Chapter 221: Powdered Plans
Lucy quickly gave the group a rundown on what they'd been doing. Aliya was apparently 'clean' as far as their crew was concerned, though caution should still be practised. As for their investigations, the place was locked up tighter than a doomer's front door.
Lazarus had expertly replaced Militech, their patrols were already stupidly efficient, crossing paths at seemingly random times to confirm nothing suspect was occurring. Pilar had noticed half a dozen hidden cameras alone, yet he himself suggested there were more that he'd missed.
Every entrance had at least three or four visible security measures, key cards, eye scanners, schedules, etc. Even the trucks delivering food and other valuables were so thoroughly vetted that they'd probably be able to detect if you lied in their vicinity.
Annoyingly of all, Lazarus had many agents going around the strip, bribing and gathering information on potential threats, making any attempts from Maine and the others to glean information for themselves risky at best and suicidal at worst.
Lucy had almost ended up running into the Lazarus Netrunner team, around five people from what she could tell. Not particularly talented individually but heavily drilled in team tactics, judging by how they attempted to isolate and lock her down despite barely noticing her.
The Crystal Tower, despite looking like it'd shatter under its own weight, was a fortress for all intents and purposes. Even if they scaled up and tried to access it from the small balconies placed near the very peak, the hundreds or maybe even thousands of drones flying around would gun them down before they had the chance to do anything.
The heist was beginning to look impossible...
"Uh, I did hear some rumours in the market, doubt that'll help any at cracking the tower..." David sighs.
"We won't know unless you tell us..." Ori says.
He shrugs, "Something about Dolls starting to go missing, the guys talking about it were quiet, but they sounded like they knew someone in the Tower was doing it."
...
"Yeah, that doesn't help at fucking all!" Pilar boredly remarks, "'Sides, where'd you hear that anyway? You going behind Lucy's back to get your stick wet?" he grins mockingly.
"It was a patio bar, don't you go starting shit either, I'm not the rookie you can push around anymore." David sourly responds.
"Drop it." Maine all but orders, "Rumours can be worth shit or gold, we'll look into it if everything else fails." he nods at Ori, "What've you got?"
"Found an entrance into the Tower's basement, but it goes through the sewer and leads to a shitter in the women's bathroom. We'd need to blow the thing open if we wanted to get through, not to mention all the sewage..."
"Ah, so that's why you stink of shit!" Pilar chortles.
Ori ignores him and continues, "Unless we can find some silent explosives that can blow twenty feet of pipes without alerting the entire building, that ain't a route we can take... Even if we did try it, we still have to get through the vault, who knows how protected it is."
...
The group descends into an uncomfortable silence. Gigs were usually pretty clear-cut for them, at least they were in Night City. Right now it didn't feel like they had any options at all, sure they could go to Aliya and refuse to proceed but there was a high chance of that backfiring, not to mention the fact they'd be back to where they started.
"If the vault's a problem you guys just gotta get me some chems to make some extra thermite. I can just scale up the recipe I use for my Cyberware." Rebecca speaks up.
Pilar just shakes his head, "We've all seen that shit used to crack banks, you think they hadn't thought of that when they built it?"
"I think they thought that no one would think to use cliche tactics like that... I think..." Rebecca trails off, scratching her head. "'Sides, we can just throw it all at someone if we need to."
...
"Fuck it, we'll visit the sewer route and see if it fits tomorrow." Maine stands, "Lucy, keep looking for other options..." he adds before walking off to his room.
...
"Anyone seen Christy anywhere...?" Ori questions, wondering if the wayward pop star had finally had enough and decided to turn them all in.
Pilar shrugs, "Last I saw she was trying to get in good with our 'boss'. Heard her practising some songs, gotta say, without autotune she's trash."
"This gonna be a problem?" David asks, "Maybe we should cut her off since she's happy with where we're at?"
"I'd love to, but she knows too much to drop so easy." Ori shakes his head, "With her making friends with Aliya it's her who chooses when she leaves..."
-----------------------
The next day everyone but Christy and Lucy made their way underground, backtracking through the tunnels to reach the blockaded area where the Crystal Tower's sewer entrance lay.
Ori sniffs at the air as they reach the metal door however, drawing glances from the others.
"What, you smell the sewer already? Just how bad is it gonna be!?" Pilar says.
Ori shakes his head, "No, not that. I smell blood." he states, gesturing for them to stay put as he slowly approaches the door and peeks through.
Behind it, he saw the many FPV guards dead on the floor and riddled with bullet holes. The guard who'd let him and Rebecca in yesterday seemingly had his face torn off and tossed beside his body, which also had both legs blown completely off.
From the small hole opposite the cave leading to the sewers, he spotted dim flashlights looking left to right... After a moment, he finally spotted them, Lazarus soldiers slowly checking every nook and cranny.
Ori wets his lips and slowly backs up, not wanting to alert the enemy of their position. No doubt they'd start surveying the other tunnels soon after they'd shored up the sewer entrance. He looks over his shoulder at the rest of the crew and signals for a fast retreat.
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