Tuesday 29/3/2061, Location: 4.84925, 7.05151, Time 12:10

"So, let's summarise…" Kai gestured with his head towards the compound, "we've got a nice high wall, with lots of sensors on top, and some kind of wire guarding the outside edge – could be sensors, could be lethal, we don't know yet. Three entrances, one main vehicle, one small vehicle, one pedestrian entrance. All guarded, all watched and with good traffic control. Widely separated, but able to be reinforced from the central tower fairly quickly in the event of an issue. The back wall might be vulnerable to a chemical attack, if we can get the right materials. Guards on the outside are wearing armoured corporate overalls and carrying pistols, fairly light stuff, but low profile and not threatening. Guards on the inside perimeter are wearing and carrying heavier stuff." He paused for a second, letting his glance flit around the team, before he continued.

"No obvious magical patrols on the outer edge, but they do have magical forces able to respond when there's trouble. And when there is trouble… they're happy to bunker up and let the local police deal with it, indicating either they've struck a deal or are somewhat cosy with them. We have other avenues to look at – a tunnel like we did back in the Crimea perhaps, or we can investigate this deep culvert on the west and north sides, see if that's a possible entry point. From what we've seen everyone going in by vehicle has at least a basic ID check, and every couple of vehicles gets a thorough search and scan. Missed anything?"

"Nope, I think that sums it up pretty well, Kai." Aswon paused as he heard Shimazu draw in a breath, turning to see what he had to say.

"The activists and demonstrators. Do you think they would be bribeable? I mean, a few choice payments or people properly motivated to try and escalate things rather than just demonstrate passively might make a very good distraction, especially as they've already established their position and presence…"

"We'd have to have a plan to take advantage of that and be ready to go in and make use of the distraction. I think the situation looked quite… volatile. I didn't like how those policemen felt when I looked at them in astral. So much violence and anger, just waiting to be released. I could see it turning into a riot, very easily. And I'd be afraid that someone would get seriously hurt or killed in something like that. I'm not sure I want that on my conscience."

"I don't think any of us would want to cause their deaths. But if we could make them more noticeable – we could take advantage of that. I agree we'd need a full plan, and to be ready. But we're not responsible for the actions of others. We might be able to get some information from them on their aims and objectives though, and maybe find out what their goals are, and what they're up to – and how we could use that instead?"

"Agreed, Kai. If we do cause a riot, or some more serious action, then that's pretty much the end of those protests. They're going to be a one shot use, so we'd need to make the best use we can out of them. But infiltrating them is also likely to be hard. You noticed that they had the back row of people facing away from the corp, out across the street?"

"I did – not sure why though, Aswon?"

"To stop other people joining their protest – people who might not have their best interests at heart. I've seen it used as a tactic before… the government sends in a few agitators to join the back of the crowd and stir up sentiment, get people riled up. They've smuggled in a bunch of flares or a small pyro device, and when they can get away with it, they launch it at the blocking force. From the corps perspective, they've come under attack, and they're now justified in quashing the protest, with force, so they roll in. Even if they're under media scrutiny, it looks like the protestors started an attack and threw the first punch, so as long as the corp is careful, it all looks justified. Whoever is organising the protest is wise to that, though, and they're guarding their rear and being careful. That tells us something about their level of professionalism and caution."

"Something I noticed as well, the elementals only turned up when the protestors did, along with the reinforcements on the inner gate."

"Yes – and you noticed they didn't come out very far either. They didn't stray from their positions. That might be because they were told to guard that spot, or look after someone specific… but I also think it's likely that whoever their summoner is, was in the tower, up on one of the higher floors. If they were up there, on the inside, they can send the elementals out a good way before they lose them, and if they have decent binoculars, they can target pretty much the whole demonstration from there with whatever spell they might have. And while they're inside, they can't be seen and targeted via a rival mage, or anyone with a gun."

"What do you mean, lose the elemental?"

"Mages and Shaman are different, ok. They summon elementals – creatures of fire, air, water and earth. We call on the spirits of the land, the sky, the waters. Sort of the same in some ways, very different in another. My spirits return at dawn and dusk – but an elemental will stay with you until you've used up the services you've bargained for."

"Well that sounds a lot better – why don't you do that?"

"It's not better, it's different." Tads shook her head at Kai, then continued. "You need some special summoning materials to call an elemental, and the more powerful it is, the more materials you need. And you need to do it in a ritual circle, a specially prepared area, maybe twenty metres across with lots of the material. Want to summon a powerful fire elemental? Well, you've going to need a raging bonfire. That's not going to happen in the tilt-wing or the truck, or inside the ranch, before Nadia made her modifications. It's also not quick either, takes a lot longer than calling a spirit. I think I'll stick with what I can do, thank you."

