Empty streets had a lot of reasons for being empty. Cassandra certainly put it on the list of consequences for the city having a diminished population. There simply wasn’t enough people to make a crowd anywhere. Most hardly ever went out of their apartments, emergency rations enough to sustain them for the near future.

However… even if there were the numbers necessary to crowd the roads, there were real doubts such a thing would happen. With her right hand tight around the handhold provided by the vehicle, Cassandra was beginning to notice the lack of a slowing acceleration. It had been a good half-minute, yet the scrap-bucket beside her was making the car speed up even more than usual.

The whole road was being used, with turns so wide that it would have destroyed any cars in their way. There was no chance that she would have attempted what was being done in front of her. Not even the greatest of drivers would have risked driving in such a populated city with their current velocity. It was just too dangerous.

Just the g-forces were something in its own class. Had it been a decade ago, Cassandra would have likely gotten queasy, to the point of rediscovering her breakfast. Nowadays, she was likely immune to such reactions. That's what she had guessed, at least. Though… with the continuing speeds, there was a chance that such an assumption would be put on a test. That is if they did not drive into a building beforehand.

“While your parts might be recovered and salvaged, I feel my life is more important than risking it for a few saved seconds,” Cassandra said, not daring to look over at the silent Jules. She was more than ready to brace for impact, the moment that she got the slightest hint of them crashing.

They were getting awfully close to the side-walks now, to the point where the widest parts of the car were starting to hit it mildly. Not enough to cause visual scratches, but enough to make the car issue warnings out aplenty. Again, there was no reaction about them from the vehicle. Even the non-sentient object with wheels had found their journey too quick. That must have meant something when Cassandra had never personally been issued such a thing herself.

“In your report, there was a mention of their utter efficiency. Seconds matter, when the break-in is counted in minutes,” Jules said, similarly not looking over at her. Those robotic eyes continued to flick around, trying to look everywhere at once. It would have disoriented anyone alive if they were to try the same. “And, brace for deceleration. We will arrive at five. Four. Three…”

With another sharp turn, Cassandra hardly had time to flex her tricep before she was pushed forward. Only her arm gripping the car and the seatbelt stopped her from flying through the windshield. Or, attempt to fly through the windshield. There was no actual chance of such a thing happening, the pressure needed to even scratch it being more than a human could ever hope to produce.

“We have reached our destination,” Jules said, already starting to get out of the vehicle. From the inside of the automation’s jacket, a tranquilizer was drawn. Without having to be told, it had gone the route of non-lethal. Cassandra supposed that was an improvement from the standard. There was no need to use the weapons capable of death when one could make the thieves fall over. “What are your orders?”

‘Switch over to internal communications,’ Cassandra started off with, not feeling that conversation would be worth it. Stepping out of the car as well, she looked around. There was no sign of anybody having been close by for close to a couple of weeks. But… that was not what the cameras had said. Fifty meters away, a door to a medical supply store stood open. Once again, somebody had forgotten to close it. ‘Stealth is high-priority. Any capture is a higher priority than all captured. If lethal force is used, disarm at all costs.’

Jules sent a thumbs up in response. Some things never changed, even if the woman oh so wished they did. At least her orders were respected this time around. If there had been a struggle about rank, it would have bit into their precious time to strike.

Now… from the building plans there were two ways to enter and exit the building. One in the front and one which led into an alleyway in the back. From city plans, it would take seven minutes on foot to reach the alleyway. Not good.

But, communications with the building would allow her to lock it temporarily. That was one of the abilities the force had to use, as an attempt to hinder escape. It would force the thieves to stay inside the building or come out of the front entrance.

Could that work? It would help the two locate a specific place the thieves would come from, allowing them to create an ambush on their terms. Or… the thieves would stay inside the building for as long as they pleased. If that was so, reinforcements could come, allowing for them to encircle the building fully.

