The System

Chapter Twenty Four

Outside the System in New York City, 4:35 PM...

    The glass mug shattered hard against the tile floor, followed by the sound of heavy breaths in the dark and isolated room. Spread out among the shards was a liquid of a dark brown color. Tony, his hair ruffled and his eyes wide, slammed his hands onto Henrietta's table. His shoulders rose and fell rapidly as he stared up at the eight screens, each of a different angle. The screens reflected a light blue in his eyes. He watched as Miles was lowered onto the floor in front of everyone. Josh had a mortified expression on his face, but Tony wouldn't have known. He kept his eyes on Miles.

    "Damned boy!" he shouted at the screen, "Just what are you doing? How can you even--damn it all!" 

    His hands pushed against the clutter of files and tools on Henrietta's table. With an exasperated yell, he shoved them off the edge. The files scattered all over the floor and for a few seconds, the sound of the rolling pencils was all that could be heard. He stepped back and heard the light splash. Tony eyed his shoes to find them soaked in the hot cocoa he'd spilled. He threw his hands in the air with a sense of frustration. His eyes scanned the room before he raised his left leg and kicked Henrietta's chair over. It landed with a loud thud, one that a person from five rooms away could definitely hear. 

    He heard them, the footsteps. It sounded rushed and concerned. Without a doubt, it was heading towards him. Tony swore aloud and dropped to his knees. From behind the system units, he fiercely yanked out the wires. One by one, as if they were dominoes, the monitors went black. Nearly a second after, the door swung open and in the doorway stood Henrietta. Her hair was let loose at her sides, her bewildered eyes visible from behind her glasses. Her left leg stepped back as she registered the room. 

    Scattered all over the floor were her papers, the edges smudged with hot cocoa. Her pencils were soaked. Hanging out from the outlets underneath her table were dozens of wires. Her chair was flipped over, lying on top of the shards of glass. Standing in the middle of all the ruckus was Tony. His hair stuck out from behind and his fists were clenched. 

    "What in the world happened?" Henrietta exclaimed. "My monitors!" she rushed over to the computers and moved the mouse once, twice. There was no response from the monitors and the faint hum of the machines wasn't there. She started to stutter as Tony kept his gaze on the floor. He worked so hard until now to keep up his facade. It won't end here.

    He looked up, the coldness and anger in his eyes gone. He laughed in a care free manner. All Henrietta could do was stare at him in shock. Tony scratched the back of his head and said in a playful tone, "Ah, I saw a mouse crawling into the hot cocoa. Looked like it enjoyed taking a hot bath in there, too."

    Henrietta raised an eyebrow. Was she skeptical? Did she believe half his story? Tony couldn't tell. Lying was his specialty. He had to tune the lie up while keeping it dialed down. "It got behind the wires and I kind of stumbled over them," he jabbed his thumb at the fallen wires, "Real nasty, those wires."

    "My data?" Henrietta pressed, "What happened to all the data that I had in the computers? Please, Tony, tell me you saved them!"

    Tony held an innocent, guilty face. His voice rose and he shook his head, "Oh, jeez, Henrietta, I'm so sorry! I forgot about your...data. As I remember, it was for the pass code to the System...?"

    "It was!"

    Tony shook his head again. He apologized. Then, as Henrietta looked away, he rolled his eyes. Those data? It sure wasn't going to do her much good. Most of the documents were crap. He grinned to himself--and they called her the best technician they had. He bent down to pick up the papers along with her. Things weren't going as he expected it to in the System. He could feel the fact that Lieserl and the boy who couldn't speak were up to something and now, Miles was injured. He clenched his fists. If the secrets came out too fast, everything he'd planned would be ruined. He recited the pass code to the Lab. Nothing was working his way. He'll have to enter the System himself as soon as the guards switch an hour from now.