Specter Protocol

by Eddie R. Hicks

  Ray checked. He was projecting the IP address of someone accessing a computer in Moscow. His confidence in staying hidden grew when he realized a month had gone by without getting arrested.

  OBS: Oh, and it's early morning in Moscow too, and you said you were tired! Ha!

  DigiSamurai: lol

  Rhinestone: So, what’s new DigiSamurai?

  DigiSamurai: Got some new apps for you guys, assuming you got new information about a certain somebody I’ve been looking for.

  Rhinestone: Got no leads on her, sorry man.

  Phreak: What kind of apps?

  DigiSamurai: Helicopter and Shuttle hacks. Let’s you control them.

  Rhinestone: Hook it up!

  DigiSamurai: Which? lol

  Rhinestone: I’ll take the helicopter one. I picked up a contract to raid a Soviet base last week. Ended up getting chased into a forest by attack helicopters. That hack would have been nice to keep them off me.

  DigiSamurai: All right.

  Rhinestone: Bitcoin good? It’s all I can offer.

  DigiSamurai: Yeah, yeah. I need to eat too.

  Phreak: Just those two apps?

  DigiSamurai: I have an updated version of the traffic and vehicle hacks I used last month. Yoshida fixed the vulnerabilities, but I grabbed some codes off them a few weeks ago. It should be good to hack that again.

  Phreak: WTF, share that shit with the team!

  DigiSamurai: I dunno, I might have overdone it with this one. You could seriously kill a lot of ppl with it.

  Rhinestone: Yeah, we hackers don’t kill, just fuck shit up.

  DigiSamurai: Working on some RW hacking apps too.

  Rhinestone: The fuck?

  Riptyde: How? lol thought the AI prevents hacking.

  Rhinestone: It does… unless it’s a virus.

  Rhinestone: Did an RW let you poke around with their source code?

  DigiSamurai: Maybe.

  Rhinestone: That could be big if you’re out in the field and an RW comes for your ass.

  DigiSamurai: If you find Arianna or Norris out there, let me know.

  DigiSamurai: And I’ll hook you up with the good shit :)

  Rhinestone: Obsidian too?

  DigiSamurai: Yeah them especially. Who the fuck has that kind of power to reach out to me like that?

  Rhinestone: IDK, but I’d like to meet them, that’s like some next level shit.

  DigiSamurai: And you know me, there’s no way I’d let anyone figure out where I am or what I do. Obsidian knew how to contact me and knew everything that was going on around me like they were there. It’s fucked.

  Rhinestone: brb

  OBS: yeah same.

  The chat window went idle, Ray found out why a minute later. The most popular black-market website updated its listings. They had new drugs and memory spheres available for purchase. Ray had no interest in those items, but many hackers did and used them to trade to gain intel or money from around the world. The dark web was a second world only accessible by computers and governed by one law: do whatever the fuck you want.

  Ray logged out, sighing. His search for Arianna yielded no results, not even after spending weeks programming new hacking apps as incentive to make other hackers dig in places he couldn’t. He grabbed his empty bowl that once held warm rice, got up, and placed it in the sink. His phone vibrated on the computer desk, making clanging sounds when it touched an empty bottle. A new text message had arrived.

  He took his phone, the transparent object brightened with light and screens. He felt his heart beat faster.

  Unknown User: Obsidian here. Staying out of trouble Samurai?

  He thumbed his reply.

  Me: I haven’t seen the sun in a month.

  Unknown User: Do you have any plans tonight?

  Me: Was going to jack off.

  Unknown User: Cancel it and go to the Fox’s Den.

  Me: Don’t think they’ll appreciate me jacking off there.

  Unknown User: No, they won’t, so please don’t do that.

  Me: That was a joke.

  Unknown User: Find John Ellsworth. He will be there tonight.

  Me: And?

  Unknown User: See to it he doesn’t have an unfortunate accident.

  Me: Like what?

