13 – Breaking and Entering

  The van rocked with the occasional gust of sleet-laced wind, trundling its way through the dim, lamp-lit streets of the outer districts. District Seven was much older than the Blast—part of the old city that had once been Queens. Even so, it was still a good distance from District One—New Manhattan. Another gust shook the van, ice rattled against the windscreen, and Beef groaned from the jump seat in the back.

  “We had to do this job tonight?”

  “Told you, silly,” Glitch said, swiveling in the passenger seat. “This is time-sensitive! Other people will be interested in this score and, honestly, this weather might be doing us a favor.”

  Addie nodded. “Yeah. If you’re nervous to be out tonight, imagine how other, softer people will feel.” She turned and winked at the big man, and he grumbled, folding his massive arms over his equally swollen chest.

  “Don’t try to butter me up.”

  “Butter?” Glitch made a show of licking her lips. “I like that idea.”

  Addie snorted, shaking her head. “Please. I need to be able to sleep at night.”

  “So, what’s the plan?” Beef asked, ignoring them both. “Just crash this merc’s pad and slap him around until he talks?”

  Glitch sucked her teeth, shaking her head. “You need to stop thinking like a banger. Ads will get me a connection to his local net, I’ll get control of his security, and then we’ll crash his pad, hopefully quietly, so the neighbors don’t get all worked up.”

  “And after that, we’ll slap him around?”

  Addie shook her head. “Hopefully, just the threat will be enough. He’s a dangerous-looking guy, though, so we’d better not get too cocky. Here.” Addie flicked him the file on Motor Cruz.

  His eyes unfocused, and he stared into space for a few seconds. “Tattoos and chrome don’t make you tough—only bones think that,” Beef said dismissively.

  For once, Addie was stumped. “Bones?”

  Beef lifted his blocky, brutal-looking hand cannon and tapped a thick index finger against the barrel shroud, indicating a row of deep scratches. “Bones.”

  Glitch sighed. “It’s gruesome, Ads. The Helldogs keep score that way. Don’t ask.”

  “I don’t need to ask, I get it.” Addie stared at Beef, looking into his deep-set eyes, and after a moment, said, “He’s not just a random with tatts and chrome teeth; he’s a tier-six operator with a long list of completed gigs. Let’s not underestimate him, okay?”

  Beef shrugged. “I’ll take him serious.”

  Addie let her expression brighten. “Okay, good.”

  Glitch was quick to add, “Also, we need him alive, Beefie, so put that damn cannon away!”

  Beef groaned, opening his synth-leather duster and sliding the big gun into its holster. He reached into an oversized pocket and took out some half-gloves fitted with wires and metal plates. “Use my stun-knucks. Happy?”

  Glitch grinned, exposing her canines, glowing pink in the van’s dark interior. Seeing her teeth again, after just talking about their mark’s chrome grill, made Addie wonder if she was hopelessly out of touch with fashion. She ran her tongue over her perfectly normal teeth, wondering what she’d look like with something fancier. Even Tony had augmented teeth—normal-looking, if maybe a little too perfect, but augmented nonetheless. He didn’t need to worry about cavities or chipping a tooth or—

  “What ya thinking about?” Glitch asked.

  Addie blinked, realizing she’d been staring into space. With a shrug, she bared her teeth, tapping a finger against her right canine. “Trying to imagine what kind of custom grill I’d go for if I ever did something like that.”

  “Oh, sis! You should! I’ve got a great guy in my neighborhood. He can get anything!”

  Addie laughed, shrugging. “I’ll think about it. Something tells me I’d feel like a faker.”

  Glitch’s eyes practically bugged out. “Are you kidding? You’re the real deal, and you should know that. Like, shit, girl, I’ve seen you pull off some stuff that would’ve had some of the vets I’ve run with shitting ice cubes.”

  Beef chortled, and Glitch glanced at him, grinning.

  Addie had to smile at the imagery the netjacker’s words invoked. “Well, thanks.”

  The former banger cleared his throat and said, “I saw a guy the other day with a pretty messed-up grill. Looked like rust-tech at first—metal and wires—but when he smiled, electricity arced and sizzled over his teeth. Was pretty tough.”

  Addie squinted at him, wondering if he was spinning a tall tale. “How did he keep from getting electrocuted? It couldn’t have been comfortable having wires on his teeth!”

  Glitch chimed in, “Probably synth-skin inside his mouth—something non-conductive and tough. You’re right, though; I wouldn’t want all that gear in my mouth.”

