Noir Control

by Dustin van der Poll

PART 2

  Beep. Beep. Beep. Smith looked at the monitor. A window showed incoming contacts from different units around the city. “Sir, Captain Espedal’s unit has just contacted us; he says that the suspect has been shot and killed whilst evading arrest.” He pointed to a highlighted box.

  Ohlin ground his teeth. “We wanted to talk to that kid… too late now. What’s the situation?”

  “They’re still searching the scene, but they did find his phone. Apparently, the suspect made contact with someone as he was fleeing… Captain Espedal says they’re transferring the data to us now.”

  “Good, let’s hope it leads to nothing, or if not that, then it gives us leads.”

  Smith played back the recording of Prism’s last call.

  "Rachel! Listen to me! Your chip is special, it's a key that can open any door in the government! Listen, the damn Black-Coats are after me, you need to hide! Hide!"

  “Find out who Rachel is,” said Ohlin.

  ----- X -----

  Rachel walked up the stairs, out of the subway and back onto the street. Her phone beeped. A voicemail from Prism.

  "Rachel! Listen to me! Your chip is special, it's a key that can open any door in the government! Listen, the damn Black-Coats are after me.” In clear detail she heard Prism's advice, “You need to hide! Hide!" Then there were terrified screams and a gunshot.

  “What the hell?”

  She played the message back. What did he mean? The Black-Coats were after him? Does that mean they’re after her too? People pushed past her in the street. A police car cruised past and without thinking she raised her hand to hide her face. Why was Prism telling her to hide? Until she knew what he meant, she’d get off the street and stay away from any Black-Coats.

  ----- X -----

  "Rachel! Listen to me! Your chip is special." Over and over, the message repeated through the speakers. Smith hammered at commands whilst Ohlin listened to the call. On one screen was a picture of Rachel’s face, on the next screen was her details from date of birth, to her job and every home she’d ever lived at; a complete biography.

  “Anything special about her?” Ohlin asked.

  Smith shook his head. “Typical Type 3. Lower district citizen. Low income and prospects.”

  “What about her friends and acquaintances?”

  “I’m checking on that now.”

  Above them on the big screen, a map of the city began drawing connections to every purchase Rachel had made with her wallet and everybody she had called or contacted. The image formed one meshed network of personal history, a digital fingerprint of her entire life.

  “I've checked her wallet history, and it hasn't been used since the program Noir-v-2.0 was sent out,” said Smith.

  “Was it updated to Noir?” Ohlin asked.

  Smith shook his head. “No. It registered at a bar called The Red Gunman as though she was buying something, but it seems there was a chip error. There are no transactions whatsoever after that.”

  On a smaller monitor, an itemised list of recent purchases showed. Ohlin scrolled through her shopping habits. “She goes there often,” he said. “That and a supermarket near her home.”

  Ohlin rubbed his chin. “Hm. So… she goes to a bar and tries to make a purchase, but the wallet rejects the Noir update and the payment reader comes up with an error.”

  “So how did Prism get the chip? It should be in her neck?”

  “I don’t know,” Ohlin said. “Maybe she cut it out. But somehow, the hacker, ended up with her wallet chip and like he says in the message, it’s a master key that can unlock any door in the government.”

  Smith rubbed his temples. “Oh man, that’s a security nightmare. We need to find this girl.”

  “If she has no wallet then she won’t get far; she will need to eat eventually. In the interim, she will probably appeal for aid from her friends. Go through the data, find her close friends and get the Black-Coats ready to bring her in... No, she will not get far at all...”

  ----- X -----

  Rachel paced around in circles, not sure where to go. She wiped her brow and bit her lip. She stopped. Ahead of her, one of the digital billboards changed to a familiar face… “Oh, my God!”

  It was her face.

  She was on the billboard.

  WANTED: RACHEL ALEXIS

  Her vision blurred and her temples ached. She pulled out a phone and quickly punched in a number.

  “Pyppi! Pyppi, I'm in trouble!” she shouted.

  “Rachel, I know you're all over the news as a wanted criminal, but don't worry. Throw your phone away after this call is finished, and meet me outside the pub in forty minutes.”

  “Okay... I'll see you then.”

  ----- X -----

  Tendrils of electronics, open circuits and cables sprawled across the floor and walls. Circuit boards were fastened to the low ceiling, illuminated by the light of several monitors, everything else was dark.

  Thousands of lines of unreadable code and encrypted text ran across some screens, program windows opened periodically, chatter and handshakes were being surveyed on a few other, smaller screens.

