Chapter 74: Lockdown Part Three

The battle between mutant and machine continued for almost an hour when finally a victor was decided. The mutant, now missing all its limbs, laid on the ground unable to move. Ai saw all the broken machina and an idea came to mind. "Hey, if we can get a useable board from those machinas I can update all my turrets to see mutants as a threat." 

Ai had figured that the A.I. had figured out the mutant biosignature, which now, she could use its code and update the code in her turrets and Spot to target mutants as well. This incident actually gave them an unexpected boon. "How do you plan to do that? It's like a radioactive zone in that hallway. Not to mention that thing was spitting fire not too long ago. It still has its head so if we open the door it might shoot fire at us." Eiji asked.

"Simple. Did I not ask stupid to go get fire extinguishers? All we have to do is blast its flames with those and then blast it with the RPG to blow its head off after which we can then collect the board we need. As for the mutant's body, we can just leave that there." Ai explained.

"This might actually work! Alright, let's finish this then." Eiji and Ai went to work on the RPG while Yoshi went to go find Shogo who had not returned yet. Everyone relaxed a bit now that the mutant was down and could not move anymore. Ai knew that it would not die completely but it would be enough to keep it immobile and leave it where it was. They would just need to start using another exit. Especially now that that whole hallway was contaminated with radiation. Luckily there were only empty offices in that section so they did not lose any major areas that are essential to their survival.

An hour later Ai and Eiji finished setting up the grenade shell on the RPG, with C4 and shrapnel to make the entire thing do more damage. "Alright, Yoshi I will have you fire the RPG since you have the most experience. Eiji and I will man the fire extinguishers. Mai you and Shogo stay here and protect the girls in case anything happens. If all goes wrong, head to the emergency shelter."

Mai's eyes were filled with worry. She was not sure whether or not Ai would come back or not. She pulled Ai into a hug and whispered into her ear: "Ai, you're the only family I have left please be safe." 

Ai smiled softly and squeezed Mai. "Mmm… I will, we have to grow old and grey do we not?" 

"Mhm! So do not break your promise!" Mai answered as she pulled away from Ai and glanced at the other two. "Good luck all of you."

"Let's go! Mai when you see us near the shutter raise it, then close it behind us." Ai gave out one last instruction and walked out of the command room with Eiji and Yoshi.

As they walked down the halls the shutter would open and then shut behind them. Eiji took this time to strike up a conversation. "You and Mai are close but you do not look alike."

"We have been childhood friends since we were born. We lived next door to each other and our families were close. Blood does not define who you see as family. Mai is my sister, my family no matter what, even if we are not blood related." Ai explained.

"You are right, blood does not always have something to do with being family." Eiji was quite happy he got to learn a bit more about Ai. He now knew she took familial relationships and friendships seriously. 

The distance between the control room and the hall the mutant was in was not far. With having to wait for the shutters to open it took five minutes. They now stood in front of a dented shutter that was partially corroded. Mai, who was in the control room pressed the button to open the shutter. Ai, Eiji, and Yoshi all got ready to defend against any attacks.

Ai's geiger counter was beeping nonstop due to the radiation coming from the mutant. An awful stench filled the hall causing the three to wrinkle their brow. The mutant who only had one eye left spotted the new people and let out a roar, spitting fire right at them. Ai and Eiji reacted quickly and sprayed the fire extinguishers to stop the flames from reaching them. "Yoshi, now!" 

Yoshi aimed as best he could and fired the RPG at the head of the Mutant.

*Boom!*

A loud explosion was heard and the flames being shot at them disappeared. "Did it work?" Ai asked.

"Hard to tell with all the smoke and dust in the air." Eiji replied.

As the smoke settled, Ai could finally see the remains of the Mutant. The explosion was enough to shred the front half of the mutant into pieces. "Finally we can rest!" Ai, let out a long sigh of relief. She looked at the broken machina on the ground and wanted to quickly grab one but stopped herself when she remembered that they were probably radioactive by now. "Now I need a jar with a lid, a pair of thick gloves, and something to grab a machina with so I can take its chip out if it is not destroyed."

"How are you going to handle the chip? Won't it be radioactive too?" Eiji asked.

"As long as it does not go beyond what is safe for humans I can wear gloves and work with it. I only need to download its code, so it should be easy." Ai replied before stretching her arms and picking up the unused fire extinguisher. "For now though let's go rest." She then took out her shortwave radio and pressed the button on its side. "Mai, open the next shutter, we will be returning. But close it after us this hall is no longer usable. "

"On it!"

***

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