Enhance: Chapter 7

“God damn, it got cold fast!”

She rubbed her hands together quickly and blew on them despite wearing gloves. She was outside at the meeting spot with Feint and Phase staring at a huge office building. During the day it was a law firm but the Royals had their hands deep inside it.

“Well yeah. We live in Chicago at night. In the fall. It’s at least 40 degrees out here. That’s not even adding the wind.” Feint said glancing at her mask. The weather popped up on the right eye and she nodded slowly. “Yeah, cold and it’s going to stay cold for the duration of the week. Probably the rest of the month.”

“Great. Whose idea was it to make base in Chicago?” Yumi asked. She blew on her hands again and put her mask back on her face.

“Yours Yumi. Entirely yours.” Phase laughed.

Despite the mask having a small heater to keep their faces warm they had to work for everything else. They were wearing gloves, insulated jacket, and warmer jeans. Feint had her hood on over her mask and her hair messily wrapped around her neck. Yumi had a scarf wrapped around the mouth of her mask and neck but left her hood down. Phase just had on a hat.

“Didn’t think about the cold.” Yumi said and glanced at her masks clock. “Where’s Wiz Kid. I wanna get this party started already.”

“No patience as always Yumi.” Darren’s voice filtered through their mask and Yumi almost jumped.

“Bout time Wiz Kid.” Yumi said with a shake of her head. “By the way, your guys a no show. It’s just us out here.”

“You sure about that? Try looking again with better eyes.”

Yumi raised her eyebrow at the suggestion. But she did as they suggested. “Alright Mask. Thermal vision go.”

In a quick transition, her mask latched onto the heat around them. There was nothing but blue around them with a bit of green and yellow. She counted off the three of them and shrugged. “Still don’t see him, Wiz Kid.”

Feint pointed, “Behind you Yumi.”

Yumi rolled her eyes and did just that and she jumped back. There was a fourth person landing on roof with them. “Mask. Thermal off. Now.” She commanded. When the thermal vision went away she was staring at nothing. It was empty darkness.

“What the hell is going on?” Yumi whispered.

“That would be me.”

A new voice said through their communication channel and all of then tensed. Another man stepped out of the shadows as if he had not existed until now. He was wearing the trademark all dark colors, which was becoming a thing for them. He also had a mask just like them, no doubt designed by Darren. His mask was painted all black that just absorbed any light coming toward it.

“The name’s Shade.”

“Phase.”

“Yumi.”

 “Feint.”

 “How did you do that?” Yumi asked.

He simply laughed and wiggled his fingers. “No one can see me in the darkness.”

“Glad you’re all acquainted with one another now. Let’s get down to business.” Darren said as the sound of their fingers flying across the keyboard filled the air waves. “That building is the Arnell. One of the major company owned buildings in the city. Also owned by the Royals. Biggest gang in the city currently.

“Now the reason we’re here is to steal some account information. Banks, personal files, the works. Sadly, a lot of the information we need is from the higher ups. The Bishops, the Queen and hopefully even the King.”

“That’s pretty ambitious Wiz Kid.” Yumi whistled. “Bishops are top level computer guys. They handle the money so that makes sense. But what does the King have that you really want to take? I did a tiny bit of research”

“That’s classified.” Darren started typing again. “Though if what I’m looking for is there it’ll become unclassified very soon.”

At Darren’s commander a 3D map of the building appeared for them. It showed the building in its entirety, all fifty floors. There were four dots on the screen and tiny words that represented them. “As I’m sure you can assume these are you all. Each of you, has a special job.

“The first step is a shared task between me and Feint.” Darren said as they continued to type. “I’m hacking into their systems to drop their firewalls for a moment. I can only do so much from and then Feint comes in. Your job is to get in there and find the locations of the personal computers of everyone who works there. From the guard at the front desk to the King’s desktop. All of them. That’s where our next step comes in.

“Phase and Shade, once we have the locations it’s up to you two to clear a path. I have one prescribed for you however that doesn’t make it the best one. I trust your judgment on this. Once you find each office Feint and I will hack the rest. However please do your best to not get caught.”

“What about me?” Yumi asked.

“You Yumi are going to do what you do best. You’re going to create a diversion. Nothing too big but big enough to keep their attention.”

Yumi cackled. She enjoyed causing trouble. “Alright, I can make that happen.”

“Yumi, I’m uploading a program to your mask.  It’ll let you mess around with traffic lights, electronics, in a local area. It’s fun once you get the hang of it.”

Yumi was rubbing her hands together as she saw the small progress bar fill to a 100%. “Alright, I’m liking this. Liking this a lot. Let’s get this party started!”

