The Division: Beyond Survival

Part One: Through the Blizzard

CHAPTER ONE

"Klein, I need you back at the BOO in 30 minutes. Report to Lau," came a gruff voice over the ISAC comms. It was Rhodes, the head of the Tech Wing at the Base Of Operations (or the BOO), not one of the dispatchers.

Klein's brow pinched. "Copy that, en route," he replied quickly. Something big is brewing, he guessed. He started walking back, picking his way through the abandoned cars and rubble in Hudson Yards, amongst the still-proud brick & plaster buildings. Klein stopped to give some granola bars and canned food to some hungry civilians he found along the way and chat for a minute. They gave him some good intel on a high-value target that had become a big problem in Hell's Kitchen over the last couple weeks. This was noted in his computer, uploaded to the ISAC network, and either he or some other agent in the vicinity would get the assignment shortly. That's how it worked.

Soon enough he could see the familiar shape of the post office building. He had to go around to the East side because all other entrances were closed and locked for security, but he didn't mind; seeing all the steps and columns of the east façade always inspired him. It was the people they were fighting to save, not buildings of stone and steel, he told himself, but this building made you feel proud to be a part of the fight.

The Farley Post Office Building had been built in 1912, before the first World War, and bears the inscription "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" across the front. The beaux-arts style of the building was originally designed to match the style of Pennsylvania Station, which used to face the post office from across the street of 8th Avenue. As freeways and cars replaced train usage, the magnificent train station diminished until the above-ground levels were demolished and replaced in the 1960's by Madison Square Garden.

As he came up through the decontamination tunnel, he immediately saw that Faye Lau was not at her desk. He would have to find her. Faye had gotten too close to a bomb in Brooklyn just after being activated, and had almost been killed before she even made it to Manhattan. Despite getting blown halfway to hell, she bandaged up and took the place of the former SHD commander who had been killed in the same explosion. She had been directing Division efforts for the last month from a desk at the front of the base, where she could see all the agents coming and going with her remaining eye, as she hobbled around with a crutch, impatiently waiting for her leg to heal.

Klein made a right turn and poked his head around the corner and saw Benitez standing behind his desk, talking to some JTFers with a clipboard in hand. Benitez glanced over and held up a finger but continued his briefing.

Klein held up a hand and pointed towards Lau's desk, then opened his hand - Where is she?

Benitez shook his head slightly towards Klein in between sentences. I don't know.

Klein went into the central corridor, under the stairs. With a tap on his watch, a holographic map sprung up around him. Only he could see it, as it was being displayed on special contact lenses he wore that were connected to his Intelligent Systems Analytic Computer (ISAC, for short), standard equipment for every Division agent. The ISAC device was a small, dark wedge perched on his shoulder, clipped to the strap of his backpack. There was a glowing orange circle on top and a thick, flat, six-inch long antenna along the side.

Lau was down in the Terminal. It was a subway station platform under the post office, now a hub for Division agents; where they could calibrate their weapons and gear, receive High Value Target assignments, and prepare for missions. He took the stairs down to the Terminal, passing the Security Wing on the right, and the Medical Wing to the left. The Tech Wing was upstairs. The entire building had been converted into a base of operations (or, the BOO) for the time being.