Reap and leave

  -I've got people on my end!

  The corridor is empty of any cover. Tubio abandoned Janissa and the stairs to run towards the first door where the operating table was. Stepping inside, a gunman turned the corner.

  Bullets flew as Tubio sprawled on the floor, trying to take cover. Turning and standing up, he didn't put his head through the door. The first thing he was taught. “If you get shot, don't give your face for a shot”. As if to prove him right, new shots struck the frame of the operating room door.

  -D0t I need help! We need help, we're sandwiched!

  -I do what I can, Samir sets me up... I'm in.

  CLUNK. The doors closed on everyone. At least the one on the lower level.

  Isolating everyone on level -1.

  -What's going on?

  -A failsafe if someone like me enters the system. Locking of all doors on the level concerned.

  -Fuck!

  -Quiet! I'm inside. Even your chooms on the other side of the doors don't seem to know what's going on. Okay, Tubio, you've got two, three in your hallway. Janissa?

  -I'm with Aria and Samir, she and I will get ready if they open the door.

  -Donovan? Tell me you didn't slip away.

  -I'm down here. I can hear them, they're at the door where Janissa is.

  Donovan's voice was feverish, but at least he'd kept his cool.

  -Okay. I'm good I can reopen the doors but you're going to have to create a diversion.

  -What, me?

  -Don't worry, I'll do it...

  Clem pushed Donovan, who let her pass. She had abandoned the vehicle to help the others. Armed with a D5 Copperhead, she had also taken some grenades with her. Climbing slowly up the steps, she could hear the men murmuring to each other. Signaling to the group. Janissa backed away from the door. Grenade. Clem threw the grenade in an arc before coming back down. A second and BOOM. The explosion brought cries of pain and silence.

  Janissa ordered D0t to open the door. The damaged door cracked open and Janissa could see the result of Clem's work. The smell of burning was all she could smell as a man lay on his stomach trying to crawl up the stairs. Janissa finished the man off, carefully climbing the stairs back to the ground floor from which they had come. Aria stood in front of the door leading to Tubio's side.

  -D0t open up, we'll help Tubio.

  -... I can't get in. The door's disconnected. Can you open it?

  -Samir get on it!

  Samir passed between Aria and Janissa and knelt in front of a cover at the bottom of the door. The latter was ripped open and after tearing off the remaining blanket he turned to Aria, shaking his head.

  -The door's blocked.

  Hearing how the mission was progressing, Pat made a decision.

  -Okay, let's clean up. Go up and clear the passageway to us. Wang and I go up to the 1st floor, Clash you have the ground floor with the others.

  -And ME?

  -D0t keep the door closed and wait for us.

  Circling like a caged lion, Tubio looked around. Trapped.

  -Shit.

  *****

  Earlier in level 0

  Before Clem threw his grenade and after Clash finished the cocky swordsmen. Pat climbed over the broken window they'd used as a firing point, and threw his own grenade at the two men in the ground-floor office. The blast was deafening, but paid off, sending the first against a wall with shrapnel all over his body as he slid to the ground. The other had crawled along a pillar for cover to fire at them from another angle, saving his life in the face of the grenade. Pat felt a blow hit his shoulder as Wang fired into the survivor. His evasive action had worked, but had exposed him when he tried to take Pat out in the open.

  Pat ran a hand over his wound and his chrome had withstood the impact. He and Wang reached the stairs leading to the second floor when Clem's grenade exploded. Putting a brief stop to the fight. A man opened a door leading to the office from the loading area and Wang immediately shot him. Hostilities resumed.

  Pat calculated the risks and the situation: they'd done all this without finding Yumi, and the other leads were cold. He decided they needed information, hence the thread of his next decisions.

  *****

  As the groups went their separate ways, S4nd0t was trying his best to gain access to all the building's systems when he encountered a problem. He wasn't alone on the network. Ssssssshit....

  *****

  Level-1

  Tubio felt a little relieved, but started looking around for gear to use. He had a grenade with him, Departure and his overture, plus the knife in his boot. He'd die before using them. Above all, he hoped Pat wouldn't change his mind and abandon him.

  The operating room wasn't insalubrious, but it clearly wasn't the most sanitary possible, finding various objects that had no business being there. He even found some recording equipment. And just as he was thinking, D0t informed him of some bad news.