"I like the idea of using the protestors to create noise and a distraction – as long as we don't directly endanger them. To me that would be the ideal distraction and a great time to go through the wall at the back, assuming that it is the stuff I think it is, and we can find the right chemicals. I bet once we're in the compound, most people won't bother us at all, unless we do something stupid."

"Marius – how long will it take you to get your drone ready?"

"About five minutes. But it is very obvious and will draw attention, it is not something we can do on the street Kai. Not without being noticed."

"Well, let's head off into the side streets and get back away from the main drag then, and find somewhere quiet we can do that. I think we need to get a bit more information on the inside of the compound."

The main road bent a little to the south, and as they walked slightly further away from the compound, they found a small side road with a bunch of vendors hawking their wares on it, carts and stalls laid out in a jumble. But, about thirty metres down, there was an even smaller lane that branched off to the sides, leading to a bunch of storage units and garages, ending at a dead end. Marius laid down the large suitcase he'd been dragging along and unzipped it, then pulled out the drone from within and laid it out carefully on the ground, checking the electronic systems in the gondola and powering up the rigger controls. When he was happy that it was all functioning correctly, he carefully laid out the material over the top of the gondola, ensuring it was kink-free and that none of the tether lines were twisted or caught. Reaching back into the case he pulled out the small pump and feed line from the gas bottle that was strapped into the right hand side of the case, and connected it to the inlet on the drone.

A short hiss showed the pump was primed, and then as he cracked open the bottle fully and engaged the pump, a strangely musical tone echoed around the tiny space, the weird sound of balloons filling echoing off the cheap tin rooves and metal doors of the storage sheds. The lifting bag started to move as gas flowed in, rising and taking on the familiar form of a blimp. Aswon and Shimazu carefully moved in under the bag to grab the tethers and hold the drone in place as the bag continued to firm up, unfolding and growing in size as the pressure rose, and starting to lift off the ground. When they hit full size, Marius shifted the inflator hose to the smaller pump and bottle assembly on the drone and calibrated the system for the local heat, humidity and pressure, letting the drone adjust the pressure until it had reached neutral buoyancy. Four minutes and forty eight seconds after laying the bag down, he was ready, and the drone lifted off gracefully from the ground, tiny motors sounding like mosquitos as they drove the propellers upwards through the air. Rising up into the grey skies, the drone spun in a circle, then reversed and spun the other way, while Marius monitored the feed carefully and checked the sensors were all reporting correctly.

"All systems nominal. Ready to survey." Marius flipped the lid closed on the suitcase and zipped it shut, then hung the strap for his remote control deck over his shoulder. "Now I just need somewhere quiet and somewhat secure to monitor it."

"Something I've noticed while we've been walking around – I've not seen any street junkies. No drugs, no beetles or other chip heads. No sign of street violence or disorder, so we may be in luck there."

"That's weird, and you're right Aswon." Kai looked around, then pointed towards a run-down shop-front opposite the turning they had taken to reach the storage sheds. "How about there. Matrix café? Will that do you, Marius?"

"It will. But I am only going to drink something that has come from a sealed bottle…"

They headed down to the café, which was a very grand term for a run-down general store that also had a coffee machine set up on the counter and a pair of very old and very slow terminals crammed up against the back wall, that apparently were connected to the matrix via tin cans and string for all the bandwidth they had. Still, Kai was able to grab Marius a bottle of imported beer and a couple of hours of matrix time, and once he was sat down, he could pull up his remote control deck and overlay it over the screen of the terminal, and he looked just like a foreigner trying to get some remote work done.

"We've left a bunch of Nuyen behind the counter for food and more beers, so you should be good for a couple of hours, Marius. We're going to continue having a scout around and see what else we can find. Call us on the comms if anything goes down?" Marius grunted at Kai in acknowledgement, concentrating most of his attention on the drone's operation. He wasn't fully jumped into the drone, like he did with the tilt-wing or truck, but operating it in 'captain's chair' mode, flying it more like an incredibly realistic computer game or simulation. It didn't give him the same feel or control as being fully rigged, but it also left his conscious mind free to keep half an eye on his surroundings and able to interact with the world, rather than just lie around looking like a corpse.

"I've been thinking about what you said, Aswon." Kai stopped for a moment outside the café, and looked up and down the street, and as if to underscore his point, a police cruiser drove past the end of the road slowly. "I'm definitely getting the feeling that the police her aren't so much in the 'protect and serve' mindset, but more in the corporate rules and enforcement style, and that they're not exactly trusted or liked by the locals. I think that's why there's no street junkies or homeless – the police deal with them in a pretty permanent manner. That just means they're driven underground, of course – or something really horrible is going on. But, I actually think it's slightly different – and that alcohol is the answer here."

"What do you mean?" Aswon asked.

