Using the power of her suit, 595 pushed the soldier up against the back of the driver’s seat, the shotgun between them. She reached for the Rothian sword on her back, but her opponent wasn’t about to make it easy. They savagely kicked the inside of her shin, overbalancing her. They followed up with a sharp elbow into her other hand, sending the shotgun flying across the cabin. It hit Freyr in the visor, nearly putting her on her backside again.

“Freyr get out of here!” 595 shouted again as the two of them traded a couple of untidy punches. The Agent went for the sword again and the ambusher immediately barrelled forward. They grabbed the smaller operator with both hands, lifting her up and smashing her against what had been the floor of the car, now above them. 595 pulled her pistol and fired a few shots into her opponent’s neck, flaring their shield up. They threw her against the wall, but 595 was ready for that; she twisted to absorb the impact in her legs, before thrusting forward and headbutting her assailant. They took a step backwards, while the second soldier, who until now had been almost still, grabbed 595’s leg from behind when she landed back on the deck.

The Agent drew the Rothian sword, activated it and sliced clean through the sitting soldier’s arm in one motion. The blade sliced through some of the middle door behind them too.

The other soldier seized their chance, charging forward again to grab 595’s sword arm and crush her against the bulkhead. They didn’t make it though, as an overcharged shotgun round disintegrated them mid-stride. Most of the energy missed, setting even more of the truck on fire and flaring up the Agent’s shields to near bursting point.

595 looked round and saw Freyr standing near the door, holding the shotgun out in front with her eyes closed. Face illuminated from within her clear visor. The scientist opened them up again and surveyed the damage.

“Did you just shoot at me with your eyes closed?!” 595 shouted in disbelief.

“I wasn’t shooting at you! And it worked, didn’t it?” Freyr complained, holding the shotgun out as if it might bite her.

Just then, a guttural scream sounded from right outside the street-side door. One of the infected people Freyr had seen running after their truck burst through the opening, scrambling past the debris to reach her. He was joined by another, then another, drawn by the noise.

Freyr screamed and tried to fire the shotgun again. Nothing happened, as its cell was empty. 595 grabbed the arm-less, weakly struggling second ambusher off the floor and shoved them into the opening between the middle seats. The infected writhed all over them, and the ambusher’s armour began sparking.

“Alert, foreign connection detected. Initiating containment.” Her suit informed her as 595 grunted with the effort of holding the soldier in place. “Freyr, pick up Dr Girard and get ready to run!” She shouted.

After a couple of seconds, 595 couldn’t hold them back anymore. Her suit was getting contaminated. She let go, and the three of them shambled out into the lobby just as Vreta reappeared from underground.

The moment she emerged from underground, Rhia had to take in her surroundings quickly. Just because the builder was gone, that did not mean the threat had ended. Her scans of the room quickly identified each of the remaining sources of potential threats. Three hostiles were engaged in melee with Major Osman and other allies near to the crash, who could potentially use assistance. She also detected the presence of Humans inflicted by this strange Cradle infection. She had clearly observed that they were maddened to the point of mindless hostility before, so a nonviolent solution to deal with them was not likely possible. She also observed that some of them were dissolving parts of the building on touch, so allowing physical contact with them would not be advisable.

At present, the infected might have been the greatest threat overall, but it would be easiest to fight them off if her allies could all work together. She needed to assist them. Rhia sprinted towards 595 and the scientists, while taking aim at the ambushers Osman and the other soldiers were fighting. She swapped her weapon to single fire to make carefully-aimed, precise shots, then analyzed the fight carefully to predict the movements of both her enemies and allies. She had subroutines constantly making small adjustments in her muscles to keep her aim stable on the move, and others looking to identify the right opportunity to take her shots. As soon as the momentum of Osman and her opponent put them on predictable trajectories, Rhia squeezed off a pair of shots at her opponent. As she came to a stop near the crash, Rhia found another shot on a different ambusher, which, altogether, she hoped would be enough to swing that fight in their favor quickly.