With all those ideas, the smartest decision would be to lock the door, and wait for the thieves to come out the main entrance, no? From a single glance, it would certainly look appealing. But… Cassandra knew better. She could technically lock the back exit, but there were no guarantees that the thieves couldn't bypass it. They must have had the required tech for it, else they would have been unable to enter the building, to begin with.

What then? If they knew that the thieves would leave within five minutes, that there were two entrances to guard, and with no discernable idea about the number nor what equipment was present, what would be the smartest decision to make?

A super-computer could likely spend a year on it, and come out with an agreeable answer. But, Cassandra had neither the time nor the power needed for such a thing. She had to trust pre-made battle plans, her instincts, and a general idea about the criminals she would face.

‘We enter the building and lock both entrances. To cover the ground swiftly, we will split up. I will take the customer area, while you take the back room. The sweep needs to be done within a minute. Do you have any scanning equipment equipped currently?’ Cassandra summarized. A good thing about working with automations was the lack of padding needing to be done. Though, she would have loved to refrain from sending anything to anyone.

‘I am currently equipped with body armour, lethal and non-lethal weaponry, and close-range auto-defences,’ Jules sent back. No scanning equipment then. What a waste. It would have made the first step of the plan easier.

‘Incapacitate any targets you meet. No warnings need to be issued,’ Cassandra sent out with a final statement. But… after a second she realised another addition needed to be made. ‘Any questions?’

Working with automations had made Cassandra accustomed to their silent acceptance of her orders. Never was there a moment where her words would be questioned, where she would be disobeyed. She could ask them to shoot a criminal, and they would hardly hesitate for a moment. Yet, that was exactly what would be done now. Jules had already questioned and disobeyed a direct order. She needed to anticipate anything before they entered the building, and that included how her so-called partner accepted her words. How she despised it.

‘Yes. What if I am unable to see them?’ Jules asked, having an answer. Cassandra had not-

Wait. It had a point. It had a very important point that should have been checked out. They were already within fifteen meters of the door, and there was one detail that had not been properly discussed.

They had cloaking equipment, capable of disrupting any electronic sensors. This included what Cassandra had in her irises. If the tech could reach so far, what stopped it from having an effect on the automation’s way of sight?

They were within ten meters of the door now. Cassandra needed to know what to do. There had to be- Yes! The automation from the day before had been in contact with one of the thieves. How much had it been able to see… No. It had not been in contact with one of the thieves. That was a mistake in her mind. The automation had run out after her, yes, but never had it looked over at the pavement, right where one of the criminals had been. There had been no reason to.

If they entered, there was a legitimate chance of Jules going in blind. There was a chance that the automation would be unable to see any thieves at all. What were the chances that this would be exploited to target the automation?

They were in front of the door, one of them on either side. Jules was waiting for her to answer, for her to give the sign to enter. The risks were high, yes, but by not trying at all… Cassandra had not witnessed anything that would imply the thieves had weaponry. And there was not a high chance anything lethal would be carried right away. She hoped.

‘We have to take the chance,’ Cassandra answered, putting her weight in the right foot. Sending up a shared count-down, the time for entering had been set. With the width of the entrance, it would be simultaneous.

Three.

She would go to the right, and Jules would go to the left.

Two.

Cassandra adjusted the tranquillizer at hand. Its shape was making it hard to hold evenly. She had to focus.

One.

Just before the count finished silently, Cassandra had already leaned a bit forward, making it possible for her to enter at the perfect moment. Jules did the same, beginning what could only be called a dead sprint. The speed equalled it, at least.

Cassandra did not pay attention to it. The doors had been locked shut. Her weapon was raised. Her steps were quick. Her heartbeat was strong and unstoppable.

Every corner was checked, as the woman swept through the store. Once again, thin walls had been set up to mask the smaller size of the building. It created a sense of tightness, while also creating more corners than could be counted. It made more openings for criminals to strike.

Her breathing was forced to be quiet. It was slow, relaxed. Cassandra knew she couldn't keep that up for more than a minute. But, a minute would do just fine. Her eyes darted around the place systematically. Her hands matched were her eyes pointed, making the weapon ready to be fired.

