Owner	Pose
Lucy	"The staging warehouse for the drone facility is near the docks on Staten Island, across the bridge from Brooklyn. We can have lunch at the River Dock Cafe before you head south toward the dry docks. I presume this location was chosen because launching them out toward he ocean would keep them from being seen on takeoff." Lucy is outlining the plan clearly as the pair are walking along the edge of the water, her expression one of perfect calm. She walks close to Molly for now, enough so that it is easy to tell from a distance that the two are together. The tiny redhead and the tall black-haired woman walking beside her. Lucy suggested Molly start wearing regular sungleasses so she would be less noticeable at a distance; the difference being relatively negligible, of course. "I can sit and use the free Wi-Fi. At this distance there shouldn't be any delay on our communications. And we can have a nice lunch." There's a shrug from Lucy at that, though she tilts her head back slightly to study Molly's face. "Is there anything else you need or want to ask before you go...?" A beat follows. "You should eat a little extra. The nanites will use he excess s energy."
Rose Kolodny	During the day, Molly doesn't mind wearing sunglasses over her 'regular' lenses, they don't interfere too much in her vision, hands in her pockets as she walks next to Lucy, listening to the tiny redhead as she scans what she can see of the facility without turning her head further than necessary,"Sounds good." she offers aloud, expression neutral and distracted as things are flicked into her field of vision,"I've noticed that. Not that food isn't both abundant and cheap, overall. Though I think I found the place where vat-grown meat originated from."
Lucy	On this part of the island there are a fair number of people going back and forth. it isn't downtown but there are businesses making fairly brisk trade and, of course, patrons to populate them. The restaurant they end up at has a rustic feel on the outside- unfinished wood on the walls, a real anchor rooted jauntily near the door. On the inside the tables are formica and Free Wi-Fi! is displayed clearly in white letters on a green sign. Lucy breaks away from Molly now in order to lay down her laptop bag and produce the little black computer in question. She isn't actually going to use it for anything but it's better than being stared at. To Molly the girl offers, "The fish here is genuine. I would not trust the meat at taco bells unless vat grown with sawdust is your preference. There are a lot of rumours and some of them seem somewhat credible." She shrugs slightly then, settling neatly into place. Everything must be perfect, including the precise placement of her machine. "Is there much fresh anything where you're from...?"
Rose Kolodny	The restaurant is quietly fascinating to Molly. She gives an upnod of acknowledgment towards the counter as Lucy goes to pick a table, electing to settle down in the seat she leaves empty and collecting the menu to eye it, ostensibly, while she's busy trying to study what's in her lense,"I'm not sure I've ever eaten genuine fish." she grunts sotto voce,"Sure, if you're willing to pay the price for it. Had two steaks up in Freeside once... real steaks. Case got himself fried and couldn't eat his... served him right, too. It's expensive, though... land to raise it, keep it fed. They charge a fortune for that kind of multi-year commitment."
Lucy	"It's not as expensive here," Lucy assures rather quietly as she presses the computer aside sufficiently to start going through the menu. "If you have never had fish then halibut fish and chips is a good place to start I understand," Lucy starts seriously. "This is higher quality fish than most places offer, really. Vat grown meat is around the corner." The girl shifts her weight slightly from left to right and then adds, "For a long time all I ate was nutrient paste." A pause follows and Lucy adds, "That is very unusual in this time."
Rose Kolodny	"Very well." Molly agree's, seemingly resolved to halibut and fries, closing the menu and setting it aside so she can keep going through the plans,"There is a definite difference between vat meat and animal meat. I went to this place.. McDonalds? And their meat is probably the precursor to what was common in Nighttown. And that just sounds... unappealing. They found it more expensive than just cloning and vat-growing techniques back home. But it... lacks... about the same, I imagine. We weren't designed for fake food."
Lucy	"Perhaps not. It was irrelevant in my case," Lucy replies ot the observation about fake food. She twists then, looking up to blink at the waitress as she approaches heir table. The young woman is smiling, wearing a white blouse, apron and a knee length skirt, and immediately asks abut their preference in drinks. Lucy isn't going to speak to her, most likely, so ordering is left to Molly. "I'm sending you a map now. The offices should be on the second floor; the lower level is just storage space. Or would ordinarily be... Storage space." There's a pause as Molly adds, "There will probably be guards. And spy drones, of course." The map appears, giving the publicly filed layout of the warehouse in question. It's a two story building, with a completely open layout on the bottom floor and several rooms on the second. A spiral staircase is in the back corner of the building, which is shown with three exits - huge cargo bay openings toward the road and the docks, and an emergency fire door at the left side, away from the neighboring warehouses. "You will need to case the warehouse for the layout. I have some photos from Google Earth that show a couple guards and a chainlink fence around the lot, but we can't get a lot of information at a distance..." Lucy is checked out from the waitress entirely. Some people find it unnerving but this woman- Mindy- takes it more or less in stride. She's a nice enough girl.
Rose Kolodny	"Coca-Cola." Molly requests,"Two of them. And two orders of the halibut and fries." she's used to trying to look like she's doing one thing when she's doing another, so she at least looks at the waitress, sort of, behind the double-screen of glasses,"Thank you." added after a moment for the waitress as she grunts acknowledgment for Lucy's silent words. "Are you able to connect to my simstim rig?" she asks of the redhead after the waitress leaves,"I wont be able to hear you, but at least then you would be able to see what I'm seeing and send me an update if you need to get my attention."
