"How was it?" Ibuki asked.
"Terrible," I said, shaking my head. "I ended up being a jumbled mess not able to form a proper sentence towards the end."
Ibuki's fist made an arc and slammed into my right arm.
"What was that for!" I said, reeling from the unexpected blow.
"Your body and mind are always in sync. If you slouch your shoulders your mind can't be upright. Now, there are people who have been waiting for you all along. It's time to cheer them up."
I put my hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Iby."
I squeezed, then released my hold on him so I could walk towards the center and our Transportcraft. I felt the eyes of the other Squads on me as I took center stage.
"Yes yes, I know, nobody needs to say a word," I said standing in the center of attention. "I'm sorry that it took that long."
I paused for dramatic effect and looked around the various asembled teams. "I got great news for all of us!" I've made sure to make eye contact with each of the squad leaders. "The Directorate hasn't forgotten about you, and neither has the Commissar."
I reached for my Wallet holding it high enough for everyone to see. "On Friday night we get one of the many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to enjoy ourselves and use government funds!" I raised my silver and platinum allowance card. A round of laughter later and a series of questions and comments we climbed into our Transportcraft and sat divided by squads.
"I hope you extend that invitation to me as well." The Pilot said as he opened his door and looked over his shoulder. "I might get paid per hour, but there is still a family waiting for me at home. No amount of hazard pay can replace time with my daughter."
He pressed a button again and closed his door before I could respond. I sighed in exasperation.
"Jackie is on leave for the next few months." Ibuki took his seat beside me.
"Sure must be nice having high achieving parents dedicating so much of their money towards your leisures... "Must be nice…"
Ibuki crossed his right leg over his left. "When are you going on leave?" He chuckled and turned towards me. "If I pull that scarf down how likely is it that I'll say that you look more dead than alive?"
"A hundred percent," I said with no hesitation.
His eyes narrowed as he looked for the jest yet to come.
"There is always someone dying, comparing someone as stressed and overworked as me to someone whose life just faded is a hard bargain."
"And people say the Meldiers are the only thing we need to worry about besides the nightmare threat." Ibuki trailed off.
"Wake me up on touch down."
I leaned back and stared at the ceiling. I slowly let my muscles relax from my toes up my legs. I felt the darkness rushing in from the corners of my vision and slowly dragging my consciousness back into the abyss. Ibuki's voice came into my fading focus until it vanished as well.
Light came back into my world, and alongside it sound and all of its wonders.
"Thanks Iby." I opened the seatbelt and rose to my feet. "Anything interesting happened while I was out?"
"Saying that you were out when you were just asleep is a bit much, but I get it." He coughed to clear his throat. "We've got new security codes. Apparently, they were already updating their security last week. And performing their own maintenance. We're here to confirm that they aren't nitwits. Including the seventy-nine percent of the population who aren't Technocrats." He shot a look my way. "Are able to perform maintenance on their beloved machines and equipment, aside from that we got an update to the building layout."
He operated on the Tablet on his breast, clapping it out of his kevlar. "We got blueprints and notes. We have a staircase leading to the lobby and a fire exit to the roof one story down from our position."
I compared the old version of the building on his wrist to the supposedly new version of the Tablet.
"They almost look indistinguishable," I said.
"They are," He deactivated both of his screens and folded his chest piece back in. "In all likelihood its either a reminder in case we've lost it, or them doubting our competence."
"Speaking from experience?"
"Let off!"
"I don't think this would pass as German even if you would have spoken it!" I laughed
Ibuki turned around and showed me his middle finger
I didn't knew too much about sign language but an raised middle finger conveyed his state of mind perfectly.
Ibuki cut our banter short and motioned for us to get ready. Then he breached the door and the team headed into the building. The third squad stayed behind while the second and first took to the job of clearing their assigned sectors.
"I hate that we can't just cut the building in half," Ibuki said. "Going fifteen stories down is well over a hundred meters of stairs!"
"Especially with low lighting and long hallways. We're definitely going well over a mile."
"Measuring now in Imperial standard instead of precision." Lynn cut in.
"Ha-ha." Ibuki's sarcasm dripped from every word.
"Few workplaces pay as good just for walking. I don't remember the last time we had to shoot our weapons."
There is literally nothing here, Kyle. Even if a nightmare were to form here it would just return to the ground from whence it came. I don't think anything would stick around just to be bored, or wait to be culled."
"I know Iby, I know."
We kept walking mostly in silence until we reached the ground floor lobby. We left Chloe and third squad behind and entered the heart of the matter. The setting sun was replaced by the dim red emergency light of the subterranean levels.
"You think there's something that they didn't tell us," Ibuki said as he looked down at the Screen on his wrist.
"There is always something people aren't going to tell you." He fixed his gaze on me. "Do you mean the Security Cameras which are new and not shared on the blueprints, or why Sinne is so silent?"
"Thinking about both. Has Kyle done something to keep Sinne quiet today?" Ibuki asked Sinne.
I extended my arm and pushed Ibuki away.
"Please don't treat her like a child. She is probably older than us."
Sinne spoke up and interrupted us.
"-Out of the Commissars office… Kyle looked hurt. He didn't say anything, but he looked hurt. I should have been in there keeping him safe."
I felt an ache in my heart; it was cold and hollow.
"Anyway, the Cameras aren't like the ones we use for security in Military Facilities, government buildings, or on campus. They are probably from an off-world manufacturer and–"
"They stopped before the first security door. I don't think they had the security code." Lynn cut in from the front.
"Right, there hasn't been one since we came underground. Which means whoever installed them either deemed that they weren't necessary down here."
"Or they couldn't." Sinne finished the thought.
Ibuki looked down at the screen on his wrist. "Told Chirs and his boys that they should roam the upper levels hallways and cathocraph them on a virtual version of the building, but now I realize the folly of my actions. Even if they were to believe that we include their battery changes in our maintenance plans…"
"They still would know that we were looking for them," I concluded.
"Yes."
We managed to reach the last security door without any resistance.
"Stay here."
"Gotcha."
"'Kay."
We left Lynn and Sinne behind and went inside with the security code we'd been issued. There was an array of devices in the relatively cool room. The machinery neither sounded abused, nor were there any creaking noises hinting at rusted metal. Ibuki dislodged the Tablet on his chest and gave it to me. We went through our separate schedules of maintenance. I observed and did limited stress testing on the data while Ibuki checked the attrition on the open parts and looked into the internal life of phew machines. An hour passed before we finished.
Sinne and Lynn waited for us on the floor outside. Lynn showed off her gallery of vacation photos, a montage of different beaches and natural wonders.
"Let's pack up Girls," I said as we finished and exited back out through the security door.
We continued together and rejoined the other squads.
"Sorry for the wait. Maintenance takes longer if you need to look for something broken instead of already knowing what it is.'
We made our way back up the stairs back until we reached the landing pad unbothered and uncontested. I put my hand on Ibukis's shoulder as we were boarding.
"Take Sinne home," I said to Lynn; our eyes locked through my goggles and she nodded.