This time I woke up quickly, immediately conscious and aware of where I was. My head had stopped hurting overnight, but touching the back of my skull, I found a bump there. I had long since grown unaccustomed to such things. Possessing a spider's strength, I simply ignored minor annoyances like this. Even during periods when my powers failed me, I could easily fall from a ten story building, landing back first on a car roof, without breaking my spine.
Also, the muscles in my arms and stomach were pleasantly sore. And that was after a measly twelve push ups. Realizing just how weak I was made me feel unbearably ashamed of myself.
I remembered my dream. Such a strange dream. Just remembering it made my heart clench painfully. Apparently, my subconscious was sending signals to my slow, forgetful conscious mind, but how, damn it, was I supposed to interpret a dream like that?
«Get the fuck off my lane, you one button animal.» A muffled but still quite distinct hiss from Bobbi.
Ah, that was what had woken me. Yes, besides Skyrim, the computer had several other games. Judging by her exclamations, Bobbi was playing one of them.
Getting up, I dressed in yesterday's clothes. No, this wouldn't do.
«I hope you didn't install anything on the WORK computer while I was asleep,» I said, standing behind the girl.
«Oh... I, well, the Doc let me play games on her computer when she wasn't using it, you know? I was stuck here with her all the time, and I got bored... and so...» Bobbi lowered her shoulders and tried not to look me in the eye while making excuses.
She hadn't paused the game, and while she was talking, a female voice announced that the enemy team had killed Baron.
«I'll turn it off and... delete all the games. Just please don't tell the boss it was because of me that the computer broke.» She put her hands together in a pleading gesture and looked at me with an imploring gaze.
«Don't delete anything without me from the computer. Go ahead and finish playing.» I turned away and walked toward the refrigerator.
But Bobbi didn't play anymore. She turned off the game and followed me, showering me with thanks. Apparently, the girl really was afraid of Cindy's wrath.
«Alright,» I interrupted her stream of chatter. «Since you're not playing anymore, listen to my terms. There need to be normal ingredients in the refrigerator, something that can be heated up quickly. Throw out all this rotten junk. I need clean clothes, underwear, toiletries, a towel, and everything else like that. And right now, show me the bathroom or shower room.»
Bobbi was taken aback by such pressure and just blinked at me. I continued.
«And anyway, what the hell am I explaining this to you for? You kidnapped me and expected me to work for you. If you want results, give me decent conditions.»
Fortunately, there were no objections. The girl processed the information and began carrying out my orders. Five minutes later, I was standing under the shower, brushing my teeth, and thinking over the information Bobbi had inadvertently let slip that morning.
She had been here with Stans the whole time. I highly doubted she could have been of any use in the research. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't see this girl as a scientist's assistant. Playing games on a work station was a great pastime for an assistant, wasn't it? That meant Bobbi had been guarding Stans just as she was guarding me. So the Doc had been held here against her will. But for how long? It was unlikely Stans had been a prisoner when she wrote her article. No, more likely, Cindy had noticed her precisely because of the article. Though, of course, there could be nuances, but that scenario was the most probable. In that case, the scientist's irresponsible attitude toward her work appeared in a new light. She had deliberately sabotaged the process. And another question arose. Who the hell was this Cindy, that she could see potential where the rest of the world could not, in Stans's article?
Questions, questions, questions. Too many questions.
While I was washing up, Bobbi brought fresh clothes, simple sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and underwear.
I got back to work on my predecessor's project. For now, I was just sorting through her old work and mentally estimating what could be done to improve the situation. Despite my solidarity with the victim, I had no intention of creating a working formula and emitter for criminals. And it was far from certain that I could. Not at all certain. At the same time, I was working on assembling a decoder. Things were not as rosy as I had assumed. I had seen a couple of times how easily Tony Stark hacked various security systems using his suit and Jarvis, but among the information I had blindly saved at night, there was nothing nearly as effective.
The lock was not cheap. A four digit code, automatic alarm trigger after three incorrect entry attempts. A decoder capable of resetting the attempt counter through short circuits would take about an hour and a half to guess a four digit code, about 120 combinations per minute. But if you limited it to just the four worn digits, it would only take about twelve seconds. Ultimately, I decided to find out the master key for this lock. I would still have to assemble the decoder and gain access to the lock for a couple of hours, but then I could reset the lock code no matter how many times they changed it. The master key was longer than the password, six digits, which meant weeks of brute forcing. However, the firmware of this lock model had a vulnerability. As soon as you entered four digits that were neither the password nor the master key, the lock would generate an error. Thus, you could find out the first four digits of the master key, and then figure out the remaining two.
