Mr. Johnson dipped his head, conceding the point. “This file needs to be installed on an offline server, one I cannot gain access to without drawing undue attention.”
“The target?”
“Telestrian Industries on Denny Way.”
Now it was Yu’s turn to pause and take a moment to consider the options. Telestrian Industries was a large enough company to give him pause. The job wasn’t out of his weight class, but it wasn’t a milk run either.
“Why would a single national company want to target an AA giant? Seems like swinging outside your weight class, don’t you think? A difference like that is worth a premium charge. You don’t know how intense the security is in companies like that. It’s not a simple matter of passing a few maglocks.”
“I’m sure by now you’ve determined we are more than we appear. Rest assured, I have intimate familiarity of the lengths such corporations will go to in order to protect their investments.”
“Anyone can make claims. Give you felt the need to verify my reputation, I trust you can understand the need for me to verify yours. I need something more than your assurances.”
As way of response, the Johnson summoned an AR display in the space between them. It didn’t take long for Yu to discern its meaning. It looked like a hierarchical org chart, with many branching lines descending from a common node at the top. At the bottom of one of the leaves of the tree sat Rip Current Shipping Lanes. At the top sat an all-too-familiar name: Renraku.
Just seeing the title of the AAA corporation made his chest tighten, and Yu hoped his outward appearance didn’t betray his reaction to the revelation. Assuming it was true. Then again, claiming to speak for a Triple-A corp was a risky endeavor. They tended to not look kindly on charlatans, and had the authority to make sure most thought better of the attempt.
Working for a Triple-A corp came with considerable risks, but also considerable benefits as well. It put to ease any doubts he had about the Johnson’s ability to handle the threat at the warehouse. Even with the firepower they had on display, it was nothing compared to what a company like Renraku could bring to bear. If he wanted them taken care of, this was the opportunity to guarantee it.
“I need to run this by my team. It will take a few days to scout the location…” Yu said.
“I will not move against the criminals using my facilities until you complete your end of the bargain. I do wonder, however, how long it will take them to deliver their merchandise through the appropriate channels.”
The Johnson’s interruption halted Yu’s train of thought. Even though he knew it was another attempt to goad him, the statement was nonetheless accurate. His team didn’t have the luxury of taking their time before accepting and carrying out this run, not if he wanted to make sure Renraku handled the BTL dealers. The nuyen was secondary; dealing with the threat was the primary reason to take this job.
But he needed something to mollify his team. “How much nuyen are you offering?”
“This is a low profile run, and we are arranging for alternate forms of payment. I believe with those factors considered, five thousand would be a fair price. All payable up front. Consider the business with the warehouse to be your second half of the payment. Are we agreed?”
Yu considered asking for more nuyen, but decided not to push his luck. He needed that warehouse taken care of, and this seemed like the best possible course of action to accomplish his goals. He had walked in without a plan, and walked out with a greater prize than he thought imaginable. Not to mention, it never hurt to get in the good graces of those with power and influence.
“We are agreed, Mr. Johnson.”
The Johnson reached into a drawer of his desk and pulled out a portable drive, commlink, and certified credstick, laying all of them on the table. He slid back in his chair, out of reach as Yu stood up to claim the items. Mr. Johnson had already turned back to his AR display, turning to the side and dismissing Yu with the unspoken gesture.
The runner took the items and left, flashing a smile at the receptionist on his way out of the building.
Catching a lift downtown, he got out a block away from the safehouse. Old habits died hard. He never took a car directly to the apartment they used as a base of operations. The rideshare programs claimed their logs were secure, but he had personally retrieved logs from more secure facilities than he could remember. The wiser course of action involved getting out a few blocks away and enjoying the walk while keeping an eye out for shadows.
He got up to their apartment without incident, confident that no one had followed him. The middle of the day often made it harder to spot a tail, since the streets were full of people going about their daily lives. Mainly wageslaves on their lunch breaks or running errands. Down here Knight Errant and sometimes corporate security took regular patrols to make sure the sidewalks remained clear of “undesirables.”
When he got to the apartment, he saw he was the last to arrive. Zipfile sat at the breakfast bar, zoned out in the Matrix, judging by her glazed expression. Rude, the big burly troll, sat on the couch in the center, both arms stretched out to either side, taking up the entire seat himself. His stained trench coat looked to have been through a warzone, and quite possibly could have been.
Frostburn stood near one of the windows on the far side, gazing out at the city skyline, taking advantage of their twelfth-floor view. Her eyes flicked over to Yu when he entered, giving him her attention without turning away. Emu sat in the center of the floor, various bits of drones and other machinery Yu couldn’t identify scattered around her as she picked apart the guts of what he guessed was three machines at the same time.
Rude spoke first. “What’s the job and why so short, elfy-pants? Ain’t like you to pick up somethin’ without talkin’ ’bout it first.”
