act28side

You're still young. Got a long road ahead of you.

Will I... find my answer?

As she looks at the now-abandoned safe house, Jessica feels a soreness coming from her nose.

She sniffles and gives it a rub, then opens up the slip of paper from before.

Following the instructions of a few numbers scribbled on the note, Jessica turns to an inconspicuous corner of the safe house where she finds a partition made from wooden boards.

Five, six, seven...

The back of the eighth board is hollow...

The cavity behind the board is filled to the brim with equipment, all brought here by Jessica herself when she set out from Blacksteel's landship.

Sitting on top is another note in the same style of scribbles.

'I take it you have unfinished business in Davistown. This gear should come in handy.'

'Just forget about everything else and do it. I believe in the choice you made, so believe in yourself, too.'

At the bottom of the note is one last line.

'Goodbye, Jessica. Hopefully, we already parted ways on a high note.'

Sorry, I'm not late, am I? I needed some time to sort through my gear.

It's fine. We still got five minutes.

Where'd you get all this stuff?

A parting gift from a friend.

Then I'll have to give 'em a right-and-proper thank you if we ever meet again.

One last run-down. After we go through the door, Helena and Leone are in charge of clearing any obstacles and grabbing the money. Jessica and I will be on crowd-control, then we catch up afterwards.

Once the deed is done, Helena takes the money with her through the secret passage, while the rest of us draw attention away from her. Any questions?

If only there were more explosives... We oughta give that bank a little surprise.

Settle down. If the info we got from Sylvia is correct, we'll need to save most of them to breach the last door.

The key to our success is speed. We don't have much time. The mercs on duty will be back in half an hour.

Even if we can get the job done in that time, the explosion will definitely attract Blacksteel's attention. However, most of the mercenaries are back on the landship tonight, and it'll take them time to arrive.

If it comes to that, just leave it to me. I'll buy you the time you need.

Time to go.

Who the hell are you—!

Hands off the alarm.

Aaaaaagh—

This is a robbery.

As long as y'all cooperate, nobody's getting hurt or dying tonight.

No way... How is this happening—

Shh... See, you're in the same boat as the other young lady over there. This is your one warning. We won't be so kind next time.

Now then, folks. Just don't panic, and follow our instructions.

Those are the conditions for your survival.

Seeing how there are no objections, why don't y'all mosey on over to the main lobby and squat down with your hands on your heads.

We all know each other here. No funny business.

Now move it!

You'll need to pass through a total of four doors to get to the vault. The first is the door to the reception area, which needs a key, but any employee can get it.

The second is a passcode lock in the reception room. The code changes every day, but there are certain rules.

From what I've gathered, today's code should be...

Perfect. The reception room key works.

Next up is the secret door... Behind the tapestry to the right of the entrance... Over here. Looks like Sylvia was right on the money.

Seven, nine, four, four, six, one... It worked? Well I'll be damned. That girl's got one good head on her shoulders.

What's next...

Inside the vault, there are two more doors. One's a security fence, the other is a vault door weighing dozens of tons.

The security fence can be broken through by force, but because it's connected to the security system, the only safe way through is via passcode.

The code is split into three parts, one for president, one for the manager, and another randomly generated by a cipher.

The cipher is located in a safe inside the reception room, and you'll have to force that one open.

How'd it go? Didn't damage anything inside the safe, did you?

Mint condition.

Can't believe your skills haven't rusted after not using 'em in years.

What's the matter? That was an invitation for you to start bragging. I mean, ain't nobody else in this town with your skillset.

Don't mind me. Just worried how Woodrow's doing...

...And that's number twenty-two. Now you're all tied up.

Next up is—

I never imagined these would be the circumstances we'd meet again in, Miss Brynley...

I'd recommend worrying about your responsibilities first.

Also, I've heard this bank keeps a series of secret numbers, two of which are held by you and this gentlemen here. I hope you're both willing to cooperate.

Now take a walk with us. If you're not feeling cooperative, well, guess I'll have to shoot you.

Pick up the pace!

Good evening, you two.

H-Helena?! Wh-What's the meaning of this?

You got nothing to fear, sir. I just wanted to ask you a few simple questions.

Will you tell us the passcode, or do we tie you to this door and blast you both to pieces? Your choice.

Friendly reminder: it is <i>not</i> a crime to reveal secrets under life-threatening duress.

You damn thugs—

Five.

Don't even think about it. You bastards don't deserve a single penny! You all deserve to rot out in the frontier!

Four.

You complacent idiots put all your eggs into the mine, yet still have the gall to whine to the bank after getting wiped out!

Three.

Nobody gives a damn about your rotten minerals. It's the era of high tech and automation now! Your only value to Columbia is to be thrown out to the frontier, the sooner the better!

Two.

You filthy, uneducated hicks! You idiots don't even have a damn clue what numbers mean! Serves you right for getting tricked!

One.

Sixfivefourseveneightfour!

Hah... Never seen anyone spit out a string of numbers that fast.

Okay, now that your boss has squealed, it's your turn, ma'am.

Give me the passcode, or die.

Hurry up and tell them already! Do you really want to die here?!

...Mr. Theremin, what would you even do with the money? Do you seriously think you can get rid of us and start over out on the frontier?

Of course you can't. We're everywhere. We will follow your footsteps, and find you no matter where you go.

The money you steal will smell as sweet as honey. And soon enough, our local associates will swarm all over you to eat it up.

And with the promise of a few extra benefits, they'll even personally deliver your heads to us on a silver platter—

What's the goddamn passcode?!

*cough*, *cough*...

Three... six... eight... six... five... four.

Go on, take it. You won't accomplish a thing, my friends.

Nothing will change. This tragedy is doomed to happen again and again—

Shut up.

Shut up? It is human nature to be greedy, and Mr. Theremin here is a prime example. Had he not been so eager to cling onto things that never belonged to him—

You shut your mouth!

How far you've fallen to mingle with this sorry lot, Miss Jessica Brynley.

Leone Theremin here could have left this place ages ago. Taken his children with him to Ironforge City, Nulaiteburgh, or Bunkerhill...

What kind of blasting engineer wouldn't be able earn enough to put food on the table? How else would he have ended up like, if not for his greed?

You...

Leone, she's right! The door's open!

Leone suddenly turns to look at Helena without saying a word. She is shocked to see the panic in his eyes.

It takes her a few moments to understand why.