The Air Filtration Facilities, resembling a rusty dagger plunged into Nova-Veridia's sky, were on the city's highest point, a hill most intensely battered by acid rain. Massive propellers spun with a hum that drowned out the thunder. But tonight, they were working not to let the city breathe, but to choke it. Smoke rising from the chimneys took on a sickly green hue under the neon lights.
Jester crouched beside a gargoyle statue on the edge of the roof, trying to adjust to the weight of his new armor. The matte black plates didn't gleam under the rain; they swallowed the light. Only the tattered purple cape hanging from his shoulders waved like an ominous flag in the wind.
> *"They say the only difference between poison and medicine is the dose. They are wrong. The real difference is who gives it to whom."*
— Dr. Aris Vane, 'Forgotten Prescriptions' 1991*—
The wind blew, whistling a poisonous tune as if to confirm these words. Below, on the metal grates, Kaelen, Titan, and Echo had taken their positions. Jester watched the digital clock in his visor count down.
**COUNTDOWN: 03:59:12**
"Less than four hours," Kaelen said. His voice crackled over the comms, but sounded as controlled as ever. He lowered his binoculars and looked at the massive facility. "When these fans reach full capacity, the neurotoxin will be pumped into the city. Every mind in Nova-Veridia will be erased like a recorded tape."
"Worse than erased," Nena's voice echoed in their earpieces; her voice mingled with the clatter of a keyboard. "The chemical composition of the gas burns synapses. People will lose not only their memories but also their motor functions. The city will become a museum of millions of living statues."
Jester switched his visor from thermal mode to "Static Perception" mode. The world instantly turned gray, the edges of objects dissolving into flickering pixels. The dome-shaped energy field surrounding the facility, that barrier invisible to the naked eye but blindingly bright in the Static plane, pulsed with fury.
"It's boiling inside," Jester said, trying to suppress the cheerful lilt in his voice. "The Silents are patrolling, androids hold the corners. But the real party pooper is that Static Shield. It doesn't just fry anyone who touches it; it turns their soul into a dial-up modem sound."
"I can handle it," Echo said. His voice was weak but resolute. "I can disrupt the shield's frequency. But I need to get within fifty meters of the generator."
Titan adjusted the massive shield made of scrap metal on his back. "Then we'll carry you there, little one. Hold tight."
***
The operation began to the rhythm of the rain. Titan, with Echo on his back, leaped across the gaps between roofs with superhuman agility. With each landing, the metal roofs groaned, and puddles splashed into the air.
The Silents on the outer perimeter of the facility – those terrifying, faceless entities in black trench coats – detected movement. The muzzles of their laser weapons glowed with a red light.
*VIZZT! VIZZT!*
Laser beams vaporized the rain as they reached Titan. The giant opened his shield like an umbrella. The beams ricocheted off the metal surface, scattering sparks.
"Keep going, big guy!" Echo shouted, peering over Titan's shoulder. His eyes had turned white.
While they drew attention, Jester and Kaelen infiltrated through the facility's blind spot. Jester fired the mechanism on his wrist. The grappling hook rope wrapped around the rusty railings of the watchtower. As he pulled himself up, gravity seemed to be merely a suggestion for him. "War Clown" mode combined his old circus acrobatics with deadly efficiency.
By the time the sniper in the tower turned around, it was too late. Jester tapped the man's shoulder. "Peek-a-boo!"
Before the man could react, Jester tied him up like a package and set him aside. Kaelen climbed the tower behind him, breathless.
"Kaelen, the dance floor is ready!" Jester said, pointing below.
Below, Echo, having reached the base of the generator, stood with his arms outstretched, resisting an invisible wall. His nose was bleeding, and veins bulged on his temples.
"The shield... it's too strong..." Echo said through gritted teeth. "It's like... it's alive. It's rejecting me."
Titan roared, turning three rushing androids into scrap metal with a single swing of his arm. "You can do it, Echo! Get inside its mind!"
Echo let out a cry of pain. A mental wave spread through the air, like a physical sledgehammer.
*BOOM!*
The Static shield shattered with a sound like breaking glass. Blue sparks began to rain from the sky, like digital snowflakes.
"Shield down! Get in!"
***
Jester and Kaelen slipped into the main building through a ventilation shaft. Inside, it was filled with a nose-burning chemical smell and the taste of rotten metal. Kaelen adjusted his mask, but Jester took a deep breath as if this toxic air was his natural habitat.
When they reached the main control room, they didn't encounter an army as they expected. The room was empty. A massive, cylindrical gas tank dominated the center of the room, while the control panel directly in front of it flickered.
The counter on the panel, independent of the time outside, indicated a much more urgent process:
**PRESSURIZATION: 00:59:00**
"I need a codebreaker, Nena, now!" Jester shouted, sliding towards the panel. His fingers danced over the keys like a pianist's.
Just then, the room's heavy, pressure-resistant doors slammed shut with a clang. The sound of the locks turning resembled the closing of a prison cell. The voice from the loudspeakers was distorted by static, a superposition of thousands of different voices.
**"YOU'RE TOO LATE, SON."**
Kaelen aimed his weapon at the dark corners of the room. "Ambassador."
All monitors in the room flickered on simultaneously. The Ambassador's distorted, pixelated face filled the screens.