Lucy	"I can try," Lucy offers. She looks up briefly from her computer, turning those blue eyes onto Molly for a second as their drinks arrive. This time Lucy at least favours Mindy with a nod before reaching out to draw her drink closer to her. The sound of sipping is in the background while she continues to "speak". "We do have some tools, at least. If we 'see' the guards I can mark them for you on the map. They appear to be carrying communication sets and if they are transmitting their location..." She shrugs. "Beyond that I think we are basically flying blind. Until you look around we don't know how many people are on site, what they are armed with, or what their response time is for backup." Finally Lucy flashes Molly a brief smile. She finishes with, "Is this more like the work you used to do in your world?"
Rose Kolodny	"As long as you don't try to activate control over my limbs it wont distract me." Molly subvocalizes, offering blandly aloud,"Thank you Mindy." without much of a look in the waitresses direction, even if she doesn't touch the soda for the time being,"I'll endeavor to avoid notice. Or at least deal with problems before they can raise the alarm. But... yes. This is more familiar ground for me."
Lucy	"Perfect. In that case we may as well proceed this afternoon.But first... Our food is coming." Two enormous newspaper lined baskets of of battered fish cutlets and golden french fries are brought to the table. Lucy reaches for the bottle of balsamic vinegar nearby, glancing around as she does so. Tartar sauce and lemon wedges soon appear to complement the fish. After asking if they'd like anything else Mindy vanishes as if she was never there at all. Lucy blinks a couple times and takes a deep breath. "This was my mom's favourite place." Then it is time to eat.
Rose Kolodny	"You said she still works for the company?" Molly's watching Lucy's selections in terms of condiments, waiting for her to finish before she tests the balsamic and decides that's apparently good enough for her,"I've never had a 'favorite' place. Habits get you killed. Hell, it's how Three-Jane knew to find me in Germany."
Lucy	"No one was trying to kill my mother," Lucy responds quietly. "Until the end. I guess habit did kill her. She didn't stop visiting me and that's where she died." The girl shrugs at this, picking up a piece of fish and dipping it into the tartar sauce before taking a bite from it. "SHe hasn't worked for the Gendou in several years.She was killed helping me get away from them." Lucy snags a french fry and then nibbles on it for a moment. "Who's Three-Jane?"
Rose Kolodny	Molly Millions ahs softly,"I'm sorry." she offers for the redhead, she crunches on a fry, but really it's the fish she's curious about,"A dead girl." pause,"Now, at least. She was the last surviving member of the Tessier-Ashpool family."
Lucy	Lucy nods at that. She continues eating for the moment, scanning the restaurant again as she does so. "You don't need to apologize. It was several years ago and people die every day." There's that moment Lucy's gaze drifts to Molly and then she snags another french fry. "Do you like the food?"
Rose Kolodny	"It's different. When they're close to you." Molly opines quietly,"Yeh people die. But most of them aren't family and don't matter." at least in her opinion as she delicately sniffs the fish before popping it into her mouth and chewing medatively,"It's like warm sushi." she subvocalizes,"But a different... texture, taste, too. Sort of. But similar." those lenses watch Lucy for a long moment before she elects to add,"You remind me of Mona. In a lot of ways."
Lucy	"Different for me," Lucy agrees. She continues to eat her fish, nodding slowly when Molly speaks. "Yes. You could say that. Sushi is made with fish. This could be sushi quality..." The girl titls her heads lightly then, biting down on her bottom lip as Molly makes her last statement. "Tell me about Mona," she requests then. She uses the same even tone as before, really. Lucy keeps the same solemn expression as well, except for how she continues to worry her bottom lip with her teeth.
Rose Kolodny	"Mona was a junkie, and a prostitute." Molly subvocalizes,"Although those are not the things that you share in common. It is... difficult to explain. Mona had an innocence to her, much like you. She was caught up by people who wished her harm through no fault of her own... just like you. And in the end, she flourished, and attained the life she had always wished for... once those who intended her death had been disposed of." there's so much more in there, things that Molly is glossing over, for sure, but she leaves it sit at that for the second.
Lucy	Lucy nods and then shifts her weight slightly, leaning from left toright as she adjusts the position of her legs. She's nearly finisehd her third piece of halibut at this point and soon takes to pressing back agianst the seat as she slowly stretches herself out across it. "It sounds like it was a painful story. I'm glad you were able to help your friend." She slowly shrugs her shoulders and rolls them back, continuing with her stretching. "WHat do you plan on doing when this is all over? We have to find what we are looking for sooner or later."
Rose Kolodny	"It is... a complicated one. I killed 3Jane's father, and Case and I were in part responsible for the destruction of her family corporation. She knew that I broke the Turing laws and freed her family's AI's to meld and... functionally absorb the matrix. Which is how she knew how to blackmail me, years later, into working for the Yakuza. She also hated Angela, who could... access the matrix without a deck... similar to you, but her ability was... genetically created. They planned on killing Mona, to fake Angela's death, with the intention of me taking the blame for it. They failed. And Mona, in the end, was free after a fashion. She became a simstim star. Received the life she wanted." she explains subvocally, by necessity slower about eating because of her talking,"John told me about a few organizations that might hire me without trying to disect me. When you are safe, I'll look into them further. Having no money, and no network is a bad idea here too. And if I can get a job, I'll be able to help provide for you." pause,"If you want me to."
Lucy	"...I don't understand," Lucy responds quietly after Molly has spoken. She spends several seconds considering what she is to say next, brow lightly furrowed, small hands resting on the edge of the table. "Why would you want to... provide for me?" There's an earnest confusion to it, perhaps a hint of measured disbelief. The girl finally reaches out and picks up another of hrr french fries, consuming it slowly while she mulls this over.
