Sneak

"Here's your lunch, sir." Stryfe announced as he placed the plates he was carrying down on my work table.

It has now been 8 hours since the XPB has passed our functionality tests. Me and Athena are currently working on finalizing the design and structure of the weapon, so that I can finally use it in the field. The weapon looks like a glaive, only smaller, that lets me wield it with one hand with ease. It is mainly composed of carbon steel, making it extremely tough, with the plasma emitter's circuitry fit inside the blade and the handle. The weapon can fold into a short and compact form for easy storage, kind of like a switchblade, but larger. We also added a few more upgrades to it, like a magnetic attachment on the handle, activated by a special glove of mine, that lets the weapon return to my hands if ever it was thrown or knocked away.

I took a bite of the steak and spaghetti meal that Stryfe had prepared for me before taking a good look at the weapon, possibly the first time I did since we started refining it. It has a sleek design, mostly black with a couple of grey lines here and there that turn olympic blue, the same color as the blade when the plasma is on. I actually love the design. It looks badass.

"How are you liking the weapon now, Athena?" I ask her.

"It's actually not bad, considering that it was you who made the design," she replies.

Stryfe quickly disguised his laughter as a cough. I ignore it.

"By the way, Vince, when do you plan to actually perform the hack on the Entropy network you've planned like, 5 weeks ago?" said Athena.

"Oh yeah… I remember that." This plan involved going to the Entropy Co. headquarters, the Entroplex (short for "Entropy complex"), and hacking into their network, to find out when and where a TEST mission will take place. Though it won't be so simple: the Entroplex covers a large area at the center of Frontier City. The complex consists mainly of small department offices and the like, with the main administrative tower in the middle, though I won't have to really go in there. I intend to sabotage a TEST mission, just to test out my battle skills, and quite possibly to strike fear into the heart of that deceitful, two-faced corporation who killed my parents in cold blood as well. Just let them know that someone is coming for them, and they aren't safe anymore

"Well, since the XPB is no longer an experimental plasma blade and is now a fully functional weapon, I might as well do the hack tonight," I told them.

"Oooh, so does that mean we're going somewhere other than Gizmo's Scrap Shop?" Stryfe asks me.

Gizmo's Scraps Shop is the place where I get all the parts and materials that I use in my inventions. Just to clear things up if you're wondering where I get all of my materials and resources. It's located in the Underground, a secret place beneath Frontier City that deals with all kinds of shady and illegal stuff, such as smuggling and banned items.

"Yes, yes we are, Stryfe." I said to him.

And we both look at each other with excitement on our faces, as if we just saw a Darth Vader face to face.

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"How far up... are we Stryfe? I don't think... I can climb... any longer." I said to Stryfe between heavy breaths as we climbed up the 13-story high communication department building of Entropy Co. We're wearing magnetic gloves and boots for climbing since the building is almost entirely made out of steel, as well as holographic cloaks that lets us blend in with the building's color.

"We're currently on the 8th floor, sir… now 9th. Just a few more seconds of climbing and we should be on the rooftop," he replies

"9th floor?" I stopped climbing so I can breathe properly for a while. "I feel like we've been climbing up this damn building since yesterday."

He just continued climbing. I tried to catch up after him.

When I finally reached the building's rooftop, I let myself fall off over the low wall and filled my lungs with the cold night air. I grabbed the bottle of water from my belt and took a huge swig. Stryfe's already setting up our equipment when I saw him behind one of the huge satellite dishes. I walked over to him and sat down cross-legged in front of the hacking equipment.

"Just keep watch. Someone might come up here," I say to him as I put down the bottle beside the computers and begin the hack.

After a few minutes, while I was working on getting around the network's firewall, Stryfe suddenly hid behind the satellite dish and spoke to me in a low voice.

"Someone just came up," he says.

I widened my eyes in shock and looked around the rooftop, while still hidden from behind the dish. And there, roughly twenty meters away, leaning over the wall and apparently taking in the sights of the city, was a girl.

My curiosity led me to look at her for more time than I should have.

