You would prefer to refer to yourself as a merc for hire, but really that would just be a fancier term for a thief in this case. Not many are willing to take someone as young as yourself seriously (link-reveal:"anyways.")[
How else is someone supposed to get by in a world like (link-reveal: "this?")[
Overrun with machinery and technology, the higher-ups staring down, without an ounce of pity, on the rest of the Metro who have to rely on barren scrapes to stay [[alive]].]]
That frustration has led you here. Sitting in the shadows, surveying one of the largest warehouses of the Metro. Usually, you wouldn't take up a job like this, but it was the [[Dean|Dean]] who requested your ragtag [[group.|outside 2]]Life is [[unfair|outside]] like that you suppose.
And with support from them, it's hard for a job to go wrong.
[[Go back|outside]]You earpiece buzzes, someone's online. Pulling you from your thoughts and back to the job at hand. A dangerous one, but you try to think of the rewards it will net (link-reveal:"you.")[
Reputation is everything in this world.]
[[Listen to your comms | faye]]It's Faye. Her [[sweet| sweet?]] voice dispelling some of the tension you (link-reveal: "feel.")[
"Are you spacing out again?" Faye sighs. "We're just about ready to have you head in. It would be best if you could focus."
You hear some clicking on the other side. "This new tech is insane," she states. "I wonder why the Dean has so much faith in us."
The Dean doesn't make mistakes in their actions. Though it was a little unexpected when they came to your group for help. Probably heard of your reputation (link-reveal: "right?")[
[["Because we don't fail." | resp1]]
[["Not like we could've refused." | resp2]]
]]Sweet? You know better than to fall for that voice. An alluring mask to cover up the person's true (link-reveal: "nature.")[
You're grateful that she's on your side.]
[[Go back| faye]]"No, we don't," Faye says. Her tone shifting to something dark. You both know the reason why. After what happened on the last job, you can't afford to fail this one.
Time to get [[started. | start]]Faye gives a soft hum. "We couldn't."
You both decide to leave the conversation there. No reason to instill more dread than before.
Time to get [[started. | start]]You adjust your satchel and holster. Considering this is a stealth job, you probably won't use your pistol for much, but it's always safe to have.
The plan is straightforward. Infiltrate the database room in the basement floor, load some files on the special laptop you were given, and bail out as soon as you (link-reveal: "can.")[
[[Rylen | rylen]] will be heading into the warehouse from the west side. He'll stop by the management room to disable security and then meet up with you on the basement (link-reveal: "floor.")[
Faye will be monitoring and providing support from outside.
[[It will all be fine. | hesit]]
]]
Another chirp from your earpiece. "I've disabled the locks on the outer doors," Faye says. "I can't deal with the ones underground, but Rylen should take care of that easily once he's inside. Not detecting any [[guardteks | guards]] in your vicinity either."
You take a deep breath. It's been a while since you've done infiltration. That's what happens when you're down numbers, you end up with tasks you'd rather not do.
[[Head into the warehouse | firstfloor]]The guardians of the Metro. Humanoid robots whose job seems closer to terrorizing the citizens rather than protecting them.
Really, they're just hunks of useless metal.
[[Go back | hesit]]Another close friend. Reliable and great at working under pressure. Though sometimes he gets carried away with the adrenanline.
[[Go back | start]]
You enter a spacious room lined with piles of crates and inventory. Just like Faye said, there aren't any guardteks in sight. They seem to have been lured away to a different sector of the warehouse.
[[Proceed to the lower floor | basement]]
You take the stairwell down to the lower floor. Faye continues to give you directions so you can navigate yourself towards the destination.
Finally, just around this corner is the entrance to the database room. However, there are two guardteks standing post.
[[Tell Faye | ask]]
[[Take them down| fight1]]Using your comms, you decide to tell Faye of the current situation before pressing on.
"I suppose you could wait for Rylen," she says. "But I know the past you could take those two robots down easily.
She's right. It's time to build back up your confidence. No more fretting about what happened the previous job.
[[Take them down | fight]]You charge towards the two guardteks. They begin to lift their rifles, but you're much faster than them. You sweep one of them off its feet and punch the head of the other, knocking them both to the floor.
