The Best Laid Plans, [Nine, Xandre, Leah]

[Dice]

“It’ll just be another minute! Sit still!” Dice laughed. Nine had been very patient, sitting in a chair in the bathroom with his head bent and a towel around his shoulders for the last hour. Dice slathered another layer of dye into his hair. “I hope this works. The bottle says Acid Green but for all I know it could be magenta.” He passed a hand mirror to Nine so he could confirm the color and survey Dice’s progress. He was adding a skunk-stripe. He hoped.

He grinned at Nine over the top of the mirror. “Spitting image of a phoenix, right? I probably should have left the dye to Leah, she’s better at this stuff. And, you know, can see in color.” He was very pleased with his work over the past month. They’d also bought Nine contacts which obscured his reptilian pupils and made them look like normal black circles.

The last month hadn’t been easy. There wasn’t a day that went by that he and Nine didn’t think about soulbonding, even if they didn’t talk about it. The vials always bumping against their chests, clinking together when they leaned in to kiss, were a constant reminder of how close they were and how easy it would be. Dice was worried that one day the tension would snap and Nine would insist that they perform the ritual immediately, but that never happened. Nine was patient, willing to wait a little longer for what he’d waited for his entire life. He desperately wanted Dice to want it every bit as much as he did. Dicen was beginning to think that might be the case, and there were nights when he wanted to crush the vial with his bare hands and let the broken glass dripping with Nine’s blood carve his skin. What held him back was uncertainty, a sort of residual scientific disbelief and fear of vulnerability, and, he had to admit to himself, a niggling fear that soulbonding with Nine would permanently ruin any chance he had of gaining Nik’s acceptance.

But the month had also been happy, full of purpose. Claire’s visit had spurred Dice into action. He’d taken to the shopping cart they’d stolen with a hack saw and a blowtorch, removed the basket top, and constructed a passable gurney.
Four Insurgi lab coats were folded on the foot of the bed, one for each of them.
He’d converted the spare room into a kind of workshop-slash-laboratory and spent hours every day in there with Nine, sketching new diagrams, mixing chemicals, constructing detonators, filling syringes with tranquilizer. Well, mostly Nine did that last one. Dice still didn’t quite trust himself.

As Nine’s hair dried he returned to the workroom to fetch the camera and his old medical ID. He had painstakingly peeled back the lamination and doctored the ID to his purposes. He returned to the bathroom and held up the camera. “Say ‘meat’!” The flash went off and the Polaroid printed. He gripped it between two fingers, shaking it vigorously and wandering around Nine’s chair as he waited for it to develop. “Okay, want to review one more time? You are Dr. Leion Caverley. You are a pathologist. You are visiting from the Medical Institute of Cri. Your human patient died from diastolic heart failure, time of death 3:41. You are taking him to the morgue. If anyone asks you past security, you are taking him to the medical lab for testing by Dr. Nessa Telosi. Got that? Dr. Telosi.”

The photo appeared slowly on the paper, depicting Nine’s uncertain smile. Dice grinned at it and carefully cut it out. He returned to the workroom, steady hands using tweezers to slide it onto the license over his own picture and relaminate the card. “Brilliant,” he announced to Nine, striding back in and handing him the ID. “I don’t understand why pictures of you always look like you’re about to bite off the head of the photographer. Or is that because I’ve confined you to this chair for the last hour?” He barely had to lean down to give Nine a happy, lingering kiss. They could taste one another’s adrenaline. This was the day they’d finally take down the labs.

Dice broke away as he heard a knock at the door. He raised his eyebrows at Nine and pulled the towel off his shoulders. “That’d be them.” Must be Leah knocking. Xandre never did.

Xandre and Leah had been to their place several times now. Dice wanted to keep them informed of what they were up to, wanted to keep them involved in the planning. Xandre had wasted no time in making himself perfectly at home, but Leah still seemed a bit tense when she came to call. If Nine left the two of them alone in a room Dice felt the tension and awkwardness like a frigid breeze. He and Leah exchanged pleasantries, and she had never expressed any kind of hostility towards him, but he could tell she still did not fully trust him. And why should she? Today would change all that.

Nine opened the door and let the vampires in. Dice stood behind him and smiled welcomingly. “Heya Xan!” Xandre had a long, thick coil of rope over his shoulder, as requested. “I’d offer you something to drink, but I don’t think you’d accept,” he smirked.

His smile was just as warm, but a bit more uncertain, for Leah. “How are you doing, Cailleah? I hope you’ve eaten.” His main concern was that Leah might still think this was all an extremely well-thought-out, complicated plan of Dice’s to get them all arrested. The perfect set-up of a cunning Insurgi spy sent to bring down the Fears. He knew the only reason she was here was because of Nine’s unshakable trust, and there was still nothing, in her estimation, which prevented Dice from lying through his teeth and leading Nine along. Still, he liked to pretend she seemed to be warming up to him, bit by bit, each day that passed without him stabbing them in the back.

He ushered them towards the sofa. The coffee table was completely blanketed in paper, maps, diagrams, and pages of Dice’s near-illegible scrawl.

Once everyone was settled, Dice sat in the armchair, leaning forward with his hands on his knees. “Thank you all for joining us on this historic occasion. Here’s the deal…”


Ooc: And now to PM each of you your own piece of the scheme, muahaha. This is going to require a lot of coordination, I hope I’m not being too ambitious. I put too much thought into this If anyone has questions, please let me know, otherwise we can head straight for the heist (hence why I put this thread in Siras and not Cri). So, like I said, first come first served as far as post order, and feel very free to take liberties with the layout/appearance of the labs, its inhabitants, and so on, I do not have this all planned out by any means. Bweeeee. As a warning, my internet access for the next few days is uncertain at best, but I figured I’d leave you guys with something to do

[Nine]

Nine grunted, letting Dice lather the rest of the dye into his hair. "It's a testament to how much I love you that I don't bite your head off for this," he mumbled. He had a crick in his neck and the dye smelled like ammonia. It made his eyes water. After Dice had finished rinsing the dye, he sat straight and took the mirror Dice offered him.

He now had a vibrant stripe of green through the middle of his head. Some of the dye had gotten in the rest of his hair, dappling it with green. He dropped the mirror, giving Dice a dubious look with one brow raised. "I'm glad you're colorblind. If you liked this better on me I'd be mortally disappointed." He mussed his hair up, rubbing his hands over his scalp until most of the moisture had dried. "Very phoenix-y though." Nine was proud of being a draconian, so this seemed an affront to his nature. But he knew a disguise was the first step to getting through security.

