“Over to the ramp. They appear to have discovered something,” his teammate informed him, his mic still open.
Kaiden reactivated his mic. “Discovered something good or bad?”
“Well, I do not hear any screams, so probably not terrible, but they did not seem excited by it.” Genos holstered his cannon on his back.
“I’ll go take a look. Stay with Chiyo. I’ll be right back.” He walked in the direction of the lower ramp and spotted Julius and Otto standing at the top and looking down. “Hey, guys, what’s going on?”
The biologist grimaced. “There’s some sort of barrier blocking the way,” he answered and motioned down the ramp before folding his arms. Kaiden looked down to see Mack standing in front of a shield that shimmered with blue light. Another large armored figure stood behind it, making motions with his hands.
“Who’s that guy? Are they playing charades?” Kaiden questioned.
“It’s another vanguard. There’s another team behind the barrier trying to get through. Mack says the two of them can break the barrier by smashing into it, but it has to be at the right power level or something,” Otto informed him.
“The barrier is blocking sound, so they’re gonna have to wing it. If they don’t get it right, they might actually power the thing up even more,” Julius added.
“You guys wanna head down too? That’s where we’re thinking of going.”
“Really? Most of the action will be in the main building, I figure. We’re just being good Samaritans.” Julius shrugged.
“We’re on the ground floor…at least I think so, if you came in from that other room. We might have been warped up to the top floor for all we know,” the biologist mused.
“Obviously not, considering there are floors above us, but hey, maybe we’re inside some sort of wormhole or something,” Kaiden joked.
“We would have more problems than a barrier if we were in a wormhole,” Otto said thoughtfully. “But hey, it’s the Animus, right? Anything is possible,” he finished with a flourish of his hand.
“Might wanna stand back. Looks like they are going to give it a shot,” Julius suggested.
Kaiden stood to the side as he saw Mack’s fist glow blue with energy. The vanguard reached back, and his counterpart did the same. He lifted his other hand near the barrier and counted down from five. In the end, both slammed their fists against the shield, and the punches released a pulse of energy that cascaded through it and cracked it apart. The two men fell back from the force as the barrier collapsed.
The ace whistled appreciatively as Julius and Otto helped him up. “Feeling heavy-strong now?”
“Did it work?” Mack asked, getting to his feet.
“Yeah, thank you.” He looked up to see a woman dressed in white medium armor. “I’m Lara, a raider. That’s our decker Juri, and your fellow vanguard over there is Bernard.”
“Nice punch, man,” Bernard stated.
“Right back at you. Good to find another vanguard who know the nuances of their energy output,” Mack responded approvingly.
“Hey, Kaiden, I’ve reached Jaxon,” Chiyo informed him.
“I’ll be right there—and good news, we got ourselves a way down.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Kaiden, this is Jaxon,” the Tsuna ace declared. “Chiyo said that you asked her to…contact me.”
“In a manner of speaking.” Kaiden chuckled and approached the shield to look up at Jaxon and his team from below. Chiyo’s holoscreen floated above his hand. “How have you guys been doing?”
“We’ve had our struggles. Silas took a hard hit to his left leg. We’ve been searching through the base for a healing serum or painkiller but have come up empty so far.”
“Is that right?” The ace looked at the other team. “Hey, Julius, I have a request!”
The biologist excused himself from the conversation with Lara and her team and made his way over. “What do you need?”
“You guys are heading up, right?” Kaiden asked.
“That’s the plan.” The biologist nodded.
“You see that guy up there?” He pointed to Jaxon, who was looking down at the two of them.
“Yeah, who is he?”
“He’s a friend of mine, Jaxon, an ace like me. One of his teammates is injured, another friend named Silas. When you get up there, do you mind patching him up?”
Julius cocked his head. “I guess I do kind of owe you for helping us back in the node room.”
