Hacking into the host bnc detects no marks obvious marks on the drones, she sees a very alert patrol IC looking for something actively, so the server is in some alarm though mostly quiet.

"Why would they conceal the car and leave the hole in the fence jarring open? Either they meant to get in and out real quick and something happened; or they have only just arrived. Or ... they laid a trap. If we use this hole, we need to be bastante extra careful. I'd rather prefer to break in somewhere else. I assume, jumping the fence should be possible to you, right?"

The patrol IC makes no signs that it identified bnc and continues frantically to look for something. bnc spots another hidden icon evading the patrol IC just like herself. It is a persona, and is shaped like a black cat, knowing what to look for she notices that the black cat has three marks on the host, and it appears to be interacting with a file icon.

"That fence isn't going to stop me, no. So, if you prefer, we can go to another spot. But we will have to deal with the drones then."

"I'm unsure. I guess we can deal with them. We could also also use the hole only to bypass the drones but if we find more stepstones, we make our own way. I would not have us led down a path of breadcrumbs."

"Well, we can go slow and decide when it might be a good idea to leave the path..."

Nova then steps through the fence and into the facility ground.

Nothing acknowledged Nova's existence as she made it past the hole in the fence into the facility. The guard appeared very tired and unalert. Probably watching something in his glasses. He was wearing the uniform of a local security firm, and his pistol lied recklessly on the table near him apparently it was uncomfortable to seat and lay back with it.

Nodding only to herself, bnc cuddles herself up on the backseats and switches to hot-sim, Jumping into James. In his hide, she follows Nova through the fence, wearing her Sleeping Tiger camo armor.

Nova ignores the man mostly, and just keeps her distance and moves on past him. With the weather, she doesn't need to put too much effort into being silent.

James follows silently.

Sneaking past the guard is a breeze for the skilled and agile.


On route to Lavamind's servers, there is a locked door to the data center area requiring a key-card for activation. Next to the data center door, there is a small office kitchen with another female human employee wearing some formal wear suit. She is likely in some form of simulation and leans back with her legs on the table, her coat is on the table as well covering the legs up to the knee and the top part of her skirt is also visible. From the same boring pale green fabric which appears to be some kind of uniform. Her shirt is out of the skirt, indicating that although she dressed for people she does not expect anyone actually to actually show up. You can easily spot that the woman is armed with a small can of paper spray and that her hair is actually a smart wig that can be reprogrammed to one of many hairstyles.

<< Okay, so according to our information, we are to pose as some kind of official data-security inspectors here. The woman is likely supposed to show us around, but does not expect anyone to come during this weather from the looks of it. So, I suppose we go look for that terminal on our own? Can you open the lock, or should I give it a try? And what about other security measures, like cameras. >>

"I agree. At this point, waking her up might just attract unwanted attraction. I can deal with the door as well as with cameras. I just prefer to be the second one to actually walk through the door.
Well, not that I actually walk through the door at all, but even if they only shoot James, biofeedback is a serious pita."

James walks over to the kitchen and connects his data tap to one of the devices, hoping against hope it was connected to the same host as the doors and the security cameras. If so, she would mark the host through it and gain direct connection to the security devices. But even if not, hacking the host didn't prove that difficult last time.

<< Sure, I'll go first. Do you think, she or the guard could have a keycard to get through this door? Might just be able to lift it from one of them. I mean, they do not seem very perceptive at the moment. >>

"Good point! No harm in trying! Give it a shot, girl!"
bnc would wait for Nova to retrieve the key but check for sensors nonetheless.

Nova then sneaks up to the woman, making sure she won't be seen by her, and looks for her keycard. After all, since she is supposed to show them around, she should be able to open the door.

bnc/James attain a mark quite easily, but the host is still on alert and would become unpleasant once any of the deckers is detected. Nova obtains the key without a hitch when the girl barely notices her presence.

<< So, should I just open the door, then? >>

"Shoot it, lady! My seatbelt is fastened!"

Nova then uses the keycard on the lock.

