chapter ten
"Oh, it is you, I noticed a light, so I wanted to check."
The bald head of a night watchman gleamed at the door. Ravis didn't looked away from monitor, he just muttered something about lots of work. Watchman went away.
Ravis Galante was a programmer in the telecommunications company which belonged to Braginsky family. The company was located in one of the largest buildings in the 1st district. He worked there for a few years and enjoyed it.
In a numb silence of a night the phone rang. Ravis frowned, glancing at the clock. Twenty to eleven. Who could call at this hour?
"What?" He barked.
"It is me."
Ravis suddenly gasped. Quickly checked if someone could hear this conversation.
"I told you to not call this number." He hissed, lowering his voice to whisper.
"We are in trouble."
"You are in trouble. I don't know anything."
"You sold me information."
"But I didn't care what you would do with them. It is no my business."
"Even if both of us can die?"
Ravis's heart rate accelerated rapidly.
BraginskyNet was the largest and the most prosperous corporation in the city. It is really hard to be someone in the world dominated by corruption and lies. But Ravis was talented. Anya Braginsky saw that and she started giving him very responsible tasks, like designing the network security almost impossible to break. But when young programmer got nothing but a bonus and he was counted for advancement, he started looking for additional sources of income.
That is how he met Eduard von Bock, the best hacker in 6th district.
"I have no idea what are you talking about, Eduard?" Ravis stubbornly denied. Maybe if he would keep doing that Edurad would believe.
"Maybe I should remind you, you broke your own security system and you sold access to companys' accounts and you created with me a program that can use web to direct broadcasting startup."
"And what? None died when he get an access to account, on the contrary many began to live. For example you."
"I will just say one name, Honda."
Ravis clenched his fists.
"What do you want from me?"
"We must write the program which can transmit signal, one more time."
"Don't you have a copy?" Ravis instinctively asked, though he knew the answer. Good hackers didn't do copy, they were always prepared to escape and they didn't want to leave evidences. "And what happened with the first version?"
"I lost it." Eduard muttered. Ravis knew that it was not the whole truth. "I can do my part, but I need you part also and codes to the network…"
"Why Honda needs the start program, can't he uses an ordinary remote-control?" Ravis said although Eduard explained this a few times. The remote – control had a small range and it needed free space between remote and the transmitter and Honda wanted to use a few transmitters in one time and they were in different parts of the city."
"Stop pretending. You know perfectly know that Honda hates Braginsky." Eduard was irritated.
"And what does it have to our case?"
"Honda is going to destroy Braginsky and her company." Ravis almost dropped his phone.
Ravis usually didn't think about what people do with his programs. He sold them to people form rather dodgy world and they rather had no good intentions. But now it was different.
"Distroy…" But how?" Suddenly he knew. "Transmitters in whole city…Bombs!"
Eduard was silent for a moment, as if he realized that they didn't use the safe line.
"I need your program." He said finally.
"But we cannot do that, people will die!"
"Do you think that I don't care?" Eduard cried. "If Honda does not get this program he will kill me and I don't think that you will be safe." Ravis trembled.
"Someone dies." Eduard continued. "Braginsky and her men or me, you can decide."
Ravis was silent. Eduard sighed.
"Call, when you decide."
Ravis sat in silence. It was close to midnight when he thought. "Either they or us, someone has to die."
He reached to the lowest drawer of his desk and pulled out the extension. Voice in his head still screaming.
"Someone will die. The choice is yours."
He straighten up, holding a long cable.
"I chose." Said the voice.
O
" I can't believe I agree to this." Felix thought, when he walked through dark corridors of BraginskyNet. "Oh, I forgot, I didn't have a choice."
Anya Braginsky came to his apartment on the same day in which Sophie visited him.
So when he heard knocking, he just snapped. "I told you that you have nothing to look for here." But behind the door wasn't Sophie.
"Gentle as usual." Anya president of BraginskyNet, the biggest company in the city said.
Company, which a half should belong to Felix.
