The Devil's Lab

Anastasia remained silent for the majority of the ship-ride to the destination given to them from their employers.  The destination was in the Neutral Grounds, not that that fact bothered her in the slightest - feeling perfectly at home around the land of technology.  However, something terrifying there was brewing.  Something really bad must exist in the Neutral Grounds to where mages, of all people, were recruited.  The job given to them was to extract some files and restore power.  Something this simple could have been done by the scientists, so why were mages asked to do something so menial in a place where they feel the most helpless?

"Hey!  Sleeping Beauty!  Hello!" Taliya said as she snapped her fingers in Anastasia's face to get her attention and then waved her hand just shy of touching her nose.  Regardless of the attempts by the busty creature, she couldn't snap Anastasia out of her trance-like concentration.  Anastasia was trying to think of why something like this was made as a job.  She knew that this had to be dangerous, but wouldn't those with heavy weaponry and bullets be more suited to do a job like this instead of mages?  This was all so-- "Hey!  Lights are on, but nobody's home.  Yoohoo?" shouted Taliya once more before puffing her cheeks, growing ever-so annoyed by Anastasia's unawareness of her trying to get her attention.

A sly grin came across Taliya's face as she disappeared from what would have been Anastasia's field of view.  Anastasia rubbed her chin and moved both of her hands over her face racking her brains trying to figure this out until she felt something heavy on top of her head.  This actually brought her back to reality once more.  Something warm and heavy was sitting on top of her head.  Using her hands to investigate, she felt something soft and squishy in her hand.  

"Doesn't poow wittle Ana wish her boobies were this big?" Taliya said before leaning down to look at Anastasia with a cat-like grin upon her face.  "I know you're jealous, Ana.  But it's alright, if it's any consolation, my butt is bigger than yours too!" Taliya said as she moved her head back to avoid an uppercut coming from the blonde.  Anastasia was fuming and a strange light blue aura started to fume off of Anastasia.  

"Now now!  I was just kidding. You don't have to go all Valkyrie on me, alright?" Taliya said as she hid behind another chair.  "Besides, George wouldn't be air-worthy afterwards, right?  And you have a 'shipment' job after this yeah?" Taliya said before Anastasia's blue aura faded away.  With a sigh, Anastasia nodded her head before fixing her hair.  

"Seriously!  Put on some damn clothes, you pervert!" she said as she stormed off in a huff.  She walked out of the War Room's door and slammed it shut behind her.  Taliya then holds up 3 fingers and began to count down towards zero.  Right as soon as she lowered her index finger, which was the third finger, Anastasia came storming back into the room and shouted at Taliya.  Taliya fist-pumped in success before Ana shouted.  "And I'm properly proportioned, thank you!  You're the one that is out of proportion!" she shouted before slamming the door once again.  Taliya giggled in response and took a seat in the lead chair, swinging her fluffy tail from side-to-side feeling victorious.

Slamming the door open to the bridge, Anastasia walked in frothing at the mouth.  "The nerve of that creature!  It's not my fault I wasn't born a cow like she was.  We're going to be on a very dangerous job and she's making jokes!  The nerve!" she shouted before -- No, she doesn't need to check her equipment considering her equipment's going to be extremely useless in the Neutral Grounds.  The only piece of equipment she could bring would be the Fire Moth.  She could consider bringing Taliya, but she would probably muck everything up.  

Taking a seat at the helm, Anastasia spoke up in a louder voice.  "How much further until we reach our destination?" Ana asked the Artificial Intelligence with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"WE ARE 25 KM AWAY.  I WOULD SAY TO PREPARE YOUR COMBAT EQUIPMENT, BUT THAT ISN'T NECESSARY.  THERE IS A HELIPAD ON TOP OF THIS FACILITY.  I WILL KEEP THE ENGINES RUNNING WHEN WE GET THERE."

Sighing outwardly, Anastasia nodded her head.  "Thanks, George.  At least one person is reliable."  

"IF I MAY BE BLUNT, I DETECT AFFECTION FROM LADY TALIYA.  FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN FROM LADY TALIYA, SHE SEEMED TO--"

"That's enough.  The nerve of that woman," Anastasia said as she interrupted the computer.  "Give us a 10 km warning.  I'm going to the mess hall to get something quick to eat before we embark on this job."

"COMPLIANCE."

With that, Anastasia disappeared into the Mess Hall to where she began to scrounge for a little snack.

And Nao was then carried off on the back of his gryphon looking ill.  This caused Anastasia to panic before Nao gave her a little wave, which settled her down a bit but it still left the question wide open of:  'What the hell is Nao's deal lately?'  It's so weird to see that he had been feeling extremely sick lately while being on George.  Well, the obvious answer would be that Nao became a Dragon Slayer and that was the reason he was suffering from motion sickness, but even if you told Anastasia that he was a Slayer, she would have never made the association between the two.  Nor would she really know what a slayer is, having never heard about them nor encountered one before.  


