Chapter 28

"All targets are down."

The atmosphere calmed down, and Seth was sure to finish the last target. Several soldiers fled the area to save themselves. However, not a single one managed to escape the eyes of Hunter Seth Vonstein.

Seth raised his rifle, smiling obliquely, full of satisfaction. "This new tactical rifle is cooler than yesterday. I didn't know there was a data detector in the telescope. Incredible. Keep giving me new breakthroughs, Raven. As you've said so many times. Impress me."

[ Well done. Complete all your missions. You take it easy; we're constantly breaking new ground to meet your criteria. You're a perfectionist; we know what you're doing and have you covered. ]

The snow melted, and Seth slung his gun over his shoulder again. Prepare for the long jump. With the Exosuit, he effortlessly moves on all terrain, including sheer cliffs. Seth can climb quickly and crawl like a spider without any difficulty.

Seth jumped up, his body soaring in the air. Flying glides with the wind and gravity, his arms outstretched to grab one of the foothills of a sheer cliff that hangs over his body.

[ Egggh! ]

Seth took a deep and long breath. The air below freezing made the mask feel cold. "Up... up. Come on."

Both his hands managed to grab two cliff rocks; Seth stepped on his feet, instantly creeping up to the top of the cliff of the enemy area, which he successfully swept away. The indicator light on the left arm of his Exosuit reacts. A loud sound interrupting and echoing as a warning sign of exposure to high levels of nuclear radiation was detected around him.

The Exosuit automatically activates a transparent blue shield to protect Seth's body from danger. Seth grabbed the edge of the cliff, pulling his body up.

"Woah. Until then."

Seth is greeted by a pile of corpses drenched in a pool of blood around him. He approached Hendrix's dead body. He was killed by his partner, Moira Astrophel, a haughty woman who reminds him of the bastard Millie. Until recently, Seth's common sense had a hard time accepting it.

[ Why Castor? Is there no other man? ]

Seth's hands fingered all the pockets of Hendrix's suit and khaki pants. Seth finds a cell phone, a key card with a picture, and strange symbols on the board. The Access Key has a unique design touch. "It might be useful later."

After stealing Hendrix's body, Seth turns to Moira, inside a warm, lavish fur coat filled with hot blood. Seth chuckled resentfully, "So proud of you. I'm so glad I got the contract to remove people like you. Do you know why? All women are traitors. This lavish fur coat you're wearing results from the slaughter of the innocent citizens of Volatile Cloud Republic! You're still bragging? That's why I finished you. The timing is perfect."

He found a cell phone, a 35mm caliber pistol, access keys to the nuclear power plant facility, a tablet linking her chat room with a buyer named Phillip Anthony Graves, a useless wallet discarded by Seth, matches, a box of cigarettes, and four rolls of suspicious white powder.

Seth snorted furiously. "Son of a bitch! It's heroin. This woman is stuffing! No wonder, she’s not afraid of anything."

[ Just destroy it, Hunter. It's useless. ]

"Yeah. I intended to destroy it."

Lifting the empty drum, put it away from the area. Seth throws flammable objects into the drum, dousing it with jerry cans filled with lighter fluid. Seth throws a match into the barrel; the fire ignites and devours all the objects.

Seth throws a wallet, an empty gun without a magazine, rolls heroin powder, and so on into a drum that swallows everything.

Seth turned away after taking all the essential items. "Raven, I got some good stuff. You're gonna love it."

[ Our cargo is on its way. Remember, you put everything in there. Complete your mission immediately. ]

"Affirmative. I'm working on it."

Seth ran through the entire reactor area. He approached the giant sheath, exposed by a strong cold wind as cold as ice. The top was buried by snow; Seth took a military knife from his belt – tore off the back.

"Hoho, the container door is locked by a digital panel. This may be the access key.”

Swipe the Access Key in between the panels showing the light red color. After Seth inserts Moira's identity access card, it opens later. There is still a troublesome next step. The lock uses a pin.

"Sucks." Tired, Seth grumbled.

Seth activates mask scanner mode to research the numbers. Scanner Mode extracts numeric keys that leave fingerprint traces. "482968"

[ Beep! ]

[ Zrrrrrrrssssss. ]

The container opened automatically, and icy white smoke greeted Seth's arrival; the chill pierced right through his Exosuit. The lighting inside the container lights up; Seth witnesses a stack of containers tightly sealed by similar digital panels.

"A lot of numbers. What is this?"

[ Can you open it, Hunter? ]

 "Let me try."

Docking one of the containers, Seth opened it using mask scanner mode, which always managed to extract digital button pins. The container immediately opens wide when Seth presses the correct number of locking pins.

"What the hell is this?" Seth asked, giggling.

A unique glass-shaped tube. There are elaborate steel covers at both ends. The center is circular with solid red stainless support. The glass-shaped cylinder was filled with a pale green liquid that Seth did not understand what its essence was.

