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***
- All right, ladies, are you ready for a brainstorming session?
- We're disconnecting from the optics...
That's what all three of the Runners said at the same time, and I gave them three more seconds to switch on the Sandi. No, I didn't run forward, especially since the mines will probably react in time. If there's a corporation involved, then surely the mines have the capability of a Sandi. So.
Instead of rushing forward I was under the influence of Sandi activated optics and as tightly as possible and under all possible modes examined the road that I had to pass. And I examined all available space and only after I finished with it I switched off the sandi.
- Ladies, catch the pictures, I need a map of the best way to get there.
- Wait a couple of minutes, it's not difficult to make a programme that will highlight the best route, but we are not robots, so it will have to be tested....
- Waiting...
It took about ten minutes and the girls sent me a map with the best route, which allowed not only to pass through the minefield with minimal use of demons to disable the mines, but also to avoid being seen by the cameras. They also marked on the map the points where the turrets were most likely to be and the routes to avoid them.
- And why didn't we do the same thing before?
- Because we didn't consider that our adversary would be a corporation and we got a little relaxed. Now I'm back in the resource and realise that speed and efficiency must be maximised if we're to get the maximum reward. Have you prepared the demons for me?
- Catch.
Demons were handed to me, and each one had a number in its name, which corresponded to the number of the mine, which the girls marked on the map.
- Okay, here we go.
Sandy, fifty per cent.
Step forward, two to the side, first demon, three more forward one diagonally forward and to the right, second demon...
I was going extremely slowly. Well, in my subjective experience. But in reality, I probably just disappeared from the visible spectrum for those who do not have the ability to accelerate their perception. But that didn't interest me now, I was thinking only about how exactly I should move.....
Here comes the first camera. Freeze on the spot, hiding behind a tree, wait for it to turn slightly changing its sector of view. It's taking too long, but I'm not going to switch off the Sandi. Corporations aren't gangs, and a split second can cost me my life, so I wait disciplined....
The camera finally turns hard enough and I take off from the place, or rather walk calmly, while continuing to disable the mines that met me on the way.
Step by step...
Camera after camera...
Past the turrets...
Very carefully I moved first towards the Farm itself, and after walking a little along its fence I jumped on it.
Fuck...
I jumped back down and took a deep breath.
Mystique...
Why the fuck was she the one? Why not some Stilettos they'd hired to guard her? Why not some former nomads whose head was just as happy as Saul to join this corp and now they're doing her dirty work for her... once again running the optics through the different modes.
Fuck... and why didn't I notice that the fence was blocking me from seeing what was going on behind it? I can see why. Too many mines, turrets and cameras. And the turrets are hidden and detected only by the fact that the girls calculated their approximate location, so... I was too much concentrated....
With a sigh, I carefully jump up and cling to the edge of the fence and pull myself up, twisting Sandi's work one hundred per cent. The body freezes. Only my eyes move, my optics go from mode to mode, but it's all bullshit, I continue to hang and look around... and only after making sure that I've captured everything I lower the acceleration of the sandi and slowly lower myself back to the ground, afterwards.
Do I risk it or not? From what I saw, Mystique didn't notice my behaviour, as she stood with her back to me and still standing....
No, I'm not gonna risk it.
Turning Sandi off now would be the death of me.
I throw myself up sharply and realising that I'm not going to change what I'm doing, I see that Mystique is looking exactly in my direction and a smirk appears on her face.
Fuck.
She's coming my way. Slowly enough, but she's walking. Except it doesn't fool me and I throw my leg out to the side pushing the tip of my toe off the fence and sending myself sideways. I remember the way she threw the knives and the speed at which it all happened. And I wasn't wrong! Her hands moved at a speed barely inferior to mine and threw two knives.
I finally fall to the ground and roll, looking around again in all modes and not finding any mines around. At least I was lucky in that.
I get two knives in my hands, and this time the knives that were thrown at me, but I do not show all my abilities, continuing to move only a little faster than Mystique. There's an anticipatory smirk on the girl's lips and she points to her back, then shakes her head.
Does she think I'm a fool?
It's playable, though, and I nod my head slightly thoughtfully, confirming that I'm ready to switch off the sandi. She immediately shows me a hand with three fingers bent, then only two fingers are visible... one... and as soon as she removes the last finger I freeze as if I'd actually switched off the sandi, and a second later another knife comes flying in my direction, which I calmly fend off.
A smirk stretches across the girl's lips into a carnivorous grin, and she accelerates sharply, catching up to me in speed and even slightly overtaking me.
Three blows, and if it wasn't for Arasaki's academy training I wouldn't have been able to calculate them and deflect them, but they were quite straightforward.
The fourth blow left a scratch on my cheek, the fifth cut my forearm, the sixth and seventh were more dangerous, but I was able to deflect them, reducing them to normal, albeit slightly deep, cuts.
And now I wished I still had armour, but so far the synthetic muscles were partly taking over, preventing me from being cut too deeply. Targeted jabs would definitely penetrate my muscular armour....
Pulling back another jab and flopping slightly to the side of Mystique to slash her face...
Well...
It's a start... Now the main thing is not to screw up... but the expression on Mystique's face told me that she was very much hurt by that cut on her face....
However, the speed of her actions did not increase, but the onslaught became denser. The previously almost isolated blows became more complex series that left more and more cuts on me.
