Chapter 2 – Maximum Threat Level
Bryant walked down the stairs towards the package that was left for him. There was a hole blown in the wall. He let out a sigh as he looked through the hole into the café. Coffee and pastries were scattered about the rubble, and Bryant knew that the Café would never be the same. He swallowed hard as his chest tightened. There were a lot of bodies. Bryant shook his head and kept walking: careful to step over the lose rubble.
Once he had pushed the café out of his mind, he found the 'dead drop'. There was a small military cache. The metal case was covered in blood. A young woman still clutched it close to her chest, even in death. Bryant gently pried the box from her hands and opened it. Technical gear filled the box. Among the things was a large PDA, nearly a tablet. Bryant put in the included earpiece and turned on the device. "I see you found the cache. How is Alison?" Bryant took a quick glance at the woman.
"Dead." Bryant muttered.
"Damn…that puts us back. Is everything else working?" Bryant nodded, then remembered the voice couldn't see him.
"Yes, everything is fine."
"Good." The voice said, finally with a hint of satisfaction. Bryant stood slowly as he took the rest of his gear with him. He paused and looked down at the body. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Bryant turned and walked out into the streets. The chaos had moved on. "Head west, south-west about five kilometers. There will be an alley."
"Right across from the general store, yeah."
"Without Alison this is going to be harder. She had all the override codes." Bryant nodded and kept walking. "Keep going, I'll – "
"Hey! Sir, this way." Bryant glanced over his shoulder at the USP doll. "Sir, you cannot go that way. It's not safe!"
"Nowhere is safe, little one." He turned around and made a sweeping gesture with his arms. He started walking backwards as he continued. "Official Griffon business. Can't have civilian protectors getting hurt." USP stood still for a moment. Processing either Bryant's nonchalance or his defiance. Bryant faced front and kept marching. USP jogged to catch up with him.
"I don't think you heard me! I said it's not safe." USP tried to say. Halfway through the statement, her eyes went wide and her body went limp. Despite himself, Bryant lunged forward and caught the doll. The voice on the earpiece stuttered and cursed.
"SF has taken the police station. All Civilian protectors have been shut down. Aaaand there goes the Griffon Outpost." The voice when silent for a bit as Bryant carried the doll into the alley. He pulled out his tablet. "Great…we're out of time."
"Not necessarily. You didn't do you homework."
"Excuse me?"
"Give me the backup code for this USP model."
"Why?" the voice asked. Bryant rolled up one of USP's sleeves and poked around on the wrist. "IOP made T-Dolls have an emergency 'Body Guard' protocol. A single echelon can be commanded from a local radio source."
"Your PDA? But how much range does it have?"
"About…forty feet?" Bryant took his knife and cut a small patch of synthetic flesh off of USP's wrist and plugged the PDA into an emergency port. "No, probably about thirty. Anyway, send the override." The PDA flashed for a second, and USP's eyes fluttered. She took a sharp breath and jolted. After a few seconds, she stilled and let Bryant finish the work. "Alright, we are in business."
"Alright, you have one doll. What now?"
"We find others. Find me some ARs, okay?" Bryant turned the volume down on the earpiece and turned to USP. "You alright?"
"Y-yeah. But…what did you do to me? What happened?" Bryant calmed her down and turned to his PDA.
"The police station was taken, as was the emergency outpost. It is no exaggeration to say that you are the last functioning IOP doll in the city." USP seemed to grow pale. He slumped down and pulled her knees into her chest.
"I'm…alone. I can't fight them all." Bryant delivered a gently reprimanding blow to her head.
"Enough. You'll be fine. And I'm here, don't worry." He flashed a smile. It was brief. He suddenly looked pained, and his smile vanished. Bryant finished his maintenance and stood. "You should be fine. Stay close and you'll still be able to function." Bryant helped USP stand. She still looked hesitant. "Now, we have a list of candidates." Bryant scanned, selecting the few that fit his needs. USP held out her hand and tried to get Bryant's attention. "Yes?"
"The SWAT dolls were deployed to the east station. We could recruit some of them."
"The most useful doll in the SWAT team is a Sten Model. We're better off grabbing the Vector unit by the overpass."
"But Miss FAMAS has explosives! We could –" Bryant held up a hand.
"Enough. How far is the station from the overpass?" USP chimed in.
"We have to pass the station on the way." Bryant nodded.
"Fine then, that's the plan. We pick up FAMAS from the station, then the others." The voice huffed.
"If that's what needs to be done. Griffon has been alerted. They will be here in three hours. Hopefully, you can deal with them before they arrive." Bryant chuckled darkly. He motioned to USP and the two walked off towards the east station. The pair kept aware for enemies. The east station was smaller than the others. Not many passengers used these trams. A small tram sat docked in the station. Fallen SF and IOP dolls lay scattered in pieces. Bryant pushed them out. They were only machines, he told himself. USP wasn't handling it as well as him. She covered her mouth with tears slowly running down her face.
"Not used to this, huh lass?" USP shook her head vigorously. Bryant nodded. "Well," he said, his voice chilling, "Give it time. You will." Even though he spoke with such indifference, Bryant was still careful to not step on the IOP bodies. The parked tram had small lights flickering inside. Either light sticks or flares. Bryant wedged an SF body out of the door and pried it open. A hand reached out and yanked him off balance. USP readied her gun and so did the dolls inside the tram. Bryant fell back into a small puddle of 'blood' and stared into the eyes of the surviving SWAT dolls. The leader, FAMAS, slowly lowered her weapons and gave a coy smile.
"Oh? Well what have we here?"