Anyone you see must be treated as a threat. The government could be sending secbots already, Gnir likely called us in his final moment of need. Don’t stray too far, they will trap you if you move alone.” Qevon said. Krog merely nodded his reply.
“They’ll flood your senses with confusion. the first time is always the worst,” Melec laughed as he always did. Qev felt sorry for bringing him along, but it was the only way he’d learn. The kid’ll need resolve to make it through, everyone else had been through it.
Once at the other end of the corridor Cerrun worked his tricks with the locked door. As before this one blinked acceptance and opened. They crept forward but Cerrun raised a hand to stop them advancing further. A high pitched whine zipped beyond the door, the distinct sound of a hovering sec-bot. Qev applead to Krog for hush, the younger male was about to ask a question. Once the buzzing noise of the rotors passed into silence Cerrun lead them through the unlocked door into another corridor.
Through a series of doors and tunnels Cerrun lead them onwards and upwards into the belly of the darkened tower. The power had probably been cut, the light was so dim here that Qev suspected everything was running off emergency generators. It could be a sign that Gnir was here afterall.
Cerrun stopped outside at an arbitrarily chosen door, he placed his palm against the wall, “he’s here, he’s on the other side of this wall.”
What’s he doing here? Qev asked inwardly, he placed his hand against the wall and felt the warmth of the neighbouring room. The rest of the building was so cold that it felt like a fire was burning beyond the door. Cerrun sliced the lock and nudged the door ajar.
“Gnir?” Cerrun called into the room.
“Copy,” came the reply, “I knew you’d come.”
“I’ve got three more with me, two of the usual faces and a new kid.”
“All clean?”
“Yep, all good.”
“Get in, shut the door,” Gnir’s voice boomed from the depths of the room.
“What are you doing with that?” Melec asked, “that’s a big ass box of transistors.”
“It’s an old government computer, they seem to have forgotten about it. I found it by accident and... well... I became curious. There’s a lot of data here, I’m sure there are some juicy facts they wouldn’t want us to know... but, y’know, I can’t analyze this alone. That’s where you boys come in, you just gotta keep it secret, ok?” Gnir said. Somewhere in there, in the shadows of the room, he is frantically searching through the data. “So what can we do?” Krog asked.
“You gonna keep it secret?” Gnir snapped, “being here is a security risk but I can’t do this alone.”
“We understand, just chill,” Melec barked.
“Cerrun, what do you think of this?” Qev asked.
Cerrun began in a low voice, “definitely government tech, an old design but probably valuable to them. Dunno how he found this but it has him excited and uptight. I think he isn’t telling us as much as he knows.
“I can hear you,” Gnir called out, “this is big alright, there’s enough data to keep us reading for millennia.”
“I can see why you’d keep this quiet,” Qev said, “generates a lot of heat too, the government sec bots must recognise the power signature too.”
“Exactly,” Gnir said.
“So what have you found?” Melec said, he wandered around the room looking for Gnir. The room would be large enough for more than a hundred people to dine but most of that space was taken up by the computer.
“Where’s Cerrun?” Qev noticed that his friend had slid off into the shadows.
“Cerrun?” Gnir called out, “no messing with the computer now,”
“Can we see what’s on here?” Krog asked, “I’m curious to know.”
“Best to stand back kid,” Melec said.
“Cerrun?” Gnir shouted again, “be careful, I can’t risk losing this opportunity.”
“Didn’t you invite us here to help?” Krog asked.
“I need Cerrun, but I messaged Qev; the two are always together. He ought to be able to help with this.”
“What?” Qev said.
“You can stay for the ride, your company is always welcome. I just need him to break something for me. Cerrun? You hear that? I’ve got a job for you.”
“He’s probably looking at your problem before you even ask him,” Qev said.
“None of the above,” Cerrun shouted. Krog laughed and even Melec cracked a smile.
“Gnir, maybe Cerrun won’t help you afterall,” Krog said.
“This is getting old, fast,” Melec interrupted.
“I’m just going to have a look,” Krog said, he stepped closer to the computer and looked for an access point.
“Don’t touch it, you’ll ruin all my hard work,” Gnir said, he finally emerged from the shadows. Qev could see the irritation in Gnir’s stance, he was on edge. What did he imminently fear?
“But I’m just going to take a look,” Krog protested.
Qev decided that it was wise to let Gnir have his way, this was his project and it wasn’t a bright idea to let a novice get involved, “Krog, best not to touch.”
Melec edged towards the door, “I’m leaving, this is boring.”
“You can’t! You’ll draw too much attention. Just entering this sector you could have already triggered a heuristic anomaly in the sec codes.” Gnir said.
“So what’s this data then? Why did you invite us and why can’t we leave?” Melec shouted and edged closer to Gnir. The two looked directly into each other’s eyes but Melec stood a head taller.
Qev watched them stare at each other in silence. The whirring computer sound filled the air. Qev decided to break the silence, “he doesn’t know what he has, that’s the problem, but-”
“True, yes, that’s a small problem, but I have assurances. We can make it work,” Gnir said.
“Cerrun?” Qev shouted, “what are you doing?”
“The first thing I do on any job, see who’s coming for us. The power this thing draws will raise suspicion with the energy board,” Cerrun said, he was standing alone and pointed to the computer. Qev caught a glimpse of his movements, he was tapping into one of the terminals.
“Whatever, I’m leaving,” Melec declared.
“Me too!” Krog said, “this is a waste of time.”
“Qev?” Melec looked at him.
“I’m in no rush,” he lied but he didn’t think that he could abandon Gnir at this stage. Trouble didn’t have to find Gnir, he was always already there in the thick of it.
“No one leaves until I can salvage as much as I can of the data,” Gnir shouted.
A heavy rotor sound filled the airways outside, it sounded like a sec copter. Qev hide his brief moment of panic. There is always a way to escape he told himself, they’ve been in this situation many times. Qev strolled to the window and peeked out the sec copter, “we need to leave.”
“Can’t we just disconnect?” Krog asked.
“It isn’t as easy as that, we need to run and hide so that they can’t trace us.” Qev said.
“Cerrun!” Gnir shouted “just take the top 1%, I’ve marked all the data. Just take what I’ve marked, it’s ordered by importance.”
“You folks can figure it out yourselves,” Melec left the room and set off down the hallway. The sound of his boots hitting the floor quickly disappeared under the sound of the copter. Krog followed soon after him.
“Cerrun?” Gnir shouted then looked at Qev, “what you feeling?”
“I’m watching crew assemble outside,” Qev said flatly.
“Almost done,” Cerrun shouted back.
One of the windows cracked from the force of a gas canister being launched into the room. Qev jumped back from the window as the room started to fill with smoke. A light hail of shots cracked the remaining glass.
Cerrun choked, “let’s go,” he pulled away from the computer and pointed towards the opposite wall. “There’s another exit over here.”
r /> “But... but... we won’t have enough data.” Gnir complained.
“It has to be,” Cerrun said as he closed the terminal. Gnir was intent to stay. Qev couldn’t say anything more, he and Cerrun left by the other door. There was nothing more they could do for Gnir, and no way to persuade him to leave.
###
About the Author
Edward A Thomson has been writing on and off for the last fifteen years. What started as an outlet for creativity while creating pen-and-paper based games, it soon turned into writing full-length works. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2007 with a Masters of Physics (Astrophysics Honours) and then graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2011 with a PhD in Astrophysics. His blog covers many topics from maths and philosophy to electric cars.
Read more at his blog: https://www.esoteriic.com/
Or follow on twitter: https://www.twitter.com/eathomson
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