"Here you are," I finally find the guys standing by some door.
"Alex, you need to see this," Shiro tapped on the armored glass with an invisible finger, hinting for me to look inside.
"What the hell!" Vincent couldn't hold back his disgust, pressing his helmet's visor against the glass before I could. "Are they even alive?"
"Alive, but the strain on their bodies is taking a severe toll. Damn it, they really implanted fifth-class augments into kids," I barely contain my rising anger, trying to calm down. "Did you try to break the door?"
"We didn't want to risk it. The entrance is equipped with all kinds of fingerprint scanners, and we're not skilled enough to bypass that level of security," Han shook his head in frustration, stepping aside to let me take a look myself. The visor of my helmet perfectly outlined his figure, thanks to its special spectrum vision, allowing us to see each other even in camouflage.
First, I decided to examine the scanner, trying to gauge the level of hassle we'd have to deal with. After five minutes of detailed study, I started the delicate process of hacking. The door had a dual-layer security system that, if the first layer was breached, would alert the security computer. Bypassing this kind of setup is honestly troublesome, but there's an old and reliable method.
"No system can beat brute force!" I smirked, activating the jammer. "Open sesame." I heard the familiar beep that had become a constant in my years in this world.
"Alex, connect to the central computer using a chip. Don't use your personal port," Raich rejoined the closed communication channel. "The kids are connected to netrunner chairs, and we can't just pull them out. I'll have to find them and bring them back myself, or their brains won't handle the sudden disconnection from the network."
"I know, Raich, but I'm more concerned that I can't find the girl you mentioned."
"First, give me access, and then it will be much easier," he replied. Shrugging, I inserted the shard into the central computer, patiently waiting for the old hacker to give the go-ahead.
Warning, unauthorized access detected!
Red alert code!
"Mentor, what the hell is this?!" I tried to reach Bartmoss, who was uncharacteristically silent.
"Alex, I've detected a massive amount of traffic from different access points. According to the program Raich Bartmoss provided, these are AIs using the kids as proxies," Vega displayed graphs and tables on my visor, showing data rerouting at levels impossible for humans, causing me a brief moment of shock. "During the netrunner intercept, I managed to get a data packet from him. Object 46, Lucy 'Kushinada', is currently in the second deep dive sector. Another girl is with her."
"Can you map a route to them?"
"Calculating the shortest path," Vega said, displaying the entire complex map on my visor within seconds, making navigation much easier. "Can you help Raich?"
"Negative. A viral program codenamed R.A.B.I.D.S. is in use. Any external interference will be deemed a threat by its creator," Vega replied firmly.
"In that case, I have no choice but to go after those two girls and try to rescue the other kids," I said, turning off my camouflage and addressing my team. "Guys, I'm taking Vincent, and we're going to get the two girls. They're in another part of the complex, so you'll need to guard the kids until we return. Vega will assist you against netrunners. If it gets too much, call Kiwi and evacuate with her. We'll catch up."
"Be careful out there," Shiro gave a thumbs-up, readying his Knight rifle.
"Vincent, with me!" I kicked down the locked door without a second thought about its condition.
"Alex, several individuals are approaching us," Vincent's voice came through the internal comms.
Silently, I pulled a shotgun from my back, switched to alternate fire mode, and fired several grenades in quick succession. They detonated right under the feet of the charging crowd. Unfortunately, only one was killed outright, taking the brunt of the explosion. The others were left stunned and bruised. While they struggled to recover, Vincent unleashed a burst from his plasma rifle, finishing off the wounded and clearing our path.
On the way, we dealt with a couple of reinforcements. We were racing against time, so Vincent and I didn't concern ourselves with such trivialities as mercy. After eliminating a few more groups of enemies, new squads were no longer rushing to intercept us. There were only two possibilities: either we'd taken out everyone in this part of the complex, or the remaining guards had wisely hidden, waiting for backup.I believed more in the second option, but Vega managed to calm me down in time. R.A.B.I.D.S. had successfully infiltrated the system and was steadily gaining control over the entire lab. Raich was somehow holding off the onslaught of AIs while trying to extract the kids from the network. Honestly, I couldn't fathom how one person could manage such a feat, fighting on two fronts against a superior enemy.
