Ntshona (19 page)

“Oh my god, you can’t send her in alone,” said Lon, “I’ll go as well”.

“Of course you will,” said Two, “that’s what we were planning”.

Chapter 9

“Sorry for the informality of the situation,” said One, “although we would have liked to present our ideas to you via a more elaborate medium, this is the best we have with the current time restraints”.

Lon had spent the previous hour or so in the company kitchen trying to remedy Eve’s nerves with the use of different teas and hot chocolate. In the meantime, the remaining seven people were finalising their reconnaissance plan by plotting the best course of action for infiltrating the Science Centre and locating the correct servers.

“Although a flawless plan is preferable for infiltrating the Science Centre, time simply doesn’t allow for us to be overly meticulous. The plan has to be devised based around the current technology and weapons we have available to us now. As you can imagine, working on such a timescale can have its dangers. You need to be aware that things might go wrong, and you need to prepare yourselves for such an event,” One added.

“That’s reassuring,” said Lon.

On the display built into the wall opposite the windows was a list of bullet points.

“The first thing that we have to do,” said Two, “is get you to the Science Centre. Because it would be too dangerous to directly involve anybody working for the Tech Centre in this plan, it would be best for you to arrive by NGT rather than car, although we’ll have Cat stationed in her car not too far away in case you need to make a hasty escape as a last resort”.

Three took over. “The problem with the NGT is that getting you into a station and onto a train runs the very high risk of being spotted by surveillance. Fixing this is probably the easiest part of the operation. Unlike with the general police surveillance system around the city and that of the Science Centre, we can safely hack into the NGT system and alter some of the software used in facial recognition. This method is quite a non-invasive technique, and we expect it to go unnoticed for quite some time due to the automated nature of the system. So, Cat will take you directly to an NGT station near the city centre, before which Strys will hack the NGT surveillance system and install the software patch. From here you can take the NGT all the way to the station outside the Science Centre building”.

“Up until that point there shouldn’t be any immediate pressure to get things done,” explained Cat. “But once you’re on the Science Centre’s grounds, the surveillance system changes, and that’s where problems arise”.

An aerial photograph of the area surrounding the Science Centre was displayed on screen.

“As with all other systems within the Science Centre, this surveillance system can’t be hacked from the outside; it’s too well protected. As I told you yesterday, I’ve been working on something that causes facial recognition systems in the area surrounding the user to malfunction, effectively a portable version of the software patch Strys will install to the NGT surveillance system. However, I haven’t managed to finish it yet. Therefore you’ll have to use my palm screen EMP device, which will obscure you both from cameras. However, disabling the surveillance in this manner will leave a trail of virtual breadcrumbs, meaning you’ll only have a short amount of time to get in and get out with what we need before you’re noticed. If security decide there’s a problem and start to check the places without working cameras, it would be
best to hide in a room with numerous people, to make it less easy to pin the blame on you two, or better still, don’t get seen at all. Of course, there’s still a small chance that they could recognise you from your appearances on TV”.

“How are we actually going to get in the building?” asked Eve.

“We’re getting to that,” said Cat. “Strys will explain it for you”.

Strys stood up and began to explain, with reference to what was now on the screen, “Based on what Eve has told us, the only way into that building is with the use of a retina scan, which needs an eye that is linked to an employee profile. Obviously Eve has that, but because we don’t want this to be a kamikaze mission, we’ve got to use an alternative. This type of contact lense,” he pointed to the on-screen display, “not only disguises the true appearance of your eye, but it also has the ability to store data. I’ve written a program that can be installed into the lense which can trick a retina scanner into creating new data on its own system. This means that the scanner will mistake you both for employees and allow you entry into the building. We’ve tested it in the Tech Centre, as well as several other places, and we haven’t encountered any compatibility issues”.

“Okay, that sounds simple enough. But do you really expect it to be so easy?” asked Lon. “I mean, that building’s supposed to be the most technologically advanced in the country. And what if someone recognises us from seeing us on the news?”

Two began to speak, “Most people don’t remember a face they’ve only seen once, so it’s unlikely to be an issue. However, those colleagues of Eve who will certainly recognise her need to be avoided at all costs. Also, because we’re realists and not optimists, you’ll be taking along a briefcase gun each, in case things get sour”.

“What?! You want us to take guns with us?! That will make this idea even more dangerous!” yelled Lon.

“We’re aware of that,” said One, “but it’s important for the both of you to have protection. The reason we chose the briefcase guns is because they’re specifically designed to avoid detection of any sort. Even an X-ray won’t find anything suspicious”.

“What about extra bullets should we need them?” asked Lon.

“Unfortunately, you’ll have to make do with the ones that are in the gun; getting more bullets into that place would be near impossible,” said One.

“That sounds promising,” said Lon sarcastically.

“Moving on,” said Three, “the next part will likely be the most difficult. You have to locate the correct set of servers. The problem is, due to its huge area and the masses of resources it has available, the Science Centre also specialises in co-location, meaning it rents out its servers to other companies and private entities”.

“How will we find the right servers then?” asked Eve. “That place is huge; we should be able to find the server rooms, but that will probably take us a long time, and after that I haven’t got a clue how to know which server is which”.

“Well, the server rooms should be inside data centres, and because there will be so many servers in each server room,” said Strys, “they should be named or numbered or categorised somehow so that network maintenance staff know which is which”.

“What makes you think the data centres and server rooms won’t be guarded? They are important after all,” said Lon.

