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Like I give a shit how many months you put into this. I should lock you up right now for this flagrant violation of electrical safety.

Stop—!

No...

Conchetumare, enough with the wailing.

*whimper*... Don't!

What the hell is this place? Some kind of hideout? Didn't expect it to be this clean.

Sir, the puppets are right outside the window. Open them up and you'll see.

Take a look, see how much foam and wood they stuffed in them? What if they were to catch fire?

Tear them apart!

Thugs, all of you! You should rot in hell!

Ugh... What a bunch of beasts... So thoughtless...

Ugh...

Boss!

What are you people doing?! Didn't I tell you to round them up and bring them to the field? Get the lead out!

His people are putting up a struggle. It's been difficult to get them under control.

Then follow my lead and start cracking skulls, you idiot!

See? Look how calm he is now.

Bastards... You bastards...

Now get them out of here. Those puppets are huge, it's gonna be plenty of work taking them apart.

We're almost out. They probably wouldn't expect us to come this way...

Abuela, watch your step, the ground is slippery. Let me help you.

*sigh*...

Tecno, will we ever come back?

Of course. This is our home.

But those men tore everything down... If we come back, we'll have to spend so much time to get everything back to how it was.

They'll pay for that. I swear...

When we get back, I'll help you put everything right. I promise...

Quickly now. It's still a long walk to the office.

Abuelita, I'll help you.

Stay close, everyone.

Alright.

Tecno? Ellie? Come in, hurry! What are you guys doing here?

Where's Ernesto? I need his help.

He said he had something personal to take care of and went off on his own. He's still not back.

Ela and I are the only ones here now. What's going on?

Coalition forces have surrounded the neighborhood. They're tearing down our puppet show under the guise of a fire inspection... Papá told me to bring everyone here to lay low.

Tecno... What's the situation over there now?

I... I don't know. On the way here, all I could hear was the sounds of them breaking everything... A lot of people were crying, and I don't know if they were hurt or not...

Those thugs...!

I... I need to go back. I'm worried about Papá. He was acting brave, telling me to leave and let him deal with the soldiers...

But... he's not nearly as strong as he used to be... He's old now, even if his tongue is as sharp as ever.

I have to go, Ela.

Don't cry, Tecno. We'll go with you.

We will help you.

Doc here will stay and take care of the elderly and the children. Don't worry about them.

Ela, Tecno's people here are all fine. They don't need me.

It's the ones in that neighborhood who need my help. I'll go with you.

These vents are way too long.

I'm covered in dust. *cough*.

How is it, Doc? Can you get down?

I have pretty broad hips... I think I'm stuck.

Give me your hand. I'll pull you out.

Oof—!

The vents may be great for you guys to crawl around, but I have a hard time just squeezing myself into them.

They have the place completely surrounded, and they're covering the way we came out, too. The vents are our only path.

Fuze, give me a sitrep.

It's more complicated than we thought. They have a large number of troops standing guard outside the neighborhood. I had to break off, but the explosives are in place.

Ready to detonate.

(Deep breath)

How is it looking outside the window?

There are way more men than I anticipated... They took everyone outside.

Is anyone hurt?

Yes...

Then, is anyone...?

No. Don't worry. They're alive.

Phew... That's good to hear.

Ela, there are snipers on the roof. We need to take care of them first.

Doc, you and Tecno stay here. Wait for our signal before you act.

What are you looking for, Tecno?

The storage device. All our design documents are stored on it. They destroyed our puppets, but as long as we still have that, we can rebuild them someday.

I'll help you look for it.

Well, I thought I was just up here for a smoke. I didn't expect to run into a few sneaky musbeasts.

I'll deal with him. Go get the storage device. It's in the top shelf of that cabinet.

Alright.

Señorita, maybe you should let your friend take me on instead. A little girl like you can't land a finger on me!

Oh yeah?

*sigh*... You shouldn't have taunted her...

Didn't your mother ever teach you not to look down on people?! Time to teach you a lesson!

Agh! My leg!

Little girl? I'm a little girl because I'm short?

My nose!

Little girl? Vete a la chingada!

Ugh—

Dealt with him. Did you find the storage device?

Bad news. There's nothing on the top of the cabinet. Someone took the device.

Who... Who could've taken it?

You can stop glaring at me, Señor Diaz. I asked you to cooperate with us. You only have yourselves to blame for all these wounded.

Pfft. You can drop the act. Who are you trying to fool?

Hold him down!

Oof... fearsome fellow. If I didn't have my men here, you might've actually cut me down.

Hmph...

I'm afraid I have some bad news. Our inspection turned up a lot of serious hazards. Especially those puppets.

Once activated, they could have a serious adverse effect on the whole neighborhood's energy supply, maybe even the surrounding neighborhoods.

That's why I gathered all of you here, to give you a warning.

Who... sent you?

There are plenty who think fondly of this place... and just as many who want to get rid of us...

But all they ever do is come at us... They don't spare a thought to what we do.

Once you're there, your top priority is to destroy those puppets. And do it in full view of everyone.

Cut off water and electricity, drive them out of the place... That comes later. For now, we provoke them, anger them, and then...

Draw the fires of their fury where they must burn.