Kat’s SUV slowed down, road crunching underneath its tires as it approached the security checkpoint. The armored car that formed the point of their motorcade was already stopped and being scanned by an array of complex machinery while a nearby guardpost kept a machine gun pointed at it.

She knew from experience that the scanners were a combination of the best equipment Earth had to offer as well as some of the more esoteric devices that GroCorp had managed to salvage from the downed stallesp ship. They might not understand how the weapon and bomb scanners actually worked, but it could identify everything from an alien pulsar to a ceramic knife concealed inside a prosethetic limb.

More importantly, a pair of concealed rail guns were trained on their convoy right now. Kat couldn’t see them, but like the various security cameras and life sign detectors scattered around the compound, she’d help install them. Concealed by a thin layer of aluminum that could be blown free with the press of a button by the gun’s operator, both of the turreted weapons were capable of laying down a hail of shells, each of which could core the most advanced armored vehicles made on Earth.

A rap on her window drew Kat’s attention to the guard standing respectfully outside. She reached over, pressing the button to lower the tinted pane of bullet proof glass. Recognizing the man, she smiled at him.

“Good morning Ricardo,” Kat said pleasantly, extending her left hand out of the car. “How is corporate life treating you today?”

“Oh you know Ma’am,” he replied with a chuckle, closing a metal box over her hand. Kat felt a prickle as the alien sensors embedded in the device checked her DNA and fingerprints before comparing them to the GroCorp database. “Baker has us drilling all the time. Honestly? Working the gate is pretty light duty. The good news is that more and more of us are getting certified for APEX suits and hover tanks. The scientists haven’t quite figured out how to reproduce all of the stuff that NeoSyne was making, but they’re getting close.”

“So you’re happy that the 3445 joined GroCorp?” She asked, listening to the device in his hands hum.

“Most of the time,” Ricardo responded, tapping a couple of buttons on the box as he ran another scan. “You’ve taken good care of us, and for the first time in a while, I actually feel like I’m working toward something greater. Course, some of the other shareholders and executives can be a bit pushy about the security measures. Some vice president of something or another came by here the other day for a ‘surprise audit’ and refused to go through screening.”

The box beeped in the man’s grip, displaying three green lights. Gently, Ricardo opened it and let Kat remove her hand. He leaned in slightly, the smell of stale coffee heavy on his breath as he whispered conspiratorially.

“Jesse got to tase the guy. Said it was an emergency check to see ‘if he was a stallesp flash clone.’ Everyone stopped complaining about how ‘invasive’ the security screens were when they saw him twitching on the pavement.”

Kat kept her window rolled down, noting the other guards going from person to person in the motorcade as they checked the biometrics of her security detail. She’s leaned slightly out and grinned at Ricardo.

“Well?” She asked. “Was he a stallesp?”

“Nah,” Ricardo replied with a chuckle. “His mistress was though. We couldn’t figure out why he brought her along, but as soon as she was in the building, the gas got her. She collapsed right away and we confirmed the situation before liquidating her.”

“How did she make it past the gate?” Kat questioned, a frown furrowing her forehead. “The detectors here are supposed to be able to catch infiltrators.”

“Emma and Whip know more,” he answered with a helpless shrug, “but all the boxes do is make sure that the person I’m scanning matches the GroCorp employee registry. It sounds like somehow, her employee registry got changed. I don’t have any idea how that happened, but there’s not much we can do on our end if we’re comparing our DNA samples to bad data.”

His smartpanel chirped, and Ricardo reached up, touching its thin metal frame. His eyes flickered back and forth for a second, reading some sort of message before he nodded.

“Your convoy is clean Ma’am,” Ricardo said, slapping a hand down on top of the vehicle before stepping away from her window, “No weapons other than personal arms and everyone is who they say they are.”

She nodded at the guard as he slipped the detection box back into a case on his hip and shouldered one of the sleek rifles the 3445 had looted from the NeoSyne factory. The electromagnetic guns weren’t quite anti tank weapons, but ballistic testing had confirmed that they performed favorably when compared to fifty caliber heavy machine guns. Only the strange alloys and composites salvaged from the alien ship could stand up to the sleek, futuristic looking rifles.

The SUV’s engine rumbled to life beneath Kat as her car followed the first vehicle in line through the barrier. On either side of the gate, concealed by the wall were a pair of the NeoSyne hovertanks, flanked by a half dozen 3445 soldiers in APEX powered armor. Each contingent represented enough force to stop a couple companies of corporate security.

At this point, Kat was no longer concerned about the facility’s conventional security. They were less than an hour from the Schaumburg Arcology, in the heart of GroCorp territory, and the 3445 were a well trained and blooded fighting force, equipped with weapons that staggered the imagination. The only way past them was some combination of sneaking, trickery, and bribery.

