In the morning light, a black S-Class Mercedes glimmered, with its chrome accents reflecting the sun's rays as it smoothly navigated the recently salted and plowed road, a striking difference from the dirty and grubby vehicles parked nearby. The fancy looking car crept down the quiet than usual street as if it didn't know where it was going, before eventually coming to a stop by a deserted public square that had become unusually vacant due to the dismal weather.
Three well pampered men seated in the car, each wearing extravagant pinstriped suits and a heavy coat to protection against the cold. They were all looking out the window, but none of them could accurately say what they were searching for.
"You're not fucking with me, are you, Frankie?" Asked Pete as he eyes the empty square, feeling irritated by this whole situation. Absolutely no way did he want to do this. He knows that what he is doing is not in accordance with the rules, but what other options are available to him this time? He's in a boat that's up shit creek with no paddle, and the other person who may have a paddle is some mysterious guy that's not even part of the family.
"You know I would never fuck with you, boss. This is the place the Louie's cousin says we would meet." Said the chubby men as he looks out the window, searching for nothing sitting beside Pete. "Hey Lou, you sure we can trust that cousin of yours down south?" Frankie asked, having stopped looking out to look at Louie now, sounding a bit nervous.
'Pathetic. He's trying to blame someone else if this turns out to be a waste of time.'
"Yeah, you can trust cousin Vinnie, boss. Me and him are tight back when we're kids. He knows the guy who knows the guy whose family has been using this dude's consulting services the past year and has never failed a job, no matter how hard it was." The driver said with the confidence of a reckless gambler betting it all on one hand who's not bothered with the shitty situation they're in. It amazed Pete at how sure of himself that kid was. The boy can go up the ladder far with that attitude, but that shit won't happen if Pete doesn't fix the situation the family is in.
Wait. Did that dickhead just said that his cousin knows someone who knows someone that has worked with this asshole? It's like they are playing some fucked-up game of telephone. Christ all mighty, everyone is going to the slammer, he's going to the slammer. Pete was too busy with his own thoughts when the two idiots starts to argue about lord knows what, it's going to give him a headache.
He let out a frustrated groan and rubbed his eyebrows, feeling the stress of the situation. It's way too early in the morning for him to deal with this. Pissed with the whole situation, they got themselves in. Pete put on his hat and open the door to get out of the car, at least he won't be stuck in the car with adults squabbling like idiotic children. "Boss…" He closes the car before one of them could finish the sentence. He gasped as he felt the icy chill of the air hit his face. Making his way through the eerily empty square that's surrounded by hotels and office buildings.
He walks towards the row of empty chairs that were covered by snow and were flanked by payphone. Anger bubbles in him as he stands at the empty meeting point. All he could think of was that this was a total waste of time and effort for him to even contemplate this hare-brained Hail Mary. That cousin Vinnie is going to pay for this.
"Boss!"
"Boss!"
The sound of running and shouting came from behind him. Looks like the two idiots stopped arguing and finally decides to join him in standing around in this empty place like a damn idiot. Turning around to look at his subordinates only to be met by an out of breath Frankie, with his hands on his knees, trying to breathe properly. Holy mother of God, why is he even a capo? It's barely over 100 yards from the car.
Louie on the other hand isn't even flustered by the run and tried to say something. However, Pete pointed his finger at Louie and cut him off by saying. "Looks like this is a waste of my time. Your cousin and I are-…"
The sound of the payphone ringing near the chair that was encased in snow was so loud that it interrupted him before he could even finish his sentence. As the pay phone continued to ring, Pete's head swiveled around in confusion, the sound echoes in the empty plaza. What the fuck? Did this asshole stood him in an in-person meeting and now be calling him through that payphone? The gall of this asshole.
"Boss. I think you're supposed to pick up that phone." Frankie said wheezingly, still out of breath.
"You don't say?" Pete replied with a raised eyebrow at the pathetic lump. He really isn't inclined to pick up that phone if this is how little respect this asshole shows him.
"I think the boss is right, boss. Maybe this is how we get into contact with that person. Cousin Vinnie said to me that the man is paranoid as hell and that family down south never actually met the man before." Louie said like it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"And you didn't think that information is fucking important enough to tell us before this?" Pete seethe at the kid, who smiles and gave a shrug in response to him spitting venom.
Pete let out a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose in resignation, unable to ignore the shrill sound of the payphone ringing in the background. Go hard or don't go at all.
With a few steps taking him closer to the phone booth, he extended his hand to pick up the receiver and listened to the voice of the person speaking from the other end.
"Finally, you picked up the phone and here I thought you were about to ditch me." There was a distorted voice emanating from the receiver, reverberating and echoing into the air. Despite the fact that the other person's voice was distorted, Pete was sure that he could hear them pouting. If that's what he's thinking, the stress must be driving him nuts.
"What the fuck is this? Is this some kind of joke to you, asshole? I asked for an in-person meeting, not a fucking phone call!" Pete screamed into the receiver, releasing his pent-up anger with this whole thing.
"My oh, my. Did you kiss you mother with that potty mouth of yours, Mr. Simone? Such an unbecoming behavior for a first meeting. I assumed that someone that has a standing of an underboss in a crime family would demonstrate better decorum. You are aware of my name, I am sure. I would appreciate that you to address me with my name and with proper manners or I'll hang up. Oh, by the by, this is an in-person meeting. I can clearly see you standing by the telephone booth, trembling from the cold and barely restraining your anger from destroying something." The distorted voice on the receiver said in a matter-of-fact way.
