Neon Grave

Chapter 28 Earthquake Maker 1/3

With slithering caution, the Raptors explored every possible niche of the derelict factory. When Jessica determined that there were no trap doors or hidden moats filled with sharks with lasers on their heads, she told them to roam free. Thus, everything not nailed down to the ground was available for the taking. Too bad they couldn't pack the whole factory and haul it off. Fortunately, they found their freedom in the hangar bay.

After falling back to the ground floor, Jess and her mercenary buds wound up strolling between assembly lines and beneath a grove of robotic arms. Everywhere you looked, desaturated yellow haunted the vast interior. But despite the liberty to wander, Raptor's ragtag crew zeroed in on the array of new vehicles that never left the assembly line. As it happened, an entire garage was waiting for them, Goliath's own synergy of fuel efficiency and luxury. The crew would now treat itself to some new wheels that could float. But the moment he laid his fingers on the streamy green paint job, Raptor received an urgent alert on his wrist-mounted comm. "I've got movement," somebody warned him through the speaker.

Drake tapped his ear. "Roger. Location?"

"Civilian vehicles approaching the perimeter."

"Nobody saw that coming," Jessica said with refined sarcasm. "I swear, it's a never-ending battle royale out there."

"Look on the plus side," Dexter enthused, "Christmas came early. He was already shoving into the driver's side of a Maestro Novo sports car, one of Goliath's most expensive models - Synether Drive, VI input, cyberwarfare modules, and unparalleled MPG. None of it would matter without the slick black metal paint and sleek LED lights for acceleration, brake, and full-stop bad assery. Even the most advanced box is still just a box to the consumer. These models came with a myth: supposedly, it was the car driven by Corpo agents. Specifically Azareans. In reality, its sleek frame and front-loaded power made it stand out too much. And yet, Drake was already in the driver's seat.

Jessica tilted her gaze 90 degrees upward. As suspected, a large, vertical hatch was attached to the ceiling above their heads. In other words, they had an escape route. She grinned. "Call me Santa Claus."

Apparently, the gangs laying siege outside the factory had arrived with their own hackers. They'd stand no chance of entering, otherwise. They were attempting to exploit Jessica's crack at the factory door, while Lynx and the Raptors made their getaway with the goods.

Everyone inside was already on their way out, so Jess grabbed one last look back at the eerie, dusty halls of the economic juggernaut. A somber expression, then, with another strum of her holo-brace, she restored the great compartments to their original state before they arrived. A simple stroke of the wrist led to tremors between the slits of her toes. The surrounding architecture folded, winded, and lifted in all directions. Thus, for a brief moment, suddenly ended, the entire structure felt alive.

The hangar bay slowly submerged under the floor and resealed; the underground armory closed its hatch doors. To bring it all back, the gangers would have to repeat all of Jessica's hard work, which meant learning the Azarean language and codes. Which would explain why she wasn't worried. If the wrong people could break into Goliath, they would've done so a long time ago.

Before she got sick of the place, Jess followed everyone else back outside into the realm of altered carbon. Smoke had folded the blue sky into pale and opaque clouds. She had a moment to bask in the chaos before an earthquake shook the soles of her shoes, lifting the hairs on her skin. Yes, an earthquake. At the same time, an urgent call was suddenly blinking on her watch. The two were probably related. As soon as she realized that Wessex was the caller, she knew. They were definitely related.

***

Half an hour ago...

Inside their largest and most advanced gunship, Sub Terra's command terminal rendered real-time holograms of the tactical situation a few kilometers away. Just a few kilometers. Keenly, commander Wessex stuck his nose in a tactical overlay of Siren's nearby district. He could see the whole city. No wonder then, his nervous staff was in attendance. The dark cabin carved up their five-o-clock shadows in glistening blue as dark events unfolded.