Welcome to Mirror - Chapter One
It's been a long time since I've written much content and I plan to get back into it. I recently finished Watchdogs 2 again and forgot how much I enjoyed Wrench's charisma and story. I hope you enjoy and please leave a Review.
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"Party at the bunker tonight! You gonna be my wingman Wrench?" Marcus called out as he plopped onto the couch in the hacker space.
"I hope this is the only time I will ever say this in my life… but I can't tonight" ( / . \ ) "I'm fixing a bug with my mask and adding some new tech to Wrench Jr's pixel code while I'm at it." He sniffled dramatically and dropped what he was doing to kneel next to Marcus. "But you party hard for me brother! Don't let me down!" he acted as if he had fainted onto the edge of the couch and reached out a desperate hand to his friend who took it and squeezed it.
"I will man! I will!" He sniffled. ( ^ . ^ ) Wrench popped back up and they both grabbed a beer. The hackerspace emptied pretty quick after that, Sitara showed up within the hour to grab a jacket and some booze, patting Wrench on the head before she left. After grabbing what he needed from his work bench he locked up and headed over to his garage.
( ^ . ^ ) He smiled beneath his mask as he turned the lights on, he loved his safe space even more when it was just him and his tools. He put down his box of supplies and synced to his speakers. Heavy metal filled the air and his hands reached for his mask hesitantly. He needed to work on its hardware but he always feared someone walking in, not that he didn't trust his friends. They'd seen him already with no mask on, his heart warmed at the memory of Marcus handing him his retrieved safety mechanism. But he still couldn't help but notice the hesitation and pause when they saw him without it. He shook off the thoughts running through his mind and took his mask off, laying it on the counter and turning to his robot.
"Wrench Jr. how ya been my little master piece?".He hugged the small DedSec graffitied robot as it hummed to life. He popped a back panel off and plugged in the necessary inputs. "We'll have you winking at the ladies in no time!" he squealed in excitement.
Code filled his screen and he pulled up his chair to start typing. Green and white numbers and words filled the screen, lists upon lists rushing through at different speeds. His fingers danced across the keyboard, every now and then stopping to wait for results at the end of a list of code.
"Shit!" ( \ . / ) He exclaimed after an hour of recoding and rewiring with nothing to show for it. He had tried almost every idea he had and nothing seemed to work. He continued to curse to himself and had nearly given up when his phone buzzed in his vest pocket.
"YO! Wrench, I miss my wingman! Just calling to make sure you've added some cool hardware by now!" Marcus yelled over the loud music in the background. Wrench could hear Sitara singing along somewhere close by.
"None yet actually, all of my plans and backup plans aren't producing! I'm stuck."
( - . - ) He growled at himself.
"Have you tried copying your old code and re running it through a new processor? Maybe even updating your old back access or hacking into one of the pixel billboards?" Marcus could be articulated and focused even when under the influence, it's like they always said 'drink all the booze, hack all the things'.
"Or better yet I'll start by hacking into the Nudle bus ports and seeing what nifty things they have coded into their bus panels. Thanks Marcus!" ( ^ . ^ ) Wrench shouted in relief.
"There ya go man! Don't forget to sleep every now and then." Marcus hung up, leaving Wrench to grab his mask and laptop and stretch out on the couch. He immediately tapped into Nudle's easy to crack system thanks to the backdoor always left open for them. He finally found the old code he used for his mask and matched it up with the most similar code within the bus paneling framewares. After a few updates and testing he had already enhanced the clarity for his already installed emoticons. He added a few fun frames that involved changing the color of the rim of the mask and flashing different color text for those party nights he was currently missing out on.
( ○ . ○ ) He yawned as his eyes started to feel heavy, he grabbed for his energy drink and took a swig. Through foggy late-night vision, he saw something that made his tiredness completely vanish. ( ! . ! ) Someone else was running the code, looking into the same databases that he was. He couldn't tell if they noticed yet or not since he hadn't been kicked from the server or tapped in some way. He watched as they pulled files similar to his, breaking them down into smaller sizes.
( ? . ? ) "What are you doing?" He said to himself. Suddenly he noticed they had found the code he had written and put in, his original design for his mask. They seemed to be looking through it carefully and pulling the basic foundations for the pixel animations. They were dragging them to a hardware named "Scopes". After watching them work for a few more minutes he decided to try and hack into them and see who they were. He couldn't find much but a cellphone ping around Japan town.
