A Similar Dire Strait

"Stop running, you can't escape."

"Tch."

V and Jackie hid behind a pillar, gripping their Achilles rifles.

The surroundings were pitch black—they both had cybernetic eyes, but they were just basic ones, mainly for interfacing with their cyberware.

To them, the only sources of light in the dark room were the moonlight and the red glow from their enemy's heated Mantis Blades.

But that psycho woman from MaxTac was different—V had seen those tactical helmets on TV before.

The helmet came with integrated tactical multi-vision, the best there was, capable of detecting heat signatures, sound sources, and equipped with high-definition night vision and powerful zoom functions.

Even in pitch-black darkness, the processed view was as clear as day.

But this wasn't a reason to give up.

The two exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously—just a wall separated the machine room from the server room, but they needed to split up here and head in two different directions.

Sandevistan activated, V leapt out, raising her Achilles in sync!

Jackie also crouched and ran in the opposite direction.

However, Jackie had barely taken a few steps when a massive figure shattered the glass with heavy footsteps and charged straight at him!

The ground shook!

Rory smirked and immediately pursued V, the two running in parallel, separated by a pane of glass!

"You won't get away!"

V didn't respond, squeezing the trigger!

Bang!

Nine bullets fired in quick succession, Achilles rounds crackling with blue electric currents as they pierced through the glass, leaving a neat row of holes!

Crash!

The glass shattered like a falling curtain, and Rory's speed was the fastest V had ever seen from an opponent!

And it wasn't just her speed; her combat rhythm was impeccable, cool, and composed!

At this close range, V had missed every shot!

With her bullets spent, Rory lunged at V, her red-hot Mantis Blades slicing through the glass like butter!

V swung her Achilles like a club, but the thermal Mantis Blades cut through it as if slicing through butter!

The Mantis Blades snapped out!

Clang!

Blades clashed, but this time, V wasn't as confident!

The strike Rory had landed outside the wall had already left marks on V's blades—hundreds of degrees of heat were nothing to Rory's armament, but they were too much for V's.

Feeling the heat from the Mantis Blades and hearing her weapon groan in protest, V immediately aimed a knee strike!

But Rory's hand-to-hand skills were just as formidable!

Rory smoothly stepped back, pulling her Mantis Blades to the right and delivered a spinning kick to V's abdomen!

Thud! With a heavy thud, both exited Sandevistan mode, and V was hurled back, crashing through an electrified glass pane!

Glass shattered and fell in a cascade, while Rory advanced slowly, her smile widening—it was impossible to contain.

She relished the kill, the sensation of blades piercing flesh, the heady mix of blood and burning CHOOH2 in the air, and the rush of adrenaline.

MaxTac had given her this stage—but it also kept her from losing control completely; she knew she was at work.

"All cheap stuff. You don't even have a CHOOH2 combustion chamber in you. With hardware like that, you can't possibly beat me. Frustrating, isn't it?"

V didn't respond, scrambling to her feet and running off to the side.

"Stop running! Show me what you're really made of, I want to see your limits!"

Sandevistan activated, V felt Rory closing in from behind, and all she could do was turn and parry!

Blades met, and V, learning from experience, didn't block with both blades this time, instead using her left Mantis Blade to deflect while ducking low to dodge!

The thermal Mantis Blades easily sliced through the metal door behind V.

V knew this was her chance—her right blade shot out!

But Rory remained as composed as ever—

Just as she had said, V was talented, but without better resources and higher-grade cyberware, talent was just talent.

For the first time, V felt that nagging sensation of just missing the mark—Rory seemed to dodge by a hair's breadth, yet perfectly!

Rory retracted her right Mantis Blade, swinging back with a punch that smashed into V's face, followed by a powerful front kick!

Bang! The door was kicked open, and V was once again sent flying!

Rory glanced at her arm, mockingly saying, "A tool that can reach 700 degrees Celsius, and it retracts at will. I don't know how they managed that, but the cheap stuff certainly couldn't."

And..."

Rory's right Mantis Blade extended again—still maintaining the same temperature.

"It can do this too."

V crashed into a metal crate, denting the floor beneath her.

Though that annoying woman kept running her mouth, what she said was true.

If their initial skirmish on the wall had given V a sliver of hope, the last two fights made it clear that Rory hadn't even pushed her Sandevistan to its limits.

Leo had thought she was the only one who stood a chance against their enemies.

Now it seemed V was the strongest in their trio, but the enemy she faced was on a whole different level.

"Surrender—you still have a chance." Rory's voice came from the doorway.

