14

The trucks parked a half-mile away from the DT labs. From there, the teams would go through the back alleys to reach the building. On exit, everyone was told the trucks would be as close as possible to the building to facilitate the exit. Works, as usual, would be driving around downtown and directing the operations. Lowlife, exceptionally, will be joining the team this time, requesting to fight alongside Elise. The android raised an eyebrow when she heard the news.

"You don't have modern combat experience yet." Alexanne replied with the monotonous tone of someone who had said that too many times. "Lowlife will be giving you some in-the-heat information about the guards, their techniques and their methods, and what to expect when you meet them. The more you know about the Department, the better. For your information, Lowlife only has a pair of powered fist additions and a light laser gun as weapons, so you'll have to cover him a couple of times."

The android sighed. "Rub it in, rub it in, rub me the wrong way..." She muttered to herself.

It was a relatively easy run to the building. All Alexanne had to do was point out which way to go among the numerous alleys and everything went fine.

The Department's main lab wasn't the highest skyscraper in downtown New Colombus, but it sure was a solid contender. Elise estimated it to contain a good fifty floors, with the upper half being composed of outer mirror-window walls which reflected the afternoon sunlight to the other skyscrapers, which reflected the light in turn - it's only later that Elise learned mirror windows were city regulations to make downtown feel less shadowy. She considered it was a useless law after all. On second thought, New Colombus is depressing no matter how well it's made.

#125 (New Entry)

I shouldn't be doing this with my hard drive almost full, but I just had to note this down.

New Colombus, as far as I'm concerned, is a city designed to make people sad. So far it's brought me nothing but sorrows. Shrike getting her ass kicked, the Insas getting killed, my coma, the Mutant War, and this damn mutant...

As soon as I get done with the Crate, I'll move away. I'll go to some lost place where I'll finally get to enjoy peace. Screw the cities. They are just booby traps for idiots hoping to score the million. Just like I, one hundred and thirty seven years ago.

"Yeah..." Alexanne bit her lip in frustration. "When guards are outside, you're sure not to find any inside when you enter... But if there aren't any outside, then that means either they are not expecting us, or they are parked and waiting for someone to open the door to release a flood of bullets. It's a fifty-fifty take."

Elise took another look at the doors and smiled. "Hey, the knobs are round. That's gonna give us a split-second of extra surprise time if anyone's camped behind."

"Well, if the doorknobs were handles, and we turned them, everyone would notice because it's obvious. But when the knob is round, it's less obvious. Get what I'm saying?"

Elise clicked her shotgun. "Lesson number one about android: for us, a second is an eternity."

The mutant passed a hand through her hair, exasperated. "Honestly, when are you going to prove yourself of ream use to my team?!"

The Insa grinned. "Just wait a second." Sticking her tongue out and grabbing both of her weapons, she rushed for the nearest door.

Elise stopped at the door, noticed it opened inwards, and spun the knob with her foot while pushing forward. The door swung open, knocked itself against a rubber stop, and she saw a guard turning around to meet her gaze. Before he could even realize the situation, she had already slashed his neck with her saber and kicked him in the face with her spike heel. The guard instantly dropped dead.

#20

Maginot's Law of Fighting: The best armor in the world is useless if someone knows how to go around it.

"What the hell are you thinking?!" Alexanne whispered to the android after catching up.

"I need an extra hard drive, pronto. So help me out and then I'll consider taking my time."

She took the first door in sight and entered an office. Quickly slashing the scientist sitting at his desk, she hid the body under a back table and opened the desktop computer. After turning off the power, she reached in, took what looked like a hard drive, opened her chest plate and connected the new component to a free slot, after a few wiggles to squeeze the thing through her cumbersome inner organs.

RUNNING CHECK... RESULTS:
17,770,760 DATA FILES
200,405 SYSTEM FILES
32,449 PROGRAMS
4,296 DRIVERS

"Enough! I know you like Works more than you like me, but we gotta be serious here. I know I don't set a great example, but you'll have to get over it for the next hour."

"Uhh... Oh yeah! Elevator. Anyone saw directions to it?" The whole team shrugged. "Okay then..."

Lowlife raised a finger. "I can fix that. Hold on to my power gloves, Exi. I'll walk up to someone and just ask him since I can pass off as anybody - a security upgrade guy for example!"

Alexanne gave him the okay, and Lowlife turned at the first corner. A few words and a crack later, he came back and pointed the way.