Rose Kolodny	"Why shouldn't I?" Molly counters with gruff defensiveness, pushing her fish around the plate before picking it up,"There's not many like us in this place. Those of my friends that aren't dead are now out of reach. Probably forever. So why not? You didn't have to stop that night, or help me be compatible with the local system. But you did. And having someone to watch your back is always better than not."
Lucy	Lucy listens to this and frowns faintly. Her brow furrows again like she is searching for a resposne to something dissatisfying but can't quite grasp the words to quantify it. SO instead the girl replies, "No." Just that, flatly. She looks up from the table finally and stares into Molly's eyes, her expression one of quiet certitude. "We can provide for each other," she finishes simply, shrugging her shoulders once as if that were the end of it. "You've been keeping me safe," Lucy continues in a bare whisper. "I'll keep you safe next."
Rose Kolodny	"I'm not that old yet, Lucy." Molly responds drily,"When you find what you want to be and you're ready, sure. But I'm not that obsolete, yet. When I'm old and decrepit you can pick which hole to bury me in... how about that?" there's a vague smirk from her before she digs in to her food properly,"I'll retire, buy a stupidly big house full of useless s*** and intimidate the f*** out of your friends."
Lucy	"Mmm. We can have a gigantic house and I will pick you a very nice hole," Lucy agrees then, nibbling on yet another of her french fries. "But until then I I am going to help you as best I can. If I let something happen to you who will take care of me then?" Lucy adds this as if it were the most natural thign in the world to say.
Rose Kolodny	"Very well." Molly elects to agree, distracted as she goes back to the maps and works her way through her food,"We should wait until dark. Pay up and come back later. I can see better in the dark than they likely can, if I go up here..." it's a matter of eye movement and thought for her to flick the photo back to Lucy,"I can gain the roof. Best vantage and possibility that they will have skylights. People rarely look up, and judging from the fencing I'm guessing that the public is not welcome."
Lucy	"Okay," Lucy agrees then, tilting her head as the phot oappears acoss her vision. She looks between Molly and then the restaurant and then other women one more beforre she gnatches up a small hadnful fo french fries and actually shoves all of these int oiher mouth. "Do they have baseball where you are from?" She asks aburptly as she crams more french fries into her mouth. "I've been learning hwo the rules work after I saw that game on tve the other night."
Rose Kolodny	"Yeh, I've seen a few rounds of it before. I prefer to watch the fights, though." Molly grunts quietly,"Never been very good at playing by other people's rules. Admittedly."
Rose Kolodny	After dark is the safest time to enter. When Molly can see, but at least theoretically other people will have difficulty. And with Bogatyr's help, she's even got a carbine from its collection strapped across her. Just in case things go bad. Her intention is simple, really. Watch until she knows the pattern, pick a stable portion of the fence to drop herself over pole-vaulter style and, ultimately, scale it to go in through the roof if she can. Mostly to minimise the likelihood of her having to kill too many people, in deference to Lucy's feelings on such.
Rose Kolodny	After dark is the safest time to enter. When Molly can see, but at least theoretically other people will have difficulty. And with Bogatyr's help, she's even got a carbine from its collection strapped across her. Just in case things go bad. Her intention is simple, really. Watch until she knows the pattern, pick a stable portion of the fence to drop herself over pole-vaulter style and, ultimately, scale it to go in through the roof if she can. Mostly to minimise the likelihood of her having to kill too many people, in deference to Lucy's feelings on such.
Lucy	There are three guards near the fence on the outside. The easiest opening is toward the water facing side of the building, where only one man seems to be patrolling outside. He has the longest, darkest route. There's no real entrance there except for the docking bay, after all. Anyone sneaking in through there is unlikely to go very far. The air is chill as Molly vaults her way over the fence. She has about thirty seconds to make it tothe building and begin her ascent. A soft breeeze sweeps by, enough to make a perso n shiver and liven the senses. Part of that might be adrenaline. These men are armed and armoured. Primitively by Molly's standards, more than enough to kill her anyway. Atop the building the roof is corrugated. It doesnt' seem to react to Molly's movements. There's a roof access hatch buried in it near the center, sealed tight. And a skylight that points down at- crates. Lots of crates. No one put anything useful in view of the outside, apparently.
Rose Kolodny	It's not Molly's first rodeo, her wired reflexes and night vision make it a less dangerous prospect than it would be to the unaltered, but that doesn't mean that she's complacent about it. She is not bulletproof, by any measure. And while on the upside she doesn't have a broken leg and is dealing with less technologically advanced opponents... she's also operating in full gravity and almost twenty years older than she was when she pulled the Straylight run. Easing herself onto the roof she is less concerned about haste, but instead opts for picking her footing carefully, staying on all fours to keep her profile from being noticed from below as she works her way over peek into the skylight. The hatch has to be checked out as the easy option but she does finally stare down into the place from next to the skylight, trying to pick her best path in.
Lucy	The nanites seem to be doing their job. Molly is faster, stronger, lighter on her feet than she has been in at least a decade. Moving is easy. Breathign is efforless even when climbing. For mostp eople this is a rush, completely with the artificial stimulation of adrenaline production- and replication of additional reserves. It's a moderate change but not a subtle one. Especially not considering how much stronger Molly is. Rooftop? No trouble. With night vision it's possible to determine that by going through the skylight she will fall at least ten feet and land on a massive cargo crate steel. It's hard to get a good view of the warehouse past what is stored but she can still spy three or four guards armed with carbines on the inside. There's the edge of a catwalk tha seems to lead toward Molly's position, and the nearby hatch. A forklift-robot is whirring as it moves one of the cargo crates out from the stack and then opens it. Inside are parts. Enough for two, maybe three, of the sleek black drones Molly saw with Bogatyr and Lucy the other night. A tall, slightly overweight middle aged man in dark clothing watches impassively. He is carrying only a pistol and some measure of authority that is primarily placed in his bearing. The hatch is locked with no handle on this side. It is clearly not intended to be opened from the roof. STill, the door mechanisms are visible, if made of steel. It can be manipulated.
