Sard stopped and leaned back against the wall of the sewer. "That's it. That's as far as I'm going." His voice was as low as he could make it and still be heard. Damned echo. It was like trying to sneak through a megaphone.
Jay's voice was quiet even over the coms, but the contempt and lack of patience was crystal clear. "Damn it all, Sard. I told you you wouldn't be able to handle this yet. Damn the both of you, and damn this entire fucking plan. You're gonna get yourselves killed, and now you've hung my people out, too."
Joanna shot a glance at Teabag. Teabag just shrugged.
Sard listened until Jay had finished, then spoke unconcernedly: "Too set in your ways. Plug your grumbling. I'm fine. Not stopping because I can't go on. I'm stopping because we're not pulling this off with that surveillance bot trying to crawl up our ass." He had produced a small pack from somewhere under his coat and was rummaging through it.
"I told you already, that's a secondary concern. Nothing that thing can do but try to watch. It's not worth directly exposing ourselves over it."
"I disagree."
"We already had this out. You agreed to leave it and stick with -- "
"Never agreed. Just stopped arguing."
"God damn it, you son of a bitch..." Jay cut off the rest of his own rant. There was nothing he could do about it anyway.
Lilayah moved a short way back, her hushed voice carrying nearly the same level of annoyance. "So, what are you going to do? What are we supposed to do?"
"Continue on," Sard answered. "I'll catch up to you when it's done."
"Staying here by yourself is crazy. You can't."
"Absolutely not." The edge in Jay's voice was wary, not worried. "Joanna. Watch him."
Sard let out a sigh. "Fine." He slid the magazine of his pistol smoothly and silently out, replacing it with another.
Lilayah shook her head and immediately moved off. Teabag cocked his eyebrow at Joanna. She nodded and waved him away. He followed closely after Lil. Joanna faced Sard squarely, took her Minami 10 pointedly in hand, and backed off a few steps.
Sard showed no sign of caring. "Stay low and try not to let it notice you. You know they're fast. If I start shooting, don't move."
* * *
Racquel sipped her drink again, studying the small cafe for anything of note. The shards she had found in Andrew's apartment had contained pre-written summaries for different versions of things to come between IEC and Zetatech. She couldn't help but enjoy herself as she read them. It seemed that Andrew had been very naughty lately. She couldn't wait to find out what he was really up to. None of it had hinted at where he may have gone, though. She had cross-referenced his account with company spending, and the last place he had paid a bill was this cafe -- to reserve something labeled as "C Room". Small as it was, she could only think of one place it might be. She casualy waved as a waitress passed by. "Do you have a bathroom?"
"They're being remodeled. Sorry," answered the waitress.
"I'll take my chances, hon, if that's okay."
The waitress smiled sympathetically and pointed to a small hallway beside the main entrance. Racquel smiled graciously back and slid out of her seat.
She had moved only a short way down the hall before she started thinking of going back. Just beyond the bathrooms, it looked like there had been a fire, but fires don't also make bullet holes or result in a police cordon. She hesitated. She should report back now. The fun had suddenly gone cold. She linked into her coms and dialed Dowe's office. No answer. The call should have gone directly to Jonathan if she wasn't at her desk. She called again. No answer.
She almost stamped in frustration. She couldn't decide what to do. Taking a few breaths, she scolded herself for being a child about it. People didn't get ahead in life if they ran away every time they encountered something uncomfortable. Still not confident, she forced herself to tiptoe past the cordon. What could they do -- fine her? She would just claim she was curious.
It seemed the room had been a mix of private dining and board room. Something had blasted it to hell, though. Looked like the police had already been there. It was still a mess but had been roughly swept up. No crime scene holos or anything left. She quietly moved through the space looking for... She shook her head. What? What was she looking for? This was stupid. She needed to get back to the office. She took a few brisk steps to leave.
A tug left her off balance, and immediately a hand was on her mouth and metal was against the back of her head.
She screamed, but could barely hear it herself. The hand was gloved; the fabric eating up the sound. Whoever had her was incredibly strong. She was too scared to even struggle.
"You be quiet. I'm going to ask a few questions. If you don't answer, I will ask...harder. Okay?" A thick Russian accent. She nodded. The hand slowly left her mouth. "What are you looking for?"
"I...just wanted to see...I'm sorry..."
