Night Life

Milo dropped Ahmin off at the collective where they checked up on progress, then he and Terri went back to the hotel for the rest of the evening.

'Tell me,' Terri said after Milo got out of the shower. 'how long did you stay in the wilderness?'

'What do you mean?' he asked, sitting down and starting on his glass of wine.

'The way you said it, the time between the plane thing and when you started working at the department must have been spent somewhere.'

He smiled to himself. 'I was so scared after I had pulled off that insane stunt that I retreated to a cabin that once belonged to an uncle of mine and which no one ever knew about but me. I had been there before as a little kid but he died soon after and it was abandoned.'

'So, how was it?'

Milo leaned back, sipping his wine in thought. 'Silent. And not. You don't hear city sounds but nature has its own noise. Imagine birds, wind, rain, thunder, trees creaking and rustling, animals going by on occasion.'

She leaned against him. 'Sounds peaceful.'

'I didn't get much sleep the first week until I finally got a little used to it.'

She chuckled. 'That bad?'

'You have no idea when you're used to the city and equipment humming all around you.' he said and filled up their glasses again. 'It's such a different world, especially without any connection to the grid.'

'What did you do?'

'I spend time learning to hunt, gather edible plants. There were a lot of books on survival so I went through them in between trips to a nearby village store. I even cleaned up the glass house attached to the cabin where my uncle grew his own vegetables.'

'Back to nature.'

He nodded. 'But curiosity eventually led me to build a satellite connection so I could check out what happened on the grid and if they were onto me. I waited patiently and found out they had no idea who did it. After a while I wanted to get back into what I was doing and got the idea to hide right under their noses in the wolf's den.'

'Or in your case, the wolf hiding between the sheep.' Terri said with a grin.

He chuckled. 'Perhaps. You know a little about me now.'

'And what do you know about me then? You did check me out, right?'

'Had to, yes.' he said and drank while he remembered her info. 'You lost your mother at the age of sixteen. Father unknown but probably also hybrid canine, like your mother. You had already proven to be good with coding and math at a young age and earned enough with odd jobs to live on your own by then. There were chances of you doing shady side jobs but nothing pointed to any evidence of that while you worked legitimate jobs.'

'Looks like I did well up until now to keep a clean record.'

'Yeah. Too bad you're too good at what you do while accepting special jobs. That attracts the wrong crowd eventually.'

'I noticed.' she said and drank her wine for a while. 'I don't know if I would have stayed away from that if I had known this could happen though.'

'I know what you mean. Sometimes the thrill is too attractive.'

They watched the lights shining on the wall again for a while.

'If you can't think of anything, you're welcome to use the cabin. It's simple, but that's what makes it safe.' he said.

'What about you?'

'I'll just see what happens.'

She turned towards him. 'Oh no! I'm not going there alone knowing you could have stayed safe there!'

He grinned. 'I'll just drive you crazy there.'

'That's better than getting caught and end up in jail, or worse, die!'

'Fine then, if it really comes to that, we'll both go there.'

'Good.' she said and leaned back against him again, holding out her glass. 'Now fill me up and stop making stupid suggestions.'

He sniggered and they finished the bottle before going to sleep in their own beds.

Chapter 07

The next day Terri and Milo found an enthusiastic Theresa greeting them. 'We've got some interesting things.'

They sat down to look at the material.

'You know the camera we set up at the accountant's office? She uses the same software for all her clients, but when she works on the organisation we noticed a pattern.' Theresa said and showed video of the woman logging in at several times during the day.

'She always gets a login error before getting in.' Terri said.

'Indeed. seems she logs in causing an error first, then logs in again to get into the right account.' Milo said. 'She's using a secret knock to get access to the hidden administration.'

'We checked it.' Theresa said. 'Without causing the error we see her legitimate clients and official administrations of the organisation. By making a specific error in the password the first time we get to the real administration the second time we log in.'

'You got the money trail.' Milo said and crossed his arms.

'Enough to link more data anyway. They hired Mitsy to create a program to sniff and extrapolate enough key exchanges on the grid to figure out the main encryption key and sell it. And amongst the prospective buyers is your boss.'

***

'Why would your boss want it?' Terri asked after they went through all the rest of the information.