The door opens, exposing a large corridor. There are offices to the left wall and A/C rooms to the right that is a massive air cooling room taking the entire floor. The data center is accessible through an elevator at the end of the corridor. As you arrive large drone, fashioned a bit realistically like an orc. Exits the elevator. Its skin is raptured in a few places as if it simply walked through the fence by sheer brute force. The drone is otherwise not obviously armed, and is wearing some sort of uniform. As he notices Nova he waves a little "Hi" in an awkward greeting, but it does not slow its pace toward the exit.

Nova steps into the way of the drone.

"You are not getting past me, until you told me what is going on here. You can hear me, right? So... talk!"

bnc examines the drone from the matrix.



Meanwhile, James searches for a staircase they could use rather than the elevator.

The robot looks at Nova and freezes. As if it did not anticipate that kind of behavior. "The Cat would talk to you, but I am leaving." he says after a brief moment. At the same time, Nova could see a new text from an unrecognized number it reads "Meow Meow... Curiosity kills the cat - be quick."
In parallel, the drone is making a dash for freedom. He moves at a very impressive leap past her, rolling on the floor like a ball and then getting effortlessly. Apparently, despite his human form, the designers gave it much more freedom of movement. She should be very careful not to mistake it for a metahuman trying to grapple it.




James finds a staircase next to the elevator, it is closed and locked and a big sign says "Emergency stairs" it requires a badge to open and has additional security to the elevator an eye scan.

bnc can tell that the drone is an agent. A very good one. It is autonomously driven and has taken four boxes of matrix damage.

Nova lets the drone pass.

<< Can you make any sense out of this? Why are we supposed to bring this commlink here, when he literally just went there with this drone? I should probably just not think about it too much... let's continue! >>

Before answering Nova, bnc immediately MARKs the drone before it can flee.

The drone's matrix is very alert and it narrowly blocks the hacking attempt.

The drone texts you "Meow -- A second thief, how useful. Since you are extremely useful, here is some goodwill. The silent alarm will trigger in the next diagnostics. You got perhaps three minutes, security will follow shortly. "

"Fock! Sheesh, no. 'parently someone was faster than we. I agree, let's procede, but with double caution. Fraggit."

With that, James follows Nova (ignoring the fact that she, as well, only enters through a drone, just like Nova said they wouldn't)

Nova will head towards the computer they are supposed to tinker with.

There are two ways leading to the terminal, the first one through an elevator requiring a key card. The second one is the emergency stairs that require also a retinal scan to open when there is no emergency. If you want to take the more secure stairways you'll need to hack, or you can hop into the elevator with the credentials you have.

<< Seems like our card only gets us this far. But I should be able to open the lock manually and re-wire it to open the door. >>

Nova pulls out her lockpicks and tools and gets to work on the case and then the circuits, changing it so that any keycard can open the door.

It takes several dense seconds but the lock gives in and the door is unlocked. The floor you need is one level below ground. There are no additional security devices between the two and the server. Getting to floor -1 leaves a data center. Many many racks of servers, all wired together in a spiderweb of optic cables. Disco balls on the ceiling allow for flexible topology and routing and the entire datacenter is encapsulated with armored glass. The door is conveniently open. There is nothing stopping you from getting to the terminal.

Nova heads towards the terminal, checking the open door to see, if it can be closed remotely, or whether it is just a regular door. Either way, she will ask bnc to have James stand in the door, so it cannot close, while she looks for a good spot to attach the commlink, ideally somewhere out of sight, like behind the terminal.

"You sure we shouldn't do it the other way round? I mean, no offence, but I think I should be the one who would first try to activate the gateway into Wonderland, shouldn't I?"

"Oh, sure. That works as well. I think we just need to plug it in, though."

Nova will then keep the door open.

The comlink displays a retro-looking progress bar, as it unleashes a scripted virus infecting Lavamind's servers, and doing *something* elaborate. It takes long, perhaps too long for comfort. Nobody disturbs them on the bottom floor, but the seconds turn into a minute, which turns into two. It ticks, 20%---40%--- 60% then bnc can see that the matrix is getting violent, there is no mistake that multiple - perhaps six online smart links are within 100 meters of them. Yet, despite the recent armed presence -nobody seems to be appearing at the bottom floor. The tense seconds pass, 80%. Nobody still--- then in a half a minute feeling like forever. 100% percent. The process is over, and the comlink blinks with a new message.

