act32side

Fuze, sitrep?

Clear.

Defenders are pretty lazy. Zero guard against us storming them, and we didn't give them any time to notify their superiors.

Good work.

Time to begin the siege.

Everyone, we have to act quickly. Don't get sloppy, and don't give the defenders any time to react.

Let's go.

Did you hear something out there just now? An explosion?

Think so.

No way those lunatics actually came crashing in...

For what? To rescue Reynell?

No more hallucinating. Catch. This one's some sorta Yanese porcelain. Might smash with a single bump. Careful.

You almost smashed it along with the entire display case just now. You turn around and tell me...

By the way, didn't our leader break that vase thing, and say he was going upstairs to report to El Capitán? How come he's still not back?

Probably still climbing the stairs, just like the first time we came.

Or he's talking with El Capitán about giving these things a home. Maybe they've even figured out how much each of them are pocketing—

Grenade out!

No hostages in the room! Take out the defenders!

The hell? <i>You</i> guys?

Don't wimp out! Their rapid-fire doesn't pack enough punch!

I... I'm not scared, I just want to find somewhere safe to call for reinforcements—

Don't even think about it.

Grr. Decent shot.

Shame your charges just now were too weak. Took less from that than a slug bite—

And how about now?

Wait, you're the attackers? You must be crazy to seriously—

Of course we're serious.

Ela, what's that thing you say... Clear?

Nice work, but give us a heads up next time.

Doc, Iana, keep moving per Tequila's directions to the bulk of the hostages. Hostage safety is priority one.

No rash action in a bad situation. I'll lead the others to sweep the first floor of defenders, then we'll rendezvous with you.

Copy.

Diaz, Tecno, let's go.

Diaz?

Look at all this art. Palladulis Throwing a Javelin—a Minoan statue. This one's a pure gold, gilded enamel revolving vase from Yan...

And a manuscript from the great Ursine author Sergei Katayev... let me see which one of his it is...

...'A Receiver Electrifying, or, In the Mire of the Heart.'

Damn it all. This is the one. Reynell has it in his collection.

He and Mateo are two kinds of scoundrels. One's blowing it up, one's selling it all... nothing but...

Whatever. We'll leave it to the next guys to sort out. Let's move.

A pulse.

A pressing pulse.

In a deathly silent room, there is but a rapidly, incessantly pounding heart, and naught else. Save for—

S—Stay back! I'm not letting you in! You come in and we'll take you with us—

(Scratching noises about the door can be heard.)

The—The noise is gone. She's gone...

Tut-tut-tut. What a scary scene.

What was this flick called...? Oh, Panic at the Museum: The Sankta Slaughter. This is the one by that Sarkaz director who lives in Columbia.

Figures they made the villain a Sankta in this one then.

Looks like Reynell's security isn't too busy most of the time. Guess all he can do is sit here watching tapes and fantasizing about murders taking place in his gallery.

Good for them, though?

The way El Capitán sees it, everyone worth anything is downstairs moving stuff already. Meanwhile you've got us, who don't really care two ways about him, and we get to sit here on cushy guard duty—

There's trouble downstairs! I want a report from anyone who knows what, ASAP!

Trouble?

There's gunfire and explosions down there! People on the sixth floor heard it! What's going on with you?! Are you blind or deaf?!

(Whisper) I told you to turn the volume down a little, but no you wouldn't.

(Whisper) Shut up, you!

I'll contact downstairs straight away!

—Ugh, nope. Not getting through.

Would I be asking you if I could?!

I want you to figure out what happened downstairs immediately! If there are troublemakers, flatten them! If they're fighting their way in, I want them out! Getting the art into the trucks is our highest priority!

Don't go, Scardullo, don't! Nobody who goes downstairs ever comes back!

That Sankta woman's gone crazy! I saw her kill everyone in a public bathroom, and now she's after our lives!

As waves of screams and shrieks emanate from the TV, the seven or eight soldiers in the one cramped surveillance room all look at each other in dismay.

Good news. Defenders in the surveillance room haven't noticed our drones.

Most hostages inside are in shock, and it appears the defenders have robbed them too, but at least there are no casualties, and emotions seem manageable.

Defenders have noticed something's not right downstairs. I assume they reported to their superiors just now, but clearly none are willing to leave what must seem like their safe little panopticon.

Good news indeed. You keep monitoring them, I'll contact Ela. We'll discuss countermeasures.

Hey? Gabi, what's going on? What the hell was all the ruckus downstairs?

I... I... don't know...

Don't know my ass! You've spent long enough, quit dawdling!

I'm—I'm just... minding my surroundings, I just got to the stairwell entrance!

Your voice is trembling, huevón! What, did the spooky movie get to you? Hahaha!

Shut up! Be... Besides, I don't see you down here! It's always like this, you guys shove everything onto me—

Huh? Gabi?

Gabi??

No! We can't let anyone else go downstairs!

Weren't you watching in the surveillance room?! That Sankta madwoman didn't even have to touch her!

She just unloaded into the receiver when Scardullo picked up, and turned her into a pile of... of...

(The sobbing begins.)

What's the situation? Have you figured it out?

Sir. We sent a man on recon... and he just suddenly stopped responding...

You useless sacks!!

S—Sir, how about you send someone else to the first floor? We... We really can't spare a single man...

No response means you keep sending people down, or I stop on the second floor to shoot you all dead before heading down there myself!

Nobody move! Out!

Phew... empty...

Every scout we've sent has gone missing, one by one—maybe the first floor's h... haunted...?

What an imagination you have. Get a little sleep for now.

Who th—

Hey? Ramon? Ramon—you—you gotta say something...

Dropped again... That's... the fourth one...

Four times, four men... every time, as soon as they get downstairs, they just...

No one picks up on that sentence.

The terminals have all been tossed into one corner of the room. On occasion, the indistinct bellows of El Capitán emanate from the pile, but nobody is giving them a response anymore.

Maybe it's because they went one at a time, so we were just feeding them one by one to—

So how many do you want to doom each time?!

That Sankta madwoman, her mind's not right, she's a homicidal maniac, she, she... she's outside the door! She's smiling at us through the access surveillance cam!

Mayo, just hang the intercom up. She can't get in—

She's pointing her gun at me! She... She's pulling the trigger!