'Reselling specific information to anyone who's interested.' Milo said. 'Foreign governments, criminal organisations, corporations. Between all the departments it's more than a goldmine of information.'

'Wouldn't he already have enough access for that?'

Milo shook his head. 'Anything leaked could be traced back to us and him. The departments are very paranoid so there's no telling what information we get from others is real or fabricated.'

'What do we do?' Theresa asked.

'No choice.' he said tapping on the papers in front of him. 'Gather all evidence, break the encryption and expose enough to get the departments to shut down communications and get him arrested.'

'That's going to be one giant shit storm.' Ahmin said. 'They'll want our heads.'

Milo nodded. 'I'll try to keeps yours out of it and have them focus on me. Limit the damage.'

'You can't do that!' Terri said. 'We're all in this!'

'It's easier for one person to dodge them.'

'Even so!'

'He's right.' Theresa said. 'We had to use fall guys before on very tricky projects. None of us liked it, but it was the best security for the collective and we keep them as comfortable as we can while they're locked up.'

Milo put his hand on Terri's. 'Thanks for worrying, but I was prepared for something like this since I started working there.'

She bit her lip. 'I don't like it, so you better think hard of a way to avoid this.'

He grinned. 'Already on it.' he said, then looked at Theresa. 'Let's break this apart.'

***

'I'm in.'

'Great.' Milo said to one of the collective members who specialised in accounting and had hacked the accounting company. 'Get me data on all the organisations they do the accounting for. We'll drop that in their client's mail to heat things up.'

'I'll cross-reference and they can receive it by noon.'

'Good.'

'I see some accounts on officials.'

'Forward that to Miller from Listener's News. She's a bitch but she will rip the shit out of them.' Milo said and grinned. 'Once in a while she's useful. What else have we got?'

The guy looked through the lists. 'Subsidies for their projects, probably by bribing. Tax evasions which will interest the agency.'

'Nice. Drop anything interesting at any department that can damage them.'

'Nothing financially on your boss though.'

'He's careful, no surprise there.' Milo said and patted the guy's shoulder. 'Good work.'

***

'We hit the jackpot.' Ahmin said, coming into the room with Terri. 'We decrypted the data from the laptop and we might be able to put together the program to extract the key.'

'Is there still a way to get it into any backbone?' Milo asked.

'We have insiders at two of the main suppliers.' Theresa said with a devious smile. 'We can get it installed with their help.'

'I had a feeling you had your hands in a lot more of the infrastructure than you let on.' Milo said.

'If you knew what we and others are capable off you'd throw out all your electronics.'

'I do. Which is why I use custom equipment myself.'

'If only the rest of the world would wake up.' Terri said.

'At least we're not after controlling the population.' Theresa said.

'Eevi's a dead end though.' another member said looking at a printout. 'She's living offline.'

Theresa looked at the data. 'No address, static info. She knows how to hide.'

'She might go underground or get taken down with others, no need to concern ourselves especially with her right now.' Milo said. 'We need to prevent them from completing their goals and get that key for ourselves.'

'Right.' Theresa said. 'Sit back and watch our show.'

During the day the criminal fronts got unexpected envelopes and packages containing information on their losses, government agencies got incriminating information on their spending and news agencies got hold of their new shocking headlines.

Milo monitored his department alongside the monitoring the collective had.

'Busy day.' Terri said looking at the headlines.

'I think we've started the scandal of the century, although it probably just lasts until the next celebrity fuck-up is presented to the public.' Milo said. 'It'll only be recognised much later when it doesn't matter anymore.'

'Figures.'

'But it'll keep everyone occupied for now until we get a hold on the key and them.'

The collective saw the paybacks occurring between the criminals and agencies breaking down doors that evening already.

'Damn.' said one of the guys seeing footage of a shooting. 'This is awful.'

'Yeah.' said Milo. 'But this is what happens outside the public view anyway. It's horrible, but we got to bear the burden.'

'We're working on the decrypter. Several providers are installing our patch right now.' Theresa said.

'Now we wait until we get the key from all the data.'

***

Terri and Milo returned to the hotel at the end of the day while the collective went on with their tasks.

'You think we've put a halt to their plans?' Terri asked walking into the room.

