Alrighty, folks... This is without a doubt... the LONGEST CHAPTER... of this story. Over 9,000 words! Now that I said that, I'm gonna want to watch DBZ. Had to cram a lot of stuff in here to make it as close as possible to the actual chapter in the game. It was hard work, and took a lot of effort, but it was soooo worth it :D Anyway, I hope the one or three people who read this story have a blast, for the Point Man sure is tired of "blasting" entire armies of bad guys. wow, bad pun there.

Enjoy!

F.E.A.R.

FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON

INTERVAL 07 - REDIRECTION

ALICE WADE

The "Point Man"

Outside of the Executive Building, this place was completely dark. Empty tables and chairs were scattered all around the center of the plaza, obviously not been used for many hours. Barely any lights were working, with only some in working in an office space nearby. There was no door I could use to get inside, so I instead broke through the glass windows to the side. Exiting this place, I went around what seemed like a maze of hallways. One of them was completely blocked off by more security, the other one leading to a desk counter up ahead.

There was some sort of control room to the left of this place where a monitor was acting funny. The light inside it flickered a bit until it started working again. A door to the side was available for me to enter inside. The screen on the monitor then started to work, even if it was a little hard to see. All it showed was just some random hallway with some rooms on each side of it... that is, until I saw someone walking down there with their back towards the camera.

It was Paxton Fettel. He was slowly creeping through the hall with his arms stretched out. It looked like he was looking for something... or someone. His back was to the camera as he began to walk away from where I could see him. Then something else was coming onto the screen. It was black, almost round-like figure covering the camera. Only it wasn't just some kind of object. It was the same little girl that has been terrorizing me all day. She just stared at the camera with that empty, ominous look she had before. And for a moment... I began to think that she was staring at me instead. And just like that, the monitor was no longer working, with no signal available on it.

I wasn't sure what it was, but for some reason all that was on my mind was that girl. For the first time since I really had thought about it, I felt like I had some kind of familiarity with her. It was as if I know her from the past, only I had no idea. Could she have been involved in some mission I was in before this one? As hard as I tried, nothing came up. Why was it bothering me so much to know? I don't know, maybe whatever experiences I've had with her were probably nothing too special.

Getting back to the where I had seen that counter, I went over to the next room to where there were two elevators behind the desk. From where I was, I was now on the other side of that fenced gate I had seen earlier. The elevators didn't seem active, so I had to find another way around. Before I did though, I heard a small beep noise behind me. Looking back to where I heard the source of the sound, the screen next to one of the elevators was showing that one of them was heading towards this floor, coming from the 6th floor. Grabbing my SMG, I brought up and aimed at the metal doors, in case if it was a Replica ambush. As the doors opened up, there was no one inside.

It may have been a bit reckless to get inside, but I didn't have any options of getting out of here. I decided to maybe investigate the floor this elevator came from and see if anyone was there. After pressing the switch, the doors closed and the machine started to ascend. On the way up, the lights inside started to malfunction for they went back and forth between working or fucking broken. But it would be a lie if I said that was the strangest thing that happened. I swear to God, for a split second, when the lights worked for that short amount of time... that girl in red was standing in the corner next to me by the control panel.

Just as I noticed her, the lights went off again for a second again. Soon after, the doors opened to 6th floor. There was enough light in this place illuminating the room to where I can now see inside the elevator. She wasn't there anymore. Hopefully this time that because I was just thinking about her that I was seeing things again. Wishful thinking, I guess.

One section of this place led to another closed off area that I couldn't enter, so I went the other way to a small eating area full of tables and chairs. With all the vending machines nearby, I almost started to get a little hungry. If it weren't for all that training I been through to join the team, I'd probably be starving at this point since I haven't ate since before this mission started. There was a black laptop lying around on a table in the center of this room with some documents about Harlan Wade up. After sending the information to HQ, Betters got a hold of me.

"This Harlan Wade guy has been associated with Origin since the beginning. He's the one that put it together." he simply said.

After hearing that, I thought it was kind of funny. It was Harlan - who works for Armacham - that was responsible for what happened with whatever it was "Origin". And yet his own daughter is part of the same task force that is being hunted down for trying to find out some of Armacham's dirty secrets about it. I wonder if that guy even knows what he is putting his own daughter through...

Great, I keep getting distracted from all this thinking that I'm wasting time finding that Alice chick I'm supposed to find. Looking around, there was a small lounge area behind the counter to where all those boring employees go get their coffee. On the other end of this dining room was another exit I took to where I went through a couple of hallways. The last I had reached had a larger office space, only the windows next to it were completely blocked off by tossed file cabinets and desks. Someone sure tried to keep something out.

