Nano day 2 - 11:14 am before work...

[joegoda]

Well's shoes clacked on the black marble floor all the way to the elevator. He pushed the down button on the brass panel and waited the brief time it took for the doors to open. As a ding announced the arrival of the car, he glanced up subconsciously. He was looking for the sign that read "Forsake all hope, ye who enter."

It was a joke that had been done years ago. The sign above the elevator doors had gone unnoticed by janitors for a month before it was taken down, or, perhaps it was the brainchild of the janitors themselves. The culprit was never found, but there was an unspoken agreement among those that rode down into the depths of the building that the sign carried an appropriate sentiment.

The inside of the elevator car was a dark wood, illuminated by floresent tubes captured behind white eggcrating. There were two numbered panels; one on the right and one on the left side of the polished steel doors. They were touchpanels, silk screened in red letters that glowed with fire when pressed. Upwards from the letter G for ground were two floors and the roof. The roof could only be accessed by a keycard and a retinal scan. Downwards from ground were five floors. There was no B for basement, because the floors below were all refered to as the basement.

The basement of the building was clad in two inch thick steel, surrounding six inches of reinforced concrete. Beyond the steel was a liquid barrier, thick and viscous like heavy mud that never hardened. It was designed so that the building was floating at all times on a shock absorbing material. This was for protection against earthquakes or bomb attacks outside the perimiter of the building. Any drainage for the basement was pumped up and over the barrier. This ensured that the moat, as it was called, would not be pierced by drainage pipes and therefore, would make it much harder for an enemy to penetrate. It also meant that the pumps that controlled the drainage were in constant maintenance mode. Nobody wanted a mess in the basement.

Wells touched the number five, the lowest level. It glowed under his finger and the elevator car slid the ten second trip down to the fifth floor. It was decided at the time the elevator was constructed that it would be the last defense against intrusion. Ten seconds was enough for the biomentric scanners to determine if the rider was an invader or not. The biometric scanner remotely checked heartrate, breathrate, and pupil dialation. It checked for traces of alcohol or drugs in the expelled breath, and evaluated the amount of humidity in the air of the car. It would automatically adjust for the number of occupants and the temperature, because as the number of occupants and temperature increase, so does the amount of persperation. Bad guys sweat a lot.

If any of the alarms in the elevator car were triggered, the information would be sent to a waiting team of insurgency experts below. It was the job of these experts to decide, upon evaluation of the evidence, whether or not to push a single button. This button, when pushed, would release the safety cables on the elevator car, and it would plunge to the bottom of the shaft. The button would also release the safety cables on a fifty ton block of lead, seated directly above the elevator car. The button was handled very carefully, and the person who pushed it would be immediately retired with pay. Needless to say, it was an easy job; waiting to push the button, hoping that it never had to be pushed. The turn over rate for this position was very high.

Reaching the fifth floor, the doors slid open silently. Wells walked though the single checkpoint and nodded at the armed men standing on either side as they examined him and his security badge. He continued down the hall to the third door on the right, opened it and entered his office.

Comments

[capi.livejournal.com]

Here's my only thing for today:

"The inside of the elevator car was a dark wood, illuminated by floresent tubes captured behind white eggcrating. The number panel was on the right and left side of the polished steel doors. It was..."

You speak in singular, but it appears that there are TWO, one on either side of the doors?

This is some kinda *scary*, this place! Can't wait to see where you are going!!

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

Wow! Thanks for the save! Yep, you are right. One on either side of the door. I've never liked elevators that just had the one. Where our Mr. Wells works is a very spooky place indeed. By the way, dearest Capi.... I would wager you know where his current name of Herbert Wells comes from.

[capi.livejournal.com]

You are the welcomest!! *hee*

You are probably right, and i probably do, but my feeble memory was not tweaked, so apparently i filed it somewhere else. *sigh*

His *current* name, eh? *chuckle*

[hdsqrl.livejournal.com]

Wow, the moat thing is very cool...and I love the block of lead. And also, this isn't like where I work, after all. But it could be. :o

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

It's a tip top secret installation, protected from all goverments and invasions. It was also very expensive to build. OH, and I did pattern it a bit after some of the buildings I've been in and seen. Parts of it, anyway.

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

*raises hand*

Would the middle initial be "G."?

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

Why yes, yes it is. Now, what does the 'G' stand for?

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

And if you answer that, I will freeze the remaining Cherry Danish and save it just for you!

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

Um, George, I think.