Chrome Symphony - Chapter 1

Scene: Duncan's home office, 4:12 AM [dialogue from chat]

Duncan suddenly jolted awake. His neural interface alerted him of an incoming chat request. Duncan approved the chat request. It was from Shell.

ShellShock10101 (4:12 am): Mr. Sorenson? Are you available for a quick conversation? 

DuncanDonuts (4:12 am): Oh, I must have dozed off. Hello. Miss... I'm sorry; 
I seem to have forgotten your last name. 

ShellShock10101 (4:12 am): Riley. Shell Riley. 

DuncanDonuts (4:13 am): Ah, yes. Please allow me to switch us to a secure line. 
I'm forwarding you the connection information. 

ShellShock10101 (4:13 am): Thank you. I hope I'm not contacting you at a bad time. 

DuncanDonuts (4:14 am): No; not at all. I was actually doing some... research. 

DuncanDonuts (4:14 am): Did you find anything interesting from EMA? 

ShellShock10101 (4:14 am): Sadly, no. Something else has happened. 

DuncanDonuts (4:15 am): Yes? 

ShellShock10101 (4:15 am): There is some kind of information blackout at EMA. 
Everybody went home, all the offices are locked, and I can't get access to 
security records. 

DuncanDonuts (4:15 am): I see. I did notice something peculiar elsewhere but 
I need to meet with you in person to discuss it. Not even a secure line is
 a good idea for this. 

DuncanDonuts (4:16 am): Wait, do you normally have access to the security records? 

ShellShock10101 (4:16 am): I have a security clearance, yes. I'm afraid I can't 
divulge much more than that, but one of our receptionists shut me out 
mid-conversation earlier.

DuncanDonuts (4:17 am): I gave Elise my contact information earlier at the 
Velvet Room. She might know something about why the contract had the falsified
 or switched company name. 

ShellShock10101 (4:17 am): It's too early to tell but there may have been an 
intrusion of our network at EMA. Normally I'm forbidden from divulging this 
information but if it's related to what happened to us earlier... 

DuncanDonuts (4:18 am): Please hold for just a moment. I have an incoming chat request.

DuncanDonuts (4:37 am): Miss Riley, sorry for the disruption. I've obtained 
some information regarding communications between Crest and EMAcorp. 

ShellShock10101 (4:38 am): What? We're competitors. Surely I would have gotten a copy. 

DuncanDonuts (4:38 am): I can't divulge how I got this info but I can tell this was 
supposed to be some kind of backroom deal. I will forward what I have. Do you 
have a secure address? 

ShellShock10101 (4:40 am): Yes. I sent you the details. Thanks for the information. 

DuncanDonuts (4:42 am): Of course. Thanks for contacting me. Perhaps we can get 
to the bottom of this soon.

Shell terminated the conversation and the secure connection. Duncan looked over the contact information she had sent and then drifted off back to sleep for a few more hours.

When Renk's commander gave the "all clear" signal, his platoon quietly moved out of the shipping container in which they had been hiding for the past hour.

Renk adjusted his earpiece as he hid behind some crates.

This was just a routine mission, he thought to himself, waiting for the signal to move toward the boardwalk. Renk's group was to gain access to the EMAcorp headquarters and secure the building. Earlier that evening, Renk's commander had received word that a mission to prevent a possible terrorist attack was to begin at 3:00 sharp. Under the cover of darkness, using night vision googles (and in his cybernetic team mates, infrared sensor eye implants), they were to move through the city with absolute stealth in order to take over the building. Since information was controlled on a strict "Need-to-know" basis, Renk didn't know many more details than that. He wasn't sure of EMA's possible involvment or targeting by any terrorist groups. Still, he carried out his orders faithfully.

Renk's group drew near the building. It was completely unoccupied by now, save for a few android receptionists and mechanized security guards. Renk quickly darted behind a dumpster, then toward the fire escape by one of the guards.

With a quick, deliberate action, Renk drew his knife and cut the power wires on the guard robot's back, rendering it both inoperable and unable to alert the security system over the 'net. This was no time to revel in his moment of success, however, as a second robotic guard detected movement and began rushing toward him.

Renk disappeared.

As he had expected, the street lights shifted to a deep red, making it harder to see. His night vision goggles were now useless as infrared light became invisible to the goggles. For less than one minute, Renk had expanded time in a tight bubble around himself as he frantically ran up the fire escape and used a device to glitch out the key card terminal. He wasn't able to breathe in this state - the air around him was completely unbreathable. Renk had slowed down time by a factor of 2000:1.