  -I'm not alone anymore, their netrunner is in the system, trying to figure out the shit we've been up to. Tubio I won't be able to cover the door indefinitely.

  -I've got another door, can you open it for me?

  -I don't have it on the plans, I don't know where it leads...

  -Open it or I'm dead!

  Raising his weapon, Tubio prepared to enter if the three were behind him he might have a chance of surprising those in the adjacent room. Departure up, D0t unlocked the door and Tubio went inside.

  -I'm locking the door behind you, but you'd better move, I've got no visuals on people behind you.

  Tubio re-entered a dark room in front of him, in a glass cube was a room clearly designed for shooting adult videos. He'd seen this kind of set-up in certain sensory dances. A bed and subdued lighting plus other accessories on a table.

  Ignoring the background, Tubio looked around. The central cube had a corridor around it where people could walk and chat isolated from the scene. A door led to the main corridor where the three chooms were, but Tubio preferred to stand back - 1 against 3, even with the element of surprise, he preferred to wait for reinforcements. On the other side of the room was an open door, a storage room or closet, probably with a view of the other two doors Tubio could barricade himself in more easily and would be safe from a grenade because of the size of the shooting room.

  With the shooting room empty, he moved quickly to the rear. The door was open. A tiny corridor led to two other doors, and he closed them behind him, cursing in his mind. If a guy came in, it'd be head-on. Pushing open the first door, it opened without resistance. Maybe it wasn't connected to the network. He opened it to find a storage room with shelves full of cardboard boxes. Two rows and nothing but a dead end. Ok. Next.

  Turning, he opened the second door. Inside, a man shouted, telling him to stay away. Tubio ducked to the side before taking a quick look inside. In the corner of the room, a man screamed, holding a knife to the throat of a naked woman. Clearly inert in his arms, he forced her upright against him as she slid into his arms. Tubio hesitates to just shoot them both. Seeing only a knife, Tubio went in anyway, threatened by the man raising his knife at him. The woman slipped and Tubio pulled.

  With a bang, a spray of blood exploded against the wall they were standing on, and the man dropped the woman, screaming in pain. Tubio had shot him in the shoulder, causing him to lose his weapon and destroy his chrome-plated arm. On the ground, he turned to Tubio, raising his other arm. He pleaded with Tubio, but the latter finished him off with a second shot.

  Blowing out his breath, he looked around at the room around him, a sex dungeon, with more equipment, this time from S&M. Tubio shivered with discomfort, looking for a way out, but to no avail. Seeing the woman on the floor, he looked to see if he'd touched her.

  -Oh shit.

  -Tubio, are you alive? Where the hell are you?

  -At the bottom of a sex dungeon. I've got Sayako Gong with me.

  D0t paused as the rest of the group heard. Pat took over the conversation.

  -Is she alive?

  -Yes, in bad shape, but alive.

  -Okay, we're on our way. Change of plan. We'll clean up and join Tubio.

  Checking Sayako once more, he wrapped her in a sheet that was lying around before returning to the door leading to the studio cube.

  -D0t? My pursuers?

  -I'm doing my best. The others are on the move.

  *****

  level 0

  -I need covering fire to come closer.

  -On it!

  Clash needed support to get closer to the doors. The shots kept coming at him as he returned fire.

  Pat and Wang had climbed the stairs and arrived at a partitioned office. Wang went to the first window and positioned himself there. The warehouse was underneath, with the offices forming an L-shape above it. Wang didn't open the window and shot at a man who was shooting at Clash.

  This drew fury from the people below, who fired back at him. Pat grabbed Wang and pulled him away from the window to continue moving forward upstairs under cover.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Pat passed in front, arriving in some unkempt offices that looked more like recreation rooms than workplaces. Pinball machines, pool tables and food wrappers. D0t's voice rang out, reminding him of their new threat in the system. He continued forward, destroying a camera above him.

  ******

  Clash didn't waste any time, sprinting towards the gates he fired accurately at a group of enemies covered between two vans parked inside. He threw one of his grenades, which arced in the air towards another. One of them screamed, and they panicked, throwing themselves into cover.

  The explosion echoed throughout the structure, windows shattering, shards crashing to the ground. With weapon raised, he finished off a man who had narrowly escaped the blast. Kneeling down, he pivoted to shoot through a pile of tires, killing another man. A heavy impact hit him in the back, knocking him to the ground. He lost his rifle.