Pete surveyed the plaza, but there wasn't a soul in sight other than the two idiots. If that person aren't hanging around the plaza, looks like he's in one of the buildings. There's too many high rises here. This asshole can be in any of these buildings. What if the asshole has a rifle trained on Pete right now?
"Don't waste your time looking for me, Mr. Simone. It would be virtually impossible for you to locate me." The distorted voice said with amusement. Well, fuck you too, buddy.
Pete did not climb the ladder of the family to not see what this was. This is a fucking blatant power play. Who the fuck does this punk think he is? The flagrant disrespect that's being shown here, and the asshole wants to be shown manners? If steam could come out of his ears right now, it would have. Yet, what other alternative does he have at this moment?
He took a deep breath in an attempt to stay composed, swallowing his pride before he spoke. "My bad for being so rude earlier, Milk. It's just, I was expecting you to be here. I mean here, as in the plaza." He's gripping the receiver so hard it's a surprise it didn't break in his hand. God, he's going to barf at how pathetic he sounds right now. Also, what kind of name is Milk, anyway? It's such a dumb name.
"Don't worry about it. That's all water under the bridge now. With that out of the way, what kind of service do you require?" Said Milk, sounding chirpy. Well, as chirpy as a distorted voice can be.
Pete could feel his irritation coming back. Are they unaware of how risky this is? "There's a reason why I asked to meet in person, Milk. It's a sensitive subject to talk about on the phone, especially with the feds tapping everything." Pete said in a condescending tone, like he's explaining something to a five-year-old.
"Kindly refrain from belittling my intelligence or capabilities again, Mr. Simone. No one, and I mean no one, has the ability to listen in to our conversation right now. Not even a long-range listening device can hear what you're saying right now. Unless, of course, they read your lips. So please tell me what the job is." Milk snapped at Pete.
"Alright, alright. No need to get all pissy. Look, I need you to get rid of a problem for me and for the family. Our consigliere, Benny Giordano, turns out to be a fucking rat for the feds, and I need you to get rid of the problem." Pete said, barely containing his anger as he recalls when he found out that Benny betrayed the family and if he's being honest with himself, he still couldn't believe that Benny did it. How the heck did the feds get the consigliere to squeal? Not that it matters. If he opens his mouth, they're all screwed.
"I assumed that you're unable to clean this mess by yourselves because the rat is already in WITSEC?" Inquired Milk. What did the big bad mysterious Milk afraid of going against the fed?
"Yeah, he went into WITSEC a week ago and our guys couldn't find him anywhere. I hope this isn't too hard for you to do. The guys down south said you can do anything and never fail." Pete said with a smirk as he tries to goad the asshole.
"No, it wouldn't be a problem. It'll take roughly a month or less and it would cost you." Milk said dispassionately, not rising at the bait.
A month's reasonable enough. The rat is probably trying to get the best deal he can before talking to the feds. "Alright, how much would it cost?"
"Hmmm… The cost of this will be six million dollars and the money must be clean. I don't want your dirty money." Said Milk as if six million dollars doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
If his eyes could pop out from his sockets from shock, it would have. "What the hell? You gotta be kidding me. You trying to bleed me dry or something? There's no way we can pay you that. Make it two million and I'll consider it." Pete said furiously at the cost to fix this problem. This isn't the 80s anymore, where everyone was flushed with cash. Money has been tight the past few years with the amount of heat the feds had been bringing down on the family.
"The price is not open to haggling and cannot be changed. I am sure that you and your family can take care of this bill. After a careful assessment of your bank accounts as well as the rest of the family's accounts, I can confirm that you have the means to pay for this service, with ample funds remaining for yourselves."
What the fuck? How the hell does this fucker know about his bank accounts, or even anyone else bank accounts? He can't possibly know it. "You're bluffing."
"Oh, I'm not. Let's start with your personal account, and I mean 'your' personal account, not the one that others know about. Your bank of choice, Prairie Ridge Bank, not a terrible choice of bank, if I say so myself. Your account routing number is 065402468 and the account number is 876543…-"
"Alight, alright! You made your point!" Pete said with apprehension, cutting off Milk from continuing with his spiel. He feels his heart pounding in his chest at the information dump he just listened to. How the fuck did this asshole even find out about that bank account? According to that accountant, there's nothing that would link him to that account, and there's no way for anyone to trace the money. The feds don't even know about this account, so how does this asshole even know about it? Frankie called for this meeting two days ago. This asshole wouldn't even have the time to investigate anything.
If Milk is this good in finding out about the accounts, finding the rat shouldn't be a problem and if he's as confident in his skills of finding information as his skills to kill the rat, that means he's a dangerous person. He can feel his gut twist at this.
Christ, what if this asshole decides to fuck with him and everyone in the family with this info? Joe is going to have his balls for inviting some outsider to screw things even worse. He fucking knew this was a mistake from the beginning. Why the fuck did he let fucking Frankie convince him to do this? Now this asshole has leverage over him and this just piss him off. He can't back out from this arrangement now with this unsaid threat by Milk.
His voice was heavy with the weight of his sigh as he spoke. "Holy mother of Mary, you're squeezing us dry. Okay, Joe is going to have my head, but okay, we have a deal. Normally this is the part where we would shake on it to seal the deal, however I'll let this slide for now."
"Superb. As customary, you would need to pay 50% first and the other 50% when the job is done. You will receive instructions on how to proceed with the payment by the time you get back to your 'office'. I would like to thank you for choosing Milk Consultancy Services, where customer satisfaction is guaranteed." Milk said, sounding chippy despite the voice distortion.
