Emerald City Blues
Cale Industries
Bennett's office…
Bennett set the phone down. He had left eight messages at the penthouse. There had been no answer for almost three hours. He tried to contact Jondy, and got nothing but busy signals. She was using it, but he was not able to catch her off of it. He had one last choice. He picked up the phone to dial, but Skywalker came into the office.
"Hey." Bennett said. "What's going on?"
"We've got a crisis situation in progress." Skywalker said. "Max is missing."
"WHAT!"
"She called in a few hours ago. She wanted to know where Parker lived. She said she would just get some recon, but that was over three hours ago and no one has heard from her since. I've sent out a team to check out the place, but so far no word has come down the line."
"Well, she's highly trained, right?" Bennett asked. "There's no real need to worry about this."
"That's not all." Skywalker continued. "Jondy said that she and Original Cindy have found something at the space needle."
"Found what?'
"Some spray painted words. Jondy says it has something to do with X5-493." Skywalker explained. "Apparently, Max is pulling a 493. Jondy doesn't believe that she's snapped, but she's Rogue."
"What exactly does that mean?" Bennett asked. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
"It can be." Skywalker continued his explanation. "X5-493 was one of the Rogues. He… snapped."
"What do you mean snapped?"
"No one knows for sure. What we do know it that he was hunting human prey on the outside for several years. He killed close to a hundred after he kidnapped them and took the victims to a secluded place."
"And you think that Max is doing this?" Bennett asked. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew most of the Children of Manticore Logan and Max had released into the world were uncertain in their like for the Rogues, but he also knew that they respected the Rogues for stepping up to the plate and trying to do the right thing by the kids that had never been out in the world.
"I don't think Max is hunting humans. I think she may have slipped over the edge though and that only leads to the dark side." Skywalker said.
"The Dark Side," Bennett inquired.
"Simply put, boss," Skywalker clarified his statement. "One of the Rogues has gone Rogue. We don't know what her motivations are. We don't know where she is and we don't know what she's doing."
"Then we have to find her." Bennett said. "She could jeopardize everything. You say she went after Parker?"
"She went to his residence to get some recon. That is all we know."
"And you've got a team out there, right?"
"I sent them out thirty minutes ago. They should be arriving shortly, but Max disappeared over three hours ago. We don't know what kind of damage she has already done." Skywalker said.
"We can't assume that she's done any damage. We can only assume that she is getting recon. I know Max. She worked with Logan. Logan never did anything without a plan."
"But the Rogues, especially Max, aren't Logan." Skywalker said. "They left Manticore at the worst possible time in their development."
"What do you mean?"
"Between the ages of 8 and 12, we were put through a series of training maneuvers. These maneuvers were designed to teach us one thing. How to kill... Convicts were brought in and we hunted them. Sometimes they were just strapped up against a tree and we were given knives. Some of us were taught techniques of torture in small, cement rooms."
"My god…" Bennett said.
"We endured two straight years of that. The better ones endured four. It was all we knew." Skywalker continued. After that point, the students were taken to psy-ops and conditioning was put into place to ensure that we just didn't go around killing anyone and everyone that looked at us wrong. The Rogues escaped without this conditioning."
"That would explain 493." Bennett said. "But I know Max. She's not like that."
"Yet she is spray painting walls just like he did. She is operating without a handler or backup. She is out there on her own doing who knows what." Skywalker pointed out the facts.
"So you're saying what, exactly?" Bennett asked finally.
"I'm asking," He said. "What if she didn't go there to get recon?"
Sector 12
The Waterfront…
"You're not going anywhere, freak." Ames White said. "You're cut off. You're outnumbered. You're alone."
"Who're you callin' a freak?" Suede asked. "They say you don't feel pain. That sounds pretty freaky to me." He said. He laughed. "And look how short you are compared to that bride of Frankenstein standing beside you."
Thula lunged at that statement, but White stayed her with a hand on her arm. She looked down, quickly yanking her arm away from him as if it was something bad to be seen touching him.
"Relax. That's exactly what he wants you to do. It gives him an advantage." White said. "I don't know which one you are." White said. "But I know I've seen that mug before."
"It's too bad you don't have a better memory." Suede said. "It's going to be kind of disappointing killing you when you don't even know who I am."
"Well, you're not going to kill me." White said. "My men here will make sure of that." He paused, staring at the tall muscular Nubian with the glaring teeth. "I know I've seen you before somewhere."
