âSituational prerequisites met. Engaging aggressor protocols.â
The destination at which the car stopped was in the recreational zone, sometimes colloquially referred to as either the pleasure district, or, at least at night, the red light district. It appeared to encompass restaurants, gambling, theater, and at least one building that was most likely an illegal bordello. At the very least, there were no operating licenses listed for it within the Network. Fortunately for its proprietor, the two government agents nearby the premises had a different destination and a different mission to complete, and passed it right by without so much as a word.
Their entrance to what appeared to be both a luxury hotel and a casino was covert, and they moved unnoticed by the security. While on her own, Darcia would simply have engaged her cloaking mechanism, this time, she interfered with each successive camera they encountered, hacking wirelessly and setting it into a loop of empty hallway footage while they passed, then returning everything to normal once they were out of range. It kept her occupied until they reached the room they were looking for, and then it was the fact that they were swift and silent which prevented any additional alert. Crux indicated that the plan was to ambush the targets, and so at his word, Darcia moved to block the likely exits, of which there were two. Given that they were on the seventy-third floor of the building, in what she believed was termed the Penthouse, an exit by window would be suicidal, so that left the elevator and the stairwell. The former was well down the hall, but she engaged the electronic locks anyway. Probably better that opportunities for further civilian interference were minimal.
The elevator was the most likely point of entry, and so she chose to wait by it, engaging her cloaking device and disappearing as the electronics bent the light around her. She still did not risk getting too close, lest some chance sound inadvertently give her away, and so waited until the targets had appeared and entered the room fully before moving in behind them. A few seconds was all it took to interface with the elevator and halt it, preventing the doors from opening or the car from moving, and by that time, things were already progressing further into the room. She could hear the soft sound of a silenced gunshot, and then a smoke grenade went off. Releasing her cloaking, Darcia engaged her heat-seeking vision, able to tell that the two people were headed towards her and away from Crux.
There was little opportunity for them to flee now, making it an optimal time to carry out the actual hit. âPlease be advised: by order of the central government, you are sentenced to death. As further resistance increases the opportunity for collateral damage, this one is required to inform you that surrender is the logical choice.â
When no surrender was immediately forthcoming (it never was), she nodded slightly. âVery well. Aggressor protocols engaged. Power output: thirty percent.â
Darciaâs eyes, an exotic shade of violet normally, took on a backlight, indicating some internal process change corresponding to the words. Her hands moved back to brush away her jacket, and from a holster strapped to each thigh, she withdrew an object that looked vaguely like a thin canister. These, she leveled quickly out to the side, and from each issued what had once been a collapsed metal rod of some kind, now entirely seamless. Along their surfaces, telltale blue-white flashes and a harsh crackling noise indicated a powerful electrical current.
Without so much as a warning, Darcia leaped directly for where the man was standing, bringing one of the batons around in a blurring arc, aimed directly for his head. As the girl was still unconscious, combat protocols indicated that the more substantial threat should be removed first, which meant him. Her eyes went a fraction wider, however, when she made contact not with her intended target, but a foot in front of his face, connecting with some sort of barrier that she had not seen.
The barrier shattered under the force of her blow, but so did her baton, the end of it flying off behind her to hit a wall, leaving a series of heavy black scorch marks behind it. Tossing away the useless handle, Darcia readied her second baton, her eyes flicking back and forth between the man Uno and the now-conscious Stella, who took in her surroundings with obvious confusion swiftly replaced by something more akin to anger.
Well, this was definitely not the most comfortable way sheâd ever woken up. Perhaps fortunately, Stellaâs immune system processed whatever it was sheâd been drugged with a lot faster than it should have. Unfortunately, it would appear that sheâd awakened just in time to die. She registered only the fact that something was headed towards her far too fast to be safe, and her instinctive reaction had, luckily enough for her, been to throw up the strongest barrier she could more quickly than sheâd thought herself capable. She flinched when it brokeâjust who the hell was the person attacking her anyway? That wasnât some ordinary swingânot if it could break the barrier like so much glass.
She didnât need too much time to understand what was going on. Violet, the jerk, had evidently walked into some kind of trap, and now they were both going to die if they didnât get out of here. She couldnât say she cared that much if he died, given that all of this was his fault anyway, but she certainly didnât want to be killed, and unfortunately at this moment, she kind of needed him, mostly because she wasnât sure her legs would hold her own weight, what with the drugs still making her sluggish. Her mind, however, was sharp enough for the moment, and clearly her powers were operational.
It tool all of two seconds to realize that the girl whoâd tried to kill her just now was about to attack again, and so she projected the barrier this time, throwing her back against the doors of the elevator. It wouldnât last long, probablyâStella clearly hadnât actually knocked her out. The elevator itself obviously wasnât an option, and she doubted Violet could run down the stairs faster than their pursuer if she was still in tow. âWindow,â she said quickly. âIf you want to live, we have to jump out the window. Now.â If he could get them out that way, she could float them down to the ground safely⊠maybe. She chose not to express her uncertainty to him, thoughâit was either certain death or probable death, and sheâd rather at least have a chance.
