The journey heading towards Germany was a quiet, yet tense one.
Travelling along the autobahn in the cover of darkness and pouring rain, the suspenseful trip was only accompanied by the low rumble of the Jeep's V8, with an occasional roar to keep the speed up. Both Vale and John had been awake for the past couple of hours, the floating LED streetlights and the vehicle's bright dashboard had made sure that they did not dose off.
They were now on a run from first a robot army and then some mercenary group they happened to encounter. They had no idea what world they were in and they had been tasked by a General to pass a top secret device that could turn the tides of this so-called 'Second Onmic Crisis'.
Plus, Eve's navigational system didn't match up with the world they were in. There were now many new roads, exit ramps, highways and junctions that were not registered in Eve's map, so Vale instructed her to just plot the nearest border with Germany using their outdated navigation. So now, they were miles deep in their destined country but lost as well.
It was a lot to take in. Their first mission in a foreign world was already not going accordingly.
They needed a breather.
Thankfully, a sign appeared along the roadside, showing a petrol station not too far ahead.
Vale signalled and moved to the most right lane, preparing to pull over. She fully knew that entering a petrol station. It was risky, knowing it may blow their cover. But she nor John had any idea what to do next.
Entering the place, she saw an empty lot right next to the entrance of the station. She didn't get out of the car, however. She instead waited inside the car.
"You going?" John questioned, and then he realised what she was doing.
"I'm just checking the surroundings. You know, how people and robots, interact with each other." She looked on, seeing that a driver handing over some gold coins for his payment for the petrol. She saw them thanking each other before heading their separate ways.
"Want anything?" She asks her partner, putting on her coat.
"Any energy drink would be fine. And a quick Bratwurst won't hurt." John kept on the lookout for the passing vehicles on the highway, seeing if anyone was trailing them.
"Also bring Eve. Don't want to get lost without her." Reminded John, smirking at his last comment.
"I'm not a nine-year-old kid, Mr Mental-Age-of-Three." Vale retorted, mimicking a child's voice at him before taking her companion with her.
She closed the door, seeing her love making funny faces at her, to which she just rolled her eyes, chuckling.
It was small things that he did that would always make her feel happy, even when all seemed lost and things didn't go their way, like now.
The automatic sliding doors exposed her to the warmer air inside, which was a welcoming feeling considering that it was freezing given the unfavourable weather conditions on the road. The store inside was much bigger than it was on the outside, with several aisles of goods ranging from food snacks to car accessories.
She took her time browsing the first aisles closest to her. Items like Monster and Doritos were still around in the future, so she grabbed a can of the energy drink and a can of coffee. She didn't want a sweet drink but wanted something that would keep her awake at least.
The next few aisles down had frozen food on cold shelves. Vale took a glimpse and saw pre-packaged Bratwurst and Burgers on offer, which she took.
As Vale lined up for the counter, she noticed that the currency that they were using was all in these gold coins. Not did she only see anyone using euros anymore, but could be caught if she used an outdated currency. Stealing was definitely off the table since they didn't need any more trouble.
She looked at the customers ahead. Some had coins while some were just using their credit cards. With no coins in hand and no bank account in this world, she had no choice, but to pay with euros.
With that in mind, her compact companion, Eve, flashed a stack of euros from her storage out of thin air. Vale never understood how this compact technology worked, but was thankful for the work that their scientists back in their world put into it.
"Hi!" The cashier called out to her in German. Vale took a step closer to the lady behind the counter.
"Hi!" Vale spoke. She was again, thankful that she and John were able to learn German back in their world. Otherwise, conversations like this in Europe would be very awkward. She watched on as the cashier scanned the items.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have coins with me." She looked at the cashier apologetically. "Is it possible if I could pay in euros instead?"
The lady manning the counter looked at the few notes of euros that were offered to her as payment as Vale waited anxiously.
"Ah." The lady exclaimed, surprising Vale. "Euros are fine. It's just that these coins are used as a form of international payment."
As she took the notes and began gathering the change, she questioned Vale. "First time coming to Germany?"
