After hours of searching, the young agents reconvened in the room with all the computers. Felicity continued to dig for information, ignoring what was happening around her. Luckily, she had Oliver to help her organize files and run interference with the rest of the team. At some point they all were going to have to force themselves to take a break, eat, and rest. But that was a priority for later. They had to find something in that deserted hell. They were desperate for intel, and their rash idea to uncover some had to pay off. No one was sure what to do if nothing went their way. It felt as though they kept slamming into deadends. They needed some kind of breakthrough. What Max and James had discovered probably wasn't it, however, "Got clothes, music, and some other things left behind. You?"
"Amanda's torture room. Also the pipes. I think I can turn on the water so we can wash these clothes and shower before finding a better place to stay," Completely moving past the torturous items she and Kara had stumbled upon, Pj brought up another problem they had. The young agents couldn't stay at the motel another night; there was a chance the manager wouldn't let them back in after the trouble they had caused. And none of them really wanted to return to the loft just yet. They had to figure out a place to crash at other than Division. Staying the night there would've been a stupider decision than exploring the place.
The others couldn't focus on that situation, however. Eyes (besides Felicity's, which were still glued to a computer screen) snapped towards Kara and Pj. They knew of the torture Amanda used to inflict on Division recruits and agents. Yet they had believed it was more psychological than physical. The fact that she had a whole room dedicated to hurting others was jarring. Even inside a place like Division, it didn't seem quite right. The horrors ran deep, leaving scars that hadn't faded for decades. Pj was definitely affected by it as she tried her best to avoid the topic. She had lived through that moment enough. She didn't need to keep rehashing it. Instead, Kara lightly explained what they saw, "Scary needle and all."
"At least we know her torture technique hasn't changed," Max mumbled. That was all they were willing to dwell on that information, however. It wasn't anything to run off with. It just let them know that they were continuously diving into something way over their heads. The war against Division had been raging longer than the young agents were alive. To jump into it after so much pain had already passed left them constantly grasping at straws. For the millionth time, frustrations rolled over them. Yet they shoved it off to push forward- well, push forward enough to crowd around Felicity and pressure her for intel.
"Ugh. How did this even function as a code?" Hardly noticing her team around her, Felicity huffed. She was practically raised with Shadownet; she learned to hack with its coding and functions. However, what she was working with appeared ancient. It wasn't the current advanced system she was so used to working with. No wonder her parents strived to update the system over the years. The original was a piece of crap. The data was unorganized and messy, almost like whoever was running it was high off of energy drinks the entire time. If the young hacker wasn't so determined to gather intel from the outdated program, she would've rage quit.
"We're still digging. But we have missions of interest pulled up," When Felicity didn't elaborate further, Oliver translated for her. He indicated the other computers in the room the young agents could search through. Old mission logs might not be all too helpful at present, but there could still be drops of relevant information. That was what they told themselves at least. Sighing, they simply divided up the work and dove right in. There was no use in complaining or contemplating how stupid they might've been. That would mean they were giving up. And that was the last thing they could do.
"What about personnel or NOC files?" Eventually Pj wondered, earning her puzzled glances. The others had no idea what she was talking about. Not regarding personnel files, they understood that. Her team didn't know what a NOC file was. Quickly, she explained that it meant non-official cover, and that she had learned it from eavesdropping on Ryan's and Sam's conversations. It was something off book that intelligence agencies had for top secret operations. Everything about Division was a secret, so naturally it was nothing but non-official. Felicity ran with the idea without hesitation. She had already tried personnel files, unable to find anything but the standard information. But the NOC might yield something.
"There's some here. But the ones we'd want are on another server," Although confused about why that was, Felicity relayed what she had discovered. As she had with missions of interests, she selected the more impactful files for her team. She ignored the things compiled on their parents. They knew enough of their pasts; they didn't have to dig for more. Besides, there was a chance they'd read something they wouldn't like. The young agents shouldn't see their parents through the lens of Division. The things they did to survive the hell they were forced through should be kept in the dark.
Reading through what they had, the young agents began to get a better sense of their enemy. Yes, the Shop was an entirely different organization and villain than Division. But their grabs for power and money were all the same. Amanda also appeared to run the two groups the same. That was more conjecture than fact. Yet since most of them thought that way, they were going to run with it. The bitch hadn't changed how she ran her operations. She was large and in charge, everyone else barely even a pawn. She never had a right hand man or a trusted ally like Percy. She only used people to her own selfish gains. Did they really expect anything else from her, however. And did they really expect to unearth damning intel when she had had the chance to get rid of anything damaging. Max rolled his eyes at the fact, "Amanda might've deleted them when she took over Division."
