Sigh, the HxH world is not that well defined, so there's not that many places to choose from to weave into the story. Oh well.
Thanks for the reviews and enjoy :). Hopefully I'll post another chapter on Friday.
Killua looked out over Zaban City as his plane descended, ready to land. It was the last day of Autumn on the calendar but the weather was still summer-esque. The bright sun flooded Zaban City and even the shady parts of town had a warm up-beat feel.
Killua shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the plane landed. He wasn't exactly nervous - he had been on many assassination missions before - but while he had a lot of experience killing, today was his first major hacking mission. Killua remembered vividly his first assassination ever; the unknowns terrified him and his head was swimming with the fear of impossibly strong nen abilities and super human observation skills. Today had a similar feeling.
Killua headed out of the airport and onto the street, where he hailed a cab and gave him directions for the Hunter Information Trading and Analytics Center. It was located in the technology district of Zaban City, one of the newer developing tech hubs. As he sat in the cab he looked out of the window and surveyed the city; flashing billboards, fancy vehicles, electronic shops, and a new age punk feel permeated the place. He felt a twinge of regret that he didn't bring his skateboard; it would have fit right in.
The HITAC was a new center that recently opened up and it served both as a trading hub for information and a job board for information hunters. Milluki had found out about it a couple of months ago, and it was part of the reason he finally dedicated himself to passing the hunter exam. But in addition to that, he discovered that the security systems there were different from the main Hunter website, and easier (but still difficult) to maneuver around. They also had a much freer policy on visitation and had fewer people on security at the site. Milluki concluded from the setup that the Hunter Organization's main security team wasn't involved.
Milluki suspected that at least part of its role is backing up vital information from the main database, and if that was the case then it would be a treasure trove indeed. To freely access even small amounts of Hunter data was extremely valuable.
For the mission, he had given Killua a program that could copy terabytes of data in a matter of seconds and then completely hide any activity that it caused. There was absolutely no way to tell if the program had been run, or even existed on the target computer. However, what he needed Killua for was to bypass the security systems, which were still very difficult to break.
So in terms of execution, the mission was quite simple:
Mission steps:
1. Arrive at Center
2. Fill out and turn in application for information hunting job (used as alibi)
3. Use nen to find and connect to computers
4. Run program, wait
5. Get out of there
The cab stopped in the heart of Zaban's technology district, and Killua got and and surveyed his surroundings. Tall skyscrapers lined the narrow streets but the HITAC stood out with its modern construction. It looked like a tall black obelisk with a dull metallic sheen to its walls. Scattered among the top floors were large open air balconies, but other than that the building seemed to have a guarded personality, hiding any activity that might be going on inside.
Killua stepped through the automatic glass doors of the HITAC and cool indoor air hit him in the face. He walked down the hall and ended up in a modern looking bar; public terminals lined the far end of it, but other than that, it shared the dim light and rough edges that most bars exhibited. Since it was 2pm in the afternoon, it was empty except for the bartender who was cleaning glasses. Killua sat down at the counter, and noticed immediately a computer station behind it. It was positioned carefully so that there was no angle that you could see it from the pub, and he also noted that the computer radiated a strange aura which he guessed it was a nen barrier of sorts. That computer wouldn't be his target; most likely there was a data center in the basement filled with servers that would be easier to hit.
The bartender looked at his guest. "A little early in the day for drinking," he noted.
Killua nodded. "I need an application for information hunter jobs."
The bartender held out his hand. Oh, so that's how it's is, Killua thought. He dug out a bill and placed it on the counter. The bartender reached under the counter and pulled out a couple of sheets of paper. He handed it to Killua, who took them and deftly filled them out.
He handed the papers back to the bartender with another bill and said, "Got any news for me?" The bartender took the application, and then held out his hand again. Killua scoffed and then gave him two more bills.
The bartender took it and said, looking straight at Killua with a questioning glare - "Word is that someone is going to come today to try to hack into our system. We've put extra measure in place to make sure it doesn't happen."
