act32side

I didn't think just turning the lights out when the Gemini got hit would be enough to spread that much panic...

Meanwhile, on the TV in the corner of the room, the Sankta continues the silver-screen massacre.

Kill! Kill! Kill! I'll cut off your horns and hang them as chimes upon the Lateran itself!

Thank you all so much!

If you're after <i>anything</i> in terms of art investments, please be sure to let me—

Stop wasting breath, beat those feet!

Right, right...

Hm? Who's that you're carrying?

He got beat up for resisting, and he's still concussed. Faster if I give him a ride.

Wow. Nice to see some tough stuff among these guys.

By the way, we're in Exhibition Hall 2 of the Galería right now. Did you get to see that manuscript you wanted?

Ugh. Completely forgot about that, evacuating all these people.

Manuscript?

A Minoan bard's. Pamphlet says it's the 'highlight of the collection' for Hall 2. Know where it is?

I caught sight of it just now. It's on the other end of the hall; I can take you over if you'd like—

Lead the way, then!

Sir, you can put me down now!

You're concussed, aren't you?! Just point the way, it'll be faster!

Evac of Hall hostages almost complete.

Things went smoothly thanks to your Gemini Replicator.

(Shakes head) I didn't know we'd get a break that lucky—it was just meant to be bait, that's all. I was expecting they'd unload all their firepower on the replicate like the community people did.

All I can say is it took up a good position, and those defenders chose a good movie to pass the time.

Defenders outside the gallery are all swept now. What do we do next? Head to the third floor and rescue Ernesto?

Wait up!

You're that, um—that, er... whatever, you can't go any further that way!

What happened?

Oh, Mr. Miłosz. Not with Reynell after all, then.

No.

Situation's urgent. Tell us anything surplus after the fact. You need to leave the Galería ASAP.

You're not going to interrogate me for any useful information?

We're out of time for that.

I want to make a deal. I'll give you some information, and I'm hoping that after you have this information...

We can rescue Reynell?

Yes...

Mr. Miłosz, if Reynell hadn't set up the bombs, this terrorist attack may never have come to fruition in the first place.

Reynell couldn't wire the entire Galería with bombs on his own. He suggested the idea, that's all. I imagine you know who carried the deed out.

I know the timing on the bombs, and how to most efficiently disarm them.

And that's how you plan to coerce us?

How could I? You aren't the type to suffer coercion.

I'm just hoping my willingness to cooperate can pull together a lifeline for him.

Alright. Tell us what you know, then.

They're time bombs, set to go off this morning at 10 AM. If you want to stop them, you need to take care of four nodes along the detonator line.

One of the four is in the basement, one's in a darkroom on the third floor, one's on the balcony on the sixth floor, and one is in the ventilation shaft in Reynell's own office.

...Sounds almost true.

The one in the basement is most complicated. I suggest one of you go there with me—

I will.

Good. Tecno, take the others. Keep searching for any more places where hostages might be hiding.

Diaz, Catapult, you handle one each of the third and sixth floor nodes. Doc, Iana and I will keep heading for the top. We'll buy more time to disarm the penthouse node.

The third-floor darkroom's relatively hard to find. It's right above this hall, effectively, but getting there's a nightmare. I need pen and paper to draw a quick map of the route—

No need, I'll take it.

Ernesto!

Leave the darkroom to me and Arleta.

The sixth floor node is in the stairwell. There's a wall that'll look suspicious, and be very easy to break down.

Leave that to me.

Phew, I'm finally here, and it's just you two left. So, how do you feel seeing the manuscript—

Uh, wait, why are you carrying him now?

Urk... As soon as he saw the manuscript, he cried so hard he couldn't even breathe, and eventually passed out from his tears. It was all I could do to bear him on my back instead.

He passed out?

Doc, Doc! We need you! Someone's fainted here!

He's fine, he just cried himself out. His emotions likely overwhelmed him upon seeing the manuscript of his dreams.

Let him rest for a while in fresh air and he'll be fine.

I—If you say so...

...Miss Ela, that's every card up my sleeve. It's all yours now.

Noted.

What happens if we fail? What if we aren't able to rescue him?

In that case... I'll stay behind and keep him company.

I hope you can save the others before then, Miss Ela. I don't want any more people than necessary in here.

Right, I've pulled the metal casing off. Inside, there's a total of—

—Miłosz, you crackpot! There's twelve whole bomb wires here!

What? The one in the basement has over forty connections?!

Whatever, I'll settle this later.

Right now, I just need to dewire one by one, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Got it. Unscrew as fast as possible, half-connected states can send the explosives runaway easy. Understood.

Ela, how's things on your side?

Small band of resistance on the fourth floor still? Wow.

Diaz stops talking, wipes the sweat off his forehead, and focuses on dealing with the chaotic nest of wires at hand.

He has to decouple fast, and unscrew the connectors right after, using an insulator to cover up the naked wires and avoid any short-circuits.

In a trance, his days with the Singas army float through his mind, where his job was always to secure the connectors in—

Diaz furrows his brows and smacks his lips, hands never stopping. What happened then has nothing to do with now. Now, he's no more than a firefighter in the middle of bomb disposal.

The wires are more or less decoupled by now. Just two left, and all risk of explosion in this area is gone.

He's gotten a handle of how to most quickly twist these connectors off. Push down for the first half, spin slowly, then start turning with all his might for the second half until it's off.

He counts down the rotations on the second connector. Now just seven, six, five...

Seize that old man!

Two of El Capitán's men charge for the old firefighter with sabers in hand, while three crossbows are poised on the floor above.

The old firefighter's hands freeze upon the connector, and for a spell, he's somehow not sure if he's meant to twist one way or the other.

Sir! We've brought the hostage!

It really is you, old man.

He put up a fierce fight and even wounded one of our men, but we didn't hold back. We made him bleed.

Alright, you did a pretty good job out there. Now get back to work.

What is it?

Capitán, the fact that this old man made it up to the sixth floor means that there must be a lot of them. We might not... be able to...

Might not be able to what? Let me be clear with all of you: if this doesn't come together, we're done for!

One other thing. I have no idea what this guy was doing, with all these wires running inside the wall...

Stop asking questions and get back to work.

Yessir...

Alright, Diaz. What brought you and your men over to the Galería?

You already know the answer to that, Mateo.

We've rescued the hostages, and your minions have been taken out. It won't be long until all of Dossoles knows that it was you who orchestrated and staged this terrorist attack.

Basically, you're finished.

You can't fool me.