Night City Junkyard
May 19, 2065, 5:00 PM
"Vega, check the stability of the secure communication channel," I instructed my assistant while double-checking the readiness of the rest of the team for what felt like the tenth time.
"The connection status is within normal limits," Vega's synthetic voice repeated the information I already knew, but my anxiety remained.
"Alex, I found their entrance. It's about two hundred meters from your location, approximately northeast. The entrance is near a zone with broken machinery inside an abandoned mining tunnel. It used to be operational until the mine was exhausted. Now it's abandoned and has turned into a junkyard. The city probably needed somewhere to dump all kinds of waste, especially after the 4th Corporate War, and the corpos couldn't think of anything better than to turn this place into a huge radioactive dump."
"The surrounding radiation level is within acceptable limits," Vega picked up on Bartmoss's mention of environmental hazards, immediately assessing the external atmosphere through the sensors in my suit.
"Forty years ago, it was exactly as I described. In any case, it doesn't matter now. Alex, inside the complex, Vega will handle your protection. My job is to manage the AI and prevent the guards from raising the alarm. If they manage to contact Arasaka's main office, you'll have about five minutes before they send an assault team led by Adam Smasher."
"Boss, do us all a favor and rehearse your motivational speeches," I quipped, trying to lighten the mood. My joke was well-received, or at least, Vi's groan could be considered a laugh.
"Yeah, right, comedian..." Rach exited the active voice channel, leaving us alone.
"Let's move out." I gestured for the others to follow me silently toward the entrance marked by our guide.
Navigating through the piles of assorted trash was challenging at times. At some point, the junkyard maintenance was abandoned, and all the city's accumulated debris was simply dumped here using aerial drones. This significantly eased the overall city traffic and reduced the annual budget expenses on a large fleet of garbage trucks and the costly logistics for Night Corp.
"This looks like the entrance," I said skeptically, eyeing the iron doors that sealed off the tunnel. The entrance resembled that of a bomb shelter, with a small door just big enough for a person and main gates in the middle for equipment. Such precautions seemed excessive unless you knew that a hidden Arasaka Corporation lab lay inside one of the shafts. Understanding that made the heavy security measures make sense. Plus, the junkyard wasn't exactly a pleasant place to stroll. The nauseating smells and dreary landscapes made you want to get out of there as fast as possible.
"Cozy, isn't it? What do you think, Shiro, maybe you should settle down here?" Han teased his brother as usual.
"What about you? We're brothers; I won't leave you alone."
"Cut the jokes, guys. I get that you're on edge, but now's not the time for dumb jokes," I snapped, as I carefully worked on opening the door. The electronic lock had a concealed alarm and an activation sensor. It took some effort, but eventually, I managed to unlock it without triggering any alerts, and the iron door creaked open.
"I don't like this place," Kiwi said, placing a hand on her pistol holster, ready to draw at a moment's notice.
"Neither do I, but we have to go inside. Stay outside and hide in the fire truck we saw on the way here," I instructed, pointing over my shoulder and slightly turning my head. "I hope you're not upset?" I added, nodding slightly in my usual manner.
"No," Kiwi shook her head, "it's fine."
"Alright, we're going in." I waved goodbye and stepped inside, closing the door behind us and handing out access keys to everyone.
***
"Guys, don't rush and think everything through carefully. Fighting drones and low-level thugs is nothing compared to this. Here, we'll face armed professionals who know how to use their skills. They're equipped as well as we are, if not better. We have three factors in our favor: surprise, unknown technology, and the support of a powerful netrunner and AI. With all these, we can pull this off. But remember, be vigilant and don't take unnecessary risks. You're not fully accustomed to your suits yet."
"When we agreed to come here, we all knew what could happen. You have no idea how hard it was to convince Dad not to join us," Vincent shook his head, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry so much; this isn't our first rodeo," Shiro gave a thumbs up, reminding me of our past exploits.
"Well," I drawled with a grin, "no one forced you to come." Smiling under my helmet, I proceeded down the technical tunnel, cross-checking the map Bartmoss had sent.
Our immediate task was to locate the entrance to the laboratory itself. I had a rough idea of where it might be, but first, we needed to check all the branches for emergency escape routes. At my request, Vega was creating a virtual map of the mine, making it easier to navigate this enclosed area. It took us about twenty minutes to explore all the passages, five of which were spent thoroughly examining the discovered routes. There were three in total, each seemingly leading to the underground levels of the lab. Each had descent points with elevators of various sizes. The largest one appeared to be a freight elevator, likely used to transport all necessary resources into the underground complex. There might be more exits and entrances to the complex than I could imagine, but for now, we had found only three.
"We should use the far-right elevator. The freight one is too noisy, and the one on the left is too close. Logically, the furthest elevator will be the safest option," Vincent said thoughtfully, pointing at the three entrance points on the holographic map projected in front of us.
"Maybe it's just located there due to the layout of the complex. It's not certain you'll be right, Vi," Han commented, outlining the approximate area of the laboratory, trying to grasp its true size based on the data we had.
"Besides, we can always use the emergency stairs. Such structures are always designed with emergency descent options if the elevator fails. I think this won't be an exception," Shiro added. His words made me pause and recall a similar situation during Vega's kidnapping. That time, I had descended the elevator shaft unnoticed, and nothing significant had changed since then.
"You're right, Shiro. I think there will be less security here than in other places," I said, turning off the holographic projection and looking at the guys awaiting my decision. "In that case, we'll use the biggest passage."
With our plan set, we headed towards the far-right elevator. The route was tricky, with debris and obstacles in our path, but we moved quietly and carefully. Vincent's analysis was correct; this elevator, though further away, provided the most discreet approach. As we neared the elevator, the tension in the air was palpable. Everyone knew what was at stake and the potential dangers lurking ahead.
We reached the elevator door, and I signaled for the team to halt. "Vega, scan the area for any security measures," I ordered. The synthetic voice confirmed the area was clear, and I began to work on bypassing the lock. It took a few minutes, but the door eventually opened with a soft hiss.
"Let's move," I said quietly, leading the way into the elevator. The rest of the team followed, each member on high alert. As the elevator descended, I couldn't shake off the feeling that this mission was going to be a turning point for all of us.