Chapter 1824 - Team Falcon (8)

At the end of the hallway, the team of four reached the plain metallic door.

If not for the doorknob, it would look like a rectangle piece of metal that is blocking the way.

"It really is here…", Mila mumbled as she reached for the doorknob.

To everyone's surprise, the door opened without much force, and it didn't make a sound.

They all peeked inside and observed a well-lit large square-shaped room with a waist-tall safe in its center on the ground.

The walls are dark gray and smooth, without a single crack. The ceiling and the floor are made out of gray ceramic tiles.

"This is too easy…", Aiden mumbled, and Mila paused her steps.

Mila was already one step inside the room.

"Any of you want to come and check it first?", Mila offered to the guys, but she was looking at Aiden.

Aiden carefully stepped inside and with Eve-lens he saw that there is a lot of electrical wiring within the walls, as well as in the floor and the ceiling.

Aiden guessed that this room has traps, but other than the cameras in the top corners, he didn't see any other devices.

"There is nothing here…", Kolya said as he made his way past Aiden.

Jasha entered last and warned Kolya who was two steps away from their target: "Be careful with the safe. What if it explodes when you touch it?"

Kolya froze and frowned while observing the safe. "If it's wired to explode, how are we supposed to open it? The mission clearly says that we need to retrieve contents from the safe."

As Kolya finished his question, the metal door slammed shut, making them all freeze. The light flickered and from bright yellow, it turned into flashing red.

The four people were observing their surroundings frantically, and Mila shouted: "Above the door!"

Aiden saw red numbers, like an electronic clock that showed 5:00.

"Do you think this place will explode in five minutes?", Jasha asked with panic in his voice.

Aiden wanted to say that if that is five minutes, they would see the time move. At this point, it looks like it's 5 o'clock, but there is no way that is correct unless it's not showing the true time. What could it be? Aiden could not think with all the commotion the other three caused.

"We need to get out!", Mila shouted and went for the door. She yanked the doorknob several times, but the thing wouldn't budge.

A second later, Jasha and Kolya joined her in the effort to open the door, but it was in vain.

Kolya cursed something unintelligible and kicked the door, but it served no purpose other than to make his already injured leg bleed more. The t-shirt around Kolya's wound was saturated with blood and it dripped down his boot and when he kicked the door, some of the blood splattered making Mila and Jasha look at Kolya in horror. They didn't see his injury before it was wrapped, and it was hidden under the pants, so they assumed it's not a big deal but now that they saw blood they immediately assumed that the door has a trap that made Kolya bleed and they stepped away from the door and Kolya.

"Watch out from above!", Aiden shouted, making everyone freeze.

Several tiles from the ceiling moved and red lasers cut through the air.

Mila, Kolya, and Jasha stuck their backs against the wall, and Aiden stood without moving about halfway between the door and the safe.

"What are these for?", Jasha mumbled while observing the lasers. "Do they trigger some alarm?"

"I don't think so.", Aiden responded. "Lasers act as triggers when the ray is interrupted and the receiving sensor loses signal. These don't have a receiving end." He squatted and knocked on the floor tile. "This is some reinforced material. Definitely not stone or ceramic."

"What do they do?", Mila asked while reaching for the laser. "What happens if we touch them?"

"Don't touch them recklessly.", Aiden hissed, and Mila stopped her hand a few centimeters away from the nearest beam.

"We need to know what they do.", Jasha said.

Aiden agreed. In order to understand their current situation, they need to investigate and analyze things. Aiden glanced around. So far, the door closed shut, and there is a clock with 5:00 on it. It is definitely not working as a clock, because they are here for more than a minute. The tiles on the ceiling started moving when Kolya kicked the door, but that might be just a coincidence. These lasers must have some purpose because it's too much of an effort to use them as a distraction. The lasers are not many, and as long as they are careful they will not touch them, but that does not mean that there will not be more lasers (or something else) popping up.

Aiden glanced at his three teammates. "Do you have something that you can use to test the lasers and it's not part of your body?"

Jasha reached into his pocket and pulled a pocketknife.

"I thought no weapons are allowed.", Kolya grumbled when he saw a knife.

"This is my utility knife, and they only checked for firearms.", Jasha said smugly.

They all watched as the knife approached the laser, and then the laser cut the blade in two like it's a hot knife going through a stick of butter.

Kolya jerked at the sound of the cut-off part of the blade hitting the tiles. It was unusually loud in an otherwise silent room.

Jasha swallowed hard. "This is not good…"

Kolya's anxiety swelled and he reached for his earpiece. "Maksim, what is the meaning of this?"

"What do you mean?", Maksim responded coolly, and Aiden, Jasha, and Mila heard him as well.

"Do you want to kill us?", Kolya hissed.

Maksim snorted. "This is a mission. It is normal for you to face dangers. Did you forget that I warned you about enemies and traps?"

"You forgot to say that you are the enemy.", Jasha chimed in.

Maksim laughed. "I suggest you focus on your current predicament because this is far from over." His voice deepened. "Since you all decided to put your trust in the pretty boy, maybe he can help you get out unscathed."

"What is wrong with you?", Mila asked in disbelief.

"My task is to provide guidance and to test you. And that is what I'm doing. But you decided to follow someone else, so you should talk to him.", Maksim said and ended the conversation.

Aiden pressed his lips into a line and observed Kolya, Jasha, and Mila while wondering which one of them will start blaming all this on him.

Before anyone could say a word, there was a high-pitched whistle that ended after a second. All of them looked around the room, not finding anything out of place.

"Now what?", Kolya said with displeasure obvious in his voice.

A robotic sound was heard: "The oxygen levels are being reduced. Dangerously low levels for sustaining human life will be achieved in five minutes. Starting the timer…"

"Oh…", a sound escaped Aiden's lips when the timer above the door changed numbers to 4:59, and then to 4:58, and then to 4:57...

The seconds ticked and Aiden felt that this is going from bad to worse, and he is stuck with three people who are useless. Only if Sarah is here, they would cooperate and figure out a way out of this trap. But she is watching him, and he can't allow her to see him fail.

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