With his words, the rest of the team turned to face him, their questions evident. Frostburn had her lips pressed together, and Rude looked bored. The other two members of the team seemed curious, waiting for Yu to explain.
“It’s a simple run, doesn’t pay much, but comes with some special benefits. Not the least of which is getting in good with someone who could give us lots of work down the road. Bigger jobs, and well worth the investment of effort.”
“Get to the point and stop tryin’ to butter us up with your fancy talk.”
Yu nodded, conceding the point. He needed to be more direct, even if he didn’t want to share all the details. “Five thousand nuyen in advance, with the option for a bonus. A simple B&E job where all we have to do is upload a file to an offline server. Should be easy nuyen.”
Zipfile held up her hand, and Yu tossed her the portable drive.
While she looked into it, Rude shook his head. “Chump change. Not worth it. We pull bigger paydays than that without even trying. Ain’t worth the trouble.”
“You need to keep in mind who we’ll be working for, and what it will mean for our future. This may be a small job, but it’s in the big leagues. Consider it an investment in things to come.”
Rude wrinkled his nose, but it was Frostburn who spoke. “Who’s the client?”
“Renraku.”
Everyone stilled when he said the name, even Zipfile. She paused in her digital examination and looked over at Yu, who cleared his throat. “Like I said, this is it. This is the big leagues. The job may be small, but the cred we’ll get is worth more than just the payment.”
“Dealing with a corp like that, nothing’s simple. And if it seems simple, then you’re not seeing the whole picture.” Frostburn shook her head. “I don’t like this. How’d you find this job? Did this come through Ms. Myth? Why the urgency on the timeline?”
“I was following a lead for some personal business, and found the Johnson masquerading as the CEO of a smaller company. You know how I work. We got to talking,
and he decided to throw some work our way. When I pushed him, that’s when he admitted who his real employer was. But by then, the deal was already made.”
Yu took a deep breath. “Look, if you’re not comfortable with the job, I understand. It’s a bit of an odd one, for sure. But when the opportunity presented itself, I didn’t want to let it slip by. This is a case of being in the right place at the right time, and I think we should move on it. The job’s easy enough that I’m confident I could take it on myself, keep any of you from being at risk. I’ll just work my way in, install the file, and get out without them being any the wiser.”
“And take the entire pay?” Rude scoffed.
“No, I’d still split it. We’re a team.”
“Works for me,” Rude leaned back and tilted his head back until the couch groaned.
“We’re not going to let you go there alone, that’s foolish,” Frostburn said. “Even if the job is as easy as you claim, something might go wrong. Like you said, we’re a team. We’re not leaving you on your own, right, Rude?”
The troll responded with a grunt, which was the extent of his support when he didn’t agree with a course of action.
Yu looked over at Emu to see what she thought. She shrugged. “Like you said, the job seems easy enough, but that makes me nervous. The short timeline does too. But if it’ll get us in good with one of the AAA’s, it might be worth it. Certainly sounds like something we could handle.”
“Thanks, Emu.”
“I still need to talk to you about wrecking my drone,” she growled.
“Right.” Yu turned toward Zipfile, making a mental note to come back to that at some point. She tossed the drive back to him and he snatched it out of the air, tucking it into a pocket in the space of a blink.
“Didn’t open the file in case it’s some kind of virus, but the install package is pretty standard. Just plug it in and it should auto execute. Nothing fancy I could find in my brief scan.”
“I say we go for it,” Zipfile said with a shrug. “It’s a risk, but everything we do is. This risk just might have dividends that pay off down the line.”
“What’s your plan?” Frostburn asked. She stepped away from the window and shoved Rude’s arm off the back of the couch so she could perch on the edge.
“If Zipfile can drum up some credentials for one of my SINs, I walk in the front door as an employee during the morning rush tomorrow. Security will be too swamped to run a thorough check on everyone, so I should be able to get in. They’re not expecting an intrusion, so they won’t be on high alert. Once I’m inside, I find my way to a terminal in the offline server, plug the drive in, and then walk out the front door. How long will I need?”
“A couple of seconds. The package on the drive isn’t large, so it should be near-instantaneous. And drumming up some credentials might be doable. Who’s the target?”
“Telestrian Industries.”
Zipfile jumped into the Matrix while the rest of the team, except for Rude, watched her. When she spoke, her eyes still had the distant-view quality indicating her dual presence in the Matrix as well as the room. “I can work something up for you by the morning shift. It won’t open any security for you, but it’ll get you through the front door.”
“That’s all I need.”
Rude was still clocking Yu with his cybereyes. “I don’t care what you think, or how smooth you think it’s gonna go. I’m still comin’ along and waitin’ in case you need an alternate exit. You’re gonna get killed one of these days if I’m not watchin’ your back.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. If we’re all in agreement about this, I suggest we use the rest of the night to get as much info as we can. We don’t have a lot of time to prep for this one, but there’s some special circumstances in play for why it needs to be done on such a short timeline.”