"Have you seen that server room? I doubt she could work her way around that," Kara scoffed. She and Pj could barely make sense of the room when they came across it, and they had grown up around insanely gifted hackers. Amanda would've needed help to erase a file that way, and there was no way she would've told anyone what she was up to. Files could still be hidden on those giant servers. Felicity was more excited about a room full of computer stuff than that, though. Immediately, she grabbed her things and took off in the direction Pj and Kara indicated.
"Guess we'll work on that while you guys keep searching," Oliver tossed over his shoulder as he followed his girlfriend. Soft chuckles floated between the rest of the young agents as a result. Glad to know that no matter the stress, they could find some way to be ridiculous. As strange as the thought was, it helped them breathe and relax. It might feel like they were stopping the end of the world at times- and they probably were. But they could still take moments to simply be. It wasn't selfish to want that. In fact, it was the healthiest thing they could do.
"Come on. I saw an office I think belonged to Amanda. It's way too forced casual not to be," James got his chuckles under control enough to suggest. He and Max had skipped over it earlier, finding nothing of interest inside it to thoroughly search through. But after talking and thinking non-stop about the bitch, the neatly designed room had to have been her office. She covered her monstrous tendencies with disarmingly stylish flare. Her office and torture chamber had to have been the same juxtaposition. She'd lure her victim in with honey, then strike with poison. Fortunately, the young agents knew enough to not fall for it. Their eyes were open to all the truth and horrors in the world.
Someone had cleaned out the majority of the room, either Amanda or the older rogues when they liberated Division. However, there was still a couch, a desk, a vanity, and a closet to tear through. More frustrations were released as the young agents ripped things apart for anything useful. Pj was a bit more violent than the others, but by then they knew better to comment on it. They let her get her anger out, while they attempted the same. Eventually, Kara had to wonder if they'd find anything at all. Division might've been abandoned for years, yet before then, so many people had swarmed the bunker. Important items of information could've disappeared, "Any paper files would've been grabbed by the government when they swarmed the place, right?"
"If Ryan didn't go over it and it wasn't uploaded in one of the Shadow things," Max added. He could never quite wrap his head around the difference between Shadownet and Shadowbot. They were both hacker programs with complex servers and algorithms. But other than that, he was lost to the significance. People, however, he understood. Ryan had always been more desperate for intel than anybody else. He could've found some files left by Amanda and poured over them. If that was the case, then the team already had what they'd only ever be able to discover. They were constantly on the losing side when it came to information.
"Oh. I'm pretty sure Amanda is way too crafty for that," Forever too stubborn to fall for that loss of hope, Pj smirked. She yanked at the false bottom she found under the desk, confident that with the amount of dust on the surface there was still something hidden. Her hunched paid off. Numerous notebooks fell out of the desk, leading the other young agents to rush to her side. Without a second thought, they poured over the writings and flipped through the pages. Pj wanted to laugh in triumph. It felt as though she had hit the jackpot, "Look at all of these. It's all notes about the recruits. She really got into their heads. You think if we read these we can get into hers?"
"Not a bad idea. But I think we're gonna need an expert opinion on these," James recalled what Nikita had snapped at him when Pj had been taken; the older rogues knew Amanda more than anybody. It was time the young agents told their parents what they were up to. Hesitations washed over them then, but they fought past it. Pj also had to fight some negative thoughts. She knew she was losing, so she buried her head in a notebook to distract herself. The contents completely captured her attention. Max was able to call his mother on his burner cell with no one interrupting him.
Well, no one interrupted him for a little while. Oliver soon came sprinting down the hall, shouting about something he and Felicity had found. Max ended the call, and the young agents exited the office to see what was the matter. It wasn't anything detrimental like they had feared, though. Their teammate was bouncing from foot to foot with excitement. He and the hacker had gotten what they all wanted, "The severs didn't have that much more intel. But we did find a buried personnel file."
"And it's been doctored," Felicity caught up to her boyfriend, beaming. She seemed way too exhilarated about the idea. Instead of thinking it strange, however, the rest of the young agents became electrified as well. They actually got somewhere. They were making progress, and they could have the right intel to finally take down Amanda. Like when they had first reunited with their parents, things felt as though they were on the right track. There was a sliver of an end in sight, and it filled the kids with joy.