"It clicked when we saw the people filling up containers with water from the local wells. I mean, I'd expect that back in your village, or many other villages – or camps around my home, or maybe where Tads comes from. But not in the city – I'd imagine it's pretty alien for Shimazu or Marius to see. That means the water's not to be trusted, and much like medieval society in Europe, that means people probably drink beer and spirits a lot, or bottles of stuff – things they can trust to be filtered and relatively pure. It's not as bad as that drek-hole up north of Tashkent where it's replaced Nuyen as a currency – but I think it's socially going to be acceptable to drink pretty much anywhere and anytime. I'm not sure if that does help us, but it's something we should keep in mind."

"I wonder if it's worth calling in and reporting some street crime – to see what happens." Shimazu looked around at the others. "I mean, getting a burner phone here shouldn't be difficult, it seems like every 3rd rate general store is selling crappy commlinks and pre-pay cards. It might be instructional to see what kind of response time we get to a crime report, or if they come at all to minor stuff. And if we report something major, a murder or arson attack, we can see if they storm in mob-handed or have a more balanced approach."

"I see what you're getting at – but I think there's a fair degree of risk here. For whoever lives near the place we report that kind of thing, particularly the more important crimes. Just need to keep that in mind, Shimazu." Aswon looked uncomfortably around the buildings. "I'd just hate to see the local police turn up and kick in someone's door and drag someone out for a crime, just so they could get a tick in the box on some form that says they 'solved' the case."

"I see what you mean. Ok, let's shelve that one for now. At least until we've seen if the police do act like that, or get some more information about them…" Shimazu smiled at Aswon, trying to reassure him that he wasn't going to do anything that would trigger a possible over-reaction from the local officers.

"Alright – let's look at this another way. What do we need to do to get the job done?" Kai held up his hand, then raised a finger, tapping on it with the fore-finger on his other hand. "First of all, there's some evidence to plant in the computers. So we have to have Hunter go in, to do that – he's the only one with the skills to break into their host, right?" He got a few nods, then raised a second finger and tapped that too. "Then we also need to get some evidence planted in her room. So there's no reason that can't be done by Hunter too, he just needs to sneak in and do it."

"So we're going to need Marius to go in there too at a guess, to handle the mag-locks and any coded doors or electronic security. Hunter knows the basics, but Marius is the expert." Aswon replied. "And if there's any kind of magical barriers or patrollers in there, you need one of us in there – but Tads is probably your best bet, as she's the most versatile in terms of her skills. So you need Hunter, Marius and Tads as a minimum, I think. If either Shimazu or I go in instead of Tads, you get some more combat power, but lose out on spell slinging and spirit summoning. I think that call will depend on what we find out about their magical security – and we also really need to know more about their physical security such as those screamer tags and what kind of scanners they have in the main building."

"And we need to find out where her office is as well."

"I've had a thought about that – one that Hunter might be able to help us with. If we call him and ask to look for any archived footage of her giving an interview or press conference, then maybe we can try and work out from the view from her window which way she faces. I'm pretty sure a big-wig like her is going to have a corner office, and one with a good view – so if we can find it, the footage that is, then we should be able to work that out."

"Good call, Aswon. Gimme a minute…" Kai called Hunter up and explained what they were after, and set him to work scouring the matrix from the tilt-wing, trying to find some usable interviews or press releases. "Right, he's on with that. In terms of infiltration, I'm thinking we have three main options. The first is their security staff, the second is their workers and the third is any visitors. Now I'm guessing that infiltrating their security staff would give us the greatest access but be by far the hardest to achieve, as they're probably a lot more familiar with the people they work with on a daily bases in their own teams – and I'd be very surprised if all of those security staff aren't Novatech employees. Next down will be the workers – and we've got a split between the types here, of course. Researchers, development teams, technical experts and so on are all going to work for the corp or a subsidiary of course. The admin staff probably will as well, but maybe there will be some agency or sub-contractors. But from what we've discussed already, I think the janitorial and maintenance staff are the most likely to have been farmed out to another local firm, and that might be an opening. And last, of course, is the visitors. We know they have some to the ground floor, but leaving that entrance way might be tough. But there probably are visitors who do get to go and have meetings on the upper floors and do stuff with the more senior members of the corp. So that's another possible way in – though likely to be more intensely scrutinised than anyone else by security…"

"I think the maintenance staff are our best bet. Even the executive suites need to have their floors and windows cleaned, the coffee machine restocked and the bins emptied. I suspect the employees will be tagged, and specially selected – but that's an opening that we're equipped to exploit. We just need to get in when she's not there. I suspect that she lives in the compound somewhere, in one of the bigger or fancier houses – hopefully Marius can find her with the drone."

"She used to be a government minister. I wonder if she has a big fancy mansion somewhere from that – so she might not live onsite at all?" Tads offered, making them stop and consider. "I don't know how likely that is, but it's possible, yes?" Aswon nodded to her, and made a note on his commlink to talk to Hunter and see if they could track any more information down on her residence.

