126. Is It Hot In Here, or Is It Just You?
Amy decides to try her hand at the keypad. After all, she was able to break the password on her younger sister's e-mail account to spy on her when they were in high school. How much different could this be?
She inspects the keypad. Numbers one through nine, plus zero. An enter key, a backspace key. She tries out a few random numbers "Four, three, six, one, eight..." The eight fails to appear on the LED display above the pad. "Okay, so it's four digits. That means, at most... ten thousand combinations. But it doesn't take too long to enter one. I just have to be systematic." She clears out the display and starts her project.
1-1-1-1. PASSWORD REJECTED. Okay. 1-1-1-2. PASSWORD REJECTED. Amy settles in. 1-1-1-3. PROCESSING... Amy straightens up. That was fast! A small panel slides aside to the left of the door and a cylindrical metal object attached to a swivel mount comes out. A red light glows on one end of the cylinder. Amy gulps, then starts to back away. Maybe this was a bad idea...
The cylinder begins turning around, as though surveying the room. It stops when it points at Amy. She hears first a whirring, then a humming that gradually grows louder. Amy suddenly recalls an important appointment at the other end of the hallway. She turns and readies to sprint out of the device's kill zone. Just as she does, a bright red beam shoots forth from the cylinder, striking her in the small of the back. Amy freezes as an astounding heat radiates through her body, then dissipates as the molecules in her body complete the combustion process. Her remains crumble into a pile of ashes. Another panel opens up on the wall at the floor and a dustpan and broom emerge. Amy is swept into the pan, which then returns to the wall. She may not be much of an adventuress any longer, but Amy will now make a fantastic fertilizer additive for the plants in the greenhouse!
Amy is no longer in any condition to continue this adventure or her life.