Breaking Enigma || The Imitation Game

◈ FOURTEEN- A Formal Complaint ◈

The weeks faded away and we soon saw the later days of October. Also, the arrival of two new cryptographers and a linguist- Charles Milton, Anthony Bellamy and Samuel O'Brien. They seemed promising. But it was a heck of a lot more crowded in Hut 8. Every desk was occupied and even more paper was accumulating.

It seemed logical to have requested extra assistance, since not everybody was helping out. It was John's idea to do so and the rest of us agreed immediately. The code-breaking that we were currently doing as a team would be speeded up that little bit faster with the three extra pairs of hands.

Allany had disappeared all morning; barely leaving a trace of her presence, except for all the schematics she'd drawn over the weeks. She returned in the early afternoon, red in the face as if she had been running. In fact, she had. Curious, I consulted her about it and her simple reply was 'it helps me to focus.'

The entire morning had been spent writing down endless amounts of letters and numbers, as well as consuming rather a lot of tea. It was better compared to the past few weeks, that was for certain.

"Where's Mr Alexander?" Allany demanded, sitting down at her desk with a large, brown paper bag filled with fruit. I guess she likes to live a healthy lifestyle.

"Gone with Sam and Carlton to get the next load of tea and coffee," Anthony answered. Being brutally honest, I'd say he was the best out of the three newbies. He had a massive amount of energy and had been through at least four days without sleeping, just simply working. Anthony was always enthusiastic, unlike Samuel, who got bored of translating after a certain period of time.

"Why do you ask?" Anthony finished.

"Well, I've composed, at last, my letter concerning the parts I need for my machine," Allany replied, fishing out an apple from the bag and placing it on her worktop, no doubt to eat later. "And since he's the leader of this team, Hugh must respond. And as soon as possible because we need to start building."

"Hang on," John looked up from his work with furrowed eyebrows. "Who said anything about a 'we'? Why should we help you after all the problems you've caused us, Turing?"

"There's always an answer to any problem. And my answer to winning the war is to build my machine and part of the solution is for each and every one of you to assist in the assembling."

"But that still doesn't answer my question."

"I think you'll find it does," she eyed John cautiously as he glared back.

"No. It doesn't."

Allany huffed in exasperation. "None of you seem to observe. You expect the solutions to everything to just be handed to you; no effort needed. But it's not that simple. You have to think."

"Alright, you two," I interject. They both looked at me blankly, as if to say 'why did you interrupt?' "That's enough. There's no need to start any arguments."

"I agree with you there," John nodded, then pointing at Allany with his index finger. "But while she's around, there isn't going to be a guarantee that there won't be any arguments."

"What that's supposed to mean?" She snapped, with a dark glance. I didn't think John was actually going to answer because of the amused smirk on his face. He liked to do that rather than answer like a mature adult.

The door of the Hut swung open a split second later. Hugh, Samuel and Carlton entered with steaming mugs in their grasps- enough for everyone. They handed them out and sat down with tired sighs.

"Ah, Mr Alexander. Do you have a moment?" Inquired Allany, standing with a sealed envelope in hand.

"I do," Hugh replied. "What can I help you with, Miss Turing?"