AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh yeah, she can kick butts!”
Eden leaned against a wall and let out a long sigh. This whole operation had taken a wrong turn way too fast. Now, she was trapped with an unknown enemy in full control of the area, no idea of her intentions, and separated from any possible backup except for Loir. Could she face Circé on her own? The fact that this woman was Loir’s former partner made her wary. If she was part of the Edge, she couldn’t be an ordinary hacker. What were her intentions anyway?
“What do you want to do?”
Dante’s voice took Eden by surprise. She had almost forgotten he was listening in too... She let out a long sigh, making her decision.
“She beat us at this game; I need to know who she’s working for at least. If it’s the Rat, we can expect a full-on attack here at any moment. If it’s anyone else, we’d better confirm who as fast as possible...”
“Can you and Loir regain control?”
“Loir?” Eden called out.
She could still hear him typing furiously on his keyboard and making strange noises with his mouth, which meant he was still fighting against Circé in his own world.
“It’s not like I’m not trying, Kitty! But that old witch has a new partner, and they are not happy about me trying to kick them out of the system!”
“Perhaps she’s working with another partner from the Edge.”
“It does look familiar, but that old witch might as well be alone if she’s got access to a control room!”
Eden nodded.
“Just help me find where that control room is, then I’ll face her directly. With what you copied from Pan’s Map, we should be able to get a rough idea. Moreover, she still hasn’t tried to stop me, which is a bit strange.”
“Got it, got it...”
“We’re launching our attack,” suddenly declared Dante.
“Not yet! I can perhaps regain control if I beat her...”
“Someone else is attacking the Red Temple, and I don’t care who,” he retorted. “I’m joining in.”
Eden didn’t know how to answer that. She had a strange feeling that Dante was launching his own attack prematurely because of her, but she didn’t dare ask. If it had been anyone else, she would have been glad to get some reinforcements. For now, she felt like a mouse in a gigantic trap...
“Loir, keep trying to beat them,” she whispered.
“I am!”
Then, Eden resumed walking, making sure she stayed close to a wall and watched her surroundings. She was really curious as to why Circé hadn’t tried to capture her yet if she controlled the whole area. It didn’t make sense. She ought to have understood Eden was no ordinary escort by now, and if she had come here alone, she should have been wary of any potential enemies. This all felt too easy, and the blonde woman didn’t like this...
She kept progressing silently, trying to follow Loir’s instructions. Although the Map couldn’t show the inside of the building, Loir was using the various filters incorporated into it to roughly determine the location of the control room. The one showing the flow of electrical current was giving a pretty clear indication as to which room necessitated the most inflow of energy. Indeed, after climbing two more sets of stairs, Eden arrived in front of a large but locked door. This definitely looked like the entrance of a control room, with a digital code panel. Moreover, this was the only room on this floor, which meant the inside ought to be pretty huge.
Eden took a quick breath in and rose her leg, ready to force that lock by destroying it.
However, just as she was about to smash the panel, the door suddenly opened. She was stunned, to the point she left her leg hanging mid-air while staring around the room.
It was not as large as she had predicted but still pretty impressive, in a round shape. There was nothing left of the traditional wooden walls, mat floors, and Asian decorations. This was just like Loir’s new playroom. Everything was metal: screens, computers, keyboards, hundreds of little consoles, and panels with video surveillance displaying several rooms of the building. Most were showing angry men locked behind doors, banging against the walls, or yelling at the camera, although it was muted. The keyboards were arranged in a circle, as if twenty people could have sat there to monitor them. There was a round central console in the middle, like a large tactile table. There were indeed about twenty people in the room, but most were dead on the floor.
The only person standing was Circé. She was smiling at Eden, from the other side of the room. She looked exactly like before except with her hair down. Eden could see why; most of her hair pins had turned into deadly weapons, some still deeply stuck in the dead men’s heads or throats.
“Hi again,” said the goth woman with a smile. “So you’re my rival, I suppose?”
“You’re... impressive,” muttered Eden.
She realized Circé had let her in, which probably didn’t mean anything good. Either the hacker didn’t fear her, or she actually wanted Eden to come here from the beginning. It was disturbing how calm and composed that woman was. She had her fingers running on one of the keyboards at an impressive speed, considering the scary length of her black nails. It was clear she also knew her way around technology...
“So?” asked Circé, her eyes on one of the screens. “Which of the Zodiacs are you working for, sweetie?”
