Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - 'The Empire of the Amon'
Chapter Two: Between Hackers and Raiders
"Bloody hell." St. Petersbur Square was empty. "West said he'd meet us here," Lara called over to Bryce, who was standing in the middle of the square carrying what little luggage Lara had bothered to pack. "Shouldn't it be... a little busier?" he asked inquisitively. Before Lara could answer, Alex was running across the Square. "Speak of the devil," she sighed. "Lara!" "Er... Alex...?" "Mm-hm?" "Where is everyone?" He shrugged and kicked at the light snow at his feet. "I found some files on Solaris, but I can't access them. Can your hack do it?" Bryce wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Feel free to ask him," he yelled irately. Lara put a hand to her temples for a moment. "Okay... Bryce... just... do what he says... we've got to find that Key." Bryce folded his arms and smirked. "I know, he's a complete-" She stopped midsentence when she realised how loud she was talking. "Please, Bryce?" The dark haired man sighed and nodded dutifully. "Thank you." She turned round and whacked Alex on the back to signal they were moving, which made him jolt. "Show Bryce the stuff, then meet me at the rendez-vous point in half an hour." Alex nodded and signalled for Bryce to come over. "Oh, and West... be civil."
"The files are stored on this disk, but there's some kind of firewall or something," Alex explained to Bryce, who was accustoming himself to the mobile unit. "Right... so... let's have a look..." he muttered, and sat back in his chair as it loaded. "Hm... what in bugger's...?" He leaned forward and gazed in at the screen. "This is... really weird. Blimey, I haven't seen anything like this... bloody hell..." Alex was getting impatient. "What?!" Bryce's eyes narrowed as he looked out the corner of his eye. "Nothing you'd understand." "Are you saying I'm stupid?" "No. But if you can hold a reasonable conversation with me about emulated syntax-" "I'll be quiet." "Thank you." Bryce turned back to the screen, hands hovering about the keyboard. "Eyup. It's... a riddle. The numbers represent letters. Kid's stuff." He moved out the way so West could look. Opening up a Notepad file, he translated it instantly.
Pray tell us now these times of late Who is the one who seals their fate? The only one who could ever see The mystery of the Amon Key? The first is in angel, but not in saint The second, the first, in most cases we relate The third is last reversed in the new text of this land And the last is easy, but things are now getting out of hand...
"Well, okay... the first can either be G, E or L... which doesn't really narrow it down much," Bryce muttered, foraging for a piece of paper and a pen, and writing the letters next to each other. "'The second, the first, in most cases we relate'? That doesn't make any sense!" Alex bawled, running a hand through his mess of straggled blonde hair. "The first... cases... ha! Of course! Upper case, lower case!" Alex looked puzzled. "It's the first letter of the alphabet, you imbecile!" Bryce sighed hopelessly and wrote in the new letter under the three original letters. Alex snorted, but read the next line of text on the screen. "'The third is last reversed in the new text of this land... well, that's easy enough, it's 'R'." Bryce looked at the piece of paper to see what was written down. "Okay, so we have 'GAR', 'LAR' and 'EAR'... next line... 'and the last is easy'..." The dark haired man stared unblinking into the screen. "They know... they know, it's all a trap..." he whispered hoarsely. Alex knew something was wrong. "Bryce...?" He shook the younger man gently to try and wake him from his trance. "Lara- get Lara, they're after Lara!" he yelled, trying to stand up but not finding the strength to. "What? What the hell do you mean?" Bryce covered his face with his hands for a second. "Solaris set the riddle to protect their files. The Amon Key can only be seen-" "By those pure of heart and intuity, that means that the people working for Solaris can't find it." Bryce shook his head in disbelief. "It's all a massive set-up. They did all this to lure you here, and then they knew you'd call Lara, and now they're... WEST! YOU IDIOT!" Bryce suddenly shot up and grabbed Alex by the front of his shirt, a futile look in his eyes. "Get your arse out of here and find Lara," he growled, his eyes narrowed and cat-like as he fumed. He let go of the blonde and sank back down into his chair. Just before Alex left, he stopped at the door. "You really care for her, don't you," he said greyly to the back of the chair. "Yeah. I do." Bryce replied coldly, face in his hands. Would Alex get there in time?
Bleep bleep bleep. Bleep bleep bleep. Bryce opened his eyes and looked for where the noise was emergring. The blonde, in the fray, had left his mobile phone behind it. Cautiously, he picked it up and answered it. "Hello?" "Bryce?" "Lara! Thank the bloody Lord, are you okay?" "Yes, I'm fine, you seem spooked... where's Alex?" "Look, Lara, listen to me, you have to get away!" "What? Oh, hang on a minute, Bryce, there are some other people here." "No, Lara-" Suddenly, there was a gasp and a thud, and the phone was dropped. "LARA!" Bryce dropped the mobile as if it were made of fire and bolted out of the unit. There was still several snow-bikes left outside the mobile. "Come on, damnit, one of these has to have a key!" he scowled. At the end of the row of snow-bikes, there was a particularly bulky chrome number which happened to have the key half turned. "Thank you, God!" he muttered, before kicking the bike into action and racing up the JCB-crushed path. Eventually he reached a clearing which he assumed to be the rendez- vous point. The mobile phone lay in several pieces, surrounded by bloodstained snow. and ice-sludge. "Bugger!" he cursed, looking around for any sign of fresh tracks. He turned to get back on the bike and found himself face-to-nozzle with a gun. "Ah... afternoon, mate," he squeaked, before being hit soundly by the other end of the gun, causing him to fall to the ground in a bloody concussed heap.
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Darnit, I hate hurting Bryce :P He turns out okay though, don't worry!
