Page 57 of Coldwire
“I get the sense we’re not the only people assigned to this,” Kieren declares.
I rub my hands up and down my arms to smooth out my goose bumps, but the taxi’s cold freeze has largely worn off. The asphalt underfoot is sharp through the soles of my shoes.
“They implied as much, didn’t they?” I ask. I’m not sure why Kierenis revealing this like it’s illicit information. “The briefing opens with two objectives. Either”—I pull it up in my display to read out the quote—“confirm Chung is dead and his work is no longer a threat, or locate him.We’re upcountry. Any follow-up on our findings has to be pursued downcountry.”
I’m sure they’ve put me on this task because they think I have some personal tie to Uncle Chung, but he’s not in virtual. If he’s going to be recruited onto Atahua’s side, we need to speak to him. And there’s no way the academy would send cadets downcountry. We’re not cleared for that yet.
“They implied NileCorp would have assets on standby depending on what we find, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” Kieren looks over his shoulder again. “I don’t think we got the full picture about our task. Who clued them in to Chung’s work to begin with when it’s a top secret Medan project? There could be Atahuan spies living undercover across the country, but to penetrate a government effort led by a formerAtahuan? Medaluo probably watches him like a hawk. Its government probably has a thousand levels of security to prevent a leak from happening.”
“Leaks do happen, nevertheless,” I say. “No information is truly safe if more than one person knows about it.”
“Fine,” Kieren acknowledges. “A whisper traveling through intelligence networks is one thing. What about all the evidence NileCorp has now? Who gave NileCorp the footage to show where Chung was last seen? That belongs to the Upsie data center system. And in any regular mission, data centers are so well protected that it should take a whole task force to break into one. But NileCorp can justget us in?”
When he puts it like that, I have to admit it sounds too easy, especially given the state of global affairs. Still—we’re cadets. We’re being tested. We’re not actually in the field yet.
“If we want to start picking holes,” I say, “it doesn’t make sense why they sent you, either. I’m the one who knows Chung. You’re just a second high-performing cadet.”
Kieren frowns. “Not the point here, Ward.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” he splutters, “it’s just not the point! All I’m saying is that if NileCorp already has someone on the inside, why do they need us?”
I mull over the thought. Nothing comes to mind, no speculation, no hypotheses. In the time we’ve been talking, we’ve rapidly approached the Upper Sea National Data Center, its gargantuan main building cresting the hill. Only the north side is visible from here, but the rest takes up two whole blocks, surrounded by a perimeter fence. Three other facilities sit within proximity of the fence: a containers terminal, a parking garage, and an abandoned lot. When we pass the lot, our steps harmonize with a loud flapping sound, the tarp-covered windows of its battered admin building fighting against the wind.
“I want to suggest that this could be a test in the truest sense,” I say. “That NileCorp already knows where Chung is, and the board is having us follow the path they took to find him.” I glance over to Kieren. “But I don’t think they’d waste their resources like that.”
“No,” Kieren agrees.
He pauses on the sidewalk, and I follow suit. We take in the scene. Despite its height, the blueprints say the data center is only one level, with the exception of certain server rooms burrowing lower underground. The vaulted ceilings catch the scarce morning rays streaming from the clouds. Most of what we can see through the glass walls appear to be lobbies and atriums.
“Then maybe,” I suggest, “the actual task isn’t finding Chung.”
Kieren puts his hands in his pockets. I don’t look at him, keeping my eyes fixed on the data center instead, but by proximity alone I can track each of his minute movements, the curious tilt of his head, the curl of his lip.
“What could it be, then?” he muses. “And why not tell us outright?”
I squint at the side of the facility. There aren’t many vehicles in its parking lot, but enough to indicate a considerable number of employees alreadyclocked in. Data center work is largely performed downcountry: temperature control and energy regulation, server maintenance and new developments. When the information is accessible on either plane of reality, though, facilities can at least offload some cataloging work to upcountry.
“I guess we’ll know more depending on what we find,” I say. I point to the vehicle parked outside the fence. “What is that? A delivery truck?”
Kieren squints too. I haven’t seen a delivery truck in quite some time. Most packages are sent by bots and drones. They’ll only require a person if they’re larger or sensitive, like the documents Dad gets in Melnova to sign. Someone’s got to be held responsible if a shipment goes missing, and you can’t punish a bot.
“That,” Kieren says, “is probably our way in.”
15EIRALE
Medaluo has wheeled out its newest line of security bots for Upsie’s data center, which is going to be an issue.
“We don’t really have an alternative, do we?” Miz asks. “This is the closest we can get.”
Nik looms in the front seat of Xixi’s car, his handheld device pressed to the window. The vehicle drove us here on her preloaded route, diverted only as we were approaching the Upper Sea National Data Center and noticed a whole row of metal guards installed around the perimeter. Now we’re idling behind the admin building of an abandoned lot, staying out of sight.
“I didn’t think they would have bots,” Nik mutters. “Give me a few more minutes.”
Nik’s initial plan was to park at the data center while its employees were arriving for the morning and clone their credentials when they walked by. It’s significantly harder now that the bots are blocking us from the parking lot, and Nik is trying to clone the key fobs while their cars are passing on the road instead. Unfortunately, none of the data center employees are driving to work holding their credentials dangling out the window. And they’re going by way too fast.
Miz checks her watch. She needs to enter first, and soon, if “Xixi” isgoing to arrive in time, but it’ll be for nothing if the rest of us fail to get credentials.