Above all, Rhia could not allow them to be overwhelmed by infected. Once in position to protect the civilians, she swapped her weapon’s firing mode to its plasma thrower. It was ideal for crowd control against large numbers of unarmored targets, as without substantial thermal protection, the clouds of superheated plasma could incinerate flesh almost immediately upon contact. Whether they were curable or not, these infected were a threat, so as they neared, Rhia would not hesitate to burn them alive. Already, she was unleashing clouds of plasma to keep them at bay.

Time seemed to slow down as 595 exited the truck behind Dr Lang and Dr Girard. Flames and smoke curled out of the door after her, but it didn’t sound like that would stop the infected. The noise in the lobby was unbelievable; energy fire mixed with screams and mechanical grinding.

Freyr was still holding the shotgun while struggling forward with Dr Girard. 595 scooped it out of her hand and rested it upside down in the crook of her arm. With practiced precision, she unclipped the energy cell, letting it clatter to the floor and replacing it with the fresh one attached to her thigh.

The guttural screeching behind her grew louder. They’d got past the melting body of the ambusher she’d lodged in place. The shotgun dinged when the new energy cell reactivated its systems. 595 spun it round into a firing position and turned her body as well to face the danger. Her form was immaculate as she unloaded a barrage straight back through the door, where three of the crazies had just appeared. The truck rocked and they dissolved into a blue firestorm.

"Come on!" The Agent growled to herself, turning to assess the situation in the lobby with the shotgun up to her eye.

A few well-placed shots had evidently tipped the finely balanced melee by the second crashed truck in CraSec’s favour. Osman straddled her newly unarmoured opponent and smashed their visor with the butt of her gun. She then got up and fired energy rounds into their immobile form before looking round. The other two remaining CraSec soldiers were doing similar.

On the other side of the lobby, the tall sheet of glass separating the brightly lit lobby from the comparatively darker outside fell and folded. The people banging against it from outside had melted it, and the material coated them like hot wax as dozens of them surged forwards.

The clouds of plasma from Vreta’s gun had disintegrated some of the first wave as they’d thrown themselves blindly towards them. This second wave spread out across the lobby, eyeing the big lizard up before trying to circumvent a fiery death. They were at bay for now, but there was only so much ground Vreta could cover.

"Tangier, do you read? What is your status, over?" A voice crackled over team comms. 595 tapped her ear in Osman’s direction, who nodded as stray energy fire from outside fizzed past her shields. “I read you! We’ve still got the civilians, taking heavy fire. All boxed in - where is our backup?” Osman looked out of the hole created by the second truck. CraSec were still desperately grappling with ambushers from all around the convoy. The Major’s subordinates were beginning to give out suppressing fire.

“We’re trying to get to you, but transit bubbles are opening all over the city. Are you mobile? Orders from Command are to evacuate all personnel.” Osman swore and looked at 595, but she had turned away to shoot an infected person who had got through the plasma net Vreta was dispersing. They flew backward and slid across the floor. “No, we can’t leave now! We’re so close!” Freyr shouted, hovering between 595 and Vreta with Dr Girard leaning on her left side.

“Ma’am, we’re out of time. The connection is happening in ten minutes.” The voice replied. “Tell them to call it off then, on my authority!” Freyr yelled. There was a pause. “Standby.” They replied. “We need to get you out of here!” Osman asserted, taking cover behind the truck as more of the ambushers took notice from outside. "Is that a hole into the garage?!" 595 asked, stealing a glance towards the gaping abyss in the middle of the lobby.

The team had stabilized their situation, but only for the moment. The hostiles who had ambushed them had been neutralized in their immediate area, but the convoy itself was still under fire, and these infected seemed to be an indiscriminate threat to everyone. They had a window to get to safety right now, so they had to make sure to act on it.

“Whether or not we’re in the sim ourselves, it would be a poor idea to try and fight what the Object wants to do. It may well be far more capable than either of us know, and it may be fighting for its survival.” Rhia remarked. She had her own views on these Cradle objects, but she did not expect that their behavior when facing destruction would be remarkably different from any other lifeform. If they were an obstacle to its survival, she did not expect it to simply accept death.

