Digital Waltz - Part 2

(Naomi)


The location of Doctor Zarovee's lab was hard to find, especially in a massive city like Adelheid. You had to resort to using a map on your cellphone, to plot a path to your destination.
As you began rolling down the plotted path, a strange familiar feeling began to linger at the back of your head.

Several minutes later, the feeling became vidid. You were driving down a long highway, the Adelheid Lake at your back.

You drove down this street before, earlier today. You're sure of it.

(The Adelheid Lake)


You continue to move forward, the wind ruffling your hair. The sense of speed was exhilirating, especially sensed as you passed numerous tourist boats, lazily sailing nearby.

"...this is... fun" Madelyn said in a deadpan, zig-zagging across the water surface and switching between traveling on one foot to another.

She seems to have no trouble keeping her balance, even though the jet ski boots seemed like they were going to steer you off course at any second.
Your sight accidentally fell down, at the crystal clear lake down below and you saw a shadow.

A silhouette, moving somewhere below, just under you. Matching your speed.
It was hard to tell its size, or the depth at which the shadow had traveled, but it clearly changed its tragectory, in response to your slightest of movements.



Madelyn suddenly turned back and looked down: "... Alert. Detecting Anti-Terrorist Suppression Weap-" her eyes widened slightly, as she stared at the water:

"...shit" Maddie said in a deadpan.


Before a massive sea serpent suddenly errupted out of the water.

A colossal robot snake, the size of a frigate, arced its back across the water surface as it shot into the sky, then dived back into the water, sending massive waves in every direction.
It took every bit of concentration to mantain balance and not fall into the water.

The Jet Ski's continued to carry you forward, as the colossal machine swam somewhere below, its metal back briefly resurfacing and fading away, as it made its way towards Maddie.


"DON'T STOP!" Madelyn shouted: "NO MATTER WHAT!" she tried to speed up, as the robots shadow zig-zagged underwater, closing in on her fast.


The next second, the snake errupted out of the water again, opening its massive maw and hurling itself toward Madelyn.
Maddie ducked and tried to steer to the side, but it looked like she won't dodge it in time.

Blue, blonde and purple wrote:(Angelo)
He puts a hand on Tomas's shoulder. "If we didn't leave before, then we certainly wouldn't leave now, would we? It's dangerous to go alone, take us with you!" He grins smugly.

(Arnold)
"Whoa, calm down! Ow, my leg!" He made other complaints, but hangs on.

(Oboro)

Having only one arm, she had the most problem putting them on and following. As such, she was at the back of the group, getting the most water.

"Ack! Gargle!"

"Beat me to it" Rogue snaps his fingers in mock frustration at Angelo's reference.

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Tomas' Car)


"I'm not leaving either" Mira quietly said. She was visibly in pain but still stared at Tomas with determination:
"I've been reporting from hot zones, for half of my career. This isn't the first combat zone I had to endure. I can take it.

This is important damn it, and I'll be there to expose the truth. These people, this Digital Waltz, they can't be allowed to do whatever the hell they want!"


Tomas quietly looked at everyone with a sad expression. His saddness slowly turned into determination:

"Okay" he firmly nodded and turned back to face the road.


Flooring the gas pedal, he drove the car down the empty streets of Adelheid, the setting sun illuminating the road ahead with a bright orange light.



"...we'll have to go around the lake.." he quietly called, making a turn and emerging on one of the main highways in Adelheid:
"..it may take us up to 30 minutes to reach the lab, depending on traffic.."

He said, looking ahead and squinting at the road. His eyes suddenly widened and he resisted the urge to slam his forehead into the steering wheel:


"Damn it!... I forgot about the city lockdown..." he heavily sighed:
"Violet won't be able to leave Adelheid. They'll give her proper treatment at the medical clinic and a chopper will be on standby, but it won't be able to fly to Nyx.
Adelheid is completely locked down, the medical chopper will be grounded, until the lockdown is lifted.."


He said, looking outside to his right. A massive lake came into view there.



