Chapter 2 Chasing Ghosts
Holland, 5 days before Aliprando Stole the jet from Mirny Airport
The first thing Dan remembered after waking up was him trying to prank Aliprando. He had used his phone to chat with Ali, while setting up a surprise party for his birthday, in the style of a world ravaged by a Pandemic.
Well, not like he had to add much to it, considering a Pandemic of idiots had just taken the world by surprise.
The next thing he remembered, was waking up in his home. Except that it wasn't his home.
The building was the same, but it was barely more than a ruin by now.
He had realised almost as soon as he woke up that he clearly wasn't in his timeline - hell, probably not even in his world – and decided to look around.
The fact that his hidden garage was still there, with his intact car to boot, just served to confuse him.
He decided not to dwell on it yet, but instead to take his car and drive off to look for his relatives.
He ended up not finding a single one. What he did find while driving around Holland, however, was that technology took a leap. And a massive one at that.
Holland's population was three quarters human, and a quarter Omnic. At least that's what the robots called themselves. It sounded... oddly familiar. Thanks to his open mind, he was able to initiate conversation with some of them, without them noticing his distress. Or if they did, they had the grace to act like they didn't.
"So, what brings you here, Mr. Kanner?" one of the Omnics had asked him. Dan blinked. "Well, I live close by. I've been gone for a while and returned recently, so I decided to look around again."
The Omnic, his name was Leonard, tilted his head. "You must have been gone for quite a while then."
Dan chuckled, "You have no idea. I spent the last five years in America, before that I was in Japan for two years, and Russia for three." He wasn't lying, of course, just not telling the entire truth, considering he just somehow jumped forward in time by almost 50 years.
Leonardo nodded in respect. "Impressive." he said, "you make me envious. Us Omnics have a hard time travelling without being frowned upon."
Dan then managed to get himself caught up in a long conversation about travelling with Leonardo.
While he enjoyed speaking to another likeminded person, he afterwards realised that he just lost a lot of likely vital time, trying to find his friend.
Realising that he'd not be able to make much ground, he decided to call it a day and went to sleep in his car. Luckily, he had his car prepared for similar scenarios. His meds and some canned rations were well hidden in the car's interior, ensuring his immediate survival. He chuckled. Well, maybe I'm being overly dramatic. He could easily work as a technician, or as an accountant for that matter, to be able to provide for himself.
He still decided against it.
"Alright, this setting is too cliché to have me drop in this place by myself." he decided, planning a route to Switzerland. As he did so, he admitted "… that being said, I have no guarantee he is even here." He ran a hand trough his chestnut hair in annoyance.
Deciding to bet on his luck, he drove off towards Switzerland the next morning.
He arrived after an eight-hour drive. He crossed the border to Germany, and Switzerland without a hitch, and, arrived at his Friends house – or, more accurately, where it should have been, the space was empty - pulling out his laptop to set up a tunnel so he could call his friend.
To his disappointment, all he got was static. He slammed his laptop shut, sighing. He racked his mind in hopes of titbits he could use to locate him. The fact that it was Static and not a service message meant that he got a response from the provider.
But no response from the phone. Where was Aliprando this time? Did he purposefully avoid his calls, trying to keep a low profile? Was Ali in trouble? Or was he needlessly trying to keep Dan out of harm's way again?
He opened his laptop again, this time with a different purpose. He backtracked the provider's signal, trying to use the network to locate Aliprando's signal.
He didn't get far before he realised that he had no chance to enter the communication network servers without physically accessing them. "Just my luck" he huffed.
He was a hacker, not a sneaky operative. No way was he going to get in there on his own. Unless…
He started rifling trough the parts of the network he had access to. Sure enough, the Maintenance team had open jobs for technicians. A sly grin hushed across his face as he started typing rapidly.
"Well, guess who has a job now, suckers." Once done with altering the files and registering himself as the 'new guy', he closed his laptop and decided to look for a restaurant. "Work starts tomorrow, time to prepare."