Across the windows was another office with the windows destroyed and the door barely holding up. On the wall next to it was a label that said "Alice Wade." Did Fettel's forces or ATC find her? Slowly, I opened the door to see this room completely trashed. The curtains were hanging off to the side, paperwork on the floor and the chair leaning against the far wall. There was a small portrait on the table that showed who I think is Alice and her father.

She had short blond hair and deep blue eyes. She looked like she was in her mid-20's, youthful and happy in her appearance. She was standing side by side with an older male who I guessed was Harlan Wade. He had short gray hair, small mustache, with thick black glasses on in front of his brown eyes. Looking at him, I had this strange feeling in my chest...

From what I can tell, it didn't look like a struggle took place. Everything that was destroyed seemed to have been caused because of frustration, and I was sure Alice isn't the type of employee to throw a temper tantrum. One thing I noticed was that on the wall was a phone and an answering machine hung up. There two voicemails leftover for Alice which I checked out real quick. The first said it was from her father, Harlan.

"Alice, it's your father! You've got to get out of there! You're in danger! Get to my office and find my laptop. There's a text file called 'Proteus." Hurry!"

Right now, I wasn't sure if Alice might've been around to hear this message or wasn't here when he made that call. Guess that means I have to find her somewhere else in this place. The name "Proteus" I remembered a little bit about. Proteus was ancient Greek sea god or something I don't know, I don't remember everything about it. It was also funny to think that the names "Icarus" and "Perseus" were mentioned earlier today and they too were Greek mythology figures. Anyway, I waited for the next voicemail to play from Aldus Bishop.

"Hey, it's Aldus. I read through those news clippings and I definitely think you're onto something. I'm going to see if I can track down some other people who lived or worked in the area during that time. Even a couple of interviews would help. I'll keep you posted."

Hmm, this must've been about that wastewater analysis that the others were investigating. God knows how long this message might've been before Bishop was kidnapped earlier and later killed by ATC. My thoughts were soon distracted by hearing a phone ring behind me. Just hearing that made me jump for how loud it was. It was coming from that office that is blocked off, but I see it was very close to the broken windows. Eventually, it stopped ringing and I saw that there was another voicemail left over from earlier. It, too, was from that Harlan guy.

"Hi, it's Harlan Wade. I've been trying to get a hold of Genevieve all week, but the bitch never picks up her fucking phone. Look, if you see her, tell her we're in deeper shit than I thought. Her brilliant idea of reopening the Vault set something in motion that I can't explain and don't know how to stop. I sure hope she's happy."

Like that first message I heard from him several hours ago, he didn't sound too happy in this message either. I remember hearing about this "vault" Wade mentioned by that Replica squad from earlier. They said something about looking for Mapes to see if he knows the entrance for that thing or whatever. Could the "vault" and Origin be connected to what's going on? From my standpoint, it sure seemed to sound like it. Definitely if ATC is involved.

After making sure my search was done in this place, I headed all the way back to where I came from to where the elevators were. Maybe I can find a floor to where Alice might be and try to find her. Before I could reach the one I took to get up here, there was some kind of noise heard in the room above the machine. Suddenly, the elevator lowered itself a couple feet down to where I could see the ceiling of it.

Oh, shit, I already had a feeling I wasn't going to like this. No where else to go, I just now that I'm gonna have to do this the hard way... which is by making my way up through this shaft here. But in order to do so, I have to climb on top of this thing. Looking up the shaft, I couldn't see anyone sabotaging the device. If it's some kind of faulty wire, I'll be pissed. Carefully, I climbed up to the ceiling of this elevator. Next to me was a small maintenance area with a long, yellow ladder I could take. Just as I hopped on over there, the entire elevator system collapsed as the machine plummeted down to the bottom. From where I could see and hear, it was quite a big crash. Well, now I know I'm not taking that one.

After ascending up the long ladder, I reached another small section of generators for this place. Now if only I could use these to turn on the lights in here, for it was really dark in here. There was a small ledge behind where the elevators were I could travel across to where another ladder was on the other side of this place. Slowly, I walked on top of it and made my way towards the other side. A loud noise was heard above me. Before I could look, a giant shape fell from the ceiling next to me and crashed all the way down to the lower floors. Goddammit, it was the other elevator!

I probably would've fallen off if I didn't hang on tight to some cables on the wall. Waiting for my heartbeats to slow down due everything falling down on me, I looked up to see if anyone was above me. If there was, I'm going to kick their asses so hard for nearly trying to kill me. I couldn't see anyone. Whatever or whomever is doing this, they better fucking stop. Goddamn, this is pissing me off.

Eventually, I made it up next to the other ladder and started to climb it too. It was definitely much longer than the last one I took. Reaching the top, there was a red door behind me to where I came from. Sucky news was that it was locked from the other side. Just great. Looking over to the other side ahead of me from this shaft was another small area to where I could see another red door. Hopefully that one isn't locked, although I'm a little skeptical now to go around the ledge. You know, in case of any more falling shit from this place. Working up the nerve, I got on over to the side of this place and shimmied my way on over there. I had noticed that some elevator doors were slightly open a little... and from where I could see in the other room was that little girl.

