Leonard waited a couple minutes before walking out of the room. Dressed in full black leather, with a large skull patch stitched into the back of his jacket. He took the man's comm unit and ID as well, even if he looked different from the small photo the card should still come in handy if he had to pass any security doors.
He made his way to the end of the corridor and came to a winding staircase leading down as well as an elevator door. Leonard opted to take the stairs, not wanting to be stuck in the small confines of the elevator with someone else if they happened to get on. That and the fact that he didn’t know where he was going.
John had been fairly forthcoming in telling Leonard the location where Willam had been taken, however even if they did have the building schematics they wouldn’t simply hand them over to him.
“I’ll have to ask someone,” Leonard thought as he made his way down the stairs. The sleeping man he stole these clothes from would have been the perfect person to threaten into sharing where they held prisoners, however he hadn’t been thinking about it when he knocked him out. “Just have to find someone else.”
Leonard peeked through the corridor one floor down, however it was much the same as the floor above, rows of doors into what he could only assume were more rooms. However, with his plan to find someone to get information, Leonard walked down the hall, quietly turning each door handle as he went. Few opened, however the inside was empty and so he had to move on. Until he reached the end of the corridor, the back end opened up into a fairly spacious common area with a built-in kitchen and various tables. There was one man kicked back on a sofa watching a small time mech combat arena on a large screen who noticed his approach and looked back over his shoulder.
“Huh?” The man questioned, eyes narrowing. “Haven’t seen you around, you new here?”
“Yeah,” Leonard answered as he made his way to the kitchen area, trying to look as innocent as possible. “Can you turn that up? Love mech arenas.”
“Sure sure,” the man dismissed Leonard as he turned back to the screen, increasing the volume. As soon as he turned Leonard started to creep up to him, keeping his footsteps as quiet as possible.
“Arrh!!” Standing over him Leonard pounced, wrapping his arm around the man's neck and squeezing tight. He tried to scream out in pain, however little sound could be heard over the loud volume from the screen. “The fffuck arr yoo doin!”
“Listen closely,” Leonard spoke into the man's ear, his grip not lessening in the slightest despite the man's frantic flailing. “You're going to answer my questions or else I’ll make sure you never wake up again.”
“gow ffuk yeself im nod tellin' yoo shit,” the man choked out and Leonard tightened his grip, the man's face slowly turning blue.
“Do you want to die that badly?”
The man stayed firm in his conviction, not saying another word. Seconds seemed to drag out, as Leonard watched the man slowly fade out of consciousness, however just before he did it seemed the fear of death took over his other instincts.
“Er wat do u wnt?”
Leonard loosened his grip slightly and the man hurriedly sucked in air, however he still held firm around his neck, ready to knock him out if he tried anything.
“Willam Solace, do you know him?”
“Huh, that bastard? Yeah I know him, we’ve been hunting him down for weeks now.”
“Hunting him? For the money he borrowed?” Leonard questioned.
“Money?” The man looked genuinely confused. “What money? All I know is that he stole something very important and the boss wants it back.”
Leonards grip tightened, “What? Stole what?”
“I don't know I swear!” The man panicked. “I just follow orders! The boss has been up in a panic trying to get it back that's all I know!”
This surprised him, Leonard was only told that he borrowed some money. Although it was only through Anna that he heard this, it wasn’t unreasonable that Willam lied to her about his actual activities.
“Where is he being kept?”
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Basement level 3, that's where we keep any prisoners.” The man easily gave up the information, “but you won't be able to get in there, it's one of the most heavily guarded places in this base. There's only one elevator in and out on the bottom floor, however it's guarded 24/7.”
“How many?”
“Two guards on the door, but you need an access card to use the elevator.”
“Where can I get a card?”
“How would I kn-” Leonard tightened his grip again, “The boss has an office on the ground floor. There could be one in there.”
“Good.” Leonard was finished with his questions, now having an idea of where he needed to go.
