Chapter 11 (Part 4)

First off, I found myself a spot that was relatively safe by current standards, where I could easily oversee the entire operation. Having taken up the necessary position, I signaled the guys and, gathering my thoughts, entered a state of maximum concentration.

"I see movement ahead of you. Three people, doesn't look like they're planning on leaving anytime soon. I'll try to distract their attention carefully."

Han and Shiro hid behind the corner of a small guardhouse, waiting for my next command. Three Maelstrom gang members blocked their way, leaving no chance to slip by unnoticed, which meant I had to find a way to make them clear off. Zooming in the camera on the gangsters, I began to carefully probe their defense system, looking for potential vulnerabilities. To my surprise, one of them had laughably weak ice, making him my target.

After carefully hacking into the man, I started considering all possible ways to eliminate or distract the target, and then it hit me. The implants inside the thug had built-in factory security, but something was lacking that feature.

"Sorry, buddy, but I have to do this..." Trying to hold back laughter, I bit my lip and activated the hack protocol. A few seconds later, the security was breached, and I had full access to the body of my future guinea pig. "Now, activate..." As if on command, the gangster's groin sparked, and he immediately fell to the ground, curling up in pain. He began to scream in agony, trying to soothe the pain in his groin. The camera captured the sound well, allowing me to fully enjoy the agony of the poor soul writhing on the ground, as his friends tried to help him.

"Fuck! It hurts!" - The gang member screamed, clutching his injured part with his limbs.

"Calm down, chum, we'll help you out." His friends tried to assist, but he kept flailing, preventing them from getting close.

"It's like I fucked a meat grinder!" The gangster continued to complain. The man standing to his right finally managed to seize the moment and grabbed his friend, immediately hoisting him onto his shoulder.

"We need to get him to a ripperdoc, I've sent a message to Jimmy, he gave the go-ahead."

"They promised pleasure," moaned the man wounded in the most crucial spot.

"Sorry again, dude." I closed my eyes for a few seconds, paying silent tribute to such a precious loss for a man. "Guys, proceed with caution, it's clear ahead." I signaled the jubilant brothers again, clearly enjoying the method I used to incapacitate the gangster.

The rest of our advance went almost without a hitch, except for one unpleasant incident. I managed to distract the Maelstromers' attention each time, allowing Han and Shiro to gradually move deeper into the complex. Targets marked on my second screen allowed me to track the enemy's movements, calculating their route in advance, but at one point, everything nearly fell apart.

Han accidentally brushed against a radio with his hand, knocking it to the floor. The situation seemed dire at that moment, but my brain quickly found the right solution. Without fully realizing it, I had considered all possible options in a second and stumbled upon a car nearby. It was my chance, so I quickly activated its alarm, thereby allowing the guys to slip by unnoticed, but I must say, the adrenaline rush at that moment was intense.

Inside the fourth warehouse, there were only three cameras: one at the entrance, the second surveying the hangar's interior, and the third in the control room overseeing all the goods. There were only two people in the hangar, one in the upper watchtower likely monitoring the cameras, and the other standing guard near some utility room. That's probably where they were holding Susan.

The bandit responsible for security was the same runner who had brought Sue to the warehouse. I managed to catch a glimpse of his face when the thug decided to step away for a drink of water. That very Jimmy, with a relaxed demeanor, took a hit of something through an inhaler, immediately, it seemed, experiencing another high. This worked to my advantage.

Like before, I looped the camera feeds, displaying the genuine picture in a window I had created for myself. This allowed the guys to infiltrate quietly without any fuss. They immediately hid near some crates nearby, waiting for my next command. Now, I needed to take out the watchman, which I set about doing. Using the camera and the relays on my bracelets, I managed to connect to the guard and initiate the hacking protocol. The scumbag had decent protection, but after a few seconds, I managed to breach it. The Maelstrom gang member was loaded with implants like a Christmas tree, which worked in my favor.

Unfortunately, I couldn't distract him without notice, so there was only one thing to do. Head augmentations are useful but very dangerous, as Kenny proved with his example. The man caught a lethal script from me that overloaded the electronic guts of the implants, delivering a powerful charge capable of easily killing a person.

Netrunners are indeed terrifying creatures, but right now, that's not my main concern. Ideally, I should also take out his buddy, but he had decent protection that could send a nasty surprise back my way. This would instantly alert the entire camp, which I'd prefer to avoid.

"Guys, proceed with caution now. The junkie up top is zonked and clearly not paying attention to his surroundings. The guard should have an access key; carefully take it and use it to open the door."

"Got it." Han quietly crept to Kenny's already dead body, rummaging through his pockets. "I think I found it." The boy fished out a key card from one of the pockets.

"Great, swipe it through the special scanner on the top right and immediately tell me what's inside..."

"Alex, it's just Susan here, and she seems to be in bad shape," Shiro immediately gave a brief situation report.

"How bad?"

"Blood trails all over her body, and her left arm is missing," the boy reported.

"Is she conscious?" I continued to probe for more details.

"Seems so, not sure..."

"Alright, try to get her to come around; I'll check the surroundings for now." Glancing through the cameras, I noticed a procession of three cars approaching the warehouse territory. They stopped briefly near Warehouse "1" and were now conversing. We had to act quickly. "Guys, there's no time, grab the mentor and bolt for the exit. Looks like we have visitors, and they definitely won't like what we're attempting to do here." Following my words, Han and Shiro hurriedly got moving, quietly cursing over the comms. In their excitement, they forgot to switch off the radio, adding a touch of comedy to the situation, though it was hardly the time for laughter. As soon as Susan was freed, she immediately expressed her displeasure over our link.

"Alex, you little crazy shit. How could you even think of pulling me out from under Maelstrom's nose, and to bring other kids with you..." The girl was almost hissing at me over the radio, but I was glad to hear her voice, despite the situation.

"You can scold me later, you need to get out now, someone's arrived and it's better to clear out quickly. I'm controlling the cameras and will try to delay the gangsters. Han, Shiro, the path ahead is clear, everyone went to greet the guests, so you can run to the first hangar. I'll distract them, and they clearly won't be concerned with you. Over and out..."

Now, I had to distract the newcomers with something special. Connecting to the necessary camera, I began scanning the people to find the most vulnerable among them. Such an individual was quickly found. A gangster was juggling a fragmentation grenade, performing various tricks with it. Scanning the item, I rubbed my hands with glee. The grenade had an electronic detonator, responding to an eye implant that triggered the activation signal.

"One, two, three, four, five - it's time for blast to arrive."

I muttered the counting rhyme that popped into my head, initiating the countdown to the explosion. The thug didn't immediately realize something was off, which meant he didn't manage to throw the grenade away in time. It exploded in mid-air, shrapnel hitting everyone nearby. Panic ensued, quickly escalating into gunfire in all directions. Switching back to the cameras, I noticed the rescue group almost made it out of the warehouse territory. Disconnecting from the cameras, I immediately set off to join them.

"Kid, are you out of your mind?" Susan clearly didn't know how to react to being rescued by three youngsters.

"Sue, we need to get out of here, I just blew up a grenade in some idiot's hand, and the Maelstrom guys are now fighting with an imaginary enemy. We don't have time for chats." I replied irritably to the mentor, who clearly chose the worst time for heart-to-heart talks.

"Fine, consider yourself lucky this time." Susan rolled her eyes...

"They'll be after you soon as they find out you've escaped.

"I've sent a message to Wakako, she's sent her guys. We need to make it to the next block, they'll pick us up there." I nodded silently to her, following her lead. The hardest part was behind us; now we just needed to escape from this unwelcoming place...