Chapter 42: A Step Too Late
Meanwhile, on the gridlocked streets leading to the Biologis Complex Sigma, a heavily modified Goodwood off-roader howled like a beast, weaving violently through the dense traffic.
Falco gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. Every gear shift, every sharp turn was executed with the brutal precision of a top-tier Night City driver. The vehicle skimmed past others with inches to spare, its passage buffeting holographic ads and eliciting a cacophony of angry horns and screamed curses.
"Faster, Falco! What the scrap, you running on fumes?! Sasha doesn't have time!" Rebecca writhed in the passenger seat, hammering her small fist against the rattling dashboard. Her green hair was practically standing on end, her cyber-eyes fixed on the towering, oppressively lit Biologis Complex ahead, as if she could burn a hole through it with her gaze alone.
"Rebecca, cool it! I'm redlining this piece of junk!" Falco grunted, sweat beading on his brow. He was just as desperate. Sasha's radio silence had long passed the safe window for any infiltration run. It was a bad sign.
In the back, Maine's brow was furrowed into a heavy knot. He kept trying Sasha's encrypted channel, but only harsh static and the occasional, jarring 'signal lost' tone came back. "Dammit! Biotechnica's internal dampening field is stronger than we thought!"
Beside him, Pilar nervously fiddled with "Test Subject 1," the replica servo-skull Joric had lent them. Its blue ocular light pulsed faintly as it hovered silently in the cramped cabin, radiating a strange, non-living presence.
"Hey, Boss," Pilar asked, his voice laced with desperate hope, "you think this thing the Boss gave us... besides scanning and logging... does it have any other tricks? Like... maybe busting through a signal jammer?" He ran his fingers over the skull's cold, smooth casing as if it were a lucky charm.
Before Maine could answer, Rebecca whipped around, her bloodshot cyber-eyes blazing at Pilar. "Then what the hell are you waiting for?! Try it! Ask the damn metal-head if it can reach Sasha!"
Pilar flinched, then almost instinctively stammered at the hovering skull, "Uh... 'Test Subject 1'? Can you... can you try to contact Sasha? Our netrunner? She might be in deep scrap inside the Biologis tower!"
The blue light in Test Subject 1's oculars instantly sharpened, focusing. Its jaw clicked almost inaudibly, as if processing the logic. After a brief pause, a flat, emotionless voice filled the tense cabin: "Scanning for designated target: Sasha. Associated communication protocols identified... Attempting connection... High-intensity corporate-grade signal dampening network detected."
Their hearts sank collectively.
But Test Subject 1 continued, its tone unchanging, "Analyzing network vulnerabilities... Attempting non-standard data-packet injection and frequency-hopping protocols... Bypassing primary gateway... Connection establishing..."
A few seconds later, to their utter disbelief, a faint, familiar voice, broken by heavy static and ragged breathing, crackled from the skull's internal speaker!
"...Pilar? Is... is that you? How..." It was Sasha, sounding shocked and incredibly weak.
"Sasha! You okay?!" Pilar yelled, lunging forward as if to grab the skull.
"I... I'm trapped... Biologis Complex Sigma... Level 27... East wing offices..." Sasha's voice was intermittent, punctuated by the clear sounds of explosions and tearing metal. "They're breaching the door! How... how did you reach me?"
"New toy from the Boss!" Rebecca cut in, her voice high-pitched with adrenaline, almost cracking. "Sasha! Listen! We're almost there! Hold on! Don't do anything stupid! Find someplace solid and hide!"
There was a pause on the other end, then Sasha's voice returned, urgent and resolute. "No! Don't come! This is different! This is my business! I can't drag you into this! Biotechnica's on full lockdown! Coming here is suicide!"
"Like hell it's your business!" Rebecca exploded, screaming into the skull. "You're crew! You're family! Got it?! Family! So you can take that 'don't drag you into it' bullshit and shove it! You wait! We're coming to get you! You've got my plasma pistol! And you owe me a drink! You die before you pay up, I'll drag your ass out of the grave and kick it myself!"
Rebecca's raw, furious, deeply worried tirade blasted through the fragile comm-link.
"...Rebecca..." Sasha's voice held a choked sob, but it was immediately cut off by louder, closer sounds of heavy gunfire. The signal dissolved into violent static, her voice becoming unintelligible. "...they're in!... plasma pistol's overheated... I have to..."
Screeeech—!
The connection died, leaving only a heart-stopping silence in the cabin.
"Sasha! SASHA! FUCK!" Rebecca hammered frantically on the servo-skull's casing, as if she could beat the connection back to life.
"We're here!" Falco slammed on the brakes. The Goodwood's tires screamed in protest as it skidded to a halt a block away from the Biologis Complex's main entrance. They couldn't get any closer. The airspace around the tower was already locked down by multiple flashing AVs, and swarms of small spy-skulls buzzed overhead like angry insects.
At the ground entrance, heavy blast doors were slamming shut. Lines of heavily armed Genetor Guard troopers in full tactical gear were already forming defensive positions, their weapons aimed coolly outward.
"Dammit! Too late!" Maine slammed his fist against the car door, his face grim. The level of response was far beyond a simple failed infiltration. Biotechnica was treating Sasha as a major threat to be purged.
Rebecca stared at the impenetrable defense, her eyes instantly bloodshot. "Screw it! We go in! We get Sasha out!" she screamed, lunging for the door handle, but Maine clamped down on her arm with crushing strength.
"Rebecca! Get a grip! Look at that! That's corpo military! Not street gangoons! You charge in there, you'll be shredded before you take two steps! That won't save Sasha, it'll just get us all flatlined!" Maine's roar was like ice water, trying to shock her out of her suicidal impulse, but even his own arm, holding her back, was trembling slightly.
Assaulting a fortified corporate headquarters... it was the ultimate taboo in Night City, a death sentence no crew could afford.