Getting to the servers
"White's the one in the middle right?" I ask for confirmation having nothing better to do as we climb the stairs.
"Yeah. Right in the middle of the 20th floor. It's got a couple of entrances but they are both heavily guarded and monitored 24/7. It's gonna be a real pain to get past all that." Sighs Tommy before beaming at me in a way that says 'this is your problem'.
I mimic his previous sigh and I don't have any beaming smiles for the man. "Well I guess we could always brute force the matter but I'm not sure how many guards there are and we have to kill everyone who sees us so…" I start contemplating strategies to get past the monitors and the guards.
Assuming we can in fact get past the guards we are going to have to protect the servers themselves for a good few minutes afterwards too so we should also set up a defensible position as well. Still the stipulation that no one can know it was us does really give us quite a few less options than we would otherwise have.
"Do we even know where the monitoring is coming from or anything like that?" I ask realizing a rather crucial lack of information on our part. If there's no information on how the place is set up then how are we supposed to get past it.
"We know that the entrances have security cameras and that the hallways connecting both doors to the rest of the 20th floor are straight and extremely long. Beside the door is also a couple guard stations. Not just one guard but like 15 guards in each station and there's usually 7 or so that are ready to move on a moment's notice with the rest being on break, watching the cameras or sleeping." Explains Tommy like he's reading off a list he hadn't quite memorized and was only repeating to check his memory.
"So basically we've got to take out the 7 guards on duty simultaneously without giving them time to alert their replacements and disable the cameras. All the while they've have a straight shot at us and a plain line of sight." I listed off growing more and more fed up as I spoke. What exactly did people expect from me? I'm not laserproof you know?
How exactly do I get a full 7 guards to stop shooting at me long enough for me to kill them all simultaneously in a straight corridor with no obstacles. I mean seriously. "Are the walls at least fragile so they'll be hesitant to fire?" I ask hopefully turning my pleading eyes towards Tommy who shrugs.
"Even if they were hesitant to fire because it would damage the building, which I personally doubt, I find it hard to believe they would make a corridor so obviously designed to gun people down fragile." He explains after his casual shrug only received a pout from me.
"A challenge then?" Asked Marianne speaking up for the first time in quite a while. There was an excitement in her voice that she couldn't quite hide. Her smile was fearless and perhaps a little feral. It wasn't just fierce now, there was a target by this point and she was ready to pounce on her prey.
"Yeah that's an understatement." I said not nearly as enthusiastic. Honestly I've met a few mercenaries with this kind of personality before and I never liked working with them for the simple fact that they always got me into more trouble than they should. Diving into firefights, jumping ships when it was easier to blow up their ship from afar and all sorts of ridiculous stunts.
Now here's this seemingly nice enough woman known only as the honey bear because of how at odds her appearance is with her gentle demeanour. Smiling a ferocious smile and talking like a battle maniac. Yeah everyone saw this coming.
We eventually reach the door to floor 20. It actually took quite a bit longer than reaching floor 10 if only because we had to check the doors for the numbers every floor and the platforms next to the doors of floor 10 and above are significantly larger than they were before.
That and I was personally a lot less enthusiastic about making this a quick trip. Regardless my heavy feet eventually carried me to the destination and here we are. The door in front of me looms a lot larger than the previous ones despite having the exact same make and design.
There's also a palm panel at the side of this door and though Matty isn't allowed on this floor if we just… Tommy sticks the USB he plugged into the employee computer downstairs straight into the panel and it glitches out for a moment. Afterwards the panel lights up as though we have permission to enter this floor.
When it does we hear a loud click from the door. The sound of the lock opening no doubt. Gulping in anticipation, fear and perhaps a little excitement I watch as Tommy puts his thin hand on the handle and carefully twists it open.
Beyond the door is something I realized wasn't the hallway we were looking for and I gape open mouthed at it for a second. In front of us is a room with what look like two receptionist counters, one on either side of the room, each accompanied by a number of guards.
Then I realize what's going on. "Of course the hallway to our destination wouldn't be the only place that's heavily guarded." I mumble to myself realizing how stupid my thinking was. The room is mostly bare like many of the rooms we see before it. Obviously it was clean but they still have a straight shot at us if we were to make any suspicious moves.
