Chapter 8

Good Dog

Eclipse and the others piled out the other end of his shadow into a spartan hallway, Busters feet clacking on the hard floor. In the actual Facility there were klaxons sounding that vibrated in all the villains heads with a dull buzz and strobes lined against the walls of the hallway flashed. Hardstone and Frostbite took flanking positions on each end of the hallway while Eclipse attempted to use his coms device to establish radio contact with Shiver. He tapped at the device in his ear as he paced, Buster shadowing his path. “Shiver do you read?”

There was a large crackle of static buzzing but no word from Shiver.

Not wanting to waste anymore time Eclipse called the others to him, referencing Epsilons building schematics. “We need to find a compter, there’s an office just down the hall.” he said closing the wrist display and running down the hallway with the others in tow. Reaching the door he yanked at the handle only for the door to remain unmoved. He gave it an experimental knock against the metal frame. “Frostbite, if you could?”

The villainess placed her white gloved hand on the door, the sound of crackling as a web of frost built outward from her palm. The door groaned in protest, it’s body concaving inwards before snapping off it’s frame as a pillar of ice crushed it to the wall beyond. Frostbite dusted off her hands and stepped into the office, Buster following after her with a merry wag of his tail.

Once everyone was inside Eclipse kept an overwatch on the door, drawing a confused look from Hardstone. “What about the data thingy for Shiver?”

“WOOF!” Buster replied as he approached the computers tower, his furry head gave a whirring click noise as clockwork in the animals skull. Busters snout folded upward on a seamless hinge and a small USB jack protruded from the inside, extending outward on a small robotic arm as it plugged into place. With that business done, the snout folded back down with the seam disappearing and Buster giving a happy dog smile to a wide-eyed Hardstone.

She took a cautious step backwards.“The dogs a robot”

“Focus” Eclipse said from over his shoulder

“The dog.is.a.robot.” Hardstone pointed at Buster “Did you know?!” she looked at Frostbite “Did YOU know?!”

“Hardstone!”

“Oh bullshit, you need to tell me these things!”

Eclipse waved her off as he pressed his hand to his ear again, the sound of a voice coming through. Shivers voice was faint and sounded like she was underwater, he could hear her. “Shiver?”

“I read you Eclipse, good job with the datajack this A.I. is a BITCH let me tell you.”

He signaled for the others to follow him and the team made their way down the hallway while Eclipsed continued. “What’s the status with the alarms?”

“Decibel is in the command center and tried to start a Lockdown, I’m still working on undoing that.” the klaxons stopped sounding a few moments later “There we go, is that better? I can’t dance around too much I need to keep this A.I. occupied, where are you right now?”

Eclipsed referenced a sign as the team ran past “Just passed west locker rooms, I know we’re close.”

“Take a left and the next two rights and it will be at the end of that hallway.”

The team banked left as Buster sped on ahead “What about the teleportation field?”

“Still working on that” Shivers voice said shakily.

“Speed it up.”

Eclipse didn’t wait for a reply as he skidded to a stop to an intersection. Just out of the corner of his eye he caught a small patrol walking down the hall. He fanned his arms out wide as shouts already from the facility security, gunfire whizzing past. A thrumming sound echoed down the opposite end as three sphere drones rocketed into view, Eclipse and his team backpeddled and he raised his gun taking aim. One of the drones rounded the corner already tracing a white beam of energy on the ground heading straight for Eclipse. He fired off a salvo while Hardstone balled up her first, causing the orb to shake and rattle violently as silicon crystals erupted from the inside. Smoke billowed from the sphere as it crashed to the ground. “Trouble!”

===

Decibel slammed her fists at her station “Artemis I said Initiate Lockdown protocols!” she paced around to Dr.Belic as the doctor worked furiously at her station. “Artemis, RESPOND!”

[...]

Dr.Belic was watching the security feed of Eclipses team as they infiltrated the lower levels. “Sara Artemis isn’t responding we’re on our own, there’s an infiltration in the east wing of the facility!” the computer monitor feed of the images began to stutter , before going completely black. “Someone's hacked the Facility…”

“Godammit!” Decibel went to another computer station to try and access it, although she was also being stonewalled out of even basic operating systems. She paced back and forth as her mind took stock of the situation.“The support staff will try and sequester the candidates expecting our secure rooms to go into lockdown, but that’s not going to happen so long as Artemis is compromised. They’re in the east wing...I think I know what they’re after, Ruth stay here and try and see what you can do to get the base back. I’m heading to the east wing.”

