Watching Dr. Anya Von Fortclif struggle to stay awake, I sighed wistfully, “Such a shame. You really do have a nice body.” Turning my attention back to the business clothes, I tapped the sub-dermal communication implant that Ghost provided for me years ago for her use only. I asked, “So you have access to security feeds? Is this something she would wear to work?”
“I don’t know. I can’t see what you see, and there are no cameras in her room,” Ghost answered, her voice in my head.
“Okay, I’ll describe it to you, and you look at the security feeds from her place of work and tell me if it’s something she wears.”
“That’ll work.”
I looked down at the business suit and began describing it, “Grey jacket, pencil skirt, vest, white dress shirt, black heels.”
Ghost took a minute to respond, combing the security feeds, “Looks like she wears that only on Mondays and for important meetings. As for every other day when she’s working, she wears absolutely nothing that matches.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me she just wears whatever?”
“Yep.”
I looked down at the woman on the bed and shook my head, “I thought you would have better taste in what you wear to work. I’m glad you’re dying now. Cleanse this world of your atrocious fashion sense.”
“Is that really necessary?” Ghost asked, “I mean, I’m the same way.”
“Yes, but you’re a hermit. You don’t get out much to begin with. She goes out every night to party.”
“She only goes out on her weekends.”
“Wait, this is her weekend?”
“Yes, so you’d better get to the compound and steal the chip soon.”
I quickly began dressing in the suit and checked the time. It’s two in the morning on this planet, and I needed a little more information on who I’m playing. “Ghost, how long does it take to get to the compound?”
“It’s about a one-hour commute.”
“When does she usually arrive at work?”
“Four or five A.M., and she leaves around ten P.M.”
I nodded and picked up my retinal scanner. It was shaped like a pistol but had a wide top with a screen on it and a chemical concoction that makes silicon hydrogel polymer, which is then used to make contacts with the scanned retinas. The screen it was reading two hours to finish making the lenses. I nodded to myself and finished buttoning up the shirt.
“Ghost, are there any higher-ups there over her weekend?”
“Yes, almost all of them go there on the weekend to discuss something. It’s always closed-door meetings with no security footage or recordings.”
“Okay,” I said as I finished putting on the clothes and grabbing the RFID lanyard with Anya’s name and picture, “On my way there, I need you to tell me all their names and all the security guards’ names and locations. Then you’re going to walk me through the plan step by step.”
***
Driving Anya’s hover car up to the main gate of the Federation Sciences buildings, I fumbled with the retinal scanner and the finished contacts within. The wall around the compound stood twenty feet tall and made of reinforced tungsten carbide steel, and the gate itself was a wall of pure plasma that made the area reek of ozone. I put in the contacts right before putting on the boxy fake glasses and stopping at the security box. Rolling down the window, I stuck my head out with Anya’s badge in hand.
A portly security guard stepped out of the box wearing a plain black uniform and a badge. He smiled and took the badge I presented him with, “Welcome back, Dr. Fortclif. Why are you here? Isn’t it your weekend?”
Looking up at the man, I smiled back, “Yes, it is. But some of the higher-ups called me in for some important meeting.”
“Don’t forget his name is John, and remember to ask about his kids, Jackson and Sam,” Ghost whispered in my ear.
“Anyways, John, how are the kids? What’ve Jackson and Sam been up to?” I asked, not skipping a beat as John swiped the card over a scanner.
John smiled proudly, “Jackson got to the top of his class thanks to your tutoring. He got one hundred percent on his last test out of one hundred and fifty questions. And Sam started practicing the violin.”
“That’s great to hear!” I lied, “How’s the violin practice going?”
“Haven’t slept a wink in three days,” John chuckled before handing back the badge.
I laughed with him and took the badge back, “Ha! Well, good catching up, John.”
Before I could go, John leaned into the window and said, “Say, did you go drinking last night? Meet anybody worth your time?”
I smiled a little and said, “I did meet someone, but it’s too soon to tell.”
“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”
I felt a slight blush on my cheeks as I said, “Let’s just say we didn’t do a whole lot of talking last night, and what we did do left me speechless.”
John chuckled and stepped back, “Well, I hope it all works out for you. Go right on ahead.”
The plasma gate shut down, and I waved at John as I drove through and into the compound. The building in the center of the compound stood ten stories tall, with three parking structures around it that connected to the main building. The main building had a sign on it that read Federation Sciences Research and Development, and from afar, the building was a confusing mess of walkways and bridges that connected to other buildings, making one massive building with over one thousand rooms and creating an incredible maze that people could get lost in with multiple exits and entrances.