"So what do we do here." I quietly ask Marianne beside me. Hoping she has some sort of plan given that she's technically the commander.
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Marianne's response to my enquiry sounded somewhat troubled, though it was hard to tell through her usual deep voice. "We do need some corpses to serve as our escape goats." She seemed to take pity on the guards but was resolved to go through with this course of action.
The question is do I contradict that? She's clearly feeling sorry for these people and from a strategic perspective it wouldn't be a good idea. If anyone finds the corpses they will be on alert for some time and it will make our way to the server vault that much more difficult. On the other hand taking the corpses with us means that we couldn't use the stealth suits any more and we would be significantly slowed by the dead weight.
"Right the stealth suits." I mumble to myself coming up with an idea. I turn to Marianne and Tommy to try and convince them my idea is better than just killing them.
"Why don't we just use the stealth suit to get past these people, kill the ones who guard the server room and use their corpses. We don't need many and we're going to have to get in anyway. I can't imagine our stealth suits getting us into the server vault without any difficulty at all or Mainframe wouldn't need an elite team." I explain facing Marianne and Tommy.
Marianne frowns at me contradicting her orders but she also appears to see the logic in my plan. The look on her face is very clearly conflicted. On the one hand she likely would've accepted the idea if I proposed it before she made her decision or if she proposed the idea herself but being the commander she can't just let me contradict orders or it would cause some serious issues in team cohesion. Not that me and Tommy are going to care about that really.
Tommy meanwhile sees it as a good idea but seeing Marianne's expression doesn't want to openly admit as much. Realizing this would get us nowhere I make it sound like a suggestion so if she changed her plan she would look more like she's taking the advice of a subordinate rather than listening to my orders.
"It's up to you commander but I say we use the stealth suits." Ideally Marianne should've held off on her decision until she asked for everyone's opinion on the different options but she's a lone mercenary and though she has the strength to lead the team there's a reason she was kicked out of her tribe after becoming the leader.
"Fine" She says sounding almost reluctant but not quite there. Getting the approval I activate the stealth suit I got from Mainframe. An inky black substance starts to cover my body like a slime. Seeing how it moved on Tommy I braced myself for an incredibly icky feeling until the suit solidified.
Surprisingly however there was no icky feeling. In fact there was no feeling at all. Sure it was moving over my clothes but the amount of movement generated should've clearly been felt even through the clothes. Yet I didn't feel anything as the slimy black substance crawled all over my body and appeared to become an incredibly thick extra layer of skin over the top of my clothes.
It was still gross watching it wriggle around on top of me but it didn't feel like anything and I was both surprised and grateful for that fact. Whether it was intended by the manufacturer or just a consequence of the material the suit was made of didn't really matter this was an excellent feature to have. I can't imagine it feeling all that nice with all the moving around it was doing.
I look over and find Marianne now in a similar state. Unlike me, she seemed to take no issue with the inky black goo crawling it's way all over her. Even though she was showing skin unlike me and should've theoretically been in direct contact with the inky black substance she didn't even bat an eye.
Once our suits both solidified we were ready to begin. First we had to think about how long the stealth suits would last. The batteries would only last half an hour or so in stealth mode without any movement was what I believe Emily said.
I'm not entirely certain that half an hour would be enough time to get to the servers but since we'll be moving rather quickly it should give us some extra time as well as shorten the time it takes to get there. The only issue is noise. As invisible as we are, the noise is still an issue. This might be made of an impressively flexible material and therefore makes less noise than a large metal suit it still makes noise on a concrete floor like this one.
We have to be incredibly careful with when we run and how else we be spotted by the guards. Looking at each other we are about to nod when we realize that it's impossible to tell who's who in these suits. While our suits certainly have facial features the issue is that they are incredibly deformed. We can't actually tell which suit has who in it because we don't know each other well enough to see the deformed faces as anyone.
Even though I know Tommy well I haven't seen him for some years before now and I don't think I could remember his face well enough to tell which deformed face in front of me is him. There's also the issue of the stealth mode itself. Deciding we'd just have to work out the issues along the way we turn on the stealth mode on the suits hiding behind the wall next to the door that leads into the 20th floor.