  Landing in the push-up position, he rolled onto his side and pulled out his Nue to fire at the shooter. Then he swung his arm, bringing out the cannon implanted in his arm to fire at the last group of enemies he'd spotted in the firefight. Barely aiming, he clicked the grenade launcher and the ammunition flew into the air, impacting the wall below where Wang and Pat were standing. His two victims died in an instant, their bodies thrown into the air before crashing to the ground.

  Clash scrambled to his feet, leaning against a pillar as more screams and gunfire erupted from the broken upstairs windows in his direction…

  *****

  Reaching the top landing of the staircase, they were at the end. And were about to join the level of Clash. Nodding around the door, Aria went first. Arriving in a large, almost empty room, there were shelves of scrap materials and various tables with cases spread out.

  Aria passed in front, taking cover, but as Clem passed through the door an enemy rose from his hiding place to shoot Clem threw herself aside. Aria swung round and fired a burst at their attacker, knocking the breath out of him. She turned towards Clem to her left. Then behind her. Janissa was on the ground, Samir dragging her behind the wall of the stairwell for cover.

  Without a second's delay, she stood up and ran towards her. She went through the door and looked at Janissa, her stomach red and bleeding as she breathed calmly. It was Samir who brought her back to reality.

  -Donovan, we've got an injured person, get in, we're on the ground floor.

  Aria dropped everything and rushed to her side. But Janissa grabbed her, preventing her from helping Samir. Pointing at the door, Aria heard Clem exchanging shots and decided to leave her alone.

  *****

  Level +1

  Pat and Wang progressed without threat, the enemies having no doubt all been drawn elsewhere since the shooting began. After crossing several rooms, they arrived at one where two men were trying to kill Clash.

  The door opened and Pat opened fire, catching the two men off guard and killing them instantly. Wang noticed cables and servers. Following them, he came across a netrunner's chair. Gunshot went for him, and he threw himself towards the first object that could hide him. Behind the chair a man shot him with a revolver before fleeing through a door behind him.

  Pat went round and looked at Wang, the shots were now less numerous and the screams quieter. Giving way to a few groans. Pat walked past one of the men in the window, killing him on the ground.

  Turning around, he was at the end of the floor. The servers Wang had found were right next to an open room that doubled as a chair for the netrunner and a surveillance room. A whole wall of video cameras spread across the wall,

  -Samir, we're going to need you upstairs. We're in front of the servers.

  Wang, who had advanced to the door where his assailant had fled, almost got shot. Guarding the door, Pat looked around the room. The floor was theirs. One last door to see. Behind the door to this floor.

  *****

  Level 0

  -Their netrunner just got away to the ground floor!

  The firefight was at its height, the sounds coming from the warehouse where Clash had fought had finally died down and now Aria and Clem were trying as best they could to eliminate the enemies blocking the freight elevator and the coiled main staircase leading down to Tubio.

  Clem landed a good shot in the shoulder of one of the men before ducking down. Behind her, Aria supported her with precise bursts that discouraged the others. In front of them were 3 to 4 silhouettes. There was a lack of places to shoot from the wide, wire-mesh staircase and the freight elevator. But that didn't mean attacking was any easier. There could be ten of them and they could block these exits just as well as the four they had seen.

  On the holo Clem called the others.

  -Has anyone got a grenade? We're stuck at the lift.

  As she said this, Clem stood up but felt a pain go through her. She felt like ants in her hair as they ran down her face, while her vision narrowed and became blacker and blacker. In an instant she felt intense pain in her eyes, making her cringe in pain as well as going blind.

  Aria could see Clem's condition, but only too late saw a man sprint from a door that had just opened to join his comrades in the stairwell leading to the basement. Aria missed him but killed a man who had risen to cover him.

  -Need help here Clem lost her eyes!

  Clash kicked a door from the entrepot, joining the girls and throwing a smoke inside in the direction of the entrenched enemies. The sound of the grenade rolling down the stairs was heard. The sound of the grenade rolling down the stairs was heard. A heavy cough and several insults indicated that they were very unhappy with this development. The smoke began to spread and more screams were heard, as well as indiscriminate firing in Aria's direction. Clash, as if the smoke didn't bother him, loaded his energy rifle and fired into the smoke several times, bringing all attacks to a halt.