The girl was not too tall, not too short. From my point of view I'm guessing she's around 5'4 or something. She has long, black hair that's currently fluttering behind her due to the wind blowing in front of her. She has the body of a young woman, the flair of her hips are elegantly shaped, giving the impression that she's living an active lifestyle. She's facing slightly to her left, giving me a glimpse of her dimly lit face.

Her eyes are focused on a distant place, like she's in deep thought about certain things in her life that still didn't make sense. Her lips are curved in such a way that seems to hint on the longing and sadness she's feeling.

And damn, she is drop-dead gorgeous. By my standards, anyway.

"Sir… SIR!"

Stryfe grabs me by the shoulder, spins me around, and slaps me in the face.

"Aww, man! What's your problem?" I say as I rub my cheek that Stryfe slapped.

"What happened to you, sir? Did you know that you've been frozen in that position for a minute already?" he replies.

"What?" I shake my head and try to grab my mind back to reality. "Nevermind. Just keep watch again and tell me if the girl's coming our way." I hope she does.

I proceed with the hack, and a few moments later I have finally accessed the TEST communications log. I dug in for a few more moments and finally found what I was looking for.

"There," I said to Stryfe, who was still keeping watch. "According to this statement, an Inquisitorial mission was ordered to the squadron of a certain Captain Wilkes. They're supposed to bring in 4 NTRP employees for a 'secrecy breach' involving the CEO himself, Dr. Shwartz." I added a touch of vehemence when I said his name.

"And get this: the mission's going to take place tomorrow! At 27 Coulomb Street," I check the map of Frontier City to see what kind of place they're going to target, "which is a small abandoned warehouse. Must be where those people to be arrested are hiding." I saved the details of the mission on the computer.

"Did you already get everything that you need, sir?" Stryfe asked me.

"The details are about to finish downloading. Why?" I replied

"Because the girl's walking near the wall, headed this way," Stryfe announced.

Yes! I mean-

"Shit! How far away is she? I'm rushing this download now," I said in half-panic, half-excitement.

"Just eight meters away, sir. Now seven." He said frantically. "Hurry, sir!"

"I am hurrying!" I said, swiftly typing away at wild speeds.

"She's almost here, sir! She'll see us! Should I knock her unconscious?"

"Does my hair look okay? Do I have a stain on my face?" I blurted out before even realizing what I said.

"What?"

"I mean... no, don't! It's done, help me pack the computer already!" I say to him while avoiding his robotic gaze.

"Now hold up just a second here, Master Vincent. Did you just ask me if…"

"Move your stainless steel ass and help me pack up, dammit!"

Thankfully Stryfe decided to drop his question and helped me pack up the gear. But once the last equipment had been placed inside its case, I put my index finger on my lips, signalling Stryfe, who was facing me, to be quiet and look around. The girl was already in a position where, with just a small turn of her head, she would see us.

We moved as slowly and quietly as possible, looking very much like a goofy slow motion video clip, and started walking away. But suddenly I remembered about my water bottle, sitting in the exact same spot as where I last left it: on the floor under the satellite dish and very visible to the girl. I tapped Stryfe on the shoulder and he faced me, and told him about the bottle.

Leave the shitty bottle alone, darn it! His hand gestures seemed to say.

I can't! It's my favorite! I hand-gestured back to him

He gave me a very exasperated movement, signifying his defeat, and I went back for the bottle, and, as you might have guessed, the girl.

She was standing much closer now, facing the city and she had her back to me. I look at her as I reach for the bottle.

But with me being a careless bastard, my fingers only tipped the bottle towards me, causing it to fall with a loud metallic sound.

She jumped at the sound and looked around towards me, and then at me.

Our eyes met for the first time, and I died.

She also has this puzzled and alarmed look on her face which tells me that she's about to call the security people downstairs and tell them about an intruder.

I wasted no time and ran towards Stryfe, who also had an idea of the situation by now and beckoned me to hide with him behind the other side of the satellite dish.

We heard the girl talking to people on her radio, walking towards us as we saw her coming into view and looking for me and Styfe.

We wasted no time and ran towards the low wall she was leaning on a while ago.

I got a glimpse of her looking at our direction before we disappeared over the wall. And I climbed down a lot faster than I would have under calm circumstances.