The Tenth Class
Chapter 2: First Impressions
It was becoming evening with light gray clouds moving in overhead. Rose kept completely still as she saw a shimmer of a light that could have been the flash of a sniper's scope. After a moment of complete stillness, she slowly started to move her left arm to her backpack that she took off when she climbed the hill to the top of the cliff.
"Rose? What are you doing? If that is a sniper, he's gonna shoot you if you move!" Wheatly frantically whispered to her.
"If he hasn't shot me yet, then he's waiting for something," Rose said calmly.
"Like what?!" Wheatly said frantically again.
"I don't know. It's not like I'm a freaking mind reader, Wheatly," Rose said.
"Oh, fair 'nough," Wheatly said.
When Wheatly didn't add anymore to his sentence, Rose continued to slowly move her arm to her bag. Once there, she undid the strap and felt around for what she was looking for. After a few seconds, her hand came across what felt like a pair of binoculars.
"Oh thank goodness they survived the crash," she said with relief.
"What did?" Wheatly asked.
"My binoculars," she answered as she slowly pulled them out of her bag, not taking her eyes off where she saw the shimmer.
She slowly brought the binoculars up to her face and looked through them at the spot she saw the shimmer, and focused them on the site. As she thought, there was a sniper looking directly at her, sitting behind a rock that covered most of his body from sight and the barrel of his gun pointed and ready to fire.
What she made out was that he was a lean man, with a bit of a grizzled face. He wore a hat that looked like it was from Australia, along with brown aviator sunglasses that covered his eyes. He had a bit of a five o'clock shadow and wore a brown vest that was over a red shirt. Rose could barely make out the insignia that he had on his left arm (the only one she could see) and it appeared to look like cross hairs from a scope.
For a moment all the two did was look at each other, not moving, lightly breathing. Then, to break the stillness and to really see if the sniper was really watching her, she pulled her right hand away from her binoculars and lightly waved her hand to him. Much to her surprise, and chagrin, he moved his left hand from holding the front of his rifle, and did a light wave back.
"Well, crap. He really is watching," she said with a bit of worry to her voice.
"Really? What gave you that idea?" Wheatly said sarcastically.
"Shut up," Rose responded curtly. She then decided what she should do next, and after a short moment, she moved her right hand again, but this time she formed it to where she pointed her thumb to her back and motioned her hand, signifying that she was going to move back the way she came. The sniper grinned lightly, and lightly shook his head up and down, giving her permission to move.
She saw his reaction, not bothering to question his decision, and pulled her binoculars down from her face. She then started to crawl backwards down the hill and once she knew she was out of sight, she started to get up as she moved down the hill.
"Wait, did he just let you go?" Wheatly said, sounding a bit relieved.
"Yup, I guess he did," Rose responded.
"Well, see! I told you they might be good guys!" Wheatly said, trying to prove the point he made earlier.
"Hmmm, no I think that sniper just gave us a warning," she said.
"Oh, what? C'mon, you can't still be thinking these guys are bad?"
"I don't know what they are, but I know something big is happening her."
"Why do you say that?" Wheatly asked. Rose kept moving down the hill.
"Because that facility was HUGE," she said with a huff as jumped over a log.
"So? They can be doing something small too, ya know," Wheatly said.
"No...something else is going on here," Rose said as she got to the bottom of the hill. "And I'm going to find out what."
"And how do you know that? And how are you even going to find out?" Wheatly asked, almost opposing her plan.
"Well, for starters, there is always something going on if you have a guy appearing from thin air, and people calling him 'Spy'," she began, starting to head in the opposite direction that the came from.
"So? What if he..."
"AND, why would you have nine men guarding a facility this big? Some of them holding massive weapons?" She continued, as she kept moving, her rib not hurting as much. "Plus, we still need to get in there to find something to heal me enough to get out of these mountains."
"Ugh," Wheatly huffed. "Fine. So what if your right? How do even propose getting in to that place without being spotted?"
"Well, for starters, we are going to the place that sniper was," Rose began to explain.
"What? Are you crazy?! You even said it yourself, if wanted to kill us, he certainly could've!" Wheatly panicked. "And what are ya going to do if he's still there, hmm? You are in no shape to fight."
"Wheatly, you know we've been in worse situations than this," Rose said reassuringly.
"Even so...I just don't want you to get hurt even more," the AI said concerning.
"Hey, I'll be alright. I mean, how hard is it going to be, really?" she said.
"Well, you sure seem confident about this."
"You gotta be, buddy. Besides, that sniper probably isn't even there anymore."
