Enhance 2: Chapter 2

Working late was always a rough prospect. Sitting in an office, thirty floors off the ground for the majority of the day, trying to meet quotas and deadlines you wouldn’t have given your worst enemy all with a smile on your face. The sun had long since set and the automatic lights had gone off. They didn’t even turn on with motion. His phone vibrated again with text of ‘Where are you’ and ‘When are you coming home?’ but he ignored it.

His fingers machine gunned against the keyboard filling in form after form. Five different pdfs and an internet browser with a dozen tabs open. He dug his fingers through his hair slowly trying to not let his exhaustion get the better of him right now. He thought about looking out the window behind him but that would just frustrate him. Yawning aggressively, he leaned back in his chair as a shape started walking past.

He started sitting up quickly watching the shape move in the darkness. He hadn’t expected anyone to be here this late in the evening. Was it a coworker? No, no one else stuck around this late. He was only here because he had screwed up. He’d seen the news though and for a second, he thought it was one of them. That thought jumped his anxiety up several notches.

The shape came closer and closer to his office and the light from his own cubicle illuminated them. Black slacks, white shirt, blue tie and black cap. Just a security guard. As they looked into his office they looked as surprised to see him as he was them.

The guard lifted his cap and knocked on the door, “Burning the midnight oil huh?”

“It’s not that late is it?” he replied groggily.

“Not quite. Something like ten,” the guard looked at his phone. “Ten fifty.”

Turning in his chair he shook his head, “Jesus. Yeah I got to get this stuff taken care of. My fault for letting it get this long”

“I heard that. Just let the desk know when you leave so I don’t get in trouble for it,” he said and the late worker did a two finger salute.

Slumping back in his desk he sighed watching his monitor and staring at the next few dozen forms that he had to take care of. Huffing to no one but himself he leaned forward to grab the mouse and get back to work. But before he could even get down to the he heard a crash.

The noise startled him hard enough that he dropped out of his chair. Startled and looking around quickly everything was very quiet now. Just the humming of the computer complimented by its fan. Nothing else going on.  But the crash echoed in his ears and the palpitations in his heart didn’t calm down.

Getting back to his feet slowly he walked toward his door and peaked out. He looked down one side of the office and just saw the empty cubicles and desk. A few computers had been turned off while others were just on sleep mode. Taking a relaxing breath and accepting his paranoia. He sighed turning around back to his office when he saw the feet being dragged into the office adjacent to his own.

He stared at the spot on the carpet where they had disappeared and the soft click of the door itself being closed. His hands shook, frozen as situations ran through his paranoid mind. He didn’t get far down the rabbit hole because something struck the back of his neck and he sank to the ground like a sack of bricks.

Standing over him was a man in black boots, jeans, a grey shirt under with a strap across his chest and a thin blue hoodie on top, his hands covered by black gloves. He was tall close to 6’2’’. His face though was hidden behind a cracked hard plastic mask, faded white with two sharp slanted eye holes and a thin red smile at the mouth. It went around his face covering his ears. Resting over the top was his thick black hair, a single thick streak of white within it.

Staring down at the unconscious businessman he prodded him with his toe a few times but he was definitely down for the count. Looking over his shoulder he saw the active computer that the man had just come from and let out a sigh.

Tapping the mask with two fingers he pressed and said into the microphone at his lips, “Echo. Thought you said that the only people left in the office were the guards.” His voice was his own to his ears but to anyone else they heard a smoother version of google translate.

“It is only the guards,” a higher and indignant voice replied through the speakers. “Why?”

“Because I just stumbled into an office guy. Someone working late by the looks of things.” Grunting he picked him up under the arm pit and dragged him back into the office he came from.

“Oh. I must have missed him. I told you that floor was fuzzy.”

“This is why I always say double check.” He huffed dumping him back into his chair. Glancing at the screen and the dozens of forms and pdfs he raised his eyebrow getting a bit closer. “Hello. What do we have here?”

Taking ahold of the mouse he flicked through the pages of documents. His eyes skimmed over them quickly but it was really the mask doing the work for him. Where ever his eye went to the mask tracked the image and blew it up making it easier to read and highlighting key words and then saving images for later.

“What did you find?” a new voice said through the speakers in his ear. Inquisitive but very business.

“Nothing bad Fei. Turns out the guy that Echo missed was working on a very interesting project.”

“I’m doing my best,” he could hear Echo “Feint tell him to stop it.”

“Be nice Phase,” Feint said making him chuckle as jumped to another file on the screen. “But what did you find?”

Leaning against the desk he shifted away from the files and glanced through his emails. “Looks like someone is getting involved in some cooperate espionage. Insider trading. Bad things. All that fun rich collar crime.”

