On the way back to the bunker, I explained the events in the house to Anath, glossing over most of the details but stressed that there was another installation of the organisation behind the Omegas and that we should have a short window of opportunity to strike. When she asked me why I was so anxious to openly strike, I went a little into detail about the basement and, judging by her body-language, she was as enraged as I was.

“There is no punishment that is enough for animals like that.” she growled.

“I think I came close. I certainly tried.” I answered, remembering just what I had done. During the deed, in that moment, it had seemed so perfectly justified. Now, I was having seconds thoughts, wondering if I had done the right thing. I had made myself judge, jury and executioner, something I was rather conflicted about. Had those three deserved punishment? Certainly. Would the legal system punish them appropriately? Maybe. Oh, well, it was too late to cry over spilled blood.

Now, we had more laws to break and a few of them were rather major ones. Galatea had analysed the information we had acquired and managed to pin down the location of the training-center those who had been selected for advanced training and indoctrination, to use their term, had been shipped to. There was just a slight problem. Well, more than one.

The first, slight, problem was that the training-center was a bit more than five-hundred kilometers away, and that was as the raven, or maybe the Flight-Frame, flew. Not an insurmountable problem, but a problem nonetheless.

A bigger problem was, or rather could become, the fact that on the map there were a few lines between us, lines that some people in power regarded as important. Borders had lost importance on the continent during the last eighty or so years but they were still the markings of sovereignty and some people, especially those tasked with the task of guarding their respective nations, were slightly protective of them. I doubted that they could stop us, or even detect the incursion, but just the fact that we were crossing international borders to commit acts of violence would put us into very hot water, legally speaking.

And that did not even take into account the question what exactly we would find there. Looking at satellite images, showed a well appointed compound, almost reminiscent of a mountain-resort or hotel, only that there were structures that I would identify as less benign, for example why did their soccer-field need a berm right behind one of the goals and why did that field have thin extra-markings at twenty, fifty and one-hundred meters distance from the goal-line? If one was suspicious, one might think that that was not only a soccer-field, but a gun-range, with the berm to back-stop bullets. The location was far enough out of the way, that gunfire, even heavy, automatic gunfire, would not arouse any suspicion, not with the closest neighbor about five kilometers and two valleys away.

But all those problems did not matter, if there was a chance to find Sophia’s brother and knock some sense into him, it would be worth it.. We just had to make sure that we were not caught, just like here at home. At least that was what I was telling myself.

Part of me wanted to forget about the whole deal and there was an argument to be made for the insanity of the attack I was planning. Charging into a training-camp of a well-equipped, multinational conspiracy, a camp that was most likely housing one or more Powered and all in the vague hope to somehow find Sophia’s brother and either convince him to go with us, kidnap him or rescue him. And while doing so, hopefully finding more information on the conspiracy-group so we could bring an end to it?

When laying out the facts like that, I wanted to go into my bunker, send the information we had found to some responsible agency, the guild or someone, and hope that they would deal with it. But I could not do so. I could not take the cowards way out. Not only did I have a duty to Sophia, a duty signified by my promise to help her, I also felt a sense of responsibility for Detective Kendall, who had been shot due to the conspiracy and my meddling. It was strange, I had used her and her colleagues as chess-pieces but after she had been shot, there had been a sense of irrational guilt. She had not even been shot on a raid for which I had supplied information, just during a campaign I had kicked off.

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The Japanese might have put my feelings into the most fitting words, “Death is lighter than a feather, but Duty is heavier than a mountain”. I was feeling the weight of duty, the knowledge that I would have to act, or regret would forever haunt me, my cowardice would forever prevent me from going forward. I had started my path seeking freedom, risking my life in the process. To live my life freely, I had to be free of guilt and regrets.

Only then, could I truly be free.

We got to the bunker and I immediately went into the armoury, changing from my stealth-garnements into the powered armour, simply because I had to use it, if I wanted to use the Flight-Frame. It made a stealthy approach harder, but we would try anyway. If I was able to identify their armoury before we went in and we took down the armoury before anything else, it should cut down resistance substantially. Without guns, no mundane human would pose even the slightest threat to Sophia or my armour.

“Galatea, do you want to leave an instance running here, on the mainframe? I… I do not know if we will come back.” I admitted to Galatea, as I was rooting through my workshop, selecting gear to take along. The Flight-Frame was sadly limited in regards to storage-space and weight.

“No, mother. I will be with you, in truth, all the way. What would I do without you? My dreams, my goals, without you, they are nothing. Without you, I am nothing.” Galatea explained, in a composed voice. I felt guilty that I had never truly considered that, not during her creation, nor later. Due to her creation and learning-process, she was imprinted on me, an imprinting that most likely would never change or fade.

For a moment, I felt conflicted. Was her existence akin to slavery? Had I, someone who pursued her own freedom and independence with an almost reckless fervour, created a slave to serve me, bound to me in life and death? It was an impossible to answer question, at least I had no idea how to arrive at an unbiased answer. I would have to think about it, once this operation was over.

“As you wish. Can you prepare an information-package for the Shadowbroker, compiling as much data as you can and a compilation of all my research and obtained knowledge? Call it my legacy, if you will. The legacy will be released on the general net, so that all of mankind can benefit, the information for the Shadowbroker will be sent directly to him, obviously, including a request to pass it on to the Guild..

The package for the Shadowbroker is to be sent tomorrow at noon, if we do not stop if from being sent, the other in five days, unless we stop it. No need for more knowledge to be lost, just because Alexandria was lost.” I ordered her, making preparations for a bad case, being captured, hoping that the information might lead to our rescue by the Guild. It would open a major can of worms, but better opening a can of worms, than feeding one. The other was for the worst case. Just in case.

Chasing such morbid thoughts from my mind, I finished packing and met up with Sophia and we exited the bunker together, heading towards our launch-pad. The launch was routine, even for only the second time, and we were on our way, east-ward. On the flight, I was looking at the satellite-images, discussing with Galatea what I was looking at and how we should approach.

We agreed that it was very unlikely that the compound was linked to an outside source of electricity or water, mostly due to its remote location and the secrecy it should be under. So, they had some sort of generator and got fuel-deliveries, unless the conspiracy had been able to source a nuclear reactor. It was not impossible and the thought send a shiver down my spine, the idea that anyone had a private nuclear power plant was rather scary. It took me a second to appreciate the irony, once Galatea reminded me that I had a fusion-plant in my bunker.

There were more points of interest, like the shed that was close to the suspicious soccer-field, it would be a good position for an armoury, or the small satellite-dish farm, which probably handled their outside-communication. We would have to use the rest of the night to scout and strike during the day, as uncomfortable I was with that. But I was even more uncomfortable with waiting for the next night, as the possibility that they were warned increased dramatically during the day.

It was the darkest time of the night, when we landed in the forest a few kilometers away from the compound, a few minutes before four. The day would dawn in a few hours, so our time was very limited. Anath disembarked and stretched, the flight had not been comfortable for either of us. After hiding the Flight Frame beneath a camouflage-net, we set of, towards the compound.

Maybe fifteen minutes later, we were just exiting the forest next to a small pond, when a voice just about scared me out of my skin.

“He told me, I would find help here. But why did he tell me, I would find wisdom?”