((I believed that my obsession with Deine Lakaien was linked irrevocably to The Infernal Devices, but somehow almost every time I need a chapter heading, one of their songs crawls from my unconscious. I blame Pritchard. Taken from Generators.
On a different note, I'm not sure I'm happy with this. But I've learned that sometimes I just have to get over myself and I believe this is one of those cases.))
Chapter 8
Too Light Anchor Searching for a Hold
'Jensen! It looks like there's very little if any physical security,' Francis's voice came through the infolink the moment Adam exited his car near the police archive. He smiled. Apparently they weren't acknowledging last night. Adam had no idea how long they'd stood there in the snow. Long enough for the cold to seep through their cloaks until Adam had decided he wasn't going to be the reason why Francis got a cold after just resurfacing from the flu. 'Are you even listening to me?' the hacker asked.
'Yes. Mostly. You said no physical security.'
'I said little if any. Among other things. But I'll say it again, it's not like I've got anything better to do.' The chiding didn't have any of its usual venom. If anything, it sounded amused. 'I was trying to tell you that I may be able to kill the system remotely, but I could be traceable.'
'Don't. I can handle it.'
'I don't doubt it. I'll try and find out what is where. You get in. There's a manned front desk, so if you can find an alternative route into the building while I look, it might be better.'
'Thanks, Francis.'
There was a moment of silence. 'No Problem. Pritchard, out.'
Adam took a walk around the building. There was a locked backdoor, the windows were barred, and fire escapes didn't seem to be a thing here. To force it would no doubt alter the security to him, and if he did that, someone might come looking. He couldn't be seen. 'Pritchard, do you know if I can get in from the sewers?'
'You can't. You'll have to think of something else. This isn't the Palisade Blade.'
'No. But I don't want to be arrested here, either.'
'If all else fails, you can flash your Interpol badge, you know. Just tell them you think it's terrorism.'
'I'd rather not. I'll find some way.' He halted before the locked door. 'It'll have to be the backdoor, then. But this doesn't have a panel or a handle.'
'Give me a moment.'
'Pritchard, I don't want you to risk exp…'
'There. It's open.' Indeed, the door clicked open. 'Go on, it'll lock in a few seconds. Getting out this way shouldn't be a problem.'
'Thanks. Be careful, Francis.'
'This was nothing, Jensen. It's just an escape door with no feasible way to open it from outside. They don't have these ladder things here, but evacuation routes tend to be outside security systems. For good reasons. But that means a security risk. Now you want to get to the first underground level. They keep anything they have on the open cases there. We want to know if they have a suspect or anything else.'
'I know. I'll let you know. Now get this: Jensen, out.'
Francis snorted before cutting the link.
Adam found himself in a corridor with the typical dim green signs pointing outside. The door had a very ordinary looking handle on this side and was connected to a terminal. Apparently, it only locked in case of an intruder alert.
The good thing about this entrance was that Adam was already at the stairs leading down. On the lower floor, there were lamps at the ceiling, but they weren't lit. 'Pritchard, are you there?'
'No. I'm currently in Venice. It's nice here. Lots of barges.'
'They're called gondolas.'
'I know that, Jensen. What do you need?'
'If I manage to turn the light on, will that trigger the alarm?'
'Ah. No, but it will be noticed if anyone happens by. They'll either turn the light back off or they'll come looking. Is it completely dark or can you move safely? And don't you see through solid pitch anyway?'
'Point taken.'
'I have a supply of proenergy bars here, Jensen, it's not like you were ever shy of stealing mine from under my nose. Pritchard, out.'
The darkness had one advantage: It wasn't hard to spot the cameras. The only promising place was a single large room with rows upon rows of shelves. They held folders, data storage devices, and of all things, sticky notes. They seemed to be ordered chronologically. 'Pritchard, when do you think this case was first reported?'
'Not too long ago. Ah … second week of November, I suppose. God. It really is dark in there.'
'Yeah. Notice that, too, do you? I'll let you know when I have something.'
The advantage of being in a relatively quiet city was that there was little here. A couple of pickpocketing reports, a burglary, one possible arson that involved a tumbledown shed, and one abduction in the first half of November. In Detroit he'd have had through a ridiculous amount of reports. The file Adam found held two data storage devices. One was labelled as suspects, the other had a sticky note attached to it that read Related?
'Francis, I don't think you approve of stealing storage devices, do you?'
'Not if we can avoid it. I'd prefer to leave as little mess as possible.' He was quiet for a minute. 'This is … possibly problematic. There is one, I repeat, one useful computer in this building. That's the central security. It's guarded by the usual, cameras, turrets, one smaller bot that might be malfunctioning.'
'I should be able to handle that.'
'If this isn't worth the effort, I suggest you bring the devices here, we copy everything, and you return them later.'
'I'll see. Where is the computer? Upstairs?'
'No. Lowest floor, two further down.'
'What is upstairs?'
