Chapter Text
“Jensen,” Pritchard transmitted via the infolink. “Jensen. Come in.”
Nothing, again.
“Adam. Please respond,” he tried again.
C’mon…
“Adam.”
Nothing.
It was like Panchaea all over again. Only he didn’t have the constant buzz of his cerebral augments glitching out.
They’d been following a lead. Pritchard agreed to help against his better judgement. Much like when Jensen suddenly contacted him after a year of him thinking he’s dead. He agreed to help then.
Pritchard was set up far from Jensen’s objective. Safe, in the Rialto, an abandoned theater, near an aug ghetto in Detroit.
The site of a believed Illuminati-linked operation. VersaLife, Tai Yong Medical and Tarvos Security were all involved.
Pritchard hated everything about this. That’s why he agreed he supposed, someone needed to keep that idiot alive.
After an hour of pacing and waiting, he had to do something. He made a call, “Malik, I need a favor.”
***
Pritchard is gonna launch into a pointless lecture as soon as infolink was up. Adam was sure of it. Maybe it would be a deserved lecture. This time.
So, the installation was real, because of course it was. What was inside it wasn’t at all what he was briefed on. It was supposed to be weapons and bio weapons. According to the Juggernaut Collective the weapons would be passed to militant aug groups. They were still trying to push the control chip for all augs. They just needed another incident to convince the public. That bullshit again.
Well, that’s not what he found. Absolutely not what he found. They were doing something far more complex and sinister.
So, of course Adam needed to blow the operation. They had created some sort of transport device. A glowy circle that connected some other point in space entirely. That’s where things got weird.
They were bringing people through it. Their clothes and accents were… weird. Their augments weren’t the kind he’s seen before. There were brand names he’s never heard of.
He was able to hack into a few workstations and figured out what’s going on. The whole space-time thing is beyond him but the more practical aspect he understood. They were abducting augmented people from a very distant place or time. Like him, these people didn’t need anything like Neuropozyne to prevent their bodies from rejecting their augments.
They’re reverse engineering and in some cases, ripping the augments out of these people. The usual nauseating shit he expects from at this point. It explained TYM’s presence. They’re not interested in bio weapons.
So, what is the best way to bring this down? Destroy their transport device, obviously. But the plans too. They may have copies off-site but he can have Frank track those down when he’s done here.
What about the other side? They have to have an installation on the other side. No way it’s just a magic portal in the middle of a town or anything like that. There would be more of a fight to steal these people.
Fuck.
Maybe he can find a way to boost his infolink before he goes in. Frank gets jumpy when they lose contact. Or angry, if he counts Alaska.
He probably doesn’t have time for that but maybe he’ll find something along the way. He was in an administration wing. It would be tricky to get to the transport device. He could fight his way there but he’d rather not.
***
Gurathin had been working on interfacing with their wireless systems since he was put in a cell. He was among a dozen other augmented people. They were herded into three cells after they went through the portal.
Two of them had already been taken and never returned. Later someone was taken and returned, completely missing their augmented arm.
The obvious conclusion was they were harvesting augments. ART had speculated as much before he was taken. Everyone taken had extensive augments. Gurathin too, though his were largely internal. He shuddered at the thought of his augments being torn out of his head.
What was weird about this was their abductor’s accents didn’t match the local population. Or any population Gurathin had been in contact with. Their technology was sophisticated and similar in many ways to what he was used to. But… different. Like a different evolutionary pathway landing on the same solution.
The wireless technology was the only thing he could attempt to interface with. Luckily, wireless tech is achieved in a few common ways. He just needed to tune himself to the right wave frequency. Once he found it, he needed to work out the encoding and encryption. Something he’s already good at.
He sat in the back of the cell with his back against the wall. His eyes were closed as he worked. Everything lit up when he found it. There are three cameras covering the corridor outside. Listening devices in the cells. More cameras. Unfortunately, Gurathin had limited range. Nothing within it was connected to the rest of the facility.