"I have some initial information for you." Marius called over the comms. "I have the drone up a way back, and am starting to get telemetry and sensor readings. The tower is two hundred and seventy five metres back from the inner gateway. I have some scans of the roof – there is significant HVAC machinery scattered around the top section, along with at least two separate stairwell or lift exits. The centre of the roof section has a raised catwalk and landing pad, with a short flight of stairs down to the roof level. In anticipation of the question, I have run some temperature scans already – there does not seem to be the same kind of thermal variation we saw in Muscat. I would guess that the building here is better constructed and insulated, or the room was designed from the ground up to hold computer hardware. Either way, I cannot spot the server room from the building exterior."

"Is all the air conditioning machinery running?"

"It is, Tads. On all four sides of the roof sections – at least I can see the fans turning in all visible units. So it would appear to be a combined building system, not separate zones for each facing."

"Ok, thanks, Marius. That's helpful, keep us advised." Kai responded.

They wandered around the outside of the compound a little more, getting a feel for the local area and checking the wall and the sensor posts out, looking for any inconsistencies or areas of weakness, but finding none. The wall was well maintained, clean and free of graffiti and the outer area was generally clear and gave no cover on approach.

"I have movement from the demonstration." Marius called over the comms, alerting them all. "They have very suddenly formed back up into a column, and are now marching east in good order, and at speed."

"No reason for it? The police aren't doing anything, no changes in the rally?" Kai was somewhat confused, having expected them to be there for some considerable time.

"No. Just checking – they have been formed up outside the compound gates for fifty-eight minutes. I do not know anything – so this is pure speculation – but I suspect that if we studied the local laws or guidelines, there is some kind of provision for the police being able to disrupt or disperse crowds that have gathered for more than an hour. The timing and the suddenness seems to particular to be otherwise."

"For how organised and disciplined the march was, that would fit. And it means whoever has control is well aware of the external factors, which fits in with what we know of them." Shimazu added.

"Can you see where they're going?"

"Heading east along the wall, Kai, wait one…" The comm quietened for a moment as Marius swung the drone around and repositioned the camera. "Ahh, there appears to be some coaches gathered at the south-east corner of the compound. By a quick estimate, there are enough seats on the coaches to contain the entire protest."

"Marius – what do you know about Hestaby? I mean, other than the obvious things like big, scaly, breathes fire and can't be trusted?" Aswon tried to forestall the rant, but he also turned to the south and started to walk swiftly, heading down the east side of the compound and aiming towards where Marius said the coaches were gathering, while the rest of the team hustled to catch up with his long-legged strides.

"She is very media savvy, and often appears in her natural form, rather than hiding in a human simulation. Often she has scheduled press conferences in large arenas or warehouses, or other suitable spaces where she can appear naturally and show people her size and power. But despite that, or perhaps because of it, there is generally a lot of interest from people, and she uses that attention well – public opinion is generally quite good, and they see her as a moderate and thoughtful being, a political figure rather than a scary or fearsome creature." His tone of voice betrayed that he thought this was foolish, but he continued after a small pause. "She is generally counted on to be ecologically aware, and has public ties with Sierra Incorporated and has been seen speaking with Arthur Vogel previously on the green agenda, though he has now moved on from Sierra and sits on the board of Ares. She also works with Greenpeace, and has ties with several of the Native American Nations, and has noted interests and corporate dealings with firms that work on land reclamation and bio-recovery. There are rumours of her having dealings with Terra-First and other fringe groups and eco-terrorist movements, but they are unproven."

"So there's a good chance that she has the reach and pull to be bankrolling and organising this protest, putting pressure on Novatech and drawing attention to the activities here?"

"Ja."

"I'm going to try and sneak onto a bus, and infiltrate the group. I'm less likely to draw attention than any of you lot…"

"That's a bit risky Aswon – stay on comms and call if you need us… but sure." Kai waved towards the corner of the compound and the now visible buses, while he slowed his pace, letting Aswon separate out from the group. "We'll hang back and aim to wander past you in a few minutes, just in case."

Aswon picked up the pace a little more, striding purposefully southwards and using his spear like an overlong walking stick. He saw the marchers arriving back at the coaches and their formation dissolved into a swirling mob as they sought out the correct coaches. He watched for a moment, seeing people move from their lines and splitting up from the people they've been stood next to, and then insinuated himself into one of the crowds, once he was sure that everyone was well and truly mixed up. Nobody seemed to comment or object, so he climbed aboard the coach and moved down about a third of the way, swinging in to sit next to another protestor who was busy furling up a hand-painted banner.

"You should not have that. We were told not to bring anything like a weapon!" The man exclaimed as Aswon angled the spear, sliding it down into the space near his feet and angling the top backwards to avoid stabbing the overhead racks.