"Yeah, first time out of Britain." Vale, internally sighing a relief with the money, happily replied. She then remembered how and where she and John would go after this.
"Sorry, but is there a town nearby here? Would like to find a stopover to rest for the night."
"Oh yes. Rheine is just down the road, not too far from here. It's just a 10 to 15 minute drive."
Vale thanked the cashier for her help and went back to the Jeep. As soon as she sat down back in the heated driver's seat, she and John opened up and enjoyed their small feast.
After a few bites in, she described what she had gathered while in the service station to John, Eve and Tom. She also had an idea of what to do while in Rheine.
"You know, in Rheine, we can search for an internet cafe and check up about this Overwatch group. Maybe if we can give this device-bomb thing to them, they will help us for a way back home."
John listened to Vale's plan but was a bit sceptical about it when she finished. "Do you think they will believe us that we are from another world, let alone build us to transfer us back to our dimension?"
Eve then spoke up to defend Vale. "We could try to give the bomb to Overwatch. The problem is that we don't know what is this Overwatch group, what they have in connection with this bomb and where they are."
John thought about it, then his companion joined the conversation. "I think that is our only choice, sir. During the drive and up till now, I have been trying to contact our home world, but they aren't responding to my signals."
"And given how technologically advanced this world is, I'm fear that we could be tracked ever since we have left the Netherlands," Eve added.
"Wait, we're being tracked?!" John startled her in the vehicle.
"Not saying we are. But look at how this world works. They have interactive holograms and floating streetlights, we even passed by a highway in the sky with floating cars!" Eve stated. "If hackers can bring down organisations and companies back in our world, what do you think hackers can do to this world?"
John contemplated Eve's statement. He looked towards the window of the gas station that they were parked in front of. He could see everyone in line towards the cashier using some form of interactive halo display, obviously superior to their old hunky smartphones. And his mind went back to the floating cars Eve had mentioned. He had never seen such a marvel of engineering until this point. Cars floating? Man, if people back in his world could see the future.
But his mind was getting sidetracked.
Eve and Tom were right. Vale's idea a far stretched but at least it was better than his idea, which he didn't have.
"John. You okay.?" Vale asked concerned. He was zoning out again. So to bring him back to reality, she grabbed John's hand and squeezed him.
John looked at her, then down to their hands, which he gave back a reaffirming squeeze. "Yeah, I'm okay. Let's go with your plan."
"You sure?"
"There is no one else that I can trust, Vale."
Vale beamed as they both locked eyes with each other. Even when in doubt or disagreements, John would always find a way to soothe her heart and mind. This has always made her feel blessed that she would have him by her side, until the end. And she knew that John had felt the same way about her.
"Ah-em."
The moment ended when Tom and Eve broke their loving gaze at each other.
"Aw, Tom. You ruined the moment." Eve sulked at her AI companion.
"Apologies for interrupting, but maybe you two can do this some other time? We are still currently on the run." Tom pointed out.
John sighed, crumpling up the wrapper for the finished Bratwurst.
"I just a display of quick affection, Tom." He winded down the window, throwing out the wrapper to a nearby bin. "One day, I will show you how we humans work."
The town of Rheine was a calm and quiet community, not too far from the border with the Netherlands. Despite being in the future, the Germans knew how to preserve their heritage, given that most of the buildings looked like it was built from a long time ago. As the duo travelled deeper, the beauty of the town was unfortunately overcast by the dark clouds and rain. It gave off the impression that the town was abandoned, only the streetlights and the lighting from the various buildings around were the only signs that there was still life in Rheine.
John leaned back into the leather bucket seat, looking past the historic buildings while Vale readjusted herself for the umpteenth time in the driver's seat. He and Vale were both very exhausted and sleepy after spending the day awake, and they had yet to find any place useful to them. As Vale drove slowly along the outskirts of the city, a shop with flashing glowing neon lights caught the attention of John, who suddenly sat up straight. A shop, located down the junction on his right, had something that may help them in their situation.
