Chapter 31

Pov Calla

Descending the stairs, I try to move as quietly as possible. I don’t keep my pistol prepared nor do I have my knife at hand. I’m confident that the route is secure. I am, after all, monitoring all the security feeds while looping the ones that would show me, and listening to the radio frequency the guards are using.

First, they give me the most lethal training and then they antagonize me. After which White thought it would be a good idea to give me the means to use their own security systems against them.

I say it again, idiots.

But before heading deeper into the building, I find the entrance to the elevator's machine room and pick the lock open. It is just a standard mechanical lock so I make quick work of it. However behind the doors are the elevator systems and machines which are controlled by the security room. It would be a prime place to place a bomb and bring all of the elevators down crashing, so there is an alarm on the door. If I were to push it open the alarm would go off. The alarm is hidden inside the wall and door and it is a simple magnetic plate that detects when the door is opened. It has nothing wireless in it, so I cannot bypass it I don't have the tools to disable it.

It's part of my exit plan so it doesn't matter now. Now that that's done, I head to the floor.

I turn a corner and keep walking true. The hallways and room are just what one would expect from a financial firm. White walled corridors with black carpet, rooms with computers and empty conference rooms. The top floor isn’t currently in use, and it’s only me and the floor guards.

They circle the floor in irregular intervals, one patrol going clockwise while the other counter-clockwise.

I’m about to round a corner, but instead, I go to the empty office next to me. There I quickly hide behind a desk and keep still.

Two guards wearing vests and carrying pistols in their holsters come from behind the corner. They look through the see-through wall into the office while walking. They have no use of the flashlights that hang from their belt as all the lights are on.

I wait for them to pass before continuing. I quickly make my way to the elevators. There I touch the console and order the door to open. What greets me is a deep shaft, with the space for five elevators. I enter the shaft, taking hold of the pipes that run along the wall as the doors close behind me.

During my recon, I studied the building plans. The elevator shaft also works as a bracing for the building so all the elevators run through the same shaft. Four of the elevators are for normal use, but only the fifth one can stop at 24th floor. It’s the private elevator of Kazumi Yamato.

It takes me a long while to decent from the 51st floor to the 24th, climbing down the shaft.

Now I need to get to the other side of the shaft, but the fast-moving elevators hinder me. There are support beams running both vertically and horizontally, so I climb on one of them. With elevators moving on my both sides, I keep my hands close to my body as I balance over the beam. The speed of the elevators is substantial, and every time they pass me, the air currents they cause threatens my balance.

Reaching the halfway point, I take a breather. I can’t access the cameras on the 24th floor. They are entirely cut off from the rest of the network and there is nothing wireless in the system.

Reaching the door, I’m pleased that I can at least access the console and open the door. When I am through the door I see that there are not any cameras in sight. Could be that the reason I couldn’t access the cameras is that there isn’t any.

Readying my pistol and advancing according to the blueprints I also note that there are no radio waves either coming or going from this floor. There must be no guards then. Or only one effective guard?

The carpet here is royal red in color, and the white walls are adorned with paintings and golden decorations. The lights are not the same fluorescent ones but a warmer and brighter color. I keep my guard up and concentrate on my hearing and sight instead of the signals.

Peaking from behind a corner I can see a large reception room with an open door at the other end. There is a receptionist woman, about the age of 35 and a man wearing a black suit sitting on one of the chairs.

From the open door, I spot my target, Kazumi Yamato, in the office. He is sitting behind a desk and going through papers.

He is so close now, but I don’t dare to move without a plan. That is because of the man and woman. They look similar to each other in appearance and age, but the worrying thing is that they look similar to me as well.

If I’m guessing correctly, they are 4xx and 4xy going by their age. From the place I’m standing the woman is a few meters in front of me and to the right, sitting behind a desk. And the man is sitting next to the open office door, on its right side.

What are my options…

Kill the man, then woman, then Black?

The man is probably the one trained in counter operative training while the woman is probably trained in infiltration, so the man is the bigger threat I think. But the woman could certainly stall me, during which my target escapes.

Killing the woman first would end the same way.

I need to try getting to the target first. It leaves me to deal with the two subjects at the same time and is the riskier plan but it’s the surest way to incapacitate the target. I could try just shooting and escaping but I want to destroy the data he might have.

And for me to get to the data, I'll need him to stay alive a while longer.

Coming to a decision I start preparing.

I retreat couple corners back, fearing that the subjects have as acute hearing as me. I remove my clip from the pistol and take the round out of the chamber. I load a rubber bullet to the clip otherwise loaded with lethal shots. People don't make subsonic rubber bullets so I had to remove some of the gunpowder from the bullet myself. Or at least I didn't found any.

The target will be informed about the attacks taking place any moment now so I’m running out of time.

I make my way back to my earlier position.

