Hell's Glitch (initial draft)

2:31 Her Great Escape

"What was her question?"

"She asked for the updated game stats, particularly the player deaths."

Stephen stared at her in silence.

"One of my player's is about to face a Fire Bearer, one of the most difficult bosses in the game. I just wanted to know his chances."

"What's that in your hand?" Stephen asked.

A rush of heat went to Alex's face. Alphonse turned to look at her.

"What? This?" She held up the object he was referencing. "Oh, it's my stylus. I must've brought it with me absentmindedly when I was trying to get his attention. But, seriously, is there nothing you guys can tell me about the player deaths against the Brothers of Stone?"

Stephen looked at Alphonse and said, "Go." Alphonse damn near sprinted to the exit. Stephen trained his icy stare on Alex. "Whatever you're up to, it's going to get you killed. I'll make sure that it's me who pulls the trigger."

"If asking questions about game data is a punishable offense, why haven't you killed me yet?"

Stephen unexpectedly smiled before turning and making his way back to Milner. Alex reached in her pocket and slid the back cover off the phone she'd stolen from Alphonse. She used her fingers to deftly remove the battery to silence the device and prevent it from being tracked.

"The top five players include IMMORtAL_Kalika as the far and away best player. At number two is our number one encroaching player, Justinian89Thrills. Number three is Sarem the Sanguine with his creative solutions to progression. Numbers four and five are newcomers to the list. Number four is the indefatigable Zetzwei2 and number five is Freddy Meyers. Zetzwei, Freddy, and Justinian have all made great leaps up the list by taking advantage of the Death Drop Algorithm."

The more Milner talked about the in-game stats the more Alex knew that she was doing the right thing. Even if it killed her, it had to be done. Milner had now instituted a system that rewarded players who murdered other players. As if killing off the players with his own invention wasn't bad enough.

She entered her request for a bathroom break into a queue on her computer. As she waited to be approved, she looked at her screens to see the progress of her testers. Sam wasn't doing too well.

"Oh, Sam ..."

The ping from her computer alerted her that she was approved for a bathroom break. She rummaged through her cup of random pens, equipment, and tools and pulled a tiny flathead screwdriver and put it in her pocket.

I'll get you out of there. All of you.

She took her leave out of the room and headed down the corridor. Each of the masked security guards gave her a look as she passed them, but she hurried past to the restroom. She'd only have a maximum of six minutes to take care of her business. Anything past that would summon a guard and put a strike on her record which would bring her to the attention of Stephen. Three strikes got you a meeting with the boss and in this environment, that was the last thing Alex wanted.

She headed for the second from last stall, checking each one as she passed. She wasn't sure if there were audio bugs or cameras, but she couldn't worry about that at the moment. She entered her stall and assembled the phone as fast as she could. She dialed 911 and waited for an answer. A woman answered her call and calmly asked for the address of the emergency.

"We're in the factory district. One six six seven Tennessee street, San Francisco."

"What's your callback number in case we get disconnected?"

"Shit, I don't know the number for this phone. You can't call it back anyway or I could be put in danger."

"What's your emergency?"

"I don't have time to explain it all, but I need you to know that everything I'm about to say is real. Me and about three or four hundred other people are being held against our will at this facility. We've been trapped here for several days under the threat of violence. One of the game designers working on the project was killed in front of me for threatening to leave the project. Any dissention is met with violent repercussions. We need someone to save us or we could all die."

"What's your name, Ma'am?"

"I'm calling anonymously to protect myself. If they find out who called, they'll no doubt kill me."

"We won't divulge that information, Miss."

"I know you won't, but this information still tends to find itself in the wrong hands and I can't take chances. They can't even know my sex, so please keep that information to yourself. I can tell you who's holding us hostage. A man by the name of Fulton Milner, a game designer and director. This whole thing is his idea."

Alex was startled by a knock at the door. The guard on the other side yelled, "You have two minutes."

Shit!

"We've been here for days," Alex blurted out, "and I heard them talking about an explosion or fire or some sort of demolition of a building in the tech district. They planned it, Milner and his cronies Alphonse and Stephen Rand. Please, send some officers. Once they enter the building, they'll see that what I'm saying is true. There are testers strapped to chairs underground and designers slaving away on the upper levels."

"Ma'am, if you would give us your name, it would help our officers a lot more."

Shitshitshit! She's right.

"They killed Randall Zybyszko, son of Judge Zybyszko and a whole host of others. I have to go. Please, help."

Alex quickly slid the back cover off the phone and removed the battery. She flushed the toilet for cover and used her flathead to twist open the slotted lock on top of the metal toilet tissue dispenser. She stuffed the phone, cover, and battery inside of the right tissue roll and placed it back in the holder before closing the dispenser and twisting the lock back into place.

With no time to spare, she headed to the exit, her heart beating a mile a minute. One of the armored guards opened the door just as she was coming out.

"Your time is up," he said, standing there somewhat awkwardly.

"I know. That's why I'm right here. Do you know what the word privacy means?"

"Just get back to your seat," the guard said, pointing to her office.

"I know where it is, thanks."

Once she made it to her seat, a wave of relief washed over her. Everything went more or less according to plan and no one besides her knew. All she could do now was wait. Only two things could happen. They would either think she was full of shit and wouldn't send anyone or they would send someone to investigate anyway and they'd be arriving soon.