Phoenix waited, spider-still and silent. Eventually the door opened and some people dressed as hospital orderlies passed by, headed downstairs. One was wearing a baseball cap. He dropped down noiselessly and slipped in through the door. He saw a hall, similar in dimension to the abandoned masking section on the top level, containing bits of equipment and people moving around, and several doors leading into the central area, whatever that was. The people coming out looked like actors more than anything else; as soon as they stepped out their faces changed expression and their speech changed subject as they dropped out of character. He remembered what they had learned about Needle's past, how it had all been faked. Ah-hah. He must be close.
    There was no good way for him to slip through the doors to the interior of the setup, which were guarded.
    One of the guards saw him and waved. "About time, we're still having that problem with camera seven."
    Phoenix headed in the direction of the pointing hand, looking at the cameras, which were opaque to him; he could just about recognize what they were. Some pieces looked like maybe hologram equipment? He admitted to himself that he didn't have the vaguest idea. Fifty minutes. He called Scott.
    "Hey Scott, I'm down here looking at camera seven," he said in a normal voice, "I don't know what this is, I'm on sub-two, could you give me a hand with this? I don't know what the problem is."
    "Give me a couple minutes?" Scott replied after what may have been a startled pause.
    "Get down here when you can," Phoenix said casually.
    Scott had been in the midst of his bomb deactivation. It had its own internal battery in addition to exterior power lines, so shutting down the generator would not disarm it. He thought for a moment, then connected the incoming power lines to form a loop, cutting out the bomb. Then he ate the battery. There wasn't much there, but it gave him a bit of a boost after being in the dark for so long.
    That seemed to be the best he could do in that area. The ventilation ducts didn't seem to connect anywhere; he went to gas form and seeped up through the subfloor, passing more hologram equipment and secondary generators as he did so.
    Lucky aimed carefully at the power lines, ready to make her move when the moment came.
    Phoenix stared at the camera in unfeigned perplexity. Scott came up through the wall and saw him there—or at least, a man standing near camera seven. He tapped Phoenix on the shoulder.
    "Scott?" he subvocalized without looking around.
    "Hm?"
    "How long until Lucky provides the distraction?"
    "Three minutes."
    "We wait."
    Some more guards appeared around the corner. They were looking directly at him. "Hey!" one said.
    He looked up a little, not totally.
    "Come here," he was ordered. He walked over. The man grabbed his hat and yanked it up.
    Never mind waiting. Scott signaled Lucky.

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