With each minute of subjective time it became clearer, she was playing with me, she could have ended the fight long ago, but she didn't do it, time after time she left me imaginary opportunities, thanks to which only cuts appeared on me.
I take a step back trying to dodge and realise that my leg is unsteady and I start to slump backwards. Mystique takes a few steps away and apparently completely relaxed, decides to finish me off.
Time!
One hundred per cent!
The world froze, and so did I. And now... now was the moment of truth, would I have the bone strength to make a single movement at this acceleration? Would I have the strength of my skin to keep from burning from friction?
Let's see.
My leg, because of the instability of which I had recently lost my balance, shifted slightly... I felt the bones and joints crunching, the muscles doing their work, literally destroying the leg. An anatomy lesson came to mind.....
There are only thirty bones in the leg... Femur, patella, tibia, fibula, heel bone, talus, navicular bone, medial cuneiform bone, intermediate cuneiform bone, lateral cuneiform bone, cuboid bone, five metatarsal bones, five proximal phalanges, four intermediate phalanges and five distal phalanges.... and I think just by moving, I've broken at least half of those bones.
The arm slowly began to change position...
And in my head, along with the sensation of the bones breaking, came the memory of the bones that go into the arm....
What the hell am I doing with this information?
No, at the moment of training, it was kind of information from one of the advanced first aid classes... kind of even mentioned in passing. But this was the exact moment it all should have popped into my head.....
My arm slowly shifted, my leg allowed me to straighten my body position slightly...
Only the jacket on my arm could not withstand it and was literally crumbling with smouldering scraps behind me. Well, as crumbled, hovered behind the moving arm, the skin of which began to blacken....
I think I'm going to fuck off soon....
Slowly, very slowly, the knife that I kept clutching in my hand moved closer to Mystique's rib cage with its tip, and gradually it began to enter her.
I was about to start moving the knife downwards, opening up her body and dumping her insides on the ground, but my vision caught on the knife that was coming towards me before I started to use the sandy to its full potential.
With some effort I twist the knife through the wound finally sinking it into Mystique's body and jerk it to the side, so that it comes out of the girl's side and cuts off her hand with the knife.
That's it...
Sandi passes out and we fall to the ground.
- Bitch, that hurt!!!
I couldn't stop myself from screaming.
- Aah! Fuck!
However, my opponent was just as unrestrained and screamed lying on the ground. With my whole hand, I took out an injector from a special pocket on my belt and injected it into my neck.
- Ha...
- Hey... do you have any more injector?
Mystique's voice was hoarse, which was understandable, she was screaming a lot right now. I glanced first at my completely burned arm, where only muscles and part of the joints remained. The rest of it is all in pieces... then I look at my leg, which is in a slightly better condition, because it was not burnt from the speed of movement.....
I slowly turn my gaze to Mystique and fall back to the ground with a sigh.
- Got it...
Taking out an injector I threw it towards the girl.
- Ha... thanks.
- You're welcome... I hope you're not going to finish me off....
- Huh? I can't even stand up right now! You've hollowed out my heart! I can live without it for a couple of hours with chromium and bio-implants, but I can't make any sudden movements.
- Hmmm... I thought you were fully Borg.....
Saying that, I lifted myself up again and with some effort took a sitting position, looking at the girl carefully.
- Yeah... I was... until I realised that there was nothing appealing about such an existence at all. And ever since then I've been working to regain my humanity. But it's expensive when all that's left of you is the brains in your head and your spinal cord. At least it was cheaper to turn myself into a Borg.
- Right, so that's why you work for Biotech?
- Yeah, you want some advice?
- Are you kidding? Advice from Legend? I'd be happy to.
- Don't turn into a Borg... try to use your bio-implants and use your skills.
- Well, I wasn't going to--
With some effort I did get up, I could barely keep my balance, but still... I stood up.
- Good decision... you know, I could get a gun now, but after a fight like that... and after you gave me the injector... you want the teenagers, right? They're all in there...some of them are still alive.....
- Mm-hmm... and where is the panel that disables the turrets and mines with cameras, do you happen to know?
- It's all there... the password is three zeros, zero, three zeros.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, not many people would share an injector with the enemy....
- Well...
I shook my big shoulder.
- ...Let's just say I haven't gone bad yet....
- What's your name?
- Quiet.
- Rising star, huh? Heard about you. One more piece of advice.
- Yes?
- Don't trust others... you're lucky with me, but others will still probably decide to finish you off.
I sighed.
- Well... I did read your personnel file... so I knew you wouldn't stab me in the back....
- So it was you in Knight Road?
- Yeah.
I turned round and slowly hopped towards the building.
- Listen, how did you get out? I was up there for eight hours, one floor up...
- There's an old sewer tunnel underneath the building... stabbed my way out well....
- Ugh.
- You have no idea how much shower gel I poured all over myself.
I grinned and slowly jumped to the building, where I reached the control panel and switched off all the systems.
- Erm... Quiet, did you do something?
- Yeah... but you're on your own... I'm hanging out in the control room, so come to the farm, just watch out for Mystique on the ground, half alive, don't run her over, and make sure she doesn't do anything....
- You didn't kill her?
- No... we had parity... but I had injectors and she didn't, so she decided not to finish me off....
- What the hell happened?!
- One hundred per cent on Sandy.
- Fuck.