The bartender was drying a glass cup nonchalantly as he spoke. Killua maintained his cool outwardly but inwardly was on high alert. They somehow knew about us! Killua resisted the urge to get out of there immediately; his mind detected that something wasn't quite right. After a couple of moments Killua realized what it was.
The bartender continued. "It wouldn't happen to be you, right?"
Killua smiled. "Of course not," he said nonchalantly, "and that's hardly worth what I paid you."
The bartender smiled back. "I think it is, if it stops you from getting yourself killed."
Killua's smile disappeared, and all of a sudden stood up and leaned in, his face twisted in an evil grin and his eyes alight with sick glee. "Why steal when it's so much easier just to kill you for it?" He grabbed the bartender by the collar and unleashed his aura - waves of nen and killing intent flooded the entire building. The bartender desperately tried to maintain his cool. Beads of sweat grew instantly on his face like large tear drops. He tried to speak something but could only stutter.
Killua let his nen recede, and his face turned cheerful again as he sat down. "Just kidding, I wouldn't do that," he said with a smirk. "Again, I'm just here to fill out an application." He slid off the stool and began to walk out. The bartender dropped the glass that he was cleaning, and the only sound heard in the room was it shattering on the floor.
"But," Killua said, turning his head back, "that information was worth it I guess. I was thinking about trying to hack here someday, but it seems bothersome now. I'll be back here again to buy more information from you, so see you soon."
Killua ignored the stunned look at the bartender and the terror that washed over his face when Killua said he'd be back. He walked calmly down the hallway and out; no one stopped him. He took the next flight home, and along the way Killua considered everything that happened and tried to make sense of it all. How did they know someone was going to try something that day?
A tall, graying man looked at the poem in his hand that radiated slightly with nen.
…
Guard your treasures well or else
They'll be in another's hands.
A tiny crack can cause a breach
on the day that autumn ends.
.
The past has still one untied thread…
...
The man had slick hair and an expensive business suit, and he gave off an aura of importance. He was in a dark conference room with two other men, and he paced along the far off wall while the other two sat down at the table, vanilla folders in front of them with bold letters that said HITAC Security.
"So no one breached the data centers today?" He asked, not looking behind him at the other two men in the room.
"The doors were locked and barricaded with nen, as well as any windows, vents, cracks and any other openings larger than an inch," one of the men replied, annoyance escaping from his voice. Apparently completely sealing off the data center was a rather ridiculous task, but the boss was insistent on making sure every nook and cranny was accounted for.
"Good," the boss said. "and there was no nen activity near the data centers either?"
"None. Any nen, no matter how small of an amount, would have been detected and stopped instantly by our technique."
The boss nodded. It looked like they had stopped the predicted theft. He was right to have struck that deal with his old client; it looked like his new abilities would prove useful in the long run.
"The only nen we detected was that vicious killing aura," the man said, shuddering a little. The boss paused slightly; he would have to review that. "We looked into the instigator - Killua Zoldeck, the expected successor of the Zoldeck family. His brother Milluki is known to be a hacker, but Killua appears to be going a different direction, getting a hunter license, getting involved with the Chimera Ants and the dark continent, and most recently going home and taking up the family business. He did mention trying to get Milluki to hack the place."
The boss considered the scenario; the Zoldeck family wanted to take information jobs. The situation checked out in his head - more information would help their assassinations, he thought. Killua was evolving the assassination business to fit the modern age, and it was a direction that he agreed with; he liked this young leader. Maybe I should use them sometime, he thought, before squashing the idea. Those who relied on assassins tended to die by them as well.
"Alright, very well. Run a scan on the data on the data center just in case, and then put the complete security report on my table tomorrow morning," The boss said, looking down at the prophecy again. "You are dismissed."
Killua walked into his brother's room and stood by the doorway. Milluki was anticipating his arrival all day, and turned around with giddy anticipation.
"Milluki, someone knew about our plan and ratted us out," Killua said quickly before Milluki could say anything.
Milluki's face fell; he expected good news and he was dreaming about the treasure trove of information that Killua would have brought back.