Pete was honestly speechless by that. Milk Consultancy Services? Like, what the fuck is with the customer satisfaction shit? Is he some kind of door-to-door salesman? Did he just make it up on the fly or something? This man must be off his rocker. What was the series of event that lead him to this point where his fate is tied to a nut job?
"I would prefer if you don't harm Benny's wife or kids. They are with him in WITSEC but they aren't involved in any of this." Pete said just before he hung up the phone, forgetting that the person on the other side would not know about the rules.
"I will take you request into consideration." Milk's distorted voice echoes out of the receiver before the line was cut. The abrupt disconnection left Pete with the hollow sound of the phone tone ringing in his ears.
SU POV
Su felt a smile creep across her face as she continues to look through the telescope at the gaggle of mobsters as the lead idiot started to yell in anger at one of the other idiot in that desolate snow filled plaza. Probably yelling about the money or something petty. Oh, it's such a missed opportunity to bug that payphone. She would very much like to hear what the lead idiot is saying. She can't read his lips from this distance, but oh boy, does that man have a set of lungs on him. The man hasn't stopped to catch his breath from all that yelling since he hanged up that receiver.
Sam would have loved how the scene is playing out. She closes her eyes and shook her head as she tries to banish the painful thought of her dearly missed friend, and right on cue the cold stab of the void made itself known like it almost always does when she thinks of her. It's better to distract herself before things start to spiral downwards again, like it did a few months ago.
What was that stupid proverb again? Time heals all wounds? Such a stupid thing shouldn't even apply to herself. How pathetic of her to have such wounds. It must be some another thing that asshat must have given her. She must focus on things that's in front of her at the moment and not something in the past that she would reclaim in the future.
As she takes in a breath, she opens her eyes again to continue looking at the amusing scene that's still going, but now the lead idiot is meandering around like a caged monkey while the fat idiot tries to argue back. How does one man have that much energy to yell his lungs out while walking? She felt tired just looking at him.
After looking at the bank statements of all of the prominent members of the Kansas City Family. She's quite cognizant that the family is experiencing quite a downturn in their funds. Despite six million dollars is a negligible amount of money for her, but apparently it isn't for this family. If how this idiot is acting shows anything. Bah, these people are just greedy animals who put too much value on money. After paying her, they will all still have at least a hundred thousand dollars in each of their accounts. That's more than enough money for them to continue their day-to-day expenses for whatever criminal enterprise they do for a while as they wait for their operations to gain back their monies. She should have just asked for all of their money, seeing how desperate he was to get rid of their rat problem.
She knew it was good practice to do background checks on her clients and potential clients. Having knowledge for leverage in deals is always best practice. Finding information on people has been getting easier with the continues improvement she's been making on her rootkits and the explosion of internet adoption by business as well as poor information security practiced by those businesses. With just a few clicks and patience, she can gain access to most systems, whether it be business or government systems.
She should see if she can automate the need to personally target a business and have an on-demand search for information. Not that her current system is tedious, but it would certainly be more efficient. This poses a conundrum for her as she can't spread the rootkits in every system in the country, since that would increase the likelihood of some peon accidentally finding sneaky corn or silent squirrel. She has to find a way or possibly create a back door in every system that the rootkits can exploit for instantaneous access. Hmm, the best way she can think of the top of her head is to make a backdoor directly into a CPU during the design process. Which means she needs to infiltrate one of those EDA software companies and corrupt their software. Preparing and executing this plan will require a considerable amount of time.
The other problem is the automatic targeting thing. That requires a system that is able to constantly track and monitor what she does, so it's able to know what she wants or what's more likely able to predict what she wants and needs. Which requires the system to be able to learn and adapt by itself, meaning she has to create some kind of deep learning algorithm with the use of a neural network. Basically, an AI personal assistant that hacks into other systems. No biggie. Maybe by the time she finished with the backdoor thing, the processing powers of computers have moved forward enough for her to power such a system. She honestly felt giddy at the thought of creating such a system if she ignores that sickly feeling in her stomach for thinking of doing this alone. Would she be able to create a self-aware artificial intelligence? It would be a first for her to create such a being and it would certainly help her in her journey of finding the plug to the void. Anyway, she should file this as a priority task for her to pursue.
Ah, it seems in the time she lost in her own thought the idiot finally finished having that screaming match with the fat idiot while the thin idiot just stand at the side looking on. Su knows that she's gouging that idiot's eyes out with how much she's charging him. She could honestly charge the idiot a million dollars and still made way more money than she would care for, but where's the fun of seeing people who love money so much, losing their mind at the thought of having less money. Su wonders if she should have asked for less money for this job, so she's able to create a better relationship with the KC family to expand her network of contacts like she did with the New Orleans family. Nah, it feels too good to see these people squirm.
She finally looked away from the telescope and leaned back into the swivel chair, thinking of her next moves from the information she was given as she spins in the chair. The man went into WITSEC a week ago, meaning there's a high chance that he's still under the western district of Missouri Marshal office. First thing first is to find out who's the case officer is that's in charge of the rat's protection, which shouldn't be hard as it should be in the computer system. Su doubts the Marshals would be dumb enough to put their WITSEC list into a computer system, so it's probably in some physical file in the Marshal's office in the city.
She stops spinning in the chair and rolled it towards the IBM ThinkPad 700C PS/2 that's on the desk besides the way too large TV. Looking at the colored display that shows the Windows 3.1. It's been years since the last time she used a DOS based system but she just haven't gotten the spare time to update her custom Unix OS so it could run on this notebook since it has a custom IBM i386 chip. To be frank with herself, since leaving Bishop she hasn't been prioritizing updating the OS in general and has been more focus her spare time on improving her rootkits and other software. Conceivably, it's time for her to move away from it, but what OS could she adopt to supplant it?
