It’d been a day since we met up and talked about the plan, and honestly? It was all progressing much, much quicker than I expected it to. I thought it’d be a week more of casing and scheming before anything happened, which would be pushing it extremely close to Operation Milburn’s deadline. Like this, though? 

Saint smirked at me when I pulled uncomfortably at my clothes. “You look good, kid.”

I shot him a glare. ”You look like you belong in a medical drama.”

We were both in scrubs, though the man had a doctor’s coat thrown over his. A Medtech ID dangled loosely from his pocket. No idea who his contact was, but they were either insanely talented or super high up the chain. “As the handsome male lead, no doubt.”

I shook my head, going silent for a moment. We passed a group of nurses chattering amongst themselves. ”As the antagonist. You’re just missing the evil mustache.”  

Saint rolled his eyes and adjusted his surgical mask. Recognition was Saint’s greatest weakness, so he opted for just a simple mask to cover things up. “What would that make you? My evil intern?”

“More like tortured.” Once more, I plucked at my scrubs. They were so very uncomfortable. I felt practically naked in them without most of my gear. I had to leave almost everything behind to get past security. Even my backpack. Medtech’s security systems were no joke. It was literally just whatever I could fit into a satchel.

We arrived at our first destination just ten minutes after entering the building. It took a minute to figure out where we were and where we wanted to go, but eventually we arrived before the archive room. Saint swiped his ID. The scanner blinked for a moment and then flashed green. 

The reporter popped open the door, holding it open for me. “After you.”

”Thanks.” I stepped into the room, immediately hit with the stench of old, mildewed paper. There were all sorts of files and documents here scattered around the room. And I do mean scattered. The place was in complete chaos as if a sandstorm had blown through.

The Archives wouldn’t have the stuff we were looking for, but it would have the building’s blueprints shoved into here somewhere. And with those, I’d have a way better idea of this place’s security. The reporter’s source had given us a few warnings about it when he asked, but it never hurt to double-check. 

Saint sighed next to me, looking out across the rather large archive room. The entire place was in chaos, with crates of documents scattered around everywhere. “Good luck finding it.”

“Think they have an electronic catalog?” I eyed the room for a terminal, but unfortunately didn’t see one. It was a surprise, given this day and age.

Saint tapped my shoulder and pointed to a set of wooden cabinets off to the side of the room. They had dozens of small drawers, each about as big as my hand. “I think it's that?”

I pulled one of the drawers open, revealing rows and rows of index cards. “No way? How does this even work?”

”Um- I dunno? I think you look up keywords?” He shrugged, pulling open another drawer full of even older cards stained yellow.

”That can’t be right… that’d take forever, wouldn’t it?” I looked at the several cabinets with dismay. 

“Then we better start.” Saint wasted no time pulling out one card after another, sweeping them before throwing it back into the cabinet.

Would any of my Perks help out here? I hesitated for a moment beside him before finally opting to join in the search. Slowly but surely, we swept through the catalog to find what we were looking for. It was a long, tedious process.

“Think it’d be in renovations?” Saint pulled a card out and offered it to me.

”Maybe-“ 

The door opened, causing me to cut myself off out of instinct. A doctor stepped into the room, half paying attention as he wrote on a clipboard. He froze and looked up, spotting us. “Oh, hello there.”

”Hello.” Saint nodded to the guy, slipping me the index card. “Doctor?”

”Doctor Tarkon. I wasn’t aware anyone would drop by my little abode.” Tarkon nodded to the archive. You are?”

”Doctor Brittlesmith. Just looking for an old patient file.” Saint waved his hand at me, stepping forward to distract Tarkon even further. They easily broke into a conversation.

I slipped out of sight, Illusive pulling me into the shadows as I avoided their gaze. With the card, it took just a few moments to find what I was looking for. Several document tubes lay scattered around the shelves. While they chatted, I quickly ran through all the tubes, downloading their contents into my head with Eidetic Schematic. 

The defenses for the target floor were about as I expected. Saint’s source had spilled everything they knew about the security systems on the seventy third floor, so I wasn’t surprised by much. There were a few other things to look out for, but nothing that’d give me trouble. This wasn’t one of Medtech’s ultra secret archives, after all.

I shoved the blueprints back into their tubes and slipped back to Saint like I’d never left. I leaned forward and whispered, “got it.”

Saint pulled his phone out naturally. “Oh! Look at the time. Well, it was a pleasure Doctor Tarkon. I have an appointment to get to.”

”The pleasure was all mine.” Tarkon grinned at the reporter. “Drop by sometime? It’s been a while since I could chat so freely with someone.”

“If I can find the time, sure.” He propped the door for me. And just like that, we were out. Easy. Surprisingly so. Maybe he really did have protagonist energy? Just by talking, he easily got us out of that situation. If it was just me… well, the Jade Dagger still had its charge.

We stayed silent until we got in an elevator and headed up to the right floor. Saint leaned against the wall, brushing a hand through his hair. “Got everything you needed?”

“Chek.” I thought through the map. Should be easy enough. A few guards posted up would slow me down, but the rest of the defenses were technical and would be easy enough to bypass.

Saint’s hand dipped down, covering his eyes. “Are you sure about this? It doesn’t feel right just leaving you.”

”I’ll get out… probably before you even do.” I had a Spectral Flock bird set up outside the building. Just a tug, and I’d be out of here before anyone could get close to me.

”If you say so… the scanner?” 

