Techno Crazed (Hacked Investigations) Read online

  Setting his backpack down, Ian let Bernard out. The gnome spewed obscenities about the stink of his bag, and how it felt a little moist, recommending that Ian wash it before using it again. Behind them, Hannah continued climbing down with sure footing even in the dark.

  Bernard curiously checked the walls and moved quickly outside of Ian’s field of vision, allowing the gnome’s naturally better eyesight a chance to adjust to the darkness.

  “You okay?” Ian asked Hannah, who kept staring around them.

  “I’m fine. It’s just a little odd, you know, coming down here.” She rubbed her hands up and down her arms.

  They made their way past the heavy metallic doors put in place in case the pipes or the walls were to break and flood the area. The maintenance area beyond was clean of vermin and dust. A vent circulated air above them.

  The main room was square, able to hold twenty workers and their beds, some which were now abandoned along the walls. A small section in the back was reserved for a bathroom, which Bernard inspected curiously. Overall, the maintenance area was bigger than Ian had thought.

  He tossed his backpack into the corner. “I need to go get some tools from the store.” Ian looked over at Bernard. “Take good care of her while I’m gone. No tormenting or pushing her in any way, okay?”

  “I’m not going to push her unless she wants me to!” Bernard started pulling his gardening tools from various pockets of his bag.

  “You’re going to leave me here? With him?” Hannah’s eyes grew wide.

  “You’ll be fine. He’ll be too busy setting up his little garden. Besides, we need the equipment to manage living down here. I’ll be back. I promise.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Hannah looked up from the spread bedroll. Ian had been gone for a few hours now, and Bernard was getting more impatient and more demanding for attention. She used the flashlight Ian had left for her sparingly. It was slowly running out of juice. The constant flow of water from the other side of the wall made her drowsy. But she was unwilling to fall asleep near the gnome alone. She stood and stretched to keep herself awake.

  A loud bang came from the entryway, followed by another twenty seconds later. From the muttering, she recognized Ian before his flashlight became visible from around a corner.

  Ian carried a heavy bag over his shoulder. He dropped it in the corner, and the sound of clanging metallic tools was loud and piercing in their small room. He came closer and pulled her into a hug.

  “Where’ve you been?” she asked, walking over to help him with the bag.

  “You try carrying all of that through alleys to get here. No car, remember? And I had to keep my eyes open. “ Ian took a good look around the tunnel before closing the door to the maintenance room.

  Hannah took out various tools and set them on the ground. A small travel cooking kit, plates, hammers, a blowtorch, and various other items were in the bag.

  Bernard came over and stared up at Ian. “What took you so long? And why are you so dirty and tired? Did you drop by the brothel like you normally do after work?” The gnome laughed dirtily.

  Ian looked at him. “I missed you too. Now, if you don’t mind, get to work over here. I know you’re no dwarf, but could you get us to the electric wires behind this wall?”

  “I’ll do anything for you, especially if IT KILLS YOU!” Bernard yelled and tried to dance away.

  Hannah grabbed the gnome and jerked him into the air. “Listen to me, asshole. He carried that stuff here to help us. Get over yourself and get busy.” She dropped Bernard and stumbled against a wall, pressing her hand to her head.

  The dark, foreboding sensations that filled her head made her dizzy. Bleakness descended upon her even further. The sound of Bernard laughing faintly penetrated her thoughts.

  Ian stepped in front of her. His face looked a little dull, but then again, maybe that was her eyesight. He placed a hand against her shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”

  Warmth seeped into her body again at the feel of his touch. “I don’t know what happened. I guess I let him get to me.”

  “Just be careful.” He turned to stare at the chuckling gnome.

  Between laughs, Bernard noted how someone had finally had the balls to do that, and that the person who did it, didn’t have balls.

  * * *

  A few hours of hard work later, they had electricity, hot running water, makeshift beds, and clean air. Various cables ran along the ceiling from exposed circuitry and fiber optics to Ian’s computer, next to the now humming air vent, which freshened the dry air of the room. The maintenance room was still very bare and somewhat cold, but it was better than being hunted.

  Hannah sat in front of the small computer center Ian had set up. She was utterly unfamiliar with it. He’d tried to explain something about it being a semi-contextual operating system, and other finer points of it like it being untraceable thanks to him hooking into the now-hijacked city communication network, but she was lost just staring at the screen as information trailed down it, providing statistics across the multiple networks it had been connected to.

  The system was very old, yet somehow worked faster than a lot of other machines she had operated. A part of her wondered if Ian had enhanced the circuitry. Typically, she used her computer at its limits, making what Ian had done seem like a small miracle.

  Bernard pounded away in a patch of garden he’d created in one of the showers. He had broken the tile on the ground, etching deep lines below and placed some dirt. Already, even in the darkness, his gnomish magic had the plants beginning to grow like they did back in the apartment’s patio with fresh air and sunlight.

  They had brought enough food for a few days and had found rations left behind by the maintenance crew. Mostly dehydrated meals and long-term canned meats, but it was food.

