He started walking at a fast pace towards the door and slowly sneaked inside the laboratory.
The Scavenger recalled that Lynx had told him that the drivers were not allowed inside the laboratory. He quickly tore off his uniform and threw it to the side. Hopefully, the shadows of the wall would hide it.
The Scavenger had exactly one hour to pull off the plan. The unloading would be over by then, and the trucks had to move out of Brentinute.
The Scavenger waited for the door to open and someone to step out. He needed to get a uniform of the scientists.
He didn’t have to wait long. The door opened. A scientist in an overly long white coat and a cap on top of his head walked out. He was so engrossed in reading something on a pad that he didn’t notice the Scavenger stepping forward. The Scavenger knocked him out with a quick punch and dragged him behind a dustbin on the side path.
He quickly changed into the scientist’s uniform and took a deep breath. There was no going back once he opened the door. He would need to use stealth and speed.
He opened the door and stepped into a room that was like a greenhouse. The ceiling was about a hundred metres above him and was covered with glass panes.
There were strange structures put up against the walls on both sides. There were stranger things around, like a sword emitting bright light, a flexible pipe, a biting cloud and more.
There were tables stacked up against the wall, displaying glasses and tubes. There was also a whole section dedicated to Oculuses.
People in lab coats were milling all around, checking things from time to time and writing things on notepads. They were all engrossed with their tasks and paid no attention to each other.
The Scavenger tore his gaze away from what was happening around him and started walking. The clock was ticking. His eyes were frantically looking for the staircase that Lynx had told him about. He finally noticed the staircase at the far side of the room.
He moved quickly up the stairs to reach the control centre on the fourth floor.
Lynx had already briefed him that no one was allowed in the control centre, except the highest ranked people, like the Commanders, the Captains, the Master Leaders, etc. The control centre was heavily guarded, with about fifty guards or more. The centre was just the size of a big space capsule, about fifty feet wide.
The only way to disable the security measures was to sabotage the control panel. Lynx had given the Scavenger a small circular device called a Jammer and had instructed the Scavenger to replace the original Jammer on the control panel. Their Jammer would jam the electric signals and would disable the traps. The Jammer wouldn’t disable the security cameras. Instead, their fake Jammer would make the cameras malfunction, and the cameras would show the same corridor and place, and would not refresh the images.
The Scavenger took a deep breath, opened the door and stepped inside the control centre. The control panel had a complex array of buttons, levers and handles. There was also a telephone right in the centre of the panel.
There were four chairs in front of the panel, occupied by men in black coats. They turned as the door clicked.
As soon as the Scavenger stepped inside, the guards all around raised their weapons straight at him.
The Scavenger held up his hands. “Wow, wow, easy there.”
“Who are you?” one of the guards standing at the front asked. The guard instructed someone, “Sound the intruder alert.”
“Wait, wait, wait, listen to me!” the Scavenger said. “I am a mechanic!”
“The who?” another man with a sash – the Commander – asked.
“The mechanic!” The Scavenger pointed at the control panel. “To fix the broken Jammer. Remember?”
“We have no broken Jammer here,” the Commander said.
“Of course you have,” the Scavenger said. “I was sent here by Grim himself. He told me you have a faulty Jammer here.”
“It’s working completely fine,” the Commander said.
“No, it isn’t,” the Scavenger said. “It has a cut wire inside it. It can blow any second.”
“You are lying,” the Commander said flatly. “Jerry, sound the alert.”
“No, wait! I can show it to you. I can call Grim on that telephone,” the Scavenger said, looking at his watch subtly. Just thirty seconds left until Lynx followed up with his part of the plan. Thirty seconds until the phone rang.
“No, you can’t.” The Commander said. “We aren’t allowed to.”
Twenty-five seconds. “Then I can pull off the Jammer and show you the circuitry inside. Is that fine?”
The Commander paused. “All right, go ahead.”
The Scavenger put his hand on top of the Jammer and prepared to pull it off. He looked at the watch again. The time was up. Why hadn’t Lynx followed with his part of the plan?
Drops of sweat appeared on the Scavenger’s brow. He couldn’t stop now. The guards would become suspicious.
He pulled the Jammer off.
At the same time, the phone rang.
Every head in the room turned to see the telephone that had rung unexpectedly. The Scavenger jerked his head slightly. A small but sharp knife hanging from a string from his neck fell down, and cut the wire. The Scavenger retracted his head and the string along with the knife flew back, again nestling safe against the Scavenger’s shirt collar.
Only a few seconds had passed when the guards had taken their eyes off from the Scavenger to look at the telephone. Before they looked back again at the Scavenger, the Scavenger had already cut the wires.
“Who called?” the lead guard asked one of the men sitting on the chairs. The man shrugged. “Unknown. Who knows?” But, the Scavenger knew it was Lynx. Everything had gone as per plan.
The Scavenger wore an innocent expression on his face and pointed at the wires. “See? Here is the wire.”
The lead guard stepped