V didn't respond, her hands quietly reaching into the metal crate behind her.

She had reached the power distribution room.

Through the darkness, Rory frowned: she saw V fiddling with the breaker box behind her. Still not giving up?

In the next moment, she saw V flip over, smirking as she flipped her the bird.

Thunk—

The lights flickered on. "What did you do?"

The meter spun wildly, lights flashed, sparks flew—

But the large-scale EMP surge V had been waiting for didn't happen; Rory's tactical helmet merely flickered a few times.

Both of them froze.

Bang!

A heavy thud echoed behind V.

After splitting from V, Jackie had heard heavy footsteps approaching him, a massive MaxTac operative charging at him! He raised his Achilles rifle, but the bullets only left holes in the guy's clothing!

Not only was he fast, but agile too, and even his head was bulletproof!

"Mierda!"

Jackie cursed, tossing aside his Achilles, taking a deep breath, and assuming a sumo stance, eyes locked on the rapidly approaching massive figure!

Boom!

It felt like being hit by a tank!

Jackie felt like his insides had been flattened—if not for his heavy subdermal armor cushioning the blow, he would have been crushed to pieces!

The two behemoths smashed through the server room door, wrecking several machines along the way!

Jackie spat blood, gritting his teeth, halting the guy's charge, then using all his strength to hammer at the enemy's spinal cyberware!

These blows were more effective than bullets, the MaxTac brute slamming Jackie into the wall!

He swung again, but Jackie ducked under, delivering an uppercut to the guy's jaw, but it had no effect!

Jackie felt like he'd punched metal, and the big guy responded with a headbutt that nearly knocked him out!

In their third clash, Jackie shook off the impact, drawing the guy's attention before hammering his fists into the brute's abdomen.

These blows could bend steel bars, but the enemy only staggered back half a step before steadying himself, his movements unfazed!

Jackie watched the incoming fist, pupils dilating—

"V!!!"

Bzzzt!

Suddenly, arcs of electricity surged across the floor, freezing the massive fist mid-air!

The brute trembled, paralyzed by the surge that lasted a full three seconds! When the current finally normalized, he staggered back a step—but didn't fall.

Jackie was stunned—he saw smoke rising from the guy's body, yet he was still standing!

The brute's tactical goggles turned red, and he grabbed Jackie by the throat, slamming him into the wall!

Bang! The tremendous force shattered Jackie's nervous system, his vision blurring—

The brute didn't stop, grabbing Jackie again and smashing him into the wall!

Boom! Cracks splintered across the wall.

Boom! The cracks widened, the wall bent, nearly breaking!

Boom! The wall gave way! Jackie crashed through, landing next to V—

"Jackie?!"

Bang! Behind the broken wall, the brute let out a menacing gasp.

Rory, with a mocking smile, removed her helmet—

She looked at V, just in time to see V lift her head.

"This is...a familiar scene."

This scene reminded her of years ago when she had been similarly driven to the brink by MaxTac.

Back then, someone had pointed a gun at her like this, MaxTac had shut down her cyberware, and drained her CHOOH2 fuel.

When she woke up, she was given a choice between "rehabilitation" at the psych ward or joining MaxTac.

"Trying to trigger an EMP surge? Nice idea, but breaching the operative lockdown and overloading the building's power grid without access is nearly impossible—

Especially with your human ICE server out of commission. Command, deactivate #0034's berserker components before he goes berserk."

Human ICE? Out of commission? V stared at Jackie in shock—he was trembling just trying to sit up.

Rory continued, "Alright, your human server is gone, that low-profile skinny guy. You've lost your last chance.

You fried our hacker, so we've got an opening on the team now, come out and give yourself some dignity.

Grabbing some vagrant off the streets, fitting them with illegal cyberware to use as a server—such cruelty and cunning, MaxTac needs someone like you."

"V, what is she talking about..."

Jackie's voice trailed off as #0054 appeared at the door—

He was the one who had been pursuing Leo, the sniper.

It was only then that V and the wounded Jackie pieced together what Rory had been saying.

Leo was dead.

Rory finished speaking but noticed something odd—

"Recovery team, take a photo of the kid's body and upload it to their network.

Recovery team? Where is everyone?"

Rory frowned—why wasn't anyone responding?

Her question remained unanswered as her Sandevistan suddenly activated without warning!

V was charging at her at a speed far beyond what she had shown before!

Her cybernetic eyes were displaying erratic data in cyberspace, with massive discrepancies in the electronic equipment readings—

This was chaotic, unregulated overclocking of cyberware, a sign of cyberpsychosis!