The tires of the Butte creep into the dark back corner of an alley between a fence and a series of warehouses planted side by side. The crumbled condition of the building they park next to is clear. Being on the border of Arroyo, he keep his head on a swivel remaining alert... more than familiar with the usual back alley hotspots you can find all sorts of activity happening at odd hours... this particular setup not being much different.
He glances over to see Zaunya NOT doing the same thing... instead a fixed stare on the towering 'Petrochem' mega structures just across the street. Leaned up against the Butte, she takes deep inhales of her cigarette not paying much attention to Brian checking iron and supplies. She carries a stoic energy... a tenseness that he picks up on making him wary. The closer they got to their destination on the ride over, the less and less she spoke... almost in a trance now singularly focused on something that seems almost irrelevant from Brian's perspective.
She flicks her cig through the fence down into the waiting embankment to their left... they get moving.
Putting her black leather facemask on, the pair pick up their pace.. almost into a light jog moving behind the series of warehouses. They slip in to the nearest through a giant hole in the side of its crumbled concrete wall.
Brian then effortlessly lifts her, boosting her up to the second floor before a casual jump, lifting himself up the rest of the way. The pair crouch in a position, peeking just past their destroyed building looking to the warehouse next door, it offers some dim, ambient, red and blue lighting... a neon glow from a sign reading 'Electric Corporation'. The pair silently observe several posted guards walking the perimeter and interior of the building... guarded but nothing too out of the ordinary in this part of town. The pair share a glance.
The perimeter guards pass by before they quietly drop down... quickly sneaking past the gate entrance and road leading in. They hug up against a wall to the facility before crouching down by a door after spotting an active surveillance camera.
Zaunya quickly stands up... they share an unspoken look with each other before Brian grabs her by her waist, lifting her up toward the camera. She lightly pushes the camera upward, forcing it to look up blankly at the night sky.
He gently lowers her down, dropping her to her feet with a firm hold on her waist; She instinctually grabs for his shoulders to stabilize her balance.
Now the most intimate their contact has ever been, the pair glance at each other... catching each other's eyes before quickly letting go at the same time... recognizing the intimacy and quickly ridding themselves of it.
An abrupt crash of something metal falling off a shelf inside breaks the moment and refocuses the pair. They both duck back down outside the door as Zaunya attempts to force it open.
Brian switches places with her, moving closer to the door before placing the palm of his hand on the left side of it... slowly running it up and down the frame feeling for something. He lightly taps at several areas around it before working his fingers between a loose groove near the locking mechanism. Applying just the right amount of pressure... he bends it outward... the freshly fortified chrome in his body working its magic... freeing the thick, metal lock and sliding the door right open.
The pair quickly duck in as Zaunya slides the door closed behind them. They hear two blue collars bickering back and forth as they listen from a nearby empty room.
"GOD DAMNIT!!" One of them shouts looking on at the big pile of pipes cascaded about the floor.. fallen from a collapsed shelf that couldn't handle the load.
"Told ya they wouldn't fit up there choom. Even if they did... knew this piece of shit wouldn't be able to hold em." The other says with his arms crossed looking on.
"FUCK this. I'm not pickin' any of this shit up. Lunch time anyway. Cmon, lets go."
"Oh, no no no choom.. I'm not doin' Buck A Slice again. That scop turned my fuckin guts inside out last time."
"Choombatta... come on. Chick workin' there LOVES me! How can ya turn down some free slices!"
He takes a deep breath. "Ahh..fuck it. I'm starving... lets go." The two make their way to the garage exit on the opposite end of the building laughing away.
Zaunya and Brian enter the dimly lit, open warehouse making their way past the littered pipes to another door requiring a pin.
Brian glances around the warehouse before watching Zaunya pull out the black and gold access card... she holds it up in front of the reader.
The pinlock lights up green and beeps before the door slides open, revealing a steep staircase shrouded in darkness leading to another door. Its clear at first glance this staircase leads much deep under the structure itself with no indication as to where to.
Before Brian can whisper anything, Zaunya puts her arm out in front of him.. motioning him to take a few steps back. She takes a knee right by the entrance and uses the palm of her hand to feel along the floor right inside of the opened door frame. She lightly presses down with her hand causing a small strip of the concrete to sink into itself... Brian looks on confused before his attention is turned to the staircase.
