“Well, my body hasn’t treated me the best my entire life. As long as it’s nothing too big, I’m fine with messing around with it, I guess?” Groaning lightly as I sat up I asked, “The second plan would just require… six of the small ones and helping out to get there?”
“That would be correct, however, I am cautious to choose which demons you will kill as they have an annoying tendency to do things that only make sense in hindsight. The best advice for new MGs is to take what you can get and don’t commit to something unnecessary.”
Even though we had only been in the room for a couple minutes, I was feeling much calmer and ready to move again. The halls were clear of any new demons, which allowed easy access to the stairwell connected to the foyer. Unlike the last one I had gone down, it was silent- which was almost more concerning.
“I was expecting to hear some scrounging or patrolling from our invaders, especially considering that these stairs echo and catch sound quite well. It’s almost like they were designed to be loud,” I mentioned- trying my best to reduce the aforementioned noise.
{The demons have likely gained enough ULE to start the second wave’s breaching process. As nice as architectural speculation is, I would recommend hurrying- you will feel when they are done and once the process starts it will not be able to be interrupted effectively by you.}
Nodding and taking Cleo’s advice I started to descend the stairs as fast as I could without falling down them. They were kinda designed to be the main set so each flight had a large landing, and each stair was just wide enough to not comfortably allow you to take them with one step. However, their size fit in quite nicely with the lobby’s.
It was just as- if not more- extravagant than what fancy hotel’s would be like. Yet another quirk of the building’s overall design was that the first floor was twice as tall as normal. Not just in the lobbies or other public rooms- but also the closets and bathrooms I had checked. Because of this a massive chandelier of stained glass was able to be hung, acting more like an abstract false sky with how it covered the entire ceiling. Paintings worth more money than most people made in a year (which is definitely an elaborate tax-evasion scheme) adorned the walls, and the whole expanse was broken up by a fenced off interior garden.
Well, that’s what it normally looked like. Right now, the paintings were a bit crooked and the glass fence was broken in a few places- but the biggest change was the barricade of tables and chairs creating a semicircle that protected the entrance to the garage. From where I was crouched on the top of the last flight of stairs, I could make out a few of the people- presumably from the security team with their large frames and tac-gear. They weren’t allowed to carry lethal weapons, but that didn’t stop them from buying literally anything else they could. Stuff like the latest model taser-rifles that were being used in the only remaining military conflict. Why? Because they were more effective at taking down a target than normal firearms- able to send someone into convulsions with a grazing hit.
Did I ever mention how this place was full of corrupt megalomaniacs with little oversight?
Not wanting to spook the big men with guns, I shrugged off my backpack and pulled out a flashlight. The lights in the building had been off the entire time the Breach had been going on, but I could see well enough. I was only using it now so I would be very obvious and hopefully less threatening. The flashlight was half a decade old and still used those zinc-manganese batteries- which I realized were almost dead when I turned it on and only got a pitiful cone of light.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly crept down the stairs, sweeping the light in the direction of the barricade. As soon as I did so I heard a deep voice yell, “You a patient? Get over here right now so you don’t attract those demons and get us all killed.”
That was exactly what I wanted to hear, so I picked up the pace.
“I’m not compromising the structure of our fortification, so you’re going to have to climb over yourself,” The same voice told me as I got close. “And we're going to have to do a… security check of your pack. For everyone’s safety.” The last part being followed by a malicious sneer.
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Sensing the scam I innocently replied, “It’s just my emergency bag- there’s nothing dangerous besides my utility knife.”
Despite my attempt, after I had scrambled over the barricade one of the guards grabbed me by the wrist and carry handle of my backpack, roughly taking it from me. They opened all the pockets and dumped its contents on the floor, eyes lighting up at the wad of bills and random trinkets I had thrown in. I was shoved to the side as their boss sauntered over and picked up my money, stuffing it into a pocket before turning to me. “Security fees for events not covered by our contract. Now get on and see if you can be useful in starting the cars somehow.”
As I stalked off, I revised my shit-list, putting them right at the top. I wasn’t going to do anything to them- that would be stupid, but I was confident I could get back at them somehow. The employee records were public, and a few letters to their homes from ‘past mistresses’ could do some work…
The garage was your basic concrete arrangement, although much cleaner and with more space allotted to each spot than normal. The drop-down grate to the outside was closed and manned by another one of the guards. The rest of the people were gathered in a small circle around one of the staff not invented to the party- loudly and incoherently complaining about anything they could. From what I could make out, everyone wanted to know why their cars weren’t working.
In the grand scheme of things, I didn’t know that much- but from the basic understanding of how Breaches worked I could work out that the ULE the cars used to run had been absorbed, like the power to the building. It wasn’t my place to deal with the egos of those people, so I wandered around the edges of the space, looking for any cars that might not be electric. One stood out as particularly old, but when I peeked into the window I saw it had been converted to a ULE electric drivetrain. None of the others looked like they had a chance at being old enough to be allowed to still burn foil fuels, so I gave up.
I think the staff member got a clue from what I was doing- how they saw me over the mass of people is anyone’s guess- and suddenly posited that all the power from the cars was gone. This unleashed another wave of outrage as to how the hospital could have let this happen. As if they had any more control over the situation. As the arguments got louder, I slumped down in a corner to close my eyes and get some rest or try to figure out how to get out of here. I must have fallen asleep because I awoke to the voice of the guard-leader yelling, “thieving bitch! Where the hell are you!”
That set off alarms in my head, but with nowhere to go, I just sat still and waited. There wasn't anywhere to hide either, so after less than a minute of people looking around for (presumably) me, one of the younger patients saw me. They immediately called out and reached for me.
I wasn’t having any of that, so I stood up fast and may have ‘accidentally’ shoulder checked their chin- sending them stumbling backwards. As they were holding their face, I grumbled, “No need to get physical. What do you want? I’m trying to sleep and hope this goes away.”
The familiar gruff voice of a guard chuckled darkly as they yelled, “We have a job perfectly suited for you” across the garage. As I begrudgingly got closer, they added, “All our escape vehicles are out of juice as you know. Now, our management friend here remembered that there's a bank of batteries squirreled away in one of the basements. Our problem is that no one here has the keys to the room where they can be connected to the circuit from, nor the youth to be quiet about getting there.
Coincidentally, some of our friends here recognized a few items they had thought lost amongst the junk in your backpack- but are willing to forgive you if you volunteer to run off and turn on the power for us. All you need to do is throw a switch.”
Before I could reply, someone grabbed me from behind and started dragging me to the lobby door. I was in no way strong enough to break their grip, but I struggled against them anyway to at least show my displeasure with the decision. As we arrived back behind the barricade to the jeering of the other patients, it felt like the air was knocked out of my lungs- and by the looks of it, everyone else felt it too. In the moment of shock from my guards, I flailed a bit more but this time I wasn’t trying to break out.
Before my captor recovered, I had swiped their backup taser, wallet, and keyring out of spite. All of them were shoved into my pockets in view of at least one person, but the eyes of everyone watching seemed to glaze over for a second as I did so. With the feeling ending, I was roughly tossed over the barricade to the mocking voice of the leader.
“Here, take this map of the facility. I marked the room you should check. Now run off before I use you as bait for the demons.”