Several moments passed in silence, then you heard Rogue's phone ring, alerting him to a text message.
Then Angelo's phone ringed. Then Mira's. Her's was on silent mode, but you saw its display lit up and she must have felt it shaking in her pocket, as she reached out for it
around the same time as you.

"Okay, but just remember your condition; if i'm taken out at any point, then my magic'll fail, and you'll go down too" Rogue reminded Mira.

"Why couldn't they just install a ferry or something?" Rogue responds to Tomas as they move onto the highway.

"The lockdown includes emergency medical services?" Rogue asks Tomas about the helicopter "That seems like an essential service?"

"Must be a conference call..." Rogue remarks as all their phones start ringing. "Hello?" he says, answering it.

Kaylee Brown wrote:

// Soundtrack

(The Adelheid Lake)


You continue to move forward, the wind ruffling your hair. The sense of speed was exhilirating, especially sensed as you passed numerous tourist boats, lazily sailing nearby.

"...this is... fun" Madelyn said in a deadpan, zig-zagging across the water surface and switching between traveling on one foot to another.

She seems to have no trouble keeping her balance, even though the jet ski boots seemed like they were going to steer you off course at any second.
Your sight accidentally fell down, at the crystal clear lake down below and you saw a shadow.

A silhouette, moving somewhere below, just under you. Matching your speed.
It was hard to tell its size, or the depth at which the shadow had traveled, but it clearly changed its tragectory, in response to your slightest of movements.



Madelyn suddenly turned back and looked down: "... Alert. Detecting Anti-Terrorist Suppression Weap-" her eyes widened slightly, as she stared at the water:

"...shit" Maddie said in a deadpan.


Before a massive sea serpent suddenly errupted out of the water.

A colossal robot snake, the size of a frigate, arced its back across the water surface as it shot into the sky, then dived back into the water, sending massive waves in every direction.
It took every bit of concentration to mantain balance and not fall into the water.

The Jet Ski's continued to carry you forward, as the colossal machine swam somewhere below, its metal back briefly resurfacing and fading away, as it made its way towards Maddie.


"DON'T STOP!" Madelyn shouted: "NO MATTER WHAT!" she tried to speed up, as the robots shadow zig-zagged underwater, closing in on her fast.


The next second, the snake errupted out of the water again, opening its massive maw and hurling itself toward Madelyn.
Maddie ducked and tried to steer to the side, but it looked like she won't dodge it in time.

"Well that's probably why they didn't install a ferry then..." Rogue answers his own question as he sees the giant spout of water coming out of the lake in the distance, catching only a glimpse of the 'fish'.

(Tom's Car)


"..I'll be fine" Mira quietly said, looking out of the window. The Adelheid Lake spanned for a couple dozen kilometers. You could barely see the far shore. The fishing boats and tourist vessels that slowly moved around its surface, looked like small dots from this distance.

"..A ferry would probably take longer than driving around the lake" Tomas said, looking at it as well: "Those things are slow"
Some waves could be seen in the middle of the lake, but it was too far to make anything out.

Tomas returned to looking at the road ahead:

"After Clopin threatened to release Marek's Gene Virus, they had to lock down the city. The danger is too great.
If the virus is real, they can't risk it leaving Adelheid. It will endanger the entire planet.

That's why the lockdown.
Emergency services are still working, medical choppers can take off but they can't leave the cities airspace.

Maybe they'll fly Violet somewhere inside Adelheid, there is a hospital in this city as well" he said, looking at the road ahead.




As you pull out your cellphone, you notice a new text message with a small file attached. The messages headline immediately jumped at you:



"-Message sent from: 'Error. Phone number does not exist'
-Opening message:


TOMAS IS THE HUNCHBACK


-End of message"


The file attached to the message opened by itself, revealing Tomas' picture and his biography:


'First name: Tomas
Last name: -none-

Age: 21

Born in Nyx, lived most of his life as a slave. During an incident with the masters, he was brutally beat, when he tried to protect his father.
The masters took both of his eyes, his left arm and inflicted numerous injuries to his internal organs. Tomas was not expected to survive.

Until his father fueled virtually unlimited resources to ship Tomas to Adelheid, where he was fitted with cybernetical lungs, eyes and left arm.