Nine could feel the excitement buzzing in their little bathroom like a badly connected electrical circuit, fizzing and sparking whenever they discussed or recapped the routine. Dice had been very meticulous in his plotting. Nine had to spend a while memorizing names and numbers and time-frames. He desperately hoped that everything went according to plan without mishap. He was incredibly worried about bringing Dice along. People would recognize him regardless of a disguise. He was at the greatest risk. The 'Surgs probably wouldn't put him back in a cage if they caught him, either.

He'd tried to talk Dice out of going, tried to convince him that if he gave Leah, Xandre and himself time then they could memorize the plan and follow through with it themselves. Dice would have none of it, and pointed out that they wouldn't have a clue what to steal as far as the drugs went.

He had to smile as Dice went over his part again. Dice had done this multiple times, either out of nervousness or a need to feel more prepared. Nine reached up and pinched his lips together. "I think I have it memorized, baby. I won't forget anything," he said. When Dice leaned down a bit to kiss him, Nine wound his arms around the phoenix's waist and hauled him into his lap for a proper kiss.

"I'm just not photogenic," he answered, looking at the new id Dice had doctored with raised eyebrows. "I'm sure you already have your role memorized to the T... but don't get caught, okay?" He nipped the tip of Dice's nose.

At that moment there was a knock at the door. Nine let Dice off his lap and went to let both Leah and Xandre in. Nine dropped onto the couch too, sitting beside Dice. Things were more comfortable between the four of them now. Xandre had accepted Dice completely and Leah seemed to be growing a bit more fond of him. Nine still hadn't persuaded Nik to give Dice a chance, but he hoped that would mend itself soon.

"Okay, so the jist of this is.... Xandre and I get in through the morgue, go straight to the window to let Dice and Leah in... and after that we basically go our separate ways to carry out our roles." He chewed his lip, repeating his own role in his head. He was ready for this.

[Xandre]

"And kill Surgis. You're forgetting the important part, Nine." Xandre looked quite .....pale, in the labcoat, fresh washed and groomed. A perfectly cleaned up body, ready for dissection and autopsy. Soon enough he would be stripped to the waist and lying in a bodybag, waiting for the guards to check the face of the corpse so Nine could push him inside the building. Sure, he'd be lying on top of the gear and weapons, but what was a little discomfort in exchange for the fun of wreaking mass havoc on the Insurgi's secret weapons development lab. They'd get to kill some birds, free some prisoners, and steal some chemicals! It was a win/win situation all around.

"Looking good, very green, very bright. I like it. I can almost imagine you with feathers. Big fluffy ones, bright enough to burn your retinas out."

[Leah]

Leah had certainly dressed for the part.

In black heeled boots, a black pair of dress pants, and a matching sweater, she looked more like a research and development techie than any bartender had a right to - and she'd even dyed her hair specifically for the occasion. Her long hair had been taken from its usual raven black and, using a temporary, wash-out dye, of course, had been colored a shocking white-blonde. The tips of her many layers, which were usually lost in the natural curl of her hair, stood out now that she'd spent nearly an hour straightening it - and then dying the edge of ever layer with a vibrant blue, to match her eyes.

Had Leah eaten? To say she had gorged herself would have been an understatement. She'd made a particular exception to one of her most sacred rules, and allowed herself to feed on one of the four or five human familiars she had - not enough to drain him completely, of course, but enough to keep her strong for several days. She had forgotten what a high human blood gave to a vampire, but it wasn't a feeling she could afford to relish in. The only reason she'd broken her usual feeding habits was because of the magnitude of the job that faced her tonight. The four of them would be entering the belly of the beast in just a few hours, and should anything go wrong, she would need all the strength she could possibly get to combat whatever would be waiting inside for them. In order to help with the illusion, she'd bought a pair of colored contacts, ones with deep red irises, in order to combat the electric green her eyes were currently glowing. The mix of the colors lent her eyes a peculiar mix of electric blue and purple, which would be enough to throw any quick glances off the trail of her true identity - but if one were to look carefully, a thin line of green escaped the edge of the contact lens, ringing her dark pupil with its acidic color. But for all intents and purposes...the design would work. For now.

With her blade kept securely strapped to her back by the black leather belt she wore, she proceeded to swipe up one of the white lab coats, throwing it easily around her shoulders. "This isn't a blood bath, Xandre." she said, sparing Dice the tiniest twitch of her lips as a greeting smile, a nod for Nine. She still wasn't certain what the Draconian man saw in the Phoenix, but...she wasn't in a place to argue. They were comrades now, whether she liked it or not - and since they would be working together, she would have to force herself to put at least a little trust in him. But if he thought she would take her eyes off him for even a second... "Let's try and keep our eyes on the prize this time, shall we? We don't need anything like the Siras fire repeating itself." Get in, get out, and get home. The faster they completed their objectives, the less chance they had for discovery...and for trouble.

[Dice]

ooc: Bweeeeee, heist.


“I won’t get caught,” Dice promised sullenly, pretending to be offended by Nine’s lack of faith. His attitude melted into a smile and he returned the nose-kiss, holding Nine’s cheek with the tips of his green-dyed fingers. His heart was hammering with a combination of arousal and apprehension for the stunt they were about to pull. This was sure to make the Surgs sit up and pay attention.

"And kill Surgis. You're forgetting the important part, Nine." Dice grinned appreciatively at Xandre. He was looking positively deathly in his white smock, his face washed out and his skin pale. “You look fantastic, Xandre. Spitting image of a stiff, very postmortem. I’m going to love seeing your rigor mortis impression.” Like Xandre, Dice was also looking forward to the gruesome deaths of the monsters running the labs, even though he himself would not get to witness them. That was Nine and Xandre’s prerogative, Dice had his own job to do a bit more within his area of expertise. “See Nine, Xandre likes your hair. Stop whining.”

While he managed to comfortably joke with Xandre, the look he got from Leah was less encouraging. He was determined to use this opportunity to finally strengthen her trust in him. It was for precisely this reason that he had suggested Leah be the one to stick with him and keep an eye on him during the heist – maybe she could see how useful he was to their cause, and just where his loyalties lay, first-hand. “You got it, Leah, eyes on the prize,” he agreed obediently, “and don’t worry, I’m sure I’ve got the blast radius on the explosives just right this time. Really.” He was trying to ease the mood, but wasn’t sure how good of a job he was doing. Oh well, he hoped Leah could tell he meant well. That she’d agreed to participate a heist planned and organized completely by Dice in the first place seemed like a good sign. She’d certainly put a lot of care into dressing for the occasion.

The other three were looking stoic and determined. He didn’t need to ask if everyone was ready – it was written across their faces. They, and he, had been ready all month.