Her eyes just followed Nao as he was taken to the open deck of the ship on his gryphon.  All she could do in response was wave back.  Though, the look of confusion in her eyes said enough to Nao, if he even noticed her look, to know that she had no idea what's going on.  

The lights within the ship changed from the usual white color to a red color.  This could only mean one thing, they have reached the Neutral Grounds.  It was from this point on that the two had to rely on their own strength and their own strength only.  They couldn't use or rely on magic to help them with their job; only their bodies, weapons, and pets; which, thankfully, the two of them had.  Slapping her cheeks, Anastasia nodded and turned back towards the room she came from and opened the door.  "Let's get ready, Taliya.  No joking around this time alright?  I'm basically just here since I can't use requip while in the Neutral Grounds.  I'm going to have to really rely on you in this job, alright?  So can you please take this job seriously?" Anastasia pleaded.  She was met with a dismissive wave from the fluffy-tailed creature.  "Yeah, yeah.  I'll be serious this time.  But you're gonna give me some sweet, sweet--" she said before Anastasia interrupted.

"Gross.  Alright, fine.  But I really need your help this time.  Just be sure you have my back this time around," she said before closing the door and heading back towards her room.  She wasn't sure why she was getting dressed in her usual battle rattle.  She hoped that Nao would be up-to-par for this job and that whatever ailed him would subside the moment they hit the helipad.  Anastasia got dressed in her usual attire only to look in the mirror and nod her head.  She had to get focused for this job.  Reaching over, Anastasia tapped The Fire Moth, causing it to spring alive with bleeps, bloops, and blerps.  Having the weapon in standby mode while traveling made it easier to transport and not have to worry about the internal battery.  

Well, then again, the internal battery with The Fire Moth integrates with "The Hymn" so that isn't an issue, but that mumbo-jumbo could be explained at a later time.  Thankfully, however, this weapon ran off of technology and not magic.  The only thing that The Fire Moth can't do is integrate with "The Hymn" is all so no super cool moves with this thing here.  

"ATTENTION!  ONCE WE HAVE ARRIVED ONTO THE HELIPAD ON TOP OF THE BUILDING, I WOULD LIKE TO BRIEF YOU ALL ON YOUR OBJECTIVES.  PLEASE MEET ON THE BRIDGE AS SOON AS WE LAND FOR THE JOB BRIEFING." called out George.  This was strange.  George actually leading the briefing?  Perhaps touching the building would allow George to be able to map it?  That was a bit strange.  

"Alright, that's fine.  What's our estimated time of arrival?" she asked the artificial intelligence.

"FIVE MINUTES."

"Alright, I'll head to the bridge immediately then," she said before walking ordering the Fire Moth to hover around her like it usually does and walked out of her room.  She knocked on the door to the conference room that she was in just moments prior and opened up the door.  "Let's get to the bridge."

"Yeah, yeah!  I heard," Taliya said as she peeled herself off of the chair and sauntered her way passed Anastasia and towards the bridge.  Ana rubbed the bridge of her nose, hoping Nao is alright.

Anastasia and Taliya made their way to the bridge only to see Nao differently.  A couple questions popped up into her head.  The very fact that he looked like he was being escorted out on a stretcher (or rather his gryphon) and that they were in the Neutral Zone and Nao didn't have any memory problems or react violently to being in the Zone.  However, him being chipper was, indeed, a refreshing sight to behold.  It wasn't every day that Nao seemed to look really happy.  If anything, she actually got used to the nervous and rather miserable Nao.  But this chipper Nao is actually the side of him she would much rather see.  

Taliya was about to hop towards Nao, only for Ana to grab what little clothing she had and pulled her back down to the floor.  "Not right now, Taliya," she said before the forward movement of the airship came to a stop before a vertical descent was slowly made.  However, unlike moving forward, the ship had to move slowly and more deliberately.  Encountering wind-sheer may be disastrous for the ship, so it took the ship down slowly towards the helipad a distance below them.  

"Have a seat, Taliya, and take it easy.  And keep your hands to yourself," she demanded out of the creature only to have a response of arms crossed just under her large bust, using her arms to push them up more than they already were.  "God damnit, put some clothes on, seriously," she said before she turned to look towards her teammate, Nao.  

"You seem, strangely alright for being in the Neutral Grounds, Nao.  Something new happen or something?" she asked.  She was legitimately confused and wanted to know what Nao did to get rid of his pains that the Neutral Grounds had once given to him.  Perhaps what he did to alleviate his pain from entering the Neutral Grounds is what causes him to be motion sick; or at least that was one of Ana's observation.  To be honest, that isn't quite the trade-off considering that he's on George more often than he would be at the Neutral Grounds.  