Tomas was instructed by his father, to continue living in Adelheid, while a revolt began inside Nyx. Tomas was enrolled into a technology based university and studied there until three days ago.

At which point, Tomas hacked into the Adelheid's police department and forged a fake police ID, inserting his profile into the databanks.


Tomas is not a cop, and never has been.

His objective is to further his fathers legacy and complete his vision: To release of the Gene Virus.


Irrefutable evidence shows him in close connection with 'Clopin' and 'Esmeralda'.

Tom's codename is 'Hunchback'. The de-facto leader of the group.



Tomas has no last name, because he was born without one.
Just like his father,

Who's name was Marek'




Mira released a small gasp. It seems she received the same text message as you. Everyone in the car did. Everyone except Tomas.

He was still quietly driving the car, but his eyes shifted, watching you through the rear mirror.

His expression became neutral, emotionless, as he studied your expressions:


"......what is it?.." he quietly asked, as he drove the car through the busy highway.

Rain slips out her cell as the thing rises into the air. She pulls up beside maddie using both hers and arnolds weight to yank her to the side, she adjusts her course accidently spraying water at maddie as she makes a sharp turn, "SORRY BOUT THAT" she calls, she opens her phone and sees the message, she only reads a bit before sighing, "i really want to put that man in my army..." she huffs. Looking at the beast now attacking them, "the waltz is so desperate... How will they cover this up?" all these tourist boats can see out this far... As well at the ponies on the pier... They might as well just expose themselfs now.

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Tom's Car)


"..I'll be fine" Mira quietly said, looking out of the window. The Adelheid Lake spanned for a couple dozen kilometers. You could barely see the far shore. The fishing boats and tourist vessels that slowly moved around its surface, looked like small dots from this distance.

"..A ferry would probably take longer than driving around the lake" Tomas said, looking at it as well: "Those things are slow"
Some waves could be seen in the middle of the lake, but it was too far to make anything out.

Tomas returned to looking at the road ahead:

"After Clopin threatened to release Marek's Gene Virus, they had to lock down the city. The danger is too great.
If the virus is real, they can't risk it leaving Adelheid. It will endanger the entire planet.

That's why the lockdown.
Emergency services are still working, medical choppers can take off but they can't leave the cities airspace.

Maybe they'll fly Violet somewhere inside Adelheid, there is a hospital in this city as well" he said, looking at the road ahead.




As you pull out your cellphone, you notice a new text message with a small file attached. The messages headline immediately jumped at you:



"-Message sent from: 'Error. Phone number does not exist'
-Opening message:


TOMAS IS THE HUNCHBACK


-End of message"


The file attached to the message opened by itself, revealing Tomas' picture and his biography:


'First name: Tomas
Last name: -none-

Age: 21

Born in Nyx, lived most of his life as a slave. During an incident with the masters, he was brutally beat, when he tried to protect his father.
The masters took both of his eyes, his left arm and inflicted numerous injuries to his internal organs. Tomas was not expected to survive.

Until his father fueled virtually unlimited resources to ship Tomas to Adelheid, where he was fitted with cybernetical lungs, eyes and left arm.

Tomas was instructed by his father, to continue living in Adelheid, while a revolt began inside Nyx. Tomas was enrolled into a technology based university and studied there until three days ago.

At which point, Tomas hacked into the Adelheid's police department and forged a fake police ID, inserting his profile into the databanks.


Tomas is not a cop, and never has been.

His objective is to further his fathers legacy and complete his vision: To release of the Gene Virus.


Irrefutable evidence shows him in close connection with 'Clopin' and 'Esmeralda'.

Tom's codename is 'Hunchback'. The de-facto leader of the group.



Tomas has no last name, because he was born without one.
Just like his father,

Who's name was Marek'




Mira released a small gasp. It seems she received the same text message as you. Everyone in the car did. Everyone except Tomas.

He was still quietly driving the car, but his eyes shifted, watching you through the rear mirror.

His expression became neutral, emotionless, as he studied your expressions:


"......what is it?.." he quietly asked, as he drove the car through the busy highway.

