Gene from the 13th Department of Bright City

Tommy brought the tool box to the elevator. Some workers were also standing in front of the elevator. They started teasing Tommy when they saw him.

"Tommy, you are the best kid, you can take down Emily."

Tommy just smiled awkwardly, and could only say anything about the various teases made by his coworkers.

"I can't help it, she just likes me, and I have decided to marry her."

Tommy looked at a man with sunken eyes and a solemn expression leaning against the side of the elevator, and Tommy walked over.

"Giles, haven't you been sleeping well lately?"

Giles forced a smile and shook his head.

"Of course I can't sleep well, my favorite woman has been taken away."

Many workers started joking for a while. Emily was the most beautiful woman in their 47th district. She worked at the food station. She had a lively personality since she was a child, and she was also very gentle. She was the ideal marriage partner for most men. She pursued Ai. There are so many people in Millie.

But Emily rejected too many men, and instead suddenly fell into Tommy's arms. In the early morning a month ago, someone saw Tommy coming out of Emily's house, and the two kissed goodbye at the door.

"Giles, you are such a gloomy guy, how could Emily like you? Besides, you are not as handsome as Tommy."

Tommy smiled awkwardly. He didn't know what to say. After all, it was impossible to force this kind of thing. Giles and Tommy had a good relationship, but after this incident, Giles exposed himself to Tommy. Hostile.

This hostility has lasted for two weeks. In the past, the two talked about everything and often drank together, but now Giles is no longer willing to say anything to Tommy.

The elevator finally came up. Tommy and the others were living in a huge underground military facility in the former Area 51. It was more than 200 meters above the ground. Above it was the area for the military and senior officials. They were workers who were close to the underground living machinery facilities. , the daily job is to maintain the normal operation of this underground shelter.

Dozens of people walked into the A109 elevator. As the elevator descended, it fell into darkness. Only the red breathing light slowly flashed on the edge, and the sound stopped suddenly. They had to work in the geothermal area more than 300 meters underground.

This kind of work is sometimes easy and sometimes dangerous, all depending on whether the geothermal function below that provides energy can operate normally. Geothermal is their current source of daily energy in addition to manpower and nuclear energy.

Nearly 300,000 people live in this underground facility. The outside world is dead, but there are still many underground facilities. The country is currently vigorously developing some mechanical products so that humans can return to the surface again.

Tommy looked at the silent people in the darkness. They would never leave the ground for the rest of their lives. The only entertainment activities for many people were virtual games and some table tennis games, as well as watching some old movies and TV series.

In such a depressing underground facility, there will always be people who have mental problems every once in a while. In order to solve this problem, the country has now launched a lot of entertainment activities, and the work will not be done by the same group of people too frequently.

Most people work three to five days off every week. Tommy has taken many days off, but these days he always goes to the bar to drink with others.

The strange thing that Tommy felt now was that he seemed to be unable to use his power. He had to get to the next time point. The elevator continued to descend. At this time, Tommy felt a sniff and a sharp object pressed against him. Tommy was a little confused and felt a twinge on his back.

The elevator suddenly stopped, and the lights suddenly turned on. A group of people looked solemn. Tommy turned his head and saw Giles' gloomy face and a knife in his hand. Tommy looked at it in shock. Giles put away the knife and laughed.

"I'm not done with you!"

Giles laughed with a ferocious expression, and threatened with a choked voice. Tommy was not angry, but found it strange that Giles should have no contact with Emily. Indeed, he liked Emily very much, but he was not like this. The type that clings to him, and now he is so angry and angry that it is even more difficult for Tommy to understand.

"Let's have a drink after get off work today."

After Tommy finished speaking, Giles nodded, and then many people began to wait. However, the wait was long. It had been half an hour and the elevator still hadn't moved. It seemed that there was something wrong.

"Everyone, there is something wrong with the elevator now. We need all of you to repair it manually. We will slowly lower the material from the ventilation duct."

A voice came from the communicator, and then the workers began to move. Everyone started to lift some workers with good maintenance skills up, and soon used the tools in their hands to dismantle the upper version of the elevator. A worker stuck his head out Go, I suddenly became frightened.

"Two of the steel cables were broken!"

This news was simply bad news for dozens of workers. Many workers panicked for a while. Tommy also knew that although this kind of lift has a high load capacity, it relies entirely on those thick twisted steel pieces. cable.

There are a total of 10 steel cables screwed together. If two of them are broken, the others will have problems with the load-bearing and may even break. The current method is to use bonding materials to repair the broken steel cables, and the lifting The emergency stop of the elevator means that the AI ​​​​has judged that if it continues to go down, the steel cable will break during the descent, causing the elevator to fall.

Many people panicked. Several workers had already climbed up. The ventilation hole was still six or seven meters away from them. It was impossible to accurately obtain the repair joint materials.

"Think of a way quickly and give us the rope. The cable will break."

Someone shouted excitedly into the communicator. At this time, accompanied by a creaking and shaking sound, everyone heard a clicking sound. Several workers above watched in shock as problems began to occur in the steel cable. The core of the steel cable had begun to Broken.

Someone wanted to shout, but they suppressed it. Several experienced workers shook their heads, because if panic was caused, the problem would be more serious if the people below panicked.

"Everyone stay calm."

Tommy shouted, and a voice came from the communicator.

"We have already prepared the joint materials, which will be tied with ropes and lowered through the ventilation holes. When the time comes, everyone will connect the steel cables first. As long as the elevator can reach the lower level, everyone will be saved. Only less than 30 meters away.”

Many people wiped their sweat nervously, because most people knew that the current situation was not good. The snapping sound kept coming to mind. Tommy quietly closed his eyes and stared at Giles with an angry face. .

