Nyz and the guard walked into the vault, and in a swift movement, before the guard could react, he pulled a zipcuff from her belt, pushed her against the wall, pulled both arms behind her back, and cuffed her wrists together. Then, he grabbed her left arm and pulled her through the vault with him.

"Your voice filter's pretty good," she told him. "Are you a man or a woman?"

"I'm a man."

"Why did you pick me over him?"

"He was calm and confident, you were nervous and shaking," Nyz stated.

"What are you looking for?" She asked.

"It seems you've found your voice," Nyz said. "Though I can still hear how nervous you are. You're worried I'm planning something, since I left you alive. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you unless I have to. As long as you cooperate with me until I have no further need of you, then you'll be safe."

"I don't feel safe in the hands of a terrorist," she said.

"I'm not a terrorist," he said. "A criminal, yes, but not a terrorist. I'm not acting the way I am for some greater political goal, nor is it meant to instill some form of terror, and this isn't an act against civilians. My goal is to steal a specific item from Asterox Corporation. Nothing we have done can be classified as an act of terrorism. Acts of murder, theft, destruction against a specific corporation and its own security forces, yes, but not terrorism. Don't associate us with groups like Gairal, who wrongly believe that the fog is the world's wrath at the abuse mankind gives each other, and that as long as the abuse continues, Ilbrathi will continue to generate the fog. Lunatics, if you ask me."

"What are you trying to steal?" She asked.

"Something," he told her. "Though I doubt you'd know what it is."

Nyz stopped walking in front of a row of square drawers set into a wall, each labeled with a number and a sensor, none with a handle.

"Try me," she said.

"Open this one," he tapped a drawer door labeled 412. "Press your thumb against the scanner."

"I don't even know how I was able to access the vault," she told him. "And my hands are behind my back, where you tied them."

Nyz turned her around and lifted her arms up, pressing one of her thumbs against the scanner. The drawer wasn't much higher than her hands were from their tied position, making the movement not uncomfortable for her. A second passed, and the drawer clicked, then slid open as Nyz moved Sen to the side.

"Okay, so I can open both the door to our vault and a drawer inside of it," she said as Nyz pulled out the metal cylinder capped on both ends, a coded label with a barcode stuck to it. "What the hell?"

"It's an emergency access feature," he said as his helmet scanned the barcode, a message in his glasses confirming it as the correct one. "Chances are, even if nobody in this damn facility thought about the potential of an attack, someone outside did. Someone like Hayden Asterox, current owner. If someone couldn't hack into the vault, they'd try to break in, and I'm sure it'd be hella expensive and difficult to do the repairs. So they programmed in that its guards had access, but only while on-duty. Had I not already known to tell you what to do, they probably would have."

Nyz himself hadn't come to that conclusion, but rather, was only repeating was Kal told him as he spoke, giving him a response to tell her.

"So they'll attempt to recover that on the way out, then," Sen said.

"They'll try," Nyz said as he grabbed her arm and began leading her away. "But they'll fail."

"And why do you think that?" She asked. "You're in one of the most secret compounds in the world. They've probably blocked off all exits and have pulled out the mechs. Even if you came with others, I'm sure none of you were expecting the Class A equipment here."

"The surprise of Asterox having Class A equipment here illegally," Nyz told her. "Means absolutely nothing when mine is Class S."

"Class S?" She laughed. "There's no such thing, Class A is the best that can be made."

"Class S is made by Research," Nyz stated. "It's used exclusively by us. It's why I'm able to take numerous Class A attacks without any damage to the suit."

Sen looked back at Nyz, only then realizing his suit was undamaged, despite having taken thousands of bullets on his way down to the vault.

"Well," she said. "I'm sure even that suit has its limits. They won't care about sacrificing a single guard, even after all of the ones you killed, if it means keeping that item, whatever it is. I'm sure they won't hesitate to use some of their stronger firepower, or a gas your helmet won't filter."

"My helmet's air filter is superior to anything Asterox has come up with," Nyz stated with full confidence. "Research is simply that good. Nothing the cretins of Asterox have ever made could compare or challenge it."

"They've also released," Kal said. "A 'Sen must live' order."

"A what?" Nyz asked.

"All guards are instructed to ensure that Sen comes out alive," Kal told him. "We accounted for that. Use her to get out to the front, I'm already arriving on-location and am about to start clearing out their mechs."

"Got it," Nyz said.

"Got what?" Sen asked. "Talking to your commander or whatever?"

"We're partners," Nyz stated. "He's the brains, I'm the brawn, and together, we're unstoppable."