"Right," I quickly turned the corner, crashing into a sluggish corporate soldier and knocking him to the ground. Before he could recover, I instinctively drew my pistol from the magnetic holster on my right thigh and blew his head off.
"Alex, we should check each room and eliminate any hidden guards," Vincent suggested, picking up a fragmentation grenade from the corpse.
"Take all the left doors, I'll handle the right ones..." I didn't finish my sentence before kicking down the first door I saw, having scanned the room for any signals.
At first glance, the room appeared empty, but I decided to check thoroughly just in case. The shower and the small dining area were empty, except for a cleaning droid that activated when I accidentally pressed a button on its round body.
"Good to see you, Mistress Lucy," the cleaning droid said in a robotic voice.
Startled by the unexpected voice, I nearly dropped the droid. Taking a deep breath, I gently placed it back on the ground, noticing strange scratches on its body out of the corner of my eye. Upon closer inspection, I saw the crudely etched name "Shurshik."
"Alex, I scanned the droid. It has access keys to all rooms, which means it can be useful. I can take direct control of it, saving us a lot of time hacking."
"What about the alarm in the lab?"
"With the keys, I can open all locked doors throughout the complex, bypassing the security system."
"Strange, how did a little girl end up with such a useful droid?" I wondered aloud, glancing at the door, realizing I had already delayed too long and needed to resume searching for the remaining kids.
Peering outside, I noticed Vincent already kicking down his third door with his armored boot. Not wanting to fall behind, I quickly caught up, using Vega's assistance to hack open one door after another. At some point, Vincent and I realized we had searched every room, finding nothing but personal belongings.
"All clear on my end," Vincent reported.
"Same here," I replied, glancing at Shurshik rolling out of the last room it had checked.
"What's with the toy?" Vincent asked, pointing his gun at the droid in surprise.
"Relax, it was in one of the rooms. Vega suggested we use it. The robot has access keys to all the rooms. Someone probably wanted to avoid extra hassle," I explained, pushing Vincent's gun aside with a smirk.
"Smells like someone's usual sloppiness," Vincent muttered, echoing my thoughts.
"We're running out of time. The others won't thank us if we don't hurry up," I said, moving forward silently, following the cleaning droid. It wasn't the best scout, but given the circumstances, it was the best we had. Even though Raich was busy maintaining the complex's defenses, extra caution was still necessary.
We moved through a cafeteria, which we also had to clear. Inside, we found a couple of people armed only with pistols. One of them tried to activate his Sandevistan, but Vincent quickly neutralized him using the alternate fire mode of his Knight rifle. The plasma wave threw the unfortunate fighter back, turning him into a mangled mess. It was a gruesome sight, but thankfully our suits filtered the air and had a closed breathing system that could last for a couple of hours in an emergency.
"Powerful stuff, better not use it too often," Vincent commented, reloading his rifle's battery, echoing our mutual sentiment.
"I didn't expect that either. It's clear here too, let's move on," I said, firing a couple of shots at the weapons lying on the floor to render them unusable. Carrying extra guns was a hassle we couldn't afford.
We continued on, driven by the urgency to rescue the remaining children and get out before reinforcements arrived.
Exiting the cafeteria, I received a signal from the brothers; they had engaged someone and made it clear that we needed to hurry and stop wasting time. At my request, Vega activated the quantum link, allowing us to communicate without interruption. As soon as the channel was established, Shiro made it clear that he didn't want me interfering with questions—especially since the shotgun blasts subtly hinted at the intensity of their situation.
"Vega, if necessary, signal Kiwi," I instructed.
"Don't worry, Creator. I am providing them with timely support," the synthesized voice of the AI responded.
"Better to be safe than sorry," I replied, going back into radio silence, catching a glimpse of a shadow approaching us from the corner of my eye.