Rose Kolodny	Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Getting in is always only half the problem. Getting out again is the other half. The hatch represents an easier way out, but the skylight is less likely to be watched and less likely to cause noise by her estimation. The lock itself represents a problem, not unsurmountable, but it is the deciding factor for her. Carefully extruding a blade to test around the skylight she eases it open, the idea being to grip the edge and carefully swing herself out into the space before dropping, to minimise noise and impact. Mister authority is someone noted, but the plan was the drive. Whatever Molly's personal feelings regarding the destruction of the place, securing the information is definitely first. But she keeps a mental tab on the guy as a potential 'back up plan' if needed.
Lucy	The skylight is relatively easy to jimmy open. It's kind of a long fall, after all. No one really expected a person to risk breaking thier leg in a stunt like this. Molly finds her fingers slip slightly as she climbs out onto the skylight, slipping against slick metal. Well-oiled hinges prove both boon and hindrance- the window frame is slick but it also makes no noise. Clinging primarily with her fingertips the razorgirl is able to hang long enough to drop onto a cargo container. Nearly a fifteen foot fall. It rattles the nerves and echoes quietly when she lands. IT's enough that the Company Man looks up but no one sees her. They shrug. Given the amount of noise the drone is making it's likely the occurrence was simply written off. Now Molly can see four guards and the Authority Figure. Two flank the man in question while he watches the drone parts be assembled by the machinery while the other two are moving between the various crates and patrolling the warehouse. Her section is relatively empty. The containers are stacked two to four high, varying widely and making a precarius maze of drops on the top end- or eerie shadows on the ground. In nightvision it's clear the warehouse is floored in concrete and almost labyrinthine in layout. Lots of choke points for weapons fire. Everything is wide open for half of the enormous warehouse, from about where the drone is being assembled out toward the dock. No doubt to make launches and arrivals easier. The catwalk, as promised, does indeed lead to a few steps and the roof hatch. It's a maintenance access that spiders all over the roof of the building. What that machinery is for is currently unclear. It could just be heating. Or computation equipment. At the far end of the catwalk, about fifty meters away, is a door leading into a windowed room with two more guards. Security checkpoint? From there they would have a perfect view of the whole floor, past the crates. More offices stretch past that point but none are viewable from outside.
Rose Kolodny	The impact hurts, not going to lie. Bless Lucy's nanites, but staying still to let the sound fade and make sure that she hasn't broken anything is second nature to her. Molly takes the time to get her bearings and a better look at the inside, electing to take the risk of transmission detection to fire off a couple of images towards Lucy. The offices are the area she wants to be in, not out there with the guards and the man in authority, so the razorgirl elects to clamber up onto the highest, closest stack she can find with the intention of swinging over to the catwalk. It's all a risk. Wrong timing, sharp eyes, wrong moves and she knows it's going to be a world of trouble she doesn't want... but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Lucy	Molly is able to clamber up a couple more cargo crates but it takes a bit of work. The sides are slick and the metal isn't entirely rigid- it wants to flex when pressed upon, and too much flexing is sure to make noise wjhen one presses against a container. She gets to the top of a stack relatively easily. It's a good leap to the catwalk. Still, there's room for a sort of running start. The jump is smooth. Molly makes it easily. Almost too easily, in fact. She hits the catwalk, heels barely scrapping the rail... And it groans when it's struck. It wasn't a loud noise but now the Company Man is frowning, brown eyes scanning the top of the warehouse. No one else downstairs reacts. However, in the nearby security room one of the guards stands up from his swivel chair and starts toward the door. He's half the length of the warehouse away, too far to run. To Molly's right, the open warehouse floor. To her left, offices that are inaccessible from the outside. Ten meters away the catwalk branches off to join other walks in other parts of the warehouse. And above... Actually, above Molly is a maintenance hatch that seems to lead into whatever engineering nonsense is situated in the roof of the building.
Rose Kolodny	At least every bit she notices gets filed into the mental map. She's less patient than she should be, perhaps, sliding the carbine out from across her back as she crab-walks towards the end of the catwalk that the security guy is coming towards. The carbine gets held low to her side as she takes advantage of her sight and wired speed, entirely prepared to put a bullet in the guard when he opens the door... even with the knowledge that the noise will confirm what the man in Authority already suspects.
Lucy	It's so fast it's hard to even think. The security guard opens the door, with no idea what to expect. As his partner is calling, "Come sit back down and look at your monitor, it's probably no-" the first guard begins to shout and Molly opens fire. Guns are disturbingly loud. In movies they always sound manageable, but up close it often takes augmentations or earplugs to keep your head from ringing when you fire a shot. Molly, of course, is used to the echo of gunfire but even with a suppressor the shots easily rings louder than the whutter of drones and the clang of moving cargo containers. The surprised security guard gurgles and blood splatters from his neck, a hole punched in his chest just above the trauma plate in his ballistic vest. Then the other guard inside of the little security room is shouting for help, people downstairs start running, and everything promptly goes to Hell.
