Although the explosion only damaged the upper left part of the chemical building, some sections of the structure remained unstable. Under the cover of darkness, Port moved with haste and quietly through the ruins of the Kelby Hives secret chemical factory. He scanned the area, trying to piece together what happened. Having bypassed the building’s security by crawling through the sewers and accessing a nearby hatch, the stench didn’t bother him. All he cared about was discovering what went wrong in this place. He stood on what appeared to be the remains of a balcony and looked down upon Kayon City. The icy air made him shiver a little.
“Where did he go wrong?” Port muttered to himself.
He reached up and pulled back his hood, then he scanned his surroundings. This is not the right place he was looking for. After a few moments of walking, he found a place that was not fully destroyed and saw empty glass cages, he altered his look at the left side and found a computer blinking on and off. He tried to operate it, but it didn’t respond. Out of annoyance he slammed his hand to the panel, banging it hard enough to force it on. He began to tap at the keyboards and one by one he opened the files. His eyes widened on what he just saw. He clenched his hands as he witnessed the hideous act of the man behind all of this.
“I didn’t expect it to be this bad,” he muttered.
A man emerged from the darkness. The eyes from his gas mask glowed in red, and his black coat trailed behind him as he walked with his guns dangling at his back. Port raised his own gun, pointing it at the man.
“Relax, it’s just me,” the man said.
“I thought you were still searching for those kids.” Port said and let out a sigh of relief.
“I am, and I found one of them that night,” the man replied.
Port returned his attention to the computer, brow furrowed. “Those kids knew what they were doing. If it were me, I’d lay low for now. But to get this close to the building, they must have an insider.”
The mysterious man approached Port and watched as he searched through the files. “Glade,” he muttered, lost in thought.
“Do you think they’re involved in this mess?” Port asked.
“I think at first too,” the man replied. “They may be skilled, but that doesn’t mean they’re part of that organization.”
Port nodded. “That’s a good point. But you also have to consider that no sane mercenary would take a job like this unless they knew they had a chance of taking down a huge company like this, especially one that has super-soldiers.”
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“Hm, I guess so,” Port said as he clicked on a video file in the folder of saved security camera footage. He fast-forwarded to the night in question and quickly realized that the kids he fought before were responsible for the wreckage.
“It seems that they’re on the move again,” Port said.
“I met one of those kids when I was scouting outside the area,” his companion responded.
“What do you think about them?” Port asked.
“Reckless yet resourceful,” his companion replied.
“Hm, why does it feel like you’re complimenting them?” Port said as his companion began to walk up the staircase.
Port followed him, sensing that his companion picked up a lead.
“Where are we going, actually?” Port asked.
“Vault,” his companion replied.
Port fell into silence as he followed his companion up floor after floor. Eventually, they arrived at what Port believed to be the highest level of the building.
“We’re here,” his companion muttered.
Port looked around the empty room, which was illuminated by the moonlight. “I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but I see no vault in here. This is a dead-end,” he said irritably.
“You don’t understand. Our friend Theo likes to hide his toys so that even his intruders can’t find them,” his companion said as he knelt down and knocked on the floor.
It didn’t take long enough to find what he was looking for as when he changed his position to knock again, it sounded not alike to the other, it was a metal sheet covered the same to the colour of the floor. Port knelt opposed to him. He reached and plucked out the wood. Below was a hidden compartment that locked the item they sought.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go get it,” Port said.
“Wait, this could be a trap,” his companion cautioned.
Port grabbed a flashlight and shone it on the glass tube that held the item they sought.
“What do you think about this?” he asked.
“I see no opening in the glass tube. Perhaps it’s a pressure bomb?” his companion replied.
Port and his companion nodded in agreement, preparing for the worst. Port held the glass tube tightly, his palms sweating.
“Three,” his companion said.
Port strengthened his knees, and his companion readied his grappling hook.
“Two.”
Port return his eyes on him once more with a nod of confirmation to let go. When they felt they were holding the glass tube, they ran as fast as they could and jumped outside the building.
“One.”
The blast came roaring and the tremendous force can be felt from behind as he shoots the grappling hook, clinging at the ledge, slowly descending to the surface just outside the premises, as they landed outside the building, they knew they only have two minutes before the area is going to be flooded by securities and another minute for them to issue a lockdown.
But as they were wrong, a dozen soldiers appeared.
“You were saying?!” Port shouted irritably.
“Scram!” his companion yelled as he reached for his guns, taking out the soldiers without breaking a sweat. The shells fell with loud ringing as it volleyed to their flesh. The soldiers ran and hid.
They ran as fast as they could across the alleyways behind the train tracks.
“I think we’re safe now,” Port said.
“You know the plan,” his companion replied.
Both of them nodded and went their separate ways, blending into the darkness.
“Whoever they are, they’re far more dangerous than I could ascertain.” Port uttered as he ran by and slipped through the roads. He could no longer hear the yells from behind.
