Anjies, who had been happily watching a talk show in his room, suddenly felt a prickling on his neck. He reached back to scratch it, saw nothing wrong, and brushed it off.
The talk show host on TV was going all out.
"As everyone knows, that famous PROJECT Corporation—oh my god—their recent law enforcement push has been absolutely mind-blowing!"
"Yes, you heard me right—mind-blowing. In just ten days they've handled almost a month's workload for the Counter-Terrorism Unit. Looks like the poor boys in CTU are about to get laid off."
"You think that's a good thing? No, no, no. CTU never asks for your opinion before slicing you into pieces."
"PROJECT Corporation isn't like that. They'll ask for your opinion first—then slice you into pieces. What? Your response? Oh my goodness, you didn't actually think it mattered, did you?"
"Hahahahaha, unbelievable."
Anjies burst into twisted laughter, picked up a glass of liquor to drink—and suddenly froze, body going stiff before snapping upright like a soldier at attention.
A spark shot from his neural chip. Then he collapsed and fell unconscious.
Rebecca and Jackie pushed the door open and slipped inside. Outside, a Scav glanced at the slowly closing door, question-mark practically forming above his head. He didn't think too hard about it—probably just the boss stepping out—and went back to work.
"Alright, you've got about five minutes. Wrap it up fast—if he wakes, you're out of time."
"Five minutes is plenty."
"Usually when someone says that, it's definitely not enough."
Pilar, silent until now, finally chimed in with a jab.
"Shut it, you jerk!"
Rebecca snapped back, but her hands never stopped moving. She plugged the USB into the computer and began sorting through the files and chips in the room.
Jackie was checking the rest of the room when he heard a faint whimper from inside a freezer. His eyes narrowed as he approached, gripping his pistol. He placed a hand on the edge... then yanked it open.
Inside, a naked girl was bound tightly with wire, tossed among frozen organs and Cyberware.
"Holy shit…"
Jackie swore, then quickly pulled her out and wrapped her in a coat.
"Lucy, we've got a situation here…"
"...I see it, Jackie. We can't save her…"
Lucy went quiet for a moment, then bit her lip and forced herself to continue.
"You… you came to save me?"
The girl stared at Jackie with reddened eyes.
Jackie's chest tightened at the sight of the wounds on her body, but he still shook his head.
"Sorry. We're just here for the Gig."
"No, please—save me! I can pay you! Whatever your Gig reward is, my father can give you ten times that!"
She clung to Jackie's arm like a drowning person grabbing the last floating plank.
"Alright, we've got the data. Jackie, Rebecca—time to go. Otherwise you won't make it out in time!"
"Listen, girl—do you have Trauma Team membership?"
"Yes, but I turned it off earlier! And then they hacked the activation somehow!"
She nodded frantically.
"Lucy, any way to unlock it?"
"No—unless I can link directly to her interface."
"...I want to save her, chica."
"No objections here."
Rebecca spoke up immediately, and Pilar followed:
"Come on, they're just Scavs. Watch us cut 'em down like nothing!"
Lucy blinked, then gave a helpless smile. After spending these past days together, she'd gotten used to their personalities.
At the very least… they were people whose backs she could trust.
"Alright. Take her and move. I'll guide you."
...
With Lucy directing them, the three made it almost a third of the way to the exit without incident. Lucy saw the reset timer drop to two minutes and finally let out a breath.
Meanwhile, Roland, quietly watching from the shadows, narrowed his eyes and issued an order.
Back in the room, Anjies—face still on the floor—slowly woke up. He blinked around in confusion. But when he spotted the scattered papers and the open freezer door, his pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Lucy noticed immediately and shouted over the comms,
"Hurry! Forget everything else and break out—someone tripped something and woke Anjies up!"
Right as she spoke, a furious roar erupted from his room. A massive figure holding that brutal weapon smashed straight through the wall.
Lucy dove deeper into his ICE defenses and hit him with an electromagnetic short.
She avoided high-damage hacks—she had to save processing power for what came next. In gaming terms, she couldn't afford to run out of RAM.
The moment their cover was blown, Jackie flipped the equipment in front of him and had the rescued girl crouch down. He pulled the Shotgun off his back and blasted the nearest Scav.
Blood and flesh splattered across the walls. The other Scavs reacted instantly—muzzle flashes erupted as a storm of bullets tore toward Jackie.
Rebecca rolled forward, drew two SMGs, and opened fire on Scavs who still hadn't noticed her.
A handful of them were shredded in seconds. Once her mags ran dry, she tossed the SMGs aside and picked up whatever guns she could find.
Jackie blew another Scav's head apart, then rushed toward the exit corridor with the girl.
"Don't let them escape! If they get out, none of us survive!!"
Anjies had fully recovered, eyes blood-red with rage as he raised his weapon.
"Die, you bastards!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
12.7mm rounds tore out at terrifying speed, ripping through the Scavs charging after Jackie's group.
Jackie, bringing up the rear, lunged forward and pinned Rebecca and the girl beneath him as the bullets sliced past. Lucy at the doorway quickly stepped aside.
The door might as well have never existed.
Lucy immediately forced a reboot on his cyber eyes, leaving Anjies blind.
"Bastards!!!"
Chaos exploded in the room—Scavs scattered, ducking his bullets, too busy staying alive to chase Jackie's group.
Jackie took the chance, kicked the door open, and sprinted out with the others.
As soon as they emerged, Lucy detonated the fuel canisters at the entrance.
BOOM!
A pillar of fire erupted, and the shockwave collapsed the entire entryway, sealing the exit completely.
The group finally made it into the elevator.