Unfortunately, she was very familiar with how effective such indirect methods could be. Between Whip and her, Kat had done what she could to minimize the risk. The compound didn’t have any windows, and only one other entrance, instead growing or building most of the materials it needed on site.

At Kat’s insistence, they’d lined the building’s perimeter with crude point defense lasers. They weren’t nearly as effective as the more refined NeoSyne products that they replicated, but they were more than enough to shoot down any surveillance drones or wildlife that tried to breach the perimeter.

The lack of wildlife meant that Kat could blanket the facility in sensors calibrated to the point that they would pick up a crow or a squirrel. Even with modern technology and magic, she was hard pressed to think how an infiltrator could make it through the perimeter undetected.

Of course, that didn’t mean it was impossible. A good number of samurai were salivating at the idea of making their names by breaking into an impenetrable facility. Already the compound had a small graveyard devoted to well-known but not quite elite infiltrators that had tried and failed.

Gravel crunched under the car’s wheels as it drove past the guards and into a metal tunnel. Concealed sensors watershed over their motorcade as various gun turrets locked onto them, confirming that Kat’s team weren’t a threat before letting them pass.

Finally, their cars reached the compound’s parking garage where Emma was waiting for her, a large, well-muscled black man in a suit standing at her side.

Kat opened her door as soon as they came to a stop, breezing fluidly past her security before wrapping the other woman up in a quick hug. A second later she extricated herself, frowning slightly.

“Where’s Whip?” Kat asked, not seeing her companion’s pink hair. “I thought she’d be here.”

“Whip is shoring up some of the redundant networks’ security,” Emma replied, waving for Kat to follow her as she made her way toward one of the parking garage’s express elevators. “We had another team try to break in last night, and they got a lot closer than most. They actually made it into one of the power networks and tried to shut the laser fence off. If it hadn’t been for the concealed second order networks, I bet we would have seen some people make it over the wall.”

Kat frowned, matching pace with the other woman as they walked through the rows of military vehicles that filled the complex.

“How did that happen?” Kat questioned, slipping to the back of the elevator with Emma as their security details filed in after them. “The network is set up to make remote access impossible. It’s why we don’t even have information or entertainment channels out here.”

“That reminds me, I need the latest Chrome Cowboys download,” Emma answered wistfully. “I get a full week of the show at a time and watch it all in one night, then I have to wait a full week for another episode. It’s driving me mad not knowing whether Jenny will be able to save Rodolfo from the Data Desperados.”

“Emma,” Kat cut in sternly. “Focus.”

“Fine,” the other woman grumbled. “Whoever tried to hack us used some sort of grenade launcher. The fired a data shunt made out of some sort of stealth material over the wall and steered it to a port using compressed gas. Once we figured out what happened, we combed the grass in the area and found that they had been using reconnaissance drones made from the same material to fire microbursts of observation data back.”

“How the fuck did they find an open port?” Kat asked incredulously. “We made a point of ensuring that there wouldn’t be anything outward facing for exactly this reason.”

The floor hummed under them as the elevator sprang to life. Kat barely felt the slight pull as they started moving upward.

“The shunt was attached to some sort of drone,” Emma replied. “It basically tunneled into one of the power couplings we used to operate the floodlights and ripped apart the connection. Somehow it was able to sauter itself into the cable. It didn’t get much access to the system because of the failsafes, but we had to literally rip it out of the wall, and it slagged itself with thermite before we could get a look at it.”

With a ding, the elevator doors opened in front of them, revealing a long hallway painted in warm colors. Half open doors on either side revealed offices where individuals in casual attire worked at smartglass displays rotating pictures of circuits and energy conduits as they tried to make sense of the alien technology.

Kat stepped out into the hallway, another frown on her face she swept past the open offices en route to her suite. She cocked her head slightly over her shoulder as she spoke to Emma.

“That sounds like some pretty serious technology. Anyone capable of doing that either has a serious corporate backer, or the kind of street name a common employee would recognize. It sounds to me like we’re moving up into the big leagues.”

“Well,” Emma replied, “we are sitting on top of the most valuable collection of technology and scientists on the entire planet. I don’t really know what the category is once you get pass the big leagues, but I’m pretty sure that’s where we’re at right now.”

“Seriously Kat,” the other woman continued, hurrying to catch up to her. “I wish you would find some more subject matter experts for Whip and I. We’re in over our heads here.”

Kat sighed, reaching up to run a hand through her hair. Emma was right. She might be a shareholder, but that was more than just a name and a title. It was an institution. Functionally, Kat was an autonomous sub-company with her own power base, sectors of control and income stream from dividends. GroCorp had provided her with a team of accountants, analysts, and lawyers to supplement her mandatory security detail, but at the end of the day, there was still a mountain of paperwork for her to comb through.