Der Wunder Computer Cafe
Offen 24 Stunde
John looked at the sign as they drove past it. Without looking, he got a hold of Vale's right arm and shook it. This broke her concentration on the road.
"What?" Vale got started from John's sudden grasp.
"Back down the road, turn left." John looked at her. "I think we got something."
Without hesitation, Vale swerved the Jeep around and back towards the junction. She followed at partner's directions and soon, they pulled over to the kerb not too far from the shop as there were cars parked in front of the place. Vale could see why John had spotted the computer cafe. She looked down the street and saw that none of the floating streetlights lit up the whole stretch of road. The darkness of the road has made this shop, along with a few cars that lined down on their side of the street, only added a hint of any livelihood that happened along this avenue.
"No streetlights, a dark street and a completely bright computer cafe right in the middle of it." Vale pointed out her views. "Perfectly safe for us."
With his partner out of the vehicle, John used Tom and aimed it towards the Jeep. His AI lit up towards the Jeep as a glow surrounded it, then it pixelated out of existence.
"Come on." He ushered her towards the computer cafe.
The bell rang as John pushed the door inside. This computer cafe was small, but it was no different from the other computer cafes that John and Vale had seen and been to before. Multiple computers along three isles stretched the entire shop. Unlike the outside, the computer cafe inside had black lights instead of neon, making anyone wearing bright colours glow in the dark. A needed change since the sign used too much neon in John's opinion.
"Welcome!" The owner greeted the both of them.
"Hi. We would like to use your computers. Just the two of us." John spoke fluently in German, hoping to do some quick research.
"Certainly. Find yourselves a comfortable space. The system will start charging once you log in and stop the duration once you log out." He instructed the two.
John thanked the cashier as he and Vale made their way towards the computer. Looking around the small outlet, John decided to settle down at two terminals close by the big tinted window that was looking out at the street. Vale sat right next to the said window while John joined by the terminal beside her. Once they had settled down, they logged onto the internet.
"Hey look, a holographic keyboard!" John whispered to Vale, waving his hands through the hologram, entranced as he looked closely.
"You better watch what you are typing." Vale chuckled as she saw his screen with the notepad up, his weaving hands through the holographic board managed to type out a random mess of words. "Oh, whoops." John went ahead and closed the notepad. Vale just shook her head at her partner's foolishness as she plugged her AI into the terminal, with John doing the same not soon after.
"Alright. I'm plugged in." Eve announced quietly. "Connecting now to the internet."
"So am I." Tom's communicator dialled up to the internet.
"Wow. The internet here in the future has expanded to levels that it could take us a long time to browse through." Vale remarked as her interface was full of busy internet activity.
"Then let's try to narrow it down to the next few hours," Tom noted to his AI partner. "Let's search up this Overwatch group."
A few hours went by as John and Vale typed away, browsing and searching for any answers they could find. It wasn't long before they found something.
"Look at this," Vale stated, stopping at a wiki page. She read the article -History of Overwatch - quietly to John and Tom.
"The Peacekeeping Organisation was founded at the behest of the United Nations during the Omnic Crisis, the war against artificial machines, was not like anything humanity had faced nor experienced before. Many countries were losing territory to the robots, but it was during this time that some soldiers and strategists were thriving in this new style of warfare. As the nations of Earth struggled against the omnics, the United Nations pooled together, various countries giving their best soldiers and technologies to form an elite strike unit. From there, Overwatch was born."
"I read further down, it also states that while command of the unit was given to Gabriel Reyes, Overwatch's overall structure was moulded by Jack Morrison, who moulded the unit into a truly cohesive fighting force. The other founding members were Ana Amari, Mina Liao, Reinhardt Wilhelm, and Torbjörn Lindholm." Eve pointed out in the wiki.
"Looks like we got our first few names," Tom commented. "Any other names?"
"If there were, it's not stated here. Must be classified information."
"I'll check up on this United Nations. May have something related." John started searching, now resolved to know more about this international organisation.
Multiple pages of news and articles went by as John and Tom were completely enveloped in their research.
