“Ah,” Lon cut in, “that’s the bit I’m the most worried about. How are we supposed to know if they’ve noticed us or not?”
“You don’t,” she replied, “that’s why I told you to be very observant”.
Lon put his head in his hands, “We’re gonna die”.
“Moving on,” Cat said, ignoring his plight, “the most important piece of hardware,” she removed a watch from the bag.
“A watch?” said Eve.
“A watch?” echoed Lon.
“Ah, it’s not actually a watch, it’s the mass storage device,” explained Cat.
“A mass storage device in a watch?” he said, hardly believing what he was seeing and hearing.
“Ja, problem?” said Cat.
“Who the hell wears watches these days?! That’s instantly gonna be suspicious!”
“Don’t be daft,” said Cat, “lots of people still wear watches, especially antique ones. They are jewellery after all”.
“Fine, I’ll blame you if I get caught”.
“The only way you’ll get caught is if you keep up that hopeless attitude,” she said.
Eve agreed with her, “Yeah, you did say that you should believe in yourself cos no one else will”.
Lon frowned. “Whatever,” he returned his attention to Cat. “How does the watch work then?”
“Well, because it’s designed like an antique, not much information can fit onto its small screen, so a palm screen is needed as an intermediary device, the software for which is installed on both your new palm screens”.
“So, plan one: we find the specific server room housing the server suite that has the information we need, connect to a computer in the suite using the palm screen, which in turn will be connected to the watch, and download the info. Plan two: we go to the server room’s master computer, because the actual suite we want will probably be guarded and so we won’t be able to get in, hack in, connect to the SARP’s servers and send the information wirelessly directly to Strys because it’s not so likely I’ll be able to download a server-full of information onto a watch. I like the second one best; it seems a little easier”.
“But the second plan is the more dangerous one, you’re more likely to get caught because of the length of the procedure”.
“Yeah, but it’s a hell of a lot less invasive”.
“Just stick to the main plan Lon”.
“Fine, we’ll die either way”.
“Stop whinging and try this stuff on,” Cat instructed.
They did as she asked, each starting with the palm screens.
“This feels just the same as my other one,” said Eve.
“Good, that’s how it should be,” said Cat, “and yours Lon?”
“Yeah, it’s okay… a little tight around the finger tips… maybe I should clip my nails”.
Cat handed him a pair of nail clippers she had retrieved from a drawer, “Do it quickly”.
While he did so, Eve tried on her new lab coat, which hugged her body closely as far as her lower thighs. “Wow, it’s a lot more feminine than the ones I usually wear. I really like it… shame I can’t wear it after today though”.
“You never know, hey, after all this is over, you might get your lives back,” said Cat.
“Yeah, I’m holding thumbs,” Eve said.
Lon soon completed the task of trimming his nails, refitted his new palm screen and tried on his designated lab coat. “Okay, it seems fine,” he practised punching an invisible enemy, “a little tight under the arms though”.
“As long as you can move in it, it’s fine,” stated Cat.
“Yeah, you don’t have to tell me; I don’t have any choice about anything, do I?”
“You’ve got that right”.
“Anyway, I want to see what the whole getup looks like,” he removed one of the briefcase guns from its containing bag.
Cat darkened one of the windows for it to be used as a mirror.
Lon checked himself out. “I see what you mean about this being feminine,” he gestured to his coat.
Eve copied Lon and examined herself.
“You look a lot more professional than I do,” he said.
“That’s because I am more professional than you”.
“Hey, you cheeky sod!”
“Right,” said Cat, “if you’re comfortable, let’s go”.
“Now?” asked Lon.
“Yes, now,” she stiffly replied.
“I was under the impression we weren’t in a hurry”.
“I’ve just decided we are, so put everything in that bag,” she pointed to the holdall from which she had taken the new equipment, “and let’s go”.
Lon and Eve hurriedly removed the lab coats and put them in the bag along with the briefcase guns. Cat did the same with the remaining equipment she had removed.
Rather than driving them directly to the most local NGT station, Cat took them to a relatively peaceful one in a nearby district. Before leaving the car, Lon an Eve kitted themselves up.
“Lon, your earpiece should be named ‘1’, Eve, yours is ‘2’”.
Lon configured the wireless connection between his earpiece and palm screen. “Done”.
“Now go to the app called ‘Close Friends’,” Cat directed.
Lon did so, and a short list of “Available Connections” appeared.
“Now, for safety reasons the way it’s configured is so that everyone on our private network is initially linked to ‘Mammy’, who has control over anyone on the network and the ability to make new connections within it”.
“Okay, so I’ll connect to ‘Mammy’,” said Lon, which he selected from the list.
“Connecting to Mammy,” appeared on the screen.
A few seconds passed before he heard a voice. “Hello, this is Mammy speaking, how are you my darling?” the voice was of a heavily-accented man impersonating a woman.
“Uh… Hello?”
“Howzit Lon my bru! I’ve been waiting for ages for your call man!”