"What makes you say that?" Wheatly asked, a bit skeptical.
"It's getting dark, for starters. And he didn't look like he had any night time gear on or around him. So that means he would have to go and get them," Rose explained as she continued to make her way to where she saw the sniper, laying low in case someone might still be out in the woods.
"If that is the case, then what do you expect to do when you get there?" Wheatly asked.
"Well, I'm going to get a better understanding of that facility so I know where to go when I get in there," she answered.
"Okay, and what exactly do you want me to do?" the AI asked, wanting to be a bit useful.
"I need you to be my extra pair of eyes and tell me if there are any people that could make their way towards us," Rose instructed.
"Then in that case, I'll keep thermals up in case someone does manage to find their way out here in the dark," Wheatly said. "Speaking of which, do you have anything in that pack of yours that can help you see in the dark?"
"Well," Rose started as she stopped moving and reached into her pack. "If I remember correctly I think I brought some NV goggles, in case of emergencies." Rose then pulled out a black pair of goggles, looked at them and was relieved to see that they weren't damaged in the crash.
"Oh, well, good to see you didn't listen to my advice about not bring them due to it being just a waste of space," Wheatly said, sounding like he was hurt about being ignored.
"Aw, don't feel bad, Wheatly. Sometimes I just listen to my instincts more than you," Rose said, trying to lighten the mood with a bit of a joke.
"Oh, okay then," Wheatly said disappointed.
"Hey c'mon now, I was only kidding. You are the best thing I have ever invented. And don't you forget that," Rose said reassuringly.
"Hm, I won't," the AI said a bit happier this time.
"Good! Now, it's time to focus," Rose said as they neared the spot where they first encountered the sniper.
Rose knelt down behind a large tree trunk that laid just below the hill where the sniper was, and put on her NV goggles. Once on, she switched them on and began to look around, not seeing anyone near-by. Once she knew she was alone, Rose turned her attention to the hill, and looking up, didn't see any signs of anyone being there.
"Well, the goggles seem to be doing good," Rose finally said, keeping her voice down in case someone might hear her. "Wheatly, any signs of heat signs of people?" A moment of silence passed, then Wheatly finally responded.
"Not that I can see," he said. "You might actually be right about the sniper leaving, Rose."
"Yeah, but I want to be sure," Rose said quietly.
With that, she started to make her way up the hill as quietly as possible, hoping that the sniper had actually left. As she continued to make her way up the hill, her right knee landed on a thick twig, and the twig gave a loud 'SNAP!' Rose froze, breathing and all, eyes widened and heart pumping, all while she kept her eyes on the horizon of the hill. Nothing happened. She didn't see anyone come from the top of the hill, and after a long moment, she then continued to move up the hill.
Once she was almost at the top, she broke her gaze to the top and looked around for something that she could use to defend herself with in case things got too messy. She found a good sized stick that was thick enough to do some damage if used correctly, grabbed it, and slowly stood up to a crouch. She moved as lightly as possible to the top, and once there, she froze. He was gone. There was no sign that he had even been there in the first place except for an indent in the dirt right next to the rock that showed where he had been kneeling.
"Well that's a relief," Wheatly blurted out, breaking the silence, and almost making Rose jump.
"Wheatly!" Rose snapped in a whisper.
"What? He obviously isn't here anymore, like ya said. And I don't detect anyone's thermals coming for us," Wheatly stated.
"Ugh," Rose sighed, "Just next time, try not to be so loud when you blurt something out."
"Okay, geez. Didn't realize you were so easy to scare, Miss Jumpy-pants," Wheatly teased.
"Oh hush, you know I was concentrating," Rose said, defending herself.
"Uh-huh, that's what they all say," he said, still teasing.
"Alright, that's enough. Now that we know that the sniper isn't here, we should look over this facility," Rose instructed, trying to keep her AI on track.
"Okay, I'll stop teasing," Wheatly said.
"Thank you. Now, we need to get a good layout of this facility," Rose said.
Rose looked over the giant rock and analyzed the her best route through this facility. What she saw first was a tall concrete building to the back of the facility to her right that had 'MANN CO.' in giant gray letters.
"Mann Co.?" Rose muttered.
"What was that?" Wheatly asked.
"Oh, uh, apparently this facility belongs to Mann Co.," she replied.
"Huh. I think I've heard of them," Wheatly said. "Hold on while I dig around my memory banks for some info."