"It is not a weapon, it is a cultural icon and a mark of my ancestors."

"It looks like a spear, and if the police had seen it they could use it as an excuse to attack us. It is a good job they didn't!" The man shook his head at Aswon, and finally managed to get his banner rolled up back into a tube and with a piece of string tied around the middle to hold it in place. "Dr. Obruka was very clear on that!"

"I know. But I must respect my elders and my tribe, as well as the Doctor. I have a question actually – do you know his first name?"

"Doctor Obruka? Of course – it is written on his books and his leaflets. Kiyana." The man fished out a crumpled and battered leaflet from the pocket of his shorts and passed it over. Aswon studied it for a moment, trying to commit the photo to memory and glancing over the text briefly – it was an announcement of a new lecture, but the date was last year and the event long past. "I am sorry, I did not know. My tribe does not emphasise reading as a skill – but we care very much for the land, and we are committed to looking after the earth, the sky and all the living things."

"I understand. But you should talk to the organisers about your weapon. Maybe there is something you can decorate it with or something like that…" The man faded away into silence as someone climbed up the steps at the front of the bus and clapped his hands together to get their attention. When the other passengers fell silent, he started to speak, calling out loudly to make sure those at the back could hear him. He wasn't a bad speaker, and there was an element of passion in his voice as he described how excellently the march had gone, and how much attention they had drawn to Novatech and their plans. The protestors were praised for their diligence and attention to detail, for their discipline in the march and the protest itself." The door of the coach closed with a hiss of compressed air, and with a crunch the driver found a gear and started the coach moving, bouncing down off the kerb and onto the main road. The man giving the speech remained where he was, holding onto the overhead rack with one hand to keep himself stable, and continued to speak. He announced that their 'sponsors' had come through with further funding, and that the protests were scheduled to continue for several more days - and that they were now making serious inroads into the public affairs of Novatech, and that at least five different sets of reporters and news cameras had been spotted today, all of which witnessed the entire peaceful and passive protest against the wanton destruction of the environment. There were several cheers and a smattering of applause as he announced this, and the man was quick to heap praise on the protesters, feeding back their emotions and building them up, letting them know that it was thanks to their dedication that they were being so successful.

On the whole it wasn't a bad speech – though Kai could have run rings around him if he'd so chosen. But it was reasonably inspiring, and a quick look around the coach convinced Aswon that the people were both grateful and welcoming of the words, and seemed to be convinced that what they were doing was right and worthwhile. As the bus drove on, he chatted a little with his neighbour, and the people in the seats around him, trying to find out their stories. Backgrounds were varied, as were their personal circumstances, but all were convinced they had to take a stand against the corporations who were desecrating the environment, but to do so in a peaceful and lawful manner. He saw others around them nodding as people spoke, and it seemed that they were all genuine believers in what they were doing. From the conversations going on around him, he picked up that the media coverage was a new thing, and somewhat exciting for them – proof that they were being taken seriously.

He kept half an eye on where they were going, as the coach headed for the south-west portion of the city, driving a few kilometres before pulling up outside a covered market area, where a dozen people got off the coach, splitting up and heading in separate directions, vanishing into the hustle and bustle of the city streets. Pulling out again they drove for another few kilometres before pulling up at a wider section of the street, almost a plaza – and disgorged another dozen protestors, who again scattered in all directions. The pattern repeated, dropping off clumps of protestors at various locations, all of which were easy enough to find and pause at, presumably a service laid on by the 'sponsor' to make sure they got a good turnout for their rally.

He gave the bus driver a start when he approached him after they had disgorged the last of the protestors, making him go slightly wide-eyed in fear as he loomed over him, spear in hand.

"What do you want?" His eyes snapped back to the road as a car blared their horn at him, and he jerked on the wheel sharply to bring the bus back to the centre of his lane.

"I do not like this tour bus. It has not taken me to good places." Aswon thickened his accent a little, reverting to 'tribal chic' for the driver's benefit.

"This isn't a tour bus!"

"Oh. Then I will not complain. How do I get back to the place I got on?"

"Um, I can take you there? I have to go past there anyway to get to the depot. Who told you this was a tour bus?"

Aswon settled into the front seat, rested his spear at an angle and his arms over the front barrier of the seating area, and then told the driver about him seeing a lot of people all queueing to get on the bus, and his assumption they were going for a tour of the city. It wasn't exactly a lie, more a gross misunderstanding of the situation, but Aswon skipped past that quickly, and spent a few minutes asking the bus driver about the crowd of people and what they were doing, learning that they'd had the coaches chartered for the last few days – and apparently a few more to follow as well. The other coaches had a different sector of the city they would drive around to drop people off, in similar locations to the ones that Aswon had seen. While the driver chatted away, Aswon thought through the logistics of the operation. Clearly someone was investing some money in the operation, though in absolute terms it was a very low amount. But what was more impressive was the time and effort – someone was making sure the protestors were collected and dropped off in convenient locations near their homes, making it as easy as possible for them to attend, which implied that their home locations were known and that there was a central co-ordinating agency that knew where everyone was, and what their schedules were, but were also up to date on the law regarding protests and the standard tactics used against them. He tapped out a quick message to Hunter, asking him to add a search about "Dr Kiyana Obruka" to his list.

