Chapter 8: The Vortex

► [ Two pending objectives ]

Rayleigh pondered seriously on the matter of breaking and entering. ’This is good news, right? I mean, I can basically kill three birds with one stone. Because if I somehow manage to break this Ron guy out, ARS will reward me for completing the mission. Not just that, breaking him out is also my ticket to getting a spaceship, which just so happens to be my second mission, hence, killing three birds with one stone. That stone being a jailbreak.’

"So what’s it going to be, Mr. Pierce?" Elias asked, placing the tablet down on a work bench.

"I am going to do it. I’ll break him out of this facility," Rayleigh said.

"Perfect!" Bellowed an enthusiastic Elias. Excitement carved onto the face of a man like Elias was a strange sight to see, Rayleigh confirmed it.

He deduced that whatever information Ron Kol had, or whatever weapon he was transporting, had to be worth a lot, perhaps more than a spaceship for that matter.

"But first, I’ll need a few things. I can’t just walk in blindly into a highly secured facility with state of the art security. I’ll need the blueprint and layout of the location."

"Nou!" Elias snapped his fingers in the air, as if summoning a genie.

Nou appeared almost immediately. "Yes boss?"

"Fetch our friend here the blueprint and guard rotation of The Vortex."

Nou left and shortly after, he came with the blueprint of the facility – The Vortex.

Rayleigh’s eyes peered through it, scanning every inch of the layout to decipher the best entry point.

Rayleigh wasn’t exactly new to prison breaks. He hadn’t broken anyone out of prison, per se, but he had a bit of technical experience in infiltration and exfil.

Serving seven years on a distant planet, Rayleigh had learnt a thing or two about breaking in. Sometimes the guards exercised stringent protocols to keep prisoners grounded, and one might need a way to relieve themselves of such protocols.

Rayleigh spent a while analyzing the blueprint. At some point, Elias got bored.

"Why don’t you continue with whatever the crap you’re doing while I go run my business."

Elias and Nou walked out of the bunker, leaving Rayleigh alone with his thoughts.

’Finally, some breathing room,’ Rayleigh exhaled internally. ’Okay, ARS, I know there must be some way you can analyze this blueprint, cross-referencing the layout and decide the best and safest point of entry.’

The system chimed in response to Rayleigh’s request.

►[ Cross-referencing facility schematics... ]

►[ Analysis complete ]

►[ Advanced Romulus System: 3 viable entry points identified ]

►[ Point A: East Loading Dock

Guard rotation gap: 4 minutes, every shift change. Heavy foot traffic from transport crews makes it easy to blend in, but security cameras cover 90% of the approach. Risk: moderate. Detection risk: high. ]

►[ Point B: Ventilation Shaft, North Wall: Unmonitored: no camera coverage, no patrol routes logged in the last six hours of observation. Access requires scaling an 8-meter wall undetected. Risk: Moderate. ]

►[ Recommendation: Point B offers the highest reward, but the least certainty. Proceed with caution. ]

"Perfect! Point B it is." Rayleigh celebrated his win out loud, not minding if anyone was eavesdropping on him.

► [ Scanning blueprint... ]

►[...]

► [ Scan complete. Would you like to absorb the blueprint for future use ]

Rayleigh tilted his head slightly before confirming. "I don’t see why not."

Nothing happened.

"Yes, I would like to absorb the blueprint, I guess."

Right before his eyes, the blueprint Nou had brought vanished. Particles of it dispersed in the air before disappearing completely.

’I hope that wasn’t important to anyone.’

◇◇◇

Breaking into a highly secured Silvered facility required utmost meticulous planning and pinpoint precision, and none of that could be done while the sun was still hanging high and bright over the horizon.

Rayleigh knew he had to wait for the moon to take over before he made his move, and eventually, night fell over Skylark City.

Rayleigh found himself right outside The Vortex, where Ron Kol was being detained. Rayleigh crouched behind a small fence on the North Wall, scouting out the place for any Silvered guards or hidden surveillance: he saw none.

’Time to move.’

Huffing a breath, Rayleigh took off. His feet carried him across the open space with little to no sound.

Without slowing down, Rayleigh planted his foot hard against the ground, crushing some granite. He pushed himself off the ground and in less than a second, he was in the air, scaling an 8-meter wall.

His body flawlessly moved through the air like paper and landed on the other side with a soft thud.

’I feel lighter...’ Rayleigh pondered. ’What sort of changes has ARS done to me exactly?’

So many questions Rayleigh wanted to ask, so few answers he was going to get. He decided now wasn’t the time for questions. He had an active operation to attend to.

’I wonder if the definition of highly secured changed over the last seven years. That was too easy.’

Rayleigh scanned his surroundings, and when he noticed there were no guards, he walked toward one of the ventilation shafts, which was conveniently placed for easy access.

The shaft was tighter than it looked from outside, but opening it wasn’t difficult.

"Ugh!" Rayleigh groaned with disgust as he crawled through the metal tube on his elbows. Dust and rust flaked into his mouth with every breath.

It smelled like old oil and something worse.

One would at least expect the city’s first line of defence to hold good hygiene at a high standard.

After a few meters, he saw a grate up ahead with dim light bleeding through the slats. Rayleigh tried to pry the grate open but it didn’t budge.

"What?"

There was nothing special about the grate... except for the small scanner mounted beside it, blinking a soft red light.

"You’ve got to be kidding me," he muttered.

Apparently, the grate was locked and only agents with access cards could open it.

He pressed his palm flat against the door anyway, as if that might do something. It didn’t.

"This wasn’t on the blueprint." His jaw flexed. "That damn blueprint was outdated!"

He exhaled sharply, pressing his back against the wall. No lanyard, no way through. Which meant that he needed to get one.

Rayleigh turned back around, retracing his steps toward the shaft. If he couldn’t go forward, he’d have to find another way, and that meant finding someone who actually had clearance.

He climbed back into the vent, boots scraping against metal, and dropped back down into the open yard he’d started from.

The sound of boots hitting concrete emanated from around the corner of the building.

Rayleigh paused his movement, pressing himself flat against the wall.

A figure stepped into view. Silver armor plating caught the moonlight, sleek and undamaged, nothing like the patched-up gear the guards back on RZ-237 used to wear. A Silvered agent.

The agent stopped mid-step. His eyes locked onto Rayleigh like he’d been expecting him the whole time.

Neither of them moved.

►[ Ascendant Ranked Rune Human detected ]

►[ Threat Level: E ]

’Ascendant Ranked? This Silvered is threat level E Ascendant. I am threat level F whilst being unranked. This isn’t good.’

The Silvered agent scanned Rayleigh from head to toe and immediately decided that he wasn’t supposed to be here.

"You’re not cleared for this sector. You’re not even an agent, so I take it you’re here for something else. What are you here for?" the agent asked flatly.

Rayleigh said nothing. There wasn’t exactly a good answer to that.

The agent’s lips curved, not quite a smile. Usually an agent was required to call for backup, or alert his fellow Silvered regarding a potential break-in, but this Silvered agent had other ideas.

He raised both hands and struck his palms together.

A crackle of electricity sparked to life between his fingers, blue-white and hissing, lighting up the dark around him.

"Guess I’ll just have to make an example out of you, then."