You grab one of their rifles and fire a bullet into each guardtek. They both power down with a sharp whir.
[[That wasn't too bad | basement1]]"See? I knew you could do it," Faye says over the comms.
You take a second to feel proud of yourself. This job has been going smoothly so far. Another buzz rings from your comms.
[[Listen to your comms | rylen1]]
You charge towards the two guardteks. They begin to lift their rifles, but you're much faster than them. You sweep one of them off its feet and punch the head of the other, knocking them both to the floor.
You grab one of their rifles and fire a bullet into each guardtek. They both power down with a sharp whir.
[[That wasn't too bad | basement2]]"Seems like you're finally back to your old self," Faye says softly over the comms.
Something like this was child's play. Why were you so worried before? Before your thoughts wander off further, another buzz rings from your comms.
[[Listen to your comms | rylen1]]It's Rylen. "I was able to turn off the security system from the management room," he states. "The database room should be free game now."
You grab the door handle and push open the door to the database room. Just like Rylen said, you didn't need bypass anymore security locks.
"Thanks," you say. You're always impressed by how quick he works.
Rylen gives a chuckle, "It's no problem. I'll meet up down there with you soon."
[[Head into the database room | database]]
The database room is lined with servers with the only source of light coming from the monitors. All you need to do now is plug the laptop into the main server. Faye will take care of the upload from her post.
After that, you'll finally be able to go home.
[[Plug in the laptop | laptop]]You connect the laptop to the main server and hear a successful beep. You should let Faye know the connection was successful so she proceed with the upload.
[[Call Faye | laptop2]]Hm? Your comms aren't working. Strange, is the database room interferring with the connection somehow?
You could probably try calling Faye again from outside the room, but she should already be able to see that the laptop is online. Is it worth the risk to make sure?
[[Try again from outside | outsideroom]]
You head out of database room and try to ring your (link-reveal:"comms.")[
Still not connecting. Have the guards realized something was off and decided to interfere? It couldn't have been from you, you were perfect with your work. Does that mean something happened to Rylen? Or even Faye?
If something happened to them... but it's not a good idea to leave the laptop by itself. Do you trust that they're (link-reveal: "okay?")[
[[Find Faye | findfaye]]
[[Find Rylen | findrylen]]
[[Stay in the database room | laptop5]]
]]
You decide to go find Faye.
Rylen can take care of himself. You guys can't finish the job without Faye anyways. She should be outside near the perimeter of the warehouse.
[[Go to the first floor | stairwell0]]You decide to go find Rylen.
If anyone has the highest chance of being discovered, it's Rylen. After all, he's exposed himself the most during this job. He should still be on the main floor or at least on his way here.
[[Go to the stairwell | stairwell1]]No, you trust that Faye and Rylen are okay. You should focus on getting the job done as soon as possible so you can all get out of the proximity of this warehouse.
[[Head back to the database room | data]]
You climb up the stairwell and burst out onto the first floor. You can hear the shuffling of guards around the many crates of inventory.
Suddenly, you hear a loud bang come from the other side of the floor. It came from the direction of the (link-reveal: "management room.")[
You make your way around the crates of inventory and finally get a visual of the management room.
Rylen is there fighting off three guardteks. Bruised and tattered, but alive. You pull out your pistol and fire at the head of one guard aiming his rifle who crumbles to the floor. Together with Rylen, you two take down the rest of the [[guards. | manage]]
]
You quickly retrace your steps to the stairwell. You can't shake the feeling dread that keeps creeping into your chest.
It's the guilt. The guilt from what happened during the last job. The reason why your team is down one person. The reason why you owe Faye.
You would never be able to forgive yourself if this job ended the same way.
[[Go to the first floor | firstfloor1]]
You quickly retrace your steps to the stairwell. You can't shake the feeling dread that keeps creeping into your chest.
It's the guilt. The guilt from what happened during the last job. The reason why your team is down one person. The reason why you owe Faye.
You would never be able to forgive yourself if this job ended the same way.
[[Go to the first floor | stairwell]]
You climb up the stairwell and burst out onto the first floor. You can hear the shuffling of guards around the many crates of inventory.