'I think so. At least for now.' Milo said. 'And if they find a way to get out from under it we should already have the means to expose the government so it's useless.'

'I hope s-.' Terri said and stopped the moment she saw Eevi sitting on the couch.

'If you think you're the only ones to have informants you're really mistaken. Money makes anything insecure.' Eevi said and aimed her gun at Terri.

Milo pushed Terri down Just before Eevi fired. He pulled out his own gun and fired back at the couch before pulling Terri back into the hallway.

'Fuck!' she said, scrambling down the stairs. 'Why didn't I smell her!?'

'There are so many bad scents here, I'd be surprised you would have!' Milo said running after her.

They burst through the door of the parking garage and saw their car on flat tires.

'No wonder there were no others above.' Milo said. 'She must have kept them all outside to wait for us to be on foot.' He looked around. 'And no way to tap into any of the backdoors on these cars with my mobile.'

'Does it have to be a car?' asked Terri who spotted an alternative.

Seconds later a utility truck sped out of the building, its tires squealing as it turned onto the street. The henchmen blocking the street with their cars weren't really prepared to take on that massive vehicle and moved their cars out of its path as fast as they could.

The truck went cleanly through them and they started their pursuit when all men got in.

'Where to!?' asked Terri taking a hard left at the end of the street, avoiding heading to crowded streets.

'Somewhere we can get to fast. No dead ends.' Milo said. 'The old canal harbour? Enough room and exits at both ends.'

'All right!' she said and swerved around a car in front of her.

'Keep on their tail!' Eevi said into her mobile while walking to the car waiting for her. 'Don't try to push them off the road, that truck is too heavy to try that. Just follow them for now.'

'Ahmin.' he said answering his phone.

'Milo here! Disband! Eevi's found us and has informants inside!'

'Wait, Eevi!?'

'Yes! They're in pursuit of the truck we stole right now! The project is compromised so get out of there! Get the laptop and have Theresa shut down that site!'

'I'm on my way!' Ahmin said and ran off to the control room.

'They're only following us.' Terri said going full throttle. 'They're not overtaking even though they're much faster than this thing.'

'They must be planning something to take us out. Let's keep at it for now.'

The entrance to the harbour was easy to reach through the broad streets there.

'They must be delaying security as well, none has showed up so far.' Terri said.

'With the clients for this thing I'm not surprised they can pull it off.'

'There! It's to our right.' said Terri spotting the entrance gates.

Just as she turned right a large dump truck came out from a street on the left and hit their truck hard on the side, almost tipping it over.

'Motherfucking bastard!' yelled Terri frantically keeping the truck on its wheels.

'If I wasn't already going right that would have flipped the truck over!' she said aiming for one of the gates and crashing through the barrier.

The first truck appeared next to theirs while she drove down the docks. It moved closer when their truck got hit against the other side by another dump truck. Terri tried to brake out of the pincer but was too late, the first truck smashed into their truck again.

'Shit! Lost the camera!' said Terri looking at the black screen of the truck's remote control. She tossed it aside.

'At least we got them far away enough to get out.' Milo said driving the rental car he had hastily arranged near the hotel in the opposite direction. 'We'll ha-' he said when his mobile rang.

'Terri here.' she said after taking it from him.

'It's Ahmin. The site has been abandoned but I've got all the data from Theresa with instructions on how to contact her.'

'Ask if he can get to the Alfredo mall, the side entrance cameras are broken so we can meet at the lunch room there.' Milo said.

Terri asked and told Milo that Ahmin could make it as soon as he arranged transport.

'We'll switch at the next street.' Milo told Terri. 'I'll arrange something for him at Minute Rental. I've got access there as well.'

She relayed the message and hung up just before Milo could park and have her drive.

***

It didn't take long for Ahmin to show up at the small lunch room located in a corner of the mall next to the side entrance. Milo bought him a soda and Ahmin took out the laptop and two disks and handed them to Milo.

'This is all we've got so far.' he said.

'I'll take that, thank you very much.' said a voice behind Milo.

Milo turned and looked up at his boss. 'Director Meyer.'

'No use running, miss Willis.' he said to Terri who was about to take off if Milo said so. 'We've got our people covering the exits.'

'How did you find us?' she asked.

