There was a control panel, as it turned out. It was held in by what looked like screws. Rather than get up and look for some form of screwdriver that he probably wouldn't find, Skulduggery worked the air behind the panel to slowly pry it off the column of the console.

He glanced up when Amelia moved over, which was evident only in the slight tilt of his skull. As the air he was manipulating finally started to catch, Skulduggery belatedly realised that a warning was probably in order. "You might want to stay back. I've been told that - "

The panel came off. Half of the console came off with it. The hole Skulduggery made exploded with a viscous black liquid that coated the entire front of his suit before he managed to get to his feet and leap away, and the rest of the console very quickly followed it, melting into a bubbling pile of very ominous-looking black goo.

"Well," Skulduggery managed after a moment while the bubbling continued, "that it would do that."