There is another problem at this time. They have to open the small window of the ventilation hole before they can get the joint material. Someone has to climb up to a height of six or seven meters and open the small window before they can get the material.

The distance of five or six meters is not long, but it cannot be missed. At this time, the workers above shouted.

"Whoever has strong physical strength should climb a little. Those who are weak should not climb."

Many people looked at each other. At this time, Tommy raised his hands and was lifted up. Tommy put on construction gloves. Tommy started to climb up with the tools on his back, and successfully climbed to a position of more than 5 meters. But it's more than a meter away from the ventilation hole, so it's not easy to reach.

Tommy was already sweating profusely. The mechanical tool in his hand began to open slowly, and he quickly found the screw. After a while, the screw fell. The workers below got out of the way. The small window was opened, and there was a clicking sound in the ventilation duct. Voice.

Soon something fell down, and Tommy saw the joint material tied up with ropes. After the material was dropped, the workers caught it, and at this moment there was a violent roar.

There were constant clicking sounds, and Tommy's eyes widened in shock. The elevator began to tilt. Several workers below lost their footing and fell from the edge screaming in an instant.

The elevator shook violently, and people kept scrambling to climb out. Everyone came towards the broken steel cable.

Tommy shouted.

"Don't panic, please don't"

However, no one listened. Several steel cables had been broken. With a loud click, the elevator fell. Tommy looked at the scene in front of him in shock. This had never happened in his memory. things.

At this time, Tommy saw Giles climbing up from the broken steel cable below. He actually climbed up easily with magnetic equipment. His eyes were fierce. Tommy felt something was wrong and subconsciously started to climb up. Climb, someone shouted in terror, trying to get Tommy to grab the rope and hand it to them.

Although the surface of the steel cable is rough and can be grasped, once they lose their strength, they are doomed.

There was a loud bang, and the elevator fell to the ground. There were still six or seven people holding on to the steel cables. Giles was getting closer and closer, and Tommy did not remember this accident.

Suddenly, Tommy noticed a fleeting flash of black energy on the surface of Giles' body. He immediately climbed up. Giles, carrying a magnetic device, climbed very fast and was already less than two meters away from Tommy.

Tommy struggled to climb up. He couldn't use his strength, and he didn't know how things in this time and space had changed.

Tommy knew that the upper exit was only 30 to 40 meters away, and he had to climb to the exit. At this time, there was light from above, and the rescuers came over, and they began to drop the rope.

But there were screams from below. Someone couldn't hold on and fell. Tommy looked at the rescue rope that was put down. After getting it, he quickly started to buckle the rescue rope under his arm. Giles looked angry. Waiting for Tommy.

After a while, Tommy was pulled up. He was breathing heavily. The rescuer's face was solemn, because no one expected such an accident. It was obvious that the steel cable had just been replaced less than 3 years ago. Such a steel cable The service life is at least 20 years, and only regular maintenance is required during this period.

The doctors came and they were comforting the few survivors. Tommy looked at Giles not far away. He looked the same as usual, but Tommy felt something was wrong.

Some people started crying. This accident killed 78 people, and only 6 people survived.

After the psychological counseling, the six people went up from another elevator. This was a small elevator, and it was very fast. After a while, they returned to the entertainment area of ​​Area 46. Many people chose to go home, and Tommy called After getting on Gilles, I planned to go to the bar to have a drink and have a serious chat.

"Why are you wearing a magnetic device?"

Tommy asked directly, this kind of equipment that can freely adjust the magnetic force is something that many workers will bring when working at high altitudes, because it can ensure the safety of high-altitude construction.

If the elevator really falls, as long as Giles has this device, he can jump to the metal wall and stick to the wall with the magnetic device.

"I just brought it inadvertently, what do you want to say?"

Tommy looked at Giles suspiciously, he put down two glasses of beer, and then said angrily.

"Don't you know how long I've liked Emily?"

Tommy smiled and took a sip of his beer.

"But she doesn't like you. You can't force this kind of thing. Even if you resent me, there's nothing I can do about it."

Giles laughed bitterly.

"That night, I was the one who gave Emily a gift, not you. You tell her."

Giles' eyes were filled with bitterness and a bit of sadness. Tommy remembered clearly that on the night of the prom, everyone wore masks. Giles prepared gifts and cards to formally declare his love to Emily.

But Giles was very nervous that night, so he asked Tommy to give the gift to Emily. Tommy did so, but Emily asked Tommy that night.

"I've already explained to Emily that the gift was from you, but she still chose me."

Giles stood up excitedly, clenched his fists and said.

"It's impossible. She accepted the gift. You must have done something because I didn't write my name on the gift, so she thought it was from you."

Seeing that Giles was already a little angry, Tommy knew that he couldn't listen to anything in his current situation.

"Believe it or not, that's what happened, and Emily has returned the gift."

Giles picked up the beer and drank it in one gulp, then turned around and left.

"Then let Emily tell me personally, I don't believe what you say."

Looking at Giles leaving, Tommy sighed helplessly when the phone rang.

"Are you OK."

Emily's cry came over the phone, Tommy said with a smile.

"It's okay, I'm totally fine. I just felt a little uncomfortable, so I came to drink."

"I've prepared wine at home. Come back and I'll stay with you, okay?"

Tommy nodded helplessly. He drank the beer and stood up. As soon as he left the bar, he saw Giles staring at him not far away.

"Sure enough, the matter has something to do with Giles?"

As soon as Tommy finished speaking, someone from the PLC came over.

"Mr. Tommy, please come back with us to assist in the investigation. According to our investigation, the steel cable was deliberately damaged."

Tommy's eyes were stunned, and he looked at Giles not far away. An excited smile appeared on the corner of Giles's mouth. (End of chapter)