Tied up, unconscious and armless, the great 'Steelstorm' lies chained to some heating boiler.
"That should stop him for a while, and if he tries to rip hinself from the wall on his own, a ton of boiling water will pour over him. He can't get out of here," Mike explains confidently.
"I hope you're right," Merlany grumbles, "Can you drive? We have to get back to the city center somehow, and walking back would take to long."
Mike ponders for a moment.
"So theoretically I should be able to do it..."
"But?" Merlany asks impatiently.
"I've never touched a real steering wheel of a future city van."
Mike starts to grin broadly.
“I could try at least, I guess!”

For reasons of road safety, Mike's extremely questionable driving maneuvers will not be explained in more detail.
We ask for your understanding,

Your local Office for Traffic and Passenger Transport.

"Alright, Merlany, get out the authorization card, we're going in!"
By this time most personell has left.
She quickly pulls out the magnetic card and uses it to open the maintenance entrance. From the boiler room they take the elevator to the administration and IT room, which is located on one of the top floors. There they quickly knock out the last two workers. Right after, they find a large, important-looking PC and plug in the 'computer-to-toaster-degrade' chip. A loading bar is displayed and the contents of the chip are transferred to the PC. Mike pulls out the chip.
A broad grinning emoji, looking quite similar to Skid, winks happily and leaves a text box with the appropriate words: "Overload sequence initiated - Server override - CPU encoding hardware detonation imminent - 60 seconds left until detonation - Thank you for choosing Skid's hottest toasterification software!"
Then a countdown pops up in large numbers, indicating that the servers are overheating.
Merlany orders nervously: "We need to get out of here, Mike!"
But he just smiles at the computer.
“This guy has a good sense of humor too,” he says to himself before he starts running too.
He runs with Merlany straight to one of the large picture windows. He smacks it with his staff and jumps out with Merlany. They need to drop down of dozens of floors, but since Merlany can float, she should in theory be able to save them both from a painful impact on the asphalt. In theory.

The headwind from the fall blows hard into Mike's face, while the top of the tower blows up behind him. One explosion after another blows up the computer room, causing the transmission tower above it to collapse on itself. He keeps falling towards the middle of the main street. Merlany quickly grabs Mike by the shoulders and breaks their fall. They quickly get into the maintenance van and get back to Skid's garage, while a great commotion starts near the tower.

Meanwhile, Skid meets with the Gray Gauntlets' security boss, an Exo-Force officer wearing a black uniform covered in bulletproof plastic. Their meet-up is located in an empty combat vehicle hall. The police officer is wearing a black, lightweight helmet with an open visor that covers his entire face, except his eyes. He is carrying a backpack consisting of two jet engines and a fuel tank between them. He has a hose attached to his belt on the right, which is tied to his backpack and has a gun head on the end. Apparently a flamethrower. On his left is a pistol with a wide head to which two electrodes are attached. He looks sternly at his counterpart, the short, chubby Skid. Skid has nothing with him except his heavy backpack.
"Alright Skid, I usually wouldn't meet civilians in a place like this. But since Bradford has taken a liking for you and your ridiculous junk, I am going to hear you out. What did you want to tell me about the Bolts?" the officer prods.
Skid just looks at his watch, which only shows static.
"So, Mister Black, as you know, I care deeply about the security and progress of this city," Skid begins to explain, "and of course I wanted you, as head of the security team, to be the first to inform you of my new findings."
The officer growls.
"I don't have forever, you little shit!"
Skid blushes slightly and begins to sweat.
"So, there is a revolution underway against Bradford and at the moment I can give only few details, but one thing I can say for sure..."
Skid takes another deep breath, while the sweat increasing on his forehead shows that he is waiting for something specific.
"Just come out with it, or should I question you like a damn adult, if you understand what I mean!"
Skid's watch beeps briefly and some file names appear on the screen.
“Finally,” he whispers.
The policeman shouts at him impatiently: "What the hell are you waiting for, kid!"
Skid continues his last sentence with a grint: "I can say with certainty that they need your fuel cell, and as it happens, the revolutionaries are here to get them!"
He quickly presses the screen on his watch when suddenly a combat drone shoots out of Skid's backpack. It's a small, round robot with a rotor blade on its back, two extendable arms with electric blades and a third with a laser.
"What the heck?!" the black-clad officer bellows.
He closes his visor quickly and draws his flamethrower in order to shoot Skid at point-blank range.
He is now fully enveloped in blazing flames. The cop jumps backwards using his jetpack.
"Damn bastard, who does he think he is!"
The drone begins to shoot at the cop, but he quickly avoids the lasers with his jetpack. It approaches and swings its blade-arms at the enemy. But the protective plates on the uniforms forearms are enough to block them. The cop kicks the drone away from him.
“Why does this thing even work?! Shouldn't the signal tower disable unauthorized machines?!” he shouts, visibly confused.
A light giggle can be heard from the flames surrounding Skid. A blue force field stretched around an electrical grid of hexagons keeps Skid's flames away.
"My controls are still working properly. And you should give me your fuel cell before an accident happens."
The cop growls angrily at Skid.
"You traitor, after the Gauntlets gave you everything, making the city what it is today, you bastard are turning against us? I'll show you what we do with traitors here, you little shit!"
Skid looks at his counterpart arrogantly.
"Factory Town is a hellhole. You Gauntlets did nothing of value. And we'll see about what you will do to me, Black. Because - personally - I don't think you stand a chance"
The drone positions itself above Skid, ready to fight.