Painstaking Authentication

20260429

Prompt from DailyPrompt.com

“Name?”
“Peter Roberts.” I speak slowly and clearly - security glass that thick must surely muffle things.
“Address?”
“57 Cassowary Boulevard, flat 29.”
“Confirm the last three digits of your mobile number.”
“Eighteen eighty-six.”
The security guard finally looks up from his terminal to give me a flat, impatient glare. “I said the last three digits.”
I shrug. “Well, it’s easier to remember the last four, when they’re like that…”
He clicks his tongue but turns back to the list of questions. “You have the code which was sent to you? The first three digits were posted to your home address, the second three were sent to your email, the last three would have arrived by text.”
“Oh, yes, just a moment…” I tap to the note I’d made and held up my phone for him to read.
That earned me another disapproving glare, but he entered the code without complaint. “Fine. You are aware that you won’t be allowed to take any personal electronics onto the premises, yes?”
“Yes. I was promised that staff have secure facilities to leave our phones and such before clocking in, and that I would receive a work phone as part of my onboarding.”
“Which is not to leave the premises.”
“Suits me. I like not being on call.” I grin. He doesn’t return it. Just shoots me a sour sidelong glance. Alright, it wasn’t a great joke, but still.
“Speaking of your onboarding, we need to record your biometrics.”
“Oh, right, something about the doors being retinal-locked?”
“We also need your fingerprints, a blood sample, and an MRI.”
“An MRI?”
“We need to establish a neural template for you.”
“Er… why?”
“I am not at liberty to disclose details of security provisions. I’ve got a checklist, and you’re going to follow it.”
“Alright, alright…”
So long as it is just an MRI, it shouldn’t be a problem. It’s not like he’s going to let me in without it, and I’ve worked too hard to walk away now. I just hope nothing weird happens.
Empty my pockets into my bag, hand it over, an awkward moment when he has to remind me that I’m wearing a watch, then I’m through the scanner and face-to-face with him. Technically inside the premises. But a long way from where I want to be.
Good thing I left plenty of time. I really want to be on time for my first day here. Need to present a keen front.
As he’s taking my fingerprints, I muse “You know, I always assumed that stuff about ‘bodysnatchers’ was a joke intended to distract from whatever’s actually researched here. But, seeing all this… are they real?”
He shoots me another of those inscrutable sidelong glances. Growls “I’m not at liberty to disclose facility research.”
“Fair enough. I’ll ask my supervisor. I believe I’m under one Mr Grey to start with?”
“The details would have been in your email.”
“Well, yes, but you just took my phone…”
He humphs. “I’ll page someone to fetch you, once we’ve got your biometrics.”
“Right. Thanks.”
Fingerprints. Retinal scans. Three phials of blood. Even a map of the inside of my skull. Each an additional security check for the system to use when verifying that I am who they think I am.
I’m smiling to myself as he hands me the late Peter Roberts’s ID card. I can see why they thought we’d never manage to replace an applicant in the 24hr period between them being offered the job and needing to take these metrics. It certainly wasn’t easy.
But I’m inside.
The security guard gives me another sidelong glance. For a moment I worry, then he rolls his eyes and grumbles “I don’t understand you people, being excited about working here.”
“Oh, come on!” I flash a grin at him. “Everything I’ve heard about it makes it sound exciting.”
He raises an eyebrow. “What have you heard?”
“That’s just it - nothing except you have super high-tech kit and you research some crazy body-snatcher conspiracy. So either that’s true, which is wild, or you’re hiding something so wild, doppelgänger monsters are a more plausible excuse.”
He sighs. Shakes his head. Mutters “You’ll fit right in.”
“Here’s hoping!” I wave goodbye and hurry to the door he points at.
Need to get settled in. Make a good impression on my coworkers, especially my supervisor. And start getting a feel for the place.
Now I’m past that blasted shielding, I can sense the Queen’s presence. Faint. Dormant, and definitely behind more layers of imprisonment and obfuscation. But she’s here. And I’m inside.
I will find her, and free her, and then… oh, you humans will wish you’d finished us when you had the chance.

Prompt was “Write a story where the narrator is lying about something the whole time. Don’t reveal the lie until the end of the story.”