Rose Kolodny	No reason for Molly to take the slow approach now, the carbine stays up, Bogatyr's precision crafted into every inch of it. A gun so perfectly manufactured she's still learning to not have to compensate for it. She can't risk the other guard closing the door before she gets there, so she breaks into a run for the doorway. One guard is, after all, better than the four below plus their authorative friend in the pick-your-poisons category.
Lucy	Molly breaks into a run. She shouldn't be able to make this sprint. It's pretty much impossible, right? The man jumps to his feet, stumbling over his chair, and stops to retrieve his gun. He fires a shot at Molly as he headsf for the door. It he had just run for it he probably would have made it. The razorgirl hits the security door like a ton of bricks, knocking the security guard into the wall with a grunt of pain. The room on the other side of that door is two chairs and a bunch of monitors, first aid kit, a weapons locker. A heavy security door to the left leads into the offices and another at the far end of the room leads to the rest of the catwalks, currently ajar. The computers are monitoring the various entrances and a section of the warehouse floor that is conspicuously clear. There is also a panel that shows all of the various guardsmen as blips on a 3D layout of the warehouse. Ping. A message from Lucy! UPDATE: Map has been adjusted to track all guards on the local display. Nanites establishing uplink... Now. Flashing red dots indicate new targets... Lucy's internal map now has all of the data on the warehouse layout in detail, though not which office she might need. There are twelve guards on the map, six of which are headed up the stairs toward Molly's position now. They are nowhere near as close as the office complex door.There are two blue dots and two red dots in the office complex as well. Unless he uses one of the guards' transponders the Man In Authority isn't on the map. Even though Molly got needed eyes on.
Rose Kolodny	Molly Millions isn't going to let the other security guy back up, putting a bullet through him before she grabs his partner to drag him into the room so she can close the door behind her. She takes the carbine from about herself as she field strips the security guys ballistic vest, reviewing Lucy's message as she straps herself into it with efficient motions. She leaves the corpse propped up against the door as she grabs the carbine again. This isn't a spot she wants to get caught in, and so she keeps moving towards the offices. "Moving towards the office complex now." she subvocalizes back at Lucy,"Going to need to move fast as they know I'm here." which, really, is her own damned fault, but still.
Lucy	Another message is sent a second later. Update from Lucy! WARNING: Offices ahead are signal shielded. Reduced effectiveness of all wireless communications. Uplink required to maintain connection within shielded areas. Still have access to security consoles but will be unable to transmit except via wired connection. At least Lucy prepared Molly for something like this. She was given a toolkit for removing the hard drives and two small devices which Lucy assured Molly were simply Uplinks for extending wireless signal. Just plug them into a device with a fiber optic line- any networked computer- and it will install itself on the machine. Perhaps stereotypically the office complex is white walls and plaster. There's a security console immediately on the other side of the heavy doors leading out to the warehouse that is currently blinking red lights, the word ARMED displayed above the ten digit keypad. The hallway immediately branches left and right, with signs on the walls helpfully indicating         <---------- NETWORKING        ADMINISTRATION ----------> The hallway ahead leads directly to a reinforced elevator door with the word RESTRICTED stamped on the front, large enough for four people abreast. A white post, four feet tall, to its left has a keypad that displays in blinking green letters, ENTER ACCESS CODE It's then that the helpful map stops updating. Security guards had made it to the catwalks when the dots stopped moving.
Rose Kolodny	Restricted. Well, Molly doesn't have to be a decker to work out that most likely what she wants is going to be in the restricted area. Though there's the shake of her head as the map stops updating and a grimace crosses her face. The man in Authority had a gun... would he follow the guards up to the catwalk? Should she wait? Try one of the other directions? She elects to check and see whether or not there might be a slot for the Uplink on the security panel. She retreats to lurk on the administration side of the hallway as she waits to see if it helps, folding up the holographic sights on the carbine as she considers her other options. Time is her enemy in here, she knows. The longer it takes the more likely they're going to get backup, and the further down this rabbit hole she goes the harder it's going to be to get back out.
Lucy	Upon examining the console carefully Molly discovers that there is indeed a USB port on the access panel which is accessible. When she plugs in the device, however, the light on it goes red. The screen blanks out for a second. Then the Uplink begins to flash blue and garbled text scrolls across the display. Eventually a message is shown. ERROR: NO NETWORK ACCESS CONFIRMED The device is isolated from all the others around it. 'Air gapped' is the term Lucy would use. Now it has a weak link- the wireless uplink that Molly just attached to it. But first they'll need a signal so Lucy can work her magic.
Rose Kolodny	For Molly, the easiest solution she can think of is to slot the other Uplink into her own head. It's not what she'd consider to be the best solution but she's aware that any moment now those guards are liable to come down the hallway and she's not about to risk being caught out in the open. So for the now she slots it in carefully, ears tuned to the hallways around her and waits for the guards on the catwalk to catch up from behind the barrier of the corner.