>>>> Welcome to the survival city. Your family was selected for the ultimate reward, survival. You are the future of humankind and the breakers of the vicious cycle. Once the simulation is over, your descendants would return to the world, containing most knowledge and technical know-how. In a world without magic, they would have advanced technology, and the next cycle would be us hunting them with technology, unlike anything that exists today. Come, the future awaits!

The comlink is granted with multiple marks on various devices, at least twenty of them. Including a private room, security devices, cameras, and drones. There is no time to acknowledge the wealth of information as the elevator sign shows that it is about to reach their floor and the doors are about to open.

"Oh, frag!", Nova hears bnc's real (that is, computer-generated, as her body's still limp) voice over their audio connection. She doesn't waste much time: The deck's co-processor and her intense headware allow her to process information at incredible speed. So she plus out the cable in an almost blurry movement, then dashes to the staircase, moving on silent yet swift legs (while also, just in case, extruding her Savalette Guardian form a hidden sheath behind her head. With an almost inaudble buzzing it rises over her shoulders).

Alright. I guess we run...

Nova makes a run for the stairs as well, to make sure they arrive there before the elevator arrives.

The guards entering the room hear the steps on the floor and comms "Lock the stairs now! We got a runner" James and Nova can hear one person running after them. He is not as fast as them, but all doors are likely to be locked by the time they would get there.

"You good with escaping through the roof? Jame's a good jumper.", bnc asks via phone lest they overhear their conversation.

"Yeah, the roof was my thinking as well. No problem with that, I can just jump down from there," Nova answered.

"Are you watching the car? Those guards must have arrived not too long ago. But in that weather out there, they hopefully missed it."

"Good"
bnc Jumps out of James, letting him move on on autopilot. She quickly checks the car's sensors for any disturbances. Unless something calls her attention, bnc would try and attack the door.

Nova and James make their way very quickly up the stairs, they can hear a man running after them, and then there is very bright lighting from outside and the lights go out and back again. It is raining heavily again, the door to the roof is a ladder with a manhole at its end, and the manhole is closed. A drip of water indicates that it may have been opened recently, or that there is a leak. It is shut and needs to be opened, there is a keycard below the ladder to unlock it (but you have no reason to think that your card would unlock it). They have a few seconds before the slower guard would catch up.



===
Outside, the car's sensors can spot two vans that park close to bnc's car. Not many people in these cars, only four. Three males in uniform and a woman in an expensive business dress. The woman stays in the car and swears in Czech, she has an emotionally charged conversation on the phone. Apparently, this is not their first call tonight. They did not pay attention to the outdated car bnc is in.

The men were rushing inside to figure out what is going on - but they accidentally block the road, and with it, bnc's escape route. Either intentionally or by luck, they simply leave their oversized vans in the street in a way that blocks all (nonexistent) traffic.

Since bnc is handling the door, Nova looks around for a spot to hide, so she can surprise the guard, if he catches up with them before the hatch is open. She prepares her shock gloves, just in case, not wanting to kill the poor guy.

"Fuck, their van's cutt'n' off our esca- oh motherfucker. Sorry. The fuck's wrong with that host? Slitch! Be right back!"
bnc turns off her deck in order to reboot. She doesn't dare wasting time in returning to her meat - if the car's sensors missed something, so certainly would her squishy bio sensors. bnc long ago stopped regarding her body as a resource. If anything, it's a burden. Just like now when it makes fleeing a lethal risk.

While the deck reboots, bnc sends a message to inform Nova: <@Nova <door should be open. 2 vans blocking the road. 3 more armed men goin inside. 1 woman phoning in car, prob'ly exec or sthg>>

Then she's back inside James, feeling instantly alive when she returns to a body almost literally made of steel and springs. He pushes open the now unlocked trap door, aiming his Savalette for whatever might wait. If there's nothing, she calls "clear" and James dashes out to the roof.

<< Great! Let's go, then. Should we lock the hatch behind us? >>

Nova climbs through the open hatch onto the roof, taking a moment to look around.