Four teammates moved the body into the office where Elise had stolen the hard drive and caught up with the rest of the group, in front of three elevators.

"Thirty-ninth floor it is. Me, Lowlife and all those people here will go first. The others, wait for the elevators to come back down and follow us up, we'll wait."

This time, Elise made sure she took an elevator different from the mutant's. She needed some time alone.

Objective #2: Find a way to blow up the building. If the Crate wants DT out, I don't know a better way than this.

She was fooling around with her own thoughts when she felt a hand brushing against her left leg. Without much ceremony, she kneed the curious guy in the gut.

"Please don't be shy; I'm a fucking object!" She told him. The victim scurried to the other end of the elevator.

I hate number 39. It makes me feel weird in my stomach. It has such an aggressive tone, seems to inspire so much... wrong, basically, compared to 16, my favorite number. Sixteen is hip and happy, because saying the syllable "six" kind forces a smile to sneak up on you. And then "teen!" Teen-teen! It's like a bubble bursting with life and energy.

As I looked upwards, I think I noticed a tiny little green aura watching over me.

The elevators had all arrived at the same time, with no stop in-between. Floor 39 was completely different from the ground level. The carpets and nice paintings were forgettable history compared to the massively imposing aura of the sterile gray corridors and white floors. The lights were all white neon, some of them with the cover missing. The corridor went on for a short distance, after which were two doors, followed by a T-shaped intersection. Elise began moving forward but Lowlife put a hand on her shoulder.

The android wasn't sure she had the patience for that. Her body was ready to get it on with the killing, and when that feeling came by, it only lasted a short while before it went away for a long time. Without any further thing to do, she checked her shotgun and saber for the millionth time and watched to see if her spike heels worked fine. She had opted to go barefoot on this operation to save some noise, but she was just really waiting for an opportunity to morph into the hard soles and get a better grip on the floor. She silently prayed for a full-size battle, just like in the old days.

The elevator doors opened. Only four teammates came out. One of them was holding his severed arm like a primitive club.

"The guards got the drop on us." The healthiest fighter replied. "A good half-dozen of them cornering us while we were waiting for the elevators to come down. We managed to shoot them all down but everyone else bought it too. We lost six people."

"Yeah, but not so good situation." Lowlife scowled as he said that. "How the fuck are we supposed to guard the elevators now?!"

"I have an idea." Elise said. "Why not try to penetrate the computer network? We could shut down some of the elevators this way."

The team headed for the two doors on each side of the corridor. Both happened to house a few computers. Elise inserted her optical spike and began looking for a way to log in as another user but finally retracted her spike with a frown of defeat.

The mutant chuckled. "Pride's down a few notches, huh? Anyways, DT isn't stupid enough to connect absolutely everything together. The elevator controls are in a security room put into the most obvious spot in the building so that if anything goes wrong in there, everyone there will be able to watch you do it." She cracked her knuckles. "Now, to log in."

She rebooted the computer and pressed a few keys as the system readied itself. She smiled as a black screen popped up.

A few lines of characters appeared, followed by a menu. After choosing one option, Alexanne was greeted with a perfectly working operating system, without having to log in. A few clicks and types later, she had access to all the files on this computer and any networked machine.

"All righty!" She exclaimed. "Floor thirty-nine, containing cell blocks number thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four, and thirty-five, housing six, twenty-five, twenty-five, nineteen, and twelve test subjects respectively.

"Not actually." Lowlife said. "Most of Department Twisted's test subject are just left there and watched once in a while to see if they're developing okay. We refer to that as passive testing. They make a mutant with known DNA, and watch what happens. That's the most common form of testing they have, and by making a few of each type, they can know for sure what makes what in the genetic code. This is how Alexanne was created. Next is voluntary testing. This is more straightforward: they inject a DNA-altering substance into someone and watch what happens. It's just like getting a load of UV rays in a sense - you know what I mean. That's how Xian got to be what she is now, bless her heart... Finally, there's active testing. They make a mutant, and submit him to various challenges, goals, games, whatever they can think about. They mostly use that when working with psychic abilities to measure their extent and power."

"Exactly." Lowlife continued. "Department Twisted knows enough of the DNA code to make roughly the type of mutant they want. They know how to change pigmentation, proportions, number and size of limbs and other body parts, and several other odds and ends. Theoretically, they're far from the goal, as a single change of a molecule in the DNA strand can mean life or death, or two fingers from twenty. Practically, however, they have enough knowledge to make custom mutants according to the likes of whoever orders them. It's widespread stuff among government members as far as I've heard. They actually pay DT to get a mistress!"

