[h1]GCHQ[/h1]

Freyr didn’t know how to react to things anymore. She’d been scared out of her mind so much in the last 24 hours that she felt her consciousness receding into a mental stronghold. The voice that emerged from her lips was merely a servant, a useful shade to deploy in critical moments.

She felt bad for the two people with her, as she was in essence dragging them on what could be a suicide mission. But Freyr knew enough about the Cradle to suspect that this power surge may never end. The horrors unleashed from the depths of the simulation may be here to stay, which meant New Antioch may continue on this road to ruin for a long time. Perhaps forever, if the Object figured out some way to eject them completely... 

This could be her last chance to talk to the entities in charge, on her own terms. She had to get answers. At any rate, she allowed Vreta to pull her along by the hand.

595 brought up the rear, switching weapons to cross the park. She hobbled over the grass with her new assault rifle swivelling from side to side. The lights dimly illuminating the pathways flickered as they approached. Her breath rattled in her chest. In…Out...In...Out.

[i]“Foreign contaminants in your bloodstream are resisting standard antibiotics. Strongly recommend visiting GCHQ infirmary for resupply.”[/i] Her suit informed her. “Copy that.” The Agent rasped.

The bushes around them rustled in the breeze as they crossed the patchily lit parks. Apart from that, the Cradle was deafeningly quiet. Freyr could smell freshly cut grass through her suit. She’d had smells disabled for the entire trip through the subway, for obvious reasons.

After a tense couple of minutes, the team reached a grassy bank that bordered the roads ringing [url=https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/images/gchq-at-night.jpg?mpwidth=545&mlwidth=369&twidth=398&dwidth=350&dpr=1&width=412]GCHQ’s side entrance[/url]. 595 encouraged everyone to lie down with her, so they could survey the area without drawing attention. She could see that the glass swing doors had been reinforced with thick metal barriers. 

“Look.” 595 whispered, marking a small hole that had been prised open near the edge of the entrance. The barriers had sustained heavy damage, with deep rents from massive claws along the entire face.

The Agent then marked two hidden auto-turrets high above the entrance. They were models adapted from Navy ships; designed to repel boarding craft. They still appeared operational, turning slowly this way and that. She then noticed that the road outside the entrance was a mess of blood and gunge.

“GCHQ, this is...um...Tangier One. Can you hear me?” Freyr asked over open comms. A low synthetic burbling responded, but nothing else.