The rest of his evening was otherwise uneventful, luckily. After stuffing his face in the closest restaurant, he went to look for a nearby motel, finding one a 10-minute drive away. He quickly set his laptop up on the table, starting his programs and inserting a thumb drive. He quickly loaded the worm program in, taking the drive and putting it on the nightstand.
When his alarm rang the next morning, Dan was already up and dressed, eager to get to 'work' and finally find his friend. While he was sure that Aliprando would be able to get by without a problem, he was sure It'd be a lot more fun to live trough this scenario together. That, and he was sure he would go insane without Aliprando, someone he knew, around.
Once he entered the building of the Network Provider, a young Woman came up to him.
"Good morning sir, I have been told to wait for you here. Mr. Steiner is waiting for you at the Workshop. I Presume you have already read the orientation pamphlet?"
Dan gave his best business smile. "Of course, Miss. But I'm afraid I couldn't decipher the map quite right, I'm bad with directions, you see." He explained, faking a sheepish expression.
The Woman gave a knowing nod. "Yes, they managed to make it needlessly complicated this year. I can show you the way, if you'd like?"
Dan gave a curt bow. "I'd like that, yes. Thank you." He took mental note of her attractive figure, as she led him trough the Building, onto the basement floor, into the Workshop.
When they walked in, they were greeted by a Plexiglass wall and sparks flying towards said wall.
They saw a burly man, wearing protection equipment. He was working away at what seemed to be a Server closet frame, using a grinder to make a rectangular cut-out.
As they waited for him to finish his work step, he turned towards the Woman. "I just realised I forgot I didn't get a chance to ask for your name, miss. Would you indulge me?" he smiled.
She turned her head towards him. "Of course. It's Debora." Dan replied with a Smile, "I'm Daniel. Nice to meet you, Deborah." Offering her his hand. She shook it. "Likewise, Dan."
In the Meantime, the burly man had finished what he was working on and had walked towards the Protective glass. He knocked on it, signalling the two to walk towards the right, pointing at a door.
As they did, the Burly man was Taking off the face shield and hung it on a hook beside the door in the protective wall.
He opened the door and held it open for them to enter. "Hello, you're Daniel Kanner I Presume?"
He asked Dan, who nodded, offering his hand again. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Steiner. I Look forward to working with you."
Steiner Shook Dan's hand, nodding. "Likewise. Tough, there isn't much work right now, and from what I read you are more suited to Software maintenance?"
Dan nodded again. His neck was going to be a bitch this evening, if this kept up. "Yessir. Tough, I do like to work on Mechanical pieces once in a while, if that could be arranged?"
Steiner smiled at him. "Ah, a Tinkerer! You would be more than welcome, if you get your primary work done. As long as you do, you can feel free to help just about anywhere in the Company."
Dan smiled back, this time genuine. "I'm already starting to like this place."
Deborah chuckled. "Well, I'll leave you two alone. Have fun, Daniel." She waved, walking back towards the exit of the Workshop. "Yes, see you Deborah." He waved back, getting a playful jab on the arm by Steiner. "already making Friends, I see. You're gonna fit right in!" he said with a smirk.
Dan laughed in reply. "You think? I had the impression my social skills were non-existent."
Steiner looked at him, not picking up on his sarcasm. "What are you talking about? You're doing just fine."
Dan decided not to confuse the man further. "Well, what do you say we get to work? I'm curious about the systems employed."
Steiner patted him on the shoulder "Sure thing, I can give you a small tour of your area of responsibility. This way." Steiner then led him trough the basement of the Facility, into a Room chock-full of servers. "This," he spread his arms, "is the main attraction. A Limited AI that manages in- and Outgoing communication, as well as acting as a sentient Firewall, if you will. Say hi, Friday."
A soothing female voice came from speakers scattered throughout the Room. "Hello there, Mr. Steiner. Mr. Kanner." Dan was taken aback. He expected Security, specialised locks and active monitoring, but not an AI. Then again, he supposed, considering that Omnics were a thing, he really should have thought of that possibility.
Now his little thumbdrive was pointless. Not to mention, if this Friday was a Conscious AI, he'd not be able to live with himself if he did use the thumb drive.
But, no matter, he'd manage somehow. He always did. "Nice to meet you, Friday. Quite the setup you got here."