Her feet-placements were that of a fine dance. They had been choreographed, after all. She had prepared herself to search the rooms, had viewed the tapes of the inside, and had made sure that everything would be covered. There was no chance that she missed anybody hiding in her part of the store. There was not a soul in the store-front. Nobody except for her.

…

Cassandra let herself take in the air she so desperately needed. She had not been in control of her heartbeat. She needed to do more exercise if she ever wanted that skill under her palm again.

A minute had passed. Her steps had been faster on average than they were supposed to have been. It was not the most grave of mistakes, but neither was it the lightest. Now, they needed to move together again. No sudden messages had come from Jules. Were they hiding in the ceiling? It had to be since the automation was still working perfectly fine. Another order to give.

‘Jules, get over here. We need to-’ was all she managed to send out before a cold, hard piece of metal hit the lower part of her neck and upper part of her back. On reflex, the uncompleted message was sent. Cassandra paid that no heed, the impact having hit hard enough to cloud her thoughts for a few precious moments.

The second she fell to the ground without any bracing, her mind went back in operational mode. Her hand still held the tranquillizer. It had shifted slightly, her fingers barely touching the back-end. It would work. It had to.

Twisting to put herself on her back, Cassandra shifted her hand to point the tranquillizer in her assailant's way. The weapon never reached its intended direction, a metal-wrapped toe-capped forcing her grip to be released. It was pain incarnate, but none of it was released in sound.

Instead, she put her arm to her side. Cassandra always had the lethal weapons on her right and the non-lethal on the left. It helped with coordination. Yet times like these showed how impractical it could be. With right hand trapped, her left had to grab what she could not see and-

Cassandra stopped. Looking upwards, she saw the barrel of an old gun looking down on her. It was an ancient design, coming from the beginning of the current millennia. It was older than most alive. And it was aimed at her face, ready to fill her head full of metal.

“Don't move,” was heard through a face mask filled with neon lights. The voice was altered, making it impossible to recognize. How had she not seen the lights before?

Body armour filled every part of the criminal. The only part she dared move was her eyes, and they went through every detail they could. Images were transmitted to the servers as a precaution. Everything that could be used as an identifier. An emergency call would be made the moment the man twitched his fingers.

This was bad.

‘Jules, I have found the thief. They are armed and have incapacitated me. Help is needed,’ Cassandra sent. Moments passed… there were no thumbs-up sent back. In fact, the automation sent nothing back at all. The system classified the machine as operational, so it should have responded. Yet… it was silent.

“Are you alone?” Cassandra asked the masked man. From the body-form, she guessed it to be so.

“Don't talk,” the masked man said. The woman was fine with that, knowing she had stalled for another second or two. “Are you alone?”

As she had been asked to do, there was not a single movement of her lips. Silence held on between the two, Cassandra staring the masked man down. She did not blink, she did not waver, as she knew that her will was the only thing helping make the moment pass for a small while more. But, it might not have been much more.

A muffled sigh was heard. Cassandra had to narrow her eyes slightly. She saw the man begin to press his finger on the trigger. She saw it moving down, knowing exactly what would be coming after. It was a miracle that she did not close her-

The wall to the side split open, as Jules quite literally flew through it. The momentum made the automation able to near-instantly tackle the man, bringing them both towards the shelves filled with bandages.

Not that the gun did not trigger though. A bullet travelled through the barrel, hitting the ground mere centimetres next to Cassandra’s ear. It hurt. The sound was almost deafening. An unenhanced human would have likely lost their hearing for quite a while if put in her shoes.

Jules held the man down, forcing the hand with the weapon to be towards the ground. Not much more could be done, if not for Cassandra joining the mix. With a shoe on the man's wrist, he was forced to let go of the weapon. Karma was certainly swift in that regard.

And more of it would come soon enough. She would make sure that it came to be.