What he can do in the short term is loop ambient sound on the listening devices. He did the same with cameras in the cells. The ones in the hallway weren’t so easy. He felt he was moments away from succeeding then then the feed shuddered. When he looked again, someone already looped the footage.
That wasn’t a SecUnit hack.
He opened his eyes and stood up. He neared the front of his shared cell. The corridor turned a corner at the last cell, his cell. There was nothing in the corridor but two patrolling guards.
Their guards had stopped briefly to converse. They were complaining about their rations and guarding ‘clanks.’ Their term for augmented people. They parted ways in opposite directions.
Gurathin heard the blows first then turned head his just in time to see the guard lurch forward. They fell out of sight behind the corner. He heard the dull impact of them being hit twice more.
The other guard still had their back turned as they walked away. Then they staggered and fell unconscious. The barrel of a projectile weapon lowered from behind the corner. A second later someone stepped around the corner.
The man looked like he was dressed completely in black, until Gurathin noticed the arms. His arms were made of black artificial material. Evidence of augments on his face too. He either had something covering his eyes or they were the reflective glass fixed to his face. He appeared to be human, just very heavily augmented.
Some of the others were already asking him for help.
“How many of you came through?” he asked flatly. His accent was different from the others. It was almost like something you’d find in the Corporate Rim.
“Twelve!” a young woman answered. Next to her was the one who came back without their arm.
The man appeared to glance between the cells. He nodded grimly. He slung his weapon over his shoulder and crouched down next to the guard.
“Can you help us?” a man in Gurathin’s cell asked.
“I’ll do what I can,” he said. He picked up the guard’s weapon and disassembled it. He pocketed a few pieces and left the rest. “Give me a few minutes.”
***
I am never helping ART again.
You don’t mean that.
Yes I fucking do. I shoot back.
We’ll find him. ART’s attempt at being reassuring.
It’s confidence wasn’t helpful. At least ART had the good sense to shut up. He wouldn’t have been taken if I hadn’t come to help ART. If I hadn’t let him come.
The plan was for me to act as bait. Obviously, I wasn’t good enough because they grabbed Gurathin. He hadn’t even been nearby. The augmented people were being taken from an entirely different district.
The whole reason we were here was to help ART and its crew. Half of which were working with the local authorities with the missing people and the other was working with the planet’s administration to keep its status as a freehold.
The compound sat outside the reach of the local governing body of this planet. It was built into a wooded mountain side.
I wasn’t completely alone. ART-drone and Tarik were with me. I really didn’t want either with me. Especially not a human that might accidentally shoot me in the back. While they did defer to my judgment on this, they both made a good point. I may need extraction.
The problem was we had no clear readings about what was inside the compound. The mountain shielded it from ART’s sensors. What ART did pick up was fifty different individuals coming and going.
I told Tarik and ART-drone to guard my exit. I’d update them on my progress. I may need them inside, I doubt it though. I found an entry point through their ventilation system. I exited on one of the upper levels. First of all, I needed to get into their systems. The only problem there is it operated differently from what I was used to. Not like company to company software differences. Frequency differences made it so I couldn’t just wirelessly connect. Well, not yet.
There weren’t many guards in this area but there was an array of cameras. And a few other security measures I wasn’t familiar with. (Crazy, right?) Because I couldn’t connect to any systems yet, I had to get around the cameras and other sensors the old fashioned way. My drones helped with that. None of the cameras were pointed at the ceiling. I could freely send them ahead to plan my next move.
I found a locked room that my sensors told me held a number of interfaces. It could be a security room. I needed to connect directly into the door’s interface to open. It was a massively uncomfortable experience.
A human guard was in the room. “Who’s there?” they asked when the door opened. It was tempting to respond verbally. Instead I responded with knocking them unconscious. The insignia on their uniform was unfamiliar. Tarvos?
They are not in any of my databases, ART answered.
I moved on to the work stations. Again it was similar but different. I managed another uncomfortable hardwire connection. Once inside, I isolated the wireless frequency and immediately switched to it.
Okay, that’s more comfortable. This was a security terminal and it linked me to the camera feeds on this level. I then learned the security measure I couldn’t identify was a dormant turret. That can stay dormant, thanks. The same with the motion sensors.
