Twelve hours later, Steve was dressed up and suited in his new security uniform for Kelfried & Odin Securities and already two hours into his first shift. His anonymous employers informed him it was a low-security site for one of their recently-acquired executives from Sankaku. While protecting the place from thieves was important, data loss wouldn't be significant if something went wrong.
"But your resume tells us that will not happen" his nebulous boss told him "We all remember you at the party eight years ago. Shalem 11 tried to kill our CEO but it was you who stopped him from carrying it out!"
Steve didn't want to tell his boss it was only possible because Plastech had installed cybernetic eyes to augment his vision… finding work in security would be impossible if they knew the truth.
"Yes I did. Hell, he was even such a good sport afterwards" Steve told him instead. He also introduced me to Honey.
He sighed and checked his datapad as he stood in the executive terminal room. He kept his eyes on the door however as best he could. Everything was a blur and it was only when he pulled the datapad away from his face that he could watch the holovid on the screen. It was a classic he enjoyed watching.
It was coming up to his favourite part… the heroes were trying to rescue their friend and idol from the hands of some ruthless government-types and there was only a single, effeminate security guard blocking them. There was a bit of back and forth dialogue involving who had the authority to enter the building before the hero shot the guard and moved in.
He checked the end credits of the holovid – "Esther Martins as Security Guard #3"
With a wistful sigh, he rewound that scene. "Can't believe she died once that smear campaign came out…"
"We may have a possible breach in the alarm system" the security dispatcher informed the guards "Source unknown but just in case, we'll be raising it to Level 1 in a minute."
Steve nodded and looked up at the camera in the room. It was currently offline to save on power bills. It also meant he was currently unsupervised, except for the heart monitor linked to the alarm system.
With that, Steve put the datapad away and grabbed a coffee cup he held nearby on a nearby potted plant. The contents were still steaming-hot as he took a sip and immediately spat it out. "Uggh, what button did I press?" he muttered to himself, staring at the wall.
It was at that moment the door behind him opened and someone stepped into the room. Steve however did not notice this as he put a hand behind himself to check to see where his credit chit went only to feel an empty pocket. "Must have left it in the break room" he grumbled.
"SecNet is picking up an unauthorised tap with the executive terminal. Steve, you're in the same room are you not?" the security dispatcher asked.
Steve looked at the wall and glanced around "I don't see anyone in here but me."
"Additional cameras are coming online now" the dispatcher said, followed by the sound of a hand hitting a forehead. "Steve! You're not watching the door!"
Steve jumped in surprise, spilling his coffee. "Shoot!" he exclaimed, turning around. "I thought the… never mind, I'll investigate the terminal."
He slowly walked over to the terminal inside the spacious office. He stared straight at the blurry console and lowered his eyes, putting a hand to his forehead "Looking around…"
He saw a large hazy shape for a second before it vanished. "Guess it was nothing" he said, rubbing his eyes. The dispatcher said the tap would be logged as a false positive in the system – apart from Steve facing the wrong way there was nothing else in the room.
As he turned around though, he saw another shape moving rapidly in his peripheral vision. "Huh?"
"Attention, alarm is at Level 2. There are possible unknown intruders actively infiltrating the system. Firewalls have been increased to counteract this digital intrusion" The dispatcher informed everyone.
Steve shrugged and looked around at the location of the next shape. "Must be imagining things" he muttered, heading back towards his station. He went several steps before another blur ran past his peripheral vision. This one looked vaguely different to the other; it was much broader.
"What the?" he asked as he felt a looming presence next to him.
"My condolences for your loss, friend" a heavily-accented voice said before Steve's vision was replaced with a series of dazzling lights and stars.
As he lay unconscious on the floor, Steve dreamed about floating in a dark void filled with stars. In the far distance he could make out a bright light that seemed to be beckoning him to approach.
"Who are you?" he shouted into the light.
"You must help me!" the light shouted back. The voice seemed to have a metallic tone to it; like a Plastech cyborg.
He floated over gently towards the light. His eyesight seemed to be much better in the dreamscape; nothing came out as an indistinct blur. Then he saw it, hovering in the middle of the light. "Banks? What the!?" Steve exclaimed in a mixture of shock and anger.
A young woman in a trenchcoat and skirt floated in the air, unconscious. Several neural uplink cables dangled from the back of her head, connected to some sort of invisible port. "Steve! They have me! They have you! You must free us!" Banks said, her voice coming from further beyond.
Then the body's eyes opened. They were bright red and glowing menacingly. Her entire face melted into a metallic skull; much like a Plastech cyborg. The machine gave a growl at Steve and suddenly he found himself being jolted awake by another guard.
"Huh? Bruce, what happened?" Steve asked, rolling to his feet. He grasped his head in searing pain.
"We got infiltrated, that's what!" Bruce informed him "Banks and Shalem just went through the facility and looted all the safes and stole the data from that terminal."
"Banks?" Steve asked.
"You were supposed to be guarding that terminal! How could you have let this happen, Steve?" Bruce shouted
"I didn't see anyone come in" Steve explained "But I thought I heard something and went to investigate."
"Not according to the camera footage" Bruce brought up a video feed of Steve standing and staring at the nearby wall for several minutes according to the timestamp.
Then the picture suddenly shifted to show Steve lying on the ground nearby, fast asleep, followed by the door being blown open by Bruce as he rushed in, looking for intruders.
"I was knocked out! I would never fall asleep at my post!" Steve protested "Ask Dispatch…"
Bruce shook his head "Our employers have sent word. Because of your incompetence, they've decided to let you go. Your badge, gun and uniform please."
Steve sighed and handed off his equipment. "I can't believe this is happening" he grumbled as Bruce escorted him out of the building and onto the cold, polluted streets.
He went to a local café to contemplate his life choices now that he had been fired from a second guard job in the span of a day. That vision of Banks in his dream plagued his mind as he drank his overpriced coffee and watched his favourite movie on the datapad. What was up with Banks' face? He asked himself.
"Huh, didn't think people still watched that" a woman in a purple business dress commented, sitting down opposite Steve.
He was watching the scene involving Security Guard #3 yet again. "Seriously, the writer of that movie was such a hack" the woman continued, grabbing Steve's coffee and downing it "Why would someone be that incompetent at security?"
"Hey!" Steve exclaimed, both at the remark and the fact this unknown woman was stealing his drink. He reached out to grab it back only for the woman to get up and walk away, throwing the empty cup at Steve's face.
"What was that all about?" he grumbled, rewinding the datapad back to watch the scene again. "Can't believe your acting career ended the same way it began… with a bullet to the head…"
Steve's phone buzzed with a new message. This time it was from Sankaku Industries.
"Greetings Steve. We have just heard about your unfair dismissal from Kelfried & Odin on SecNet! Don't worry though, because Sankaku would be most honoured if you could join our family! Executive Kenji had requested for you personally at his office in New Delhi and your skills have indicated you as being most suitable for such a task. Here's an incentive to get you started! We would be pleased to see you soon."
Steve sighed and messaged back he would accept the offer and set off to the Transport Beam Terminal to take him across the continent.