Danse Macabre 22

Chapter Twenty-two: Inopinatum Liberandum

I'm invisible before I even hit the rooftop I'm dropped over; Ordis tags tags eleven people inside forty-eight meters red within two seconds of my feet touching the concrete. There's a lot of armed men here, and alert enough to consider them hostile.

The easiest means of entry would probably be the parking garage, if I'm reading the echo and seismic mapping layout correctly. The occasional vehicles passing in the street provide plenty of vibrations to refine the layout as I study. Shade's own sensor suite cross references with my own, boosting resolution and range.

The structure is six stories high, providing room for around nine hundred vehicles. The building is currently only harboring thirty three. On the surface, it was supposedly abandoned because of the late hour, pay gate, and the fact that it was a garage intended to service businesses that were mostly open during daylight hours.

Of course, thermal, seismic, and acoustic readings tell a different story, with patrols on all levels, electronic surveillance, five man teams in radio contact with one another every two minutes, and patrol checkpoints. "Ordis, record all passwords and phrases, and run a pattern recognition algorithm on them. See if you can't extrapolate trends."

"Yes, Operator."

A scouting circuit through the first two floors reveals some structural oddities, carefully concealed between elevators-- another lift that ran from the third floor to a basement. Ordis helpfully sends a ping through Shade's seismics into the superstructure of the building, and the map overlay promptly displays the basement, a two level layout with each floor subdivided into offices and special purpose rooms, including one that strongly resembles a vault. At a glance, I'm guessing there's at least sixty people in the hidden complex.

"Ordis, electronic measures in the secret sections?"

"Security cameras on upper and lower levels. I've penetrated the security of the control network; the firewalls are secure by their standards but I've had time to [b]{cook the books}[/b] recode their operating system. The uplink on the sentinel is all I require at this point."

I grunt wordlessly. "How many datataps do we have in storage after the operation in Bermejo?"

"There should still be four in your toolkit. You did not unequip them."

Of course I didn't. "Thank you, Ordis. Again." I pause. "Although that's kind of redundant since you cracked their operating system, isn't it?"

"Not at all, Operator. With a datatap in place, I can access the computer in real time even if it's disconnected from the internet, as well as remotely access any other active computer within fifty meters, including cellular phones. A datatap would be highly useful here should you wish to gather [b]{dirty laundry}[/b] evidence of Coil's misdeeds. Assuming we do not track him down elsewhere first."

I slip through the elevator doors between patrols; not posting permanent sentries there might serve well to not give away there's something to protect, but against Ordis, remote video feeds may as will not exist.

Exiting the elevator shaft is a different story. I shimmy between the elevator car and the wall, after Ordis warns me of a mechanical alarm set on the access door at the top. A quick look at the real time map reveals a pair of dedicated guards at the door to the complex interior. While I can respect competent planning by an opponent, it's more than a little annoying. Still, physical barriers mean little to the Void.

"I've identified the owner of this base, Operator. Based on the the armaments of the personnel on site, and the lack of any known Parahuman presence, I believe this base belongs to the villain Coil."

Convenient. Eliminating a second villain will be useful to ingratiating myself to the PRT.

"Unfortunately, he does not appear to be present. There is, however, much of interest here, including a set of financial records hidden behind a data scrambler to be activated in case of unauthorized access. Also, I've intercepted a video feed from one of the rooms that may interest you."

The surveillance footage playing in the pop-up on my HUD shows a child belted down on a padded table, while a man injects her with something. I feel rage begin to well up inside my throat.

Ordis continues unhurriedly, "It appears we've located Dinah Alcott. Apparently she wasn't among those girls being sold to human traffickers, which begs the question, why?"

Critical thinking training again, hm? "You already have an idea why," I reply. "Give me an hour or two before you spoil it for me."

"Of course, Operator." His tone is, as it has been of late, almost unbearably smug.

"While I mull it over, dial back Void suppressors and give me a little more background information. Such as which room this is we're watching."

