The golden tiles on the floor were tarnished and scuffed up noticeably more than earlier, the armed invasion stopping all forms of sweeping and buffing the employees usually ran during operating hours. Many of the displays were scattered, turned over, and left in a complete and unorganized mess compared to the intentionally designed set pieces the two were able to browse earlier. Stopping at one of the several trinket tables, light blue eyes scanned the top of the jumble of jewelry. After scanning the pile a few times over, the surveyor ran a dainty white gloved hand over the metals and diamanté with a small twitch in the fingers.
"I forgot this was also a robbery situation."
Taking a few steps forward to stand next to her partner, purple eyes joined in on the observation of the disorderly trinkets. She spent far less time browsing the wares than her taller counterpart, a soft shade of confusion washing over her marred face. It only took an additional minute before either of them said anything, the quiet getting increasingly awkward in the overlooming threat.
"What information are you gathering here?"
"You'll see. It's right… here!"
Plunging his right hand into the sea of bijouterie and charms, the buried metal and artificial gemstones surfaced, shifting around the movement of his covered wrist. Following his fingers underneath the layers, a small smile popped up from his thin lips as he pulled out a rather simple bracelet two thin links wide, cascading with each other. There were no other discernible features to her violet eyes that made the otherwise flawless wristpiece look like anything special.
"What is it?"
"A silver bracelet. Place already being robbed, might as well take a little something of worth."
"Aren't you representing a good organization?"
"Stealing ain't bad if it's from corpo."
"Right."
A shockingly low level of hesitation wavered in her response, despite the lessons her mom and her brother drilled into her, she was inclined to actually agree with Cipher. However, this store specifically had decided to ally itself with the Wild Eyes, meaning not the giant megacorps that ran the world. Wouldn't it be wrong to steal from an ally in that regard? Deciding to end the conversation there, she turned towards the elevator. Tossing the silver showpiece a short distance into the air, he caught it in his palm and pocketed it. Cipher then caught up to his underling, patting her on the shoulder once again.
"It's all good, the burglary insurance will cover it."
What is burglary insurance? Is that supposed to reassure me?
Trekking through the quiet fourth floor, not a clue to another soul that wasn't in Ray's tailor shop could be found in the surroundings, even with Cipher's expert tracking and scouting ability. They made it to the unmanned elevator with no issues, pressing the top button on the wall with the long barrel of the rifle armament.
The machine hummed to life, announcing its arrival with two high pitched beeps. The doors scrolled open, welcoming the two into the cylindrical carriage. Without wasting a beat, the gun toting Wild Eyes member led the way in and quickly pressed a button to the highest floor still operated by Goldweavers. Posting up next to him, Kanashima took in the interior once more, taking in a deep breath. Just because they didn't see anybody on the fourth floor didn't mean they weren't going to encounter anybody else. If the Nihilty were doing things orderly, they probably took care of the group sent to secure the fourth floor, and the others had groups of similar stature and size take it over.
This is going to be a fight just like the one before. This time, I'm ready.
There was an odd air of confidence to her stature now, despite the frightening lack of experience. This was way more than the sensations of clarity from her property, it was definitely something more. Maybe the fights she found herself in had been tempering her more than she thought. Being given the civilian style battle armor probably helped her out a good bit more, the weight of durability and protection felt good on her weak body. Just a couple weeks ago, she was absolutely terrified of the prospect of having to fight for her freedom, but now that was basically all she could do now that she was caught in between the Nihility and Wild Eyes.
Maybe this is the conviction Cipher spoke of. Is that really me? Can it be me?
Her partner spent the short elevator ride adjusting a white cross body strap from the inside of his own open jacket. Bringing out two closed loops, he hooked both of them onto different metallic areas to his armament before adopting a ready stance, holding the rifle with both hands across his body. Taking it as a sign to ready herself for conflict, her grip tightened around the handle of Loving Lullaby.
"The manager's office is likely where she's held up. I know the quickest route, but it's still on the opposite side of the store. Follow my lead."
Wow, he really does get serious, it's not just for show.
Nodding in response, the same friendly, high pitched notes rang through the elevator once again, announcing the arrival at the top floor. Just like the clearing on the fourth floor, the area was scuffed up and trashed, but devoid of any sort of human presence. Cipher stepped out first, performing two rounds of surveillance, first with just his eyes, and the second by staring down the sights to his firearm. Dropping his hand down to his waist, two fingers came together and motioned in his direction.
I guess that means follow? I wasn't briefed on this yet.
"Be advised, Lady Kanashima. Twenty bogeys on your floor, You are surrounded."
Her footsteps accelerated, closing the distance between her and her coworker as fast as possible. Once within the earshot of a quiet whisper, she passed on the valuable information from her Voices from the Void. She wasn't sure exactly how his intrinsic and properties worked together as far as scouting goes, but an extra ability was bound to provide at least a little bit of assistance. Receiving a nod in response, his thin lips pursed together for a moment, taking an expedited glance at their surroundings.
