I couldn’t think of any reason why it didn’t have tighter security unless the Silent-Dragons believe no one was stupid enough to raid their turf. They were right, I was merely here by happenchance and had no plans on staying.
Sifting through the warehouse was a breeze, it was simple as it can be. Once I found the stairs up, I went straight upstairs, then snuck through the office section to the western side of the building where the Dragon Tail ended.
A loud boom groaned outside, and more cheers follow, startling me. The Water sprayed more water across the Plaza, whilst people cheered to their voices bled dry.
I was jealous momentarily, as I’d promise Hannah I’d take her to such an event. Yet, here I was crawling through a building because I’d fail to protect her. God…please be ok, I said clenching my fist, before sliding a window open.
A cold draft of wind blew, stealing from my fingers as I placed it on the window sill. I positioned myself accordingly and levied my way across the window sill. I leapt from window to window, bending the frame to my annoyance. However, after five leaps I was within range of the Dragon’s tail.
My only problem was the firecrackers and lights that waft around the plaza, which could give me away and possibly cause a panic, especially with everyone drugged up in the area. I took a deep breath, and dropped to the tail and luckily the god damn thing didn’t snap from my weight.
A red light beamed past me, barely missing me and forcing me to hug the tail. As the continuous cheers grew louder, I looked right, noting the Triad guards wielding their knives, swiping at each other’s heads. To the right, three women of pale-skinned danced in the middle of the plaza, naked as they were born.
They slid across the surface, spinning gracefully, then leapt in the air to twirl slowly. Each move they made was coordinated not just with precision, but also with intent. Intent on seducing a man with their seductive moves.
I couldn’t lie, I was enamoured by these women, despite my current dilemma. But not that enamoured that I couldn’t siphon my way from the Dragon’s tail to its body.
The process wasn’t easy, as I had to figure out the lighting pattern, which I grasped after five minutes of meticulous concentration.
If I wasn’t patient, I would’ve surely not only dropped to the ground but possibly felt a triad knife swaying, shimmying through the Dragon’s body as slowly. I dropped to another section, which thankfully blocked out the blurring lights and crawled over to the right side of the Dragon’s body.
The wind here was pleasant and relieving, as I felt the sweat drip down my neck and chest from the overexertion I had just gone through. I looked right, noting a bunch of crates and made my descent, avoiding the Triads and the remaining crowds that were all around me.
It’d been years since I last had to crawl through a space such as this, but I was glad to note my infiltration skills hadn’t rusted as much as I had expected them to.
I turned the corner and jogged down the empty alleyway, scaling the fence and climbing a wall using a skip as leverage. This was beyond annoying.
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The GPS line had no distance attached, nor was the location fixed, as I had expected, but now? It was fixed, pointing directly towards a manhole within the centre of the empty alley. Perfect. I mused bitterly.
I stuck my finger between one of the small holes for the manhole and pried it open after several tries. If I didn’t have my cybernetic arm, I definitely would’ve spent the majority of the night trying to get it open.
Steering into the manhole proved one thing. It stunk, was an endless void and my body began to itch profusely each second I stared down into the abyss.
It was a pity I didn’t have a choice. I forced my reservations away and slowly began to climb down the ladder.
I felt the rusted sections of the ladder, with my hands and felt my heart sink into my stomach each step I made downward. I knew the ladder was old, and my weight certainly didn’t help.
A loud crunch echoed through the tunnel as soon as my feet touched the ground. Once I planted my right foot, another loud crunch. It made me feel as though squashed a giant centipede beneath my feet, which felt unpleasant.
Once I turned on my Night Vision and peered around the tunnel, I saw was beneath my feet.
A graveyard filled with bones and people were enjoying a full-blown festival right above them. This is fucking disturbing.
The bones spread across the tunnel-like bundled sticks that were about to be set ablaze. Despite the marrow having no facial features, I could tell their deaths were practically gruesome.
The majority of the skulls within the tunnel were fractured as if they’d been struck by a hammer. The few shins I eyed showed they’d be shattered, with a splint here and there.
The tattered clothes of the deceased were smeared with marrow dust and rat bites. As dead as this corpse were the rotted scent of the bodies felt like shit mixed with dead flesh.
It was horrible and I didn’t have much choice but to crunch my way through the corpses, following the GPS line through this hell.
It took me five minutes of walking to pummel through the piles of bones. I came across an old subway line, with track lines and all.
I followed the tunnel, hearing droplets of water hitting the ground as it echoed throughout the tunnel. The walls of the tunnel rattled from the noise above and dust particles separated themselves from the roof, as they waft down towards me for a good twelve hundred meters.
Eventually, I came across a small staircase that led to a silver door. I snapped the knob off and went in.
I was met with a staircase with a fenced-off area, which surrounded a series of water pipes where steam hissed from out the sides. They were a few temperature gauges attached to each pipe, probably reading something I knew nothing about.
The staircase took me to another building. Which was close to the Plaza based on how the music pounded on the walls.
After turning off my Night Vision, I got a better view of the building. It was an abandoned warehouse, with nothing but dust and grime on the floor with a few machines covered up with white sheets.
The broken glass to my left sparkled from the orange and red lights that beamed through the broken window. I looked through the window, watching as the lights flicked and ticked and all I could think of was how strenuous this trek was, and still hadn’t reached my destination, despite me standing right below it.
If I’d make another step, it was either to see Shin-Lee or Hannah’s death or that bastard Akatani was ready to gloat them in front of me, which was something I’m not sure if I could stomach too long.
Once I gathered my wits, I turned right heading towards the staircase and walked up three flights of stairs. The GPS Line led me to a door, which I snapped open and I was led to a completely dark room.
I looked and right, noting the glass from the windows had been painted black, but despite that, the lights still burned what little luminescence that could penetrate the paint.
The room was littered with cans and broken pieces of glass, along with a chair, which was a stark contrast compared to the room. It was clean, possibly straight off the assembly line.
I turned right, noticing the giant wall of glass that divided the room in two and beyond that, something was hanging from the roof. Lights on the other side pulsed on, and my heart sank to within my stomach.
It wasn’t 'something' hanging from the roof, but Shin-Lee strung up by her arms, eyes closed and uncooperative like a corpse.