The smell, the noise, the taste, the feel of the world, all hit him at once. It was a world he knew and yet it was so different now, it wasn't that the world had changed it was him. The city he had once perceived as real was now nothing more than an illusion, a dreamworld and he had awoken. But now the city was more dangerous than it had ever been before. Knowledge of the dream brought with it nightmares of its own, to know reality was false was to accept the responsibility to fight it.
Iribis glanced over at the young operative and smiled "You'll get used to it, just takes time Zampano"
But Zampano was already used to it. Through not seeing he could see more than most could perceive, he could 'see' the movement of the city, he could sense everything around him, from the falling leaves to the waters gushing through the sewers beneath his feet. In this world he was attuned to all around him and he could feel its presence upon him.
Iribis opened the door of the dilapidated warehouse and stepped inside slowly, his gun drawn and ready..just in case. He backed against the wall and poked his head around the corner. Zampano could sense the room without looking, two men...not men, something else, stood in the centre, their voices quiet but audible to Zampano's senses.
"Do we have the location?"
"Affirmative. Interception is in progress"
"Agent protocols?"
"Negative, enforcer protocol 1 alpha"
The two figures went silent. Zampano frowned, the men were definitely not human. They spoke like....machines. Suddenly Iribis motioned his hand, signalling they were to enter the room forcefully. Iribis kicked the door open and pointed his magnum at one of the uniformed figures, Zampano quickly followed gun in hand. The two figures did not react, barely even noticed. Their uniforms were dark gray overalls, peaked caps upon their heads with "Exterminator" written across the rim. They exuded an aura of cold silence, not malevolent just strictly logical. Iribis spoke up
"Gentleman, don't make this harder for yourselves than it already is" he smiled as he pointed the gun towards them menacingly "All i want is access to the Local network and you're going to give it to me, one way or another"
The two figures glanced at each other before staring back at iribis. They did not glance at Zampano, they had no need to for he was no threat to them...not yet. Suddenly they reached for their guns. Zampano could sense the motion quicker than they could move, he dashed forward, kicking the gun from one of their hands before he had a chance to fire. A bullet flew from Iribis' gun and wedged itself in the exterminators forehead. The other had grabbed Zampano by the arm, but he had underestimated the young operative. He twisted quickly, casting the Exterminator off balance, before delivering a low kick to his stomach followed by a crunching knee to the face. The Exterminator fell back in pain, but there was no scream. Iribis smiled, clearly impressed
"I've never seen such skill in someone so...green" he chuckled
"I can....sense them, their movements, their actions...even before they can" Zampano replied with a frown. he was as suprised as Iribis at the swiftness of his actions.
Iribis stooped down ad reached into the pocket of one of the figures, removing a data disc. He glanced over to the corner of the room where a large mainframe Server hummed busily. He placed the disc into the mainframe and tapped a few keys before flipping open his phone
"Bard...you got that?"
The operator, Bard, replied slowly as he read from the screen "Confirmed......analysing it now....and........et voila Chelsea. I'll send the Co-ords to your phone"
