M.I.N.D.’s voice echoed in the room, “Working…..reroute activated…..reroute activated…...reroute activated…..extinguishing firewall…..working….reroute activated…. reroute activated….” Cipher frowned as they continued to be shunted place to place. “Pause.” He mulled over the endless cycle for a moment. “M.I.N.D. tell me, every time you complete a step to find the root a new step is created correct?” M.I.N.D. reviewed the coding. “Yes.” Cipher nodded, “Very clever. An infinite paradox is created…..M.I.N.D. show me the last step.” The specific code popped up next to the original message and previous actions. Cipher scanned it quickly. “Hmm...hacking and altering the actual program algorithm so the steps cease to generate would take a very long time….Let’s stop the games shall we, it wants us to reroute us from this general step but let’s actually dig at and trace a single strand of the code making up the step” He tapped at the screen for a few moments before speaking once more. “Jackpot.” He pulled up a hidden action. “The slicer was actually making a major, not to mention illegal, withdrawal.” A message in the transaction’s coding spelled out. “Hello, missed me?” Cipher smiled smugly. “I was hoping you’d start showing up again. M.I.N.D. keep an eye out for anything remotely matching that communication’s coding level.” “Yes sir.”
King led his small gaggle of agents towards the car that afternoon. They had spent most of the day in his apartment memorizing data and then had a brief paper airplane fight which did wonders to lift the mood. They all piled in with King driving and Landon in the passenger seat, King turned on the radio to a popular station and started pulling onto the streets. The scene outside the windows eventually changed from city to suburbs and after a while longer the reached the outer rims of the city where houses were on 2-4 acre lots. King pulled into a gravel driveway and parked in front of a nice average looking house. Landon noted it was one story, white paint, with a front porch and nondescript features as they walked up to the door and King knocked on it twice. The door opened after a long moment and a young teen stood before them. She was wearing black pants and a striped t-shirt with a jacket thrown on over that. She had a ponytail with long bangs in front and purple glasses which she adjusted as she surveyed them. “You’re the Dan?” Everyone exchanged glances before King replied. “Uh yeah. Most people call me King.” The girl didn’t answer, just walked back into the house leaving the door open. They all assumed that meant come in and followed her to the kitchen where she was sitting at a honey colored table with a purple laptop open and running. She glanced up at the agents and gave a quick smile. “Go ahead and sit” They sat. “So you want my skills with the computer, care to expand on that?” Elliea leaned forward in her chair, “What, in your skilled opinion, would be the best way to get the attention of another hacker?” The girl smiled, “Depends, you want them on your side or not?” Elliea frowned slightly, “Uh, one our side.” The girl tilted her head and half shrugged, “Well there goes all the fun options. Let’s go out and look around for the fish. What’s the name?” Danny piped up, “Goes by Source in the dregs.” The girl choked and coughed for a moment then looked at them with wide eyes. “You want me to….Source? Me?! Are you crazy?”
It was a very tense, very silent ride to King’s place. Landon sat in the backseat, arms crossed staring out the window while Elliea stared at her hands in her lap and Damian gripped the steering wheel. Elliea reached up and hit the dial on the car radio hopefully. “Maybe some cool music is on?” The radio DJ energetically spoke, “ and after that we have coming up, Mine, but now let’s get these tunes rocking! I’m Zelda and this is BrB22.53” The song started. It was Stressed Out by TOP. Elliea shut it off and they all went back to silence. Damian parked in front of Kings small apartment and everyone walked up the three flights where Elliea knocked on door 103. The door opened almost immediately and King stood before them smiling and ushering them in. He eagerly offered coffee which all took and then settled in the living room. “Okay so I spent several hours last night digging and managed to get some good stuff!” Elliea peered at him, “Several hours….how long did you stay up?” King gave a short laugh while opening a box of papers, “Um….actually all night.” Elliea glanced into the kitchen to see a stack of empty coffee mugs, “That explains a few things….” King waved her comment off with a hand and handed them each papers, “Names, dates, contacts, key phrases! I managed to find Wanda and Carter. They’re in what used to be Costa Rica supposedly.” Damian glanced over the papers, “This is vague….but a good start.” Danny frowned, “Are you really going to try to dig everyone up? None of them are on the grid, half of them aren’t even in the Agency. A few of them even burned everything and ghosted on everybody. What makes you think you can get them all in?” There was an unspoken question left hanging. The one that went like, can you get them all in after the last disaster…. Damian looked at the ground. “If they can’t trust me….maybe they can trust you guys.”
