Chapter I - 5: The Terminal

Listening to the now unchained man's last advice, Alice continued to walk through the grey passageway. As she approached the exit, the metallic atmospheric scent subsided, replaced with what seemed to be fresh air.

She then quickened her pace and saw a glowing exit sign atop a door as she turned the corner.

Finally! My way out!

Yet, she halted her stride as she suddenly spotted a holographic sign on a door, labelled "Back-Up Terminal."

Hmmm… Sounds important. I should check it out.

Alice carefully waved around her Bolter as she secured the area. It was dimly lit as the light flickered and seemed to be dying out. The only consistent light was the red and blue blips from the servers themselves. Unsurprisingly, all was still Gigan size.

Cobwebs and dust seemed to have accumulated everywhere. A clean-up would be nice.

In the centre, was a rectangular table laden with multiple stacks of papers of miscellaneous content.

Expenses, HR complaints, suggestions to improve working conditions… Huh… Nothing useful to me.

Eventually, she found a terminal next to the wall furthest from the entryway. Booting it up, the bright green text lit up the slick monitor's dark background. Making use of the touchpad, she navigated the files.

Hmmm… Equipment and machinery manufacturers, suppliers of foodstuff, city map, outpost and base location… This might be useful.

Taking out a chip from her suit, Alice inserted it in the appropriate port and the duplication process began. As she did so, she heard footsteps coming from the passageway adjacent to the server room.

Hastily, the HGCO operator hid in the shadow.

Alice was holding onto tubes and cables as she clung to the corner ceiling. She assessed her options as she watched five Gigans in white BDUs enter the room.

"Put away the Rippler. Swap to the Zapper. Avoid damaging the servers. Sweep the ground and keep your eyes peeled."

The security team quipped:

"Didn't we tell the brass to renovate this place?"

"Yeah, but higher-ups are taking their sweet time."

"It'd be nice if we had cameras installed. Chief, you're sure this ain't a false alarm? The motion sensors are outdated, ain't they? "

"Argh, just when we were about to clock out our shift. I just wanna go home. My kid's waiting at home."

From her hiding spot, she held her breath.

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'His kid is waiting'? A father, huh...

No. Close your heart. They’re threats. Think of oppressed tinies.

The Chief, tired of the banter, scolded them, "Quit the chatter. We got to check it out, as per protocol. Now let's do our job, then we head back to our quarters and pack up."

They examined the floor and the corners to no avail, “No swarmers in the room. Let's scratch this incident up as a false-positive.”

As they were about to leave, the chief then noticed a piece of cloth covering the terminal. Removing it, he saw the terminal was lit.

“Wait… What's this?…”

As he read the screen, he realised the content of the server was being downloaded.

I guess it was wishful thinking to hope for them to just go away.

"We may not be dealing with humans… Call for backup. We've got a situa-"

Steeling her mind, Alice released her grip and let gravity do the rest.

Mid-drop, she threw her knife at the Gigan furthest from her position. Ignoring his scream, she landed on the unit leader's shoulders

The latter kneeled in pain from the added weight.

"Gagh!"

Quickly, she grabbed his chin with one hand and his opposite temple with the other.

The Gigan could only widen his eyes before his head was wrenched to the side with a loud crack of the bone.

Yes. Just like that. For the humans. Do it for the tinies. Do it for them.

As the chief's body fell to the ground, so did the screaming stabbed soldier. As one guard attended to the injured one, the remaining two ganged up on Alice.

"Sympathiser scum!"

"You'll pay for this!"

With vengeful intent, one vertically swung his Zapper at their ambusher, aiming for the head while the other did so horizontally, targeting her knee joints.

Alice successfully blocked the former but failed to anticipate the latter. Nearly feeling her legs giving out from electric current, she crouched to stabilise herself.

She then rolled to the left, evading both of them as they attacked her once again. Subsequently, she violently bashed the closest Gigan using her shoulder. Pushed away, he slammed into the equipment causing electricity to wildly flash from the impact.

Electrocuted, he screamed and fell, with his back to the wall. As Alice turned to face the other Gigan, the latter was quickly tackled her.

Both Alice and the soldier struggled a bit. That was the case until the Gigan managed to get a better grip and directed her to the table. Both intensely rolled over the table, flipping it in the process. Pieces of paper were now flying all over the place.

She was lying down as the guard was now atop her, repeatedly swinging his Zapper at her. As her elbows were hit protecting her face, blue sparks were generated with each blow. Had she not been helmeted, her eyes would have been fried by now.

Right on time, just before he took another swing, Alice performed a right hook, knocking away the baton. In the blink of an eye, with her left hand, she grabbed his white BDU's collar and yanked him over.

A loud metallic clang echoed in the passageway as she headbutted him. Suffering from shock, he staggered away.

Meanwhile, the last Gigan standing failed to stop the blood loss of his wounded squadmate. The latter’s pulse had stopped merely a few seconds after the hit.

"Fuck orders!" he raged as he took out his Rippler and wildly hip-fired at Alice.

Reacting fast, Alice grabbed the concussed soldier with a one-armed choke hold. She dropped to the ground, using him to shield herself as bursts of plasma bolts were repeatedly fired around.

The server room was being completely wrecked as arcs of electricity flew out haphazardly.

Eventually, as the furious guard continuously pulled the trigger, the rifle overheated and exploded in his hands.

The HGCO Lieutenant tossed aside her 'shield'. Standing up, she unmagnetised her Bolter from her back and snapped it at the last guard.

A plasma bolt hit his abdomen before he even knew it. Eyes wide open, he fell next to the Gigan who had bled out.

The dust was settling. Alice was heavily panting, exhausted from the scuffle.

She sighed and winced.

The suit migrated hits… But the body's still strained… At least, the armour doesn't seem to have sustained any significant damage.

She felt a bit dizzy from the whacking she received with the Zapper. Nevertheless, ignoring the ailment, she pushed forward and walked across the room to retrieve her knife.

Right in the liver, huh.

Taking it out, Alice shook the blood off and sheathed it in its horizontal scabbard on her back waist.

She moved over the charred corpses of the Gigans and retrieved her chip.

Hopefully, the data is actually useful and not corrupted.

As she was heading for the exit, she heard a silent voice, more akin to a whimper and a silent cry. It was from the guard she had just shot.

"Maya…"