05:05:26 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, inside the storm drains, offshore LA, CFS

It took Errand nearly ten minutes to unpack the underwater cutting gear. In the dark and in the tight enviroment it was nearly impossible. The clock in his eye told himn that time to infiltrate the building was running out, when the sun hit the water they would be lit up like the Macy's day parade.

05:27:14 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, inside the storm drains, offshore LA, CFS

The torch cuts with a brilliant blue-white flame, hissing loudly in the silence of the storm drain tunnel. Flare compensation automatically blacks out the intense light, but Errand worries that it will still be enough to alert surveillance on the corvette above. Although, at this point, he doesn't know what kind of reprisals a vessel like that has against subsurface action. Would they actually mount depth charges to deter infiltration? Or would they rely on swimmers of their own? The last of the hinges came free, and Errand caught the panel before it could fall to the bottom of the drain. Quickly he passed it back to Tron, who carefully set it aside. Mako raised his head out of the culvert to assess the situation. As much as Errand hated to admit it, only the two Awakened members of the team were adequately equipped to observe without risking counterdetection.

To Mako, the world was a dim, blue fog, lit from below by the mana energy seeping from mother earth. It flowed up through the cracks in the pavement, like a clear blue magma rising from the seafloor. It was enough to see perhaps twenty or thirty meters through the otherwise impenetrable gloom. Brighter motes of light danced within the hazy fog; solitary wanderers or groups of up to a hundred or more, darting and flashing as they cast back and forth through the ocean. Turning back, Mako flashed a thumbs up to his other two teammates.

05:28:14 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, inside the storm drains, offshore LA, CFS


Errand nodded, waved his hands at Tron and signaled him to go first, Errand would go second, then Mako. He made sure nothing was dangling on him or impeding his legs. Once he was sure it was clear, he held up five fingers. Then four, three, two, one. Tron bolted like he was shot from a canon.

How that guy does that...

05:28:34 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, Ares SoCal Headquarters, offshore LA, CFS

Tron kicked strongly, aiming for the massive angular shadow of the Ares building. He tried to ignore the icy sweat that trickled down his spine, tried to ignore the knowledge of just how precise a tiger shark's senses were, or the fact that they were tuned to look for precisely the kind of target he presented. He kept his eyes out, glancing left and right, hating the way the dive mask cut down on his peripheral vision.

Just twenty meters more....

He pretended not to hear the theme music from Jaws.

Ten meters.

Five.

Tron exhaled explosively when he reached the relative safety of the alcove. It was still open to the ocean, but at least the twisting corridors and jagged wreckage gave him the illusion of cover, and options should the predator decide to pursue an engagement. He signaled to Errand and Mako

One down, two to go.

05:33:34 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, Ares SoCal Headquarters, offshore LA, CFS

Errand waited for the signal, synthetic muscles posed to push him off. Nearly a minute ticked by... then the signal. He pushed off with his legs kicking in rythim as fast as possible. The vision of the shark killing the other team on the surface swam in his mind.

05:35:27 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, Ares SoCal Headquarters, offshore LA, CFS

The swim was worse for Errand, though. Barely two strokes away from the shelter of the storm drain, and the light from his chemlight had disappeared, leaving him alone in the silent darkness of the water. The only sound was the harsh exhalation of his own labored breathing. On he swam, desperately hoping that he was keeping a straight line. But he wasn't. Tron risked another signal, a quick series of three flashes and Errand cursed silently, correcting back to the left. Another series of flashes, another correction. He kicked harder, raw, animal fear at the back of his neck. Even the thick diving armor would be nothing against the jaws and teeth that could shear metal. A shape loomed out of the darkness and he recoiled, only realizing he'd arrived at his destination when Tron signalled Mako.

05:35:27 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, Ares SoCal Headquarters, offshore LA, CFS

Tron's heart was pumping, adrenline running through his system...

What a rush!

Keeping a sharp eye out for the shark, Tron carefully searches while the others speed across the open expanse.

Hope those seals are keeping that thing at bay!

05:37:21 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, Ares SoCal Headquarters, offshore LA, CFS

After signaling Mako, Tron turns to the task of getting into the building. As he is poking through the twist and turns, he looks for some place that will allow the team entrance.