The rest of the team wandered the market places and roads near the Novatech compound, getting the lay of the land and investigating side-streets, shops, alleyways, drainage culverts and anything else that looked interesting, getting a sample of the street life in the various areas and trying to get a read on the crowd. It only served to deepen their concerns about the local police – the cruisers seemed to be an almost constant presence on any main thoroughfare, on patrol and watching the crowds, who in turn watched them carefully and with more than a little fear.

Tads took advantage of their wanderings to grab and sample any different food she could, getting the smallest amount possible, but then poking it carefully, sniffing it to absorb the flavours, and tasting it slowly, savouring the flavours and letting it sit in her mouth while she tried to absorb the essence of whatever it was she was examining. A few foods were discretely spat out as being utterly disgusting, but on the whole she absorbed a lot of new flavours, textures, shapes and styles of food – though whether she could reproduce them later was a different matter, of course.

While they wandered though, all three of the magically talented members of the team kept their eyes open and watched around them carefully, finding that the magical activity in the city was remarkably light. There were some watcher spirits or elementals flitting about on occasion, but very few – and those they did see stuck out like a sore thumb in the magically barren background. Facing towards the docks they could see the haze of background count polluting astral space, no doubt caused by pollution and dumping into the river and the handling of bulk ore cargos sending plumes of dust and material into the atmosphere. But, even around the city, it seemed that there were very few buildings with wards or protective magical barriers of any kind – only the buildings there clearly were owned by mega-corps or the largest of the double-A firms seemed to have wards built over them. It complicated things slightly, as it meant that magical activity was far more likely to stand out – though it also meant of course there were far fewer magical eyes that could see what they were up to in the first place…

As the day wore on, Aswon returned and met up with them, and they wandered back to check on Marius and ensure he was ok. The drone was doing busy work, travelling from buildings around the Novatech compound as if dropping off deliveries and had mapped out three quarters of the perimeter already, and Marius had built up an excellent map of the area from the sensor footage that they could use to plan their infiltration into the compound. They grabbed all the available seats in the café, ordered some drinks and compared notes, updating their maps with their observations and sharing all the intel gathered and took the time to discuss their findings and notes with each other, trying to garner any further information from what they'd observed.

Around sunset, Marius bought the drone back and piloted it down into the alleyway, landing neatly in the open area between storage areas. As soon as it was down he attached the gas bottle again and started to extract the contents from the lifting bag, watching as the translucent material started to collapse in on itself and then working to start folding it up neatly ready for the next use. When the drone was all packed away they headed back to the west, into the main district and looked for the restaurant they were due to eat at later.

When they found it, it was everything they'd expected, and more. The man had indeed bought his family – quite an extended family – and the restaurant staff were already busy moving tables around to accommodate them, including putting together a separate table for the children. All told there were perhaps twenty-five wives, cousins, sons and daughters, aunts and children of various types.

The vendor approached them with a big grin, welcoming them to the restaurant and introduced them to the head-waiter, who apparently wanted reassurance that someone was going to have funds to pay for the meal. Kai pulled out his cred-stick and put down a deposit, after which all issues seemed to just melt away, and they were quick seated at the 'head' table. The vendor introduced himself as Chioma, along with his friend Kehinde – who had apparently worked at Novatech. Along with them they were introduced to everyone in the family, the mass of people quickly becoming a blur of confusing faces. Once everyone was introduced and seated, the wait staff bought out some food, massive tureens of pepper soup that was dished up and handed out to everyone in the party. Chioma informed them that he'd taken the liberty of ordering food, as he wanted to show off their country and fine cuisine to the visitors – though his eyes kept flicking to Aswon as someone who clearly looked local.

For their part, the team in general and Kai in particular didn't have to work hard to realise what he was up to – he'd ordered a massive banquet with all of the optional extras, and bought his entire family along to feast on their cred, and everyone but Kai seemed to be somewhere between annoyed and upset about this, though they tried not to show it. Only Kai seemed unbothered, smiling and nodding along with whatever Chioma said and playing the travelling buffoon for all it was worth. As the first course of soup was cleared away and the next arrived – pounded yams with a rich leafy vegetable stew – Chioma started to describe Kehinde's job, detailing how trusted he was, how hard he worked, how much he cared for his employer… the waffle went on and on, with neither Kai nor Kehinde getting chance to say much as Chioma continued to talk nonsense.

