Red Light Hero

by Kory Shen

  "Thank you, HumiliT," Godmother said. HumiliT nodded graciously.

  "Okay. I'm sure I can get this down. What about the rest of the plan? How are we going to get access to the server?

  "What's your range?" Violet asked.

  Alan glanced at the desktop computer, then took a few steps backwards. He could still read the files. He took a few more steps backwards.

  "That's sufficient," Godmother said. "In any case, the server will be shielded by a Faraday cage. You won't be able to access it from a distance."

  "So we're going to have to make some noise?" HumiliT asked.

  Godmother nodded. "I'm afraid so."

  Alan looked at the others in puzzlement. "What's that mean?"

  "This won't be a covert operation," Violet said. "The only way to gain access will be through brute force."

  Alan had assumed that they would sneak around like spies. "You mean we walk up to the Pentagon, blow a hole to the server, steal the Alpha Files, then somehow run away?"

  "That's a crude way to put it, but yes," Godmother said.

  It was practically an act of war. Open attack by any alpha had never occurred before. Now, three alphas, two unknown to the public, were going to attack the center of Washington D.C.

  "I don't like it," Alan said. "We'd be the bad guys, terrorists. Exactly like they said we are."

  "Only if you fail. You must finish what you start. Otherwise, you'll have made things worse," Godmother said. "Secure the Alpha Files, and you won't hear a peep from them."

  "Even if we blow a hole in the Pentagon?"

  "Gas leak."

  "She's right," HumiliT said. "They cover up for our collateral damage all the time. Makes for bad PR. It's part of the reason Fisher hates us so much."

  "Maybe he's got the right idea," Alan said.

  "Fisher isn't on your side," HumiliT said. "He's a shoot first, ask questions later kind of guy, and he's gunning for you. Don't forget."

  "I still don't like it," Alan said. "What if someone gets hurt?"

  "Collateral damage is an acceptable risk," Godmother said. Alan stared hard at her, refusing to flinch. Godmother took a deep breath. "Very well. I can make sure that minimal staff is on hand."

  "You can?" Alan asked.

  "If that's what you want," Godmother said.

  Violet looked up sharply. She caught his eyes, concern wrinkling her forehead.

  What he wanted. Violet had said that before. Godmother always gave you what you wanted. So had someone else. Daisy? Wait, hadn't he run into Daisy back when he was captured by HumiliT? He looked around the room, a startled expression on his face. He hadn't seen Daisy since coming back.

  What was going on? Were they actually making decisions, or was this all part of Godmother's plan? Nothing in The Strip seemed real, or rather, everything seemed too good to be true. Yes, Godmother always gave you what you wanted, but what was the cost?

  Alan sighed. Keep it simple. Focus on what's important.

  "What I want," Alan said carefully, "is to avoid unnecessary violence or harm. I also want to be safe and free to live my life."

  HumiliT gave him a strange look. Violet still had sad puppy eyes.

  "I understand," Godmother said. "I'll do what I can. Anything else?"

  The others were silent.

  "In that case, Alan, you repeat what you did ten times. HumiliT and Violet, come over here and look at these floor plans for the Pentagon."

  As Alan focused on the computer files again, he had the disturbing thought that he was about to commit treason on behalf of a crime boss. Back on the streets of The Strip, hadn't he promised himself that he would become an alpha on his own terms?

  His eyes flicked to Godmother and the others discussing something on her screen. Godmother could never give him what he truly wanted. Only he could.

  CHAPTER 29

  They were done preparing. Godmother bid them good luck. HumiliT and Alan headed out of Godmother's office towards the loading ramp, but Violet stayed behind.

  Godmother eyed her expectantly. "You're worried about Alan."

  Violet was used to Godmother predicting her every move. That didn't make it any less uncomfortable.

  "What are you planning?" Violet asked.

  "Everything is under control," Godmother said. "I, of all people, place immense value on Alan's well-being."

  Of course she did. Alan wasn't useful to her dead.

  "It's not just that. Alan hates it. Being treated like an experiment or project. What if he runs away again?"

