Gogo exited the elevator out into the trainees' apartments, where the guard earlier she had met stood over his fallen comrade whose pistol and ammo clip had scattered to the floor.
"There's a Seeker down there," the SSC guard told Gogo, taking in her bloodied countenance. "I guess I gotta take him out."
"Him or her?" Gogo cocked her head.
"Who cares?" the guard replied after a pause. "I'd go in, but you never know - it might be good to have backup."
His gaze on her was trusting and she knew it, but she couldn't summon any pity for it. She stared at him.
"Do you have a knife?"
"No," he paused. "You think a knife's any good against bullets?"
"Not against bullets," Gogo frowned.
"Are you doing this or what?" the soldier was becoming increasingly panicked, and Gogo let out a shrill cry.
"Help!" Gogo wailed, beating her fists on the ground with a tremor.
"What - what are you - " the SSC guard clenched his teeth, and raised his pistol as Gogo's ministrations caused footsteps around the corner to hurry, and he saw that dreaded hood of a seeker come forth.
Shots rang out from both sides as Gogo recovered, her baton whirling in a thrown arc towards the seeker who was knocked back from the impact. Gogo rushed forth as though about to win the final lap of a race and toppled a nearby statue on top of the seeker who moaned in dismay, clutching for air.
Gogo kicked the seeker while she was down and she remained still, only barely breathing. Gogo glanced up to see the guard moaning, for he had been shot in the right arm with which he wielded his pistol.
"What's the matter with you?" he growled, concerned by her attitude and tactics.
"You're shot," Gogo sat by his side, taking his injured arm and breaking it with a snap. His yowl of pain set her nerves on edge and she punched him in the face for that. He lay cold upon the carpet.
"Please make way," came the trill of a cleaning bot who made her jump. She hated being snuck up on.
Gogo watched the cleaning bot whirr and avoid the solid objects, the blood staining the carpet. Nearby was one of the trainees' apartments; a quick look helped her come to the conclusion that they had already fled.
She searched the apartments but found little; she headed towards her own and heard Billie buzz her infolink with a burst of static that made Gogo smash her head on the kitchen counter. Blood ran from a thin line and she saw stars.
"Now watch the ceiling as I cut the power."
Gogo clutched her head and glanced upwards, to where the smooth surface of the ceiling fell away as though digitized and she saw, with a sudden clamour of panic, the faces of a man and a woman in white lab coats looking down on her. Her eyes narrowed in retribution.
" - you don't think she can see us?"
"The sound barrier's down. She can hear everything, too."
"Well, let's hope she has a sense of humour - "
Gogo leapt atop the kitchen counter and the tall cupboards, feeling like Godzilla as she stood amidst what was her former ceiling, and glaring at the two in lab coats who watched her from behind a viewing glass.
Gogo took a running leap for the window and both the man and the woman shrieked as she bounced off the glass and landed flat on her back, all the breath going out of her at once.
Stars made her dizzy and her vision began to cloud; but like pollution cleanup, the fog began to recede. Blood pumped in her veins and adrenaline coursed through her. It was time to proceed.
She rose and headed for the bathroom door which had been left ajar to the hole in the wall of her shower leading to a maintenance shaft of pipes and crates. Fury pounded in her head as Gogo traversed this small shaft and pressed a button for the door opposite which opened up into a sort of laboratory.