“Damn straight,” Kaiden chided playfully. “Jaxon said he took a shot in the leg. Shouldn’t take but a few drops from one of your batches of happy juice to get him back in top shape, right?”
“Better than top, that’s the Julius Dexy guarantee,” he promised. “Plus, I should be getting some personal currency for it, so it works out for me too.”
“How magnanimous of you.” The ace snickered. “You hear that, Jaxon? Just wait for Julius and his guys to make it up there to you, and he’ll get Silas skipping right along.”
“You are sure they are trustworthy, Kaiden?” Jaxon sounded wary.
“Yeah, go ahead and look a gift horse in the mouth,” the biologist muttered. Kaiden could almost visualize him rolling his eyes under his helmet.
“I’m talking to you through Chiyo’s holoscreen. It’s on speaker,” Kaiden said dryly.
He heard the Tsuna sigh. “My apologies, medic. I did not mean to scoff at you. Any help would be appreciated, but considering the circumstances—”
“I understand,” Julius acknowledged. “I guess everyone is cautious at this point. We’ll head up in a couple of minutes. My team is myself, an agent, and a vanguard. We’ll try to get there ASAP, but another team I’ve been talking with tells me this place is littered with traps and barriers blocking different paths, so it may take us a while.”
“Understood. I’ll see if I and my team can disable some along the path and try to meet you a level down. And thank you.”
The other man nodded. “No problem. I guess this is where we part ways, Kaiden?”
“Guess so. I and my team have our own plans on how to win the test. It might be a long shot, but we’re risk takers. I’ve taken top scores on both the Division Test and the Co-operative Test, and I’m looking for a three-peat.”
“Oh, so that was you,” Julius said, realization creeping into his voice. “I knew your name sounded familiar, and the fact that you are an ace should have made me recognize you earlier. You’ve earned a reputation here in only a year.”
“I like to make grand entrances. I’m a crowd-pleaser.” Kaiden beamed.
“Best of luck to you and your team. Maybe we can network once we get done with this test.”
“I have an exclusive list, but I can probably make room.”
“How magnanimous of you.” Julius snickered.
“Best get out of here before Honor turns on and I pay you back for that,” Kaiden threatened jokingly.
The biologist raised a hand in mock surrender and backed away. “I hear you. I’ll get going. Thanks again for the help.”
“No problem.” The soldier waved him off. “You still there, Jaxon?”
“Chiyo hacked into my comm. I couldn’t honestly tune you out if I wanted to,” he admitted.
“But you would never want to mute the expert advice I offer or my surprisingly authoritative and empowering tone, now would you?” Kaiden asked, earning an unamused grunt in response. “I’ll make sure Chiyo puts everything back in place when we leave, don’t worry. I wanted to consider possibly teaming up in case everyone starts shooting each other soon, but we have something we have to look into first, and we’re taking a gamble. I’d feel bad if it turns out we’re wrong and we dragged you with us.”
“It’s not a bad idea. What is your plan? We may be willing to… What? Izzy says hello.”
“Howdy, Izzy,” Kaiden greeted her cheerfully.
“She can’t hear you since she’s not on the link, but I’ll pass it along. Now, what is y
our plan? We may be willing to help.”
The ace glanced at Chiyo, who shook her head. “Sorry, man, can’t say for now. Gotta keep a few things close to the chest. We are technically rivals right now, even if a team-up would make for a great jaunt through this deathtrap of a building.”
He heard the alien chuckle. “Very true. I suppose I’ve gotten so used to working with you it slipped my mind. I and my team have our own plans as well. I wish you the best.”
“Same here, but you’ll want to hope that our plan works out, because if it doesn’t and we both make it to the last minutes of the test… Well, I’ll admit you’re the better ace, but you have to acknowledge I’m a far better shot.”
“Perhaps, but I’ve been trained to be a warrior almost since my birth. Flashy gunplay and a headstrong attitude will only get you so far, Kaiden. You have not seen a Tsuna warrior in a proper duel.”