"Figured as much, twenty is more than I expected though. More joined them after our fight."
He had some way to tell how many people were here earlier? But can't right now?
"None of them see us."
She still wasn't sure about the full capabilities of the voice and what it could and couldn't see or inform, but she still felt confident enough to make the conjecture. Her helpful, in mind assistant had proved themself to be helpful time and time again, there was really no other reasonable decision but to trust it. If it didn't say that they were spotted, seen, or that they were being approached, she would believe that they weren't.
"Okay, let's move carefully. I've devised a route through the shelves and isles. Eyes up."
This floor seemed to be dedicated to paint and other small home improvement goods. There were several displays to the right of them, housing various types of synthetic and some of the cheaper real materials people loved to brag they used for flooring. Immediately after were similar displays for wall paper and panels. The direction Cipher was leading the duo was through the several cans of wall paint. The aisles and condensed shelves were perfect for hiding two people from many of the open viewpoints.
Weaving through each hall of pigments, the stealthing pair had yet to encounter a person, and her voice hadn't alerted her of any changes with the bogeys so far. Turning another corner that she would have never guessed would be placed there, it was obvious Cipher had the entire place mapped out already. Looking over a few of the racks, they were actually making good progress. Maybe getting to their objective would be easier than she thought.
This is all too easy.
Some of the aisles were messy and cluttered from the rampant searching the gang performed on the store, but her guide had managed to avoid ones that were too much to tiptoe around. Coming up on a mostly clear one, it seemed like this one would be just like the other ones. Stepping into the path, a violet spark shimmered under the heel of the pair of white boots, stepping firmly on top of a collection of paint sticks. Snapping a few in half, the sound rang through the otherwise quiet floor.
"Ah- shit, what the hell?"
"Be advised, Lady Kanashima. Five bandits closing in. Four o' clock. Fifty meters."
There wasn't a suitable escape route that didn't lead them back in the direction of the approaching gang members. Pushing forward was a possibility, but they were looping around to avoid a clearing in the floor plan, and they were likely to run into them or a different group like that. Hiding wasn't even an option. Some of the shelves and crevices were small enough for Kanashima to contort herself into them, but Cipher was a much larger and taller body.
"Fast approaching. Way we came."
"Are you serious? I'd really like to avoid these unnecessary fights."
"How?"
Taking a few seconds to contemplate options, his blue eyes adopted a moderate level of bioluminescence as he looked over the surrounding, nearly fully stocked shelves. Fishing for his summoned armament, he pressed the black stock into his right shoulder and rested his cheek on top of it. Peering down the sights, he stepped around Kanashima, peaking his mouth out to whisper one last directive.
"Once I do this, we're sprinting. Don't fall behind. Cover your ears."
Without giving her enough time to fully process the change in plans, Cipher brought his thumb down on the safety, and pressed the trigger several times, moving down the shelving unit after each shot. The large firearm rang throughout the entire floor, several times louder than the simple snapping of the synthetic wood.
After the volley of rounds, the entire left half of the aisle collapsed under the destructive capability of the high caliber rounds. The openings flooded with paint cans of various sizes, some even cracking open and leaking out their contents. Getting caught in the onslaught of cylindrical metal waves, two of the lead pursuers were buried in the pileup.
"That should give us some time, move!"
Besides the crazy amount of property damage they just caused, it was a surprisingly creative solution to their problem, even if it did create several more that were soon to be realized. Making it to the end of the aisle, the scout took the lead once more, leading them through a more direct path. Funneling into a large clearing, a small violet glint shimmered down one of the several pathways available at the cross section.
"Be advised, Lady Kanashima. You're being aimed at. Nineteen hostiles converging on your location."
Twisting both of her feet to the side, she transferred all of her momentum into the ground, coming to a prompt stop just a few hundreds of a millisecond before a large bullet whizzed past her own head. Her eyes widened, looking around for any sort of cover, but none within a few meters. The marksman at the other end of the path would definitely have enough time to follow up.
With a rather loud thud, Cipher fully dropped himself onto the ground in a prone position, rifle already raised up and trained on the aggressor. Staring down his scope, he took a fraction of a second to line up his reticle before squeezing the trigger, a hollow point of his own exploding out the barrel. The bullet's flight path held true, smashing through the glass sight of the other long rifle, shattering it completely before burying itself into the shooter's head. Pushing himself up off the ground, he bounced to his feet and grabbed the hand of his partner.
"Come on, go go!"
The two accelerated their pace once again, rounding a corner and coming up onto a group of eight Nihility footsoldiers. The rather sizable group stopped in their tracks, raising their own personal firearms and other styles of weaponry.
"Shit they're fast."
"You're being aimed at. Eight hostiles on your twelve."
I can see that.
"Our target is with Wild Eyes! Kill the blue girl!"
"Understood, Captain!"