  The screens were watched by Ekko. He sported a blue mohawk and lived for hacking. In the background, custom software scanned through the police intranet to give advanced warning if the Black-Coats chatter ever mentioned him, or his friends. An alert window opened and a police siren effect sounded. The alert read, ‘Wanted by police, Pyppi Rain.’

  “Oh, Pyppi. What have you been up to girl?”

  His fingers worked the keyboard. More data appeared. Pyppi Rain, known associate of Rachel Alexis. Arrest sought in connection with death of Prism Asterixson. Highest priority.

  “Prism!” Ekko coughed. “Prism’s dead?”

  His fingers worked fast… shot by Black-Coats. The bastards.

  He went straight to the phone. “Pyppi, this is Ekko. The police are looking for you.”

  “Looking for me?” Pyppi replied.

  “Yes, but they’re really looking for a girl called Rachel Alexis. They want you because you know her… and the police intranet says that Prism is dead. The Black-Coats shot him.”

  Pyppi sounded nervous. “What should I do?”

  “Go to one of the secure phone locations and call me back; and remember, don't buy anything.”

  ----- X -----

  Pyppi jumped over a fence and into the railway tunnels. She heard a train coming towards her and tucked herself into a safety alcove and waited for it to pass. Once safe, she ventured deeper into the subway tunnels, using the light from her phone. She knew where to go. Almost five hundred meters in was an engineer's room, identified by a flickering red light above an iron door.

  The room was derelict. The electrical junction boxes on the walls were rusted and unworking. On the wall was a small box inside which was a wired telephone.

  She dialled a number.

  “Ekko, this is Pyppi.”

  “Pyppi, are you safe?”

  “Yes, what’s going on?”

  “Well, I’ve done some further research, but I can’t figure out why they want you or your friend. It’s strange, because normally when someone is wanted, they specify a crime they’re wanted for… only in your case they haven’t, they’re just looking for you, this girl Rachel and Sebastian.”

  “I’ve just told Rachel to go to the Gunman; I’ve told her I’ll meet her there.”

  “Okay. You go meet her there, but keep your head down. I’ll come and pick you both up; I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

  ----- X -----

  “Where’s the best place to look?” Smith mused aloud. He began to search through Rachel’s transaction history. The places she visited most frequently were all close to home, the supermarket, the Red Gunman and her workplace. The tracking software usually placed her at those locations or her friend’s homes. These were the priority areas to search.

  “What are your thoughts?” Ohlin asked.

  “These places,” Smith
pointed to the screen. “They’re her usual haunts. We could get Black-Coats to these places and start asking if anyone has seen her.”

  Ohlin nodded. “As good a place to start as any.” He called through to the Black-Coats. “Espedal, it’s Ohlin. We have leads on the girl. Let me give you some places to search first.”

  ----- X -----

  Ekko ran one floor down the apartment building and banged on a door. A plump man opened up and looked out through the gap. It was Phantom. “What’s up?”

  “We’ve got to pick up some damsels in distress. It’s urgent; there are Black-Coats involved. Can you help?”

  “I’ve got the guys here,” he thumbed back over his shoulder. “Shall we bring them all?”

  “What’s up?” It was Sebastian.

  “Sebastian, the police are looking for you, it’s all over their intranet.”

  “Looking for me?”

  “Yes. They want you, a girl called Pyppi and her friend Rachel. You’re all wanted by the Black-Coats.”

  “Pyppi and Rachel!” Sebastian almost yelled their names.

  Ekko nodded. “I’m picking them up at The Red Gunman.”

  Downstairs, Ekko got into a beat up old van. Phantom got in next to him and into the back climbed Viper, Hornet and Sebastian. Together, they looked like an anarchist punk band.

  “Do you know why the police want me?” Sebastian asked.

  “A guy I know, Prism, has been shot, and the Black-Coats are looking for his acquaintances. Rachel is the priority, then you and Pyppi as friends.”

  “Jesus,” Sebastian said. “We’ve got to pick the girls up and get them off the street.”

  ----- X -----

  Rachel approached the Red Gunman, seeing the neon sign from some distance. The bars were filling as people left work and the streetlights were on. She saw Pyppi leaning against the wall under the sign for The Gunman. Rachel was about to call out when she spotted a man talking into a handheld radio. The man had his back turned to Pyppi and was shielding his radio by pretending to scratch his ear. Rachel wasn’t sure why, but something about him made her freeze. She was already on edge. Already nervous. She wasn’t going to take any chances.

  Pyppi was looking up and down the street, presumably searching for her.

