Parallel: United Front

Chapter 32: Living Weapons

Secret Nexus Base.

Low Guruk.

"Sounds like they're having plenty of fun over there."

"That sounds fun to you?" Queen admonished the whistling Dayle with a shake of her head. Although they could not see the fight, the sounds of explosions and frantically chasing bots made its way over to them. It did not take a genius to figure out that Raines and Arthur were currently in a tight spot.

Dayle, seemingly ignorant of this fact, chuckled and said, "Hey, they have the easy job. We're the ones who have to sneak in and out of the base undetected." Dayle paused and then asked, "How long until the main force gets here?"

Queen frowned. "Taking the terrain and paths we mapped into consideration, I'd say about thirty minutes. Twenty if they rush."

"Will they attack immediately, or wait for our intel?"

"Usually, they would wait, but if the chaos continues until then, I'm certain Jack will choose to take advantage and launch a surprise attack."

Dayle nodded. "Well then, good to know." The young man wore an enigmatic smile as he glanced at the illusion that was still up on their end. "Are you ready?"

Queen took a deep breath, and then said with determined eyes. "I am."

Dayle chuckled and then said, "Let's go." With those words, he dashed out of the building and through the abandoned road. The illusion showed a building wall in front of him, but Dayle didn't stop.

Whoosh!

Dayle burst through the illusion. "Whoa!" But he stopped half a second later, as he found himself in front of a real wall. If he had continued, he would have smacked his head. That would have been embarrassing.

"How is it?" Queen's voice came from beyond the illusion.

Dayle looked around. "No sign of cameras or bots. We're clear."

Queen, following his confirmation, walked through the illusion. She then scanned the wall's perimeter and was surprised to see there truly were no cameras. That was strange. Nexus bases were notorious for the cameras that monitored every possible angle.

"Probably cause of the illusion." Dayle, seeing her confusion, offered a suggestion. "There's no point putting cameras here when all they will capture are the holograms. They wouldn't even be able to see you if you stood 1 mm behind the hologram. Waste of resources."

"Ah, that makes sense." mused Queen. This was more in line with the Nexus' behavior. Unlike humans, Nexus operated with efficiency at the forefront of their operations. They never utilized resources in excess.

This trait ensure that every Nexus base served a significant purpose in their overall plan. And, as a result, every Nexus base captured or destroyed netted significant points for the humans. This was why Nexus bases were hotspots for mercenaries. They were guaranteed massive Experience Points, and credits regardless.

Their doubts clarified, Dayle and Queen travelled along the wall until they found a door. However, surprisingly, there was no handle. Dayle searched around but also did not see a keypad. The young man frowned. "How the hell do we get in?"

Queen chuckled and raised her gauntlet. As she inputted a set of commands, she explained to Dayle, "Nexus bots have RFID chips installed that communicate with the objects around their base at all times. With these chips, they don't need to input passwords, open doors, or any of those things we humans do. The RFID signals are also very difficult to hack or replicate since every base uses a distinct set of signals to prevent intruders from getting in."