CHAPTER 15 

A muscle twitches involuntarily at the corner of his right eye as the stench of anxiety engulfs and diminishes all the confidence or courage he obtained from his talk with Nick, only just last night. Now, only threatening silence lingers in the air as each step he takes toward the Security Clearance gives rise to an even faster-pounding heart. 

He joins line two and slightly shivers from his toes up as he awaits the signal. As the beeper goes off, one by one, he watches his fellow inmates make their way out, all the while quietly tapping his feet from both fear and impatience. He's two beeps away from being next, and it suddenly dawns on him that this moment will either bring forth the dawn of a new life or completely shatter any chance of redemption. He steps forward... 

Alert, weapon detected! 

The alert goes off. 

Alert, weapon detected! 

The guards immediately flood the area, "Put your hands on your head, kid!" 

Like hail on a glass pane, the beating of his heart is relentless as it is loud. "I... I... can't!" he gives out. Trying to maintain some composure and stay in character, he follows through with his script. "I can't, the water bottle is under my arm. Should I drop it?" 

The guards look at each other in confusion. The one in charge proceeds to question Alex as he slowly walks towards him with his trazzer firmly placed in his grip. 

"What's inside your pocket, kid?" he shouts. 

The other guards calmly order the remaining prisoners to get clearance through line 1 and 3, doing their job to vacate the area in order to isolate the incident. The coast seems clear, and then out of nowhere, Raymond comes bending the corner. A guard fidgets and throws his trazzer towards him. 

"What's going on out here?" he investigates. 

The guard puts the trazzer back to his side and proceeds to lead Raymond to line 3. "Some kid set off the alarm; we're investigating." 

Raymond looks over at Alex, who'd clearly gotten even more anxious after seeing him. As Raymond places his U.I over the scanner, Guard QO097 says to another, "I thought you said that was everyone. Is there anyone else inside?" 

"Sorry, I must've..." 

"There's nobody else in there," Raymond quickly adds while walking away with both hands in his pocket. "Can't you see I was taking a shit? Take a hint, Brent." 

The guard looks at his computer and then glances at the unhandled situation with Alex just before retorting back at Raymond, "That's QO097 to you, Ray." 

Raymond throws his hand back casually before leaving through the door, "Whatever." 

"Okay, listen up, kid. You're going to keep your arms stretched out, and Guard WB2KH will scan you from top to bottom. You make any sudden movement, and you know what's going to happen. Got it?" 

Alex's lips slightly tremble as he responds, "Yes, I got it. I told you, I don't know what's in there or how it got there!" 

The guard moves in closer to Alex and holds the weapons detector straight at him from the top, revealing a toolbar in his left pocket. The guard slowly walks over to him and removes it. One after the other, they slowly drop their trazzers after realizing that the blunt tool was completely harmless. 

"Oh damn it!" Alex knowingly shouts. "I must have slipped it in my pocket by accident!" 

The guards quickly remind him of the rules and the importance of returning all the equipment to the clean-up crew at the end of each workday. He soon apologizes and is allowed to leave. He is led to the lunchroom after buzzing out. He scans the room and quickly finds Duran and Raymond waiting for him at the extreme back of the room. 

Trying to be inconspicuous, he walks straight to the left and then to the back, taking the seat adjacent to them. He lifts his left index finger and flicks his nose to give the signal... the plan's a go. 

I sit there on the toilet seat, waiting patiently while staring at the clock. 

Come on, Alex! 

And just like that, the Warehouse and the entire Factory system shut down. I give a sigh of relief, almost disbelief that we managed to pull this off. 

Good job, kid! 

I immediately get up and open the stall door; I feel the adrenaline of a teenage boy about to lose his virginity rush through my veins. 

We aren't done just yet, but today, January 8th, 2120, before the clock strikes 12, we're busting out of here.