Chapter One: The Fall of Alex Wallis
Omni-Prime, 29462.
Omni-Bank, Floor Six, Deposits and Withdrawals.
“Of course ma’am, if you could just confirm your thumbprint on the form and we’ll get the credits sorted out for you.” Alex slid the scanner round to face the woman, the lines on her face seemed to change with each expression she made, from the smallest indentation to the highest ridge, she was old. But then again he didn’t need to start guessing to know that. ‘Constance Eunice Halliwell, Age: 103’ according to her bank records on his screen. There was a quick beep and the screen gained a green tint to it. “Fingerprint ID confirmed” flashed in the corner of the screen and brought a smile to Alex’s face. “Okay, one moment please…”
Alex’s neural implant sprung to life, and the windows on the screen began moving with the motion of his eyes, he entered information and accepted terms and condition screens without his hands ever unclasping. Since the invention of the neural interface, it’d become incredibly common for people such as Alex, as a financial advisor to be given a neural implant, allowing them to access information that they needed via their cortex rather than a primitive ‘keyboard and mouse.’ “Hmm..” He turned to the woman and smiled, rising to his feet. “The funds will be transferred into your account in three working days, thank you for coming to Omni-Bank!” He shook the lady’s hand with a sweet smile in return. She turned slowly and began to hobble down the corridor and out the exit in that slow yet methodic way that old people do. He didn’t mind them, honest.
Usually he would have guided her to the door, but it was something about today that made him feel a little restricted, or perhaps….Alex looked around, ::Where are the other staff?:: Alex thought, the offices, cubicles, customer waiting area, all empty.
He spun his screen round and went to pull up the staff roster. “Access Denied” The computer responded, the voice not entering his ears, but instead electronically transmitted into the audio processors in his brain. Essentially, thanks to the implant it was a voice inside his head, one that only he could hear. He slid his lower lip between his teeth and pinched it with a small amount of tension. Looking around something wasn’t right, something couldn’t be right. He tried pulling on a newsfeed, anything related to the ban-“Access Denied.” Barked the screen. “System Glitch” He said, looking around. He logged out of the system and re-entered his details. He got to the end of his name and it didn’t confirm his position as it usually would. Where it should come up with ‘D&W Dept’ it showed complete blank, “what the hell?” he spun on his heels and looked towards the exits from this floor. Eyeing the staff elevator he got nothing from it, not even an access denied, the doors should open when he access it, but the…implant. He turned back to his screen and moved his eyes to bring up a diagnostic, the screen didn’t respond.
“System, manual access.” He said, moving round to his original side of the desk. The computer didn’t respond. “System, emergency overri-*SPLAT*” There was a purple haze to everything for a moment before Alex landed face first onto his desk, the speed in which he did bounced him clean off it and onto the floor, his head ending the noise with a firm thud. No more than a few nanoseconds of silence passed before the sound of glass shards hit the floor from one of the windows. The black armour clad soldier pulled his gun from the newly created hole in the window. “Confirmed, target is neutralised. Begin insertion.” Came the husky voice of sniper, he turned, looked down and then began recoiling his climbing rope, returning him to the roof of the building.
The previously deactivated staff elevator whirred to life and four armed guards poured out, followed by three white cloak wearing individuals and a silhouetted figure who remained in the elevator.
The soldiers spread out, meticulously checking the floor. “Alpha, Secure.” He turned and slapped his gun against his chest. Standing to attention.
“Charlie Secure.” The pistol-wielding soldier turned, flipping the pistols over twice before returning them to his stomach and back holsters.
“Delta, Secure.” The shotgun-totting woman checked the ammunition in her gun before cocking it, she grinned with a sense of unsettling satisfaction.
“Bravo, Secure.” The third was without a weapon, but instead had some sort of monofilament wrapping around the armour on their legs and arms. The muscle growth on the wrapped areas was massive, almost like an atrox except with the body of a solitus.
The silhouetted individual moved out of the elevator and towards the sedated man, “Bravo, check the roof.” She ordered, pointing up at the skylight.
The monofilaments across the soldier’s armour sprung to life and he turned, running for a wall. Having got at least ten feet up the wall at commendable speed, the soldier kicked off it going into a backwards somersault. Landing on the ground beneath the skylight, the legs of the individual bent out sideways, mimicking the motion of a frog before it jumps. In no less than a second, pushing off the sheer power available in the monofilament enhanced legs the soldier dived upwards in excess of twenty feet and straight out the skylight onto the roof.
“Roof secure” came the call over the comm. “Good,” The woman moved over and lightly punted the body with her foot. “Get him up, out and to HQ.” The scientists moved in and dropped a dimension crushing storage device onto the floor. It unfolded and a stretcher slid out the end of it. The scientists loaded him up and headed back for the staff elevator. “Soldiers, move out.” The woman ordered, sliding her hand into her top pocket. She pulled a small rectangular isolinear sheet from it, placing it on the desk.
The group loaded into the staff elevator, leaving the room empty, except for the small shards of glass, and the small sheet that read: “Leanne Holley, Extraction and Infiltration, Specialist Operations, Omni-Reform”
To Be Continued...