  "He won't. As for your first question, I'm aware of his mental state. That's why I have you."

  "Me?"

  "You'll be there for him, won't you?"

  Violet looked at the woman who had given her everything she had ever wanted. She had, hadn't she? Even now, she had met Alan and become an alpha because of her.

  "Alan asked me to make a promise," Violet said. "That if I had to choose between you and him, I would choose the person I thought was right."

  "Then, I have nothing to worry about, do I?" Godmother said. "One more thing." Godmother tossed Violet the USB stick Alan had been using earlier.

  Violet caught the USB stick and held it up. "What do I do with this?"

  "Keep it in your pocket."

  "Why? What is it?"

  "A gift."

  * * *

  They reached downtown D.C., then crossed the Potomac River and parked in an overpriced garage five minutes by foot from the Pentagon. Then, they waited. It was close to midnight.

  Alan and Violet were in the back seat, scanning the news sites and social media streams on a laptop. HumiliT sat in the driver's seat, her gold uniform and mask replaced by a dark gray version similar to what the others wore.

  "Nothing yet online," Alan said. He rubbed his palms along the smooth fabric covering his legs. He still wasn't quite sure how Godmother had convinced him that raiding the Pentagon was a reasonable idea.

  "Godmother says the plan is on track," Violet said, checking her band.

  HumiliT pointed at Violet's wrist. "You get internet access with that now? You have to make me one."

  Violet ignored her. "Electrophile's been sighted in the D.C. area. Maiden's location is still unknown.

  "Any idea what Godmother has planned?" Alan asked. Godmother hadn't explained everything to them. The others seemed fine with that, but it made him nervous.

  "There!" Violet pointed at Alan's laptop as he refreshed a website. New messages were popping up on the page of trending messages.

  Stuck in traffic again after an extra long day. Alpha business downtown. 3x this week! #justdcthings #aheroslife #alpha

  Saw alphas fighting :) :) no pics :( :( bf made me leave X( X( @mattparker208 sucks #notanalpha #yolofail

  -==NEW ALPHA VIDEO==- <<<4LPH4 HUN73R>>> ===> WHAT IS THE ALPHACOIN? bit.ly/2zYb9KC Buying all alpha videos msg me #alpha #alphachain #alphacoin #crypto

  HumiliT peered around the front car seat. Alan rotated the laptop's screen so she could look too.

  "She's trying to keep the nearby alphas busy," HumiliT said. "What do you think? A bomb threat? Bank robbery?"

  Alan didn't want to find out. The thought of being responsible for another crime didn't sit well with him.

  Violet glanced at her wrist band. "Godmother's given the go ahead signal." Alan and Violet exchanged looks. "You'll be okay?" Violet asked.

  "I'll have HumiliT," Alan said. "Don't worry. We'll be in and out in a flash." He handed the laptop over to Violet.

  Alan and HumiliT would use their superior speed to race to the Pentagon, break inside to access the server, and return to Violet before any alphas across the river could retaliate.

  Violet checked her wrist band again. "Still no sign of Maiden."

  "It's fine," HumiliT said. "Come on. The clock's ticking."

  HumiliT stepped out of the car. Alan adjusted the mask around his face and followed her. He gave a last short wave to Violet. Then, they were running.

  T
he five-minute walk took five seconds with a moderate burst of super speed. Alan checked his band. SPD 81. The trip to the Pentagon hadn't been for free. He'd have to be careful using his alpha powers. The night was still young.

  The two renegade alphas stood just beyond the gates of the Pentagon.

  "Ready?" HumiliT asked.

  Alan nodded. "You know the layout. I'm following you."

  "My favorite game. Follow the leader. On three. One, two, three."

  Two dark blurs burst through the outer gates of the Pentagon. They didn't use the main doors but smashed into the wall at a point specifically chosen for the mission.

  The initial impact left a man-sized crater in the side of the Pentagon, but the concrete and steel wall was far from broken. HumiliT pounded on the wall in a flurry of fists. Alan joined in at her side, ignoring the steady stream of concrete and metal debris bouncing off his body.