Along the way, I made a simple disposable taser, just in case.
Bobbi didn't bother me and didn't even try to watch what I was doing. And when I let her play games on the computer, she wasn't a guard at all. She was a dream.
On the second night, I found out the current lock code using my homemade decoder, then figured out the master key. The lock naturally switched to new key entry mode. That would have been a mess if I had started trying to get the master key right away and couldn't restore the old code. By the way, the code contained digits different from the four worn ones, meaning it had been changed recently.
This cost me five hours of sleep. First, I waited an hour for the mansion to quiet down completely. Then, during the four hours the decoder was running, I didn't dare sleep. My sleep was deep, and waking up on my own at the right time worked about half the time. It could be a useful skill, allowing me not to use an alarm clock, but for some reason it didn't always work. Sometimes, relying on my ability to wake up when I wanted, I would go to bed without an alarm and come to only fourteen hours later, or Aunt May would wake me up when she knew I had to get up early. That same night, I made a short foray into the hallway. The laboratory was underground, and luckily, the security post was nearby. The guard on duty was quite negligent about his duties, as evidenced by the resonant voice of the innkeeper announcing a fight between Rexar and Anduin. The guard himself was not visible. He was in the next room. Only his removed boots and the edge of a sofa were visible in the open doorway. At least he wasn't sleeping.
From this foray, I learned one very important fact. Cameras were only installed outside the mansion, at the gates and the front door. I was already convinced that the laboratory had no obvious surveillance devices, and now I knew which places to avoid when escaping.
By the way, Anduin won.
On the third day, I learned everything there was to know from Stans's records. I was already starting to feel burdened by this forced confinement. Plus, Bobbi no longer stayed overnight with me, so I had no internet access. During this time, I had more or less sorted out the chaos in my head. However, I still couldn't figure out the meaning of that dream, and there were no new messages from my subconscious. One way or another, it was time to get out of there and find out what had happened to me. If I really had been the superhero Spider Man, then how did I end up in the past? And if I was just a sixteen year old teenager, then where did these memories come from? And in either case, I needed to recover my memories of the last few months, maybe even years, of my life.
I had two main escape plans.
First, take Bobbi's gun, force her to lead me out of the mansion, and call the cops using her iPhone. The downsides of this plan were obvious. I won't even bother listing them.
Second, sneak away at night and then call the cops. This plan wasn't ideal either, but I was leaning toward it. Why else had I made the decoder?
There was also a final option, call the cops and become a hostage during the raid. As you might guess, this option was not approved by the high council and didn't even achieve plan status.
I left the laboratory again at night, sneaking past the security post. This time, the sounds of a movie came from there. Well, he couldn't play Hearthstone forever.
I couldn't go through the main entrance. There were cameras. So I needed to find some service entrance. A large mansion like this had to have service passages. I had some experience with this sort of thing. I had even learned a few tricks from Felicia. Unfortunately, I didn't have her skills at lock picking and stealthy infiltration. I managed to get into the garage, overcoming three more electronic locks along the way. Much cheaper than the one in the laboratory. I didn't even need a decoder for those. There are models of electronic locks that are a pleasure to hack. You open the back cover and change the access code. The instructions are even there. Very courteous of the manufacturers to provide such an option. It is called the dirty maid method.
But in the garage itself, I encountered an unexpected problem. I didn't know how to drive. I had never needed to. I found the small truck that delivered supplies. I even knew how to hotwire it and steal it. God, how stupid. I didn't want to escape on foot through the forest when I had a perfectly good vehicle ready to be stolen. I would have to hide and wait for the cops to arrest the criminals. I would rather do that at home than at night in the forest.
Okay, combine the first two plans. Like an idiot, I went back to my room to wait for Bobbi. I could try to capture the guard at the post, but her absence would be noticed quickly, just like mine. But Bobbi spent almost the whole day with me. Considering how early she arrived, she had adapted to my schedule. There was a high chance that our absence wouldn't be noticed right away.
Passing by the security post, I heard the Innkeeper's voice again. He announced a defeat, followed by a woman's indignation.
«Fucking face hunters. A class for idiots. I wonder what it's like to play a face hunter...» A guard, women everywhere in this mansion.
Bobbi arrived a little earlier than usual. She had a stack of clean clothes and a tray of fresh food in her hands. Because of her load, she had to close the door with her foot. Strictly speaking, the door would have closed automatically anyway.
I felt a little awkward about tasing such a caring girl, but then I remembered waking up with a headache and a bag over my head, as well as the results of my push ups. Although my doubts didn't completely disappear, I overcame the sympathy I had developed for Bobbi over these past few days.