I can literally feel the limiters being released, more strongly than usual. I don't know why, although I can hazard a few educated guesses. Perhaps Wally is messing with me again. Maybe the way my connection to the Void has been strengthening is making me more sensitive to its presence. It might even be that it's just in my head. I don't much care for any of the implications regardless of the 'why.'

Ordis is, of course, oblivious to my internal dilemma. "The room is located approximately forty meters from your current location, on the upper level of the complex. Unfortunately, the structure of the construction appears to be artificial limestone composite interlaced with steel rebar. I do not believe that you will be able to use your void powers to pass from room to room. The doors are less dense on most of the rooms, save for a single large room on the opposite side of the complex from Miss Alcott, on the lower level."

I exit my Loki, my telepresence cutting me off from my Warframe HUD. While still phased, I step through the elevator doors, dashing past the observers up to a door, then dash through it again. The room is thankfully empty of personnel, but isn't much larger than my armory alcove. A yellow, round-cornered plastic bucket on wheels nearly catches my knee as I go solid. My hand catches one of several wall shelves to prevent me from losing my balance. The shelves are a cheap, industrial metal, on which bottles of chemicals are set, along with what looks like rolls of soft, white paper. Beneath the shelf in the back is a fabric bag stretched over a folding wire frame, half filled with dirty swatches of cloth. A cardboard box nearby holds neatly folded, clean white versions of the same, and I pick one up, examining the texture of the puffy, clearly absorbent... cotton, according to the blocky script on the side of the box. I smile faintly. Cleaning supplies.

I frown, suddenly aware of the lack of sentinel and HUD. I don't want to call my Loki to myself, given I'll just have to leave it here, and it's safer from accidental discovery in the elevator shaft than it is in this supply room, given I have no idea when the cleaning staff will need to open it up.

I subvocalise, "Ordis. Are you still managing cameras?"

"Of course, Operator. The upper level of the far walkway is currently free of observers. Miss Alcott is still in the room but her attendant has left. He appears to have given her an injection of some kind, but the resolution of the observation cameras is too low to discern what."

I Void walk through the door, dashing across the open air between the upper level walkways. Crouched down, I glance to either side, then slink down in the direction indicated by my Oculus HUD. I phase through the door, and find the girl. She's young, younger than I thought. She's got long, stringy, brown hair, and a glazed look in her eyes. Despite the fact that she's no longer strapped down, she's still laying there unmoving save for her slow, shallow breathing.

It's at this point I realise I've got no idea how to get her out of here quietly. I didn't come here for a rescue. I came here following some mercs. Finding her here is a target of opportunity thing; now that I know she's here I can't just leave her. Well, I could, but I certainly won't. "Ordis, contact the PRT and let them know I've located Coil's lair, and am rescuing a hostage from the premises, but don't inform them who. Let them figure that part out for themselves. Warn them she's been dosed with an unknown drug in unknown quantities." I stop subvocalising. "Hey. Girl. Can you stand?"

Her eyes attempt to focus on me, and she slurs out, "Sev'ny fi' point three persenn... if y' leave me... I g't t'..." She trails off. I have no idea what she said.

"Ordis, add that the drug is some kind of intoxicant. She's trying to speak but I can't understand her. Give them the recording of what she just tried to say." I look around the room, catching sight of a mirror on one wall. It looks off to me. I phase out and Void walk through it.

Another room, unoccupied. Desk, camera pointed into the room, several chairs. Observation room. I return to Dinah and give her a long, critical look. An escort mission to extraction, with non lethal requirements to the opposition force if possible. "Ordis, how long is the travel time to the orbiter and back in our current position?"

"Sixty one minutes each way. The orbiter is fourteen degrees below the horizon relative to your position in the flight path you requested to evade line of sight to the Simurgh creature."

Not good enough. "The PRT will be here long before I can return. The Loki will have to do."

I summon Loki to myself, unlimber my Penta, and activate invisibility.