Rhia moved her rifle to her off-hand and held it underarm with one hand, continuing to fill the air with bursts of plasma to hold back the infected. At the same time, she drew her pistol and started to fire on those that were moving to flank them. “Yes, the builder retreated underground, without their suit. I spotted a garage and a rail line while I was down there. Does anyone have city schematics to know where it leads?”

“Yeah, on it.” 595 confirmed, requesting a route through New Antioch’s sub-layer.

“All units - fall back to my marker.” Osman commanded, as the three of them spraying plasma fire all over a clutch of attackers surrounding the boxed in convoy outside.

“Negative! We’re all torn up and there are still bogies in the windows - they have us pinned." Came the reply.

Osman glanced back into the lobby. There were still a lot of infected people rushing their position. Through what was left of the windows, she could also see runners clambering over the lorry blocking off the street behind the convoy.

The Major had a difficult decision to make.

“Tangier One, the Vault cannot halt the recoupling. There’s been an attack on the control room. I am finally awake.” GCHQ crackled over comms.

“GCHQ, say again? Think we misheard that last part!” Freyr called. No response.

“Get downstairs, get to the transit station. We’ll hold them off from here!” Major Osman boomed.

595 didn’t need telling twice. She pushed Freyr and Dr Girard towards the hole, shooting an infected person who was skirting round the side of it to get in front of them.

Rhia stayed up top, firing on any infected in sight to cover the civilians while they jumped down into the underground level beneath them. It was a fair drop down, but not enough that it should be dangerous for an unassisted Human, barring an unlucky landing. In any case, Rhia waited until the others had made it below before dropping down herself.

Hopefully, the subterranean route would at least let them make the rest of the way to their destination uninterrupted, though there was no way to ensure their safety. At the very least, Rhia’s echolocation would work exceptionally well in an underground tunnel, so she would receive ample warning on any approaching threats. She checked the route 595 had given them and tried to estimate how likely it was they would arrive in time.

“We cannot afford any more delays. What are our transportation options?” Rhia asked.

“Good luck, Godspeed. You two, secure the far side.” Osman ordered her soldiers, before switching back to commanding the battle unfolding outside. The CraSec grunts moved to take positions around the hole, freeing up Vreta to fall back.

Agent 595 jumped into the hole feet first, her knees bending slightly to compensate. She spun nimbly round, surveying the garage through her shotgun sights while her suit pinged the area. Some of the motion-lights flickered on and off, never fully activating. Sounds from above were muffled and disconnected from this tranquil subterranean zone.

Cars hung vertically from the garage ceiling like bats in their nest. 595’s eyes followed the ceiling rail system which connected them all to a wide metal door at the opposite side of the room. It seemed intact, and nothing appeared to be moving around her.

“Clear. Come down.” 595 called, just as a Priority 1 alert appeared in the corner of her HUD.

[ALPHA SITE COMPROMISED - RETURN TO BASE.]

“Shit.” She growled.

---

“We can still make it!” Freyr asserted in response to Osman’s final command. She turned to Dr Girard, trying to keep her voice level and reassuring. “I need you to jump now, Thalia. We’re going to GCHQ to talk to the Object. I’ll be right behind you.”

Dr Girard nodded, her watery eyes full of fear. She tottered towards the edge then fell forward, landing clumsily on her front. Freyr jumped right afterwards, managing to stay standing. Vreta soon followed.

“I need to get you all out of here. GCHQ, are transit stations online?” 595 asked.

No response.

“Transit station is this way, let's go.” 595 pushed forward, marking a waypoint beyond where the subway line crossed the garage.

“You heard GCHQ. There was an ATTACK!” Freyr wailed, still supporting her scientist colleague who was continually unsteady on her feet. “It may be no safer out there than in here. They could be waiting for us to exit the sim so they can kidnap us! We can still finish this.”

Rhia could not help but to feel that something that was strange about the situation. There was supposedly an attack at the headquarters outside the simulation, at what was certainly the most secure facility on Outremer. There were many layers of security that would need to be breached, so the implications of pretty much any of the possibilities she was thinking of were unsettling.

