"Here."
Techno glances up wearily at Wilbur. The other man left after his little outburst and stayed gone for about an hour or so. Techno can't say he minded. He took the time to finish his cracker, explore the safehouse properly, and contemplate the meaning of his untimely death.
Turns out an hour is just long enough to start wondering what picture they'll put on his missing persons poster. Probably the same one they took for his student ID, that's the only recent picture Techno can think of. And he still has brown hair on it. Cringe. If they use the same picture for his obituary, he's going to haunt whoever made it from beyond the grave.
The safehouse didn't leave him with much to see or do though. The room opposite the one Techno woke up in is also a bedroom, startlingly identical in design. All the closets are empty, and the kitchen doesn't turn up any more food than Wilbur already laid out for him. Every single room beside the bathroom has cameras in it. Techno stared up at them a few times, wondering if The Crow Network has anybody keeping an eye on him.
"For your wrist," Wilbur clarifies after a moment, when Techno hasn't taken the bundled up towel from him. Techno touches it, feeling the coldness seep through the fabric. An ice pack.
"Thanks," he says lamely, pressing it to the bruised skin. It's not really that bad, Wilbur isn't a bodybuilder by any stretch of the imagination.
Techno doesn't appreciate how the other man keeps staring down at him after he takes it, dark eyes pinched as if he's looking at something strange or unpleasant. Techno isn't doing anything, he's sitting on the couch. No windows, no funny business. He's being the picture-perfect example of a good kidnapping victim, thank you very much. Why the heck is Wilbur scowling at him as if Techno has personally driven a car over his foot on purpose?
"I'm…" Wilbur starts, then stops because his eyes flick away. He sighs, running his fingers through his hair in agitation. To Techno's muted horror and surprise, he sits down on the armrest of the couch, basically right next to him. "I'm sorry. Really."
Techno doesn't say anything, shifting the ice pack against his wrist. This is by far the strangest kidnapping he has ever been a part of. Also the only one, but again, he's fairly certain this is not how they're supposed to go.
"This entire situation has really put me on edge," Wilbur says, not discouraged by Techno's silence apparently. "It hasn't exactly brought out the best side of me." Techno almost laughs, but prevents himself from doing so by pinching his lips together. "I'm honestly kind of freaking out inside, trying not to because it's not fucking helpful but it's hard."
"I fail to see how that's my problem," Techno bites out, keeping his voice neutral.
Wilbur stares at him for a few seconds, eyebrows raised, almost a smile. "It isn't," he admits. "But you've been catching the brunt of it so… I'm sorry."
Techno is resolutely focusing his attention on the ice pack. Wilbur's voice is soft as he continues.
"About ten years ago, we had some information get out to the wrong people. We paid the price for it. My mother, Kristin, she- we didn't get to it in time. If something happens to Tommy, I don't know what I'd do with myself."
Uneasy, Techno swallows.
Part of him has a hard time mustering up any sympathy for Wilbur or his family. They're wanted criminals, they've killed more people than Techno can count. Them trying to convince him he should help because they don't want to lose their loved ones is hypocritical when Techno considers the innocent blood spilled by The Crow Network, directly or not. It's like he told Wilbur before: maybe if they didn't want to have a bunch of murderous gangs after them they shouldn't have bought in with that crowd to begin with.
The other part of him happens to be the same part of his brain that contemplated majoring in Psychology rather than History. And that part of Techno knows that fear makes people do some wild, irrational, impulsive things. So Wilbur's apology could be pretty genuine. Maybe.
He shrugs awkwardly. "It's fine."
"If it helps, I can let you get a free punch in," Wilbur adds with a laugh. "Just be sure to hit my other cheek, gotta keep this face symmetrical since it's my money maker."
"No wonder you resorted to crime," Techno says as he turns towards Wilbur. The way the man sputters in offense makes it almost worth it. When Techno raises his arm Wilbur suddenly holds up his hands and leans back.
"Wait, you're serious? I was just joking," he says quickly. Techno deflates.
"Cringe," he deadpans.
"You've punched me before, I know you have a mean right hook," Wilbur says.
Techno definitely doesn't smile at that. No sir.
"How about I make it up to you some other way. Wanna watch a movie or something?" Nudging him with his foot, Techno slides to the other cushion so Wilbur can sit down next to him on the couch. "And tell me what you want to eat later. I'll text Dad to get us some."
"Dad?" Techno asks.
"Phil."
Oh… Well, Techno should probably have connected the dots on that one. That means Wilbur and Tommy are both Phil's sons, presumably. And the woman who died was Phil's wife.