The moment we do so everyone disappears from my sight. Yeah this is what I thought. Now I can't see anything. It doesn't matter if I can't recognize them when I can't even see them. I decide that since we can't communicate with each other the easiest way to get through this is to simply meet up at the server room entrance.
Even if we all pick a different spot it will be easy to understand where we are thanks to the comms so long as we get to a place that we don't have to be stealthy around. So with that decided I wait for the sound of their boots hitting the floor to fade. I didn't want to run into someone walking through the door and immediately waste all our effort.
Once I hear Tommy and Marianne leaving the staircase I walk into the room myself and get a better look at it. It's fairly wide and completely square in shape. The ceiling's pretty low but other than that the room is fairly large and completely empty. Other than the door that leads to the stairs and the door that leads to the rest of the 20th floor there's nothing here.
The door that leads to the rest of the floor however is extremely well guarded. The door itself appears to be made of that same black stone that the rest of the building is. It was actually fairly difficult to spot it from the distance I'm currently at because of how well it blends into the wall. It also helps that there are other things that take up the majority of my attention.
The biggest example being what looks like a reception box. Similar to the ones you get at train stations. A little square box made of a different kind of material for once. This one looks a little like concrete. A large grey, sturdy looking cube with a glass window on the front of it.
The cube itself is perfectly polished. No scratches, stains, dents or the like. Even the window only has the occasional dust spot. At least that shows it's been in use for a while. Though that also appears to make the fact that it's so clean even more impressive.
Looking through the window the inside of the box is not nearly as bland and barren as the rest of it. A man is sitting in a comfortable looking chair and staring at something just below the window. The light on his face suggests that what he's staring at is perhaps a screen of some sort. Whether it's holographic or old-school I really don't know but he's clearly looking at something else.
Behind him a number of notes are stuck to the grey wall that indicates the back of the cube or rather the wall that's supposed to be the one directly in front of me. If the cube wasn't in the way this would be the back wall. Yet it's covered in sticky notes, holographic projections and what appears to be pieces of paper stuck there with tape of some sort.
The notes are too small for me to read from here but the holographic screens contain pictures of certain people, dates for seemingly important events and what appear to be scores for a local team of some sort. Presumably he mixed the things he needed for work with the things he uses for his own hobby in the same place.
This is only one of the guard stations however. There are in fact two of them. One for each side of the door. On the other side is a large and unkempt looking man with a large and impressive beard sitting there and drinking what I assume to be tea from a mug.
His back wall also has a number of things stuck to or projected onto it but it's far more tidy. He also doesn't have any sort of light on his face so I have to assume whatever the other guard's working on isn't standard work issue.
Even though I can read the notes on the scraggly man's back wall they don't make any sense to me. They appear to be written in some sort of code. He appears to take privacy very seriously as he also a pair of curtains drawn over some of the notes meaning that I can't even see a part of them.
Other than those two stations the rest of the area from the door to the left and right walls respectively is taken up by what appears to be a large slab of concrete similar to the cubes they're sitting in but completely opaque with no way to sit inside. Presumably there are a number of guards in there sitting around and waiting their turn. Luckily only two guards are actively on duty at the moment so I can likely slip past them with ease.
Thinking so, I walk slowly and with care. Making sure that my footsteps don't make a sound and approach the doors. I presume that Marianne or Tommy will open the doors when they go through and I can use that opening to slip through without having to open the door myself. But that also means I have to get there quickly lest I miss the opportunity.
Despite this I'm keeping my steps slow and careful. It would all be pointless if they heard my footsteps and got suspicious. While the young man on the right might not be alert enough to pick up feint footsteps and act upon that swiftly the old man on the left seems like the paranoid or at least the serious type.
So I continue forwards slowly and carefully. The room is fairly large. 100M or so in a straight line. I could probably sprint that in under 14 seconds but walking at a slow pace like this means that it will take considerably more time. I just have to hope that no one spots me while I'm walking my way to the door.
I get a few metres across before I find anything truly alarming from the other side happening. Unfortunately you could say I only get a few metres across before something goes wrong. I hear a muffled but clearly audible footstep quite a ways in front of me. It sounds hurried like someone's running while wrapping their feet in cloth.