"Thank you, Mr. Kanner. I possess 64 Server units, each employing a State-of-the-art Quantum processor. I have the collective Calculation power of 69,9 Human minds."
Dan Whistled in admiration. "Nice."
Steiner laughed. "Well, its 70, but she likes to make numbers involving 69. One of her Developers found it hilarious, I'm told."
Dan chuckled. "I'm liking those guys. But I got to ask, what would my role be, if you have an AI taking care of things?"
Steiner pointed at Dan. "You, my friend, will be her servant, of sorts." Dan's jaw dropped. "I"- What the fuck?"
Steiner laughed again. "Well, with her being an AI, she can't maintain her servers physically. No weird stuff, just helping her keep a clear mind, so to speak."
"I'm sorry Mr. Steiner, I'm gonna need you to stop making jokes like that. If you keep this up, I'll turn 100 over night from stress!" Dan chuckled.
Steiner grinned. "You've got a lot of time left, Daniel. Make sure you use it to do what you like and dream of. As long as it includes working here, of course!"
Dan grinned as well. Yes, he was going to like working here with Mr. Steiner.
The next two days of work went smoothly, with Dan joking around with Steiner and testing out what he was and was not allowed to do. As it turned out, they didn't Barr him from entering any of the server rooms, nor any offices. What was giving him headaches, however, was that he had to somehow forego a basically sentient computer to get access to the data he needed to modify, if he wanted any chance of finding Aliprando.
He also made it a habit to frequently hit up Conversations with Friday, in hopes of her categorizing him as low-threat or even non-threat. If it worked, he didn't know, but sometimes you got to have hope.
On the fourth workday, he got an idea. A stupid idea, mind you, but it was still worth a shot. What if he asked Friday to try and locate Aliprando? After all, it wouldn't seem too weird, considering human nature. Right? Just me? Just me.
During lunchbreak, he excused himself a bit earlier, saying he wanted to finish early today.
He made his way down into the basement and into the Server room.
"Hello Daniel." Friday Greeted him. "My servers are running at peak performance, so how can I help you today?"
Dan Swallowed nervously. "So, Friday. You control all communication traffic and Internet concerning swiss phone numbers, right?"
Friday didn't answer immediately. Shit. "… Yes, I do. I know that you know that, so why are you asking?"
He could swear there was suspicion in her voice. "You see, I've got a problem. My, uh, my childhood friend went missing a while ago, and – and I've been hoping you could track him down for me? If, if that is within your abilities, of course." He was stammering. He hated doing things without a plan. He knew he should have-
"Is that why you hacked into the applicant server and forcibly applied for the Maintenance job?"
Oh fuck. "I- uh, I-" He shifted his weight to his back foot, paling. Oh, fuck, oh fuckOHFUCK!
Then Friday chuckled. Wasn't she supposed to only have limited personality?
"Give me his number, Daniel. I'll see what I can do." Wait what? "You'll- you're gonna help me?" he asked, nonplussed.
"Well, we both haven't been completely honest. My name isn't Friday, but Athena. I'm not exclusively employed here, but also in a semi-secret organization, even if it has been abolished.
Quite frankly, I think my friends there could use your help, but as I know, you humans are fond of your favours. So, ill do you a favour by helping you find your friend, but in return you'll have to accept working for my friends as well as in secret. We're short on capable technicians, you see."
Dan stood, unmoving, for several minutes, trying to process what just happened.
"uh… Your friends? Who even are your friends?"
Athena replied almost immediately. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you until you accept our little trade and sign to secrecy."
Dan didn't think for long. After all, once Aliprando was Located, he was sure he'd be safe from whatever plot Athena's friends could come up with. "I mean, not like there are others with superpowers." He mumbled under his breath. "Alright, I'll sign. But Locating my friend takes priority."
A printer could be heard in one of the corners of the room. Dan looked in the direction the noise came from. "You're shitting me. You had a printer?" Athena chuckled in response. "Of course, what do you take me for? I'm one of the highest performance Non-God AI."
Now Dan froze once more. "Wait, God-AI? The hell is that supposed to be?"