She stared at me blankly with those almost dead eyes that she has given me before. But it was only for a little bit when the doors closed in front of her. I couldn't believe I was saying this, but could she be responsible for the elevators malfunctioning. After seeing her burn people alive and reduced them to nothing but bones and blood, it wasn't that hard to be a bit... "imaginative" to what she could do. I'm really hoping that it's just pure luck that is keeping me alive from her. I really do...

Reaching the other side of this shaft, I was happy to know that this door wasn't locked like the last one. Opening it, I was in some kind of supply closet for this place. Another door in here led me out into a lounge area for Armacham's employees. This place was deserted, that's for sure. Going through several halls to where I passed a desk counter with some computer equipment, Betters quickly got a hold of me over the radio system.

"Man, I hope this chick's alive... and nobody's been snacking on her." he said quietly.

Him and me both. Not sure, but something about her I felt kind of... protective for. I don't know, it's a bit hard to explain. I guess maybe what I want to say is that if I can at least protect one person from all this madness and death around here, then at least it should be an innocent woman. Getting my mind back to my job, I went around one of the corners here back into where I had passed the counter. There was a phone over here with a message left over. Pressing play, it said it was from an outside number. The person who left it behind sounded like an older woman.

"Hey, it's Sue. It's about 2:30. Guess you're in a meeting, as usual. Anyway, just wanted to make sure you got my email about tomorrow night. Sorry for the short notice, but we won't have to stay late. Call me back when you get in. Bye!"

Nothing special about that one. Heading back into the hall I came from, all I did was pass through about another office room and a small cubicle area in this place. After a little while of walking through, I began to hear movement in the next room. Putting my back against the wall, I looked over to the left to see an entire squad of Replica's patrolled into a large, open area, with some stairs nearby that led to a higher area. They were conversing with each other as about two of them were walking around waiting for something, one of them saying over his radio "Check in."

"Nothing to report."

"Roger. Keep your eyes open." he finished as one of them put away their radios.

I only had about 1 mag for the submachine gun here. There was 4 soldiers for me to take care of before I can get past them. If I play my cards right, then maybe I can take care of them without having to reloading. Aiming my weapon at the two soldiers above, I fired several rounds at both of them. Their dead bodies fell to the ground, with the other half of the squad now figuring out where I was. They yelled out "Target sighted!" as they took cover behind the counter. One of them came up and started firing at me with his G2A2 rifle.

I crouched down to the floor behind some cover and waited for him to stop firing. Quickly, I came back up and shot a single bullet through his neck. Despite his injuries, he did his best to bring his gun up at me. These guys are determined, I'll give them that. Firing another set of bullets to his face, he screamed out in agony as he fell backwards to the floor. The other soldier yelled "Die, motherfucker!" as he was preparing to throw one of his grenades at me. Activating my reflexes, I ran over to where he was as he had just tossed it over to where I last was. Just as the explosion went off behind me, he realized too late that I was right next to him. Right away I fired the remainder of my bullets into his chest and head as he died soon after.

Seeing as how all of them were dead and had some ammo for the G2A2, I put away the SMG and picked that up instead. After restocking myself with what I needed, I went up the set of stairs to the upper level. As I was going through the balcony, gunfire was coming from the other side of here. Looking over I saw two more soldiers firing at me, each of them carrying a rifle and a shotgun. I ran all the way up to a small lounge area up ahead to where I avoided their assault. Coming back out from the other end, I blasted them both to hell with my assault rifle. After killing them, I went around this balcony some more and reached some more offices.

There was about 4 more Replicas coming my way, but they hadn't seen me yet. Hiding in the darkest parts of this place, I waited for them to come closer to where I could take them out one by one. The last one in line was closest to me. I snuck up behind him and snapped his neck, quietly dragging his body to the ground so it didn't attract attention. The other three hadn't noticed yet. Sneaking up on the 2nd one in line, I also broke his neck and did the same thing with his body. One of them must've heard me, for he said out loud to his partner "What was that?".

They both turned around and saw me standing behind them. Quickly, I opened fire at both of them with my rifle before they could bring up their weapons. Luckily, they both went down easy from just a few bullets to their faces. After reloading, I went into one of the offices that I could use to move on ahead. I had seen another phone available to where a message was left over. Making sure that there wasn't any more Replicas around, I pressed play on the machine to hear that the message was from Alice.

"Hi, this is Alice Wade. I just wanted to give you a quick status report. We're still collating data, but it's pretty clear that whatever happened to Auburn wasn't because of the usual socioeconomic factors. The downturn was actually a symptom of people avoiding or leaving the area for other reasons, which we'll summarize in our presentation. One more thing... From what we can tell, it all started about 20 years ago. I'll let you know when we've got a clearer picture. Thanks!"

