Vai must have rolled a twenty on her stealth check because she was moving through the office like a shadow. She’d already taken out three of the ten robots, with Maphira offering her an excellent distraction from atop the photocopier. She could see the woman clearly from her current position, standing tall with her long, red hair flowing down as if she were some sort of incredible, robot-slaying demon. Vai found herself holding her breath, then shook her head to return her focus on something more important than admiring her old crush: living.
As another robot turned its attention toward Maphira, Vai snuck around and prepared to fire a laser into its back. Thankfully, there were plenty of places to take cover with this office’s commercial design. Melbourne office design had done Vai few favours over her life, but this layout was nothing short of a miracle.
The robot didn’t notice Vai at all as she crept behind it, so she placed her laser blaster against its back and fired. The robot short circuited, collapsing before her.
Vai heard heavy steps from behind. She didn’t need to turn to know one of the other robots had snuck up on her. Perhaps she hadn’t been as stealthy as she would have liked to believe. This seemed more like a natural one kind of result.
“Vai!” Maphira called out, leaping forward.
The woman hopped across cubicle walls, cutting a path straight toward Vai. Lasers fired at Maphira from every direction, causing Vai’s throat to constrict with fear for her. But Maphira dodged them all. Vai suspected nobody had ever used commercial fitouts close to Melbourne as effectively as Maphira did now.
Vai turned, finding that the robot behind her was now focused on the treat of Maphira, so she fired her laser at it, shutting the thing down. Meanwhile, Maphira took out two other robots on her way to Vai, before the women reunited at the centre of the office.
“Nice one,” Vai said. “What do you say we get out of here and see what ol’ Con has for us next?”
Maphira nodded. “My thoughts exactly.”