While still not excusing their behavior, Techno does feel that it sheds some light on Phil's desperation. Grief makes people act in ways they normally wouldn't. If he felt Tommy was being threatened in a similar way as his late wife, that could be what prompted Phil to take extreme action and kidnap him.
"Ask him to get some instant ramen," Techno says. That's his comfort food, the one thing he can eat whenever. Wilbur smiles and nods.
"Sure. Do you want to take a shower while I pick out a movie? Might as well kill some time until your equipment gets here, right?"
"No thanks," Techno says flatly. "I looked at your bathroom and I'm not using any of that crap on my hair. What's a 6 in 1 shampoo? What six things are you combining?"
Wilbur snorts, shaking his head. "I did say we barely use this safehouse." He picks up a remote from the coffee table. "Suit yourself. You're fine with a musical?" At Techno's blank expression, Wilbur amends, "Superhero movie it is."
He flips through a bunch of options. Techno wants to make some sort of comment about The Crow Network allegedly not using this safehouse yet also paying for the streaming service for their flat screen TV there. Maybe Wilbur is just logged in on the family account but somehow Techno thinks that's unlikely.
Eventually, Wilbur picks out a pretty basic action flick Techno probably watched before, maybe playing in the background while he did his job. Wilbur settles back against the couch, relaxing, typing on his phone once in a while. Techno glances at him a few times, allowing the strangeness of the situation to seep in. He's watching a movie. With his kidnapper. What in the world is he even doing right now?
Wilbur's phone makes a noise and Wilbur grins, showing Techno the screen. It's a picture of the aisle in a grocery store. "What brand do you usually get?"
Techno blinks at the rows of energy drinks. The brightness almost hurts his eyes. "Uh, those red ones." He points at the screen.
"You don't know the name?" Wilbur asks while turning the phone over and typing, presumably telling Phil - telling the most wanted man in the country - what energy drinks to buy Techno.
Techno shrugs. "They're the red ones."
Wilbur laughs, then continues watching the movie. Slowly, Techno returns his attention to the television too and relaxes a bit into the cushions as he tries to distract himself. Nothing else to do now but wait.
Techno doesn't hear a doorbell or anything, so he assumes Phil texted Wilbur to let him know he arrived. Wilbur stands and looks down at him, leaving the movie running in the background. "Don't move," he warns.
Techno could point out he'd have to be some kind of idiot to think it'd be a good idea to try and escape when Phil is at the door. What is Techno going to do, make a run for it? But Wilbur is already gone by the time Techno's thoughts have run their course, so he stiffly sits and waits instead. Maybe Phil will already have his hardware. Maybe Techno can make short work of patching the leak. Maybe The Crow Network will be in a lenient mood and not rescind its offer of letting him walk free once he's done.
Maybe he won't miss his deadlines. Oh God, his deadlines.
Techno can't think of those now or he'll puke. He got a peek at Wilbur's phone and knows he's already been in this safehouse for over twelve hours. His GPA won't completely be destroyed by missing some lectures, but it's more about the principle of things for Techno. He worked hard to get into a prestigious university, he can't let it be ruined by mucking up his assignments.
Phil shouldn't mind it if he starts to work on his essays in between the hacking.
"Techno! Look at this!" Wilbur's raised voice carries through the hallway towards him. Techno gets up and turns around, dully surprised that Wilbur is alone. Techno thought Phil would be there too, but guess not.
"What?" Techno asks, looking at the several brown paper bags Wilbur is carrying.
"Stuff," Wilbur says brightly. Techno huffs a laugh at the other man's childlike glee. Wilbur puts the bags on the counter, immediately dipping into one. He grabs two large containers of take-out food, putting them down. The plastic bowls are round and have lids with holes in them. Wilbur absently gestures behind him. "Grab some forks. There's chopsticks too if you prefer that."
Techno obeys without question, though he can't help but peek behind him as Wilbur opens the containers up. Hot steam rises into the air, filling the room with a delicious scent, enough to have Techno's mouth watering instantly.
It's ramen.
Not cheap instant ramen either. Proper ramen like what you get at a fancy restaurant, with handmade noodles floating inside a thick broth, chopped carrots and spring onions as garnish, and half a cooked egg of which the yolk is the perfect amount of runny. Techno grabs some cutlery.
"Dad brought instant ramen too," Wilbur says, nodding at the paper bag. "Your energy drinks should be in there too. But it'll be good to have a proper dinner, I'm starving."