He pulled out his phone and plugged in a number. He held the phone to his ear against his shoulder and continued typing away at the coding.
"Hello?"
"Hey Kioki, it's Wrench, do you happen to have access to Japan Town's security system still? I'm trying to get some birds eye views."
"Sure thing, sending you access now." His phone buzzed under his ear and he plugged it into the side port of his computer.
"Thanks! I owe you one!" he said.
"Send some party invites my way and we'll call it even." She was easy to please, he could hear her squeal in excitement when he sent them through. "See you at the next party!"
He pulled up the Japan Town access and started looking through the feeds, looking for anything or any one out of the normal. Rooftops, back alleys, shadows, he looked everywhere in between and finally spotted a small glow on the rooftop of a Ramen bar. He zoomed in, it was a girl casually sitting on the edge of the roof, feet dangling over the edge of the 3 story building. She had a laptop in her lap and was typing away, occasionally stretching her neck out or looking around below her. Based on her speed of typing matched with her pauses and mannerisms to the stream of code he was watching, it was definitely her currently hacking the same system as him. She had a black hoodie on much like Sitaras with strategically placed rips and holes that created designs. Her black jeans looked worn and dusted under the faint glow of the street lights around her. He zoomed in more to see her face, not expecting to find a pair of bulky steampunk looking goggles sitting on her pale face.
Suddenly she pulled out some chords from a backpack and hooked them into the side of her goggles, the other end connecting to her laptop. He watched on his screen of code as she transferred newly sized and detailed data into her 'Scopes'. There were screens on the front just like his mask, they lit up and suddenly dozens of new emoticons flashed across the eyes as the data processed. He watched as his familiar emotions were suddenly projected on this strangers face. Once the transfer was complete she unplugged, tapped her goggles and packed up. Wrench was officially intrigued. He had never seen anyone with a mask or anything similar to his, let alone a girl. Before she could completely slip from the system he managed to snap a geo tag onto her hardware so he could try and find her again.
He stood up from the couch and paced for a few minutes. ( * . * ) "Sorry Jr. but I'll have to rain check. I'll see you later buddy." He hugged the robot and grabbed his gear and backpack. Wrench was never one for cars, he pulled on a tarp hanging on the outside of his garage and climbed onto his Bonneville.
He was an engineer after all, he always needed side projects and motorcycles were also full of hardware upgrade opportunities. He made his way towards Japan town and pulled his phone out of his vest to check on her geo tag. She was still near her last ping location.
He slowed down as he got into town, the street lights always seemed a deeper shade of orange in this area, mixing in with the neon signs lit up in the windows of the small family run businesses. The streets were always bathed in purples and reds with the sweet smell of dumplings and Ramen wafting through the breeze. He parked on a side street and looked around for the Ramen bar. He walked into the nearest shop, the tattoo shop Kioki worked in.
"The man of the hour! Coming for some new art or some info?" Kioki asked as he walked in, she was sitting behind the front desk in the small waiting area. The walls were full of the 3 artists portfolio pieces and the walls were painted a black that made the overhead purple lights seem fluorescent.
"Put me down for some work next week and I'm in!" he laughed. "I'm here for info though, presenting the rare form of Wrench that's actually doing some boring work and not just blowing shit up." He said in his dramatic British voice over.
"What can I help you with today?" She said. Kioki was a small Korean 23-year-old. She was a graphic designer which is how Wrench met her when Sitara brought her on a propaganda run one day. She was riddled with tattoos as her profession was running her tattoo parlor. The side of her head was slightly shaved and her sleek black hair was brushed into her routine pinup fringe complete with a vintage head band and dark lipstick. Wrench thought she was pretty badass but he always felt a little intimidated that she was so small yet could throw a punch. She had become a key asset to DedSec and the thought of flirting had popped up in his head but somehow getting free tattoos if they dated felt wrong to him, and there was no one else in San Francisco he would let tattoo him.
"So that security access I needed earlier, I'm looking for a girl, steampunk goggles – with a Wrench mask twist. Have you seen her? She was just around the Ramen bar earlier but I only have her cellphone ping with a geo tag nothing more specific." ( I . I )
"A Wrench mask twist? I definitely would've remembered seeing someone like that. Let me ask the boys if they've seen anyone fitting the description. Was she Asian? That would make my job easier?" She laughed.