The rest of the team left him to it, and mostly ignored the family and the occasional antics of the children, settling down for a good meal – enjoying the fact that they weren't eating reheated food or something thrown together in the back of the tilt-wing. For all that they appreciated Tads and her ability to conjure up food from literally nothing, it was nice to have the real thing. Sometimes the taste of the magical stuff just wasn't quite right, and every bite reminded you that it just wasn't the real stuff…

Things changed, however, when Chioma headed to the toilet, feeling the effects of the copious number of beers that he'd been chugging down along with his meal. As soon as he was out of earshot, Kai turned to Kehinde with a big smile.

"So… Kehinde. Tell me about your job. Let's start with how you got it…" His voice was smooth and soft, but had a subtle emphasis to it, and his eyes were locked onto the man's with laser focus. Everything Kehinde said seemed to be absorbed like a sponge, and the second he'd finished speaking, Kai was ready with another question, digging further or redirecting to a fresh line of inquiry. Clearly he'd been waiting, listening carefully to Chioma's nonsense and filing away all of the inconsistencies which were now trotted out and thrown back at Kehinde, keeping him a little off balance. It turned out that Kehinde HAD worked at Novatech, though not for very long, and Kai started to pluck details out of him. Marius and Shimazu focussed in on one side, while Tads listened on the other – and Aswon excused himself from the table to go and visit the facilities himself, and stall the return of Chioma a little.

Over the next five minutes they learnt a surprising amount about the facility, including some worrying data. Kehinde mentioned that when he left, the second medical procedure had hurt a lot more than the first, and the team had probed him about this extensively. He did appear to be somewhat shamed that he'd been sacked for stealing office stationary to pass on to his wife to resell in her little shop, and regretted losing his job there – but that wasn't what the team were interested in. Between Kai and Shimazu's medical knowledge and with the security and electronics knowledge that Shimazu and Marius possessed, they determined that every employee of Novatech was fitted with a screamer tag, a small and low-powered transmitter that constantly sent out an encoded transmission that was picked up by sensors emplaced all over the building. It controlled if the lifts would come when called, if the doors opened for you, if terminals unlocked, even if cleaning machines could be controlled or moved. And if the sensors detected a life sign without an accompanying screamer ID or security override – then that triggered an alert and guards would rush to deal with the incident.

They also got a more detailed layout of the tower than was contained in the new employee video they'd watched, learning a little more about the bottom few floors – where he'd been working as part of the maintenance team. Certainly it appeared that the guards at the tower took their jobs seriously, and moving between floors required searches and ID checks not just occasionally, but every time he went to work, even once he was recognised as part of the staff. Whoever managed the security team was clearly earning their pay, but it made things considerably more difficult for the team who normally relied on complacency and routine to dull the minds of their opponents and help them infiltrate their targets.

When Chioma returned, he tried to regain control of the conversation with Kai and Kehinde, but he suddenly found that Kai was a lot more forceful in his questioning, and less willing to let him talk over his friend – though Kai had also gotten pretty much everything he needed out of him by this point.

They finished their meal, and Kai willingly paid the bill. It was a lot by the standards of the locals – the meal had actually been quite good, though, and everyone had eaten their fill. But compared against the kinds of expenditures the team regularly made for fuel or other equipment it barely showed up on their balance sheet – and the nature of the meeting and the meal meant that Kai was pretty sure the information was good, and wasn't going to get back to Novatech. Just knowing that everyone on site was implanted with screamers was more than worth the cost of dinner, and would radically change their planned method of insertion.

When they left the restaurant, they were in for a bit of a shock. Night had fallen quite suddenly – than they were expecting at the lower latitude. What they hadn't expected was the feeling of eerie quiet that pervaded the town. There was nobody on the street – all of the vendors had packed up and gone, and there was nobody out drinking, walking about or doing any of the activities they would normally have expected to see in a city centre. Even the bars and drinking establishments had all of their patrons inside – or maybe in a garden or terrace out of the back of the premises. Certainly nobody had tables and chairs out the front of their building, and there were no groups of people wandering about on the way to their next drinking venue. Traffic was still moderate – with a lot of taxis and other private-hire vehicles along with the ever-present police cruisers drifting through the night – so presumably people were still visiting restaurants and bars, but just not on foot. Neither was there any gang activity to be seen – none of the biker gangs that would have been ripping up the roadway in Seattle, nor the prostitutes or drug dealers lurking down side streets in London, New York, Paris or any other city they'd been in recently. The city felt like a ghost town, a stark counter-point to how it had been when they'd entered, and it felt all the more unwelcoming because of it.

