Chapter 12

At a fuse box on the outer periphery of the Freshfields car park, Ellie watched as Aoife sat, hunched over, rooting around with its innards. 
It had been a hard few days, trying to put Freshfields behind her and live an ordinary life. But, despite her dismay around breaking into the store under the cover of darkness, she was glad to return, even if that did mean combatting a malicious artificial intelligence. 
“I think I have it,” announced Aoife, ripping out a long strand of cable.
A loud snip followed, and ahead of them the bright lights of the Freshfields store sign blinked out, and so did those within. 
“No power,” said Xana. “Let’s hope that’s knocked out SPIMS entirely.”
“We’re still going to have to think this out,” said Charles. “The stocking scanners will still have battery life, and if Ellie, or any of us, come in close proximity to one…”
Ellie's mind flashed back to her experience in the freezer. “We’ll end up fried.”
Charles didn’t reply, merely offered up a concerned look. 
“So the front entrance is out, then?” said Jae-Sun. “There’s at least three scanners in the security podium.”
“Good call,” said Charles. “Staff entrance?”
Ellie shook her head. “From there we’d either have to walk past the office or the staff canteen to get anywhere. We can’t guarantee anyone won’t have left scanners around — they’re everywhere.”
Charles’ shoulders slumped.
“So what does that leave?” asked Olivia. 
“The delivery entrance?” suggested Jae-Sun.
“Locked until tomorrow morning,” said Ellie, feeling decidedly unhelpful. Then her eyes widened as a thought hit her. “What about a fire door?”
“Aren’t they usually sealed from the outside?” asked Xana.
“Oh come on, said Ellie. “You’ve just cut the power to an entire supermarket, and you’re saying you can’t break through a door?”
“It’s not like we have a battering ram in the van,” said Aoife.
Ellie shot her a look of irritation. “But you do have a van.”
The group shared a look of devious delight. 
Aoife grinned. “You know, Ellie, I’m really starting to like you…”