"I know, right?  Seems way too easy, doesn't it Nao?  That's what's been bothering me about this job.  Why this job is such a high rank if all it is is simple retrieval.  I think something is super fishy about this job."  It was strange for Anastasia to be flustered at a time like this while Nao seemed to be more calm and collect.  Something definitely changed about the guy.  Ana actually quite likes the more confident and chipper Nao.

Thanks to the team's finickiness about certain locations, finding a place to call home was difficult.

Magnolia was out.  Nobody liked that stupid place.
Neutral Grounds WAS out.  Almyra and Nao had issues.
Hargeon and other port cities were out of the question due to the high salinity.
The Phoenix Mountains -- Fuck that place.
Other places just seemed a bit out of the way.  Realistically the Sabertooth Guild Hall would be the most ideal location to have the team's home-base, but the local guild wouldn't appreciate that much.  The cities located near the center were Era and Capital Crocus.  While they were great locations, they were too high profile and Ana didn't want to be right under their noses due to her pirating activities.  She wouldn't want too many of the people that work in the capital getting too comfortable with her face.

And after a moment, giving the two long enough to have a short conversation, the ship finally landed on the helipad on top of the building they were the infiltrate.  

"DOWNLOADING..." the artificial intelligence simply stated as a progress bar quickly counted from 1% to 100% in a few moments.  Afterward, a three dimensional projection of the inside of the building could be seen.  There were two points of interest highlighted in the three dimensional hologram.  Anastasia walked over towards the two points and cleared her throat.  

"What, exactly, are these two points?" Ana asked.  There was a point of light that seemed to be underground.  

"THIS POINT IS WHERE YOU MUST RECONNECT THE POWER.  ONCE YOU HAVE REACHED OBJECTIVE 1, WHICH IS IN THE SECOND
BASEMENT, YOU ARE TO REACH OBJECTIVE 2.  AT OBJECTIVE 2, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO BRING THE FIRE MOTH TO HACK INTO THE MAINFRAME AND WITHDRAW INFORMATION ON PROJECT: BEOWULF.  WITHDRAW INFORMATION ON PROJECT: BEOWULF AND GET OUT."

What made it worse was the fact that the back-up generator was in the second basement while the server room was in the 27th floor.  This building stood at 39 floors.  It makes sense why they would land on the roof instead of the bottom floor.  But wouldn't it have been easier to drop them off at the bottom floor so they could work their way up?  What Ana missed in the projection, however, were things that appeared to be cages opened up as well as smaller dots of lights moving around.  Perhaps Nao could inquire on that.

"Hey!  Wouldn't it have been easier to have dropped us off at the bottom floor if we had to just go all the way down anyway?"

It was interesting to learn that Nao no longer had his photographic memory.  Strange; did something happen to his eyes to cause the difference in power or did he hit his head super hard?  Regardless of the answer, it wouldn't change how she felt about the guy.  He was reliable and ready/rearing to go on any job.  That was motivation and dedication that Anastasia liked.  Maybe one day she will be able to trust him enough to tell him about her secret second-life as a sky pirate.  It wasn't exactly information she wanted to divulge to the group in fear of turning them off.  For now, she needed their friendship; for if she didn't have their friendship, she would have nothing.  It was quite the lonely existence to say the least.

Missing people?  Right!  Anastasia must have completely bypassed seeing the small blips of light.  Perhaps what Nao said was correct.  She nodded her head a bit and smiled to Nao with a little less confidence from before.  "If that's the truth, then we have to help them get out, right?" she asked.  It was only the smartest thing to do and the most ethical thing to do.  It seemed that Anastasia and Nao had a habit of rescuing helpless people since the Rising Tides event.  Instead, however, they had a firm objective instead of just saving people's lives this time.  Well, her conscience wouldn't allow her to keep people stranded that really need help.  

"THOSE POINTS OF LIGHT ARE ORIGIN UNKNOWN.  CANNOT DETECT WHETHER THEY ARE BIOLOGICAL SIGNALS OR NOT.  THE SAFEST ASSUMPTION IS TO ASSUME THOSE POINTS OF LIGHT ARE HOSTILE," spoke the artificial intelligence named George.  Anastasia and Taliya tilted their heads a moment.  "Hostile?" Anastasia simply asked.  Well, if something in there was truly hostile, it does make sense why people would appear here only to never return.  It was then, that Nao explained the reason why the ship landed at the top.  That was a very good point, actually.  What made this job worse was due to the Neutral Zone's nullifying effect, Ana couldn't just fly down to the bottom, break in, and reboot the generator only to fly back up and hack the system with The Fire Moth.  And due to the lack of communication, Ana and Nao would have to stick together throughout this entire thing with the intelligence that there may be hostile forces around.  