"Hey, found something." Tom grabs the attention of the other three. He projected an article on the United Nations from his communicator.
"Just published not too long ago," Tom noted as he began to read off the article. "The United Nations is currently in hot water after leaks of Helix Security International's scandalous missions and doings have been made public. Acts ranging from looting, stealing and in some cases, sexual nature have been committed on the people that they were paid to protect."
Tom kept on reading his findings.
"This comes after several high-profile incidents involving Helix Security International, the UN granted Helix's request for additional funding to deal with rising threats; much to the dismay of those opposed to the increasing privatization of security following the end of Overwatch. The organisation has been suspended from all activity for the time being until their case has been heard by the United Nations."
John and Vale looked at each other, now confused.
"Wait, Overwatch is no more?" Vale questioned herself. "Then how are we supposed to return that bomb-like device?" Her bubbly AI quickly answered.
"While looking more about Overwatch, I found someone's work from a blog post, an obsessed person with Overwatch. Anyway, Overwatch's fall began after a top-secret division called "Blackwatch" was revealed, headed by Gabriel Reyes. There were stories of assassination, coercion, kidnapping, torture, and worse. Governments called on the UN to shut down the "aggressive and repeated violations of many countries' sovereignty."
"Things became worse when ex-members said a rift formed between Morrison and Reyes. On one side was Morrison, determined to hold together what remained of Overwatch. On the other side was Reyes, whose agenda remains unknown to this day. A battle raged between these men deep within Overwatch's Headquarters in Switzerland. At some point, their fighting triggered an explosion that destroyed the facility, killing both of them, supposedly, and numerous others. After this and growing pressure from around the world, the United Nations could do nothing but shut down Overwatch. It was eventually disbanded, thirty years after its founding, left in disgrace, its agents now the target of derision and suspicion in the media. The Petras Act deemed any Overwatch activity illegal, and liable to prosecution."
Silence fell upon the group as John and Vale took time to digest this. Things were not just adding up.
"If Overwatch is disbanded, then why did….um, that guy, that General. What was his name again?" John snapped his finger, trying to think back.
"General Alldic, John." Eve replied.
"Then why did General Alldic speak about Overwatch when it's no longer around?" John places his hand under his chin, thinking about their dilemma.
"Actually, from the earlier article, there was information about the UN, the United Nations introduced the Emergency Peacekeepers Protocol, in light of Helix Security International's suspension. This announcement is to call back fighters who are willing to fight back against the Eye's onmic forces, the one responsible for the current Second Onmic Crisis. This allows anyone from across the globe to be part of the fighting force, regardless of your past experiences or history. Many people are nicknaming this force 'Overwatch 2' because some of the fighters and its leaders are from the former organisation. This organisation is meant to be a temporary peacekeeping force in place of Helix Security and not a permanent solution."
"So Overwatch is not technically back, it's just people call this peacekeeping taskforce 'Overwatch 2'." Vale looked at the projection of the article.
"Let's find this 'Overwatch 2' taskforce." John going straight to the point. "Where do you guys think we can start?"
"Search up the United Nations locations or embassies. They could have data on the peacekeeping force." Eve answered. "While you guys do that, me and Tom are going to download the world map and coordinates right now to update our GPS. It will take us a while since the data size is too big."
For the first time in the day, Vale rested easy into her chair, but only a little. At least they were going somewhere with all their research. At this rate, they would be able to get out of this world.
But before Vale could dive right back into her computer, a lone pickup truck drove by. Nothing out of the ordinary, but for the whole duration that she and John were in the cafe, the street had been completely void of any activity, let alone passing vehicles.
Her hands hovered over the holographic keyboard as she now saw a bit of movement in the reflection of the glass from the flashing neons outside. She adjusted her sight. Thanks to the flashing lights outside, she could make out at least four dark hooded figures, all of them approaching the shop along the unlit sidewalk after parking their truck just down the road.
Vale nudged her partner's arm, she slightly leaned towards him while her eyes were completely fixed back onto her screen and whispered.
"We got company."
