Chapter 3 – Old Frenemies
London, England. 10:27am, 3rd November 2032.
The door swings open. Inside is a very modern apartment with all of the comforts one would expect of a residence in central London. From the entrance, he can see one dark orange and black striped head sitting on a couch just to the left of this small corridor he walks along. The raccoon reaches the end of the corridor and sees the tiger sitting on the couch, watching the other person, a rat, typing away at a computer with headphones on; both around the same age as him. Alex looks at the shirtless tiger, wearing only a set of jeans on the white leather couch with his huge arms outstretched like he claims the entire sofa. The six pack is easily visible even underneath the extremely loose fitting tank top; which Alex is not immediately sure whether it is light pink or light orange, somewhere in between; along with thick brutish arms that both seem to stand out completely from the rest of his body. Sadly, the muscle seems to stop at the waist where he has legs that are of a similar size to Alex's.
"So you're Alex Cooper." The tiger notes without looking away from the rat. Alex senses some sort of familiarity with him, but he can't quite put a finger on it. "I'm Tyson."
Tyson, it's hits him in an instant. The schoolyard bully he met if only for one day, but it was probably one day too much back then. He was such a show off even in his younger years with the only comparable show of audacity being the amount of detentions given to him my teachers.
"Tyson." Alex says as he remembers details about him, perhaps Tyson doesn't remember anything about him, and why would he? This is the opportunity for a fresh start as older and more mature people.
"Hope this all works out." Alex says hopefully.
"It's not me you need to worry about, it's him." Tyson points out to the rat hunched over the computer. "All he's done is talk about you like you're his idol or something."
"Why is that a problem? We all need to be loved by somebody." Alex says.
"Not like this, it's an obsession, it's done my head in." Tyson explains. "I'll get him to say hello."
Tyson slowly gets up from the couch and swings his right arm around in a windmill once, just to loosen the muscle out. As Alex sees the entire body, he wonders how he can hold himself up with the disproportionately skinny legs compared to the huge upper body. He must be too top heavy, but somehow he walks across to the floor with ease as he gets behind the rat without being heard, the music must be turned up loud. Tyson slowly reaches around both of the ear cups with both hands and removes it quickly from his head. The rat reacts quickly and tries to hold it down but he is way too weak for the buffed out tiger.
"Hey, put them back!" The rat shouts in a partly squeaky voice as if a late puberty is happening at this very moment. His height would suggest that he hasn't quite finished puberty, being much shorter than both Alex and Tyson by at least 15cm and the least athletically built, at least from the way he looks. His green shirt, at least green for now, can change colours to fit in with the surrounding area as well as change the lengths of the sleeves as well as the fit, whether it would be baggy like it is now or skin tight. It is the height of wearable technology right now, he always wants to be on or ahead of the technology curve. So the computer he's using is constantly upgraded when new parts become available that can outperform the current ones inside. The laptop he has can be taken apart and rebuilt easily, he knows that because he designed it.
"He's here." Tyson says. This immediately stops him in his arguing and instead turns around slowly, like Alex's presence is a revered thing to behold. As his face turns around, it lights up like a kid in a candy store. He gets up and replaces the chair out of habit and slowly approaches Alex, hoping that the raccoon remembers him.
"Hello Alex… it's been a while." The rat says nervously. It's all he can say, the occasion seems to have gotten the better of him and nervousness has creeped into his entire body and gotten into his speech. At least the squeakiness has gone.
"You're…" Alex says, trying to remember his name, but then he remembers the rhyme.
"You're Matt, Matt the rat." Alex says as he remembers him from all those years ago.
"I knew you'd remember." Matt replies gleefully.
"All that stuff that happened, that was…" Alex says as he tries to find the appropriate word to describe it. However, no word can encapsulate the experiences he had that day. The disappointment of leaving the forest, the happiness of winning a game of dodgeball, the distrust he felt as his parents didn't tell him what was happening. Then, what was most scarring, the sudden jolt of separation as he tiredly saw his parents get taken away by police as he would be taken away with his sister.