The cold metal pushed painfully against the back of her head. "That's not what I asked. What are you looking for?"
"I...don't know...I don't know!"
"Shhh. Think more. Are you looking for a thing? Are you looking for a person?"
"I'm sorry -- I'm sorry. I just wanted to use the bathroom..."
"Is that why you needed to call a number at IEC headquarters two times then snoop around a crime scene? Do you want me to show you how I use the bathroom? It's different." He put a hand in her purse and felt around. It came back up with several of the data shards. Tears were running down either side of her face. "What will I find on these if I look?"
"Please...please let me go...I won't say anything to anyone..."
"That's lying, miss. You'll have to eventually talk to someone about something. Why don't you talk to me now? That would be better."
"Okay. Okay. I work at IEC. For Mr. Dowe. A man named Andrew Driscoll is missing. I'm just...trying to find him..."
"Do you know why?"
"No, I don't. My boss -- "
There was a sharp pain in the back of her head. Images blurred and swam and swirled. Time wasn't time anymore. Everything was...nothing.
* * *
Serg eased the body to the floor, the blood was everywhere, but he doubted he could have found a better lead than whatever this girl had been carrying. No need to stick around.
No one saw him enter; no one saw him leave.
* * *
Koffi put out the cigarette and lit up another one. Not unheard of for her to take her time on a break, but this was pushing it. She again pretended to mill aimlessly about until she could see around the corner. Still no one.
Wait -- motion barely caught her eye, and she barely resisted the instinct to look toward it. Using just her periphery, she continued ambling along, giving no indication that she had seen it. There it was again. A wave. Someone at the far end had waved to get her attention. What the hell...?
Not right. Not even remotely right. Her contacts had always been a bit over-the-top about being as discreet as possible, as if Zetatech had a camera on her 24/7. Especially, the latest guy. The young one: Andrew. Sometimes, she would hardly notice him even if he was standing right in the open. Now, they were not only late, they sent some chick with bright pink hair to wave at her?
She sauntered back as she finished the cigarette, oblivious for all they knew. As soon as she was back inside, she B-lined for the nearest elevator to get back to her workstation as quickly as she could. They'd eventually contact her again, and when they did, she wasn't sure how she'd respond. She knew when she was being played. That's how all of this had started in the first place.
Jay's voice was quiet even over the coms, but the contempt and lack of patience was crystal clear. "Damn it all, Sard. I told you you wouldn't be able to handle this yet. Damn the both of you, and damn this entire fucking plan. You're gonna get yourselves killed, and now you've hung my people out, too."
Joanna shot a glance at Teabag. Teabag just shrugged.
Sard listened until Jay had finished, then spoke unconcernedly: "Too set in your ways. Plug your grumbling. I'm fine. Not stopping because I can't go on. I'm stopping because we're not pulling this off with that surveillance bot trying to crawl up our ass." He had produced a small pack from somewhere under his coat and was rummaging through it.
"I told you already, that's a secondary concern. Nothing that thing can do but try to watch. It's not worth directly exposing ourselves over it."
"I disagree."
"We already had this out. You agreed to leave it and stick with -- "
"Never agreed. Just stopped arguing."
"God damn it, you son of a bitch..." Jay cut off the rest of his own rant. There was nothing he could do about it anyway.
Lilayah moved a short way back, her hushed voice carrying nearly the same level of annoyance. "So, what are you going to do? What are we supposed to do?"
"Continue on," Sard answered. "I'll catch up to you when it's done."
"Staying here by yourself is crazy. You can't."
"Absolutely not." The edge in Jay's voice was wary, not worried. "Joanna. Watch him."
Sard let out a sigh. "Fine." He slid the magazine of his pistol smoothly and silently out, replacing it with another.
Lilayah shook her head and immediately moved off. Teabag cocked his eyebrow at Joanna. She nodded and waved him away. He followed closely after Lil. Joanna faced Sard squarely, took her Minami 10 pointedly in hand, and backed off a few steps.
Sard showed no sign of caring. "Stay low and try not to let it notice you. You know they're fast. If I start shooting, don't move."