Hopefully there is a way in where I don't have to light up the darkness! Well, at least I know that Errand's got my back.

Tron glance back and spots Errand waiting for Mako to cross, stand a vigilant watch.

05:38:13 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, Ares SoCal Headquarters, offshore LA, CFS

When the earthquake struck, the building weathered the initial shock well. It was the aftershocks, coupled with the subsidence that wrought the most damage. Two floors of the underground parking garage pancaked together, and the building dropped into the hole, coming to rest at a ten degree list to the south. Errand and Tron hover in what used to be ground floor service bay, the ramps which once sloped down now broken and jagged. The halls are twisted and clogged with debris, blocking entrance much past ten or fifteen meters. One set of elevator doors are accordioned shut, bowed outward slightly by the shear stresses placed on the shaft during the subsidence. The other set has a narrow crack in them that widens to about fifteen centimeters towards the top. It probably wouldn't take much work to pry them fully open. A sharp increase in the amount of ambient light brings Tron's head around in alarm. As he watches, a wave of blue/green energy surges across the ocean floor, striking highlights from the uneven urban wreckage. As the wave passes, two vast arcs shimmer into existence for a moment, neon blue light dancing along the edge of the frozen rock waves for a second before fading into darkness again.

05:40:13 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, Ares SoCal Headquarters, offshore LA, CFS

The light, while frightening gave Errand enough light to see by. Spurred by the fear of being eaten alive he grabbed the edge of the elevator, braced his foot and exerted his strength to the breaking, struggling to pry the door open another 30 centimeters, enough for them to squeeze in.

05:40:10 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, Ares SoCal Headquarters, offshore LA, CFS

Seeing the blue flash raises the hair on the back of Tron's neck. He immediately signals to Errand to open the elevator to get off the ocean floor and move into the "safety" of the building.

05:35:27 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, Ares SoCal Headquarters, offshore LA, CFS

Seeing Tron's signal, Mako begins swimming as quickly as he can for the rest of the team, keeping an eye out for the sharks all the while, and glad his spirits are both concealing the team and helping them move faster than they'd otherwise be able to.

05:36:03 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, Ares SoCal Headquarters, offshore LA, CFS

The tiger shark's senses were perfectly tuned to hunt in the murky waters of the littoral environment, it's sense of smell incredibly sharp, honed by thousands of years to detect even the slightest hint of blood in the water. The spidery network of nerves that served as a vibration sensor was as pure a hunting device as ever been created. It easily described a three dimensional picture of a prey animal swimming strongly along the seafloor. With a steady beat, the shark's oversized tail drove it faster through the water, its airfoil like front fins steering it into a curving dive towards its prey.

Something else was moving through the water, though, another swift swimmer on an intercept course. Not as perfect a hunting machine as the tiger shark, the sea lion was none the less equipped for survival against the predator. It dove swiftly through the water, crossing Mako's wake at barely two meters before spiralling up and away. It could feel the hesitation in the great predator as primitive instincts overrode technological training. This was something that the shark understood an a basic, elemental level. To seal the deal, though, the sea lion bit down on a small plastic ampule it carried in its mouth. Blood clouded the water momentarily. It was all it the shark needed. It heeled over, body whipping through the turn to put it on a new intercept course, tail slashing back and forth. The sea lion fled.

And, forgotten, Mako crossed the last ten meters of open ocean and disappeared into the building.

05:43:29 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, Ares SoCal Headquarters, offshore LA, CFS

It takes a couple of tries before Errand finally gets himself set right to where he can use his leverage to open the doors wide enough to allow him to pass through. The reason that this elevator shaft survived where the other did not is immediately obvious: the car was at ground level, and acted as additional bracing for the shaft. It was not, however, watertight, much to the detriment of its occupant at the time.

