The tires of the Butte creep into the dark back corner of an alley between a fence and a series of warehouses planted side by side. The destroyed condition of the building they sit next to is clear. Being on the border of Arroyo, he keep his head on a swivel remaining alert... hes familiar with the usual back alley hotspots that you can find all sorts of activity happening at odd hours... this particular setup not being much different. He glances over to see Zaunya NOT doing the same thing as she instead has a fixed stare on the towering 'Petrochem' mega structures across the street. Leaned up against the Butte, she takes deep inhales of her cigarette not paying much attention to Brian checking his iron and supplies. She carries with her a stoic energy and tenseness that he picks up on making him wary. The closer they got to their destination on the ride over, the less and less she spoke... almost in a trance while being now singularly focused on something that seems almost irrelevant from Brian's perspective.
Zaunya flicks her cig out through the fence down into the waiting embankment to their left. She puts her black leather facemask back on as the pair of them pick up their pace almost into a light jog moving behind the series of warehouses. They slip in to the nearest one through a giant hole in the side of its wall with crumbled concrete. Brian then effortlessly lifts her, boosting her up to the second floor before casually jumping, and lifting himself up the rest of the way. The pair of them take a position, peeking past their destroyed building looking onto the warehouse next door, which happened to offer some dim, ambient, red and blue lighting from a glowing sign that read 'Electric Corporation'. The pair silently observe several posted guards walking the perimeter and interior of the building. They both glance at each other preparing to make their move.
They wait until the perimeter guards pass by before quietly dropping down out of their building and quickly sneaking past the gate entrance and road leading in. They quickly hug up against a wall of the facility before crouching down by a door after spotting an active surveillance camera. Zaunya quickly stands up... they share a look with each other before Brian grabs her by her waist, lifting her up towards the camera... She lightly pushes the camera upward, forcing it to look up blankly at the night sky. He gently lets her down, dropping her onto her feet while still holding onto her waist; She instinctually grabs for his shoulders to catch and stabilize her balance. This is now the most intimate their contact with each other has ever been as the pair glance at each other... catching each other's eyes before quickly letting go at the same time... recognizing the intimacy and ridding themselves of it.
An abrupt bang from something metal falling off of a shelf inside the building breaks the moment and refocuses the pair. They both duck back down outside the door as Zaunya attempts to force it open. Brian switches places with her, moving closer to the door before placing the palm of his hand on the left side of it and slowly running it up and down the frame feeling for something. He lightly taps at several areas around the frame before working his fingers inbetween a loose groove near the locking mechanism and applying just the right amount of pressure to bend it outward, freeing the lock and sliding the door right open.
The pair quickly duck in as Zaunya slides the door closed behind them. They hear the sounds of 2 blue collar Petrochem employees talking as they listen from a nearby empty room.
"GOD DAMNIT!" One of the men yells looking on at the big pile of pipes spread out around the floor of the warehouse just recently fallen off of a collapsed shelf that couldn't handle the load.
"I told ya they wouldn't fit up there choom. Even if they did... i knew this piece of shit wouldn't be able to hold em." The other man says with his arms crossed looking on.
"FUCK this. I'm not pickin any of this shit up. Lunch time anyway. Cmon, lets go."
"Oh, no no no choom.. I'm not doin Buck A Slice again. That scop turned my fuckin guts inside out last time."
"Choombada... come on. Chick workin there LOVES me! How can ya turn down some free slices!" The second man takes a deep breath before responding.
"Ahh..fuck it. I'm starving... lets go." He says as the two of them make their way to the garage exit on the opposite end of the building carrying on a conversation.
Zaunya and Brian enter the dimly lit, open warehouse making their way past the pipes littered on the ground to another door requiring a pin. Brian glances around the warehouse before watching Zaunya pull out the black and gold access card and hold it up in front of the reader. The pinlock lights up green and beeps before the door slides open, revealing a steep staircase leading to another door. Its clear at first glance that this staircase now leads deep under the structure itself with no indication as to where to. Before Brian can whisper anything, Zaunya puts her arm out in front of him motioning him to take a few steps back. She takes a knee right by the entrance to the door and uses the palm of her hand to feel along the floor right inside of the opened door frame. She lightly presses down with her hand causing a small strip of the concrete to sink into itself. Brian looks on confused before his attention is turned to the staircase. They both watch as dozens of infrared lasers instantly appear covering the entire staircase. It makes Brian jump slightly and take a step back as the lasers quickly switch from red to green indicating safety.
