Beyond that was a tent, about eight to six feet in diameters and twelve fight tall. It was coloured white and had three antenna's pointing east, directly back at Bridge City. They’re communicating with someone back in the City, I mused.

The Camp wasn’t set up with any form of light other than torches. The nauseating scent of the gas trickled downwind, which was where I happened to be. I wrinkled my nose, trying to force it from my nostrils, but it was to no avail.

I crouched in my position for a few minutes, watching each guard making their rounds, trying my best to read their pattern as best as I could. But also trying to decipher where Elhisia was kept.

Nothing…it’s balanced, no extra guards nowhere. Not even the tents are heavily guarded, I noted. I did notice though, that some men carried guns, whilst others didn’t. Funny enough, the ones who didn’t carry any guns shoulders were slumped.

“Alright…” I whispered, “It…time to get in the game.” I pulled the tracking sphere from one of my pockets, pressing the yellow once more, and adjusted the frequency on my cybernetic ear again.

The beeping tone was sharper and repeated more regularly. I waived it around my location trying to see which direction would strengthen it more. Still not close enough. Fine.

I dropped to the second level and trained my eyes left to right. A guard is to pass here I thought, waiting for him to pass. The guard rounded a corner and trotted five paces before I moved from within a corner, trotting back where he came from. I pushed myself up against the wall, watching him disappear into the darkness of another corner.

Hundreds of cigarettes butts were littered on the ground behind this side, providing a dirty orange to the ground. I shifted into a building on the right and slowly crept through stepping over a shredded door, ensuring I didn’t puncture it.

Once I reached a significant distance. I switched back on my X-Ray Vision and waited for patrolmen to pass in front of a section filled with tents.

A large ding chimed off in my ear. I felt a slight satisfaction knowing I was getting closer to this lineagecube, But where the hell is Elhisia.

My heart thumped, as a torch waft in front of me. I snapped my pistol free from its holster, firing two shots into the man’s head, then another two into his partner’s side. I swept him off his face covering his mouth with my cybernetic arm then buried two shots into his chest.

Shit! I said this is not supposed to happen. I quickly killed the torch’s flame with some sand and took the bodies to the second floor of the building, one by one.

I eyed the guard’s movements, from one of the broken windows from upstairs, noting that no one had been alerted. But that wouldn’t last too long…shit!

A shiny black bead in both the bastard’s ears, showing their earpieces. I snatched them off, lined their frequency, and added them to my own, ensuring the feeder would allow me to monitor them.

“Nothing’s changed” I whispered, then patting the bastards down, noting they both only had 9MM rounds for their pistols and submachine guns, and a pack of smokes, which had two cigarettes in each. “Bastards were going for a smoke break…heh.”

I went back downstairs, cuddling the sides of the buildings by keeping to the shadows. The chime of the beep dinged louder the deeper I went into the camp. I know I was on the edge of the campsite itself, but I still felt as if I had a hole in my stomach.

It’d had been years since I snuck into a Camp Sight like this.

Hundreds of men were in these camps, tucked in, protected by Rikor’s forces. Or where they’re being held against their will? I asked myself. The majority of them, seem haggard and agitated based on what I saw, but as I only sawbones, I really couldn’t know.

One Hour and thirty minutes left.

Another patrol duo passed me, and I finally stepped from out of the shadows, cutting the line to one of the gas tanks. I took the heft of the torch from its base smothering it with my cybernetic arm till only embers of light remained, then placed it back and crept into the camp.

Two loud chimes went off. I’m closer. I fished out the tracking sphere, then waved it. In the southern section, closer to the big tent, it went dim. I pointed to the north and it didn’t ding at after a few seconds. I pointed it to the west.

Ding ding ding.

I crept to the edge of the tent line, ensuring no guards were patrolling and rolled across the torch-lit pathway. “This is not what I signed up for?” someone said on the tent to my right. “Be quiet! Or they’ll hear you.” Someone responded.

I’m sure you didn’t.

I manoeuvred through the tents, keeping to the shadows, slowly making my towards the ding, avoiding guards as best as I could. Stalling, Rushing…anything to make my way towards this ding. I don’t know why, but I just had this feeling that Colvolt Weitson was only interested in this lineagecube and nothing about his daughter.

“Cypher,” Naedon said through the comm I gave him back at Saunters with a handshake. I heard the rumbling sound of the Thundrum groan, which means they were on their way to me. “I don’t expect you to respond, but listen up. I don’t know what’s happening but we’ve received news about a delay in negotiations. I’m not for waiting, but Colvolt isn’t having it. He wants his daughter back. Alright. Naedon out.”

More time? Perfect…get the cube, then Elhisia, just need to make sure I can find someone cooperative.

I followed the dings, which grew louder and more frequent, like a heartbeat the further west I went within the camp. It finally led me out of the tent sight, and into another ruined building.

I jumped across two more, going north this time, and crept my way down a broken staircase. I doubled back, ensuring no one heard or saw, as I didn’t this part of the camp during my early reconnaissance.

I made a right, then a left around two buildings and found myself in a secluded area with a small house with a door light being the only form of luminescence.

The dings from the frequency beat like a drummer at his last show, each pound growing leader, with each step I made.

I crept up to the small building, rounding it finding no windows or anything. It was quiet, even after I pressed my ear against its walls. Unless soundproof.

As I came back to the door, The dings from the frequency began singing like a song at the opera house, making my body quiver from the pain, so I shut off the damn device.

My body felt weak for some reason, So I pulled my pistol free, hoping that give it some strength.

I didn’t.

I turned the knob for the cabin, or whatever it was. It’s unlocked? What? As the door creaked open. I knelt, flashing my pistol left and right, only to find an empty room, filled with nothing but newspaper and a table with a laptop and cube. What the fuck is that? I thought, noticing a strange object on the table.

A black cube with white lines printed throughout. It was sitting next to a laptop with hundreds of wires plugged into it, as the lines pulsed intermittently. I stepped closer to the strange cube, couldn’t help myself, it was one of the strangest things I’d ever seen, especially for those in a cabin.

The sound of shuffling paper crumpled behind me, making me snap backwards to a shutting door, what no one’s there. I thought, paper shuffled behind me again and a throbbing pain resonated across my head as I dropped to the floor.

“Don’t move.” A female voice said coldly, clicking the safety off from her pistol. I raised my hand and a gunshot whizzed right past, hitting the ground between my legs. “I said…don’t move.” The woman said firmly.

The sound crumpled crunched behind me, as the woman slowly began to round me as if I were some trophy she laid eyes upon during her latest hunt.

The woman was caramel-skinned with red eyes, her eyebrows were curled at the edges and her nose was pointed. Her lips were thin, giving her a stern look, similar to Stelyne’s own. She wore blue denim jeans and a black and red plaid shirt, which was rolled up to her elbows. Her black and gold hair was braided and crossed each other, making her hairstyle seem grandeur for a woman to have in these parts. She’s not from here I thought, noticing her nails perfectly trimmed and manicured.

The woman’s face was cold as ice but somewhat familiar. It took a second to realise who it was beneath that deadly scowl, whilst she had her pistol trained on me. She knows how to use it, I thought, bitterly. “Did my father send you here to kill me?” Elhisia Weitson asked, tone acid.

“Kill you? I was tasked with your retrieval Ms Weitson.” I answered. A flare of fury and disgust resonated on Elhisia’s face as she bit her bottom lip, continuing her gaze of annoyance. Then, she finally spoke after three minutes of silence.

“…Liar.”