=========Part 2===========
The metal door rattled on its hinges as the creature on the other side slammed ceaselessly against it, creating a terrible racket. However, Alice simply tuned it out. Aware of its presence, and aware it wouldn't stop. The inevitability was that what lay behind was going to get through eventually. The bolt would snap, or the hinges would give, or it may simply rip through the metal or rock. However, it still gave her ample time to prepare.
Alice stood up, dusting herself off. Specks of concrete rolled off her gothic lolita dress, colored dark blue with white strings and frills. It was fairly elaborate, and of course stylish, but also designed not to impede mobility. It was split in all the right places for her to easily move her legs. Better still, it had Kevlar strips woven into vital areas, and wrapped over top were dark red tactical straps covered in pockets and pouches for her gear. She had stitched the whole outfit together,, creating a perfect balance of beauty and utility.
Alice took a deep breath, briefly forgetting her surroundings, and letting herself concentrate. A yearning feeling gripped at her chest, as if she were missing something that she couldn't quite grasp. This place was far too remote, but she would have to manage.
Her eyes fluttered open as a new view flourished before her. Her eyes shimmered with light as she took in what she could. Among the ruins of the city, the abandoned building came a little more to life. Fragmented strings of numbers and letters now hover about this place in plain view, left to gather dust like the rest of this city. The reception was spotty in a place this out of the way, causing packets of code to fragment and fall apart as they passed through, disintegrating before they could form something meaningful.
Displays and HUDs popped to life in front of her, giving her vital information on her surroundings and gear. A biomonitor labeled "Marisa" hovered in the right corner of her vision, displaying nothing out of the ordinary, and included her partner's coordinates relative to her position. Important to know. More statistics dotted the edges of her vision. Weather conditions - indeed it'd rain soon - local maps, the building layout, camera feeds, power levels, connection status, static levels, etc etc. Information filled her field of view, and she quickly took it in with but a thought, satisfied all was nominal.
She exhaled deeply, blinking, concentrating. Before her, two dozen strings appeared, shimmering and glowing a full spectrum of colors, some extending far away, others just a few inches, jutting out of her dress, in slightly more muted colors. Each one included a small virtual icon that displayed small sets of statistics, as well as a tiny camera feed that could be enlarged. She tugged at a few strings, beckoning a couple of her dolls towards her for aid. Heads up displays gave timers on an ETA towards her location. They had ample time.
She reached down to undo a few straps of her dress, detaching three of the folded up dolls stored away. They were each a couple pounds and folded up into thick five-inch squares, extraordinarily small compared to other models from just five years ago,
She made measured tosses with them to key locations, gyro sensors moving the dolls' weights to land on the ground face-up. They quickly began to unfold as the shimmering rainbow strings attaching them to Alice turned vibrant. They were constructing themselves, attaching various electronic parts together automatically, and lifting off the ground slightly to allow their treads room to maneuver.
She gave mental commands to her dolls as they sprung up and turned to face the door. The small mobile drones confirmed full operational status. Two were positioned against both walls, the other right in front of Alice. The door frame was starting to crack around the hinges and bolt, as the the critter threw itself at the door with wild abandon. It wouldn't be more than a minute now. As if on cue, three more drones flew in through the window, lifted by dual rotors. They positioned themselves in the air, pointing their turrets towards the door in anticipation.
Satisfied with the positioning of her dolls, Alice nodded to herself. She reached for her hip to unholster a large but slender pistol. Its own Augmented Reality icon appeared on screen as it booted, calculating current aim distances and power cartridge charge. Unlike Marisa, who loved to use her big, heavy firearms whenever she could, Alice only used her single pistol and a bag full of power cartridges. Of course, it may have been cheating that she also had two dozen drones to call and provide fire support, but the sidearm was more than enough.
It was just a few more moments. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. CRACK! The door frame shuddered with a sickening sound, crumbling as the door's bolt forced its way through the wall, bent and worthless. With one more thundering smack, the door flew open, slamming against the wall, a huge dent visible on the side where it'd been repeatedly smashed against.
What lay beyond looked almost human at first sight. But Alice wasn't fooled in the slightest. The woman was covered in bruises and scars. Her right arm hung limp at her side, flesh and bone torn and broken, and her side beaten and bruised from beating the door. The muscle in the arm rippled, but there was no blood. Thin, stringy red hair dangled from her head in locks, did little to hide the girl's wreched face: beady, souless eyes stared forwards, bright red. Her expression was intense, craving. The barest of shreds of clothing adorning her body mirrored what little sanity this youkai had left.
The feral youkai simply stood there at first, staring Alice down. It didn't seem to even glance at or register the small battalion of drones, it focused solely on Alice. Alice held the strings tied to her nearby drones altogether in anticipation, watching carefully, ready to fire. It took short, sniveling breaths, hissing with each exhale. Its arm twitched, as the bones sticking out of its arm slowly sunk back in. With a few spasms and a nauseating crackle, it suddenly seemed to gain function again, no longer hanging limp. Its muscles slowly tensed up, causing Alice to tightly grip the virtual strings. It was ready.