“True, but Genos also has a cannon. Don’t need to be terribly accurate with that,” he countered. As he turned to give the mechanist a nod, he saw that he was staring at the holoscreen with anxious eyes. “Speaking of whom, I think he wants to give you some good wishes of his own before we set off. Give me a second.” He walked over and transferred the screen to Genos, smiling as he heard the Tsuna greet his kin excitedly and relate their fights and mishaps thus far.
“Genos always brings a sort of levity to all this, doesn’t he?” Kaiden asked Chiyo as he walked up beside her.
“His honest optimism is refreshing in these situations,” she acknowledged.
“You really think that we’ll find the Director down there somewhere?” he inquired.
She walked to the edge of the ramp and looked down. “I still think it’s the most promising idea, but there are no guarantees.”
“You’re starting to sound hesitant,” he noted.
“I have to consider as many options as possible and plan accordingly. Taking precautions is always an intelligent move, as I’m sure you noted in the last room.”
“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for making sure we weren’t flambéed,” Kaiden retorted with mock chagrin. “What’s Plan B if it turns out we’re wrong?”
“It all depends on how long it will take us,” Chiyo admitted. “I don’t know how large the area we’ll need to cover is. If we find out we’re wrong quickly we can simply double back, and I’ll accede to doing this the normal way.”
“And if it takes too long?”
“Then we will have to figure out an alternative. Honor will no doubt come into play by the time we return, so we’ll have to deal with other hostile initiates along with the various traps and mobs throughout this ever-changing facility. And on top of that, the map will start shrinking soon.”
“Guess we’ll see how good we do under pressure,” Kaiden quipped.
“Thank you for going along with this.”
“What was that?” he asked, surprised by the infiltrator’s words.
“I know you probably wanted to do this like everyone else. I will also admit that it would probably be better—at least in some respects—to do it that way considering all the possibilities. But you still listened to my suggestion, and have done your part up till now. I wanted to let you know that I do acknowledge that and… Thank you for humoring me, at least.”
“It’s the least I can do. You did a lot of legwork, or a lot of hacker work and research at least,” Kaiden said with a shrug. “And like I said to Julius, I have a hot streak going with these things. I wanna keep it going.”
“I certainly don’t want to be the one to stop you,” Chiyo declared.
“Friends Chiyo and Kaiden, I have finished talking to kin Jaxon,” Genos interjected.
She took the screen from him. “Thank you for your patience, Jaxon. Sorry about being so invasive about this. I’ll disconnect the link now and put everything back together.”
“Understood, I appreciate it. Best of luck to all of you for however much longer this test runs.”
“Same to you,” she responded, canceled the link, and tapped a few more keys before closing the screen.
“Well, if there’s one nice thing about heading down instead of up, it seems that most of the traps and barriers have been deactivated already by the other teams,” Kaiden observed as they went down another floor. They were now four floors down and had passed two other teams, one of which eyed them questioningly as they headed up and another who went by without so much as a wave.
“How far down do you think it goes?” Genos asked.
“At least a hundred more feet if I had to guess,” Kaiden said looking over the side. “So about ten stories?”
“It’s rather far down. It will probably lead to some sort of cave system when we reach the bottom,” Chiyo added.
Genos looked across the square walkway they were on to see a team enter a doorway on the other side. “How do you suppose the others got stuck down here?”
“Probably teleporters like Julius’ team, or maybe elevators. There could also be secret entrances on the island like we were thinking back at the battleground,” Kaiden suggested.
“So far, this seems to be rather safe in comparison to the other, smaller rooms in the building. I would hazard a guess that most of the hallways are safer in comparison to the main rooms,” Chiyo noted.
“I would think the same, but that one vid you showed us had a team fighting in a hallway that changed to a wrecked city with droids,” the ace reminded her.
“True. Wishful thinking on my part I suppose.” She looked thoughtful as they went down another ramp to the floor below. The walkway ended only a few feet ahead in empty air. “Wait a moment.”