John heard her but kept on being fixated on his screen. From the corner of his eye, he saw four black hooded figures entering the cafe. Normally he would like to act first, but for now, he would remain calm until confronted. After all, they don't need any more unnecessary trouble.
The four guys approached the empty counter, crowding it as they waited for whoever manning the counter to come back. It didn't take long before the same man who greeted them came out when he heard the door open.
"Welcome to the the-."
His voice got stuck in his throat as he saw the crowded counter full of hooded individuals. From what John and Vale were observing from their spot, it looked like he knew these guys.
"Where's our rent, idiot?" One of them spoke out, his loud, yet heavy German accent made the situation sound deadly serious.
"You know you were behind two weeks ago, we want that money now plus interest." Another one threatened the owner.
"Please, please, g-g-give me more time. I swear I'll pay on time!" The owner cowered behind the counter by the gang and their threats.
"You said that the last time we were here, schweinhund." One of the goons pinched her nose. "Bring him to the back."
As the group brought the man into his back rooms, one of the members, who looked like the leader of the whole group, said something to another.
"Two people are sitting at the terminals near the window there." Her head gave a small nod towards John and Vale, who were still fixated on the monitor screens. "Get them out of here."
As the leader went with the others and the owner, the lone member slowly went to John and Vale, seemingly paying no attention to the earlier confrontation with the cafe owner. Sensing nothing out of the ordinary about them, he just made his way to the presummingly unaware patrons.
"Excuse me." The hooded man spoke, leaning against John's desktop. "The shop is closed. Please leave immediately."
John and Vale, hearing every single word since their gang got into the shop, just did what they did best.
Play stupid.
"Sorry?" John spoke in English, tilting his head in confusion. The hooded person sighed frustratedly. Then he spoke again, this time trying to make John understand what he was saying.
"You." He aggressively pointed towards him and Vale. "Out." He then pointed towards the window. "Now." He pointed towards the ground. And to make sure to drive the point home, he showed a gun that was tucked away in his hip, held on by his jeans.
John and Vale faked a wide-eyed look at the gun, then back at the guy. Vale whispered into John's ear, then played along.
"Oh, you want out, is it?" Vale asked innocently.
"Yes, yes. Out now!." The man was growingly frustrated at the two.
"I think he meant to say was knockout." John corrected her.
"Out! Out!" The guy kept repeating. John and Vale just looked at each other, trying not to smirk at each other. They would have lost it if the situation wasn't so serious.
"Ah okay okay." Vale raised her hands. "Knockout it is."
Then without warning, they both slugged their fists right at the man's face. The force sending his head back was enough to force the hood off as he fell straight to the floor. The thud from the impact was loud enough for the rest of the gang to hear it from the backrooms.
"Go check it out." The ringleader said her group. Another hooded person from the group went out to check the noise in the cafe, only to discover the whole area empty, apart from her fellow member whose face a covered in a bloody mess, lying down in the middle of the aisle.
"Whoa, are you okay?" The member rushed towards his fellow buddy, helping him to get up.
His bloodied buddy only groaned and garbled in response, as if he was trying to say something.
"What is it?" The member got closer to his face. His buddy stopped slurring and instead chose to use his hands and pointed towards the desk. Looking at his hands and the direction of where he was pointing, the member slowly turned towards where he was pointing.
In an instant, he as if suddenly knew what it felt like to be a deer in the headlights.
Sitting below the desks, were John and Vale, huddled together as Vale was armed with the gun she stole from the hooded man and John with his trusty bow and foam-tipped arrow resting on the arrow shelf, ready to fire.
"Hi." Vale grimaced, her German accent filled with dread at the wide-eyed member, with the gun pointed towards his face.
The gang member, holding his bleeding partner, started to catch his breath. His initial shock made his throat tighter which made him shallow on air. As his breathing resumed normally, the man just looked at the two. The only thought that came to his mind was the most obvious.
The man quickly pulled out his gun from his hoodie's pocket and opened fire at them.
The sounds of more gunfire immediately sent the last gang member and leader in the backroom into a bit of a panic mode. Trapped in the backroom of the cafe with no other way out, the last gang member whipped out her pistol as she slowly made her way around the corner, her gun aiming towards the cafe.
