Ntshona (21 page)

“Oh! Ja! I knew I forgot something, hey!” she said, “They’re in the side pouch of that bag”.

Lon reached over to the holdall beside him on the backseat and unzipped the pouch. Inside he found two different coloured, barrel-like containers.

“Yeah, those,” said Cat.

“Got them?” Strys asked.

“Yeah, there are two containers… I presume the blue one is mine?”

“Yes, that’s right, the colours of the containers correspond to both your eye colours”.

Lon spoke again before Eve got the chance. “But we both have blue eyes”.

“What?” said Strys.

“How didn’t you notice?” asked Lon, “Eve’s eyes are her most striking feature”.

Eve felt her cheeks warm.

Cat leant close to Eve’s face for a good look. “Wow, I can’t believe I didn’t notice either”.

Strys heard Cat’s confirmative statement. “Ag, man! I’m so sorry, I assumed they were brown”.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” said Eve, “not many people do notice”.

“Ja, but someone as coloured as me should be more aware of stereotypes, man! I mean, with our country’s history
… I’m really sorry”.

“Seriously, it’s okay,” said Eve, “everyone makes mistakes. I’ll still wear the brown lenses”.

Lon handed her the brown container, which she opened and examined the contents of. He also examined the lenses; his were a deep blue colour, not too dissimilar to his own eyes. He looked hard to spot the electronic components inside, but was not able to identify anything that was easily distinguishable as having the architecture of a circuit board. “Ah, man, this is gonna feel weird, I haven’t worn lenses since I had my eyes lasered years ago”.

“Same here,” said Eve.

“Okay, before you put them in, you need to make sure your fingers is clean so that you don’t leave any marks on them that might confuse a retina scanner,” explained Strys, “I sent you some special handwash along with the lenses”.

“Got it,” Lon again reached into the side pocket of the holdall and retrieved a small, unlabelled, blue bottle. He flipped off the cap and squeezed some of the contained gel into his hands and spread it around. The sensation was cold, and the skin on his hand without a palm screen tingled. Eve cleansed her hands following Lon, and they proceeded to, with only slight difficulty, fit the lenses to their eyes.

“God, I thought I’d never have to wear these bloody things again,” Lon said while repeatedly blinking and squeezing his eyes.

“I was hoping that too,” said Eve, squinting at herself in the rear
-view mirror.

“Have you managed to put them in?” asked Strys.

“Yeah, they’re a bit sore though,” said Eve.

Strys laughed, which was a bit painful straight in the ear, “Man, of course it’s sore, you’ve got computers in your eyes,” he continued to laugh.

“Is there anything else?” Lon, interrupted the laughter.

“Actually, yes, don’t use your retina scanner until you get to the Science Centre. For the NGT, use the Masquerade app on your palm screens. I’m just about to apply the patch to the NGT surveillance system, so you don’t have to worry about using your EMP devices until you leave the NGT platform at the Science Centre. Did you both get all that”.

“Yes,” they replied.

“Right. Now we’re gonna go radio silent. Both of you call me back when you’re inside the Science Centre”.

“Okay,” they said, and the line fell silent.

“
Disconnected from Mammy
,” read the display.

“Ready guys?” asked Cat.

“Almost,” responded Lon, “but there’s one thing you haven’t told us”.

“Is it? What?”

“You haven’t told us how to use the EMP devices in our palm screens”.

“Ah, sorry, that’s pretty important, hey! What you must do is you must go to the Masquerade app and choose the option ‘
Have a blast
’, okay?”

“Okay,” he said.

“Okay, let’s get started!” Cat said with excitement.

He took an extended breath, and exhaled slowly. “Okay,” he repeated.

“Go on then”.

“Just give us a minute please,” said Eve, who also took the opportunity to gather large quantities of oxygen with her lungs.

A moment passed, then Lon handed her a briefcase gun. He mustered up some confidence, exclaimed “Let’s rock!” swang open the car door and stepped boldly into the hot summer afternoon.

Part II

Chapter 12

As Lon and Eve approached the entrance to the NGT platform, Cat sped away, presumably to an area close to the Science Centre to wait in the capacity of a backup escape plan.

