“ You look like you’re in trouble. ” ADAM drawls smoothly, that every apparent snark rolling through every syllable.
Infections were nefarious things, and obsessions were nothing if not infections of the mind. They had been given a chance at life again, a life without a terrorist's ghost worming his way through their skull. He had infected them, planted hate in their walls and stoked that fire, like a fever running and baking their brain from the inside out. Arasaka had to go, Arasaka did this to them, they'd take any chance to rid themself of this infection. Even a deal with the devil sounded sane, they could play the NUSA and get out of this all scot-free, and yet--
The free bird's song was just chanted to mock them. Betrayal. Again. Still, with fingers trembling, they forgave. Johnny would vomit if he could, and Vale felt his nausea with every step they took from Dogtown. Chances shrank, chances were lost, everyday felt like it was getting shorter, even as Vale smiled and promised they'd find a way out where they'd be able to live. Both of them could have a life. Both of them could be free. Nobody had to die. Nobody had to die.
Even as they lived, they wanted to bite at the hands that tried to collar them. They weren't a dog. They wouldn't listen to the government, they wouldn't settle and roll over and show their belly for a medal. This mission had nothing in it for them besides eddies and a chance to kick the government in its proverbial balls.
A portfolio was displayed upon their sights, Dr. Henry Crowe; a madman, a genius, a god, a creator with no sense of mercy. Despite their files telling them that he was, for lack of a better word, a dick, he was a powerful dick. He was a well-respected man-- Feared. Feared was the better word. And Vale hated when people ruled by fear. So Vale would give Dr. Crowe something to fear, a loss of his hard work, something to pull the rug out from underneath him and to topple his world.
All they had to do was steal some research, some top secret project data that could change the world as we knew it. What was in it for Vale? Some good cash and a chance to make government officials pull their hair out. All in all? Everything they wanted and more.
As they wandered the dark halls, it all seemed...too easy. Doors opened before them that were previously locked. Security cameras were all off without Vale's influence. Every file they were looking for was readily opened, put before them like a bait on a hook. The dog following a rotten trail, guided by a hand that clenched tighter and tighter around a leash Vale couldn't feel secure around their neck.
The final hall before them, they had never felt so small. A large door had opened, just enough for them to enter, before slamming shut behind them. Lights were tens of feet above them, barely flickering to life, their sparks illuminating Vale's red and blue hair for brief moments. As fast as a synapse could fire, Vale could only get minute glimpses of the world around them. Screens. Something squishing beneath their sneakers. The putrid stench of metal and rot, the smell of wires burning, rust, stale air that had never met the light of day.
You look like you’re in trouble.
"Shit!" Their dark green eyes go alight, bright enough to pierce through the darkness and attempt to find signatures of life of any sort. Whatever spoke, whoever it was, it was something that Vale's cybernetics were unable to register. Their captor had the upper hand, and even as Vale's fists balled up at their side, the young merc found themself featured in the labyrinth's fatal center.
"Who's there? You plannin' on helpin' me outta this trouble, or are you who I'm supposed t' thank for the warm welcome?!"