Coming from behind the corner, the gun is the first thing to be revealed, I shoot the moment the target is in my sights. The distance is about fifteen meters, so the shot isn’t that hard. I just hope the rubber bullet has enough force to knock him out after I removed some of its gunpowder.

*wiuh*

The weapon and the special bullets make this weapon impossible to hear on the other floors but it doesn’t escape the senses of my ‘siblings’.

*wiuh*

I shoot another shot towards the target, this one lethal. Though I didn't aim the target because I don't want to kill him. The man who was seated next to the door reacts to the shot and jumps in the way in order to protect the target, and the shot hits him on his right shoulder.

Changing my aim to the woman who is already jumping over the desk I try to shoot.

*wiuh*wiuh*

But she was too fast and dodges my aim. If the woman wasn’t carrying a weapon, then the man at least has one. I quickly position my self so that the woman obstructs his shot. I see the man behind with a gun in his hand but the woman doesn’t let me take aim.

She makes a quick jab towards my throat but I’m fast to react and dodge backward and take aim.

*wiuh*wiuh*

Again, she dodged both of them, but the first shot was meant for the man. He couldn’t dodge my aim since the woman was blocking his view. I hit him on his left side this time.

The woman once again enters close-range and tries to break my balance with a low kick. I block it with the sole of my shoe while simultaneously giving her a left jab aimed at the throat. She dodges to the side, but I had already my gun aiming there.

*wiuh*

I hit her in the stomach, and she takes steps back while covering the bleed. Turning my attention forward, I see the man taking aim at me, and I jump behind the woman again.

I don’t want him to shoot as that would alert the whole building. The woman realizes this and jumps to the side, but before she can, I kick her in the stomach, pushing her towards the man.

I have more time to think about my next movement than previously. I had always fast reaction time but now it's like my perception of time has changed.

*Wiuh* I shoot the eight and last bullet in my clip to the forehead of the woman. Just as she falls out of the way, I grab the man’s gun, pushing my finger behind the trigger and thus preventing him from shooting.

With a swift pull, I yank the weapon out of his hands, and give him a sidekick, aiming at his injured side. With a grunt, he takes steps back and puts pressure on his side.

I give a glance at my target, and see that my first bullet accomplished the task.

“We can stop now, you know? It's already over and soon there will be nothing left of the organization.” I give him a meaningful look, trying to show that I truly meant what I said.

Instead of answering, he lowers his gaze at whom I presume is his sister and then turns back to me. Yeah, I would expect so. I was going to say my piece earlier before I shot the woman but everything happened so fast.

The man rushes back at me, and I holster my weapon while discarding his. With one movement I bring my knife to my hand. The man is shot twice but that doesn’t seem to slow him.

I parry the punch he aimed at my face and dodge back at the quick one-two combo he performed afterward. Before he can continue his initiative, I attack. With a reverse grip on the knife, I throw few quick rights at him which he dodges.

As he tries to counter I dodge low and perform my own counter. Stabbing the knife into his ribs, aiming at the heart, his strength leaves him and he is left standing on my support.

I let him fall to his knees as I pull the knife out.

The look his giving me isn’t accusing, or sad, or happy. It’s just blank. Like it didn’t really matter that he lost and is dying.

I say nothing, only soften his fall as he collapses to the floor. He keeps staring at me till the moment the light leaves his eyes.

With that done I make my way to the office. I reload another magazine to my weapon, this time only lethal.

My target is collapsed next to his chair behind his desk. He is already regaining consciousness but I don't let him. He is sure to be a treasure of information but I just want this to be over. I have nothing to say to him.

As he rises to his knees, I give him a sidekick to his temple, knocking him out again.

The door to the vault is on the left back corner of his office, next to the bookshelf. I drag the suited man towards it with some effort.

This is where it get's tricky.

The vault itself is meant only to be accessed by Black and no one else. The thickness of the walls and the amount of steel in the doors make it impossible to crack it by force in this little time I have. It would take weeks.

The technology that operates the vault is a closed circuit system and I can't access it without getting inside the vault first.

The vault consists of two rooms. The vault itself, and an airlock. First, you enter the airlock. Then after the vault verifies that the identity of the one entering is Kazumi Yamato it opens the vault door itself. If there are more persons in the room aside of Kazumi, the vault doesn't open. It is constructed like this so that if Kazumi is ever threatened to open the vault, it would still be mute. The airlock is as secure as the vault itself, and after the vault opens, the airlock remains shut. Only he alone can enter the vault.

The verification measure the airlock of the vault uses is state of the art. First, Kazumi has to place his finger on the scanner in order to enter the airlock. Once in the airlock, the vault reads the unique heart print of Kazumi. If there are more than one heart print in the airlock, the vault doesn't open.

And that is why it get's tricky.

First borrowing Kazumi's finger, I open the airlock and drag Kazumi in there. I open my bag and start preparing. Once done with my preparations I press the button that closes the airlock and starts the heart print scanning. I have ten seconds before it starts.

