“If I was working with them, I can think of at least two occasions where I could have just let them have you instead of doing everything I could to save you.” Senjen answered, staring back at the boss. “In the stairwell, or when you got grabbed out in the atrium, my guns were on the droids on both accounts. Not to mention all the chances I would have had by now to split off in the chaos and join them, if I was with them. Whatever they did to prepare this attack, it should be apparent we’re not with them.”

Senjen stayed rather still. The less his system was doing, the less heat it produced. Though, he had no choice but to stay very alert to every little twitch the others made. “Now there really isn’t time for this. They can’t be far behind, and if we waste any time doing this, then none of us are going to end up getting out.”

“The droids are expendable. We are not.” The boss growled, motioning vaguely to the assembled Humans.

"Perhaps your mission is to gain our trust to wreak more havoc later. Yes?"

Afterwards he looked at Light, floated softly closer. His bodyguard followed close by now, holding the plasma repeater.

“Who is really the boss here, huh? You’ve been very quiet. What do they have on you?”

Light quivered, avoided looking directly at the man. The dappled red of his suit flashed with violet tones of guilt, shame.

“I am very sorry, but your mother has just passed away. My suit is not picking up any vital signs. Would you like me to try to resuscitate her?”

The man’s face crumpled slightly. He cast an eye over the limp corpse on Light’s back and a single tear detached from the corner of his eye and floated into space.

“No. She had a long, full life.” He said finally.

“She loved her family, and would do anything to protect us. Some more than others perhaps.” He chuckled sadly, repositioning his daughter across his chest and looking down into her curious face. He then looked back up at Light.

“Will you help me protect my family now she is gone? Tell me who you’re really working for.”

Light exhaled deeply, looked at Senjen then back at the boss. He was about to tell them about their encounter at the suit shop when there was a loud clunk from the locked blast doors. As if someone had tried to open them manually. Then there was a series of three knocks and someone calling from the other side in Cantonese, the language Light now knew the other Humans were using.

“Let us in! They’re coming!!”

"Show me the camera feed." The soldier who'd brought Light and Senjen downstairs called. She'd taken up a defensive position behind one of the closest pillars.

"Feed is down, like all the others." Someone replied from the kiosk.

Between the alarms for his internal temperature and the pressure of a rapidly approaching enemy, Senjen had his mind only on survival. Even if he wanted to share what had happened between them at the store, there literally was not time at this point. Regardless of what had happened before or in the future, escape needed to be the only thing on their mind at the moment. “Look, if you have a hideout or something, you don’t need to take us there, and I don’t even want to know where it is. If you’re that worried about us, then we don’t even have to work together again after today. We can just go our separate ways after we get out of here.”

The sounds at the other side of the door prompted Senjen to draw his pistol. It couldn’t be long before the enemy was on top of them. “We are right at the edge of escaping here, but every second we waste is another they have to breach this room, or maybe set up an ambush outside. You know we would have had the chance to kill you by now if we were traitors. Let’s just get out of here alive.”

The boss weighed them up silently, eyes roving between Senjen, Light and his mother. Then he finally looked down at his daughter and smiled sadly.

“Alright. Let's get out of here.” He pressed a button on one of the secure fobs in his hand. Two sets of blips and flashing its lights caught Light’s attention from around the corner of the L-shaped garage.

Still holding the dead woman’s corpse, Light floated towards the sound and flashing lights. The Humans squabbled on either side of the blast doors behind him. Something about not opening the doors. He wasn’t listening - he was only focused on getting out of here now.

As they turned the corner he saw two large, boxy cash trucks parked up next to a small freight elevator that presumably transported cash straight down from the casino area. They had four omni-directional thrusters on the corners but in his experience they looked under-powered for the size of the vehicle. They were well protected, but wouldn’t be able to move fast.

There were doors to the driving cabin and one door on the side plus a hatch on the back for the cash compartment. Light rushed to the driving cabin, threw open the door and looked around for a fire extinguisher. Humans coloured them a helpful bright red, so he spotted it quickly in between the three seats, grabbed it and chucked it at Senjen.

Light then hopped inside and shuffled over until he was in the driver’s seat. The boss and his bodyguard hopped in to take over the other seats. One of the other Humans took the driver’s seat of the second truck.

“Swap places with me, let me drive.” The boss insisted.

“No, I pilot freighters - I can do this.”

“You don’t know where you’re going!”

“I will learn as I go!”

The boss swore heartily.

“Fine! Go back to the blast doors and pick my people up.”

Progress, at least. Since they had avoided being at one another’s throats for now, they still had a chance to get out alive. Senjen caught the extinguisher from Light and took just a moment to check the label and make sure it was safe for him. The hole in his back provided enough access for him to reach back and angle the nozzle up towards his frame’s chest cavity. The small fires themselves had already been taken care of, but the first burst of the extinguisher into him did wonders to cool his core temperature. Some parts of his body were more or less susceptible to heat than others, but it was most important to keep his data storage and processor cooled. Fortunately, storage did not generate much heat on its own, but his processor certainly did. His power cells could handle higher temperatures, though the consequences of them staying overheated for too long could be...dangerous. The extinguisher would cool him down for a while, and since he had not needed to use all of its contents, he kept a hold of it for now.

The front seats of the cash truck were already taken by the time Senjen was done, so he sprinted for the hatch into the back instead. He could at least still keep on on a call with Light, so they could keep in contact, but Senjen wanted to keep his body and mind as still as he could for now. The less he was doing, the less heat he produced, and the easier his bottlenecked cooling system could keep up. Senjen was the first in, so he picked a corner where he could find something to grab onto and help keep himself still.

Senjen messaged both Light and the boss. “You think going on public transitways would help? I know the Korit government tends to stay out of private ‘business’, but they get involved if that starts spilling out into the public, right? We’re in cash trucks, so if they follow, station security might take it for an attempted robbery and intervene in our favor.”