'Old-fashioned deduction and using the grey mass we all have, miss Willis. I knew you'd keep out of sight of surveillance, so I had the most interesting dead spots in the city staked out.'

He looked at the laptop on the table. 'So, how did it feel to be on the run from authority again, Karl?'

Ahmin and Terri looked at Milo who turned his cup of coffee in his hand.

'You knew?' Milo asked.

'It took several years, but eventually someone who was around when you got your equipment recognised you.'

'Why didn't you arrest me then?'

'Because you were the right man to get this piece of software for me if they wouldn't have sold it to me.'

'What are you planning to do with it? I know it's not for money.'

'No, just using it as leverage to make sure I keep in charge for a long time, including having a hand in the other departments.'

Milo nodded. 'There just one thing though.'

'What?'

Milo nodded at the court where Eevi walked up to them.

'Director Meyer.' she said with a sly smile when she arrived at the table.

'Miss Mustonen. A pleasure to finally meet you.'

'And how did you get here?' Terri asked.

'Inside information.' Eevi said.

'I expect you didn't come alone?' Meyer asked.

'I have my men covering your men, so I'll be taking that. And you can still buy it, just for double the price this time.' she said and reached out for the laptop and disks.

At that moment several alarms went off at the the mall and Milo kicked the legs from under the table.

'Follow me!' he said grabbing the laptop and disks. 'Kitchen!'

Terri and Ahmin ran after Milo past the surprised lunch room owner and into the kitchen.

'Block it!' said Milo to Ahmin who turned over a cart and jammed a ladder between the shelves.

Milo opened two microwaves, dumped the disks and laptop in them and turned them on causing sparks to fly. Eevi crashed into the kitchen door trying to get through.

'This way!' Milo said and headed for a side door.

On the other side was a service entrance and they ran into the hallway to the exit door. Outside he led them to another car.

'Get in!' he said and got behind the wheel.

In a few moments they left the car park, swerving out of the way of other cars.

'You expected this?' Terri asked.

'Prepared for it just in case.'

'You triggered the alarms and knew about that side door?'

'Yeah. That lunch room was added later to the mall and covered the old maintenance entrance. If they showed up that would be our exit.'

'But now all the data is lost!'

'Not quite.' Ahmin said with a slight grin. 'Theresa has a copy.'

'I had her secure the data and the collective should be decrypting the communications soon, dumping the data at major sites to have them publish it.' Milo said checking the side streets.

'You mean they cracked the keys already?' Terri asked.

'Barely in time though.' Ahmin said. 'If we can do the same in escaping, I'd be really grateful.' he said looking back at the cars going after them, some with sirens and emergency lights.

'Seems Meyer made a deal with Eevi.' Terri said, looking back.

'Yeah.' Milo said turning hard onto a main road. 'They're going to go all out to hunt us down.'

'Shit!' Terri said and kicked the dashboard. 'We'd have to die to get away from them now!'

'And to think I had hoped to ask you if you'd like to come with me to my uncle's cabin at Regalis Forest if we could get away quietly.'

Terri looked surprised at him. 'Me, with you!?'

'Yeah.' he said taking the emergency lane. 'Ever since that kiss at the garage I've wanted to repeat that a lot more with you. Hold on now!'

He drove the car into one of the major connecting tunnels with squealing tires in front of a truck who had to brake hard to avoid collision. Half of the cars in pursuit crashed into the braking cars in front of them and the truck. The rest got delayed but took up the pursuit again.

The car navigation blinked a red warning about the end of the tunnel being blocked. 'They're trapping us!' Terri said.

'No they're not! There's a service tunnel which leads directly to a small harbour at the canal. There are small boats to go upriver undetected.' Milo said and braked hard at one of the emergency sections. 'Get out!'

Terri and Ahmin jumped out of the car, hurried up the low stairs and unlocked the service door.

'Milo!' she called out while he rounded the car.

'Get in!' he shouted and they hurried inside the dim hallway. He ran to her and looked at her with sadness in his eyes. Terri realised what the look in his eyes meant. 'Sorry.' he said and closed the door before she could stop him.

'Milo!' she shouted pounding at the door. She heard the car taking off with squealing tires and the sirens passing by soon after. Her legs trembled hard as she leaned against the door. 'Milo..'