The access card failed.
A small red light flashed above the reader before disappearing again.
Erik pulled the card away and studied the security panel without attempting to swipe it a second time.
Penelope crossed her arms.
"Maybe it's broken," Penelope suggested.
"It's not broken," Erik replied.
"How do you know?" Penelope asked.
"Because it's rejecting the card," Erik responded. "If the reader were damaged, we would either receive an error or no response at all."
Penelope stared at the little red light.
"Maybe it's broken in a very specific and inconvenient way," she replied.
Kai's mouth twitched, but he wisely remained silent.
Erik ignored Penelope's attempt to argue with a functioning security system and examined the vault instead.
The enormous steel door occupied most of the wall at the end of the basement corridor. It was significantly more sophisticated than any of the other secured entrances they had encountered inside the building.
