Hunt Down Rose

Chapter 2: Elimination (Part III)

As soon as I dropped my props, I saw numerous servers and maintenance systems extending from where I am standing across the room.

“Based on what I’m looking right now you have to tell me where to put this thing.”

I can hear a somewhat frail buzzing sound on the other line.

“You don’t have to worry about that part. Since each row has its respective numbers, you can look at the servers by order.”

“Is there a manual nearby?”

“I don’t think there is.”

“Then how am I supposed to pull this through?”

“Try going on the left side of the room, your left to be precise.”

I followed his request and there I saw server boards with lights different from others lined up near the entrance.

“Now what?”

“Go to the last one and stick it in the first panel.” There are Flash drive ports and server maintenance panels labeled accordingly. It doesn’t seem like it would need any order and validation to gain access.

After doing what he said… “It’s done.”

“Now go outside while there still aren’t any people around. I have all access to every security camera in the building so you don’t have to worry about being caught.”

“That sure is fast.” I said to him as I went outside looking from left to right.

In the meantime since we’re still searching the fastest route down the basement, I went to the nearest room that can be practically accessed by any employee. Unfortunately, I found myself inside the photocopying area.

“How long will it take you to track the room?”

“Probably 2 to 3 minutes tops. Regardless of how complicated the encoding would be this should be easy to crack.”

“Give me access to the security cameras on my phone. I want to see the entire viewpoint from there.”

After a few minutes, I suddenly heard my ringtone. Looking at it I finally have the cameras linked to my phone with complete visual comprehension on the timestamp and other records By using a certain live stream app, I can view any sort of video that is accessible online. Carlos redirected the connection of the servers to the said app, giving me full visuals on the archive. I accessed certain videos from their past activities just to check if there are any interesting leads. 

“Why would you want to look at that?”

“I’m after their earlier records in the afternoon.”

“You want to see if anyone has any information on the archive room is that it?”

“Yeah”

I started watching the videos according to their respective time tables earlier this afternoon. Looking at some of it, I focused my attention on the janitor’s locker room and the cafeteria. For five minutes I watched and scanned every single detail that I can and found similar items and connected them to whoever knows the scenario.

“So what did you find?”

“A few clues on whoever has the key and where to find it.”

“Then spill the beans, I’ll make a roundup on what you’ll give me.”

I began to recall the objects and oddities that I’ve taken into account.

“Earlier this afternoon around 4 p.m., a lot of people are frequently passing through the main lobby with their attendance cards in such an order. However, I’ve noticed that some employees don’t seem to have the cards similar to most of the others.”

“Maybe they’re just the contractual workers.”

“I don’t think so. I’ve followed most of what they’ve done in the next few hours of their stay and I was confused on the way they work inside the office.” Browsing the video, I’ve emphasized the footage by encircling it and zooming further to validate my claims.

“How is that?”

“If you check the precise video on my cell phone screen, you can easily see some people passing through the security and metal detectors.”

He paused for a bit then began to mumble to himself on the other line.

“The dress code doesn’t apply to these punks.”

“Now the question is why? It’s not that they discriminate against anyone.”

“I’m going to look at the security cameras on the other floors to see if there are any clues.”

From there, I went outside and searched the lounge in which the janitorial locker rooms were said to be near. A moment has passed and I indulged myself at the candy vending machines while looking at the surroundings with the rest of the security recordings stuck at my phone.

Making a turnaround on the situation, I saw a floor plan stuck near the emergency exit leading towards the east gate.

“Hey, I just found a map. I’ll be on the locker rooms in just a sec.” Just to make sure that I’m on the right track, I took a picture of the map itself and messaged the photo directly to his pc.

“Wait a minute.”

I thought this night would be an easy one thanks to this map that I found. However, based on his tone, I have a few people to compromise.

“We have a few people outside the locker room.”

“I suppose physical means is necessary now.”

“Not that much in reality. You’ll just have to wait for them to pass before entering.”

At most encounters, I would brutally make my way through obstacles such as these to make any mission successful. But tonight given that I have Carlos as my guide, using too much force wouldn’t be plausible.