Dice helped Nine get his lab coat on. He’d asked Claire to get a really big one, but it was still intended for a phoenix, and it was a little too short and the shoulders too narrow for Nine. He pinned the ID tag to Nine’s pocket before slipping his own lab coat on. It was strange to be wearing one again, the feel of the fabric inspiring unpleasant memories.

He double-checked their make-shift gurney’s supplies for the fiftieth time, ensuring that his detonator and his gun were where he’d left them. He tugged at the bandage around his wrist to tighten it, tourniquet-style, with his left hand and his teeth. It wouldn’t do at all for anyone to spot his traitor brand. His surgical mask and lab goggles were the last touches, sufficiently obscuring his face.

He drew a deep breath through the mask and cracked his latex gloved knuckles, staring around at the Fears. “Right, then. Here goes nothing.”

---

A half hour later found the two vampires standing in the rugged wastes a half mile from the laboratory building, as Nine set down the gurney beside them and transformed back into human form. Dice landed as he shifted back and just stood for a moment, staring. This was the first time he’d set his eyes on that wretched building since he’d escaped from it several months before. But today…today he was going to get to blow it up. Justice felt good.

He didn’t speak, his mouth too dry. He trailed behind the group by several steps. When he was sure no one was looking, he pulled the vial and scale out of his shirt and pressed them to his lips like a holy crucifix; that vial was his last life-line if anything should go wrong. The gurney creaked as Xandre lay down on the cold metal slab and they zipped up the body bag over his face. The wasteland echoed with the sound of the converted shopping-cart wheels.

As the time drew closer to go their separate ways, Dice’s nerves grew more strained, and he couldn’t prevent his hand from snaking into Nine’s and twining their fingers. His touch was reassuring. The morgue entrance came into view, and he halted in his tracks. "Well, here we go. Good luck everyone."

Dice hugged Nine, tightly but briefly, burying his head in the draconian’s chest. For the love of god, be careful. He was worried that if he lingered there a second too long he would lose his resolve, and so tore away. “See you in a minute, love. C’mon Leah.” Before he could be tempted to change his mind about the whole operation, he turned on his heel and headed for the east end of the compound. He could hear Nine pushing the gurney in the opposite direction behind him, heading into mortal danger. It felt like his heart was on a string attached to Nine’s back, and every step away tore it out further.

He couldn’t help noticing the way the eyes of the guards in the bordering towers were following him and Leah as they headed to the wall under the window to the labs. It must seem very odd, two ‘researchers’ loitering around outside. He nudged Leah’s elbow and tilted his head in the direction of the guardtowers; What do we do about them? He couldn’t mess around in the lab’s circuit box without attracting their unwanted attention.

[Nine]

Nine grumbled under his breath at Xandre’s sarcastic jibes. “Drop dead, corpse-boy.” He would be all too happy when he got to be drab and normal like all the other dracs. Leah seemed to have enjoyed the task of fixing herself a disguise. “Nice, Lee. Very phoenix-y.” Hers certainly looked more authentic than Nine’s, though 6’5” phoenixes were a rarity... Almost an impossibility, actually.

The coat was uncomfortable, to say the least. He felt that the seam along his ribs might split if he took a deep breath. He practiced slouching out the door. Most unbecoming, in his opinion...

A half hour later, he continued to practice slouching while also pushing a gurney. His knees protested this sudden change of habit, but he paid it no attention. He tried to rearrange some of the weapons stowed under Xandre. “Comfy?” This served as sweet retribution for that fluffy, green, burn-the-retinas-out feather comment earlier.

His anxiety returned full-fledged after all the preparations were in place. This was it. Finally. The moment had taken forever to get here, but now that it had, Nine felt quite willing to delay it a little longer. So many things could go wrong, but he refused to consider those possibilities. His stomach still did a nervous dance as Dice wrapped him in a hug. This felt a little too much like a goodbye. He gave Dice a brief squeeze and said, “yep, see you in a few,” before releasing him. He waved and saluted toward Leah. He still wasn’t sure how she felt about all this – the heist and his relationship with Dice. Either way, now wasn’t the time for a heart to heart.

“Hold on tight, Xandre,” he said. He pushed the gurney toward the morgue entrance, keeping his eye on the door. He didn’t look back, though he wanted to. He still felt nervous...

The security guards at the door stood straighter as he approached. Nine tried to slouch a little further, but he still towered over them. How easy would it be to take out these gaurds? No, no, got to save that for the big guys upstairs. “Name?” The guard asked, pulling out a clipboard with a blank form.

“Dr. Leion Caverly. I’m a pathologist from the Medical Institute of Cri,” Nine said in his best monotonous deadpan. He held up the ID Dice had doctored for him. The guard took a look and checked the box.

The guard tapped the gurney with his clipboard and it rung a little strangely from the vibrations of the guns rattling. Nine’s heart leapt but the guard didn’t notice. Probably thought it had something to do with the squeaky racket this gurney made. Old equipment.

“The stiff?” he asked.

“Human. Cause of death, diastolic heart failure. Time of death: 3:41 AM.”

The guard nodded and continued scribbling. He wasn’t paying much attention. He’d barely looked at the ID...

“Purpose at Elkyone Labs?”

Nine’s heart skipped again at the name. “I’m taking it to the morgue,” he answered. The guard nodded, checked off another box, then slid the paper into a slot to his left.

“You may pass,” he said, with the air of someone who takes great pride in saying this in the most pretentious manner possible every day. It was probably the best part of his job, denying and approving access to just about everyone.

Nine nodded and continued pushing the gurney, cringing at the obnoxious CLANG it made going over the bump in the doorway. He continued as though nothing was the matter, and the guard didn’t look twice. He continued down the hall, mapping the route in his head. He’d seen and memorized the map that Dice had drawn one too many times. He passed only one person who asked questions, and the answer Dice had prescribed worked perfectly.

The only window was located in the room where all the test subjects were kept. The office separating the hall from the lab was empty, but from the look of the different things strewn across it, Nine could tell this was Dice’s sister’s office. He passed the desk and pushed Xandre into the lab. It was empty and still except for the heavy breathing of the subjects. They stirred as he walked in with the gurney. Corpses didn't come to this lab... Some subjects looked more alert than others.

Nine shivered, passing an empty cell with a silence that seemed to scream. It had to be Dice's cell... Dice had pointed it out to him the first time he’d presented the map. It made Nine's blood curdle just thinking about Dice trapped in there for years, subjected to enough drug treatments to permanently scar his wrists.

