*****
“You know, I’m a little surprised that we made it this far,” Hannah said to Lola and Nathan, as he used the key-card, and the trio entered Building 0.
“I think maybe the Sentinels we saw leaving the city made all the difference,” Lola said.
“Perhaps, but where are all the Guardians?” Nathan asked as he turned to face Lola.
“Well, two of them are approaching us now,” Lola whispered to Nathan and he turned to face them.
“What are you Undertakers doing here?” queried one of the Guardians.
“Why does your access code identify you as a Guardian?” queried the other Guardian as they faced the trio.
“Leave this to me,” Lola said quietly to Hannah and Nathan over their suit’s communication and Hannah broadcasted another brief signal to Rohan and Sophia.
Lola sprang into action; she unsheathed and activated one of her sonic blades simultaneously, while tracing a perfect arc across both Guardians. Blood gushed from their wounds and they dropped to the ground.
“What the hell?!” Nathan shouted at Lola. “Why did you do that?”
“Don’t tell me you thought we came here to play cards with them; before this mission is done more blood will be spilt,” Lola replied dismissively.
“But did you have to kill them?” Hannah asked.
“Please, don’t dishonour my skill,” Lola replied. “My attack was sufficient enough to render them harmless but they are not dead; however, they won’t be able to tell anyone about our presence until it is much too late,” Lola continued as she sheathed her blade. “That said, I recommend we leave here immediately. There’s no telling who else our presence may have attracted,” Lola started walking briskly towards the single lift in the building and the others followed.
“Look, when I left Safe Haven, I left my previous life behind and I joined the Freedom Army as a soldier,” Lola explained. “And for the first time in my life, I feel like I am actually doing something that feels right, this is my way,” Lola continued, interrupting the silence that had persisted for most of their journey on the lift. “I’m sorry that it upsets you both, but you need to realise that this is a war; one that we may not survive, especially if we refuse to act.”
“Perhaps you’re right Lola, but action doesn’t necessarily mean violence,” Nathan said.
“I doubt conversation would have worked well in our favour,” Lola replied.
“I hate to say it, but she’s right Duke,” Hannah interjected. “If she didn’t act they would have raised the alarm and our mission would be compromised.”
“You too! I can’t believe you’ve turned so cold,” Nathan retorted. Hannah remained silent considering his words, had she really turned cold? She almost laughed at the irony of her current situation. She had been in this same place once before, only this time she was the one riding up the private lift, unannounced, heading towards a private office with criminal intent. She unconsciously let out a smile.
“Do you think it’s funny?” Nathan asked sounding irritated.
“No, I don’t,” Hannah replied both to him and the thoughts she entertained in her head.
“Hannah! Can you hear me?” Hank’s voice screamed down Hannah’s communicator, surrounded by the sounds of muffled explosions and cries of pain.
“I can hear you, what’s happening?” Hannah asked and linked the other two into the transmission.
“Things aren’t going too well, we managed to get into the Command Centre and I’m standing over the Control Console right now but it’s denying all access,” Hank informed. “We’ve barricaded ourselves in, and set up a rudimentary shield around the door and for now it’s holding. We’ve lost so many… but Beta Team’s doing its best to heal the wounded. How’s it going on your end?”
“We’re fine; Sophia and Rohan have gone to the Penitentiary, in the hope that Daniel may be alive and the rest of us are in Building 0,” Hannah summarised.
“Daniel’s alive?” Hank asked and Hannah looked to both Lola and Nathan before replying.
“We’re not sure, but Sophia believes that since his name isn’t on the register in the Mortuary, he could still be alive somewhere in Safe Haven. I did a search on his last known location, which was the Penitentiary and I gave Sophia the information she wanted. Rohan followed her even though he believed the register meant nothing,” Hannah explained.
“I see… Well either one of them could be right. His body, if discovered, would alert more Rebu to the practices within Safe Haven and in a sense make him a martyr, which as we know could be a danger to the Council. On the other hand, it takes a lot to kill a Rebu and Daniel, her brother, is among the best, so I can see why Sophia would decide to search for him. How close are you to your target?” Hank asked.
“We’re almost there, just one short stop away,” Hannah replied.
“That’s good to hear. I hope Lola hasn’t been giving you much trouble, she’s an excellent soldier but sometimes she’s a bit quick on the trigger...” Hank said.
“Just to be clear sir, I act only when action is necessary,” Lola Interrupted.
“Ah, but do you understand the concept of overkill?” Hank asked.
“Sir?” She queried.
“We spoke about this before, try to match your actions to the task, don’t overdo it,” Hank replied.
“Yes sir,” Lola replied.
“Don’t over-think this conversation either, you’re an excellent soldier and Hannah couldn’t be in better hands,” Hank continued. “I’ll do what I can with this console and I’ll keep you all updated.”
“Hang tight Hank, we’re almost there,” Hannah said.
“We will,” Hank replied and ended the transmission. There was a mixture of tension and nervousness in the silence that persisted for the remainder of the lift ride.
“We’re here,” Hannah announced and she walked out the open lift doors and the other two followed her. As soon as the trio stepped off, the lift the doors closed and it descended to the ground floor.
“Someone’s called the lift,” Lola said.
“We should have wedged the doors open. Do you think someone saw the bodies?” Nathan added.
“Perhaps, but the fact is that we’re here and we have work to do,” Hannah responded. “Lola can I trust you to keep an eye on the lift door?”
“You mean can you trust me to hold back on the trigger?” Lola retorted.
“We don’t have time for this… Just watch the lift,” Hannah replied sounding a little irritated. “Duke, you’ve got the Civics Console, see if you can find the access codes to the Sky Hub,” Hannah continued. “But be on alert, that console interfaces with all civic systems within Safe Haven; other consoles may see what you’re doing and one false move could be very bad for the city.”
“Don’t worry Hannah, I still remember how this city works,” Nathan replied and silently approached the holographic console beside the large office desk.
“Good. I’ll deal with Select,” Hannah stated simply and she walked to the large office desk and passed her hand over the computer sensor, activating the holographic interface.
Even as the horizontal bar rose to its position, Hannah used her implant to activate her Virtual Interaction interface. The V.I. was a simple program that typically came with holographic computers and cerebral implants, and it allowed the user to interface with holographic computers much more freely; especially when compared to the inbuilt Spatial Recognition of the holographic interface. Her prowess with her implant came to light and Hannah swiftly wrote an intricate code to serve a specific purpose. It was a Trojan, designed to be downloaded by all versions of Select as a product update, but its true intention was to degrade the Select formula and replace its coding with the formula for a drug to remove Select from the user’s body. After a short while, Hannah completed the code and began the lengthy task of uploading the data across all Safe Haven networks simultaneously.
“How’s it going Duke?” Hannah asked.
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“The code is here, I can see the file, but I can’t access it and I’ve tried numerous system bypasses, but nothing seems to work…” Nathan said as he frantically waved his hand and continued interfacing with the console.
“I should have expected that…” Hannah replied.
“Upload will be completed in approximately ten minutes,” Hannah’s implant informed her senses.
“Heads up, we just ran out of time,” Lola announced as she deliberately retrieved both sonic blades and the dull hum of the blades filled the room. Hannah reluctantly retrieved her sidearm and held it steadily pointed at the lift doors.