I looked out over the roof, carefully checking everything and ensuring there was nothing new. There wasn’t. Well, there wasn’t anything new in the way of security. A couple dozen new cigarette butts lay around soaked in the rain. Quite a few of them looked like Tosta, though surprisingly there weren’t any of the red and black ones from the Neo-Jokers. We were close to Bricktown, so I expected some kind of Neo-Joker cigarette in the mix. Wonder how long they’ve been gone to not see even one.

Yeah, the roof access was one of those ‘not supposed to come out, but everyone does to smoke’ type entries. They were quite common and an easy way to get into most places. As such, the camera had long been shifted to the side by a worker, no longer covering the door properly like it was supposed to.

The fact that the angle was still off was good for me for a couple reasons. One, it meant I could easily get into the door. Two, and this one was more important than the previous point, it meant there was a high chance the Netrunner prowling the building was too lazy to shift it back. Coincidentally, it also gave me hope there were plenty of other gaps in the security for me to get through. If not, I had ways to make some.

Before making my move, I flicked on Aetherial Perception and looked around. The tall walls of the ward surrounded the building entirely. Well, not entirely. There was no roof to the walls, which was one of the many reasons I decided to drop in from the sky. I completely bypassed the initial wards blocking the way into Cold Moon Solutions. And it was easy to boot. At least for me. I can’t imagine too many others dropping out of the sky to get on the building.

The roof was good for other reasons besides that, including the wards separating each floor I noticed when Corvid bugged the elevator. After some searching around the Net, I figured they’re some kind of biological ward, though there must be some sort of pass for employees. Basically, all unauthorized personnel would trip it. Said ward wasn’t between the roof and the top floor though. I had Corvid try to trip it yesterday to no result.

That also meant once I slipped into the building I’d have access to the third floor, which was where my target was located, without having to worry about the two major wards. I’d still have to keep my eyes peeled for CCTV and other magical means, though I’d have to just deal with it on my way to the CEO’s office.

As for CCTV, it would still be a problem. Until I made the Blackout module, which required precise parts I couldn’t make quite yet, cameras would always be a problem. That being said, where there’s a will there’s a way. In this case, my way was directly related to the storm I’d waited for. I didn’t only want it to cover my drop from the flyer.

I eyed the cameras, rubbing my gloved hands together under the heated poncho to get rid of the slight chill. Such a good purchase. No regrets.

The roof was mostly dark outside of flashes of lightning and the ambient light from the city in the distance. The best illumination came from a weak flood light just above the door and a massive dancing hologram on top of a building a couple streets away. The hologram, after every rep of its dance, went dark for a few moments before kicking back up.

I waited for the bright hologram to fade, dropping from my high ground as soon as it did and sliding behind an air conditioning unit. The darkness and rain acted as the perfect cover for me to slink by the cameras. Especially since Mystech’s Manasense cameras had a minor issue with exposure. It took a ton of research and digging to figure that out. Something about the crystals they use in the camera to see the Aether or whatnot.

Regardless, as long as I moved during times of sudden increases or decreases of light, the camera’s poor exposure controls would hide my movements from anyone watching. Or at least, that was the hope. Didn’t really have a chance to test it out beforehand.

I stood absolutely still for long moments until a bright flash pierced the darkness. I once again moved, using the various odds and ends sticking up from the roof to shroud my movements as I headed for the junction shed. The past several days I'd spent carefully looking over the blueprints for the place, and the electricity junction for the entire building was one of the few hidden gems I’d found.

Some of the older buildings in Bricktown, especially those with basements, were still set up to work with ancient power line systems. Ruby’s, the Neo-Jokers' base of operations, was one such place. The building Cold Moon Solutions sat in was no different.

The master control station for the entire building linked in through a brick shed on the roof. Of course, it was also protected by cameras. The camera was in a much better spot than how the Neo-Jokers had theirs set up. It sat on a pole looking down onto the shed from afar, making it impossible to just slide underneath it without being noticed.

The camera had an easy solution. As I moved into a dead zone, I summoned Corvid with a thought. He appeared out of the Aether with barely a reverberation through Aetherial Perception, shivering slightly as the rain peppered his form. He immediately hopped up into my poncho’s hood, squeezing into the small gap to perch on my shoulder. “C-caw caw~”

Stolen story; please report.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught his affronted look as he miserably pecked rainwater from his feathers. “Sorry… Help me out? Think you can blind that camera for a bit?”

”Caw, caw-caw!” The little crow nudged my cheek with his beak before dropping back out of my poncho.

He closed his top two sets of eyes, holding still for a few seconds as the feathers on his body seemed to devour light. His size shrunk slightly and the eyes on top of his head reduced from six to two. For all intents and purposes, he looked like a mortal crow now. Even Aetherial Perception couldn’t pick up the faint aura of a sprite from him.

Corvid flapped off the roof, vanishing for a few moments in the rain before squealing loudly as he landed on the camera. He acted all normal-like, burrowing down into his wings as if he had finally found a safe spot from the rain. He easily covered most of the lens with his wings, buying me precious moments free from view.