  There was no reply, and eventually no phone number. Obsidian always seemed to contact Ray via phone numbers or IP addresses that ceased to exist when they went offline. Next level shit. He dialed Estrella’s number, placing the phone to his ear with one hand while the free one typed in various searches to the individual mentioned, John Ellsworth. Estrella’s voicemail was all Ray got. Calls to Piper and Bashiir yielded the same results. Theo, however?

  “Malaka!” Theo’s face appeared on the screen of Ray’s phone. “You know what time it is?”

  “Yep,” Ray said, holding the phone steady for its camera to face him. “So, you remember that hacker who connected me last month, Obsidian?”

  “Back when you were in the server farm?”

  “Yeah, I just got another message from them. They want me to go the Fox’s Den and talk with some guy named John Ellsworth.”

  Theo yawned. “Man, I'm fuckin’ tired. Still, ain’t used to this time zone.”

  “What the fuck is the Fox’s Den away?”

  “Strip club where the dancers are all witches. Warlocks only though, no humans allowed unless accompanied by one or you’re a corporate bigshot.”

  “Well then I’m in luck, you just happen to be a warlock. Wanna come with?”

  Theo’s eyes opened wide. “Oh fuck, look at that I think I got some coffee pods still. I won’t be tired anymore. When do we leave?”

  With one hand, Ray typed a quick search into his computer. First came the website of the Fox’s Den, and he noted its address, only a few blocks away from where he lived. Next up he continued his search of the name, John Ellsworth. A social media profile of a man of that name living in Los Angeles appeared. Ellsworth proudly wore a business suit and tie, held many prestigious university degrees, and posted photos of a lifestyle Ray identified as one handed to him from a powerful company.

  John Ellsworth was a corporate agent.

  Eight

  Estrella

  Three cars, make that four, honked their horns at Estrella when her motorcycle cut them off at the intersection. She laughed while keeping her helmeted head forward, the lights of the city reflected off its visor as the evening skies rolled in. The red suit and bike made her look like a streak of fast-moving crimson on the roads with rippling black hair slipping out from her helmet.

  Her HUD showed a mini-map of the city’s corporate district, and blue arrows on the map pointed her to the location of her navi-point. She double-checked the time when the traffic lights turned red, forcing her to stop. Almost 7 p.m. Estrella was running late. Stopping to play videogames at the arcade was a bad idea, a fun one though, and the pizzas weren’t bad either.

  The lights turned green. Cars and trucks ahead of her moved forward, Estrella’s bike did too, driving under hologram billboards and giant screens playing the local news, and palm trees waving their leaves back and forth. She arrived at the navi-point sixteen minutes later, the triple towers of the Yoshida Corporation, now restored as if nothing happened. Even the lobby looked fabulous when she stepped inside.

  And come to think of it, she’d say the lobby was better than before the assault last month and there wasn’t a memorial in sight for the Yoshida employees and security staff killed. It didn’t surprise her, Yoshida didn’t give a fuck about the loss of human life, they were just fewer souls on the overpopulated world they had to worry about. If anything, Yoshida would take credit for reducing the Alliance’s unemployment rate as a bunch of new job openings popped up in the attack’s wake, not to mention the construction company brought in to make repairs had to hire extra personnel to handle Yoshida’s demand to have the building restored promptly.

  The sad thing was Yoshida brought the violence and death upon themselves, t
o be exact the rogue elements of the corporation operating without Lady M’s consent. Though only Estrella and her new friends knew the truth, while the media branded Ray and Piper as terrorists. Anything they said in defense was censored by the fake news media or written off as lies and deceit.

  This meant that men like Victor Ashford got to walk free and a young unregistered telepathic witch named Portia Blanchard, and many others, got listed as missing people. Yoshida had bad guys within the company, and they lacked evidence to prove who in the company it was. Estrella had to keep her opinions to herself or risk joining the terrorist watch list. She had to play her role as an RW looking to bring them down and had to keep it a secret from Ray and Piper. She also had to keep the status of Ray and Piper secret from her new boss. Estrella was sick and tired of secrets.