'Physical evidence. And no, we're not stealing that either. Pritchard, out.'
The bottom floor was indeed almost completely dark except for where the cameras were pointing. The small bot was wandering aimlessly. It looked as if it was indeed broken.
What was not broken were the cameras. They had the security room covered from all angles. Once again, Adam activated the glass shield. He'd need to be quick. He walked to the computer and tried to get it to work. 'Don't kill the system,' he heard Francis. 'We should try and leave no trace at all.'
'I'm under a bit of time pressure here.'
'I know. Listen to me. I'll try and guide you. You'll need to trust me, and you'll need to react fast to everything I say. If we fail, run like hell. Or you just do what you do and we hope we never have to come back here, because they'll likely upgrade security if you Rambo your way through the system.'
Adam thought for less than a second. 'Go ahead, Francis. What do I do?'
Ϡ
It took four attempts and more energy than Adam knew he had. He felt ready to sleep through what remained of the year. He was about to tell Francis he was going to take the Rambo route after all, when he heard the hacker whooping on the other end and saw the screen go dark and come back alive with the controls ready for him to seize. Quickly, Adam turned off the cameras and let himself fall into the chair. 'Never,' he said, 'make me do that again.'
'Why? It worked!' Francis still sounded horribly cheerful.
'You're not the one who almost drained all his resources.'
'Well, at least you know what the difference between your and my version of hacking is. Or at least, you have some vague idea.'
'That's all this was, isn't it?'
'Mostly. But not only that. I need those two storage devices connected. I don't suppose they have a huge amount of data on there so this shouldn't take long. Yes, there they are. Just a moment.'
'I'm in no hurry to get back on my feet. Take your time.'
'Will you get out all right, Adam? Do you need help?'
Adam smiled. 'I'm fine. But … good to know you're not completely indifferent.'
The static told Adam that Francis was still there but apparently unsure what to say. 'Of course I'm not indifferent. I … didn't want to sound like that.'
Adam huffed. 'Oh yes. That's exactly how you wanted to sound. And you were starting to do a good job.'
'I think we need to talk, Adam. Oh God, that came out wrong. I'm done copying. How long before you're out of the building?'
'Depends on whether or not I fall asleep here.'
'Jensen, I'm serious. I want you to re-activate the security, but with a delay that'll give you time to get out. It might be on full alert … after … Fuck!'
'Pritchard, what?'
'Get out now, Adam. Someone's found out the system's dead. Move! Leave the devices.'
'No. Are you done with them?'
'Yes, you can leave them.'
Adam considered it for a moment. Then he removed them. 'I'm putting the security back online without the delay. I'll have to cloak for one more second, but that'll make this look more like a glitch and less like a break-in.' He took a deep breath, activated his cloak and then the camera. Then he dashed out of its sight and made it back to the stairs.
The first thing he noticed one floor higher up was that the lights were on. Then he heard the voices. Apparently what physical security this place had was going to look for him. Adam made his decision fast. He darted up the stairs and into a crowded storage cupboard. He heard footsteps moving past him then. Someone was laughing. Apparently the guards didn't really believe anything was amiss. That was a relief.
The floor where Adam had taken the storage devices from was as abandoned as before. But the panel at the escape door was active and locking it, and a guard was standing before it. He looked awfully bored, but he was there. Adam was trapped between the security downstairs and him. There was no way he could get close enough to incapacitate him unseen. 'Francis, I may have to sit this out.'
'Too dangerous. If they find something, anything, they'll sweep the building.'
'Sračka. Suggestions, then?'
'Just one. Sit tight, Adam, and cut out the Czech swearing, it impresses no-one.' The infolink went dead. A moment later, the panel at the door crackled. The guard turned and looked at it. Closely. A blue arc came up between his head and the panel and he slumped forwards into the wall, face scraping down. The door clicked open. 'Out,' Pritchard said. Then, 'Can you look if he's … ah …'
Adam checked. The man had a pulse. 'He'll be fine.' He slipped out of the door and closed it behind him. He tried to look nonchalant as he walked back to his car. Since no-one looked at him twice, he must be doing well. 'What did you do?'
'I did tell you that this panel isn't part of the rest of the security? I could hack that remotely. And I got it to overload. I caused it to short-circuit, that opened the door. It should look like a malfunction.'
'The terminal probably didn't live to tell the tale.'
'No.' Francis hesitated. 'Can you drive or should I pick you up? I'm sure Abi will lend me her car. I won't forgive myself if you hit a tree and die.'
'It's less than half an hour, Francis, I can manage that. But thanks. I appreciate it.'
'Be … be safe, Adam.'
Adam smiled, feeling warmer than he had any right to in the cold wind. 'I will be.'
((I suppose you learn the important words when you live in a foreign country long enough, no? Although the best part of the mess that was MD's attempt at Slavic languages was the casual use of уёбок, which is something that'll get you kicked in the nuts if you try it in Russia.))