Doing this was very difficult; Renk required absolute concentration and had to fight a multitude of ill effects in the process. In addition to holding his breath, his skin felt like it was burning and his vision became very dim due to the way light behaved while he was in this state. Once he had hacked the door lock and darted inside, he released his either "grasp" on time and returned to normal. The bright lights in the hallway blinded him as he adjusted to his environment.

Now, to get to the server room, he remembered. He checked his H.U.D. for the building map and located his destination. There would be many security cameras, motion sensors, and guard robots to avoid along the way.

Scene: Price Mansion, 9:15 am (the next morning) [solo]

Jess woke up and headed downstairs for breakfast.

In the dining hall, her butlers were speaking with police. There was a concerned look on their faces.

Jess hurried over to them. "What's going on?" she demanded.

One of the officers replied, "Miss Price, your father has gone missing along with several other executives from Crest and EMA corporation."

Jess was stunned. Already, flashbacks of her mother's assassination raced through her mind. Before she could outwardly react, she got control of herself and kept a poker face. She knew that if she appeared too upset, she would be placed under protective custody after how she reacted when her mother was killed.

"When did this happen?!" she asked.

The officer replied, "Around 2:30 this morning. An unknown militant group, believed to be some terrorist faction, has taken over the EMA corporation headquarters. Crest HQ has been secured and is safe for the moment. Your father, however, cannot be located."

Jess thought for a moment. If they are guarding Crest HQ, and no doubt my house, I won't be able to sneak out tonight.

"I see..."

She wanted desperately to set out to search for her father. Her other plans would have to wait until another night.

Her butler gave the officers their contact details. Jess added, "I want you to contact me if you find any clues at all, please. If those b******s do anything to him, I want to be sure we know exactly who they are."

She answered a few mundane questions about where her father would typically go after work and then headed back to her bedroom.

Once Jess was back in her room, she began to divise a plan. If I can just get out of here for a few hours tonight, I could get into EMA headquarters and deal with those vile animals myself...

One block away from EMA corporation headquarters, 7:35 am [solo]

Shell got off of the transport and headed to work. Surely by now everyone's at work and I can finally ask some questions, she thought. She had left the building around 3:45 am the previous night, having been unable to contact any of the management and finally giving up. Her conversation with Duncan early that morning left her a little sleep-deprived and with more questions than answers.

Shell stopped on the sidewalk as soon as her workplace came into view. There were police and military vehicles surrounding the building and security everywhere. There was a road block just about 200 feet from where she was standing. This IS more than a glitch, after all.

She thought for a moment about what to do. If I ask what's going on and tell them I'm an employee, I might get questioned. Shell knew the authorities in the city could be a little overzealous when it came to gathering information and innocent bystanders were known to go through hell if they were thought to have even the slightest bit of additional detail. After the trouble the evening before, Shell wasn't ready for that.

Instead of turning around, which might have brought suspicion upon her, she went inside a small coffee shop next to her. What a coincidence! Shell looked at one of the tables at the back of the coffee shop. There was Duncan, sipping coffee with a huge plate of donuts in front of him.

Shell waved and then walked over. "Lucky meeting you here," she said to Duncan. She sat down.

Duncan greeted Shell. "Hello! Stopping in for a cuppa joe before work?" He didn't want to let on too much about their prior conversation in a public place.

Shell sat down and began to speak with a lowered voice. "You've probably noticed that the EMA building is in the middle of some kind of standoff."

Duncan nodded, also speaking barely above a whisper. The sound of the coffee machines and the other patrons almost drowned him out. "Yes. I have no idea what's going on over there. I'd have to assume it's related to your experience last night."

Shell stood up. "I need to get in there without being seen. Is there any chance you could help? If we end up protecting any other staff inside there or saving valuable data, you'll be rewarded handsomely."

Duncan paused for a moment, mulling over her offer.

"There's probably a way in without being detected. Under the street here, there's a good-sized storm sewer that redirects the Clark creek flow under the transport system out to the river. Disabling the security cameras for about a half hour should be possible."

Duncan accessed the security system. Despite the massive military and police fortification, nothing extra was implemented in the storm sewer's surveillance system. He sent a few commands and the video feeds instantly went dead.

"Alright. I'll do whatever I can for you. The cameras are out. Let's get underneath the transport tunnels through the 11th street access and make our way toward the building's sub-basement."

With that, Shell and Duncan left the coffee house, entered a small maintenance access port a few blocks away, climbed down to the storm sewer, and arrived at the sub-basement of EMA corporation's headquarters about 20 minutes later.