Rage Behind Locked Doors

The atmosphere in the interrogation room was almost unbearable. The cold metal walls seemed to hum with tension, a backdrop to the slow, rhythmic crackle of Ruby’s activated stun gun. The blue arcs of electricity reflected in her sharp green eyes, which burned cold with anger and purpose. The room’s fluorescent lights were harsh, exposing every bruise on Dunning’s face from earlier interrogations, every bead of sweat rolling down his temple. The effects of Peter’s truth serum still clung to him, his thoughts slow and his reactions sluggish. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, the zip ties digging into his wrists as he eyed the weapon in her steady hand.

Ruby stood completely still; her frame deceptively small but her presence dominating the room. Her expression was dark, unrelenting—a look that was far beyond her years. Dunning tried to exhale a laugh, but it came out hollow. He was trying to play it cool, but he couldn’t completely hide the trace of fear growing in his eyes. He muttered, smirking nervously.

“You’re not gonna hurt me. You’re just a little girl playing grown-up. This bluff isn’t going to work.”

Ruby tilted her head slightly, her expression unmoved. Her voice was deathly calm as she spoke.

“One chance. I’ll give you one chance, pig. What did you say to my Uncle P?”

Dunning chuckled weakly, shaking his head.

“You’re in WAY over your head, you know that? You should stick to dolls. Let the adults handle this.”

Ruby’s grip on the stun gun tightened, her knuckles whitening and her tone cold and emotionless.

“I warned you.”

She stepped forward with sudden speed, closing the gap between them before Dunning could even react. Without hesitation, she shoved the taser into his groin and activated it. The room erupted with the sharp, crackling sound of electrical discharge, followed by a blood-curdling scream that tore through Dunning’s throat. His body convulsed violently against the chair, his muscles locking as the pain hit every nerve. The scream lasted for five long, agonizing seconds before Ruby stepped back and deactivated the stun gun, her face as blank and cold as ever.

Dunning slumped forward, gasping and trembling. Tears streamed down his face as he groaned in pain, his once-confident smirk shattered into pieces. His voice was small, broken. He whimpered through his gritted teeth, yelling at Ruby while in great pain.

“YOU'RE INSANE!”

Ruby leaned in close, so close that Dunning couldn’t avoid her unrelenting gaze. Her voice dropped to a cutting whisper, each word sharp enough to slice through his false bravado.

“See, pig? I don’t need truth serums to get answers. I like the direct approach.”

She activated the stun gun again, its blue light casting ominous shadows on the walls. Her tone remaining dark and ominous.

“And I guarantee I can keep going until you sing like Sabrina Carpenter.”

Dunning’s breath hitched, his eyes flickering between Ruby and the charged weapon in her hand. He was starting to realize that she wasn’t bluffing. He spat, his voice a mix of terror and desperation.

“What's wrong with you?!”

Ruby straightened, regaining her composure but keeping her gaze locked on him. She gave him a thin but chilling smile, replying emotionlessly.

“Triggers. Everyone has them, right? Something that makes them snap. In MY case, when you hurt my family, I hurt YOU.”

Dunning grimaced, his face twisting. He growled weakly, still trying to regain some sense of control.

“You’re nothing but a crazy little brat!”

Ruby’s smile widened, her teeth gleaming as she leaned forward again. She responded in a dark and quiet tone.

“Crazy plus genius equals disaster.”

She let the stun gun crackle ominously. Her voice was almost playful now, but the cold, deadly edge remained.

“And in YOUR case… it’s Armageddon.”

Ruby tilted her head and stepped back, giving him a moment to squirm. Recharging the stun gun, she raised it slightly, letting the buzz fill the room and the tension build. She then spoke very slowly, her tone calm but menacing.

“Now, let’s try again. What did you say to my uncle?”

Outside the interrogation room, chaos had erupted. Chris paced in front of the door, his brilliant mind whirring at lightning speed. Candy pressed her face against the small window in the door, trying to catch a glimpse of her best friend. Jenny was tapping frantically on her tablet, trying every code in the system to override the lock. Mangino stood back, arms crossed tightly, muttering a string of colorful curses under her breath. Jenny shook her head in frustration.

“Damn it! She must’ve overridden the universal code.”

Mangino stepped forward, her voice sharp.

“Try again! We don’t have time for this!”

