After memorizing the route to the codex and the timing of the SOPO patrols as far as I am able, I shut off the artificial core and feel my senses retract back to their mundane levels. Nothing for it though. From what matter sense had told me, the patrols in this area are pretty vigorous, making it impossible for me to avoid them entirely. I am going to have to chance being spotted by one of them and hope that the confusion caused by my presence gives me enough time to break line of sight.
Setting off once again, I quickly reach the end of the corridor I am in and find myself at an intersection which leads to a large circular room in the center. The room itself is sealed by a mechanical sliding door locked by a card reader, in stark contrast to the room's grey unpainted walls. No windows have been fitted onto the circular room's walls, making it impossible for me to see what lies within. However, the last reading from the matter sense told me that the codex is somewhere inside this room, along with another set of guards.
The challenge to getting to the room lay with the open space between it and the corridor I am currently in. Much like the area where the sentry guns had been set up, this place had been kept clean off crates and various junk. Peeking from around a wall, I see that the open area forms a circular race track surrounding the room and connecting to the rest of the floor through various bare archways on the side. Looking from the layout, I must be right at the center of the 50th floor. There was only one way into the circular room, which was through the sliding door.
Four SOPO officers patrol this area in opposite directions, doing their laps at different timings around the impromptu racetrack, meaning their patrol sweeps would overlap with each other. This effectively guaranteed that anyone trying to break into the mechanical door would get spotted and attacked from both sides at once. Nasty. But not something I cannot deal with.
"Deal with the door." I instruct The Voice as I get ready to make my move.
"Just use the universal security pass I gave you earlier." The Voice rumbles as the spider drone drops from the ceiling into my arms, "Give me a ride while you are at it. The drone cannot cross the area without being spotted."
Cradling the drone to my chest, I run as quickly as I can towards the sliding door and I hear a grunt of surprise from somewhere behind me. Then comes the sound of hasty footsteps which abruptly stop. Good, the officer has started to spazz out. I take out the security pass from my stolen uniform and swipe it across the card reader. The door slides open without protest and I dash in before the guy behind me has a chance to recover.
As the door shuts, cutting the officer's line of sight with me, I am struck by the humidity within this room and my eyes are temporarily overloaded by the literal green I see everywhere around me. Instead of bare concrete, a stone pathway has been built before me, cutting through thickly packed soil that has been strewn throughout almost every corner of the room. Various plants, vines and small trees have been planted in the soil, turning the room into an outrageous riot of green and providing the cover of dense foliage. The vines binding the entrance to the inner area must have come from this place.
"An indoor arboretum?" I ask.
"No idea." The Voice responds, "We are close now. Very close." The spider drone jumps down from my arms and disappears into the foliage.
Shrugging, I start walking down the stone pathway towards wherever it leads. I am getting the impression that this place is more than just a secure area. Its looking more like a black site, the type that's so super top secret that people get disappeared over it. As the path winds its way through the greenery, it terminates in front of a small squarish concrete block. A room within a room. An officer stands immobile by the wall of the concrete block, clearly watching for any interlopers. As he spazzes out upon spotting me, I quickly duck into the foliage, away from his sight.
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Creeping through the foliage, I circle around the micro room, looking for a way in. An air conditioning unit is lodged into one of the micro room's walls, rattling away noisily. The only other thing observable from the micro room itself is a simple wooden door, bound fast by a length of thick, green vine.
Four officers are posted on each of the micro room's sides, with looks of complete boredom on their faces. Unlike the earlier patrolling guards, these guys do not bother with moving at all, just keeping watch for anyone that tries to approach whatever is it they are guarding. What's worse is that these guys are seriously strong. From the nimbus of spiritual energy exerted by each of them, I would estimate their strength to be individually at the level of Big Tits.
"How powerful is Big Tits compared to the other cops?" I ask curiously.
The Voice rasps, "Inspector Scott is a very highly regarded battle mage, seen as one of the best, if not the best in SOPO's service. Why?"
"These guys in front of us, I can tell that they are probably as strong as her." I reply, "Is this some sort of elite unit?"
"Most curious." The Voice grunts, "From their uniforms, I gather that they are simply SOPO regulars. See the length of the gold braid they wear? Inspector Scott wears a far heavier amount."
So gold braid is used to indicate power levels in SOPO? Good to know. But The Voice is right. These guys wear the same amount of gold braid that the guys outside wear. In fact, no one I have seen so far wears as much gold braid as Big Tits.
The drone peeks out from the foliage beside me as The Voice continues, "Something worth investigating at any rate. I will take a record of their faces and do a database search later."
"I can't get past these guys if they're not moving." I complain, "I think we have accomplished as much as we can for now."
"Patience." The Voice rasps, "I sense two people moving about in that room before us. An opportunity will present itself."
....
I allow myself to plop down on to the soil with a tired sigh. Its been more than twenty minutes and so far nothing has happened. The guards have not moved an inch and the people inside the room are still doing whatever they are doing in there. The only good thing that has happened is that the guards have not discovered me yet.
A suddenly hear a hissing sound and before I can react, water is sprayed all over my face. Sprinklers. Whoever runs this place uses sprinklers to keep the plants hydrated. As I retreat under the cover of a tree, I grumble, "Patience is about running out here."
The Voice rasps eagerly, "Stop complaining and listen."
A loud rapping noise comes from the opposite side of the micro room's door and the guard in front of it turns and begins untying the vine holding the door shut. Once the vine is removed, he opens the door and lets another guard, this one bearing a tray and cloth bag, exit the micro room.
Squinting, I see that the tray holds an empty syringe and a small bottle. Medicine perhaps? There is also an expended blood pack on the tray as well. The guard that had opened the door turns his face away from the cloth bag with a look of disgust while holding his nose. Money is on that bag holding the adult diapers. Instead of sending the other officer away immediately, the guard instead engages his colleague in idle conversation, probably to deal with the boredom.
As the two officers converse, the spider drone scuttles along the floor and slips in through a gap in the closing door of the micro room. I tense, waiting for the moment the other guy still in the room raises the alarm, but nothing happens.
"Did the other guy in the room just not notice the drone?" I query.
"I doubt he can notice anything at all." The Voice scoffs, "The codex has been located and we have scouted the defenses. The drone will stay here to provide support if necessary. Mission accomplished. Proceed to extract."
"How? We are deep in the bowels of the beast. And what did you say about the other guy?" I ask.
"Through the ceiling of course." The Voice explains, "Just climb one of the trees out of the guards' sight and exit through the wooden slats like before. Then make your way towards the elevator shaft. You should have the direction to travel in down by now. We can talk about what I discovered back at the hideout."
"No rest for the wicked huh?" I snark.
"None at all." The Voice confirms, "Please also remember to retrieve the sex offender disguise. I put a lot of effort in it."