Secrets From the Grave (Sinister 1.60)

Chapter Eighteen Defender of the People

Dedicated to MajenBeos02, bethansarah, Babyalex34, carmeapple
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May 22, 2019, 10:45 am, Ciro's POV

    "No vital signs, no heat signatures. Diana's room is empty." Akon informs me his voice is factual even as it shakes. I nod, my hands trembling, as I send a sea of drones into the air. 'I have to believe Diana is okay. I have to believe that, because there is a force trying the Hail Mary doors in the neighboring room. The room holding our defenseless Lower Pack and toddlers. Amore and Achille will be useless if they get through, due to the Elitist gas the opposition are attempting to deploy through the vents. Basilio's Berserker is stronger, time has given him an unworldly power, so he will be able to fight even blind and deaf. But even he won't win, not with most of the Lower Pack in that room... he will have to make a choice. He will have to choose to shield the Lower Pack or the toddlers. I watch the camera feed as the drone levels with the room's window, and I firm my spine.

    "Commence fire," I order, and Akon's second, Will, begins the artillery attack on the glass. 'I crafted that glass, it took me fifty-two tries to make sure nothing could break it... nothing, but a sonic bomb, but that could kill my Pack. Achille appears at the glass and looks up at the drone seeming to be yelling something. 'Why aren't the rest appearing? What could they be doing?'

    "He seems like he is trying to signal us," Will says, and I look where he indicates to see Amore standing next to Achille motioning something with his hands. I direct a fleet of drones to hunt for Diana's and Jules's biosignature, and they fly off.

    "Try to contact them again!" I order, and Will tries, but we hit a block again. 'When we could not get through. I tried everything to hack it and instantly realized the familiarity. Besides Cheshire, no one has been able to hack me. But this isn't a hack, they are using my virus. The virus we deploy before we attack a Hub. But unlike me, their range is minimal, so only the west side of Isle Two is in a black zone. I sent drones for help, but the main problem is that I cannot get into the locked-down hospital, nor can I communicate with my Pack.

    "It's trash," Akon says, and with an un-shocking amount of anger his arm sweeps and knocks the table's contents on the ground.

    "Pull yourself together!" I snarl even as my trembling hand makes it near impossible to configure my drone controls. 'Pull yourself together, what would the Alphas do?' I take a breath in, and then it hits me. My gaze flies back to Amore and Achille, and finally, see where they are pointing... Basilio is missing, and so are the rest... 'Why would they not come to the glass?'

    "They are not in the room." I say positioning a drone just right to check for Hermes's biosignature and then only counting two heat blooms. Only Amore and Achille remain.' Akon freezes then runs back to his chair and begins running a system check on the vents again. 'We cannot hack the hospital safeties, but we can redirect the vents away from the heat blooms.'

    "Cease drone fire," I order, and drones stop then dip back into formation. Amore nods and gives me a thumbs up, and then he and Achille run out.

    "Follow the heat blooms," I order Will, and he nods, then pulls up a live floor plan of the hospital, and we track Achille's and Amore's movements.

    "Are we even helping? Surely among the three of us, we can figure out a plan to help them. Actually, help them." Akon says quietly, but I ignore him as I punch in code after code in an attempt to crash my own system. If it crashes it locks everyone out and trips the failsafe... one that will send a much stronger virus back where it came from.