* * *
Racquel sipped her drink again, studying the small cafe for anything of note. The shards she had found in Andrew's apartment had contained pre-written summaries for different versions of things to come between IEC and Zetatech. She couldn't help but enjoy herself as she read them. It seemed that Andrew had been very naughty lately. She couldn't wait to find out what he was really up to. None of it had hinted at where he may have gone, though. She had cross-referenced his account with company spending, and the last place he had paid a bill was this cafe -- to reserve something labeled as "C Room". Small as it was, she could only think of one place it might be. She casualy waved as a waitress passed by. "Do you have a bathroom?"
"They're being remodeled. Sorry," answered the waitress.
"I'll take my chances, hon, if that's okay."
The waitress smiled sympathetically and pointed to a small hallway beside the main entrance. Racquel smiled graciously back and slid out of her seat.
She had moved only a short way down the hall before she started thinking of going back. Just beyond the bathrooms, it looked like there had been a fire, but fires don't also make bullet holes or result in a police cordon. She hesitated. She should report back now. The fun had suddenly gone cold. She linked into her coms and dialed Dowe's office. No answer. The call should have gone directly to Jonathan if she wasn't at her desk. She called again. No answer.
She almost stamped in frustration. She couldn't decide what to do. Taking a few breaths, she scolded herself for being a child about it. People didn't get ahead in life if they ran away every time they encountered something uncomfortable. Still not confident, she forced herself to tiptoe past the cordon. What could they do -- fine her? She would just claim she was curious.
It seemed the room had been a mix of private dining and board room. Something had blasted it to hell, though. Looked like the police had already been there. It was still a mess but had been roughly swept up. No crime scene holos or anything left. She quietly moved through the space looking for... She shook her head. What? What was she looking for? This was stupid. She needed to get back to the office. She took a few brisk steps to leave.
A tug left her off balance, and immediately a hand was on her mouth and metal was against the back of her head.
She screamed, but could barely hear it herself. The hand was gloved; the fabric eating up the sound. Whoever had her was incredibly strong. She was too scared to even struggle.
"You be quiet. I'm going to ask a few questions. If you don't answer, I will ask...harder. Okay?" A thick Russian accent. She nodded. The hand slowly left her mouth. "What are you looking for?"
"I...just wanted to see...I'm sorry..."
The cold metal pushed painfully against the back of her head. "That's not what I asked. What are you looking for?"
"I...don't know...I don't know!"
"Shhh. Think more. Are you looking for a thing? Are you looking for a person?"
"I'm sorry -- I'm sorry. I just wanted to use the bathroom..."
"Is that why you needed to call a number at IEC headquarters two times then snoop around a crime scene? Do you want me to show you how I use the bathroom? It's different." He put a hand in her purse and felt around. It came back up with several of the data shards. Tears were running down either side of her face. "What will I find on these if I look?"
"Please...please let me go...I won't say anything to anyone..."
"That's lying, miss. You'll have to eventually talk to someone about something. Why don't you talk to me now? That would be better."
"Okay. Okay. I work at IEC. For Mr. Dowe. A man named Andrew Driscoll is missing. I'm just...trying to find him..."
"Do you know why?"
"No, I don't. My boss -- "
There was a sharp pain in the back of her head. Images blurred and swam and swirled. Time wasn't time anymore. Everything was...nothing.
* * *
Serg eased the body to the floor, the blood was everywhere, but he doubted he could have found a better lead than whatever this girl had been carrying. No need to stick around.
No one saw him enter; no one saw him leave.
* * *
Koffi put out the cigarette and lit up another one. Not unheard of for her to take her time on a break, but this was pushing it. She again pretended to mill aimlessly about until she could see around the corner. Still no one.
Wait -- motion barely caught her eye, and she barely resisted the instinct to look toward it. Using just her periphery, she continued ambling along, giving no indication that she had seen it. There it was again. A wave. Someone at the far end had waved to get her attention. What the hell...?
Not right. Not even remotely right. Her contacts had always been a bit over-the-top about being as discreet as possible, as if Zetatech had a camera on her 24/7. Especially, the latest guy. The young one: Andrew. Sometimes, she would hardly notice him even if he was standing right in the open. Now, they were not only late, they sent some chick with bright pink hair to wave at her?
She sauntered back as she finished the cigarette, oblivious for all they knew. As soon as she was back inside, she B-lined for the nearest elevator to get back to her workstation as quickly as she could. They'd eventually contact her again, and when they did, she wasn't sure how she'd respond. She knew when she was being played. That's how all of this had started in the first place.
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