  Ian lay on his bedroll near the computer center with a cup of instant coffee next to him. He seemed to have calmed down from when they’d started working. Steady lighting shone overhead, and a small corner of the room had been closed off as a bedroom area.

  Hannah stared at her list again, trying to fit all the pieces together. It seemed they had been given leads and enough rope to hang themselves by visiting Senator Kendall. The chips they had retrieved from Rich’s body hadn’t been taken when the rest of his identification methods were ruined. The feeling of being set up grew stronger. MAX Home Security had intentionally left those for them to find. Hannah and Ian had walked into a trap. Maybe the senator hadn’t known about the plot, but they were being made into scapegoats to make the security giant look good.

  Although being targets for police and all other security services could work for their benefit. Ian had talked about how setting a trap could work both ways. Since they had become political suspects, why not play into that? Other groups would applaud their behavior or try to do it themselves. The idea tempted her, and Ian seemed to have more planned than he let on to, but she wanted to know what it was before they ran into action recklessly.

  They had spent hours talking about the best way of getting to MAX Home Security, but they always went back to square one. They needed the senator. But not only was the senator most likely scared of doing anything to help them, but his staff were probably on the lookout and would call the police without hesitation, or worse, shoot them on sight.

  Knowing full well that MAX would kill Kendall without hesitation should he speak up, they had to make sure the senator would be safe when he finally stood up against MAX Home Security. But the corporation monitored security cameras and media very thoroughly.

  Going over the list of evidence, she noticed something they had overlooked so far. “Hey Ian, we never checked into the person Rich was living with.”

  Bernard toddled into the main room at that point. Most of the time, he simply tended his garden and ensured that the plants survived. He perked up. “Yeah, you know, the broad or whatever Rich was shagging! That old perv must have had someone hot under his sheets,” the gnome yelled and went back to
gardening. He muttered, “Just because I’m small, doesn’t mean I don’t have sexual prowess to go with the brawn.”

  Hannah looked at Ian, unable to find words.

  Ian sat up on his bedroll and sipped his coffee.

  “There might be a chance of her being alive and outside all of this mess, you know. We need to look into this.” Hannah shuffled through the papers they had arranged on the floor.

  “But if she’s outside of this mess, maybe we would be doing more harm than good by seeing her.” Yet even as he said it, he knew they had to know more about the woman. If she could spread some light on what Rich had done in his last days, they had a better chance of getting out of this situation alive, and not behind bars.

  CHAPTER TEN

  They arrived outside a Victorian style home in the wealthier section of the city. The driveways were neat and lined with small bushes and floral decorations that somehow managed to survive in the acidic rains every year. Genetic enhancements tended to make the surface of the plants excrete very strong base material that soaked up the acidity with no problem. The fake granite walkways leading to each house and garage along the road spoke of wealth, but also durability and long-term investment.

  Two cars were parked outside Rich’s home. One Ian recognized as Rich’s old Toyota, but the new sports car was unfamiliar. Ian spotted someone walking around inside the house. They knocked on the door and waited.

  A man in his early thirties opened the door dressed in a black suit with earrings and three rings on each hand. The muscles bulging beneath his shirt spoke of a very active fitness life, but the lack of overall density betrayed that most of his bulk had been gained at the gym, not by hard work.

  “Yes?” he asked, obviously annoyed by the interruption.

  “I’m sorry, but do you know Rich Granger?” Ian took a sidelong glance at Hannah.

  “Yes, I do. The question is, handsome, how do you know him?” The strange man raised his eyebrow, sizing up Ian from head to toe.

  “I used to work with him. He called my girlfriend and said he wanted to talk about something. Now we can’t get ahold of him. The name’s Ian, by the way.” He didn’t trust the new face he hadn’t expected.

  “Leon. I haven’t seen him for a while. Why don’t you come on in? I want to hear more about this phone call. To be honest, I’m a little worried about my sweetie.” Leon opened the door and let them enter.

  Once inside, Ian saw that the main hallway branched into four different sections to different areas of the large house. The white walls contrasted with the sand-brown tile on the floor, creating a sensation of being closer to the ocean than they were. Leon closed the door behind them and led them into a vast living room. The brown leather furniture was arranged around a fireplace. The latest tech-wall projected outside temperature and other important information. The expensive electronically enhanced wallpaper, laid on top of copper netting, made the wall act as a huge touch screen monitor, thus providing the owner the sensation of more “integrated” living with technology.

  Ian could almost laugh at the idea. He experienced a much more vivid connection with even the most archaic technology he’d touched. But the tech-wall was great for those who refused to plug themselves into the Internet or didn’t like adding extra chips under their skin.

  Sitting on the couch, he sank deep into its comfortable clutches.

  Leon sat across from them in a leather chair close to the fireplace. On the mantle were photographs taken through the years. Looking closer, it became evident why Rich had been so quiet about living with someone.

  “So, you two were a couple?” Ian asked, pointing to the pictures.

  “Yes. Although he never wanted to make us public. We lived our lives together, but never in the public. He spoke of his work occasionally, but obviously, he didn’t speak of me at work. How did you find out about me?” Leon looked between them curiously.

