"Alright, what do we have here?" Detective Murphy shook hands with his colleague from the fast response team.

Detective Mayer smirked and said, "Somewhere between John Wick and Conan the Barbarian. Come have a look." He then held open the large glass doors as the two men entered the marble-filled atrium and headed for the elevators.

"So…," Mayer drew out, buying himself some time to organize his thoughts, "we got reports from two sources. First was the security agency. Someone forced their way through the protected doors. When they checked the cameras and saw what was happening, they called us immediately.” Mayer rattled off a quick rundown of events.

"So, we at least have part of the action on record?" asked Murphy.

"Yeah. We've got the whole shebang on tape, and as I said, we could sell it to Hollywood. We've got machine gun fire, grenades, one poor sap thrown out the window, and get this: a guy with a medieval sword, cutting his way through the security. It's a bloodbath up there."

Murphy eyed the specialist from the response team with a less-than-friendly gaze. He wished the homicide department had higher standards of professionalism. At the same time, he had to admit that working for the Boston police required an ever-increasing level of callousness. There were plenty of people at the department who tried to inject a healthy dose of cynicism between their mental health and the gruesome finds.

Mayer noticed the look and changed his tone slightly: "Okay, okay, we don't know much yet. Roberts and Kirby are reviewing the camera footage downstairs in the security office. Looks like they'll be able to reconstruct the whole sequence of events. They've already given me a few preliminary pieces of information, such as the order of the victims and the mechanics of the struggle. I thought you'd want to see the bodies first."

"You're right about that." Murphy nodded, letting the shorter man press the button for the fifth floor out of eight.

"Up there, we've got five dead, still looking for the last body. Three have devastating stab and slash wounds, presumably from the sword found on the scene. The other two have traumas caused by... mechanical means?" Mayer hesitated at the last word and looked uncertainly into the taller man's eyes. "Well, you'll see for yourself."

The elevator doors opened, and the two men stepped into the reception area. On the wall opposite the elevator was a large polished metal ellipse with the inscription 'Elipsis' in bold, capital letters. Directly across from the elevator, a tall reception desk was visible, and to the right, doors leading to the interior of the company. More precisely, heavy security doors used to be here earlier in the afternoon. Now, at three in the morning, a Boston police photographer stood in the empty doorway, snapping pictures of something on the floor.

As Murphy stepped closer, he took in all the details of the scene before him. Massive oak doors with tastefully hidden steel reinforcements. The top hinge was completely missing; the bottom hinge hung twisted on the frame. The security pin at the top of the door had likely broken off in the frame and was now embedded in the hallway ceiling about a meter and a half behind the demolished doorframe. For a moment, Murphy pictured Robocop kicking the doors down with a steel leg. How did they manage that?! There were no telltale signs of explosives being used. A battering ram? Murphy couldn't imagine the force the attackers must have used to achieve such a result.

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"So, here's our first victim," Mayer declared, stepping closer to the heavy door lying in the hallway entrance. Beneath it lay the torso of a man. The frame had fallen with such force that the entire body from the sternum down was crushed beneath it. The victim's shoulders and arms were relatively unscathed, with a large revolver clenched in the lifeless grip of his right hand. The face of the corpse was completely missing. In its place there was an indistinguishable mass of blood, skin, and other unmentionables...

"He probably went to check who was breaking in, bang, the doors fly inward, and our hero becomes the first casualty. Maybe he was still moving, so they crushed his skull. Probably with some heavy equipment. We haven't found that, by the way."

The officers carefully stepped over the first body and entered the hall of the Elipsis company. It was a scene straight out of a war movie; there was no other way to describe it. Near Murphy, a wall was adorned with a splatter of blood. Further down the hall, a wall was scorched and torn, most likely from an explosion. The blast had damaged the supporting structure of the ceiling, and pieces of ceiling panels lay haphazardly scattered across the floor. There, they mixed with shards of glass, plaster, and spent shell casings.

The opposite wall of the hallway was pocked with bullet holes, lined up tightly next to one another. It seemed that the shots had penetrated from an adjacent office.

Across from the blood splatter on the wall, another body lay in the recess for the photocopier. The man was lying face down, not in a puddle, but in an entire lake of blood. His torso was almost cut in half at the waist. The gruesome sight threw Murphy off, and he only noticed the second injury later. The other wound on the body ran from the shoulder to the center of the chest.

"As if this was even necessary," Murphy mumbled to himself, but Mayer was already approaching him.

"Victim number two. Each of the visible wounds was caused by a single slash, delivered with extraordinary force. Both cuts severed the spine," Mayer indicated with a motion of his foot towards the compact submachine gun lying next to the body. " I don't think he was an accountant.”

The two men continued inspecting the demolished offices and conference rooms. The third dead body had been beheaded. A clean, straight cut made in a single blow. His body lay on a large oval table. His head...somewhere over there, probably. Murphy didn't want to look for it now.

"This one was probably trying to ambush the attacker. Judging by the scuff marks from the soles, he was hiding behind the door wing. When the attacker passed by, he let off a burst from that thing over there." Mayer pointed towards the assault rifle lying on the ground. Then he pointed with his finger at the wall and traced a line of holes. "The opposite wall is drywall, and behind it is victim number four. He accidentally took him out through the wall." Mayer paused for a moment and added: "Well, they also helped him out of this world a bit, you'll see for yourself."

The fourth body was crumpled against the wall, half-seated. A small corridor connected the main hall on one side to the conference room and on the other side was the entrance to the director's office, as indicated by a plaque next to the empty door frame. Next to the body lay another submachine gun and several hand grenades. Murphy squatted down to examine the body. The man didn't die from gunshot wounds. Both of his legs were hit, but his vital organs were not. The cause of death was, however, obvious at first glance. The corpse was practically missing its face, with only a jumble of crushed bones and tissue in its place.

"Things are starting to get wild here. Do you see that stain?" Mayer muttered and pointed to a spot about six feet above the floor. "It doesn't look like the attacker grabbed him by the neck, lifted him up there, and then...boom?"

"That's nonsense. That guy must weigh at least 200 pounds, the two of us could hardly lift him up there together. And that wound looks more like from sledgehammer than anything else."

Murphy examined the body and his gaze stopped at the small submachine gun. He began to slowly piece together the connections in his head. A laser module still shone under the barrel. In the next room lay an AR-15 carbine with a holographic sight. The weapon was a premium brand, four or five times more expensive than the standard military issue. All the men were in excellent condition, with short haircuts and tough features.

“Let’s go all the way.” Mayer said, gesturing towards the entrance to the director's office. "This was just a taste of what's next." Murphy looked incredulous, stood up, and followed Mayer.