“Rareth’Jharn is still out there. She would be able to defend us against anything short of full-scale military action. You have many layers of security, so it would take a truly overwhelming force to break through your security in such a short time, unless it was sent by your own government. I find it strange that we’re not getting more details on this apparent attack.” Rhia remarked. She could patch in to the comm channel as well, so she made her own attempt at contact with the outside. Specifically, Rareth. “Datius, do you read? What is the status of the headquarters?”

Additionally, Rhia also continued performing a threat analysis of the area. Now that they had escaped the battle above, she needed to determine when it would be safe to return control to Vreta.

Dr Girard nodded woozily, wanting to believe the giant lizard. “We saw all those soldiers, all the defences. Surely nothing can get through?” The two scientists stepped gingerly through the dark garage after the Agent’s light blue HUD outline.

“I don’t know anymore. None of this shit has gone to plan since the start. Let me think...” 595 snapped, feeling burdened by this ragtag group she was leading.

There was no immediate reply to Vreta over comms. “Forget it. This thing could be controlling all our comms. I’m not even sure GCHQ is still operational.” 595 whispered. All the instruments in her suit were going haywire. She queried the G5 CSF virus she’d planted in the building, and found no reliable options for getting a message out. She did, however, find a way to turn the lights on.

They stopped flickering, and while more than half had been blown, the garage was still more visible than it was before.

595 led them carefully to an enclosed office next to the subway station. Holding her shotgun out in front, she pushed open the door and the lights turned on, revealing a waiting area with a transit station built into the walls. She moved quickly over to the controls and tried to plot an extraction back to the Vault.

Meanwhile, Freyr went to the subway terminal in the office and tried to decipher the complex diagram of New Antioch’s train system. “Says there's a train in thirty seconds! Lets see if i can eliminate the additional stops…” She mumbled, deftly working the interface. “GCHQ is just a few minutes away! If we’re quick, we can-”

“No. I’m getting you all out of here. It’s too dangerous.” 595 responded firmly. Text comms from other assets in the area were beginning to ping up nested under the Priority 1 order in her HUD. 595 just needed to get rid of these people, so she could focus. “Ok, the connection is weak but we can jump from here. Get in.”

Freyr turned to Vreta. “You know we need answers. Will you help me?”

“Don’t you fucking enable her.” 595 growled straight afterwards, pointing a menacing finger in the Rothian's direction.

It was difficult for Rhia to evaluate the situation, given how much information was obscured from her. Given the dangers that had presented themselves, standard procedure would be to evacuate and attempt to evaluate the situation from a safe distance. However, she was doubtful that her mission could be completed with that approach. Not to mention, there was something not adding up about what information they were receiving. Vreta would probably want to err on the side of caution…but Vreta was not here right now.

An attack on the headquarters back in the real world, while not impossible, would be difficult to pull off. If it had been entirely overrun, then their bodies would not be safe. There would be no reason to allow them to remain in the simulation when they could simply disconnect them physically. That would imply that their bodies were still being protected, but in that case, why had they suddenly stopped receiving communications? Even if she was in the middle of a firefight, Rareth’s implants should be able to handle simple communications. Evacuation orders had gotten through, but then apparently nothing else? It felt too convenient. If there was something controlling their communications, then they could not trust what they had been told.

“You said it yourself, something in the Cradle could be controlling our comms. We do not know if there has even been an attack. My task is to make contact with the entity, and there seems to be something trying to prevent that. It is too convenient that evacuation orders would reach us, but then literally nothing else.” Rhia responded.

Freyr nodded feverishly. “Exactly. We need answers. This could be our last chance.” She turned from Vreta to look at the Agent, who stood with one arm vaguely extended towards the transit station.

The arm dropped, clapped against her thigh. 595 cocked her head slightly and took one step forward. Vreta was acting quite uncharacteristically. The Rothian she knew would have jumped at the chance to get out after everything they’d just experienced.

“What’ve you done with the real Vreta, huh?” 595 asked, then chuckled grimly. None of this was making any sense. They said in the Vault that the Cradle could sense the Navigator, so why was it still fighting? She hated to admit it, but Freyr’s brilliant mind seemed more capable of solving these mysteries than all of the Institute’s codex fragments. That was one of the reasons 595 had been attached to the scientist in the first place.