“Just tell me if they moved away from the door.”

“Sure”

Walking my way in, I waited for a while trying to take a peek at the locker room door. Unfortunately, we have 3 people talking while blocking my vision on the corridor, seemingly drunk due to the stench of booze in the area. The lights are somehow flickering with the sound of the vending machine getting through my nerves.

Then a certain idea emerged out of this head of mine.

“Yo!” I told him on the other line.

“What is it punk? Can’t you give a decent greeting?”

“I was just wondering if you can manipulate security doors around the 1st-floor lobby.”

“As I have said earlier, yes I can. Just tell me what to do.”

“Open the doors on the stock room near the counter, then the clinic.”

“I don’t know what you are up to but you better make it count.”

On his signal, I entered the clinic and searched for possible sedatives. It’s a good thing that they have tranquilizers and needles ready to use on the cabinets. I improvised a blowgun with the tubes removed from the syringes. I also used a scalpel to mold the edges of the tube’s opening for the dart to be inserted. Having the cotton balls ready, I wrapped some cotton around the butt of each needle, making its trajectory more accurate and to give it more tension when I start blowing. I submerged each tip by the tranquilizer mixture that I’ve gathered and went outside waiting for an opportunity.

“Kindly flicker the lights in my area.” I said to Carlos waiting for him to do what I asked.

After a few seconds, the lights started to turn off and on giving me the advantage of a certain blind spot on my surroundings.

I started shooting the darts on their thighs just to prevent them from noticing it. Since the needles are quite thin and these guys are somehow drunk, it would be impossible for them to feel the pain immediately.

“Return the lights to normal.”

I said to him as I waited for them to sit in the lobby. I’ll be using my disguise an advantage to lure them out.

Afterward, I placed a few cups of coffee on the tables with fragments of sleeping pills on each cup. Once the tranquilizer starts to work inside their bodies, it’s a logical thing for them to sit down and drink anything they lay their eyes on to ease their throats. It’s a response to the chemicals that their body has taken. Most of the medications are followed up by water. Me on the other hand, I would be waiting for them to fall asleep before dumping them inside the storage room altogether.

In just a matter of minutes, my assumptions were indeed correct. Even though it’s hard to pull their bodies without making too much commotion; there were several more who decided to take a drink from the remaining cups. I was still able to do it but with a few setbacks in getting them all lined up inside that small room.

“Well, they’re out of the way.” I said to him finally gaining some assurance on the situation.

“Go ahead and check what’s inside. We don’t have all night to do this!”

I rushed my way in front of the door and turned the knob. As I went inside, I saw some files lying down on the floor while the awful stench of the chemical blends going inside my nose.

“Damn, this place is a wreck!”

“Stop complaining and check everything, grab anything that you need!” He replied shouting at me.

For some reason, he does have a point with that. Some lockers won’t budge and there’s trash everywhere. You won’t get a decent look at the surroundings as a whole so it would be best if I separately look on different locations.

I opened a few of the lockers and found nothing but personal stuff such as grooming kits, men’s magazines and folders related to their work. I went to the janitor’s office on the other side of this room and looked for a list relevant to the basement cleaning operations.

There are names written on it but I’m not sure who it is. There are no names written on the lockers either, just a bunch of corresponding digits.

Although there are underlined names, I had the thought that these people are somewhat able to access the basement without any problems. Given the idea that if you are going to link most facts regarding their employment system, everything keeps on getting weird and weirder.

It’s already 15 minutes since I’ve last checked the time of my searching here in this puny room. I suddenly grabbed a crowbar nearby and started smashing the lockers open.

“What the hell was that noise?”

“I can’t just watch in this situation doing nothing.”

“Just do what it takes. You already made some noise so it’s possible that someone might have heard it nearby.”

It could be true that someone heard it. But that’s not what the security cam told me. Most employees are already gone out of the building going to their respective homes. I don’t think this place is much of a threat now for me. Even if someone did try to barge in, I have this crowbar in my hand and the rest is up to you to imagine.