The first thought that came to their minds when they saw the metallic menace was to turn back. They spun around only to notice the elevator doors shutting close. They hurried over to stop it, but they weren’t able to match the speed of the shutting elevator doors. Johnny quickly hit the call button. ‘Access denied’. “This can’t be happening.” he said. He hit the button a few more times for confirmation, but all they kept hearing was ‘Access denied’. They turned to face the human-looking robot. It was walking towards them at a quick pace. They ran through the corridor which was on the left side of the elevator. They were heading for the gate from which the robot walked through. The robot busted right through a part of the left-hand side corridor wall. By now the trio had reached the gate. They tried to open the gate using the lever which was on the wall. But it wouldn’t budge. “It seemed as though we had reached the heart of the mystery. Everything on this strange island including the robots and this factory was so technologically advanced. The elevator door didn’t open when we pressed the button earlier and now this lever won’t budge. So we knew one thing for sure, there had to be a control room somewhere ahead and the person in charge had to be watching us from there. No cameras were visible to the eye, so there had to be hidden cameras around.” Johnny thought to himself.

While Johnny and Katie were tying to pull the lever downwards, Shawn could see the robot bending down and picking up a huge rock from the ruble. He pushed Johnny and Katie out of the way anticipating what the robot was about to do, and dove to the opposite side, barely missing the huge rock. The rock hit the gate, making a large sound and breaking through it. The hole was big enough to fit through. Johnny, Shawn and Katie climbed through the hole and began running through the narrow passage. It was brightly lit. There was a fork in the passage. Katie went one way and Johnny and Shawn went the other way. But both ways led to an elevator. There were two other doors excluding the ones they entered from. Katie opened the first one.

“Well, what can you see?” Johnny asked.
“Um, nothing.” she replied.
“What do you mean nothing?” he inquired.
“Take a look for yourself.” she replied.
“Whoa, it’s…”

There was nothing beyond the door. Falling wasn’t a good idea as the bottom door wasn't visible. They shut the door and tried the other one. There was a wall in front of the door. They searched for any buttons they could use to operate the lift with. And then they noticed it, there were two loose tiles just in front of the two doors that they had opened earlier.
“Perhaps if we stood on them simultaneously, they would activate something. Like a switch to go down.” Johnny said.
“Or like a trap.” Shawn said in a mysterious voice. He grinned. “Just kidding. It’s only an elevator right?”
Johnny was right. Something did get activated. The elevator had begun to descend. About ten seconds later, the elevator door opened, and the trio stepped out.

They could see what looked to them like a security checkpoint. Walking forward stealthily, they could see two guards sitting behind desks opposite each other. One was reading a newspaper, so there wouldn’t be a problem getting passed him. But the other one was watching television which was set up on a wall in the same direction as the trio. So there was no way of getting past him without being seen. They looked around for a way to get passed them. And then they saw air vents.

Johnny knew that they were fans in the air vents that were used to clean the vents and prevent any blockages. Therefore, they had to switch off the electricity in order to use the vents, else they would end up being into the fans and ditto seriously injured. They noticed an electric circuit board fixed on a wall near the security guard who was reading the newspaper. Johnny suddenly had an idea while pondering the thought of how they were to switch off the electricity. He commanded them to distract the guards after he had crept towards and safely hid behind the lockers. He explained that if the guards were to hear a suspicious noise, they would be alarmed and forced to check it out. Katie suggested that after Johnny had hid behind the lockers, she would throw a soda can from the nearby waste bin onto the floor and then climb into the vents with Shawn while the guards came to search for the source of the noise. Johnny nodded and crept towards the lockers. When he was sure that he wasn’t illuminated by the light bulb that hung from the ceiling, he signaled to Katie to throw the can. She picked up a soda can from the waste bin whilst Shawn unscrewed the hatch of the vents with the help of his pocket-knife. He placed the screws into his pocket, pushed aside the hatch, and clambered into the vents. Katie had decided to throw the can onto the ground from the vents as it was less precarious. She put the can in her pocket and hoisted herself up into the vent. She threw the can next to the bin and Shawn replaced the hatch.

The guards heard the can clanking against the bin. “What was that?” exclaimed the guard who was watching television. He glanced at his co-worker. He had fallen asleep while reading the newspaper. The guard opened his desk drawer and removed a flash light. He got up from his chair, switched on the light and aimed it towards the elevators. Unable to make out much due to the wall blocking his vision, he walked toward the elevators. After the guard had walked past Johnny, the latter crept behind the dormant guard and towards the electric panel. He opened it and flicked a red switch causing the lights to go off. He got out his pocket-knife and cut the insulation of one wire. He put the knife back into his pocket and closed the panel. Suddenly, he noticed that the room was getting slightly brighter and realized that the guard must be coming back to his post. He hurried past the metal detectors and was now standing in a long passage. Shawn and Katie were crawling through the vents. Shortly after they were past the checkpoint, they could see Johnny from above. Johnny signaled for them to hold their position.

Meanwhile the suspicious guard had opened the panel and tried to turn the lights on. “Ah!” He shrieked. He had got a shock. The sound had awakened the other guard. “Huh? What’s going on here?” asked the confused guard. “While you were busy reading the newspaper, the lights suddenly went out.” He said wryly. “We should call the electricians, one wire’s insulation is cut, which could prove to be hazardous.” he continued. “I believe that I’ve got her number on my phone.” The other guard said. He removed his phone and began rummaging through his contacts. “Ah, found it.” He dialed her number on the telephone on his desk.
“Hello, Stacey? We need you down here. Yeah, our lights are out. Oh and a wire’s been partially cut. Ten minutes? Alright, bye.”
The other guard faked a cough. “So why exactly is her number on your phone eh?” he said amusingly. “Err…just for convenience” the guard replied. “Haha, yeah I’ll bet.” He said.