  “Shit,” Beef said with another chuckle, “imagine what you’d think if you met that dude in an alley one night and he smiled at you. Major aura.”

  Addie snorted and spun her seat to face forward. The van was making its way over a bridge, and with bumper-to-bumper traffic, progress was slow. “Can’t believe there’s this much traffic with a storm blowing in.”

  “There’s traffic because of the storm,” Glitch replied. “People are hurrying to get somewhere to hunker down, and everyone’s moving slowly because of the weather.”

  Addie glanced at the ETA the van’s AI had sent to her AUI. “We’ll be there in forty minutes.”

  “Yeah,” Glitch said, “assuming the checkpoints go well.”

  Addie nodded, slouching down in the seat and stretching her legs out, careful not to touch the van’s pedals. “Might as well get comfy.”

  ###

  “Here,” Glitch said, flicking her hand toward Addie and Beef. A window popped up on Addie’s AUI, displaying a floor plan with highlighted areas. They were sitting in the back of the van, the curtain drawn to keep light from spilling out the windshield; Tony hadn’t gotten around to updating the van with smart-glass so it could make itself opaque.

  “What am I looking at?” Beef asked.

  “That’s the first floor of the building. See the stairwell I highlighted?”

  “Yeah.”

  Addie saw it too, and followed along with her eyes as Glitch kept speaking: “If you take that stairwell, you can climb straight up to the loft on the fifth floor. There’ll be some security cams and sensors, but we’ll deal with those before you go up. I also have a floor plan of the loft, but it’s outdated—from a listing when the place was up for rent four years ago. Our boy might have made some changes since then.”

  “How we dealing with the cams?”

  “Well, there’s a security office on the first floor. I was wondering if Ads might be able to use her drone to—”

  “I could use a drone, but I think it’s a little riskier than if I just go in using my…other talents.”

  “Riskier how? You’d be safe in the van if you use a drone,” Beef asked.

  “I mean, someone or a sensor or a cam might pick up my drone. We can’t afford any slip-ups—too much is riding on this.”

  Beef frowned, folding his arms over his chest again. “What is riding on this?”

  Glitch put a hand on his knee, patting. “You and me don’t need to know yet, big boy, and it’s safer for everyone if we don’t know until we need to.” She looked at Addie. “Right, Ads?”

  Addie nodded, smiling her gratitude.

  Beef wasn’t so easily mollified. “Must have something to do with Shep. Ol’ Corpo would be here, otherwise. Ads wouldn’t be so worked up, either.” Addie narrowed her eyes at him, but he just shrugged. “It’s just facts. Relax, I won’t fish anymore. So, what? You gonna go spark the security system or something?”

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  Addie nodded. “I’ll plug Glitch’s jack right into the server.”

  “You make my life so easy, sis.” Glitch pulled a drawer open on her black case and plucked out a pair of thumb-sized devices with universal prongs. “One for the security office and one in case our boy has a system. Find an open slot anywhere on the local-net—the server deck, router, even a networked display or a cam.”

  Addie took the devices and slipped them into her pocket. “Easy peasy.”

  Glitch grabbed her wrist. “Be careful.”

  Addie smiled and pulled the hem of her coat up, revealing her needler. “I will.”

  Beef grumbled faintly and asked, “And what do I do?”

  “Just wait outside until I own the network, then you can meet Addie at the stairwell.” Glitch stared into space for a second, then shook her head. “Can’t see the building through the van’s cams—too much ice on the lens. Still, I bet there won’t be anyone around. No way the business office is still open, and I bet their security is all remote. Probably farmed out to a call center.”

  “Okay.” Addie scooted off the cargo box and unlatched the rear door. “I’ve got you on comms,” she said, shivering as a gust of icy air came through the opening.

  “Right behind you,” Beef said, grunting as he stood.

  Addie hopped down onto the slush-filled street, glad she’d picked up some new—to her—boots a few days ago. They were good ones that Tony had helped her pick. They had ankle-high uppers and a gas-charged membrane that sealed, pressurized, and insulated them. Even better, the soles were “smart” and molded to the terrain.

  They were super comfortable and silent on just about any surface, but, even more importantly, they were cute—mostly black with yellow highlights, and not bulky like standard combat boots. She realized the reason she’d found the boots for a bargain price was probably the same reason she’d gotten her coat—the yellow wasn’t exactly sought after by mercs, bangers, or operators, but she didn’t care.

  Beef’s ham-sized hand fell on her shoulder, and he gave her a gentle nudge as he hopped down with a rattle of gear and weapons. “Damn, that cold feels good,” he said with a chuckle, holding his duster open and looking up into the black sky. “Was getting stuffy in that van.”

