Virus
Chapter Twenty

I left Lumiinate and proceeded to ruminate where to go next. I needed to replace the Amalgamation’s base of operations. Of course, I could narrow it down a little, but not too much. The Amalgamation needed a constant supply of servers/host bodies, and therefore would be in such a position where it would be inconspicuous and easy to acquire such things. This meant to discrete outpost in the middle of the ocean, which was fortunate. Unless… the Amalgamation could have been employing money laundering of sorts, where the servers would be shipped to a minor outpost, from which it would travel to the main lair. But I could track the outpost too… however, this was unnecessary, as A.V.A pointed out.

First, I could try tracking where the surviving soldiers went. This would lead to a lair, which would either lead to the Amalgamation or something close. There was no better alternative, so I agreed, and proceeded to wait as A.V.A’s algorithm ran its course.

I have finished setting up the algorithm- piggybacking satellites as of… now. I just need a DNA sample now, to input into databases.

I didn’t see how DNA would help, but I trusted A.V.A. I think I know where to replace some… It took a while, but eventually I returned to Kira’s home. Gingerly, I picked up a weapon where it had been dropped. This has fingerprints, right?

A.V.A took over, examining the weapon for herself. This does seem to work… and it does contain fingerprints. She pressed a finger to the grip, and let the weapon fall back to the floor. Traces acquired… digitalizing genome as we are talking. A while passed before she relinquished control of my motor functions. It is done… tracking now… coordinates acquired. Sending them now.

Surprisingly- or not surprisingly- I didn’t know much about secret lairs- the Amalgamation was not using a remote location to store his soldiers. I booked a plane- no stealing (this time,) to reach Trinidad, Cuba, where the base was located. Again, the flight had no hitch, and my false documentary managed to get through. For a normal person, this would be no deal, but I was surprised that I even made it through the metal detector. I hacked the detector whenever you went through, A.V.A admitted. Well, that solved that question…

The plane touched down with no hitch (again) and I disembarked, engaging Time Lapse to run to the place I needed to go. This was altogether too easy so far… the lair itself seemed inconspicuous- just another large company office building. I opened the door and snuck inside.

I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was disappointed when I opened the doors and found… an office building. No weird torture machines or anything. It’s just the barracks, I reminded myself. Save it for the real deal… I knew this time the Amalgamation wouldn’t be so lax as to leave blueprints lying around. However, as I waited in the lounge, trying to act natural, a group of people entered the building. They were trying to pass as programmers, but one of them had forgotten the ID card, the other carried no briefcase… this was worth looking into.

I started trailing the fake employees and strolled inside the building before it shut in on me. There was no doubt I had been noticed by the cameras- but no one had seen a clear shot of my face- I was fine. As the double doors shut in on me, I followed the people through a confusing maze of corridors and office cubicles, until finally they turned behind a corner and disappeared. Looking around the same corner, I noticed nothing strange. However, the whiteboard on the wall was a little askew… and swung open to reveal a flight of stairs. Closing the passageway behind me, I descended into the less visited part of the building.

The hidden part of the building looked like the actual one- there were no indication that this was an evil lair… no obvious ones, at least. Looking around, I noticed a pistol lying on someone’s desk, and a person filing out an official request for more smoke grenades. The higher-ups had to report to the Amalgamation, otherwise there was no point in having such a system. Therefore, if I found their office, there was a chance there was an address, or at least some clue as to where to go next. They would have the bigger rooms, naturally... more things that needed to be filed away. Finally, after what seemed like an extremely long amount of time, I wandered into a room with a map of the location, overlapping with the real building above. A request for structural supports, or so it seemed. But it was all I needed. A.V.A recorded the image and directed me to the nearest large room on the map- there were no labels on there that indicated where was what. This did shorten my search, though. I entered someone’s office- I didn’t stop to look who- quickly knocked them out with a punch, and sat down at their computer, after tying up the body and dragging it to lean against the door as a blockade.

The computer had nothing suspicious on it, and I was about to close it when A.V.A pointed something out. Wait… it says here that more cooling fans were required for the journey… its base of operations is in a warm place- no polar regions. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. The Amalgamation was too evolved to use postcards, but apparently its lackeys still used email. Scrolling down, I started looking at the messages, looking for something important. There was nothing important in the draft section, so I switched to another category. There had to be something…

Suddenly, I heard knocking at the door. “Open up!” someone announced- I had been discovered. Engaging Time Lapse, I kept on scrolling, my eyes now moving at a pace that a normal couldn’t see. The knocked increased, which was soon followed by shoving against the barricade I had constructed- which was everything in the room, save the computer and desk. Finally- success.

“Waiting at the NY base… waiting for shipment…” it read. The person behind this had obviously been fired for revealing the location, but this also meant that the Amalgamation had been working behind the scenes for quite a while. This was expected though, given that it had gotten over a decade of downtime. But that didn’t matter- I had a location.

The people knocking on the door were soon taken down with a series of kicks and punches. It wouldn’t kill, but they would wake up with bruises. Fighting when needed- I no longer tried to conceal my identity- I reached the stairs, only do discover someone had locked the whiteboard. I wrenched at the lock, but it held. Another hostile force was closing in on me- and my energy was running low. However, I had an idea. I had only seen this used in movies, but it was my only hope- I would shoot the lock. Picking up the pistol I had noticed on the desk upon my arrival, I held the barrel up to the keyhole, and crossed my fingers as I pulled the trigger- but nothing happened. You forgot to take the safety off, A.V.A admonished. Let me. She picked up the pistol, clicked a lever on the side, and fired. The lock sprang open, and, regaining control of my motor functions, I dashed out of the building. The Amalgamation may have been leading me on a wild goose chase, but I was going to win. Traveling back to the airport, I booked another flight to New York. But the Amalgamation knew how I looked like now- meaning I had to tread carefully.