[ It looks like a feeding cylinder. Some kind of battery or energy generator? If Moira sends it to Graves. Let's say the guy has a tool to use it. The thing is, what is it used for? ]

"Explosives?" Seth nodded. "This place is as cold as the North Pole. They even took it very carefully. I thought this was very dangerous."

[ Open Moira's Tablet. The conversation room. What were they discussing? ]

Seth accesses a tablet that needs a unique password to unlock it. "Yeah, of course. Using her fingerprints."

Seth has to go back to Moira's body to get her thumbprint. The Tablet would only have opened at the end of time had it not been for the original owner's scanner. He pulled out a special digital strip from the pocket of his Exosuit. Masking strip to duplicate someone else's fingerprint.

"I don't want to cut off her thumb and take it everywhere just to open access to her device."

For the first time, Raven laughed stiffly. It was quite a shock for Seth to hear that. [ Why? Are you scared, Hunter? ]

Seth heard it. His forehead narrowed between surprise and dismay. "It's the first time I've heard you laugh like that. You're no stiffer than Flavio. I'm sorry. It's not about courage or fear, Raven. But it's disgusting and sickening. I don't want to take it anywhere."

[ The reason and alibi are almost identical.  ]

Seth is annoyed. "Stop teasing me."

The digital strip is square-shaped like plaster, like a person who works in the field of forensics. Seth pulls the ribbon off and sees Moira's fingerprints clearly left on it.

"Done. I'll never deal with Moira's body again!"

[ Access granted: Major Moira Astrophel_ ]

Seth ran again to the container. The snow is getting heavier. The Tablet on his wrist had warned Seth that a snowstorm was about to hit Darkfrost.

That's better. Seth's movements are increasingly complex for anyone to detect.

In the conversation room that's been going on since two weeks ago, Seth moves his touch screen quickly to get a clue or whatever. Seth was disappointed.  

"Not much, I get; they use secret language to communicate. However, there are some Moira claims it is an energy-generating cylinder. Its performance as a portable reactor. It's obviously used as an explosive, Raven. The damage may be close to that of a nuclear warhead." Seth told me everything.

[ Who is the target? ]

Seth still needs help understanding this. In his head cavity like there is a giant puzzle wall that he does not know the answer to. "Negative, Graves didn't mention it here. That guy ordered so many of these goddamn portable reactor. It seems like he really wants to blow up this one world. I wonder, Where did Graves get this much money? Moira put up a fantastic price. I mean, Graves is just a scientist with extreme thinking. He doesn't have a rich family background or anything?"

[ We obviously thwarted this delivery by saving countless lives. When the box is that big. There's got to be a detonator, Hunter. Find the Detonator.]

"You're right too."

Seth focused on searching, using the intelligent technology of some of his equipment and gear. He has to find that one crucial detonDetonatording him could stop all this madness.

One container is bigger than the other, and Seth activates the mask scanner mode again. The system has secured the inside of the container; The detonator. “I found it."

[ Good, now open slowly. ]

The lid is open. The Shape of the Detonator has two pairs of portable reactor ridges on the right and left. Locks the various trigger control buttons.

"Then, what should I do with all this?"

[ That's the weak point of all those portable reactors. The Detonatorbles everything automatically. Find a way to tame it and destroy it. Don't blow it up! We need to find out how powerful the generator is. It's the same as US polluting and annihilating the Volatile Cloud Republic. It can't involve explosions or anything. ]

“Then what?”

[ Use your mask scanner mode. Disarm the detonator. Let's just say you're in a situation to defuse a bomb. We've trained you well. You can stop the detonator at training using only safety pins, chewing gum, and in the middle of darkness. You can do it. ]

 "You know what? I hate bomb-defusing sessions the most. I don't like being stuck in a choice. It's suicide! Playing with death was a fatal conceit."

[ Then don't die on the battlefield, as simple as that. ]

Seth laughed sarcastically. "You said it very lightly like I was just having a childish tantrum because they lost their toy. It's not a toy. It's a giant goddamn portable nuclear reactor ready to pulverize this world!"

[ Do It. Panic will not help. We trust you.  ]

Seth took a deep and long breath. Deal with that one detonator. Using mask scanner mode is active throughout this action. He opened his toolbox from the belt. A tiny toolbox contains the essential equipment for this bomb-defusing mission.

"I never thought I would find such a mission."

Seth sighed strongly and sharply. He grasped the cutting pliers, screwdriver, and L key. Suddenly the cold air around him turned hot. The Tablet on his wrist detects Seth's, high-racing heart.

"Oh, my god. It's crazier and isn't the same as training! A little misstep, I'm definitely dead!"

***

SirriMist

Thanks for your time read my story. See you next chapter. Love lots :)

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