Despite not being made by Noa, and despite not even being turned on, the military-use powered suit was more than enough to absorb the impact of my landing.
After the impact, I couldn’t hear anything going on around me. I knew I’d successfully been launched into the river from the 83rd floor, but that was it.
The problem is what to do now. Is the gun I was given safe in my belt? After leaving the suit, I’ll need to shake the water out of it, but it’s Russian-made, so it should still shoot. I’ll be in trouble if it won’t shoot. Then I’ll need to remember everything Macho Man taught me about how to flee an enemy within a city.
“Let me think... I can’t carelessly fire a weapon in crowded civilian areas,” I murmured. “Just drawing a weapon will cause a panic, and that panic will attract the attention of my pursuers. I also need to make sure I don’t act suspicious. My pursuers will be looking out for people acting strangely.”
This is fine. I know I can escape. And if I don’t call for an extraction team from somewhere safe, Anton and I could both die. All right, here goes.
Having mentally prepared myself, I used the suit’s emergency purge system, causing a hatch to be vigorously blown off the suit. The suit immediately began to fill with water.
Even though it was August, the water was still cold. I had no choice but to endure it as I held my breath and waited for the force of water flowing in to subside so I could exit the suit.
Looking up, I could see the lights of Moscow shining on the surface of the water.
According to the lieutenant colonel, the water was 15 meters deep, so I didn’t think I’d have trouble holding my breath long enough to reach the surface. I kicked my legs and struggled toward the surface, but my clothes were wet and heavy.
At length, I broke through the surface. Barely able to keep my head above water, I swam as far as a waterway that connected to the river and grabbed onto a ladder that went up to the shore.
“I thought I was going to die,” I said, gasping for air. “No way am I ever doing that again.”
The water that had entered my nose was still stinging as I climbed the ladder up to a footpath where I found a woman in her 50s watching me with suspicion.
I smiled awkwardly and tried to explain myself.
“I got drunk and fell into the river,” I told her in Russian, taking care not to speak with an accent. “The water’s so cold at night.”
She was still watching me in surprise. “I heard a loud noise that sounded like something falling into the river and came out to take a look.” She spoke to me like a mother scolding a child. “You know that falling into the river while drunk could kill you? And you’re just a boy. You should be at home in bed.”
I apologized to her, then waved goodbye and walked away. Ahead of me stood the city of Moscow under the night sky.
When I last checked the time, it was just after 1 AM. I guess it’s around 2 AM now? It should be easy to move through Moscow while it’s dark and there’s no one around. I’ll get to the address Anton gave me, pick up some money and clean clothes, and then I’ll board a taxi from an area where there are a lot of people around. The next step will be to get to a train station and buy a ticket in cash...
I went over everything in my head as I stood waiting for a crosswalk signal to change to green. While I waited, I noticed a man stop beside me, using his personal terminal. When the signal turned green, we both began to walk across the road.
“Keep looking straight ahead,” the man murmured, as if talking to himself. “Turn left when you’re across the road. From there, keep going straight for 20 meters and then turn right. Go straight and then into the third alleyway on the right.”
He then quickened his pace and reached the other side ahead of me before turning right and hurrying off.
Was he a friend? I wondered. If he was with New World, I suppose he would have grabbed me.
There was no way to know whether this was one of Anton’s former colleagues. I remembered that Macho Man had once said something about the value of having the locals on your side. I didn’t have any other options, so I decided to take the risk and do as he’d said.
I turned left, walked for 20 meters, and then turned right. His directions were taking me to a part of town that I’d go so far as to call a slum. The whole area felt full of danger.
“Maybe this was a bad idea...” I muttered.
I tried not to let my anxiety show as I continued to walk forward up until the third alleyway on the right.
In the alleyway stood several provocatively dressed women. One of them was smoking a cigarette and leaning against a door. She noticed me and opened the door she was leaning on, then made a gesture with her head to invite me to enter.
As if pulled in by her gesture, I walked into the building without saying a word, and the woman entered after me.
“The boss is waiting in the room at the end of the hall,” she said. “What’d you do? Is someone out to get you?”
“I’ve upset the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization.”
“Was that meant to sound cool? Sounds dumb to me.”
She smoked the cigarette down to the filter and stubbed it out against the wall as we walked down the corridor.
Once we reached the end of the corridor, the door opened as if in response to our voices. A man as bald as Anton stepped out and handed a wad of cash to the woman.
“Good work, Svetlana,” he told her. “You can call it a day. Forget what you saw here. You’ll be safer that way.”
As Svetlana left us, he turned to me and grinned. “You’re looking a little wet. We’ll prepare clean clothes for you right away. I’m sure you’d prefer to change before speaking with the boss. This way, please, sir.”
They’re clearly on my side. I doubt this guy talks to everyone so politely. His smile looks so awkward.
I had to stop myself from laughing as I thanked him and accepted his offer.