Chapter Two: Between Hackers and Raiders
"Bloody hell." St. Petersbur Square was empty. "West said he'd meet us here," Lara called over to Bryce, who was standing in the middle of the square carrying what little luggage Lara had bothered to pack. "Shouldn't it be... a little busier?" he asked inquisitively. Before Lara could answer, Alex was running across the Square. "Speak of the devil," she sighed. "Lara!" "Er... Alex...?" "Mm-hm?" "Where is everyone?" He shrugged and kicked at the light snow at his feet. "I found some files on Solaris, but I can't access them. Can your hack do it?" Bryce wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Feel free to ask him," he yelled irately. Lara put a hand to her temples for a moment. "Okay... Bryce... just... do what he says... we've got to find that Key." Bryce folded his arms and smirked. "I know, he's a complete-" She stopped midsentence when she realised how loud she was talking. "Please, Bryce?" The dark haired man sighed and nodded dutifully. "Thank you." She turned round and whacked Alex on the back to signal they were moving, which made him jolt. "Show Bryce the stuff, then meet me at the rendez-vous point in half an hour." Alex nodded and signalled for Bryce to come over. "Oh, and West... be civil."
"The files are stored on this disk, but there's some kind of firewall or something," Alex explained to Bryce, who was accustoming himself to the mobile unit. "Right... so... let's have a look..." he muttered, and sat back in his chair as it loaded. "Hm... what in bugger's...?" He leaned forward and gazed in at the screen. "This is... really weird. Blimey, I haven't seen anything like this... bloody hell..." Alex was getting impatient. "What?!" Bryce's eyes narrowed as he looked out the corner of his eye. "Nothing you'd understand." "Are you saying I'm stupid?" "No. But if you can hold a reasonable conversation with me about emulated syntax-" "I'll be quiet." "Thank you." Bryce turned back to the screen, hands hovering about the keyboard. "Eyup. It's... a riddle. The numbers represent letters. Kid's stuff." He moved out the way so West could look. Opening up a Notepad file, he translated it instantly.
Pray tell us now these times of late Who is the one who seals their fate? The only one who could ever see The mystery of the Amon Key? The first is in angel, but not in saint The second, the first, in most cases we relate The third is last reversed in the new text of this land And the last is easy, but things are now getting out of hand...
"Well, okay... the first can either be G, E or L... which doesn't really narrow it down much," Bryce muttered, foraging for a piece of paper and a pen, and writing the letters next to each other. "'The second, the first, in most cases we relate'? That doesn't make any sense!" Alex bawled, running a hand through his mess of straggled blonde hair. "The first... cases... ha! Of course! Upper case, lower case!" Alex looked puzzled. "It's the first letter of the alphabet, you imbecile!" Bryce sighed hopelessly and wrote in the new letter under the three original letters. Alex snorted, but read the next line of text on the screen. "'The third is last reversed in the new text of this land... well, that's easy enough, it's 'R'." Bryce looked at the piece of paper to see what was written down. "Okay, so we have 'GAR', 'LAR' and 'EAR'... next line... 'and the last is easy'..." The dark haired man stared unblinking into the screen. "They know... they know, it's all a trap..." he whispered hoarsely. Alex knew something was wrong. "Bryce...?" He shook the younger man gently to try and wake him from his trance. "Lara- get Lara, they're after Lara!" he yelled, trying to stand up but not finding the strength to. "What? What the hell do you mean?" Bryce covered his face with his hands for a second. "Solaris set the riddle to protect their files. The Amon Key can only be seen-" "By those pure of heart and intuity, that means that the people working for Solaris can't find it." Bryce shook his head in disbelief. "It's all a massive set-up. They did all this to lure you here, and then they knew you'd call Lara, and now they're... WEST! YOU IDIOT!" Bryce suddenly shot up and grabbed Alex by the front of his shirt, a futile look in his eyes. "Get your arse out of here and find Lara," he growled, his eyes narrowed and cat-like as he fumed. He let go of the blonde and sank back down into his chair. Just before Alex left, he stopped at the door. "You really care for her, don't you," he said greyly to the back of the chair. "Yeah. I do." Bryce replied coldly, face in his hands. Would Alex get there in time?
Bleep bleep bleep. Bleep bleep bleep. Bryce opened his eyes and looked for where the noise was emergring. The blonde, in the fray, had left his mobile phone behind it. Cautiously, he picked it up and answered it. "Hello?" "Bryce?" "Lara! Thank the bloody Lord, are you okay?" "Yes, I'm fine, you seem spooked... where's Alex?" "Look, Lara, listen to me, you have to get away!" "What? Oh, hang on a minute, Bryce, there are some other people here." "No, Lara-" Suddenly, there was a gasp and a thud, and the phone was dropped. "LARA!" Bryce dropped the mobile as if it were made of fire and bolted out of the unit. There was still several snow-bikes left outside the mobile. "Come on, damnit, one of these has to have a key!" he scowled. At the end of the row of snow-bikes, there was a particularly bulky chrome number which happened to have the key half turned. "Thank you, God!" he muttered, before kicking the bike into action and racing up the JCB-crushed path. Eventually he reached a clearing which he assumed to be the rendez- vous point. The mobile phone lay in several pieces, surrounded by bloodstained snow. and ice-sludge. "Bugger!" he cursed, looking around for any sign of fresh tracks. He turned to get back on the bike and found himself face-to-nozzle with a gun. "Ah... afternoon, mate," he squeaked, before being hit soundly by the other end of the gun, causing him to fall to the ground in a bloody concussed heap.
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Darnit, I hate hurting Bryce :P He turns out okay though, don't worry!