While she waited, Rose continued to survey the facility. Apart from the giant eye-sore of a building, Rose noticed many smaller wooden buildings scattered throughout the area. She also noticed that the whole area seemed to be a type of lumber yard she guessed. Judging by the direction the sun went down, she figured the front of the facility faced the west, and that's where she saw two large wooden barriers. 'Well, I'm certainly not getting in through there,' she thought to herself. From what she saw, though, Rose figured out a way to get down to the facility by making her way down to red-ish, wooden building that connected directly with a lower hill that was below her current location. 'Hmm, that might just work. Then I could just follow that path from that building that heads directly to the giant concrete building,' she planned.
"Wheatly, did you find anything?" Rose asked, breaking the silence.
"Huh? Oh yeah! But just a bit," the AI responded.
"Well, what did you find?" Rose asked again.
"I found out that Mann Co. is a typical gun-runner company, run by an Australian that goes by the name Saxton Hale," he started.
"Huh. That name sounds familiar. Anything else?"
"Just their slogan: 'We sell products and get in fights.' And that's about it," Wheatly finished.
"What? That sounds...oh! Now I know where I've heard that name! He runs the company with the ridiculous fighting rules and everything. Remember?" Rose pointed out.
"Really? That seems a bit...extreme, doesn't it?" Wheatly said.
"Yeah, I know, but he's one of those guys that has enough money to do whatever the hell he wants, and doesn't care who it effects," Rose said.
"Well, okay then. And this facility belongs to him?" the AI asked, a bit nervous now.
"I guess so. Anyways, I figured a way in. Ready to go?" she said, starting to stand.
"Well, considering that I'm just a chip in the back of your head, I can't really say no, can I?" Wheatly said sarcastically.
"Of course you can. I'm just going to ignore it and go anyways," Rose said with a smirk.
"Yeah, I thought so. Well, let's go...but take it easy. My physical scan shows that you can't really handle straining yourself," Wheatly warned.
"Yes dad," she teased. And with that, she moved back down the hill.
Once down, she made her way to the left, back the way they came, but once she came to the edge of the hill, she once again made her way down. It took her about 17 minutes until she came to a thin metal fence that kept her from the red, wooden building.
"Well, that's great. What now?" Wheatly whined.
"Hmm, let me see what I have in my pack," Rose said, while she pulled off her backpack. She rummaged around inside until her hand cam across something cold and metal feeling. "Ah, there it is!" she said as she pulled out a multi-tool from her bag.
"Seriously? You're going to cut through the fence...with that?" Wheatly said unimpressed.
"Well frankly, yes. This fence seems to lack any type of thickness to keep intruders out," Rose pointed out.
"Oh yeah? What about the barbed wire on top?" Wheatly asked, trying to disprove her.
"Just for show," she said curtly.
Wheatly didn't bother responding. When he didn't, Rose continued with what she was going to do, and began to cut through certain kinks in the fence that would allow a big enough hole for her to squeeze through. She was actually bluffing when she said that the fence wasn't sturdy enough, because she didn't actually think cutting through them with a multi-tool would work. But much to her surprise, she mad the first cut and it didn't give her any trouble.
After about seven minutes cutting, she made a hole big enough to fit through. She put her multi-tool back in her sack and then proceeded through the whole. She jumped down onto a concrete floor and took a brief look around. To her right was a set of stairs going to another wooden building, and to her left (a little further away) there was a doorway leading into the red wooden building. After thinking for a few seconds, Rose darted to the right up the stairs and into the other wooden building. When she entered she looked right and noticed a giant doorway that exposed here a great deal. Rose froze, waiting to see if anyone came by and when no one did, she looked around calmly for some cover, and directly in front of her was a smaller doorway, much like the one she came through next to a window that was out of sight from the giant doorway. She then ducked behind the wall, and out of sight.
"What are you doing?!" Wheatly whispered frantically.
"Just a bit of a change of plans," she said reassuringly.
"Why?" Wheatly asked, still unsure of her angle.
"Well," Rose began, trying to keep her voice down, "if we go this way, it'll allow us to get closer to the tall concrete building, that, keep in mind, might have medical supplies."
"How do we even know there is actual medical supplies in there?" Wheatly pushed.
"Well, we won't know until we find out," Rose said crouching down behind a wall and putting her hand up to the left side of her torso where the broken rib was. With all of this strenuous exercise, the pain wasn't keeping her from moving and she kept fighting it back so she could focus on other things. But, of course, that's what she's used to.