Errand cracks a chemlight and tosses it inside, only to recoil in surprise. The corpse floats outward with silent majesty, the flesh stripped from the small bones of the hand as well as most of the face. It's jumpsuit, though, has protected the bulk of the body from the depredations of the scavengers, giving the corpse a strange, bloated look to it. By his dress, he was a maintenance clerk of some kind, a nobody really, a simple corporate drone executing his daily responsibilities when disaster struck. Errand grimaces at his reaction, although not even Tron or Mako could have warned him of the body's presence: without life, it has no aura, appearing the same unremarkable gray on the astral plane as any other piece of furniture.

Errand grabs a hold of the corpse's jumpsuit and steers it down one of the hallways before wiping his gloved hand on his wetsuit. Tron pokes his head through into the elevator, glancing around in the dim light cast by the chemlight before sighting the maintenance hatch on the roof of the elevator car. Pulling himself inside, he works the latch mechanism before pushing up on the hatch.

Once open, he slides through, careful not to let his tank scrape on the sides. It's going to be too tight for Errand, though. With a sigh, he unclips his tank harness, before pushing it through. Tron catches it, waiting for Errand to pull himself through he hatch before handing the tank and harness back. Mako is the last through, and closes the hatch behind them. Slowly, the three ascend vertically for another fifteen meters before they break the surface of the water.

05:51:29 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Minus 80 meters, Ares SoCal Headquarters, offshore LA, CFS

Errand ressists the urge to plunge up to the suface like a man clawing for breath. Slowly he unharnesses his rifle and brings it up to rest on his shoulder. His head and the barrel of his Colt surface first. His eyes scaning the shaft for any sign of drone or other defense. Once his head is above the surface he peels of his face mask to better look around.

05:52:16 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, third floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

Tron blinks, shifting his perception solely to the physical plane. Floating next to him, Errand covers the doors and corners with his assault rifle. By the dim green glow of the chemlight they can make out the walls and machinery of the elevator shaft. It appears to be intact for the most part, although some of the cross members are obviously twisted and damaged. Along one side is a maintenance ladder bolted to the concrete wall. A couple floors up they can see what appears to be some kind of moss or lichen growing along the inside of the walls.

05:52:30 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, third floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

Tron looks over the interior of the elevator shaft.

It has held up surprisingly well all things considered.

A couple of more glances, and he begins to get the two fly spys and the Hunter-Killer drones ready to release.

05:52:45 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, third floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

Tron releases the four drones and sends them up the elevator shaft to get a better look at the next phase of the insertion. Tron then looks over to Errand,
[Should we use the ladder or our own method?] via the commlink.
Tron then looks back at Mako to see how he is fairing.

05:53:30 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, third floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

Errand looked to Tron, pointed at the latter with his right hand. He lets his rifle slide down, gripped the ladder with his left hand and then proceeded to remove the bulky water survival equipment. After a minute he was just in his dive armor and weapons and extra gear. With the light from below providing enough illumintation for him to use his low light, Errand proceeded coatiosly up the latter. Stopping every few rungs to make sure the next one is secure.

06:05:30 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, thirteenthfloor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

The chem light hanging from Errands back projected enough light for his hi-tech eyes to see with, and what he saw he did not like. They were 10 minutes into the climb and the ladder, while secure, was barealy big enough for Errand, so if they got into any trouble, they were in trouble. His arms started to ache with the stress of pullling his weight and gear up the narrow wrungs. He stopped in front of the large doors with the number "13" painted in faded white letters.

"30 seconds rest, check your drones" he whispered over the sub vocal comm's.

06:05:30 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, thirteenthfloor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

Tron was climbing about 1 floor behind Errand. Tron was focused on climbing but was able to multitask and get what the Fly-Spy drones were feeding back.

I sure hope we rappel down. It will be quicker and we are running short on time.

As Errand pauses, Tron checks the area again for networks. Then he resumes his climb to the 27th floor.

06:06:08 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, thirteenth floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

Nothing showed on any of Tron's scans. No networks, no solitary nodes, not a hint or a flicker of wireless transmissions. Although he knew from bitter experience that the absence of transmissions did not mean an absence of networks. They could be exceptionally well hidden, transmitting on high speed, frequency agile algorithms. This was, after all, an Ares headquarters. He would expect them to use nothing but the best. Not to mention the fact that they might have proofed each floor, including the elevator shaft, layering passive broadband EM transmission blocking paint on the walls and the floors. Again, it would make sense considering their location and the security setup. He would have to assume that any building designed to fail secure would have such security measures.