Normally, for a job like this, she wouldn't be bringing Taliya, but she can't fight on her own power and relied too heavily on her requip to do the fighting.  She also wouldn't be able to mount an offensive if she was using The Fire Moth as a means of hacking into the system to get the information needed.  This was quite the precarious situation.  Anastasia's lips tilted to the side in annoyance and worry about the objectives they had to fulfill.  Nao decided to head towards the Cargo Bay, which was the launching point for all of their missions; including this one.  

Anastasia sighed outward and tried to compose herself.  Their previous job in the Haunted Village still hadn't left her system.  She was afraid that if something like that were to happen here, she may lose her composure and endanger the rest of the team.  After Nao left, Ana turned to look towards Taliya with a grave look upon her face.  

"I'm seriously going to have to depend on you for this one, Taliya.  I don't want to lock up in fear or do anything stupid in case something scary happens inside.  If it does, I--" Ana said before Taliya slapped her on the back with a big smile on her face.

"Of course, silly.  It's my job to keep you safe and sound.  And don't worry, you'll get over it," Taliya said with a brief pause.  "Maybe."  Well, Taliya's words didn't have a very positive effect on Anastasia and it didn't help re-assure her resolve to perform this job without hindrance to her own psyche.  She was worried that her crippling fears would get herself, Taliya, Nao, or Charlie into a lot of danger or even get them killed.  No.  That's not something she wanted to have weighing down on her conscience.  Anastasia forced out a smile before leaning in to hug Taliya for a moment.  "Thanks again," she said only for Taliya to nod.  

Releasing one another, Anastasia and Taliya walked to the Cargo Bay only to nod at Nao.  Ana's hands were rumbling.  The fact that she couldn't use magic also terrified her, having to rely on others for this one to keep her safe while she uses The Fire Moth to perform the second half of the job.  

"The generator should be easy.  It should be a simple throw-switch in a gray box.  We need to stay together the entire time since we can't keep in contact," she simply stated before the cargo door fell down causing Anastasia and Taliya to run down the ramp.  The two of them found themselves on the roof of the building.  The only way in would be through a door on the roof that lead to a stairwell.  Taking the lead, Taliya grabbed a hold of the door knob and opened the door with her hand cocked back.  However, upon opening the door, the area was clear.  

With a sigh outward, Taliya turned to look towards Anastasia, Nao, and Charlie.  "Everything's clear," she said in her normal tone of voice.  She wasn't very loud in the event that the little blips that were floating around were, indeed, hostile in nature.

After the room was cleared, Nao decided to take point.  This caused Anastasia to pause for a moment and look at Nao with an impressed face.  This was probably the first time she had seen Nao with enough clout to take the lead.  Yes, Anastasia was quite happy with this result.  Perhaps it had something to do with his change of magic; maybe it gave him a bit more confidence.  Normally Ana is the more gung-ho type, but without the ability to use her armor, she is left relying on The Fire Moth and Taliya to carry her weight.  While the two are pretty dangerous as a pair, she needed to ensure The Fire Moth remained safe throughout the entirety of this job, considering it will be her 'less-than-portable' usb hacking device.

Nao took point and Ana and Taliya followed.  Taliya whispered out something absolutely ludicrous.  "I love doing sneaky missions like this.  Makes me feel like I'm stalking a cute guy, like Naonao <3, to pounce on.  Oo, I bet he'd enjoy that," she said in hushed tones, quiet enough to where only Ana would hear.  This caused Ana to turn around and glare at her for a moment.  If a look could kill, Ana would have slain Taliya and obliterated her soul.  "Now isn't the time or place to divert blood to the wrong area, Taliya.  God damnit, focus, will ya?" she said before Nao stopped, noticing debris forcing them to divert through one of the floors.  

Well, the fact that they had to divert to one of the floors wasn't very good for them.  If there were hostiles running around, they would be more-than-open to an attack from these vicious creatures.  Anastasia bit her lower lip out of nervousness before slowly following Nao and Charlie into the room.  

The floor looked old with ancient technology.  What exactly were these people doing with such ancient computers?  Well, at least these were ancient when compared to Isayev Heavy Industry standards.  Ana walked by one of the desks to notice a cubicle with multiple pictures hanging on the 'wall' of the cubicle.  The pictures were mostly of children and their artwork along with a couple pictures on a computer monitor with a man and a woman, with hearts over the man's face.  This was obviously a woman's cubicle judging by the artwork on the picture.  The emergency lights for the building flickered on and off, as if the back-up generator (used only for emergencies when the electricity is cut-off) is starting to die off.  