That's probably Marianne or Tommy and it appears while I went for the stealth approach they've decided to go for speed. Realizing this I also realize that should I not opt for the same approach I could be left behind and not only would I have to open the door myself but I'd also have to deal with two already suspicious guards.
So I start sprinting myself. I try to keep my footsteps light and silent still and I do a better job of whoever is running in front of me but I still can't keep myself completely silent. The old and scraggly guard is already putting down his tea and looking around. He suddenly looks incredibly alert and ready for anything.
Surprisingly the young man is in a similar state. Despite being so interested in the screen in front of him a minute ago he's now looking around the room with an alert gaze like a scanner. His eyes take in everything around him and it appears like he's analysing all that information in his brain as he continues to scan the surroundings. Apparently he wasn't as lax as I thought he was.
Perhaps one of my companions noticed the same and decided that running and getting out of sight as quickly as possible would be the best plan. Either way we are now approaching their location rather quickly and readying ourselves to hide or fight depending on the guard's next actions.
I hear the old man speak up as we get within a few metres of their security boxes. "You hear that young'un? Someone's clearly around here somewhere and they're obviously trying to hide themselves." The old man's words threaten to freeze me in place but I continue at the same pace as before. It's only a little farther to the door. All I have to do is make it through this next sprint and his suspicions won't matter.
"Sounds like a flexible material. Cloth perhaps? Maybe some sort of clay? It's rather hard to get a read on but they are definitely here and they are definitely hiding themselves." Replies the young man vigilantly scanning his surroundings. Just a bit further.
"Can you pinpoint the sound?" Asks the old man still looking around but clearly vigilant. The younger one closes his eyes in response and I could almost feel him probing every area of the room. I tense my muscles waiting for his answer. Of course I continue running but I ready myself for combat waiting for the young man's judgement.
Finally his voice rings throughout the room and we pass by the stations. His voice comes from behind us but he could still manage to stop us since we have to use the USB to open the door. We try to anticipate his next move I see the USB seemingly appear out of thin air in front of me. So presumably the one in front is Tommy and he's going to open the door so I have to just wait or buy him time.
I listen intently to the man's words hoping he hadn't spotted us just yet. "It's near the door I think but I'm not entirely sure. They could also be in some sort of vent or drain around us but I find that hard to believe." Says the man and instantly I ready myself for combat.
They've realized where we are. This could be trouble. "Let me investigate." The old man says the three words I want to hear the least right now and I hear the sound of him getting up from his chair. His footsteps are unnaturally loud in my ears. As is the sound of the door's palm panel accepting our authorization a few moments after Tommy puts in the USB.
I realize that getting caught with the door open would be as damning as having your hand in the cookie jar so I hope Tommy is already rushing through the door as I attempt to do the same. I run without even looking back at the old man clearly coming my way. I use only my hearing to determine his location as I run towards the door.
A skill I haven't honed much as a human given that my other skills are far more easily trained but something I still took a rudimentary interest in because of my mercenary work. I hear his footsteps come to round the corner and realize that I'm not going to make it to the door in time for the man not to see me slip through it.
Instead I notice that Tommy left the USB in the door and quickly make a decision. A few steps away from the door I stop in my tracks and watch my escape route close before my eyes. I stop my breathing and keep myself as quiet as possible while staying absolutely still.
I don't even turn around when I hear the old man's feet behind me come to a halt. I feel his probing gaze both on me and the area around me. Holding my breath not just as a precaution but out of anticipation I wait for the old man to pronounce my sentence.
"Looks like it's gone. Probably an animal or something. Maybe someone's sneaking through the vents. Better check in just in case but I say it's all clear." Says the old man and his pronouncement almost makes me let out my breath in relief before I quickly reel myself in realizing that he's still behind me and capable of changing his mind.
Once I hear the footsteps recede into the distance is when I finally let out a real sigh of relief and press my invisible palm on the panel. Despite not recognizing my palm through the suit the panel still opens the door for me thanks to the USB. Not sure if Marianne's still in the room I look around and wait a few seconds for her to show up and walk past me.
Once I'm sure she walked in before me I take the USB and walk through the door.