Their entrance to what appeared to be both a luxury hotel and a casino was covert, and they moved unnoticed by the security. While on her own, Darcia would simply have engaged her cloaking mechanism, this time, she interfered with each successive camera they encountered, hacking wirelessly and setting it into a loop of empty hallway footage while they passed, then returning everything to normal once they were out of range. It kept her occupied until they reached the room they were looking for, and then it was the fact that they were swift and silent which prevented any additional alert. Crux indicated that the plan was to ambush the targets, and so at his word, Darcia moved to block the likely exits, of which there were two. Given that they were on the seventy-third floor of the building, in what she believed was termed the Penthouse, an exit by window would be suicidal, so that left the elevator and the stairwell. The former was well down the hall, but she engaged the electronic locks anyway. Probably better that opportunities for further civilian interference were minimal.
The elevator was the most likely point of entry, and so she chose to wait by it, engaging her cloaking device and disappearing as the electronics bent the light around her. She still did not risk getting too close, lest some chance sound inadvertently give her away, and so waited until the targets had appeared and entered the room fully before moving in behind them. A few seconds was all it took to interface with the elevator and halt it, preventing the doors from opening or the car from moving, and by that time, things were already progressing further into the room. She could hear the soft sound of a silenced gunshot, and then a smoke grenade went off. Releasing her cloaking, Darcia engaged her heat-seeking vision, able to tell that the two people were headed towards her and away from Crux.
There was little opportunity for them to flee now, making it an optimal time to carry out the actual hit. âPlease be advised: by order of the central government, you are sentenced to death. As further resistance increases the opportunity for collateral damage, this one is required to inform you that surrender is the logical choice.â
When no surrender was immediately forthcoming (it never was), she nodded slightly. âVery well. Aggressor protocols engaged. Power output: thirty percent.â
Darciaâs eyes, an exotic shade of violet normally, took on a backlight, indicating some internal process change corresponding to the words. Her hands moved back to brush away her jacket, and from a holster strapped to each thigh, she withdrew an object that looked vaguely like a thin canister. These, she leveled quickly out to the side, and from each issued what had once been a collapsed metal rod of some kind, now entirely seamless. Along their surfaces, telltale blue-white flashes and a harsh crackling noise indicated a powerful electrical current.
Without so much as a warning, Darcia leaped directly for where the man was standing, bringing one of the batons around in a blurring arc, aimed directly for his head. As the girl was still unconscious, combat protocols indicated that the more substantial threat should be removed first, which meant him. Her eyes went a fraction wider, however, when she made contact not with her intended target, but a foot in front of his face, connecting with some sort of barrier that she had not seen.
The barrier shattered under the force of her blow, but so did her baton, the end of it flying off behind her to hit a wall, leaving a series of heavy black scorch marks behind it. Tossing away the useless handle, Darcia readied her second baton, her eyes flicking back and forth between the man Uno and the now-conscious Stella, who took in her surroundings with obvious confusion swiftly replaced by something more akin to anger.
âThat whole âsell the girl off to your employerâ thing worked out really well for you, didnât it?â
Well, this was definitely not the most comfortable way sheâd ever woken up. Perhaps fortunately, Stellaâs immune system processed whatever it was sheâd been drugged with a lot faster than it should have. Unfortunately, it would appear that sheâd awakened just in time to die. She registered only the fact that something was headed towards her far too fast to be safe, and her instinctive reaction had, luckily enough for her, been to throw up the strongest barrier she could more quickly than sheâd thought herself capable. She flinched when it brokeâjust who the hell was the person attacking her anyway? That wasnât some ordinary swingânot if it could break the barrier like so much glass.
She didnât need too much time to understand what was going on. Violet, the jerk, had evidently walked into some kind of trap, and now they were both going to die if they didnât get out of here. She couldnât say she cared that much if he died, given that all of this was his fault anyway, but she certainly didnât want to be killed, and unfortunately at this moment, she kind of needed him, mostly because she wasnât sure her legs would hold her own weight, what with the drugs still making her sluggish. Her mind, however, was sharp enough for the moment, and clearly her powers were operational.
It tool all of two seconds to realize that the girl whoâd tried to kill her just now was about to attack again, and so she projected the barrier this time, throwing her back against the doors of the elevator. It wouldnât last long, probablyâStella clearly hadnât actually knocked her out. The elevator itself obviously wasnât an option, and she doubted Violet could run down the stairs faster than their pursuer if she was still in tow. âWindow,â she said quickly. âIf you want to live, we have to jump out the window. Now.â If he could get them out that way, she could float them down to the ground safely⊠maybe. She chose not to express her uncertainty to him, thoughâit was either certain death or probable death, and sheâd rather at least have a chance.