The constant cold pressure of the void seems to bring up an intrusive thought. 'I wouldn't even need to think about changing OS if Sam was with me. We would have just happily split the task between ourselves.' Using both of her hands, she slapped her cheek to bring herself out of those unhelpful thoughts. There's no need to cry over spilled milk. She better keep focus on what she can do rather than what she could have done.
Should she move back to DOS? It's a familiar OS to her, but that just leaves a foul taste in her mouth. There's a reason why they changed to UNIX. Another option is O/S 2, which she played around with back in the clubhouse, but that OS has the similar problem as DOS. She could get UnixWare 1.1, which is based on UNIX System V Release 4. Her own custom OS was based on that version of UNIX, but that poses the same problem as her current OS. It's a close source system and it would require her to decompile UnixWare for her to add features she has in her custom OS that the UnixWare doesn't. All of that requires time, time she just doesn't have to spare. That applies to all the other Unix based OS in the market, all of them are closed source.
Well, not all UNIX based OS are closed source. There's 386BSD and if memory serves her right, there's rumbling on forums that there would be a new version of BSD based on 386BSD called NetBSD and FreeBSD that is coming out sometime this year. Her last open-source option is GNU/Linux that's been popping up more and more recently, however she can't really call it UNIX since it doesn't derive from Unix. It's a Unix like OS something she's never used before, not that a Unix like OS is a new thing. She's heard of Minix since before she left Bishop, but it never really caught her interest. However, there's been a lot of buzzes around this new OS with more and more developers stating that they're going to do development on this OS in forums she occasionally browse to find new things. Maybe she could try experimenting with GNU/Linux and NetBSD (when it's released) whenever she has some free time to see which OS to adopt.
Anyway, no idea how she started on a tangent on OS. Her mind has been wondering more and more as of recently. It is unlikely that this is something to be overly concerned about. Time to fashion herself a new identity for her to use to infiltrate the US Marshal's office that's near to this hotel. She looked up from the ThinkPad to see at the mirror that's almost always mounted on the wall where the desk is situated at in almost every hotel she's been to.
Should she dye her shoulder-length blonde hair to something else for this job? Seems too much of a hassle for her to do for such a minor job. In that case, a wig is the ideal option. It'll increase the time she needed for her morning makeup routine while undercover. Might as well get her hair trimmed, so it's easier on her for her to prep her hair to use a wig cap. Should she keep the glasses she has right now? Yeah, that's probably the best. Perhaps just change it to make the glasses bigger, rounder, and thicker, like some cliché nerd. Humans always dismiss those who look meek. Wearing glasses would just build that characterization of this identity as well as it's background. Oh yeah, it's all coming to gather now.
She starts humming as a tune she has long since forgotten the lyrics to as she creates the identity.
A clatter of typing, the sound of hacking coughs, and people yammering into their phones bombard her senses as Su timidly navigates through the sanitized office like a mouse, basked in a calming bright white light. Her destination is the security room where the imbeciles inside have demanded her presence for 'the computers not working!'. It was so easy to create a situation where she has to be called into that room. Looking around the dreary office space, it feels like this place could suck her soul out of her body. No idea why anyone would voluntarily work in this kind of place. Thank goodness that she's only here temporarily. It would be purgatory if she stayed here any longer than she's needed.
She stops in front of her destination and knocked the door. As she waits for one of the imbeciles to open the door, she adjusts the messenger bag and her oversized glasses, which is way too uncomfortable to wear.
She hears a beep, and the door opens, revealing a tall blonde man in his early 30s wearing a security guard uniform. She quickly looks away from the man, trying to avoid eye contact. The man continues to remain by the door, obstructing her from entering the room.
"Yes? What do you need, miss?" Said the man with an oddly soft voice.
Su continue to avoid eye contact and start fidgeting with the strap of her messenger bag. "Ah… Someone asked for tech support?" Su said timidly as her eyes the pistol that's on the man's hip.
"Oh? I didn't know there were girls in the IT department." The man said in a tone that was 'friendly' and inviting.
Su offered a bashful smile to the man, yet she still kept her eyes averted, disregarding the misogynistic undertone of his statement. "I… I joined not too long ago and y-yeah, I'm the only female in the IT department." Said Su, as she continues to fidget with the strap.
"Well, alright then, it's good that you came quick. All the computers went ballistic and nobody in the room can make sense of it." The man said as he gave way to her and walked in to the room, leading her towards the row of workstations with people sitting in front of them, looking like clueless idiots.
"You can start with my station first. It shouldn't take too long, right?" Said the man. He gave Su a bright smile as they came to a stop in the middle of the room.
"Y-yeah, it shouldn't take much of your time." Said Su while she seemingly shied away from looking anyone in the eye, instead combing the room with her gaze in an effort to locate the station in charge of the VCR for the CCTV. Target spotted, it's at the further end of the room. Just have to make it there and insert the diskette into that VCR.
"My name is Robert, by the way. I'm the day-shift supervisor for the security control center. What's your name?" inquired the man, in an effort to continue their conversation. Why on earth is this ape continuing to talk to her? She has no incentive to this ape, as he has nothing to give her, but she can't break character.
"The name is T-Taylor, Elaine Taylor. Nice to meet you." Su replied to the ape with a timid smile and gingerly sat down on the chair to begin work on 'fixing' the computer.
"So, why is a girl like you working in the IT department here in the marshal's office, of all places?" Said the Ape, continuing this useless conversation and what does gender have to do with her working in an IT?