“Eight hundred forty-seven buildings, five thousand nine hundred eighty-four rooms, and one thousand six hundred ninety-four walkways and bridges. Ninety percent of which is underground,” Ghost commented in a low mumble into my sub-dermal comms.
“Yeah, and you can guide me through it, right?” I asked.
Ghost didn’t answer for a second before speaking in a high, squeaky voice, “Did I say that out loud?”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Yes, you did. Now, where do I go?”
“Oh, my gods! That’s so embarrassing!”
“Ghost! Focus! Be my guide!” I yelled.
“Ah! Right! Sorry!” Ghost exclaimed, sounding flustered. “Ummm, let me see here. Looks like Anya had a parking space in parking structure one, level two, section C.” I looked at the nearest parking structure and saw a sign at the bottom of it next to its entrance that read parking structure three.
I drove past the first two structures and up to the structure closest to the main building. Reading the sign that said parking structure one, I drove in and found the spot on the second floor that had another sign that read Dr. Anya Von Fortclif. Parking there, I got out and made my way to the nearest walkway that led to the building.
“Okay,” Ghost began, “This door is easy. There are no guards. Just swipe your card and enter.”
The reinforced glass door at the end of the walkway had a small card scanner next to it for the badges. I quickly pulled out Anya’s badge, unlocked the door, and walked into a forked hallway with bland grey walls and cameras every twenty feet, alternating on each side of the hallway. I looked left and right before saying, “Okay, left or right?”
“Hold on. I’m trying to get into their security cameras … aaaand I got it. Turn left.” Ghost instructed me. I started walking left, “No, no! Your other left!” I stopped and turned right, walking down the hall.
“Now what?”
“Hang on,” Ghost mumbled before saying, “Keep going down this hallway about two hundred feet. There will be an elevator on your left. You will need to go down to sub-basement 1G. From there, you’ll have to get the first item for the plan.”
I stopped and looked up at the closest camera, “Left left?” I asked, raising my left hand, “Or right left?” I asked, dropping my left hand and raising my right hand.
“Umm,” Ghost began to answer, then stopped before saying, “Left left.”
I nodded and kept walking down the hall, eventually coming to an area with four elevators. “Does it matter which elevator I go on?” I asked.
The closest elevator on my left dinged and opened, “Yes, but I have access to the elevators already, so you don’t have to worry about wondering which one to get on.”
“Good to know,” I said as I stepped onto the elevator and saw another badge reader. I quickly scanned Anya’s badge, and a panel opened in the elevator, revealing a retinal scanner. I pulled off my glasses and leaned into the lenses, opening my eyes wide for the scanner to do its thing. A red laser moved horizontally across my eyes, and I fought the urge to blink as I suddenly felt hyper-aware of the cold air moving into the elevator from the hallway. After a few seconds, the scanner stopped and flashed a green light before closing.
A holo-pannel lit up with a selection of floors from 5 to SB1I. I selected SB1G, and the elevator doors closed, and I began to descend. “Okay,” Ghost started talking in my ear again, “You will need to go through another checkpoint. One guard with two MKVI Valkyrie turrets. One retinal scanner and a metal detector.”
“You will need to fix the metal detector so my body looks normal.”
“Already on it. They empty the saved catch of X-rays once a week, so I just have to … there we go. Just tell me when with a hand sign.”
The elevator dinged and opened up to a small security checkpoint with a badge scanner, a retinal scanner, a full-body metal detector, and a skinny guard sitting at a computer playing some game on the monitor. “Hey!” I began to say, then faltered as I forgot the guard’s name.
“Michel,” Ghost said into my ear.
“Michel!” I said, catching myself, “Sorry, I almost forgot your name.”
Michel, the security guard, looked away from his monitor and smiled, saying, “No worries. You know the drill, Dr. Fortclif. Badge, scan, stand, and go.”
I calmly walked up to the scanner and scanned the badge before scanning my eyes and walking into the full-body metal detector. As I entered, I turned right to face a diagram of a person standing with their hands above their head and legs spread. I stood in the machine, and when I brought my left hand up to my head, I touched my index finger to my thumb with my other three fingers spread and held it there for a second and hoped that Ghost saw my hand signal as the machine activated and scanned me.
Once it finished, Michel stood and said, “Come on through.” I did as he said and nodded to him as he smiled and waved me through.
After I was a dozen paces away from him, I let out a quick breath and said, “I didn’t think you saw my signal.”