"I don't think so." ( ! . ! )
"Dam. Follow me." They headed towards the back of the shop into one of the artists room. He had a client on his table, face down with a full neck to waist tattoo 60% done. "Hey Misul have you seen a girl around recently? Steampunk goggles with these on the front?" she pointed to Wrench's animated eyes. The burly tattoo artist looked up from his work and shook his head, saying something in Korean and dipping his machine in his small pot of ink. She responded in Korean and used dramatic hand expressions, Wrench could only assume she was asking him to think harder. The man shook his head again.
"Sorry Wrench, he doesn't get out much." She lead him back up to the front. "Any idea on where she could've headed next. Was she wearing anything that stood out besides the goggles?"
"Just all black pretty much, nothing too crazy. And no idea where she could be heading, I just saw her on the rooftop and once she packed up I left the feed an headed this way." He explained.
"Someone's on the curiosity hunt." She cooed at him. "Honestly, I would be too if I were you. Have you checked any of the cameras in the area since you've gotten here?"
( X . X ) "No I haven't, I probably could've before coming in here but I realized I parked close by so it only made sense to ask." He explained with apologetic tones.
"No problem I'll pull them up." He shuffled behind the counter where she pulled up her access and started pulling up Camera feeds from nearby streets. He pointed out the rooftop she had been sitting on. "Hmm, well the only way down from there would drop her next to the Laundromat and from there she could go anywhere, it opens right into the end of Japan Town." She pointed to the spot the ladders dropped into. "Let's say hypothetically she was headed towards downtown, it'd put her around this area," She pulled up more camera feeds but they found no signs of anything. "I heard something about a hacker party somewhere secret tonight, maybe she was loading up to show off some new tech too!" she nudged his side. She pulled out her phone and started asking questions to someone on the other end. "Bingo, there's a new hackerspace/ night club opening tonight in the Financial District. She could possibly be there." She ran through the camera's along the possible routes. "Is this your girl?" She suddenly asked, snapping Wrench out of his zoning out moment.
He watched as she zoomed in on one of the busy streets leading into the Financial District, a girl was walking with a small bag over her shoulder, black hoodie, black pants. She turned around to look behind her and the flash of lit up sunglasses came into view. "That's her!" he practically jumped on Kioki's shoulders.
"Oooo, better go get her Champ. I sent the address of the club to your maps just follow it there and don't blow anything up." She got up from her desk and patted his shoulders. "Remember, one word at a time, calm breathing." She laughed.
"I know how to talk to girls!" Wrench whined. "Thank you very much!" He grabbed his stuff and followed the directions on his phone. The Financial District was busy with weekend traffic and shoppers. He weaved through the streets and parked a few doors down from Boulevard3, the newly opened nightclub that was filled with hackers. The front line was short, a few civilians waiting in line for a club they thought they had a chance of getting into. He walked up to the door man who let him pass instantly. "No pat down? Not even an autograph request?" Wrench frowned. "I'm hurt man, i'm hurt." He walked past the tall door man.
Inside the main floor was crowded with people, a live DJ sat at the head of the room in front of a large pixel wall with flashing neon signs. A few people turned to greet Wrench, he immediately tried hushing them up. "Guys! Incognito! It's a no go!" He hid behind a chair dramatically. "Go, shoo, Go Dance." He snuck around, digging deep for his inner parkour hero.
He danced his way through the crowd to get to a staircase leading up to what he could see was a second floor. The second floor was less packed, a few groups of people swaying to the beats as they talked over their drinks.
"It's the WRENCH!" one guy called out, drunk and swaying to a different beat. "Dude! You're missing out on that bunker party! Everyone was asking for you!" He slurred and hung on to the studded vest.
"I'm working here!" Wrench said in a new york accent. "You never saw me." He wiggled his fingers in front of the guys face in slow circles and tiptoed backwards until the guy was so confused he just went back to his group. Wrench leaned over the balcony and started scanning the crowd of dancers for his mystery girl. A high beat song came into the remix and the crowd grew thicker, but dead center he caught a glimpse of sunglass frames and long hair. She had ditched her black hoodie, twirling around in a red checkered tank. She was dancing alone, swimming among everyone unnoticed. He was drooling over the railing when someone knocked into him. He ran downstairs before he could lose sight of her and started his way through the crowd. She was somewhere in the middle, which seemed far now that he was in the thick of it.
