Val clicked her tongue in frustration, tapping down forcefully on the control panel. It flashed red and beeped at her indifferently, same as the last twelve doors she had tried.

Who knew escaping from a secret base was so difficult?

If you have time to complain, you have time to check doors. Move on to the next one.

A flicker in the corner of Val’s vision drew her attention as the overlaid map of the compound updated. A blinking icon marked the intersection at the far end of the hallway. Growling under her breath, Val turned from the door and strode purposefully down the hall. Along the way, she passed several more nondescript doors. The part of her that prided itself on thoroughness demanded that she try every door, but she resisted the urge to stop as she walked to Noir’s next marker.

We’ve already discussed this. There’s no time to check every door. Better to map out as much of the compound as possible and try to find a less secure sector where more doors are unlocked.

I know, I know. I’m going, aren’t I?

Noir remained quiet, but Val could sense the mild disapproval from the Daemon. She shook her head, but started jogging down the hallway. In any other circumstance, she would have argued back but there was no time now. Between Noir’s forced technique incapacitating Brawn and their ability to disable Brain’s viruses, the two of them had created this potential opportunity to escape.

But her desperation grew with every minute that passed by without any clear progress. Each hallway ended in an intersection that led to more blank hallways, every door barred her from entry with a pesky flash of red. The map of the compound was filled with a distressing amount of blank spaces, even as Noir’s route took her further and further away from her cell and the extraction room.

Wait.

Val froze in the middle of a four-way intersection. She glanced around, looking down each path but neither stood out to her immediately. At least, not until Noir highlighted a small section of the ground in the hallway to her right. Clearly, the Daemon’s processing power allowed them to pick up on clues that Val’s conscious mind either was not capable of or ignored.

Kneeling down, Val examined the patch of ground more closely. Instinctively she tried to reach out with her right arm, wincing as pain shot through the limb. The numbness was slowly leaving her arm, but she was still having difficulty moving it. It seemed the cost of Noir’s technique was high, leaving the nanosystem in her arm overtaxed and barely functional.

Even worse, Val felt a slight twinge and tightness in her chest each time she took a deep breath. It could just be muscular, but she had a feeling it was more serious than that. Noir had not said anything, but Val guessed the stress on her nanosystem didn’t do her fractured core any favors either.

Well, no good worrying about that now. Pushing aside the distracting thoughts, Val reached out with her left arm this time. Her fingers swiped across the patch, coming away with a slight wet residue. Rubbing her fingertips together, she brought the residue up to her nose but didn’t get any strong scents.

Bending her elbows, she placed one cheek down on the cool floor. Mmm, feels nice. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a brief moment to compose herself. When her eyes opened again, the angle of the reflected light made it easier for her to see the mystery patch on the ground. The wet spot seemed to be roughly fist-sized, and she was surprised to see several more spots further down the hallway.

Now that Noir had more data, they were able to highlight the other patches more easily. Val pushed herself back up to her feet as she took in the new markers. Each patch was roughly the same size, separated by about a foot in two distinct linear arrangements. Almost like…

Paw prints.

Val’s eyes widened as the pieces clicked together in her mind. It was possible that the Enhanced direwolf had just dumped her somewhere in the forest and Brawn had picked her up, but it seemed more likely that the wolf had brought her directly here. And if it had brought her here, then it was completely plausible that it had come inside the base. Doubt the wolf wiped his paws before coming inside. It all tracks.

… If that was an intentional pun, in this situation, then I won’t resist their attempts of extraction next time.

Val started at the vehemence in Noir’s tone. What? OH, oh no of course not! It seemed the Daemon did not share Val’s appreciation for wordplay, intentional or not. Or rather, it was Fynn’s appreciation that had rubbed off on her after years of exposure.

But wait, you’d prefer giving yourself up to that creepy old man over hearing a few puns? That seems excessive.

Noir’s response, when it came after several seconds, seemed slightly surly to Val. Maybe I exaggerated slightly. But I knew I didn’t like Fynn if that is his idea of humor.

Val rolled her eyes. You don’t like anyone. But let’s focus on the problem at hand. We’ve got wolf tracks. How does this help us?

If you are correct and the wolf didn’t “wipe his paws” before coming inside, we should be able to follow these to the exit. If you examine a few more tracks, I should be able to determine which direction has a higher moisture content and therefore which way should lead us to the forest.

Noir fell silent, but Val was starting to understand the Daemon’s speech patterns at this point. I sense you have something more to add?

There is no reason to believe the wolf has left the compound either. In fact, we explicitly have a higher chance of encountering the wolf if we follow a route we know for a fact that it uses.

Val gulped nervously, looking down the wolf’s tracks until they disappeared around the next corner.

You really need to work on your delivery of bad news.

They are just facts.

Yes I know, but how you communicate them matters.

Val’s hand instinctively reached for Brain’s pistol, tucked into the waistband of her shorts. The gun was useless to her with its biometric lock, but she suddenly felt the need to hold a weapon. Val sighed and let her hand drop; after all, a free hand was probably better in the event of a fight than a small chunk of metal.

