Nothing.

Besides his amplifier, none of them turned up any trace of Grennick Lanson. Piper dragged herself wearily out of the dark, dank tunnel system and into the relative glow of Hadrian's twilight, feeling angry, sore, and downright gross. She wanted a shower, to wash off the stink of the city, and to wash away the oily feeling of the corporate schemes that had gotten them here.

She grabbed Odiye's outstretched hand and let him haul her back up to street level. They'd been out for most of the night, searching multiple passages along the path the vent took. After crawled and scrabbling through rusting abandoned tunnels for hundreds of yards in all directions, they had nothing to show for it.

"You alright?" Odiye asked, his hand falling away and leaving the electric tingle of his touch behind.

"Just peachy." Sighing, she slid her amplifier back into its sheathe, and tossed Lanson's gold-plated weapon to Vinder who was standing nearby, his face cold with frustration. He snatched the wand out of the air, glowering at her.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. I didn't kill him," Piper muttered, turning away.

"This isn't over," he hissed back.

"Enough, Vinder." Odiye turned an icy glare on the Wayfinder agent. "There'll be time for you to settle your scores another day."

"For now, I'd be worrying about Lanson's dad," Arrow interjected, rubbing their eyes wearily. "Who knows how the top Western representative from Real-Raid Pharmaceuticals will react when he founds out his son got killed on your watch?"

Vinder bared his teeth, his implants simmering, but Lenor Karga grabbed his arm.

"Another time," she hissed into his ear. "C'mon."

Reluctantly, he allowed himself to be turned away. The other AmpCore operatives melted away into the shadows, leaving the trio alone on the edge of the Caxton yards. Piper checked the holowatch built into the cuff of her jacket.

3.56 A.M.

"Now what?" she murmured.

"There's nothing more we can do tonight," Odiye said.

"There's an Ardenne safehouse not too far from here," Arrow suggested. "We can head there and sleep this mess off before we head back to AmpCore."

"We're going back? Tonight?" Piper looked at them sharply. "But what about that thing out there? Whatever took Lanson, it's still on the loose."

"Yes, something is." Odiye put a restraining hand on her shoulder. "We will find it, Piper, but right now we do not even know what we are hunting. If we run blind into the dark, we'll be no better than Lanson."

Arrow nodded. "He's right, Piper. We need to report to Mattise. Tell him what happened to Mattellus and the others. Maybe he can do something to keep Vinder off our backs next time."

"I think it's pretty clear Mattise can't stop Vinder from doing shit. You think they'd be out pulling this kind of crap if they had anything to be scared of back at AmpCore?" Piper shook her head grimly. "I don't think so."

"All the more reason to head somewhere safe and figure out our next move."

Piper planted her hands on her hips, scuffing a boot against the ground in frustration. They were right. She knew they were right. But somehow, something in the back of her mind said that she'd failed – that the thing out here had won this round.

Rubbing one hand over her eyes, she let out a weary sigh of exasperation and nodded, unable to even scrape the words together.

"Follow me," Arrow said, their amplifier letting out a faint pulse of light as they started walking. "I'll have someone meet us at the edge of the cordon. Then we can figure out how we want to explain all of this to Mattise."

Piper fell into line, with Odiye bringing up the rear, his eyes still narrow with unease as he scanned their gloomy surroundings. She could feel a headache building behind her eyes as they walked, her implants feeling sore and overworked.

The headache kept building. She winced; tried to ignore it.

We have a visitor, Cassie warned suddenly.

Piper's eyes widened as she felt the surge a split second later. This time it didn't approach so aggressively, more like a leisurely stroll, though that didn't take away from the presence's monolithic shadow.

Thanks for the heads up, she told her companion, bracing herself as the puppetmaster emerged into her mind again. Her jaw tightened and she concentrated, keeping her eyes fixed on Arrow up ahead as she walked, putting one foot in front of the other.

PIPER, the voice rumbled, formless and vast.

Hi, she answered flatly. Frankly, she wasn't in the mood right now for another cryptic game of twenty questions.

HAVE YOU MADE ANY PROGRESS?

Is that all you've got to fucking say to me? she exploded.

To her surprise, the presence receded a little. MY APOLOGIES.

We could have died out here! Did you know that one of your little pets dragged an operative off into god-knows where?!

I DID NOT. I TOLD YOU, THEY ARE HIDDEN FROM ME.

Well they're not fucking around, alright, Piper told it furiously. We've made progress, yes. We know that your escaped bloody murderer is somewhere out here. We also know that they seem to be snatching people. No idea why.

She waited, hoping the presence might offer up some titbit of information to help things along. But it didn't. For several seconds silence clanged inside her skull, somehow louder than the thing's voice.