Lucy	At a dead run the catwalk is probably thirty seconds long. It's easy enough to figure out approximately how long Molly has before the chaos will be on top of her. Her chronometer, after all, is working perfectly. It's already been about thirty seconds since the map started to function when the razorgirl slotts the second wireless uplink into her neural jack. The reuslt might not be what Molly expected. There's no connection to Lucy. Of course not. Molly is just as isolated from the outside as Lucy is. Hooking the Uplink to her own skull won't solve that problem or even give them network access. What it does do, however, is allow her to see into the hardware of the terminal itself. With the firewall already smashed to pieces in bits of garbled code and ones and zeroes it's easy enough to picture scrolling through the folerson the computerized device's neatly organized hard drive. Files --------> Operations ------> Elevation.bat --------> Executing file... Administrator Access Granted Then, a second later, a simply prompt: Please select floor. Offices Warehouse Basement Sub-Basement
Rose Kolodny	Not quite the result Molly was hoping for, but time? She is of the essence. Door to the elevator open first. She checks to make sure there's no nasty surprises waiting for her in the metal box and darts into it, crouching and aiming the carbine back the way she came in anticipation that at any second she's going to have 'guests'. Sub-basement. It's a guess. A semi-educated guess, but a guess none the less. The absence of connection is a worry but she doesn't have the time to go searching for a way to correct it right now. On a level, it feels good. This is work, for her, that knife-edge risk between reward and potential death. Danger with a purpose.
Lucy	The elevator hums and rattles, not at all like the sleeker machines in corporate lobbies. The heavy reinforced doors are opening- slowly. Too slowly. That's when people begin to appear in the corridor. There are shouts but for the most part the darkly clad enemy security team is strangely quiet as they fan out in the hallway, taking cover in doorways. Bullet fire screams, tearing chunks of plaster from white walls, littering the reinforced doors nad Molly's corner with holes. It's three people so far but it doesn't take a map to make it obvious more are coming. "Drop your weapons and surrender yourself imemdiately!" A loud male voice barks authoritatively then. The squad leader. He's obvious mostly for being toward the front, a tall, lanky man in aneatly pressed uniform with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. "This is private property. Lethal force will be utilized if you do not comply." The shooting doesn't slow down, drowning out most other noises in the hallway. Anything aside from the officer and the rattle of the elevtor. It's nearly a minute before the actual lift comes into view, larger than even Molly could have expected. The platform on the far side is a broad steel thing, crates stacked in the back that were no doubt destined for the warehouse floor.
Rose Kolodny	Molly Millions has been waiting for them, and when they appear the gunfire isn't just from their end, for all that she does have to crouch down under the onslaught and weather it out, mentally cursing the slow elevator in the process,"Sure." she drawls without moving from her spot,"Stick your head around the corner and I'll 'surrender'." she doesn't really even try to make it sound believable, one eye on the elevator and her ear tuned to the hallway to assess the cover potential of the crates on the elevator and the safest way to make it over there without winding up full of holes.
Lucy	These are wide open hallways. Designed with such an incursion in mind, perhaps. The crates are not stacked with any intention fo being used for cover but if she crouches low there'll at least be a few feet of aluminum and whateer it is they contain between Molly and her assailants. One of the guards goes down with a jerk, ragdolling in the hallway... only to roll over and crawl toward cover, no telltale trail of blood behind him. Body armour. Luckily, Molly has some on as well. It looks like it's high quality stuff. A second is not so lucky and a bullet hits him low on the abdomen, just above the pelvis. He lurches, groans and slumps against the wall. The only way to make it to the elevator appears to be to sprint the last eight meters or so, flat out, and pray she doesn't end up a pin cushion along the way. They are alternating bursts of fire to ensure the hall is always filled with lead.
Rose Kolodny	Molly Millions at least has the fact that she's slightly more human than human on her side. But it's still not an enviable position to be in. She doesn't have the option of cover fire, and she's silently impressed by their professionalism in keeping her pinned. Smoke grenades. Mentally she makes a note that she really needs to pester Bog for such things. That doesn't help her right this second however. Seconds tick as she debates, unhelpfully auraed in her left lense to remind her that time is most definitely of the essence. She dials the carbine over to full automatic and aims low. A burst for what limbs she can see and then twitch muscle sprint for the elevator. If she's lucky it'll buy her a few seconds... if she's not, well... she had to do the Sense/Net break-in with a broken leg and no nanites. There's no 'give up' in Molly's mind, never has been. She's got no illusions that there's any other options than success or death in her job.
Lucy	Molly erupts from cover in a spray of lead. Men jerk out of the way or grunt when struck. A few have holds in limbs, or blood on their legs. The squad goes for cover in all directions. Then there's a click as the magazine runs dry. Molly feels the tell-tale, bone crunching pain of bullets slamming home against her chest, shattering on the shock plates and threatening to destroy ribs in the process. She staggers, pitches forward into the elevator, and ends up half-sliding behind cover in the industrial elevator. There's a big red button, and slamming a hand down on it causes the doors to grind shut. Molly is left in a lift that is open on top, lit from above by the dim maintenance lights in the shaft, and feeling like shes's just been run over by a large car. Somehow, all parts of her are still functional. Below the warehouse floor is visible. This elevator sits in plain sight moving cargo to and from the networking level every day. There are more guards outside and they are attempting to pry open the warehouse level security door but it's too little too late. The floor is a frenzy of activity. Looks like no one mentioned the basement levels on the blueprints. The disguised hatch leading to the lower levels is already sliding open as the elevator descends into almost complete darkness. Even nightvision can only make out concrete walls.
Rose Kolodny	Totally worth the time it took to put on. Not that Molly elects to move immediately, but she does drag herself to a spot where she has... well, as much cover as she can and the opportunity to prop the carbine towards the doors they're trying to pry open on the warehouse floor. She doesn't elect to fire for the likelihood of ricochet as long as they don't have enough of a gap to fire at her and trys to stay as still as possible to give the nanites a chance to try and do their thing in her failing system. "My kingdom for a stealth suit... some derms, a couple of loads of 'crete foam and an RPG." the razorgirl mutters for her own amusement as she checks what's left in her current magazine and rather than risk running out switches to the back-up, keeping the depleted one in reserve just in case. A slow elevator no doubt gives them time to try and prepare for her arrival in the lower levels, but it also gives her time to try and review the additional information Lucy shot her before the link went dead. The way behind her would be suicide to try and climb out of when it's all said and done, and Molly's got no intention of dying here today.