Chioma and his family were packed in a frankly unsafe manner into three large mini-vans and disappeared off into the night, leaving the team to head over to find a hotel, looking around the empty streets as they wandered and feeling remarkably vulnerable as they did so. Fortunately there was a cheap hotel fairly nearby that they'd spotted earlier, and they managed to get lodged into a couple of rooms using their fake IDs without any trouble. Once they'd checked the rooms over, they met up in one of them and found spaces on the beds or the chairs and settled down for a final chat before bed.

"I've been thinking about the screamer tag issue. The pedestrian gate – I think that's a big opportunity there. Everyone comes out of a fairly narrow opening, and has to cross the concrete slab over the water course – which means they're all inside a two-metre-wide zone. If Marius can get the tech required, we can put receivers on either side of there, I'm sure. Leave them running for a day or two, and we can gather a whole bunch of encrypted info. Feed that back to Hunter and get him to run the encryption down, and see if we can break the traffic. We don't need to do it live, but if we can find the algorithm used, I'm sure we can do something with that. Or rather Marius or perhaps Shimazu can…"

"I agree with Aswon. Such a device should be easy to manufacture and to plant – it is just a local radio ID scanner, with enough storage to hold the data. We do not even need to transmit it. The difficulty will be planting it right in front of the gate without being seen."

"With the lack of magical activity in the city, I'm pretty sure I can cover that. I can make someone invisible, silent and then cover them with a spirit while they plant the device – they just need to avoid being walked over while they do it. It should be a straight forward task with minimal risk, and from what Aswon said, there's cover about to disappear into and then emerge once the spells are dropped."

"Good stuff – ok, let's plan on getting that gear tomorrow first thing then and getting those bugs deployed – the more data we have the easier it will be to crack, I presume?" Kai looked around and focussed on Marius when everyone else looked uncertain, taking his nod of agreement as fact. "Right – what about the walls. Do we want to get some of the stuff to make it go gloopy?"

"It would be a good way in that doesn't involve scaling the walls or using a gate – or an even better way out if it all goes south. So I'm in favour. It also drops us onto the back road and in a less well-monitored area. At least I think it is – certainly it was the only place I saw graffiti." Aswon shrugged.

"Ok, I'll call Hunter up in a minute and get him tracking down the formula and then we'll see if we can get hold of the chemicals needed to make the stuff. We need to work out how to use it as well, of course."

"If we have a lot of it, we could get a tanker, or a small van full of the stuff to crash into the wall, and make the whole thing go gloopy – that'd be a hell of a distraction!"

"It would, Aswon, and worth bearing in mind – assuming we can make it, of course. Any other thoughts?"

"We know magical security and awareness is not amazing here - though it's probably pretty drek hot in the Novatech tower. But basic stuff corporate types do in, say, Seattle, like making sure to put nail clippings are disposed of properly is probably not a habit here. Likely assensing people is not part of the internal security system and they're going to be over-reliant on those screamer tags. Wards don't appear too common on the residential buildings either, right?" Aswon looked around and got a bunch of nods from the rest of the team.

"So it strikes me that if we can gain access to literally anyone with permission to be on the floor with her office - an exec, a cleaner, anyone - we can potentially influence them to take the physical evidence in for us. Or rather, Tads can. As I understand it, using her spell to influence someone triggers a permanent change. As long as it is cast on the person a good while before anyone is likely to assense them, then the spell signature will fade away and it's undetectable. All they have to be influenced to do is believe there is important information that the boss has instructed them to deliver by the time she starts work "tomorrow", and they won't even try to fight the suggestion implanted. As long as it's something reasonable, it will fit right in with their work assignments."

"That means we then only need to sort out our access to the server room, rather than trying to hit two locations at once. Same could apply if we can get our hands on someone from tech support with the right access. Again, I'm wondering if the residential area is a weak point. If we can get in astrally and find nail clippings, and confirm there's no ward where they sleep... then that's one quick spirit visit and break-in away from an influence spell to get them to feel the urge to check the offline storage when they get into work tomorrow, and when they get there to upload the memory chip or data stick on their doormat which they remember arranging to be sent to them from Novatech UCAS. Or something like that. I mean, this does put a bit of pressure on you, Tads – sorry – but it might make it a lot easier to get the job done, and we can try to support you in getting you in and out of the residential areas safely. But getting into a house is going to be a lot easier than getting into that dammed tower, that's for sure!"

"Hmm – you might be right, Aswon. Right – let's call this discussion for the night, or we could be up for hours discussing 'what-ifs'. Bed time for everyone, and we'll pick this up at dawn. I'm going to message Hunter and let him know what's going on, and we'll catch up at breakfast."

The team broke up and headed back to their rooms, settling down for the night – all apart from a grumbling and under-appreciated Hunter who sat in the co-pilot's chair of the tilt-wing, plugged into his deck running what felt like an endless series of searches through the matrix, trying to find information and equipment for the rest of the team…