Interlude Brian J. Mason looked out the window of Genom's tower, feeling a deep surge of satisfaction at how far he had gone. The black haired man had his hands in his pockets as he soaked up the silence of the building, glad that most of the staff were gone for the day. His corner office was spacious and well appointed, a massive desk facing the door, leather chair, mini-bar and a cutting edge computer set up. A soft chime pulled him away from the view and Mason frowned, walking over to the desk. "Situation?" he asked as he took his suit coat off, tossing it aside and sitting down as the holographic interface activated. The male voice of the computer answered as a image appeared of the Genom mainframe's virtual interior, "Unauthorized access detected." Mason smiled as he saw the intruder's icon become entangled with the second stage defenses, "Location and identity?" "Unknown," the computer responded, "the intruder is bouncing a signal off several satellites as well as routing through several commercial servers." "A pro, then," Mason frowned. As they spoke the icon slipped through the second line, moving tentatively forward. "Assessment?" he asked. "Cybernetically augmented hacker," the computer concluded, "response is too fast for a human operative but not fast enough to be pure artificial intelligence." Mason nodded his agreement, "Makes sense. Deploy the neural feedback mines, please." "Activated," the computer answered and in moments the intruder disengaged, flitting away from the system and probably hurting. "Nicely done," Mason smiled. "Any chance of chasing them?" The computer actually sounded a bit frustrated as it replied, "I tracked it from here to China, then a Canadian routing and over to Singapore, but I lost them there." "They were hitching on a number or corporate data streams," Mason noted admiringly, "they're very good." He drummed his fingers on the desk top a moment, "Increase system security to level two." "Lethal force authorized?" the computer asked. "No," Mason said after considering the issue a moment, "but you're welcome to scare them as much as you want." "Acknowledged," it answered, sounding a bit disappointed. Mason logged on to the building directory, checking to see if Jeena Malso was still in. According to the directory she was in her office, though Mason had to concede that wasn't too useful if Jeena had just forgotten to log off. "Jeena Malso's office," Mason ordered as he touched the phone patch on the surface of his desk. "Yeah?" Malso asked irritably as her face appeared on a holographic screen above the desk. Her black hair had a bit of grey showing through, her face lined from a interesting life and choice of work. Unlike most staff she didn't have a boomer answering her phones, apparently preferring a human secretary or herself. "We had a attempted security breach," Mason reported. Jeena's eyes narrowed, "On the computers, I think, since I'd have gotten a report from our guards otherwise." "Yes," Mason nodded seriously, "a hacker got by the outer firewall and slipped through two tiers of security." She sat up in surprise as Jeena said, "That's bad." While in no way a system expert she knew enough to understand both how hard it was to penetrate their system. "Any idea who did it?" she asked hopefully. "They covered their tracks too well," Mason admitted, "though if they try again I'm hopeful we'll get more." Jeena nodded, her expression thoughtful as she turned over the facts she had in her head. "Do you think it's related to Miss Stingray arriving?" she asked. Mason frowned, "It's only been a week since she arrived...." "The timing is interesting," Jeena mused. "Should we increase security on her?" "Not without asking," Mason said after a moment, "she is the boss, after all." Jeena chuckled softly, "Yeah, well we'll see." "Anyway," Mason smiled slightly as he sat back, "I'm just trying to keep you in the loop as head of security." "I appreciate it," Jeena agreed as she logged off. Jeena Malso's office was cluttered and untidy, much like it's mistress. There were takeout cartons on the desk, files scattered about and at least one change of clothes discarded in the corner. Despite all that Jeena easily navigated the mess, finding the documents she needed before grabbing her jacket to go. "Let's see," Jeena muttered to herself as her office locked automatically behind her. She flipped through Sylia Stingray's file, committing the data to memory. Sylia was a genius, rated in the top ten percent of the population, and had graduated valedictorian from her overseas university. Bo criminal record, no school comments, tho Jeena took that with a grain of salt. If Jeena had learned anything over the years, it was money could buy a lot of silence. "Miss Malso," a female boomer nodded a greeting as she strode into the elevator. Her long silver hair glinted in the artificial light, her simple body suit hugging her slim body. "Sub-basement parking," Jeena ordered absent mindedly as she read. "Of course," the boomer smiled warmly. 'Wonder if I should check into my contacts out there?' Jeena mused as she flipped through a university transcript. While Jeena didn't know if any of her classmates had been hired out there, she did think she remembered a contact from a police conference. 'Maybe they'd spill sone dirt?' she thought. Cheerfully the boomer reported, "Sub-basement." "Thanks," Jeena nodded as she headed out into the dimmer light, passing by a limo as she headed for her car. 'Quincy is working late again,' she noted. "Welcome, Miss Malso," her car said as it recognized her, the driver's side door swinging open invitingly. Tossing the file on the seat Jeena slid in with a sigh. "Take me home," she ordered, "shortest route." "Programming route," the car intoned as the doors closed, "route one activated." 'Thank god I installed that artificial intelligence upgrade,' Jeena admitted as she went over the documents again, the car starting up then driving out onto the quiet evening streets. From his place up in the tower Quincy R Rosencroitz watched the car disappear into the night, the old man standing straight with the assistance of metallic braces added to his legs. The eighty some years old man frowned as he reluctantly turned away, striding over to his desk. Reaching up he pushed his white hair out of the way, revealing what looked like plug ins set into the back of his head. "Activating interface," the computer said flatly as cables dropped down from the ceiling. There was a wet sound as Quincy plugged himself in, easing himself down as he sat back at his desk and closed his eyes. His eyes jerked about as information poured right into his brain, processing the data faster than any normal human could. He finally relaxed as the data slowed, his eyes opening and looking rather vague. "I'll never get used to that," Quincy sighed. "I'm sorry," the shadowy figure said from the hologram on Quincy's desk. Quincy still didn't know who he was, but this individual had provided him with important data several times. To be blunt Quincy owed him, and had not yet payed back the debt. "Not your fault," Quincy mused as he thought about what he had learned. "The hacker...." he frowned, "what was the target?" "I don't know," the shadow sounded frustrated, "security stopped them before I could see what they were after." "Not good," Quincy scowled. "I could order Jeena and Mason to let them in a bit farther...." he suggested. "No, both Jeena and Mason would see it as an unusual request," the shadowy man shook his head, "Best just to keep your eyes open." "I understand," Quincy nodded. "Should I call you using the number you left me earlier?" "Yes, leave a message and I'll get back to you," the shadowy figure promised as he added, "good luck." "You too," Quincy agreed as his mysterious contact disappeared.
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