Before she could get a full view of the area, she was hit in the stomach with a heavy-duty spring-compressed foam-tipped arrow, followed by another straight to her jaw sideways. This sent her into the concrete wall right next to her, face first, knocking her out.
John and Vale hid behind the corner of the doorway leading towards the backrooms. John was the closest to the entrance while Vale was behind him, now spotting her riot shield alongside her firearm.
With the second last attacker down, Vale took over John and prepared herself to rush into the backroom, shield up in her left hand and her pistol in the right.
She barged into the room, only to stop right in the doorway. The ringleader had backed into the corner of the small backroom, headlocking the beaten and bloodied cafe owner at gunpoint in her arms.
"Don't come any closer!" The leader shakenly pointed her gun at Vale, then aimed her pistol straight at the owner's head. "Or I'll shoot him!"
Vale kept her gun and shield up, not willing to comply with the supposedly mastermind of this whole charade. John, meanwhile, kept out of the leader's sight as he still stayed back around the corner. He heard the threat that spewed from the backroom and he knew that they both had to act quickly. Taking a small peak around the corner, he could see the tense standoff between his partner and the gang leader.
Taking in a few deep breaths, he drew his bow with another of his spring-compressed foam-tipped arrows and aimed it towards the wall. Based on what he saw and judging from where Vale was aiming, he trusted that his calculations and arrow would be able to hit the leader by ricocheting off the walls. Gaining composure with his slow breathing, he let go of the string of his recurved pulley-powered bow.
He watched as the bow bounced off the wall and into the room. He listened on as the Q-tip arrow bounced off a couple more times before hearing a thud followed by a crashing sound. John wasn't sure if his arrow trick shot hit his desired target.
But he wasn't taking any chances. Quickly reloading another arrow from his waist-mounted quiver, he loaded his bow and pulled back the string.
Taking more deep breaths, he barges into the room. John quickly inspects the situation and then takes a sigh of relief.
Slumped in the corner of the backroom, was the leader, knocked unconscious by his foam arrow, laying nearby. His partner all already lowered her shield and arm, relieved that this whole fiasco was over. She kept the firearm in one of many pockets in her industrial pants and her shield right behind her as made her way to the wounded owner who was also slumped, but conscious.
John knelt in front of the gang's leader and inspected her. He could see the glowing red circle mark on her cheek where the arrow hit her, which made him chuckle.
"One shot, one kill."
Vale didn't react. She was now busy cleaning the guy's face of any blood she saw. John's laughter slowly died off as he went back to business. He did pat down the leader, careful not to touch any sensitive parts of the woman's body.
"Nothing on her aside from her gun," John concluded his search at her right hand holding the small calibre pistol. "Probably just a small gang."
With nothing more to search, John went to pick up the arrow that he fired at her, which lay near her left hand. As he went to reach it, he noticed something under the palm of her hand.
He lifted the unconscious hand away and saw a phone. The device had cracks that came from the bottom right-hand corner as she dropped to the floor. Despite this, the screen can still be seen, albeit just barely.
John looked past the screen and saw a call had been started. Based on the time that the call had been active, the leader called someone as if they knew they were going to need help.
As if didn't calm John down, he could see who the leader called. "The Boss." John read the title in German.
This wasn't some small group of loan sharks looking to get their money back. This was a big gang-sting operation. And that he and Vale just so happened to kick a hornet's nest.
"John? You okay?" Vale looked at John, noticing that he hadn't moved or said anything in the last few seconds, she saw that he stared blankly at the dim screen.
"Looks like we are going to have company." John showed Vale the phone. By this time, she was done helping the owner with his wounds and was about to get him up to his feet. But that all changed now that given the news.
"We should defend this man. He's going to die against those thugs alone." Vale retorted.
"But we can't afford to be captured or known either." John knew that Vale wanted to protect the owner. It wasn't like he didn't want to fight the incoming thugs, but they couldn't risk getting caught.