  -We've got the upper levels, they're retreating to level -1.

  Aria went to see Clem, keeping her under cover, and guided her towards the staircase where Donovan was waiting. He spoke into the holo. It only took him a second to examine her; Clem had kept her cool after the initial pain, allowing Donovan to examine her quickly.

  -Her eyes have been damaged by a demon. Nothing serious in the long term, a reboot and tests should tell us more, but it's going to take time. She's lucky, it seems the demon only targeted her eyes. In any case, she's out.

  Pat interrupted the discussion.

  -Wang goes down to join them. Aria, you take Janissa and Clem and bring them back to the van. Samir, you go upstairs, I've got the servers we're looking for. Donovan goes up with him. I've found her...

  The last room, behind the netrunner's chair. It opened onto a small room with a bed. A drugged and unconscious girl was hallucinating handcuffed to the bed. Yumi. Pat gritted his teeth and looked around the room before just breaking the chain on the handcuffs. Malik's voice interrupted everyone.

  -Guys, we've got company, three cars with very pissed off guys have just driven up to the entrance, they haven't got in yet but it won't be long. I get out of there before they spot me. Two more cars have just turned the corner.

  -Shit! Let's speed it up!

  Samir and Donovan passed Wang at the door from which the netrunner had attacked Clem. Arriving at Pat and Yumi. Donovan opened his rucksack and immediately began osculating Yumi. Looking at her eyes, arms and other parts of her body. Anything that looked like a recent injury to look for a tracker on her body and he found it. On her lower back, a fresh scar marked the young girl.

  -Tubio can you checks Sayako's body, her lower back.

  Pat sighed impatiently before calling D0t?

  -I've got a handle on the system but they've cut the cameras and the more time goes by the more their runner cuts the circuits manually.

  After a second Tubio confirmed the same mark on the mother.

  -Okay, they've both got tracers in them, Donovan?

  -I can remove them.

  Pat impatiently asked the stupid question.

  -How is she?

  -Alive. Do you want me to fix her up here?

  -No, get her and take her to the van that brought you here. I'll join the others.

  What followed was a flurry of movement. Between Aria guiding the still blind Clem to the railing to go downstairs and Aria supporting Janissa up the stairs. The door leading to Tubio was still closed even though they could hear screams coming from the other side. Once upstairs, Samir had jumped onto the systems, logging on and giving direct access to D0t, who began transferring all the data he could before deleting the data in question from the servers. Wang joined Clash, who had taken up a position in front of the staircase that wound around the large freight elevator. The smoke began to dissipate, so they waited until they had a perfect view, even though Clash didn't need one with his thermal sensors.

  Pat called Aria into the holo.

  -Aria, once the girls are in the van, go to the door on level -1, you can't be too careful. Yumi and Donovan will go in your van and he'll look after the wounded. Samir, D0t?

  -We're doing all we can. Samir's finished giving me the data but there's a lot of crap and I've got to sort it out so I don't pick up any malware or leave a trail.

  -How long will it take?

  -10 minutes.

  -5.

  -Crap! I've lost control of the doors on level 1...

  *****

  Level-1

  Tubio who was holding his shotgun and waiting panicked, oh happy to hear that the mission was going well when a gang of raving lunatics were on the other side of the wall and another was about to run into their backs.

  Still staring at the doors, Tubio tried to keep still, calming his breathing between glances. ESPECIALLY when your runner tells you he's no longer in control.

  The operating room door and the corridor door... He could do it. The door to the corridor opened.

  Tubio fixed and motionless in the dark, crouching down and looking through his mask at the shape of a man entering the room. Tubio had disabled or broken all the lights, and was waiting for the man to be fully inside before... BAM. Departure's flash lit up the room as shots came at him from the doorway, reloading, and he fired again several times.

  Returning shot after shot. His mask filtering out the darkness and the flashes from the corridor creating distinct shapes to which his shots connected, at least one body half slumped in the doorway confirmed it. Shouts and more gunfire echoed down the corridor. Tubio held his position tense... More shots rang out, flashes across the door, screams. A sound suddenly appeared in his ears, rising in an instant before inflicting an electric shock. The electronics through his mask fried, causing him to cry out in pain. A man ran inside towards the operating room, but Tubio fired again, shooting the man dead. Then silence...

