All Chapters of Locked Down the Exam Hall Over One Water Bottle: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

I had spent seven years guarding the entrance of the testing site, with Millbrook High School being the only testing site in the entire county.Thus, every time, the destinies of over 8,000 students passed through that metal detector gate behind me.Those seven years had been more than enough to turn a rookie into a seasoned pro. I had seen every kind of cheating method, including schemes designed to make money. Those tricks were nothing more than child's play in front of me, though, since I had been an exam security officer for seven years. That morning began with the Reading and Writing section. There were still 12 minutes to go before start time, and the last batch of students was still coming through.I stood by the metal detector gate, giving each person the routine once-over. "Next."It was then that a male student approached from the end of the line. He was of average height with a darker complexion and a neatly trimmed buzz cut. He wore his school uniform by the book,

Chapter 2

I felt everything go silent around me the moment I pressed the button, so much so that I could hear my own heartbeat.Three seconds passed, and business went on as usual outside the gate. Birds were singing in the trees, and parents were standing on tiptoes under the awning, straining to see how their children were doing. There was even a vendor selling iced water outside, calling out to the crowd.Seven seconds later, the back of my shirt was completely soaked with sweat. If my suspicion proved wrong, losing my seven-year job was nothing—I could end up facing criminal charges. I was just a mere exam security officer, so I couldn't possibly handle the chain reaction caused by setting off the top emergency protocol without cause. Then, ten seconds later, sirens blared in the distance. It wasn't just one squad car, but a whole fleet. It was as if they erupted simultaneously from all directions of the town, closing in fast from all around. I heard brakes screech, car doors slam, a

Chapter 3

Steven was sitting upright in a chair, with his hands resting neatly on his knees, when the office door pushed open. He even stood up and nodded respectfully toward us when he saw us coming in. "Good morning."Those in the office were caught off guard by Steven's actions. He was far too well-behaved. Armed police had hauled him in, yet he still stood up, bowed, and greeted us politely. He was behaving abnormally.Captain Hill remained silent and sat down at the desk. He then gestured to the forensic officer behind him and said, "Get me the item."Hearing that, the forensic officer placed the evidence bag in the center of the interrogation table—the bottled mineral water.Captain Hill's deputy plugged in the laptop and logged into the city's central database. He then began the questioning. "State your name.""Steven Lindell.""State your student ID."Steven recited the 18-digit number fluently, as if he knew it by heart.Captain Hill's deputy typed rapidly, and less than two min

Chapter 4

Suddenly, I said, "Please give me two more minutes, Captain Hill."It was quiet enough in the office to hear the ticking second hand on the clock, while the screaming parents, door-pounding, sirens, and loudspeakers all mixed outside and seeped through the window cracks like water.Mr. Lester shouted at the top of his lungs. "Have you lost your mind, Jason? What can you possibly do with two minutes? Do you not realize that things are about to completely blow up out there?"Captain Hill raised a hand to silence him. He stared at me for a long moment before saying, "You'll only get two minutes, and not a second more. I'll have you arrested if you can't come up with anything, no matter what you say, Jason."I nodded in understanding. I didn't even look at Steven. I turned to Captain Hill's deputy and said, "I need a portable high-temperature incineration furnace and a sealed metal reaction chamber." He was stunned after hearing that. "What are you planning to do?""I want to perfor

Chapter 5

Steven was pinned face-down on the floor by four SWAT officers. His neatly cut hair was disheveled, and his tear-filled eyes were now brimming with fury. "Get off me! You'd better not touch that bottle of water. Otherwise, you'll wipe out this whole county along with it!"In that instant, everyone in the office fell silent. Mr. Lester, who had just been tearfully pleading on his knees, now stood with his mouth wide open.Captain Hill's expression instantly shifted. He got up from his chair, walked over to Steven, and crouched next to him. "What do you mean by wiping out the county along with it?"Steven's breath caught, and he went silent. He knew he had let something slip, but that one sentence was all they needed.Captain Hill turned to look at me, all trace of doubt gone from his eyes. "Hold off on destroying it and switch to a blast-resistant chamber instead, Jason."I breathed a sigh of relief and took my hand off the start button, while Captain Hill's deputy sprinted rig