INTERESTING.

Interesting?

HAVE YOU FOUND BODIES?
Some. Not all. That's why we're out here. Piper's brow furrowed and she clenched her fists in her pockets. Why did you call me?

SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED, the presence explained. SOMEONE ELSE IS SEARCHING FOR THE SAME THING YOU ARE.

Yeah, Vinder. I know. I we already found out the hard way.

I DO NOT MEAN VINDER.

What? I'm telling you, I was there. It just fucking happened.

I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT YOUR LITTLE SCUFFLE WITH THE CORPORATIONS' LAPDOGS.

Piper fought to keep her facial expression neutral as she walked. Then what are you talking about?

THIS HAPPENED IN A DIFFERENT PLACE. A BAR MORE THAN A KILOMETRE FROM YOU. SOMEONE REACHED OUT AND TOUCHED ME. She felt a surge of indignant anger from the presence. I ATTEMPTED TO TRACE THE SOURCE.

Attempted to? Piper frowned. You seem to be able to do whatever the hell you like around here.

WHOEVER – WHATEVER – IT WAS, THEY MANAGED TO DISCONNECT BEFORE I COULD REMOVE THEM.

Remove? As in kill them?

There was a brief pause. For the first time, the leviathan seemed almost bashful.

IF NECESSARY, it said eventually.

Okay, Piper answered. So if it's not us, and it's not one of Vinder's buddies, then who?

A VERY GOOD QUESTION. I CAN TELL YOU THEY POSSESSED AMPCORE IMPLANTS. THAT IS ALL.

AmpCore?

YES.

Well, that's just what we need.

THERE IS ANOTHER PLAYER OUT THERE. BE CAREFUL, PIPER.

Oh, now you care?

I HAVE ALWAYS CARED.

Well, if you care so much, maybe you can figure out who else is out there. Don't you think I've got enough to do? She could feel the frustration building, her implants heating up and threatening to send power spilling out into the world, uncontrolled.

CURB YOUR TONGUE, GIRL. I AM NOT SITTING IDLY. THE TASKS I AM UNDERTAKING WOULD BURN YOUR CIRCUITS TO ASH.

Wanna bet?

Piper's anger got the better of her and she lashed out. Her mind slammed into the enveloping mass of the presence, like a sudden punch in the mouth. The huge thing recoiled just a little, a dent in its ego if nothing else, and she felt its fury and disbelief swirl around her. She hadn't expected to do more than surprise it. She simply wanted to stop this thing from treating her like a dog on a leash.

The result outside her mind was what she hadn't anticipated.

All around her the walls of the nearest structures buckled inward. Concrete cracked and dead circuits crackled into life before blowing apart. In an instant she was showered in dust and sparks. Ahead of her, Odiye spun around with a gasp of surprise, his wand already hauling a barrier around them as the structures to their left and right began to cave in. Still reeling from her contact with the presence, Piper didn't realise what was happening until it was too late.

"Piper?!" Arrow yelped in shock.

"Get down!" Odiye roared, grabbing Piper by the jacket and yanking her towards him, at the same time taking a lunging step towards Arrow, his amplifier pulsing.

Gravity swelled around them, just as the buildings collapsed inward. Huge chunks of masonry banged off of Odiye's shield and broke apart, sloughing off to the left and right in a grimy avalanche.

Piper, your amplifier, Cassie barked, ripping Piper out of her haze.

She blinked furiously; her fingers closed around her wand without her even thinking about it. With a growl of effort she added her own power into the barrier, clamping her eyes shut to concentrate. Arrow joined the effort an instant later, creating a sphere of repelling force around the trio that turned aside dozens of tons of debris.

It was all over in seconds, leaving the operatives standing amongst two mounds of rubble, forming a trench between the two dormant silo structures. Huge chunks of wall had simply caved in around them. Piper worked her jaw up and down, feeling like she needed her ears to pop from the pressure in her implants. Silence descended on them, cracked by the occasional shift of rubble and rock.

"Piper?" Odiye murmured as the dust settled around them.

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Uh-huh?"

"What just happened?"

"I'm sorry." Breathing deep, she massaged the base of her neck with one hand. "With everything – Cassie and me, we just lost a little... control." Half-true, she told herself.

Arrow looked at her uneasily. "Is it affecting you, what's inside?"

"They're getting a bit more active," Piper admitted. "It won't happen again. Just teething problems. We're sharing a lot of bandwidth in here."

Neither of them looked particularly convinced by her explanation, but equally, and four o'clock in the morning, they didn't look like they could be bothered pressing her for more. In the end, Odiye simply nodded.