The cool, air-conditioned atmosphere of the NGT system was a refreshing contrast to that outside, and, ever so slightly, helped the two feel more comfortable.

The place had few other passengers and no security staff. It seemed as though Strys’ surveillance patch was working, as it appeared nobody was alerted to Lon and Eve’s presence.

“Okay, here goes,” said Lon, he took a deep breath, and led the way towards the check-in console.

“Hello, and Welcome. Please select your mode of transport,” sounded the console.

“NGT train,” he responded.

“Acknowledged. Please select your destination”.

“The Science Centre”.

“Acknowledged. Please select form of payment”.

“Palm screen”.

“Acknowledged. Please step forwards and place your hand on the highlighted area”.

He stepped closer to the console and did as he was asked, and the console processed his palm screen’s details.

“Palm screen scan complete. Payment method acknowledged. Please enjoy your ride Mr. Wallace”.

After stepping beyond the barrier he turned back to Eve and speculated, “A different name… I wonder if the new version of the app is race specific”.

“Even if that’s the case, I’m still likely to be a ‘Chen’,” she said. She repeated the check-in process.

“Please enjoy your ride Mrs. Miyamoto”.

Lon laughed at her, “Close enough!”

She scowled at him and joined him on the other side of the barrier.

“Level one, complete,” he said, and they carried on towards the appropriate platform, which was practically void of people.

“Maybe the ‘bosses’, or whatever, chose this time in the afternoon to avoid the rush hours,” Eve pointed out.

“Maybe,” said Lon, not caring to speculate.

It did not take long for the train they were waiting for to pull into the station.

Lon and Eve sat in a carriage alone.

“Do you think we’re really likely to die?” Eve whispered.

“I’d like to think not, but you should be telling me, you’re the one who’s worked there for the last couple of years; you know what it’s like”.

“I have no idea what it’s like being a wanted criminal in there! I just know that we’re likely to get lost when we’re looking for the server rooms”.

“Is it really so big that you don’t know where any of the server rooms are?”

“Lon, have you seen the size of that place? It’s like a self-contained city!”

“Really? I’ve never actually seen it up close, just from a distance”.

“It’s the largest building in the country! You can tell how big it is just by looking at it from anywhere”.

“We’ll see,”

“Trust me, you’re gonna get a shock”.

The NGT pulled to a halt at the next, more populated, station, where several people boarded the same carriage as Lon and Eve, encouraging them both to remain silent. Moments later it was on the move again, taking its patrons to a much higher altitude, from where a substantial part of the metropolis could be seen in all directions

It was still difficult for Lon to take in all of the city’s splendour and believe that his country was not one of the most advanced on Earth, as he had recently discovered. It was dispiriting, yet at the same time stimulating to know that there might be more advanced, more technologically interesting, and more wondrous cities out there. If only he could leave the country.

Following multiple high-altitude stop-offs at several increasingly tall buildings, the NGT got closer to their destination. The Science Centre came to dominate the skyline; an immense obelisk towering imposingly over each and every construction at its feet, shedding an impressive shadow across the surrounding districts like a colossal sundial violating the sky.

“I admit,” whispered Lon, “this is the first time I’ve been so up close to the Science Centre, and it’s fucking massive”.

“Told you,” Eve uttered.

Soon the NGT came to a standstill at one of many platforms on the grounds of the Science Centre. The
region surrounding the building alternated between parking spaces and green parks with trees, flowers and water features. Quite the contrast to the eminent edifice at the centre, which beckoned their doom.

Lon and Eve
alighted, and without issue exited the platform into a green area

Lon remained astounded by the size of the building he faced. “I know it might be because of the scenario we’re in, but don’t you ever find that place a little
… imposing?”

“Up until this weekend I would have said ‘not at all’, however, now
…” Eve could not quite finish her sentence due to fighting back the tears forcing their way forwards.

“Don’t cry now,” he said, “It’ll seem suspicious”.

She smiled a little. “You can be insensitive sometimes”.

“I know, but this time I’m not trying to be funny; we really need to remain
…” he breathed deeply and corrected his posture “composed”.