Above him, Errand signaled an end to the rest period, and they resumed their climb, carefully skirting another broad arc of moss. Although Tron had examined it carefully each time they encountered the growth, he could detect nothing alien about it. But its presence, let alone prolific growth, defied explanation. There wasn't any light down here to promote its survival, nor should it have progressed so rapidly in only eighteen months. Not to mention the strange, geometric patterns it seemed to grow in. Whatever the answer, Tron was looking forward to getting this job done with. The sooner they left this building behind, the better.

06:10:028 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

Errand stopped to catch his breath. He was in good shape, but a twenty four story vertical climb would strain anyone. He hooked his arm around the ladder wrung and fished out the portable torch. He had no idea how long it would take to burn through the door, but there was no time like the present.

06:18:04 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

It took Errand only five minutes to cut through the hydraulic rams holding the doors shut. Luckily, Ares being the security conscious company that it was, they used non-flammable hydraulic fluid. Once both rams had been cut on the right hand door, Errand worked his way over to the opposite side of the shaft, clearing the way for Tron and Mako. Bracing himself as best he could, Errand hunkered down behind his assault rifle. Tron had his pistol out, covering the opposite angle. Once the two were set, Mako levered the door open. The armored portal thumped loudly against its stops, the sound echoing down the vast silent hollow of the elevator shaft. A puff of air escapes past them, carrying with it a slightly stale smell, like a car that's been kept closed all day in the heat.

The hallway revealed is spartan, with plain gray tiles on the floor, and sheets of white construction plastic for walls. A small placard on the opposite walls indicates that rooms one through fifty are to the left, while fifty one through eighty are on the right, and in case of fire, use the stairs.

06:18:04 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

Tron immediately ordered the drones to recon the hall. The two fly-spys responded immediately, one to the left and the other to the right.

The faster we get this done, the better.

06:18:04 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

As Errand cut through the doors with the torch, Mako took the opportunity to regain his breath. He was in reasonable condition, but the swimming and climbing weren't exactly light physical activity either. Even with his spirit's Movement ability speeding their journey, he'd gotten a bit winded.

Scanning the hallway, he continues to follow Errand's lead in silence.

06:22:37 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

As his drones buzzed away, deftly slipping through the open elevator door to scan the hallway, Tron reached out with his electronic ears. Carefully he sifted through the stale air, searching for the telltale whisper that would betray an active wireless network. Echoing emptiness greeted him, even now when his signal could reach deeper into the building he found nothing but dead air, an eerie emptiness in the electromagnetic spectrum. He let the images from his drones flash across his vision, though: empty hallways with the same monochromatic color scheme, plain black lettering on the doors and intersections to name the routes through the maze. No bodies, though. In fact, no sign of life at all.

06:22:37 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

Sneaking down the hall, Tron glances at the drone information.

They should be getting close to the target room. The sooner we get this done with the better.

Tron signals Errand to begin moving down the hall. So far the drones are not finding any resistance.

06:23:37 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

Errand nodded. Standing slightly hunched over, the big ork moved down the hallway. His rifle pressed firmly into his shoulder, barrel pointing where he looked. So far it was clear. He stopped about twenty meters down the hallway, kneeling and listening. He had that feeling he got sometimes. Something wasn't right, or maybe it was just his imagination.

He used his right arm to signal Tron to come forward.

"Where do we go from here?"

06:25:14 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

Tron pointed around the corner to the left.

"Left at the corner, down the hall fifteen meters, door should be on the right."

He echoed the images from his drones to all three commlinks, the dragonflies hovering at two meters as they traversed the nearly featureless halls. One of them has found several bodies lying in a heap in a corner, but otherwise the floor appears to be abandoned.

06:25:14 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

Errand noodded, shuffling down the cooridoor. The place seemed supernaturally quiet. The soft rubber on his boots made little noise, but in the eerie stillnes it seemed like a canon in his ears. He flexed his fingers holding the pistol but of the combat rifle. Mentaly he ran down a list of all the weapons he carried and how to use them and what he would do if a threat jumped out at him.