"What?" he exclaimed. "How could that have happened?"
"I walked in and filled out the application just as planned. But while I was trying to get information from the bartender, he instead warned me not to try to hack the place."
Milluki scratched his chin. "Why the heck do they have a bartender there?"
Killua sighed. "He's an information broker..."
Milluki shrugged. "Alright, well I'm sure I didn't leak the information; we planned this verbally and never wrote anything down, and my hacking is untraceable." Milluki had a smug look, as if he was saying 'well, it couldn't be my fault'.
Killua made eye contact with his older brother. "You could have set me up," he said accusingly.
Milluki was visibly shocked, looked down at the floor and grew pink in the ears. "K-Killua I w-would never do that to you, I c-c-couldn't have set you up - I mean, technically could have, no, I mean, but - "
Killua burst out laughing. "Baka, of course you didn't do it."
Milluki grew even redder. "No, o-of course I didn't. Wait, why didn't I?"
Killua pointed over to his anime collection; rows upon rows of figurines filled an entire bookshelf, and there were more in boxes lying around on the floor. "You're a rather straightforward person and you don't hide much. You're very honest with your feelings." It's why I can respect you and work with you; you're much more honest than I am.
Milluki gained his composure. "Of course I would be honest with my feelings," he muttered. Killua I'm gonna feed you to Mike someday...
"And the way that the bartender gave the information was suspicious," Killua said. "They didn't know who it was but they did know that it would happen that day. I suspect they were trying to threaten everyone who came in so that if they came across the potential hacker - "
"- he would be too scared to try anything, right?" Milluki finished. "That's a typical dissuasion tactic, huh." The Zoldeck family was an expert in security systems, and they were familiar with this type of ploy. If an attacker is unknown but supposed to be strong, make them too timid to try anything and you'll have fended him off without confronting him.
"Yup, and it pissed me off, so I concentrated my killing intent on the bartender," Killua said. "Poor guy."
Milluki sighed. "Regardless, they still knew about us? That's not fair! And you didn't get any data off of them, too - "
"Wait, who said anything about that!" Killua said with a smirk.
A ray of hope parted Milluki's furled brow as it relaxed, giving way to a look of amazement.
"You mean..."
Killua held out his hand, and Milluki stared at it with wide eyes. His aura glowed and a flash drive popped into existence. Milluki looked the hand, then back up to Killua, and then back at the hand. He gaped and looked back and forth a few more times.
"Tsk, as if those second rate hunters could stop me," Killua said. "While I was leaking out killing intent, I also threaded my nen circuit into a nearby outlet, followed the wiring until I found the data center and ran your program on one of the computers. It was pretty easy, honestly."
Milluki was silent from the shock, and then suddenly grabbed Killua in a huge bear hug. "Killua, you evil genius!"
"Geroff me, you stink!" Killua replied, pushing his brother away.
Milluki grabbed the flash drive and held it delicately in his fingers, staring at the treasure. Then he copied the files onto his computer, leaned back in his chair, giddy. "Alright, time to see what we've got."
The files were encrypted, so it would take a a couple of weeks before they could actually see the data; but it seemed like Milluki was right on. They were most likely backups of the hunter organization's information database. Jackpot.
After dinner Killua called Kurapika to let him know he would be back tomorrow (and got the same dead-pan voice that meant Kurapika was working too hard and zoning him out), and then went to his room for the night. Right as he climbed into bed, his dad appeared at his door.
"Son," Silva said hesitantly and with a worried parental tone - "we've noticed you've been spending a lot of time with Milluki on the computer. Zeno and I had a talk, and we want to make sure you're still progressing in your training." Silva noted that Killua was no longer a kid, but he still saw him as a child - one whom he needed to guide. Yes, he was the head of the strongest assassin family, but he was still a Dad after all.
"Tomorrow before you head out, come down to the sparring room and we'll test your combat skills since the last time you were home."
"Ok Dad," Killua called to him.
"Alright, good night," Silva said and flicked off the lights.