"Bad news i'm afraid" Rogue said calmly, before convincingly lying "The others have been intercepted again before Zarovee's lab, like i warned they might be, but they can probably handle it, so they might just be a bit late." He nods to the others to get their confirmation that that is definately what happened.

(Tom's Car)


"That's odd.. you never gave them your phone number" Tomas quietly said, looking at the road, occasionally glancing at everyone through the rear mirror:

"..who was the message from?" he asked.


Mira was looking directly ahead, silent as a grave.

(The Adelheid Lake)


"Means we're on the right track" Madelyn called, trying to regain her balance and adjust her trajectory, as the robot snake dived into the water again, raising several massive waves around it.

Its shadow pulled a sharp turn underwater. It was falling back, zeroing in on another target.

The wind was harshly stinging your eyes and you struggled to make out its path underwater.


"OBORO - ITS COMING RIGHT AT YOU" Madelyn shrieked, just as a massive maw suddenly emerged out of the water, a dozen meters in front of Oboro. The serpent was on a head-on collision course, seemingly aiming to swallow the pegasus.

Its mouth was filled with several rows of steel, razor sharp teeth, each one coming close to 1 meter in length.

(Angelo)

"Well, you know the gist by now. Anonymus messengers that have found our numbers behind some code. Honestly we should be glad for the heads up on our friends." He puts the phone away.

"Can't look a gift horse in the mouth."

(Oboro)

"Oh no you don't!"

At the last moment, she moved to the side, making her miss the sharp row of teeth. She does scuff her limp arm, making her wince once. She keeps going though.

"Struggle a bit longer... WARN THE HACKER!"

(Tom's Car)


"...Anonymous messengers?" Tomas quietly asked, looking at you:

"..... the Digital Waltz sends anonymous messages... if you don't know who the message is from, it might be from them... which means you can't trust it"


He focused on the road again, his hand tightening slightly on the steering wheel:

".. its... just a little odd, that everyone got a message, except me... they know I'm traveling with you... our friends would have informed me as well.. I think.." he sighed and briefly glanced at you, through the rear mirror:


"..If the message was anonymous.. you have to admit, there's a possibility it was sent by the Digital Waltz.. and I wouldn't put it passed them, to try and cause a conflict between us.

Their direct assaults are failing. They might resort to more subtle tactics.

Like driving a wedge between us.

Cause some sort of conflict. Make us loose trust in each other, fight each other. Divide us and make us more vulnerable to their next assault...


Just.. food for thought"

He quietly sighed and looked at the road ahead, carefully making his way through the traffic.

(The Adelheid Lake)


"Roger!" Madelyn called and placed her finger on the earpiece.

The snake narrowly missed Oboro and loudly dived into the lake again, disappearing in a spray of water and a massive wave.


"No good!" Maddie called in a panic, almost tripping over her own feet: "Radio's not working! The Snake might be jamming us"


She made a slight jump, adjusting to the passing wave and tried to increase speed.

The rush of adrenaline started to vividly pound at your senses. Vaguely realizing you're moving roughly at a speed of a speeding car, a brief sting of fear washed over you, at the realization of what might happen if you suddenly trip, propelled forward at this momentum.


The Jet Ski's were slightly vibrating. You only noticed it now and it wasn't clear at all if that was a normal occurrence, or if they were malfunctioning.


The sound of a massive carcass splashing inside the water, echoed from behind and you witnessed the giant serpent, just as it leapt out and began zig-zagging just above the water level, its entire 30 meter long body visible on the surface.

The thing began speeding up, its jaws snapping with unsettling screeching sounds as it zig-zagged and closed in on Radiance.

Rain pulls up beside maddie handing over arnold for the time being, "DONT GET EATEN." she yells over all of the sounds before pulling away she rides along side one of the serpants waves planning her approach she raises her buster... Waiting for the serpants leap to look for eyes, or a weak point in its body someplace.

(Radiance)
Wings opening in an instant Radiance catches the wind and takes off, angling his wings to act more like a parachute in order to keep them from breaking from the sudden change in momentum. As soon as he's airborne he beats his wings accelerating past the serpent.