She remembered all the jobs after Aperture, the missions with all those secret organizations, all those dangerous contracts that put her through more and more hazardous situations. This wasn't anything new, but she did wish she didn't have to go through it anymore. That's why she was actually looking forward to this contest. It was supposed to give her a chance to start over. Have a new life, with a clean slate. She wasn't proud of her past, the things she did, even if she had to do them to survive. Rose knew she couldn't forget her past, her old memories; but she had a chance to make new ones, with a family even.
"Rose?" Wheatly called, breaking Rose's concentration.
"Huh? What's wrong?" she responded softly, remember where they were currently.
"Nothing yet. You just looked like you were lost in your thoughts again. Are you...are you okay?" the AI asked her concerned.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm just fine. Let's get this done so we can get out of here," Rose said as she began to stand slowly. "Okay, Wheatly, what do your scans say?"
"Hmm, lemme see," he began as Rose poked her head over the edge of the window to get a look at what she might be running into. "There is a sentry over to the left. Looks like its fully automatic with rocket launchers..." Rose looked to the left and noticed the sentry passed a pile of boxes and next to a door. "There also seems to be two beings just past the door, and about five more further in the building, scattered."
"That only gives me seven. Where are the other two?" Rose asked, remembering that there were nine men total.
"Hmmm, oh the other two are closer to the front of the compound," Wheatly confirmed. "They seem to just be relaxing."
"Okay..." Rose said as she continued looking around for a way inside. Her eyes continued on to the right, and found a direct path; from the door to her right, she could go across a small wooden bridge onto a concrete platform, down some concrete stairs, and hug the wall under the windows that along the walls. "I have a plan, but I need you to be completely quiet so we don't get noticed."
"What are you talking about? I'm always quiet!" Wheatly said, sounding accused.
"Oh yeah? Now, remind me, how loud were you when we were on the cliff?" Rose said.
"I was...now I didn't mean...oh fine. You're right," Wheatly huffed, defeated.
"That's what I thought. Now let's go," Rose said, giving one finally push.
Rose moved slowly to the door to her right and poked out to make sure nothing changed; everything seemed clear. She looked towards the sentry that was passed the stack of three boxes and saw that she was out of sight. Rose smiled and continued to move slowly along the wooden bridge, not taking her eyes off of where the sentry was. She made it to the concrete platform and continued until she made it to the wall. Once there, she looked at the sentry and was barely able to make out the back of the sentry. Keeping that in mind, Rose hugged the wall and started to make her way slowly towards the door.
As she slowly crouched, hugging the wall to avoid being seen from the windows, Rose contemplated on how she was going to get passed the sentry without being detected. She looked down, trying to find something to throw, and she saw an empty beer bottle lying near one of the crates. She kept moving, but Wheatly whispered and startled her, almost making her lose her balance.
"Rose..." the AI whispered.
"Geez!" Rose snapped, almost falling forward. "What the hell, Wheatly?!"
"Sorry, sorry, I just wanted to inform you that there is another door just past this corner. So there are two doors," he informed her.
"Oh, okay good. That saves me the trouble to try and figure out a way passed those two guards past the other doors," Rose said with relief.
"You're welcome," Wheatly said.
The AI became quiet again and Rose continued to make her way forward. When she was close enough, she darted next to the creates of boxes and picked up the empty beer bottle that lied next to them. As she picked it up, she looked up at the set of windows that were in between the two metal doors, and saw two of the men walk up right to them. Recognizing them to be the one with the hard-hat and the other with the ski mask, Rose's heart skipped a beat, realizing she was in plain view.
She froze for a moment again, noticing that they were just talking and not looking out the window. After that moment passed, Rose relaxed and quickly figured she could be out of sight behind the creates, so in a flash she darted backwards behind the create she was next to, put of sight of both the window to her left and the sentry to her right.
"Talk about a rock and a hard place, am I right?" Wheatly jokingly whispered to her.
"Yeah...this is definitely not going to be easy," Rose whispered back. "Are they still there?"
"Lemme check thermals...no, they went back to the right of us, it's all clear," Wheatly quietly informed her.
"Good, now let's hope this works," Rose said as she moved next to the creates again, still out of sight of the sentry.
Rose figured she had about ten to thirteen seconds after she threw the bottle until the sentry would turn around and focus on her. All she could hope for is that the metal door wasn't too heavy to lift. She got into a running stance, but still crouched, her rib hurting a bit as she stood.
"Okay Wheatly, get ready to tell me if there will be anyone coming my way when I get through this," Rose informed her AI.
"Don't worry, I've got your back," Wheatly responded.
"Okay...three...two...one..." Rose then threw the bottle over the creates and bolted to the door.