“What’s with the sudden drop? This place is like a modern Winchester mansion.” Kaiden sighed.
“Look ahead, Kaiden,” Genos said, pointing across the way. A spinning pad approached them and stopped just in front of the ramp. The infiltrator hopped on and beckoned the others to follow. They stepped on to the pad which began to move in reverse, transporting them across the expanse.
“Yeah, this was necessary,” Kaiden grumbled. “Could have just had a catwalk, but a floating pad will work just fine…” He groaned slightly as the device continued to rotate. “Won’t make me sick at all.”
“Deep breaths, Kaiden,” the Tsuna recommended.
“Kaiden, Genos—look,” Chiyo shouted, pointing in the air. Her companions looked where she was pointing to see a large screen in the air, followed by several more popping up both above and beneath them. The screen showed six people—other initiates, by the looks of their armor and weapons—standing in a room with rocky walls. One of them typed on a console and another on a node around which the four others had crowded.
“How much longer will this take, Carlos?” an initiate in green-and-grey armor asked.
“Only a couple more minutes. How’s the chick at the console faring?” the one working on the node inquired.
“You almost done, Katrina?” an initiate in smoky-grey armor asked, a marksman by the looks of his sniper rifle.
Katrina flashed a thumbs-up as she continued typing into the console.
“Where is this being shown from?” Kaiden asked as they reached the other side of the ravine and dismounted from the pad, turning back to the floating screen in the air.
“I don’t know. I’ll see if Kaitō can find out.” Chiyo began to scan the screen.
“You got any idea, Chief?” he asked.
“They’re only holoscreens, remotely activated. Doesn’t seem like something the system would do unless we’re missing something,” the EI answered, popping up over Kaiden’s shoulder.
“Let’s wrap this up. I feel like we’re being watched or something.” Another initiate in red armor fretted. “You sure those cameras are off, Katrina?”
She nodded again, continuing her work.
“Why is she so quiet?” Carlos asked.
“I don’t know. She’s usually a chatterbox. I was worried she would give away our position when we found the access poin
t to get in here,” the one in grey said.
“She must have gotten spooked when we went through that dark hallway before we ran into you three,” the red initiate said. “We heard a few weird thuds and some scraping, but nothing picked up on scans. I think it shook her nerves a bit.”
“Don’t blame her. We were attacked by a few bayou stalkers in the first room we made it into. Nearly used our entire explosive arsenal trying to get past them. They got hides like titanium,” the last remaining initiate, a demolitionist with a large grenade launcher on his back, grumbled.
“I know that feeling,” Kaiden muttered.
“Hey, that camera over there—it’s moving.” The marksman pointed it out.
“What?” the red Initiate exclaimed in shock. “Is something watching us? Katrina, I thought you said they were—”
Her words were cut off as a domed barrier activated around them and trapped them inside. The five initiates began pounding on the walls or trying to shoot through the barrier, but nothing happened. Kaiden watched as the node in the middle began to spark and red lights flashed. Their yells were silenced by the barrier as Katrina turned slowly from the console and walked toward them. Carlos began to work frantically on the node as the lights began to flash faster and the others seemed to yell at Katrina to do something. Then the node exploded, and smoke enveloped the dome and obscured the other initiates.
“What the hell is going on?” Kaiden stammered, aghast.
The barrier collapsed and the smoke dispersed, showing the bodies of the initiates on the floor briefly before they disappeared in white flashes. Katrina looked directly into the camera as her armor faded, revealing a slender robotic frame with a curved head and one round light in the center. It continued to stare for a moment before it began fading from the screen and eventually disappeared.
In shock, Kaiden’s team watched the screen that was now blank after the sudden and violent display. The screens vanished as if nothing had happened.
Animus Boxed Set 1 (Books 1-4): Initiate, Co-Op, Death Match, Advance Page 83