Zaunya goes to step in through the door frame as Brian quietly grabs her shoulder with uncertainty and hesitation. She looks back at him and reaches for his arm before grabbing it and gently pulling him toward going in. The pair make their way down the steep staircase as Zaunya uses the card again to open the door at the bottom. The two step through as Brian slides the door closed behind them. Zaunya stops him again in his tracks as they look on down a well lit, long, empty, narrow hallway. She takes a deep breath before closing her eyes and re-opening them with focus. She triggers her Sandevistan... sprinting full speed down the narrow hallway getting to the end of it and pressing a red button near the pin lock and almost falling on her face. She feels light headed and dizzy... unable to get back up to her feet forcing her to stay planted up against the door taking exhausted deep labored breaths. Brian watching this, sees her condition and goes to step forward... she quickly puts her hand out toward him silently signaling him not to move. A brief, tense moment passes as the infrared lasers again fill up the entire hallway before blinking green several times and disappearing.
Brian makes his way down the long hallway to her still in a haze on the ground... clearly the use of her sandevistan is taking its toll... Brian makes a mental note of this. He slowly helps her up to her feet with her equilibrium still off... he begins to open his mouth to ask if shes ok before she quickly places her hand over it while shaking her head signaling him to stay quiet. She regains her senses and pulls the access card back out holding it up in front of the pin lock... it beeps once before following up with an invalid error sound. Brian quickly looks over at Zaunya with growing concern... she holds the card up again only to hear the same invalid beep as the tension grows and her heart sinks. She steps back and takes a deep breath with her eyes closed for a moment... a routine technique she uses to center herself in tense moments before trying again. This time the pinlock quickly beeps invalid again before correcting itself and turning green with a confirmed beep causing the heavy reinforced door to slowly slide open.
They slowly walk into the room as the sensors for the lights are triggered illuminating the space. Brian's eyes and mouth open wide as he looks on at an almost endless spattering of chemical barrels stacked from floor to ceiling. Shelves filled with various vials of samples and tools used to operate the warehouse are scattered around the area alongside various biohazardous containers and tubs. He notices a wall filled with smaller chemical barrels towards the back housed behind thick glass isolated from the rest of the supplies stored. Overwhelmed and confused he turns around to confront Zaunya only to see her jacking in to a computer nearby the testing station and ripping data as her eyes flicker blue briefly.
"What the fuck is all this!?" He shouts amongst blaring alarms turning around to look at her.
Zaunya completely ignores him before getting up and aiming her Nue right past him, thinking shes aiming it at him causes his heart to sink- "Was my intuition right?" He quickly thinks to himself. A flood of various thought reactions flood into his mind while staring at the barrel of her iron.
Instead, she aims at the glass and unloads a volley of rounds sending loud booming echos throughout the warehouse, causing him to flinch and puncturing the glass along with the barrels within it. The punctured barrels quickly begin to pour out thick, green glowing liquid onto the warehouse floor as a loud buzzer and flashing lights start to go off triggering the automated security voice.
=ALERT. CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL INITIATED= ALERT. CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL INITIATED=
Brian quickly looks back to see the heavy reinforced door they entered in from closing as slow as it opened. He sprints back to it and uses all of his strength to prevent it from closing as he fights against the pressure. He looks over to see Zaunya shooting several automated extinguishers on the ceiling attempting to coat the green liquid pouring out while running back towards him. She uses her momentum to slide under past him back into the hallway. Brian lets the door go as it slams closed and the pair of them sprint full speed down the narrow hallway listening to chemical chain reactions igniting and exploding on the other side of the door. They race up the steep staircase as the entire building begins to violently shake occasionally knocking them off balance. The flames spin at a rapid pace blasting the containment door down the hallway and sending a purge of flame up and out of the staircase and the rest of the warehouse. The loud booming explosion shakes the earth and lights up the dark Night City streets with a green hue and smoke plumes as the pair are seen sliding down the embankment leading into the river tunnel before sprinting further down it.