"Alright guys," X murmurs thoughtfully on the channel, "We have a reason to be here. Let's find the source of the problem here, and kill it." A couple of seconds go by while you listen, the silence only disturbed by that far-off clatter. X breaks the silence again, still on the channel. "500 quid in it for you, possibly more, depending on execution. Let's check that noise. Carefully, quietly."
Block silently ghosts inside, slipping into yet another position to cover the room, watch for motion, that sort of thing - extremely alert, like his life depends on it. Strangely enough his face looks more entertained than strained - there is no panic or "threat indicator" on his face at all - it looks as though he may be enjoying this.
Outside the building, there was refuse, scrap, and such all plastered over the bullet-proof glass, at least up to the eight-foot mark, for some odd reason. But that was outside. Inside you see that the foyer is in normal "corporate sanitized" condition: there's not even dust on the white-and-grey non-slip tile foor! No matter what seems to have been shut down initially, you guys figure the sanitation nanites are still working, quite possibly into overtime. The foyer-long desktop shows no signs of wear or disturbance, either, which could be relieving or annoying, depending upon what the observer was expecting. So there are no chunks of debris or anything lying around, just a huge foyer area with some light "foyer furniture" (also undamaged) scattered around the floor to break up the monotony and provide neutral grounds for potential business concerns to meet.
Someone, somewhere, triggers the A/R displays, which pop into view with a vengeance! (See "Hey Block: Challenge Accepted!" for details. They wouldn't fit here.) At this point you figure that the building might have been fully inhabited, maybe a half-hour ago.
(I'm not going to try to repeat Ace's hilarious performance here - it you haven't read it, go back to CSP 037 and get an eye-full - he's absolutely hilarious! And there will be rewards...)
Ace grumble mutters seeming to himself, not realizing he's subconsciously selected the group link in his eagerness to share any data he might have on the scene with his partners, "I shaved my b4s for THIS?" Combined with his petulant extpectant kid act, Block almost snickers aloud, but manages to contain himself. (The others only notice this because they're being so very wary...)
The clatter seems to come from down one of the central halls, when it makes noise at all. Everything else appears totally silent. Erie, kinda' like being at a factory when nothing is moving - you can see the potential all around, but nothing is actually happening, like some sort of real-life still-frame picture. |