Just what was it over there that caused the people to leave? I wasn't sure what it is that you can put in water or the air that can sicken people unless it was some kind of toxin. But even if there was one, wouldn't be like big news or something? If that is the case, then they wouldn't need a task force to investigate the strange anomalies over at Auburn. I guess I'll just have to keep my ears open for any possible theories about that.

Making my way through some more rooms, I made it to a pathway where it would lead me into another room with some elevators. Before I could enter it, an alarm went off ahead. A security gate came down from the ceiling and blocked off the entrance to the area ahead. Guess I'll have to find a way to disable the security. There were two Replicas coming out from the hallway to the right, possibly looking for me. Before they could spot me, I took care of them with several bullets to their chests. They must've been the only ones around here, so I guess that I'm in the clear for now.

Going around some corners, I stopped when I reached a dead end with another security gate. Damn, there was no where else to go. There were a few offices that I had just passed with some glass windows. Breaking one of them, I hopped on over to one of them and continued my way around here. A laptop was on a table next to the wall still up to where some documents about Armacham were available. This stuff looked important enough for Betters to go over. After sending the documents to him, he contacted me after a few seconds.

"Listen to this. Marshall Disler, Bill Moody, and Aldus Bishop were all working on some kind of task force together. The other members are Iain Hives, Alice Wade, Norton Mapes, and Charles Habegger. And Harlan Wade is the one pulling the strings. I guess that means Fettel's working his way up the food chain."

That was very interesting. All of those names I've heard about and saw in person since we started getting deeper into this mess. From what I know, Charles, Bill, and possibly Iain Hives were killed by Fettel. Disler said he was heading towards the Perseus Compound, but that was the last I heard about him. Bishop was killed by ATC security, while Alice might still be alive and Mapes trying to sabotage our operation. That just left Harlan himself who I believed was still alive, only I have no idea where he could be. I should try and hurry to find his daughter before Fettel and his forces get to her.

Moving past to where I found the computer, I stopped in front of a office to where the light inside wasn't working. Some stuff fell off from the shelf nearby as a phone was ringing inside. There was something coming out of small cubicle... That was when I looked at the floor and saw something move like a spider. It was rushing towards me really quick... It was that girl in the red dress! On impulse, I fired at her quickly not realizing what I was doing. Everything flashed white in front of my eyes...

She was no longer there. The phone had stopped ringing. What on earth happened? Maybe I'm just hallucinating again, like I did earlier today. Getting my mind out of the gutter, I kept on going through some more of this place. One dead end led to another closed off gate, so I went the other direction until I heard something. There was more Replica chatter on the radio somewhere. Taking cover, I heard one of them say "We've got enemy movement in this sector."

"Understand, Command. We could use some reinforcements."

"I'll send you what I can."

"Roger." They finished as the line went dark.

I hated hearing that word. Reinforcements... I wouldn't mind having some that didn't die mysteriously or I got separated from. I guess I can vent out my frustrations out on these guys, if there isn't too many of them. Looking around the corner, I saw about three of them slowly approaching the area from some more gray offices. Was it me, or is most of this place really starting to look the same? There was a fire extinguisher hooked up on the wall next to them. Drawing my assault rifle, I opened fire at the extinguisher as it blew up next to them. They were all staggered as they tried to get the chemicals out of their helmets so that they could see. I shot all three of them while they were distracted before they even knew what happened next.

Continuing on, next to one of the working areas was a small room next to it that looked like a control room. There was a monitor that showed a couple images of the locked security. There was a switch in front of me that I pushed that deactivated the security gates. With that out of the way, I exited out and checked the nest area to the left of me. There were several different weapons stacked up on the wall, enough for me to stockpile on. Grabbing all the spare ammo for the rifle, I also took the combat shotgun next to it, since I'm sure with all these close encounters that it would be useful. Also, there was another monitor a few feet from here that should the interior of the room I tried to enter before.

Inside was a finely established waiting room, for there were some fancy plants along the walls. It was a pretty big area. There was also a small balcony that looked like it led somewhere else in this place. There were multiple Replicas now entering this place as they took their positions in several hiding spots. If I go there now, I might have quite some trouble taking care of them. That was when I noticed that I wasn't just looking at them from just some camera. It was another one of those defense turrets from before that I encountered. And just like that last one I used, I plan on using this to take out as many of them as possible.

Activating the machine, I aimed it to where most of the Replicas were standing at. They had just noticed the turret aim at them as they tried to open fire at it. Pressing the trigger, I rained fire down at them. The bullets completely wrecking their shit as they tried desperately to get away. More gunfire was hitting the defense mechanism as I looked over to see 3 of the soldiers firing at me. I easily killed them all, but noticed this turret also took some damage. More and more kept coming, trying their hardest to destroy the machine that kept taking their squad mates out. I kept on firing and firing until no more came. I must've taken out almost 20 of them. Good thing it wasn't in person that I had to do all that.