“You’ll let me go right?” Leonard didn’t bother listening to him, even if he promised to stay quiet Leonard would never believe him. Instead he squeezed down, cutting the air from the man's brain. He thrashed about, arms reaching back and slapping Leonard in an attempt to break free.
Slowly his movements stopped, his arms falling down and body going limp. Leonard held on for a couple more seconds, making sure he was completely out before he decided to let go. He dragged the unconscious body and stuffed it into a closet, slipping a rod in the door handles to lock it shut.
“He wont stay out for long,” Leonard broke into a light jog back down the hallway and into the stairs, jumping many steps at a time. “I'm on a time limit now.”
With no more distractions it didn’t take long for him to reach the ground floor. Leonard slowed to a walk, striding out with confidence, anything less would look suspicious.
“Two guards by the elevator,” Leonard glanced at them as he passed. There were quite a few people here, moving back and forth with various tasks. Not all of them were dressed in White Skull apparel like Leonard, most of them donning civilian clothes likely hired for administrative work.
Leonard kept walking until he saw his target room, a name plate for Factory Coordinator imprinted on the door. He looked around, making sure the coast was clear before he let himself in, closing the door quickly behind him.
The office interior was sparse, a simple wooden desk and lines of filing cabinets on either side of the room. Leonard made his way behind the desk, ruffling through its various drawers and cabinets looking for anything that resembled an ID card.
“Where are you?” Leonard kept looking, however nothing showed up. He was about to start going through the many filing cabinets before he heard footsteps stop behind the door, the handle slowly turning.
“Shit!” He slid in behind the opening door, barely enough space for him to fit.
“Urgh” The man that walked in stretched, not noticing Leonard hiding just inches behind him. “Who knew it was so hard to interrogate someone?”
He walked into the office and Leonard slowly pushed the door shut behind him. It clicked shut and the man turned around, the sound catching his attention.
“Whats th-” Leonard pounced, tackling the man to the ground. “Who!”
The man roared before Leonard could clamp his hand down over his mouth, however the man didn’t make it easy, crunching his teeth down.
“Fuck.” Leonard didn’t bother trying to play nice after that, bringing his other fist down in a powerful punch right into the man's nose, blood instantly spraying out. However the man returned the favour, swinging his fist around into Leonards side, impacting his ribs.
Leonard brought his fist down again, blood now covering his knuckles. The man grit his teeth and punched out again, the impact on his ribs causing him to lose balance. The man quickly tried to roll out of his grip, however Leonard brought his elbow down onto the man's face causing him to scream out in pain.
“Arrgh!” Leonard jumped back over top of him and unleashed a flurry of blows, each landing squarely on the man's face. Even under this unrelenting barrage the man still tired to fight back, however as Leonards punched him for what seemed to be the twentieth time the man lost his consciousness.
“What a mess,” Leonard got back to his feet, wiping his bloodied hand on the man's jacket. He searched through his pockets and pulled out an ID card, Warehouse Manager in plain letters across the front. “Hopefully this lets me in.”
The card should let him access the elevator, however the two guards by the door still proved a problem.
“It's only a matter of time before all three people I knocked out wake up,” Leonard walked over to a small red switch on the side of the wall. “All or nothing.”
He pulled down on the small switch and the whole room lit up, flashing lights and blaring alarms rang out as the overhead sprinklers burst to life.
“Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!”
The sound was deafening as Leonard ran out of the small office. The outside was up in panic, everyone running about not knowing where the fire was coming from. Leonard pushed through the crowd towards the elevator door, the pair of guards being mauled by the people rushing by.
“Whats going on?”
“Is there a fire?”
“Someone turn the bloody alarm off!”
In the frenzy Leonard could easily sneak past the overwhelmed pair of guards, swiping his stolen ID card on an access point next to the doors that swung open quickly after. Leonard stepped in and hit the button for sub level 3, the doors closing soon after.
The elevator was quiet, it didn’t even jolt as it began to move down, effortlessly descending into the earth.