He reached the corner and held out his hand for everyone to stop. Kneeling he briefly stuck his head around the corner to glimps if anything was there.

06:25:14 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor, cargo elevator shaft #2, offshore LA, CFS

Tron carefully followed Errand down the corridor. Sending one fly-spy to the pile of bodies, he hoped they would not be an issue....20th Century movies not withstanding.

06:26:10 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor hallway, offshore LA, CFS

With the way presumably clear, Errand shuffled down the cooridor, trying to press himself into the wall. The lab door was up ahead on his right and he didn't want to get killed five meters from it. His weapon never waivered as he rolled up on the door and took a knee.

"Tron, your show omae."

06:26:10 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor hallway, offshore LA, CFS

Tron nods at Errand. Looking over to Mako, [Hey, can you take an astral peek inside before I cut the door?]

06:26:15 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor hallway, offshore LA, CFS

Mako nods curtly in acknowledgment, and indicates for his teammates to watch his body. Slumping to the floor, he releases his spirit into the astral. Looking around the astral to assess any threats and the immediate surroundings, he waits to ensure there's no potential hostiles before proceeding to peek through the other side of the door.

06:28:37 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor hallway, offshore LA, CFS

Unlike the vibrantly alive manaspace outside the building, the astral terrain inside was something altogether different. Mako stares around at the oddly pale light streaming through the featureless gray walls, marked as it is with seemingly random whorls and jagged lines of black and red. Something has happened here, something that directly affected the substance and structure of the astral plane.

Suppressing a shiver, Mako eases himself through the wall adjacent to the door. It is thicker than he anticipated, but not such that he would risk becoming disoriented. The room inside is dim, full of vague gray shapes that only experience allows him to recognize as extensive lab equipment. There is nothing living in the room, and as far as he can tell, no sign that any unpleasant surprise is waiting for them as they come through the door.

06:28:37 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor hallway, offshore LA, CFS

While waiting for Mako to return, Tron readies the cutting equipment. All the 'trons in the world won't help when there isn't any power. As he moves toward the door, he signals Errand to stay alert.

Hopefully this won't take too long...

06:28:40 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor hallway, offshore LA, CFS

Returning to his body, Mako comms a message to Errand and Tron, "Something happened here that messed with astral space. Could have been the disaster itself, but my gut says it was whatever happened here before that. For our purposes though, the astral is clear, and there is nothing living we have to worry about. Technological obstacles are another issue, and not my area of expertise."

06:28:50 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, twenty-seventh floor hallway, offshore LA, CFS

With that information, Tron then begins to cut a 1 meter by 1 meter hole in the door.

We must move faster!

06:33:04 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, Lab Complex Two, twenty-seventh floor, offshore LA, CFS

It takes longer than Tron would like to cut through the reinforced door, a full four minutes before the one meter square panel drops away into the interior of the lab. Errand scans the room revealed by the portal through his gun sights, eyes alert for any sign of drone or other automated security response. The lab, however, appears to be just as dead and deserted as the rest of the building. The long tables, festooned with unnamable apparatus and gear, stand silent, while the many computer workstations lining the walls are powered down and dark. Multiple heavy storage vaults line the back of the room, and Errand and Tron can both see that there are at least two, perhaps three other doors leading out from the main front lab.

06:33:07 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, Lab Complex Two, twenty-seventh floor, offshore LA, CFS


Tron immediately sends three of the four drones into the lab. He follows the drones through the hole in the door. The important thing is to get the drek fast and get out. Tron nods to Errand to cover the doors, and signals to Mako to help with the search.

06:36:40 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, Lab Complex Two, twenty-seventh floor, offshore LA, CFS

The soft whirr from the drones' engines is the only sound that fills the lab, and even that is lost in the warren of machinery and instrumentation. The ranks of silent monitors and workstations appear alien and ominous in the flickering light from the trio's flashlights. Tron quickly realizes that the main servers they're searching for are not in the primary lab, but must be behind one of the three doors leading out of the room. Two of the doors are located adjacent to one another in the rear wall, while the other stands apart on the western side.

