by Erinn Price
I found the recording sessions of my parents when they were tricked in virtual reality and downloaded it to my network. I would watch it when I had more time. From the computers I learned they were experimenting with nano technology and their use in biological systems but so far, they were little more advanced than the ones available to the general public. Nowhere near the sophistication of my internal nanos. Unfortunately, there was no information on what they were looking for with my grandfather’s diary and no link to the organisation. Having spent enough time searching, it was time to get out of the hospital and back to the chalet. I was waiting for the guard to take another break, or even a change of shift when I noticed movement along the corridor outside my parents’ room. A woman was making her way to the lift. I watched her nod to the camera and switching view I watched the guard activate the lift to this floor. The woman was on her way here. My best option was to hide in the corner, use my nanos to camouflage me by making it look like I was not there and then to sneak onto the lift when the woman got off. The lift door stayed open for a while before closing, more than enough time for me to slip on. Unless the woman walked into me, she would not know I was there. I settled down and waited for my chance. The lift opened, and the woman walked out, then before I even moved I saw a man in a suit like mine, drop down from the hatch of the elevator and move behind the woman. In disbelief, I watched the man inject the woman with something and her fall to the ground. I recognised the suit as one of my earlier and simpler models that I had designed for ArcCorp.
Angry, I stood up and immediately had a gun in my face, I had not even seen the man move.
“Put that away before you shoot yourself.” I said, as I grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him into the elevator. “Follow me and do exactly what I say, before you fuck things up even more.”
I was fuming, the guy knocking the woman out would alert them that someone had broken in. Even if they had no idea it was me, it would still let them know someone suspected something. With one stupid move this man had destroyed all my plans as well as put my parents in more jeopardy. I really wished now that I had never given ArcCorp the suit. I would have picked him up on my network otherwise and this whole mess could have been avoided. I never thought my own technology would cause me problems. At least the man had the good sense to follow me and not speak. Maybe the anger in my voice gave him a clue that speaking would not be in his best interest. I had my nanos hide us both from the camera system and was just thankful that the guard had not been watching the screen when the idiot dropped into the lift. I had checked my network and saw the guard had his back to the screen at the time, talking on his cell phone. I pulled the man out of the elevator and towards my parents’ room, but then stopped and pulled him into the nearest room.
I touched behind his ear and had my nanos reform there, covering his ear.
“You have a tracer and audio transmitter on you, do not say a word.” I spoke to him through the nanos. Since my nanos were controlled by my thoughts, I thought what I wanted to say and the nanos synthesized a voice and said it for the man to hear.
“Did you go to my parents’ room?” I asked him.
Thankfully, he was smart enough to just shake his head and not verbally answer me.
“Good.” I thought to him. They would likely think he just came to steal their information.
I connected to the NNDs in my parents’ room and changed their orders. Hiding became even more important now and chances were even higher they would move my parents. I stopped the changes on the plant, card and teddy bear. The nanos converting them would go inert and look just like the materials they had been converting, only extremely close microscopic work would show they were not identical. A quick scan of the beds showed they could be converted and I redirected the nanos to begin conversion of the beds immediately. It would take a bit longer as they had to ensure the integrity of the structure was not compromised. It would be a bit obvious if the bed collapsed. Reconfiguring matter took longer than reforming it. My nanos replicated and took the form they were copying by using the materials they were replacing. If needed, once the nanos were done, I could then have them change into anything I required nearly instantaneously.
I sent a small nano device (ND) to the man’s shoe where the transmitter was. When the time was right the nanos would mimic the signal and deactivate the original. I could then use that ND as a decoy. I had the ladder outside my parents’ room move and reform outside the room we were in. Signalling to the man, I made my way to the window and began to climb down using the new steps and handholds my nanos formed. After a slight pause the man followed me. Before I left, I ordered a ND to go back to the lab. It would leave a single, difficult to trace, track behind in the computer system. It would show that information had been downloaded. I had to make them think the break-in was for information only and that my parents had not been reached. They obviously knew about the man, or someone did and was following him, as evidenced by the tracker on him. It was the same as the ones used to follow me, so likely the same Organisation had bugged the man with me. When we reached the bottom of the wall, I had my mimic tracer detach from the man and deactivated the original tracer. I gave the mimic wheels and sent it off in the direction of Eltz Castle. It had recorded the man’s movement and used it to transmit the sound of his footsteps as he walked. If anyone was listening the absence of footsteps would have let them know something was wrong. I also had my drone find the nearest electrical outlet and plugin, I needed it to charge up. I sent it to my chalet, when it had enough energy stored. Once the man was on the ground next to me, I had the steps reform into the dog and sent it ahead of us.
I pulled the man into the shadows with me and checked my network to ensure we were not spotted. They would also warn me, if anyone was walking in our direction. My nanos had replicated enough on his suit, that I had full control of it. I had the nanos retract his face covering.
“What the hell? How did you do that?” he asked.
