Prodigy (Complete)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The overall outlook was grim. Those who were fortunate enough to survive the Doomsday illness were either sick or mourning the loss of loved ones. Either way, the general attitude of hopelessness was predominant. Many people had stopped going to work to remain indoors with their family and friends, counting down the finals days until the world ended. This was a fortunate set of circumstances for Alex and Milo since many of the security guards had stopped showing up as well.

Milo and Alex were still hanging on, but their health was declining rapidly. Between the nose bleeds, lightheadedness, and coughing fits, they carried out their important mission.

Being a resident and alumni, they both had access to the Facility. However, they did not have access to Level III. They entered through a back entrance and made their way through the labyrinth of seemingly endless hallways. If anyone was watching the security feed, they would have been spotted instantly. Fortunately, no one was.

They came across an equipment room and decided to help themselves to some items. Milo placed his thumb on the scanner box and the door slid open. Alex quickly ran in and knew exactly what she wanted. She grabbed a precision laser scanner and a portable nano-constructor.

With the devices in tow, they proceeded down a long hallway until they reached a staircase, which lead to the secure Level III.

Alex aimed the precision laser device at the scanner box and activated it. The laser scanned the oils left behind on the pad and created a digital read of the fingerprint. She then uploaded that data into the portable nano-constructor. Kneeling on the ground, Alex paired the two devices. Milo felt faint and began to wobble. He crouched down and braced himself against the wall. Soon after, his nose started to bleed. Alex handed him a cloth and asked him if he was okay. It was one more reminder that time was not a luxury they could afford.

“Hang in there, Milo. We’re almost done.”

When the nano-constructor was ready, it processed the information from the laser device to produce a thin, transparent strip. Within seconds, the small object ejected from the printing dock, allowing Alex to place it over her finger. She was sure the technique would work since she and Milo had done it before.

With the artificial nanobot fingerprint fastened over her thumb, Alex pressed it against the scanner box. A green light scanned her thumb then said, ‘Access Denied.’

“What?” Alex said in frustration. “This should have worked. Did they change the system?”

“I don’t know, try it again.”

Alex scanned her thumb one more time. Again, the same message appeared. She ripped the fake thumbprint off her thumb and tossed it on the ground.

“Now what do we do?” Milo asked.

Alex took a deep breath, looked at all her gadgets, and tried to think of something else.

“There might be another way,” she said.

Alex took her multi-use tool and pried the fingerprint scanner off its mounting bracket. Once it was loose, she gave one final tug and yanked it off the wall.

“Here,” she said as she handed it to Milo.

“What do you want me to do with this?”

“I don’t care, keep it as a souvenir.”

In the place where the fingerprint scan pad used to be was an assortment of exposed wires. Alex rearranged the configuration of wires. She cut a red wire and a green wire and merged them together. As soon as the wires made contact with each other, the door split open, with both sides retracting into the wall.