Lucy	Briefly the link flashes active again as Molly is passing through the warehouse. "-----going on?" Suddenly there's a flash and an almost blinding amount of sensory information goes skittering past all at once. Messages from Lucy, map updates. The locations of the nine remaining security officers (upstairs), requests for system diagnostics... "Molly?! Reinforcements en route to your position. Have requested assistance to slow them down but- time is running out. Trying to find you another way out. ...Are you okay?" It isn't like Lucy's voice to be so emotional. She's not quite screaming into the mental link but it's still enough to shock the mind into coherence even under pain. "How badly were you hurt?" After a second Molly would realize there's blood pooling in the elevator. Funny thing, though. None of it hurts anymore. Looking down she would see that some of the blood is smeared over her shoulders and lower abdomen... But the holes in her flesh are already knitting. It isn't a miracle cure but it's a far cry from bleeding to death. Which, looking around... She probably should be. Propped against a crate in a corner as the nanites work furiously to repair the damage.
Rose Kolodny	Augh, it's deafening. Molly's systems and her organic brain have a time catching up on the sudden influx of information,"Here." she subvocalizes to Lucy in the most soothing tone she can manage,"Still mobile." it doesn't matter if it's not technically true. Not feeling pain any longer tends to be a bad sign, so she checks to make sure that it's a result of those struggling nanites rather than that she's worse off than she realizes,"I'm fine honey. Just fine. If they've got bigger problems than me to worry about all the better." It's all the more reason for her to stay still though. No need to give them more complications to deal with while they're working on stitching her back together,"Getting too old for this shit Molly." 'Hey. Tell Bog not to bring the house down around my ears, yeh? Once I'm off the elevator if he wants to raze the surface to the ground I say go for it.' she elects to send back to Lucy, projecting all the calm neutrality she can manage. Everything's fine here. No need to worry.
Lucy	Lucy calms down after a few second. The change is almost palpable. Her voice is back to its uual quiet neutrality as she continues. "Diagnostics seem to think you'll be fully ambulatory. Nanites reporting moderate tissue damage, a cracked rib... Currently under repair. You will probably have a stomach ache." Overhead the shaft is beginning to shut and when it does it will really be dark in here. Probably there are lights that no one has turned on. Hard to do while laying on the floor, of course. "I've advised Bogatyr to avoid using artillery until we know how you are exiting the building. I think bringing the house down would attract too many yes. Probably best to avoid it." Lucy is silent for a second as the light is dimming. "I'll make sure you have a way out. The downstairs lab is completely isolated. If you can find a way to send a sig-" Then silence, all at once. Lucy is gone again as the hatch overhead clanks shut. Even nightvision is no use for a moment.
Rose Kolodny	Downside of nanites, little tattletales. Not that Molly is going to complain too hard really because hey, it beats the alternatives. Like bleeding to death in a dark elevator shaft. Molly doesn't fear the dark, it doesn't take much for the eyes behind those lenses to filter to a pervasive gloom rather than pitch blackness. Even pitch blackness isn't something that concerns her overly but still she can't help but peer up at that closing shaft,"Little bit of foam crete on the underside of that and you assholes 'd be at it all day trying to get down here." she mutters for herself. Find a signal. Of course. She's still got the uplink slotted into her skull, she'll keep her eyes open for a better place to slot it into. But the silence and the darkness are womblike comforting to her in their own weird way. The rattle of the elevator as it crawls its way down a timeless moment that helps recenter her on the tasks to come,"Get the drive. Get out." simple words, simple steps. Not that it's going to be nearly as easy as she tries to tell herself, but that it gives her something to focus on.
Lucy	The elevator settles in against the ground with a rumble. The doors on the bottom floor slide open easily with nary a whisper. The difference in the technology level is astonishing. On the other side is a corridor in fairly standard colours. White walls, starting right outside the alcove where the elevator is located. It seems that the hallway goes left and right from there, with no immediate indication of what might be in either direction. A lone green plant, four feet or so tall, sits on the left side of the little room. A security guard is walking into the alcove, maybe ten meters away. He isn't really looking as he calls out, "We weren't expecting any visitors now so if you'll have arm out so I can scan your RFID it'll save us some time..."
Rose Kolodny	The slight tremor of it slowing down makes Molly drag herself to her feet. It's not perfect, the nanites would probably like more time, but she's plum out of that right now. At least the pain is minimal. The doors whisper open and she see's the guard but doesn't immediately shoot him,"Sure thing. Here it is." the wounded razorgirl rasps drily, the carbine up and aimed. Sometimes, it's all about the swagger, and Molly understands that the right attitude can sometimes make all the difference. There's no limp to her walk nor hunching over in obeyance to her aching stomach or the bullet wounds. Granted, she has her teeth gritted hard enough that she's probably lucky they don't splinter, but it's all about trying to take control of the situation from the outset.
Lucy	It's a good thing Molly's clothes are dark enough to hide the blood. It's surprisingly easy to avoid limping or hunching over. The pain is still being muted. WHether that is good or bad in and of itself remains to be seen. The man still isn't really looking. He nods and then walks up to the razor girl. It isn't until he's just a few meters away that he notices the rifle pointed at him. "What's going on? Lower your weapon now!" He's obviously on the edge of calling for help but it seems Molly's attitude has confused him. "RFID?" Now the guard is reaching for his gun. He might have better luck he hadn't been posted here alone.