"We'll see about that," she said.

"Do not tell her about the time you chased off a wyvern," Kal said.

"He's chased off a wyvern?" Taylor asked.

"I wasn't planning on it," Nyz said.

"Wasn't planning on what?" Sen asked.

"Something my partner said," Nyz answered. "By the way, do you know what's in this canister?"

"My job is to guard, not question what I'm guarding."

"Yes or no?"

"No."

"Experimental acid shot crystal cartridges," he told her. "For monsters with tough skins and hard shells."

"You're stealing that, and you claim you aren't a terrorist?" She asked as they began passing by guards in combat suits.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

When they saw Nyz with the canister tucked under one arm, one hand holding Sen's arm, the other with a gun to her back and a finger on the trigger, they wisely chose not to try to take a shot from behind, especially as their attacks had already proved useless so far.

"Why aren't they shooting?" She asked.

"Because they're under orders to keep you alive," Nyz stated. "And I'm sure my friend already informed them we heard the command in order to ensure they don't try stalling us."

"I did," Kal told him. "I also informed them that you're low on patience right now and won't hesitate to shoot her anywhere non-critical out of spite, which is probably why they're being so compliant with my demand that you be let through in peace. I told them that as long as we get what we came here for and no one attacks, we'll minimize the damage to this place."

"And if they don't?" Nyz asked, causing Sen to turn her head a little to look at him.

"They've already seen the durability of our tech," Kal told him. "I told them that if they really wanted to put up a fight, we'd level this place on our way out."

"So they're letting us go," Nyz said. "What are the odds of them deciding to ignore the order to keep Sen alive?"

"Minimal," Kal answered. "A very strict order was given to all units saying to prioritize her safety above the recovery of the stolen item."

"Okay," Nyz said.

They continued moving through the facility, and as Kal promised, no one attacked. When they exited, the beetle was sitting out front. Swift enough no one else could react, Nyz returned his gun to his waist, pulled Sen against him, and jumped up onto the mech, before drawing the gun and pointing it at the guard once more.

"Get into the mech," he commanded as he set the cylinder down and opened the mech using one hand, keeping the gun trained on her. "Since they want you alive, you're our insurance they don't attack."

Sen looked between the hatch, the cylinder, the gun, the facility, and the four tiger mechs surrounding them, then decided to obey his instructions. She jumped down into the mech, then Nyz grabbed the cylinder and followed, sealing the mech.

"We're inside," Nyz said.

"We're going," Kal said as the mech began to move.

"Why do they want me alive?" Sen asked. "That doesn't make any sense."

Instead of answering, Nyz opened up the storage room for the suits and began removing his equipment. After stripping off his body suit, Nyz pulled his normal clothes back on, then rejoined Sen and helped her down into the general room, before grabbing the cylinder and following. Taylor rejoined them as Nyz sat Sen on one of the seats lining a side wall rather than one of the benches.

"You are in serious trouble," Sen told Nyz as he cuffed her to the seat. "Once they catch you."

"Asterox has wanted to for years," Nyz stated. "They've also failed for years. Taylor, get your ass back here. Watch her."

"Yes, sir," Taylor returned to the general room.

Nyz walked to the storage room, securing the cylinder before walking to the cockpit, taking his seat and strapping in just as Kal caused the beetle to jump over the wall surrounding the complex.

"They're not following," Kal said as he hit a button, causing the door to the cockpit to close, a monitor splitting up to show all of the other rooms of the mech. "They released an order before you arrived to send units to all of the nearest cities and alert the local branches to keep an eye out for her. They seem to suspect we'll drop her off at one of them."

"Except we won't," Nyz stated.

"Right," Kal said. "We won't. I'm listening in to several of their channels, including one that technically doesn't exist, even for a place that doesn't exist."

"And?"

"They suspect that we think there's something special about her, since we could hear their orders," Kal told him. "And a 'keep her alive' order usually means something important. Morons."

"Well," Nyz shot at bograls they passed by. "We obtained our objective, that's all that matters."

"Yeah," Kal said. "Once the beetle is identified in the database in Valeros, the identities we used will be flagged by Asterox, though they won't be able to say why. They will, however, try to fabricate crimes against us once we're spotted."

"Except we won't be spotted," Nyz said.

"Right," Kal told him. "They'll register that we can teleport individuals, and will guess that our ability to do so is limited. The fact that we didn't teleport the mech indicates to them that we can't do anything larger than a person."

"Which is wrong," Nyz stated. "You teleport shit bigger than me all the time. And smaller. That's how you move my stuff from place to place when we discard an identity."