She jumped over the edge of the building and slid down the side before jumping to the next. She glanced over her shoulder but quickly looked up to see Phase and Feint going over her head. She felt a movement at her side and it was a wave of air pressure. That must have been Shade. She stared at the darkness, at least where she thought he had been, and wondered how he did that trick.

The four of them raced across rooftops finding the fastest routes and falling into step around one another. They were one building away from the Arnell when they slowed down. “Darren you’re up.”

Darren was quiet for a while and there was nothing but the sound of typing.  Suddenly it stopped and they spoke. “I’m in. Your turn Yumi.”

“Showtime.” Yumi spread her arms falling forward.

She landed carefully and ran forward dragging her hand against the ground. It might have been a bad city street but there were pieces of rock all over the place. Gathering a small handful of them she flung them at the glass walls.

It was sturdy, probably strong enough to stop bullets. Thankfully Yumi was a bit stronger than the average millennial with a gun. The rocks shattered the glass into pieces, breaking the rocks as well, and Yumi jumped forward. She landed in the lobby and the alarm that sounded was music to her ears.

“Hello boys. What’s going on here?” She said strolling through. It was a nice lobby. Wooden desks, black tiled floor, lights kinda bright but off whine. “Elevators to the right and bathrooms to the left. Nice setup you got here.”

The man at the desk stood up, and raised his walkie talkie to his mouth. “I need security on the ground floor now.”

The guards pulled guns on her. “Stop right there!” The guard shouted raising his gun to eye level. “Show me your hands!”

Yumi glanced at her hands and frowned. She took off one glove and checked her nails slowly. “You’re right. Might need a manicure on these puppies. Got any good recommendations?”

She heard the click of a safety going and that got her attention. She also heard the sound of an elevator and tried not to look at it but with feet stomping across the ground she had to look. Five suits stepping out of the elevator and none of them too keen on asking her questions.

“Alright Mask. Time to test the new app. What can I do in this area?” She asked and her right eye tuned in a few options. It showed that she had lights, computers, elevators and alarms to work with. The alarm was already going off. “Let’s hit the lights. All of em.”

Suddenly the room went black. Black for all of them at least. She could see perfectly fine. Her mask was running the night vision. She loved holding all the cards.

They were grouping together, shouting to one another to try and get the lights working again. However, Yumi was pretty sure that they wouldn’t be coming back until she said so.

“Alright time to get them outside.” She ran forward and grabbed a man by his arm. He shouted in surprise and Yumi turned before throwing him through the already broken window. He landed onto the concrete hard in front of a slowly gathering crowd.

From what she could tell no one had called the proper police quite yet but imagined that was gonna change soon. As she saw the crowd she realized that this might have been why they hadn’t opened fire on her too. So she could use that to her favor. “Hey Wiz Kid can I take one of the computers?”

“Why?” they asked and she could almost see the confusion on their face.

“Don’t worry. Part of the master plan.” She smirked. “So can I grab one?”

“Yeah but only one. Feint’s still gonna need the other.”

“Sweet.” Running toward the desk she jumped over the edge and grabbed one of the towers under the counter. She grabbed it and almost tore out some wires but the tower was snug underneath her arm as she started running. “Mask, lights on.”

With the lights on she put herself in front of them. They stared at her for a moment before one pointed and shouted, “She has one of the computers. Catch her. Don’t let her get away!”

That’s what she wanted to hear. Turning around and dashing out of the building. She moved in front of the crowd and all of suits chased after her including a couple of security guards. As they passed the door and broken glass walls Feint snuck her way inside.

She was glad that Yumi could always be trusted to be herself. It made doing her job easier. Getting behind the counter she stayed down and plugged herself into the machine. “Ok Mask. Let’s get inside their system.”

She was typing away at the keyboard furiously as window after window opened for her. She was glancing quickly between her mask and the screens keeping track. After a tense minute she smiled. “I’m in. Uploading the targets to your masks.”

Phase and Shade got up and started moving. They were on a nearby building just waiting for the signal. “Time to go. Hold onto my hand.” He told Shade as he reached out toward him.

Shade looked at him for a second then took his hand and they jumped forward. Phase took a breath and they both started to fizzle through existence. They hit the wall and Shade on instinct shut his eyes. But they flew through it like it wasn’t there at all.

They landed on the floor and dropped hands rolling forward. The lights suddenly went dead and they were in the darkness. Phase glanced at his mask and the map zoomed to see their floor specifically.

“Can you handle the next floor alone?” Shade asked as he glanced at Phase.

He gave a short nod. “Good luck.”

