"So, what do we do now?" Gwen asked.
"It's clear we can't leave the hostages there," Erik said. "As far as I know, we students are the real targets, not our families, so they should be safe for the time being; that, of course, if we go to the Red Lotus Lounge," Erik said, his voice low and calm.
"We can't just sit here and do nothing," Anderson said. "My father has been taken, and if Amber's father's team can't be ready before an hour, then..."
"I know, but you have to take into account that I doubt we are strong enough to face these people. The average New Alexandria citizen's rank is MI, and we are barely at the PI level." Erik said.
"Even taking into account our powers, we won't even the field that much." Erik was referring to the fact that rare and powerful powers, if used well, were able to marginalize the difference between ranks. Nathaniel's power was an example since it allowed the young man to basically jump two ranks in power despite him officially being only at the PI level, four ranks below.
"But what can we do?" Aaron asked, his voice wavering. "We're just kids in the end; our training is far from enough to fight people who went to the military."
"We're not just kids; we are Red Palace members," Anderson said firmly. "Besides, we're the only ones who know what's happening. We have to do something since we can't contact the police, and we took a huge risk by alerting Amber's father already," the young man said while looking at Aaron, but then he turned to look at Erik as to see if he did agree.
"It's not like I don't want to help you, Anderson, but we need to be realistic. If we go, some of us will die, and there is a high chance. I'm trying not to be pessimistic, but to be honest, I think we will all die. If we really want to do this, we must come up with a plan," the awakener added.
"What if we contact the police? Maybe they have men available now, and they could rush there to help your parents." Martha suggested.
Erik shook his head. "We can't. It's not just that they might mess up and kill the hostages. The problem is that we can't trust the police themselves. There might be moles, and judging by what Nathaniel's father has been able to do until now, I strongly believe there are," Erik said.
"Then what do we do?" Amber asked with a serious look on her face.
"We have to take matters into our own hands, as I've already said," Anderson chimed in. "We have to rescue the hostages." Erik was reluctant, but if that was what his friends wanted to do, he could only provide support to them.
"How?" Martha asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Luckily, her parents were in another city, so nothing happened to them; besides, they weren't even targets, so that she could rest easy.
However, her friends' parents had been kidnapped, and she wanted to help. Benedict had the same idea.
Erik took a deep breath, his mind racing with ideas. "The first thing would be to go to the Red Lotus Lounge. That's where they're keeping them."
"But how will we get in?" Aaron asked.
"I have some ideas," Erik said. "But it will inevitably involve fighting and probably murder, and we'll have to fight our way out with a 100% chance."
The group fell silent, the weight of Erik's words sinking in. They all knew what Erik was suggesting was dangerous and risky, but they also knew it was their only option.
However, what really surprised them was the prospect of killing other human beings. They knew they were bound to since they would join the army someday, but doing it so soon was a scary prospect.
"Murder?" Floyd asked. "I don't know, man. That's not something easy to do," he added, looking at Anderson. He was sorry for his old friend, but he was in a conflicting state of mind at the moment.
"I know, but what are the alternatives? Let our friends and family die?" Anderson said, his tone a little bit stern.
"Calm down, you guys..." Erik said.
"We have been lucky enough since most of our families had been left out of the Mambas' grasp, but Mikey's and mine families weren't so lucky. Besides, there are Britney's, Adam's, and all the other families there too. If we don't help them, they will have to go to the Red Lotus Lounge alone and probably be killed along with their families. We must do something."
"I know, but..."
"Enough, guys," Erik said. His imposing and commanding tone put everyone on notice, even Gwen. The young woman observed Erik and noticed how much he did change during these months; he was another person, no longer the shy and scared person he once was. He now had the aura of a leader.
Floyd spoke up first. "This is insane, Anderson. I don't want to offend you or the others, but how are we supposed to take on a mafia group?"
Benedict chimed in, "Yeah, we're just a bunch of 15-year-old kids, after all. We don't have any experience with this kind of thing without taking into account these guys' strengths."
Amber put a hand on Floyd's shoulder. "I know it's scary, but Anderson is right; we can't just sit around and do nothing. We have to try at least to save their parents."
Erik looked at his girlfriend with conflicting emotions as he heard her saying those words. If Amber decided to go, she would regardless of what he said, and he wasn't willing to let her go without him.
Since the majority of people wanted to go, Erik was forced to agree in the end. The awakener sighed and then nodded. "We will go then..."
Gwen added, "If we really want to help them, we need to be smart about this. We have to come up with a plan that will work."