"And the cherry on top is that the Department can also play around with the mutant's mind. They can, for example, make a mutant have a natural likeness for sex, which is basically a standard among orders!"

Elise quickly glanced at Alexanne, who had snuck two hands under her armor without really being aware of it. The Insa turned her head to face Lowlife again.

Lowlife chuckled. "Of course, this isn't bulletproof. In fact, mind alterations rarely work perfectly. Mutants with those tend to have a mindset close to what's intended, but it's not really on the spot. Sometimes, the alterations don't work at all and they need to make another mutant and hope this one works. They still can't explain why it happens, but our contacts in Elenbakk tell us it's become a priority project in the labs. Almost everywhere, they now work almost exclusively on why each mutant thinks differently no matter the genetic makeup. They could make a million clones, they will all have slightly different opinions, no matter the controls put into them. They've been killing test subjects by the thousands working on such a project, or so I've heard."

"Exi! God dammit!" Elise snapped at the mutant, who had drifted into something other than the job she was supposed to do. Alexanne gave the android a nervous smile.

"Well, that's a good signal we'd better get moving." Elise said. She headed out of the room before waiting for any authorization. "Let's hit a cell block and get the action going. We're here to save mutants and lay the smack down, remember?"

Elise stared the mutant down in disgust. "Shut up and stick to your objectives, mutant."

Objective #2: Find a way to blow up the building. If the Crate wants DT out, I don't know a better way than this.

They sent two teammates ahead to check out for guards. The report came back positive: the corridors were full beyond what the human mind could even comprehend. The guard seemed even heavier in the eastern direction (they had decided the elevators were located south to make up a reference.)

"More than we can count on our fingers." One of them said. "And they're all wearing strong energy armor, plus helmets and other protective gear."

Lowlife frowned. "Experimental shit. We needed just that... For all I know, their guns might just be able to eat us in one gulp."

Elise chuckled. "I'm sorry - no offense guys, but you really need to learn how to fight!"

#21

Normandy's Law of Fighting: God gifted man with two hands: one to hold his pistol, another to hold his opponent's.

Lowlife gave the Insa a menacing glance. "Don't fuck around with me, even though I'm your friend." He said, weighting every word.

#22

Kimchee's Law of Fighting: The soldier battles against two powers on the field: the opposing forces, and his own teammates.

The Insa grinned widely. "I'm not fucking around, Lowlife. I'm just about to show you that no matter how tough those guys are, what I'm gonna do will turn this op into a piece of cake!"

She managed to distinguish six guards perfectly lined up along the corridor. The first two were already facing her and she planted her spike heel right into the face of the closest one. Her hands had already reached forward to snatch the gun from his arms and she pointed and shot just as her right foot was crushing the first guard's head. The beam coming out of the experimental gun passed through the line like butter, generating five good flashes but no visible damage on the guards. She used her own shotgun's beam a split-second later to accompany the onslaught and was almost surprised by the amazing effectiveness of the double attack: the five remaining guards dropped to the floor with a huge hole in their stomach.

#24

Adolf's Law of Fighting: A good attack should be one that destroys the enemy before it even tries to hurt you.

Alexanne came running after her. "You idiot, where's the stealth Xian has told everyone about?!"

"I don't hear any alerts." Elise said tiredly while examining the Department-owned gun in her left hand.

"Listen, I think you've been told already. It's not a hit-and-run operation we're doing here."

"Of course it's not!" The Insa grinned until her simu-skin was on the verge of tearing. "It's a hit-and-hit!"

She suddenly turned around and pointed her guns forward. The team got out of the way with moans of disbelief and she shot both guns between the two lines formed... right into another guard who had just peeked around the corner.

Elise counted the bodies. "...Ten! Hey, you could actually count them on your fingers!" She gazed at the two scouts with a mischievous face. "Oh well, what the hell ever, huh? Grab their guns and let's get going! I guess what they have is some kind of sweet energy anti-android energy disruptor. One shot and I was dead - but one shot and they were out of armor!"

"Hey!" Alexanne planted herself right in front of the android. "Who's the boss here?!"

"So far, all I've seen you doing is secretary work. Once we get done with the op, I suggest you take up such a job - I'm sure you'll score some kickass words per minute!"

"Your choice! Now let's finish up the floor's guard right now if we wanna get done before Christmas. Since it's September nine, I suggest we hurry!..."

