Rend

Chapter 22: Surveillance

I make my way to the surveillance room. The doors open to reveal the room full of workers glued in front of hundreds of monitors, all surveying different parts of the headquarters. People get up and salute me as I walk by like I'm some kind of war hero. All because I'm "close" with the Commander. To be honest, I don't even know the dude's name. Now that I think about it, I don't even know if he is a 'dude'. I'm just going on a limb with him, really. I know the same amount about him as the rest of the people in this facility. So the saluting is a little awkward to say the least. I just give an uncomfortable retort and shuffle to the main viewing platform.

There is a worker waiting. His main duty is to provide assistance to newcomers on the platform.

"Sir." He says as he salutes me.

"Hey, man. What's your name?" I ask.

"Jerry, sir." He replies, continuing his salute.

"Jerry. Nice. Love the name. My name is Jake. You can call me Jake. The whole 'sir' thing makes me feel weird." I convey.

Jerry seemed embarrassed. "Sorry, si-," he began, "Jake! Um, could I assist you in any way today? I don't believe I've ever seen you on the platform. At least not during any of my shifts."

Man, he is so high strung. "Uh, yes, Jerry. You are right. I've never been on the viewing platform. I need to overlook a very specific part of the headquarters. If you could help me with this, I would be very grateful." I reply.

"Yes, Sir! If you follow me over to one of the empty terminals, we can get started right away." Jerry eagerly said. "Oh! I'm sorry. I called you "Sir" again."

"That's okay, Jerry. I'm still getting used to things too. Lead the way." I insist.

He leads me to an empty terminal. It was different from what I thought it would look like. I expected a boring computer desk with a screen and a keyboard. What I saw was a chair mounted to the floor. In front of it was a giant glass window with a view of the courtyard. You could see everything. The training barracks, the mess hall, the power generators, everything. I always thought that this place was kinda gloomy and bland. But now that I see it from this angle, it looks really peaceful. Like we aren't about to be in a giant war that threatens our survival.

Then again, they don't know that.

"Wow. That is one hell of a view." I say in awe.

"Yeah, it is when you first see it." Jerry replied. "But once you've seen it everyday for a few years, it gets kinda lackluster."

Way to be a buzzkill, Jerry. You know what? On second thought, I hate that name. Jerry. Stupid.

"I'm sure it does." I say with a rude tone that I did not intend to adapt out loud. "Now, I need to see what is going on in the Aura Chamber. The one on lock down." I inform Jackas- I mean Jerry.

"Okay. Well, first you're going to need this head set." Jerry says as he pulls out a strange item.

"Uh, okay?" I say cautiously.

"To use this, your going to place the two nodes on the left and right corresponding temples." He instructs.

"Like this, then?" I say as I follow this instructions.

"Perfect. Now there should be a little switch on the back of it. Go ahead and press it. This turns it on." Jerry says.

Jerry seems to really know what he's talking about with this stuff.

"Alright." I say as I flip the switch.

The glass wall explodes with different screens and menus. My majestic view is now replaced by numerical sequences and lines of code scrolling across the screen. It seems like a start-up sequence.

"Okay!" I say in a panic. "I think it is working."

"Awesome." Jerry says with amusement. He must have noticed my reaction to the start-up. "You're a damn near natural." He laughs.

"Yeah, great." I say, annoyed. This time I meant the tone. "Now, the Aura Chamber?"

"Yes, that's under the folder labeled 'Chambers'. The machine renders your movements and reacts to them on the screen. To get to the folder, move your hand above it and push forward." Jerry instructs.

Damn, this is some high tech shit.

"Got it. Thank you, Jerry. If I need anything else, I'll let you know." I assure him.

"Okay, Jake, I'll be where we met on the platform. If you don't feel like getting up, there's a call button on the right side of your headset." He informs.

"Thanks." I say.

He leaves and I start to work.

I open the folder and select the chamber Levi is locked in.

I press the call button.

"What's up, Jake?" Jerry responds in record time.

He wasn't in the room. It's like I heard him in my head.

  "Um, is there a way to patch into the intercom in the chamber? Just for future reference." I ask.

  "There sure is. There is a button on the left side of the headset in the mirror position as the right button. Press that and you'll be synced up." Jerry responds almost robotically.

"Perfect. Thanks, pal." I end the call.