Exiting the defense system, I turned back and went all the way over to where that dead end I found was. The gates were raised up to where I can now take a shortcut back to where I had to go. I eventually returned to where the first gate was and then entered the main lobby. Bodies of Replicas were all over this place, making it obvious that my little assault completely tore them to pieces. The stairs nearby only led back up to where I had seen that balcony where the other soldiers were coming from. Heading back downstairs, I saw there was another path open to the far end of this place I walk to.

I stopped to when I reached another section of offices and halls. There was another Replica squad up ahead with a Heavy Armor unit next to them. Shit, I can tell where this is going. I only had one spare grenade available, but the soldiers were too far separated from the Heavy that the blast wouldn't take them all out. My main concern is taking it out over the others, for that thing's weapons was more accurate than the soldiers weapons. Now or never, I threw the round object all the way to the Heavy Armor as it made contact with its back. The explosion went off, damaging it severely while taking out one of the other soldiers next to it. One of them shouted "It was over there!" as him and the others were making their way to my position.

Taking out my shotgun, I came out of where I was by the wall and fired several shells at the soldiers. Two of them were easy to take out, with one of them taking cover inside one of the smaller offices. I would've tried to go after him, until I saw that the Heavy Armor turning around. It was bringing the Penetrator up as it was aiming towards my chest. I ran into the next open office area before any of those nails would hit me. I had about 9 more shells in this shotgun, with also my assault rifle on my back I could still use. Taking a deep breath, I went out of the room from the other exit and was now behind where the Heavy Armor was coming. I fired all the shells I could onto its back until it tried to counter my efforts with its weapon.

I headed back inside the previous room and reloaded the shotgun with some new shells. As I was doing that, I noticed that the last Replica jump into the room I was in through the window. If I didn't activate my reflexes when I did, he might've been able to get the drop on me. Before he could act I hit him with the back of my weapon several times to where he fell to the ground. When he was down, I got a hold of his helmet with my bare hand and smashed his face to the floor. He definitely wasn't getting back up.

Now back to the main problem. Which was finishing off that Heavy unit. It was slowly making its way inside the room from where I came out to fire at it. Just as the beast came inside, I blasted him some more with about half the shells inside my shotgun to when it reeled back in pain. It screamed out as a radio signal went off inside its suit. I guess that means this thing is dead now. With not that many shells left available, I replaced the Vokkler-12 with the HV Penetrator left over by the armored Replica.

I went through more of this of the building until I reached another open area up ahead. There was a lone elevator available to the side, only it wasn't working at the moment. Right now there were four Replicas now entering this place, one on a higher ledge above where the elevator was, and the other three coming to the center from a small room to the far left. Some of these were the higher-ranking soldiers, for they had on the helmets with the green light. Taking out the Penetrator - for it was more accurate to finish them off - I fired at both of them with just 4 shots. One for each of their heads. They died quickly as their bodies were flown to the red walls behind each of them, attaching their lifeless bodies in place.

Only way for me to go was where those soldiers on this floor came from. Heading past his dead body, the next corner led me a set of stairs that branched off into some more to the left and right. 2 more Replicas were crouched down behind some glass. They had set up black leather chairs and tables behind the glass to defend themselves. They both stood up from their positions and tried to shoot me with their SMG's. I went back to the walls before the stairs to where I could avoid all that gunfire. Waiting for them to stop firing, I quickly went back out and fired another set of nails from the Penetrators straight through their helmets. It all happened so fast that they didn't have the chance to get back down.

Ascending up the stairs, I stopped to here more footsteps coming this way. To the right was 2 more soldiers coming from where the path I think I would have to take. Just as they had seen me, I charged up to the one in front and threw him over to the other one behind him. They both fell to the floor and tried to get themselves back on their feet. I never gave them the chance when I brought out my pistol really quick and shot them both in the head. Putting it back, I switched places the G2A2 and Penetrator to where now I was holding the assault rifle in both my hands.

Making my way to the upper level to where the soldiers came from, I went through the area to where some tables and chairs were scattered all over and flipped upside-down. The civilians must've been in a rush in trying to get out of here. Now that I think about it, it has been a while since I've seen any bodies of any of the other employees. I hope that a least some people were able to get out. Compared to the other dead people I found when I came here to ATC, it would be nice to know some were still alive.

The balconies here went all the way around to the other section of this place. When I got over there, I saw about 3 Replicas coming into the room up ahead behind the counter ahead of me. Just as they saw me, I fired several rounds from my rifle at all of them. After they were all killed, I walked around the corner nearby and continued on past to where those dead troopers were. There was a table nearby with 3 grenades that I took, for I sure wasn't going to complain about placement of deadly explosives. Moving past their lifeless bodies, i turned around another corner to where 2 more Replicas had knocked over a few file cabinets for cover. They realized too late that I was watching when I shot them both down while they were still exposed.