"Anyway, what's been happening here?" Alex asks to both of them, hoping for some insight as to why they have been brought together.
"Some guy called 'Il Ladro', or something like that, told me to come here for some reason and I got paid for doing so." Tyson explains, thinking of the financial benefits of this meeting.
"You didn't think that Antonio 'Il Ladro' Regazoni, former crime boss and thief, wasn't going to ask you to do some sort of criminal activity, money doesn't come for free like that you know." Matt explains.
"I'll take it in my stride." Tyson replies casually, like he seems to do with everything that comes his way.
"I've done my research. He has a history of doing this; in 2029, an unknown gang of thieves broke into a highly secure bank vault in Switzerland, they even managed to get into the vault itself without raising an alarm. But once they had removed the loot, millions in gold bullion, police sprang on them and they all got imprisoned but the gold was never returned." Matt explains. "In 2030, another unknown gang of thieves manages to get their way into a corporate head quarters and steal some company secrets. Guess what, same thing happens. Just as they finish uploading the files, they get sprung by the police. I tell you, he's going to use us to get something before discarding us to the police."
"Diamonds." Alex remarks hushly.
"Is that his endgame? Diamonds?" Matt asks.
"He mentioned diamonds but not directly as a planned heist." Alex says.
"So, we're getting some bling after all of this is finished." Tyson adds.
"I don't know for sure." Alex replies.
"If it's diamonds he wants then I'll bet my 40GHz processor that it's going to be in Antwerp, the diamond trading capital of the world." Matt explains. "Almost all of the biggest heists on the planet happen in Belgium, and most of the time, it's diamonds, gold, jewelry and cash."
"Except not the biggest one of them all." Alex notes.
"You wouldn't happen to have it in your possession would you?" Matt asks sarcastically.
"I don't even know where it is." Alex replies.
"You inherited the worlds biggest criminal fortune and you don't even know where it is?" Matt asks in surprise.
"I have to earn my reputation before I can earn my inheritance." Alex explains. The holographic plate sitting on top of the entertainment cabinet begins to turn on. It's where a TV would sit, television is still popular but holographic pictures are becoming mainstream, it's a flat black rectangle with four projector lenses on each corner that create the image.
"He's trying to communicate." Matt says, shutting down his computer and moving around so he can see the hologram.
"So, how are we all? Getting along well?" Antonio asks, sitting down in a wingback chair. No one replies to the question, no one can give a definitive answer.
"Okay then. So, who wants to hear what your first heist is?" Antonio asks with more enthusiasm than the three of them combined.
"Ok, what is it?" Alex asks, since none of the other two are willing to say anything.
"It's a simple robbery, nothing too difficult to get you started. Thanks to a tip off, a bank account holding the proceeds of a drug ring has been closed and as such, all of the money has to be withdrawn and taken to a safe location. Where you three come in is to intercept the courier carrying the cash before it reaches it's destination. Like I said, simple enough. I'll send through more details in a few minutes." Antonio explains before the hologram pad turns off. When it does, Alex holds his head in his hands.
"Seriously? An armed robbery, easy?" Alex complains to both of them. "Do you know how difficult this will be?"
"I don't know, enlighten me." Tyson says, still with the same nonchalance as before.
"Banks are incredibly hard to get into, there are cameras everywhere, it's impossible to get inside without been recorded down on surveillance footage." Alex rants.
"Which is why we do this outside of the bank." Matt explains calmly. Alex realizes something.
"Did you plan this?" Alex accuses Matt. Matt doesn't respond.
"All I did was close their account, they should have to collect the money within the next 2 days." Matt explains.
"You hacked into a bank?" Alex asks.
"I didn't have to, all I did was inform them of how that money came to be, and they did the rest." Matt explains. Alex takes a deep breath, taking all of this in.