The team quieted down as they went to work, finding ways to get whatever they could about the target. Emu took Rude for a scouting mission while Frostburn retreated to her room to perform her own version of scouting. Zipfile sunk deeper into her digital world, leaving Yu alone in the main room of the apartment.
He reached out to Billy Shen to see if his Triad contact had any insight into Telestrian or connections he could take advantage of, but came up empty. He considered telling Billy about the BTL shipment, but thought it would be better and more valuable to share the info after the problem had been dealt with.
Reaching out to a few other people he knew resulted in similar results, leaving Yu with nothing to do while he waited for others to finish their reconnaissance. He moved to his room and sat on the edge of the bed, lifting his heels and bouncing his knees. After a few seconds, he got up and paced the room from one end to the other. When that failed to provide relief, he dropped into a fighting stance and practiced shadow boxing, fighting imaginary opponents that assaulted him in his imagination. He picked up speed, the motions turning into a blur as he snapped from one position into another, lashing out at his mental adversaries and imagining them reacting to the blows. Soon his clothes stuck to his body when he moved, but it did not slow his assault.
At one point, he flopped onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling and taking deep breaths. Sometimes this was the worst part of the job, the waiting. Sometimes it was worse than others. His hand strayed to his pocket and he removed the BTL chip, staring at it as he lifted it over his head and tumbled it across his fingers. Every scorched line was etched into his memory as much as the silicon, but he couldn’t help examining it again and again.
Thrusting it back into his pocket, he rolled over and scrambled to the bedside table. Jerking the drawer open, he reached inside and grabbed a couple of pills rattling around, popping them into his mouth without bothering to see what they were. In the end, it didn’t matter. Only the end effect was important.
Rolling onto his back, he stared at the ceiling once again, his breathing ragged and heavy. As he recovered from his exertions, the colored lines of light in the ceiling began to swirl, mixing and turning around before his eyes. His breathing slowed as he studied the designs that formed with the mixing of the colors. His arms splayed out to either side, he smiled as he lost himself in the hallucination. He caught the odor of lavender on the air, along with a touch of ginger. The odor made his mouth water and he licked his lips, but otherwise didn’t move from the bed.
His trip ended with him drifting off to sleep, despite the early hour. When he woke, he still had several hours until daylight. His clothes stuck to him and he could smell his own sweat caked onto his body. Considering he needed to be on the job soon, he set to getting himself cleaned up and presentable. It wouldn’t do to show up in a wrinkled, sweat-stained suit. His mission depended on blending in and not drawing any undue attention which might result in security forces reviewing his credentials. Whatever Zipfile could concoct would not stand up to heavy scrutiny. She was good, but no one was that good on such a short timeline. The burden of success rested largely on his shoulders.
As he showered, Yu went over the plan in his mind, rehearsing possible scenarios to prepare for any number of ways it could go wrong. At least if it did, he was the only one at risk. He didn’t want to expose his team to the dangers of this run, especially since the main reason for accepting it was his personal vendetta. He’d used lots of pretty words to convince the team, but deep down he wouldn’t lie to himself. He promised he would never do that. And being honest, this job was about the BTL dealers.
After get
ting dressed, Yu reviewed the information the team had gathered. Walking out into the main room, he saw Emu passed out on the couch with her drone pieces and tools scattered on the floor in front of her. She never stopped working on her machines.
Nobody had found anything out of the ordinary. Telestrian Industries appeared to be much like any number of other corporations, struggling to increase their influence and bottom line in an attempt to gain greater power and a more impressive rating. To them, their workers were cogs in the machine, and most cogs looked like any other. That simple fact was why their relatively straightforward plan might work. There were lots of ways to not be seen, and sometimes the best involved walking through the front doors in plain sight.
By 0500, Yu was fed and ready to head over to Telestrian headquarters. While some enthusiastic wageslaves eager to prove their worth would be up at that hour, most would wait at least until the sun came up. And the larger the crowd, the easier it would be for him to blend in.
To keep from getting too restless, he passed the time reviewing the latest basketball news. He had missed a couple of championship games, and they held his interest long enough for Emu to wake up.
She yawned and stretched, her shoulders popping loud enough for Yu to hear them in the kitchen. “How long have you been up?” she asked.
“A few hours. Been catching up on some games. Have any trouble last night?”
Emu shook her head and reached up to tousle her hair with both hands. “Nope. Pretty standard internal security. Got a couple of guards on the lower level, some scanners, and lots of cameras. Didn’t see anything on the outside or pick up on any drones. As long as you don’t hit any snags on the inside, it might be as easy as you think. Worried the file might trip an alarm though. Who knows what it does?”
Yu shrugged. “Not any different than anything else we do. Need to take chances somewhere, and the payoff’s too good to pass this one up?”
Emu scoffed. “You call 5k good?”
The Frame Job, Part 1: Yu Page 3
