Escape Plan

The unexpected stop of the lift caused Kyle to jerk forward as his body was still in motion. He quickly stablised himself and frowned. He tapped the lift buttons but nothing lighted up.

He sighed, then pressed the emergency button, holding it down for about 10 seconds for good measure. Ordinarily, it would only need 5 seconds but Kyle wanted to make sure.

Nothing.

There should have been an autodialer which would dial in and link to the lift service company and he would have heard something from the intercom, letting him know of the engineer's estimated time of arrival.

Yet, there was only the sound of silence.

Kyle pressed the intercom button. Still nothing.

This time, Kyle's face became more serious. At first, he didn't think much of it as he thought it was the normal maintenance problem or a short circuit - as was indicated by the flickering lights before the lift stopped. It suggested a sudden power surge that could have fried the wiring. As a result, the lift safety features would have stopped its motion.

However, even if there was a short circuit, it wouldn't have affected the emergency call button. It operated on a completely different system and line. Kyle didn't want to jump the gun, so to speak, so he decided one last attempt.

He took out his phone, intending to dial the emergency number listed on the door panel. However, upon switching it on, he noticed the dreaded 'no signal' sign. Kyle banged on the lift doors, calling out to anyone who might be outside but it was dead silent. Soundproof?

Kyle's face darkened. Everything confirmed his suspicions.

[Kay. Code Red]

[What happened?] Kay's worried voice came through quickly.

[The lift I am on stopped]

[You suspect foul play?]

[No signal. Nothing works here, not the emergency button nor intercom, shouting doesn't help ... and ...]

Kyle looked up, closing his eyes and he took a deep breath.

[The fan for the air ventilation seems to be switched off] Kyle said with a frown [Contact Zero and inform him of the situation]

In the hotel room, Kay quickly put Oreo down and switched on her laptop. At the same time, she put on wireless Bluetooth headphone which had a microphone. She then put her phone on speaker and dialed Zero's number. Once her laptop booted up, she started punching keys furiously, making the required connection between Kyle's earpiece and the rest of them.

Kay heard the phone being picked up and she stated, "Kyle. Red."

.:*・°☆...:*・COMPANY LV .:*・°☆...:*・

"Kyle. Red." came Kay's voice over the speakerphone.

Xing Han, Ali, and Sam were sitting with their hearts pounding loudly within their chest. The simple words from Kay sounded ominous. The whole situation seemed surreal.

Earlier, 'HQ' was as busy and noisy like the insides of the stock market exchange office. Team Zero was quite animated and talkative while working. Xing Han and Ali were quite impressed by the setup and how Team Zero just took over everything from the moment they walked into the conference-room-turned-to-HQ.

Marina was busy sending them files that they kept asking for then they returned it just as quickly after making a few adjustments. There was someone from every Department on standby, waiting outside 'HQ' to receive orders.

However, everything changed when that song started playing. It was "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi.

Team Zero went quiet suddenly and stopped whatever they were doing. Zero reached into his pocket and took out his phone. He answered it and immediately put it on speaker phone, not saying anything and then they heard the words from Kay.

The moment those two words were given, the flurry of activity started again. This time, however, all six went to their laptops. Zero looked at Xing Han, Ali, and Sam and said curtly, "You're the Elite Five and Kyle trusts you. What you're about to see is not happening."

The three just sat there, eyes wide open and nodded. They watched as Team Zero took out earpieces and placed it into their ears and sounded off as they accessed their laptops. Different things were being shown on the screen.

"1- check. Security Camera 1-5"

"2 - check. Security Camera 6-10"

"3 - check. Accessed company's mainframe"

"4 - check. Phone lines secured."

"5 - check. Server secured."

"6 - check. Telecommunications waves secured."

Kay's voice stated through the phone, "All connected. Go."

Zero ended the call and started typing on his laptop, then he asked out loud, "Situation, Sir?"

.:*・°☆...:*・KYLE .:*・°☆...:*・

While Kay was busy contacting Zero, Kyle spent the time studying the interior of the lift. He was grateful that earlier, no one dared to come into the lift together with him. Being alone gave him the freedom to do what he needed to do without worry.

Kyle noted the security cameras. Such cameras only transmitted visuals but not sound. Kyle patted his chest, then started scratching his ear. Those seemingly normal movements were actually Kyle taking out his earpiece from the inner linings of his trenchcoat and putting it on into his ear.

He then took off his trenchcoat, pulled off his tie and gave an extremely uncomfortable look. He sat down on the floor, leaning back on the wall as if he was tired and hot. Well, he was hot but he wasn't exactly suffering too much at the moment.