Suddenly, you hear a loud bang come from the other side of the floor. It came from the direction of the management room. Could it be Rylen? He should've been long gone from the management room though.
Faye could still be the one in trouble. Should you spare the time to check it (link-reveal: "out?")[
[[Go to the management room | management]]
[[Go find Faye | outside1]]]Better to check than risk accidentatlly leaving someone behind. You make your way around the crates of inventory and finally get a visual of the (link-reveal: "management room.")[
Rylen is there fighting off three guardteks. Bruised and tattered, but alive. You pull out your pistol and fire at the head of one guard aiming his rifle who crumbles to the floor. Together with Rylen, you two take down the rest of the [[guards. | manage]]]Rylen probably made it out already. He's always been able to get out of these types of situations easily. There's even a chance he's already with Faye outside the warehouse.
Yea, they're probably both fine.
[[Go outside | outside2]]You head outside the warehouse and make your way to the designated rendezvous point. You pray that both Faye and Rylen already met up safely and they're only waiting for you to finally join them.
As you approach the meeting spot, however, you can only make out the silhouette of one (link-reveal: "person.")[
Before you can even dread on the fact that only one person made it to the rendezvous point, a huge [[boom | explosion]] rings out behind you.]
You turn around. The warehouse you were just in is covered with flames and smoke. A bomb? But... how? Why?
You turn back to the meeting spot and the person from earlier slowly steps out of the [[shadows. | explosion1]]
It's Faye. She's safe.
But... what's with that horrified look on her face?
[[Reach out to her | explosion2]]You slowly reach out your hand, "Faye, what's going on? Why... what happened to the warehouse?"
"I... How did you get out?" Faye says as she quickly takes a step back away from you. She seems afraid.
You pull back your hand and meet her gaze. "Faye, what happened to Rylen?"
A pause. "He's [[gone | gone]]," is all she says.
You stand there in shock. Rylen didn't make it out of the warehouse? Your ears are still ringing from the explosion and the smoke feels suffocating. The world is spinning in front of you. This can't be happening.
"I'm sorry," Faye says.
You think for a moment. How did such a simple job turn out like this?
Did the Dean have something else in mind when he hired your team? It can't be...
[[Were you guys set up? | gone1]]
The realization quickly dawns upon you. Everything happened too conveniently. The fact that it was so easy to get into the database room. The fact that things went wrong right after you plugged in the laptop.
You slowly turn to Faye. Why did she say that earlier?
[[//"How did you get out?"// | betray]]She knew. She knew this would happen. The Dean must have said something to her to make her betray you.
Faye gives a sad smile as you look at her in horror. "I'm sorry," she says once again.
She basically killed Rylen. She almost killed [[you. | betray1]]
But deep down, you feel like you deserve this. To feel this guilt and pain of losing someone close.
Faye must have felt this way on the last job. This sense of devastation. It was all your fault that the [[fourth member | friend]] of your group had to die like that.It was Faye's closest friend. Partner. You took her away from (link-reveal: "Faye.")[
And now the same has happened to you.
[["//Why?//" | why]]]You approach the door, ready to head back inside.
Huh? It's locked. The security system was just down though.
Something's definitely off now. Something most likely happened to one of them.
[[Go find Faye | findfaye]]
[[Go find Rylen | findrylen]]Rylen gives a sharp exhale and drags a hand down his face. "Damn, you really saved my ass this time," he says.
You give a small smile. "It's the least I can do since you're always saving mine."
You're so glad he's [[safe. | safe]]
You briefly update Rylen about the current situation. How you couldn't get in touch with Faye after you connected the laptop in the database room eariler. Rylen says he was [[ambushed | ambush]] as soon as flipped off security and that's what held him up.
Rylen seems uneasy. "We should probably get to the rendezvous point," he says. "Something doesn't feel right."
You couldn't agree more. This whole situation was unprecedented. You're still worried about Faye as well.
No time to waste.
[[Head outside the warehouse | point]]
Faye looks at you, her eyes are watery. She seems regretful. "Because the Dean promised," she says with an unsteady breath. "That if I did this, they would save her."