Reaching down with one hand and pulling off the jet skis Radiance tosses them into the path of the Serpent. Not exactly sure what it's going to accomplish aside from giving him more maneuverability.

(Naomi)
Finding a spot along that road where she could park Naomi pulled over as soon as she could. She double checked the route plotted on her phone. Checking to see if there was another path that she could take.

(The Adelheid Lake)


"3 Minutes to destination!" Madelyn yelled, holding Arnold in a tight grip and increasing speed, attepmting to break the distance from the serpent.
"Please try not to wiggle, it may upset the balance" she quietly said to Arnold, as she moved along the water surface, sometimes bending her knees
and trying to roll with the constant incoming waves.


The serpent angrily shrieked and speeded after Madelyn again, its long carcass zig-zagging along the waves, imitating a snake.
Its body was covered in dozens of thick armored plates. A pair of large, maliciously glowing red eyes, stared daggers at Maddie.
The metal jaws began snapping again, as it slowly closed in on its target.

Apart from the large, glowing eyes, you can't seem to find a weak point in the serpents body.


Its tail suddenly and unpredictably snapped like a whip, hitting Rain in her side and sending her flying several meters off to the side.

The feeling was akin to being struck by a brick wall, the blunt impact promised a large ammount of bruises to appear in the near future.

The serpent emitted a long metal shriek and zeroed in on Maddie, closing in on her fast.



As Radiance threw his Jet Ski's into the robots path, the serpent opened its massive jaws and chomped on them, seemingly reducing them into small pieces
of rubble and swallowing them whole. Its speed continued to increase, only 10 meters were left between it and Maddie.


Taking off into the air, Radiance suddenly felt the ammount of water his wings had soaked, during the previous splashes and massive waves of the lake,
that raged during this time. Coupled with Serena's weight, he felt himself rapiddly falling behind, struggling to maintain altitude and keep up with
the engines of the jet ski's and the serpents mechanized movement.

(Naomi)


Looking for alternative paths to Dr. Zarovee's lab, you find well over a dozen other routes to the destination.
They didn't show up at first, as they added from 2 to 7 more minutes of time, to the traveling route.

The sun was slowly setting over the horizon, illuminating the highway with a bright orange color. The storm clouds have all but faded away,
moving far off into the distance.
The road was brightly lit by the sun, it seems it will be at least another hour or two, before the night finally settles over the city.

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Tom's Car)


"...Anonymous messengers?" Tomas quietly asked, looking at you:

"..... the Digital Waltz sends anonymous messages... if you don't know who the message is from, it might be from them... which means you can't trust it"


He focused on the road again, his hand tightening slightly on the steering wheel:

".. its... just a little odd, that everyone got a message, except me... they know I'm traveling with you... our friends would have informed me as well.. I think.." he sighed and briefly glanced at you, through the rear mirror:


"..If the message was anonymous.. you have to admit, there's a possibility it was sent by the Digital Waltz.. and I wouldn't put it passed them, to try and cause a conflict between us.

Their direct assaults are failing. They might resort to more subtle tactics.

Like driving a wedge between us.  

Cause some sort of conflict. Make us loose trust in each other, fight each other. Divide us and make us more vulnerable to their next assault...


Just.. food for thought"

He quietly sighed and looked at the road ahead, carefully making his way through the traffic.

"Maybe they saw that you're the designated driver through a hacked speed camera or something?" Rogue shrugs nonchalantly "We're just going with what we've been sent here. Of course we're going to take it with a pinch of pepper, you can't trust anything at face value here, but we also can't keep second-guessing everything either."

He chuckles "If they send us anything else we'll let you know buddy, but for now think less conspiracy theories and more traffic laws; we wouldn't want to get killed in a car crash before the final confrontation with the Digital Waltz, because that would just be embarassing."

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Tom's Car)


"That's odd.. you never gave them your phone number" Tomas quietly said, looking at the road, occasionally glancing at everyone through the rear mirror:

"..who was the message from?" he asked.