Chapter 6

I didn't respond right away. I stared at the steel cylinder, running through the details in my mind. "It was the pattern on the seal around the bottle cap that gave him up. You see, a normal manufacturing defect runs in one direction, caused by a machine catching or jamming, but this bottle had a closed-loop pattern."That meant that someone had opened the bottle and resealed it. They did a very professional job—even the glue composition matched the original factory's. It was just that, once the bottle had been unscrewed, the seal's stress distribution could never fully recover."Captain Hill fell silent for a few seconds before saying, "You've stood guard here for seven years, all just to wait for this single bottle of water today."I didn't respond to him since I didn't really know how to.It was then that a soft beep suddenly came from inside the blast-resistant chamber, and the red indicator on the temperature sensor mounted on the steel cylinder began flashing.The forensic

Chapter 7

Captain Hill reacted faster than I did. He grabbed the walkie-talkie and barked the command, prompting the evacuating crowd outside to halt.Then, the armed police moved down the line, taking each student's stationery pouch.In that instant, more than 8,200 clear stationery pouches were piled up on the field. The hazmat team, wearing full protective gear, swept their instruments around the pile.Ten minutes later, the leader of the hazmat team ran over with a grim expression. "We found them, Captain Hill! There were 17 bottles with abnormal seal patterns on the caps out of the 8,200 bottles. They're identical to the one on Steven Lindell's bottle!"I instantly felt my back covered in cold sweat. So, those 17 bottles had been tampered with. If I hadn't stopped Steven or pushed that button today, those 17 bottles would have been opened by the students once the Reading and Writing section began, along with the bottle belonging to Steven. There were more than 8,200 students involve

Chapter 8

After Captain Hill hung up, he nearly collapsed. He steadied himself against the table and took several deep breaths. "There are three other states involved, with 39 bottles found to have the same issue at the testing sites. There are four states involved across the country, with 38,000 students being the target today."Everyone in the office gasped in surprise.I stared at the bottle of water placed inside the blast-resistant chamber, its body looking as red as blood under the harsh light on the chamber wall. This all began seven years ago…. Steven said they had been waiting for seven years. That gate had been upgraded, and the highest-level emergency button had been installed seven years ago.I suddenly thought of something. "Who was the one who approved this button seven years ago, Captain Hill?"Captain Hill looked at me, his expression instantly shifting. "You have no clearance to the answer."I held his gaze and said, "I still have to ask the question, though. Steven sai

Chapter 9

I suddenly realized something after hearing that. Mount Moonwatch was right behind Millbrook High School.I recalled that during the testing site renovation, construction also started at the foot of Mount Moonwatch. It was officially announced that they were building a new weather observation station. It took three years to complete, but after completion, it stood idle and closed to the public.I looked at Captain Hill, asking, "Is that building at the base of Mount Moonwatch an actual weather station?"Captain Hill remained silent. He took out a photo from his pocket, which showed an unfamiliar building—a concrete structure half-buried underground, with only a circular dome exposed at the top. "It is a 400-foot structure built directly under the weather station at Mount Moonwatch. Steven's organization built a laboratory there seven years ago. We've been monitoring the site, but we never had enough evidence to make a move."Then, at 10:00 am today, ten minutes before the college

Chapter 10

Those at the scene fell silent the moment the video ended.Captain Hill stood beside me, remaining completely silent.I stared at the black screen for a long time. I had safely guarded the testing site for seven years, only for the other to taunt me for not being able to guard all the other places. I smiled faintly before bursting out laughing.Captain Hill turned to look at me. "Why are you suddenly laughing, Jason?""He's got it all wrong, Captain Hill."I turned around, taking in the empty hall. "He thinks he knows me and understands what that gate means to me. He's wrong about them. They thought they were testing machines when they began testing this setup seven years ago—equipment, procedure, and anything you could put a number on. "They missed the human element—these eyes right here. These eyes of mine had watched more than 8,000 students pass through the gate every day for the past seven years."They can fool machines and find loopholes in procedures, but they can neve

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