Track 14 - Cats and Hackers

"And with that Operation Blindside was formed."

You shrug. You knew very little about the guy. "I dunno."

"I guess he could run in S. He's small and agile. Like a cat." Tabi said.

"Woah, hold on, we don't need that nerd." S said, interjecting. He was still on the hologram and he walked right up to Tabi, glaring at him. Tabi paid the monster no mind, not even responding.

"Well?" Agoti asked Displo.

"I have no judgements. I don't know him, but if you say he's trustworthy then I have no objections."

"Hey don't ignore me! You guys don't really know him. He's a grade A jerk!" S protested. He jumped atop one of the hologram buildings, trying to get everyone’s attention. He was half the size of it.

"How can you even know that? I bet you don't even know what he looks like." Tabi snickered.

"Well, he beat my high scores."

Tabi just looked to you, giving a hand motion as to say, 'this guy is an idiot.'

"Okay, fine. I don't know him. But he's like Dr. Eggman. My arch nemesis." S said. "I can't work with him! I'm supposed to destroy him, not join him!" S complained, forgetting his current goals.

"I'm sure Sonic teamed up with Doctor, uh, Egghead at some point." You were making stuff up now. You had only a vague idea of who Eggman was. "Just let him join. You're not gonna have a problem with him joining?" You ask.

"It's EggMAN! C'mon, keep up."

"Point still stands."

"Argh. Fine. But I don't have to like him." S said, annoyed.

You almost made a quip about how 'the real Sonic would make friends' but you had no idea the truth of that.

You look to Agoti. "Alright, bring him in."

"I'll text him." Agoti said, pulling out his phone.

A reply came back almost instantly.

"He's at the arcade. Says he's working on his scores. He'll be here in a hour."

"An hour? That's no good. I'll get him here faster." S complained as he sat on the building.

"I-" Before you could finish your thought S was gone. You shrug to the remaining people. It didn't even make sense why he hated Kapi so much. If anything, Kapi was just supposed to be another victim for S.

"He's quite a handful." Tabi said.

"You could say that again. You sure he's trustworthy?" Agoti said.

"And what exactly is he anyways?"

"He's some sort of creature. I'm not sure myself. But yeah, he's trustworthy. Saved mine and Displo's life earlier today. Tried to kill my yesterday. Lives in technology, if that makes any sense."

"I've observed he has a warped moral compass, but he has been respecting boundaries since his introduction."

"If say so." Tabi said, unsure.

You try to give a condensed version of yesterday's battle with S and Updike's arrival. It only left Tabi with more questions such as why he even showed up. This led to you explaining the whole 'stealing a VR set' which Tabi and Agoti remarked as kind of impressive. "Guess you aren't just a pencil pusher." Tabi joked.

"Anyways, back to the plan. I can disguise as security. I have the uniform." You say motioning to your outfit. "I'll just say I lost my ID. I work for whoever the manager is."

"That would be a man named Blake."

"Yeah, so I'll say I'm new or something and that I need to meet Blake. See if I can get into the surveillance room. Then I guess either some of you guys can get in. I'll leave a door open or something.

"The door would be on the right-side entrance, or the west wing. There is a fire exit at the end of that hallway." The building lit up showing the entrance. It was extremely detailed, even showing a few bags of garbage at the end of the alley. "Being a fire exit it opens one-way and will sound alarms if open."

"I can just disconnect it." You had an idea how they worked; door sensor hooked up to a red alarm box.

Displo shook his head. "No need. The sensor only goes off if open for more than 30 seconds. A fixture implemented to allow employees to leave from it."

"I'll make sure we're quick." Agoti said.

"What exactly do I do when I'm in?" Tabi asked. He seemed more interested now. "I'm not going into the sanctum." That much was clear.

"Well that's the sanctum is just the primary goal. If you could steal anything else that would help."

"I'm not a hacker. I don't know much about computers."

"Well, in a real scenario anything would help. Employee papers, payrolls, printed information. A lot of things are still kept on paper."

"Where do they keep that stashed?"

"Fifth floor. HR Department. I am sure you can find something there."

"Among a bunch of pencil pushers? I'll check manager offices I guess." Tabi said, his enthusiasm fading now.

"Hrm." Agoti said.

"What is it?" You ask.

"Do we just need to get to the sanctum? Like if we're going to simulate a real attack don’t, we need a getaway plan."

"That is correct. An escape is also necessary. Even if some of the team members get captured."

"Alright, I can be the getaway driver. I do sick dri-"

"Actually, I will be the driver. It is about the least I can do without getting in trouble. Though I do think we'll need a dedicated driver eventually." Displo said.

"Ah, well I prefer being out there anyways. Wait, I got it! What if I caused a distraction? Oh yeah, like all flash mob and shot."

"Hmph. You'd like that wouldn't you." Tabi said.

