Ethan and Ilsa jumped out of the plane, opening their parachutes as they approached the facility below. They sailed towards the rooftop, Ethan shooting an electric dart at the nearby security camera as he did.
Kat watched as she was granted permissions into the power plant's security system thanks to Ethan's dart, and she quickly typed at her tablet, switching off the camera that was pointed towards Ethan and Ilsa just as Benji drove up to the gates.
"Card." The guard said as he walked over, holding out his hand and Benji handed it over nonchalantly as Ethan and Ilsa quickly folded their parachutes and ran across the roof.
The guard motioned for Benji to remove his sunglasses, and he did so quickly, apologizing with a sheepish expression: "Sorry."
The guard checked his face against his card before moving to swipe the card on the access pad. Benji quickly jammed all nearby signals from inside his car, preventing the card from reading. The guard frowned as nothing happened, before trying the card again. And again.
"Ethan." Kat said quietly, indicating he was running out of time. He and Ilsa exchanged looks as they hurried across the roof, sliding down to reach the glass panels on the top floor.
Ethan quickly placed his gadget on the glass, sending out sonic waves that vibrated against the glass before it finally shattered to pieces. Ilsa jumped down onto the conveyer below, Ethan jumping quickly after her.
Benji was sweating in his car as the guard returned towards him, saying: "Your card is not working."
"We're in." Ethan called at that moment, and Benji quickly released the signal as Kat switched the security camera on the roof back on. The gate slid open for Benji, the signal having gone through from the many times the guard had tried his card.
The guard looked up in confusion while Benji smiled, reaching for the card as he said lightly: "Thank you."
The guard frowned slightly but handed him the card back, and Benji drove through towards the SCF facility while the guard returned to his security room and checked all the security cameras once more.
Ethan and Ilsa headed quickly along the conveyer, heading towards the maintenance booth in the centre. As soon as they were settled, crouched so that no-one would see them, Ilsa switched on her tablet to monitor what Kat was doing while Ethan called as he removed his outer jumpsuit: "Kat, it's a go."
"Uh, affirmative?" She replied, a little uncertain as to how to respond, and Ethan sighed as Ilsa raised her eyes to glance at him in disbelief.
"Why are you letting the civilian accompany you?" Ilsa asked, more than a little curious.
Before Ethan could reply, the belt moved, taking them across the warehouse and towards the torus. They reached right over the middle of the gigantic whirlpool, and Ethan was about to call Kat to stop, when the belt stopped moving, lined up perfectly directly above the whirlpool.
"Good?" She asked, and he replied shortly: "Perfect."
He gave Ilsa a look that clearly said 'that's why', answering her earlier question. Ilsa raised a brow, but let it go as Ethan began taking deep breaths.
"One more time." She began as he began to loosen his body and take in as much oxygen as he could. "You have three minutes. Two and a half minutes to switch the security profile."
She held up their fake yellow profile, and Ethan took it, sliding it neatly into the sleeve on the right calf of his wetsuit.
"30 seconds to escape through the service hatch." Ilsa finished.
Benji added as he walked into the SCF, pretending to be talking on his phone: "Remember, conserve oxygen. Don't move a muscle if you don't have to."
Ethan checked his wrist for the monitor band Ilsa had provided him with, which had a timer for three minutes and showed his body's current oxygen level. He took deep breaths, filling up the oxygen in his lungs as he watched the monitor, breathing until he reached 100%.
Both Kat and Ilsa monitored his progress on their screens as well, Kat starting to bite her lip as she became steadily more and more anxious. She was keeping an eye on Ethan's stats, the torus and its water flow, and Benji's progress, and fear and anticipation was twisting severe knots in her stomach as they reached to the deeper phases of their plan.
Benji had reached the fingerprint scanner by the elevator, and Kat quickly let him through. As the elevator doors closed, he informed the others quietly: "I'm in the elevator."
"This is as far as I can get you, Benji." Kat added softly, her voice filled with worry.
He nodded so that she could see on the security camera, while Ilsa told Ethan as he peered over the edge of their conveyer: "That current will carry you to a torus. Once you're there-"
"I'll shut it down." Kat finished, starting to get impatient with the two continuing to talk and probably putting ever more pressure on Ethan.
"Important note." Benji added as he went down in the elevator. "The profile is in slot 108. And a slightly more important note," he continued, his voice becoming more worried the longer he spoke, "if you haven't switched that profile before I reach the gait analysis, I'm dead."
"Thank you, Benji." Ilsa deadpanned as Ethan's face went expressionless. To a trained spy, that meant he was nervous... and scared.
"Ethan, good luck." Kat murmured over the comms, and he took a deep breath, before nodding.
"He heard you." Ilsa replied for Ethan as he moved to the edge of the conveyer, conserving his breath as he set his timer. Kat watched anxiously as the clock began to count down from three minutes, while Benji started his watch timer as well.
Ethan pulled on his goggles before stepping over the edge of the conveyer, hanging on with his arms as he stared down at the long drop below him. He took one last deep breath before he let go and jumped right through the centre of the gaping hole. He plunged into the watery depths below, doing as Ilsa said and letting the current take him down and through and into the torus while both women monitored his body stats anxiously.