They both watch as dozens of infrared lasers instantly appear covering the entire staircase. It makes Brian jump slightly... he takes a step back as the lasers quickly switch from red to green.
Zaunya goes to step in through the door frame... Brian quietly grabs her shoulder with hesitation... making her feel his uncertainty.
She looks back at him with direct eye contact... slowly reaching for his arm, she gently grabs it... pulling him toward going in... he surrenders his trust.
The pair make their way down the steep staircase as Zaunya uses the card again to open the door at the bottom. They step through as Brian slides the door closed behind them. Zaunya stops him again in his tracks as they look on down a well lit, long, empty, narrow hallway... so narrow it was built for tandem walking only.
She takes a deep breath before closing her eyes... re-opening them with focus.
She triggers her Sandevistan... sprinting full speed down the narrow hallway she makes it to the end and presses a red button near the pin lock, almost falling on her face.
Suddenly feeling light headed and dizzy... unable to get back up to her feet and forcing her to stay planted up against the door taking exhausted deep labored breaths.
Brian watching this, sees her condition and goes to step forward... she quickly puts her palm out toward him silently signaling him not to move. A brief, tense moment passes as the infrared lasers again fill up the entire hallway before blinking green several times and disappearing.
Brian makes his way down the long hallway to her still in a haze on the ground... the use of her sandevistan taking its toll... Brian makes a mental note of this. He slowly helps her to her feet... her equilibrium still off... he opens his mouth to ask if shes ok before she quickly places her hand over it... shaking her head, signaling him to stay quiet.
She regains her senses.. pulling the access card back out holding it up in front of the pin lock... it beeps once before following up with an invalid error sound.
Brian quickly looks over at Zaunya with growing concern... she holds the card up again only to hear the same invalid beep as the tension grows and her heart sinks.
She steps back and takes a deep breath with her eyes closed... a routine technique used to center herself in tense moments before trying again. The pinlock quickly beeps invalid again.. before correcting itself and turning green with a confirmed beep causing the heavy reinforced door to slowly slide open.
They slowly walk into the room as the sensors for the lights are triggered illuminating the entire space.
Brian's eyes and mouth open wide as he looks on at an almost endless spattering of chemical barrels stacked from floor to ceiling. Shelves filled with various vials of samples and machinery used to operate the warehouse are scattered around the huge open area alongside various biohazardous containers and tubs. He notices a wall filled with smaller chemical barrels towards the back housed behind thick glass isolated from the rest of the supplies stored. Overwhelmed a the sight... confused at the situation... he turns around to confront Zaunya only to see her jacking in to a computer terminal near the testing station and ripping data with her eyes flickering blue.
"What the fuck is all this!?" He shouts looking back amongst blaring alarms that have suddenly started firing off.
Zaunya completely ignores him... getting up and aiming her Nue right at him.
His heart sinks... the muscles in his body tighten in the sudden silence of his mind. "Was my intuition right?" His mind slams in his face. A flood of various thought reactions hit him staring at the barrel of her iron.
Instead, she aims at the glass just past him... unloading a volley of rounds sending loud booming echos throughout the warehouse, causing him to flinch and fall out of the way. They hit their intended target... the glass along the backwall with the barrels in it. The punctured barrels quickly begin to gush thick, green glowing liquid onto the warehouse floor as an even louder buzzer starts ringing... the bright warehouse lights cut off to darkness as red ones start to flash, triggering the automated security voice.
=ALERT. CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL INITIATED= ALERT. CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL INITIATED=
Brian quickly looks back to see the heavy reinforced door they entered in closing as slow as it opened. He sprints back to it... using all of his strength to prevent it from closing... wedging himself between as he fights against the pressure. In the strain, he looks over to see Zaunya shooting automated extinguishers on the ceiling attempting to coat the green liquid pouring out while running back towards him. She uses her momentum to slide under past him back into the hallway. He lets the door go as it slams closed with force and the pair sprint full speed down the narrow hallway... the chemical chain reactions igniting and exploding just on the other side of the door. They race up the steep staircase as the entire building begins to violently shake knocking them off balance. The flames spin at a rapid pace blasting the containment door down the hallway and sending a purge of flame up and out of the staircase and the rest of the warehouse. The loud booming explosion shakes the earth and lights up the dark Night City streets with a green hue and smoke plumes. The pair slide down the embankment leading into the river tunnel before sprinting further down.