Chapter Six

Percy was working at his computer when a knock at the door caused him to look up from his work. Amanda came sauntering in, completely business like. "Is there something that I can help you with?" Percy asked her, returning to the work on his computer.

"Yes." Amanda walked towards Percy's desk and sat down in a chair before Percy's desk. Crossing her legs, she told Percy exactly what he wanted to know. "I think we can step up the timeline to get rid of Simon."

The statement grabbing his attention, Percy saved his work on the computer, and then turned back to Amanda. "Really?" he asked, "Why do you think that?"

"When I talked to Birkhoff, the new tech guy, he seems to think that Simon is not as good as we thought. Birkhoff told me that Simon's programs are very simplistic and that he has created more complex programs while hacking; programs that would save us time and effort. He gave some pretty convincing ideas and suggestions."

Letting her comments sink in, Percy thought for a few seconds before asking Amanda, "Do you think he is ready to be the head tech?"

Amanda smirked. "I don't know that he is going to be any kind of problem. He may be a non-conformist, but he is looking for the approval too. A large part of him is looking for approval- approval we could give him in that position and some that would be given to him just by giving him the job. I think a small loyalty test may be in order just to test things, but I think as long as we stroke his ego a little and give him chances to excel and gain approval, he won't be a problem of any kind."

"Okay." Percy knew Amanda's analyses were always very accurate so he could trust her assessment. "For the loyalty test, what do you have in mind?"

"I want to see what he does when Simon disappears. We won't kill Simon right away but I want to see how he reacts and what he does." Amanda explained her idea.

Percy nodded in agreement. "Good. I'll put it in motion. Roan will kidnap Simon tonight while he is out. Then we will put young Birkhoff in charged and see what happens."

Birkhoff found himself in the lunch room after a busy morning of physical training. Lana, who was pretty talented at the fighting side of things, had worked with him to help improve his limited fighting skills. She had gotten quite a few good licks in on him, but he also had learned a lt. Now they were getting a lunch break before going to tech class. Lana sat across from him eating. She gave Birkhoff a smile and said, "You really did a good job today."

Birkhoff blushed lightly. "Thanks." He replied, "I had a good teacher."

"But I expect you to help me when I need help with the tech stuff."

"Of course." Birkhoff smiled in reply. He was excited he was starting to finally fit in a little, at least with Lana.

"Birkhoff!" one of the guards called him, "Amanda would like to see you."

Sighing, only half-finished with his lunch, Birkhoff picked up his tray. "I'll see you later." He told Lana.

She waved goodbye to him as she continued eating her lunch. Getting rid of his garbage, he walked to Amanda's office, knocking on her door. "Come in." he heard Amanda call back.

Taking a deep breath, worried about what Amanda would want him for, he walked into her office. "You called for me."

Amanda was sitting in her chair, drinking tea. She looked up to see Birkhoff enter and greeted him, "Birkhoff, I wasn't expecting you so quickly, have a seat!" Amanda put the cup of tea down on the table.

Birkhoff sat down across from Amanda. "So what did you need?"

Liking how Birkhoff got right down to business, Amanda said, "Well, Birkhoff, we seemed to have a little bit of a problem. It seems that Simon has gone missing. His tracker is off line and he did not tell us where he was going. Now, until we find him, we are without a head tech."

"Really?" Birkhoff was surprised by her statement. He had assumed it would be pretty hard to disappear from Division the way they monitored everything and everyone. When he had been working with Simon, it did not seem like Simon would be the kind to disappear either. He started to wonder why he was here, why they were telling him. Surely there were a hundred people in place for something like this.

"We are a little worried that he may have been abducted." Amanda answered some of his questions. "In the meanwhile, since you have been working so closely with Simon and you have so far proven to be quite a quick study and great student with advanced technical skills, we want you to take Simon's place until w can find him."

The first thought through his mind was that he must be dreaming. There was no way that in the span of a week the group has rescued him, started training him, and now were promoting him, albeit temporarily, to the head position. There had to be others between him and the head tech job, didn't there? "Wow." Birkhoff finally managed to reply. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to thank us," Amanda told him, "You earned it by your performance and skills. Just make sure you do a good job."

"Of course." Birkhoff replied in shock.