Decibel ran out of the control room and down the hallway to the elevator bay, instead of taking the lifts however she went to the emergency fire escape stairwell and began her descent. It would be at least three floors, and the base didn’t have the luxury of time.

===

With the alarms sounding the support staff wasted no time in corralling and guiding the candidates into smaller spaces so they would be secure during lockdown. Some protested, while others were beginning to panic. Hector and the others were placed inside of a conference room with Oscar as their chaperone, who was tending to Danielas arm with more Omni-Gel. Caitlin was feeling well enough to walk but was finding solace in the comfortable high backed leather chairs and was curled up like cat in one. A pair of sphere drones floated by them while the remaining support staff were delegating how best to keep the remaining candidates safe. The staff was doing it’s best to keep calm but Hector could see the nervous looks they shared and heard the hushed conversations, nothing like this had happened before.

“You alright Hector?” Jack asked , joining his teammate near the conference room door.

Hector shook his head “We should go out there and help them. It’s ridiculous they have like a hundred kids with superpowers here. Isn’t this what we came here to do anyway?”

Oscars paused from Danielas treatment as he heard the Jack and Hectors conversation “There is no way we could allow that, if one of you got hurt or WORSE during a trial. This is real life guys, your safest here with me.”

TJ was brooding against a wall with his arms crossed, interjecting before Hector or Jack had the chance to. “Safer with you? You don’t even have any powers.”

“You know what? I don’t, no. But right now I have authority that you need to respect if you want to stay in this program, Mister Jolie.”

TJ gave a derisive snort as he walked to the conference room door, putting his hand on the door handle. “Mister, I don’t know about you but where I’m from we don’t deal with our problems by hiding in a hole. You can call it a problem with authority, that’s just the way you want to look at me and my actions then so be it. But I know I’m not the only one in here that wants to help, you want to wash me out later?fine.” he opened the door, looking back at Oscar “But you can’t stop me from doing what I think is right.”

Oscar raised his voice in protest “We don’t even know what is happening or why the lockdown alarms are going off. No matter what we have to treat it like a serious threat, going out that door is your one way ticket out of the trials.”

There was a tense moment as Oscars words lingered in the air. TJ gripped at the door, a dark look crossing his features as he wrestled with the implications of leaving the program. Jack seemed equally hesitant as he slumped against the wall, running his hands through his hair and exhaling. Hector felt completely helpless in that moment, trapped by the rules of an organization he was fighting so hard to join. It was Daniela who broke the silence.

“How could you use our feelings like that? To keep us safe by threatening us with punishment? How the hell did you even get the job?” she stood and confronted Oscar, getting into his personal space. “How DARE you try and stop them from helping.”

“But-”

“But nothing” Daniela said as she crossed her arms “I’d be doing the same thing as TJ, but someone needs to stay here and watch out for Cait.”

“I’m right here you know!” Cait protested from a cushy office chair.

Daniela gave a quick placating motion with her hands, turning to look at Hector, Jack, and TJ. “You guys go and see if you can help” Oscar opened his mouth to protest, but a quick look from Cait and Daniela made the staff members shoulders sink, defeated.

Hector helped get Jack to his feet “Daniela and TJ are right, come on Jack lets go.”

Jack nodded “Yeah...yeah, alright let's get going.”

The trio ran out into the hall as Cait shouted out after them “DON’T DO ANYTHING STUPID!”

Jack gave a grimace “Little late for that, isn’t it?”

The trio made their way back to the first floor common area which connected to the ancillary hallways where support staff was shoring up the candidates. From above them a smoking ball of fire and machinery blasted outwards from one of the upper levels, crashing into the catering tables in a cacophony. Hector instinctively conjured up a fist construct as a hot tray and it’s content splattered across it. “Well, I think we know where to go.”

“Looks like that came from the second floor, lets go!”