Lelouch was about to rebuke him when the decision was made for him. All at once, the fire alarm went off, and then everything went dark. Lelouch went for the manual hatch release, muttering curses. His asset had turned into a death trap. It took several tugs, and he had to put all his weight into the lever, but it popped open. Just as he thought, the water that had once been snow that had melted on the hatch poured down on him, soaking him through. He climbed up and out as quickly as he could.