It's Nothing
A young man named Riko Webb sat starring at a black computer screen. He leaned forward and started typing with his short brown hair swishing back and forth in front of his eyes. After a few seconds a window popped up and green letters began scrolling across the screen.
VIPER NETWORK MAIN DATA BASE
ACCESS VIPER BASE EPSILON 2793 DATA BASE
...
ACCESS GRANTED
ACCESS LIVE SECURITY CAMERA FEEDS
...
UNABLE TO RETRIEVE DATA
...
FEED STREAMING TERMINATED
"What?" Riko muttered.
ACCESS SECURITY CAMERA RECORDING FILES
...
ACCESS DENIED
The words access denied began flashing up at Riko from the screen and he muttered "This is bullshit." He had been dropping in and out of this network for weeks without these problems.
UPLOAD FILE 3A261088Q
...
A ER05JHGT782MUU9281TCSXFH57FHE932J90-3J1U28J0AWJ29JF-429J4R9-129RFFNEF0JLAF9233JR-9FU3R-92RU-9HF9WJFB231EFBUAG3
...
FILE UPLOADED
ACCESS QUERY: 23H0O9273B2G37
...
ACCESS GRANTED
ACCESS SECURITY CAMERA RECORDING FILES
...
INITIATE LAST RECORDED STREAMING FROM ALL UNITS
...
UNABLE TO RETRIEVE RECORDING FILES OF INDOOR UNITS
...
FILES CORRUPTED
INITIATING OUTDOOR STREAMS
...
V STREAMING...
Windows containing views of the area surrounding a large cement building flickered onto the monitors surrounding the main one. At first everything seemed normal with guards patrolling the area and at the gate but then the main doors were flung open and a scientist came running out screaming. And it was obvious why he was screaming. He was coated in blood and his arm from the elbow down was missing. Suddenly gunshots began ringing out from inside the building and the guards began running inside. Several seconds later there was a sound that sounded like a roar and then and explosion and the camera feeds cut out.
"What was that?" He got up and walked over to a panel on the wall and pressed a button. "Commander Drevin?'
"What is it Riko?" A voice said on the intercom.
"I've got a video recording from one of the cameras at that Viper Base that we've been monitoring lately and I think you should see it." Riko said.
"I have a meeting that's about to start but I can be there in an hour." He replied.
Riko sighed and dropped his voice so no one else in the computer room could hear him. "I think we might have a class 2 Bio-hazard outbreak on our hands, possibly even higher, this really needs to be addressed now."
There was silence on the other end as Drevin processed what he'd just been told. He finally said "I'm sure it's nothing but I'll take a quick look at it. Be there in 30 seconds."
30 seconds later Commander Drevin came walking into the computer room. "Could you all please give Mr. Webb and I a moment?" The other half a dozen workers got up quietly some of them muttering "Morning sir". When the last one left Commander Drevin closed the door and said "Lets see the recording." Riko walked over to the computer and called up the file.
They sat in silence while it played and when it was over Riko closed the window and said seriously "That recording is from about 36 hours ago."
Drevin's face was pale and he looked worried but when he talked he sounded perfectly calm "What makes you think that this matter hasn't already been resolved by Viper? They know what they're doing when it comes to this kind of thing."
"That's true and glitches in computer networks are perfectly normal but I don't think this is a glitch. Security has been increased around every single file related to that facility."
Drevin held up his hand to stop Riko and said "Then your probably just being locked out of the new files. I don't see any reason that the possibility that you are being locked out of their files hasn't occurred to you."
Riko shook his head and said "That's not it I checked on that. I have full access to the system they just made it harder. I think that they don't want anyone finding out was going on there. I found a bunch of corrupted files that weren't like that before and all of the systems at the facility have been shut down. Even these files were backed up onto an external drive. That place is dead and we don't know what was going on there when it went down because all of the recording files from security cameras inside the building were deleted or encrypted and I can't retrieve or decode them without having access to the original hard drive."
Drevin's face was even whiter now but without a trace of doubt he said "Very well. That facility is only 50 miles from here. We can't risk this affecting us, we need to know what happened there. I'm revoking your field work suspension and promoting you to Sergeant. You have half an hour to assemble a HAZMAT team and then I want you to find out what happened there, retrieve the files, and then get the hell out of there."
Riko nodded and Commander Drevin strode over to the door opened it and left. The workers came back in and Riko ran over to his desk and took out a laptop and hooked it up to his computer and started downloading the files on the Viper base. While it was downloading he grabbed a backpack and started dumping what he needed into it. He grabbed his security pass and a satellite phone and put them in the bag and as an after thought he grabbed a HUD set. The download finished and he put the laptop in his backpack and locked his computer down and left the room heading towards the barracks.
He walked into the barracks to find that three of the four people he needed were there. They were sitting in front of a TV and turned around when the door opened.
"How's life been in the freezer?" Jason asked. Jason was a tall person with dark skin and a bald head. Sitting next to him were Bridget and Sam. Sam had glasses and short black hair that sat flat on his head.
Bridget was lying on the floor with her long brown hair sprawled on the floor around her with her green eyes gazing up at Riko with a confused look in them. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't off until 7:30."
"How do you know when he gets off work?" Sam snickered. Bridget punched him in the shin and he and Jason started laughing.
"Be quiet you two. I'm off suspension and I need you three and Dylan for a HAZMAT team. Where is Dylan?" Riko said.
"He's at the firing range," Bridget replied surprised "but why is Drevin sending out a HAZMAT team? We haven't sent one of those out in years."
Without answering Riko led them to the firing range where they found Dylan. After a quick explanation they all went to the armory. When they were all inside Riko turned around and closed the door. "We may have what I suspect is a class 2 or higher Bio-hazard outbreak on our hands. One of Viper's main research facilities went down 36 hours ago and still hasn't come back online. After watching a recording that I can only describe as disturbing I have no doubt that something went wrong. So grab you weapons and meet at the helicopter pad in 5 minutes."
They all started moving around the room grabbing weapons and accessories. Riko picked up a K13 Tactical Rifle, a six shooter, a bag full of grenades, and a 14th century katana. Bridget grabbed a sniper, 2 combat knives, and a light machine gun with a suppresser. Jason retrieved a chain gun with a tripod from the wall and a M92 Rifle. Sam got a Shotgun, 2 pistols, and 6 C4 charges. Dylan choose 2 SMG's and grenade launcher.
Riko looked at Jason and Dylan and said "This is a bio hazard not a full blown incursion, we probably won't even see anyone." Dylan shrugged and they all ran to the helicopter pad were a drop chopper was already waiting and running. They jumped in and the helicopter took off over the woods. Riko looked back at the shrinking shape of Specter's main camp and wondered whether or not it would be the same when he got back.