"You have. You failed to nab me then and you'll fail this time as well." Suede said.
"I've got it. You're X5-682." White snapped his fingers as four more soldiers approached from the alley behind him. "You were involved in that whole Dalton Genetics scam. The project sent you in to take out old man Dalton, but I got there first."
"Actually, you got lucky." Suede laughed. "Eyes Only got there first. His cable hack warned me that you were coming. I don't know how he knew, but he did. I'd say you owe the man your life."
"How do you figure?" White demanded. He had never heard anything so preposterous.
"It's simple. Eyes Only's warning led me out the back door that day. Had I walked out the front into your contingent of NSA thugs, you all would have died quick and violent deaths. As it stands, you only lost two guards around the side when I made my break for it."
"Do you really think you could harm me?" White asked. Suede smiled. White noticed the change in his eyes immediately.
A blade suddenly appeared in Suede's hand. He launched it directly at White's chest as he dropped and rolled toward the waterfront along the edge of the dock. The roll offered an angle on the four soldiers taking up positions alongside of Thula.
Suede roared as the blade sunk into White's shoulder. He had dodged, but not fast enough, and the blade bit into his shoulder blade rendering his arm useless at the moment.
"SHOOT HIM!!!" Thula shouted, but Suede opened up on the soldiers standing next to her as he continued toward the waterfront with another side roll. Bullets ripped into the four soldiers sending them sprawling back and down and out of play. Thula grabbed a weapon from the one closest to her as he fell. "DON'T LET HIM GET TO THE WATER!" She shouted.
"Too late," Suede laughed. He jumped up over a flurry of bullets and dove headlong into the black depths of the water along the dock leaving the Phalanx weapon clanging on the ground where he had so recently been. The three remaining guards ran to the shore line and fired into the water.
"It's no use." White said. He reached up and pulled the dagger from his shoulder with an audible squelch and a slight crunching sound. He threw it in the water and turned to walk away.
"He can't have gotten far." Thula argued.
"Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. We have other priorities to deal with tonight. Forget about him." White said.
"But he's transgenic. I thought we were supposed to exterminate them?"
"We are." White said glaring up at the tall Amazon in front of him. "It is useless to hunt them one by one, however much fun it may be. I plan on isolating a large group of them and exterminating them all at once. We can play games with the rest after we are finished."
"What about Eyes Only?"
"What about Eyes Only?" White asked. "He's a minor irritation. I have techs working on tracing him the next time he makes a broadcast. We will find him and take him out. Then, with 452 as their only leader, we will corral them in a central location and remove them."
"You make it sound so simple."
"It is." White smiled.
Sector Ten
City checkpoint…
Brin pointed to her eyes and gestured just in front of her with three fingers. She gave a signal to lay low and moved from the shadow in front of her. There was some rustling and a muffled groan and then silence.
Alec looked at Biggs. Biggs smiled. Brin poked her head around the corner. "You boys coming," she asked
Biggs shook his head and smiled. "Not bad."
"Not bad?" Brin asked. "I take out three sector guards in under five seconds and all you can say is not bad?" She headed into the sector through the little used checkpoint and ducked into the shadows along the far side of the road.
"Well, speaking as a professional here, three men should only take three seconds. Incapacitation is a fine art and one you haven't mastered yet."
"Incapaci-what?" Alec snorted. "Is that even a word?"
"She's a girl." Biggs said. "It stands to reason that she would be slower against three men than you or I."
"Well, that is at least a valid point." Alec agreed.
"Even if they are ordinaries," Biggs continued.
"But where the hell did you get the word 'incavatation' or whatever you said?" Alec asked.
"It's a word, and I said incapacitation." Biggs answered. "Cavitations is a nautical term."
"Whatever you said, it wasn't a word." Alec continued.
"Damn! Don't you two ever shut up?" Brin asked. "This is a covert mission here. You know… stealth and secrecy or did you two sleep through infiltration exercises?"
"Hey, I'm not the one going around and making up words." Alec said. "And by the way, are you just going to ignore the fact that he said you were slow because you are a woman?"
"Yes." She answered. Brin knew better. She took one look at Alec and knew he wouldn't last against her.
That ended the conversation and the threesome walked along the side of the road toward the checkpoint leading out of Seattle and into the dark forest and mountains.