  Several seconds later, there was a large enough hole through the thick walls. HumiliT entered first. Alan paused as alarm sirens blared.

  "Hurry!" HumiliT called back to him.

  Alan entered and followed HumiliT as she navigated a series of hallways and stairs, simply tearing open any locked doors. In another several seconds, they stood in front of two large steel doors.

  HumiliT nodded. "This is it. We'll take this one slowly, so we don't risk damaging anything inside."

  Alan checked his wrist band out of habit. SPD 72. Good. That was plenty to return to Violet. He cycled through the readouts. STK 53. He experimentally reached out with his mind and met the hum of digital life all around him. What was that one? He tested one of the signals. There was a camera watching them. A jumble of static and colors appeared in his mind, but after his brain adapted, he saw an image of himself and HumiliT. He reached out with Stalker's powers and squeezed. The camera stopped transmitting.

  "What are you doing?" HumiliT was staring at him. He noticed a neat hole in the steel doors. "You're up."

  "Warming up Stalker's powers." He checked his band. STK 53. So dealing with one camera was negligible.

  He stepped through the dark hole and entered the unlit room. A circle of light shone through the opening HumiliT had made, illuminating a metal cage surrounding what must have been the secure server.

  He reached for the metal cage and tore it as easily as if it was cheap Christmas wrapping paper.

  HumiliT shouted. "Response team's here! I'll take care of them, but hurry up." The sound of gunfire and cries erupted from beyond the server room.

  Alan finished splitting the cage open, revealing the unprotected server inside. Well, physically unprotected. Alan closed his eyes and reached out with his Stalker powers.

  He crept through the server's data drives, caressing his mind over the contours of the files. They differed from Godmother's practice files. Instead of a grainy texture, it was a smooth surface. Perfectly smooth. He couldn't find anywhere to get a mental handhold to remove the shell and access the precious knowledge inside.

  He skimmed across the entire surface of the data, searching for any crack or opening, but there were none. Someone spoke. It was HumiliT.

  "The first response team's immobilized," she said. "Are you done yet?"

  He hoped she hadn't hurt them seriously. She was a former hero, right? Not that it counted for much.

  "This is harder than before. I need more time. Don't interrupt me."

  "All right, Stalker boy. I can handle internal security, but we've got to get out of here before any of them show up."

  Alan didn't respond, instead focusing on the encrypted server files. He slowed his mental scanning, working his way carefully over the polished surface, trying to find any blemish, anything to crack the shell open. It was tedious work.

  He opened his eyes and checked his band. STK 52. Stalker's powers really didn't use much of her viral load, did they? This wasn't working out, though. At this rate, it would take him minutes or more to scan the entire data. They didn't have time. He cycled through the readouts on his band. SPD 72. Would HumiliT's speed boost help Stalker's powers? He wasn't sure how the powers worked, but it was worth a shot.

  He closed his eyes again, focusing on the polished surface of the server in his mind. He started scanning the surface carefully for defects, then scanned faster and faster. He wasn't skimming. He was carefully examining each patch of surface, but at a much faster pace. The surface spun beneath his mind's eye like a globe. There. One defect, the barest depression in the otherwise perfectly smooth surface. Another one. A hairline crack only visible under the greatest scrutiny. It was working.

  "What are you doing!" HumiliT shouted. "The lights are going crazy out here. I can't communicate with Violet, either."

  Alan ignored her. The surface spun in his mind faster and faster. Then, it stopped. He was done. He had found five handholds, five imperfections that would give him access to the data inside.

  A hand grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

  Alan opened his eyes. A wave of dizziness passed over him. Had he gone blind? No, the room was pitch black. "It's fine. I think I have it now. Where'd the lights go?"

  "I tried to tell you. The lights went crazy, then turned off. That was you, right?"

  "Don't worry, just a few more seconds. I'll transfer the files and we can go." Alan's mind brushed over the data drive in a pocket stitched to his waist. Something was wrong. He examined the data drive again. "Shit!"

  "What?"

  "The data drive is unusable."

  "What the hell did you do?" HumiliT asked from the dark.