Not the main reason, but one of them.

She had to keep Freyr alive for now, but there was no guarantee the Vault was any safer than in the sim. At least if she was still logged in here, they might be able to preserve her somehow...But 595 had been summoned back to Alpha! She couldn’t be in two places at once.

A sleek chrome train pulled silently up to the station. Some of the internal lights were flickering, but otherwise it looked ready to go. “Well?” Freyr asked, hands on hips. She felt sick with anxiety, but pure adrenaline and the hope of finding out about her family drove Dr Lang on.

595 sighed. “Fine! What about you?” She asked, looking at Dr Girard. “I’ll be Ok, but I have to get out of here...I’m sorry…” The junior researcher sniffled, stumbling towards the transit station.

“Ok. Tell the Vault we’re en route to GCHQ.”

It was particularly easy for Rhia to avoid reacting to 595, given that she was wearing a full helmet. She did realize that she was not acting quite as Vreta would, but the mission came first. Currently, she had no intention of stopping the coupling between the Object and the Cradle, but gaining information and establishing contact with the Entity was a priority. In truth, she disagreed with keeping them apart for as long as they had, but at least once they were at the headquarters, they would be able to get started.

“If you can, try to help re-establish communications once you’re back at the Vault.” Rhia recommended, speaking to Girard. “If we can transit back, that must mean the other team has succeeded in re-capturing the Bridge. Perhaps try re-routing comms through there? Whatever is happening, it seems that we’re no longer in control of comms through GCHQ.”

In any case, Rhia boarded the train after Freyr. She supposed there might be a good chance soon for her to give control back to Vreta. It would be jarring for him to be brought back into consciousness, so she would have to make sure the others would not pick up on it.

“It’s Ok.” Freyr nodded encouragingly, trying not to show how scared she was to Dr Girard as she stood alone in the small transit station. 595 hit the switch and the junior researcher deconstructed before their eyes. “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine. It’s us I worry about.” 595 admitted, tight-lipped as she motioned for both her companions to get to the train.

It was a modular design, so each of the small carriages could split off and head on different routes. A blinking neon sign showed that the front two carriages were destined for Illyria station, which the public maps showed was right outside the GCHQ complex.

They bustled aboard. 595 instructed the G5-CSF virus to attach to the train too, since it was resisting calls to fit back into the bottle from which she’d released it. The Agent covertly scanned comms once the train began whistling through a dark tunnel out of the garage. She was alarmed how little sense they made. Had the Cradle found their communications infrastructure too?

“I won’t lie to you both - something feels very wrong here. Even by our lofty standards.” 595 muttered, her visor momentarily sliding off her face so she could get some proper air. She gazed between both of them.

“Agreed.” Rhia replied. “We should make sure we have our fallback plans in place before we arrive. Do you have the schematics for the headquarters? Or at least the surrounding area. We should make sure we have the nearest transit stations marked and know how to reach them in case we need to retreat quickly.”

Ultimately, Rhia would not have a better opportunity to make the transition than in the train. Once there was a long enough lull in conversation, Rhia tightly held on to the handhold above her and began to shift her consciousness back into its proper place while doing the same for Vreta’s.

To Vreta, the time that Rhia had been in control was like sleep without dreams. After he had given her authority to take control, there had been a brief moment of…confusion where his senses became blurred, but he only remembered that lasting an instant. The very next moment, to him, was standing in this train with Rhia flashing alerts on his HUD to stay calm and not react. She kept control of his motor functions for the first few seconds to give him time to come to his senses, but slowly started to return those to him as he regained consciousness.

”We’re on a train heading to the GCHQ. I’ve prepped a package to help catch you up on everything you missed. If others ask you questions before then, just repeat everything I say.” Rhia instructed, though Vreta was more concerned about the fact that he had been unconscious at all.

