“Good luck, Godspeed. You two, secure the far side.” Osman ordered her soldiers, before switching back to commanding the battle unfolding outside. The CraSec grunts moved to take positions around the hole, freeing up Vreta to fall back.

Agent 595 jumped into the hole feet first, her knees bending slightly to compensate. She spun nimbly round, surveying the garage through her shotgun sights while her suit pinged the area. Some of the motion-lights flickered on and off, never fully activating. Sounds from above were muffled and disconnected from this tranquil subterranean zone.

Cars hung vertically from the garage ceiling like bats in their nest. 595’s eyes followed the ceiling rail system which connected them all to a wide metal door at the opposite side of the room. It seemed intact, and nothing appeared to be moving around her.

“Clear. Come down.” 595 called, just as a Priority 1 alert appeared in the corner of her HUD.

[ALPHA SITE COMPROMISED - RETURN TO BASE.]

“Shit.” She growled.

[hr]

“We can still make it!” Freyr asserted in response to Osman’s final command. She turned to Dr Girard, trying to keep her voice level and reassuring. “I need you to jump now, Thalia. We’re going to GCHQ to talk to the Object. I’ll be right behind you.”

Dr Girard nodded, her watery eyes full of fear. She tottered towards the edge then fell forward, landing clumsily on her front. Freyr jumped right afterwards, managing to stay standing. Vreta soon followed.

“I need to get you all out of here. GCHQ, are transit stations online?” 595 asked.

No response.

“Transit station is this way, let's go.” 595 pushed forward, marking a waypoint beyond where the subway line crossed the garage.

“You heard GCHQ. There was an ATTACK!” Freyr wailed, still supporting her scientist colleague who was continually unsteady on her feet. “It may be no safer out there than in here. They could be waiting for us to exit the sim so they can kidnap us! We can still finish this.”