This caused Anastasia and Taliya to pause and simply look at the lights.  As Anastasia and Taliya were concentrating on the lights flickering, a sound of scratching could be heard on the floor below them.  This caused the hairs on Anastasia's body to stand on end, causing Anastasia to wrap her arms around Taliya.  Her knees began to shake.  "Did you hear that?" Ana asked in a hushed tone.  She looked up at Taliya and shrugged her shoulders.  "Probably a rat?" she responded with uncertainty.  After regaining her senses, Anastasia looked around to see that Nao wasn't around.  

The scratching noise could be heard again, this time coming from the walls.  "There's no way that can be a rat!  Rats aren't that big!" she shouted in a whispered tone.  "And where is Nao!?" Anastasia asked before releasing Taliya and briskly, but gently moving across the room only to hear a hissing sound, forcing Anastasia to accelerate her stealthy movement out of pure fear.  Anastasia moved to the stair well only to hear the same hissing sound and scratching noise reverberate through the stair well.  She quickly ran to close the distance between her and Nao as the group slowly descended the stairs.  

"Did you hear that?" she whispered to Nao.  Her back was hunched over in a rather passive posture denoting fear.  If she was an animal, her tail would be tucked between her legs.  Taliya, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered by the scratching sounds in the least.  Her tail was swinging back and forth non-chalantly.  Ana and the group continued down the multiple flights of stairs until they reached the 28th floor.  However, it would be the end of the line as the stairwell to the 27th floor and lower were... missing.  Wonderful.

Stopping at the edge of the stair well, Anastasia looked over the edge to see nothing but darkness going straight down to the ground floor.  While this would be an opportune time for Nao to float all the way down, Anastasia would be in a more sticky situation, trying to get down to the 27th floor, which was the server room.  What made this even MORE sticky was the fact that if she needed to make a quick escape, she wouldn't be able to due to her lack of agility and strength outside of her armor.  She could, essentially, hang on to the Fire Moth, but that all depends on the Fire Moth's ability to lift Anastasia's weight and from previous experience, that isn't a possibility.  What could work is if Taliya throwing Anastasia up, but then again, her physical strength to catch herself on the stair well hindered her from doing that.

"Well, damn.  What do you want to do, Nao?" she whispered to her teammate.  They could split up and conquer this on two separate fronts, but that may leave them vulnerable to attack.  However, they could accomplish the objectives at a much faster rate than going along as a team; however, doing that would be the safer option.  

Nao gestured to Anastasia to remain focused.  Nodding her head, she took a deep breath to recompose herself.  She was capable of hearing her heart beating as she took the breath in, feeling her limbs quiver like a leaf.  She shut her eyes and simply stated.  "Don't be a wimp.  Don't be a wimp.  You've done scarier jobs.  Don't be a wimp," she chanted silently to herself.  After facing the endless tunnel downwards, Nao suggested going down there alone.  This left Anastasia with an uneasy feeling.

However, Anastasia didn't see any other way this could play out.  Instinctively, she rushed up to Nao and gave him a hug.  This wasn't mainly for him, but this was more for her own comfort than anything.  Regardless of Nao's reaction, just holding someone calmed her down, if even just a little bit.  "Be careful, Nao."  If there were any other way, she would have quickly protested as splitting up would be suicide.  But he had the ability to fly down and simply throw a switch while Anastasia had to remain up here to hack into the server for the information that they needed.  Releasing Nao, Anastasia pet Charlie with a smile.  "Keep him safe, alright?" she said before nodding towards Nao, feeling less terrified than she did earlier thanks to hugging Nao (even if it was against his will and possibly made him mortified.  

Splitting a mission into two parts was always a scary thing, especially when placed into a scary story scenario.  For all they knew, they could be repeating events from several books and manga she had read before.  It was probably her hyperactive imagination that made her feel more terrified than more people.  But Anastasia and Taliya had said their goodbyes only for Taliya to remove her grip from The Fire Moth, letting it roam free for the first time this entire job.  Anastasia poked Taliya's side, causing her to giggle a bit.

"I need you to get that door open.  I'll try to hover down on The Fire Moth. Think you can manage that?" she asked before Taliya nodded with a big smile.  "And do it quietly," Anastasia had to add before Taliya got a confused look on her face.  It's as if she had no idea how to do something like busting down a door quietly.  Standing on the edge of what was left of the stair well, Taliya looked down into the darkened abyss before turning to look towards Ana.  

"You know, if I fall, I probably won't live that," she said before Anastasia thought for a moment.  With a quick grumble, she nodded.  Yeah, Taliya was right to exercise caution.  There was no need to risk someone's life needlessly.  She turned her head towards The Fire Moth and nodded her head.  "Find a way in there, alright?" she asked before The Fire Moth spun around a couple times and hovered down to the door that she had issues with 1 floor below them.  The weapon hovered and looked over the door, noticing it was locked.  A strong electronic beam came from the weapon, quickly melting the metal in the door before it finally opened.  