Benji meanwhile arrived at the SCF floor, and he took a deep breath as he walked out of the elevator. He noted the security camera in the corner and then the three walls of glass doors that stood between him and the central computer terminal area. He stepped out carefully, slipping a ring gadget on the combination lock as he placed himself strategically so that the security camera couldn't see him as the gadget whirred and found the right combinations for him.
As soon as it beeped green, the doors slid open and Benji walked to the next set of doors. Meanwhile, Kat waited for a minute to pass before she rebooted the cooling system, closing the currents. Ethan reached the torus, spinning around the circular container as the currents continued to push him around. He grabbed the nearest slot compartment as he waited for the currents to slow down, avoiding the spinning metal arms as he did so.
When the currents slowed, coming to a stop, Ethan quickly looked around, spotting slot 108 just a few slots over from his current position. He swam over quickly, latching onto the slot and starting to pull it open before ducking as he sensed movement behind him. The metal arm swung over his head, and as soon as he was clear once more, Ethan tugged open the slot.
Kat and Ilsa waited patiently from their respective places, watching Ethan's stats as he slowly began to lose oxygen. Kat had been biting her lip anxiously for a minute, before she was surprised as Ilsa asked suddenly, switching onto a private line on their comms: "Kat... can I ask you a question?"
"Yes?" Kat replied, taken aback by Ilsa's odd timing, and Ilsa wondered: "What is your relationship with Ethan? You don't seem like lovers."
Kat snorted, despite herself, before she asked a little dryly: "Is this really the time?"
She could almost see the shrug the older woman gave as she replied lightly but seriously: "It seems a good a time as any- and I guess, I wanted to know how much he meant to you before. You know, just in case..."
She trailed off, and Kat understood. She replied evenly but with a hint of something in her tone: "He's not my boyfriend or anything- not even close. He's more like... an older brother. A dangerous brother, since trouble seems to have a bad habit of following him everywhere, but a dear brother nonetheless."
There was a pause as Ilsa digested this, before she murmured: "I see."
The almost warning tone in Kat's voice as she'd spoken hadn't escaped the British agent's notice, and it confirmed her guess that Kat cared deeply for Ethan in a familial way and would protect him as fiercely as he protected her. Kat opened her mouth again, about to ask something herself, before she thought better of it. She wasn't quite sure she trusted Ilsa yet, and decided to reserve her question after observing the older woman a little longer.
While the women had had their brief exchange, Ethan had pulled out the yellow profile card inside the slot in the torus, unaware of their conversation as he examined it quickly. It was identical to theirs, and Ethan stuck the card in his mouth, holding it between his teeth as he reached for their profile card. He examined it, spotting which side he needed to place on top when he slid the card in, when a whooshing made him look up.
It was too late, and the metal arm caught him in the middle, catching him off guard. Ethan clamped down on his teeth to avoid loosing air but he accidentally let go of both cards, the cards floating down as he was dragged away by the arm.
Kat glanced at the time anxiously, watching the countdown begin on the last minute. Ethan had less than 30 seconds left now to switch the cards and then another 30 seconds to get out of the torus before he drowned. Benji was checking the same thing as he cleared the next set of combinations, the doors sliding open as the countdown hit 52 seconds.
"Oh, no." Kat whispered suddenly and he almost paused.
"Kat?" He asked as Ilsa echoed: "No, no, no..."
"What is it?" Benji demanded, but neither woman responded. Neither could respond as Kat watched in horror as the cooling systems switched back online and Ilsa stared down to see the water starting the currents below. They both glanced at the screen to see the service hatch still secured- Ethan hadn't gotten out yet.
"What?" Benji repeated as he tried not to shout and not let his anxiety seep into his face, and Kat whispered: "Someone must've noticed the cooling system turning off. It's turned back on."
"What?!" Benji hissed, and Ilsa ordered: "Focus."
"I'm trying to switch it off." Kat muttered as she typed furiously, but she couldn't. Not without completely giving their positions away, at which point all of them died.
"Come on, come on..." Kat muttered as she tried desperately to find a solution.
Inside the torus, Ethan was just swimming back to the cards when the current started, pulling him backwards and away from the cards. He grabbed the sides of the floor panels, trying to haul himself closer to the cards while conserving as much oxygen and energy as he could.
He was starting to feel the effects - lightheadedness and a faint blurring in his vision – but he ignored it for now as he snatched a card and reached for the other. It was pulled away by the current as he did, and he let go of the floor, letting the current pull him away with the card and snatching it just as he passed their slot. He grabbed another slot, hauling himself along the current towards slot 108.
High up above, Ilsa watched anxiously as the service hatch continued to show that it was secured. Far out in the city, Kat watched in alarm as Ethan's oxygen levels hit 10%. And lower.
'Oh, God. Ethan.' She thought despairingly, while Benji reached the gait analysis door. He swallowed as he saw the cameras moving to come towards his side of the sealed passageway where the analysis tested every person entering the computer terminal. He checked his watch, worried after Kat's cry, but straightened determinedly. He would have to risk it and hope and pray Ethan had pulled through.
