“Hey, Caide! Back to reality, Caide! You okay, man?” Vantz asked.
“Yeah, sorry. It’s been a long night,” Caiden replied.
Vantz, still in his attire from the club, adjusted his disheveled jacket and dusted off the dirt on his sleeve. “You’re absolutely right. Let’s get the fuck outta here. I’m gonna need to visit a psyche booth after the trauma I’ve experienced tonight,” Vantz said.
Caiden shrugged, then removed the chameleo-ware cloak from his hypercycle. They both got on. Caiden revved up the engine, and they traveled back to Vantz’s apartment. A person emerged from the shadows before disappearing again; Caiden’s intuition had been right.
It was a little after three a.m. upon returning to the apartment. An exhausted Vantz went straight to his bed and passed out. The affair took a massive toll on him. Caiden, now alone in the living room, was also in shock as he stared aimlessly. Things keep getting more and more out of hand...I dunno how much more of this I can take he desperately thought to himself.
Unable to quell the restless energy, he grabbed his keys, the clothes delivery the twins ordered, and headed back out to his hypercycle. His destination was Home-base. Knowing the twins would be sleeping, he wanted to at least drop off the clothes and then head back to Vantz's place in hopes that the ride would help him clear his head and allow him to get some much-needed rest when he returned.
CHAPTER 21
---usr/systems/server-x/TEAR UNIT DISPATCHED---
It was almost half past three in the morning. The TEAR unit was on site near some abandoned warehouses in West Andromeda District.
“General Cain, sir. We have arrived at the site. We will begin the livestream transmission now,” Lt. Daav said.
“Good. Changing communication channel to encrypt mode. From here on out you have lead of the mission,” General Cain replied.
“Affirmative, sir,” Daav replied.
“Alright, you pansies. Time to get shit done. Everyone, activate your tracker visuals and night vision. Weapons locked and loaded. We’re splitting up into four groups; Kena and Romi are with me. We’ll be inspecting the Clone Farm. Tranes and Callum will cover the western area of this warehouse graveyard. Violet and Tona, head half a klick north, survey the area. Regos and Mox, you guys remain here Guard the vehicles and inspect the surrounding area. If any one of you find anything, any clues, report it to me, then the rest of the team. We will rendezvous at the coordinates I sent you in fifteen minutes. Let’s get a move on,” Daav said.
“Yes, sir!” they replied in unison.
The skillful unit dispersed, thoroughly searching high and low for clues of the intruder’s whereabouts. Equipped with powerful tracking devices, each member was capable of identifying the footprints of anyone who traversed the area for up to five hours after the prints were left. Daav and his team, using their devices, traced the footsteps of the intruder through the secret entrance of the Clone Farm.
“Looks like this guy is an exceptional hacker, sir,” Sgt. Kena stated.
Daav marched into the facility. Officer Dames had finished his shift and left shortly after his call with General Cain. With no guards on standby, the facility was running on automated mode.
“No equipment appears to have been tampered with, sir,” Sgt. Romi stated.
“None of this makes any sense. Why hack into a place like this and just leave? Unless this guy was out to expose government secrets. But who would be that nuts?” Daav thought aloud.
“Perhaps he found his way in here by accident.” Kena suggested. “But that wouldn’t explain anything either.”
“Let’s keep looking,” Daav said.
They followed the footprints out of the facility. They found themselves above ground again as they continued to follow the intruder’s steps. Regardless of the trail left behind, there was no one in the general vicinity. There was nothing to report. Lt. Daav began to sense something was amiss and contacted his team.
“Team B; Regos, Mox, anything on your end?” he asked.
“No, sir. Nothing yet,” they replied.
“Sir, Tranes here. We’ve found several footprints near the west wing. Looks like there was a large group of androids here,” he said.
“Anroids? What would they be doing here?” Daav asked.
“Ahh! Shit!” Tranes yelled in agony.
“Tranes! Status update!’ Daav shouted.
“We’re under attack! Tranes Watch out!” Callum replied as their communication feeds were suddenly marred by static interference.
“TEAR unit, we have a bogey westward. Tranes and Callum are under attack. Rendezvous point has changed. Provide back up. Move out!” Daav commanded.
Daav reveled in conflict. The effects of the ScioN serum provided a rush of endorphins through his entire system. His optic implants were at optimum levels. His body was eerily relaxed; he was ready for combat.
The team responded swiftly; guns loaded and eyes peeled. The entire squad arrived at the rendezvous point in less than two minutes, to find Tranes on the floor, gripping his left shoulder; blood was streaming from the wound. Officer Romi, a first aid specialist, got to work, doing her best to clean and dress Tranes’ mangled shoulder. Had he not been holding it together his arm would have fallen off.
“Okay, bud, we gotcha. Just try your best to relax,” Romi said comfortingly as she and Officer Regos, gently lay him flat on the ground. Tranes was wide awake, but speechless, in complete shock from his injury.
“Callum, what the hell happened here?” Daav, unfazed by the carnage, asked his subordinate.
“Sir, it’s hard to explain. We were attacked from behind by some sort of crescent-shaped concentrated energy blast. As soon as I turned around to see who it was, this thing—”
“Spit it out, soldier!” Daav demanded.
“There was a person, no further than an arm’s length away from us; this white armored humanoid. It looked like some sort
