The diamond was located on the fourth floor, in a lab that was laid out quite similarly to the CIA's, security wise that is. An electronic key code was used to enter, along with the hand print of an authorized employee. Having worked at SD-6 for the amount of years she had, she had obtained full prints of all the employees. Vaughn had taken it upon himself to make a copy of the hand prints of a SD-6 lab worker so that Sydney could open the lab door.
The mission was this: Sydney would go into SD-6 to retrieve the crystal alone, to make things go quickly. Sydney would use the hand copy to enter the lab. The crystal was located in a safe in the back of the lab. With the help of one of the CIA's many safe-crackers, Sydney would open the safe, retrieve the crystal, and report back to Weiss and Vaughn who were waiting in the SD-6 parking lot.
They arrived at the SD-6 building in a matter of minutes, and with a last look at Vaughn, Sydney headed into the building. Since it was after hours and Sydney was no longer a functional member of the Alliance, she avoided the elevator. The stairs required a key to enter any door onto an SD-6 floor, which Sydney possessed, but wasn't planning on using. For even the use of the stairs required an agent to be scanned into the SD-6 offices, and she couldn't allow security section to be alerted.
By the third floor, a ventilation shaft was visible, and after quickly removing the screen, Sydney was in. "I'm in the ventilation shaft, third floor," Sydney said into her com-piece. "I need some direction."
"Ok," Vaughn said, looking over Weiss's shoulder at the map of SD-6. "Continue straight ahead. Turn left at the first tunnel on your left, and keep making left turns."
"How many?" Sydney asked.
"Three, then you want to take a right, and a left. You'll then be on the fourth floor." Sydney followed Vaughn's directions, and when she reached the final left turn, she looked around for a vent so she could drop down into the room. She spied one about ten feet from where she was. She removed the vent and looked down. It was about a fifteen-foot drop, so she undid the rope that she had tied around her waist and tied it to a pipe that was protruding from the vent. She let the rope hang down, and began to claim down slowly to avoid rope burn.
The foggy glass doors of the lab were visible from where she was standing, and she quickly began to walk towards the lab. Pulling out the copied hand print, which was made out of some sort of plastic material, she put it on. With the other hand, she began to enter in the key code. It only took a few seconds, and Sydney was in the lab.
Not wasting any time, Sydney headed to the back of the lab, looking for the safe. "Vaughn, I don't have visual on safe," Sydney whispered into her com.
"Just a second." Weiss typed furiously on the computer and located Sydney's position and compared it to the position of the safe. "It should be right in front of you."
"I don't see it," Sydney said, as she walked closer. She moved her hand up and down the wall and could faintly make out a slight space in the wall. A closer look revealed that the space made a complete square.
"I don't know what to tell you, Syd, maybe our source was wrong," Vaughn said, sounding slightly disappointed.
'No, there is something here, I just can't figure out how to open it." Sydney took her knuckles and rapped on it to see if was hallow, and the door swung open, revealing a small black safe. "I found it." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a device to open the safe. She hooked it up to the safe, and turned it on. A quick but silent beep signaled that the safe was open, and Sydney unhooked the device. She pulled open the safe a spied the watch, lying in the back. Sydney pulled out the watch, and placed in her pocket. She closed the safe quickly, and headed towards the vent.
She opened and closed the lab door, and headed towards the dangling rope, just as she spied three security guards running towards her, armed. She ran for the rope, and climbed frantically to the top. The guards had already opened fire. Sydney reached the air vent and quickly undid the knot that she had tied to the pipe. Gunshots were blasting in the vent, echoing loudly through the metal. Sydney however, continued to crawl through the shaft, trying to remember the way she had previously traveled, as the air ducts creaked and groaned.
Suddenly, the metal support that held one end of the tunnel that Sydney occupied collapsed. Sydney reached for the nearest metal pipe and slowly began to pull herself away from the collapsed duct that had turned into a sort of slide. "Vaughn!" she said into her com through clenched teeth. "I need an out, fast!"
Weiss was already typing furiously on the keyboard. "Take your first left out of there, Syd." Sydney didn't say a word as she continued to climb up out of the fallen duct. She breathed a sigh of relief until the firing ceased and she was able to make out the noise of one of the vents being removed.
"Shit," Sydney said under her breath.
"Syd, you okay?" Vaughn asked concerned.
"I've got a guard on my tail. I need up to the minute directions," Sydney said as she began crawling furiously down the tunnel to the left.
"Take your next right," Weiss said. Sydney crawled into the tunnel to her right just as her pursuer got a shot off, missing her by inches. "Then take the tunnel to your left."
Sydney took the tunnel just as another shot was fired. He was gaining on her. Sydney continued down the tunnel, and her heart quickened. "Weiss, it's a dead end," she said panicking slightly. "I need direction."
Vaughn looked anxiously over Weiss's shoulder. "Why does the map say there's a tunnel?"
"I don't know, I don't know," Weiss said, typing furiously. Meanwhile Sydney was taking in her options. She spied a vent not far from where she was. Not caring where it might lead to, she kicked it open and dropped down onto another office floor. She took a quick scan of the office and dove under the nearest desk that completely covered the feet area from any onlookers.
Sydney heard the thud of her pursuer hitting the ground. Sydney scanned the wooden wall in front of her a spied a tiny hole. She moved her eye to it and saw the man. His back was currently towards her, but his arms were outstretched with a weapon in hand. Sydney moved slowly to her feet, being quiet not to make any noise.
Just as he was about to turn around to scour the area behind him, Sydney came running at him and delivered a kick to the back of his knees, causing them to buckle. He fell to his knees as Sydney gave him a sharp blow to the head. He was down in no town.
Sydney ran to her right where a sign labeled "stairs" was located, and took them two at a time. She was only one floor away from the parking lot when a shot from above was fired. Sydney continued down the stairwell when a second shot ran out, grazing her arm. Sydney ignored the pain that ripped through the injury, and kept running.
She reached the bottom and pushed open the door. "I'm the parking lot." Sydney said, just as Vaughn pulled up in the vehicle that he had "borrowed" from the CIA. Weiss opened the sliding side door, and Sydney jumped in, just as the guard came bursting through the door. The red tail lights lit up the parking lot in mockery.