In the torus, Ethan reached the slot but glanced at the two cards. 'Which one?' He made his decision, letting one go and sliding the other in, and in the SCF facility, Benji cleared the gait analysis and was granted authorized access into the central computer terminal.
"I'm in." He whispered, but Kat couldn't even be relieved as she watched Ethan's oxygen level go to 3% and the service hatch continued to show that it was secured.
'Please, please, please, Ethan.' Kat begged as she watched his oxygen go down to 1%. It had just hit 0%, when suddenly the service hatch opened. Kat frowned, but didn't question it any further, quickly typing away to get them all out safely. She would deal with whatever happened after, once they were out of immediate danger.
Meanwhile in the facility, Benji finished downloading the ledger onto his flash drive and hurried out, getting in his car and speeding quickly away. He reached the café Kat had been sitting in, and quickly switched seats as he started pulling off his suit and dress shirt, revealing the casual tourist shirt underneath.
Kat hopped into the car, slipping into the driver's seat as Benji changed, before driving them away, heading for the sewers beside the plant where they had all agreed to meet.
********
Ethan choked, his eyes fluttering open. His vision slowly returned and cleared to reveal Isla leaning over him worriedly. She was breathing heavily and she was soaking wet, dressed only in her undershirt and bikini, but her blue eyes were wide and anxious as she examined him.
Ilsa dropped the emergency defibrillation pads from Ethan's chest, where she'd stripped the upper part of his wetsuit to get the defibrillator to restart his heart. She checked him as he began to cough, coming back to life painfully after almost drowning, and she murmured: "You're all right."
As Ethan hacked, she held his head, keeping him straightened as she soothed: "You're okay."
Ethan's breathing finally slowed and he leant back, exhausted but starting to feel okay after the painful re-awakening.
"See, what did I tell you?" Benji's voice floated across the sewage room as he and Kat arrived. "Difficult, absolutely, but certainly not imposs-"
"Ethan!" Kat cried, dashing over as she spotted the man lying with Ilsa leaning over him. Ilsa moved to let Kat crouch beside Ethan's head, while Benji's jaw dropped.
"Jesus christ, is he alright?" Benji demanded as he, too, ran over. "What happened? What happened?"
He paused as Ilsa glanced at him, while Kat leaned over Ethan's head, asking: "Ethan?"
He just stared at her, blinking slowly and she bit her lip anxiously. Benji meanwhile glanced at Ilsa, noting her appearance, as she avoided his eyes.
"Okay." Benji muttered as he slowly forced himself to calm down. "Okay."
He dug into his backpack, grabbing the set of clothes for Ilsa and handing it to her.
"Here." He muttered and she reached over to take it, when Benji tugged back on the clothes, murmuring: "Hey."
Ilsa glanced back as Ethan finally managed a nod at Kat, who leaned back satisfied. She looked over as well as Benji told Ilsa sincerely: "I misjudged you."
Ilsa stared at him, making no comment as she took the clothes and moved to the corner to get dressed. Kat observed her briefly before glancing back down as Benji moved to kneel beside Kat, saying to Ethan softly: "Hey, man. Hey."
Ethan's eyes slowly moved to him as he asked encouragingly: "You okay? How're you doing? Hey, buddy."
"Benji." Ethan said numbly, and Kat smiled in relief as Benji's face also broke into a beaming smile.
"Yes, it's Benji." He said gently as Kat sat back on her heels, feeling a little emotionally drained after the nervous wreck she'd been. "You did good. You take a moment, alright? Just-Just take a moment. There's nothing a little sunshine and fresh air won't fix you. You'll be as right as rain."
"What are you doing here?" Ethan asked blankly, and Kat gave him a wry grin as Benji chuckled.
"Oh, hey." Benji added, reaching into his pocket and he lifted the flash drive proudly as he said excitedly. "Look-look-look."
Ethan turned his eyes to stare at it, his eyes focusing and unfocusing a little strangely. Kat patted his shoulder, rubbing small circles on it as he stared at the flash drive while Benji beamed: "We got it. I knew we'd get it."
He chuckled as Ethan smiled at last, looking tired but at least the colour was starting to return to his face.
Kat smiled widely as Ethan looked between her and Benji, while the latter added a little seriously: "Listen. I don't want to sound ungrateful, okay. I appreciate everything you do for me."
Ethan frowned as Kat glanced at him, both wondering where he was going with this.
"But one of these days, you're gonna take it too far." Benji said seriously, and Ethan chuckled as Kat laughed.
Benji chuckled, still a little high from relief and pride, as he lifted up the flash drive again, saying happily: "We got it. We're gonna nail that-"
He suddenly gasped, collapsing to the ground with a pained grunt along with the sounds of a strange whirring. Kat whipped her head around just as Ilsa dropped the defibrillator and punched her, hard, in the head. Kat fell to the ground, stars bursting before her eyes as pain wracked through her head and body.
Ethan blinked in shock, staring as Ilsa met his eyes briefly she grabbed the flash drive and ran.
"Wait." Ethan croaked as he struggled to get up. "Wait."
He'd just managed to get into a sitting position as Kat groaned and slowly started to move again, while Ilsa dashed out of the sewers.