10:22 AM
LINK VRAINS Central Square
"Excuse me!" Frog ran up to Cyber Archfiend avatar, "If we could just have a moment of your time-"
"Bog off," Cyber Archfiend said.
Frog ignored them, "My partner and I are doing a story on deck building. We'd like to ask-"
Cyber Archfiend began walking away.
Frog followed after them "Out of your last 10 duels how often-"
The Archfiend roared in his face and stalked off, leaving the reporter frozen and a very pale shade of green.
Pigeon flew down next to him. "No luck Boss?"
"This bites!" Frog raged, "We should be out there covering hard-hitting stories! Instead the editor has us doing puff pieces!"
"It's not like we can do anything about it," Pigeon shrugged.
"Beg to differ," a figure stepped out of the shadows.
"Blood Shepherd!" Frog exclaimed.
"How long have you been standing there?" Pigeon asked.
"An hour and a half," Blood Shepherd muttered, "Look, that's not important." He tossed them a card.
"You want a good article, be at that address by noon." He vanished back into the shadows.
"I'm not the only one who thinks he's shady, right?" Pigeon said.
"Totally," Frog agreed, "And where there's someone that shifty, there's always a scoop."
———
11:58 AM
Ema's Hideout
An aging man and his scrawny assistant stood outside the old building.
"We should go back, Yamamoto. If we hurry we could still make our deadline," the skinny man said.
"Idiot! Don't use my real name! We don't know what sort of dangerous criminals might be dealing with," Frog aka Yamamoto shouted.
Saito, better known as Pigeon, decided not to argue any further.
Yamamoto walked up and knocked on the door.
"Password?" Ema's voice came from inside.
The two men glanced nervously at each other. Saito frantically turned the card over in his hands.
"Blood Shepherd didn't say anything about a password!"
The door opened.
"That's right," Ema beckoned them in, "Crew's all here, hun."
Akira spun around in his chair. "Then let's get this party started. Kengo, start the show."
Kengo grumbled something under his breath, but started the projector in the middle of the room. Blueprints of SOL Tower appeared on the wall.
"SOL Tech," Akira said, "Most corrupt company in the world since Industrial Illusions went under."
"We know who they are," Kengo muttered "Just get to the plan."
Akira gave him a look, but continued talking. "The Chess Pieces have kidnapped five children, and we need to know where they're being kept. To that end we are going to have to break into the core of the databank. Fortunately, I installed an emergency back door for exactly this sort of occasion."
"Unfortunately," Ema said, taking a spot next to her fiancé, "He's been cheated out of his job, meaning we have no idea how the security measures have changed, which is where you two come in."
"Us? What can we do?" Yamamoto asked.
"As a pair of reputable, but low tier reporters, security won't be suspicious of you. They'll probably only take as far as the elevator to PR on the 20th floor." Akira pointed to the floor on the projection, "Once that door closes, you can sneak downstairs to the computer room on the 16th floor.The door will be locked, so you'll need a key card. Luckily, I still have a few friends in the company, so mine should work."
"Once you're in," Ema added, "Plug in this." She handed them a hard drive.
"It'll let Akira which security measures are active and where, so my brother and I can sneak in and get the data we need."
———
1:07 PM
SOL Tower
"Hello, we're reporters, here to do a story on, um," Yamamoto wiped sweat from his brow.
"The latest update to Link VRAINS!" Saito cut in.
The security guard at the desk frowned, "You're doing a story about a new emoji?"
"Yup!" Yamamoto said, "Our editor just loves emoticons."
"Emojis, Boss."
"Yeah, those."
The guard shrugged. "To each their own I guess. I'll buzz PR. Hey, Bob, take these two up to PR, will ya?"
The other security guard nodded and the three got on the elevator. It seemed to take forever, but eventually it stopped.
"Last door on the left, can't miss it."
"Thank you." The reporters chorused.
"So far so good." Yamamoto whispered into his earpiece.
"Alright," Akira said on the other end, "Team 2, get ready to go."
"Just hurry it up," Blood Shepherd complained.
"And you wonder why you don't have any friends." Ghost Girl chided.
"I swear to Obelisk, Ema…"
Yamamoto and Saito descended the stairs to floor 16.
"We're here, now what?"
"It's the steel door with the 'Keep Out' sign, third on the right."
With a swipe of the key card, the door opened. Yamamoto pulled out the hard drive and stuck it into a nearby port.
"I'm patched in," Akira said.
The door handle clicked behind them.
"We're out of time!" Saito shouted.
———
1:11 PM
Virtual Databank
"There's a laser grid at 3:00, after that go down to avoid the AI Duelists." Akira's voice crackled in the earpiece.
"This was a bad idea," Blood Shepherd grumbled.
Ghost Girl rolled her eyes. "Then why are you doing it?"
"Because otherwise he wouldn't have reinstated my account."
"I'm still a businessman," Akira replied, "Turn right and go up."
"You definitely made this complicated enough," Ghost Girl laughed.
"If I hadn't Bishop would already be on your ass. That man has no life. Drones on your 6, hug the wall."
"You would know about not having a life." Blood Shepherd muttered.
"Says the guy who cries at Hallmark movies." Ghost Girl teased.
Blood Shepherd growled.
Akira laughed. "Oh that's too funny. One more left and you're there."
The two came to the glowing data sphere that was SOL Tech's private network.
"We're here."
"Great, start the download."
———
"You expect me to believe that you're reporters?!" Kitamura shouted, "Do I look stupid?"
"A little bit," Saito admitted.
"Didn't you get fired for trying to help the Knights of Hanoi?" Yamamoto asked.
"Queen rehired me," the man said proudly, "Something about me not thinking too much."
The two nodded slowly. Bob poked his head in.
"Story checks out, Mr. Craz-er-Kitamura. They're reporters for a down and out site."
"Well that still doesn't explain how they got into the data bank."
"You do tend to leave the door open…"
The purple haired man glowered. "You can go, Bob."
"One more thing sir, there seems to be an unauthorized download from the virtual databank."
"Probably just these two," He scoffed, "I'll interrogate them. What data were you looking for?"
Saito broke down, "I'm soooorrrrrryyyyy! We just wanted a look at next month's ban list for our deck building article!"
"I-is that all?"
Saito sniffed. "Mm-hm."
"Well then, I'll just confiscate this hard drive and let you be on your way. You won't put this little scuffle in the article will you?"
"Well then, have a pleasant day." The man was clearly flustered. The reporters high-fived as they left the office.
——
"Download complete," Akira said, "Come on home, away team."
The bounty hunter siblings fist bumped. A job well done.