“Chek.” I reached into my bag and pulled out a scanner, passing it over to him. It was part one of the fingerprint spoofer. I finished it the other day after Saint informed me they used fingerprint scanners on the upper floors during out planning session.

The tech was interesting to work on. The scanner took no time, though the actual spoofer had been a bit more tricky. I ended up using a ferrofluid to imitate the ridge depth. Some very micro micro-electronics controlled the heat and magnets, only possible thanks to Quantum Automation’s training.

He grabbed it, slipping the scanner into his coat pocket. The elevator stopped at the fifty-seventh floor. He paused at the door for a moment before unclipping his ID and passing it to me. “Good luck, Shiro.”

I grabbed the ID, slipping it into my pocket. ”You too… as soon as you get the scan from his office, get out. Don’t wait.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Saint shot me one last look before moving down the hallway. 

I hit the button for the seventy-third floor and reached into my bag for my poncho. I tossed it over my shoulders and manually manipulated it to cooling. Cold-Blooded helped keep my thermal signature basically negative.

The elevator shuddered to a stop. This was it. Moment of truth, right here. If everything went according to plan, I should be able to just walk out without being stopped. I took a breath and pulled out a hand sized orb. 

My Blinder was integral for this plan, so I detached it from my pack beforehand. It was now a handheld device hooked up to a micro battery array stashed inside my shirt. I constantly fed electricity into it, keeping the battery array charged. I wouldn't be able to keep it up for a long time, but it’d be just long enough.

The elevator doors slid open. I kept my head down and slipped out, skirting around a duo of chromed out guards protecting the floor. They looked right over me, Blinder doing its job to a tee. 

Their chrome eyes flickered with confusion. One of them stepped forward, sweeping the empty elevator with his eyes. “Report in?”

”Nah, probably just a miss click.” The other guard waved a hand, returning to his position. “Thermals didn’t show anything.”

I slunk down the hallway, completely bypassing the guards. There were a few other sets of patrols, though I bypassed them just as easily. I walked with a purpose as if I belonged. Even those who spotted me didn’t say anything.

The door into the classified archives was locked up tight. A fingerprint scanner blocked the way into the place, just as we planned for. I checked up and down the hall- clear, for now.

Just as I reached the door, a notification popped up into my HUD. A data file came across from Saint. ‘Here it is. You wouldn’t believe how easy it was for me to get into his office. Idiot didn’t even lock his door.’

I pulled the fingerprint spoofer from my pack and jacked into it. The file turned into perfect scans of a fingerprint, and my algorithms inside the spoofer polished it up to perfection. The ferrofluid along the top of the spoofer shifted, pulsating and reshaping into a perfect recreation of Lance’s prints. I tapped a few buttons, manually doing some adjustments.

I tested it before, of course, but my heart started beating when nothing happened for several long moments. I tapped the spoofer lightly and tried again, holding it against the scanner.

Beep!

The light flashed green and the lock disengaged. The panel flickered at me. ‘Welcome, Lance Brittlesmith.’

I slipped through the door just as a duo of guards turned the corner at the end of the hall. Step one of the frame job was complete. If I just planted Dark Ether on the guy, the corporation would bail the executive out within an hour. We needed Medtech to abandon him willingly. To do that? Plant a suspicion. While the investigated internally, he’d rot.

The Dark Ether wasn’t even really the lynchpin for this whole setup. It was just to keep him out of the way long enough for us to finish the job. The Crusade’s holding cells would be a nice cozy home for the guy while we finished preparing his downfall. Saint had a rather ingenious idea to make the corp fully turn on the guy. 

Up above, a turret panned the room, carefully scanning every inch of the place. I moved quickly, grabbing files at random from the cabinets. I also ‘randomly’ grabbed all the documents for Operation Milburn as I went. I got about thirty of the files before I heard motion from the door.

I paused for a mere moment before tugging on my connection to the Spectral Flock. In a flash of nausea, I vanished from the room.

I stumbled out into a parking garage, nearly slamming into my bike. I barely managed to catch myself on the seat and squeezed my eyes shut. It was effective, but the after-effects of Spectral Flock were so not fun.

I took deep breaths through my nose and settled against my bike. Tiredly, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone to call Saint. “Hey, I’m out.”

”I’m just on my way, darling. Have you decided what you want for dinner?” Saint asked. 

For a moment, my head churned in confusion. “Um… if you’re in danger, mention pizza.”

”Yeah, I’d love a burger. I’m just finishing up here.” His voice shifted, becoming slightly more subdued like he had turned away from his phone. “Sorry, Doctor. I really have to go. It’s our anniversary tonight!”

A muffled laugh came across. “Congrats, my man.”

”Thank you, thank you. I’ll get back to you about that treatment plan another time.” Saint chuckled good naturedly. After a few moments, he sighed. “Phew- thanks for the save, Shiro. Nearly got roped into helping that guy with his treatments. I’m on my way out now.”

“Ready for part two?” I kicked my bike on, leaning forward over the handlebars.

”When you are. I’m thinking…” His voice dipped into a cool, deep narration. “City of Sorrows presents—The Last Clinic. What will you do when medicine dies?”

I shook my head and glanced toward Medtech’s building. “You’re the reporter. Just don’t forget what we talked about.”

”I won’t.” He paused for a moment. ”And- um- thanks for the help with this. After we’re done, want to go celebrate somewhere?” 

I almost refused out of habit. “I- I’ll think about it. Assuming this even works in the first place.”