Thanks to the chip Faelan inserted into the slot, Kiwi managed to hack Rhino's neurolink in no time, due to the near-complete absence of ICE, reducing him to a drooling mess.
Well, more than he already was.
Faelan turned to indicate they could leave, but when the smell of a Dorio covered in human entrails hit his nose, he immediately changed the plan and pointed toward a section near the makeshift combat ring the Animals had set up.
Ten minutes later.
"Thanks for that!" Dorio emerged looking brand new, smelling fresh and her clothes spotless. "I didn't expect the Animals to bother having showers and washing machines near their training area."
Maybe the Animals never imagined someone would use their facilities to wash off their own guts...
"Let's go, then." Faelan got up from a clean bench (the only one still intact after the fight) and headed for the exit. "I already made a call. We'll have a vehicle collecting the meat by the time we're done."
"Great!" Dorio pumped her fist. "By the way, you didn't spy on me, did you?" she gave him a playful slap on the back. "Your self-control is impressive."
Faelan shot her a deadpan look.
"You're awesome, but you're not my type, and I'd like us to stay friends. Sorry."
Dorio acted like she'd just been hit in the chest with an aluminum bat.
Had she just been sent to the legendary friendzone over a joke?
Wait, wasn't this supposed to go the other way around?
"Tch!" She clicked her tongue, a bit annoyed the joke backfired. "I thought you had a weakness for blondes, but it turns out it's for THE blonde, huh?" she said, giving him a knowing look.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Viktor told me everything." Dorio threw her arm around Faelan's shoulders and pulled him against her chest, poking his cheek to tease him. "Apparently, a certain duo went beyond friendship a while ago, but you're both too shy to tell your friends."
Faelan slowly raised his green eyes toward her.
"Do you want me to stab you?" To prove his point, Faelan tilted his head slightly, poking one of Dorio's breasts with his antlers.
"Hey, that hurts!" Dorio jumped in surprise at the sneak attack and let go of him, rubbing the offended area. "Can you imagine how awkward it'd be to explain that injury to Vik? You should learn how to treat a lady. Hope you're gentler with Kiwi."
"She doesn't ask me to be gentle," Faelan replied with a smile that had a universally recognized meaning.
Dorio's jaw hit the floor so hard it nearly cracked the concrete.
Okay, she had NO comeback and absolutely did not expect THAT response!
"Aren't you supposed to be embarrassed?" Dorio asked as they climbed into the car and it started up. "Blushing, stammering, all that."
"I'm a physically healthy and mentally mature teenager, Dorio." Faelan gave the driver an irritated glance. "Don't compare me to one of those pathetic beta Japanese characters from anime. I'm not ashamed to tell you Kiwi and I are a couple—a happy one."
Note to self: Deny Viktor wine for six months for being a gossip.
"Then why didn't either of you mention it before?" Dorio asked as she navigated down the road toward their next destination, which wasn't far.
"For one thing, we're not celebrities." He rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed he had to explain. "Our relationship doesn't need to be announced to everyone we meet. It's called having privacy. But mostly, it's partly for protection."
"Oh... Oh! Alright, I get it now," Dorio finally understood. "Does Sasha know?"
"Galina knows. You know. Viktor knows. Gordon probably knows thanks to Galina," Faelan said. "Sasha? No, I don't think so."
This wasn't a case of him ignoring Sasha's feelings or some kind of drama. She didn't see him romantically. In fact, he doubted she'd even developed any romantic interest at all—she was too deep in the Net.
Although she probably suspected something, Kiwi wanted to avoid being interrogated by her best friend about certain aspects of her relationship with Faelan. One shouldn't be fooled by Kiwi's uninhibited behavior in the show—this version still found some topics extremely embarrassing to talk about and preferred to keep them private.
"Should I say something?" Dorio shifted uncomfortably in the driver's seat. "I get Kiwi's point, but I think Sasha might feel a bit betrayed if she's the last to find out that her best friends are dating… How long's it been, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Three years."
"THREE YEARS?!" Dorio's eyes went wide. "Damn, if it weren't for Viktor, I would've only had vague suspicions at most."
They were really good at hiding it!
"Do what you want, but I suggest you consider Kiwi's reaction first," Faelan warned.
Dorio nodded. Kiwi was definitely the kind of person you'd rather have on your side. But knowing Sasha would feel hurt if left in the dark, she decided to take the risk. At worst, she'd go through a few awkward weeks—but it was a small price to pay to avoid hurting a friend.
"Since you're so interested in matters of the heart, how's yours doing?" Faelan suddenly looked at her. "Anyone catch your eye lately?"
"Don't let your thoughts wander—we've arrived!" Dorio pointed at an abandoned gym hastily renovated. "Alpha Gym… Huh, I guess it makes sense that their Alpha's in there."
Faelan pretended not to notice the change of subject, but he was a little curious. Had Maine still left an impression on her, even after all the changes? Or was it someone else?
In fact, considering Dorio's preferences...
"Alright, uh, how do we do this?" Dorio parked discreetly and turned to face Faelan. "I mean, do you need me to do anything or bring anything so you can do your thing?"
She knew that not all of Faelan's mystical stuff just happened on its own—sometimes he needed specific things to activate or trigger it.
"Just make sure no one gets near me." Faelan shook his head as he stepped out of the car and sat cross-legged on the ground, leaning against a tire. "With how big this place is, it'll take a while."
Dorio nodded and shut off the engine, reclining as if to take a nap in the car's shade, though she remained alert. She wasn't too worried about an Animal coming to check—after all, it was siesta time.
Faelan began extending roots from his position and quickly realized the gym wasn't in as bad shape as it looked from the outside. In fact, many areas seemed specially reinforced.
