Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System
Chapter 219: Operation Wolf Slayer. (Part 07)

Chapter 219: Operation Wolf Slayer. (Part 07)

Though the floor gates were sealed airtight, Shade was still able to notice that something was off about the other side. Kite took it upon himself to scout ahead first, and when he warned the other two to be careful, they upped their guard in preparation to face some danger, but what awaited them differed from their expectations.

The loud ringing reached their ears before they caught sight of the thick fog filling the corridor. A red glow caught their attention next, and they noticed several more farther away. Recognizing it as the light from emergency flares, the cloaked trio understood why water was raining from the ceiling, but that did little to clear their confusion.

"No good, leader." Shade said. "I can’t see anything."

The thick fog blocking their sight couldn’t possibly be natural. It filled the entire corridor and was thick enough to mess with the light from the chandeliers and other less inconspicuous sources scattered around. Without proper lighting, the shadows cast by objects and people lost their sharpness, growing far too blurry in the mind of someone with the power to perceive their shape.

"This is... troublesome..."

As he stared into the white expanse stretching before them, Raven found himself reconsidering their plans. They had yet to recover from the confusion caused by the enemy’s ability to move between floors, and now they were faced with a new power, one that couldn’t be any different.

"A water-based ability..." He muttered.

The idea that their target had accomplices sounded all the more logical.

"Should we... should we look for a different path?" Kite asked, a hint of nervousness making it to his voice.

"Shade, how far does this fog spread?" Raven asked.

"It’s limited to this floor, it seems." Shade replied. "The rooms aren’t as affected, though. It doesn’t appear to have spread beyond the corridors."

"And the target? Did he move on to the next floor?"

"No, not yet."

"Then there is no point in trying another route." Saying that, Raven took a step forward. "This is clearly an ambush so... keep your eyes peeled."

With visibility almost non-existent, the cloaked heroes advanced much slower than they would have liked. The team’s leader, Raven, took on the vanguard role as well as the burden of grinding the gears of his brain to analyze everything they came across, desperately trying to find any signs of the enemy.

"Shade, keep an eye on the surrounding rooms." He instructed.

"Got it."

They were dealing with at least three individuals: a cyborg Diver, a water magician, and a space manipulator. The last one was the most troublesome of the bunch. With how bad the visibility was, if another grenade were to be delivered to them right now, whether through phasing, teleportation, or portals, the three superheroes would have very little time to react, especially in such a dense fog.

"Hold on, I think I’m seeing something..." Said Shade. "Huh... what is... that?"

The sprinklers had just gone off so water was no longer spraying from above. The ringing of the sirens went silent as well, leaving the corridor shrouded in eerie silence in addition to the fog.

Raising his hand, Shade pointed at one of the spots painted red by the emergency flares. A vague silhouette appeared right above it, its shape visible even in the fog. Light seemed to reflect on its round surface, creating the illusion of a floating sphere the size of a football.

Kite quickly moved to Raven’s side, allowing the latter to place a hand on his shoulder. Shade walked over and did the same. Though they had yet to learn what that thing was, they all shared the same guess. Kite took out one of his throwing knives and shot it at the floating spheres, activating his ability at the same time.

BOOM!

The wall of fog dispersed in an instant, leaving behind a small pocket around the area where the emergency flare was. The trio had braced themselves for an explosion, but what they got turned out to be underwhelming, to say the least.

"That sounded like..."

"Just air." Raven finished for Kite.

From where they stood, it felt more like a balloon popping than an actual explosion. It was loud, but nothing dangerous. The dispersed fog flowed back into the empty pocket and the corridor went back to having minimum visibility once again.

"There is bound to be more." Said Raven. "Keep your eyes open."

No sooner had he said those words than another sphere appeared. It hovered slightly above ground, moving slowly while heading in their general direction. Once again, Kite took a knife and threw it at the sphere, causing another loud explosion.

In the empty pocket surrounded by fog, one of the chandeliers swayed gently, adding to the eeriness of the silence that followed. Before the fog moved to fill the clear space, another orb appeared, then another, finally giving the cloaked heroes a proper look at the mysterious orbs.

Turns out getting a clear look didn’t actually make things any clearer. The thing that had caused the previous two explosions turned out to be nothing more than a soap bubble: a thin film of liquid with air trapped inside. For a moment there it made sense. The explosions were loud but weak, after all. But when they thought about it some more, it simply didn’t make sense that popping a single bubble would cause a sound like that.

Deep in thought, Raven was too late in noticing Kite preparing to throw another knife. Another loud boom filled the corridor, and a second one followed right after, the blast from the first bubble likely causing the second one to pop.

This time, the fog was pushed farther, creating a bigger empty space. Somehow, that brought a lot more anxiety to the heroes’ hearts, and for a while, they remained rooted in place. Before they could regain their calm, a vague round silhouette appeared beyond the wall of fog. Another bubble broke through, white wisps clawing at its surface as if trying to drag it back.

A second one followed right after, but it didn’t stop there. More and more appeared, and before the fog filled the empty pocket once more, they counted about eight bubbles floating close to each other, all hearing in the same direction.

As they stood in stunned silence, Shade suddenly raised his head and turned around. The fog was still as impenetrable as ever, but he could swear that he felt it. More of the same shadows, all of them faint and circular, as if cast by a translucent round object.