"Try to take care," he told her, each word sounding like an effort. He unleashed a cavernous yawn before continuing. "Come on. It sounds like we all need sleep."

*

She never thought she'd be happy to see a corporate safe house. Despite her protests, Piper had to admit that right now she ached for somewhere to sit down and rest. The main door of the unobtrusive structure bore a small emblem: the dark blue and white arrowhead insignia of Ardenne Industries, shadowed by a heavy sheet-metal overhang.

Arrow took the lead, walking wearily up to the door and pressing their palm to the unobtrusive security reader built into the frame. Piper felt a prickle as sensors swept over them, before the lock disengaged. The door slid aside with a faint hiss, revealing a slim young man in an Ardenne security uniform.

"Operative Gibbs," he said with a stiff nod of his head.

"Hi," Arrow grunted, motioning the others inside. "Been on assignment. Need a berth before we head back to AmpCore."

"Absolutely." The guard didn't move. He looked uneasy, his left hand resting on the slim sidearm holstered at his thigh.

"Something wrong?" Piper challenged as she moved up alongside Arrow.

"I... no. Not exactly."

Arrow's eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

"If you'll come with me, please." He stepped aside gesturing to the hall ahead with his other hand. "A representative from Skiltron has asked to see you. That's all I am at liberty to say."

They fixed him with a searching stare for several seconds. Without breaking eye contact, Arrow slowly and deliberately drew their amplifier.

"Alright then," they said.

Piper exchanged a wary look with Odiye, shrugged, and then follow them down the hall. A guard waited at the door, a female AmpCore agent with a grim face and a Skiltron badge on her shoulder. She gave their escort a nod, then stepped aside. Her amplifier flickered; the door slid open.

They stepped through, and found Toran Knox lounging in a chair on the other side.

He grinned at their dumbfounded faces, swivelling to face them. He looked just as he always did – brash, confident, and oozing the corporate smugness. His AmpCore uniform was immaculate, his amplifier resting lightly in the palm of his right hand. Around him several men and women in Skiltron private security uniforms stood, some with their visors active, others with their eyes fixed pointedly on the newcomers.

"Fancy seeing you three here," Toran said.

"Toran? How..." Arrow shook their head. "I thought that Mattise-,"

"What exactly do you think I've been doing this whole time?" he asked, a sly smile on his face. "You really think I was just sat in that fucking room with my thumb up my arse?" He relaxed back into the chair as though he didn't have a care in the world. "I heard about Vinder, about him leaving to come out the AllChem with some friends. I also heard that you poor bastards were out here at the same time. Didn't need to be an intelligence expert to put the pieces together there."

"But, you were confined to your quarters," Odiye said. "Did you break out?"

"No, I just... convinced Mattise it was in everyone's interests to level the playing field," Toran answered. "He needs allies too, you know. It's hardly a secret that he's pissed off a lot of people recently."

"So Mattise let you walk, and then you came riding to the rescue?" Piper raised an eyebrow. "Not quite. You're a little late, Toran."

His smile disappeared and she felt a tremor run through his implants. Eventually, he gave her a nod.

"I know. I'm sorry. I got here as fast as I could." Toran shook his head in annoyance. "I take it Mattellus...?"

"Dead. Along with the rest of the people Mattise sent with us."

He nodded, fingers of his free hand drumming on the armrest of his chair. He looked like he was trying to puzzle out a particularly difficult math problem.

"Who was with them? Kaysar? Atlantis?"

"Gammaton."

Toran shook his head slowly. "Fools."

"There's more, Toran," Arrow interjected. "Grennick Lanson."

He sniffed disdainfully. "What's that mouthy little wanker done now?"

"Probably got himself killed." They folder their arms and fixed him with a pointed stare.

"I... what?"

"When Vinder and his friends jumped us," Piper explained, "something grabbed Lanson."

"What do you mean 'something' grabbed him?"

"I mean what I said," she snapped. "Nobody saw it, nobody knows what it was. One minute he was standing there running his fucking mouth, the next, something dragged him off into the tunnels. We tried to find him, but all we found was his amplifier. That's it. There's something out there a lot worse than Vinder and his thugs, Toran."

Toran nodded, his lips twisting with thought. "We'll look into it." He motioned with his head towards one of the guards, who promptly disappeared through one of the connecting doors, her visor shining over her eyes as she began speaking in hushed tones.

"So what now?" Odiye asked.

"Now, you three should get some sleep," Toran told them, rising from his chair, his face darkening. "We'll figure out what's going on out here, but before we can do that, I think it's time we cleaned house at AmpCore."

"You mean...?"

"I mean it's us or them, Odiye. I'm going to make sure it's them."

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