  The long elevator ride up gave Estrella ample time to change from her red biker suit and helmet, just a spray of nanites doing the trick. The helmet and suit turned to gray goo and then poured into her open synthetic arm. When the gray cleared from her body, Estrella stood wearing a strapless black top and shorts with a pistol holstered to the side of her left leg.

  She ventured through the maze of halls, most of them empty except for armed guards near the office at the end of the hall, the office she came seeking. Beyond its sliding door was Lady M, Yoshida’s CEO, standing ahead of a floor to ceiling window. M was wearing a lavender-colored skirt that went above the knees, with a matching jacket. Smoke lifted away from the cigarette held by her elegant cigarette holder, like a flapper from the 1920s.

  To Lady M’s right was a Yoshida PMC idling with an assault rifle strapped over his shoulder. She remained still for a few, observing the city’s skyline, lights, advertisements, and cars below looking like moving lights on a road. M reminded Estrella of a queen watching the subjects of the city she ruled from her castle’s tower.

  M puffed her cigarette and then faced the PMC as Estrella’s reflection on the window appeared. “Leave us,” Lady M said.

  The PMC nodded and marched outside beyond the sliding door. Estrella and Lady M were alone in her office. Estrella neared the desk covered in documents and tablet pads.

  “Guards standing watch,” Estrella snickered. “Does this mean you’re in the flesh, M?”

  Lady M reached for a bottle of whiskey off-screen pouring it into a glass. She took a sip of the drink then placed it on a table that wasn’t in the office.

  Estrella grimaced. “I guess not.”

  “After the attack, we’re not taking any chances.”

  “You’re a hologram.”

  “My employees aren’t, and my orders were quite clear. Guards in every room and office.”

  An armed guard protecting the holographic projection Lady M seemed fishy. But she wasn’t the one to argue, not when she hadn’t gotten paid, yet.

  “Talk to me, M,” Estrella said to the flickering hologram. “What the fuck did you call me up here for?”

  M elegantly blew smoke from her recent puff to Estrella. It had no smell. “I want a status report.”

  “Got nothing new to report,” Estrella said. “And couldn’t you have just called me?”

  “Ray fucking Partington can hack just about any fucking device, using a phone. No, I’m not taking that chance on him eavesdropping.” Lady M reached for the off-screen glass of whiskey. She sipped it and put it back. “Nothing at all? Not even the whereabouts of Ray and Piper?”

  “Still lookin’,” Estrella lied.

  “I need them eliminated,” Lady M said, and puffed her smoke. “Innocent or not, their demise will solve a lot of problems if they take the fall for the shit that’s ripped this city apart.”

  “The avatar project and the Bald Skulls are more of a priority for me.”

  “Make those less of it.”

  “What the fuck?” Estrella’s arms crossed. “Seriously?”

  “Yes, seriously and I’ll explain to you why later. I want your efforts placed into finding those two fugitives.”

  “Tell me why now, because you know, I went through a lot of trouble searching for the Skulls the past month.”

  “People know you’re my personal fixer, Rodriguez. And they know you, Ray Partington, and Piper Taylor were working closely at the time of the Federation IWs attack on our company. The press isn’t stupid, they’re putting it together and are asking annoying questions, like, if you can be trusted given your past and the fact you, Taylor, and Partington were a team for a moment until they ‘ditched’ you.”

  “The fuck you want me to do about it?”

  “Bring them in or kill them. I don’t fucking care which of the two you do. But you got to do it and nobody else. It’ll make you look good and that makes me look good for trusting you.”

  Estrella replied with silence. Stabbing Piper and Ray in the back wasn’t on the to-do-list.

  “Also,” Lady M said. “There’s an envelope on the table.” Her holographic finger pointed to it. “Take it.”

  Estrella grabbed the envelope, tore it open, and pulled out the card inside. She opened it to discover a formal invitation written with fancy letters that rich people would marvel about.

  Her right eyebrow lifted. “Eh?”

  “It’s an invitation to a party I’m hosting at my place,” Lady M said.

  Estrella tossed the invitation across the desk. “I don’t do posh corporate parties.”

  “You will now. I want you there, and I want you dressed to impress. There’s going to be investors, many business partners, and Yoshida executives in attendance.”