The weapon quickly levitated upwards.  "That's a good Fire Moth," she said praising the weapon.  "Taliya, mind taking point?" she simply added before Taliya licked her lips and took a step back to get a running start.  With a few steps forward, she jumped towards the wall that the door was on and went splat against the wall.  A little grunt could be heard from Taliya as she slid down the wall only to worm her way into the door.  Her hair was disheveled and her clothing dusty, Taliya poked her head out the door and gave a thumbs up.  

Anastasia's heart raced.  "This is just like that damn pass on the mountain.  You can do this, Ana," she said before grabbing The Fire Moth in both hands and took a leap of faith.  The Fire Moth did what it could to resist gravity only to fail, causing Anastasia to begin a free fall.  At the last moment, a hand extended out and grabbed Ana's as she freely dangled down the shaft of the stair well.  Taliya grabbed a hold of Anastasia's hand and what would have been a perilous moment was saved by her trusted guardian.  

Anastasia breathed heavily and grumbled.  "Oh crap!  Good catch, Taliya.  Thank goodness!" she said before being pulled up by the beastly woman.  Upon being pulled up, she released The Fire Moth and praised it for it's work as well.  If that thing didn't resist gravity as much as it did, Anastasia would be laying at the bottom of this pile in a pool of her own blood, guts, and shattered bones.  Shaking her head, she walked inside of the room and closed the door to the stairwell behind them.  However, due to how it was burnt open, the door swung right back open.

Inside, Anastasia saw a large grouping of super computers behind another door.  This door, however, was opened unlike the stair well door as this door was electronically locked.  "Let's get inside real quick," Anastasia said, corralling herself, Taliya, and The Fire Moth into the room and closed the door.  While inside, the three of them looked around the massive super computers to try to figure out what the server names were to decide which server would have the information they needed.  

The three walked spread out and looked through the server room only to look at the labels posted above each of the servers.  While they were looking, Anastasia stopped to hear a scratching and a quiet growl.  This caused another chill to go up Anastasia's spine.  It seemed they weren't alone here.  Anastasia stopped for a moment and turned to go look for Taliya.  However, due to the maze that is this server room and the fact that she should remain silent so not to attract attention, Anastasia swallowed hard and continued to look for what she needed all the while continuing to hear the scratching and growling.  While it didn't sound like it came from the same room as them, it still gave her the willies knowing that whatever made that sound was REALLY close to them.  

Anastasia and Taliya continued to look for something that might actually have the information they are looking for.  As the two continued on through the labyrinth, they eventually converged upon one another at a single door just outside of the server room labeled "Administrative Room".  There was a window on the door, have of the glass shattered and scattered across the floor.  The handle on the outside was destroyed by something.  Another scraping sound could be heard, this time from the floor above them.  It was actually DIRECTLY above them, as they could track the location of what they heard just by the sound alone.  A chill ran up Anastasia's spine as she simply looked up and followed the sound.  It seemed to be pacing around a circle above them like a vulture awaiting it's prey to die.

Taking the initiative, Taliya reached her arm into the door and opened it from the other side, taking care to not cut herself on the broken glass panel.  Normally, she would just break the door down, but due to the complicated and terrifying nature of the current job, she needed to take everything slowly and quietly.  It wasn't until Taliya heard the sound of the scraping circling above them did she begin to really worry about something hostile being around them.  Moving her arm out from the little hole made by the glass, she pushed the door open, granting the two of them, as well as The Fire Moth that Anastasia had with her.  She clutched it firmly, like a stuffed teddy, as if to get around the anxiety of being in this place.

Normally, Anastasia would be gung-ho from the beginning, but she knows her limits and not having access to her spells made her extremely vulnerable.  She isn't a fan of vulnerability and thus feels terrifyingly weak in this state.  Fortunately, for her, she has a strong network of friends and tools that can assist her and not make her feel as vulnerable.  Thankfully, she didn't have to go at this alone.  If this was just her, she would be here for hours, hiding at every sound.  The fact that Nao is with her to handle some of the lighter work while she does more of the technical work makes this job infinitely easier.  Taliya and the Fire Moth are also here to keep her protected, so she doesn't necessarily feel naked in terms of battling.  Not that fighting here would mean anything since these things are practically immortal anyway.

Once the group entered the office, the lights flickered on and the electricity charged up, turning on the computer in the Administrator office.  A front cover image of a black hydra could be seen on it with a log-in screen.  This seemed like the information they had to gather.  Anastasia released the Fire Moth and began the hacking protocol.  The Fire Moth simply stayed in place for a moment as lights flashed before initiating the hack.  The screen on the computer changed drastically before it showed a screen for 'information upload' on it with a progress bar.  

