"What are you doing here?"
The moment Scarlet realized this wasn't a voice she should be hearing, she guessed the sound must have been transmitted to the others as well from the way total silence fell.
She didn't dare turn around. Did he hear her? Did he see her press the button? She swiftly returned the disrupter to her pocket and prayed to all the gods out there that he hadn't noticed her. Even though she trusted her swift movements, her soundless feet, the way all her limbs moved with the bare minimum of disruption to the image seen by the viewer, she figured it must be impossible to spot her — especially when she gave whoever-that-is her back. Her voice wasn't that loud either.
She took a deep breath. It was only a second of thought, and that was all she could spare her mind to figure out what to do. Obviously, running away wasn't an option either. She turned to look over her shoulder.
"A noble guard," she figured from the one star pinned to his shoulder. Simply, he wasn't someone she should have a hard time dealing with.
She flashed a smile, trying to make it look as little fake as possible. "Oh my," she faked. "Did I stumble somewhere I shouldn't?" she tilted her head in feigned ignorance.
"The party is over there," he stated a little too rudely, considering his rank. Scarlet knew that, whatever her appearance was, she could still be noted as a noble.
"Who the hell is this fucker?!" she heard Julian curse in her ear. The silence around her and the guard made her wonder if the noise from the in-ears was resonating around them; she had to gamble with the hope that it wasn't.
"Scarlet," West spoke before she returned to the guard. "Take care of him fast. The longer the cameras are out, the higher the risk."
She could hear in his voice the calmness he was trying to emit so as not to add to her already ravaged nerves. "The party was a little too suffocating so I came out here to catch my breath," said Scarlet, still keeping up the fake bright smile.
Oh, how she wanted to slam her fist on that nose bridge to teach him some manners. Noble or not, self-respect should be a given, not a luxury. Maybe that was also one of the reasons she had picked up a gun.
He was silent as he eyed her up and down. "I believe as the daughter of a Count I have the right to be anywhere in this building," she decided; talking nicely wasn't going to get him to move. What had she done to deserve such an arrogant knight to stand in her path?!
Her eyes narrowed, finally allowing the true annoyed face to surface on her innocent features. Still, it did the job of cracking that shield. He cleared his throat.
"Enjoy your stay," he said, turning on his heels to exit the staircase and leave through the door she had just come through.
She waited until the door shut after him before she rushed down the stairs. "I'm on the move," she mumbled as she struggled down the stairs with her dress. "Damn it! How do they move in this crap?" she whispered, hearing faint giggles in her in-ears.
Do they actually have the ability to laugh at a time like this?! That was what she used to wonder about during her first jobs with the Rebels, but she soon came to realize it was their way of handling the nerve-racking anxiety she was sure was running through them.
She didn't dare stop to catch her breath when her feet met the tiles of the basement. She thanked her brain that it was able to remembering the layout of the basement. She gathered the dress in her hand and hurried toward the place where the panels should be. Half of her brain was focused on keeping her out of trouble.
She heard footsteps coming from the far end of the hallway. It was dimly lit, so she had to thank every god out there again for that. Her eyes soon adjusted to the dark, and she could make out the two shadows coming her way.
She hid behind the wall that created a crossing, giving access to different facilities in the building. She had to pray again that the crossing she hid in wasn't the one they were going to take.
Her grip found comfort on the hilt of the dagger hidden underneath her dress. Noble or not, it was going to open a door for suspicion. What was she going to say if she chose to do it peacefully? There was no way out of this one.
As the noises got closer, she heard the echo of her heartbeat in her head as it throbbed. The others were saying something to each other, which wasn't helping her concentrate at all.
She couldn't help the urge and yanked an in-ear out, leaving it dangling on her shoulder. The moment she did that, she felt her hearing amplify — she should have done this a long time ago, but she would have to deal with West later.
"If we lose communication with each other, then it's the end of us," West always reminded them. "For our safety and the safety of the Rebels…
If we lose contact with one of our leads, he is to be considered dead unless proven otherwise. I can't risk your lives."
They were here. The two shadows were now right on top of her. She held her breath as she lay her back flat against the cold wall, drawing her dagger halfway with a tightened fist.
Their giggles were loud as they passed right by her without noticing her in the shadows. She held her posture until they were completely gone from both her sight and hearing range.
She placed the in-ear back in place. "Scarlet, do you copy?!" she heard West scream.
"Yes, I'm here!" she mumbled while panting, finally taking a breath and not wasting another second. "I had to deal with something; I couldn't focus."
She heard the long sigh from West as he probably held himself from nagging her.
Thankfully, she was just a turn away from the panels. "I'm here!" she finally said. "Allen, what should I do?"
It took a second of static as she realized that three minutes had passed since she launched the disrupter. The guards were bound to send someone to check on them if they shut the power down now!
"Do you still have the USB I gave you?" Allen asked, though he knew there was no other choice but for her to say yes.
"Yes, I have it," said Scarlet as she brought it out with firm hands and eyed the panel with no idea what to do.
"If you open the lid in front of you, you will find a USB socket," he said. "Place it in any of them and let me do the rest."
She moved as she heard his instructions. She placed the USB in place and prayed one last time for lady luck to be with them once more.
"All right, I'm in!" Allen exclaimed. She could hear the excitement in his tone.
Less than a minute later she heard the engine shut down. Total darkness surrounded her.
The first phase — Chaos — was now complete.