“Stop,” Ghost said abruptly, and I did as she said without hesitation.
“What? What’s wrong?” I asked as I took in the hallway. The floors and ceilings were white, with cameras every twenty feet alternating sides, just like the hallway above ground. The walls of the hallway were made of smart-glass. A relatively new invention primarily used in science and military installations that allows anybody with access to use it as a computer or as a fun new way to decorate. Currently, the smart-glass is a white screen.
“Look left,” Ghost ordered, and I turned left to look at the smart-glass wall that had small lettering typed onto it that read, Turn right. I turned right and saw a hand on the smart-glass with its index touching its thumb with the other three fingers spread out.
I sighed and chuckled, “Fair enough. Where to now?” in answer, a small, green arrow appeared on the smart-glass to my left and began to move forward slowly. Following the arrow down several hallways and past dozens of doors, it led me to a metal door with a keypad on the doorknob.
“Type in 0109 # (pound),” Ghost spoke into my ear. Typing in the code, the door unlocked and opened into a lab full of computers in three rows of two. I quickly counted seventy-two computers in total, with each row having twenty-four computers. “Go to row three, computer number eight,” Ghost instructed me, and I did as she told me. The computer she indicated was at the far corner of the room near the middle of the row.
I sat on the uncomfortable chair there and tapped the touchpad to wake up the computer. “Okay, now what?”
The mouse on the computer screen began to move across the screen on its own at lightning-fast speeds as Ghost gave more instructions, “Right side of the desk middle drawer. Open it.” I looked down at the desk and saw three drawers. Opening up the middle one, I saw dozens of small plastic cases with microdrives in them. Each one was as big as my thumbnail and had an intricate circuitry design on it.
I pulled one out and asked, “You need this?”
“Yes. Plug it into the port in the computer,” Ghost answered promptly.
Plugging the chip into the computer, a small box the size of my palm sat on the desk. A loading bar appeared on the screen that quickly filled and disappeared multiple times over several minutes. “What are you downloading?” I asked out of boredom after five minutes of waiting.
“The processor has security in place to not run unless specific programs are present in the computer it’s a part of, and you won’t be able to remove it unless the correct codes are put in to allow access. I won’t be able to input those codes from where I am, but you will be able to when you get down to floor 3Z,” Ghost explained.
“Ah, got it,” I said once she finished.
After another minute, the computer finished the last loading screen and shut down, “Take the drive and go back the way you came. Follow the arrows,” Ghost commanded.
Pulling out the drive, I weakly saluted nothing as I stood, “Roger Roger.” I quickly made my way out of the room and saw an arrow that pointed left on the far wall. Following that, down another zig-zagging path down the hallways and past dozens of metal doors, it led to another security checkpoint, much like the last one, with a set of elevators on the other side of it.
“The guard’s name is Frank. He’s got a massive crush on you, and you don’t like him. Be short and generally ignore him,” Ghost whispered in my ear.
I nodded, kept my head held high, and looked forward. Frank noticed me once he heard my heels clacking on the floor and shot to his feet, fixing his short hair. I ignored him up until he spoke, “G-Good morning, Dr. Fortclif,” he stammered out weakly, “How have you been?”
“I’ve been fine, Frank. Let’s get this over with. I’m on a tight schedule right now and am running late for a meeting,” I said, not giving the pathetic man the courtesy of looking at him.
“Oh, uhh, right. You can go on through Dr. Fortclif,” Frank said as I approached.
I nodded and said, “Good,” as I walked past, not swiping my badge or stopping for a retinal scan.
“Second elevator on the right,” Ghost said as I walked through the metal detector and over to the second elevator on the right.
I pretended to press the button on the holo-panel as the elevator door automatically opened up a split second after pressing it. I quickly walked in as the doors closed and asked, “What floor?”
“SB1R,” Ghost said as I swiped my badge and scanned my retinas again.
The holo-panel appeared and showed the topmost floor as SB1G all the way down to SB1V. I selected SB1R and rode the elevator down eleven more floors. As I descended, I asked, “Should I be weary of anything on this floor?”
“No. This is just a stop to the next elevator that will bring you down to the next objective. You don’t need to worry about anything here,” Ghost answered.
“Which elevator do I go to after this then?”
“Once the doors open, go to the elevator directly opposite you. Then go down to SB1Z.”
“What’s on that floor?”
Ghost didn’t answer right away. Instead, she waited for me to get off the elevator and go across the way to the next one before answering me, “That floor is where your second objective is. The central security hub for the entire complex.”