"Don't you invite me?"
"No."
"How nice." And she went inside.
"Modestly live."
"It is because of you."
"Stop blaming me that your grandfather lost shares."
"He lost them to your grandfather and he used them, he didn't care about friendship!"
"He lost them to my grandfather, because he was a fool."
"What do you want?"
Anya looked at Felix, who was visibly angry.
"I want you to work for me."
Felix laughed, he thought that it was quite a good joke
"Can you repeat, I think I mishear."
"I want you to work for me, as a bodyguard."
Felix choked from laughing.
"You are crazy like your whole family. Why should I agree?"
"Because of your debts."
"None of your business."
"Recently mine." Anya smiled which made her look like a child. A very dangerous child. "I paid them, so you owe me."
"Why?"
"Because I want you to stop talking that old Braginsky destroyed your family. It breaks my opinion."
"But he did, It was his fault that my grandfather lost his shares!"
"He lost it, because he was a fool."
"There is no way I agree."
"So you really want to deal with my debt collectors?"
Felix swallowed.
"Then I have to be a bodyguard." He tried not to pay attention to Anya's satisfaction. "How do you imagine this? I don't look like someone who can be a bodyguard."
This time Anya laughed.
"You are the last person, who could protect my life." She said. "You will be a night watchman in the main building of my company."
Felix felt rage.
"You think you can humiliate me?" Felix muttered.
"You start today, in two hours I want to see you in 1st district.."
It that way Felix was in the building of BraginsyNet under command the bald older man, who told him to check all floors in every two hour.
"You save my ass? Fuck." He muttered with rage when he was checking the floors.
Braginsky played with him, he was sure. He experienced this when he arrived.
"This is my deputy, screw up something and you will answer to him. I will not present him to you, after all you knew each other pretty well." Anya didn't hide her smile.
"Toris." Felix hissed.
Rather short dark – haired man looked at him without emotions. "You bastard." Felix thought. "How you welcome old friend."
"I will present you your duties. Come with me." Toris turned and walked ahead.
Toris not even treated him like old friend. Rather like dirty mongrel who was embraced to compassionate Anya's heart.
In most offices were dark, only a few were still with light switched on. From the gap under the last door they could see weak greenish light. Felix opened the door, which hit on something with a thud.
"What is it?"
Behind the door, sinking in the greenish glow of the monitor, laid overturned chair. Beside the desk was some papers and over them…
"O Holy shit!" Felix ran to hanging from the celling young man. A loop with an extension cord tighten around his neck. Felix without thinking grabbed his body and hold.
"Toris, come here, quickly." He shouted.
"What's going on"
Toris entered the room. And he stopped.
"Do not stare like that, help!" Felix cried. Cable broke before Toris reached them. Body fell on the floor.
"Call an ambulance!" Felix shouted. He slapped the body. "Hey can you hear me?"
"His name is Ravis." Felix looked at Toris who was waiting for a connection to an emergency. "This is our very talented programmer. Hallo?" He said to the phone.
Meanwhile Felix tried to remind the basic of resuscitation. First artificial respiration? CPR? How many times I should squeeze? In panic his hand shook.
"Goddamn it!" And he punched the unconscious in the chest.
"What are you doing? " Toris yelled, still hanging on the phone.
"Shut up!" Felix punched again and again. "Just shut up!"
Suddenly Ravis, almost like a drowning man took a breath. He looked at Felix, who was leaning over him.
"W…where, where I am?"
"Certainly not where you were going to go." Felix growled, but he felt like a giant stone fell from his heart. "Why did you do that?"
Ravis continued to breath spasmodically, when his eyes fell on the monitor.
"Everyone…" He was not taking his eyes from the screen.
"What everyone?" Toris asked.
"Everyone will die…company and I."
"What are you talking about?"
Ravis didn't answer. Felix looked at Toris for the first time like nothing happened. Both eyes were filled with anxiety.