Behind her she could hear the sentry make a loud double-beeping noise, hoping that it wasn't locking onto her as she made it to the door. Once near she heard a bottle shattering and not two seconds later the double-beeping again. Rose panicked as she got to the door, only to be relieved that the door automatically opened as she approached. She slid in at the tinniest opening over to the closest cover to her left which was just enough space to give her cover from both the sentry outside and the two men inside on the other side. After she made it through, the metal door closed immediately, sheltering her even more from the sentry.
"What was zhat," Rose heard a French voice say.
"Hm, was probably nothin'," a Texan voice replied. "Pro'lly just a bird again."
"But it went off twice," the French voice said again. "We should go look just in case. Zhere was a plane crash not too long ago, remember?"
"Yeah, I guess yer right," the Texan voice agreed. Rose poked her head around the left corner to see the two men make their way out the door. As soon as they were out of sight, Rose analyzed her surroundings quickly. A little ways in front of her, but to the left, was a set of double doors that were wide oped and that led into a dimly lit hallway. Guessing that there was no one else near by, Rose made a quick dash to the doorway, and as soon she passed through she leaned up against the wall to her immediate left, and crouched to one knee.
"See, I told ya there wasn't anythin' there, Spy," a Texan voice said as a metal door opened.
"Hmm, you may be right," a French voice replied. "But where'd that broken glass come from?"
"Pro'lly just Scout and Demo tryin' to see how far the other can through their beer bottles. They are standin' out near the front, and Scout's got one helluva throw," the Texan proposed.
"Hmm, I suppose. Anyways, where were we?" the Frenchman said, wanting to pick up where the two left off.
Knowing that she was in the clear, Rose relaxed a bit and took a deep, quiet breath. As she did, though, her rib started to hurt more as her adrenaline wore off. 'I gotta keep moving,' Rose thought. She slowly stood to crouch and started to make her way down the hallway slowly, keeping her ears and eyes open for anyone near by. As she slowly made her way down, she noticed that it wasn't that long of a hallway, and that further down to her right there was another set of double doors, but these ones were closed.
"Wheatly, do you think that there is a medical bay through those doors down there?" Rose whispered to her AI.
"Hmm, I can check..." Wheatly replied quietly as he trailed off. "Yes! Yes, it's a medical bay! I finally got a lay-out of the place now that we are inside!"
"That's great..." Rose said with a sigh of relief.
"The best part is no one is inside," Wheatly informed her.
"Nice," she said.
Rose continued to make her way down the hallway to the set of double doors. Once there, she opened them slightly to see if there was anything there that could give her some immediate relief from her pain. Not seeing anyone around, she noticed a few things that surprised her.
To her far left was a surgery bed, with all the normal tools and equipment one would need for a surgery. That was normal; what caught her attention was the giant device that loomed over the bed. At the bottom of this device was a tube filled with some red substance that Rose had never seen before. It was emitting some red beam from it as well. It was attached to all sorts of wires and what not that Rose thought that it was just thrown together haphazardly. The other thing that caught her attention was the weird amount of white doves that housed in this medical bay.
Rose stood up and slowly walked into the room, cautiously, and made her way over the device. The doves just watched her move, some not even caring that she was here. When she was close, the red beam that emanated around the opening of the tube whisked over to her body.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa man. What is this?" Rose said surprised.
"I'm...I'm not sure," Wheatly responded. "It's messing with my scans, but whatever it is it's healing you!"
"Yeah it is!" Rose said, feeling all the exhaustion leaving her body, the pain in her ribs fleeing. She felt re-energized and ready to get the hell out of there. It only took a short moment for Rose to feel like she could do anything again
"Well, looks like you're all healed up!" Wheatly said.
"Good! Now let's get the hell out of here," Rose said as she was readying to turn around.
"Wait, Rose!" Wheatly began to warn, but it was too late. Out of no where, there was a massive hit to the back of Rose's head, causing a sharp pain and instantly knocking the young woman out cold. She fell to the floor, and as her vision dimmed out, the last thing she saw was a black boot stepping in front of her, and hearing the low chuckle of a sinister laugh.
Hey everyone! Something I forgot to mention in the last chapter is that I will be posting chapters to this story every two weeks on a Friday. I couldn't do it this Friday because I had family visiting, but hopefully I will be able to post up new chapters every two weeks. Why so long, you ask? Because School, and work, and well, life in general. That and I don't want to push myself too much. So here is the second chapter and the third will be posted in two weeks (from this past Friday)!
