AfterNet 01 - Good Cop Dead Cop

the pit he saw a boy, lying face up in a puddle of water. He could tell the boy, who was wearing a heavy sweater and jeans, was still breathing but his eyes were closed. Looking closer, he saw the boy had smacked his head against a rock at the bottom of the pit. Drops of water fell around the boy and Munroe realized that a leaking pipe above had opened a sinkhole below the foundation of the building, aided by whatever water fell between the two buildings.
    Of course, now I have to get back, he thought. It took him three tries to “jump” back up into the crawlspace. Great, now I have to make it back through the crack.
    But when he got back to the crack he found Yamaguchi’s portable terminal, still in its armband, tied to a rope that had been lowered from above. He looked up and saw her at the other end of the rope.
    “Linda, can you hear me?”
    “Alex!”
    “The boy’s down here. He’s in a pit or sinkhole below the floor of the building to the south.”
    “Say again. Bad … again.” Munroe realized that the terminal must be near the limit of the range of his partner’s wireless ear buds.
    “Get closer,” he told her, although he didn’t know how she could accomplish that. He saw her hand the rope to someone else and didn’t respond. He kept repeating his message about finding the kid. Then her words appeared again. “ALEX! CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW!” She must really be shouting quite loudly for the interface to render her words in capital letters.
    “I hear you Linda, loud and clear. Where are you?”
    “I’m in the basement of the building to the north, standing next to the wall. Did you find the boy? Is he OK?”
    “He’s breathing but unconscious. He’s lying in water so we have to get him out fast.”
    “None of us can make it through the crack.”
    “Yeah, look, they’re going to have to bust through the floor of the building to the south with a jackhammer or something.”
    “How far in is he?”
    “I can’t tell. Not a lot to go by down here. He’s maybe twenty feet from the crack, from where the terminal is hanging, just on the other side of what’s probably the main sewer drain. Look, let’s try this. Haul up the terminal and go into the basement of the other building. Put it on the ground and let’s see if I can detect the field. Start as close to the crack as you can and we’ll work out from there.”
    “Sounds like a plan. Let’s hope the field the penetrates the foundation.”
    “Didn’t you tell me there’s a way to adjust it?”
    “I’ve read online about people who’ve tried but there’s no way I can do it now,” she said.
    “Never mind then. Uh, the puddle the kid’s in seems to be near some leaking pipes. That might help narrow it down.”
    “All right, I’ll tell them to haul up the terminal.”
    Munroe started to head back to the kid when he remembered something and rushed back. The terminal was still there and he hoped she was also.
    The words “ALEX!” showed she was.
    “Linda, I forgot to tell you to get the FD’s terminal and keep it here so I can have a reference point,” he said. At the same time, her saw her words, “Your friend from the FD is here. I told him to lower his terminal so we can communicate from here.”
    “Good thinking. Now go,” he said.
    Half a minute later, the terminal was being hauled up. Munroe ducked back into the void. He was tempted to see how the kid was doing but thought he should wait for Yamaguchi.
    Five minutes later, he caught a fleeting contact of the field. “LINDA!” he yelled. He kept repeating her name and forced himself to remain where he was.
    “Alex!” he read, finally.
    “Can you … me?”
    “I got you. Not perfect but OK.”
    “… move three feet.” He did, while yelling her name. After a few seconds they reconnected. With this method, they kept moving further toward the boy until Munroe reached the big sewer pipe.
    “I’m at the sewer pipe, ” he told her.
    “What, didn’t get that?”
    “I’m at the sewer pipe. Sewer pipe. There’s a drop on the other side of the sewer pipe.”
    “OK … on the other side … drop. Got it.”
    “Boy is about …” he peered over the sewer pipe and could see the boy about 10 feet away. “… 10 feet away from here.”
    “OK … jackhammer. Stand back. Stand back, Alex.”
    Munroe jumped back over the pipe but knowing what to expect, he was able to keep from rolling down the slope. After a few seconds, he noticed dirt dropping from the