  “There better be booze.”

  “Of course, I’m not that fucking boring.”

  “Still waiting for that reason.”

  “We know the Bald Skulls, Arianna Kounias, and the avatar project are connected, and we know that someone in this company has secretly funded it. I have a hunch those individuals will make an appearance. I want you to mix and mingle with everyone, find out who you think is dirty and isn’t.”

  “Like Ashford?”

  “Yes, like Ashford, the man you and Partington accused but presented no proof. Never mind the fact Partington’s word means fuck all, being the fugitive, he is. But, if Ashford is dirty, talk to him, use that RW cunningness of yours to get him to reveal something, anything, I don’t fucking care what. From there, I’ll start making heads roll and find the heart of the avatar project, and fucking pull it out from its fucking chest.”

  And if Lady M succeeded in that, then the only use M would have for her would be to turn in Piper and Ray… Estrella needed to get a book on how to lie good and read it thoroughly. She wanted her freedom from corporate slavery, but she didn’t want her new friends to suffer because of it.

  “That it?” Estrella snorted.

  “Be a charming girl too,” Lady M said while nodding. “The world’s totally fucked right now. IW terrorist attacks in Europe, the attacks in New York, Los Angeles, and right fucking here in Yoshida. People are losing hope, and I can’t have that happen.”

  “Look at you, all concerned for the lives of the world.”

  “I need my employees happy.” M took another swig of her off-screen drink. “Happy workers and investors are productive ones, and productivity has gotten really fucking low since the attacks. This party ought to bring select people’s hopes up.” There was direct eye contact between the two women now. Glowing synthetic eyes met flicking holographic ones. Nobody in the room had real eyes. “And force them to stop questioning my decision to place you in charge of my investigation. The defective loose cannon real witch that was in the news prior to the death and destruction.”

  “So, this is also a publicity stunt.”

  “To make you look good until you bring in those two fugitives? Yes.”

  “Guess I’m shopping for a dress.” Estrella hated fancy dresses. She twisted to leave.

  “You might want to take that then.” She turned back to see Lady M pointing at a drawer on the desk. It popped open at the snap of M’s
fingers. Inside the drawer, Estrella found a check addressed to her. “Your payment for your hard work so far.”

  She brought the check to her face and grimaced. It was a payment for six thousand Alliance Dollars. A check payment. “A check? Really? Couldn’t you deposit the money into my account?”

  “Yes, but with a check, you can’t do anything with it until I sign it.” Estrella checked the corner. Lady M had signed it. “Just a reminder to you, who has the power, who’s making it happen, and who can easily make you go broke by not signing it. Enjoy your day, Ms. Rodriguez.”

  Estrella made her way back to street level, opening her synthetic arm, allowing the gray goo within it to leave, cover her body, then take the shape and then the color of her biker suit and helmet. She stuffed the check and invitation inside her arm and paused for a moment when she leaped back on her bike. She hoped she wouldn’t have to trade Piper and Ray to get her freedom, which was the sole reason she chose to work for Lady M and become a Yoshida fixer. Los Angeles wasn’t Estrella’s home, Buenos Aires was, and she had to make it back. She had to be reunited with her aunt Anna, and pay her respects to Yumi, now resting in her grave. Estrella felt trapped.

  She reached for her phone and thumbed a quick text message to TT.

  Me: Just got paid, got any new upgrades for me?

  TT replied promptly.

  TT: You’re fucking right I do. Come on down quick though, I’m about to call it for the night.

  Nine

  Ray

  A packed subway sped through dark underground tunnels. Ray was the only human aboard, and he knew it because the witch with long pink hair and her boyfriend rocking a gold mohawk kept giving him odd glimpses. He faced away from them with his glasses still tinted to appear as shades. Theo laughed at him.

  News headlines scrolled across screens on the subway car.

  ‘The search for Ray Partington and Piper Taylor continues after recent tip turns up no results.’

  ‘Federation President threatens military action if the Alliance navy does not back out of the Pacific Ocean.’