.”
“Shut up!” Matt’s shout was forceful enough to make us quiet down, though we were also both chuckling. He knew well we were just pushing his buttons, but that didn’t mean it was any less effective.
The elevator lurched to a halt, and we stepped out into the mess. “Have fun, dearies,” I said, walking over to one of the machines. Placing the tray under it, a large glob of edible brown goo plopped down onto the plate. It looked disgusting, and tasted worse, but it was healthy, and it was filling. Considering we only got two meals a day, they packed enough nutrients into them so we wouldn’t die, and enough foodstuffs into them that we didn’t starve. Taking my tray of goo, I went over to my table, joining one of my three companions in this hellish place. I pushed my tray to her. “Elise,” I said with a smile, “Are you ready to begin?”
Elise sighed. “Nope. Do I get a choice?”
My smile grew wider. “Nope. Save some for Molly, if you would.”
Elise nodded, and took half of my goo onto her plate. “So, what’s the play?”
“It starts with a little demon attack,” I joked, “Then some chaos, maybe a fire. When the star falls, you and Mol are gonna open the door, and me and Jacques are gonna bring you through it.”
As if on cue, Jacques sat down at the table. “Going hungry again, ey Andy?”
I shrugged. “If it works, it works.”
Jacques nodded. “Indeed. And if it doesn’t,” he added, “We’re all dead anyways.”
Elise smiled. “Don’t be ridiculous. We’ll all be mindless automatons, not dead.”
Jacques cocked his head at her. “Since that’s so much better.”
I felt the need to add, “Also, J-Money’s right.”
Jacques interrupted me to say, “Never call me that again.”
I continued, unabashedly, “Jay-Sizzle’s not wrong. I’ll certainly be dead. And hopefully, even if it doesn’t work out perfectly, Jacky-Boy will be able to get you and Mol out in one piece.”
Jacques shook his head. “I still think your plan B stands for Bad Idea.”
“Technically, the plan B you’re talking about would be plan D for Dumbest Thing Ever, but I digress.”
Elise looked curiously at the pair of us. “What are you two talking about?”
Molly walked up and sat down beside me. “Are the two of them having their mysterious secret planning in front of you again?” she asked.
“Yeah, about something Andy’s calling ‘Plan D.’ Any idea what that’d be?” Elise asked Molly, ignoring Jacques and myself completely.
Molly bit her lower lip, then looked at me with her sad and disappointed and scared look in her eyes. “You’re not, are you?”
I shrugged. “Only if things go bad, Mol.”
Shaking her head, Molly looked over at Elise. “He’s planning on doing something really dumb.”
Elise saw the look in Molly’s eyes and, realizing approximately the dumb idea brewing in my mind, shook her head. “No. No way.”
I waved her concerns off. “That’s only if things go wrong, and my plans never go awry.”
“Right,” Molly said, “So could you explain to me exactly how you got here?”
I cringed. “A plan of mine went awry. But it was just that once.”
“What about that French prison we met in, back in oh nine?” Jacques asked, knowing very well the answer.
“A minor flaw in an overly complex plan. I got us out of there, didn’t I?”
Elise was still shaking her head. “Nope, we’re putting this off.”
Molly looked at me. “No, you didn’t. Please for the love of god, tell me you didn’t.”
I looked Molly in her eyes. “I would, but I promised I’d never lie to you, and I don’t break promises.” Then, abruptly, I stood up. “No need to worry, just be ready for the seals to open and the star to fall from the sky. I’ve got a second gear to set into motion.” And, as the three people I was closest to mourned my inevitable downfall, I walked over to Huck’s table.
“What do you want?” Huck asked, standing up and towering himself over me.
I smiled. “To do this,” I stated calmly, and in four moves, I took the big man down. One to the groin, to momentarily stun, giving me ample opportunity to knee him in the chin, sending him reeling. Next a flip onto the ground, then finally, kneeling on his chest, an elbow against the temple. He’d need medical attention. I’d need to go into the hole. And, while he was at my mercy on the ground and I was winding up for the elbow, my other hand was able to forcibly inject the tiniest of bombs under his skin. The guards dragged me away from the unconscious body, throwing me into my cell. Exactly where I needed to be. That was one of two risky points in my plan. I was counting on them wanting me to keep that killer instinct. I was right, of course. I was always right.
Sitting down, meditatively, in front of my door, I waited. Three things were about to happen, all at once. Ten minutes passed. Jacques would be in position, at the maintenance station near Security Main. Huck, unwittingly, would be in position, at the medical bay beside the women’s elevator. Forty seconds passed. The guards’ shift-change began. Six more seconds, and I heard the explosion as the door in front of me slid open. The fuse had fallen. Standing up, I walked out, down the hall, stalking towards the security room beside the elevator. The hall was engulfed in shadow. I could hear the screeching of the falling elevator. A flashlight pierced the dark. The one guard stationed in Block Epsilon during the daytime. Sliding from room to room, I waited for the flashlight to pass and bolted for the security station. Once there, I grabbed one of their standard issue knives. It would suffice. Slipping back into the hall, I stabbed the guard and grabbed his keycard. Sliding it through the reader on the elevator, the doors opened for the shift change. I stepped inside and rode it to Security Main’s floor. Jacques was waiting for me. “So,” he said, pointing to the shut door marked ‘Security’, “That lockdown won’t hold for long. You better have a plan.”
I held up the knife and smiled. “Keep at the elevator in wait for our lady-friends. I’ll improvise.”
“I hate it when you say that,” he groaned, but he walked over to the elevator bay.
I clambered up to the ceiling above the locked door. “Lockdown Lifted,” the robotic voice said. The door opened. As the first guard came out, I descended upon him like the demon I was trained to be, a knife through the neck and a hand to his gun. Using his own finger to pull the trigger, I opened fire on the security room. It was over in seconds. Dropping the man, I walked over the corpses and picked up the two blades they’d stolen from me. “I believe these are mine,” I said to the bodies, and walked over to Jacques. He’d already helped our two friends into the hall. We walked calmly through security, gathering our missing equipment, and through the door to the real world. The icy, frozen world.
“Great,” Jacques muttered. “I assume you have a brilliant plan to get us out of here?”
I smirked. “Nope,” I said, “But she does.” I pointed to Elise.
Elise pressed a button on her pistol. “You know, they hate you, right?” she said to me.
I shrugged. “You’ll dissuade them from killing us, then we’ll escape from wherever they shove us next.” Leaning in, I added, “It’s kinda what I do.” Elise and Jacques shook their heads and began to walk ahead.
“So, I see why you needed Jacques and Elise now,” Molly said, “Why me, though?”
I looked at her and smirked ever so slightly. “I thought you’d figured that out by now, Mol,” I replied, “I like you.”
“Aw,” she said right back, “How sweet.” Then, chuckling and leaning on one another, we caught up to our companions just as the Company transport arrived.
There were three armed men, weapons trained on us, standing in the doorway. I smiled as we climbed in. “Well, I’m not dead yet. That’s gotta be a good sign,” I said.
The pilot turned to face me. “Don’t you know? You escaped our enemy’s impossible prison. You’re probably getting a bloody medal.”
I leaned back in the chopper. “I’ll settle for a nice steak and not prison, I think.”
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