“Rich collar crime is my favorite kind of crime,” a fourth voice said. It was a neutral voice that was neither male or female and it wasn’t because of the filter in the mask. “Plug it in and I’ll do the rest.”

“I hope that comes with a bonus,” Phase said brushing his hoodie back and sliding the strap around his chest around. Unzipping a pouch, he pulled out a micro USB. Popping the dongle out he crouched and plugged it into the computer. At least he would have if he did it on the right side. Flipping it around he slid it home.

Sitting up he glanced at the computer and saw a window pop up, lines of dialogue working across it quickly. He’d seen this many a time so he left the computer behind and walked back out. Hanging a quick right, he walked to the next closest office. The door to it was closed and he knew that it was locked on the off chance an accidental guard passed by.

He thought about knocking just to mess with Feint but instead walked through it, as if it weren’t there at all. It was always an interesting sensation going through solid objects like that. Almost like his whole body fell asleep for a fraction of a second. Shrugging and rolling his shoulders he looked around the modest place.

A few chairs, a barren desk except a plant beside the monitor and a calendar against the far wall. Behind the desk was a massive with the curtain drawn. Behind the desk was Feint, a woman with short curly black hair, a black windbreaker and jeans on but also wearing a mask that mirrored his own except in pristine condition.

He could vaguely hear her fingers at work going through file after file on the computer. She didn’t look up as he passed her and walked toward the window but said, “You’d think they’d train people with this much access to have a few more passwords or firewalls.”

“Boomers really just don’t believe in how powerful technology is. Who are we to complain right Fei?” he smiled behind his mask and peeked through the blinds and stared at the nearby area.

There was an older building directly across, probably from before Chicago was the city it was now. It was definitely shorter. On his right was a crane, maintenance being done on a floor above them. Most likely on the broken pieces of ledge beneath the window. This floor’s were at least in one piece. Beyond that he could almost see the lake. Looking around like this It was easy to forget they were this high up.

“And done,” She reached below and took out a USB drive and slid it into her own pouch. She stood about a half of a foot shorter than him and folded her arms. ”What kind of exit are you thinking?”

“Well I’d rather not go the way we came. That’s a lot of stairs and I don’t trust elevators these days.”

“There’s a fairly straight forward jump across from the floor below us,” Echo chimed in.

Both Feint and Phase looked at one another and Feint asked, “How do you know that?”

“The other guard here really likes that building. There’s a lady there that she wants to ask out but doesn’t have the courage. I wish I could give her some advice.”

“You thinking of being a match maker if this stealing thing doesn’t work out?” Phase asked and she giggled.

“It wouldn’t pay nearly enough. Are you going to come down to me or will you join me on the other side?” she asked.

“See you on the other side. Much smoother that way,” Feint said and then looked over at Phase. “Unless you have another idea leader.”

He snorted shaking his head quickly, “No no. I’m a fan of this ibe.”

“Goodie. See you both on the other side then.”

They walked toward the window and Phase was partway through it but swore to himself. Back peddling back into the office he swung his hand back and forth. “Jump without me. I need to grab Darren’s USB.”

“Getting greedy for information,” Feint said and he had a feeling she was throwing a frown his way.

“A bonus is a bonus,” he shrugged. “I’ll meet you on the other side.”

She sighed nodding quickly, “Be careful.”

Feint stepped toward the window and then went through it just the same as he had walked through the door. Turning he walked toward the wall and took a short hop passing through it and landing in the other office space. Looking at the computer whatever program Darren ran through it was done. Plucking it free he glanced at the worker.

They were starting to groan and come to. Phase decided not to knock them out again and instead just stepped through the window. The moment he was outside he felt the wind on his neck and shivered quickly. The ledge that he noticed was about as long as his foot and he looked down to the street below getting a surge of adrenaline that put a huge grin on his face.

Shimmying along the ledge slowly he looked toward the building across from them and just barely he could see a white shape moving across the rooftop. “No way I’m making that jump now. What to do?”

“Check to your right,” Darren said in his ear. He looked sure enough there was a crane. It hung there stoically, the wire supporting the hook swaying back and forth. He followed the body of the crane and realized that he could walk that to the street and jumping from there was a piece of cake.

“Thanks for the heads up.”

Being this high up in the air the wind was stronger but that didn’t stop him from shifting so that he could step forward and start walking quickly along the ledge. Keeping one hand pressed against the building and another out to steady himself he kept moving, wobbling here and there but kept his eyes on the prize.

The crane jib wasn’t a rectangular box like he would have preferred but a pyramid with the thin edge pointing up. If he wanted to walk on that he’d have to hobble or he’d have to balance on the top of it. Another ghost of wind came by and he felt his hoodie billow behind him.