I slunk up to the shed, immediately freezing as I stared at the lock. The lock itself wasn’t an issue. It was the runic symbols engraved all over it that gave me pause. Although I’d been researching the runes used in wards, I couldn’t say exactly what this particular one did. I did recognize a few of the symbols from the other wards though, specifically those for ‘guard’ and ‘alert’.

Rough guess? It was some kind of anti-tampering ward. At least, based on where it was set. I felt my plan crash around me as I eyed the thing. Getting in wouldn’t be so simple with it warded.

Okay, new plan. Plan B. Turning the power off wouldn’t be advisable lest I trip the ward. Or, at least getting in through the front door wasn’t an option. I backed off and wrapped around the far side of the brick shed moving onto a narrow ledge with a three story drop on the other side. There was barely enough space to stand, but I was out of sight from the cameras.

I whistled out to Corvid as I hid in the shadow of the shed. The crow caught my intention as it left the camera alone and flapped back over to me. I moved slowly, anchoring myself to the side of the shed as I reached up for one of the shed’s ventilation grates just under the roof’s lip. Such a gap would be impossible for me to get through.

The same couldn’t be said for Corvid. He popped up through the gap, reverting to his normal form as he locked down on me. “Okay- uh, remember what we did the first time we were here?” I asked as I passed up a Scouter. I tapped around on my wrist pad, pulling up the camera feed onto it.

Corvid grabbed the Scouter with his beak, carrying it to a perfect vantage point of the shed. I got a better view of the internals of the shed. For the most part, it was a pretty standard setup. Power was distributed here from the city and then split throughout the building.

What wasn’t standard was the massive amount of runes covering the floor in a complex array of writing. None of it stood out to me, leaving most of the ward shrouded in mystery. I did recognize the word ‘contact’ from the Runic 101 e-book most of my research came from. “Okay- uh, don’t touch that?”

”Cawww~” Corvid brought the Scouter to several other locations, allowing me to get a full scope of the place. It wasn’t just the floors that bore signs of a ward. The walls were alight with the stuff, though the actual electrical bits were left alone. Classic tech and magic mismatch, if I had to guess.

Getting in to sabotage it would be nearly impossible without disabling the wards. For a human, that is. For my flying friend though? As long as he didn’t touch anything except the various electrical components, it wouldn’t be an issue.

I pulled the electrobola from my bag, sliding the control glove over the skin tight gloves of my undersuit. The two balls of the bola clacked in my hand as I lifted them up to the helpful avian. It’d been a long time since I used the elctrabolas. They were cool, and effective, but were ultimately too awkward to use in most situations.

Corvid snatched the bola from me, easily lifting them up and into the shed. It took a bit of careful direction and instructions, but he managed to wrap the bola around most of the core components for the building, once more showing his intelligence. He flew back to me, a soft cry spilling from his beak.

I tensed my hand in time with a nearby lightning strike, sending the signal to the bola. It sparked with electricity, instantly hitting the electrical components with a shock. The electricity surged the lines, flicking a dozen breakers. For a brief moment, the few lights on the roof flickered out.

My hand released, cutting the signal. A few seconds after the initial power outage, the system automatically reset itself, booting everything back up as if it had just been a momentary power outage from the storm. All set.

“Nice job!” I rubbed Corvid’s feathers as he snuggled up in my poncho. “I’ll- uh- I’ll get you something real good to eat soon, yeah? There’s this place that has really good burgers.”

”Caw!” He shot me a look as if to say ‘you better’. Then, with a flap of his wings, he ascended, shooting back into the Aether.

I imitated the way I got to the electrical shed, cutting through the deep shadows as I avoided the various cameras set up. For those I couldn't easily get around, such as the one looking over the shed, I flicked the bola on to make a temporary gap as the power cut out. I approached the door, looking it over as I crouched amongst dozens of cigarette butts.

The lock was similarly warded just the same as the shed had been. Or, at least, mostly the same. There was one key difference about the runes spread around the lock. They didn’t register to my Aetherial Perception at all. For all intents and purposes, they looked as though they were purely mundane scripts. And, as best I could tell, they probably were.

From the limited research I old do, wards required constant upkeep from an Adept making them a costly and consuming defense. If, say, this door that was supposed to remain locked constantly had people coming and going like the vast amount of cigarette butts suggested, then it only made sense the magic in the ward would wear out quicker.

Needless to say, I got in easily. It was a simple lock entirely reliant on inactive magic. I slid into the building, careful not to open the door too far and expose myself to the outside cameras. The way down was rather safe considering it sat in a separate stairwell, though I didn’t immediately descend into the building. I squeezed as much rainwater off my poncho and clothes as I could, patiently waiting till I wouldn’t leave a trail of water.

I thought carefully through the layout of the floor as I faded into the shadows. Before anything, I needed to take care of the Netrunner.