Chris turned abruptly, speaking with urgency.

“It won’t work. Ruby didn’t just jam the lock manually—she corrupted the system using LIVING MATHEMATICS.”

Candy blinked, confusion in her voice.

“But how?”

Chris rubbed his temples and began pacing as he explained at top speed.

“Ruby used forward and inverse Fourier transforms to detect signals in the locking mechanism. Then she applied differential calculus combined with sacred geometry to manipulate those signals until they created an infinite feedback loop in the system. She layered that with the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle to throw off any predictable results in the override attempts. And then to top it off, she probably locked the entire thing inside Euler’s identity to make the solution nearly impossible to unravel.”

He paused, taking a breath.

“She’s basically engineered a mathematical fortress for a simple lock. The question is: How was she able to do this all by herself so quickly?”

The others stared at him blankly, overwhelmed by the flood of information. Candy spoke first, her voice shaky.

“So… how do we undo it?”

Chris sighed; frustration etched into his face.

“We’ll have to reverse everything she did. But since Uncle Peter is incapacitated, I’m the only one who can do it—and it’ll take time. A LOT of time. And by then… Who knows how far Ruby might go.”

Jenny squared her shoulders and spoke with confidence.

“I know living mathematics too. Let me help.”

“I’m no mathematician, but I’ll do whatever it takes to get that door open,” Mangino added.

Chris hesitated, glancing at them.

“It’s not as impossible as it sounds,” he said after a moment.

“Mathematics is a universal language. It resides in us unconsciously—you just have to find the patterns.”

Candy brightened, a flicker of understanding crossing her face.

“Like when you lose something in your house and you don’t know where it is, but you KNOW it’s there?”

Chris nodded.

“Exactly. Just think. Ruby used differential calculus to break the lock, so we should counter with integral calculus to reverse the damage.”

Jenny suddenly straightened; her voice thoughtful.

“Peter called Euler’s equation ‘The God Equation.’ He said it symbolized the power of possibility. We can use it to create a backdoor into Ruby’s fortress.”

Mangino joined in the brainstorm, her voice steady.

“He also said the universe evolves from simple to complex. What if we take the complexity of what Ruby did and simplify it?”

Chris’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Those are solid concepts. If we combine them...”

He paused, brainstorming aloud.

“Candy, you handle the inverse calculus. Dr. Jenny, map Euler’s identity as a security wrapper. Mika, simplify the variables into their baseline components. I’ll bind everything into a loopback sequence.”

Working quickly, the plan coalesced. Within moments, their combined efforts unraveled Ruby’s manipulative equations, allowing Mangino to input the universal override code. With a sharp beep and a hiss of air, the lock finally disengaged. Chris was the first to burst into the room, his voice thunderous.

“RUBY! Put the stun gun down NOW!”

Ruby didn’t flinch. Her eyes remained locked on Dunning, who was slumped in the chair, wheezing and disoriented, his body trembling from pain. Candy slipped past Chris. She attempted to reasoned with Ruby in a softer tone, her voice steady.

“Ruby. Look at me. It’s Candy.”

She slowly extended her hand.

“We’re all here now. It’s okay.”

Ruby’s grip on the stun gun faltered slightly, her green eyes flicking to meet Candy’s. A tear streaked her cheek, and she suddenly looked very small. Candy stepped closer, carefully, deliberately, until she was beside Ruby. She whispered to her in a loving and friendly tone.

“It’s okay. I’m here.”

Ruby sniffed, her hands shaking. After a long pause, she handed the stun gun to Candy without a word. Candy took it and smiled softly, passing it to Mangino, who exited the room with the weapon. Ruby collapsed into Candy’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

“He hurt Uncle P! He…He BROKE him!” Candy held her tightly, stroking her hair.

“I know, Ruby. But Mr. Peter wouldn’t want you to do this. He wouldn’t want you to lose yourself.”

The two girls left the room together, Ruby’s small frame leaning against Candy’s for support. Chris and Jenny stood in tense silence, watching Dunning as he struggled to recover. Finally, Jenny turned to Chris.

“What do we do now?”

Chris took a deep breath, his anger barely contained. His voice was low and cold.

“There’s nothing we can do. This… whatever it is… it’s between Uncle Peter and him.”

With that, they stepped out of the room, locking it securely behind them.