Danger Room

Ten minutes.

It had been ten minutes.

Ten minutes too long.

Richard didn't know what to do.

For the first 60 seconds, he was prepared for Jerome's return.

The next 60 seconds, his body tensed up, but he tried not to worry.

At the 3-minute mark, his anxiety could not be contained.

On minute 4, he started to crack his knuckles compulsively. 

Minute 5, every possibility entered his head.

By minute 6, he began to formulate his story. 

His mind went blank at minute 7.

Then at minute 8, while staring through the window into the empty Jump Room, he made his decision.

For the 60 seconds that made up the 9th minute, he could not put one foot in front of the other. 

When the 10-minute mark came, he knew he couldn't wait any longer.

With the slow, steady hum of the machine still running, Dr. Richard Lucas left the Control Room and entered the hallway. He stood staring at the massive steel door that had locked Jerome inside. Richard put his hand on the door and opened it.

For another lost 60 seconds, Richard looked deep into the pure white room. It was designed this way, of course by Jerome, so that any anomaly would quickly stand out if you looked for it. 

Richard stepped inside, and an unsettling feeling warmed his body. He had never been in this room until now. He stepped to the center. Right, where Jerome had stood. He looked through the window that looked into the Control Room.

Inside he saw his soul. It was a mess of paperwork, trash, an overcrowded ashtray. Then, what he hadn't seen at first, his reflection, the balding, shaggy bearded, fat man with an ugly mug. He had to look away. Which made him look to the floor, and on the ground, he saw something that stood out—an anomaly. 

Richard bent down to get a closer look at the vine growing out of the ground. The scientist in him first questioned its origin. Could it be Jerome's replacement? Richard ripped it out and stood up. How odd. He looked to see if there were others.

There were.

On the corner of one of the far side walls, about waist height, he found another. Then in the other corner, spreading out more aggressively, there was another. He followed it up to the ceiling, which caused him to lose his curiosity. A giant web spread out from the center, stretching out to the edges of the walls.

How could he not have seen this?

Was it growing?

Richard backed out of the Jump Room, slowly. He kept his eyes locked on the room to see if the vines were indeed alive. As he moved through the hallway, a harsh cold breeze hit him.

Richard turned to look down the opposite side of the hallway, the one that led to the main area of the warehouse. There he saw a figure covered in shadow. It was the figure of a man.

It must be Jerome.

As Richard walked toward it, he could see from the white, form-fitting suit, that it was indeed him. Even though his swollen twisted ankle slowed him down, Richard picked up his pace. Then once he made it outside the structure that housed the machine, he called out to Jerome.

"Thank God you're alive. Something is wrong."

Jerome said nothing.

That harsh, cold breeze lowered Richard's temperature, and he watched the hot breath escape his mouth.

Richard looked up to the roof and saw that half of it was missing. Like the building had been bombed. He turned back to Jerome and said it again.

"Something is wrong."

Jerome Rand's head slowly turned.

Richard tried to scream, but no sound came out.

Jerome's visor was open.

A plant-like monster with no eyes and hundreds of teeth looked out the place where his face should have been.