Collateral

Rose enters “Sophia’s Cozy Corner”. She wonders if Mr Johnson likes this diner cause it is named the same as his daughter’s. Ah well. Maybe it is a coincidence.

Mr Johnson is sitting in the boot nearest to the door. Next to him sits his Thirteen-year-old daughter.

Rose waves at Sophia. The girl ignores Rose. She keeps staring at her phone and doesn’t seem to notice the world around her. So Rose decides to speak up.

“Hello, Sophia. How are you doing.”

The girl looks up from her phone, mutters a barely audible “good”, and focuses back on her phone.

“Don’t take it personally, Rose. She is basically attached to the thing.” Mr Johnson stands up and kisses Rose on the cheek.

Sophia looks up again and rolls her eyes. “I wanted to attach it, but my dad won’t let me.”

“You are not getting a cybernetic implant, Sophia. Not until you are older. We talked about this.”

Mr Johnson gestures to Rose to take a seat. He then does the same.

“What did you want to talk about, Rose? What was so urgent?”

“As you might know, my daughter was attacked yesterday at school. A bully broke her arm.”

“I heard. Sophia told me about it.” Mr Johnson said. “Is she ok?”

“She is at home right now. Resting. Her arm is plastered.”

“The thing is,” Rose says. “I was looking for another school for Ellie, but she doesn’t want to switch unless Sophia switches too.”

“I agree with you. A school that let a kid run around with a broken arm all day is not a school I want to send my daughter to.”

Mr Johnson continues “There is a very good school near Bayview Tower. It combines middle and high school. It is called Cascade Academy.”

“Cascade? That is like, the most expensive school, no? No way I can afford it.”

“That is okay, you are due for a raise anyways.”

“That is very kind of you.” Rose sighs. “There is something else I wanted to talk about.”

“Which is?” Mr Johnsons asks.

“Have you ever heard of Cortex-Tech Research Solutions?”

“They make cybernetic implants.”

“They do. Do you know who the owner is?”

“Didn’t a thirty-something-year-old inherit it from his father last year?”

“That thirty-something-year-old is my brother. And he has a kid, that broke my daughter’s arm.”

“Damn.”

“Don’t you have a customer that would love to destroy that company?”

Mr Johnson reveals his tablet and scrolls through it.

“Hmm, there is a customer who would like to steal the blueprints of a Selenial Disruptor.”

“What is that?”

“Some devices they are developing. I don’t know what it does. But we heard rumours that it would revolutionise the cybernetics market. We also heard rumours that Cortex-Tech Research Solutions sunk its full budget in this research. If the blueprints hit the open market, it will destroy the company.”

“So, you want me to steal the blueprints?”

“Or a prototype. Or both. Whichever you can get your hands on.”

“Consider it done.”

Rose drives in her silver van to the centre of Seattle. It is strange to think about companies being located in the centre. All the industry has moved to the outskirts and is fully automated. Only companies like banks and information brokers are located here. And hotels.

She never understood why Cortex-Tech Research Solutions has a research lab in the city centre. The building is very expensive here, and research is the same no matter the location. A well. It makes Rose’s job easier.

The lab is located on the five top floors of the Seafirst Building, looking out over Elliot Bay. Super expensive real estate. Real estate that could have been used for expensive restaurants, a hotel, or appartments. Yet it is a lab.

When Rose arrives, the sun is already setting. The sky is dark grey, and the streets are filled with lights from streetlights, billboards, and neon sighs.

Rose parks her car and climbs into the back. The back of her van is little with tons of different devices, but she gets out her old and thrust rigging deck.

Unsurprisingly, the cameras of the building are easy to hack. But the coverage is actually disappoining. No cameras in the labs themselves, only in the hallways around them.

Damnit. She certainly is flying blind.

She looks at the structure of the building. The hallways spiral around the outside of the lab. No windows in the labs themselves, the only rooms with windows are the breakrooms and hallways.

The outside of the building seems too rigid to climb. And besides, it is not like the top floor’s windows will open. There may be vents or elevator shafts to climb through. Although the blueprints don’t seem to specify any.

Rose curses. This is gonna be hard. She needs to take a closer look.