They approached to about five hundred yards and all three of them hyper-focused on the small roadblock. There were eight guards, all heavily armored and wearing black uniforms, not the standard issue BDU of the sector guards.
"What do you think that's all about?" Brin asked.
"I'd have to say, they aren't sector cops." Biggs said.
"Well, they aren't standard issue goons at least. These goons look meaner and more highly trained." Alec said.
"Military?" Biggs asked. His tone was a hopeful one. "They've put heavier guards in place because of the remote location…"
"Could be, but why have eight guards to watch one checkpoint?" Alec asked.
"shhh…" Biggs said. "Someone's coming."
The three soldiers crouched lower and waited patiently. They could all hear the footsteps of four jack-booted troops approaching from behind them along the street.
"Sector team four, report in…" a voice ordered across the radio on one of their shoulders.
"This is team four. Zone three is clear." The lead guard said. "I repeat, zone three is clear, not even a stray animal out here."
"That's what I like to hear team four. Keep the street clear. The convoy's ETA is ten minutes… mark. We will be moving out when they are through and returning to base. The Captain has new orders."
"Copy that, Sir." Team four out.
The guards crossed the street away from Brin, Biggs and Alec, maintaining their rotation in what was apparently zone three.
"What do you think?" Alec whispered. "If we're in zone three, then it's a given there are more troops out here."
"I agree." Brin said. She smiled. "Let's get closer."
"This is it. We've found it." Biggs added as they phased into shadow and moved along the edge of the block. "This is the location where they are getting in."
"I would imagine." Alec answered. "What do we do about it?"
"We have to cut them off." Brin said. "I just don't know how."
"Yet," Biggs added. "We'll figure it out."
"We're going to have to call Max and let her know." Alec said. "She can run a cable hack."
"Let's deal with that issue when we are done here." Brin said.
"FREEZE!!!" A woman shouted. "Don't move."
Brin, Biggs and Alec looked up above them. A female soldier was leaning out of a window with her weapon pointed down on top of them.
"Base, this is zone two. Perimeter has been breeched."
Sector Nine
Fogle Towers…
"We're not going to find her." OC said. With the current brown out in the sector, the elevators weren't running. The girls had walked out of the garage and around to the front of the building to check in. During Brown outs, most of these buildings went on permanent lockdown and no one got in or out without an invite that didn't live here. Fortunately, Jondy still lived here.
"We will." Jondy tried to sound reassuring, but she knew as well as Cindy that Max wouldn't be found if she didn't want to be. "I hope she just went to collect her thoughts and didn't do anything stupid."
"Stupid?" OC said. "If there is one thing Max isn't, she isn't stupid. Stubborn, yes, overconfident at times… definitely, but never stupid. Logan never did anything without a plan."
"But Max did, Cindy." Jondy said. "Max is from Manticore. We were taught to make it up as we went. It was on us to make a bad situation work out or it got far worse than it could be. We were trained to react, not think about anything."
"Yeah, kill or be killed." OC said. "I know. I may not be from Manticore, but I did my time in the army. I played around in the black ops for a time."
"I know Cindy…" Jondy stopped and looked around for something. "Someone's coming." It was very late and there had been no one on the street when they walked up.
"It's okay." OC said. Jondy was already watching. She pointed to the corner of the building where CeCe approached followed by a small, dark brown girl with very serious eyes. "Hey girl," OC said.
"This is Evangeline." CeCe said. "She's a six. She got the name from an old comic she found. She arrived yesterday, stowed away on a truck coming up from LA. Apparently there's a big news report down there about the new look of Eyes Only."
"There are always news reports about Eyes Only."
"Not like this." Evangeline said. "They have information supplied by an anonymous source that he is localized here in Seattle, that he is connected to terrorists, and that he is plotting against the government. There has been a reward announced for his capture."
"What?" Cindy and Jondy both asked at the same time. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. 1,000,000 Euro," Evangeline said. "It was on the news last week."
"Why would they run that report in LA and not here?" Jondy asked.
"That's easy. There is a large and well established gang community down there as well as the largest active port on the West Coast. Anyone could get into the country and come up here virtually undetected with the right connections." Cindy explained. "We have to find Max and find her fast."
"Where's Max?" CeCe asked.
"We don't know." Jondy said.
"Who is Max?" Evangeline asked.
"You remember the Rogues?" CeCe asked. Evangeline nodded. "452."
"Oh," the girl said. "I see."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cindy asked.