  The radio man walked to a van and spoke through the window to the driver who was facing the street. Were they watching Pyppi? It looked like it. Rachel’s paranoia was growing and almost without realising she slipped into the shadows, edging forward slowly and trying to vanish into her surroundings whilst watching the street like a hawk. There was another van. Another plain black van aimed directly at The Gunman.

  They were watching.

  This wasn’t safe.

  Rachel turned to retreat and saw three police cruisers coming towards her, side by side to take up the whole width of the road. They were closing in at walking pace. If she retreated the police cars would see her. If she continued, the men in the vans would see her.

  The only choice she had was to continue towards Pyppi, keeping her back to the police cruisers and hope she was just being paranoid.

  Then a beat up old van pulled up outside The Gunman and Pyppi walked towards it. She was getting in when from the black vans men jumped out brandishing weapons. “Freeze! Police! Get on the floor!”

  From the van, somebody fired a gun and the police ducked for cover. People in the street screamed and ran in all directions. Pyppi dove into the van as it took off, heading towards Rachel. The police regained their composure and began shooting at the van, but it was getting away from them, heading for the corner. Rachel went forwards as the van passed her on the junction. It slammed on the brakes as the side door slid back. Pyppi was inside yelling at her. “Rachel! Run!” Rachel shoved past people and sprinted towards the van. People beside her hit the dirt and screamed as the guns fired.

  Pyppi was clinging on to an overhead handle with her arm outstretched. “Rachel, now! Get in!” She grabbed her friend’s hand and was pulled in by three guys who dragged her in by her clothing. One of them held a gun; the driver had a blue mohawk and he slammed on the gas. Pyppi pulled the door closed behind her. “Ekko,” she yelled to the driver, “Get us the hell out of here.”

  Rachel said nothing, and buried her head into her hands, listening to the gunfire.

  ----- X -----

  Rachel stared through the van's back window. She watched as black vans and police cruisers swerved through the traffic after them. “Hey, Ekko! There're Black-Coats catching up to us!”

  Ekko turned to Phantom. “You got the guns I ordered?”

  “Of course, when have I let you down?” replied Phantom. They began passing guns to the back of the van, Rachel took a pistol and passed it to Viper. Ekko flicked a switch at the dashboard, and music began to play. The punks started head-banging.

  Ekko shifted gear and amped up the speed, pedal to the metal, rocketing down the main streets of the city. Rachel clenched her stomach.

  Pyppi went over on all fours to Rachel and hugged her. Viper and Hornet fumbled trying to load their weapons. Sebastian tried to walk over to Pyppi, but fell when the van was slammed from the side.

  In the wing mirror, Ekko watched as a police cruiser pulled alongside, scraping and hitting against it, trying to spin them out of control. Ekko gunned the engine and got ahead of the police cruiser that now slammed into the rear sending everybody in the back tumbling. Viper dropped the bullets he was trying to load. “Ekko, get us out of here,” he yelled.

  “I’m trying, man!”

  The cruiser slammed them from behind again, denting the door and pulling it away, the left hand door falling off completely to expose them. The two girls and three guys in the back tumbled around. Viper saw a train of three police cars chasing them, their lights flashing, their sirens blaring. He jumped up and grabbed the overhead rail by the backdoor; he hung out of the doorway to point his unloaded weapon right at the police cruiser.

  The cruiser braked hard and tried to swerve expecting gunfire, but the car behind slammed it hard and smashed it into the lip of an alleyway between buildings. The cruiser crunched into the space, turning sideways as it was pressed into the gap and rammed home. It was an impromptu roadblock and it worked. The police were out of the game.

  “Ekko! You’ve got a clean run,” Viper yelled. “The Black-Coats are out of it. Get us off the street before they get a helicopter up… Ekko? Ekko, did you hear?”

  In the front seat Phantom realised what Ekko was doing. “Oh man, you’re not…”

  Ekko yelled. “Everybody hang on!”

  As they burst from the other end of the alleyway they were headed towards the old canal. The road on their side of the water was high. The road on the other side was low… and Ekko was heading to it as fast as the van could move.

  Phantom braced himself and screamed, “Grab on to something!”

  Then they were in mid-air. Rachel felt herself and Pyppi lift away from the floor as though they were suddenly weightless. She saw the dropped bullets floating in the air. She heard the van’s engine whine as though it was suddenly being gunned without traction all the while the radio was playing, loud and heavy.

  With a crash, the van landed on the other side and continued to dash forward. It hit Rachel like a punch but they were safe... They had escaped.