[ The Glitched Road ]

Chapter 17

P O V - Digit

I was supposed to train with Periwinkle and the others when we get back from the mission since we have no time right now.

The team brought me to where they usually go and suit up... I guess. I'm not sure what other term I'm supposed to call it. Everyone in the group seemed to have a weapon of preference. I didn't... except that when I was with Pip and in the lab, I may have tweaked my arm a bit and installed a plasma blade on it...
Oh you know, nothing much.

I think I put tranquilizers in there. I double-checked my arm to make sure.

Yep, those will come in handy.

Scrappy was studying my arm again from afar.

"That's not the only thing that will be helping you in the mission right? You'll be dead in a heartbeat!"

"Been there before."

"Oh- well I- hey, Sandwich!"

Greenwich turned around and glared at Scrappy.

"Don't fucking-"

"Lass here needs her own weapon!"

"Oh, right. Digit. Just choose anything along the wall we haven't taken. If you know how to use it, take it for now. We'll teach you how to use other things if you need it."

At first, I wasn't sure what to choose. There was quite a wide variety of weapons. Some with new technology, and some more retro. I chose to go with a simple combat knife, and huh... I never really used a gun before, nor needed to use one.

I looked at my arm again and at the tranquilizer compartment. I could easily switch it out with a different type of ammo. Thank god I made it more useful than it already is. Maybe when I get back, I can upgrade it to some Tony Stank shit. That would be dOpE. I wanna fire plasma blast out of my palms.

Definitely gonna happen.

I picked up some round shells of ammo to replace some of my tranquilizers.

I was confident it was all I needed.

Besides, if I died or something, I'm sure Pip can just get some files of my work and revive me with more robot shit, no big deal.

Wow, dying really changes your perspective on things...

I turned to my team and gave a thumbs up. They looked at me with confusion.

"That's it?"

"My arm is more useful than you think... Boss?"

"Greenwich. I don't like that shit."

"Oh! Sorry. Greenwich. And I'm mostly going in stealthily right? The tranquilizers and bullets are more of a rescue than anything if something were to happen. I'll be fine!"

Greenwich 'hmphed' at me.

"Very well. We'll fill you in on the plan in the van. Let's move."

Everyone in the team started to walk away toward the elevator. I followed suit with a lot of awkwardness. Thank god they can't see my face right now. I'm freaking it quite a bit.

-

We got into the van. All of us were in the back and someone else not on our team is driving... Who the hell is that?

"Er, I thought one of you guys would drive."

"Normally we would, but since you're new, we gotta make sure you get everything. Boss also made it clear for you not to get hurt, so we'll also be protecting you in a way." Greenwich explained.

I just nodded. Periwinkle spoke up next.

"Oh, our driver is..... Mæløn"

Her voice got quiet at the end. Scrappy nudged me and leaned toward the side of my head and whispered.

"We don't talk about him."

"Oh, gotcha."

Greenwich cleared his throat to grab our attention.

"Alright, listen up. Especially you young bird." Young bird? Nerd.

"You'll mostly be in the van, for about 70% of the time. We'll need you to hack into some of the surveillance and systems in there when we tell you to."

"Is this like a thing where a gang tries to hide their identity with retail or business?"

"Ah, you learn quick fledgling." Oh dear god.

"Anyways, Peri will be entering the area first, disguised as an ordinary IT worker. She'll make her way into the utility area and shut down some of the power. She'll leave certain things on and that's where you come in."

I nodded as he kept explaining further.

"You'll be the one hacking into the software and making it seem like there is a power failure or some type of error. Get everyone to believe something went wrong with their systems and that nothin' else is going on. Then, you get the cameras and let us know when they're down. We'll rush out of the van and take care of the guards. I've already discussed with the team what to do while they're inside, so you don't need to worry about that, but once we give you an okay, you need to sneak in and take out the Boss. We'll give you his whereabouts and we'll put a small locater in there to guide you in."

He tossed me some sort of watch.

"That'll be guiding you. You also need this." He proceeded to hand me an earpiece, but as soon as that happened, Pip's voice came through into the van through the monitors that were also in the back.

"No need for that! Digit has an earpiece installed into her mask already. I'm currently connecting all of your signals with hers."

Everyone nodded at the camera that was in one of the corners of the van.
I looked at the monitors again where Pip's face then appeared.

"Digit, every van that your team will be taking has a space like this. Systems for you to use to hack into the rival's system. You'll mostly be working your magic here. Good luck on your mission."

The screen turned off and Greenwich looked at me again.

"You got everything?"

"Clear as day."

"Right." He proceeded to pound on the wall of the van near the driver.

"Hey! We're ready to get moving!"

The person, or... Mæløn opened the slidey part that lets the driver see the passengers. I took in his features. Holy shit this dude's like 12. He has a mechanical eye. It looks out of date. Maybe I can upgrade it or something if he even lets me.

"Shut up. I'll break your fucking kneecaps. I'm going! And you, quit fucking staring."

I turned away and the sliding window shut. The van then started moving immediately afterward. All we could really do right now is keep talking about the plan and relax if that was even possible for me... my mind was everywhere at the moment, but was semi-focused on the coding I had to do.

I better not screw up, or else I'll be boned.