The Mesmerized

“So, you both worked for ‘the tenant’ and had no idea who it was?”

“She probably knew, but I was just security. I sat and watched monitors all day. Miles of fences. It was incredibly boring.”

“Until yesterday.”

“I would've rather it stayed boring.”

“Me, too.”

Rotating slowly in a circle, Alec scrutinized the area. “There should be tablets that they used around here.”

“She had one. I remember.”

Minji crawled on her knees to the jumble of items from the table Dr. McCoy had struck when she’d fallen, thrusting away the emotions battering against her self-control. This was not the time to give into them. They’d have to wait until she’d either succeeded or failed. She shoved her dreads out of her face and tucked the ends into her jacket pocket so she could see.

“We’ll have to get another card off someone else from the facility. The doors only open for one person at a time. If more than one person attempts to enter, there are security measures we don’t want to deal with.”

“Sounds very James Bondish,” Minji mused.

“Well, yes. It does.” Alec sorted through the items on the table that was still standing.

Finally spotting the tablet with the thick gray plastic case, Minji exhaled in relief. “Okay, got it.” She automatically swiped the screen to see if it still worked and was rewarded with a black screen with a large white

barcode.

“Great, it's working. This one is broken,” he said, nudging another tablet with his cane. The glass was shattered.

“How does this help us?” Minji asked.

“Well, believe it or not, it has all the safety protocols for the experiment. They were downloaded to the tablets of the second team so they could gain entry to the first facility.”

Rolling her eyes, Minji gave him an incredulous look. “Really? They have instructions on them?”

“It’s encrypted, of course. It’s not like you or anyone else without the passcodes could get into it. But I was given that information, so...” Alec lifted a shoulder. “It does sound a bit simplistic, but they were scrambling.”

“No, it makes sense. I guess I’ve seen too many movies,” Minji said, glad for the simplicity. She handed Alec the tablet and he took it was a reverence that was unexpected.

“This is how we save the world,” he said in awe. “It’s all right here.”

“I guess we’re lucky that the second team was reporting in when the event expanded so that the people in power knew where to send you.”

“I wasn’t planning to seek you out at the medical center until I had the accident. The car wreck was real, and really fortunate. It made me find you.”

“Because I’m completely immune.”

“Exactly.” Alec shoved the tablet into a pocket inside his jacket and steadied himself on his cane. “We should hurry.”

Somehow it felt wrong to leave the hazmat suit open, so Minji took the time to close it while Alec limped over to the next body. This time he searched it himself.

“Not high enough security clearance,” he called out, then limped to the next body.

With gritted teeth, Minji searched another person lying near the ambulance. She found a card in a wallet, but when she flipped it over it had a different holographic symbol on the back. “This isn’t it?”

“No. It has to look like Dr. McCoy’s. I’ll check inside the van.”

Minji hurried over to the next body and started to search while Alec approached one of the black vehicles. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him hesitate when he heard the thumping coming from within.

“We heard them, but didn’t let them out yesterday,” Minji guiltily admitted.