"It's the base of one of the city's main gangs, I guess I should've expected at least that," he thought, unsurprised. "At the very least, it's way better than Maelstrom's old All Foods place."
But he quickly frowned as his thin roots explored the gym, finding many reinforced zones that limited his reach.
He could feel vitality—too much for just a few gang members...
"I need to see inside."
He inhaled, his torso expanding slightly, before exhaling dozens of bees from his throat, sending them into the building, as the roots could only give limited feedback.
Beneath his sunglasses, one of his eyes fragmented into dark hexagons, each one reflecting the perspective of a different bee.
When he saw inside, his reaction was—
"What the fuck?!"
…
Alpha Gym, innermost zone.
"Alpha, Rhino's signal just went dark," an Animal reported respectfully to their leader. "If everything's going according to plan, that guy should be coming right now."
Alpha set down the weights he was lifting and exhaled white steam from his nostrils, where a bull ring implant helped him vent body heat.
A body covered in centipede-like scars, a sweaty bald head, and a height of two and a half meters turned to face his subordinate.
"Good. That idiot was getting too greedy." Far from the brutish behavior one might expect, Alpha displayed a surprising level of cunning. "Get the pack ready—we're not making the same mistake Maelstrom did." He stripped off his sweaty clothes without shame and put on a pre-prepared combat suit. "Remember, we need to capture that freak alive. I'll personally kill anyone who accidentally zeroes him."
"Yes, sir!" The Animal straightened, but before leaving, he added with some hesitation: "Uh, what if he shows up with backup? We know the Valentinos wiped out Brickjaw and the others."
Alpha casually backhanded the two-meter man across the room, revealing the raw power hidden in his frame.
"Use your damn brain!" Alpha growled in annoyance. "Faraday's contract is to capture Faelan Verdant Kusanagi alive—the less damage, the higher the payout. As for anyone who comes with him? They end up dead!"
The Animal stood up, dazed, but didn't protest the blow—it was practically routine for Alpha to put someone in their place whenever he heard a question he considered stupid.
He staggered out of the room to give the necessary orders, unaware that a bee was following him.
What he saw was...
…
"Dorio, change of plans!" Faelan jumped to his feet.
The woman leaned out of the car window.
"What's going on?" she asked, confused. "Did the spores fail?"
"No, the spores are ready, but I don't know if they'll be of much use!" Faelan paced back and forth, thinking hard.
"Calm down, what did you find out?" Dorio stepped out of the car and crossed her arms, curious as to why he was suddenly so nervous.
"The company heist was never the real goal—it was just bait!" Faelan said, still pacing. "They counted on us taking those people out, that we'd track down Rhino and end up here. We swallowed the hook, line, and sinker!"
Shit, he was so pissed for not realizing it sooner.
He knew something didn't add up, but he hadn't seen this.
"You mean their goal was to provoke us into coming here for payback?" Dorio turned to look at the seemingly abandoned gym, barely guarded from the outside. "Is it an ambush? No, wait—are you the target?"
Even Dorio suddenly grasped the chain of events and the motivation behind it.
"Exactly!" Faelan pointed at her in agreement. "If we don't respond to this provocation, the company's rep goes down the drain in the city and more people will test us. But if we do respond, we walk right into a trap they've set up ahead of time. Every outcome benefits someone, with no losses."
Dorio listened in silence, increasingly worried by how nervous Faelan looked.
"So, do we need reinforcements?" she asked. "What exactly is inside?"
Faelan stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her.
"Inside, there aren't just over 200 Animals and their Alpha," he said, a tic twitching in his eye. "There are also 300 Arasaka Warriors and ten mid-grade combat drones."
"...Repeat that?"
How the hell had Arasaka and Faraday gotten involved with him?
It made absolutely no **** sense.
The Animals were manageable. They had maces, knives, katanas, gloves with retractable blades, shotguns, light machine guns, and large-caliber pistols.
Standard weapons—nothing particularly strong and clearly more focused on close combat.
Fine. He and Dorio could handle two hundred of them with some effort.
Maybe just be careful with Alpha, who probably had "Boss-tier" specs.
But with a surprise bonus of 300 Arasaka warriors and 10 combat drones added to the mix?
For reference, each standard Arasaka soldier wore a ballistic vest with light armor on limbs, Caseless M-762 assault rifles, smart pistols with guided rounds, and compact grenade launchers.
Not to mention the implants—Faelan had identified enhanced reflex cyberware, thermal vision optics, and real-time comms systems with neural links.
And that was just what he could recognize from the bees' view at a distance!
To top it all off, it wasn't just any random group of 300.
There were 80 snipers in elevated positions, 120 heavy infantry with shields, 60 rapid assault troops, 20 demolition specialists, and 20 netrunners hidden away for cyberwarfare.
And let's not forget the drones!
Model: Arasaka Raptor-9
1.5 meters in size, aerial type with stabilizers for agile maneuvers, armed with two medium-power electric pulse cannons and miniature missile launchers (4 per drone), lightweight composite alloy armor resistant to 9mm rounds and shrapnel.
Equipped with HD cameras, infrared sensors, short-range radar, acoustic sensors—high maneuverability with vertical takeoff and landing capability. At least 40 minutes of autonomy with high-end batteries.
…
Yeah, no, they definitely needed to tweak the plan.
Seriously.
But even with all that, what truly rattled Faelan wasn't the military force or the numbers!
"How do they know my last names?" he thought uneasily. That was the most disturbing part for him. "The records were destroyed in the factory!"
There was something he didn't know—and that thought was gnawing at his heart.
Meanwhile, Dorio's thoughts were more along the lines of:
"Well, there goes the pork supply for the community kitchen. We'll have to cancel the shipment..."