"I-I just finished my college degree in computer science, and no one wanted to hire me. So, I applied here and got the job. Hopefully, I pass my probation period." Su said without looking at the ape as she reverse the damage she remotely did to the computer. If this ape continues to hover around her, the entire time she's in here, she has to set up something to distract this idiot when she reaches the VCR station. Setting up something to trigger from this computer shouldn't be difficult. She doubts he'll look deep into what she types into the terminal.
"Really? You must be great at computers if you graduated early. What school did you go to?" The ape said with a voice that sounded like he's interested in something. Why the heck would he think she graduated early? Her makeup and clothes should make her look like she's in her early 20s. Well, within graduation age for a computer science degree. Please, for the love of Betsy, stop talking. This is going to be annoying.
Su turned to look at the ape with a demure smile and said. "I-I went to UMKC."
"No kidding? You're a Roos? I went there as well! I had so much good memories of that place. How's the place been holding up?" The ape said happily. Why do humans always have some weird tribalism when it comes to their alma maters? Good thing she learned everything there is to know about that useless institution just for cases like this. Let's try to throw him off first.
"L-Looks like I'm done with your computer. I should get to the next one." Su said directly, looking into his eye for the first time. Hopefully, he catches the message that she wants him gone.
"That's fast. Come on, I'll show you the next one. Hey Jamerson, move a side and give the lady space for her to work her magic on your workstation." The ape said to the plumped African American sitting staring into a nonfunctioning computer as if it's going to fix it with his stare. To be honest, everyone in this room seems to do that like they're all some kind of gestalt entity.
"Sure, thing Bob." The plump man said as he stands up to give way. It would appear that the ape decided to join her at this workstation as well. She inwardly sighs, reluctantly resigning herself to the reality of having to dialogue with this ape.
Su continues to entertain this ape slowly pretending as if she's coming out of her shy shell while she continues to work on each workstation, making her way towards her goal. She gave a laugh here and there whenever the ape thinks he's giving a joke or something she assumed to a joke. Why do people think they're funny? The only funny person she knows of in this world is Sam, and she's like a thousand miles away. She inwardly winces at the thought but manages to conceal her reaction.
As she reached the workstation at the VCR station, she quickly use the terminal to trigger the distraction she has set up earlier at the first computer. The security 'command center' was filled with an alarm that was so loud it shook the walls, and the camera feed screens lit up with flashing lights. Well, the lights are unexpected but not unwelcomed.
"Looks like there's a Code 5. I'm gonna go take a look, won't be long. You can just continue fixing the computers." The ape said hurriedly, making his way towards the center of the room, giving out orders to the drones.
Finally, she's free from that monkey. Su quickly took out the diskette from her bag and shoved it into the VCR system, causing a prompt to appear on the small monitor that's on top of the system. The prompt is asking if she wants to proceed with the setting change, which she instantaneously pressed the ok button on the system to set it and quickly removed the diskette, completing her task. She turns back to the workstation to 'fix' it.
The sound of the alarm and the flashes of light stopped as she finished 'fixing' the computer with a last command on the terminal. Now with the room silent again, she can hear the ape making his way back to her. She still hasn't figured out why is does this monkey keeps bothering her.
"It was just a false alarm, probably some idiot trigger something somewhere, but it looks like you're done with this computer. Let's get to the next one." Said the ape.
"I don't think it's needed. The other workstation seems like it's fine again." Su said with a faint smile, gesturing towards the other workstations that seemed to have miraculously fixed themselves. '
"Well, I'll be damned. You're right." Said the ape with a puzzling look on his face.
"I reckon I'm finished with my job now. I'll get out of your hair now." Su said quickly as she stands and walk pass the ape.
"Wait, Elaine." Said the ape from behind her.
What does the ape want now? Better not waste any more time than it's needed. Su turns around and asks with a soft tone, "Yes?"
"Do you want to get lunch later today?" said the ape sheepishly.
What… Is this why he's been hovering around her like some mosquitoes the entire time? Why would she ever want to have lunch with this ape? Did he think she's been flirting with him, or did she miss this ape's advances? Well, better shut him down quickly before this escalates too much, and she has the best excuse she can think of.
"O-oh… I don't I can't. I'm fasting right now." Su said with the most regretful voice she could muster.
"Fasting?" asked the ape as he cocked his head to the side like it's the weirdest thing he's heard.
"Y-yeah. I'm on a fasting diet where I only eat at 8pm. So, I can't. Apologizes, goodbye." Su said as she turns around and quickly makes her way out of the room.
She let out a sigh of relief as the door to the security room closes behind her. That ape really was a nuisance that she did not account for when she planned this excursion. Having completed the task, the only thing left is for her to get into the secure file room at the predetermined time she set in that VCR system and gather the information. That shouldn't be difficult, as she already copied someone's access card needed to enter the room, as well as the file rack number. Then all she has to do is get herself fired from this awful office when the jobs done so no one would be the wiser. At least this job hasn't been totally a waste of her time. Now she has access to the US marshal's private internet network, and that's practically invaluable.
She would start humming and skipping as she made her way back to the IT department, but it would be out of character for Elaine to be upbeat.
As she drives the car down the street in the absence of light, the night vision goggles provide a calming, glowing tinge of green that soothes her eyes. She brought her car to a dead stop behind one of the several cars that had been parked in the street just a few townhouses away from her objective. Turning off her car, she just sits in the driver's seat, looking at her target.