This is why this plan is a lot reckless.

Well, this and my final escape method.

"Hehe..."

No time for that.

Eight seconds.

I check that the small defibrillator is working and that the timer is running.

My plan is this: I will kill myself.

Simple, isn't it?

I will kill myself for thirty seconds, and then the timer on the defibrillator that I installed will bring me back. Hopefully. Well, it will give me a charge every five seconds after thirty seconds in case the first one doesn't bring me back. I think I could use the nanotech in my body to do this but I'm sure as hell it wouldn't allow me to kill myself, hence I brought the defibrillator.

The human brain can survive up to six minutes after the heart has stopped, so I'm pretty confident that thirty seconds with my constitution is nothing.

Okkayy, here goes nothing.

*TZZ*

...[blacknes]...

*TZZ*

"Ah!" I gasp as I sit up.

That was fucking weird. Being dead is weird.

It's almost as I saw someth...*TZZ*

...[blacknes]...

*TZZ*

"Fuck!"

Fucking idiot me, I think as I rip the pads from my chest.

What kind of moron starts pondering about life when she is strapped to a defibrillator timed to go off in five seconds.

I survived this long but died twice today.

It would have been fucking embarrassing if Black were to wake up with the vault open in front of him and a dead me laying on the floor twitching every five seconds!

Anyways, the vault is opened and no one was here to see my mistake so all is good.

*Wiuh* I shoot Kazumi to the head. He isn't needed anymore.

*Wiuh*Wiuh*Wiuh*Wiuh* And make sure he is dead and stays that way.

The subsonic bullets I have with me doesn't have much penetrating power so it wouldn't be unheard of if a person were to survive a headshot.

*Wiuh*Wiuh*Wiuh* I end up emptying my clip into him.

I head to the vault which consists of only one room with a computer in the middle. I don't bother with the keyboard but instead, I place my hand on it and skim through the data.

It's the backup.

Noting that there are still some locations, but according to the data, there isn't anything of worth in them.

I memorize all the safe house locations of Caturix, and keep reading. I conclude that there aren't any high ranking members I don't know of and every facility that has importance has already been taken down, I start shredding the information.

It is much faster to destroy it than to read it, and it only takes few minutes to shred all of it. I didn't bother reading through all of it, but I did browse through the important bits.

Done with the data destruction, I leave the vault. The vault door closes and after it has shut, the airlock opens. The vault doesn't require any more verifications when leaving so killing Black before leaving didn't hinder me.Entering back to the office, I gather some paper documents in a pile.

I had an emergency plan that only involved killing Black and making a quick escape. My exit plan was made for this quick escape and requires a fire.

Taking a small lighter fluid bottle that I had prepared beforehand, I spill it over the paper documents in the room. When that is done I take a small device I made for my exit plan. Putting it on the pile of documents and turning it on, the little wireless incendiary device beeps once.

It’s is the size of a normal lighter and is simply built. Only a battery, a receiver, and a spark plug. I leave it there as I walk back towards the elevators. When there I once again enter the shaft, but this time I don’t start climbing.

I wait till one of the elevators is in a good position. One of the counterweights stops near me and I jump. Latching on to the counterweight of elevator number three, I use the nanotech to activate the device I left in the office.

I don’t hear anything, but after a few seconds, the fire alarms go off. All the elevators are automatically called to the lobby and as they start descending, the counterweights start ascending. It doesn’t take long to reach the top. With a small jump, I climb to the elevator’s machine room. The machine room is near the access to the roof, and with the door already unlocked, I open it.

I see the small sensor on the door, and even though I don't hear anything other than the fire alarm, I know the silent alarm has gone off. But it's too late.

I exit the room and head towards the roof access.

During a fire alarm, one guard is sent to make sure the roof is clear. I hear him ahead of me, and he just entered the roof. I didn’t account for him to be here this fast.

Peaking from the door, I see him looking at my parachute. Quickly I step outside and perform a high kick aimed at the back of his head to incapacitate him. I didn't give him a chance to see my face, and it's probable he will not even remember the parachute after my kick.

Strapping on the parachute, I check the wind direction and start running towards the edge.

This will be a nigh impossible jump. From a relatively low height in a densely packed urban area with unpredictable winds.

This too, is why the plan is a lot reckless.

“WOOOOOoooo…!”

ten minutes later

That. Was. Fucking. Exhilarating!

Who cares about motorcycles, base-jumping is all the rave right now!

I find a quiet corner away from my OA and start making calls. After Calling to Linda and Darrel I confirm that the operation went as planned.

The Caturix is no more. Only surviving high-level member is Blue, and he is in J.A.T.F. custody. Now it’s their decision will they go after the subjects or not. There will be no new subjects anymore and no more Black.

Finally.

I’m free of my past.

I have closure.

Few loose ends still might be there, but nothing I can't take care of or live with.

…

Now what?