Rose Kolodny	There's a hiss from Molly as he reaches towards his gun, the jerk of hers to let him know that continuing that motion will most definitely wind up with him dead before it clears it's holster,"Keep your hands up and voice low and maybe I wont have to put a bullet in your head." she utters for the guard, primed to do so but at least giving him the opportunity to avoid death for the moment,"You're going to pass over your gun and we're going to take a walk. Nice and easy like."
Lucy	The man immediately canges his mind, going pale in the cheeks. "Yeah, of course. No problem." He takes a deep breath and holds it for a second. "How did you get down here? I'll cooperate, so don't shoot." He reaches around behind himself to undo his gun belt in an obviously unthreatening gesture. THen the man lifts up the belt and holds it out to Molly. He's somewhere in his thirties, with a strong chin and a bit of male pattern baldness settling in on black hair.
Rose Kolodny	Getting close is always a risk, but still, Molly elects to do so in order to snag the gun. She ignores the question in favor of,"Network connection. Take me to the closest one." best to offload the uplink first. There's no doubt going to be cameras down here so she's restless about not standing around waiting around for the rest of the team to show up.
Lucy	"Network con...?" The man sounds confused or am oment but then he nods slowly. "You mean the local server?" He asks then, tilting his head slightly as he does. "I mean. I can take you to one of the terminals but I don't know the password," the man offers, slowly taking a step backward. "I'm just a security contractor... My name is Dave. Who are you?" He's making small-talk. Step one of surviving a hostage situation. The man tilts his head toward the left hallway and slowly turns around. He waits to actually step around the corner until Molly catches up.
Rose Kolodny	There's a grunt of acknowledgment from Molly. Damned world and it's different phrases,"Dave. Let me be clear, if I see one of your friends you will be the first to die. The quicker we move, the less likely that is to happen, the more likely you will get to go home tonight." she knows better than to be dragged into sharing information, letting him lead at a comfortable distance and gesturing for him to go around the corner first when he pauses, ears tuned as much as possible to the hall behind her as well as ahead. It's a risk, not just killing him outright, and she knows it, but with no RFID chip and no signs it's one she's willing to take for now.
Lucy	"Right, right. I get it. No funny business..." Dave glances up. He knows as well as Molly does that there are cameras and, to his credit, he doens't try to hide that acknowledgment. The cameras themselves are well-hidden. Down the hallway then, a few quick strides and then Dave is nodding to a door to his right. "This is, um. The security room. I don't know how much access you'll get but. Closest computer, right?" Dave flashes Molly a shaky smile and then opens the door before stepping inside. The room in question is a lot like the previous security room except there are fewer monitors. One of them appears to be pointed at a small hangar bay, in the middle of which is two of the drones Molly would recognize from earlier. Another is aimed at a room full of computers. There is a woman in that room right now fiddling with- something. The resolution is too poor to make out what is on her screen. The third camera is aimed at the elevators. Well, that one had to have already seen Molly come in. The lift is headed back up currently.
Rose Kolodny	Security room. Molly gestures him towards the side where she can watch him, scanning the monitors before reaching to pull the uplink from it's slot in her skull,"Where it that room?" she asks of the room with the computers in it,"And does this room have the capacity to shut down the elevator?" just in case the uplink doesn't help. She nudges the door closed for the moment at least for secrecy at least. None of her actions are really intended to provide comfort for Dave, but at the same time she's not waving the gun around just to threaten him for the sake of being horrible. It's not personal to her, reassuring him might turn out to be a lie, and for all that he's clearly not a fresh cadet the shaky smile suggests to her that he's not as likely to be a threat as his frontline friends upstairs.
Lucy	"Shut down the elevator? ..." Dave glances at the security console nearby and then takes a deep breath. "We can shut down the elevator. Yes." His tone is a little colder this time but he doesn't hesitate to walk over to the console and start typing. "If you go back to the hallway and head in the opposite direction the computer room is overlooking the hangar at the far end," Dave informs Molly matter-of-factly. "What are you looking for? I might be able to help. To be honest I am wondering why they didn't shut down the elevator before you go this far. but if they didn't I guess we can..." The rumble of the service elevator stops all at once. On the monitor surveying it the lights on the elevator door go out.
Rose Kolodny	Molly Millions probes for the potential link with a subvocal inquiry of,"Status?" before nodding and stepping back to gesture Dave to proceed her,"Your employers are using those drones to hunt someone. I am here to make that stop. And bluntly, they either tried and failed or they have something planned, in which case I doubt they will care whether you survive either." motivation... of a sort,"Let's go." she adds with a gesture of the carbine.
Lucy	"We don't normally have very many people down here, in the lab," Dave responds earnestly. He is walking toward the door of the security room at a reasonable pace. Not slow enough to be called 'dragging' but there are no sudden movements. "I don't think anyone is going to shoot either of us. Probably. We did just shut down the only exit. Where did you want me to take you. The... Server room?" No response from Lucy. Signals to the outside are still dead. Not that that is likely to be an unexpected result.
Rose Kolodny	Molly Millions elects to pop the uplink back out and stick it in her pocket,"I had at least two bulletwounds that say otherwise." the razorgirl grunts as she follows. The hair at the back of her neck insists this is a bad idea, but hey, at least it beats being shot more right now,"Yes. The server room." she agrees as she follows him towards the computer room,"If that is your only exit, you're going to want to leave as soon as I do." she's not going to explain that one, but at least she does give him a brief heads up.