Black Market Merchant

Chapter 76: Information at the Café
56 and Orville approached the masked guard to the Café and tried to walk casually past him. Of course, it wasn’t going to work out that way.

”Hold on there, buddy.” The guard said pressing his meaty hand onto 56’s chest. ”I need to check for weapons and data storage devices.”

”Fine, go ahead.” 56 replied raiding his arms for inspection.

The guard frisked him carefully first by hand for weapons, after a few moments he found nothing. Then taking out a handheld scanner like device he activated it and slowly scanned 56 from head to toe, but again found nothing. Then the guard glanced up at Orville floating cheerily overhead.

”Your drone robot thing here, has to stay outside. I don’t know what is capable of. If it’s carrying medicine for you take it now.” The guard replied flatly as he gestured at Orville.

”Fair enough.” 56 replied. ”Orville, monitor the building from the outside. Maintain plan seven.”

”Rodger!” Orville replied with his upbeat robotic voice. Orville slowly ascended next to the building and then stopped to hover just above the second floors height.

56 then was allowed to enter as the guard opened to door for him. Stepping inside, 56 noticed right away that for an Internet café, it was darker than most. The only light came from a lamp on the receptionist’s desk and a string of dim ceiling bar lights that ran down each other two main hallways. He could see that every computer in the building was lit up or currently in use.

”Busy day?” 56 called out to the young receptionist. She looked up and brushed her purple bangs out of her face with a heavily tattooed arm.

”You could say that.” The receptionist said in a monotone voice. ”What kind of set up you want? Resource based, gaming or communications.”

”Resource.” 56 answered. The receptionist nodded and typed way at the holographic screen in front of her. Its blue glow reflected gently and brightly off her sleepy brown eyes.

He had already learned that in this era computers were heavily monitored devices. The flow of data was always being tracked, recorded and user information was like currency to data mining companies. The protections for a user’s data had long since been lost, then dismantled and online rights were easily abused. The government was always watching too and that was his main concern.

He surveyed the room carefully. There were three columns of five rows of computers each. The three column areas had been divided by the two hallways that ran next to and next to the receptionist’s desk. The three columns appeared to be further segregated into the three main groups the receptionist mentioned. Naturally the research section was the least crowded. While the gaming computers were packed, and some were just milling about waiting for their turn. So far it seemed like a calm area and no threatening characters stood out.

”Here you go.” The monotone voice of the receptionist redirected his focus. She was holding up a paper-thin memory flash drive towards him. ”Computer C-11 is yours. Just plug it in and hit accept on the terms and conditions. If you have a log in, uses it so your experience can be recorded for a reduction in cost for our serves.”

”Thanks.” 56 replied taking the drive from her. He then headed for the computer and was relieved to see no others were going to be next to his location. Glancing along the walls he saw the shiny black bubbles of the security cameras, barely poking out of them.

”Those cameras are going to be annoying.” 56 thought to himself. Then he pretended to scratch his ear and flicked on the communication device hidden there. ”Orville, hack the security feed and take a still image of computer station C-11. Overlay it over my time being at the station.”

”Hacking! Alright something fun! Starting now Boss. It’s just so boring out here, everything is nominal.” Orville’s voice crackle gently in his ear.

Sitting down in his seat at C-11, 56 casually adjusted the 3D printed plastic pistol he managed to smuggle in, back into its place inside his coat pocket. It was a simple, yet tricky ruse that he had pulled on the guard.

His coat pocket has a hole cut above it on the inside of the pocket. He had then tied a string to the pistols grip and onto a hook on the neckline of the jacket. When anyone would be checking him for weapons, all he needed to do was raise his hand and lift up the gun up through the hole by the string. Almost no one would ever check the inside of a coat just below one’s shoulder blade. So, this trick worked well often.

”All clear Boss.” Orville’s voice returned on the mic. ”Cameras on your location are blank. It was too easy. Give me something harder to hack.”

”I will try.” 56 murmured in reply giving a grin. ”Your just too good at your job.”

”Awe, don’t make me blush.” Orville’s robotic voice gave out a giggle.

”Alright now Orville, focus. Is the perimeter still clear?” 56 asked as he plugged in the flash drive. The screen lit up and the confirmation window appeared. He clicked accept, as he did have any other choice.

”All clear. No sight of any activity.” Orville replied.

”Good. Maintain silence until I am through. If any hostile actions happen notify me immediately.” 56 said in nearly a whisper. Though no one was near him, it never hurts to be cautious.

”Copy that.” Orville replied and the communication device went silent.