"Is this from that place downtown?" Techno asks. He forgot the name, but he's certain Wilbur will know what he means. The guy who runs it was in the news. He's a famous chef with his own reality TV show who went all the way to Japan in order to learn the traditional way of making ramen, and then opened a restaurant locally. Techno walked by there before, but seeing the exorbitant prices always scared him away. Wilbur holds his hand out for a fork.
"Yeah, the owner is a friend of ours," Wilbur says mysteriously. As if Techno is supposed to know what that means.
Sitting down at the kitchen island, Techno pulls one of the bowls in front of himself. The scent truly is divine, he has never smelled anything as good. And he certainly doesn't feel guilty that the mob is spending hundreds of dollars on food for him. They ruined his eggs.
Techno is not getting less confused though.
A kidnapping with five-star service. He's going to have to rate this gig on Yelp.
"Let's see what else is in here," Wilbur says, starting to dig around in the bags again. Techno slurps his noodles and watches Wilbur put the cans of energy drink and some sodas in the fridge, and the instant ramen on the counter behind him. Then he takes out a little plastic bag and upends it on the kitchen island between them.
A smattering of candy bars tumble out.
"Oh sweet, chocolate." Wilbur grabs one and puts it in his pocket for later.
"Why did Phil get all this?" Techno can't help but ask.
Wilbur just throws him a puzzled glance. "Why wouldn't he? He told me they got the stuff from your apartment, but they need to move the desktop with our security hub from the main house, so that's taking a bit when Phil's putting out other fires along the way."
"Other fires?"
"Rival gang assaults. Nothing to worry about," Wilbur answers flippantly.
Techno frowns at him, but doesn't answer, instead opting to twirl some of the ramen onto his fork. The taste of the dish almost makes him believe the price is worth it after all.
"He brought you some toiletries too," Wilbur continues, turning to another bag from which he produces a toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, and a few different bottles. Techno notices the luxury brand shampoo and conditioner. Wilbur must have relayed his complaints.
Wilbur sits down to start on his own food, but not before sliding the final bag towards Techno. There are some clothes inside.
"A clean change of clothes and something to sleep in," Wilbur explains. "Since you'll be staying overnight."
"And you're not going to drug me this time?" Techno asks sarcastically.
"We won't need to if you behave," Wilbur says, grinning in a way that bares his teeth.
"How generous."
Wilbur offers him a little chuckle, digging into his ramen in earnest. Techno isn't going to complain about the food - or the treatment in general. Aside from the original kidnapping which was kinda rough, he vastly prefers this over what he thought being abducted by the mob would be like. That doesn't entirely stop the uncomfortable tension in his gut, the sword of Damocles that dangles over his neck. But it helps make that more ignorable.
They finish their food, and then the movie. Wilbur insists on watching a musical next, something Techno begrudgingly allows after making him promise he won't sing along. When they're done with that, they watch a movie of Techno's choice. Wilbur falls asleep at two different parts during the art house dramedy.
By the time the credits are rolling, Techno is stifling a yawn into his palm. Without windows, his brain is having a hard time deciding if it's time to sleep. And Techno's no stranger to an all-nighter anyway. He just knows he's been awake for hours.
"You should get some rest," Wilbur says, standing up with a noticeable crack in his knees. "I have to head out for the night but I'll be back in the morning."
"Yeah," Techno says, getting up too. He takes the bag of clothes from the kitchen island.
Wilbur walks ahead of him towards the hallway. He comes to a stop at the door of the bedroom.
Ah, he's expecting Techno to go inside before he leaves. Scared Techno will run after all? Somehow that musters up more amusement inside Techno than it does dread.
"Why did you ask about my family?" Techno asks. He started to wonder about that more and more during the movie, so he might as well try to get an answer.
"Hm?" Wilbur tilts his head. "I guess I was curious what you'd say."
With that enigmatic statement, Wilbur opens the door for him. Techno goes into the bedroom.
He falls asleep to the light buzz of the cameras in the corners.
When he wakes up, it's to overlapping voices in the kitchen.
Techno rubs his face, once more beset with the disorientation that comes from having no windows or clocks, his sense of time thoroughly scrambled. He doesn't know if it's morning, afternoon, or evening. He could have slept for twelve straight hours. His head definitely hurts enough for it, though that might have more to do with him chucking like four energy drinks during the movie last night and not taking his meds for two days.
Grunting, he gets up and opens the door, the voices getting more distinct as he does so. They're arguing, or at least being rowdy about something. Phil, Wilbur, and another one.
The moment he steps into the kitchen area, Techno has to duck when a piece of bacon flies past his face.