He shook his head. “Clear, Xandre. You can breathe and move around now.” He fetched the rope from under Xandre’s elbow. The window was closed. Nine slid the locks slowly and pushed it open, throwing the rope down to Dice and Leah below. There was nothing secure enough to tie it to, so he held it himself and waited for them both to crawl in through the opening.

It wasn't a true reunion. They'd had much more work to do. This was just the beginning. Still, no real problems thus far....

“Okay, rendezvous later. Now we split for real.” He sounded a bit uncertain, but adrenaline had replaced most of his anxiety. He winked at both Dice and Leah before gesturing for Xandre to come join the real fun.

He would definitely enjoy this part.

[Xandre]

"This isn't a blood bath, Xandre."

"LIES. Slander! Heresy!" Xandre patted his pockets, making sure his razors were in there, close to his body. The tranq gun went into one of the pockets of the lab coat. "Our goal is more than rescuing some testees. That's your job, I happen to have one that's more enjoyable."

Xandre ran his hand through his hair, finger-combing it. "Indeed, all propped up with wax and makeup, just right for the funeral. Although this post-mortem is all natural good looks, I'll have you know. Easy to play a corpse when you should be one, neh?"

Half an hour later, he was stripped to the waist and lying in the body bag, silently grumbling to himself whenever Nine jostled the gurney. He wasn't exactly sure when they would reach the guard checkpoint, so he'd resigned himself to corpse state until Nine gave the signal. No twitching, eyes closed, no moving at all, not even breathing.

He didn't need to, but did they have any idea how hard it was to ignore that little mental alarm that was telling him that any minute now his lungs would start that tingling feeling that escalated into stabbing pain if he didn't bring fresh oxygen into them? But the feeling never came, and he never moved even a fraction of a muscle. It was downright odd.

Xandre made a mental note of the guard's voice and decided he should ask the man's name from Dice some time. Someone needed to be made aware of their ego.

He stifled a grunt when the gurney bumped over the ridge in the doorway and a piece of metal jabbed into his ribs. Oh well, that's what he was here for, right? Yes.

He could smell when they'd passed into the laboratory. The clinical scent, masking the fear, sweat, and just plain sick smell of the test subjects was offputting, to say the least.

A finger dug into the top of the zipper grabbed purchase and he managed to pull it down enough to reach a hand out and unzip the body bag. Xandre climbed out of the bag and hopped down to the floor, pulling his shirt up and the lab coat. He buttoned the shirt quickly, patting pockets to make sure his weapons hadn't fallen out into the bag. "Thanks for the help, dick," he grumbled slightly with a slight grin when Nine moved past to get the rope. There was no animosity behind it, of course.

He waggled his fingers slightly at Dice and Leah as they came into the window, and then vanished after Nine. They had work to do! Work down in a different section, and upstairs. He and Nine had an appointment with a man named Percy Vaude, and then Xandre had been told by Dice about someone who needed some, ah, personal attention from him.

[Leah]

With hands deep in the square pockets of her stolen lab coat, Leah strode with careful indifference across the darkening lawns of the research facility, the Phoenix by her side. It didn't appear that conversation would be the first thing on either of their minds; she could tell from the look in Dice's eye that it was damn near killing him to let Nine go without him. But it was his plan - he knew the cost. And Nine knew the danger.

Somehow, she suspected that Nine and Xandre would enjoy their half of the plan much more than they had any license to.

As the stark walls of the facility towered over them, Leah couldn't help but allow her eye to be drawn to the dark eves of the building, the garish contrast between the dark sky and the floodlights that streamed from the facility's windows. She only drew her eye away when she could feel the Phoenix's eyes on her. "Welcome home." she muttered dryly to him, still not entirely certain of his motives for bringing them here. Sure, sure - anyone in this city could claim revenge; you would be quite hard pressed to find someone in Eterno who hadn't been wronged in the past. But the simplicity of the explanation was what prodded Leah the wrong way. For all she knew, it was a none-too-clever story devised to have the Fears agree to this suicidal mission in order for them to be ambushed the second it got under way. For all she knew, it would be a bunch of guards that would be the ones to lower the rope down to them from the window. For all she knew, there would be a firing squad on the other side of that main entrance, just waiting for Nine and Xandre.

But the look of pain and worry in Dice's eyes was so...real. He really did care for Nine - honestly and truly loved him. She'd seen the quick glimpse of the vial tucked beneath the Phoenix's shirt, and now that she thought about it, she had an inkling as to what it might contain...and why Dice would want to kiss it before the mission got under way. If he were contemplating soul-bonding with Nine...well, it would kill him to send him to his certain death.

"Wait until we get inside," came her soft reply to his glance, her face carefully nonchalant. "There are a few presents with Xandre that should help us out with those guards up there. You just concentrate on getting everything shut down before the facility can get word out to the rest of the Isurgi world that the Fears have arrived."

Just as the pair passed beneath the designated window, Leah's enhanced ears picked up the sound of the glass pane slowly sliding open. Pausing for a moment, she looked upwards as the long coil of rope Nine had had wrapped around his shoulder dropped from the heavens, bouncing slackly against the wall in front of her. She glanced at Dice with an indecipherable look before moving forward to grab the rope. Here it was - the moment of truth. But...well, maybe it was about time for Leah to start trusting the new guy. After all, Nine certainly did. Even so...she hated to ignore her instincts...

Well. Maybe just this once, she thought idly, and then she was away, seeming to almost evaporate in the darkness with the rate at which she scaled the wall.

[Dice]

Dice slouched along beside Leah nervously. She seemed entirely within her element but, Dice reminded himself, she was a Fear. Not only was she very used to this sort of operation, she had a string of tattooed ‘x’s down her back to prove it. She continued to treat him icily, but he was certain he saw her expression melt the tiniest bit when he and Nine had parted ways. He wondered where Nine was now – had they gotten through security, had anything gone wrong? Maybe they’d noticed the ID tag was doctored, or the splotches in Nine’s hair, or the iris rims around his contact lenses. Dice had to stop being so damn pessimistic; Nine was a big boy, he could take on a few Nix security guards.

”Welcome home,” Leah muttered. Dice smirked mirthlessly. “Good to be back. Under these circumstances, with explosives on hand.” Leah, he knew, still saw things from Nik’s perspective, recognizing the very real threat that Dice represented. If he had betrayed the Insurgi, what was to prevent him turning traitor on the Fears? And yet her nurturing tendencies seemed to be competing with her natural suspiciousness. Dice was, for all intensive purposes, a weak lost lamb without a family or a home, and on their first meeting (prior to finding out who and what he was) Leah’s motherly instinct had found that irresistible. Those cookies had been tasty, too.