After I went over to where the soldiers were, I was now in a wider hall than the ones I passed before. To the left was a counter with some computers destroyed on top. There was a meeting room behind some glass windows to where I can see the door leading inside it. Around the corner behind to where the hall turned past the door was a lone Replica and a Heavy Armor entering this place. Not another one... Maybe it was a good idea to take that Penetrator.

Bringing that metallic weapon out, I fired it at the single soldier that was in front of the Heavy. It only took a few shots to the chest to kill him. The remaining ammo inside the Penetrator was then used to attack the armored Replica. Even with about 5-6 nails in its body, it tried its best to hit me with its own Penetrator. I took cover behind the counter to the left of me and brought back out my assault rifle. Using blind fire, I only brought the weapon up just enough for me to fire as much rounds as possible to where I think the Heavy was. It gave out that nightmarish scream as it slowly died from its injuries after a few seconds.

I checked out the area to where they came from to salvage some ammo from the Heavy Armor. After reloading the Penetrator, I went ahead to where there was a red hallway to the right. At the far end of the hall was two more Replica soldiers and another Heavy Armor. One of them spotted me and yelled "He's here!" as him and the others brought up their weapons. Aiming the Penetrator, I shot the weaker soldiers with several nails to their chests.

After they were taken care of, all that was left the Heavy. For a second, I thought this would be simple like that last one. My hopes were quickly shattered when a purple beam was fired near where I was. Looking carefully, I saw that this Heavy Armor didn't have the same HV Penetrator as the others. It was that same particle weapon I used that can completely disintegrate someone with a single shot. Fuck my life, man...

I had to be real careful here. All it would take is one shot from that weapon to destroy me. I tossed a grenade all the way on over to the armored Replica, the explosion going off in front of its feet. It wasn't enough to kill it, but it did cause it to drop on its knees. That left an opportunity for me fire the Penetrator at it. I was only able to fire the last 10 shots of this thing towards the Heavy when it stood back up. It fired a couple more shots of its particle weapon with only me dodging to the wall beside me saving my life. It kept firing several times, making it difficult for me to get back out.

I only had one more grenade left to try to take this thing out once and for all. Waiting for this thing to stop firing, I threw it all the way over to where it was with another explosion going off right by it. Thankfully, this thing died soon after, yelling out that radio-like scream as the others. I slowly went towards to where the dead soldiers were and decided to take that particle beam. Unfortunately, the Heavy using it ran out of shots on the weapon. I used that last grenade for nothing if I could've just simply finished it off with a few bullets.

There were a set of double doors that led into a single office room. That was when I saw Alice Wade in the corner of this room. She was on her knees with her hands behind her head. She was visibly shaking as she saw me enter the room. She had some blood on her white shirt while wearing black pants. Her hair was tied up into a ball with some of those things - whatever they are - holding it in place. She wasn't wearing any shoes, which she might've had to ditch for some reason. That must've meant that the Replicas stationed here were keeping her hostage, possibly for Fettel to come here to "interrogate" her. Alice stared at me for a few seconds in fear. She was looking at the uniform I was wearing and softly spoke "You're not one of them..."

Her voice was soft and warm. It was gentle, even if she was still terrified with what is happening. I'm pretty sure that the explosions and gunfire right outside the door didn't encourage anything. If she is aware of what ATC is up to, she might've been expecting their security to come after her. As she was slowly standing up, she looked at me and said "I'd pretty much given up on being rescued." And for a moment, I'd almost given up on thinking she was still alive. Thank goodness I got to her in time. Betters contacted me over the radio.

"Thank God she's okay. Give her a comlink." he told me.

I took out the last spare comlink available on me and handed it over to her. I guess I got Alice to trust me pretty quick, for she grabbed the device out of my hand when I lent it to her. She put the device on her left ear and quietly said "Hello?". As she was being logged onto our radio frequency, I noticed that this office belonged to her father, Harlan Wade. I guess maybe she did get his message earlier. Betters then started to talk to her over the channel we were all using.

"Ms. Wade, we're going to get you out of there, but you're going to have to move quickly." he told her.

"I need to get to my dad." Alice told him. Amazing that even with all the chaos going on and with me and Betters trying to get her to trust us... that the first thing she mentions is her father. She must really like the guy...

"Where is he?" Betters asked her.

"Some kind of classified facility. I've never heard of it. There isn't even a street address. Just UTM coordinates. The entrances are all hidden, but I have pass codes." Alice told us. Betters then told me what I had to do next.

"Okay, buddy, access Wade's laptop and upload the data on that facility."

