Chapter Ninety-Five - When Being Mysterious Works

In the fourth loop trying to solve the Synthcorp portal issue, I woke Jane up, but this time I brought snacks and was a little kinder. She grumbled a bit, but clearly didn't mind the sudden appearance as much when I brought semi-stale doughnuts from a 24-hour shop a few blocks over.

We talked for a bit, then I picked up the same gear as last time. It had worked, and I suspected it would be enough.

Then I drove all the way over to Podunky, setting a new Save when I was just a few minutes out of town--and stopped on the side of the road, I wasn't going to Reload mid-drive, that would be stupid.

I made it to town, and made a call. It took a while, but eventually the fire chief answered... and proceeded to give me an entire heap of shit when I tried to tell her what was up.

Nope. Too complicated. I Reloaded.

Sighing, I drove to a small park not too far from town, got off the bike, and took a quick nap. When I woke up a couple of hours later, the sun was starting to rise, so I chugged an energy drink, did some light stretching, then headed out.

This time, the fire chief listened. Calling at a more reasonable hour had the right effect, and all I needed to do was butter her up a little.

Still annoying, but I was getting there.

The fire brigade arrived at the Synthcorp compound around ten thirty, with the cops coming up behind them. This time they were met by an angry manager who basically told them to fuck off. I was standing nearby, listening. His whole rhetoric worked.

So a Reload.

Calling ten minutes later didn't work. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel⸺fire.net

Calling twenty did.

Good. That would lead people to doing their damned jobs.

The next Reload, I arrived at the same time as the fire department, all suited up. The manager walked out, started talking shit, but some attention was on me, and... yeah, I was armed to the teeth. Gun on one thigh, sword by my side, shotgun on a sling and a belt around my waist with a dozen more shells. The cops started making their way over, and I guess I moved wrong because it turned to shouting when I tried to placate them.

I Reloaded... the next time didn't work.

Fuck it.

The next time, I was standing across the street, arms crossed, aura farming, as the fire department and cops arrived. They were staring, but when one of them asked me to identify myself, I just stared and cast See Darkness, making my eyes glow.

That spooked them.

Then the argument with the manager happened, and was interrupted by shots from within the compound and orcs spilling out of the building hiding the portal.

Finally.

I stepped up and started to help, and the cops didn't seem to have as much of an issue with me when I started blasting their enemies and came to stand between them and the orcs. Still, waiting this long meant more orcs, which wasn't ideal.

Around noon-thirty, the sub-boss came out of the portal, arriving with more orcs. By then the cops were running low on ammo and I was getting tired myself. The fighting wasn't constant but the stress was, and it wasn't helped by me trying to keep my mouth shut and my focus up.

Plus I was a little hangry.

We managed to kill the sub-boss, though. It was a bit close when he rushed out with a dozen orcs, some with guns of their own, but if I ran in close to him, the armed orcs would focus on the cops... which left two dead.

The helicopter arrived about then, and the Synthcorp guys in full gear mopped up the rest.

And then I got to meet the suit. "I'm going to go in there and clear out the portal," I said as I was cleaning out my sword. "I'll need any shotgun ammunition you have." That last was aimed at the fire chief who was standing with her arms crossed and features drawn into an ugly scowl.

Two dead would do that. Plus however many workers and guards Synthcorp lost.

Then the suit spoke up. He cleared his throat, then talked in a tone as cool as glass and just as slippery. "Per section 12, sub-b, of the Synthcorp Site Integrity and Containment protocols, access to restricted zones is limited exclusively to site personnel and authorized persons under a company contract. As you are neither employed by Synthcorp or operating under a restricted contract, you may not enter our site."

I argued, but the man was a wall. This was his playground, and he had picked up enough steam and momentum that I couldn't just walk over him.

"What if I just go in anyway, huh?" I asked petulantly.

"Then we'll treat you as as tresspasser, and seeing as how there are officers here already, that wouldn't go well for you," he said.

Dammit. Another semi-wasted loop.

The Storm Chasers arrived and we were let in, though there was another slight complication when Mizu noticed me in my full Deadline getup and started flinging accusations my way, and some fire.

I Reloaded before I could get arrested, then sighed.

I placed a call.

"Mm yes?"

"Hey, Fran," I said. "I need... legal advice. Of the good sort. Yeah, I know it's really early, I'm sorry. Do you know a lawyer that could help at this hour? Yeah, don't worry about how much it'll cost, I'll pay extra for their assistance. It's important."