So that's what this was. In the end, you and Rylen weren't important enough to her. You two even somehow became a liability for the Dean. You were both meant to be sacrificed for the sake of saving [[//her.// | her]]
Faye turns around and begins to slowly walk away from you. Away from you, the burning warehouse, your team, and [[everything. | why1]]Does she really deserve to walk away from all of this without consequences?
<span class='red'>(text-colour:#d10000)[[Stop her]]</span>
[[Let her go | away]]Rylen said he was ambushed immediately after disabling security. As if they knew exactly what he was going to do and were waiting patiently until he completed the task to attack him. Strange, what reason did they have to act that way?
[[Go back | safe]]You and Rylen make your way out of the warehouse.
"This way," Rylen says as he guides you both (link-reveal: "along.")[
However, before you can even get a few meters away from the warehouse, an explosion happens behind [[you. |explode]]
]You have no right to take her life as well. You watch her walk away and leave you behind. You'll probably never see her again. All that's left is your guilt and anger.
You're all by yourself now.
You couldn't save anyone.
[[. |end]]Rylen didn't deserve to die. Only you did. The feeling of betrayal makes you want to throw up.
Faye is still in sight. Your hand trembles as you reach for the pistol at your side.
<span class='red'>(text-colour:#d10000)[[Stop her | stop]]</span>
[[Let her go | away]]
With an unsteady hand, you pull out your pistol and disengage the safety. A click rings out as you take your aim at Faye.
She stops in her tracks, but doesn't turn to face you. She still keeps her back turned as if accepting what's about to happen.
<span class='red'>(text-colour:#d10000)[[STOP HER | dead]]</span>
[[LET HER GO | away1]]
You can't even argue the fact that her life was worth so much more than yours.
You deserved this.
[[Go back | why]]You pull the trigger. The sound of the gunshot makes you feel dizzy. Faye drops to her knees before falling to the ground. You stare in [[horror |horror]] of what you've just done.You let out a shaky a breath. You lower your pistol. Someone like [[you | YOU]] doesn't deserve to take her life.
You watch her walk away and leave you behind. You'll probably never see her again. All that's left is your guilt and anger.
You're all by yourself now.
You couldn't save anyone.
[[. |end]]A GOOD FOR NOTHING LEADER.
[[GO BACK | away1]]
You tell yourself that it had to be done. That there was no other way.
(live: 3s)[You're just trying to come up with excuses.]
(live: 5s)[Because the reality is the <span class='red'>(text-colour:#d10000)[blood] of all your friends is on your hands now.]
(live: 8s)[<span class='red'>(text-colour:#d10000)[And you can't take that back]]
[[. |end]]END
[[Go back to the beginning |begin]]
[[Go back to the database room | database]]You feel the air get knocked out of your chest as the force of the explosion sends you to the ground. Your ears are ringing and there's a painful throb in your head.
You slowly look (link-reveal: "up.")[
The warehouse you and [[Rylen | floor]] were just in is covered with flames and smoke. What just happened? A bomb?
But... why?
//How?//]//Rylen.// He's sprawled out on the ground a couple steps in front of you. You manage to get yourself on your feet and stagger over to him.
He's still conscious. He gives a few painful sounding coughs. "Go find Faye... make sure she's okay. I'll be right behind you."
You give him nod. Rylen doesn't seem in too bad of a shape. You have to make sure Faye is [[safe. | strange]]
As you make a sprint towards the meeting point, you can't help but wonder how such a simple job turn out like this.
Did the Dean have something else in mind when he hired your team? It can't be...
Were you guys set up?
The realization quickly dawns upon you. Everything happened too conveniently. The fact that it was so easy to get into the database room. The fact that things went wrong right after you plugged in the [[laptop. |strange1]]Were you and Rylen meant to die in that (link-reveal: "explosion?") [
That means Faye has been in danger this whole time.
You can't shake the feeling of dread as you arrive at the meeting [[point. |point]]]Empty. Not a single person in sight. No trace of Faye.
Another job where you lost someone. You can feel the [[guilt | guilt]]
devouring you. How are you supposed to keep going like this?You realize that the Dean caused all of this. They made you guys sign up for this job. They put Rylen's life in danger. They took away Faye.
And you're going to hunt them down no matter what it takes.
[[.|end]]