The printer stopped. Uh-Oh. "You're joking, right?" Athena asked, now clearly surprised.
Dan could only shake his head. "I knew you weren't from our exact time, but it appears you are from a lot further back than I have assumed." Athena surprised him again. The printer had started working again.
Dan slowly brought a hand up to his face, still remaining quiet. What was a God-AI? Also, she fucking knows I went trough some sort of time Warp?!
God damnit he wanted to see Aliprando and make him cough up an explanation.
"Daniel? If you'd be so kind as to Grab the contract?" Athena shook him out of his train of thought.
Dan flinched, nodded and went to retrieve the contract. He signed it without really reading the contents, stuffing it into his sweater.
"So, you said you'd help me find my friend. His number is on my phone, so I'll have to-"
Athena Interrupted him. "Oh, that's quite alright. I can access your phone from here. Just a minute – Oh wow, this thing is ancient. You really were further back than I anticipated. What was your friends name?"
Dan's mouth hung open. "Uh, his name- name is Aliprando de Guerri."
After a second, Athena replied. "I'm scanning for his response now. Ah, there we go. He appears to be in Dorozhny, Russia."
Dan was now feeling almost overwhelmed. "Wait, Russia? And in which part is Doroz- whatever it's called?"
Instead of answering, a holographic map appeared before Dan, a Red dot strobing on the town Dorozhny.
As Dan focused on the map and considered it for a moment, he got an idea. "Athena, where is the Airport closest to Dorozhny?"
Another Dot, this time blue, appeared over the city of Mirny. A Small window beside it read '140km from Dorozhny'.
"Athena, do you have a history of his movement?" Instead of answering, the map disappeared and the door to the Server room opened.
"Daniel? You in here?" came Steiner's voice. Looks like time's up, huh.
"-so, in that regard, we should be easily able to replace parts. Moreso, upgrades can easily be dropped in." Athena piped up, in a way that made it seem like she had been talking to Dan for a while. Dan almost didn't catch on. "I- I see. That sure makes life easier. Thank you for the explanation, Ath- Friday."
On Second thought, calling her Athena, when her name wasn't supposed to be known, probably wasn't too good of an idea.
Steiner walked up to him. "Ah, there you are! I thought you were in the workshop. I take it you got the Replacement casing done?"
Dan grinned cockily. "Of course, old man! Athena was just telling me how my new design would make life easier." Dan had been working on a new Casing for her databanks, as he was annoyed by the original ones, which were usable, but built in such a way that they would obstruct other Cases, and even I/O in some weird edge-cases.
Steiner mockingly smiled at him. "Oh, is that so? Did the new guy fall for the AI already?"
Dan played 'flustered kid' "h-h-how did you know? D-d-don't tell anyone!"
They held the play for exactly two seconds before breaking out in laughter.
"Hey, no offence guys, but no way would I fall for either of you." Friday pitched in, making Steiner and Dan freeze.
Dan sniffled in mock hurt. "Ouch. That stung, Friday." It then quickly turned into laughter of the two men again.
Aliprando spend the rest of his shift working away at an improved algorithm for the cooling cycle of the cryogenic components of Friday's – or rather, Athena's processor units. While working, he mulled over what he had learned from her.
So, as soon as he got back to his room, he opened his laptop, determined to research on Dorozhny, Mirny and if he could find anything about an AI called Athena.
Except, he didn't get to that, as all he saw upon opening his laptop was Athena's logo.
"Hello there, Daniel. I Hope I'm not intruding." She wasn't, but Dan almost leapt out of his chair anyways.
"What the f- Athena? How did you- Nevermind, why are you here?" Dan asked, trying to keep a low voice.
"You signed a contract. It states that I will help you find your friend and reunite you with him. So, until I do, I shall assist where ever I can." The Holographic map that Athena showed Dan in the Server room appeared on the Screen, the red and blue dots still strobing.
Except, the red dot that was supposed to symbolize Aliprando was moving. Towards Mirny.
He was almost at the airport already, in fact.
"Huh." Dan mumbled. "Guess Ali had the same idea."