Lon quickly realised it was Strys on the other end. “Oh, hi… how are you?”
Strys chuckled. “I’m fine man, I’m just worried about you!”
“Yeah… me too,” said Lon.
“Now, is Eve connecting to me yet?”
“Uh… Eve, are you…” said Lon.
She nodded at him.
“Yeah, she’s connecting now”.
“Oh, here comes the call!” he excitedly exclaimed. “We have a caller on the line, her name is Eve. Eve, please tell us what you think about the running order of the day”.
“Um,” she had no idea how to respond to his jest.
“Man, I’m only joking! No need to be so worried!”
“Ha… okay,” she said hesitantly.
“Right, so I have you two connected to me now,” explained Strys, “Once you leave the car I’ll connect to Cat and keep her updated on what’s happening. From here I can connect you to anybody else on our network, but it makes it a little more risky to have more unauthorised connections going in and out of the Science Centre, so you’ll just be connected to me for now. Is that clear?”
Both Lon and Eve affirmed.
“Great,” said Strys, “so have you got everything with you that you need?”
“I think so,” said Lon.
“Okay, let’s be a little more certain. Obviously you each need a lab coat as a disguise, you both have your palm screens and earpieces activated, and is one of you wearing the watch I made?”
“Oh, yeah,” said Lon, “I’m putting it on now”.
“Okay, but don’t connect it to your palm screen until you’re in the server room, otherwise it might be detected easier”.
“Okay, got it,” replied Lon.
“You’ve got the briefcases?”
“Yep, got those, one each”.
“Okay then!” said Strys, “Let’s- oh! Are you wearing the contact lenses I sent for you?”
“Ah,” Lon leant forwards to say to Cat, sitt
ing in front of him, “contact lenses”.
“Oh! Ja! I knew I forgot something, hey!” she said, “They’re in the side pouch of that bag”.
Lon reached over to the holdall beside him on the backseat and unzipped the pouch. Inside he found two different coloured, barrel-like containers.
“Yeah, those,” said Cat.
“Got them?” Strys asked.
“Yeah, there are two containers… I presume the blue one is mine?”
“Yes, that’s right, the colours of the containers correspond to both your eye colours”.
Lon spoke again before Eve got the chance. “But we both have blue eyes”.
“What?” said Strys.
“How didn’t you notice?” asked Lon, “Eve’s eyes are her most striking feature”.
Eve felt her cheeks warm.
Cat leant close to Eve’s face for a good look. “Wow, I can’t believe I didn’t notice either”.
Strys heard Cat’s confirmative statement. “Ag, man! I’m so sorry, I assumed they were brown”.
“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” said Eve, “not many people do notice”.
“Ja, but someone as coloured as me should be more aware of stereotypes, man! I mean, with our country’s history… I’m really sorry”.
“Seriously, it’s okay,” said Eve, “everyone makes mistakes. I’ll still wear the brown lenses”.
Lon handed her the brown container, which she opened and examined the contents of. He also examined the lenses; his were a deep blue colour, not too dissimilar to his own eyes. He looked hard to spot the electronic components inside, but was not able to identify anything that was easily distinguishable as having the architecture of a circuit board. “Ah, man, this is gonna feel weird, I haven’t worn lenses since I had my eyes lasered years ago”.
“Same here,” said Eve.
“Okay, before you put them in, you need to make sure your fingers is clean so that you don’t leave any marks on them that might confuse a retina scanner,” explained Strys, “I sent you some special handwash along with the lenses”.
“Got it,” Lon again reached into the side pocket of the holdall and retrieved a small, unlabelled, blue bottle. He flipped off the cap and squeezed some of the contained gel into his hands and spread it around. The sensation was cold, and the skin on his hand without a palm screen tingled. Eve cleansed her hands following Lon, and they proceeded to, with only slight difficulty, fit the lenses to their eyes.
“God, I thought I’d never have to wear these bloody things again,” Lon said while repeatedly blinking and squeezing his eyes.
“I was hoping that too,” said Eve, squinting at herself in the rear-view mirror.
“Have you managed to put them in?” asked Strys.
“Yeah, they’re a bit sore though,” said Eve.
Strys laughed, which was a bit painful straight in the ear, “Man, of course it’s sore, you’ve got computers in your eyes,” he continued to laugh.
“Is there anything else?” Lon, interrupted the laughter.
“Actually, yes, don’t use your retina scanner until you get to the Science Centre. For the NGT, use the Masquerade app on your palm screens. I’m just about to apply the patch to the NGT surveillance system, so you don’t have to worry about using your EMP devices until you leave the NGT platform at the Science Centre. Did you both get all that”.
“Yes,” they replied.
“Right. Now we’re gonna go radio silent. Both of you call me back when you’re inside the Science Centre”.
“Okay,” they said, and the line fell silent.
“Disconnected from Mammy,” read the display.
“Ready guys?” asked Cat.
“Almost,” responded Lon, “but there’s one thing you haven’t told us”.
