"What other things worry you?" Markus asked, closing the door and trotting after Cor like a curious puppy.
Nora looked around, panic stirring its red wings in her chest. Listless programs everywhere, confused smiles on their faces, heads lolling. They looked like… she didn't know what they looked like. Uncontrolled, but in a sleepy, odd way.
Cor opened his mouth to tell him… But quickly closed it. “Maybe we should wait until Nora is with us. She is in charge here and I think she should know too.” he finally answered. “But I don't mind if you stick around and hear it.”
Markus nodded, unlocking the elevator and stepping in. Many floors above them, Nora was hearing the first stirrings of confusion from the sober programs. Shifting through the crowd, she started making their way to them; some were grouped by the main elevator.
Cor sighed leaned against the wall of the elevator again. This was making less sense than it should. Hopefully, Nora would have some ideas… Or, if necessary, he could try to track down Aroura and ask for her opinion.
The elevator made its way in smooth, almost eerie silence up to the club, the doors whooshing open softly. Nora was still by the doors, helping the bouncers with trying to explain the situation to the programs. Her bright pink hair, with Bit bobbing above her bun, was a veritable beacon in the crowd, visible even from the back.
Cor put away the data cube and somehow managed not to bolt straight out of the service elevator when it finally stopped. Seeing the crowd gathered around Nora made something in him lurch until he noticed that they didn't seem to be causing any harm to anyone. “Come on, Markus. Try to keep up.” he warned before carefully pushing past the throng of programs and worked his way over towards Nora.
Markus rode Cor's wake through the dopey programs, who all looked even more zoned out now. Nora was talking to a program with long purple hair and bangs that covered her eyes.
"I don't know what's going on," Nora was saying. "If you could stay for just a few millicycles, everything should be fine."
Once he was finally close enough, Cor gently reached for Nora’s arm and stood by her side. “You need to see this.” he whispered, not wanting to cause a scene and/or risk upsetting the drugged programs.
Nora twitched when he touched her, her hand going instinctively to her baton; when she saw it was just Cor, she relaxed. "What did you find? Here, let's go into my office." She began slipping back through the crowd.
Cor didn't blame her for her reaction. After what happened when he picked her up in her apartment, it just made sense. He nodded a little at her suggestion, glad she said it before he did, but didn't say anything until all three of them were inside her office. “Ok. Honestly, I didn't find much.” he admitted as he pulled out and activated the data cube. “But this shows that someone else has access to the club's energy storage room. No id tag. And this part is what bothers me, whoever this was… This just shows that the door unlocked, not that anyone got in or touched anything.” he explained, pointing out parts of the code as he did.
Nora frowned, her brows furrowing. She was beginning to question Zuse's decision to not put security cameras in the vault. She made a mental note to order some.
Security cameras. Wait…
"When did you say it was opened?" she asked slowly, pivoting on her heel and walking to her desk.
“Umm… about four or five microcycles before Markus went down to get the energy for the club tonight.” Cor said, looking at the data again. “You got an idea?” he smirked a little as he glanced over at her.
"I do," Nora said, pulling up the computer screen, her hands dancing delicately across the controls. "The security cameras in the club are always running, even when the club is closed… they should show us if anyone entered the service elevator."
A few moments passed in silence, and then Nora groaned softly and gestured to the screen. "Nothing. They must have gotten in via the access tunnel at the bottom of the building, and I don't think there are security cameras down there."
Cor almost smiled as she pulled up the security feed, honestly a little doubtful that it could be that easy. As he watched with Nora he let out a soft sigh and shook his head. “This just keeps getting more and more complicated. It has to be Cyrus at this point. I don't know why he would do this but everything else just adds up.” he groaned, running his hands through his hair.
Nora looked up at Cor. "…You didn't see, did you? The programs, in the club. They're all… acting strange. Listless. Even Skye."
“Uhh… No, I didn't really look at them.” Cor shook his head. “Is it worse than earlier?” he asked, heading over to look down at the crowd.
Nobody was dancing. Everyone was limp, standing around staring at each other with those wide, haunted eyes.
"I don't know what's going on," Nora confessed, closing the screen and coming to stand next to Cor. "I don't think they've even noticed that the bar is closed."
“Well, that might be a good thing.” Cor commented, suppressing a shudder at the way everyone was staring. “Did someone call the Black Guard yet? If things get bad, I’d rather have them get beat up than us.”
"I don't know if the Black Guard can… do anything," Nora confessed. "I think what we need is a medic, but I'm nowhere near qualified."
"I can get a medic," Markus volunteered. "There's one just around the corner from the Silver Building."
Cor nodded, agreeing with the idea of a medic. “That might be a better plan. Flynn knows what that psycho could have done.”
Nora nodded as well. "Markus, go get a medic. I'll continue looking at the security cameras. There has to be something, somewhere."
Cor sighed, rubbing his forehead thoughtfully. “Can… Can I double-check that security feed?” he asked, a little doubtful that he would actually find anything.
Nora nodded, pulling up the screen, while Markus exited the office. "Go ahead."
“Thanks.” Cor said as he moved back to the desk and played the video again. He wasn't really sure he would find anything but he wanted to make sure that they weren't missing anything.
Nora, meanwhile, was considering hiring Black Light. She knew there were other security cameras, of other buildings, that would have a viewpoint on the other door. She knew she couldn't access those if she tried, but Black Light…
She didn't know how to hire him, that was her only problem. Perhaps she'd ask him the next time she saw him.