From the days of scouting the area before this, she knows that they stationed three marshals at all times in the blue-colored townhouse beside the gray-colored house that's holding her target. She didn't get a chance to check the duty rooster, nor was it within her scope of tasks she created for herself when she infiltrated that office. So, she doesn't know if the marshals that are on duty tonight are the marshals that have met her in the office. Meaning she can't take the chance that they might identify her somehow if she just disable them with a non-lethal shot. She has to put them to sleep, which isn't the most ideal route for her to take since these law enforcement people just love avenging their dead. Alas, it's the hand she's been dealt with, and she always adapts to changing scenarios.
During the days she's been scouting this area, she has been preparing the area for tonight, making sure that the CCTVs that are scattered all around the area won't be recording anything tonight. Procuring and modifying the radio jammer that's currently in her trunk. She has control over all the variables that she's able to manipulate. Except, of course, for the random human variable. Can't really prepare if some random human decides to do a late night walk down this street.
She looked down to see the time on her wristwatch and see that it's ten minutes till show time. Taking stock of all of her equipment she has on her. On the passenger side, atop of her black leather long coat, sat her beloved toy that she has spent way too much time with then required, her heavily modified Colt AR-15 cambered in .223 REM. It's not something someone can just buy, the rifle has a 10.3 inch barrel that she spent so long making tuning the gas port making sure the gun can cycle properly. Starting with the tip, she has a 6 inch custom machine/built suppressor that she designed and commission a machine shop to create for her after finding the suppressors that are available in the market to be lacking in their performance. The handguard is a custom-made four-sided Weaver rail mount where she has a AN/PEQ-2 mounted on the top, a high-power flashlight to the side and a foregrip at the bottom. At the receiver, she changed the trigger mechanism to make the trigger pull lighter, basically making it a hair trigger and making it so she can use full auto. Not that she would ever need to use it in full auto, but having the option is nice. Oh, not to forget the brass catcher at the side of the upper receiver. Finally, she changed the buttstock changed to a collapsible buttstock, as she doesn't need the extra length. Sadly, after tonight, she must melt her precious barrel. Thankfully, she had the foresight to create a lot of 10.3-inch barrels.
Looking down, she has her level 3a soft vest on her with two extra mags in the front pouch. The vest should be more than enough for her needs tonight. The office only issued the marshals pistols. To her right, her holster holds her suppressed Glock 19, which was loaded with subsonic rounds so her suppressor isn't stupidly long. She isn't planning on using the pistol at all tonight, but it's always good to have a backup. To her left is her very own designed and created microphone jammer, just in case they bugged those houses.
Looking back at her wristwatch, and see she has eight minutes left. Time to make her move. She removed her helmet, which has her night vision goggles on, and with her gloved hand she grabbed a black balaclava that matches the rest of her clothes from the glove compartment. She had always found balaclava annoying to wear, could never feel comfortable with fabric on her nose. With the final adjustment to the balaclava, she then put on her helmet way too heavy helmet. She can't wait for lighter NVD to be available in the future. Her head is just not built to have heavy things on it. Exercising her neck muscle would help, but requires her to do the yucky task of exercising and without Sam with her, she just never finds the motivation to actually do any exercising other than the bare minimum for her occupation.
She grabs her rifle and clips it to her rifle to her single point sling on her left. She exits her car with her long leather coat and wears it as she walks to the blue townhouse. The street is barely illuminated, with only a few of the lamp posts providing a dull, flickering glow. Thank you, city budget cuts and slow bureaucracy. So far there's no dumb humans outside, which is a expected given how cold it is right now.
Casually, she walked up to the front door of the blue town house. She knows beyond reasonable doubt that the marshals are sitting in the kitchen playing cards lost in their own world unless they're disturbed by a loud noise or something unexpected. Unlocking the door was child's play. They really should have changed the lock to be something harder. Taking her rifle from her coat, she placed it on her shoulder and slipped into the building, her timing made perfect by the blackout that had just engulfed the entire block. Looking back at her wristwatch, noting that her programs perfectly executed their task on time, giving her 30 minutes of darkness and radio jamming from her car.
Turning on her IR pointer, she quietly made her way towards the back of the house where the kitchen at as she hears voices from there and the clattering of noises.
"Any thoughts why the light isn't working?"
"Why would I even know, Roger? Maybe a branch fell on a transformer or something."
"Alright, alright. No need to get all snappy."
"Ah… Sorry David. Should have drunk coffee earlier. Let's just find those damned flashlights."
"It's fine. I think it should be in one of cabinets."
She sees only two humans in the kitchen. Where is the third idiot? She sighs internally at the thought of needing to search the entire house. He might not even be in this building and that would just suck. Anyway, she aims using the IR pointer at one of the human's head and took the shot, causing the man to instantaneously collapse like a sack of potatoes.
The other man quickly turned at the sound of her shot and said, "What the fu-"
Oh, how she loves it when they noticed, it just makes the experience so much nicer. Su quickly changed her aim towards that other man, but this time she didn't have time to aim at his head but at his chest where the marshal has his vest and fired two rounds into it. The man tumbled backwards at the counter from the shot. It's a good thing she loaded her rifle with black tipped .223 REM. On second thought, that might have been overkill seeing that they're issued with Level 3a vest like her and those are rated to stop pistol rounds, not rifle rounds.
She went right up at the man who looks to be still alive if the slight movement of his mouth shows anything but isn't moving any other part of his body. Hmm… She must have missed his heart, but hit dead center on his chest as well as hitting his spine and shattering it. He probably couldn't even breath right now from the lack of yelling. Sad that he couldn't beg, alas she shouldn't play around with him when she's on the clock. She left the kitchen in search of the illusive third marshal after shooting the dying man in his noggin.
