Chapter 214: The Final Examination

The Imperial Guard had finally received authorization to storm Saint Aurelia Preparatory Academy.

The decision came after the hostage-takers announced that their final examination would begin that evening. Despite repeated warnings from the authorities, the perpetrators continued gathering the children inside the school while refusing every request for their release.

With Adrian Keller already dead and the remaining hostages showing signs of serious illness, the rescue commander had little reason to believe that further negotiations would accomplish anything.

However, entering the school presented a problem.

The barrier surrounding Saint Aurelia remained active, and the machinery beneath its western wing could endanger the children if the perpetrators attempted to use it against the rescuers.

SkyRune had spent days investigating the equipment, and Professor Antoine’s team had finally developed a possible way of shutting down the most dangerous part of the system.

Unfortunately, their method remained untested against the actual apparatus.

"We have permission to attempt the shutdown," an Imperial specialist informed the workshop. "The rescue teams are already in position. If we succeed, they’ll begin moving toward the entrances."

Antoine immediately reviewed the preparations. He had been awake for most of the night, but the approaching intervention had given him something more useful than another opportunity to worry about Lucile.

The professor understood that his work might determine whether the soldiers could reach his daughter.

Ilya, meanwhile, had been studying the records from the previous supply deliveries. The hostage-takers had demonstrated that their barrier could open whenever they wished, and the researchers had recorded several instances of the system accepting instructions from inside the school.

That was the detail he wanted to understand.

Although the machinery beneath the western wing served a different purpose, both systems had been constructed using related technology. If the perpetrators had retained the same security arrangements, the records might help them identify how the equipment recognized legitimate commands.

However, the Imperial specialists had already prepared their shutdown method, and there was little justification for delaying the operation based on an untested suspicion.

Ilya therefore kept the observation in mind while the team proceeded.

The first attempt began shortly afterward.

The machinery responded almost immediately. Its activity decreased, and for several seconds, the researchers believed that the shutdown was working.

Then the system rejected the instruction.

The equipment resumed operating, and the Imperial specialist responsible for the attempt confirmed that an additional security requirement had prevented the command from being completed.

"That’s troublesome," Antoine remarked. "The original specifications don’t mention another authorization."

"Could the perpetrators have added one?" Ilya asked.

"Almost certainly. We already knew they’d modified the equipment. The question is what they changed."

The Imperial specialist suggested attempting another command, but Antoine refused.

Sending unfamiliar instructions into the apparatus without understanding its response could provoke an unexpected reaction. With children still inside the building, repeating the same approach until something worked was unacceptable.

Instead, he ordered the team to preserve the failed attempt’s records and determine why the system had rejected them.

The researchers examined the available information, but the additional security requirement was unfamiliar.

Several proposed explanations were considered and discarded. One involved a missing identification code, while another suggested that the equipment required confirmation from an internal operator.

Both were plausible.

Neither offered an immediate solution.

Ilya eventually requested the recordings from the earlier supply deliveries.

"Professor, I’d like to compare the instructions the barrier accepted with the one we just sent."

An Imperial researcher objected that the barrier and the underground machinery performed different functions.

"That’s true," Ilya acknowledged. "But whoever modified them probably didn’t invent an entirely new security system for every machine. We might find something they reused."

Antoine approved the comparison.

The first few recordings revealed little. The commands differed in length and purpose, and the researchers couldn’t identify any obvious similarities beyond the ordinary procedures shared by Rune Tech equipment.

Ilya continued examining the later portions.

He had spent enough time studying magical constructions to recognize that a machine’s response could be just as informative as the instructions it received. During his recent training under Hakon, he had also learned how several small forces could interact to produce a much larger effect.

That experience gave him an idea.

Rather than examining the commands alone, he began comparing what happened immediately before each one was accepted.

During the supply deliveries, the barrier briefly adjusted itself before opening. That change had previously been treated as part of the opening procedure.

However, the failed shutdown had produced a similar adjustment before being rejected.

The difference was what happened afterward.

"Professor, look at this."

Ilya displayed two recordings beside each other.

"Both machines ask for confirmation before carrying out an instruction. During the supply delivery, the barrier receives an answer. During our shutdown attempt, nothing answers it."

Antoine examined the comparison.

The difference was small enough that the researchers had initially overlooked it, especially because they had been concentrating on the instructions themselves.

However, once Ilya identified the pattern, its significance became difficult to dismiss.

The machinery was waiting for a response.

And the original shutdown command didn’t provide one.

"That would explain why the instruction was recognized but never executed," Antoine said. "The system accepted the request, then waited for permission to proceed."

The Imperial specialist agreed, although he pointed out that the missing response normally came from within the school’s control network.

Producing it from outside would be difficult.

Ilya had anticipated the objection.

"We’ve already reproduced how the barrier communicates with its surrounding formations. Could we use those connections to send the answer?"

The suggestion prompted another discussion.

