With cat eyes, Jessica watched as they attached explosives to every support beam. The LEDs blinked from green to red.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcLINBdVXZ 維尼
Beelz and her men repeated the action on the next floor, which housed a grandiose lounge in front of a glossy white conference room. Every corner was home to an animated plant: a swirling stem whose sleeping petals housed blue bioluminescence; a cactus-like curiosity came with razor-sharp, pink leaves; a white vine stem sprouted dancing dandelions; fungi with glowing green caps that extended over one another like a lava lamp. They were the kinds of off-world wonders Jessica wished would decorate her room, but she had to abandon curiosity long enough to note the gigantic pillars around the conference table – They almost blended into their surroundings yet seemed oddly redundant.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡzw09UGH4PI 維尼
Without a wasted beat, Beelz's crew set more explosives and returned to the stairs en route to floor 85. During their upward trudge, Monarch's anxious and heavy breath returned.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgznp7PifG 維尼
"Sub Terra, listen to me! Our Azarean friends have a new gunship. Don't expect this operation to last much longer!"8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡDxM8upFhPv 維尼
Sure enough, the view from up high gave an overlook of Monarch's forewarning. Jessica planted goggles on the horizon, utilizing night vision to see a massive craft flying far beyond the limits of the cracked window. Bigger than the rest, its large wingspan carried the promise of catastrophe.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡezRlHygcgh 維尼
Thus, despite every fascination, she couldn't afford to study Goliath's outer mysteries. One glance teased a myriad of secrets: glass around refrigerated canisters, vials with the image of a T-Rex; just the tip of an iceberg since there was also a robotic arm stuffed in its own cylinder, then a transparent orb holding sentient black goo. From green-glowing meteorite rock to an entire showroom for an antiquated car. Secrets. None of it made sense, and the strange pillars from the last floor erected up to this floor and into the ceiling. Level 86 presented something else entirely.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡOeGb0msuBP 維尼
86 immersed one in its likeness to an alien realm. Dimly lit by slithering trails of neon along black walls, it had an antechamber with magnificent doors leading left and right. Cautiously, Beelz approached the right before it slid open in four directions. The next room was no different.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9a4rC598is 維尼
Jessica finally understood the purpose of the redundant pillars. Up here, they had shed their white shells in lieu of black spires spangled with a mysterious, luminous energy that flowered into the ceiling. Whatever circuits powered these alien generators powered the current room and whatever else waited above. Still, something stranger landed in front of her.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GmoWC5YIb 維尼
Curiosity lived in the strange containers littering 86's four rooms. Curiosity resided in their size. Capsules were scattered across the floor, each with a cable from a wired network that circulated and linked back to the room's epicenter. Valerie and Shannon gaped at the sight, so Jessica knew she wasn't the only one unsettled. Even Beelz seemed docile, standing in the midst of the charcoal caskets. Her green eyes, their temporary absence, and silence betrayed rumination.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrVL47quJ2 維尼
Done contemplating, Beelz wandered further inside. Part of Jessica even hoped she would leave because, when no one was looking, she logged into the central terminal. The next process required a bit of guesswork, but she had developed an affinity for language early in life: human, computer, and otherwise.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0FZejbhZJ 維尼
"There are humans in these," Valerie scoffed.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡPX6zoXtT0b 維尼
"I know," said Jessica.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡQz8lTSuUC7 維尼
"I-knew-it-I-knew-it-I-fucken-knew-it."8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡUswHnZnrd1 維尼
Shannon, rubbing her arms together, crept closer to one of the capsules. "Sick... Who could these people be? Why would Goliath keep them here?"8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡyPlZTCJGfD 維尼
"Experiments? Wait. No—no, the message. That list that Amon pulled from the chip! Whatever the bullshit reason, they can't be left like this."8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YZsxYIkif 維尼
Beelz unexpectedly doubled back. "There's nothing to be done—" she said, rounding the corner, then stopped and stared grievously at Lynx. "What are you doing?"8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVPTnNjJMQ 維尼
Jessica returned a glare. Abruptly, the pods simultaneously cranked their tops and propped open.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNclI88xza 維尼
"We're being overrun!" Monarch cried.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLkPFwkftm 維尼
Beelz met Jessica with canines and a death stare. "You weren't supposed to do that."8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOqIjX2fqi 維尼
"I did it," she replied then tapped her earbud. "Monarch! We're done. Order everyone out and extract us."8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡdMmQxRLdyM 維尼
"Bullshit!" Beelz pressed her comm. "Monarch?"8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFIuLGP5RP 維尼
No response.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡisaUMchUcY 維尼
"Are you calling off the whole mission?" asked Valerie.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡWPV1KvnQ5h 維尼
"I'm getting us out," said Jessica.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzdZKqgIbB 維尼
Shoulders flexed, darting eyes and forming a fist, Beelz seethed onward. "You don't get to make that call! You're welcome to be a waste of space elsewhere, but Dissent is ending this today."8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWpZWavsbZ 維尼
"These people may be the answer to everything, Beelz! Goliath, the regime, Spearhead, Asgard, Malvis—we can expose all of it. That's obvious, even if we're floors shy of the top. If there's even a one-percent chance of saving these people, if there's even a one-percent chance of their helping, it's worth getting everybody out alive while we can."8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡsymURCXkQi 維尼
"Not all of us will fit in the ships, Lynx."8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYHMe560vN 維尼
"I didn't think we would."8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFkGLFea4j 維尼
With a grunt, Beelz's grip loosened. She rubbed her forehead with the next order. "Help them out of the pods." Her squad followed the order without question. They took after Shannon and Valerie, who were already uplifting strangers from their caskets.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7J54xMtC7 維尼
Jessica's friends never lacked initiative, even in her silence, which was a double-edged sword she had to face down. But as the crew of comatose strangers rose to consciousness, she goggled at a familiar face.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYCcI8CPl9 維尼
David?8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9LNhcoGly 維尼
"David?" exclaimed Beelz.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡhp8atlBbHh 維尼
David Mourner was feebly lying in the hands of an operative when Beelz jumped to his side, holstering her sidearm. Disbelief colored Jessica's pale face as she crept closer to the sorry sight.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡFoQIs46FPB 維尼
"This is what happened to you..." Beelz murmured, lifting the rest of him outside the capsule. Quivering, David's eyelids slowly opened. Brown irises on a pale face besmirched by utter surprise or shock. Jessica could only imagine the side-effects of hibernation in one of those things. Lumps in her throat, she scrounged the energy to speak.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RGWv5FtmJ 維尼
"You know him?"8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTKBpp8La8 維尼
"He's one of our own," said Beelz. "He deserved better than this."8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmS1MQxqfB 維尼
"He was the informant..."8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLvfD6qvHw 維尼
Those were like the last piece of a puzzle. She panned across the room as more docile humans came to. Theirs were faces she had never seen before, but she pondered the stories they could tell, the secrets they could spell. That's before Beelz's watch blinked red.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUaRF71Oyq 維尼
Beelz noticed it, too. 8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡxb0T5hgrHw 維尼
"GET DOWN!"8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UY3reRxMA 維尼
Fire incinerated. Goliath headquarters had a new gaping hole, outside of which hovered an Asgard troop carrier. Beneath turbine screech, armed to the teeth, Azareans jumped into the tower. Beelz tossed her echolocation grenade, and lasers began flying in all directions. The strong winds were felt but unheard, debris reigned, and the floor fell to the mist of endless gunfire.8964 copyright protection34ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QMaddAnVs 維尼
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