"Don't play with your food," Phil says sternly.
"I'm not playing," the unknown voice responds. "I'm very serious in trying to kill Wilbur."
"By throwing bacon at me?" Wilbur bursts out, laughing. Techno clears his throat.
"Let me guess. Tommy." He looks the newcomer up and down. The fact he's fifteen years old would be the dead giveaway here, since that's the age Wilbur cited his brother is. Though Tommy is also almost a carbon copy of Phil in appearance. Techno doesn't think The Crow Network is rich enough to invent human cloning, but there's always a chance…
Tommy scowls a little at the tone of Techno's voice. "Again?" He mimics Techno's tone, badly. "Let me guess, the nerd."
"The nerd that's going to make sure you don't get murdered, yeah."
Tommy frowns harder, something Techno ignores in favor of walking towards the desktop computer that seems to have mysteriously appeared on the coffee table overnight. Somebody hooked two screens to it, putting some books beneath them to make them a little more manageable for use while sitting on the couch. Not a lot.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Wilbur interjects. "Don't you want to have breakfast first? A shower?"
Techno looks over his shoulder. "You brought my stuff. So I can do the job." He sees his laptop and the hard drives he requested waiting for him on the coffee table too. He should have everything he needs to get going.
"Did we forget anything?" Phil asks. He's standing behind the kitchen island with a mug in hand. Techno sees plates with scrambled eggs, bacon, some toast. They really prepared all of that?
"Nope," Techno says, popping the P as he glances over his equipment. "Should be everything I need."
"Then you can get started if you want to," Phil says. "But Wilbur is right, if you're hungry, eat first."
"I thought this was an urgent matter?" Techno mocks lightly, opening his laptop up. He turns the desktop on, hearing the fans work overtime to keep the insides from overheating. If this is the hub of their security, Techno isn't entirely surprised they got owned.
"A couple more hours won't make a difference," Phil says.
Techno hums, plugging in the hard drive where he keeps most of his rootkits. The malware starts to run immediately, with a popup warning him of the unknown program. Techno right clicks for administrator access and turns to Wilbur, who has walked up beside him while holding a plate.
"What's the password?" he asks.
Wilbur doesn't answer, picking up a piece of bacon and holding it out a few inches in front of his mouth. Techno glares up at him.
"I dunno," Wilbur says innocently. "Eat."
Reluctantly, Techno takes a bite. Wilbur just smiles at him.
"Kr1st1n," Phil spells out for him. Techno's fingers pause over the keyboard in disbelief.
"You used the name of your dead wife as your account login?" he asks. "Bruh, how did you not get hacked before?"
"I use encryption keys for all other systems," Phil defends. "Not the account login. Nobody touches this computer except for me."
"Somebody did," Techno points out.
The tension in the room skyrockets instantly, and Phil quickly strides to his side. "What?"
"Your leak is caused by a remote access trojan," Techno says. "Planted in the hardware, so through a USB or hard drive like this." He taps his own hard drive sticking from the side of the device.
"How the fuck do you know that, you've only been at it for ten seconds?!" Tommy asks loudly, also walking over while chewing the last of his toast. Wilbur shushes him, but Techno answers anyway.
"Because they left traces. Whoever planted this is no expert, that's for sure."
"Wait," Phil holds up his finger to slow Techno down. Wilbur sticks out another piece of bacon and Techno eats it automatically, not reacting to Tommy's giggle at him being hand fed. "I had our cybersecurity guy look into this, he couldn't find anything. And now you're saying there are obvious traces?"
"Did you let him work on this desktop?" Techno asks.
"No, this is the computer I keep in my personal quarters," Phil says. "They checked the network from their own PC."
"Then that's your answer." Techno points out a few files, though he doubts they mean anything to his captivated audience. "You were right, your security is pretty airtight. An outsider can't get in. But from the inside, it can be cracked open. Somebody was on this device."
"That's impossible," Phil says, louder.
Techno raises his hands. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger."
"Fuck!"
Techno jolts as Phil turns around and stomps away, back towards the kitchen. Wilbur puts a hand on his shoulder. "Damn, that's impressive."
"It's cool as hell. Can I learn to do that?" Tommy asks, leaning over the back of the couch and putting his upper body next to Techno on the other side. "Could you teach me?"
"Uuuuh," Techno falters, eyes still trailing Phil who is furiously throwing his plate into the sink. "In theory."
"Can you see who it was?" Phil interrupts.
"No," Techno says. "But I can fix it. And I can probably figure out around what time the trojan was deployed."
