Connor, Edward and Yusuf had made their way into Abstergo's building via the back door and soon Rebecca was able to get some radio contact with them.
"Edward, Can you hear me?"
"Aye. We're in the building but the lights are flickering like mad, machines running all over the place." Rebecca's eyes flicked back up to the monitors, seeing Shaun still crouched behind the counter of his little coffee stand.
"That's Juno's welcoming party. Look on your way down to the main computer could you guys get Shaun? He's surrounded by machines running on high and I think he may just have a heart attack."
"Sure thing, tell us where to go."
She helped them navigate throughout the building and once she saw Shaun with them, she relaxed and was able to focus, Rebecca told them to get back to the pit but her communications were cut off before she could tell them she mean now. Shaun told them he could get them down to the mainframe and soon the four men were weaving their way down long hallways and dark stair cases. The got to an elevator and Shaun started to notice the sounds coming from the hall behind them were getting quiet, the other men noticed too and Yusuf was the first to speak up.
"Should we risk taking this el-ee-vate-or? Most all other machines have stopped their chattering." Shaun pushed the button on the wall panel, smiling as he heard a ding while the doors opened up.
"It looks as though she has found another way of terrorizing the tenants, I think we're safe, it's only two floors down and this is the only way in." The other three men hesitated, technology was not something any of them were scared of, but they were weary. Edward took the first leap of faith so to speak, taking a tentative step onto the elevator and soon the others joined him. Shaun opened the panel on the wall and soon had the carriage slowly lowering them down to the bottom floor of the building. Once they were downstairs they looked at the small walkways, looking around at the rooms that had been sealed off with glass doors.
They searched the rooms, and in one they found a man, or what was left of him. He was laying in the shower in a pool of his own coagulated blood. Shaun knew who it was immediately and he felt almost sorry for him. There was broken pieces of mirror all over the floor and a large piece sticking out from his left hand. They all knew for sure that this man had taken his own life. It was Aita, it was the sage.
They turned and soon found themselves looking at the room for the mainframe, none of them sure about what would be waiting on them at the other side, but they all knew they couldn't let Juno stay free any longer. They each readied themselves before looking at one another, a mental way for each of them to say they were ready and soon they crossed the threshold into her domain.
Once the door shut behind them the room was filled with a deafening silence, they could hear the hum of cooling fans, but the sound was quiet enough they could still hear themselves breathing. Shaun who had seem the most of her had expected to be met with fire and rage, but this was more unsettling, where was she? They all started to walk towards the central processor and Shaun was still cautiously looking all around, surely she would have left traps for them. They each felt that growing anticipation, that feeling that leaves your stomach shaking and your mind racing. They were waiting. For two minutes they took small scuffling steps, trying to move slowly so that when something did happen they would be able to react accordingly.
Shaun grew tired of their hush, their small steps and shuffling feet so he strode over to the central computer, having in his mind that he had enough of Juno's threats. He had expected to be shocked or stuck down, but he wasn't so he started typing away. He again waited for a reaction from her, but again nothing and he had a terrifying thought, what is she was no longer there? What if Juno had found her way out? His stomach knotted as he thought about it, typing frantically to see the last actions the computer had taken.
"What the devil?" He typed faster still, searching and soon the others had joined him.
"What is it that you see?" Connor was standing tall over him, but Shaun took no thought in the men crowding him.
"This computer was hacked, and I think Juno used that signal to get out, but where? Who would want to hack into." He didn't finish speaking once he followed the path back. "We have to leave, right now! Let's go." The assassins all looked at Shaun, he was surrounded. He pushed at Edward, but he stood solid as he looked at Shaun.
"You act as if you've seen a ghost, why leave, we were sent here to stop her, where is she?" Shaun looked around the three other men, knowing that he was going to have to run as fast as his legs could carry him once he told them what he had found.
"She's transferred herself from this computer to the one in the pit, she's at our headquarters." Shaun was right, he ran as fast as he could then he pushed harder. They men got to the elevator and jumped in without hesitation. Shaun again manipulated the control panel and this time they rode the machine up to the main floor. They never bothered stopping once the doors slid open, they all four took off at a full sprint for the front doors and Shaun shouted for them to take the back alleys back to the pit. They ran from the Williams Street and Pine clear up to Spruce street where they finally stopped to breathe, and to let Shaun catch up. Once he did he tried to hold himself upright by holding onto Yusuf's shoulder.
"Why don't we take the subway eh?" His voice was still winded, but they all agreed. It was too far to continue running, and they needed to be ready for anything once they arrived. They made their way over to Park and took the green line up to 110th street, dumping them out just a few blocks away from their underground offices. They walked with a quick and steady pace, all of them trying to conceive what sort of conditions they'd be walking into.
As they walked, Haythem had backed away from Luna's lifeless body laying in the floor, his instincts taking over as he backed out into the hallway, finding the shadows as a comfortable refuge. He had to eliminate any threats to his mission, and he smiled as he made his way back towards the cell he's been kept at. As he neared the corner he saw that the lights were failing down to a dim reminder of what they should have been, and he knew Juno was helping him. He waited for the perfect time to strike, and when he saw Toby making his way into the cell that held Scarlet he smiled. He slinked through the darkness as Jacob turned, his back now to his stalker and Haythem used this to his advantage. The last sound Jacob heard was the slide of metal on metal as Haythem unsheathed his hidden blade. His left hand tangled in the thick of Jacob's hair while his right hand quietly and efficiently sliced through the young man's neck. The blood sprayed out in front of the body, killing the prey withing seconds, but Haythem needed to send a message to anyone else wandering the halls so he continued to slide his blade through the flesh and muscles until the body broke free and fell under its own weight, then with a carelessness like a child with unwanted toy, Haythem dropped the head to his left, hearing it roll slightly back down the darkened hallway.
He knew the sound would alert Toby, the senior guard, although he too was young, so he hid within the shadows again, this time well out of sight and he listened to Toby's reaction. He saw the body and gasped, fighting the urge to vomit but he held up strong. He turned and walked back into the cell, talking rapidly to Scarlet, telling her he was going to lock them in the room, to keep them safe but Haythem didn't let him finish. Haythem stood in the doorway, his finger over his lips as Scarlet's eyes met his. As Toby saw her flick towards the door he knew, he tried to draw his gun but Haythem was faster, pulling his blade across Toby's stomach and watching as the blade went deep. Toby looked down with shock as the blood started to flow easily over the wound, then he felt the heavy pull of his intestines trying to fall free from his body. Toby wrapped an arm around himself, then the other, trying to keep his insides from spilling, but he grew weak in his knees and he fell to them, falling forward he caught himself and that was when his stomach erupted in blood and guts all over the white tiled floor.
Haythem let Toby die slowly all while he kept his gaze on Scarlet. The woman felt his eyes raping over her and she felt as if she'd die just from the fright of him as she slowly backed herself into the corner, her breaths heavy and her heart beating erratically. Haythem simply put his fingers over her lips again and she nodded, not able to look away from him. He would let her live as long as she kept quiet and that is what she did, sliding to the floor with her hands over her mouth while tears flowed down her cheeks.
Now it was time for Haythem to find the pieces of Eden, to help Juno out of her prison inside the computer. With that he could take his place beside her, ruling over the whole of humanity just as she had promised him.