John thought about their dilemma for a moment, his mind going around the tiny backroom they were in. As he was looking around, he spotted an advanced-looking landline phone on a nearby table, then the owner started coughing and gasping as he was coming around. Vale quickly turned back her attention to him.
Then, it all came together. An idea.
"Excuse me, sir." John crouched in front of the owner, who was just coming around. "Does this store have a backdoor?"
The owner held a fist in front of his mouth as he coughed up a few more times. "There's a door right behind this poster. Leads to the alley behind the shop. I don't use it anymore since I barely use it."
John and Vale looked at the wall where the owner rested his back. There was a gigantic gaming poster that covered the doorway completely, making the door invisible. Vale stood up and felt the poster's surface, which from the small tears and holes on it, meant that this was here for a while. Tearing away from one of the holes, she could see the door itself, still intact after all this time.
John meanwhile, grabbed the pistol from the downed leader and went straight to the landline phone and punched in some numbers. He waited impatiently as the phone kept ringing.
"Hello, Rheine Police Station."
"Hello, police? I'm here at Der Wunder Computer Cafe. There's some people here fighting."
John unexpectedly slammed the phone right next to the holder, then proceeded to swipe the table clear of its contents with the phone. To finish it off, he shot four rounds towards the ceiling.
"I'll get Tom and Eve. Check on this one here." John was referring to the gangster who lay unconscious at the doorway to the backroom.
John rushed back into the shop to find that the AI companions were still attached to the desktops from earlier.
"Sir, I heard gunfire. Is everything alright?" Tom questioned his human partner.
"Yeah, everything is fine, just that we need to go now." John quickly unplugged them from the computers. "Sorry if I'd interrupted any downloads that you guys were doing, but we need to get out of here before the police arrive."
"The police?" Eve was stunned when he mentioned law enforcement.
"More of these thugs are coming, so we called the police." John ran back to the backroom to see that Vale was just done ripping off the gigantic poster. There stood a brown wooden door that had seen better days. It had mould covering the entire structure and the doorknob was so rusty, that Vale could not touch it with her bare hands.
"Like I said, need a lot of force to open the door." The owner rested on his gaming chair nearby, his condition now a lot better than before.
Vale looked at the owner, then without breaking eye contact, she reached to her back to retrieve her shield. She then took a couple of paces back. Now facing the stubborn door with the shield in between them, she charged towards the door.
The door burst open with the rusted door knob mechanism breaking free from the structure. Vale was now outside and in the alleyway behind the shop.
As Vale went deeper into the alley, John turned his attention to the owner.
"Stay put. The police are coming."
"Thank you."
The owner just looked at him expressionless, but John knew that he was grateful. He quickly ran off to catch up with Vale. Down the alley and a corner turn later, they were at the main road again. This time, the duo were further down the street for the computer cafe. John and Vale stood at the alleyway's exits, peering around.
"There." Vale pointed towards the navy blue pickup truck that was parked just metres away from them.
"You sure?" John didn't seem convinced.
"That's probably the one they used. It was the only vehicle that passed by during our whole time in the shop." Vale recalled the whole time in the cafe. Then, she whipped out a black plastic keyfab. "Took this from one of the guys. Let's test it."
Pointing towards the truck, both were relieved when the truck beeped and the hazard lights came on for a bit. Quickly rushing towards the truck, Vale opened the driver's door, then shifted herself onto the passenger seat while John was the last to enter, therefore he took the driver seat.
The pickup truck was like most of the vehicles that they saw along their way to Germany. Most of them had these devices where the wheels used to be which made the truck levitate a few centimetres off the ground. This pickup truck looked like it had been put through its paces and had been used and abused. From a glance from the alleyway, they could make out dents, rust spots on the bed and a cracked windshield on the glass.
The darkness of the night coupled with the rain has technically made them invisible to anyone if they weren't paying attention to them.
Out of nowhere, the roar of three pickups turned at the junction behind. The sound of its metallic floating rims scraping the tarmac below as they made the sharp turn. John and Vale ducked below into the footwells as the trucks few past by. They just stopped right in the middle of the road in front of the shop. The shop's neon glow was bright enough to see that a huge number of people just disembarked from the trucks and were now headed towards the shop.