In a flash the youkai was upon her with a piercing howl. However, she stood her ground, relaying the command to fire. All at once, the drones unleashed a hailstorm of laser pulses back at the charging creature, having been carefully aimed the moment prior. Before the youkai could take even two steps, its torso and face had already been reduced to a charred mess. Screaming in agony, it only manages one more step forwards before it falls. It slammed face-first onto the hard concrete floor. The drones stopped firing. The hall went silent again.
Alice glanced over the charge readings on her dolls. Most of them had plenty of energy left, though the airborne ones had a little bit less, being fliers. They'd need charged eventually, but would probably be fine for the remainder of the mission. She instructed one doll, the one closest to the youkai, to move to it and scan it for life signs. The doll quickly complied, the tracks scraping along the ground breaking the silence as it preformed the deed. A small beep and a diagnostics reading popping into her field of view confirmed that the youkai's vital signs were zero.
She felt a little nervous, and wary. Marisa hadn't said that only one youkai had followed her up, she'd said 'some'. That shouldn't have been the only one, especially with all that racket. She nodded to the doll, motioning for it to go up and scout the hallway, manipulating the string with her fingers. A ping, only heard by Alice, sounded from the drone as it trekked towards the doorway, transmitting a camera feed directly onto Alice's AR display. It arrived at the doorway, quickly swiveling its camera around as it monitored the surroundings.
As the camera turned to the left, however, another youkai suddenly appeared from behind the corner, It kicked the drone hard enough to smash it against the opposite wall. With a ravenous gurgle, it swung around the corner, rushing at Alice. Again, Alice commanded her dolls to fry the youkai. Hot flashes of light filled the air as the drones opened fire, but this youkai had learned from the other's mistakes. It dropped to the ground, clawing its way forward at Alice on its hands and feet, dodging nearly all of the bolts. With a starved howl, it charged. Alice moved to react, lifting her pistol, but she wasn't fast enough. The youkai was already upon her as it leaped to attack, claws extended!
Or so it thought. As it was pouncing, one last drone stood between it and Alice, having held its fire. Until now. At once, the drone spewed out a stream of white-hot fire, setting the youkai ablaze as liquid fire doused its skin. Alice cleanly sidestepped the leaping critter as it took the full burst of her doll's micro-flamethrower. It crashed onto the ground and roared in pain. The critter writhed and rolled as the sticky napalm slowly cooked it alive. Alice carefully lowered her pistol, aiming for the youkai's head as it wrestled to put itself out, She pulled the trigger, blasting a searing beam of energy at the burning beast. With a great spasm, it too, went limp, the spray-on napalm continuing to eat at it. Alice leaned down and reached her hand into the flames, scanning it briefly with a handheld biomonitor. She had to ensure it was dead, and nodded when it reported a lack of vitals.
Moving out of the way, she again checked for the status of her dolls. The Phoenix Doll reported it had depleted its entire tank of gas. Normal, as it only contained enough for one use. The others reported lessened energy readings, but were still nominal, with the exception of the one scouting drone. A worried expression formed on her face. The camera still worked, reporting no other surprises were beyond the doorway. Still, she walked forwards, sending her squad of dolls in first to confirm. She then walked over to check on the doll herself.
She picked it up, glancing over the diagnostics it was reporting, and giving a visual inspection. Light structural damage. The doll's armor had taken the brunt of the impact. The turret, mobility, and camera still functional. It wouldn't need immediate attention. Before getting up, she grabbed her Phoenix Doll, unscrewing the little pressurized tank and storing it in a pouch, before replacing it with a new one.
Alice got back up, glancing over the remaining drones again. With the current energy readings, they wouldn't all last an extended skirmish all firing on an enemy. However, replacing the power cartridges on each one would take time, and she had to regroup with Marisa as soon as possible. She looked down the stairwell she'd entered from only just a little earlier. Unfortunately the ground drones couldn't traverse all these stairs without a great deal of time and energy, both of which she'd need. She'd have to store them up again before she could make her way down.
Pulling at the strings on her dolls, she gave the command for them to fold back up. They complied at once as they quickly began to deconstruct, their strings turning dim at the process completed. She scooped them up, clipping them back onto her dress. She sent her rotor dolls down the stairs first, before taking the first step back towards the ground level. Alice gripped her pistol with both hands. She'd have to be careful, lest there was a third critter waiting in ambush along the way, or more. Without the firepower of a full squad of dolls, she'd have to rely on her heavy blast pistol to do the brunt of the damage. Calculated steps were what got her this far in life, and she wouldn't let some crazed youkai end it quite so easily. Quickly, she began to descend the stairs.