Effie freezes as she stared into the eyes of Piero Lito, who merely nods back at her, "Circuitry of Change? Are-aren't they ones that are advocating for the liberation of droids from humans?!"
Hosoi Sen merely nods, affirming what she said, "That's right. The Circuitry of Change are responsible for a 95% of the cases in Ghrest last year alone."
"They really are a paperwork droid" jests Piero even in the tense situation.
The radio rings, a voice of man is heard from the other side, "Backup enroute in five minutes. Please cordon off the area, and maintain communications. Over"
"Negative. We're stuck inside. Turning off comms for safety. Over and out."
"Granted. Over and out"
"So, what's next? We can't stay here hoping they'll arrive in time before the insurgents," asks Hosoi Sen.
Effie affirms his thought as he answers, "Yes. Judging by the rate of the insurgents from the front, we have at most one minute and a half to escape. They've also cordoned off the side entrance".
Effie was still looking through the camera feeds, watching as the insurgents calmly and eerily marches over to their location.
"Effie, me and Haso... We don't really matter but you... You have to get out so that the neural chip won't be taken by the insurgents" Piero says in uncharacteristically serious moment.
She watches as Piero sits down underneath a ventilation shaft and orders her to stand on top of him. Nodding in understanding with the police officer, she complied, heading up into the vents. She watches from above as the pair prepare a blockade, an ambush point from the coming enemies.
She crawls quickly through the ventilation shaft arriving next to the side entrance but instead of rushing out, she crawls quickly but stealthily through the area, her mini map on the top right keeping close track of any opponents and their range of sight. Her target was... The security room.
She sees the security room door slightly ajar, inviting her inside. Looking inside in the room, she sees that the security guard is lying on the group as a corpse. She grimaces at the sight, quickly crawling over to it, taking his gun out of his hand.
In the distant future, all guns are assigned to one particular individual and most individuals with only stick with one gun. Guns for humans can only be used if their fingerprints align and guns for bots require verification via a specialized notch on a finger that has to be registered through the government. Effie have neither the fingerprint of the security guard nor the notch to be used for the checking of the identity of the person.
Effie improvises. She takes a pencil from a nearby drawer, rubbing it onto a piece of paper to create a patch of graphite. Then, she takes a small strip of a cellophane tape, pressing its sticky side onto the patch of graphite she just created before sticking it onto the finger of the dead security guard.
It's iffy but it can work....
She sticks the patch of cellophane tape onto the fingerprint scanner and starts licking the tape. The heat generated from inside her (A well requested feature among her patrons), and the tiny electricity conductivity of her tongue is enough to fool the liveliness test for the fingerprint scanner. She hears a click from the gun, indicating that it is usable.
She checks the ammunition for the pistol. She has nine rounds plus another two more magazines, adding up to 27. Should be more than enough.
She has around 15 minutes before the gun resets and requests for another round of verification so, she slinks back into the hallway, not taking the vents this time. She sees the group of insurgents hanging outside the VIP room, not daring to move inside due to the barricade set up by the two detectives. A few corpses loiter the hallway; victims of the two detectives' marksmanship skills.
She takes aim at the group of insurgents who are unaware of her presence, targeting those closest to the two detectives.
BANG! Ting!
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BANG! Ting!
BANG! Ting!
Just then, a bunch popups hit the bottom left of her screen.
Combat Detected - System to Prioritize Survivability
Adrenaline Mode Entered
Kernel Access Granted
CPU Overclocking
Visual Input Reduced - Texture and Shaders Minimized to save computing resources
Natural Movement Limitations Removed - WARNING Excessive Movements will result in Damages
As she looks at her surroundings, she realized that the movements of the insurgents have become slower - No, it is she that has visualized faster. She sees how the cylinders fired into the three insurgents hit their marks as they fall onto the group as a heap of steel.
She realizes she can fire off two more rounds before needing to take cover and she did.
BANG! Ting!
BANG!
Ah - she missed the last insurgent.
She takes cover behind the corner, removing her magazine to be replaced with a full one. Sure, she has four more rounds but why risk running out in the middle of a fight?
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The brick behind her splinters as the cylinders fire off into the side of the wall. She calculates where the bullet would have been fired from based on the trajectory before marking on her mini map. She fires a shot from behind cover, following that trajectory.
BANG! Ting!
She scored another kill. She peeks from behind the corner again, noticing the two detectives has begin to move in on the insurgents, only one remaining. She fires at the last Insurgent, taking it out.
BANG! Ting!
They raised their own Glocks at her, to which she responded by lowering her own Glock and raising both her hands up.
"Talk about a bang for a buck" jests Piero again, a deep sigh released from his mouth as he unconsciously reach out for his cigarette. Then, he realizes the situation he's in and addresses Effie once again.
But, Hosoi beat him to it - "That gun? It's from the security guard, no? How did you bypass the fingerprint scanner?"
Effie merely shakes her head and points to the exit door, "Later. I'll explain later".
Taking a position at the side entrance door, she motions to the two detectives, "Stack up". Piero takes the lead on the other side, with Hosoi behind him. She takes a moment to change to another full magazine.
Effie nods to which Piero nods back. She kicks the door hard enough to send it flying by its hinges and quickly rush outside. Three insurgents guarding the side entrance. She takes aim.
BANG! Ting!
BANG! Ting!
BANG!
Crap! She missed the last one. She takes aim but before she can fire -
BANG! Ting!
Piero shots off from the side entrance, taking the last insurgent out for the count. Effie nods gratefully to Piero. If Piero were suspicious of Effie now, her display just now will surely raise more question. He hands out her hand to her to which she hands the pistol she stole to.
Conflict Resolved
Kernel Access Removed
Adrenaline Mode Deactivated
Settings changed to default
"Duct tape, and graphite dust" says Piero with a hint of amusement in his voice, "And how did you bypass the liveliness test?"
"Licking it"
He gazes at the tape, taking it up to be illuminated by the moonlight.
"I see. Simple enough. Saliva is slightly conductive and your mouth generates heat" he says, "Checks out..."
"So, how the fuck did a droid like you end up working customer service?" he whispers loudly, the pistol from behind bagged into an evidence bag, taken from inside his duster.
"If I may hazard a guess, I would think it has something to do with the neural chip inside her brain" says Hosoi Sen, still taking cover from outside the side entrance, watching for leftover insurgents, "The HMC has arrived. They're rooting out the insurgents"
As if on cue, squeals of police sirens rang through the alleyway they are in, as two police cars enters. Four human exit out of the car, immediately taking cover outside the police cars' doors. Seeing this, Effie immediately raises her hands and gets on her knees, hoping they wouldn't mistake her for an insurgent.
But to her surprise, they all take a deep breath of relief before walking over the trio. "Senior Sub-Inspector Piero! Constable Hosoi!" a man calls out to them, "We are from District 7! We've received your call regarding the insurgents"
"Yes. Please take over" laments Piero, like changing shift with another security guard, "Hosoi and I are taking our leave. We need to take this civilian witness with us for some processing".
"Noted, Captain. We've received report. The front assault unit has finished up rooting out the stragglers. We're remaining here to act as backup in case any is missed"
The man turns to Effie, with a warm smile, "You're lucky you got with our men here, even if it is Detective Piero"
Hosoi sighs and shakes his head, sneering "More like we're lucky to be with her"
Meanwhile, Piero was already by the side of his car, taking a deep inhalation of a lit cigarette, it tip burns quickly, falling to the ground. Hosoi and Effie nods at the men before taking off into the police car.