He was pushed around with every beat and pulse, finally falling forward into someone. "God dammit Techno lovers! Calm dow-" He yelled out, he turned to his victim to help her up. Sure enough a pair of bright pixel glasses stared up at him. [ - . - ] she stood up slowly, her emoticons unchanging.
"Uhhhh, so-sorry about that." He stammered. He was glad for moments where the mask covered the redness he could feel spreading across his face. He helped her up from the floor before she could get crushed. Her emoticons blinked once and she turned to disappear into the crowd. "What the fuck was that dude! You stupid motherfucker" He grumbled to himself, smacking himself in the mask. "So-Sorry!" he mimicked, sliding back out of the crowd and looking for her again. He could see her by a wall of lockers - much like the ones in the hacker space, grabbing her hoodie from earlier and pulling it on. She grabbed her bag and left towards the exit. He scrambled to catch up, every few feet stopping and telling himself he wouldn't be able to talk to her anyways.
Outside he could breathe again, the heavy club air dispersing into cool San Francisco night air. He looked up and down the street, but no sign of her, he walked back towards his bike, kicking at the curb with his hands in his pocket. "So stupid!" he continued to say under his breath. He rode back to the hacker space, his feet stomping down the stairs, he threw his backpack towards his bench and jumped onto the couch.
"What's your deal Wrench?" Sitara popped out from behind her desk. Wrench hadn't noticed her from where she was working on a new poster. "Awe, did someone have a fight with Wrench Jr?" She leaned against the top of the couch. Wrench groaned, his arms up over his face. He pulled out his phone and pulled up a snapshot of her sitting on the roof, tilting the screen to Sitara. "What! Who is that?!" she climbed over the couch and sat on the edge, taking his phone and inspecting the picture. "We leave you alone for a few hours and you find a new girlfriend?!" she laughed.
"She's not-, I don't even-," He tried explaining. "She was hacking into my code lines in Nudle, using MY code for HER mask, glasses, goggles, whatever the FUCK!" he sat up and tried to explain better. "I followed her and found her in the financial district, got up to her and completely blanked. I'm a fucking idiot!" he yelled at himself, standing up and pacing around.
"Wow wow, Wrench why are you letting it get to you like this? Did you even think to ask for our help?" Sitara put a hand on his arm to calm him down. "Don't beat yourself up, not tonight!" She added. "Marcus and Josh are still at the party, but they should be on their way soon with T-Bone. Tell me everything and anything you know about her and i'll help you find her."
"I could've fucked this up already. What if she's an enemy to DedSec, or what if she's a potential ally and she won't work with us because I fucking weirded her out!" he shouted.
"Wrench chill out, let me do my stuff, i'll found out everything I can about her." she guided him to the couch and sat him down. "For now, distract yourself, do something other than sit here and rant about it." Sitara went back to her desk and pulled her laptop onto the main table. She started with the geo tag on her and went from there.
"Anything yet?" Wrench called out after twenty minutes. Sitara rolled her eyes and threw his keys at him, he ducked before they could hit his head. "Hey!"
"Go! Shoo!" She said. "Let me dig stuff up and go do something. Better yet go meet up with the boys and party till I call you back." she ordered. "The party did NOT die down, which is why I came back early. One of us has to be sober enough to wake everyone up tomorrow morning. Hurry up and go!"
-Bunker-
The party had indeed grown to spill over into the surrounding area of the bunker. Wrench was too distracted to talk to anyone as he walked through the doors. He found Marcus and Josh by the large pixel wall, dancing to the music and singing along.
"Wrench! I missed you man! Josh - Josh tell him I missed him!" Marcus yelled over the music.
"We missed you." Josh repeated in his usual tone. He hiccuped and laughed.
"Hey! Hey! Off the merch man!" Wrench laughed as Marcus slung his arm around him, pushing a beer his way. "Sorry i'm late." ( X . X ) "Lets party!" he grabbed the beer, putting the thoughts running through his mind in a 'do-not-disturb' folder for the rest of the night.