"Right," Kal said. "They're also likely to look into our backgrounds. They'll think something is fishy, even if my hacking makes us look legit no matter how deep they search. However, they'll probably guess that it wasn't our first identities."

"And start looking for others?" Nyz asked.

"Right," Kal answered. "Luckily, they don't have technology that can recognize and identify facial features. If they're really persistent, they'll uncover identities that don't exist – your past ones. I scrub the databases with most of them, erasing all traces they ever existed. They'd only appear on paperwork and in the memories of others."

"So what now?" Nyz asked. "It's not like they'd be able to find us."

"You're right," Kal said. "We're heading back to the island once we're a safe distance away from the facility, and we'll just make up a new identity for you once it's time for you to head out."

"Yeah," Nyz said. "But what am I going to do?"

"I've got a few ideas," Kal told him. "You probably won't be on the island for more than a few days, though. A month at most. It all depends on if I can find it or not. If I can't find it within a month, I'm sending you to Jusits for a new identity."

"You already have a mission planned?" Nyz asked.

"Yep," Kal answered. "It has to do with our theft just now."

"What would-" Nyz began. "Ah, I see why you wanted me to steal the objective."

"Right," Kal said. "Using it as a weapon there would be a huge boon to us. Almost to where I want to do the transfer."

Nyz noticed a minute shift in Kal, something which told him his friend was hiding something. While it would normally bother him to know that Kal was hiding something, he guessed that it was more likely that the stress of being out in the field had bothered his friend, and that was all there was to it.

"Got it," Nyz said.

Kal pressed a button on the console in front of him.

"The door being closed only prevents you from hearing us," Kal said. "We can still see and hear everything going on in the rest of the beetle. Taylor, her plan is, once you release her, to not go to the bathroom. She's a trained guard of Asterox Corporation. Her plan is that once you free her thinking she has to go to the bathroom and will cooperate since we're in the middle of the fog, she'll first disable you, then go into the hatch above, get into a combat suit and equip herself, then come down here, break into this room, and take over the beetle before taking us back to that facility."

Nyz and Kal watched on the screen as Taylor looked at Sen, who sighed. The man backed off of her, and Sen gave the door to the cockpit an annoyed look.

"Don't worry, Sen," Nyz told her. "If you have to go to the bathroom, you can do so soon. We're almost to our destination, and you'll have a relative free roam of the area."

"Oh, really?" She asked. "You'd trust me that much?"

"No," Nyz said as Kal stopped the beetle. "But anywhere that's actually sensitive is locked to Kal and myself, and there's no leaving unless Kal okay's it."

"I'm sure I'll find a way," she said.

"Transferring in three…" Kal said. "Two… one!"

The view on the monitors showing their surroundings changed to show the inside of a mech garage with several more beetles, walkers, and other smaller mechs around them.

"You might try," Kal told her. "Except that we're on a man-made island in the middle of the Norsari Ocean. No one but us knows it exists, and we have no aerial crafts, nor any boats capable of reaching another landmass from here. Of course, that's before factoring in the monsters in the ocean, the fog, and the sky."

Kal powered off the mech, then he and Nyz walked into the general room. Kal left as Nyz freed Sen from the seat as Taylor followed Kal out, then Nyz helped Sen out of the mech.

"We're going to wait here," Nyz told Sen as Kal told Taylor to follow him.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because it's obvious that you don't believe us," he stated. "So Kal's going to do something to ensure you do."

She scoffed at him, but waited in silence.

"Transferring," Kal said through Nyz's commpiece after a few minutes. "In three… two… one!"

Immediately, Nyz and Sen found themselves on standing beside the ocean on the edge of the island, which consisted of a five-foot-thick section of a pale-blue metal emitting a soft, blue glow. The fog itself was pushed back for over a mile by the glow, with the salty smell of the ocean on the light breeze.

Sen stared at the ocean for several moments, then slowly turned around, finding an uninhabited city of modern structures behind her, trees spaced evenly on the sidewalks, flowerbeds between them. In the distance, at the center of the island, grew a tree that towered above everything. Even from a distance, she knew it had to be at least fifty feet in thickness, possibly more, and hundreds tall.

"Welcome," Nyz told her. "To the first artificial island on all of Ilbrathi. The base is three-point-seven miles thick and is a mixture of stone and metal alloys. It stretches exactly seven miles in diameter, and is designed to be able to hold millions more than any other city, yet is currently home to millions less than any other.

"Welcome," Nyz said. "To the city of the future, Nyzkal Island."