Johnny could vaguely hear the sounds of two people talking. He panicked; the voices were headed right toward him. He glanced to his left and then to his right and saw a door on either side. He wondered which door to enter, but since he couldn’t hear any sound resonating from either door, he entered the left door at random. What he saw astonished him. It was some sort of a robot storage room. He heard the sound of footsteps getting closer. “Were they going to enter?” he wondered. He had to find a place to hide just incase they did. He glanced around the room meticulously. There was a nearby locker that was just about his size and was quite close to the door. He would be able to eavesdrop on them, should they enter the room. He entered the locked and shut the door lightly. Moments had passed and each second seemed felt like an eternity. He began pondering over all the incidents of the mystery. But his thoughts were cut short when he heard the voice of the two men, standing right outside the door. “Why don’t you check with the guards while I grab the manual?” The man opened the door and walked over to the lockers right next to where Johnny was hiding. Beads of perspiration trickled down his forehead. The man shone his flashlight on the inside of a locker adjacent to the locker in which Johnny was hiding. “Ah! Found it” the man muttered. He glanced through the pages. Johnny could barely make out the name of the manual, ‘Reprogramming for the TF142’ in the dim light. The man shut the locker and walked out. Johnny let out a sigh of relief. He could then overhear them talk as they walked away.
“I’ve got the manual. What have you found out from the guard?”
“He said that an electrician would be over in ten minutes or so to fix the panel.”
“Ten minutes? Oh well, I guess I’ll take my coffee break now.”
Johnny figured that the two men might be engineers. He opened the locker door and went to call the others. “Guys, you have to see this.” he whispered toward the vents. Shawn and Katie climbed down from the vents and followed Johnny into the room. “Wow, this is incredible!” Shawn exclaimed. Katie simply agreed. “Let's search for any evidence, robot-related documents or anything interesting and worthwhile.” Johnny said.

They began searching every nook and cranny. After about sixty seconds, the trio came up empty. “There’s nothing here.” Katie said. “Hang on, there’s one place we haven’t checked yet, this locked mini-cabinet.” Shawn said, pointing towards the cabinet. He removed his lock pick and picked the lock within seconds. “You’re getting really good at that.” Katie said. The comment made Shawn grin. He opened the cabinet and found only one folder in it. The label on the folder read ‘Classified’. He flipped it open and saw that the writing was in some kind of foreign language. Johnny’s best guess was German.
Attached to the back cover was a note in French along with a picture. The note read, “Le contenu de ce dossier ont déjà été envoyés pour examen. Veuillez mettre au rebut de ce message et que le contenu de ce dossier codes pour la conserver.” “The note roughly translates into; The contents of this folder have already been sent for review. Please discard of this message and have the contents of the folder encoded for safekeeping. Oh and there’s a name at the bottom, Hans.” Katie translated. Johnny and Shawn started at her with bewilderment. “You’ve just joined French class last year and you can still translate better than the two of us combined!” Shawn said. Katie laughed and replied, “That’s because the both of you are idiots!” She was feeling rather complacent. Shawn handed the folder to Johnny who kept the folder in his backpack. “Now let’s go and check out the room on the other side. It should be quite interesting.”

They walked over to the door, opened it and tiptoed across the passage. It was still quite dark. Johnny opened the door a crack and peered inside. There was nobody in sight. They entered the room. “This must be where they keep their weaponry and ammunition.” Katie proclaimed. “Why don’t we take a few handguns, incase that robot shows up again?” she continued. “I agree, but I wonder what happened to that robot. It was on our trail until we entered the elevator.” Shawn said. “Beats me, but let’s not wait around to find out.” Johnny said. They each took a 9mm handgun along with two boxes of ammunition. They walked over to the door and tried the handle. Locked! And then they noticed a keypad. They realized that this wasn’t the same door they entered through. But this was no ordinary door; they wouldn’t be able to pick the lock. Suddenly, Johnny had an idea. He rummaged through his backpack and fished out a fingerprint kit. “Whoa, where did you get that from?” asked Shawn curiously. “Long story.” Johnny said bluntly. He dusted the keys for prints. If there were fingerprints on any keys, then that key had to be part of the password. But the keypad was wiped clean, there wasn’t a single print. “These people are very clever and careful,” he commented, “let’s move on and dig up some more evidence.”

The trio exited the room and continued onwards. Shortly after, they found themselves in front of a large door. They switched off their flashlights and pushed open the door. The room was pitch dark except for an emergency light sitting on a table in the center of the room. The two men sitting on opposite sides of the table were reading through a book and discussing something amongst themselves. The trio was too far away to hear what they were mumbling, but they recognized those voices instantaneously. They were those engineers who had almost crossed their path earlier.

“I’m going to get more coffee,” one man said, “would you like some?” he continued. “Sure, why not?” the other man replied. The first man stood up from his chair and walked towards the door. “Quick, let’s follow him.” Johnny said. They crawled toward the door, sticking to the sides of the room. This way they wouldn’t be seen easily. The man opened the door and stepped out. But suddenly the lights came on! Stacey, the electrician must have passed them whilst they were still in the weaponry and ammunition room.
“Stop right there! Stand up and turn around slowly. Don’t even think of running away, or you’ll end up dead.” the man grinned slyly and leveled his gun at their heads.