The frustrating thing was this system was isolated from the rest of the facility. I learned each floor had their own isolated SecSys. Sometimes more than one. I did, however, get a map out of this.
Six floors. Only two were visible from outside.
***
They’d taken more than twelve people. Adam found evidence of that everywhere. Mostly, he found the augments without their owners or bodies. He still had to look. If he’s going to get those ten out, he might as well try to get everyone.
He needed to clear the way to the portal… thing. Those people wouldn’t be able to defend themselves. The corridors leading up to it were easy. He had plenty of places to hide bodies in adjoining rooms.
The main room would be a problem. He picked off a couple guards but there were still eighteen men and two boxguards. The boxguards were in their idle box configuration on either side of the portal. An alarm or loud noise would activate them. That would be a major problem if he’s got a group of scared people in tow.
It can’t be easy, can it?
He headed back to the holding cells. He had told them he’d be back but they still looked surprised when he returned. He went to the wall panel responsible for the doors.
“Stay quiet. Stay behind me,” he told them as he cracked the panel’s protections. He unlocked the doors. All but the fourth cell, that’s where he put their guards.
There was mumbling agreement among them. They were still terrified but willing.
He led them through the corridors he’d already cleared. There was still a chance a patrol would come through so he kept a weapon at the ready. They weren’t that far from the main room when he directed them into a side room. It was a briefing room. He chose it for the large screen on one wall.
“How many of them are on the other side? I don’t want to send you right back into a wall of Tarvos’ soldiers.”
He wasn’t expecting a lot out of these people but any information is better than what he has. He got the confused and uncertain answers he expected. Except for one of them. “Every soldier I saw came with us. They talked about leaving…” his face scrunched up. “80-Xs behind.”
“Boxguards,” Adam said with a sigh. He went over to the screen display. He called up images of the boxguards in their dormant and active states. “Do you know how many?”
“Five… no, six,” the same man spoke. He was hugging himself and his eyes squeezed shut. There was an augment port on his neck. Cerebral augments, Adam guessed. “Inactive… I didn’t–I didn’t realize they were bots.”
“Great,” he said, letting sarcasm seep through. “What does the other side look like? Layout…”
“I have…” the same man again. He twitched a finger toward his own head then the screen. New images popped up on screen. Including a rough layout.
“Can you connect to my infolink?” Adam asked the man. “Uh, wireless communication. I don’t know what you call it.”
He looked startled then nodded. He closed his eyes tightly.
Adam felt a tickle. Then everything snapped into place. The man displayed as anonymous for a couple seconds then a name took its place. Gurathin. To Adam’s surprise, he pinged him. He returned it with a request for the map.
Gurathin visibly relaxed. He sent the map and other still images from the other side of the portal.
“Okay. Here’s the plan.”
***
The ‘infolink’ informed Gurathin the man’s name was Adam Jensen. As for whether he trusted him. It felt like they didn’t have a choice. This was better than waiting for his turn in the cell. He was also the only other obviously augmented person he’s seen since they came through. The likelihood of him being against augment harvesting was higher.
Regardless, they didn’t have many options.
“These are EMP grenades,” Jensen told them. He held one out to Gurathin and one to Carmine, the one who lost their augmented arm. “They can disable the boxguards for up to a minute within a radius of three meters. But be careful, they can disable most augments. They’re designed to cut through shielding. Use them as a last resort.”
“Most augments,” Gurathin repeated as he looked down at the grenade. “Yours included?”
“They’ll knock out my sensors, HUD and sometimes my vision. I’ll be able to move. I still wouldn’t want one to blow up in my face. It’s not pleasant.”
So, he has better shielding. Specialized augments. But he’s not trying to hide that fact. Gurathin’s going theory was this man was corporate espionage but a spy wouldn’t need to mount a rescue. They would complete their mission and leave before the risk of detection.
Unless corporations here were somehow more ethical. Given what’s happened, he highly doubts it.
The plan, obviously, was to get everyone safely through the portal. But beyond that, they needed to get out of the other facility. Jensen intended to come with them through the portal apparently. He wasn’t sure how much he believed him.