“Is it? What?”
“You haven’t told us how to use the EMP devices in our palm screens”.
“Ah, sorry, that’s pretty important, hey! What you must do is you must go to the Masquerade app and choose the option ‘Have a blast’, okay?”
“Okay,” he said.
“Okay, let’s get started!” Cat said with excitement.
He took an extended breath, and exhaled slowly. “Okay,” he repeated.
“Go on then”.
“Just give us a minute please,” said Eve, who also took the opportunity to gather large quantities of oxygen with her lungs.
A moment passed, then Lon handed her a briefcase gun. He mustered up some confidence, exclaimed “Let’s rock!” swang open the car door and stepped boldly into the hot summer afternoon.
Part II
Chapter 12
As Lon and Eve approached the entrance to the NGT platform, Cat sped away, presumably to an area close to the Science Centre to wait in the capacity of a backup escape plan.
The cool, air-conditioned atmosphere of the NGT system was a refreshing contrast to that outside, and, ever so slightly, helped the two feel more comfortable.
The place had few other passengers and no security staff. It seemed as though Strys’ surveillance patch was working, as it appeared nobody was alerted to Lon and Eve’s presence.
“Okay, here goes,” said Lon, he took a deep breath, and led the way towards the check-in console.
“Hello, and Welcome. Please select your mode of transport,” sounded the console.
“NGT train,” he responded.
“Acknowledged. Please select your destination”.
“The Science Centre”.
“Acknowledged. Please select form of payment”.
“Palm screen”.
“Acknowledged. Please step forwards and place your hand on the highlighted area”.
He stepped closer to the console and did as he was asked, and the console processed his palm screen’s details.
“Palm screen scan complete. Payment method acknowledged. Please enjoy your ride Mr. Wallace”.
After stepping beyond the barrier he turned back to Eve and speculated, “A different name… I wonder if the new version of the app is race specific”.
“Even if that’s the case, I’m still likely to be a ‘Chen’,” she said. She repeated the check-in process.
“Please enjoy your ride Mrs. Miyamoto”.
Lon laughed at her, “Close enough!”
She scowled at him and joined him on the other side of the barrier.
“Level one, complete,” he said, and they carried on towards the appropriate platform, which was practically void of people.
“Maybe the ‘bosses’, or whatever, chose this time in the afternoon to avoid the rush hours,” Eve pointed out.
“Maybe,” said Lon, not caring to speculate.
It did not take long for the train they were waiting for to pull into the station.
Lon and Eve sat in a carriage alone.
“Do you think we’re really likely to die?” Eve whispered.
“I’d like to think not, but you should be telling me, you’re the one who’s worked there for the last couple of years; you know what it’s like”.
“I have no idea what it’s like being a wanted criminal in there! I just know that we’re likely to get lost when we’re looking for the server rooms”.
“Is it really so big that you don’t know where any of the server rooms are?”
“Lon, have you seen the size of that place? It’s like a self-contained city!”
“Really? I’ve never actually seen it up close, just from a distance”.
“It’s the largest building in the country! You can tell how big it is just by looking at it from anywhere”.
“We’ll see,”
“Trust me, you’re gonna get a shock”.
The NGT pulled to a halt at the next, more populated, station, where several people boarded the same carriage as Lon and Eve, encouraging them both to remain silent. Moments later it was on the move again, taking its patrons to a much higher altitude, from where a substantial part of the metropolis could be seen in all directions<
br />
It was still difficult for Lon to take in all of the city’s splendour and believe that his country was not one of the most advanced on Earth, as he had recently discovered. It was dispiriting, yet at the same time stimulating to know that there might be more advanced, more technologically interesting, and more wondrous cities out there. If only he could leave the country.
Following multiple high-altitude stop-offs at several increasingly tall buildings, the NGT got closer to their destination. The Science Centre came to dominate the skyline; an immense obelisk towering imposingly over each and every construction at its feet, shedding an impressive shadow across the surrounding districts like a colossal sundial violating the sky.
“I admit,” whispered Lon, “this is the first time I’ve been so up close to the Science Centre, and it’s fucking massive”.
“Told you,” Eve uttered.
Soon the NGT came to a standstill at one of many platforms on the grounds of the Science Centre. The region surrounding the building alternated between parking spaces and green parks with trees, flowers and water features. Quite the contrast to the eminent edifice at the centre, which beckoned their doom.
Lon and Eve alighted, and without issue exited the platform into a green area
Lon remained astounded by the size of the building he faced. “I know it might be because of the scenario we’re in, but don’t you ever find that place a little… imposing?”
“Up until this weekend I would have said ‘not at all’, however, now…” Eve could not quite finish her sentence due to fighting back the tears forcing their way forwards.
“Don’t cry now,” he said, “It’ll seem suspicious”.
She smiled a little. “You can be insensitive sometimes”.
“I know, but this time I’m not trying to be funny; we really need to remain…” he breathed deeply and corrected his posture “composed”.
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