Use the Hack-Gun to disarm Promethia (Hack-Gun -1)

Using the Hack-Gun here would be a pretty risky proposition; it was likely to be your ace-in-the-hole against Bortnik, given his propensity for robotics, and furthermore, you noticed that Promethia's new, lens-like eye didn't seem to be emitting any kind of scanner that your hack-gun would interface with. The only chance was likely to be that light-up arm of hers... and you thought that her scanner was only actually active when she had her flamethrower active. You were used to being the bait, but this time, it had to be the other way around; you asked Despedida to draw her attention while you prepared the hack-gun and the remote terminal that was required to use it.

"Woah woah, Ciao! That's nuts! How do you think I'm gonna survive while I act as your decoy, huh?!" Despedia questioned; the one eye that was visible widened, with the other remaining hidden by the stylish curtain of her hair. As you began to feel guilty for suggesting that course of action, she laughed it off, producing a hand-held device. The palm-sized disc had just two buttons, a red one and a green one, at the top-center part of the machine. "Ha ha! Just kidding. I always bring one of these when I'm facing off against Deliverers. It's a portable-"

You didn't care how portable it was or frankly what it was; Promethia was rounding the corner right this second! With a sense of urgency, you prompted Despedida to hit the button.

"Fine, fine! You're trying to get the speed record, huh?" With another excruciatingly poorly timed joke, your group's tech expert set down her device, in front of the two of you, then pushed her button. "You're gonna want to huddle close. Like, real close. Pixel perfect." You had no reason to object to a mid-mission huddle if Despedida wanted it; after approaching her from behind, you grabbed your arms around her waist and slumped your shoulders, to get as far behind her as you could and avoid being scorched by the imminent flame-thrower attack. "Ha ha ha! Now you're affectionate, huh? I said huddle, not huggle." Well, that was embarrassing... But still! You'd take being embarrassed if it meant you didn't get killed by Promethia's fire attack.

Promethia seemed a bit slow to catch on to why you two had adopted a pose as though you were cowering like cornered animals, while still laughing and joking like nothing was wrong. As such, she released another huge stream of fire in your direction; in a split second, Despedida pushed the button atop the device, firing off a huge blast of compressed air that knocked your enemy backward and momentarily extinguished the flames. It was amazing to think that she could come up with such a powerful device in her personal time and for so specific a situation, but the truth was, humanity at large was far, far behind the greatest scientific minds like Despedida and Ivan Bortnik... and those eccentric personalities seemed to want to keep all of their fun toys for themselves.

Well, not quite. You wished Bortnik had kept his to himself. It still wasn't clear why he'd decided to share with the Deliverers, of all people.

At any rate, this wasn't the time for thinking about that. The compressed air machine was fantastic-- and, notably, didn't seem to require the group huddle to be nearly as tight as Despedida had led you to believe-- but you assumed it couldn't last against Promethia's futuristic flamethrower for a second burst. You dutifully removed your hands from around Despedida's slender, bare waist, then stood to aim your Hack-Gun towards your attacker's arm. Even with the obfuscating screen of flames and smoke still filling most of the hallway, you were capable of finding the scanner with your gun's, then pulling the trigger. In the next moment, you plopped back down to look over the options available to you on your terminal. It was, frankly, a lot to reckon with in this heated situation. You decided to abandon a full diagnostic of her arm and instead look for the quickest, easiest way to disable her. You immediately sprung for the "POWER OFF" option.

The muscular terrorist's remaining human eye widened as the light suddenly went out of her arm, causing it to fall slack with the flamethrower end pointed against the floor. With no power to it, the thing seemed so heavy she couldn't even lift it. "Damn you, CEDIT!" You could tell she wanted to continue ranting about your tricks and how you'd perish in the Deliverers' flames, but she knew that you were armed and she'd just lost her magnetic shield. Instead of staying to chat, she swiped one hand down from her shoulder to her rib, quickly disconnecting the heavy armament and running for the inner parts of the laboratory, now with only one good arm. You couldn't be sure if she was going to regroup or fetch a new, working prosthetic, but whatever the case, now was the time to get Tschau back and find Bortnik.

... Which made it somewhat disconcerting that Despedida had become distracted with the arm Promethia dropped; she crouched to study it, smiling broadly. "Man, say what you like about Bortnik, but these are some superior specs! I feel like I just won a Treasure Battle!" she giggled, running one finger along the smooth surface of the arm's bicep, before deciding that it was still too hot from the flame-thrower action and dropping it. "Ouch. Well, let's come back for this thing after we bag Bortnik."

As the two of you returned to Tschau, you couldn't help but ask: why hadn't she mentioned she had a weapon so perfectly suited for stopping a flamethrower attack, offering full-sized body protection? You'd been forced into a disadvantageous position because of that hole in her preparations.

"I dunno, maybe I just wanted to cuddle?" With a sly smile, the Latina agent threw her arm around your shoulders as you knelt to check on her, then lifted herself up from the floor, using you as leverage. She ended smiling up into your face at close range, with her breasts pushed against your chest. "Maybe I'm taking advantage of the time where Tschau's not around, huh? Ever think about that? You're not the only guy who can play a dating sim..." You felt your heart beat quicker... if this was any other situation, you could definitely move for a kiss right now. In fact, you felt compelled to try... only for Despedida to push off, spin and proceed down the hall with her hands crossed behind her head. "You're too soft, homeboy! If I was somebody who wanted to kill you like all of those previous handlers, I woulda just done it. Just now. Tschau would have thought Promethia was the one who shot you. Tighten it up!"

... For some reason, this felt less like useful advice or a joke and more like a threat. Still, you had to admit to yourself: for just a moment, you'd allow yourself to forget your mission entirely and get caught up in spy-to-spy romance. You couldn't let that happen again.