That got me in contact with a sleazeball so sleazy that just talking to him made my skin crawl. He wasn't happy that I was calling at seven in the morning. He was a lot happier once I wired him every last penny I had and promised him more.

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Thus started a very boring loop, spent sitting on a bench, talking back and forth with the lawyer and then his junior associates (who were better suited to this than him) outlining the entire scenario and what was going on.

As it turned out, there was no easy loophole to what that corp guy had said. Synthcrop property was their problem.

The portal, however, was another matter. It wasn't registered, which is where the entire argument that Synthcorp had fell apart.

It took until early evening (I did take a nap at some point, and used the loop to see what happened after the Storm Chasers were done clearing the portal) before I had a concrete answer.

Still, that answer was enough to make me a very happy woman.

I Reloaded, took a nap, then went over to the compound at the due time, walking a good ways over where I stood with my arms crossed and placed the call for the fire department and cops to show up.

We killed some orcs. This time I focused on using my sword more, switching it up with some quick uses of Shadow Bolt to serve as a distraction mid-fight. Though fighting with fire support was very different to just plain fighting.

My ears were still ringing by the end though, when the helicopter landed and the reinforcements arrived. I had almost gotten them all dead before that. A few more tries and I think I could get better at fighting orcs. There were a few weak spots to look out for.

Eyes and throats were an easy and obvious target, of course, but if I pushed a bit of Disgust into my blade to sharpen the edge, I could get a good chop in that could take one down from a blow to the head.

Their chest was tougher. They often wore crude gambesons and that made stabbing them a little trickier. Not impossible, but combined with thicker skin... yeah, not great. They were, fortunately, not as fast as a human. Stronger, heavier, but not quite as fast. Though that strength could be turned into short bursts of speed, so that was something to watch out for.

There were others. Their legs were rarely armoured, and they, unfortunately, didn't often wear pants. Loinclothes, yes, but I had seen orc dick and I didn't want it.

Anyway, the inner thighs were a good spot to cut into. They'd also flinch pretty hard at a ball-kick, so that was another plus. Their armour often failed to cover their lower gut, too, so that was an easy target, though it didn't kill very quickly.

I wasn't getting faster, or stronger, there wasn't time for muscle growth, but I was getting better at reading orcs and taking them out, and I was getting better at fighting them two on one.

The suit and his team came up, cleared the area, then insisted that everyone wait.

So I walked up and said that I'd be going in to clear the portal.

When he was done with his legalese bullshit, I stared at him in his smug little eyes, and smiled. "I must warn you that this conversation is being recorded," I said. "Now that you're informed of that, would you care to explain to me why Synthcorp has an unregistered C-ranked portal within its properties, with clear signs that this portal was being contained post-breach, in clear defiance of the mandates of the department of public safety?"

His smile faltered a bit.

"For that matter, would you care to explain to me why you're attempting to refuse my assistance. I'm a legally recognized D-ranker here to render assistance in containing a breached portal. Under the authority given to me under article seven, section nine, of the Public Safety and Portal Management Act, I am both empowered and, of course, obligated to lend assistance in clearing out this threat. Which is exactly what I'm going to do... bitch."

He insisted that I wait.

I insisted that he kiss my flat white ass.

A few minutes later I was in the portal and practicing my stealth techniques, all the while being very aware that I was on a short timeframe.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for me to be noticed, and when three orcs came at me at the same time, I didn't have a choice but to shoot them, which woke the whole damned place up.

I Reloaded. This time, I called the cops and fire department five minutes earlier. It was just enough that if I moved quickly, and a little recklessly, I could kill all the orcs outside before the suit arrived, but not without taking a nasty cut on the arm.

It took four more Reloads before I had fighting the orcs down by the entrance down to a damned art.

Then I could bypass the suit entirely, because he was only arriving after I spoke to the fire chief and police and told them that I'd be going in to save whomever I could and clear out the portal.

That was good, because I really needed to get this down soon.

Unfortunately... that wasn't as easy as I thought.

Stealth was good.

Stealth wasn't fast.

Within the portal, I discovered that the damned thing was huge. Dozens of rooms, lots of orcs. Too many orcs, really. But if I stood quietly, put out torches, and stuck to the dark, then I could sneak up behind the big bastards and take them out nice and quick. A stab to the kidney with my sword, followed up with a swipe across the neck with my little combat knife when they reeled, was often enough to take one down.

Still, I was damned surprised when, five rooms in, I was greeted by a very loud group of morons stomping into the dungeon.

Of course, the lovely Mizu was the first to see me.

Another thing to figure out.

***