“You too.” Shade watched as Phase jumped and then climbed through the ceiling. “That’s cool.”

Walking down the hallway Shade glanced at his mask and saw that there was only one guard on his floor. One of them must have left and gone down to deal with the distraction below. Bully for him.

Pressing his back to the wall he walked against it slowly. This guard was going to pass his location in a few steps and he didn’t want to have to get into it with him. So he slowed down at the corner and concentrated.

The guard came around the corner and looked both ways down the hall. He paused for a moment as he stared at the empty hallway. Shade stared at him, not a foot away from. He might have been close but the shadows had wrapped around him. Even if the man came closer and looked directly at him, Shade would just drift slightly into the corner of his vision.

Now was the hard part. Taking a deep breath, he took a step forward and then another. Walking to fast would blow his cover and probably startle the man. The guard must have felt the sensation of not being alone but he couldn’t justify it. “Come on Jake. Being Paranoid.”

The guard continued his rounds forward and Shade continued his walk toward the office room.  Letting his powers like a heavy exhale he started moving. Walking toward the door to the office he switched on the x-ray. It was empty. Before using too much effort turned the knob and it opened with a click.

The room inside was cold. It had grey walls and floors. There was an entire wall dedicated to a window view of the city which might have livened up the place during the day but right now the blinds were down.

Against the opposite wall was a shelf lined with books. When he zoomed in on the books he tilted his head to the side. Most of them were records from the company to history books. Nothing really interesting. The desk that sat beside the shelf was neat and organized. This guy, the Bishop, seemed like the boring type.

Going to the desk he dragged his fingers over the empty space before wiggling the mouse. The computer voomed to life and showed a picture of a white Bishop.

“God could these guys be more obvious with who they are.” Shade mumbled and then shook his head. Pulling back the swivel chair he sat down and pulled the keyboard forward from under the desk. “I’m at the office. You guys ready?”

“Almost there.” Phase said as he slipped through another wall. “I’m above the office of the other Bishop. Should I drop in or try to find the King’s?”

“Take the Bishop’s.” Darren told him. “Yumi bought us some time but we won’t be able to search for more than this. Besides I’ve put a trojan in their system. It’ll be able to find the King’s data for me..”

Phase nodded and then pressed his hand against the ground. Taking a short breath, he jumped and climbed again rolling into the office. The room was richly furnished. From the fur carpet, to the large chairs. There was even a working fireplace though it was currently put out. He glanced at the stacks of books on the shelves and saw the author’s names. Hemmingway. Foster. Shelley. Austin. There were so many classics there it made his head hurt.

Going over to the old wooden desk he pulled back the chair. There was a tower underneath and a large monitor. Touching the mouse and letting the computer come to life he saw a black bishop on the screen.

Phase nodded and spoke up. “I’m at the desk. Ready when you two are.”

“Good. Feint’s already started working on Shade’s computer. I’ll get started with yours.”

While they worked Yumi was running through the crowds. She did her best to step around people but she started pushing them for speed. She could hear the suits still giving her a chase. If she glanced over her shoulder she could see them trying to get her. Dashing down an alleyway she looked around for her next path.

Her mask highlighted a ladder on the far wall and she blinked. “Holy shit, this thing is handy.” Turning her gaze toward the ladder she jumped and hit it making it slide down. Holding one hand against the desktop and with the other she started to climb.

Once at the top she ran toward a nearby set of fans. Sliding the desktop behind one of them she turned around. The suits were getting to the rooftop and at the moment she was tired of running. She wanted to blow off a little bit of steam.

“Nowhere to run now.  We’re gonna make sure you hurt.” He said whipping out a knife. The others were doing the same, taking out physical weapons.

“Bring it on.” She said and cracked her neck “Darren, please tell me it’s almost over. Me and the suits are about to get into it but the security guards aren’t here. Probably heading back to the building.”

“We’ll take that into consideration.” Darren said. “Keep doing you and get out there.”

Feint came in next though. “Yumi take that computer back home with you. Might be some useful data for us.”

“Can do.” One of the suits came forward and threw a punch. There was a glint on his fist so she didn’t bother trying to take the hit. Instead she ducked under it and jabbed him hard in the stomach. The man grunted while Yumi stepped forward and elbowed him in the back of the neck.

She turned her head around and bent over backwards as a knife sailed over her head. Hands flat against the ground she flipped and kicked both her feet into the back of the man’s head.

That left three more still standing. They cut the shit and rushed her all at once. Instead waiting for them to come to her she dashed at them. Using her speed, she circled behind them and leaped forward.  First, she kneed two in the back of the head. Grabbing the third by his collar she flipped him obrt and slammed him into the ground

She panted heavily and looked down at the guy. They were groaning or rolling and not getting up any time soon. “Get rekt scrubs.”

