Aines · West Gate
The desolate cold wind carried a trace of dampness as it blew through the open city gates and into the broad barbican.
Drizzling raindrops fell onto the endless line of trucks waiting quietly outside the security check, pattering against their roofs.
One bright headlight after another connected beneath the dim clouds, forming a long road built of radiance.
Shrill horns sounded from back to front, mingling with the rain in intermittent bursts, then gradually weakening near the city gates.
The unbroken stretch of lights finally reached the security checkpoint before the gates, illuminating the Floating Fighter parked there.
"Federal Bureau of Investigation official?"
Points of flickering light lit up across the silver single-person Exoskeleton Armor. The armored soldier picked up his tablet, looked up at the open fighter hatch before him, and at the two figures inside.
"Wei Jinna, Branch Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's De Nuo City branch." The brown-and-gold-haired woman handed the soldier her identification bearing the Olive Shield Emblem. "You can use my Federal Bureau of Investigation number to verify my identity."
"Please wait a moment." The soldier took the identification, opened it, checked the photograph, and confirmed that the woman in the picture was indeed the woman before him. Then he raised his tablet and scanned the code on the final page of the document.
'Beep--'
With a soft sound, the soldier's tablet entered a blank page, where only a small circle kept spinning.
Wei Jinna stood upright, calmly watching the soldier's movements.
Her hands hung naturally by the openings of her pants, though they were faintly tense.
The rain continued to fall outside, ticking away like a clock as one second after another passed.
Finally, the spinning loading circle slowly vanished, and a simple screen displaying a code and