It was at that time, that the circling above them had stopped.  After a brief moment, Anastasia and Taliya stopped and looked up for a moment, waiting to hear the sound of the scraping continue.  The fact that the scraping was directly above them gave them a sense of security, knowing exactly where it was at the time.  

"Where'd it go?" Anastasia whispered towards Taliya, not taking her eyes off of the ceiling.

"I don't know.  It was here a second ago," Taliya responded in similar hushed tones.  There was even more silence.  Anastasia instinctively walked over to Taliya and hugged one of her arms.  Her skin was cold and clammy with goosebumps rising.  She shook involuntarily as she dug her fingernails into Taliya's bicep.  Taliya bit her lower lip to mask the pain with something else.  Suddenly, there was a loud shriek with the scraping taking off from directly above them towards the other end of the room, as if making it's way towards the the stairwell.  

This caused Anastasia to scream out in fear, only to release Taliya's arm and cover her mouth, letting out muffled screams of terror.  The sounds were so sudden.  Anastasia took to hiding within the office, placing her hands over the back of her head and squeezing her eyelids shut.  "This isn't real.  This isn't real. This is just a horror movie.  This isn't real," Anastasia began to say in complete denial.  

Taliya remained cool as a pickle.  She kept her back against the wall of the office, trying to remain hidden.  The Fire Moth continued it's download of the information within the computer.  It had already gone through the simple hacking of the weak cyber security protection.  It's progress was at a mere 15%.  Anastasia opened her eyes only to look at the computer to see the progress.  Only 15%?!  Anastasia had to stick around until after The Fire Moth reached 100% before escaping from this hell.  

"Nao, please save me," she said in a whimpering voice.  Afterwards, there was silence.  A moment of silence to give Anastasia a little breather before a loud CLONK sound could be heard echoing from the stairwell and through the server room they had passed through.  A shrieking sound could be heard as well.  

"Shit!  Oh shit, it's here!  It's here," Anastasia said, covering her ears.  The sound of scraping could be heard moving around through the server room.  Taliya turned her head and got a look at the statue.  The moment her eyes looked upon the statue, it instantly stopped.  

"What the hell is that?" Taliya asked before waving towards Ana to come see.  "Come here, Ana.  It stopped the moment I looked at it.  It's... a statue of an angel," Taliya stated before Anastasia peeked out from behind Taliya to see the statue of the angel far off in the server room.  That, most certainly, wasn't there before.  That must have been the scraping sound they were hearing the entire time while they were here.  Anastasia closed her eyes and hid behind Taliya.  "I need you to protect me from that," she said before Taliya took her eyes off of the creature to slap some sense into Anastasia.  

"Get a grip on yourself...  Oh shit," Taliya said as she turned and looked back in the server room, trying to find the statue.  It seemed to have vanished.  Her eyes scanned the room only to notice it coming from her right side.  Her eyes locked in on it once more and again, the statue stopped.

"Anastasia!  I need you to calm your tits and help me out here.  This thing won't move as long as we look at it.  So we'll have to take shifts keeping an eye on this thing while The Fire Moth continues it's download.  One of us will rest our eyes and the other will look.  Once the one looking starts to feel fatigued, the other will take over.  We need to do this, Ana.  Grow some balls, already!" she stated.  Anastasia shook uncontrollably, but she knew Taliya was right.

With a nod of her head.  Ana pointed to Taliya.  "You're first!" she said.  She opened her eyes to look at the computer once more, The Fire Moth was at 25% completed.  Keep going, Fire Moth!  Please!  Do it faster!  

55%.....
60%....
65%....
So freaking close!  The Fire Moth continued the file transfer from the company maintenance computer, which is linked to all of the servers, with the information necessary for the completion of this job.  Anastasia began to rock back and forth, sweating profusely from the creature just outside of this office.  A shout was made from Taliya.  "Ana.  I need a replacement!" she shouted before Anastasia turned her head to look at the creature, giving Taliya time to blink and close her eyes until it was her turn.  Anastasia's heartrate elevated sky-high from being completely terrified.  It's to the point where she's starting to feel numb.  Next time, Nao is going to pick the jobs.  This one is far too stressful.  This doesn't help her already crippling fear that she obtained from not being able to help Almyra, leading her to losing a hand at the wrist.  

Now she is being crippled by the fear of the monster that was just mere feet away from them.  The sight of this creature was clearly visible now that the lights had been turned on.  Why, oh why did they take this job?  Anastasia cleared her throat and asked to be tagged out, to which Taliya took over and opened her eyes.  During this time, Anastasia looked at the computer screen.  

85%....
90%.....
95%....
99%.....
Titan Heavy Industries Firewall initiated.  A final line of defense against hackers and intruders.  "Crap!  Break through that firewall!" she demanded.  

"What?  What's a firewall?"  Taliya asked, keeping her eyes on the creature.  It was a shame that they had to maintain direct eye contact.  