The earpiece was the latest model of spy equipment. It was tiny and could be inserted into the ear. Its colour was also exactly the same as Kyle's inner ear, thus it was practically invisible to the naked eye. It could transmit and receive sound, working on a frequency that was different from any telecommunications service.

[Earpiece not compromised, brother]

[That's one good piece of news then]

[Remember that the others are in the room with Team Zero]

[Got it, I know. Will deal with it after this is settled.]

Kyle heard Zero asking, "Situation, Sir?"

Kyle briefed the team about his predicament, repeating what he had told Kay earlier. His lips were hardly moving as he spoke, and he even had his head down to minimise any potential leak. He knew that if the enemy was watching the security feeds, they would read his lips. Plus, the interior of the lift was like mirrors so they would be able to see him at all angles.

"The air is getting stale here but though uncomfortable, it's not a danger for the next hour or so. This is not an airtight container like a vault." Kyle said, analysing the situation.

"I believe whoever did this, won't wait that long," Kyle stated.

"You mean, it's not a simple being stuck in a lift situation? It's not a scare tactic?" Kay asked.

"Too many things point towards a more serious situation," Kyle explained, "If this was merely to scare me - or the Company - then being stuck in here for several hours would be sufficient. But why total cut-off from the outside? And the fan being switched off?"

"Should CEO Charles be notified, Sir?" asked Zero.

"No. That would only alert the person who did this. He or she is most likely monitoring this," Kyle replied.

"Noted, Sir. I will have enough footage and will disable the cameras in ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... you're good to go, Sir," Zero reported.

Zero had basically taken a recording of Kyle from the moment Kyle sat down in the lift. The security camera in the lift was now in a loop, showing the same 5-minute video of Kyle. Zero had done it so seamlessly that the security camera didn't even flicker, which would normally be the case when one switched footages.

It was all due to a special programme and bot that Kay had created and Zero perfected. A flicker on the screen would give the enemy the heads-up that something was wrong. It would fool a normal security guard, but not the people that MIB usually dealt with.

Thus, this secret weapon of theirs (one of many) had been the primary reason (other than the skills of the personnel) why they were so successful in their missions. You could have the best men but if it wasn't backed up by great equipment, you risk more. May lose more.

Kyle folded the sleeves of his shirt and unraveled his tie, leaving it on his shoulders.

"Locate the lift top opening" Kyle instructed.

His eyes studied the interior of the lift. It was a square design, with handrails on the opposite sides. The ceiling had six square panels on it but what made Kyle curse was that it was of a sleek design. There did not appear to be any thin metal frames between the panels, which would normally be the outer base that the panel was lying on.

Thus, the ceiling panels appeared to be fused together.

"It's the new snap-cab design ceiling," Edward reported, "Five panels are sealed together but one panel is designed to be able to be pushed open from the top. It snaps down then slides out on some rollers. Like a drawer."

"So it means I have to pull out that panel to access the opening?" Kyle asked for confirmation.

"Affirmative, Sir. 12'oclock" replied Edward.

Kyle surmised that if the ceiling used the latest design, in all probability the doors were, too.

"I presume the doors are auto-locked?" Kyle asked.

"Affirmative, Sir," confirmed Edward.

Kyle sighed. This was troublesome. Auto-locked doors meant that the lift doors were sealed shut like a vault. The locking unit would clamp it shut to avoid anyone trying to pry it open, thus preventing any accidental fall. There had been countless of cases whereby people who pried the doors open would often fall through gap and onto the ground.

Right now, it just meant that Kyle was trapped inside like a trapped rat.

All the more Kyle was convinced that this was not an accident. The question was, was he the target or was this a random thing? He would figure that out later. Right now, the urgent matter was to escape.

Kyle climbed up the handrail and leaned his back against the corner of the wall. His right leg was on the railing and his left was against the other side of the wall. Stabilising himself, he held himself in place by placing both hands on the sides of the corner.

Tapping the front of his left foot on the wall, a small blade sprang out. He carefully brought up his leg to the sides of the panel that had been identified by Edward earlier. Kyle gritted his teeth and pushed the knife inbetween the panels, kinda like slipping a letter opener into the small space of the envelope to slice it open.

Kyle slid it across once, loosening the grip the panel had. He brought it back to the middle and then pushed the knife deeper into the small opening. He had to be careful not to snap his knife, even though it was made by one of the toughest material on the planet. One must never be too complacent.

He heard a snap with satisfaction. It wasn't the sound of his knife snapping in two, but the sound of the panel unsnapping from its position. That meant Kyle could now slide open the panel. He brought down his leg once he created a big enough gap for his fingers to grab onto.

Kyle stared at the opening, getting ready for his next move.