"Your first duty is going to be teaching. Simon was supposed to teach everyone about Bluetooth devices today. Do you think you can handle that?"

Birkhoff nodded. "It'll probably take a little bit to get use to everything and Simon's schedule and plans, but I will do the best I can."

"I trust you will." Amanda smiled again in reply. "The class is going to be starting, so the other recruits will be waiting. After the class come back to find me and we will talk a little more about your duties."

"Okay. Thanks." Birkhoff stood up to head to the computer lab.

"And Birkhoff," Amanda called after him, causing him to turn back to her at the door. "Don't tell the recruits that Simon is missing. Just tell them he had a mission and asked you to fill in.

Birkhoff nodded and left the room. As he walked to the computer lab, Birkhoff pondered the recent events. There had to be more to this than Simon disappearing. While it may play a part, there was more to it than just that. Birkhoff was by no means a dumb man, he could tell Amanda was playing some kind of game. He wasn't going to call her on it- he valued his life- but he wanted to keep track of what was going on.

His mind went to the class. He realized he had no experience teaching, and being new to Division, he was going to have about as much authority with the other recruits as a substitute teacher would have over an ordinary class. Then again, that's exactly what he was- a sub. The lack of social skills would probably make this prove more difficult, but Seymour Birkhoff still valued his life and was going to find some way to make it work. He would do whatever it took- the other recruits didn't respect him yet, but he was going to change that.

Walking into the computer lab, most of the other recruits were already waiting there. He made the decision right away to pull on his experience of being picked on to toughen his shell and stand up to the rest of the recruits. "Listen up." He practically shouted to get their attention. When he saw that most of the recruits were now looking his direction he continued, "It looks like Simon is out completing a mission, so they have asked me to help you with today's lesson."

The eye rolls and groans were exactly what Birkhoff had expected. "Do any of you know how to hack a Bluetooth device" he asked, pausing to see if anyone answered. The room was silent. "Didn't think so." He confidently replied, "That is why I am your teacher today. I know most of you have been here longer than me, but this is my area of expertise so I am qualified to teach you guys in this."

Slowly the other recruits began to give Birkhoff their attention. Birkhoff was surprised how well drawing from his cockiness as Shadow Walker had helped him in this situation. Making note of this to draw from later, Birkhoff decided to start the lesson. "Bluetooth devices use 128-bit link keys to encrypt communication. Crack the key and, ta-da, you have an instant bug from any cell phone in rang.

For the next hour Birkhoff worked on teaching the other recruits how to hack the Bluetooth devices. Luckily most of the recruits understood the procedure pretty well and could perform the technique rather easily. He did have to help Lana quite a bit,, but she seemed to start understanding things a little bit better. After he dismissed the class, the recruits quickly left, leaving him and Lana. "So this must be pretty exciting for you." Lana commented.

Birkhoff just shrugged. "It's a little scary actually."
"Why?" Lana laughed, "You're a natural."

"I'm glad it looks that way." Birkhoff answered, adding, "But I'm thrilled for the opportunity yet it terrifies me."

"Why?" Lana looked concerned.

"I'm not much of a social person. A bit awkward." Birkhoff explained.

"You could have fooled me!" Lana elbowed his side gently.

"Really? Most people think I'm just weird."

Lana's eyebrows arched. "Really?" she teased, "They seem to like you, for me, they think I am strange."

"You're not." Birkhoff protested.

"See, that's how I feel about you! Give yourself a chance!" Lana teased him.

With a huge smile, Birkhoff replied, "Only if you do too."

Lana nodded and said, "Okay, you have a deal. Both of us should work on our social skills."

Birkhoff nodded back in agreement. He still could not figure out why the other recruits thought the two of them were such outsiders. He was used to it from high school, so he had never thought to question it. Either way, even being head tech temporarily he would have to make some adjustments to keep the other recruits in line when he was instructing them, since most of them viewed him as below them having been their longer. "Well," he started to excuse himself, "I need to get to Amanda. She's got to fill me in on all the other things I need to do for Simon."

"Catch ya later teach." Lana smiled as she headed out the door.

For the first time in a long time, Birkhoff walked to Amanda's office with a huge smile across his face.