"God damnit!" Anastasia shouted.  "Taliya, I need you to hold on a bit longer.  I need to manually crack through this firewall," she said before Taliya whimpered.  

"Don't bullshit me, Anastasia!  Tape me out real quick," Taliya stated.  Her eyes began to grow dry, raising one eye above the rest.  Using a sense of urgency, Anastasia jumped up and ran towards the window just behind her to look directly at the statue.  "Go!" she said giving Taliya a moment to clear her eyes and get them extra moist.  She's going to be going through this one for a while, only being tapped out during the break-in when absolutely necessary.  

"Taliya!" Anastasia shouted before Taliya poked her head out once more, staring at the ugly face of the stone abomination.  "Clear!" she said before Anastasia sat back down in her seat and began to type away multiple lines of code trying to override the Firewall put in place by her family's competitors from Bosco.  Anastasia quietly chanted out explitives while she was cracking through only for the screen to turn green and the download to complete in The Fire Moth.  

Grabbing the machine, she held it in her hand like a plasma rifle.  Turning towards the window, she pointed the weapon towards the statue and shot at it, destroying the window she was standing in front of.  The pure force of the plasma blast from the electronic weapon only knocked the statue over.  

"Taliya!  Push over those servers and leave just a little bit of it open so we can both see it.  Think you can handle that?" Ana asked as she lowered The Fire Moth once again, holding it like a woman clutching something to her chest.  

"Yeah!  I got it!" she said before walking around, pushing the extremely heavy servers around in a way that it could fall over, leaving a portion of the statue visible from their current angle and in the angle that they'll leave out of.  She stacked the servers on top in multiple ways.  There was enough weight on this creature to where it wouldn't/shouldn't be able to break out and escape.  Taliya closed her eyes for a moment before Anastasia called for a replacement.  

Once the replacement happened, Ana took the time to move around the large pile of servers until she was on the same side as Taliya.  "Move backwards slowly.  Move directly backwards," she said, lacing her fingers into Taliya's hands as the two of them slowly moved back.  "Switch," Anastasia stated before the two of them alternated who was looking and who wasn't looking.

The two continued to alternate until they made it towards what used to be the stairwell.  They had to elevate themselves up one floor.  However, in order to do this, they'd have to break eye contact.  However, Anastasia was in luck!  The Fire Moth was actually strong enough to lift itself and Anastasia up.  Using this to her advantage, Anastasia used her mental link with the weapon to slowly lift her up onto the next floor.  With a huff and a puff, Anastasia turned her eyes towards the door.

"Get ready for a jump scare, Ana," Taliya shouted out before the two of them coordinated a perfect time for Taliya to jump.  "Alright, Taliya!  Jump in 3... 2... 1..." she said as she opened her eyes.  Taliya jumped up, landing softly beside Anastasia.  In a brief moment, the statue seemed to appear directly at the door, stopping right at the ledge.  

Anastasia squeeked for a moment before hearing an ear-piercing screech directly behind them.  They done fucked up.  They startled the witch.  "Taliya?"

"Yeah?"

"What the hell was that noise?"

"Something... Scary," she simply stated before the screech happened again.  Taliya grabbed Anastasia's hand and yanked her up the stairwell.  The sound of scraping could be heard ont he stairwell as eye-contact was broken and the sound of the witch wailing could be heard as well.  Taliya used her agility and strength to leap from floor to floor, quickly avoiding the weeping angel and the witch.  Taliya took a strange path as she took the two of them downwards, causing the witch to run directly into the weeping angel, causing it to fall backwards in utter pain.  

"???" The two were dumb-founded at what just happened.  The moment the witch bumped into the weeping angel, it fell over in pain.  The two of them could use this to their advantage.  "Get the hell out of there, Nao!  Let's go!" Anastasia shouted while in the stairwell.  She knew that Nao probably wasn't able to hear what she just said, but she wasn't in the position to actually help Nao.  Anastasia wants to go back and save Nao!  

"Stop being an idiot, Anastasia," Taliya said trying to stop the blonde from squirming around.  "You go down there, and both of you will die!" Taliya stated before Anastasia froze in fear.  "No!" she said as she continued to squirm around.  "Nao's NOT going to die!" she said as she continued to squirm before Taliya simply headbutted Anastasia, knocking her unconscious.  Thankfully, due to the pressure that Taliya is holding Ana, the most valuable piece in this job, The Fire Moth, was more than secured in her hands.

All that's left now is to ascend the remaining floors until they arrive back to where they need to.  Taliya ran backwards, trying to retrace her steps.  She knew she was faster than the witch and much more agile, so she didn't worry too much about that.  However, it was the statue that she had problems with.  Though, the witch DID make escaping 10 times more difficult.