There was something to be said about working with professionals. Emma was still in college, and all of Whip’s knowledge on computers and network security came from hands-on experience and combing unregulated information channels. The presentations and data they provided came in slick and carefully organized charts, often addressing concerns that Kat didn’t even know to look for. Still, for all of their knowledge and preparation–

“I don’t trust them Emma,” Kat replied. “We obviously need their help, and I know that I’m throwing a lot at Whip and you, but if I’ve learned anything in the last couple of years it's that trust is more valuable than any level of disloyal excellence.”

The door to her office opened automatically in front of Kat and her face fell slightly when she didn’t see Whip inside. The entire room was furnished ostentatiously in hardwoods and expensive looking art. Despite theoretically being in charge of the research facility, Kat’s requests to make her office more ‘low-key’ were more or less ignored. The only spot where the interior designers had actually listened to her was on security.

All of Kat’s furniture was actually made from a durable composite alloy. The artistic wood paneling was simply a veneer. Even the room’s massive, sweeping windows were little more than fancy smartglass displays, projecting images of the outside of the building without the security risk of a missile or stranger being able to access her office.

Emma slipped past Kat, plopping into a cushioned chair next to the room’s roaring fireplace. She looked up at Kat, opening her mouth to say something before she paused. Indecision flickered over her face for a fraction of a second before she spoke up.

“Whip is still busy going over the network security Kat. She’s like you, even if she’s okay with letting other programmers do most of the work, she wants to add her own wrinkles to the defenses that no one but her knows about.”

“You can’t be bribed or blackmailed into revealing a secret you don’t know,” Kat replied wistfully. “That was always one of Xander’s favorite sayings. I could never figure out how much of it was a genuine commitment to operational security, and how much was not wanting to explain himself to an overly curious young woman.”

“You haven’t talked to Whip about your feelings yet, have you?” Emma asked. “It’s almost been five months since we seized the stallesp ship, and things were almost boiling over then. You really need to speak up. Even if it doesn’t drive the two of you crazy, I’m about ready to sprint into a wall over having to keep quiet about everything. Knowing a secret and not talking about it just isn’t in my nature.”

Kat shifted uncomfortably, acutely aware of her cheeks heating up.

“Things got really busy with us building the research complex,” she replied, unable to meet Emma’s eyes. “There was just so much to do between board meetings and making sure that we were meeting production deadlines, that Whip and I haven’t really gotten much of an opportunity to talk.”

“Well,” Kat stuttered, “we talk, but it’s rarely alone, and we never have a chance to discuss anything personal. It’s all about electronic security and research benchmarks.”

“Uh-huh,” Emma remarked, visibly unimpressed.

“Plus,” Kat said hurriedly. “I’m sure she knows how I feel about her. It’s not something that needs to be said. There’s just a tension in the room when we’re both there. She has to know how I feel and that I-”

“It needs to be said, Kat,” Emma interrupted. “You both know, but some things need to be acknowledged and put into the open. If you put this off forever, you’re only going to make yourself miserable.”

Kat slumped, groaning as her shoulders all but caved in. She stalked over to her desk and picked up a glass of water. The ring on her index finger blinked green, indicating a lack of poison in the liquid, and she took a long drink before plopping herself into a leather chair.

“God Emma,” She blurted out. “I need help. Honestly, I’d rather try and raid a fortified enemy base, I’d rather charge twenty armed samurai with nothing but a knife than deal with this. You’re right, but I’m not equipped for this sort of thing.”

“Please,” she beseeched her friend. “Just tell me what to do.”

“Nuh-uh.” Emma waved both of her hands wildly in front of her face. “I can tell you that you need to ask Whip out on a date, that this tense silence between the two of you is slowly poisoning you, but anything after that is solely up to the two of you. Like, you’re cute together and all of that, but there is no way in hell that I’m going to get involved in your relationship as some sort of coach or go between. That’s a level of invasiveness and weirdness that’s a bit much, even for me.”

“A date,” Kat replied, perking up. “I think I can handle that. I’ll just ask her out on a date, and things will work out from there. Thank God Emma, you’re a lifesaver.”

The other woman nodded encouragingly from her chair by the fire, but Kat’s face fell regardless.

“Crap,” Kat muttered, slumping into her seat. “Now I just need to figure out where we will go and what we’re going to do.”

“Are you sure you can’t handle this for me?” She asked Emma hopefully. “Maybe you can at least give me a hint or something?”

“Just pick someplace to go to dinner,” Emma responded waving a hand. “As long as you don’t take her on a mission or equipment shopping afterward, it will count as a date. Let me know the details, and I’ll start working on a security detachment.”