He nodded at Leah’s orders – she was indisputably the senior officer when it came to matters of stealth and espionage. “Here’s the circuit box. Just watch my back, hey?” Dice glanced over his shoulder, very much aware of the guard towers. He held his breath as he picked the lock and pried the lid open against its rusty hinges. The inside was just like his circuitry project for first-year physics.
In a moment, guards all across the facility were sitting up in alarm and mashing at keyboards as their security monitors abruptly shut off, the alarm system went offline, and the magnetically locked security doors lost power. The lights flickered and died, and the labs were plunged into a shadowy semi-darkness.

Dice grinned to himself. Plus one point for pulling out wires at random.

He turned around as he heard the sound of the rope slapping against the wall. Leah looked at him pointedly before grabbing it and practically sprinting up the wall. Dice would have just flown up to the window, but it was a very narrow gap and his wingspan was simply too wide. He grabbed the end of the rope dubiously and began the long ascent, once again glad he was being vigilant about his morning push-ups.

As he neared the window, breathing heavily, Nine grabbed him by his bandaged wrists and hauled him through the opening. “So far so good, then!” Dice gazed around at the rows of cages. Home sweet home. It was strange and eerie to see the cages from the outside once again, after so long. And to once again see the prisoners within them. It seemed very strange that there were no researchers around at this time of day, but Dice was so full of adrenaline he didn’t dwell on it long. “Get going, you two. Down the hallway, up the stairs on the left.” They knew that already, but saying it again felt reassuring, reinforcing the concept that they would all know exactly where one another were throughout it all.

A drac in one of the cages looked up groggily as he passed, and recognition crossed his face. He bared his teeth. “Hey, it’s you! You fucker, Elkyone, you must have a death wish coming back here! Rot in hell, you piece of shit!” he tiraded, spitting through the bars at Dicen’s feet. Dice stepped back in alarm; Nine had been absolutely right about the prisoners not giving him a warm reception. Then again, you could hardly blame them. This particular drac had been in the labs for centuries. He was captured back in the time when Dice had run the labs, and had administered injections…

He’d rather not draw attention to the vicious animosity these test subjects felt towards him, but it was difficult to ignore. “You’ll be eating your words when we bust you out of here,” he snarled back at the draconian. He looked up and down the hallway. It was very narrow, they would have to get the prisoners congregated in the main research area and then get them all back out through the window single-file. “Leah, think you can find the key and get the cages open?” Back at the apartment he had shown her where the keys were usually kept, depicted as a tiny drawing of a key in the drawers at the end of the hall on his floorplan of the labs. He didn’t want to be too close-by when she let the prisoners free, in case any of them decided to give Dice some parting shots. It was time for him to go snag those drugs.

He grabbed the handle of the make-shift gurney and wheeled it through the cellblock door after Nine and Xandre, watching them disappear down the hallway. He crossed the length of the laboratory space to the gigantic refrigerators beside Aras’s office. He opened one and, moving quickly, began to pick out vials of prototype solutions and shove them into the body-bag. It was like being at the grocery store, except he was pulling out scopolamine, temazepam, sodium thiopental, sedatives, ephedrine, dexamphetamine, and ampakine instead of milk and eggs. He worked his way through the shelf of stimulants. His heart skipped a beat as he read the label on the next vial. ‘Benzodiazepine’. Tranquilizer. He shook himself and shoved a fistful into the bag before moving on to the E.D.s.

He zipped up the body bag, now bulging with drug canisters, and looked over his shoulder towards the cell block to see how Leah was getting along. He was growing increasingly nervous about how quiet everything was – he’d expected at least a little more resistance, expected one or two guards to notice them and try to stop them. All was dead silent within the labs, even devoid of the hum of security cameras. He pushed the gurney back towards the cellblock door, the sound of the squeaky wheels echoing against the linoleum. “How’re you doing, Lee?”

[Leah]

They'd made it in without being ambushed, shot at, killed, or torn apart by razor sharp talons. Plus one for the Phoenix.

Leah brushed herself off as she settled back on her feet, nodding her thanks to Nine for the lift over the sill. Straightening her shirt, she glanced around quickly to take stock of her surroundings. So far, it would seem that the Insurgi guards were dumber than rocks - you would think that the second they saw someone wandering near the circuit boxes, they'd have a patrol over there to investigate, right? Well, either they hadn't seen them, or they were too stupid to care...but either way, step two of the mission had been complete. Now for the harder part.

While she couldn't help but feel glad that the test subjects locked up in the cages here would finally be free, she also couldn't help but dread the second they would be released. It was simple enough for the Fears to get in and out - they knew exactly what they were doing, and they were hardened and ready for combat. The Fears could kill any Insurgi operative without so much as batting an eyelash, and could easily delve into a situation that would normally spell death for a regular person because they could defend themselves. However, when they had other innocent lives under their charge - like they would once the subjects were free - things suddenly became a lot harder. Not only would she be responsible for her safety and Dice's...but for the dozens of other poor creatures locked away up here.

She couldn't spend too much time thinking of them yet, however. There was work yet to be done.

Moving silently over to the gurney, she collected a few items from it - her silenced pistol, a detonator and a few demolition packs - and stored them in satchels that she was currently sliding onto her belt. If her plan of distraction was needed - that is, if the Phoenix guards ever woke up long enough to realize that their facility had been infiltrated - she would need several explosives to be able to pull it off. "Good luck, guys," she said, nodding to Xandre and Nine as they moved towards the door. The corner of her lips twitched upward. "Have fun."

Recalling the floor plan sketch to mind, she quickly moved to the correct drawer, sliding it open - and sure enough, there were the keys, lying in wait. "You really knew what you were doing, Bird-Brain." she muttered lowly - not fully intending for Dice to hear her. Picking up the keys, she slid the drawer shut again as the Phoenix went about collecting the drugs and stuffing them into the newly-abandoned body bag, and passed by him to approach the cages.

Every subject looked back at her with wide, wary eyes. Some were baring their teeth, seeming ready to pounce should she come near with any sort of serum or needle - others, however, huddled as far into the shadows as they could. Her face, indecipherable before, softened now. The poor things...some were so pale that it was evident that they hadn't seen anything other than artificial light for years - others so thin and ragged that it was evident that they were given the very cruelest treatment behind those bars. Images of Dice upon his first escape flashed before her eyes, and a soft sigh escaped her lips. She had to help them...