Mira was looking directly ahead, silent as a grave.

"Relax, they'll be fine" Rogue pats Mira on the shoulder reassuringly "We'll all be fine."

She lands stumbling a bit "Oof! Oh god damn that smarts..." she grips her side before suddenly becoming alert once more, she draws her bow and gains some distance. She keeps a safe distance and draws back an arrow, "Your gonna pay for that you slithry fuck" she adjusts her aim trying to outbeat her skillwire by not needing its assisstance.... She aims for its eyes, she judges their speed and compansates. She pulls back the arrow making sure her aim is on point before releasing.

(Radiance)
Radiance heavily flaps his wings in place, hovering and using the strokes to draw the water out of his wings. He's no longer attempting to gain any altitude but instead directing his focus on keeping his horizontal movement stronger.

As long as the Serpent was distracted, he wouldn't draw any attention to himself or the unconscious girl he carried.

(Naomi)
Selecting a path that takes her path away from this street, Naomi kicks her bike around heads off in the new direction.

(Naomi)


After some time, the phone's GPS alerted you that you've reached your destination. The lab of Doctor Zarovee.

As you look up from your phone and take in your surroundings, it takes only a few seconds before you realize, you've been here before.



The large corporate building, the parking lot. The dumpster, off to the side. This is where you dropped off the backpack, only a few hours ago.


Looking at the building now, you notice a significant change in the scenery. The bright orange light of the setting sun, now vividly illuminated the area:

The large letters on the side of the building:

'LEI YAN CORP.
ZAROVEE'S CYBERNETICS'


And the massive police presence, standing in a circle around the building. Their perimeter was very wide, with a 200 meter radius and Zarovee's lab in the middle.

You counted at least 10 armored police vans and dozens of cops in heavy tactical gear and visible cybernetics. The Zerber unit.

They stood in a tight circle, behind portable police barriers and vigilantly scanned the surroundings. Looks like they're intent on not letting anyone through.


The police looked on edge and jumpy.
One of the cops zeroed in on you, as soon as you appeared in his line of sight. He's clearly watching you, expecting some sort of trouble. The entire police squad was visibly paranoid.



Deep inside their perimeter, you could see the lab itself, the large parking lot, and the dumpsters, where you left the backpack earlier.
As you subconsciously look for it, sure enough, the backpack is still there. Seemingly sitting by the dumpsters, where you left it.
You can't quite tell if anyone touched it or not.



A few moments pass and you notice an elderly man slowly limp out of the lab's main entrance and take a seat on the steps in front.

He was wearing some sort of reading glasses and a long white lab coat. He sighted and looked at his watch, then remained sitting at the steps to the lab, occasionally looking at the police force around him.
He seems to be waiting for something.

(Tom's Car)


"Alright.." Tomas quietly said, looking at the road ahead. A heavy silence slowly fell over the car.
Mira never said anything. She only kept watching Tomas, as he drove the car forward.

After some time, Tomas' expression became sad. He looks hurt.


The silence was then suddenly cut by a radio transmission, coming in through your earpieces:

"Everyone, this is Alex Noel" the prosecutors tired voice echoed through. She sounded satisfied:

"Me and Amy have been in close contact with the police and they finally took the time to thoroughly go over your police warrant.
It was fake and illegal. A glitch in their computer system has caused it to pop up. They suspect that it was the work of a skilled hacker, but they can't prove anything. Whoever hacked their systems, left no trace.


At any rate, you are now cleared and free to move as you please. The police will no longer trouble you.

In fact, they have been growing increasingly concerned about the unidentified Rumba attacks, in the past hours.

They know about the hostage situation. They know about Clopin's demands and they know that Maddie must reach Dr. Zarovee's lab. So the police offered to help.


They organized a secure perimeter around the lab and stand ready to protect it, in case of another weird Rumba attack.

The Adelheid police promised to ensure your safety."



"Oh thank god" Tomas released a long sigh: "Finally some good news. Maddie, did you catch that?"

He said, pressing his hand into his earpiece. Several moments passed in silence and Tomas frowned:

"...Maddie?... Maddie, you there?... Oboro? Rain? Does anyone copy?!"