"It means that I know who 452 is." Evangeline said. "I saw her once, on the inside, I mean. I was transporting some documents when I passed her and four guards in the hall. They say she defeated them in combat with her hands cuffed behind her back and then stared directly into the camera without moving. I was already out of the hall at that time so I don't know if it's true or not."
"That's my girl." OC smiled. "C'mon. I'm hungry and it's almost past curfew. I know there's food in the apartment, I helped buy it."
"Yeah," Jondy agreed. "We'll wait for her there. She has to come back. She can't just disappear."
"Would she do that?" CeCe asked. Evangeline looked up at the tall blonde with a strange look in her eyes. "She wouldn't abandon everything they've worked so hard for here, would she?"
"Who are they?" Evangeline asked.
"Max and Logan, he's her boyfriend," Jondy said. "They've been instrumental in helping all of The Children of Manticore get adjusted and rotated into this society." She continued her explanation. "If it hadn't been for them and a handful of others, we would have been hunted to extinction by White and his cult wackos…"
"Cult," Evangeline said. "I don't know about any cult. I never learned anything at Manticore."
"Not one of the best students?" CeCe asked. "It's okay, neither was I."
"I excelled in diagnostics and repair though. Tested off the scale for my class, at least that's what I was told. They were going to send me to another facility." Evangeline stated suddenly. "But I never learned where that was. I had manuals though. They are still down in LA. I was in the study chamber when the alarms started to sound. I walked out into the hall to return the manuals when the doors locked behind me. X6-555, from my class passed me in the hall and told me we were under attack, so I followed him."
"What happened then?" OC asked. "We don't really know what happened when you kids escaped."
"We regrouped out in the perimeter before the order to go to ground came from X5-808. We assumed squads and headed out into the forest. It was days before I found myself in LA in an abandoned building." She looked at the other women before she continued. She was looking for something in their eyes. "It was funny, but as 555 and I were heading out into the training yard, I saw a man carrying a woman out of the front of the building. He climbed into a truck and drove off. He didn't have a barcode, but he was carrying an X5. I could tell by the clothes she was wearing. They were standard issue grey-wear for prisoners."
Jondy and OC looked at each other. They turned to CeCe and she nodded. "I saw them when I was leaving the language center after the alarms started. I had been working on some programming languages with some French contractors brought in to help track Eyes Only. We had no idea he was actually in the system at that point. I made my way eventually down and around to the main floor when I saw them walking out the front door. Everyone had been locked in their offices except the soldiers."
"Manticore was attacked by Eyes Only." Evangeline said through gritted teeth. "Others have said it isn't true, but what else could it have been?"
"Eyes Only didn't attack Manticore." Jondy said. "Eyes Only saved the kids from the project. He set all of you free."
CeCe saw the disbelief in her eyes. "It's true." She assured the younger girl. "Think back to Tactical Combat classes. Why would the enemy release the troops that could converge on his location and confront him and keep the weaker techs and scientists locked in their offices? Eyes Only set us free. He brought down the project so we could have normal lives and live like normal people."
"I've heard that before, but what about 452?" The X6 asked. "Why set us free if he was already able to get to her on the inside? Why would he care about us?"
"It's all about you, girl. You were kept in that place against your will, denied basic human rights that everyone is entitled to and not allowed to enjoy the finer things that life has to offer, like chocolate and dancing and basic elements like making your own decisions that make living worthwhile."
"That's just propaganda." Evangeline said.
"Why did you bring this girl here?" OC demanded of CeCe.
"She refuses to believe. I thought that maybe I could show her what it's really like out here. Let her see how things are really working. She doesn't believe in the cult." CeCe offered.
"Well you better start believing. The cult is real and rest assured, you will have to deal with them." Jondy said. "We've all had to deal with the cult and a certain member of their cult in particular. His name is Ames White."
"I've heard that name. They were talking about him over at the barracks." Evangeline said. They entered the main entrance of Fogle Towers just as she said it and the security guards on duty there looked up. OC was worried at first, but quickly realized they would be no problem when she noticed Jondy waving. The four men just stood there with dumb grins on their faces as CeCe and OC joined in the flirtatious behavior. Jondy, CeCe and Evangeline could easily hear the men as the women waited for the elevator doors to close.
"Damn." One of them said.
"How does Cale do it?" Another asked. "He lives with two drop dead beautiful women and even when he's not around, he still has some of the most gorgeous women visiting his crib."
