Neither of the two security forces was willing to concede the other’s authority to act in the matter. Both were equipped with state-of-the-art stun rifles and with armor that protected the wearer from the same. Everything more lethal that they carried was in the way of being tools for cutting through impediments and clearing debris… things that would be quite messy if employed against a living being of flesh and blood. Even if the members of the two squads had been willing to raise arms against each other, they wouldn’t have been willing
Thus it was under protest from each side that both squad leaders decided to hold the three malefactors in a detention room in a shared security office. The HAZARD captain hated to backpedal when he had already declared the violators barred from the premises, but it was within his authority to detain rulebreakers. HAVOC’s captain was under orders to bring Lilliana and her companions… or at least Lilliana… before Fortunato, but he accepted securing the prisoners while he impressed his jurisdictional superiority upon HAZARD squad as a better alternative to letting them be escorted beyond his grasp.
“Boy, talk about out of the frying pan and into another, identical frying pan,” Leo said as the three were locked inside the windowless, featureless room. “Identical, except for being equipped with a lid on it that prevents escape.”
“That doesn’t exactly sound like a rivetin’ subject o’ discussion,” Regan said. “But since ya put me in mind o’ it, I do recall one time I was briefly overwhelmed by the cannibal vixens o’…”
“Save it, Bard,” Lilliana said.
“I’ve been savin’ it,” Regan said. “This is the first time the subject’s came up. How much longer do ya expect me to sit on a story like this?”
“No convenient maintenance shafts in sight,” Leo said, looking around the room. “Not even a visible vent… which could pose an interesting question if we’re stuck here long enough.”
“They would probably use molecular micropores in a room like this,” Lilliana said. “Atmosphere recycled by way of membranes that only let through what they want to let through, in each direction. That way the room can be hermetically sealed against escape from even gaseous entities. It also lets them flood the room with gas evenly, from every direction, if they want to.”
“See above, in re: frying pan,” Leo said.
“If Fortunato were going to do that, I believe he would have already,” Lilliana said. “Knocking us out wouldn’t change anything, and those guards were supposed to capture us, not kill us… unless these rooms are equipped with something really exotic, that’s pretty much all the options.”
“Was the alchemical bomb set to capture, as well?” Leo asked. “For all we know, the goons were only meant to deliver you into a position where he could knock you off.”
“Then why hasn’t he done it yet?” Lilliana asked.
“Maybe he’s waitin’ for ya to swear up an’ down that he won’t just so he can prove ya wrong again, like?” Regan suggested.
“In point of fact,” Fortunato’s voice said, “the gas reservoir for that room is corroded shut, so I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask for a little cooperation from all of you.”
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