Editor’s Note: The following chapter is what Alejandro got up to while Max and Henry did the gig for Sam.
Max and Henry had recently left Lizzie's. Alejandro bid goodbye to Suzi and stepped out. Before he left the premises, Alejandro dialed the number given to him by Max, and a woman answered the phone. He asked to speak to Vincent, to which the woman responded that Vincent was watching "Make Me a Star" and asked if he would like to leave a message.
Alejandro explained that he had received Vincent's number from Max, who had suggested that he call if he was looking for work. In the background, Vincent could be heard reacting to the TV show, exclaiming, "Aww, naw, Shelly fucking Basel."
Upon hearing Alejandro's reason for calling, Vincent asked the woman who was on the phone. She replied that it was someone who had received the number from Max. Vincent then yelled out, “Maxy! Tell him to come over.” The woman replied that it wasn't Max, but someone who knew him.
Despite this, Vincent insisted that Alejandro come over and speak with him. The woman then provided Alejandro with the location of where they were.
Alejandro took the metro to the old news tower that Vincent resides in. Inside the news tower, an AI voice greeted Alejandro, informing him to go to the 24th floor. Alejandro was greeted by Vincent, who looked like he had had a few drinks.
“Nice of you to join me, pal. So, I hear you're a friend of Maxy.”
Alejandro replied back, “Yes, it was him who gave me your number and said to call you if I was looking for work.”
Vincent laughed, "Well, you’ve come to the right place, laddy. You need work, and I'll provide it. Now, what do you specialize in? Driving? Shooting? Oh, don't tell me, negotiations."
Alejandro was confused by what Vincent was saying. Alejandro told Vincent that he was capable, no matter what contract Vincent gave him. Vincent was impressed by Alejandro’s courage and began shuffling through items on his desk, trying to find a data shard that would contain information on a contract.
“Ah ha, there it is. Here, take a look at this,” Alejandro slotted in the data shard, allowing Vincent to continue speaking. “Crimson Blades have taken a shipment of weapons that were originally meant for me; what I need you to do is find the missing shipment of weapons and inform me of their location. On that data shard should be the location of one of their main hangouts. Now I know that a job like this is risky, so I'm willing to offer you two thousand eddies as a reward. Do we have an agreement?”
Alejandro accepted Vincent’s offer and made him leave the news tower and head for the Crimson Blades hangout.
The place being used by the Crimson Blades was a car auto shop. You could tell that it was now occupied by the Crimson Blades from the graffiti on the garage doors and walls. The front entrance was guarded by Crimson Blades, keeping watch for any uninvited visitors.
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Alejandro sneaked his way to the back of the auto shop, hoping that he could find a window or a back door he could use. He managed to find a side entrance that was being guarded by one guy who was in the middle of smoking a cigarette. Alejandro waited for the perfect moment to take out the guard and move inside the auto shop.
Now inside, Alejandro kept low, sticking to the shadows, using the sound of mechanical saws and drills as an opportunity to move from cover to cover. On the data shard, Vincent mentioned that the weapons would be found underground in a secure location, wanting to get more information. Alejandro took a trick that Max used and waited for an unsuspecting Crimson Blade to interrogate them.
The perfect moment came when a Crimson Blade went to put a piece of equipment back in the filing drawer.
“Easy cabrón... Now tell me about these weapons you have obtained.”
The Crimson Blade laughed. “Or else what?”
“Or else you’ll find a hole in your chest.”
The Crimson Blade knew that Alejandro had the advantage and began coughing up what he knew about the weapons, revealing that the room they were kept in was a secret hatch found in the main office.
Instead of copying Max and killing the Crimson Blade, Alejandro instead told him to keep quiet, which didn't work. As soon as Alejandro turned his back, the Crimson Blade yelled out, “Over here!”
“Mierda!”
Alejandro turned around, blasting the Crimson Blade in the face before ducking for cover. Bullets came flying over. He didn't have a Sandevistan like Max, but what he did have were skills that he learned while with Militech.
Alejandro started aiming with precision and precision with his revolver. Annoyingly, some Crimson Blades liked getting up close and personal with Alejandro using their blades to get a cheap slice at him, but Alejandro managed to counter the attacks and return the favor with a devastating attack of his own by taking the dominant arm and breaking it before using their blade against them and stabbing them in the chest before finishing them off with a slice of the throat.
Moving to the main office, Alejandro began searching for the “secret hatch” mentioned by one of the Crimson Blades. After much searching, he eventually found it and made his way down the ladder and into the storage area where the supposed weapons were being kept.
Checking the data shard one last time, the weapons were being kept in a container with the label "BO3.” Alejandro found the shipment with the corresponding label and proceeded to open it. Inside, the supposed weapons Vincent was expecting weren't guns but instead bombs. Thankfully, none of the bombs were nuclear, but they must be handled with caution.
Unknown to Alejandro, a quiet beeping sound could be heard getting louder and faster. Searching for the source of the beeping sound, it was revealed to be a timer counting down quickly.
With 15 seconds left, Alejandro climbed up the ladder, sprinted out of the auto shop, and ran across the street.
BOOM!
The auto shop went up in a fiery explosion, each explosion getting bigger and louder. Looking back at what once was an auto shop, it was now a pile of rubble. Alejandro had no other option but to call Vincent.
“Hey, my man, how’s it going?”
Alejandro snapped, “You fucking donkey. You ordered bombs?”
Vincent tried his best to defend himself: “Now look, I know what you think, but trust me, it's no like that. I take it you don't have the bombs.”
“No! I don't! It was rigged to blow as soon as I discovered them.”
“Shite... Get yourself back here.”