The Scorpio-bots walked over the power lines connecting the buildings, slowly making their way to the other side of the road.
"You got the feed?" Finn asked. "Or do you want me to share it?"
"Yeah, I got it," Dante replied.
Instead of having Volcan take over controlling the bots, Dante decided to leave that part to the brat and his AI friend, settling for being a passive observer instead. His resident AI didn't seem to like that, however.
[As the superior digital mind, I believe it would be more efficient for me to control those mechanical creations.]
'Stop being an ass. Everyone got their role to play, and you will get yours.'
Though he thought as much, watching the bots brought back an idea he had previously had. It escaped his mind for some reason, but he still wanted to try it out at some point.
"We're in," Finn said.
The infiltration route was through one of the small windows near the ceiling, which was left open by mistake, considering how cold the weather had gotten. Dante brought up the camera feed from the first Scorpio-bot and studied it for a moment, immediately noticing something very odd.
The room captured in the footage was on the third floor of the remodeled building, but it would be more accurate to call it a wall, given how spacious it is. Still, the size wasn't the source of the strangeness. Rather, it was the rows of bunk beds lining the interior.
The place appeared like barracks in a military base, prepped with identical beds for soldiers forced to conform. With how well organized it was, Dante had trouble believing he was looking at the interior of a place owned by a low-level gang on its death door.
"So... you said three in every room, but…" Finn said. "This one is a little big, don't you think?"
"There aren't many places to hide them…" Dante held his chin in thought. "And it doesn't seem like a lot is happening in there…"
"If it wasn't this well organized, I would have thought it was a factory dorm."
"A factory dorm." Said the boy. "You know, places where the slaves go to sleep after spending sixteen hours of whatever they're forced to do."
"Huh… never thought of it that way…"
The idea wasn't too far-fetched, considering the building had been remodeled only recently. It might be that the room had been prepared but the occupants haven't arrived yet.
"Just leave two for the time being," Dante said.
The line of scorpion-shaped bots continued forward, heading to an opening leading deeper inside. On the way, the last two separate from the rest. The first one went and hid under one of the bottom bunks while the other one snuck behind a spotlight.
One thing Dante was thankful for was that the window they used as the entry point was close to the wall separating the room from the rest of the building's interior. Even if it was empty, he could imagine how nerve-wrecking it would be to wait for the small bots to cross such a wide space.
The corridor that followed was a lot darker, offering better cover for the bots. One of the things Dante noticed almost immediately was the device hanging from the ceiling at the far end.
'Thought you said there were no security cams?' Dante asked.
[Allow me to correct my statement.] Said Volcan. [None that are functional.]
From the looks of it, though it was installed, the camera wasn't operational. That became more apparent as Dante observed the footage, noticing that the red light under the lens was off, indicating that it was practically unplugged.
"Is that… a camera?" Finn asked.
"You only just noticed?" Dante said. "It's not operational." Get full chapters from novel⟡fire.net
"... That gave me a scare…"
The next room they came across was identical to the first, which wasn't too surprising, considering they were opposite to each other. From the looks of it, those two took most of the third floor.
"To the second floor?" Finn asked.
"Leave one in the corner over there," Dante said. "On the other side of the cam."
The second floor turned out to be far more bizarre than the first, all because of how normal it looked. A single, large room occupied most of it, and the entire space was filled to the brim with gym equipment. Leg and chest press, cable crossover, leg curl; there were machines for practically everything. There was a corner for dumbbells and other free weights, and another lined with punching bags, in addition to three boxing rings.
"It's… a gym?" Finn wondered aloud.
"That's what it looks like…"
A full-blown gym, one equipped well enough to be a business. Some of the equipment seemed to be primed for Enhanced Individuals, too, which wasn't something places meant for personal use usually bothered with.
Things were making even less sense than before. Due to Finn's previous comment, Dante had expected to see an assembly line or a workshop of some kind, but what they found made the purpose of the building even more confusing than before.
"Maybe they just like to work out?" Said Finn.
"They like it way too much."
It was only now that Dante realized how little he knew about the gang. He didn't even know their previous name. That was a major oversight on his part, prompting him to try and fill the gaps in his knowledge as fast as possible.
"Spread five around the room," Dante answered before the boy could ask. "Continue exploring the floor."
It didn't take long to find the details he was looking for. About three months ago, a hero team called the Crimson Watch moved to Red Hill, and one of their most notable achievement was crushing Red Rage, a local gang mostly known for their brutal initiation ritual, as well as their reliance on physical strength instead of guns and other weapons.
'Guess their philosophy didn't hold, huh?'