Elliea shifted in her chair, agitated. “Um, if I recall correctly you told them they didn’t need or have to follow you into there. And all of them choose of free will to go in. Full well knowing the consequences. You can’t keep blaming yourself for their choices Damian.” Damian shrugged, “Grief does strange things, I led the mission I’ll take the hate. I’ll just get another tally mark on that side. Because I am responsible for all of it. Beginning to finish.” Landon looked at the ground and did his best to swallow back his painful memories. Elliea shook her head and crossed her arms. “Damian..…” She sighed, “...To be continued. Danny who’s closest?” King took another swig of coffee, “Samuel Desp aka Source is the only one we’ve got on our grid right now, even though he’s not in the Agency technically. He’s made it clear that he’s not worried enough to disappear completely. The way I see it, we find him, it gets easier to find everyone else. I’m going to try to contact Carter and Wanda, they’re still holding the reigns of the entire agency so I think we can get some people through them as well. Sound good to everyone?” No one contested him till Landon raised a hand in a stop gesture. “Not to be discouraging but how are we supposed to find one of the greatest hackers of all time? We don’t have any tech people good enough.” King held up a pointer finger, “Actually I just found a promising young slicer four days ago. Not sure about credibility or trust levels but I think it’d be worth a shot. At least we could get advice.” The three senior members exchanged glances before Elliea spoke up, “Okay. When do we meet?”
It was a very tense, very silent ride to King’s place. Landon sat in the backseat, arms crossed staring out the window while Elliea stared at her hands in her lap and Damian gripped the steering wheel. Elliea reached up and hit the dial on the car radio hopefully. “Maybe some cool music is on?” The radio DJ energetically spoke, “ and after that we have coming up, Mine, but now let’s get these tunes rocking! I’m Zelda and this is BrB22.53” The song started. It was Stressed Out by TOP. Elliea shut it off and they all went back to silence. Damian parked in front of Kings small apartment and everyone walked up the three flights where Elliea knocked on door 103. The door opened almost immediately and King stood before them smiling and ushering them in. He eagerly offered coffee which all took and then settled in the living room. “Okay so I spent several hours last night digging and managed to get some good stuff!” Elliea peered at him, “Several hours….how long did you stay up?” King gave a short laugh while opening a box of papers, “Um….actually all night.” Elliea glanced into the kitchen to see a stack of empty coffee mugs, “That explains a few things….” King waved her comment off with a hand and handed them each papers, “Names, dates, contacts, key phrases! I managed to find Wanda and Carter. They’re in what used to be Costa Rica supposedly.” Damian glanced over the papers, “This is vague….but a good start.” Danny frowned, “Are you really going to try to dig everyone up? None of them are on the grid, half of them aren’t even in the Agency. A few of them even burned everything and ghosted on everybody. What makes you think you can get them all in?” There was an unspoken question left hanging. The one that went like, can you get them all in after the last disaster…. Damian looked at the ground. “If they can’t trust me….maybe they can trust you guys.”
Cont..
BUT IT'S SUCH A GOOD SONG...
I've never heard it tbh, just chose it for it's title.
Elliea shifted in her chair, agitated. “Um, if I recall correctly you told them they didn’t need or have to follow you into there. And all of them choose of free will to go in. Full well knowing the consequences. You can’t keep blaming yourself for their choices Damian.” Damian shrugged, “Grief does strange things, I led the mission I’ll take the hate. I’ll just get another tally mark on that side. Because I am responsible for all of it. Beginning to finish.” Landon looked at the ground and did his best to swallow back his painful memories. Elliea shook her head and crossed her arms. “Damian..…” She sighed, “...To be continued. Danny who’s closest?” King took another swig of coffee, “Samuel Desp aka Source is the only one we’ve got on our grid right now, even though he’s not in the Agency technically. He’s made it clear that he’s not worried enough to disappear completely. The way I see it, we find him, it gets easier to find everyone else. I’m going to try to contact Carter and Wanda, they’re still holding the reigns of the entire agency so I think we can get some people through them as well. Sound good to everyone?” No one contested him till Landon raised a hand in a stop gesture. “Not to be discouraging but how are we supposed to find one of the greatest hackers of all time? We don’t have any tech people good enough.” King held up a pointer finger, “Actually I just found a promising young slicer four days ago. Not sure about credibility or trust levels but I think it’d be worth a shot. At least we could get advice.” The three senior members exchanged glances before Elliea spoke up, “Okay. When do we meet?”
Cont...
OOooh, new guy. Who's the whippersnapper?
Yeap, figured a little new blood in the plot was due. We shall see won't we.....
*snip* Elliea leaned forward in her chair, “What, in your skilled opinion, would be the best way to get the attention of another hacker?” The girl smiled, “Depends, you want them on your side or not?” Elliea frowned slightly, “Uh, one our side.” The girl tilted her head and half shrugged, “Well there goes all the fun options. Let’s go out and look around for the fish. What’s the name?” Danny piped up, “Goes by Source in the dregs.” The girl choked and coughed for a moment then looked at them with wide eyes. “You want me to….Source? Me?! Are you crazy?”
*snip* Elliea leaned forward in her chair, “What, in your skilled opinion, would be the best way to get the attention of another hacker?” The girl smiled, “Depends, you want them on your side or not?” Elliea frowned slightly, “Uh, one our side.” The girl tilted her head and half shrugged, “Well there goes all the fun options. Let’s go out and look around for the fish. What’s the name?” Danny piped up, “Goes by Source in the dregs.” The girl choked and coughed for a moment then looked at them with wide eyes. “You want me to….Source? Me?! Are you crazy?”
![[derp]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/YqNTPqyQUocVMYXZgUAI.png)
![[h]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/nPCskakrdhDERqIVGKuw.png)
![[h]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/k3cXEdyNkyw6aB9dHN1d.png)