Amber & Ice

Chapter 36: A Distraction

They followed the security guard in silence through the gleaming white corridors of the jail. Bree kept glancing behind her, clearly expecting Dyo to reappear, but Athena kept her eyes on the floor, which echoed beneath her feet. The tiles had a just-washed sheen and if she scuffed her shoes, they slipped slightly. When she eventually looked up, Athena could see smears of fresh paint on the walls, which must have been hastily applied as a touch up that morning, ahead of the cameras' arrival. The prison staff had gone to great lengths to ensure the space looked presentable. They were not being lax. Yet another thing working against them. Their rescue attempt grew more doomed by the second.

There were no doors leading off this corridor, which twisted and turned within the prison until it eventually opened out into a large room. Athena's eyes scanned the room hopefully. The room was just as busy as the reception had been. Feed reporters mingled with men and women wearing the insignia of the Freedom Institute. A forest of grasses, whispering as it swayed. At the front of the room the crowds vanished before a large stage, empty save for a harassed looking technician hooking up a microphone to a lectern. They were deep inside the prison; there were no external windows to the room, which was lit by harsh overhead lighting.

"What do we do now?" Athena asked Bree once the security guard left them to return to the reception.

"We have to try and get out of here somehow."

"I wish we knew where Dyo has gone." Athena looked around the room once more, but she couldn't see any evidence that he had entered ahead of them.

"Have you tried messaging him?"

"I did on the walk down here," Orion whispered. "I think they are limiting the feeds in someway. I can't get through to him."

"Maybe he found a way to reach Ariadne," Athena said, hopefully.

"But why wouldn't he say anything... We can't sit here hoping he's sorting everything out for us. We need to make our own way to Ari."

"What we need," Artemis said, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Is a distraction. See that door?" She nodded in the direction of a faded green glass door to the left of the stage. "That's the most direct route through to the cells. It should be easy enough to find her. You'll just have to hope Ismene is in their system and manages to deal with any security you encounter." Athena turned to look at the door, which was flanked by two burley security guards wearing tinted feed glasses which allowed them to monitor the security cameras in real time.

"But how will we even get through it?"

In way of response, Artemis clutched at her chest, letting her eyes go wide. She started to sway wildly, knocking in to a journalist on their left. As he turned to glare at her, Artemis fell to the floor, her eyes closed. Athena moved instinctively towards her, but a hand on her elbow held her back. Don gave a tiny shake of his head before relaxing his grip and moving towards the door. Realising what Artemis was doing, Athena quickly followed.

They passed the security guards, who had rushed forward to help the seemingly unconscious woman.

Orion reached the door first and quickly glanced around the room. Everyone's attention was focused on Artemis. He was as tall the security guards and his eyes were level with the door's lock sensor. A blue light reflected off of his glasses as the door scanned him, then Athena thought she heard a faint click and the door opened slightly. Orion opened it just enough to slip through and the others followed, closing it behind them.

"How did you do that?" Athena asked, surprised by their first taste of success.

"Something Ismene's been working on for a while. She wasn't 100% it would work, but she loaded it onto my glasses, just in case it might be of use."

"Any other tricks up your sleeves?"

"A couple. First, there is the distinct lack of light blinking in those cameras." He pointed at the security cameras above them, which were no longer showing signs of life. "Thank you, Ismene. I just wish we had some way of talking to you... I also have a map of the building loaded onto my glasses, which are telling me that we should be heading in that direction." Before any of them could reply, he had started off down the corridor to the right.