A Complicated Web

Chapter Sixty Two: Waiting

Kally squirmed inside the vent. It was a tight fit going through the initial entry point, not giving her more than a few inches wiggle room. But at least Loki had been right about there not being much to worry about outside that first laser grid. She'd taken care of that relatively quickly. And, thanks to Loki's help, she'd managed to boost herself up into the metal tunnel with only a few scrapes.

The main problem was remaining quiet while she tried to make her way to the nearest possible exit. She had no idea how much the noise she made could be heard by those outside the vent, nor did she want to find out. Most action movies agreed that you had to be as quiet as possible while moving through those square or rectangular tubes meant for air flow as quickly as possible.

Several alternate ducts branches off, some smaller than others, but she kept to the main one, hoping to bypass any security so she could reach a decent part of the complex. She doubted she'd be able to change levels without use of the elevator, or stairs, but if she could get past the security checks they'd had to overcome to reach that room, it would make a huge difference.

Every time she came to a vent opening, she peered out, reaching out with that unusual sixth sense to get a general idea of where she was. It hadn't led her wrong yet and she wasn't about to abandon its usefulness. She just wished it would let her know where the enemy was in relationship to where she was. That would have been nice.

Part of her couldn't help but think about Hiro. Would he be okay? Would Loki really stay with him or try and go off on his own? She felt fairly confident in believing that Hiro didn't know all the legendary abilities of the god of mischief. He could transform himself into something smaller and leave the teen genius all alone. The question was would he? She wasn't sure and that thought made her worry more than she might have otherwise. She just wasn't sure why he hadn't revealed that ability to Hiro, though she supposed he had his reasons. She would be just as much at fault if Loki did for not revealing her knowledge of his skills.

Voices came from the next vent opening and she paused, trying to hear what they were saying. They came across a bit muffled so she inched closer to the opening, hoping they wouldn't see her through the slits.

"They've put out a general alert," a male voice said. "I hear at least one of the test subjects managed to get free from its cage."

"I heard someone let them out," a second voice spoke up. "If that's true, we've got a traitor among us. I bet they seal the place off, just to be safe."

Whatever section she'd come across, it apparently was different from the one they'd already gone through. These men were talking far too casually, looking more like techs than the usual guards. But it made her stomach turn hearing herself and Hiro described as nothing more than lab rats. Didn't they value human life at all? Apparently not.

"Kendrick's doing a floor by floor search," the first continued. "Hope they don't mess up anything we're working on."

Definitely techs of some kind, Kally decided. Or researchers. From what she could see of the room, whatever they were working on was likely organic or chemical in nature. There were a lot of test tubes, microscopes, and other related equipment. It wasn't quite a clean lab though. She could barely make out the forms below, neither of whom wore anything outside of the typical medical garb of scrubs. Something organic then, probably.

"Weren't they going to take some samples for you to work on?" the second commented. "I heard they'd scheduled that for today. Can't move on without it."

Kally's heart stopped in her chest. Was this where they were storing her and Hiro's genetic material? It had to at least be related for them to talk that way. What other conclusion could she come to? Except she wasn't sure if there were others incarcerated like she and Hiro had been. There was always the possibility others were involved.