The sound of Dice's voice snapped her out of her reverie. "Fine," she answered, sounding only slightly distracted. "Just fine..." And as her voice faded, she slowly knelt to the first cage, lifting the lock in her hands to slide the key in - but before she could, she picked up the faint sound of creaking metal echoing up from the window. Her eyes narrowed immediately. "Quite." she ordered softly, stealing across the floor to the open window once more. As she looked to the grass below, her eyes narrowed still further - for it would appear that the guards had not only woken up, but they'd guessed what had caused the failure. Time for distraction.

"You wait here, and lay low." she told Dice, setting the keys down on a nearby lab table as she pulled the lab coat closed around her, hiding the eclectic collection of weapons at her waist. "We have visitors." Sliding the door open, she glanced out into the hallway and attempted to fit her surroundings with the aerial view that the floor plan had given her. After a moment, she looked to Dice. "I'm pulling them away to the Northeast corner. That should give us enough time to get the subjects out of here, and to get Nine and Xandre back." And with little more than that, she was gone.

She didn't use her full speed down the hallway, for fear of running into a guard or another Insurgi that would call them - and indeed, she did run into a few other white coated lab rats and a few jump-suited techies, running around like chickens with their heads cut off as the lights in the facility flickered on and off. It would seem that, without the computers to guide them, the basic systems couldn't make the switch to backup power - which was all the better for her.

The tiled floor flew beneath her feet when there was no one around, and within minutes, she was in the section of the facility furthest away from the Fears' areas of interest. Even when she arrived, she wasted no time - hardly pausing to survey the room, she began to plant the charges at key points, making certain that she would create the biggest boom possible. Then, dashing to a safe distance, she lifted the remote detonator from her waist...and hit the button.

The ground rumbled and shook beneath her feet, and dust and dirt shook from the ceiling tiles above her, the two walls shielding her from the blast site taking the brunt of the force. Immediately, the fire alarm went off, and what was left of the electricity in the facility completely winked out. Left in utter darkness as the sprinklers went off, Leah blinked in order to adjust her eyes to the pitch black. This was her element. She lifted a hand to run it through her hair, and could already feel the dye starting to wash out with the rain of water falling from the ceiling, and instead of panicking for the sake of her disguise...she couldn't help but smirk to herself, her green eyes narrowing calculatingly. Shrugging out of the white lab coat, she slipped through the door she'd taken shelter behind, pushing her way through the shattered wall debris to the blast site, melding into the shadows, her blade ready in her hand. This was her element.

((Yay for totally sidetracking o.O Hope this doesn't screw anything up XD))

[Nine]

Nine and Xandre hoofed it to the nearest stairwell, taking each stair two at a time. Nine could feel his element boiling, but he only intended to use it if he absolutely needed to. A last resort. He might need it later. Once on the third floor, there was just a short stretch of hallway and then it split in two separate directions.

"I'll take the right and you take the left?" he suggested, reaching under his shirt to draw the weapon from its wonderful little hiding place. He smirked. "Don't party too hard without me." That said, he waved and took off down the right hall. He vanished into the first door with a gold plaque reading a name he didn't recognize. Nine grinned, threw open the door, and marched up to the man sitting in his leather, high-backed chair. He was on his cell phone and immediately dropped it when he saw Nine.

Normally, Nine gave his victims a chance to redeem themselves, a chance to change. These assholes didn't deserve a second chance. These were the low-lives that would sooner have his baby executed than give him a fair trial. Nine cocked the gun and fired, turning to leave as the body slid from its chair like a limp, rubber hose.

He moved from door to door. Sometimes he didn't have to. Some of the men and women came rolling out the doors on their wheeled office chairs to sit like ducks in a pond. Nine shot them down too until the hall looked like a war zone. Blood leaked from under doors, and bodies folded over chairs with bullets between their eyes stared blankly. Nine didn't seem to notice or care, he moved through the doors with adrenaline humming noisily in his ears.

In one office, far down the line, a phoenix in a three-piece suit and tie pressed the hidden button under his desk and drew his own gun out of a locked cabinet.

When Nine opened that door, it was to be met with three bullet holes to his shoulder and the left side of his chest. "Son of a bitch," Nine swore, raising his own gun. The phoenix was off the mark, not nearly close enough to Nine's heart. It only took one of Nine's bullets to kill the phoenix. He really hoped Dice couldn't feel that, though he doubted very much that you could ignore bullet pain, even with only half a soulbond. I'm okay he thought, trying to think as loud as possible. Everything's still going according to plan... He didn't know if it would work. Through the adrenaline, the need to focus on their plan, through the noises now echoing throughout the building, he doubted very much that Dice could hear him clearly.

The floor rumbled beneath his feet for a second. Well, this operation had officially stopped being covert. Should have asked Scott to fix a silencer to my gun...

[Dice]

Ooc: AHAHAHA, eeeexcellent job folks. Let’s get this party started.
Sorry to go out of post order, but...need to post, after all this absent-ness.

Amon Insurgi was in the engineering lab, peering through a magnifying glass as he delicately fed a fine wire into a circuit board with a pair of tweezers. It was then that the electricity went out. He sighed in exasperation and put down the tweezers, drumming his fingers impatiently as he waited for the back-up generators to kick on. They didn’t.

He reached for his pager. Nessa: lost power in Engi, have light in Bio? Dr. Nessa Telosi’s reply was swift. Nope. And got call, Cri medic bringing a stiff to lab - not expecting any? Still no-show. That was strange. So power was down across the whole facility? Shouldn’t those cement-brained security guards be dealing with this? He could hear footsteps pounding up the hallway – this didn’t seem good at all. He grabbed his double-barreled tranq/E.D. gun and slung it over his shoulder. Amon left the lab, walking briskly down the hall towards the backup generator room. He almost bumped head-long into a small detachment of officers running in the other direction. “What’s going on here?” Amon demanded. One officer paused a split second to salute, “Security breach in the medical labs, Officer Insurgi.” Well, that explained a few things. At least the problem was being taken care of. “On your way,” Amon nodded, himself continuing down the hall.

Suddenly, the ground shook, knocking Amon off his feet. A cloud of dust and debris surged through the perpendicular hallway. What the hell?! The fire alarm went off and Amon was quickly soaked to the skin as the sprinklers kicked on. He scrambled to his feet on the water-slick tiles and sprinted the rest of the way to the power room. He pushed his way in and surveyed the board of little red emergency lights. The fire alarm from the northeast ward was illuminated…as was an emergency signal from an office on level 3.Nessa: Security breach. Detachment already at med labs, meet me w/squad on lv 3, 2 mins. Bring tranqs, EDs.