Having looked around the ground floor and not finding anybody, she began her ascent up the stairs. The other man might just be sleeping. Looking at her watch, she has 24 minutes left. Let's not waste time. Looking around the 1st floor, she sees a typical hallway and doors that's common in these houses. According to the general floor plans she saw for these houses, the door to the furthest on the right is the master bedroom.
Quietly, she reached for the knob and opened the door into the room, revealing an occupied bed. With her gun already up, she quickly took aim from the doorway and shoot three times into the mass in under the blanket. Tingles flared at the back of her neck like there's something wrong. This feels way too easy. She took a moment to listen for anything while she scans the room and spots the adjoined bathroom to the right side of the room with its door slightly ajar. The bed is a decoy and there's someone in the bathroom, probably waiting for her to check the bed. Switching her rifle from safe to full auto, she sprayed a stream of 13 bullets into the bathroom. She hears a something dropped in the bathroom and a scream of agony causing a small smirk to form on her covered face. Bingo, gotcha, ya sneaky little thing.
She kept her rifle trained on the bathroom as she hurried towards the door, using her feet to push it open. To Su's surprised, it's a gasping woman that's on the floor, desperately trying to stem two of her gunshot wounds on her torso with a service pistol on the floor near to laying figure. Not taking any chances, Su quickly kicked the pistol away from the woman's reach. Looks like she hit the woman at the lungs and at the guts. Sucks to be the woman right now because those wounds are super painful, especially that lung wound.
"P-please… Shit." The woman tried to talk, but it appears like she's in tremendous pain. This woman going to die of blood loss like the 2nd marshal, at least she could talk. Su really wasn't expecting a female to be on guard duty tonight. Must have been one of the few female marshals that she's seen or even met in the office. Not that she can even remember any of their faces right now, nor does she recognize the one that's on the floor right now.
"P-please I-I… have a daughter…" groaned out the dying woman. Ah, the sweet sound of someone begging for their life. However, this idiot must know that she will die from blood loss, right? Honestly, the dummy should be asking and thanking her for making it quick. It always amuses her that when someone's begging for their life, they would always say that they have a family or some variation. Like, what about their pets? Don't they deserve your final thought? As much as she wants to play with this woman, she gotta be quick.
"No!" The woman exclaimed in pain and brought up her hands to 'block'.
Su brought her rifle and aimed at the woman's head and pulled the trigger, but something surprisingly the sound of a click rather than a sound of suppressed shot was heard.
"Motherfucker…" The woman said with wide eyes as she haplessly scrambled trying to get up or do something to save her life.
Huh, she must have run out of cartridges in her magazine. Counting back the rounds she shot tonight; it did reach 20 and her brass catcher is blocking her view from seeing that the bolt is open.
"Well, this is embarrassing." Su said with a small giggle to the woman, who was still moving franticly on the floor. Su's face must be blushing right now. This is so unprofessional of her to do.
"G-go fuck yourself, motherfucker." Said the woman, seemingly regained her back her energy. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug.
"Such a potty mouth. Do you kiss your daughter with that foul mouth?" Su said sweetly, trying to brush her embarrassment away with levity as she casually removed her empty magazine and placed it in the spare pouch.
"Fuck you!" The woman screamed in rage as she continues to flail around on the floor slicked with her blood. Even with a busted lung, she can somehow scream.
"Really? Your last words are going to be swear words and not some stupid prayer you humans love to do?" Su asked in a lighthearted manner as she shakes her head in disappointment. Unlike her, these people really aren't creative in their last moments. Ah, this brings back memories. She had some cool one liner before she died in the past. She finished inserting a fresh magazine into her rifle and pressed the bolt release.
The woman's eyes were wide as she stopped flailing around like she recognize something. "W-wait, you're El-"
Su shot the woman in the head before she could finish her sentence. Huh… did the woman recognize her by her voice? Looks like they met in the office before. Oh well, hopefully no one heard the screaming. Looking at her wristwatch and she has 19 minutes to finish this job. She turns around to sweep the rest of the rooms on the 1st floor just in case there's any surprises which she doubts since no one interrupted that embarrassing situation.
Satisfied with the house being empty, she exits the building and clipped her rifle to her single point sling as she walks towards the gray house. Like the blue house, unlocking the front door was easy as pie. Unclipping and shouldering her rifle again, she quickly but quietly made her way towards the stairs, ignoring the ground floor as she doubts anyone would be downstairs right now.
This house is identical to the other house, so she made her way to the master bedroom. She stopped in front of the door and put her head near the door to listen in the room. There, she hears voices whispering in the room. It would appear that her target must have heard that woman screaming, or maybe the sound of her bullet hitting the wall of the bathroom. Unfortunate but nothing too big. Should she kick the door in to surprise the occupants? She doubts with her lightly muscled and petite body that she can knock down a door. Ugh, how disappointing. It would be such a fun and cool thing to do.
She thumbs her safety off. With a gentle twist of her left hand, she quietly opened the door and then gave it a swift kick to cause it to open wide. A man is standing in the middle of the in his robes with a shocked look on his face. Su trains her rifle at him and pulls the trigger twice, hitting the man in his chest and his head, who instantly collapsed where he was standing. Moving into the room to confirm the person she whacked was her target, but a loud banshee screeching interrupted her movement before she could reach the body.
"Ben!" the banshee screamed. This must be the wife that the idiot mobster asked to not kill. Su wasn't planning to kill this banshee, but it's a personal policy that she leaves no witness, such is life.