There was a tinge of confusion and anger in Vreta’s thoughts, which Rhia would feel quite clearly. ”What is…what did you do? I gave you permission to take control for the fight, not to knock me out! Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

”I did not have time in the middle of the firefight. I had to act, not debate, and I completed every objective successfully. Our team faced no casualties since you lost consciousness. Dr. Girard returned to the vault, and Osman is coordinating her soldiers. We are going to the headquarters to complete our mission.” She explained. Vreta could not help but to be angry, even still, but he had to avoid showing signs that anything was out of the ordinary to the others.

“Funnily enough, they’re a bit cagey about just giving away their building schematics. I’m working on it.” 595 grunted. Her pet cyber-weapon was investigating the government info-net which integrated with pretty much all of Outremer’s creations inside the Cradle. “The complex is belted by a park, so we can stay undercover up to a point. See if we can spot anything out of the ordinary.” She continued.

Under normal circumstances, they would’ve been able to transit straight into GCHQ like all the workers would. But the government communications centre had locked down days ago, allowing no one in or out. Even if they had been a way, after everything that was happening 595 was content to take extra precautions and approach on their own terms.

Their train rattled out of the tunnel and into the sub-level of another large building. Freyr took in long lines of civilian staff waiting patiently for their turn to use portable transit stations, under the watchful eye of private security guards.

“DeWinter will lose a no-confidence vote because of this fiasco.” 595 announced suddenly. “If we pull this off, you’ll need somewhere secure to continue your work, Dr Lang. Contact Captain Andersen; she can be trusted.” The Agent urged, flicking her eyes from the scene unfolding before them to drill into Freyr. “Do you understand me?” 595 turned her head to look at Vreta too. “You too. Both of you have to carry on living, alright?”

Freyr gulping. Her suit compensated for her shaking hands as she grabbed a support pole and slid down into a seat. “I tried to warn them, I…” Her lip wobbled, and she tried to compose herself as the view of the garage disappeared again. “Wait...are you leaving?” 595 shook her head, placing a reassuring hand on Freyr’s shoulder. “Not yet, but I may have to soon. Just for a little while. Things could get messy, but I need to know you won’t run into other life-threatening situations after this one. Either of you.” 595 looked at Vreta again, letting out a wry smile.

Though it did not appear so from the outside, Vreta had a great deal to focus on in the moment. Rhia was quickly catching him up on everything he missed, while he still had to pay attention to what was happening around him. Rhia helped with that as well by highlighting and recording points of interest, particularly outside the windows of the train. She recommended responses to 595, but Vreta still heard her well enough to have his own answer.

“I think you know Rothians well enough by now to know that we never plan on dying. Or plan on never dying, rather.” Vreta replied.

The train was quick, so as Freyr had said, it did not take long for it to arrive at their destination. They were not quite in the GCHQ yet, but rather a nearby station. Even still, Vreta was already feeling chills when he stepped out onto the platform. The place was a mess, with debris, refuse, and personal items scattered all around the station. No bodies, so it could have been a sign of a hasty evacuation…hopefully. In any case, Vreta checked his weapon’s charge and kept his head on a swivel, while Rhia kept up scanning everything he could not see.

“Hah. Welcome back Vreta’Sori.” 595 grunted, checking her shotgun’s charge as the train pulled into Illyria station. “Stay on my shoulder and give me hours on the clock if you see something dangerous, OK?” She looked intently at Freyr, who nodded hesitantly. 595’s sensors would pick up most things before an observant Human in this enclosed space, but it was good to keep Dr Lang busy and alert.

595 then looked at Vreta’s visor, and nodded quickly.

When the train doors rattled opened, the Institute Agent emerged first with her gun raised and scanning the immediate area. 595 moved quickly but quietly, picking a way through the discarded items littering the platform. Freyr had to pin her mouth shut to avoid shouting in surprise when the tannoy burbled to life above their heads.

“All personnel are to report to their nearest transit hub for immediate evacuation.” The pleasant female voice declared.

“Looks like they left in a hurry...” Freyr commented, carefully moving a metal briefcase out of the way with her foot.

595 knelt down quickly and picked up a discarded assault rifle from a pile of refuse. It had full charge, so the Agent stowed it on her back and pulled out her trusty pistol. She offered it to Freyr butt-first. “Aim, then fire. Remember the firing range.” Freyr looked uneasily at the gun, then reluctantly grabbed it.

