TNG: Iblis, the First Hero

Chapter 15: Broadside

Broadside

"Are you sure this is the place?" Cid asked as he leapt from one tree canopy to the next, trying to get closer to the behemoth lab in front of him.

"The suit's tracker chip is leading us here, so this is the right place, a trap, or both. Stay alert regardless," King said through the headset.

Cid leapt from a tree and landed softly on the roof of the lab. His self-induced parkour training had enabled him to move almost silently. He quickly moved for an air vent and removed the covering grill, ducking as hot air came screaming out of the vent.

"Looks like the heating system," he declared.

"It would seem so. Schematics of the building show that the heating system doesn't reach the classified areas, however."

"Let me guess... The suit's in the classified areas, isn't it?" Cid asked.

"If it wasn't, then our life would be too easy."

"Right," Cid muttered as he eased himself into the heating vent.

Ω

"It's dark... and hot...," he mumbled as he crawled through the vents, drowning in his own sweat.

"Yes. It seems like the lab has been abandoned since you left," King mused.

"If that's the case, I'm letting myself out," Cid declared, kicking the grill of the vent he was in and sliding out the bottom onto the floor below.

"There is definitely no one here," he continued as he silently passed through the halls.

"There could still be someone there. Don't let your guard down and don't let yourself be seen."

"Just tell me where the suit is already. This ghost lab gives me the creeps."

"The lab number is 003-A. It's in the sublevels."

"What? I'm on the tenth floor!"

"Then you have a long way to go."

Cid sighed and slightly picked up his pace.

Ω

Eventually, he reached the sublevels and lab 003-A.

"Door's locked," he mumbled as he tried to push the door open.

"There should be some kind of security pad nearby. Do you see one?" King asked.

He looked around and found one on the wall next to the door. "There's a fingerprint scanner."

"Use the Masterkey to get in," King stated.

"Masterkey?" Cid asked.

"You didn't read the schematics on the equipment that I gave you like I told you to, did you?"

"I can't say I did," Cid replied.

"Put your finger on the pad. Your right index finger."

Cid did as he was told and was surprised when the scanner accepted the "fingerprint" of the gloves he was wearing.

"The Masterkey is a device that NoirTech designed for espionage purposes. It can replicate fingerprints, retina scans, and numeric sequences, and if it can't, then it scrambles the security system. That wouldn't be a problem here, but you don't want to scramble a security system in a bank, for example," King explained.