Vale prepared her small calibre, but John kept her hand down.
"Look." Just as the thugs surrounded the shop, two big trucks suddenly came tearing down the street and came to an immediate halt just meters from the group, who were only becoming aware of the vehicles' arrival. But before they figured out what was going on, the familiar blaring sound of police sirens and blue flashing and strobing lights lit up the once quiet dark street.
"THIS IS THE SEK. LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS AND SURRENDER PEACEFULLY!"
The police sparred in no time and disembarked rapidly from the lorries and within seconds, one platoon of fully armed and protected troops surrounded the street.
The gang, who were completely caught off guard, at first wanted to retaliate. Some came charging towards the police while some drew their guns.
Then the water jet cannon from one of the stealth lorries fired at the gang members, destroying the once organised group who were preparing to raid the computer cafe. Amid the chaos, the police charged towards the thugs, catching them and pinning them towards the ground and walls. Soon, gang members left, right and centre were being arrested and detained.
John and Vale watched on, relieved when the police were escorting the owner out of the cafe and to a nearby ambulance that was called onto the scene.
As both of them soaked in the clear-up that was happening, John and Vale could breathe a little easier, relieved that everything turned out alright.
"That went better than planned." John slumped back into the driver's seat. "Better than our time in the Netherlands."
"But we are not out of the wood just yet." Vale kept looking at the scene ahead. "We are still on the run and we are looking for a peacekeeping team that is using a defunct organisation name, which had the same purpose in mind. It just so baffling yet so intense."
John contemplated Vale's words. He understood what she was saying, everything right now was so tense and so confusing at the same time, it was just taking a toll on both him and her.
"Hey." John softly spoke, his hand on her shoulder. "You're right. Everything right now doesn't add up. I know we are under a lot of pressure to get this done and over with to go home."
Then he smiled warmly. "Let's do this slowly and steadily, one step at a time."
John was her support whenever such a mishap or mess they would come to face. Vale's face brightened a little, but her face still showed a bit of gloominess, her worries still etched in her mind, but soothed by John.
John sat up straight and started the pickup truck.
"Alright. Let's get out of here." The truck's electrical underpinnings and motors whirred up as John made a U-turn and left the street. 15 minutes later, they were at a set of traffic lights that led the way back to the autobahn.
"Tom, Eve, did you finish downloading the updated map?" Vale asked the AIs.
"We downloaded most of the maps that were on the internet. A lot of routes to take on." Eve's disc glowed and dimmed as her voice spoke.
"Not everything was downloaded, but I think where we can go next to find this peacekeeping taskforce." Tom glowed beside his AI partner.
"What do you have Tom?"
"There's a meeting for the United Nations that is to take place in the city of Lisbon. They are to discuss matters regarding the suspension of Helix Security International, the recent events in the world, and the rumoured peacekeeping taskforce, which I'm guessing is what we are after." Tom said. "We need to cut through France and Spain in quick time though, the meeting starts in two days."
"Then what are waiting for?" John cheered at the mention of Spain and France. He may not be happy with how their mission was going, but at least they were going to his home country.
"But we are at a red traffic light, John. That's why we are waiting." Vale interrupted his little celebration. Her partner joined in on her laughter.
"Already set a waypoint. Best to take turns to rest up before we get there." Eve suggested to the two of them. "It's going to be a long ride."
Vale pulled a lever on her seat as it reclined backwards. "Guess I'll rest up first. Wake me up if you want me to take over."
"Alright." John watched her lean back.
"John?" Vale grabbed his hand before his sights were back on the road.
"Thanks for everything." Vale smiled warmly. This was the first time during their time here that she showed any signs of genuine calm and happiness. John just grinned in return.
HONK
HONK
John quickly looked back ahead and saw the lights were green, and traffic building behind him, impatiently waiting to get a move on. He just pressed hard on the gas pedal and left the German town behind them.