He slid open the fuse box on the emergency generator and flicked a few switches. The motor hummed to life and the dim backup lighting flickered on. If someone was breaking into the medical lab, that could only mean they were after drugs or trying to free the prisoners. He located the newly-installed white circuit board, put in just a few weeks ago in response to the latest escapes. In the dim light, he could make out the labels by each of the switches. He flicked the one which read ‘Cells – Fail-Safe’. He tried not to think how far this was going to set back Aras’s work. It was better to terminate the project and start anew than allow Insurgi technology to be leaked. He readjusted his gun and ran for the stairs up to level 3, greeted by a hallway littered with the corpses of Nine’s victims.

Nessa was already standing at the top of the stairwell, tranq gun in hand, looking too shocked by the amount of blood flowing down the hall to move. A squad of some 8 or 9 armored officers was awaiting Amon’s arrival. “Follow my lead,” Amon ordered. He pushed through them to the lead, hearing the sound of a gun discharge ahead. A very tall man with a streak of green in his hair, his front smeared with blood, emerged from one of the offices. Amon’s gun was the first of ten to be raised and aimed at the draconian. “You…you’re that drac from the wall!” Amon exclaimed in surprise, recognition striking him. If they could take him alive, surely he would know where Dicen was hiding. “Put down that weapon immediately or we will not hesitate to fire.”

---

Dice’s hands were steady as he shoved his gun from the gurney into his back pocket, and cradled a detonator under his arm. He stuck close to Leah’s side, glancing nervously over his shoulder as she fiddled with a lock. The cell block looked…different, somehow. Some kind of work had been done on it; they’d replaced some of the locks, for example. And what was the purpose of those little vents lining the wall? They certainly hadn’t been there a few months ago.

Dice recoiled sharply, almost slamming his back into a cage, as pain struck his chest. He yelled in alarm, casting his eyes around, but could see no source of attack. A spot of blood blossomed through the front of his white lab coat and expanded outwards through the fabric. Dice gaped. “N-nine’s been shot…” he gasped, clutching a hand to his shoulder as panic threatened to overwhelm him. Shit shit shit, what had happened, what had gone wrong? He thought he could, very faintly, hear a voice saying ‘I’m okay’, but it was so far and so faint Dice feared it might merely be his hopeful imagination. It was only a small wound that Dice had suffered, but their mere half-soulbond meant Nine's was likely far more severe. He tried to reason with himself; he was still walking and talking, and the pain was not so terrible. Nine must be alright. Mostly.

”Quiet,” Leah ordered. Dice became very aware of the sound of his labored breathing, and clamped a bloody hand over his surgical mask to quiet the noise. He crouched down and stayed near the ground as Leah walked to the window. ‘Visitors’? He knew this had been going a little too smoothly. “Okay, gimme the keys,” he panted, trying to ignore the pain in his and Nine’s chests and maintain his focus. Leah seemed to be completely on-task, adjusting to their rapidly changing situation with equal speed.

His fingers were slippery with blood and sweat but he managed to insert the key into the lock of the first cage. “Okay everyone, here’s the deal,” he announced to the room of inmates, “we’re breaking you out of here. Everyone needs to wait in the main lab until we’re sure the coast is clear and we’re going to head back through security. From there you’re free to go where you like, but we can get you safely to Cri where the Insurgi hold less jurisdiction.” He wondered how many of them were absorbing what he was saying. He’d managed to escape while pumped full of drugs, but he wasn’t sure some of these subjects, especially the weakly humans, would be able to manage it. He opened the cage. The draconian inside scrambled forward on hands and knees and headed for the lab door. He was relieved to see that the drac slumped against the wall and waited, as Dice had ordered. He continued methodically along the row of cages, opening each in turn. Some prisoners literally shoved past him in their eagerness to get out, while others barely moved and had to be hoisted to their feet and led by the shoulder into the other room.

The ground shook violently. Leah must have set off one of his explosives. Dice smirked grimly to himself – at least his detonators worked. He continued towards the last few cages, releasing a captive hybrid and a human, who slouched towards the exit. The lights flickered on. Seemed like the Surgs had finally figured out the emergency generator, but that was to be expected, and he’d factored in that possibility. Dice looked around, double-checking that all of the cages were clear. He moved towards the corner and began to set up an explosive charge, ready to be detonated when they’d cleared the area.

Then Amon triggered the fail-safe.

There was a deafening clang of metal on metal as a heavy iron grate fell over the window. Dice flew to his feet as the magnetic door swung shut. He yanked on the handle, but it was firmly locked. He was trapped in here. He drew a deep breath, trying to keep a clear head against the sudden grip of claustrophobia. None of the test subjects would have the faintest idea how to go about – or, most likely, any interest in – letting him out of here. But Leah would be back soon, and she would know how to trigger the circuit and let him out. He’d just have to wait, that was all.

Then, from the newly-installed vents lining the base of the walls, there issued a thick, pale gas like opaque motor exhaust. Dice’s heart quickened in alarm, his breathing rapid. As the gas permeated the room, he drew in a breath and found himself doubled up on the floor in agony, his throat and lungs burning. THIS was the new fail-safe!? When there was an attempted escape, they sealed off the cell block and killed all the test subjects with poison gas?! On his knees, Dice pounded his fists against the locked metal door. “Leah! LEAH!” He didn’t know how far away she might be, if she’d get back in time. His eyes watered freely as the vapor stung them. He hoisted himself up by the doorhandle, trying to stay above the heavy gas already beginning to blanket the floor and obscure the tiles. He pulled the collar of his shirt up over his nose and mouth. He tried to hold his breath, but his body screamed for air. Toxin clogged the delicate cells of the alveoli of his lungs with each panicked breath. “LEEEAH!”

[Carth]

On the floor in the back of one of the cells, curled up in a dirty tunic that was the uniform provided for the test subjects, a white-marked werecat slept. His tunic was sweat and fluid stained, and his face was lined. Clumps of fur had fallen off of his tail and ears, and he barely moved when Dice stood him up.

He mewled when Dice picked him up, clinging to the lab coat. His claws dug into the fabric, no worse than fingernails. They'd been cut short. One of his fingers had fresh scars around the nail bed; someone had been digging around.

He did not walk to the main room so much as he was dragged, and when Dice set him down he crumpled back to the floor and leaned against the wall.

His nerves were screaming at him. They'd injected Subject 90528 with one of the new EDs today and the reaction was wreaking havoc in his system. Even the thought of transforming made him want to cry.

The clang of the metal flattened his ears against his head, but that was it. Ah, well, whoever was helping on this escape (it couldn't one, nobody could break in just by themselves) would be back soon, wouldn't they? Either that or security would show up and probably put them all back in their cells after taking care of the intruders.

