Descending Impact

As everyone began to walk, Ezequiel asked Eduard: "If she's Adia, the leader of the A Agents, shouldn't she be older?" Upon hearing this, Adia struck him on the head with her staff. Ezequiel suppressed the pain inside but maintained his composure outward. Eduard told him: "I forgot to mention that she doesn't like people talking about how old she is, even though she's lived through every year." Shortly after, another blow landed on Eduard's head. They turned to look at her and saw fire in her eyes and a furious expression. Marie, Lidia, and Maria had to hold her back to prevent her from continuing. The veins on Adia's forehead were visible, showing just how furious she was. Lidia tried to lighten the mood by saying that you should never ask a woman her age, but she quickly fell silent when Adia glared at her.

Once tempers had calmed, Adia asked Marie about the two children: "Aren't they too young to join the agent academy?" Marie replied: "They came uninvited, courtesy of your friend Eduard." Adia sighed and said: "Yes, that's just like him." Marie added: "And that girl traveling with you, as well as the boy we're going to rescue, also appeared out of nowhere, and now we have to bring them along with us." Both laughed a little, though Marie's laugh was dry, almost a whisper.

Mike indicated that they needed to climb that mountain, as the Radar building was located beyond it. "Dad, don't we need ropes or some equipment to climb?" Elena asked.

Her father responded: "It's not necessary; there's a hidden elevator disguised as a rock." Everyone stepped onto the platform and began ascending the mountain.

Once at the top, they could see a large structure between two hills, a building with about seven or eight floors. Mike commented that the building itself wasn't important, but rather what lay beneath it. However, before entering, there were traps and weapons that would activate upon detecting intruders.

Marie asked: "So how are we going to get in without being detected?" Mike explained that he could enter as a collaborator and trigger the fire alarm, and in the chaos, the others could sneak in. "It's a good plan," said Ezequiel, "but how will we get there?" Adia interrupted: "Let's make it simpler and avoid overcomplicating things. Take this card, and once you trigger the alarm, place it on the floor." "Place it on the floor?" he asked, confused. "Yes, just do it," she replied firmly. "What about the children?" Rino commented, looking at Elena, Maria, and Billy. "The children want to rescue their friend, and I'll take care of protecting them," Eduard assured.

Mike began walking toward the building's entrance, where a robotic guard scanned him and said: "Good morning, Mr. Mike, please come in." He was a little nervous about what he was about to do. As he entered the building, he felt immense fear at the thought of being caught; adrenaline coursed through his entire body. He approached one of the switches and activated the alarm. All the doors opened, and several robots began exiting, instructing the people inside the building to evacuate carefully. Mike was sweating profusely, his nerves evident in the beads of sweat on his face. He wore an earpiece and carried a camera, through which the others could see the interior. Adia was observing the area and instructed him to find a safe spot outside the cameras' view and do what she had asked. Shaking off his fear, he walked toward the stairwell door, accessible only to certain employees. He checked the area and dropped the card onto the floor.

Outside, Lidia signaled that it was time, and Adia asked everyone to stand behind her. They complied because Eduard had told them to trust her. Quickly, Adia formed a circle with her staff, and a bright light enveloped them all. They began to appear transparent until they vanished completely, reappearing where Elena's father had left the card. Mike was astonished by the event, as were the others, except for Eduard, who already knew of her abilities. The children were deeply impressed and wanted to ask her what kind of trick that was. "It's magic, plain and simple," Adia stated without elaborating. "Let's stick to the plan of saving Aiden; there will be time for explanations later."

Mike turned to look at them and indicated that they needed to go down the stairs to the parking lot; there was an elevator, and if he was correct, Aiden would be in the deepest part, likely being used as a test subject or something similar. Marie asked Adia if she could perform the same trick to reach the boy, to which she replied: "No, first I have to give that card imbued with magic to someone, and I need to see the location; otherwise the spell won't work."

They all descended the stairs until they reached a large parking lot that seemed to hold about two hundred cars. Ezequiel began searching for security cameras and spotted three that, if crossed, would alert the surveillance robots, compromising their plan.

Gat intervened, saying: "Leave them to me," and pulled a rubber band and some small paper balls from his pocket. He threw the paper balls at the cameras, and they stuck to them as if they were images. "I have my own tricks too," he said, glancing at everyone.

With the camera issue resolved, Mike searched for the elevator to access the lower floors. He found a button on one of the walls, and when he pressed it, a rather large elevator was revealed. Everyone stepped inside, except for the robot Tron, who stayed behind to keep watch under Adia's instructions.

Mike didn't know which buttons to press to make the elevator descend. "Leave it to me," said Ezequiel, removing his glasses and using his ability to see which buttons operated the machine. He instructed Marie on which buttons to press, and the elevator began to rumble as the doors closed. "What kind of people have we gotten ourselves involved with?" Mike commented to Elena. "Yes, Dad, they have abilities almost like those test subjects from the videos," Elena replied. Maria and Billy were thrilled by this display of skill from the group. Once the doors were fully closed, the machine began its descent.

Everything seemed calm inside the elevator until noises started coming from one side, causing the cabin to shake slightly. They assumed it was normal due to the speed at which they were descending. However, Mike noticed that cracks were beginning to form in the floor at the center of the elevator, growing larger by the second, while one of the walls started to creak. The elevator began to split in half, and in a final act of bravery, Mike kissed his daughter on the head and hugged her tightly before pushing her toward the left side of the elevator, as the center was now compromised. "Be happy, Elena," he said as his body plummeted quickly along with the two halves of the elevator.