  -Hey, it's us, don't shoot, we've got to get out of here.

  Pat stuck his head out, raised his gun and Tubio finally breathed a sigh of relief. Pat got up and went inside. Checking the corpse, Pat fired again into the back of the netrunner who was on the ground. Wang coming to lend a hand to carry Sayako, lifting her effortlessly from Tubio in his arms back into the corridor.

  As Tubio passed, Pat grabbed his shoulder. Pat pointed to the operating room door and Tubio shrugged. Pat motioned for Tubio to step aside and pulled a grenade from his back.

  Clash, who watched the silent exchange from the ouside, needed only a simple indication from Pat for him to guard the other exit into the corridor.

  Tubio and Pat stood on either side of the door. Tubio opened the door and Pat threw the grenade. One second, shots, two seconds, screams, three seconds... The blast was held back by the door, closed quickly by Tubio. They barely checked the interior. The smoke and bits of flesh were enough to confirm the lack of life inside.

  Without further ado Pat called Samir by holo.

  -Samir, tell me you're done.

  -Almost... I'll just have to set the place on fire.

  Loud gunshots were heard from the outside, terrifying Samir. D0t gave the answer to what was happening.

  -Guys, you'll never believe it, the NCPD is having a run-in with our new friends. Damn, that's fireworks. Malik, I don't know what you've been throwing around, but your buddy must have been in a hurry to get here.

  From a camera overlooking the front entrance, D0t could see the blue and red lights of police cars being shot at by men fleeing towards the building.

  -Samir, move it, I've destroyed everything just like we said, let's go!

  Samir didn't hesitate. Creating a short circuit in the connection relay to fry any possible back-up, then setting off the explosives Pat had provided. Running to the door below was a mere formality. Running down the steps, he announced himself to Aria as he descended. A loud explosion above informed everyone that the plan had succeeded.

  On the other side, Clash arrived at the blocked door, the floor cleared of all hostility. He placed his weapon behind his back, magnetizing it. Grabbing the blocked door with both hands, he forced with all his strength with his implants, making the door creak. Revealing an impressed Aria.

  What followed was a series of adults running for the exit into the garbage-strewn alleyway where the van was located. One by one, they climbed inside.

  -2 minutes. And I'm done.

  -Did you hear him?

  Pat looked at the womens inside. Donovan had a device over his eyes and was palpating Sayako's back. Sayako and Yumi were on their stomachs Yumi having an incision in her back covered with a compress. Janissa against the wall of the van had a gunshort wound in her, with Clem silently holding her hand next to her. Her eyes were burned and have become black, from what he could see burn marks surrounded her eyes, a miracle her eyelids hadn't burned either, their netrunner must have customized his demon to make it less effective, knowing the implication, he was pleased he was dead...

  Samir hurried into the back, ignoring the others, Wang climbed in as a passenger, Clash watching the alley to make sure no one came from their exit. Tubio at the wheel started the vehicle.

  -Clash goes to the corner we take you in passing, D0t Update!

  -Motherfuckers get their asses blown off, they retreat inside. But damn, this is the first time I've seen so many NCPD cars. All we need now is the MAXTAC and we'll have the whole lot.

  A siren wailed and above the building the MAXTAC transport was floating.

  -Malik? What have you done?

  -A bit of right and wrong... My buddy gets a medal and we get our peace of mind. How well are the servers destroyed?

  -As destroyed as possible.

  Samir answered immediately, as if to reassure himself. The conversation was about to continue when Donovan raised his hand in triumph. In it were two metal capsules the size of pills.

  -Are we good? They don't have anything else?

  -Not that I can detect here. If you want me to do an examination, I'd appreciate it elsewhere.

  -Okay, we're out of here.

  Taking the two stalkers in hand, he crushed them in an instant before climbing aboard. The van starts quickly but without acceleration. Stopping to pick up Clash. The last contact with the building was D0t cleaning up the system behind him, leaving nothing behind. The last thing he saw was MAXTAC arriving at the destroyed servers, before cutting all connections for his own safety.

  I'm paraphrasing. But that's basically it. So let me tell you. Go. I don't care, I do what I want.