"Man, don't hate me because I'm more famous than you." Agoti shot back.

"You can do it after Tabi and I are in."

With a flash in the hologram, S re-appeared triumphantly. "Alright. He should be here soon!" S decreed.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"What did you do?"

"Oh nothing." S said, clearly lying. He had the most mischievous smile you had seen yet.

Agoti's phone went off. A few texts having come in. Agoti looked at them and his eyes went wide.

A few texts and variations read: "HES DEAD WHEN I GET THERE." All from Kapi.

"What the hell did you do?" Agoti said, surprised.

"Like, I said. Nothing. Hehe."

You look at Agoti. "He's, uh, coming." The digidevil said.

"So what's off limits for my 'flash mob' routine?"

"..."

"Displo?"

"Oh. Apologies. I was just informing the waiter of our new member's potential arrival. Carrying on...No killing, excessive damage, don't torch the place. Just be reasonable in your judgement. This is my home after all."

"Be a delinquent, not a psychopath." Tabi said succinctly. "That's all I needed to hear bro. I'll put them on a chase. Just rubber bullets right? No lethal crap?"

Displo shook his head. "None. We do not practice such violence. I expect the guards to be a little more hands-off with you anyways, being what you are."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You are a digidevil, are you not? A race of beings that are not human, nor are they anthros. You are what the people in my business call, 'unusual'. Some refer to them as 'abominations'."

"His people are one of 'those' companies." Tabi explained. Agoti rose an eyebrow. "Oh, like that? They wouldn't arrest me right?"

Displo shook his head. "We will have ways of identifying who is on the pentest team. Do not worry. I will personally make sure they make now vile moves against you."

"Gotcha. Oh man, this is gonna be even more fun than I thought."

"Your summoning will be an optional task. We shall save it for a last resort if any of us are close to being caught." Displo added. "There's one thing I think we should bring up. This should really only apply to you and Kapi though." Displo spoke, motioning to Tabi. "While (Y/N) has the uniform already and Agoti will be distracting you two need to blend in better. I can secure lab coats-"

"I'll pass. I'm not a scientist." Tabi shook his head. "I'll pretend to be maintenance. I have high-vis stuff I can wear."

"Y'know I always pictured you as one of those guys. It suites you. Real labour-type." Agoti said, condescendingly.

"Shut up you."

"Hm. That is a good idea actually. I agree with it."

"Yeah, when I'm in surveillance, I'll see if I can find any lost and found or extra IDs for you guys. Alright." You declare. "I think we have a plan then." You write the stuff down, Displo interacting with the hologram as you explain.

The team would arrive in a car parked outside the building mid-morning. Displo would act as the getaway driver and reconnaissance. You were to go in first, pretend to be a new security guard and get into the surveillance room. You were given a fake name and alias to use, and would ask for the manager, Blake. As he would be ‘out’ they would station you somewhere until he got back.

S, wanting to be included decided he would come with you and see if he could 'destroy' parts of the network. Displo wasn't against that per se but informed him of one piece of the network was off-limits. He said it "Helps me communicate with management. Please leave it alone.".

Once you had a temporary ID and the place to yourself, you'd let Kapi and Tabi in. S would jump to Kapi's phone. From there you'd see if you could be in charge of surveillance and ignore Kapi and Tabi's movements. Maybe grease some hands or tell the guards you had it. Kapi would start making his way to the sanctum.

Tabi would start making his way to the HR department. It was then that Tabi revealed he could lockpick his way in if need. From there he would find a manager office or anything unusual, break in, snatch it and leave. He was given the pretense of a maintenance worker who had to deal with some sign some forms before he could begin his work. If that failed, he was told to make up some excuse about needing floor plans and stuff for plumbing.

While watching surveillance you could monitor who was close to being discovered. If either Kapi or Tabi were close to being suspected or guards deployed, then Agoti would be sent in.

Agoti would arrive and cause a distraction. He was tight lipped about what he wanted to do but assured you that it would draw all security. He said he'd try his best to escape but didn't think he'd be able to get out.

Displo would be watching the main entrance and keep an eye on the alley in case anyone tried to catch you there. He had his car and could easily make a scene with it if he pleased. Worst-case scenario he would arrive back to IRIS' HQ with a 'dire warning'. This would set off alarms and draw all the intention to him.

Once the distraction was active it would be up to Kapi and Tabi to get their stuff and escape. Once ready the 4 of you would make it to Displo where the 'getaway' would happen. No getaway would actually happen but each of the 4 people touching hands on the car would trigger the conclusion and success of the operation.

Displo mentioned there would be some paperwork to fill out, but he would do it. Displo once again brought up property damage. He said that as long as the nobody actually damaged anything that there wouldn't be any issues. He also added that he forgot to mention security teams nor it's manager would be informed of the event. To their knowledge this was a real intrusion.