**"THE GAS HAS ALREADY BEEN LOADED INTO THE PIPES. ONLY PRESSURIZATION REMAINS. AND I HAVE A LITTLE FAREWELL GIFT FOR YOU."**
A hatch beneath the gas tank in the center of the room hissed open. What emerged from the dense vapor was a grotesqueness that the human mind would struggle to accept.
Half-human, half-insect, half-machine... It had four arms; two were human arms, the other two were hydraulic pistons. Acid dripping from its mouth corroded the metal floor. But the truly terrifying thing was the familiar piece of metal, covered in dirt and blood, seemingly riveted to the creature's chest.
A Nova-Veridia Police Badge.
Kaelen's blood ran cold. His hands, holding the weapon, trembled for the first time in his professional life. "This... This is Chief Miller's badge."
The Ambassador's laughter echoed, threatening to burst the loudspeakers. **"Yes. The Chief isn't dead, Kaelen. We enhanced him. He is now 'Zebur'. My most loyal dog."**
The creature – that thing that was once Chief Miller – raised its head. There was no light of humanity in its eyes; only red lenses and pure hunger.
"Chief..." Kaelen said, his voice barely a whisper.
Jester stepped in front of Kaelen. "Kaelen, snap out of it! He's not the Chief anymore. He's a hardware error. A monster."
"I can't..." Kaelen lowered his weapon. His eyes welled up. "I can't shoot him, Jester. He was my mentor."
Zebur detected this hesitation with programmed efficiency. The hydraulic pistons in its hind legs tensed, and it lunged at them like a cannonball.
***
Jester pushed Kaelen aside, intervening at the last moment. Zebur's razor-sharp claw tore Jester's new armor like paper. Sparks flew from his chest plate, and Jester was thrown against the wall at the other end of the room.
The creature pounced on Kaelen, who lay defenseless on the floor. As acidic saliva dripped onto the detective's face, Kaelen desperately tried to hold onto the creature's mechanical arms.
"Chief! It's me! Kaelen! Don't you remember me?"
Zebur didn't stop. Its inhuman growl mingled with the grinding of mechanical gears. It raised its claw, poised to plunge it into Kaelen's heart.
Jester staggered to his feet amidst the wreckage. His vision was blurry from the blow to his head. Two options flickered before his eyes: *Blue... Red... Blue... Red...*
If he unleashed Red Mode, the ruthless killer within him, he could tear Zebur apart in seconds. He could rip Miller's head off. But Kaelen would never be the old Kaelen again after witnessing that. To save his friend, by brutally murdering the man he considered a father... That would kill Kaelen too.
Jester took a deep breath and pushed Red Mode deep into his mind. "No," he told himself. "Not today. Today, we cheat."
He removed his gloves and slammed his bare hand onto the metal floor. "GLITCH!"
The floor rippled. The metal began to move like a liquid. The room's "code" bent to Jester's will. The spot where Zebur stood suddenly became slick, its pixels shifting. The creature lost its balance and toppled sideways.
Jester seized the opportunity, lunging forward and pulling Kaelen up by his collar. "We're not killing him, Detective! We're *freeing him*!"
He pointed to a flickering device integrated into the creature's spine on its back. The Ambassador's control unit was there.
"Kaelen, shoot its back! Destroy that unit! Wake the Chief from this nightmare!"
Kaelen raised his weapon with trembling hands. As the creature tried to recover, Kaelen caught a glimpse of Miller's suffering, pleading gaze deep, deep within those red, soulless eyes. That look said, *'Please.'*
"Forgive me, Chief," Kaelen said, a single tear rolling down his cheek.
And he pulled the trigger.
*BANG!*
The bullet found its target with pinpoint accuracy. The control unit exploded, scattering black smoke and electrical arcs.
Zebur threw its head back and screamed. But this was not the scream of a monster's rage. It was like the first breath a man takes after holding his breath for years, finally breaking the surface. A cry of liberation.
The creature fell to its knees, then slowly toppled sideways. The terrible red light in its eyes flickered and died. One last time, with a human weariness, it looked at Kaelen and then lay still.
The silence in the room was heavier than the storm outside.
**COUNTDOWN: 00:10:00**
Jester touched Kaelen's shoulder. "We'll mourn him later, partner. Now we need to shut down that damn valve."
He quickly turned back to the panel. But the screen had turned red: **ACCESS DENIED. SYSTEM LOCKED.**
"Damn it," Jester said, punching the panel. "They locked it down programmatically. Manual shutdown is required." He looked up at the massive gas tank. "The valve is inside the tank."
Kaelen looked at the tank in horror. The green gas swirled like a dense fog behind the glass. "It's pure poison in there, Jester! Anyone who enters will die in seconds. We don't have protective gear."
Jester adjusted his mask and walked towards the tank's airlock. That familiar, melancholic grin appeared on his face.
"I'm already poison, Detective. This world can't make me sick; I am this world's sickness."
"Jester, no!" Kaelen tried to stop him, but Jester had already opened the airlock panel.
"There's no other way, Kaelen. Wait outside and tell Echo I'll pay him back for the pizza later."
Jester entered the airlock without hesitation. The heavy metal door hissed shut behind him.
Kaelen watched through the thick glass. Jester, a ghost in his purple cape, moved through the dense green mist inside. He reached the valve, placed his hands on the wheel, and pulled with all his might.
As the mist slowly swallowed him, Jester's silhouette blurred, beginning to flicker like a corrupted tape recording.