"...Tom, what's happening?" Noel's alarmed voice echoed in.


"I can't reach Madelyn or her escort group" Tomas frowned at the road: "...shit, we need to find them. We need to find them now! Noel, utilize the police force, ask them to scan security cameras, we need to know what's happening to the other group"


He briefly looked back at everyone through the rear mirror: "What exactly did the message say? Where are they? What intercepted them?"

(The Adelheid Lake)


Released, the arrow whistled above the water, traveling fast and briefly fading from sight.

A second later, the snake suddenly jerked to the right and emitted a long screeching roar, as its left eye shattered into a million pieces.

Whimpering and angrily snapping its jaws, the snake mashed its head into the water and dived, fading deep under the lake's surface. Its shadow zig-zagged and started to fade out of view, as it dived deeper and deeper into the waters below.


Several seconds passed in silence. Before a deafening pulse of sound echoed from the waters below. Then silence again.

Madelyn looked down, still clutching Arnold and frowned: "...what the hell is it doing.." she asked aloud. Her voice almost sounding natural.


As you look forward, the far shore had already come well into sight. You could make out the piers and the tourist boats docked at the shore.
A large crowd of people began gathering there, watching you with mouths agape. It seems they severely misunderstand the danger of the situation.

At present speed, you estimate you'll be reaching shore within the next 60 seconds.
The Jet Ski's were vibrating and roaring hard, propelling you forward at speeds close to 80 kilometers per hour.




Radiance began falling behind fast, the distance between him and Madelyn, was well over 500 meters now.

He managed to maintain his altitude, traveling now at around 10 meters above the lake, but drawing the water out of his wings proved hard. The process was working, but very slowly. The distance between him and the main group, continued to grow.


The massive robot still couldn't be seen underwater.
After a brief silence, another deafening pulse of sound echoed from the depths of the lake, making Radiance flinch for a second. Whatever it was, it was loud and unpleasant.

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Tom's Car)


"Alright.." Tomas quietly said, looking at the road ahead. A heavy silence slowly fell over the car.
Mira never said anything. She only kept watching Tomas, as he drove the car forward.

After some time, Tomas' expression became sad. He looks hurt.


The silence was then suddenly cut by a radio transmission, coming in through your earpieces:

"Everyone, this is Alex Noel" the prosecutors tired voice echoed through. She sounded satisfied:

"Me and Amy have been in close contact with the police and they finally took the time to thoroughly go over your police warrant.
It was fake and illegal. A glitch in their computer system has caused it to pop up. They suspect that it was the work of a skilled hacker, but they can't prove anything. Whoever hacked their systems, left no trace.


At any rate, you are now cleared and free to move as you please. The police will no longer trouble you.

In fact, they have been growing increasingly concerned about the unidentified Rumba attacks, in the past hours.

They know about the hostage situation. They know about Clopin's demands and they know that Maddie must reach Dr. Zarovee's lab. So the police offered to help.


They organized a secure perimeter around the lab and stand ready to protect it, in case of another weird Rumba attack.

The Adelheid police promised to ensure your safety."



"Oh thank god" Tomas released a long sigh: "Finally some good news. Maddie, did you catch that?"

He said, pressing his hand into his earpiece. Several moments passed in silence and Tomas frowned:

"...Maddie?... Maddie, you there?... Oboro? Rain? Does anyone copy?!"

"...Tom, what's happening?" Noel's alarmed voice echoed in.


"I can't reach Madelyn or her escort group" Tomas frowned at the road: "...shit, we need to find them. We need to find them now! Noel, utilize the police force, ask them to scan security cameras, we need to know what's happening to the other group"


He briefly looked back at everyone through the rear mirror: "What exactly did the message say? Where are they? What intercepted them?"

"It wasn't specific, it just said they were intercepted around the lake area on the way to the lab - seems that even the hacker doesn't know all the facts" Rogue said, remembering what was said in the conversation back at the destroyed apartment and making a guess "But given the lack of subtlety we've seen in other attacks, it shouldn't be hard to track them down."