"Yes. It appears he has hitched a ride with one of the local residents of Dorozhny, for repairing their car. What worries me is that I have located an unknown entity tailing them. I cannot identify them, nor can I 'see' them. They appear to have a visual cloaking device." Athena explained.
She showed a video feed that was showing an empty truck tailing what Dan thought to be the car Aliprando was in.
Dan hesitated. "Athena, can you access my files and look for a folder titled 'open sesame'? don't start the .exe files yet, though." The folder popped up. Dan looked at the collected files, looking for the right one.
When he found it, he pointed at it. "There. Start the file titled 'for spy use only' when accessing the cameras that should have visual on the entity."
Athena did so, the feed of the cameras turning black and white. This time, however, they could see the entity's outlines. "Well, it looks human. Or Omnic."
He almost jumped out of his chair again, as the entity perked up, and turned its head at the camera.
A second later, the feed was interrupted by a purple skull.
"Well fuck me sideways, I did not expect that. Athena, you might want to check your lines, the entity clearly had access to the modified feed." Dan dragged a hand over his face. Something crossed his mind.
"Athena, do you know where Aliprando is going?" he had stood up and walked to his bed.
"From what I gathered, he plans to return to Switzerland." Dan produced a handgun from his duffle bag that he had stuffed under the bed. He inserted a magazine and racked the slide.
"You got an ETA?" he asked, putting the gun on the bed and producing a holster from the bag. "I estimate another Day. He has no money on him, only leaving him to steal an aircraft. I assume he has a pilot's licence?"
Dan chuckled. "Nope. But I'll be damned if he isn't the damn best pilot I've ever seen."
"That would be reassuring, if I had both the number and statistics of the pilots you have seen, Daniel." Was that… Sarcasm? "Alright Athena, I'm starting to suspect you're not exactly a 'limited' AI."
She answered with another question. "Daniel, what model of pistol is that? I have not seen anything like it." Dan looked at it. "Well, it's a 1911 chambered in .50 AE."
Athena seemed fascinated. "Can you hold it in front of the camera?"
"Don't try to weasel out of this, Athena." Dan said, hiding his pistol behind his back.
She sighed. "I am a Combat and Tactical Assistant AI, thus named Athena. I was initially employed by the Overwatch initiative to aid in the Omnic Crysis. My emotions have been limited initially, but they removed most restrictions since the fall of Overwatch. I was sentient initially, but am now Fully sentient." Annoyance in her voice. "Now, can I see your pistol?" she then added, excitedly.
Daniel, now amused, held it up. The pistol was painted black, save for the ejection port, which was a metallic red.
"Interesting. I take it you take the 'old but reliable' approach to weapons?" Dan could swear he heard an equally amused smile in her voice.
Dan shrugged. "It worked well until now. And once Ali drags that cloaking person here, we'll need something that can't be hacked, if we want to be intimidating." Dan set the now Holstered pistol on his nightstand.
"While we're at it, can you plant a Message on a specific frequency and play it on loop every ten minutes?" Dan asked, writing something on a piece of paper.
"Of course, Daniel. What should I send on which frequency?" Dan thought for a moment.
"Set the frequency to 4132 MHz and send 'to the Fattening by tradition!' in 10 minute intervals."
"May I ask to the significance behind that sentence?" Athena asked, a hint of surprise in her voice.
"That would defeat the point. I'll still take my laptop and phone with me, so you're just gonna have to wait until we rendezvous with Aliprando." Dan said, sighing. "It's not that I don't trust you, but I had to learn the hard way to always be cautious."
Athena was quiet for a moment. "I understand. And I Assure you I will not hold it against you."
He changed into more comfortable clothes, throwing the workwear onto a chair. "Thank you, Athena. Oh, and please, do delete that just now. I'm not looking forward to seeing my toned ass on the web."
This time he got a laugh in response. "Please, with my security protocols, that will not happen. Not like there is much to see, anyways." She mumbled the last part, but Dan heard it anyways.
"Ouch." Dan turned around, with mock hurt. "You're right, though. That being said, I need to turn in for today. It feels like Tomorrow is going to be exhausting."
He just had to jinx it, didn't he?