  Addie watched as he—quite literally—steamed. “That’s not natural.”

  He shrugged, letting his coat flaps fall. “I’ve always run hot.” He nodded across the street. “I’ll go over there and watch the building. See you at the stairwell when Glitch gives the word.”

  “Right.” Addie stepped around the van and up onto the sidewalk. They were half a block from Cruz’s building, so she started walking, hands in pockets, collar pulled up high, obscuring most of her face. She wanted to get an upgrade to her optics, one that would distort light and scramble her face on most vid feeds, but for the time being, she had to wear a visor that did the same thing. It wasn’t so bad in the cold, at least; it kept the frigid air from freezing her poor eyeballs.

  The streets were predictably quiet; they had been since they’d cleared the last checkpoint. A few people sat on a stoop across the street, but they were watching Beef’s lumbering form approach, so Addie slipped by without attracting any attention. She smirked at the thought; it wasn’t that she thought people should notice her, but she was used to the treatment from the bangers who liked to hang around in the Blast. As she thought about it, she realized that she had no idea if other districts had similar populations and behavior.

  When she reached the apartment building, she stopped at the corner and gave it a good look. It was ancient—actual brick and mortar—and only eight stories high. There was a sizeable stoop out front, but it was empty. The door looked heavy, and she could see it had a security panel, so it wouldn’t be unlocked. “Okay, here we go, I guess,” she said, pulling her hands out of her pockets and starting forward.

  By the time Addie reached the base of the steps, she’d folded a layer of Dust into the correct pattern for fading and then stretched it over herself. As she slipped into the veil, the cold faded, the sounds of the city became muted, and the world shifted into shades of blue and gray. She glided up the steps and walked through the door. The foyer was small and crowded, with postboxes on two walls and a stack of shipping containers on the other. Ahead, a short hallway led to a stairwell and a single elevator. Another branching hallway led away to the left. Addie walked that way.

  She saw three doorways, and, according to the floor plan Glitch had given her, the security office was the one in the middle. She took two steps, then froze as goosebumps broke out all over the nape of her neck and her shoulders. She felt like someone was right behind her, and she whirled, reflexively reaching for her needler, even though she was faded. As she spun, she got a good view of the hallway behind her and slowly relaxed, frowning. There wasn’t anything there.

  She glanced at her Dust readout:

  Dust Purity: Impure – 1.71 LIR

  Dust Capacity: 4251/5000

  Gain Rate: 22 units per 60 seconds

  Current Dust-tech Drain: 11 units per second

  That was a faster drain than she’d been seeing lately, but she still had plenty of time. Still, she wondered what the difference was. Could it be the storm? She inhaled sharply and refocused on the door ahead, pushing the thought aside; she had a job to do. In five steps, she was through the heavy wooden door and standing in a dark, closet-like office. She moved past a cluttered shelving unit to a small desk situated under a junction box.

  Wires ran from the box in every direction, but Addie didn’t have to worry about those—a thick network cable ran down to the desk where an ancient, bulky server deck sat. An old-school LED monitor sat there, along with a keyboard. Addie looked around the room, didn’t see any cams, other than the one on the monitor, which was already covered with a piece of tape, so she gathered up her Dust, slipping back into the physical world.

  New sounds came to her—the whirring of a fan, a buzzing sound coming from a small speaker, and a distant clatter, like something being blown by the wind. The air smelled of chem-sticks and takeout cartons, which drew Addie’s eye to the pile of garbage beside the desk. Either the janitor wasn’t working or the security office wasn’t on the cleaning schedule.

  She leaned over the server deck, turned it so she could see the back, and smiled when she saw all the open ports. With a click, she inserted one of Glitch’s little devices. She focused on her comm window, giving JJ the hint to transmit her words, then said, “It’s in.”

  Glitch immediately replied, “I see it! Daemons are already working on the network access. Sheesh, this is some old ice.”

  “Yeah, this deck looks like it’s as old as me. I have a feeling it doesn’t get much attention from whoever’s in charge of security here.”

  “Heh, yeah, I bet the residents would love to hear how easily I just got in. I’ll leave a bot to send them all an email about it in a week or two.”

  Beef’s voice cut in. “Should I go to the stairwell?”

  “Yep. I have the cams. Recording’s disabled. You’re both clear to walk around. I’ll give you a shout if anyone’s coming your way.”