The only thing Displo couldn't verify for everyone was that if the team was allowed to harm employees. He advised against it from a legal point. Tabi pressed him on it and Displo relented saying "just follow the Golden Rule. If they attack you, fight back. But again, this isn't a raid. It's a test."

During the planning Kapi arrived, furious that S had beaten his scores and tagged his name as Kapi Sucks. He wanted no more than to kill 'Sonic'.

"(Y/N), this is Kapi." Tabi said, motioning to the person behind them. A short, what you think to be an anthro cat. Via text earlier, Tabi advised you against calling him an anthro so you don't make mention of it. He was the shortest of the 3, appearing to be rather young. You shake his hand.

"Hey, names (Y/N), welcome aboard."

"Yeah, yeah, Kapi, DDR king, champion of most arcades around here. Now, where is that loser Sonic? Where's he hiding?" Kapi asked. He seemed full of energy and anger.

"Right here hairball!" S laughed from the hologram. He stood larger, now the size of the IRIS building, but still very small because of the hologram.

"Hiding behind a hologram? You're a joke. Where's he really hiding!?" Kapi demanded. He seemed unfazed by S' appearance, though likely just a by-product of his rage.

It took a bit of explaining but after a strange meeting where S couldn't help but tease the cat-boy you explained who S was. Then as he listened you explained the Crew, who you and Displo were and the test. Finally, he settled down. While S had been hyperactive, you find Kapi to be just as much. S had transferred into Kapi's phone, trying to rile up the boy.

You threatened to delete S' folders as S threatened to destroy DDR, they all finally listening.

As he listened to the plan he couldn't help but interject, questions naturally arising.

"Will I get a disguise?"

"Yes. I will secure a lab coat for you."

"Can I be the getaway driver?"

Displo shook his head. "I am. You are to run S in."

"Yep! You're stuck with me." S grinned.

"Alright, guess I can do that. You better keep quiet though." Kapi said. S just rolled his eyes at the catboy.

He seemed to not have heard his role and looked a bit taken back when it was explained in greater detail.

"So no breaking stuff, fighting, killing?"

"Nope." Displo said.

"Cool."

"Aren't you supposed to be a hacker?" Tabi asked. "Shouldn't this be easy for you?"

"Hmph. It is. I can hack, it's just, this is, uh, different. S is a better hacker."

"Damn right am I."

You notice Kapi shudder at the suggestion. You weren't sure if anyone else picked up on his be the statement made him uneasy.

After listening to the plan and Displo's explanation he had one final question to ask.

"So what happens if we win?"

"Well, there will be a monetary reward and a lot of people will get in trouble. Big trouble considering this would be our first ever pentest. This is practice for the main event, of which you are aware of I am sure."

Kapi nodded. "The Family." He said quietly.

"Nobody here excluding (Y/N) has any experience doing this."

"Ha, sweet. Aight, I'm in. Let's piss some people off." Kapi said happily.

After the kinks were settled, Displo had something to give everyone. A small red flag. He explained that showing this to any guards would signal your participation in the test and that they wouldn't harm the waver. He called it red-teaming. S was a little disappointed he didn't get one and made one himself. You didn't mind, if anything it just made the whole event more game-like.

"Once your flag is drawn you are out. No fighting back, go with whoever you raised the flag to and keep quiet. Officially you are caught. Doing this will also reveal to your assailant that a test is ongoing. They will know that there is a team operating and will become more vigilant. Do this only when there is no way out."

To further drive home the point Displo added. "I should also mention the reward is progressive. If we all get out safely "

"Well it's a given I'm getting out." S said. "No. If you get trapped in the sanctum are counted out. I am the only one who is a given." Displo said, in a rare show of smugness.

There was only one more thing bothering you. How trustworthy S was. Though there wasn't much at stake he seemed like he was going to betray Kapi at the end. You decided to warn him separately later or bribe him. You texted him as an aside to not pull any funny business with Kapi. This was a test, don't get him caught or anything.

"Whatever. I'm not gonna betray you. Totally. I am bound to you. Don't make me repeat it. You should be glad I even let him join, the mangy-"

"Enough."

S stuck his tongue out at you.

And with that Operation Blindside was formed. It was Displo who christened the name, particularly amused at the reference it hid.

With nothing further to discuss you and the others break for the day. You and the others make a plan to meet up each day leading up to the event to ensure everyone is up to date. S and Kapi decided to go to the arcade together, finally ready to settle their rivalry. Agoti joined too.

Tabi preferred to make his own way, mentioning that he had other things to do and had to reclaim the vest. You decided to tag along. It seemed like he enjoyed the company.

The next chapter will be called Days Leading Up.

Kapi joined the party!

Kapi's Card [https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F2Xt0EQWIAALO_X?format=jpg&name=large]