O
From the hall came the sound of opening door. Luise didn't had to ask, or even opened her eyes to know who was there. After a while to her bedroom came Feliciano.
"Good afternoon, you are still in bed? It is 2 p.m!"
Luise said nothing. She wondered why he came today. Yesterday they had a nasty quarrel and Luise threw him out of the apartment and ordered not to return and it was not the first time. But Feliciano still returned. And he seemed not to care about her mean words or fact that she didn't need any help.
"Why don't you reveal the windows? It is dark here."
"Because I don't feel like it."
"But the day is beautiful. I will let a little light here, it will revive you."
He went to the windows. When he passed the bed Luis's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed his wrist closing it in iron grip.
"I said I do not want to reveal. "She growled, but she didn't understood why she was so angry.
"But…I just."
"Leave it. I do not want any light." She suddenly realized that she was twisting Feliciano's hand and that he barely tried to hide the pain grimace on his face. She let go of it. Feliciano was still standing beside her bed, rubbing his sore wrist.
"I just thought…" He said finally and stooped. After a moment he had another idea. " And maybe you want to go for a walk with me? We can go to the park or… oh no…sorry."
"Why do you apologize again? Luise asked, her face turned to the wall.
"Because I took it badly. You can't…"
"Walk?" Luise finally looked at Feliciano who was very embarrassed. "Why I feel pity for that boy again?" "You didn't tell me a new thing. I used to it after two years. Don't worry about such thing and don't worry about me."
"The whole aura of embarrassment disappeared. "I must! I mean as a your caretaker I must worry about your wellbeing, do not annoy you in general…"
Luise looked at him surprised.
"Feliciano…Why are you still here?"
"What?"
"Why do you keep coming here? You don't have to. I fired you long time ago. Anyway I am firing you every time when you come here."
Feliciano gently touched her hand. He looked into her eyes.
"Because I want ." He replied simply. "Because you need me…No I need you."
"Feliciano…"
The young Italian turned to her with sudden smile as if the whole conversation didn't happen.
"Do you want to see my birthday gift from my sister?"
Luise was confused by this rapid change, she nodded and allowed him to help with a wheelchair.
"When do you have a birthday ? She asked.
"I had last week."
"I didn't give him any gift. Too bad I didn't know.." She felt a little depressed. "And you tried to find out?"
Meanwhile Feliciano took a small digital camera and gave it Luise. It was visible that it was used before, but it was a good quality.
"Interesting." Luise thought. "But his family isn't wealthy. So where his sister took the many for such a gift."
"Let's make a picture!" Feliciano said and wrapped his arm around Luies's neck, before she could protested. "Smile!"
Light blinked and Feliciano wanted to see the photo.
"Memory full" He read the message on the small screen. "Strange I didn't take any photos."
"Bring my laptop." Luise muttered, taking the camera. She took a memory card. When Feliciano came with her computer she took it and checked the card.
"Unfortunately our photo wasn't save. Feliciano said when she connected the card to the laptop. "That would be the best present."
But Luise didn't listen him. She stared at computer screen, frowning.
"System Startup preparing for the operation. The transmitter trigger code efficient. The timing parameters 20 minutes. Checking the state of the wireless network."
"You are not connected to any network. Connect wireless network for the system to perform the operation."
"It is a some kind of program."
"Program?" Feliciano seemed not to understand.
Luise closed all the windows and she checked the properties of the program, she opened "the transmitters", it displayed a long list of ciphers, but one turned her attention: 0antennaBN. In the city was one antenna and it stayed in the industrial center which was called 0th district and it belonged to BraginskyNet.
What is going on here.
She looked at the numbers once again and she suddenly understood.
"Feliciano give me my phone."
"But your phone didn't work for a long time."
"So give me yours."
Lusie was waiting impatiently until Feliciano will find his cell phone. She has never imagined that after two years after that day which destroyed her life and her work in the police. That she will be force to call them.
"Jones? Luise Beilschmidt is speaking." She said. "I have a case for you…"