I shook my head, Matthew was meant to be a professional, if the transmitter was still on him, he would just have let them know something was up. I recognised him immediately. I had seen pictures of him in Richard’s office. He was Richard’s brother, so ArcCorp had sent me backup, just on my feeling something was off. I had heard stories about Matthew, his ruthlessness and his arrogance. I did not like him much based on what I had heard, and felt he got away with a lot of things he did because he was Richard’s brother. He was in charge of one of ArcCorp’s elite security teams, but I still could not decide if it was because he was a good leader, or just because he was Richard’s brother. I did not want to believe Richard would put someone in charge who did not deserve it, but where family is concerned people often did strange things. The stories some of the women told, also set me against him. He seemed to think all women should want him and he went from woman to woman.
“It is okay, you can speak now, I sent the transmitter away.” My voice was loaded with sarcasm.
“Who the hell are you?” Matthew asked.
“As if you do not know.” I replied and had my own face cover retract into the suit.
“Morgan Dumont, though I do not believe it. Aren’t you supposed to be a respectable scientist? Not a professional thief? Where did you get all these gadgets anyway?” Matthew asked.
I rolled my eyes, “Duh Einstein, they are mine. I designed them, just like that suit you are wearing.”
“Well, that explains how you got it to do what you wanted. So, what now? I assume you have a plan?” Matthew said.
“Oh! I did have plans. You with your stupid move, means I have to change most of them.” I said angrily.
“My stupid move?” Matthew asked, and I could hear the anger in his voice. “The only reason I am here is because I was ordered to come babysit you. Trust me lady, I do not want to be here.”
“Well, that makes two of us that don’t want you here.” I replied.
“Well, ArcCorp seemed to feel you needed help.” Matthew
said
I rolled my eyes again, “The only person here needing help seems to be you. Or did you purposely have a tracer on your shoe?”
“Don’t you think we should get away from here, before you throw a tantrum and begin to shout?” Matthew asked condescendingly.
That he thought I was about to begin shouting at him, only made me angrier. He must somehow be monitoring my body and saw my blood pressure rising through his suit’s interface. That or else he was so used to causing people to lose their tempers that he knew the signs. I had part of one of my dog NNDs reform into a coat for Matthew, his suit would be noticed, and we needed to blend. I added popular logos to both our coats and hoods. I handed Matthew’s to him without a word. He must have realised he needed it because he did not refuse or say anything.
The one dog was now smaller than the other but was still useful as it was. Using the two dogs as well as the NNDs I had placed previously, I was able to navigate us through the city without us being picked up by any cameras. The hoods also hid us enough that the few people who did glance at us would not be able to identify us, we looked just like anyone else. While we were walking, I accessed Gary and Evan’s systems and transmitted a high-pitched noise that would force them to cover their ears in pain. While this was happening, I had my charged drone reform and mimic what my heat signature would look like. The drone did not need to take on my shape, just use the stored energy to transmit a heat signature. To the heat sensors it would look like I got up and ran out while Gary and Evan were incapacitated. I had the drone keep up the heat signature till I knew it was out of range of any monitoring devices. It then reformed into a cat and began to make its way to me.
I pulled Matthew into a shadowed area again and placed a ND behind his ear. I also formed a pair of glasses for him through which he could see anything I showed him.
“When I nod please say, I want to rent a room please.” I thought to Matthew.
I had found a motel opposite one of my placed NDs. It was on a church and the motel was in its line of sight. Even better, this ND’s camera had a clear view into one of the rooms. Both occupants were fast asleep, not that they would notice my NDs anyway. I felt a bit bad that they would be drawn into this, but I wanted to see who was following Matthew. I linked Matthew’s glasses in with the camera feed from the ND, so that he also saw the room with the couple in it.
“Not that I am complaining, but do we have time for this?” Matthew asked.
I rolled my eyes and nodded at Matthew. When he continued to stare at me, I closed my eyes in exasperation and then nodded again and again.
He finally must have remembered because he said, “I would like to rent a room please.” The tracer ND replayed the words, for whoever was listening.
“Room 318, that is 200 credits” I said. My voice was synthesized and changed to sound like the owner of the motel. I had enough recordings that copying his voice was not difficult. I then had the tracer ND move to room 318 and stop under the bed. When the time came, it would deactivate the signal it was transmitting and hide, before returning to me.
“Tap the right side of the glasses like this and the image disappears. Tap it again and it will reappear.” I informed Matthew and then pulled him back out of the shadows.
“Who are you?” Matthew asked, and I could hear surprise in his voice.
“We need to get to Egypt without them following us.” I told Matthew.
“Who?” He asked back.
“I do not know who they are, but I have heard them called, The Organisation by those working for them.” I answered him.
“The Shadow Organisation. I should have known Richard would not send me on a simple babysitting mission. Do you know who you are up against?” Matthew asked.
“No. Unlike you I have been told nothing about this Shadow Organisation. I came into this completely blind and unaware of what I would be facing.” I replied.
“Well, obviously not completely blind, if what I have seen thus far is anything to go by. Or do you always travel with stealth equipment?” Matthew asked.
