Alone (3)

Takagi should have hurried himself to the Regra District, but his legs would not move faster. For thirty minutes, he sauntered the corridor with his head down. Small thumping sounds came from his boots as he stepped on the passageway.

He had recalled his conversation with Katie with regret. The word Krasinski stuck in his head. He screwed it up, he thought. She should have not known the truth.

Yet, it was not the time to be considerate. Surely, Katie would understand.

Takagi was not in a position to ignore the technocrats, let alone fight against them. He had to do their bidding, or it would not end well–not just for him but also for Redmond.

Dea ex Machina.

Many said it was an android; one said she was a human–which Takagi had been compelled to trust for now.

In Podzemgrad, however, the truth was cheap. In a world where lies and deceptions shaped its foundation, one could never be certain–even if it came from the technocrats themselves, who were the biggest liar of all.

However, there was no question about her combat capabilities.

She was way more powerful than him, not to mention she was not alone. Worse, the others might have similar capabilities as her.

Nobody knew their numbers, but Takagi estimated around ten. He might be wrong, and the numbers could end up way more than that–considering her ability–but he would be surprised if it was lower. It was big enough to be strong as a unit and small enough to cover their tracks, sufficient to wipe out Vladimir Pavlov and his entire men in that building–minding their strengths.

He still believed that the assault went very quickly, although Redmond seemed more pragmatic about this issue. Still, her estimations were not too far off from him–just showing how strong this Dea really was.

If Takagi wanted to survive this, he had to enlist more people on his side. He could not do it alone.

Many people were on Takagi’s list, and Travis was on top.

He and Travis were not buddies. He distrusted Travis, and he was sure the feeling was mutual. They clashed many times because of a conflict of interest. However, things could change when big money was involved, and Travis would never betray big money. Not as many others, at least, which was why Takagi decided to go for him.

After the long thought and the slow walk, Takagi sped up his steps. He then took a few normal strides before one took him five metres ahead, then it went ten, then way more as if he was gliding with the wind with incredible speed.

He travelled across the tunnel network. He had this area memorised in his head as if it was his backyard. Left turn, forward some five hundred metres, then right, turn left again after six intersections. Another left ahead, and so on. It was swift and easy.

He was not worried about some potential dangers that might lurk around. Some people might know the existence of the tunnel network beneath Podzemgrad. Still, few dared to enter it–even Katie was only willing to go as far as the front of that elevator. Although the bees also knew it, they rarely went there except for special reasons.

It can be said the tunnel network was practically abandoned.

Takagi rarely had serious encounters except for some scout droids or rogue robots. However, it was the espers that really gave him a hard time.

Luckily, he did not find one of them until he reached his destination.

An elevator, similar to the one which Katie had appeared from earlier but smaller in size. It could only fit two people inside at once.

It did not lead him to the Regra District yet, but to another one–just outside the border of the inner districts. It was the place where he had left his car.

He went inside and up, leaving the tunnels. It took around one minute before he arrived in the basement of an abandoned warehouse–the place he regularly visited when he wanted to meet with Katie.

He emerged inside of an intermodal container, which was used to conceal the elevator. When the elevator’s door closed and robbed the only light, Takagi took a small flashlight from his coat and switched it on. The blue-white ray shone, revealing the old and rusty green metal inside.

He quickly opened the panels and stepped out of the container. He checked his surroundings, pointing his flashlight around and above. Other containers with various colours and sizes clustered inside the vast basement–almost the size of a sports arena. The tallest stack was five containers high from the ground. There were no people nor sentient beings.

From there, he had to go through the stairs to go above. Other than the last one, the elevators were not working anymore.

Takagi trotted himself carefully for a few minutes to ensure everything was alright before releasing his speed. It was not long before he left the basement and went outside.

Regra District was his next destination.