The death of a samurai is always a strange thing. So mourn the loss of a hero, while others celebrate the death of an enemy. As for , I weep at the loss of technologies they could have brought into the world.
--Head of Research and Developnt at New Hope.
There is sothing that can be said about sneaking around an evil research facility, that makes you feel badass, like you are in so kind of video ga. However, it slls much more like bacon than I expected. Or maybe that is just the corpses of the guards.
‘Lyssa, did the others make it out safe?’ I subvocalize, once I notice that the coast is clear.
They have managed to leave the building with minimal resistance.
‘Minimal?’
Let's just say that there are three fewer guards for you to worry about.
I shrug. Well, I guess it is not my problem anymore. I need to get back to breaking into whatever high-security vault they have installed here. I take off in a sprint again, racing through the hallways. I still have cara access for one more floor, so I know exactly where the problems lie waiting. And I really want so more chances to test out my new sword. The vault better be made out of sothing fun like titanium. I wonder if that lts as well as the rest of the stuff I tried it on.
The last floor is surprisingly empty. The only things blocking my way are so heavy-duty security doors, but seeing that I have the master key, they might as well not have bothered. I slowly creep into the last room, but there is no one as far as the eyes and my drones can see, just a big empty room with a sunken floor and so kind of server rack in the middle. Well, that makes things easy. Where is the super ch or the three-headed antithesis to fight at the end of the level?
“It is really that easy, huh?”
Lyssa thinks that they are more concerned with what is leaving rather than what is choosing to stay here.
‘I guess that works in our favour.’
I jump down to the floor of the data centre, install a shunt, and start sending all of the information. I start browsing through the relevant data to see if I can find anything fun. What I find interesting, I imdiately send a copy to PsyCo HQ. The data shows a location deep in the Alps called Samurai’s Tomb. The problem is, that the data logs tell it has been cleared.
“Well, that explains the mind manipulation and how advanced their genetic splicing is.”
Lyssa would advise caution; the likeliness of a Vanguard that only specializes in mind manipulation and genetic altering is rare.
“Fuck you, right? There is no way that was the only thing in the tomb or whatever the fuck it was; we should wrap this up quickly so we can go back and report.”
Suddenly, I hear a clink of tal, and I turn my head in the direction. I hear a loud bang as sparks appear in my vision, and my view changes slightly. My head explodes into pain as I feel sothing cold press against it. I jumped aside, trying to make the distance between myself and whatever that was.
I take a glance back at where I stood and see the remains of my mask lying in pieces on the ground. Well, that is not good. I slowly raise my hand to my face. There is only a small piece still connected, covering the right side of my face.
‘Lyssa, how good are the defences of the mask when it is like this?’
Three of the emitters are still operational, and the shielding capacity has been reduced to fifty per cent. But that is hardly your biggest worry.
‘Then what is?’
The bullet that penetrated your mask also penetrated your eye and is still lodged in your skull. Estimating full cognitive shutdown in 5 minutes.
‘That explains the headache. But I thought my mask could block bullets or at least a few.’
Lyssa thinks that the shot was made from a Vanguard-grade gun.
‘Great. Lyssa, ergency protocols! Use every point I have to keep alive, even if I lose consciousness.’
Lyssa can’t fix your brain. You need a class two dical or combat stimulant catalogue for that. Lyssa can try to stabilise the wound and upgrade your online consciousness to unburden your bio-brain. This could buy you 5 to 6 more hours, depending on circumstances.
‘What circumstances?’
Whether you get shot again or not.
I hold my breath at that thought, trying my best to listen for any sounds my unknown assailant makes. It is silent too, only noise coming from the server rack's cooling system. Okay, Maniac, I think you can do this. We don’t need to kill the guy. We just have to get out of here. Then I hear a step.
“You can’t be down already,” a man's voice echoes through the space.
I don’t answer, trying my best to think of a way out. The problem with that is that the data vault had been placed in the middle of the room, creating the perfect trap. Anywhere I run, the man will have a perfect shot. I knew it looked too good to be true.
“You know if you co out now, I can make it quick.” he says, a hint of amusent in his town.
“Does that ever work? Do people actually co out when you say that?” I ask, genuinely curious.
“So, you are still alive.”
“Yeah, you only managed to pierce part of my brain, not the entire thing,” I say with an easy smile.
Suddenly, I hear another tallic click. This ti, I don’t make the mistake of looking in the direction of the noise; instead, I jump aside, letting my world slow down with the jet stream. I can’t quite rember why we don’t use it anymore, but it must have not been a very good reason. This is great.
