There were indeed the shattered bodies of a few robots lying about the entrance as they emerged from the stairway, proving an ambush had indeed been planned. This gave the men some hope that they were on the right level.
They found themselves in a forest of pillars, tall white floor-to-ceiling columns with narrow pathways in between. Embedded in each pillar were dozens of plastic triangles, lit with various colors whose significance Hawker could not have guessed. Inscribed just below each triangle was a number. These, then, were the files on which people’s patterns were continuously recorded.
They checked the pillars randomly at first, until they established the order. Serial numbers went in descending order the farther they were from the stairway; Green’s should be perhaps three to four