The researchers knew that the individual parts of the containment system constantly exchanged information. They had spent days observing those interactions, and their laboratory equipment could reproduce some of them.

If they coordinated several small signals, they might create the response the machinery expected.

Unfortunately, identifying the correct sequence was only half the problem.

The timing had to match the original recordings.

A poorly timed signal would be rejected, while a sufficiently abnormal disturbance might trigger the equipment’s defensive safeguards.

Antoine assigned the calculations to the senior researchers while Ilya continued examining the recordings.

Their initial attempts were disappointing.

The first failed because the response arrived too late. The second produced a signal that the laboratory model recognized, but its final portion differed from the original.

Rather than repeating the experiment without changes, Ilya examined where the second attempt had gone wrong.

Their calculations had assumed that every part of the signal traveled through the system at the same speed.

However, the previous recordings suggested otherwise.

The different sections responded with slight delays, and those delays affected the final result.

Ilya adjusted the sequence to account for them.

This time, the laboratory model accepted the command and entered standby.

Antoine ordered several additional tests, including one in which the researchers deliberately altered the initial conditions.

The method continued working.

More importantly, the model rejected deliberately incorrect instructions without becoming unstable.

That gave the researchers greater confidence that their proposed solution could be attempted safely.

An Imperial specialist contacted the rescue commander and explained the discovery.

The commander requested an assessment of the risks before authorizing another attempt.

Antoine emphasized that their reconstruction couldn’t account for every modification made by the perpetrators. However, the emergency shutdown function had already been confirmed, and the new method addressed the specific reason their previous attempt had failed.

After consulting his advisers, the commander approved the operation.

The rescue teams remained ready outside Saint Aurelia.

At SkyRune, the researchers prepared the revised instructions while Ilya checked the sequence against the successful recordings one final time.

There was nothing else he could improve with the information available.

"Good work, Belozersky," Antoine told him. "Now we’ll see whether those calculations hold up."

"I’d prefer they did, Professor. Repeating this experiment with actual children inside would be a rather expensive way to discover an arithmetic mistake."

"Then let’s hope you checked your arithmetic."

The second attempt began.

The machinery recognized the shutdown instruction and reduced its activity as expected. When it requested additional confirmation, the researchers transmitted the response Ilya had reconstructed.

This time, the system accepted it.

Within seconds, the equipment beneath the western wing began shutting down. Its activity decreased steadily until the instruments confirmed that the dangerous environmental controls had stopped operating.

The barrier surrounding the school remained intact.

The Imperial specialists repeated their checks before confirming the result to the rescue commander.

"Shutdown successful. The equipment has entered its emergency standby state."

Several researchers celebrated, although Antoine immediately requested confirmation that the perpetrators couldn’t restart it remotely.

The Imperial Bureau verified that the emergency restriction remained active.

Ordinary commands would no longer be sufficient to restore the machinery.

Only then did Antoine permit himself a moment of satisfaction.

"You’ve done well, Belozersky. That was an excellent observation."

Ilya was pleased with the result.

He had joined SkyRune to learn from experienced researchers, and solving a problem that had troubled the Imperial specialists was certainly a gratifying achievement.

Nevertheless, he understood that the investigation had been a collective effort. Without the recordings, the laboratory models, and Antoine’s supervision, his observation would have accomplished little.

Fortunately, the professor seemed equally aware of that.

The rescue command immediately began the next stage of its operation.

Combat wizards advanced toward the designated entrances while technical personnel prepared to open a passage through the barrier. The authorities had already identified several possible routes into the school, and the successful shutdown removed one of their greatest concerns.

However, the latest reports soon revealed another complication.

The unidentified apparatus beneath the western wing remained active.

It possessed an independent power supply and had continued operating despite the emergency shutdown.

The Imperial specialists had suspected that possibility, but the sudden increase in activity suggested that the perpetrators had begun using it.

Antoine requested the latest information.

The apparatus appeared to be operating at a much higher level than before, although its purpose remained unknown.

The rescue commander received the warning and ordered his personnel to proceed with additional caution.

Meanwhile, the hostage-takers transmitted another message.

They accused the Imperial authorities of interfering with the examination and demanded that every soldier withdraw from the school grounds.

The commander refused.

The perpetrators responded by announcing that the final examination would proceed regardless of outside interference.

Ilya read the message alongside Antoine.

They had successfully disabled one part of the equipment, and the Imperial Guard was finally preparing to enter Saint Aurelia.

Yet the people responsible for the occupation appeared determined to continue.

Antoine immediately contacted the rescue commander.

"Whatever they’re doing, don’t assume shutting down the environmental controls has stopped it. There’s still another machine running beneath that school."

The commander acknowledged the warning and instructed his technical personnel to investigate while the combat teams continued their advance.

Ilya returned to the recovered documents.

For the moment, the remaining apparatus was the only part of the perpetrators’ equipment they hadn’t identified.

And with the rescue operation already underway, understanding its purpose had become urgent.