Floyd let out a sigh. "I'm not a coward; I want to help... It's just that I don't want anyone else to get hurt. If these guys killed Karl and Natasha, Nathaniel's friends, without hesitation, why would we think they wouldn't be as ruthless with us?"
Benedict nodded in agreement. "Same here. We have to make sure we do everything we can to keep everyone safe."
Amber looked at Erik. "Do you have any ideas?"
Erik thought for a moment before responding. "We need to be strategic. We can't just rush in blindly. We need to gather as much information as we can about the location and the number of guards and then come up with a plan from there."
Floyd looked skeptical. "But how are we supposed to get that kind of information?"
Erik replied, "I still have the hacker I sent to spy on Matthew on my side. It won't take long."
"Can we trust him?" Anderson asked.
"If we pay him, we can," Erik replied. Of course, there was no hacker under his pay. He had simply spied on them through the biological supercomputer.
Benedict nodded. "Ok, that's a good idea. But we have to be careful not to get caught."
"Of course," Erik said. He looked at Mikey and Anderson with determination in his eyes and said, "We won't stay idle while our friends risk their lives."
"Thank you, Erik," Anderson said. The awakener replied with a nod.
"Ok, we all agree that we must help them and that we must come up with a plan and gather intel about the place," Gwen interjected. "But then?"
"That depends on the situation," Erik said.
"We need more than this if we really want to try and rescue them," Gwen replied.
"I know. Let me contact the guy and see what we can do. Wait for me."
Like that, Erik left the room and faked a phone call. Of course, he just needed to talk to the biological supercomputer.
<System, I need you to connect to the Red Lotus Lounge, take a picture of every room, find out how many people are at the nightclub, create a map of the place, and send everything to my smartphone!>
[UNDERSTOOD. CONNECTING TO THE RED LOTUS LOUNGE'S SECURITY SYSTEM. SCANNING THE PLACE, 71 PEOPLE WERE FOUND INSIDE; 21 APPEAR TO BE HOSTAGES. MAP OF THE PLACE, PHOTOS, AND VIDEOS OF THE UPLOADED TO THE HOST'S SMARTPHONE]
<It was fast.
Erik observed the footage and noticed that Aaron's mother wasn't among the kidnapped people. That was good news.
<I can't go there already with the information at hand; I will have to fake receiving it later.>
With that, Erik came back to where the others were.
"All right, I talked to the guy; he will send me everything in five minutes."
"Good," Floyd replied. "But we must tell the other students. I think they already received the phone call and will probably rush there to save their parents, but we can't allow it. If we really want to do this, we need as much help as possible."
"That was what I was thinking," Amber chimed in. The conversation ensued, and after five minutes went by, Erik faked receiving a notification.
"It looks like we already have what we need," he said. "The guy told me there are 50 people there plus 21 hostages, including Anderson's and Mikey's parents, but there is no trace of Aaron's mother."
The young man let out a sigh of relief, and the others nodded at him in assurance. However, Anderson and Mikey were visibly distressed; both their parents had been taken hostage.
"Don't worry; we will find a solution to all of this. Besides, since Amber contacted his father, a squad will surely come to help us sooner or later. However, we must move, as we must be there in an hour," Erik added.
"Now, based on the images I got, I can tell that we have a chance of saving the hostages."
The others looked at Erik with surprised eyes. "Really?" Mikey asked.
"Indeed. There is a door behind the club, and it is directly connected to a corridor that leads to the room where the hostages are kept. The problem is that there are four guards in front of the door. Based on the information I received, they are not that strong, and we should be able to take care of them if we play our cards well. What I fear is that they will alert the people inside."
"So, what do we do?" Benedict asked.
"I will take care of it," Erik said. "Now, this is what I thought: the plan is simple but effective. Since mine, Amber's, Floyd's, Gwen's, Benedict's, and Martha's parents didn't get kidnapped, the best thing to do would be for us to take care of the guards and save the hostages while the others and the rest of the top students will stall for time in the main room," Erik said.
"Why can't we simply all try to sneak in and save them?" Floyd asked.
"No, because if they spot us, we will have at least 50 people on us, and we wouldn't be able to escape. Things will be different if we have someone stalling them or simply distracting them," Erik replied.
"All right, but what if they kill us on the spot?" Anderson asked.
"That is a possibility," Erik said. "But I doubt that would be the likely outcome. You didn't see Matthew's state of mind; I did. He is not in good shape and will probably start ranting something before killing you, just to savor your death better."
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