Fighting against it he forced the hoodie flat against him and zipped it up to his neck. “Phase where are you?” Feint asked and he crooked a smile.

“I’m on my way. Really close.”

Sprinting forward he leaned forward and jumped. For a fleeting moment everything was frozen. His breath was frozen in his lungs, his body hovered in the air and he could see the city from an angle that he’d never get from the ground or even on top of the Hancock building. The city aglow with life, the city making its music.

Home.

He landed atop the crane and for a moment he thought he’d fuck it up and fall. But he leaned forward gaining his balance and sprinting. The wind shoved against him twisting his foot and he kept his balance for a minute gritting his teeth. No one ever talks about things like this when you’re high up.

Sliding forward he jumped grabbing a hold of the tower and vaulting himself into the jib. Taking a moment to land and catch his breath he laughed then kept going. His steps echoed on the metal and he caught a glimpse of the goal. Hopping onto the edge of the control points railing he crouched and jumped harder than he had before.

It wasn’t like before where things stood still, adrenaline pumped in his ears like a storm surge. His eyes were on the corner spire and he’d have to put a little extra into it. Rolling forward slowly he hugged his knees to his chest and then kicked both legs forward.

Yanked forward he went feet first into the pillar. Sliding through it he rolled the moment he could touch the roof top and kept rolling until his bearings came back. Pausing at his knee he kept both hands against it nearly falling over onto his side.

Before he could a hand went to his shoulder steadying him. Looking over at Feint he laughed despite the glare he felt on her face. “That was risky.”

“It worked didn’t it?”

“That’s not the point,” she hit him on the back. “Just because you’ might be hard to kill that doesn’t mean you should keep testing it.” She pointed at the streak in his hair. “That was an accident that shouldn’t have happened remember?”

Glancing down at the rooftop he sighed and got back to his feet, “Yeah I know.”

“None of us wants to have to get a new leader,” Echo said joining the two of them. She was about as tall as Feint but thin almost to the point of frailty. She was wearing a white t-shirt on top of a light pink long sleeved shirt, jeans, and white boots. Just like the other two she had a mask made of the same material but hers lacked eye holes. Her silvery hair went down to the middle of her back swaying as she moved.

“I’ll be more careful. Did we get everything we need?” he asked Feint.

Nodding quickly, she was already going through a checklist of items on one lens of her mask, “Every file needed has been taken. Darren’s client is going to be pleased.”

“Hey team. I’ve got hot spot for you if you’re interested,” Darren cut in sending an updated location on a map to each of their masks. It floated in the corner, a red dot showing the location to go to and the fastest path there from where they were currently. “There’s been chatter on an old Royals call network.”

“I thought we didn’t have access to any of their networks anymore. They finally flushed out your bugs,” Phase said folding his arms.

“They did. From what I can tell these guys are on the network doing their own thing,” Darren typed a few times and flashed an image to Feint’s mask. “See what I mean?”

She looked at the transcript, scrolling through it quickly and was already shaking her head, “It’s their frequencies but all of these codes are new. You think it’s some kind of splinter group maybe?”

“That’s my guess. I’ve been able to dig through what’s being said but the most I can tell is there’s a deal going down.”

“At the docks no less. Classic,” Phase glanced at the two of them. “Where’s everyone else in the crew tonight?”

“Rogue’s getting me my drugs,” Echo said. “I was getting low.”

Feint flipped her hand lightly, “Already? I thought we had just gotten more a month ago.”

 Echo nodded quickly, “Things have been getting more difficult. But don’t worry. I’m still okay. Just need to take care of it sooner this month.”

“Okay,” Phase looked at her making a mental note to talk to her about it later. “What about Yumi and Shade?”

“They have a date tonight,” Feint said and laughed. “A concert I think.”

Phase hit his hands together, “That’s right. Almost forgot. Alright that’s fine then. Someone has to get the data back home. Can you take care of that Echo?”

“Sure sure. Plus I get to go home and play with Roxie.”

Phase smiled and tipped his head, “Alright Fei. That means me and you are crashing a party.”

“Hm. I’ve never been that rude before. I feel like you’re a bad influence Phase,”She winked his way and then unhooked the pouch from around her waist. Phase did the same and they both hand them over to Echo.

She wrapped them around her waist and tipped back and forth on the balls of her feet, “Be safe you two. Don’t need any tiny thieves running around any time soon.” With that she took off down the rooftop and disappeared over the top heading home.

Phase watched her go and raised his eyebrow, “Pretty sure she should be saying that to Yumi and Shade more than us. I think.”

Tapping his cheek lightly Feint shook her head going the opposite way, “Trust me. She definitely has.”