Round 65

Jeane’s crimson eyes narrowed dangerously as she waded closer to Silra’s platform edge, the churning water lapping at her thighs with renewed force now that the ice barrier had buckled. The teal-eyed elf remained stooped over her screens, fingers never pausing in their frenetic dance across multiple interfaces despite the rising floodwaters.

“That's not the worst part,” Silra said without looking up, voice tight with tension. “The maintenance tunnel I've rerouted us through? It's currently occupied by something big and hostile according to my scans.”

Jeane’s growl rumbled through the flooded chamber. “Define 'big and hostile,'” she snarled, wings half-spread for balance in the swirling waters.

Silra finally glanced up from her screens, pointed ears twitching with barely contained anxiety. “Big enough to block the entire tunnel diameter,” she replied grimly. “Hostile enough to have already engaged our previous group’s sensors twice—it's using some kind of active stealth or masking tech now.”

The succubus woman took a menacing step forward, water splashing around her shapely legs. “So we're trapped between rising floodwaters and a hostile entity that plays hide-and-seek?” she demanded, voice dripping with barely restrained fury.

Silra returned to her screens without responding verbally, fingers flying across keys as she muttered under her breath. The teal-eyed elf was clearly focused on some complex hacking task, occasional curses punctuating her rapid typing.

Jeane’s patience snapped. “What the fuck are you doing?” she bellowed, storming toward Silra’s platform through the waist-deep water.

“Planting a backdoor into their security systems,” Silra replied without looking up or pausing her work. “I want to know exactly what—or who—that thing is before we stumble into its lap.”

The succubus woman grabbed one of the floating screens, yanking it toward her face. “You want me to plant a... I'm not planting anything,” she snapped, eyes scanning rapidly scrolling code. “This shit's way above my pay grade—you're the tech genius here!”

Silra finally turned to face Jeane directly, bright teal eyes flashing with barely contained irritation. “Then give me thirty seconds of uninterrupted work time,” she growled. “I'm not just 'planting a backdoor'—I'm trying to ghost our entire presence through their systems while mapping the entity’s movements.”

Jeane released the screen with a frustrated gesture, wings flaring wide for balance in the churning waters. “Fine—you want precision? I can do precise.” She raised both hands, demonic energy crackling between them as she began chanting in a language that made Halie wince nearby.

The ice beneath their feet shimmered and stabilized, spreading outwards to create a wider path despite its fragility. Silra watched for a moment before returning to her screens with visible relief.

“Actually useful for once,” the elf muttered under her breath as she resumed her hacking frenzy.