Tamis eyed the man beside her, her lips pressed to a thin, angry line. The local yokel had seen her desperation for a ride back to town, and his buddies thought it was hilarious when he’d named his price— a blowjob.<br/><br/>Finally, after much embarrassment on her behalf and a deal of guffawing on theirs, she’d bargained him down from that to a hefty sum of money and he’d led her to a rusted hovercar that looked like it hadn’t left the ground in fifty years.<br/><br/>The car coughed and chugged at a snail’s pace through the twisted, dead and dying trees and the abundance of pale, sickly moss.<br/><br/>Tam sighed, impatiently. “Can’t you make this thing go any faster?”<br/><br/>The yokel looked aside to her, grinned and patted his crotch.<br/><br/>“Never mind…” she muttered. Hopefully Rob wouldn’t resent her second intrusion on his home, and her use of his phone to access her message bank. With a little luck, they’d make it there before dark.<br/><br/>The engine coughed, rattling the car so that it slowed and dipped, almost skimming the swamp’s wet surface.<br/><br/><em>Before morning</em>, she amended with an inner groan.<br/><br/><br/>* * *<br/><br/><br/><em><strong>Intra-Office Level 6  News Feed </strong></em><br/><br/><br/><strong>Malfunctioning GenMod Units To Be Recalled</strong><br/><br/><br/>As of one hour ago, SecCom has declared a Level 2 State of Emergency in New Olympus. A sudden rash of attacks by GenMod units on their owners and handlers, as well as members of security staff, has led Security Chief-in-General Gordon Frank to order all GenMod units found on public property to be euthanised on sight. Those civilians whose units are not malfunctioning have been advised to keep them sedated and indoors. Citizens are advised not to panic.<br/><br/>_________________<br/><br/><br/><em><strong>Intra-Office Level 2  News Feed: Classified</strong></em><br/><br/><strong>Mass GenMod Insurrection, Cause Unknown</strong><br/><br/>Three people are dead and more injured in a sudden spate of attacks by formerly passive GenMod units today. Most of the attacks were reportedly caused by people attempting to prevent their units from escaping. SecCom forces are scouring the streets of New Olympus as well as nearby Greentown for escapees. It is still unknown whether any act of terrorism is involved, but SecCom Chief Gordon Frank has ordered a preventative air strike on the swamps south-west of the city, a suspected hot-spot of terrorist activity. Road blocks are in place as of 17:00.<br/><br/><br/>* * *<br/><br/><br/><strong>Office of Gordon Frank<br/>New Olympus</strong><br/><br/>“Olympus and surrounding regions are in a state of lockdown. LOCKDOWN. What part of that did you not understand, soldier?”<br/><br/>Gordon was not in a good mood.<br/><br/>“Did you… Mills. Mills....<em>Mills</em>… SHUT. THE<em>FUCK</em>. UP… Alright. What’s the status on that phone trace I ordered? …. Jesus. Listen, I want an armed truck sent over to Greentown. Address and retrieval target ident are on your screen now…. I don’t fucking<em>care</em>, Mills. This is out of LabRat hands. This city is MY territory now. You just do your fucking job, you hear me? I want Doctor Tamis Dunsany, in this office, in half a goddamn hour or... Yeah. Now, go. Anything moves out there, you shoot it dead. Got it? Good.”<br/><br/>*click*<br/><br/>“<em>Fuck</em>.”<br/>