“You dispensed with them pretty easily.” Yumi heard the new voice and turned around to the owner. It was a man in a suit and tie like the rest of them. However, there was a top hat on his head and it stopped her from seeing his face. “I’m not sure if I should be angry that you’ve defeated our men like this or thankful that you’ve weeded out the weak ones from the Royals.”

Yumi was wary and started moving around him slowly. Something about this guy seemed different than the other ones. More than cannon fodder. She tried to remember what the other members of the Royals were but she was drawing a fierce blank currently.

“I would normally be called in to dispatch someone like you, however I’m not on the clock. I was jjust told there was a disturbance at the Arnell and instead I find a masked thief making off with one of our machines.” He shrugged his shoulders as he looked at her. “By the way I would let your friends know they should get out while they can.” Yumi went completely still. She looked at the Arnell and then heard him say. “Food for thought.”

She hadn’t even heard her move. She swung but he was gone. Leaping from the building he disappeared over the edge and was gone. “Guys. You almost done at the Arnell?”

Darren responded. “We’re getting there. Why?”

“You need to get out of there. Soon. Bad news is coming toward your way.” She went back to the desktop computer and picked it up. She shook her head slowly and started running. “I’m taking the computer back home but get out. Just trust me on that one.”

Feint looked up from her computer suddenly looking into every shadow and noise. It wasn’t like Yumi to warn them about something like that. Let them know something was coming yes, but tell them to run? Almost never.

“Feint how far along are you?” Phase asked.

“Almost done.” She said as she glanced at her mask screen and then the computer monitors. She tapped her fingers against the desk quickly and watched the data. She wondered what some of this information was. If it was as valuable to Darren it might have been to them as well.

She didn’t not trust Darren, but at the same time she didn’t want to be in the dark. She typed away at the keyboard and started up a few programs. She was still uploading the data to Darren but she was also sending it to her own systems. When the bar filled out entirely for the upload she stood up she unhooked herself.

“I’m done.” She said and was heading toward the elevator. She forced open the doors and stared upward. The elevator wasn’t on her floor. She grabbed one of the cables and gave a tug. It wasn’t strong enough for her taste. Instead she went to the wall and jumped, climbing the side of the shaft.

She followed the map on her mask and climbed toward a closed door a few floors up. Sticking her hand into it she started to pull it open and climbed onto the floor. With a heavy sigh she looked around her and saw the same type of hallways. Black tiled floors, a few pictures scattered here and there. “Shade I’m on your floor.”

“Already here.” She turned around and there he was, materializing from the darkness. There was a guard on the ground at his feet. “What? He’s just knocked out. Figured I finish up before we moved out.”

She gave a short nod. That power was going to frustrate her. “All that’s left is to find Phase. Or wait for him to drop in.”

Right on queue the thief fell through the ceiling. He waved at the two of them and asked, “Everything done?”

“Everything’s done and extracted.” Darren said through their mask. “I have what. If the information I want is in there then we’ll be in business. If not we’ll need to hit another location. But it’s time to get out of there.”

The trio of them turned toward the hallway. Phase turned on the map, looking outside to figure out where they were in correlation. Leading them forward to a blank wall he pointed. “Take my hands.”

Shade and Feint each grabbed one and they jumped through it. The rush of hitting solid, though not being solid, was still a strange experience for Feint. She shut her eyes tightly and suddenly they were on the air.

Phase let go of both their hands so that he could focus. Bracing himself he landed lightly on the opposite building and rolled forward. Shade slid against the ground and Feint jumped a few times slow down. The trio turned around and stared at the building

“What now?” Shade asked.

“Now we’re going home. We have some unwinding to do.” Feint said and stretched her arms above her head.

The guy hadn’t spoken much and Phase was curious about him. There were more people out there that did what they did, that wasn’t surprising. But his trick in the shadows. That was something they could benefit from.

“Where’s home for you guys.” Shade asked as he glanced between the two of them.

“The city. We’ve got a place.” Feint said as she folded her arms and glanced at Phase. She was wondering how much to really tell him. After all she didn’t trust him. Not just yet.

“What about you?” Phase asked.

Shade simply shrugged. “I get around. Darren keeps me in good money.”

“That they do.” Feint said slowly. She could tell they were all anxious to go home. Everything about this night had turned out well for them but she wanted to check through the data. “We did good tonight. Until next time.”

Shade nodded and turned around. He started to run jumping off the edge and disappeared from sight after a few moments. Feint turned back to Phase. “Home?”

“Home.”