The portal sat within a large room. There was some cover and it was possible to get to it without being seen but it was a very narrow window. Jensen wanted Carmine to go first. Followed by pairs of two. Gurathin and Jensen would be last.
The building on the other side wasn’t exactly the same layout, as far as Gurathin could tell. But they settled on a rendezvous point that was as safe as they could hope for.
“Move when I tell you. Stay as quiet as you can. I know you’re scared but all you have to do is move,” Jensen told them.
There were obvious parallels with SecUnit in his demeanor. Especially when it came to their safety. Maybe he’s something other than a spy.
“All right, ready?” he asked them.
There were nervous mumbles of agreement. Everyone was understandably terrified. And now some mysterious heavily armed augmented human is going to lead them out of here.
Everyone lined up. They made their way into the main room. More than a few were holding back sobs. Gurathin would be lying if he said he wasn’t one of them. Sure, he used to be a spy but not this kind of spy.
On Jensen’s signal, Carmine slipped through the portal. Jensen had taken up a position behind a metal crate in front of the portal. He was directing them to move precisely when the guard’s backs were turned.
It went well until the last two before Gurathin. One of them tripped and yelped. It felt like the sound echoed in a massive cavern.
“Move!” Jensen yelled. He raised his weapon and fired at an armed drone Gurathin hadn’t even seen.
The two in front of Gurathin made it through the portal. Projectile fire hit the ground between him and the portal.
The ‘boxguards’ unfolded from their dormant state. On either side of the portal. He heard Jensen curse then he burst into his feed. Go now!
Jensen lowered his weapon but, like a SecUnit, he was still armed. Blades unfolded from his artificial arms. One of which was shot out at the boxguard encroaching on Gurathin’s position. It didn’t stop it but it slowed it. Gurathin darted for the portal. Just before he went through, he saw Jensen engage with the boxguard. He couldn’t be sure in the split second, but he thought he saw him take several projectile hits and kept moving.
Then he was on the other side. In the shocking silence compared to where they just were. The others were huddled together, waiting for them. They were supposed to move straight to a side room.
What he now recognized as boxguards were scattered around the room in their dormant state. He shooed them toward their rendezvous point, in a near subvocalized, “Go!”
He glanced back at the portal. Several seconds stretched by. He’s not coming through, is he?
Gurathin got them to the side room. It was an empty room he spied when they were first brought through the building. It had no windows to the corridor, some kind of storage room. Once they were all gathered, Carmine asked in a harsh whisper, “Where is he?”
“I don’t–” he started. Then it hit him. That man was acting exactly like SecUnit. He’s staying behind to hold them off. Buying them time to hide. “Oh.”
Gurathin felt in his pocket for the EMP grenade. “Okay. Okay, okay. As soon as you see a way out, don’t wait for us. Just go.” Before anyone could protest he went back out.
Oh, what is he doing? It’s not like Jensen is SecUnit. He doesn’t have to go back for him. But, if he doesn’t and gets out alive… how is he going to feel about it? Logically, leaving is safest.
He approached the portal, took a deep breath and stepped through.
***
Adam could already hear Pritchard’s voice in his head telling him what a bad idea this was. You just had to play the hero, didn’t you?
Yeah, well, I did the best with what I had, he would say back.
He was able to disable the second boxguard but the first one took the opening. It had him pinned by his chest. He engaged all the augmented strength in his arms to keep it from crushing him.
Guards were already beginning to swarm the area.
In the corner of his vision, he saw someone come through the portal. He heard then saw an EMP grenade slide across the floor. It went off in a pop.
Adam’s HUD went down, complete with visual distortions. But the boxguard trembled in place. He had just enough room to roll out from under it. He was in the process of getting up when the worst happened. The portal disappeared.
“Don’t move!” a guard yelled. “Hands up!”
Adam slowly raised his arms, his back to the guards. In front of him was Gurathin, the last one through. Adam sighed, “I told you to leave.”
He shrugged back as he raised his arms. “Oops.”