George was unaware of a basement in the Public Utilities building. He maintained the databases for the sewer pump stations and didn't have much experience in the water distribution area; opting instead to familiarize himself with the pump station supervisors and electricians. George stared at the drawing for minutes, trying to visualize everyone he'd met from the past month and cross-reference that with the name Henry, but nothing clicked.
Hey, Bess.
George called out from behind his desk, somewhat unintentionally. When there was no response he stood up, still trying to place the exact location of the handdrawn stairs, and walked out of his office and into the hallway.
Hey, Bess. Does water distribution have a basement?
Bess was gone, already on assignment replacing surge protectors. George stood in the hallway for a minute and looked at the white cinder block walls. He thought about the construction of the building, the structure of the cinder block walls. He began to imagine the unfinished basement Henry worked in. The same walls except instead of painted white, left raw. Coarse, pock-marked cement from floor to ceiling. George found the two boxes of surge protectors and the list Bess had written. He picked it up, scanned it quickly, but found no Henry. He put the list down, went into Bess's office, and found a map tacked to her cork board. No Henry there either. All rooms were numbered sequentially according to department and location, but no Henry, no basement, no stairs; not in water distribution, not in the sewer pump stations, and not in the control center. George headed back into his office and double checked the map Bess had handed to him. Henry was still there. Henry with one green dot. Henry with one green dot down a flight of stairs.
George didn't want to be caught having done nothing when Bess got back, so he tabled Henry, shoved the map in his back pocket, grabbed a pen, his keys, and security badge, and loaded up with four new surge protectors: three being carried in his left hand, with the fourth tucked under the same arm. He exited the hallway and headed towards the always-locked door that separated the administrative offices from the operations offices. He held his badge against the mounted sensor to the left of the door, triggering a beep and retracting a lock. George pulled the door open and quickly stepped through.
Being midday, most of the offices were empty, with the occupants at lunch, or in the field. These were the easiest to change out. George could take his time, he didn't have to answer any questions, or make awkward small talk while wrestling with seven different electrical cords knotted together and caked with dust. Offices that weren't empty were typically filled with two kinds of occupants: ones that were willing to help, would do the replacement themselves, or just took a break and left, and ones who were jaded, entitled and goddamnit if they're not going to sit right there and make sure you unplug and plug everything in the right order I don't understand why the city wastes money on shitty products anyways and don't turn off the computer cause I'm working on something important, which typically meant watching a video on youtube. When it comes to technology people are easily intimidated. Changing out a power strip is common sense, but when a computer is plugged into that power strip the equation changes for a lot of people.
George walked back to the bench with a handful of recalled surge protectors in his hand. He and Bess had somehow managed to avoid each other throughout the whole process, although judging by the list of names George could tell Bess had been coming back and Bess could tell the same of George. George pulled out his map and scanned all the green dots, double checking for tick marks indicating completion. The only one left was Henry, and George wasn't entirely convinced he wasn't just a scribbled note for an unrelated service request at this point. Regardless, George examined the hallway closest to where the cipher had been placed, it contained a series of offices at one end, which George had already visited, the water testing lab occupied the other end, and in the middle sat a men's locker room. George was somewhat familiar with the lab having helped the inspectors unjam their printer once and move furniture another time; he knew there was only two doors: the one from the hallway, and the one leading outside. That left only the locker room, which admittedly, George had never been too, because he never needed to, and a casual stroll through the men's locker room may have seemed a bit odd. George grabbed a single surge protector and head for the locker room.
The locker room door read simply: Men's Locker. Not wanting to be caught off guard George steeled his nerves, looked right then left, and started to take a deep breath in, when he noticed a figure move towards the lab door. Caught off-guard, and not wanting to look like a weirdo staring at the men's locker room door, George high-stepped clownishly, emitting a slight yelp, and opened the locker room door. He was immediately greeted by a half wall of lockers, a single path was enclosed on all sides by lockers and split in half by five foot long benches. George weaved in and out of the benches as he made his way towards the end of the lockers. After four passes the lockers opened up to a bathroom area. The left wall provided a series of four showers with their beige curtains accordioned open. The right wall supported two enclosed stalls next to a lone countertop set with two sinks and a mirror. However George was focused on the back wall which held only one feature: a pale-blue, steel door with nickel plated lever-style handle. Taped to the middle of the door was a sign that read: WATCH YOUR STEP.