Then the phoenix inside started banging on the door, and Carth sniffed. His nostrils stung a little.

"...Poison," he muttered.

The human woman next to him, who had let out a soft cry of "kitty" that spoke volumes of pity and sadness when she saw Carth, looked down at him. "What?"

"Poison, they're gassing the cell block. They were going to kill us in case anything ever happened."

She gasped, and tried to get the attention of the other prisoners. "They're killing him! The guy who let us out!"

[Xandre]

Xandre veered to the left, baring his teeth in a grin. Down the hall he sauntered, kicking open the first door with a plaque. Doctor Zerda Telosi, vice-head of the tranquilizer development department didn't stand a chance. Xandre left the room with black eyes sparkling.

He slipped past a chief assistant, eyes down and every inch the picture of a researcher grunt who was on his way to report some research news on a latest project. The hall was mostly empty. It was easy for him to slip in and out of two more rooms, wiping his razor on the fancy leather chairs before he moved on.

He thought he could hear some gunshots on the other side of the building, and hoped that the birds on his side were too busy with their work, and didn't have quite the ability to hear it.

Then he heard a muffled rumble, and the floor shook beneath him. Well, so much for that. The electronic lights blackened without a sound, leaving a pitch black corridor in front of him. How lucky that they had chosen not to put windows on this hall.

Named officials fluttered out of their doors, complaining about how the water was ruining their suits and paperwork, their fine wood desks and chairs, and how this delay would set them back weeks. Others were tittering to each other about what was going on. Nobody noticed the dripping wet, skinny young lab assistant who drifted down the hall, nor did anyone notice the darkness adding to the pools of water on the floor. He cleared the end of the hall by the time the backup generator had turned back on.

Now, Dice had given him two very specific names. Percy Vaude, and Cecil Insurgi. From what he remembered of the layouts that had been drawn up, Percy should be at the end of this wing.

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs reached Xandre's ears, and he swore to himself, dashing down the hall. His shoes squealched in the wet carpet.

There, there's what he was looking for. Percy Vaude. The man who had taken over after Dice's father. Numerous initials followed the man's name. Dice had mentioned how much this asshole deserved to die. Too bad they didn't have more time. From what Xandre had heard, he deserved some special one-on-one time with the good doctor.

[Leah]

Her black hair fanned around her shoulders and face, melding with the completely black outfit she wore - a little wardrobe she'd planned for just such an occasion. If not for the very real chance of stepping on a piece of twisted metal or electrified wire, she wouldn't even be bothering to wear her boots at this point - the heels were too difficult to keep silent. She could certainly do it, of course, but...it took more concentration than she was willing to spare.

The black ensemble fit in beautifully with the charred walls and debris as she skirted around the light of the small fires that still burned, despite the cascade of water that was constantly flowing from the broken pipes above. Sections of the outer wall and ceiling were blown open, revealing the floor and sky above...but there was hardly any light to flow inside, due to the cloud cover. What little light there was, however, was enough for Leah to see shadows flitting around outside. Voices reached her above the screech of the alarm.

"Will someone shut that damn thing off?"

"Can't, sir - all circuits and electricity have been totally cut off to this area. That blast did quite a doozy." At least she wouldn't have to worry about any live wires.

"What the hell could have done this? Holy shit! The whole place is grounded."

"Shut it, Ed."

"It might have been gas or something...all these pipes are shattered - could be the explosion followed them out."

"If it was gas the whole place would be lit up like fireworks by now." said a rather commanding voice - it would seem that the guards of the facility had some sort of leadership, after all. "It isn't what, but who. Radio says the med labs have been locked down too."

"Locked down? As in the new system?"

"As in we'll be needing a new set of test subjects. One of the lab boys just went to activate it. That gas is gonna knock 'em all out in just a few minutes."

Leah's eyes widened immediately, her muscles tensing in her legs and her fingers tightening in their grip on her dagger. Gas? New test subjects? No...the Insurgi were all about time and development - they...they wouldn't seriously kill them all, would they? Her throat suddenly went dry. She would have to deal with this, and fast.

Moving from her crouched position behind a block of shattered cement, she crawled across the debris, leaping from one pile to the next with hardly any shift of the shrapnel. The guards had already split off into sections to begin searching the premises, making her job all the easier. All she had to do was creep up behind one, slice his throat, move to another, right between the ribs, a smack to the temple with the pommel for a third...

She knelt to the ground as the fifth and final guard fell, dead. Lifting the blade to her mouth, she couldn't help herself - her favorite perfume had reached her nostrils as its source pooled against the dark stones. And with her usual mind set completely gone as her Fear senses took over with the excitement of the kill, she had very little to stop her from bending to the gaping wound in a guard's neck, touching her lips to the warmth that spilled forth.

It wasn't until a second siren went off that she remembered why she had been so urgent in the first place. With her electric green eyes glowing through even the colored contacts, she ran the back of a white hand across her mouth to wipe away the last of the blood. Licking her blade clean as she stood, she didn't bother to resheath it as she dashed through the halls again, back to the medical labs.

When she reached the end of the correct hallway, she breathed a sigh of relief as the doors were within sight - but her eyes widened as she realized that things wouldn't be quite as easy as she'd thought. There were reinforced steel gates locked over the entrance - she assumed they were on both sides - sealing Dice and the test subjects inside, and her out. Shit.

Still running full speed, she ran headlong at the door and threw her shoulder into the steel - but it was stronger than she was. She rebounded off of it, leaving little more than a dent with her shoulder. A cry of pain escaped her lips...and she realized just how amazingly stupid that had been.

"Leah! LEAH!"

Shit. They were being gassed.

"LEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAH!!!!"

Her hands shook as she got to her feet again, her eyes glancing furiously from side to side as she tried to figure out how in hell she could get that damn door open. Panic rose in her chest, closing her throat. The guard had said it would take only minutes for the gas to take effect, and all those poor, innocent creatures...

Finally, she found it - a break in the wall. Dashing over to it, she used the tip of her blade to unscrew the corners of the plate that covered what she could only assume was a circuit board. It took several seconds for her to get it unlatched, but she was already fearing that she was moving too slow. "Hang on, Dice," she muttered to herself, as if he could hear her. "Just hold on..." A few more twists and the plate fell to the ground, exposing a nest of wires. She sighed, her eyes narrowing. If only she had Dice's expertise...

After a moment of hesitation, she reached in to pull one of the wires out, and slipped her blade under the wire, snapping it cleanly in half. As if by the work of God, the door groaned and slid open - leaving a sputtering Dice collapsed on the ground. "Shit!" she hissed. The gas was everywhere.