Location: Warehouse 4, The Container Yards (District 9)
Time: 10:05 PM
The warehouse smelled like rust, seawater, and copper. Lots of copper.
Dante landed silently on a catwalk thirty feet above the ground floor. He crouched in the shadows, his black hoodie blending perfectly with the dark. Below him, the warehouse was a hive of activity.
Men in hazmat suits were moving crates marked "Fragile: Bio-Waste." But they weren't moving waste. They were moving people. Dozens of unconscious humans were lined up on gurneys, hooked up to tubes that were draining a thick, glowing red liquid into tanks.
"That's the Red-Eye," Benji's voice trembled in Dante's earpiece. "They're farming them. Like juice boxes."
"Disgusting," GiGi hissed over the comms. She was clinging to a support beam on the opposite side of the room. "Can I kill them now?"
"Wait for the signal," Dante whispered. "We need to find the supplier."
Suddenly, the heavy metal doors at the far end of the warehouse slid open. A woman walked in.
She didn't look like a thug. She looked like she owned the place. She wore a sharp black pencil skirt, a fitted blazer, and rimless glasses that reflected the harsh overhead lights. She was typing on a tablet, looking bored.
It was Eri.
"Production is down 4%," Eri said, her voice amplified by the acoustics of the room. It had a weird, digital reverb to it. "The Dominion expects a higher yield. Squeeze them harder."
"But Ma'am," a hazmat worker stammered. "If we drain them any faster, the livestock will expire."
Eri didn't look up from her tablet. "And? Humans are a renewable resource. Buy more."
Dante felt a cold spike of anger in his chest. His piercings flared hot.
"Signal," Dante said.
"Dropping the beat!" Benji yelled.
CLICK.
Every light in the warehouse transformed. The harsh white floodlights cut out, replaced by strobing neon pink and blue tactical lights. Benji had hacked the lighting grid.
At the same time, the fire suppression system exploded—not with water, but with Benji's Type-Neuro Mist.
"Intruders!" Eri said calmly, not even flinching. "Secure the product."
"Too late!" GiGi screamed.
She dropped from the ceiling like a meteor. She landed on top of a tank of Red-Eye, shattering the glass. As the liquid flooded the floor, she spun, her blood-wires lashing out.
WHIP-CRACK.
Three hazmat workers' guns were sliced in half before they could pull the triggers.
"Party time!" GiGi laughed, sliding across the slick floor on her boots, dodging bullets with unnatural flexibility.
Dante jumped. He opened his umbrella mid-air to slow his descent, floating down like a dark Mary Poppins. As he landed, a massive brute—a Type-Ignis guard—charged him, fists wreathed in fire.
"Burn!" the guard roared.
Dante sighed. "I hate fire. It smells like burnt hair."
He held the umbrella out like a shield. The fireball hit the black fabric and vanished into the void. Dante spun the umbrella, releasing the stored energy as a concussive blast that launched the guard into a stack of crates.
"Clear the civilians!" Dante ordered. "Benji, unlock the gurneys!"
"I'm trying!" Benji shouted from his hiding spot (inside a ventilation duct). "Their encryption is military grade! It's gonna take me two minutes!"
"You have one," Dante said, parrying a machete strike with his umbrella handle.
In the center of the chaos, Eri stood perfectly still. She watched Dante fight. She watched the way his piercings glowed. She watched the way he moved—not like a hunter, but like a weapon.
"Interesting," she murmured.
She tapped her tablet. The floor beneath Dante rumbled.
"Dante! Below you!" GiGi screamed.
The concrete floor exploded. A massive, mutated creature—a Chimera made of stitched-together Ghoul parts—burst from the basement. It had four arms, no eyes, and a mouth full of rotary-saw teeth.
It grabbed Dante in a massive hand and slammed him against the wall.
CRUNCH.
Dante gasped. His ribs screamed. The wind was knocked out of him.
"Subject identified," Eri said, her voice projecting directly into Dante's ear through sound manipulation. "Type-Null. The Eater of Gods. You're smaller than the reports said."
Dante struggled, his umbrella pinned to his side. The Chimera squeezed harder.
"Join me," Eri whispered, her voice vibrating inside his skull. "The Bureau pays you in scraps. I can give you the world. Or at least... a better benefits."
Dante gritted his teeth. Blood trickled from his lip ring.
"Better benefits?" Dante wheezed. "Does it cover... orthodontics?"
"Full coverage," Eri smiled.
Dante's eyes went black. The Hello Kitty keychain on his umbrella rattled.
"Sorry," Dante said. "But my manager... hates poachers."
Dante didn't try to break free. He absorbed the kinetic energy of the squeeze. His body glowed blinding white.
"Release," Dante whispered.
BOOM.
A shockwave of pure force erupted from Dante's chest. The Chimera's hand disintegrated. The monster was blasted backward, crashing through the support pillars of the warehouse.
The roof began to collapse.
"Time to go!" Benji screamed. "Civilians are unlocked! Evac! Evac!"
Eri adjusted her glasses, unbothered by the falling debris. She looked at Dante one last time.
"A pity," she said. She tapped her tablet, and her body dissolved into sound waves, vanishing into the noise of the collapsing building.
"She's gone!" GiGi yelled, grabbing an unconscious civilian under each arm. "Dante, move!"
Dante grabbed his umbrella and sprinted for the exit as the warehouse imploded behind them.
Location: Outside the Warehouse
Time: 10:20 PM
The squad stood in the rain, watching the dust settle. Sirens wailed in the distance.
Dante leaned on his umbrella, panting. His vest was torn. His ribs were definitely bruised.
"We got them out," Benji said, looking at the lined-up gurneys. "They're safe."
"Who was the lady in the glasses?" GiGi asked, wiping blood off her cheek. "She smelled like money."
"I don't know," Dante said, touching his neck where Eri's voice had vibrated. "But she offered me dental."
"Did you take it?" Benji asked.
"No," Dante said. "I like my dentist. He gives me stickers."
Dante looked at his phone. A new message from Sora.
Sora: [Image sent]
A picture of a half-eaten pizza.
Caption: "Saved you guys a slice. Hurry back, the crust is getting soggy."
Dante smiled, a real, tiny smile.
"Let's go home," he said. "I have inventory tomorrow."