The only light in the room came from the blinking lights from the monitors. The large tube in the mammoth room was giving off a glow strong enough to make the room bright enough to see wall to wall.
"The spiders cut the power?" I asked him. There was no possible way they knew how to do that.
"They did something to it. Whatever it was, we are now powerless; with that information, I think we can all assume they somehow have stopped the flow of energy," Dr. Kale said.
"But… they're spiders! They can't know to do that!" I said in disbelief. This was already deep in the realm of the impossible; it had now taken a step past that point.
"They must have felt the electricity flowing from the room. That kind of power must have been strong enough to draw the spiders to the energy it was producing... Their intelligence is unrivaled among any animal species we've discovered. That may even include the species alive today," he said and buried his face in his hands. "What have I done?"
"This building is full of people with doctorate degrees. Let's hope we can, at least, outsmart them," I said. "Wait. How is the tube in the room creating light? The monitors here, there's blinking. They're still getting power?"
"The computers are different. They're getting enough energy to maintain all crucial information stored and keep the mammoth alive, but they are unusable for us. The most important parts of this facility are hooked up to an outside generator in case of a power failure," sounded his voice from the darkness next to me.
"If the computers are getting power, is this room also getting power?" I asked.
"No. This room is wired to the building," he said.
A horrible thought hit me.
"How are we going to get out of this room with no electricity? Or how will Darren and Justin reach us with no elevator?" I said.
"This room has an emergency latch we can pull, but it's a hell of a drop, and it will hurt," Dr. Kale said. "As for the elevator, there are stairs that lead to every floor, but if the spiders are as smart as I know they are, they'll be there waiting."
"The stairs will be funneling their meals to them," I said and rubbed my eyes, trying to think. "So what you're saying is that we are just S.O.L.?"
"Let's just see if Darren and Justin can get here. Then we'll deal with getting to the weapons," Dr. Kale said.
"Okay, so a freshly-hatched spider killed a grown man with ease. I'll chalk some of that up to the element of surprise. But, honestly, how much trouble are we in here? Are spiders as aggressive and dangerous of an insect as I fear they are?" I said.
"Not insects. And as I stated before, you might as well forget all that you think you know about spiders. Besides their appearance, there's not much in common. In fact, their appearance is pretty much where the similarities end. Besides my friend who found the eggs, who is smoking freaking hot, by the way, I know more about these creatures than anyone on Earth," Dr. Kale said.
"Not the appropriate time to be discussing the physical appearance of your friend, who I highly doubt is really your friend," I said.
Dr. Kale shrugged. "A lonely scientist can have friends."
"Okay, so let's make this easy. In your barely-professional opinion, are we screwed?" I said.
"Oh, God, yes. We are the epitome of boned. More than I can express to you," he said.
"Becca?" I called out to the dark praying for an AI savior. "Any thoughts or advice?"
"No power, so her server is down. She runs on the main grid. It would be really helpful to have a super smart AI right about now. A little weird to introduce her just to have her removed from the story. Almost like she was introduced here to be used in an upcoming series," Dr. Kale explained.
I sat down on the floor with a frustrated sigh and pulled my phone back out, but there was no service.
"My service is gone," I said and flipped my phone open and closed a few times to try and get it to work.
"Well, yeah, it's not like we are anywhere near phone towers out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The only service you got was because of the system we had set up here. So no electricity means no phone system, which then means no phone service."
"Yeah, I should have figured that," I said and shoved my phone back in my pocket.
"We're alone on this island," Dr. Kale said in a hushed voice.
We sat in silence for almost an hour; the lack of Justin and Darren rushing in to save the day was starting to weigh on my nerves.
"Is there something spiders hate that we can use to our advantage? Some type of chemical or smell?" I asked him. Talking and planning always calmed me down. If we're forming a plan, no matter how ridiculous it was, I would feel better while we wait. "Guns might not be enough, especially since we're probably not the best shots."
"I'm not sure; I mean, we have bug spray. Maybe that would help?" Dr. Kale said.
"Peppermint oil," I said.
"What? Are you serious?" Dr. Kale asked and then scoffed.
"Spiders hate the smell. I think. If you add some to water and spray your home, it keeps spiders out. If we have any here, we can use it to cover ourselves. Then we can move freely without getting attacked!" I said. "Tell me you have some!"
"I mean, uh, we might? It would be in the pantry in the kitchen. We keep everything we don't use on a daily basis in there. But that's down on the last floor, the same floor as the electrical room," he said. "Do you think it could work? I have my doubts; remember these aren't the same spiders we have in today's world. What works on our spiders means nothing when it comes to this species. I feel like you're struggling to comprehend that."
The only thing I'm struggling to comprehend is how you haven't been strangled yet.
"Do you think we have a chance of surviving if it comes down to our skill with firearms?" I asked him, knowing we would be dead if it did.
"Well, what's the plan? We're safe in here. There's no reason to go gallivanting around the building trying to hunt spiders! We can sit here and wait for the boss to save our asses," Dr. Kale said and leaned back in his chair.
"Our help won't even know what they're walking into! With fourteen of these spiders the size of cars roaming around, our rescue could be torn to shreds before the actual rescuing-part takes place. On top of that, there are one hundred plus people here unaware that gigantic, murderous spiders are wandering free! Thanks to you! The guy who wants to stay locked in his little room!" It took all I had not to beat him with the chair he sat in.
"We're not heroes! We're not fighters! We are scientists. We think and create. We. Do. Not. Act. What we are is dead if we leave this room," he said.
"This is your fault, you coward! You're not going to let all those innocent people die while you're hiding like a bitch! This is your facility; you are the leader here. You're in charge! AND you did this! The spiders would be sitting harmlessly in their eggs if it was not for you, and no one here would be dead. However, that's not the case. This is real, and someone has died. More will die if we don't do something. Once Darren and Justin are here, we are going to go out there and help. If you don't get us out of here and help me do something, so help me God, I will drag your ass out there and feed you to the spiders piece by piece!" I took a step toward him.
"Holy geez, dude," he said, standing up and walking to the corner of the room. "That was dark."
"It's going to get a lot darker if you don't do something," I threatened.
"Yikes, alright," and he pulled a hidden lever on the wall.
The floor dropped out from under us, and I meant that literally. It wasn't a complete free fall, but it wasn't a slow drift toward the ground, either. The floor hit the ground hard, hard enough to knock me off my feet and drive all the air from my lungs. I was lucky I had bent my knees before the impact, or the landing would have been much more disastrous. For a solid minute, Dr. Kale and I were both crawling around the floor, gasping for air.
"You're a dick," I was able to cough out.
"You said we had to do something," he snapped back.
"Right now we're sitting ducks. Monkeys in a barrel. Pie in the oven. We should have waited for Darren and Justin," I said and tried to stand up without losing my balance.
"Oh, yeah, that's a good point," he said, brushing himself off. He mouthed "pie in the oven" and tried to shake off whatever he was thinking. "You're kind of crazy."
"I'm crazy?! You just dropped us from a protected room far above the ground into the open with man-eating spiders running around! You are--" I started, but a sound stopped me from telling him what he was.
A soft tapping echoed within the room.