"Good, that should help me narrow down who the snake is."
Phil's voice sounds absolutely venomous and Techno understands why. If this is Phil's personal device that he keeps in his room, and nobody is supposed to touch it, that means somebody either broke in or betrayed Phil's trust. Going by Phil's fury, the latter is more likely.
Techno bends over the coffee table - really, would it have killed The Crow Network to provide a desk somewhere? - and starts typing, working on patching the leak and tracing as much information as possible from what has been accessed. Given enough time, he'd probably be able to find where the remote device is that they used to steal the goods, though he doubts Phil will be patient enough for that. If the device isn't destroyed already.
"Get this man an energy drink," Wilbur says amiably, clapping Techno on the shoulder. "Something tells me he's going to need it."
The entire job ends up taking Techno six hours.
Wilbur and Phil hover over his shoulder the entire time, demanding to be fed random information. Techno suspects they're also keeping an eye on him since he technically has access to an internet connection now. He could ping for his current location and alert the authorities of his whereabouts. He could message somebody for help. He could max out Phil's credit card on bouncy balls if the old man was foolish enough to press 'save information' the last time he bought something on Amazon.
Techno isn't dumb enough to try any of that.
He treats this like any other gig he's ever taken, thoroughly swiping through every kilobyte of data to check for stolen content and malware. Within the first hour, he can tell Phil the exact day and time somebody messed with the computer. At the five hour mark, Techno had compiled a full list of every single file that has been touched.
Some of it was nonsense to him, vague times and locations. The things Wilbur mentioned would make deals go south. But a lot of it was about Tommy too. Secret names Tommy used to enroll in school and hobbies, pictures of his face (something Techno understood was normally kept under lock and key. Him having seen Tommy's face was a worse sign for his survival odds than having seen Wilbur or Phil), and even full schedules.
Techno fixed the leak and went as far as to install some extra protection too, even if it wasn't really necessary. Phil should just keep his PC in a lockbox or something.
When he was done, Techno went to take a shower.
There wasn't much else to do, really. Techno had completed his job, the least he could do was die clean. Nobody likes a corpse with greasy hair.
Techno comes out of the bathroom still patting his hair with a damp towel, and Tommy gestures at him from the couch. "Come show me your tricks?"
The television screen is the main menu of a fighting game Techno is very familiar with. "Sky warriors?" he asks.
"Yeah, you won a championship once, right?" The comment should be disconcerting, since it shows The Crow Network definitely isn't lying when they say they keep tabs on him. Techno won that tournament before he started hacking in earnest, when he was in middle school. A local thing, barely even reported on in the news.
"Sure, but promise not to cry if I beat you," Techno says, sitting down.
Tommy goes to hand him a controller. "Why the fuck would I cry?"
"Isn't that what ten-year-olds do when they lose?" He laughs at Tommy tossing the controller into his lap and missing his outstretched hand on purpose, huffing. "I didn't expect you to still be here," Techno adds.
"It's called a safehouse," Tommy says, pronouncing the word funny. "Dad puts me in here to keep me safe. Wilbur and him act like I'll get murdered out there." Tommy doesn't sound as upset about that as a boy his age probably should be. "I'll have to sit it out until the coast is clear."
"He could have let your usual security guy access his computer," Techno says offhandedly. "That would have gone a lot quicker." Techno has no doubt they'd also have discovered the trojan.
"Dad doesn't like that guy," Tommy says with a shrug. "He's been more interested in you for ages."
Techno opens his mouth, a sharp inhale that leaves his tongue too dry to reply. It doesn't help that Phil picks this exact moment to walk in.
"We can send you home after another day or two," he says, looking at Techno. "Once things have calmed down." Techno should ask what the heck that means, it's not as if anybody should know he worked with The Crow Network. Why wouldn't he be able to go home now? "While we wait, mind doing another few jobs for us? I'll pay you."
"What kind of jobs?" Techno asks suspiciously.
"Nothing you'd object to," Phil says quickly - too quickly. "We run into dirty cops a lot during our… business. The kind that works with gangs. The precinct usually covers up their bullshit, but I thought you'd enjoy exposing their filth for what it is?" Phil smiles widely at him.
Heh, Techno supposes that is usually the sort of thing he'd do for fun, when he needs to stretch the old hacking muscle, so to speak. Even if he's smart enough to know Phil means the cops that help rival mobs. The Crow Network is the one profiting here.
But what does he have to lose? If it means they're not killing him? They're not even treating him badly.
"Sure," he says. "Let me wipe the floor with Tommy first."