  "I combined your speed powers with Stalker's powers. It was the only way to crack the encryption in time." He tapped his wrist band, but the display wasn't working. He had no idea how much of his alpha powers he had just drained.

  "Are the files still there?"

  "Hold on." Alan reached for the server, orienting himself with the imperfections he had found before. He filled the imperfections with his mind, using them as leverage. Then, he split the shell open.

  The data inside burst forth. He caught the torrent of files before they disappeared. He had done it.

  "Yes, the data's all here," Alan said. "But how do we get the files out of here? I'm still holding them with Stalker's powers. If I let go, the data will be wiped."

  "Fuck!" HumiliT said. "Hold on, I hear another response team." Two seconds passed. "Back. Can you broadcast the files? I'm pretty sure Stalker and Electrophile can do that."

  "Broadcast? Where? How?"

  "I don't know how. I can't do Stalker voodoo."

  Alan sent his mind out, away from himself and the room. There were hints of digital traffic everywhere, but it was weak. "Maybe I can figure it out. The signal's too weak here." He stepped closer to the hole in the door that HumiliT had made earlier. The hum of digital traffic grew louder, but his hold on the server files grew weaker. "Damn it. This is as far as I can step away from the server, but I need more signal. Can you tear down the doors?"

  "On it."

  The steel doors exploded away from the room and clattered as they smashed into the opposite wall and floor.

  "You're a sitting duck if they open fire," HumiliT said. "My powers should keep you safe, but we don't want to waste them. We're still not done yet."

  No, they weren't. Not with what he had planned. The hum of digital traffic in Alan's mind had become a loud roar. "That did it. Let me see," Alan said.

  He dove into the stream, searching blindly. He found one computer, then another. It was an ocean of servers and computers. "I can do it," Alan called out. "But where do I send the files? There's too much out here."

  There was no reply. He opened one eye. HumiliT's dark shape was nearby. "I'm thinking," she said. "Can you find the largest sources of traffic? My company installed most of the civilian network data centers in the region. If you dump the data in any of them, I can access it later with a backdoor. Even without Stalker's powers."

  "Are you sure that's safe?" It was the equivalent of hi
ding a stolen diamond in a busy subway station. "Nevermind, we don't have a choice." He was already following the strands of digital traffic back to their source. A fountain of bright light burned in his mental vision. "Got one." He scanned the construct quickly. There, he spotted a discreet opening at its base.

  "Found your backdoor," he said. He read the access credentials and memorized them. "Password starts with the letter T?" he asked.

  "What? Yes, that's right."

  He connected the unencrypted files with HumiliT's server. Data flowed from one to the other, chaperoned by Alan. How long would Stalker's powers last? They seemed to last a long time, but what about mixed with HumiliT's super speed? The files, motes of lights to his mind, streamed continuously from one location to the other.

  "Almost done," Alan said.

  HumiliT sighed, sounding as if she was far away. "You had me worried for a bit."

  "Finished." Alan took a deep breath, then released his hold on the Alpha Files. The copy on the Pentagon server dissolved into nothing. That was it. The only copy of the Alpha Files was now on a commercial data center in Washington D.C. They needed to alert Godmother immediately. He should be able to do that with his Stalker powers, but he wasn't sure how.

  There was a sudden spike in the density of the digital traffic around him. Something pushed against his mind. Words formed.

  Stalker, is that you? Stop fooling around and get your tight ass to the Pentagon. I'm almost there.

  Alan let out a yelp and dropped all mental connections with the digital world. The lights in the hallway flickered on. He blinked. Across from him, HumiliT scowled as her eyes adjusted from the darkness. She noticed Alan's horrified expression.

  "What's the matter? You said it's done, right?" HumiliT asked.

  "It's Electrophile. I think he's here."

  CHAPTER 30

  Cover Girl lay on the floor of her room staring at the ceiling. Next to her was an untouched jug of water and an uneaten loaf of bread. Both hands clutched the metal collar at her neck.

  Begging and praying hadn't worked. She had tried forcing her way out of the room, but the resulting shocks had knocked her senseless, not to mention alerting the others. After recovering, she had tried again. And again and again.