"If this thing actually works... I'll have my idiot brother apply for a security consultant job at Arasaka." Rebecca glared at the tightly sealed elevator doors, shouting over to Jackie.
"Doubt it'll work... And our netrunner's gone dark..." He scanned the area. Arasaka's guards were all clustered at the lobby's main entrance... apparently confident no one would try the elevator.
"Maybe..." An idea sparked in Jackie's head. He rolled his shoulders, staring at the doors. "If only we could force them open."
Just as Jackie was about to ignore the guards and break through the damn doors, a comms signal came in from outside their safety link.
Without the netrunner maintaining it, the connection was already starting to destabilize.
The caller ID read Jessica. Right—their partner netrunner was offline, but their own team's netrunner was still fine. Jackie answered immediately.
"What the hell is going on over there!" Her voice was sharp with panic. From the sound of it, she was somewhere dim and shadowed. "I can't reach Arthur or V! What happened?"
"Hey..." Jackie winced, unease creeping into his tone... Truth was, everything now depended on this young woman the team had been protecting. "We've hit a snag here... Can you get this damn elevator working?"
"Let me check..." Jessica knew this wasn't the time for questions, but she couldn't scan the system over the link. "Find the data port fast... then hook up your personal link."
Jackie's eyes swept the wall until he spotted a small metal cover. With a heavy punch, he knocked it loose. Sure enough—a data port.
"Good..." Jessica quickly pulled up the elevator's system data, but it wasn't going smoothly. "The hotel elevator's permissions are locked tight and tied into subnet ICE. I can't take control... All I can do is force the doors open."
"That's enough, chica... We just need to drop down. The garage isn't far." Jackie's face lit up—he needed wheels, fast.
"But the elevator's still active! Listen—you can't let it crush you. You'll need to find the lower door's data link as quickly as possible. Don't waste time." Her urgency bled through the comms, though she was still oddly polite.
"Hurry! We're running out of time!" Jackie barked. Their huddled actions were already drawing the attention of guards farther down the hall.
The elevator doors slid open with a clang... revealing only a hollow shaft, a black pit without a single light.
"Move! You don't have much time!" Jessica's voice echoed in Jackie's mind. Without hesitation, he leapt.
The drop wasn't far. Grabbing a steel cable on the way down, he landed solidly at the shaft's base...
It was below the lowest elevator floor. In the center stood a support pillar as thick as a man's waist. The door they needed was higher up, reachable only by climbing a yellow iron ladder bolted to the wall.
"Up there—connect to the terminal!" Jessica urged. Jackie was already moving, scrambling up the ladder and pulling the link cable from his wrist...
Above, the walls rumbled with a low vibration, growing louder and heavier. Even Jackie, with nerves of steel, felt sweat bead on his forehead.
"Faster... faster..." he muttered, glancing up—only to see nothing but impenetrable black.
"It's open!" Jessica announced. Right on cue, the steel door slid back, revealing the dim glow of the garage.
Not much light, but better than nothing. Jackie scrambled through, dragging Rebecca up behind him.
"Need to find a car, now..."
...
Crawling out of the ventilation system's maintenance ducts, Arthur and V finally stepped into the annex.
This was office space. The moment they emerged, the environment shifted back to Arasaka's signature gloom.
Arasaka never did know how to use proper lighting...
"Security's tight..." Arthur ducked behind a waist-high planter, whispering to V.
"We're out of options... we fight our way out." Determination burned in V's eyes. Shame she didn't even have a gun in her hands—her words would've carried more weight.
"If we just run blind, we'll end up worse off... Might as well jump again." Arthur frowned at the maze of dimly lit corridors and branching paths.
"Follow me... you'll never learn to netrun, will you?" V muttered, pulling up her Neural Link. After some quick work, she brought up a basic floor plan of Konpeki Plaza. Not complete, but enough to locate the elevator.
"Over there!"
Leaving V to stay hidden, Arthur drew the Swallow from his waist, crouched low, and crept toward the nearby guard.
In the darkness, neither his eyes nor the jet-black blade gave off the faintest glint...
The blade sank cleanly into the guard's throat.
Arthur stepped forward, caught the body, and dragged it into deeper shadow.
He wiped the blood from the blade, then pressed forward with V at his back.
"Hope our partners won't mind." V's voice was quiet and measured, barely stirring the silence. "But... we need to move faster. I know Arasaka's systems—they'll catch on soon."
Arthur said nothing, his eyes scanning every corner as they moved.
Behind him, V finally armed herself, gripping the fallen guard's stubby SMG.
The path ahead wasn't heavily defended. Swallow cut through with ease, flitting silently like its namesake. V took out the cameras in quick succession.
They pushed on until they reached the end of the floor—right at their destination.
The elevator doors were sealed off, guarded by security personnel... and one combatant clad in strange, armored gear.
No way around them.