06:37:40 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, Lab Complex Two, twenty-seventh floor, offshore LA, CFS

Errand nodded to Tron and Mako, pointing at the far two doors closed together. He then dropped his ruck and took out his smaller torch. First he tried the door with his left hand, rifle slung down and pistol in his right hand pointed at the door.

06:38:32 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, Lab Complex Two, twenty-seventh floor, offshore LA, CFS

The door is unlocked, but it requires Errand to exert almost his full force against the powerless hinges before the heavy panel swings open. Again, the door is thicker than expected, and as Errand shines his light inside he understands why: it's the outer door of a small airlock that leads into the room beyond. Through the thick plexiglas of the airlock, he can see half a dozen clear plastic cylinders, about a meter in diameter and two meters tall. They're filled with some kind of clear liquid and have some kind of electronic machinery attached at their bases. All but one are empty. Floating in the last cylinder appears to be a large dog or possibly a wolf. But no wolf that Errand has ever seen has legs thick with augmented musculature and overlapping plates of hard, chitinous armor on its flanks.

06:39:32 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, Lab Complex Two, twenty-seventh floor, offshore LA, CFS

"Mako, check this thing out, is it alive? Don't break the plane of the door, I don't want to trigger anything nasty." Errand looked around the room as best he could without entering it, that wolf looked nasty enough to give him pause. While Mako checked out the critter, Errand looked around or anything that could be mission related.

06:39:32 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, Lab Complex Two, twenty-seventh floor, offshore LA, CFS

While Errand is focused on the critter, Tron moves to the other doors and checks to see if there open.

Hopefully, these will have the data we're looking for.

06:41:12 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, Lab Complex Two, twenty-seventh floor, offshore LA, CFS

Mako moved to the doorway, opening up his Astral vision as Errand stood back to allow him access to the room. A cold chill runs down his spine at what he sees. The animal is clearly dead, floating lifelessly in its preservative suspension. But the experiments that it was subjected to during its life have left a lasting impression on it and the surrounding Astral space. So much so that it's almost painful for Mako to look at it. He turns away from the door, shivering.

"No," he says hoarsely, "it's dead."

"Bingo!" calls Tron from the next door down. The open door reveals a small room, barely four meters on a side, within which rests a bank of rack mounted servers. On the left side of the rack is a series of optical mass storage drives, each still with their disk array inserted.

06:43:08 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, Lab Complex Two, twenty-seventh floor, offshore LA, CFS

"Outstanding," Errand exclaimed. Holstering his weapon he ran to his ruck and quickly removed the water tight canvas bags, tossing them to Tron to fill up with the hard drives. Omce the hacker had the bags, Errand poked his head back into the hallway for a quick glance to make sure nothing nasty was waiting for them.

"Ok, here's the plan," he said out loud.

"Were gonna use the stealth lines to repel down the shaft to the water. Before we get in we will signal the ship for pick up, then haul ass to the storm drain. Its gonna be light soon, the good news is visibility will be better, the bad news, visibility will be better. Tron, you go down the shaft first with the data, then Mako, and I will pull the six. Same order for the drain, whatever happens, the data has to get back to H.Q. Questions?"

06:43:08 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, Lab Complex Two, twenty-seventh floor, offshore LA, CFS
Tron immediately pulls the drives and gets them ready for transport.

First as bait...nice Errand...

06:46:08 Tuesday, 14 October 2070 - Ares SoCal Headquarters, Lab Complex Two, twenty-seventh floor, offshore LA, CFS

Before yanking the drives loose from their bays, Tron slips behind the server rack, checking to see if Ares left some kind of booby trap, or a killswitch that would erase data from the drives if they were pulled without the proper security key. Seeing none, he unzips the waterproof duffle bag he's carrying and begins stacking the drives inside. Mako glanced inside the small room once to watch, before moving across the lab to the opposite side of the door as Errand. Tron joins them a minute later, the bag slung across his back. He nods once in response to the plan before heading out the door. The two dragonflies quest ahead, clearing the hallway back to the elevator. Mako follows several steps behind, while Errand brings up the rear.