Chrome Symphony - Chapter 2

Jess listened to what Atlas had to say and thought about it. After a short pause, she responded.

"Time is of the essence but the Herei Mob Army isn't going to do anything rash and risk losing their ability to bargain," she said with her fists clenched. "Taking a detour like this puts me on edge. Still, given the situation, it's our best chance of success."

Jess looked at the mysterious scientist woman. "Will you provide us transport to NEA726 if we bring your person of interest to the L1 colony," Jess asked. "Mr. Sorenson and Atlas are currently working for me. As for the rest, they are not under my command but merely volunteering their support. I will go along with the majority decision."

"I'm an EMA employee," Shell said to the scientist. "At least... I used to be. I'm not sure of the state of the company at the moment. Surely you know that the headquarters apparently self-destructed this morning. We barely escaped the basement of the building with our lives."

Shell walked over to Jess. "If you choose to execute this mission, I will join you," she said. "I want to... uh, need to... find out the truth about what EMA corporation has been doing all of this time. There are lots of things that don't make sense to me right now."

Shell looked back at the scientist. "Normally I wouldn't do this but given the circumstances, I will provide pass codes to enter the facility. If we can avoid... uh, going loud, as they say, that would be best. I'm not fully combat ready, so if we can use stealth, we have a higher chance of success."

Shell asked Duncan, "I'll of course need help brute-forcing the security systems if the pass codes have already been changed. We shouldn't assume it would be too easy."

"I agree that the transport via this EMA facility mission is likely to be the least dangerous," Duncan replied to Shell. "Still, the mission itself may prove more dangerous than the cargo shuttle hijack."

Duncan looked over at Jess. "Since I am currently working for hire, I was going to simply follow Miss Price's orders, but it looks like we're going by majority vote here. Weighing the risks, it seems the best option to go along with this new mission. We could also take advantage of the confusion caused by the Herei Mob Army not receiving their shipment on time. They are likely to expect the shipment around the time we would probably be able to reach NEA726 after we deliver our person of interest to the colony at L1."

Duncan cross his arms and closed his eyes for a moment. "Then, is it decided?"

"I'm for it," Renk replied to Jess. "It would reduce the chance of going loud considerably."

Renk disconnected his dive gear and found himself sitting in Duncan's house, surrounded by the others, still inside the 'net on their dive equipment. Renk logged out so that he could check his military communicator, which was connected to an entirely separate wireless network. He looked at some maps and some information he had gathered.

Renk put his dive gear back on and re-joined the group.

"Sorry for going offline there," he said, "but I had to check something. The space ports in the Western district, if the Herei Mob Army's plans are as Duncan stated earlier, will be partially under siege by them. Once we've completed the mission, there's a chance our transportation could be held up."

Renk's avatar cleared its throat, which was somewhat amusing given the setting. "Dock 10-B will definitely be a dangerous place from which to depart. However..."

Renk's avatar froze again for a moment as he checked his communicator again in the physical world. He returned and said, "Port B will still be mostly active but the others appear locked down, soportA is dead and docks 1-9 B are in questionable status."

Renk looked at the scientist. "Can you arrange an alternate point of departure for us when we head to your colony?" he asked.

Atlas's avatar scratched its head.

"And the remaining outgoing ports on standby?" he asked Renk.

Renk nodded and turned to look at Duncan.

"Best looking overall option... Duncan... you may... analyze... risk... yeah?" Renk's words were garbled and stuttering.

Duncan stood there for a minute with a puzzled look on his face. "I beg your pardon?"

Renk's avatar froze yet again, this time for about a minute.

Everyone waited until Renk began to move again.

"Did you log out again," Duncan asked Renk.

"No, but you all froze," replied Renk.

Something isn't right here, thought Atlas. It's glitching up again.

"Let's log out. We can stay in communication with our new contact here via our communication equipment en route."

The 'net dive disconnected and everyone found themselves sitting in Duncan's house. Atlas stood up. "I guess we should prepare ourselves for the mission," he said to everyone.