A sharp click-clacking sound echoed through the station. 595 immediately turned back to the front with her shotgun raised. Her sensors showed one large bogey moving fast. It should be right on top of them… “Got something nearby - could be underneath or above us.” She snapped. “Oh gods, help us…” Freyr whimpered, raising her pistol.

The bright lights above flickered, then died. Eerie red auxiliary lights blinked on, revealing thick organic vines matting the floor, walls and ceiling that hadn’t been there before. “Oh no, oh no, oh no…” Freyr whispered, huddling close behind the Agent.

The ticking, chittering noise stopped, and so did the object on 595’s motion tracker. She gulped, her gun swaying quickly back and forth across her line of sights. Everything went silent, with only the sounds of heavy breathing over comms registering.

Vreta focused wholly on his surroundings, keeping himself ready in the moment to react to anything. Based on how 595 was acting, he had questions in the back of his mind about how Rhia had been behaving in his absence, but now was not the time for that. Something was in the area, and he tried his best to get a lock on its position, though that was before the environment…shifted. This, unfortunately, was not new to him. The Cradle was taking control of this area, which did not bode well for the headquarters’ defenses. In the event that their actions here did not solve their problems entirely, Vreta hoped the events here would be the wake up call needed to get Outremer to accept help more willingly. They were very clearly not in control of the situation.

“Keep moving forward.” Vreta said, calmly and firmly. If the Humans were no longer in control of their own headquarters, then the defenses they had against these sorts of intrusions were certainly failing as well. Threats could appear from anywhere, at this point. “Cradle beings can behave in ways that would be irrational in the real world. There is no sense in trying to track them in the ways we normally would. Be ready for sudden attacks. Agent, you can keep my plasma blade for now. You may need it more than I. Just give me your knife.”

Keeping her shotgun poised with one arm and her eyes scanning around them, 595 unsheathed her nine inch blade and passed it back to Freyr. She then turned and gave it to Vreta’Sori. “Let's get out of here…” Dr Lang pleaded.

“We’re moving - stay close and don’t make a sound.” 595 hissed, as the train doors closed behind them and the train rattled off into another tunnel. The Agent picked a path through the maze of detritus and vines on the platform. Moving quickly, she barely made any noise at all as she headed for the stairs leading out of the subway.

Freyr by contrast, seemed incapable of being stealthy. After a few seconds, she yelped as she sent a piece of CraSec armour scraping across the floor with her foot. A guttural snarl accompanied by frenzied chittering echoed around the station. “Shit.” Freyr looked down at her feet as if to scold them personally.

“Run, now!” 595 ordered, setting off at a loping jog, hopping over clumps of vines as elegantly as one could in a suit. The sound of click-clacking rose significantly in volume from both of the tunnels on either side of the staircase. Vines began shifting and licking at their legs; 595 fired an incendiary shot across the platform, setting some of them on fire in front of them. They gave a shrill, gaseous scream.

Taking 595’s knife, Vreta activated a magnetic holster on his thigh to secure it, since he did not have a scabbard meant for it. He reasoned that his plasma blade would be better served in 595’s hand for the moment, since it could cut through most materials with little effort. Since he had greater strength than her, he was more likely to be able to successfully make use of the knife. His past experiences with the Cradle’s creatures taught him that they tended to ensnare their foes, so he wanted as many of them as possible to be able to cut themselves free of whatever might grab them.

Following the Agent’s lead, Vreta ran when she gave the order, though he did not run at a pace any faster than Freyr could keep. They would only be as fast as their slowest member, after all. As soon as the vines started to move, Rhia started marking the most threatening ones in their path, as well as taking the liberty of swapping Vreta’s rifle to its plasma thrower firing mode. As Vreta took aim, Rhia engaged the choke to keep the plasma stream narrower and more concentrated so Vreta could focus on burning away only specific vines. Starting too many fires would likely just end up being a hindrance, so Vreta tried to be precise. The three were still moving close together, so Vreta focused on burning vines in their direct path.