56 surveyed the icons on the blue floating holographic screen. The holographic screen would have been considered a technological marvel 200 years ago. The 3D realism it projected upward from the desk to a meter upwards to a slim frame, was astounding. It was completely touch controlled and easy to use. The projected light blue screen formed a horseshoe shape around him on the desk. This let anyone focus on the main topic, while having other programs run alongside for easy checkups.

56 selected the first icon displayed on the starting screen. It opened up a library of information related to current world events, states of war, politics of the world and many other things. With inhuman like speed, 56 only had to read something once and it was immediately stored away in his memory. One of the rare gifts that he actually possessed that allowed him to be in the Cyborg Unit, all those years ago.

Eventually he found the information he needed from the limited and moderated internet he was provided. There was a site that talked about military weapons used currently in warfare. Using it he could trace back the sources the site used and eventually he could find the original postings under the military use. Now was the difficult part, gathering military intel and not getting caught. Of the three major groups, vying for the control of North America, the American Fascist Regime was definitely the most dangerous. Additionally, they were the main focus of his Unit’s actions.

After the rebellion against the AFR and beating the robotic army’s that followed, he and many other survivors stuck together to fight the government that they knew was up to no good. His job right now was to just learn about the AFRs power, influence, and citizens.

56 reached over with his right hand to grasp the fingertip on his left hand. Tugging at it and giving a twist in a particular pattern, he revealed a flash drive of his own that was stored away for just such an occasion. This was one of his special features as a Cyborg Unit Information King soldier (CUIK).

Once he plugged it in, a green and black program appeared on screen. Using he right hand he typed out a string of codes and commands as he opened up sites connected to AFR government programs. The Cyborg Unit members had learned much while in the side of the AFR and now they were going to be putting to use.

Slowly and carefully, 56 started to crack open the fire walls of the AFR defense. The whole process took nearly two hours. He even had to stop working occasionally to minimize his work before anyone passing by saw what he was up to. Thankfully, that wasn’t often.

He somehow found the specs of robotic design, capabilities and manufacturing processes. He even found traces of information on a military device that he could only assume was some sort of Gundam like frame.

Gundam’s are, from 56’s knowledge, an advanced, high performance mechanical mobile suit; that is designed to carry a pilot that can control the suit like it is a larger version of the human form. Unlike a modern tank, Gundam Mechs are versatile humanoid creations that had become the backbone of the future’s current military worldwide. They are generally equipped with the latest experimental technology available at the time of their construction and rarely controlled by robotic A.I.’s. It’s been found that human and Mech interaction has been proven to be dominant over A.I. counterparts.

After collecting a sizable amount of that intel, 56 finally hit a snag. There was one area he couldn’t use this computer processing power to crack. It was something called, the ‘Silver Void Files’. No matter what he tried the firewall was untouched. It didn’t respond to anything he threw at it. Not even his custom-made virus’s.

”It’s got to be that these computers capabilities are too weak, or my hacking files are too far out of date.” 56 thought to himself.

He was about to try again when Orville spoke up. ”Boss, get out of there. Hostiles approaching front and back entrances. From the communication chatter I am reviewing it’s the AFR forces.”

”Damn, they found us already!” 56 grumbled and yanked his finger drive out of the port. The green and black window disappeared instantly. He powered off the computer and got up quickly. He strode briskly towards the main exit. They hadn’t come in yet, perhaps he could slip out unnoticed before they came in.

The front door had a small square window that faced the street and 56 kept looking out it as he came closer down the hallway. Just as he reached the door, he saw six men in plain cloths approaching the doorway. From their facial expressions, they were definitely not normal civilians.

Glancing around he saw a tall fake tree on either side of the entrance. A silly idea popped into his head. Casually he stepped behind the one on the left. The pot it was in reached his knees and its plastic foliage covered his torso and head easily.

The men suddenly burst into the building and quickly spread out looking fervently around the room. The sudden commotion at the entrance caused the receptionist and several of the patrons inside to jump up out of theirs seats to see what was going on.

”Spread out. Find the spy and shot if you see him.” The man in the center barked.

”Yes Sir!” The other five men chanted and from under their shirts they pulled out small automatic weapons.

The onlooking patrons saw them, and the building erupted into chaos. Everyone started running about and the new armed arrivals didn’t help much. They kept pointing their guns at everyone causing more panic.

”Amateurs!” 56 scoffed in his mind. ”If they can find my location this easy, they should at least send someone capable of capturing me covertly. This is just embarrassing.”

Then stepping cautiously out from behind the plant, he stepped out the door and into the street. Without looking up at Orville or looking back he headed away from the building at a casual pace. All without anyone giving him a single glance.

Escaping was another of his special skills.