A few minutes later, a screech of tyres and a loud bang bookended SIGNET’s van bursting through a feeble fire door on the store’s outer wall. The door held up little protest, flinging open under the force, and taking out both shelves adjoining them. The van promptly pulled out of the store, and its occupants climbed out. 
Xana looked upon the shattered doors with pride. “Gain entry to Freshfields, check.”
The group entered the store. Without power, light sources were scarce, only dim emergency lighting illuminating specific sections from above, and leaving all others in darkness. 
“Take these,” said Jae-Sun, closing the back door of the van and handing out a selection of beam torches and washing up gloves. 
“What are these for?” asked Ellie, holding up the gloves like it had been pulled out of a drain.
“SPIMS forces stocking scanners to generate electrical charges in order to attack people,” said Aoife. “These should offer us some protection… hopefully.”
Ellie winced, again recalling her experience in the freezer.
Once each of them had donned their rubber gloves, the lights from their torches flicked on in sequence, and scanned their surroundings.
They found themselves in the alcohol section, if they hadn’t already surmised from the overpowering smell of whisky, many bottles having smashed during their destructive entrance.
“Alright, Ellie, what’s the quickest way to the mainframe from here?”
“The quickest would be to enter the warehouse from the ground floor, but who knows how many scanners we’d encounter on the way, and even with torches, we’d be lucky to see them all. The smartest way would be to take the escalator to the home entertainment section, and enter the warehouse from the upper floor. It’ll bring us closer to the room where the mainframe is housed.”
“Then lead the way.”
The SIGNET team followed Ellie from the alcohol section, on a strategic path through the aisles towards the front of the store, where the escalator was located. As they traversed each aisle, they made sure to walk single-file, directly down the middle, alert and attentive for any scanners that had been left on the shelves by members of staff earlier that day. Passing by row after row of Christmas chocolates, Olivia’s torchlight was drawn upwards towards a flickering light. She saw it was coming from a small dome-shaped device screwed to the ceiling. 
“That optical device is watching us,” she said, pointing.
Their torches turned upwards to look.
“The system has infiltrated the security systems,” said Aoife. “This isn’t good, Charles; it’s getting power from somewhere to do it. 
“The security lights could be on another system?” Ellie suggested.
“It could,” Aoife mumbled, “but instinct tells me otherwise. Since we started working here, SPIMS has been learning. What if it finds a way to spread beyond the store?”
The thought made Ellie’s stomach churn. Would that mean people would disappear all over? The thought wasn’t one she felt comfortable exploring any further.
“That’s why we’re here to stop it,” Charles said, with a firmness that inspired confidence. Ellie saw it pass into the others: their resolve grew, and stood that little bit taller. Their trust in Charles in turn gave Ellie hope, an infection she was happy to have caught. 
They reached the store’s foyer, an area which gained particular attention from the emergency lighting. Across from it sat the escalator leading to the store’s mezzanine floor. Despite the relative lifelessness of everything else around them, the escalator’s conveyor belt of stairs churned away unimpeded.
“I think Aoife was right,” said Jae-Sun. “SPIMS has found a way to get power…”
“Do we still ride it?” asked Olivia.
“It could be a trap,” said Xana.
“It’s either this way or risk getting zapped taking another route,” said Charles. “We have no perfect options, so let’s get this done.”
Sucking in a deep breath, Charles bolstered his courage and led the way. To Ellie’s surprise, each of the others were following suit without protest. Not wanting to be stuck at the back of the line, she stuck close to Charles and mounted the moving metal steps. 
They began to rise, and all the while Ellie wondered why Charles’ coat, positioned squarely in her face as she stood one step below, smelled ever so pleasantly of cinnamon. Her train of thought was interrupted, however, around half way through their ascent, when the stairs began to slow, before grinding to a halt altogether. 
“What’s going on?” asked Xana, panicked. 
Six torch beams swayed frantically in all directions, searching for a cause. 
“Could it be running on a battery or something?” suggested Jae-Sun. “It could have died now the power is out.”
“Don’t be daft,” said Aoife. “It’s getting mains power or nothing. Something’s happening here…”
Ellie’s torch fell upon another security camera, staring down at them, unblinking. “SPIMS is watching us,” she gasped. “Run!”
Abruptly, the escalator erupted back into life, but its direction changed, descending back towards the ground floor. The group all ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Ellie was astounded by Charles’ nimble feet as he quickly put some distance between them. 
Jae-Sun, taking the rear, was similarly athletic, but sadly for him, the spindly Olivia in front of him wasn’t. Unintentionally, he ran a little too fast, and caught the back of her leg, sending her legs into a tangle. She fell forwards, holding out her arms instinctively, palms and elbows landing awkwardly on the cold steel steps. To her dismay, her fall had also served to ensnare Xana, of which the resulting torrent of curse words were audible throughout the entire store. Helpless to defeat the direction of the escalator, the three slid back towards the ground floor.
Despite the human domino occurring behind them, Ellie, Charles and Aoife maintained their balance, and continued to climb. Even when the stairs juddered and stopped once more, they adapted and continued on. The reward for their efforts was their arrival on the lifeless, faux marble flooring of the Home & Entertainment section. 
Feeling secure on unmoving ground, Ellie looked back to see Xana, Jae-Sun, and Olivia in a heap at the bottom of the escalator. 
“We have to go back for them,” said Ellie, fearing what fate SPIMS had in store for them. She moved in their direction, but Charles gripped her arm. 
“They know the risks,” he assured her. “They can handle themselves, don’t worry.”
Ellie frowned, but knew he was probably right. Jae-Sun had served in the army — or, at the very least, was what he had told her. She wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.
“Come on,” said Aoife. “The warehouse is this way.”
They set moving, when a snap and hiss erupted from their right. Ellie leapt to one side, recognising the sound all too well. A scanner sat on a discarded stocking trolley, vibrating left and right as it crackled with electrical discharge. The three watched as the energy emitting from the device crescendoed, before ceasing altogether, as its remaining battery life depleted. 
“We need to remain alert at all times,” said Charles. “SPIMS clearly has a number of tricks up its sleeve, and it’s already divided our numbers.”
“We’re on its turf,” Aoife pointed out. “And it’s holding all the cards.”
Ellie’s eyes widened in realisation. “It’s playing Home Alone with us…”
“So let’s not be Harry and Marv,” said Aoife.
They began their journey through the store’s upper floor, torchlights strafing back and forth for any sign of the untoward. Ellie recalled how it hadn’t been all that long since she had roamed this very area with Maddy, on a day off which now seemed a distant memory. 
The distance to the warehouse entrance wasn’t far, and they soon spotted them looming in the darkness, scuffed and scraped by the number of trolleys that had battered them over the years. As they made their approach, the doors unexpectedly flung open, and they found an oddly-shaped figure emerge to block their path. 
“What the hell is that?” baulked Ellie.
It was no human figure, by any stretch, but instead one composed entirely of stocking scanners, bound together by unseen means. Three screens composed its face, the middle of which shone red.
The emergency lighting blinked on for them to see the composite creature with more clarity. It stepped towards them like a baby: small, uncertain steps, which slowly began to develop into larger, more precise strides, as it advanced on the incredulous trio in its sights.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

​

Next Aisle: Chapter 13