Su instantly pivoted her body towards the source of the sound and with three trigger pulls, the screaming stops. Goodness gracious, that lady sure had a pair of lungs on her. Must be an Italian thing. Not giving the dead wife a spare glace, she continues her way towards the primary target. Switching her AN/PEQ-2 from pointer to illumination mode, she examines the face of the target. Taking a look at what is left of his face, yes, that is the rat. She accomplished the job in a period of two weeks, well within her one-month timeframe. If it were not for her lost acuity to taste sweetness, she would have celebrated this with chocolate pancakes for breakfast.
The coldness of the void seemed to spike at that thought of what she lost, even though she's been ignoring the constant ever building tide of chilly pressure the entire night. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath to recalibrate herself. Opening her eyes, she looks at her wristwatch and she still has 10 minutes left.
With a twist, she left the master bedroom and went towards the stairs, yet she stopped in front of a door when she spied one of the bedroom doors that was slightly open. She's certain that the door wasn't opened when she came upstairs and walked towards the master bedroom. A small smile formed on her covered face. Looks like someone is trying to slither away like a sneaky snake, how cute! This must be the son and daughter of the rat. Well, she wasn't planning on killing the kids, but unfortunately for them, they might have seen her. She can't possibly leave them be now, can she?
She kicked opened the door, revealing an empty room. How precious, they must be hiding. Hmm, if she had a brain of a child, where would she hide? The cliché thing is to hide underneath the bed. As a result, she dropped to her knees to look beneath the bed and saw the two kids. Huh, clichés are right. The kids look frozen in shock; they weren't much younger than her current physical age. Maybe 3 or 4 years younger than her for the oldest. Must be a terrifying thing for them to be experiencing right now, not that she can relate what they're going through. Also, she just couldn't help herself from messing with them.
"Hello there." Su said with a sickly sweet voice.
They didn't even have time to scream as she shot twice at each of them in rapid succession. Like their mother, she didn't spare a second glance at their bodies as she stands up from her kneeling position. Now there shouldn't be anyone else in this house, but there's no harm in doing a sweep. Upon satisfaction, the house was desolate of life. She made her way out of the building and back towards her car, feeling satisfied with a job well done.
She turns on the car and starts driving away from the WITSEC safe house to her pre-designated destination. Where she will change her car and burn this one. Can't take any chances with how much heat she's going to get from tonight. She looks at the car clock and sees that it's 3am, meaning she has maybe 2 hours to sleep before needing to go back to that purgatory of an office space. Can't wait for the malware in HR system to trigger tomorrow and have her fired. How should she play that scene tomorrow as she sits in front of HR, maybe turn on the tear works? Doubt that she can do it. She hasn't cried since she regained control of this body when she's one. Bah, she'll just wing it tomorrow.
With a slam of the door, she lifelessly made her way towards her bed and fell face first into the bed. Today was such a tiring day, not only she's sleepy from her night activities. The office was a buzz with activities, with people walking around quickly, screaming, talking, and crying. It seems that those who are frenetic and wrathful cause destruction, so she's been hastening around the dang office building like an actual squirrel, transitioning from one location to another. Who would have thunk that losing a key witness and multiple colleagues would cause so much chaos? If she wasn't so sleepy, she would have reveled in said chaos.
She stretches her arm to turn on the small radio that's on the bedside table, filling the room with music that she didn't care for. Can't wait when technology is good enough where she can put music that she like in a mobile phone and listen to it whenever she wants, no need to be chained by the will of the radio DJ.
"Good Friday evening, Kansas City rebels! It's time for your nightly news update on 96.5 FM KC Rebel Radio. This is your host 'Boomerang' Billy Johnson, bringing you the latest happenings in our city and beyond."
Oh, good the news. She continues to listen to the host talking about the boring local news and talking about a deadly massacre that happened in the middle of the night. Su couldn't help but roll her eyes at that description. Tch, seven dead humans isn't a massacre. What an exaggeration of the facts.
She peered to her left to see the rifle and equipment that she used earlier. It would be a prudent of her to go to the garage and melt the barrel right now, but she's just too lazy to do anything right now.
"And now news from outside the state. Well, it's just more bad news today, folks. It's been 7 hours since an explosion happened in the basement of the World Trade Center in New York City. Emergency crews are still evacuating people who are trapped on the top floors of the building and are clearing the explosion site. Police have started an investigation into what caused the explosion…"
She heard of this earlier today despite the hullabaloo her shooting caused today. A conveniently placed explosion in the basement of the tallest building on earth that causes the building to lose power.
"… So far, the death toll of this explosion is four, and the people injured from this tragic event are 600 people. We really don't know what cause this explosion folk but…"
Oh, she knows what caused that explosion, buddy. This is obviously a terrorist attack, a bad terrorist attack anyway. Did they plan to collapse the towers from such a small bomb, or was it to cause a mass death event? If it was both, then they failed big time. The people behind this attack are such amateurs. It's kinda adorable. Who's behind this attack? She has no clue, might need to do some research, but she can totally plan and do it better than those people.
At that random thought that wondered into her mind, a sudden bolt of lighting struck her.
She should totally be a consultant for those idiots. Imagine all the things she can ask for! As well as the networking she can do. She still hasn't tried to see if a mass casualty event would plug her void, now she can use these idiots as fall guys. This is such a great idea. Su the terrorist project manager consultant. Might need to work on that title a bit.
A/N: Welcome to the second arc where I still have no idea what I'm doing because I did nothing while on vacation and got sick after coming back home. At least after writing this chapter, I roughly know what to do with the next 3-4 chapters.