“I never travel, so no, I don’t always travel with stealth equipment.” I replied to him as we walked.
“But you make it?” he asked.
“No, well yes I made these, but their purpose was not for stealth.” I told him.
“Well, for not being their purpose, they are extraordinarily useful for that purpose. More than anything else I have seen.” Matthew said.
I had no reply to this, I knew my inventions had the capability of being used for nefarious purposes. It was why I had not released many of my inventions. The stealth suit I had given to ArcCorp because there were things like it already on the market, though not nearly as advanced.
“So, do you have a destination in mind, or are we just aimlessly walking?” Matthew asked, “There is a safe house roughly an hour from here.”
“No, I mean yes, I have a destination in mind. No to the safe house. How did they get the tracer on you?” I asked Matthew.
“You think there is a mole at ArcCorp?” Matthew said.
“I do not know, but till we know how and when that tracer was planted on you, we have to assume there is.” I said.
Matthew nodded, “Agreed.”
“There is a forested area another hour and a half from here. We can camp there and get some sleep. From there we can figure our best route to get to Egypt.” I said.
“Not through Belgium?” Matthew asked.
“No, they are expecting that.” I replied. I had realised if Belgium was my first choice, it would be the obvious route for them to look for us.
We continued walking in silence. It was nearly thirty minutes later that I noticed activity near the motel room. I stopped and indicated for Matthew to tap his glasses. I took his hand as he might not be used to walking while half his vision showed another scene. I had lots of practice, so it was easy for me. Matthew seemed to have no complaint, as if holding hands was a daily part of his life.
We both watched as two men broke the door and stormed into the room. They immediately converged on the couple. I saw one reach out to subdue the male, but then stop as he got a look at the occupants of the room.
“It is not them.” I heard the first man say.
“But the signal.” The second one said.
I deactivated the signal and had my ND use the darkness and shadows to exit the room. I could not take chances of it being discovered.
“What the hell, the signal just disappeared. It was just here, I swear.” The second man said in shock.
The first man turned and looked out the window showing us his face clearly. “Well, well, seems this will be more fun than what I thought.”
With that, both left the room and the shocked couple behind. The woman had stopped screaming at this stage, not that anyone had reacted to her screams in the first place. I was glad they had not killed the couple, I had been sure they were going to and had prepared myself for the guilt I would feel when that happened. While they had my parents as leverage, I could not let them capture me. They would be able to use my parents against me. Where family was concerned, I would do anything to protect them. If the Shadow Organisation learnt the full extent of my abilities, heaven help the world.
“This complicates things tremendously.” Matthew said.
“Huh, what?’ I asked, perplexed, “We know who they are, and they have no way of tracking us now.”
“It is not who they are that concerns me, but rather what he is.” Matthew said.
“What do you mean what he is? What is he?” I asked, confused.
“A hunter like me.” Matthew said.
Somehow, I doubted he meant a person with a gun shooting cute, fluffy animals, kind of hunter.
Chapter 5
We walked the rest of the way in silence, each of us contemplating our own thoughts. I obviously wanted to ask Matthew what his definition of a hunter was, but I knew that then he would want answers of his own. Answers I was not ready to share, if
ever. People could have the best intentions in the world and think they are doing the right thing, but invariably if it is something that involves power, intentions get twisted and turned. Some of my inventions and innovations would be better for all, if they just stayed with me.
My cat had found a good spot for a camp and I had the larger dog reform into a two-man tent. It would save us from the worst of the wind and the rain my network had informed me was due to begin soon. The rain would help us, as not many hikers would choose to hike early on a rainy day. If anyone did, a tent would not stand out, they would just think the occupants were waiting for the rain to stop before continuing on their journey. The area we were in was a protected woodland area, which allowed hiking and camping. We could not chance going to a hotel, as these would be checked. Camping here would give us some time to figure out our next moves. For me there was not an option, I needed to get my grandfather’s diary and then get the necklace my grandfather gave me. For now, the necklace was safe, they did not know what it looked like and I hope they believed my story saying it was lost. Unfortunately, they could find my grandfather’s diary, it was buried with him, at his request. It had seemed funny at the time, but I wonder if even then my grandfather knew someday someone would be looking for it. Only my parents and I knew that the diary was buried with him, but this Shadow Organisation might think to search his grave.
I led Matthew to the tent. He gave me a quizzical look when I opened the tent and went inside. After a bit he followed me inside. I had the cat and smaller dog roam around, ensuring no one was close. They could also warn me if the Organisation somehow found us.
“You planned to come here all along?” Matthew asked.
“No. If you had not interfered, I would be back in my nice, fancy chalet with the Organisation none the wiser.” I replied. I was comfortable talking because I knew no one could hear what we were saying. Even if they were standing right outside the tent and we were shouting, they would not be able to hear. I had the tent form a silence barrier around us, as I knew we did need to talk and that it might get heated. Now that we were out of immediate danger, my anger at Matthew was returning.