"I wonder what they do up there all alone." The first one asked.
"Pillow fights," A third laughed. "Or is that only in the movies?"
The elevator doors closed shutting out the conversation. Jondy and CeCe laughed at each other. The X6 was obviously confused by the conversation.
"OC, do you know what those men just said?" CeCe asked.
"Men don't interest me girl." OC said. "I don't pay attention to any I don't have to or choose to. That means that I listen to Logan when he calls, but that's about it."
"What do you mean?" Evangeline asked. She was staring at OC seemingly concentrating on something as if trying to figure out something she didn't understand. "Don't you like men?" She asked.
"Honey… I play for the all-girl-team and ain't nuthin' in the world going to change that."
"What's the all-girl-team?" The X6 asked.
"You mean to tell me you lived in LA and ain't never heard of the all-girl-team?" OC almost laughed. "It's simple. I don't like men. I don't do men, sleep with men, date men. I prefer women."
"How so?" Evangeline asked.
Conclave Catacombs
Jack's quarters…
He had no idea how long the decryption had been running. It had been several hours and he had been locked in his quarters the entire time. The folder marked with the word 'Two' had been grating on his nerves the entire time. There was something in there he needed to get to.
The backups he made of the hard drive from the elder's quarters hadn't taken long to copy, but getting into the folders had taken some amount of time. The encryption on Lydecker's folder had been laughable and the other folders hardly had any encryption at all. This is why the feeling that something important. This folder marked with one word was the key to the whole puzzle.
Jack checked the progress and noticed that he wouldn't have to wait much longer. There were only three single codes left to crack and he would be in. He closed everything running on his system and leaned back in his chair. Seven hours had been spent waiting and he needed only wait a few more minutes.
Getting slightly more comfortable in the chair, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
He found himself sitting in a wheel chair looking at a man he recognized. The man was named Lydecker. He noticed how short the man was.
"Pretty chivalrous offering yourself in exchange for the women," Lydecker said.
"Well, I'm old fashioned," He answered the man.
"Also a little crazy," Deck offered as an afterthought.
Before he could react to the statement, he found himself on a roof. His legs were no longer working and two men were holding him above their heads on the edge of a building. It was a long way down. When they pushed, he held only one thought in his mind.
The brown eyed gypsy girl…
And just as suddenly as he felt the rush of falling from the top of the building, he saw her reaching out for him. Again, she had come to save him in the darkest moment and again, she had succeeded. He reached out for her as she reached for him. He felt the almost electrical connection when she touched him and pulled herself close, wrapping his arms around her as they reached the extent of the rope. She grunted as the momentum carried them towards a window not far away. Shots rang out above them, but they were crashing through the window and landing on the bed.
The next thing he remembered was pulling her closer to him and staring into those eyes. Words were traded, but there was no memory of them. She, as always, had come for him when he needed her the most.
The computer began beeping, ripping him from his dream. He sat up and pulled himself toward his desk. The decryption was complete. The file was blinking, ready to be opened. He double clicked on it and waited for the file to open.
Inside the folder were two more folders. One marked with 'Max452' and nothing else. The other marked with 'EyesOnly' and nothing else. He right clicked and checked the file sizes. Both were relatively large, but he didn't want to take any chances so he scanned both folders and noticed they were also encrypted like the other one. It would be several more hours before he would get a chance to read these files.
Setting his decryption algorithm on the Max452 folder, he decided that several more hours of this would drive him insane without food or exercise. He grabbed some stuff, pulled on his robes and secured his hood after locking the door to his cell. It was a short walk to the cafeteria and he found the relative silence of dinner time to be soothing at least. As he ate the strange pile of vitamin laden nutrients in a convenient pile of tasteless mush, he rolled the apple and orange he grabbed daily around in his hand.
His thoughts drifted to the day he arrived here. He had been on a bus with other nameless devotees. He had been processed, his arm checked for the brand and his name logged.
"Name," A woman asked. He stared at her, confusion on his face. "What is your name?" He asked.
"Jack." He said. "Jack Eastman." He smiled not really understanding why.
"Family: Eastman," The woman made a note. She checked around at several papers on her desk before she realized that she didn't have the right paperwork. A man had stepped forward obviously concerned that there was a problem.
"What's seems to be the confusion?" He asked.
"I don't have this name on my list."
"What is your name?" The man asked.
