Robbie Dorman - Regrowth

Oh god, let me out, let me out, LET ME OUT

Jon woke to the sound of an alarm, blaring. A recorded female voice filled the room.

EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN IN EFFECT

EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN IN EFFECT

STAY CALM

STAY CALM

EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN IN EFFECT

Jon blinked, sitting up, trying to wake himself up, struggling to shake off the nightmare, although he seemed to have woken to a new one. The lights were on, LEDs that lined every room, a dim red hue added to them he hadn’t seen before.

Tommy.

Jon jumped out of bed and ran to Tommy’s room. Tommy sat up in his bed, about to push himself into his wheelchair.

“What’s going on, Dad?” he asked, transitioning with practiced ease.

“I don’t know,” said Jon. Tommy was safe, and their home seemed normal, aside from the red lights. He went to the front door to poke his head out and see if anyone knew anything. But the door was locked, and no matter how hard he tried to open it, it wouldn’t budge.

Emergency lockdown. I guess that means we can’t go anywhere.

“We can check the raw camera feeds,” said Tommy, wheeling himself out of his room.

“Right,” said Jon. He forgot about them, the cameras everywhere, but they were accessible on the Shawnet. They were mostly extremely boring, with people standing around, or sitting on computers. But maybe somewhere they could see the source of all the trouble.

Jon grabbed a tablet and turned it on, flicking through the screens until he got into the Shawnet, into the camera feeds. There were thousands of cameras.

“Pull up the multi-feed,” said Tommy.

“I haven’t—”

“Let me do it,” said Tommy, grabbing the tablet, and swiping through menu after menu until tiny squares covered the screen, each a different camera. Most of them were empty labs, or hallways, devoid of people or movement. Tommy scrolled down through the feeds, looking for any sign of deviation.

“There!” said Jon, pointing at a sudden movement in one feed.

“Problem Solving,” said Tommy, and touched the feed with his finger. The feed blew up, filling the screen of the tablet.

Flames licked at the corners of the screen. There was a fire in Problem Solving. People were running in, and carrying out bodies, wielding fire extinguishers, spraying the flames. Tommy cycled between different cameras, all showing various levels of destruction in Problem Solving.

“What happened?” asked Tommy.

“I don’t know,” said Jon. “An accident, I guess.”

They watched the camera feeds for a few minutes longer, but nothing more was revealed. The lockdown was lifted an hour later, but the adrenaline had worn off, and they both went back to sleep. The emergency had taken Jon’s mind off his nightmare and sleep came easily.

An email awaited Jon in the morning, for an all hands meeting at the cafeteria at noon, sent by Sabrina.

Jon got there early, and sat next to Tabby, who had saved him a seat.

“Have you heard what’s up?” asked Jon. People filtered in as they talked. Jon had never seen this many in the lunchroom. A buzz filled the air.

“Only rumors,” said Tabby. “Shaw is coming up to talk to us.”

“Something must have happened,” said Jon. “I saw a fire on the video feed.”

“It was more than a fire,” said Tabby. “It had to have been, for the man himself to talk to us. For all of us to be here.”

Shaw walked in at exactly noon, trailed by Sabrina. He stood in front of the assembled scientists, sitting throughout the cafeteria, and more standing behind them. The group hushed.

“Hello,” he said. “I wanted us all to gather so that I could speak to the emergency lockdown last night. I don’t like taking you away from your work, or leaving my own, but this is a necessary step.”

“Last night, the FUTURE lab was a victim of sabotage. Dr. Armitage in Problem Solving planted a small firebomb in the lab, near a supply of flammable materials. As far as we can tell, he had hoped to set off an inferno, destroying the work of the Problem Solving lab. He failed.”

Silence hung in the air. Everyone’s eyes looked at Shaw.

“The fire was contained, with only slight injuries for a few people working late. Smoke inhalation and minor burns. They will recover. Some are already back at work. I would expect nothing less from the group of determined and talented people we have here.”

“Dr. Armitage wouldn’t speak to his allegiances, but we suspect he was sent down here as part of an anarcho-terrorist group that has been attacking my holdings on the surface. I don’t know how long Armitage has been a member of them, or when he switched sides, but he certainly meant to harm us, and ruin our work down here. It was a despicable deed, not only for seeking to hurt some of our team, but for attempting to sabotage our work, transformative discoveries that could save the world. They would destroy them.”

Shaw swept his vision across the assembled scientists.

“Armitage was a saboteur, and should have never have been invited down here. That mistake was mine, and I want to apologize publicly to all of you for allowing it to happen. I would say that it won’t happen again—”

Shaw stopped again, his face sterner now, looking over them, his eyes hard.

“But I don’t know that,” said Shaw. “Last night revealed that our vetting measures weren’t as air tight as I thought they were. I had hoped that everyone here could be trusted. But that is obviously not the case. There could be more, situated among us. People who have hidden like snakes in the grass, waiting for their moment to strike, to hurt or kill, to destroy and demolish. Keep your eyes open. Watch for deception. Report any suspicious behavior to your pillar lead.”

Shaw paused. “Any questions, before we end the meeting?”

Silence hung again. Jon had a lot of questions, but he didn’t know if now was the best time to ask them. One question was at the forefront of his mind, and he almost asked, but luckily someone else spoke up, a doctor he didn’t recognize.

“Where is Dr. Armitage now?” he asked.

Shaw turned to him. “You worked with him, didn’t you, Alan?”

“Yes,” said the man.

“I’m sorry for that,” said Shaw. “But you’re capable. We still have all of his research. But Armitage himself has been cast out. Along with his wife and two children. They have been exiled from the FUTURE lab, thrown back to the wolves. He deserved worse, and I considered it, but in the end, it’s adequate punishment. To be cast out from paradise. Any other questions?”

There were none then, or at least no one who wanted to ask them.

“Then we will end with that,” said Shaw. “Let’s get back to work, and put this unfortunate incident behind us. Stay vigilant.” And Shaw was gone, back out the door, with Sabrina right behind him.

The group dispersed, returning to the elevators to get back to work. Others went to grab lunch. Jon sat with Tabby, waiting for others to leave.

“What do you make of that?” asked Jon.

“I don’t know,” said Tabby. “I met Armitage once, when he came to Energy for some help with his project. Seemed like a nice guy. Seemed earnest.”

“That’s what everyone says about someone, after they find out they’re a bad guy,” said Jon.

“Yeah, I guess,” said Tabby. “What did Shaw mean when he said he cast him out? Did he send him home? Or does that literally mean kick him out the door and abandon him and his family up top, wherever we are?”

“Canada,” said Jon. “Tommy guessed somewhere in Northern Canada.”

“Not a bad one,” said Tabby. “But I doubt it’s somewhere hospitable.”