Going Light Speed (An Imitation Game Fanfic)

Chapter Six

Bletchley Park. An old radio factory, which was used for something of much more importance.

I was soon introduced to the rest of the people working on the project, and they all attempted to treat me as an equal. How quaint they are.

Later in the day, Alan simply...disappeared. I asked Hugh Alexander, who vaguely said that he was working on a machine, and warned me not to disturb him. I complied... for the time being.

We worked past dusk, and then some. This was simply amazing. But frustrating at the same time. We basically knew next to nothing about Enigma, as the code appeared seemingly random, so we based most of our work on probability. I could tell patiences were wearing thin, and fellow fresh blood Jack Good was trying his best to keep up.

All of a sudden, a bell sounded. I looked up from my work, and a few people around me groaned. The system must have reset, and a new method for the code must have been put into place. So all of today's work was for nothing.

"Wh- what just happened?" Jack asked, looking timid towards Hugh's face.

I rolled my eyes. "Midnight must've come."

Hugh kicked a desk. "Damn it!"

A fellow named John leaned over to Jack and I and said, "All the work we did today is useless. But don't worry, we've got a few hours before tomorrow's messages start pouring in. Then we start all over again." I nodded knowingly, realising that we would never succeed in going about the problem in this fashion.

Hugh, however, seemed fed up. How long had they been working on breaking this code? Weeks? Months?

"I'm sick of this!" He spat, "He made me waste four hours this morning rewriting his plugboard matrix. Three hours yesterday on rotor positions." To this I payed attention more closely. He was referring to Alan, obviously. But was he building a... machine?

I suddenly felt excited, and also a bit annoyed. When would I get to see it? I could definitely help, if he's working on it by himself! I made a goal to convince the others to let me at least take a look at it in the near future.

"But if he succeeds, then there is no need for all of this work." I mumbled.

Hugh, fortunately, didn't hear me, as he would do something rash in such an emotional state.

John stepped over, attempting to calm him. "Don't go over there."

But Hugh didn't follow through. "No. If our job wasn't impossible before, it bloody well is now." And with that, he ran out the door.

I quickly followed him out, ignoring the frustrated calling of the others. I needed to prevent the worst, people are often unpredictable when they are riled up with emotions, especially anger.