Her map was updated again, this time with a small trail that marked the paw prints Noir was able to spot down the hallway. Val walked quickly down to the next intersection. The paw prints continued down the left path. Pressing herself to the wall, Val peered around the corner and breathed a sigh of relief as she was greeted by another empty hallway. She took a quick glance down the other paths, but they all stayed mercifully empty. Steeling herself, she turned the corner and continued after the wolf tracks.

The next ten minutes passed uneventfully, leaving Val feeling simultaneously relieved and on edge. As Noir was kind enough to remind her, just because something hadn’t happened yet didn’t mean that catastrophe was not around the next corner. So far, the Daemon’s prediction hadn’t come true, but they weren’t out of the woods yet.

Or into the woods, rather. Val felt a pulse of annoyance from Noir. OK, that one might have been on purpose. But never mind that. What do you make of this?

The maze of corridors had suddenly opened up into a larger chamber. Several crates dotted the chamber, but her gaze was drawn to the massive heavy-duty door dominating the far wall. The wolf’s tracks seemed to wander around the entire room, which made her uncomfortable. However, it seemed the coast was clear for now as Val found herself alone in the large space.

I “make” the obvious exit.

Val rolled her eyes again. She’d have to be careful to avoid developing that habit in response to Noir’s aggravating responses, but that was too low on her priority list to worry about at the moment.

I can see that. But I don’t see any mechanisms to open the door.

It seems likely there will be an alternate, smaller door. I’ll examine the room for any such opening. In the meantime, I’d recommend searching for supplies.

You don’t need to tell me twice.

I’d recommend searching for supplies.

Val blinked before the corner of her mouth twitched. I didn’t know you were capable of jokes, Noir.

Less talking, more searching.

Alright, alright. But this isn’t over.

Shaking her head ruefully, Val ambled over to the first set of crates. Unsurprisingly, the control panels on the side lit up red when she tried to open the boxes. She made her way to the next stack of crates with similar results. She was ready to give up when she noticed one crate toppled over on its side in the corner of the room.

Hurrying over to the container, she flipped it upright. Slapping her hand on the control panel, she got another expected burst of red light. However, this time she was not quite done with the box yet.

The fall had apparently dented the corner of the metal, revealing a slight gap between the lid and the side. The space was small, just barely enough to slip a finger or two into. If Bri were here, that would be enough for her to pry open the lid with her bare hands, using a combination of brute strength and body enhancement subroutines. Unfortunately for Val, she wasn’t Bri and that wasn’t an option for her. Luckily, however, she wasn’t quite empty-handed either.

Reaching to the small of her back, Val pulled out Brain’s small pistol from her waistband. Pushing the crate against a wall to prevent it from sliding, Val positioned the tip of the barrel at the gap and started forcing the weapon into the gap. Come on, nearly… There!

A smile crossed Val’s face as the gun slid forward into the crate suddenly. It was still biometrically locked, so she couldn’t shoot the locking mechanism or any of the electronics, but in this case, she was only after the physical properties of the weapon. Using her one good arm, Val slowly wedged the barrel further into the gap, pushing the gun towards the hinge.

The metal of the crate started creaking from the strain, clearly no match for the solid metal of the gun. Soon though, Val reached a point where she couldn’t push the gun any further in with her arm strength alone. Turning the box around, she positioned the gun’s handgrip against the wall, angled slightly towards the hinge. Walking around to the other side, she sat down and gave the box a sharp kick with her legs.

She heard another creak, but the lid still refused to open. A bead of sweat dripped down her neck as she licked her lips nervously. She repositioned the box slightly before stomping on it again, as hard as her bare feet would allow. Her heart skipped a beat as she heard metal groaning before a sudden click as the lid sprang open. Scrambling forward on her hands and knees, Val peered down into the crate.

Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.

Val grinned as she reached in and pulled out an assault rifle. It was much larger than the pistols she was used to, but still lighter and more maneuverable than a sniper rifle like the one Kaya used. It was a good weapon for her to take into the forest, hopefully letting her protect herself at range. She slipped the sling over her shoulder before letting the rifle drop to her side.

Next, she pulled out a small box of universal magazines. Flipping the lid open, it looked like there was enough material to serve as seven or eight magazines for the rifle. She frowned slightly as she realized she had no easy way to store the magazines. Normally, her exosuit had cargo spaces specifically designed for this purpose, but she hadn’t been lucky enough to find her exosuit on the way out.

Reaching back into the crate, she unclipped a sling from another rifle. Dumping the magazines out of their container, she placed the small box on its side and brought her rifle up. It wasn’t ideal, but she found that her left arm could support most of the weight of the weapon. With some effort, she forced the index finger on her right arm to move and pull the trigger. She tried to ignore the pain as the recoil of the rifle jostled her right shoulder.

Looking back at the small box, she could see a small hole where her bullet had easily blown through the thin metal. A second hole mirrored the first on the opposite side of the box. She clipped the ends of the extra sling to the two holes, creating the world’s worst purse. Loading the universal magazines back into the box, she draped the sling over her other shoulder. The box dug into her left hip, but it was well worth it to have the additional ammunition.

Val took another look in the crate but didn’t find anything else of use. Standing up, she surveyed the room.

Alright, at least we have a weapon. What did you find?

In response, a small human-sized door was highlighted in her vision.

Found our most likely exit.

Alright, let’s go see if we can finally get out of this place.