Harlan's computer was lying on a table next to the windows leading outside. There were some information on here that Alice had already put it of where her dad might be. All that was left for me to do was just to send all that to Betters. The upload process was really slow for some reason, so me and Alice were waiting around for it to finish. On Wade's desk, there was a phone and its answering machine with some voicemails left over. I went over there and pressed play on the machine. Me and Alice were looking at each other when we heard that one of the two messages was from Chuck Habegger.

"Harlan, it's Habegger. Look, I know how you feel, but I don't see any alternative. We need to purge the Vault. Somebody's gotta go in there and deal with it or this whole situation is going to boil over. If you won't do it for the rest of us, do it for Alice."

Alice looked at me with concern. I was pretty sure that she didn't know what this "vault" was or what happened there. Could there be something important in there that Harlan kept that ATC wants? I couldn't possibly imagine what could be there. The next message was from someone I never heard of. It was by a man named "Phil Vecchio", who seemed to be in his 40's. It was hard to tell how old this guy could be. The way he was talking about Harlan suggested he might've been one of his close friends.

"Harlan, you were right. The crazy bitch is determined to blow the site to kingdom come. God knows who she thinks is gonna pick up the pieces when her plan backfires." He sighed a little, then said "I've had enough of this shit... I plan to be sipping girly drinks on a beach in Tahiti by the time the media gets wind of all this. Talk to you later, buddy.

I'm guessing that the "crazy bitch" Phil is talking about is Genevieve Aristide. It sounds like there are two sides of Armacham that are in conflict about this situation. On one end is Genevieve who is trying to cover up the problem by getting rid of evidence, and the other is Harlan who wants to expose everything. The higher-ups must be shitting bricks over their own company fighting with each other. I noticed that on Harlan's laptop that all the information was successfully sent to HQ. Betters confirmed it being sent by telling me "All right, the data's been uploaded." Next thing he did was speak to both me and Alice over the comlink.

"First things first. Get to the roof. A helo is on the way." I really hope this doesn't end like the last one... Alice then talked to him on the channel.

"You mean a helicopter? Can't we drive instead? My car is downstairs in the parking garage." she said.

"What, are you afraid of flying" Betters mockingly asked her.

"Kind of..." she told him.

"Trust me, you're safer in the air" he assured her.

"Yeah, right..." she said disappointed.

I looked back into the hallway I came from to where I fought the Replicas. It didn't look like there were anymore of them coming. Seeing as how it was safe to leave, I motioned for Alice to come with me. She slowly walked over to me. She was shocked to see the blood and dead bodies of the clone soldiers lying on the ground. She gave me a unique look, the kind that pretty much said "You did all this!". I already knew she didn't have to say it, only think it. She looked back out of the hall to see if anyone else was there before she told me:

"Hurry! Let's go get my dad!" Alice said excitedly. Betters got back with her soon after.

"You're not going anywhere but a safe house till this is over."

"What!" she shouted to him.

"Don't worry, your father will be joining you as soon as we pick him up." he told her.

"No way! I'm not going anywhere until I know he's okay!" Alice yelled at him. I can understand her concern, I really do. But Betters was right, it's too dangerous for her to come with me to find Harlan.

"Forget it, I'm not taking any more chances!" he finished as he signed off. Alice had a look of defeat on her face. I could tell she wanted to tell me to change our minds to find her father. I turned my head from her, giving her the cold shoulder. She'll be thankful later when we get Wade.

We were slowly making our way past all the rooms I came through from. Only way I can think of getting to the roof from here was that disabled elevator I passed before. I'm no special technician, but I can do my best to try and get it to work. As we were moving from one room to next, Alice looked around at all the destruction from the gunfire and shrapnel lying around. She muttered under her breath "What a mess..." as we continued on. I'm pretty sure she was happy that she wasn't around when I did all this. In all honesty, I wouldn't want her to see all that happened here.

Me and her stopped for a moment when we heard "Search this area!". It sounded like some more of the Replicas. I wasn't sure where it came from until I looked over at the balcony above where the elevator was. There were three of them exiting the elevator I planned to take. At least I don't have to worry about getting it to work. I looked back at Alice and put my index finger over my lips, letting her know that I need her to be quiet. She understood immediately and crouched down on the floor, covering her ears. She knew what was going to happen next.

Before the Replicas could get any farther, I opened fire with my assault rifle towards them. I only got one of them when the other two took cover by the couch next to them. One of them shouted "Hostile!" as they returned fire back at me. We both exchanged gunfire, with my superior speed and aim getting the best of both of them. They screamed in pain as they bled out from the bullets entering their chests. I looked back at Alice and grabbed her shoulder. She looked up at me to see from my face that it was over.

When we both got down to where the elevator was, I pilfered some ammo and grenades from the dead clones. After doing so, me and Alice entered the elevator which was just a few feet from where the soldiers were. She went to the control switch for the elevator and said to me "You don't mess around, do you?". At least she was nice enough to say that out loud instead of keeping it to herself. Goes to show that she isn't afraid to speak her mind.

