(--chapter 5: 1-800-NOS-GOTH--)
(--Remora--)
They raced along the rooftops, trying to make the 4:00 AM guard shift. They still had a half an hour, but the building surfaces of the construction district were sharp and jagged, with broken glass and plastic scattered everywhere. Then they stopped.
Looming in front of them was the Enforcer cellblock in the middle of this desolate wasteland of burned-out shells of buildings and half-done abandoned constructs. The whole thing looked like a gigantic plus sign from above, surrounded by wire and razor ribbon. The hackers knew for a fact that no less than sixteen enforcers patrolled the outer walls. The chain link was electric, and evil-looking rusty iron barbs stained with red- colored oil and grease protruded from it at every angle, looking as if they were pressure coated in blood and gore. The south building was the cellblock, where DedInDaHed should be. North was the barracks, where it could house hundreds of those armor-coated fleshy giants if need be. The west was the manufacturing block, where the power armor that Enforcers so loved to wear was made. To the east, the killing fields. People were stuck up on spikes, as examples to other hackers, rappers and all their 'kind'.
Remora didn't have to bother with any of that though. In the center was the satellite yard, where a dish the size of a dinner plate controlled the mindless moves of each and every enforcer within a 100-mile radius. If she could disconnect the dish, she might be able to shut down the mindless men that guarded the cells until another unit was put in, allowing her teammates to enter. They would take it from there, freeing DedInDaHed and escaping while total chaos ruled. They were approaching from the south, but the horrific smell of the east block still penetrated their nostrils.
Sneaking up to the barbed chain-link fence ringing the stone walls, she got as close as she could to the wires without actually touching them. The Enforcers were on top of the wall, but it was obvious they couldn't see her anyway. They never looked up or down for some reason. Maybe the armor kept them from moving their necks. Damn, this was scary. If she was caught, she might be executed... or worse, put into the enforcer armor, chipped and forced to be a mindless automaton after being strung up like a Christmas tree. DedInDaHed was low rank so he got off easy. Her, she had the entire run of a large chunk of Japan. They would not jail her, she knew. Enforcers loved examples.
She had an EZ-SHOCK, which was technically illegal. It short-circuited Enforcer armor, and fried their brain chips so they just. stopped. She could her the metallic clank of the patrolling steel suits, headed away from her. She waited a good long while after they left, then put on rubber- covered steel gloves so she could grip the fence. The climb was a mere work of moments. Vaulting over the other side, she ducked back into the shadow of the wall's overhang. She was in, and she could tell she was in for a little havoc.
*clank... clank... clank... sheek! Whirrrr...* "Intruder breach on south-west block corner! Full alert! Subject: hacker leader!"
"SHIT!"
She'd been spotted! Cursing loudly and at length, she knew no enforcer would combat a hacker without backup. She dashed, making full tilt to the center block. Her only hope was to pull the plug on the dish, and fend off the security until she got there. She was fast, and she knew it. She just had to keep running. One hundred yards... ninety... eighty... seventy...
*krbzzt*
"EAAAUGH!"
she hit the ground tumbling. An Enforcer had gotten lucky with his weapon, leaving a red welt across her back. That was all it did though, he'd mostly missed. Getting up, she continued to sprint. What was that fizzing noise? Did it strike sparks's... thingie? No time to think, now. Fifty... forty... god, they really didn't care what they hit, did they? They shot at whatever was nearby, whether it moved or not. Apparently they hadn't very good programmers at the capital. Twenty... ten... she was close. So close. She couldn't get shot now. They couldn't fire at her for fear of hitting the dish, could they? Five yards... she leapt, knowing the plug would be round the back.
*clang*
she'd hit. an Enforcer? She'd run straight into a steel suit with his stunner raised, pointing at her square in the face. Aww hell, at this distance it wouldn't just shock her, it would kill her!
She flipped the Time-slow's switch.
They raced along the rooftops, trying to make the 4:00 AM guard shift. They still had a half an hour, but the building surfaces of the construction district were sharp and jagged, with broken glass and plastic scattered everywhere. Then they stopped.
Looming in front of them was the Enforcer cellblock in the middle of this desolate wasteland of burned-out shells of buildings and half-done abandoned constructs. The whole thing looked like a gigantic plus sign from above, surrounded by wire and razor ribbon. The hackers knew for a fact that no less than sixteen enforcers patrolled the outer walls. The chain link was electric, and evil-looking rusty iron barbs stained with red- colored oil and grease protruded from it at every angle, looking as if they were pressure coated in blood and gore. The south building was the cellblock, where DedInDaHed should be. North was the barracks, where it could house hundreds of those armor-coated fleshy giants if need be. The west was the manufacturing block, where the power armor that Enforcers so loved to wear was made. To the east, the killing fields. People were stuck up on spikes, as examples to other hackers, rappers and all their 'kind'.
Remora didn't have to bother with any of that though. In the center was the satellite yard, where a dish the size of a dinner plate controlled the mindless moves of each and every enforcer within a 100-mile radius. If she could disconnect the dish, she might be able to shut down the mindless men that guarded the cells until another unit was put in, allowing her teammates to enter. They would take it from there, freeing DedInDaHed and escaping while total chaos ruled. They were approaching from the south, but the horrific smell of the east block still penetrated their nostrils.
Sneaking up to the barbed chain-link fence ringing the stone walls, she got as close as she could to the wires without actually touching them. The Enforcers were on top of the wall, but it was obvious they couldn't see her anyway. They never looked up or down for some reason. Maybe the armor kept them from moving their necks. Damn, this was scary. If she was caught, she might be executed... or worse, put into the enforcer armor, chipped and forced to be a mindless automaton after being strung up like a Christmas tree. DedInDaHed was low rank so he got off easy. Her, she had the entire run of a large chunk of Japan. They would not jail her, she knew. Enforcers loved examples.
She had an EZ-SHOCK, which was technically illegal. It short-circuited Enforcer armor, and fried their brain chips so they just. stopped. She could her the metallic clank of the patrolling steel suits, headed away from her. She waited a good long while after they left, then put on rubber- covered steel gloves so she could grip the fence. The climb was a mere work of moments. Vaulting over the other side, she ducked back into the shadow of the wall's overhang. She was in, and she could tell she was in for a little havoc.
*clank... clank... clank... sheek! Whirrrr...* "Intruder breach on south-west block corner! Full alert! Subject: hacker leader!"
"SHIT!"
She'd been spotted! Cursing loudly and at length, she knew no enforcer would combat a hacker without backup. She dashed, making full tilt to the center block. Her only hope was to pull the plug on the dish, and fend off the security until she got there. She was fast, and she knew it. She just had to keep running. One hundred yards... ninety... eighty... seventy...
*krbzzt*
"EAAAUGH!"
she hit the ground tumbling. An Enforcer had gotten lucky with his weapon, leaving a red welt across her back. That was all it did though, he'd mostly missed. Getting up, she continued to sprint. What was that fizzing noise? Did it strike sparks's... thingie? No time to think, now. Fifty... forty... god, they really didn't care what they hit, did they? They shot at whatever was nearby, whether it moved or not. Apparently they hadn't very good programmers at the capital. Twenty... ten... she was close. So close. She couldn't get shot now. They couldn't fire at her for fear of hitting the dish, could they? Five yards... she leapt, knowing the plug would be round the back.
*clang*
she'd hit. an Enforcer? She'd run straight into a steel suit with his stunner raised, pointing at her square in the face. Aww hell, at this distance it wouldn't just shock her, it would kill her!
She flipped the Time-slow's switch.