  “Nice,” Addie said, turning to open the door. It was locked, and she figured she should leave it that way, so she took a couple of seconds to rebuild her Dust pattern. Once more in the veil, she stepped through the door, only to feel like she’d fallen into an icy river. She gasped, jerking reflexively. At the same time, her vision went dark, but after a single, deep, panicked breath, the darkness faded, and the cold sensation went away. Addie spun, looking up and down the hallway, but she didn’t see anything.

  Heart still racing, she pulled her Dust in and slipped back into the physical world. Again, she turned in a slow circle, looking around, but failed to find anything out of place.

  “Something wrong, Ember?” Glitch asked.

  Her voice was a comfort, and Addie smiled, shaking her head. “Felt something really weird when I faded. Nothing here, though. Maybe I’m just… I don’t know; maybe it was nothing.”

  “At the stairwell,” Beef said.

  Addie hurried back to the foyer and turned left, and there was Beef, standing beside the doorway labeled “Stairs.” As Addie approached, the door lock clicked, and he pulled it open, gesturing for her to precede him through.

  “Such a gentleman,” Glitch said, and Addie tossed a thumbs-up at the camera in the corner.

  Beef ignored her and started up the steps, taking them two at a time. She hurried after him, basically jogging to keep up. Addie couldn’t imagine how strong Beef’s big legs had to be to power such a giant frame up the stairs at that pace. “I guess you weren’t kidding about getting your leg fixed.”

  “All better,” he said, a little breathless from the climbing.

  When they reached the fifth-floor landing, the big man paused by the door, heaving deep breaths through his nose. Addie stood by the door, watching him, as she asked, “Need a minute?”

  He shook his head, and big beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. He wiped them with his sleeve.

  “Okay. Here goes…” Addie pulled the door, peering through nervously.

  Glitch broke the tension for her, saying, “It’s clear. Three doors ahead. Our mark’s behind the one at the end of the hall.”

  “How we dealing with the door? I just kick it down?” Beef whispered.

  “No!” Addie scowled at him. “I’ll get it.” She slipped into the hallway and padded down the hallway, inwardly cheering at how silent her new boots were. When she reached the door, she glanced back to see Beef creeping down the hall, doing his best to move without making the floor creak—he was failing miserably.

  Shaking her head, Addie built up her Dust pattern and pulled it around herself, slipping back into the veil. She walked through the door and stood there—a spying ghost—taking in every detail. The apartment was a true loft. She didn’t see a single interior wall; even the bathroom in the corner was separated from the larger space by a simple, folding partition. She saw a pair of couches, a kitchen area, a bed, and storage bins stacked in random places. What she didn’t see was Motor Cruz.

  Addie breathed a sigh of relief. She’d worried about how Beef would approach Cruz without a big fight ensuing, but if they could set up an ambush while he wasn’t home, things would hopefully go better. She scanned the room, knowing full well that Cruz might have his own security, separate from that of the building. Sure enough, she saw at least one cam—a small dark lens winked at her with a red LED in the far corner near the window.

  Addie glided over that way, slipping through furniture in a straight line to the cam. When she was close, she saw a port on the bottom of the little dome-shaped device. After a tiny adjustment to her web of Dust, she pushed Glitch’s little device through the veil and inserted it into the slot. She couldn’t communicate with Glitch while she was in the veil, but she knew the netjacker would see the jack become active and get to work on the cams.

  On her way back toward the door, Addie froze. She’d seen something move out of the corner of her eye—a darting shadow. With weird, panicky goosebumps going up and down the backs of her arms, she turned toward the movement. Nothing was there. She felt like she was being watched, but that wasn’t possible, was it? Not while she was in the veil.

  A more rational part of her wondered if Cruz was home, after all. Was he hiding for some reason? She scanned the loft, looking into every corner, but she couldn’t see anything that so much as resembled a human being. Clothes and towels were draped here and there, but she moved around, looking behind everything. Nobody was home. Something wasn’t right, though. She kept feeling drafts of cold, the goosebumps wouldn’t go away, and she’d definitely seen something move—

  A muffled, echoing knock at the door nearly sent her heart hammering out of her chest. She ducked down behind a couch, but when the knock came again, she realized what was happening. Beef wanted in. Glitch had cracked Cruz’s security and was using the cams; they knew the merc wasn’t home.

  With a sigh, Addie stood and walked over to the door. On the way, she unwound her Dust and released it, sliding out of the veil and back into the real world, with an overwhelming sense of relief. She undid Cruz’s seven door locks and then opened the door. Beef loomed in the hallway, and as soon as the door opened, he pushed his way in. “Think he’s got anything good in the fridge? I’m starved.”