Disclaimer: I do not own Watch Dogs

Chapter 4: Training

Gunshots rang out on the deserted island, followed by dull pings as the bullets found their marks.

Laura gripped the gun, pivoting right then left as she tracked the moving steel targets that Aiden and Raymond had set up. Each shot carved the air with surgical precision. Laura fired another shot, her P-9mm jolting back with the recoil as the slide ejected another shell casing.

Aiden and Raymond were standing some distance behind her, leaning on a shipping container. The entrance to the Bunker was just a short walk away from the improvised shooting range. Laura could barely hear the two whispering over her gunfire.

Eventually her P-9mm ran out, and Laura shucked the empty clip and reached for another one on the table next to her. She started as someone grabbed her hand. It was Aiden. "Now then, we know you can hit targets, but what about hitting actual humans?" He asked.

Laura blinked. "Ah…about that. Um, I don't think I'm ready for that just yet…" she stuttered.

Aiden frowned at her. "In our line of work, we need to be able to kill without hesitation or remorse. You need to be able to do so too." His voice was so emotionless Laura was stunned. These were human lives they were talking about, and Aiden was talking about them almost like they were nothing but disposable items and not people with lives, with families and friends.

Laura stared him down. At work, she was used to staring down her employees or superiors, with those people eventually backing down and letting her have her way. However, Aiden was a different story. His eyes showed not defiance, but a distant nonchalance.

Eventually, T-Bone stepped in. "Aiden, if she doesn't want to kill, then leave her be. We'll have to find another way."

Aiden grunted. "Fine. Take her inside and start her on the basic hacking. I need to go see Tobias."

Raymond nodded. They watched as Aiden stalked away, tromping through the knee-high grass. Raymond gently gripped Laura's arm and steered her towards the hidden bunker entrance.

Laura stepped into the corrugated steel shipping container and closed the door behind her. She looked out the window at the darkening sky as the aged motor whined and the shipping container lifted into the air with an audible creak. Raymond leaned against the wall of the container, silently watching her.

Laura sighed. "Why'd it have to be me?"

Raymond grunted and levered himself off the wall as the container arrived at the Bunker. He wordlessly pulled the door open and stepped into the Bunker, avoiding Laura's question.

Laura shook her head and followed him down to the cavernous room. Raymond had grabbed a slim laptop and plonked it onto the table. Pulling up a chair, he inserted a hard drive as the laptop booted up. Laura sat down next to him, the thin plastic chair creaking under her weight.

Raymond turned to her. "I'm booting up a special program. Its modelled after the ctOS, same firewalls, same vulnerabilities et cetera et cetera. We'll be using this custom program to teach you how to hack."

For several hours after that, Laura practiced on the simulated ctOS program, using her basic knowledge of coding to break through the firewalls that she herself had ordered to be installed in the actual ctOS, with a few pointers and a little help from Raymond.

Laura sat back as the laptop pinged, indicating a successful attempt at breaking through a firewall. This one had been more difficult than the rest, what with an alarmed timer and several junctions to be defused simultaneously. She wiped the sweat from her brow as the simulation ran its course and booted up a different firewall for her to break through.

She jumped as Raymond set down a glass of water next to her. "Take a break," he said. "You've been practicing for hours."

She nodded and paused the simulation, turning to accept the glass of water gratefully. Laura jumped as Aiden suddenly appeared next to her, almost spilling the water. "Where'd you come from?" she asked.

Not saying a word, Aiden put two strange looking devices on the table next to the laptop. One was a smartphone of some kind, but it looked rugged, heavy-duty. The other was a gun-like object, with a transparent barrel. A small tank was attached to the back, and on the side of the barrel several small pockets held small darts.

Laura looked up at Aiden questioningly. Aiden simply said, "Your profiler device and a tranquilizer gun. Tobias made it on very short notice, so I will be going to him to collect more darts later on."

Laura was confused. "Who's Tobias?" she asked.

Raymond gripped her forearm, comforting her. "Tobias is an old contact. He runs a shop that sells hacking tools. Relax. He has no love for any organization, Blume or otherwise. He only cares about the money. Aiden beat him once, to get access to the Bunker, so he doesn't dare cross us for fear of anything worse."

Aiden touched Laura's shoulder gently. "Get some sleep. We will train you in the use of the profiler more tomorrow." He walked over and closed the lid on the laptop. "Get some sleep." He repeated.

"You need to rest."

A/N sorry guys, but ive been moving house recently and it has gotten really busy. I don't even have wi-fi and im being forced to upload this with my mobile hotspot. writer's block is a real bitch, and its hard to think of ideas, which is why this chap is kinda short. ill be working on the next chap of my star wars fic after this, the shits really about to hit the fan on that one so this chap is gonna have to suffice for now

as always guys, feel free to leave a review commenting on my writing, and any ideas for characters, chapters etc are more than welcome

happy reading guys, and don't forget to enjoy the story!

peace out, Darkrai