I can see with my sensors, the spot that the bullet struck. It would have been another headshot. This guy does not want to let leave, so I guess only one option remains. I turn, looking where the shot ca from. In the dark, at the edge of the room, I spot the figure. I start to sprint towards him.
I could have thrown a javelin or sothing, but with my mask being as fucked as it was right now, I could not access the storage space. So, no javelin, which would leave my sword, but sothing told I would need that in the near future, and I did not think that throwing it would be that great for the internal components.
Another bullet zips towards . I try my best to get out of its path, but the thing is too fast. So I do the only thing I can think of: put my sword in the way and turn the heat to the maximum setting. Lucky for , the bullet is made of sothing that lts, and I can easily slash it in two, greatly reducing its montum.
Unlucky for , I am now covered in bits of molten bullet, and let tell you, that hurts like hell. I think a few bits even hit my face. Sothing tells the man was not expecting that result either, and he was slow to release his third shot, giving precious distance.
I bring down the burning sword and hit the gun with just the tip of it, which is still enough for it to lt straight through it. I smile up at the guy as he takes a few steps back, hitting the wall. He pulls out a knife, but fire is super effective against steel. It only slows my sword down by a minimal amount, and then it hits flesh. I make sure to cut all the way through, hitting so resistance, turns out this guy has so subdermal armour. Neat, it's not going to help him much here.
Once I am sure the guy is down, I stop the jet supply and let ti catch up with again. I glance at the gun. Yep, that is truly fucked now.
Lyssa would like to inform you that adding burns to your list of injuries does not help your case.
‘Ignore the burns for now. Focus on keeping my brain intact.’
There is a bullet in it. It is no longer intact. You are lucky to be alive.
‘You are right. I am sorry, don’t need to ruffle your processor.’
I start to check every nook and cranny of the room, making sure there are no other gunn around. Look back into the data and make a decision. This stuff is too dangerous to give to New Hope, so let's send it all to PsyCo instead have them worry about it. In the anti, I should call Mio.
“Maniac, what is up?” Mio asks, when picking up.
“Change of plan. Are you all safe?”
“Yes, we are in a building across from you. We have not received the transfer yet.”
“About that, can you put on speaker?”
“Sure, and… there we go. You are on speaker now,”
“So, small changes of plan, the data is too dangerous for New Hope to own, even if it is just for a second, so I am sending it sowhere else.” I say.
“So you are cutting us out?” Eva asks.
“Do you think I would have called if that was my plan?” I ask, a bit confused.
“I don’t know what is in that crazy head of yours,” Eva says.
“Currently, a bullet is occupying the space,” I say.
“What?” I hear a chorus of voices.
“I got shot in the head.”
“And you are still capable of speech. That is impressive. Will you be okay?” John asks.
“I will be fine, going to kill the rest of the aliens in this building to buy so extra ti, then rush back ho to get it removed.”
“I see, so you got a handle on it, so why did you call?” John asks.
“Ooh, right, I did not want to stiff you guys. Evelin enjoys your company, so why don’t you co work for ? I will pay a lot more than what New Hope will pay for this data, and you get to play with samurai toys.” I propose
The other side of the line stays quiet.
“Hello? You still there?” I ask, a bit confused.
“Sorry, I was just surprised, but yes, I think we will do it.” Mio says.
“That is good. We'll hash out the details when we are safe, okay?”
“So, is there anything you need us to do, boss?” Eva asks.
“Acquiring a vehicle would be nice,” I say.
“On it,” Eva says.
And with that, I close the call. I guess that is one less problem to worry about. Now, let's see where all the escaped prisoners are hanging out. I look over the security footage, and spot a big group a floor up, and not that far away. I take one last look around but still don’t see anything, so I head towards the Gaia’s rejects.
Suddenly, I hear a boom as the building starts to shake. Then, the booming sound gets louder as it feels like the entire floor sinks a couple of centitres.
“Lyssa, what was that?”
You might need to seek cover. Soone just blew out a lot of the foundational structure of the building.
“Oh, in the na of the protectors, not again.”
The ground starts to shake even more as the whole room starts to stand at an odd angle. The floor starts to crack, revealing the large, big nothing underneath. I start to slide. I quickly turn around and jam the sword on the floor. Then, the walls start to crack as well, making large chunks fall.
I dodge most of them, letting the small pieces hit as I do my best not to fall. Then the room plunges again, and I gain this sudden feeling of weightlessness. Then it stops, and I smack the ground hard, making see sparks, as my head is sent into a spike of pain.
In agony, I let go of the sword, and I slowly start to slide down towards the hole as I lose consciousness.
“So, this is how I die.”
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