“The fact that it’s nearly impossible for non-employees to enter the building, and the fact that each employee can be closely monitored, suggests that security within the building is likely to be sparse,” Three explained.

“I’m not sure,” said Eve, “you’re right about the security being sparse. Obviously there are cameras everywhere, but actual security personnel are usually only at the entrances and exits, and certain restricted areas. I’m worrying about the server rooms being restricted areas too”.

“I don’t think a whole server room would be guarded, I reckon it would only be particular server suites within the server rooms. If that’s the case, and you can’t get into the right suite, there is another option,” stated Strys, “but it’s more dangerous, and could take a lot longer because of its complexity. You see, often you’ll find a master terminal that’s linked to multiple suites and servers in that room, and, assuming you
manage to access its operating system, you should be able to download any server’s contents directly”.

Eve sighed deeply. “That’s so complicated. I can’t even remember what you just said”.

“Don’t worry, I get it,” ensured Lon before redirecting his attention to their contrivers, “but what will we download the information to?”.

“I want you to take two pieces of hardware with you. One is a mass storage unit which you will use to download the contents of the servers to. The other is a palm screen which you both will wear that has far better peer-to-peer connection capabilities than usual models, along with powerful code-hacking software”.

“Why do we need a better peer-to-peer connection?” inquired Eve.

“It’s totally a backup plan. If you can’t, for some reason, download the information from the servers to the mass storage device, you can send it directly to me via P2P, but this method is a lot less accurate, takes more effort, and is a hell of a lot longer. Another downside is that during a transfer, there’s a chance that the network security personnel will detect what’s happening and sever the connection. Even if you don’t send the info via P2P, we’ll still be connected to each other by voice, so we can maintain communication the whole time”.

“Okay,” said Lon, “and after we’ve got the info, if we’re still alive, do we leave?”

“Yes,” said One, “back the way you came on the NGT. If all is well, we’ll have somebody pick you up at the station where you started. If not, Cat will take you from the Science Centre, no doubt in a hurry”.

Hearing the plan still did not make Eve’s mind easier, she was well aware of the difficulties of navigating that labyrinth of a building. In her first months working there she regularly found herself not knowing where she was, despite the place being heavily signed.

“Any questions?” asked One.

“Yes, many,” stated Lon.

“Like?”

“Like what happens if we get caught?”

“You will have the briefcase guns,” said Four.

“Yes, but how many bullets does each one carry?”

Lin spoke for the first time during this briefing session. “They have a fairly large capacity because the gun itself doesn’t take up much space inside the case. The maximum each can hold is two-hundred”.

“Okay, so if we were under fire from security or whatever, we’d only have four-hundred shots between us to defend ourselves till we got out of the building?” asked Lon.

“We never said this would be easy,” stated Two.

“So what would you call this then? Stupidly difficult?” said Lon. “I really think this is way beyond us”.

“We know it will be difficult,” said Cat, “but you can rely on us if something messes up”.

“But there’s not much you guys can do for us once we’re in there,” he said.

“Lon,” she said, “this needs to be done, Eve is the best candidate for the job, and you’re the only one in a position to be able to help her”.

Eve agreed with her. “Lon, she’s right. And I want to find some information that can help us get our friends back,” a tear rolled down her cheek. “This is all we can do. We can’t continue with our lives normally, and we can’t run forever. We just have to do this”.

He found it difficult to argue with her. If she wanted to go along with the plan, then he had to follow. He closed his eyes to think.

“If there are any more details you’d like us to give you, or if you have any questions, please ask now while we’re all here together,” said One.

Neither Lon nor Eve responded with any queries.

“Fine. Then we put our trust in you two, and we wish for the best. Please come back alive”.

With that the screen was switched off, and One, Two, Three and Four left the room, each nodding their head as they passed Lon and Eve.

“They’re leaving?” asked Lon.

“It looks like it,” replied Cat.

“Something tells me they’re not bothered whether we come back or not”.

“You’re in a very negative mood today Lon,” she said.

“I’m sure you would be too if you were likely to die tomorrow”.

“Do you two really have no more questions about tomorrow?” asked Lin.

She, Cat, Lon and Eve were once again at the near-deserted diner by the boundary of the city, this time at an outside table, eating apple pie, as custom would dictate. There was not a great deal of preparation necessary for the following day, therefore filling in time with relaxation was about the best thing they could do.

“For me there are fewer actual questions and more ‘what ifs’,” said Eve.

“So you’ve memorised the details of the plan?”

“As far as we were instructed; get in, steal the data, don’t get killed, get out, the end”.

“It was a little more complex than that,” said Lin.

“Not much more,” added Lon, “they barely told us anything. All there is to add to what Eve just said is that the main plan probably won’t work, so we have a backup plan that’s less likely to work”.

“You’ve got to realise,” said Cat, “even though we have a lot of knowledge, we have few resources. Yes, we have money, but when it comes to weaponry and technology, we have only what we can get hold of illegally, or whatever we can create ourselves. Therefore we’re limited in what we can do. That, along with the time restraints-”

“I know it was a makeshift plan,” he interrupted, “but it’s so simplistic that it seems flawed”.

“I see what you mean,” agreed Lin, “most of the focus was on getting in and retrieving the data, there was barely anything about getting out”.

“But if the initial plan works, then it’s a given that Lon and Eve will escape because they have to hand us the mass storage device that all of the data will be on,” said Cat.

“I’m not sure if the ‘bosses’ even want the plan to go so smoothly,” said Lin.