"No, there's no way I'm seeing this... He's literally a child! How can you be giving orders to employees with maybe more than ten or twenty years of work!? Argh! I should stop thinking like that."
— Hey, kid! — warned Edward. — I think you better get away from there!
A steel door, which came down from the ceiling, began to cover the entire entrance to the room. Quickly, Slezzy walked close to Edward and Jean, making sure.
On the big screens, the whole situation of the FMA soldiers could be verified in real time through the camera of their helmets. Still outside, they exchanged gunfire with the alleged robbers.
— I want a helicopter at every exit of this bank, now! Don't let those bastards get away for nothing. That's our big break!
Slezzy was surprised that such a child was in charge of the entire operation. She screamed with a small radio in her hands, as she moved from there to here.
— Who is this boy, Edward?
— This one? Um... He's the smartest guy at the FMA and also responsible for the entire technology and communication area. Even at a young age, that kid knows everything about this system... even hacking and setting up tactical operations.
— I heard that it was he who located the Baron... only with small clues and some security cameras deployed in the most dangerous regions of Maple — commented Jean, whispering.
A noise coming from one of the screens echoed over the room. It was an explosion.
"They're trapped! The only escape option is through the east exit," a soldier shouted, in front of the bank. "I need more soldiers covering that area!"
The Central Bank was huge and easily remarkable for the golden painting present throughout its structure. The monument also had large glass windows.
At that point, all the people around there were already evacuated.
— They're trying to slow you down. They're desperate! It's a great loophole to advance! Already! — commented the whitish—haired boy. — Edward! I need a direct phone call with Don Cernuno.
Edward distanced himself from Jean and Slezzy, approaching the boy.
— I think the governor must be very busy right now... Yuki.
"So... this is Yuki..."
The boy approached Edward and stared at his face:
— I will also be very busy when those robbers escape, since I cannot summon the FMA tanks without the permission of that idiot!
— Have you gone crazy? Do you want to summon FMA tanks for this kind of situation? This is an assault, not a war!
Edward went out of his way, pulled out of his pocket a peculiar type of glasses with greenish lenses, put them on and began to stare at the screens, analyzing them.
— We don't have facial recognition yet... or the exact amount of those criminals, but I have a theory that they're heavy. So we can not underestimate even a step of the wretches! — concluded Yuki.
— All internal cameras have been destroyed. They had plenty of time to open all the safes, but even so, there should only be one escape route... — Commented Edward, with the gaze fixed on the screens. — It can not be that all this has not been schematized...
Yuki sat in a relatively tall white chair, which had a rotating metal base, in a far corner of the room. And then he started spinning repeatedly. After a few seconds, he stopped moving, asking all the staff in the room:
— By any chance, were you able to estimate the number of hostages?
— We are almost certain that there are a total of eight, sir! — said an old man who was working on a computer. — That's what we told them... starting from the last recordings... before the cameras were destroyed.
— Um... That's exactly it... — Said Yuki.
— What are you talking about? — confronted Edward, turning to the boy.
— It is their last resort... Why do you think they would choose just one Sunday, with only an hour and a half left before nightfall?
— I don't think I've ever been to a bank on a Sunday.
— I think you never went to a bank — provoked Yuki, still serious. — Most of the hostages are employees and for sure there are only one or two clients... since all the security guards are probably dead. In that case...
Yuki was interrupted by the creaking noise of the steel doors, which echoed through the operating room. They were the main exit doors.
Tense, all the soldiers pointed their weapons in the direction of the exit. Suddenly, several people with black clothes and masks came out. All of them had guns and bags in their possession, and most of them wavered.
"Don't shoot!" cried one of the people. "They are among us!"
"What do we do? They are advancing!" cried another soldier.
"Yuki! Are you there!?" was the voice of General Santos, coming from a radio.
People in dark garments moved slowly, in opposite directions. The soldiers, undecided, pointed their weapons without performing any firing.
— General, it's impossible to tell those people apart. You have to stop them somehow. What the hell! Did they even think to run away like that?
Edward distanced himself from Yuki, departing out of the room.
— Where are you going... at this hour!?
— It's never too late to try a connection with the governor. You know this won't end well... — He said, leaving the room in a hurry.
The door to the room rose. The outside of the room was silent.
The General reconnected with Yuki:
"They've gone far enough, boy... in case you don't have any plans, I'll have to take extreme measures."
"I have them all in my sights, General!" was Saith's voice, coming from the same radio. "Me and my partners just need your command!"
Saith and other snipers were at the top of the buildings near the bank. The lives of all those people in black were in the palm of their hands.
Tense, Jean and Slezzy watched the whole situation.
Most of the soldiers left their positions as they ran to the main exit.
Slezzy took courage and approached the center of the room, where were most of the employees and Yuki:
— Yuki... why are the soldiers abandoning the other exits?
Ignoring Slezzy, Yuki commented:
— They're not running away...
"It's not what it seems!" said Saith.
— There are only ten of them..., but we had only detected eight possible hostages in the security camera footage. Even if there is a small possibility of undetected hostages, it would be impossible for only two people to rob the Central Bank. For some reason... I would say that they "sacrificed" at least two criminals! Damn! They have mixed at least two people in black and will run away from another exit!
A suspense took over the entire line of communication between all FMA soldiers present at the scene of the assault and the operating room staff.
Another explosion emerged, this time, at the exit pointed to the Southern Region of the city.
At the same time, all the people in black shot themselves at high speed and in opposite directions.
"WE NEED YOUR COMMAND, GENERAL!" cried Saith.
Every employee in the operating room went into a state of total trance.
With the raising of the gun of one of the alleged hostages in the direction of the soldiers, threatening them, the General ordered in shouts:
"SHOOT, NOW!" The last syllable of the command could hardly be heard after the shooting by soldiers and snipers.