"How much is the score?" Alex asks finally.
"Around 2 million pounds." Matt answers.
"What?" Alex asks in surprise again. If this is supposed to be easy, Alex wonders what's meant to be harder than this.
"Give or take a few hundred thousand." Matt adds.
"I can't believe it!" Alex exclaims.
"Isn't this what you dreamed of, hitting big targets like this?" Matt asks in confusion.
"When I was 8, the world seemed so easy like everything would be laid out to me on a red carpet. Now that I'm 18, I can't quite imagine how I could have been so naïve." Alex explains.
"Just think about over half a million in your pocket." Tyson adds. "And that's after we split it!"
"Hasn't it occurred to you that 'Il Ladro' is probably going to demand a cut, he probably would take more than 90% of it for himself, just to teach us a lesson." Alex warns.
"Well then, we'll screw him over and take it for ourselves." Tyson says.
"Oh, that's a great idea." Alex sarcastically and exasperatingly responds. "Let's bite the hand that feeds us at the first opportunity. I don't think you know the scale of Antwerp's diamond markets, 30 billion dollars a year goes through there just in diamonds, who knows what else is there as well?"
"So, you do want to do this heist?" Matt says, hoping to contradict Alex.
"I do, but it's much bigger than anything I've done before. Much bigger, like many hundreds of times more." Alex says, trying to put it all into perspective.
"Are you scared?" Tyson asks. This puts Alex on the edge.
"No!" Alex shouts.
"Then, what shall we do to start making giant amounts of money?" Tyson asks.
"Reconnaissance." Matt says. "We have to plan this out step by step if we are to do this cleanly. So when Alex has calmed down, he's going to do some scouting for us."
"And what will you be doing?" Alex asks.
"Helping you out from here, directing you and giving you information via these." Matt says as he opens a desk drawer next to him. To Alex, it looks like a pair of matte black wrap around sunglasses, but knowing Matt, it's probably not just that.
"There's a camera mounted in the centre of the frame so I can see what you can see from this computer or indeed other wearing similar devices. Regazoni has been kind enough to bankroll all of the equipment I bought." Matt explains.
"He's probably going to ask us to repay that from the takings." Alex adds.
"All up it's less than ten thousand pounds, a drop in the ocean compared to the full amount." Matt explains. "Now, the lenses are photoconductive which means that it generates it's power from light, the cells are so good that just a street lamp can still charge it. That light powers the interface inside, you can bring up images such as what we can see or put directions, weather, basically anything you need to see whilst in transit, it's a gesture controlled to make it easier. I also have an earpiece for you, it will conform to your ear's shape so it fits and doesn't fall out as well as block out external noise. Finally, and I think this is the best part, tada!"
What Matt pulls out is a small backpack made from synthetic materials, a very basic looking backpack except for the odd looking mechanical attachment on the back. Mounted into the lining of the backpack on a graphene board, are a set of two rings set at a slight angle to the right set one behind each other each with a split in the middle.
"These two rings on the back are designed to carry your cane when you don't need to hold onto it, freeing up your hands instead of putting in your mouth like when you were climbing the elevator cables." Matt explains.
"How did…" Alex says instinctively.
"I stopped the elevator and watched you as you climbed cable effortlessly as planned." Matt explains.
"You didn't have to do that." Alex exclaims.
"If I was in your position, when you got onto the elevator's roof, I would have forced open the 5th floor doors and taken 5 flights of stairs, a much easier journey than what you did." Matt explains.
"Let's get back to the this, cane grabber thing." Alex says.
"Why do you even need this cane?" Tyson asks as he looks at it in Alex's hand. "It seems like it's holding you down."
"Because it's how my family has done it and that's what I'm taught to use." Alex explains.
"You do realize it makes you look like… the grim reaper or something with that. Oh, what's that sword, axe thing death carries?" Tyson asks, trying to remember what it's called.
"Scythe." Matt answers.