She pressed the button for the roof that is available on this elevator. The doors closed as we were now starting to go up. There was some cheery music playing in here that I think started to help me loosen up. All these dark corridors and fighting really can stress a guy out. A massage therapy sounds nice right about now... Alice then said something to me as she got my attention.

"Why are all the floors lighting up?" I looked over to where to what she was talking about. She was right, several lights were shown next to the numbers for some of the floors. What does this mean...?

"Uh oh... Somebody's pressing the call buttons!" Alice told me. Was someone setting up an ambush?

As the elevator was beginning to stop on one of floors that was on the switch, I took cover on the other side of this thing as Alice put her back to the side. She yelled out "Get ready!" as the doors began to open. Footsteps of heavy boots were walking slowly towards us. I peeked out to see two of the Replicas coming here. Just as they saw my head, they brought up their weapons as quickly as they could. I opened fire at both of them as Alice was yelling at the switch of the elevator, saying "Close!".

Just as I fired enough bullets to kill both of the soldiers, the doors then shut soon after. After a few seconds, we were now beginning to stop on one of the other floors. Alice disappointingly said "Here we go again." as the doors began to open. Three more Replicas were scattered about in the room ahead of me. Two of them were crouching down next to some counters while the third one was behind some glass in a back room. They began to open fire at me when I returned the favor back at them. I only managed to get the two closest while the last one dodged my bullets. Eventually, I got him with just a couple shots to the head as his body fell to the floor.

The doors closed again as we were going back up. I reloaded the G2A2 as Alice was trying to regain her composure. As we began to stop on another floor, Alice said "This sucks" with a frustrated tone in her voice. No shit, girl. The doors opened once again with another 3 Replicas waiting to apprehend us. I opened fire at all of them, this time lucky enough to kill all of them in just a few bursts of fire. The doors closed again as Alice was now beginning to breath real fast. She quickly loosened up after we were soon reaching the roof. A flash of white covered my eyes.

The doors had opened again, only the power was now out. This place was completely dark. I turned on my flashlight on my vest to see what was going on. Alice asked me "What's going on? What happened to the power?". I wasn't sure what to tell her. Maybe the Replicas were changing their strategies on trying to get both of us. I went outside to investigate quickly, with Alice telling me "I'll wait here." She said that in an almost sad excuse for a joke, for she tried to find some humor into saying that.

There was a single room ahead of us through a glass window to where it looked like it was in charge of the power of the elevators. A back door was shown behind it to which I just had to find to get in there. The hall to the right of me was possible to use to get around. I stopped at an intersection to where Armacham's logo was on the wall. To the right was a closed off security gate while the left path led to a door. I opened it and walked up to the control mechanism. After pressing "activate" on it, the power was beginning to come back online. As Alice was looking at me through the glass window, I saw something coming towards her from inside the elevator...

It was that little girl in red.

I tried to yell out for Alice to get out when the doors closed in front of her. The power to this place then came back online as I heard the elevator start to ascend to the roof. Was this a trap by that 8-year old? To separate us? I tried my best to get back in contact with Alice, only there was some kind of interference preventing me. All I can do now is try and see if I can make it up to the roof and meet her there... that is, if she's still alive.

Exiting out of the control room, I went over to the elevator only to see that I couldn't bring it back down here. Guess that mean I'll have to find another way up to the roof. I looked back to see that the security gate blocking the corridor earlier was now open. After entering the room, the gates then closed behind me. No turning back now. There was a door in the corner that after opening it, I saw some stairs that went up. Going up each step, there was another door in here that I opened that led me into a long hallway. To the far left was a unit of Replicas scouting a large lobby.

I got closer by hiding behind a cart carrying some stuff. Two of them were on the ground walking up to the malfunctioning elevators while a third one was on the upper balcony up some more stairs. I tossed one grenade far off to the squad of two as it made contact with one of them. An explosion took care of them both as the last one yelled "Fuck!" when I shot him down with my rifle. After I went up the stairs to the upper balcony, I noticed one more of those clone troopers waiting by another door at the far end. Just as he spotted me, I shot him a few times to the face from here. I guess I should say I was lucky enough that this distance was enough for me to make a clean shot.

Making my way towards the door the soldier was, I opened it to find myself facing some more stairs. I went up to open another brown door that led into a supply closet. The red door to the left was locked on the other side, preventing me from exiting this place. Cursing my shitty luck again, I noticed there were some boxes piled up next to a ventilation cover. I climbed on them to reach the cover and kicked it open. I crawled inside the vents to where I made a big drop down to a lowered vent.

I hope I can catch up to Alice. God, I just hope that she is alive...

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-That's all, folks! Reviews would be sweeeeeeettt