Chpt. 15) Scheme
“KUSO KUTTE SHINU!” I yelled as I finished my ever-flowing tirade of curses.
As I breathed heavily after the tirade of curses, I read that the length of the call had reached two hours, and Ghost had been silent the entire time. “Are you done?” the soft voice asked from the tablet.
“Also … in case I forgot … fuck you,” I panted, “Now I’m done.”
“Good. I have a request for you,” Ghost said.
“All right. What’s the job?” I asked once I caught my breath.
Ghost seemed to hesitate for a bit before nervously saying, “If-If you don’t want to do the job, that’s fine. But it’s yours if you want it. You don’t have to. But I would like you to. If you want—”
“WHAT IS THE JOB!?” I interrupted loudly.
“O-okay. Umm. Hold on a second, and I’ll send you the specs.”
I drummed my fingers on the table impatiently as I thought of what Ghost might want from me. After a minute, I started to remember how I had found Ghost in the first place. Our first meeting was when she did the Specter job, and I was tasked with finding them and killing the hacker group responsible for taking the money out of the federation bank. That’s the bank my Master had his money in, and he wanted revenge on the hacker group responsible. I tracked the trail to Spector and killed whoever was there. Then, I found another trail through the net to an invisible server. That’s where I found Jasmin, A.K.A. Ghost. She returned my Master’s money, and we became secret friends. However, we only really talk on the job.
“Okay, sent,” Ghost said, ending my train of thought as a file appeared on the tablet before me. I opened it, and several files opened on the screen. Looking through them, I noticed that they mostly looked like blueprints and one schematic. I tapped on the schematic file and examined it as Ghost began talking again, “That is the NZ-328 T-1000 processer microchip. It has the processing power of thirty-three supercomputers. It’s the closest humanity has come to a quantum computer in all our history.”
“You want me to steal that?” I asked to confirm.
“Yes,” Ghost said, “All the resources to transport it are at the base you’ll be infiltrating. You need to get in and out.”
“What base am I infiltrating?” I asked, feeling it was an important question.
“Megacity Methven on GC-0031A, Braxen. Federation Sciences base 0031A, sub-basement 3Z. Umm, you should have the blueprints of the structure in the files I sent you. Did you get them?”
I looked through the blueprints and found the file labeled Sub-basement 3Z. Opening it, I noticed several things right away, with one massive, glaring problem that I would have to deal with right in the middle of the blueprint. I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I answered, “I have them. And Jasmin … why, oh why, is there a megastructure with no walkways to the chip in the middle of the room?” the megastructure I referred to on the blueprints was apparently a massive cylinder with two cones on the top and bottom with a minimum of a three hundred foot gap from the walls to the center where the target is and a nine-hundred-foot drop from top to bottom, according to the schematics.
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“It’s a sterile space. One spec of dust will ruin the chip and prevent it from working as fast as it does. Like I said, there are plenty of ways to get to the chip once you’re there. I’ll walk you through everything there so there are no surprises,” Ghost assured me.
“Uh-huh. And how do I get in? There are so many checkpoints that I can’t figure out how to get past them without being spotted.”
Another file appeared on the tablet, and I opened it immediately. A woman’s face that looked similar to mine appeared on screen. She had blue eyes with boxy glasses, blond hair, and an angled face. The only difference was she looked like she hadn’t slept or eaten for days before the picture was taken. “This woman’s name is Dr. Anya Von Fortclif. Single, no kids, goes to work early, leaves late, head of engineering and computer science there. She knows the morning and night guards by name, and she likes to get drinks at a local bar on her weekends. You will need her I.D. badge and her retinal scan to put over your eyes.”
“Okay, easy enough. So, lift her I.D. badge at the bar and get her alone long enough to scan her eyes without her noticing.”
“She doesn’t bring her badge to the bar,” Ghost interrupted, foiling my plan.
“Then how?” I asked stubbornly.
“Well, every night when she’s at the bar, she turns down every man that approaches her. And after a few drinks, she usually leaves with a woman. A different one every few weeks. Looks like she picks up girls at the bar and dates for a bit, then either she breaks it off, or they do. I don’t know which. But one way or another, she is gay, and you might have some luck with her.”
I sighed, “I feel like there’s a problem with the plan.”
Ghost was silent for a moment, then nervously said, “Umm, well … the problem is just a small one … probably … for you anyways. It won’t stop you. It just might – well—”
“Spit it out!”
“She never brings anyone back to her room, as far I can tell,” Ghost blurted out in a hurry.
I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose again, “And there’s the problem. She’s horny and cautious, which makes this problematic. How many people am I allowed to bring with me?”
“I’d like it to be just you. I don’t like talking to new people, as you know.”
I nodded and thought for a bit as I examined the other blueprints she sent me and noted the locations I needed to either collect something or push a button. Then I heard something clicking on the other end of the call, and I could guess what Ghost was doing. “Are you biting your nails again?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
The call went silent for a moment as Ghost said very softly and suspiciously quietly, “N-no.”
I rolled my eyes and said, “I always know you desperately need me for a job when you start showing your anxious habits. Fine. I’ll do it alone, as requested.”
“Thank you, Violet!” Ghost exclaimed slightly louder than usual, “How much do I owe you for the job?”
“My usual rate would work, but on top of it, I want you to work with me. I have a massive job coming up, and I’ll need your help to pull it off. Got a deal?”
“Yes. But I’m not leaving to be there. I need my … um … space … o-okay?”
“Okay, okay. I’ll need you to be easily accessible, though.”
“I can do that. By the way, you’ll need to leave now. The target is a day away from her days off. And I don’t want to miss this window,” Ghost informed me, and I blinked, cursed, and bolted out the door to prepare what I needed for the mission.
***