"Eastman, Jack Eastman." He said. The man nodded.
"We've been expecting you Mr. Eastman." The man smiled. "I will handle his paperwork." The man reached for the card Jack had handed to the woman. "The Eastman family is known to me. I've been waiting for him to arrive." The man smiled again and turned to Jack. "I understand you know computers quite well. After your orientation you will be taken to the labs in the underground and logged into the system. You will be taken to your quarters later this evening after you have checked in at your work station."
The two men walked away from the table and headed toward a door in the back of them main room. When they were a safe distance away, Jack turned to the older man and looked at him. "You've been expecting me?"
"Yes. I was told you were coming." The man said. "You've been expected for days now. We had begun to think you weren't going to arrive."
"I've been having some problems lately." Jack said. "Troubling dreams," he said. "I've been trying to…"
"Well, I wouldn't worry about that. Here, no one goes outside of their quarters without their robes on. The short sleeve robe is standard issue down here. Only the priestesses and Phalanx soldiers go without robes. If you see the Phalanx coming, do not and I mean DO NOT get in their way. They will kill you. It happens occasionally, but it does happen. They are the pride of The Conclave so they get privileges we monks that run everything only dream about."
"Will you be running my orientation?" Jack asked.
"You will never see me again. It is safer that way." The man said.
"Down this corridor, a man will be waiting for you." He pointed in the direction he wanted Jack to walk. "Oh, and one more thing, under no circumstances do you go anywhere near the lowest levels. It is forbidden for monks to enter the training areas…"
"I have questions." Jack said.
"You will have to find your own answers." The man pointed. "Remember, never remove your robe outside of your quarters." He pointed along the hall again. "Go, you are expected." With that last statement, he turned and walked back to the main hall.
Jack stared after him for a while before walking into the depths of the unknown place he had entered. When he walked through the door a man asked him where he was assigned. Jack mentioned the Computer lab and was led by a third man into dark cold man made passages leading down long curving corridors. The walk was a long one and Jack got the feeling that he had passed the point of no return long ago. Even before he had arrived here, not knowing who he was, he had that feeling. It had come with the mark that seemed to burn itself into his skin several days earlier.
Now, he knew it was too late. He was committed to the only goal he had at this point. He needed to find out who he is and why he couldn't remember anything about his life before that night he slept on top of the space needle.
The man leading him along the corridor seemed small in comparison to what he had expected. It wasn't that he had come here with expectations, but he just wasn't expecting this.
"What level of experience do you have?" The smaller man leading the way asked. He seemed to hiss certain sounds. Jack studied the man for only a second before he accepted the fact this man was no threat to him.
"I've worked with networks and high end telecommunications. I have experience with satellite communications and broadcast technology. I've worked in television and for large corporations."
"Very good," the monk said. "We'll need that expertise if we are to accomplish the task we've been given."
"What task is that?" Jack asked as they approached a set of double doors leading into a cavernous room packed with several levels of computers and people. All in the room were wearing brown, gray or deep maroon robes, mostly brown robes though.
"We are hunting a hacker." A man in a brown robe said. "He's not just any hacker though. You'll be filled in soon. First we have to check you into the system and scan you print. What's your name?"
"Jack. Jack Eastman." Jack said. The man pointed to a small knobby looking device. It was a thumb print scanner. Jack pressed his thumb into the indentation and waited. A slight glow appeared around the edge of his thumb before the monk looked up and smiled.
"Good." The man said. Jack looked around realizing the hissy little man was gone. "Come with me. By the time we get you a station, you will be logged into the system. Once you have logged into the system, you will be introduced to your team leader."
"Who is that?"
"His name is Bob." The man said. "He's in charge of the active trace and therefore maintains one of the most disciplined stations. It will be your duty to trace the target when the hack is confirmed…"
"Target?" Jack asked. "What is the target?"
"We're going to catch Eyes Only." A man said stepping up in front of Jack. He held out his hand and Jack saw the same mark on his arm as he had on his own. "I'm Bob."
Jack shook hands with the man. He tried to peer into the dark shadows of the hood to see if he could see anything. He saw nothing but darkness and shadow. It comforted him for some reason, as if he understood shadow and the void. He let go of Bob's hand and smiled.
"I'm Jack. Jack Eastman." Jack said.
"Good to have you on board, Jack. The information we got on you is outstanding. Welcome to the machine." Bob said.