"Hey, not so fast. Look at these cameras; if a single one notices us, we're done for!"

Lowlife sighed. "Enough, you two. The more we talk, the better the chance of getting noticed, and the volume's been going higher and higher lately."

"Lowlife's right." Elise clicked her shotgun. "Besides, I want to finish that thing up while I'm still in the mood."

Alexanne looked heavenwards and motioned for the team to start moving. "Scouts, do your job and hurry."

Hey, come on, I want more fighting! This way I can plug a few more of those laws I learned along the way.

It wasn't necessary to say here that the nervousness that had been tied around my body in the truck was now gone and long forgotten. This is how happiness works. It destroys the bad and injects the doctrine of the good. Anything bad for you will be thrown away. Anything good will be kept and cherished.

#126 (New Entry)

I hereby say this quote: "The man who is in Heaven quickly forgets why he had been tied to a boulder all his life."

Elise pressed on with the operation and everything worked like a charm. Her hypothesis about the experimental guns proved true after someone using two of them shot them both at a guard, but didn't even hurt him. It took a few shots from Alexanne's silenced guns to put the guard to the floor. Everyone had quickly forgotten about hiding the bodies. All they had to do was expand the area of carnage until enough of the floor was clear, and all this before anyone clicked with the idea of requesting backup.

Hmm, we're going faster than sound! Elise thought. Faster than word of mouth, that is.

The team periodically threw the experimental guns away and took new and full ones. Not every guard had the thing the team was looking for, but there was enough of an abundance of guards to guarantee ammo for everybody.

The Insa lead the team into yet another intersection. The nearest teammate instantly put himself back at her and shot in the other direction, reducing another handful of guards to silence.

She saw two other teammates waving at them from the other end of the corridor. After a few quick motions, everyone gathered together and exchanged information. The multiple reports confirmed all the guards had been killed, and not a single loss had been suffered, thanks to Elise's strategy of splitting into several small groups and using the power of the experimental gun plus normal weapons to instantly kill almost anything. Thanks to the gun's special ability of nullifying an energy armor in a snap, things had taken a rather easy, almost leisurely attitude. The android checked Alexanne, who was trying to keep herself from smiling.

The door in question was protected by an ID checker. Remembering the security systems were off, Elise simply turned the handle and entered.

The room they had entered was a sterile white circular space with a high ceiling and a table in its center. A conference room would be the best guess...

Alexanne told the team to scout ahead but asked Elise to stay with her. After everyone had gone through the opposite door, the mutant put her weapons to her belt, crossed her six arms over her chest and stared at the Insa in the eyes.

"From now on, you're obeying my orders just like the rest of the team." She said. "We're constantly putting our security at risk and I'm not sure you even take that into consideration."

"Heh, I thought you would've been impressed by my quick strategy and fighting skills!"

"Impressed, yes. Respectful, no. One screw-up and the operation was over. You're lucky to have made it this far alive."

"Oh yeah?!" Alexanne grabbed her guns and spread her arms. "Come on, say it out right in front of me. You hate me because I have six arms and you have two. You going to keep this hatred forever in your mind? I recall this is what created the Mutant war in the first place: two factions hating each other for trifles."

Elise turned away. "It's no trifle. It's a matter of attitude and principles. You are like the rabbit who shows off to the turtle right in front of the finish line."

"Yes indeed. Someone who boasts about her sex-appeal, excellent fighting, super aiming, and whatever other ability you've got. What would you have been had you been born a human? With two arms? With average eyesight? A person who has to go to school to earn her life just like anyone else? I was even worse off back then. I was a sex slave! Someone was kind enough to gift me with some new capabilities, and I'm wholly respectful and thankful for what she has offered me. And to me, respect and thanks are done by using my abilities smartly, without putting a spotlight on myself as if I was a freak show. The only reason you're happy, mutant, is because you have things others don't."

Alexanne put her hands on her hips. "What is with your blind devotion to Shrike anyways? She's dead!"

"She's still alive in my heart." The android walked to the opposite door. "Remember my suggestion: live smartly. There are people in this world who are not even a quarter as lucky as you are. In fact, this isn't a suggestion - it's an order!"

The mutant watched her rival slam the door. She stayed put in the white room to allow herself to fume a little. As soon as the operation was over, she'd ask Lowlife to transfer this piece of trouble to another team. Ragie's bitchy cousin Akaya was a mosquito itch compared to the Insa.