Tick Tock Part Four - The Mouse Fell Down

Unmasked

"Nines!" Nines breathed a sigh of relief as he crossed the treeline and bundled Chloe against his chest. Her LED was spinning between red and yellow as she struggled to maintain control of both bodies. The situation inside the mansion was dire. Controlling two bodies while working on the security system was stressful. Her injuries were extensive and almost impossible to seal while she was spread so thin. She was also in the middle of fully transferring into her current body to ensure her third doppelgänger remained a secret. The Hickory Killer's android wasn't as advanced as she was, but it would know she had another body if it probed her. She was spread too thin to fight it off. She was mainly holding off on a self-destruct so she could feed Nines information as they walked.

"I'm pleased to find you safe. Where are they?" Chloe wasted no time as she led the way up a secondary slope. She wasn't sure how closely the android was watching the cameras along the main road. It had managed a basic connection to the security system so far in order to monitor the path up, but a full breach would be almost impossible for an android of that calibre. Advanced as it was, there was no comparison. Elijah's security system was top of the line. They'd worked on it together. This way was a little less maintained, hidden in the trees and taking a much more direct route up to the estate. It would be difficult for a human to traverse, but it was no challenge for Nines and Chloe.

"In the front parlour by the bar. Controlling all three bodies at once left us vulnerable, and I wasn't able to hold them off for as long as I'd hoped." She'd also been worried about Elijah, hoping he'd take cover and mostly stay out of the fighting. He'd let off a few shots, but tossed his gun aside once her life was threatened. She needed the software in her core body to set up the required programs before she deactivated and did a full transfer. "I should be able to lock down the estate within the next few minutes, but we need to hurry. The Hickory Killer is forcing Gavin to choose between Elijah and Kitty Dawson." Nines' silvery eyes blazed at the news. He'd suspected as much when the bodies started turning up as they did.

"What's your assessment so far?" Chloe gave him a grim look as they continued trudging upwards. The path was steep and ill-defined and they often used the surrounding foliage to help drag themselves up.

"The choice is difficult, and Elijah's doing his best to talk him out of it, but when the times comes, I can't guarantee he won't go through with it." That wouldn't look good for him. Killing the richest man in the world would turn more than a few heads. Their status as half-brothers made it even worse. Most would probably assume it was jealousy that drove him to it. There had to be more people like Yates out there who believed he'd gone willingly. Still, this was Gavin they were talking about. He took his duty to protect seriously, and throughout this ordeal, he still hadn't killed a true innocent. They didn't even have proof that no one had helped him pull the trigger. I should still treat him as an active shooter...

"How do you plan to regain entry?" Once the security system fortified the mansion, it would be impossible to break in from the outside. Luckily, that also meant that those inside would be unable to break out. They were rapidly approaching the top of the slope, which would bring them to the rear gardens opposite the conservatory.

"My hope is that once the security system is fully activated and my primary body deactivates, the Hickory Killer and his android will be too distracted to notice our approach. I can open the shutters individually, so getting inside won't be an issue for us...I just hope Connor and Colin are as lucky when they come up the main road." The mountain slope wasn't an option for them with their humans in tow, though they could always take the slope and send their humans up in the car. She'd provided them with a full map of the estate for guidance. Her chest still fluttered when she thought back to stumbling down the mountainside, praying over and over that they wouldn't check the rear cameras and see her running. Progress had been frustratingly slow. Her bodies couldn't move as fast when she was controlling all three, and her primary focus had been on those inside. She'd almost fallen multiple times, slipping and sliding down the hillside until she reached the other side of whatever jammers had been set up around the mountain. When they'd been installed, she couldn't say. It was a big job. The Hickory Killer had clearly been planning this for some time.