  “To be honest, we thought he was living with someone. Rich is… err… I’m sorry to inform you that he’s dead.” She frowned, hating that she had to do this to Leon. “We were on the phone at the time. He was giving me information on MAX Home Security, which cost him his life. They nearly killed me too.” Hannah sighed. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Tears welled up within Leon’s wide eyes. “I told him not to go forward. Why didn’t he listen to me?” He rested his head in his hands. “I saw your faces on the news yesterday. Normally, I’d call the cops, but MAX is involved.” Drawing in a breath, he raised his gaze to meet theirs again. “I doubt you two beat up that senator, right?”

  “No, we didn’t.” Ian leaned back and crossed his legs. “We all, I believe, want MAX buried and closed. The senator won’t be able to speak openly, we can’t get close enough to speak with him, and MAX is everywhere. Now they have the police on our case too. We don’t have anything to support our side of the story.”

  Determination flared up on Leon’s face. “No, that’s not true. You have me. I know the senator pretty well. And tend to him regularly. If you want me to give him a message, it won’t be a problem.” He squeezed his eyes closed, causing a tear to fall. “How did Rich die?”

  Hannah described the alley and the distance Rich had pulled himself along the dirty pavement before meeting his untimely demise behind the bar.

  Leon paled and rose from the chair. He went to the kitchen and returned with a glass and a bottle of whiskey. “I tried to save this fifteen-year-old for later. Rich liked whiskey and beer, but a true rare single-malt with a hint of smoky flavor, this was going to be a gift for him whenever he quit the job at MAX. Please, if you want me to deliver any message to the senator, write it down.” He took a long sip from the glass.

  Hannah pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a short message. Trust Leon. We’re doing what we can to help bring them down. They didn’t have a choice right now, either. Leon had both the access and the motive to help them out. Not only was it important that they were able to reach the senator, but later down the road, they needed support against the accusations made by other parties.

  Ian asked to use the restroom and left the living room as guided by Leon’s directions. In the restroom, he cleared his mind and placed his hands on a small computer monitor that was meant for monitoring the temperature of water going to the shower.

  The device was pretty basic, holding connections to various other systems in the house. Power management, measuring instruments on the side of the water tanks below, maintenance codes for updating the firmware that ran the system, and an Internet connection for remote updates.

  Smiling about the slight inconsistencies of the building, he tapped into the main server monitoring the entire house, which also provided services like the tech-wall and Internet, and wrote a short script to run constantly in the background. Hidden deep inside the now-updated kernel was a bugging code, making the entire building a huge microphone for those who knew how to use it.

  Flushing the toilet and then washing his hands, he thought about the possibility of Leon double-crossing them, which was unlikely. Yet, he wanted to be sure.

  Downstairs, he heard Leon and Hannah talking quietly about something, which made her blush. Coughing, he walked downstairs and helped Hannah up from the couch.

  “Once again, I’m sorry for your loss, Leon. This problem has been hard on us all, but I cannot imagine how it must feel to lose someone you love. We both appreciate the help and support. I just hope this is over with soon,” Hannah said.

  Leaving the house, Ian looked back and saw Leon turn to look at one of the pictures and slump his shoulders. Ian wasn’t an emotional person, but he still understood the pain Leon felt. Hannah had already started walking along the trails behind the houses that allowed them more cover from the eyes and cameras along the roads.

  They hadn’t walked for long before Ian checked the connection back to the house. Focusing on walking with Hannah, while testing the link was relatively easy. The house server let him in without any hassle. The small microphon
es that used voice commands from the user to change the volume on video streams or the TV were now at his disposal.

  He could hear Leon pouring himself more whiskey and muttering something. He was about to close the connection when he heard a doorbell ring.

  “Hannah, let’s stop for a moment. I can walk with you while keeping my ears on the server, but I’d like to use eyes too. Our new friend Leon has a visitor,” Ian said and leaned against a nearby tree.

  Hannah stood next to him, simply giving him a nod.

  Ian tapped into the security cameras placed around the home and the few on the outside. The vision was initially foggy and the outline was unclear. Blinking and refocusing his eyes, he forced the camera to target the people outside the door.

  A blue van had parked in the driveway; two men in black suits were knocking on the door, their arms bearing the logo of MAX Home Security.

  Leon swung open the door and let the men inside. “Hello, John. I didn’t know you were in the neighborhood. What made you drop by?” he asked.

  “Don’t fuck with me, Leon. Where are they? You know that those two beat up the senator and killed your little bed buddy, right?” the one he’d addressed as John said.

  “Please, don’t even start with me. Those two came right in and started spewing stuff how I set them up somehow. And yeah, I’m well aware that they beat up Senator Kendall. The only reason why I didn’t bother you guys was that I needed to calm my nerves first. Those fuckers are dangerous. Besides, I’m not letting MAX claim the bounty on ‘em. Now that Rich is dead, I need all the money I can get.” Leon swayed his hips like a woman, walking to the living room and back to the whiskey bottle.

  “So they left, huh? Can’t be far. Team, check the surroundings. They’re close by,” John said to a small microphone hidden at the corner of his jacket’s collar before turning back to Leon. “You know where they went?”