"Yes that, that's what it makes you look like." Tyson says. With the black cane in his hand, Tyson has somewhat of a point, but Alex doesn't like it when people think he would be a murderer.
"First of all, killing people is not my style, I'm a thief not a murderer. Therefore I want a zero body count, period, no exceptions." Alex insists.
"I'm just saying you look like death incarnate. Instead of stealing money or jewels, you could steal people's lives." Tyson says.
"Let's get back to this backpack." Alex says, changing the subject quickly to prevent him from lashing out.
"Anyway, the two rings have rubber grips that open like apertures on a camera lens. When you place it inside, it will hold on to it securely until you try and pull it out. It will only release if it detects that something it pulling it out, then it will open up like a pair of butterflies wings so you can swing it out straight away." Matt explains. "Here, try it out."
Matt offers the backpack to Alex and he accepts it. The raccoon puts it on, he is surprised at the lightness of it even with the grabber on the back.
"Oh, I have to turn it on first." Matt says, as he reaches around and presses a button on the back, instantly, the two rings split in half and open up like claws ready to clench.
"So I just put it in there and it will hold it?" Alex asks as he can't see what's happening behind him.
"Precisely." Matt concurs. Alex then reaches behind him and places the cane where he thinks the two rings are. When it's inside it's reach, the two rings come together and the rubber grips come out quickly to stop it from dropping through. Alex can feel the hard grip of the rings on the cane, he can't move it from it's position as he just moves the backpack instead.
"Nice, now how do I get it out?" Alex asks.
"It has a 3 second safety so you can't put it in and take it out quickly, it has to initialize the second program to change to release mode. So, to remove it, just pull and it will release. When you apply enough force, it will let go, but to you it will feel like it's just resting behind you." Matt explains.
Alex reaches behind his back and grabs the cane just below the hook and pulls it, it lets go as soon as he has gripped it. It didn't feel like it was holding it at all, rather like it was waiting to be used without any hindrance. Alex is surprised there was no resistance from the grabber.
"The material is waterproof and hydrophobic so anything inside won't get wet even if it's submerged underwater.
"That's actually pretty useful." Alex notes as he takes off the backpack, not about the water tightness, but the cane grabber.
"Pretty neat." Matt concurs. "But you'll need to put the backpack back on if we plan on doing any recon now."
"Okay then." Alex replies.
"You gonna give me something?" Tyson asks.
"Nothing too big until later, if at all." Matt answers. "But take the glasses, everyone gets one."
Matt throws it over Frisbee style into the lap of the tiger and he puts it on and instantly marvels at it's functionality.
"So when do we stop talking and start reconing?" Alex asks.
"Whenever you're willing to walk out of the door." Matt replies as he leans over to open up a program on his computer, the program streams the camera feed from Alex's set of glasses. So he can see the back of himself as Alex peers over to look at the computer.
"There should be a video feed incoming, it will appear in the top left hand corner." Matt says. Alex does indeed see Matt's face from the camera in the computer inside his glasses, this picture doesn't take up much of the space and appears as if it's further away than it actually is like it's a metre away instead of a few centimetres.
"Okay, uploading directions." Matt exclaims. In Alex's view, a map appears in the top right hand corner with the directions to the bank. But Alex doesn't use street directions; he won't be taking to the streets.
"How far away is it?" Alex asks.
"Less than a kilometre." Matt says, Alex puts on the backpack and inserts the earpiece, eager to prove his speed.
"I'll be there in under 10 minutes." Alex challenges to Matt, more to himself though.
"Want to bet?" Matt asks.
"How much?" Alex counters. With a small amount of thinking, Matt names his price.
"Fifty percent of whatever my share is will be yours, and vice versa if you lose." Matt bets.
"Deal." Alex concurs as he grabs his cane, ready to leave.
"Your time starts now." Matt says, hitting a key on the computer, bringing up a countdown timer on Alex's set of glasses and it's already beginning to tick down.