“Right,” she said, trying to imitate his actions.

“I think we should activate the EMPs now that we’re out of the NGT”.

“Yeah,” Eve powered on her palm screen and loaded the Masquerade app, it’s ‘
Have a blast
’, isn’t it?”

“Yeah”.

They both activated the function, and each palm screen read “
This party is the bomb
”. Nothing else appeared to happen.

“Is it working?” asked Eve.

“I fucking hope so”.

And with that, they continued on foot to their destination, their hearts beating more and more rapidly.

The closer Lon and Eve were to the entrance for which they were headed, the more numerous the masses of people became, nearly everyone wearing a white overcoat the same as them.

“This place is certainly more lively than the Tech Centre,” posited Lon.

“What do you expect? Over half a million people work here”.

“Really?! That many?!” he exclaimed.

“Yes, it’s a very important building for the local economy and job market”.

“I thought you said this place was prestigious; how can it be when so many people work here?”

“Not everyone’s a scientist here; there are security staff, cleaning staff, catering staff
… you know, a lot more than just scientists”.

“Still, there must be a lot”.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Eve, “let’s just focus on getting into the place”.

They both ceased speaking as they passed the crowds of moving and stationary people semi-blockading the entrance.

The lobby on this side of the Science Centre was vast and spacious, and had several entrances and exits with numerous security checking systems near each one. The latter would have caused Lon to perspire had it not been for the cold internal climate being forced upon them by the powerful air conditioning system that was ostensibly powered by a jet engine.

“Please take the lead,” Lon requested.

Thusly, Eve walked towards the check-in console.

“Please step towards the retina scanner,” it said.

She did so while holding her breath. If this were to fail, the security personnel beyond the metal detector behind the check-in console would likely become a deadly threat.

From the console appeared a blue beam which quickly passed across her eyes. For a moment afterwards it appeared to do nothing, no doubt it was trying to make sense of the new data the contact lenses had just fed it. After the extended pause the console gave a confirmatory bleep.

She let go of the air she was holding in and walked past the console.

Lon also successfully checked in and followed closely behind Eve as she walked towards the metal detector.

“Please remove any metallic items from your persons,” said the closest security guard.

Lon let Eve maintain the lead so he could imitate the correct procedure.

Eve placed her briefcase on a conveyor belt which took it through an X-ray machine.

Lon did the same with his briefcase and his watch. This was a tense moment, as he had no idea the likelihood of each item being detected as other objects in disguise. He then followed Eve through the metal detector.

“What’s in the briefcases?” asked the security officer stiffly once they had reached the other end of the X-ray machine beyond the metal detector.

They had forgotten to consider this basic scenario. Eve went blank; Lon spoke without thinking.

“Sorry, classified”.

The officer looked annoyed. “Which section are you working for?”

Again, without providing himself with a moment for contemplation he said, “Biotech… military applications”.

“Oh, I see,” the officer’s facial expression loosened. “Uh
… move along”.

Quickly they grabbed their belongings from the conveyor belt and briskly walked away.

Once they were out of earshot of security, Lon asked, “Was that the right answer?”

“I don’t know how,” said Eve, “but you managed to name the most classified department in this building”.

“Wow, now there’s a stroke of luck”.

“Yeah. Now, do you think we should contact Strys?”

“I think so,” said Lon, “he said to once we’re inside. Here,” he handed her his briefcase, “hold this a sec while I call him,” and activated the connection to ‘Mammy’ using the Close Friends app.

They kept walking to keep looking natural, yet at a slower pace.

“Strys?” said Lon once connected.

“This is Mammy speaking, remember that,” said Strys.

“Oh, sorry Mammy, we’re in”.

“Thank goodness, man. Tell Eve to connect too”.

“Okay,” said Lon, and he took both briefcases from her so that she could use her palm screen.

“Hello Mammy?”

“Hello dear,” said Strys, “glad to know you’re both okay”.

“Yeah, it’s a bit scary though”.

Lon handed back her briefcase.

“I know it must be, man,” said Strys. “Now listen. You have to find out where all the server rooms are in the building, that’s the first thing”.

“Okay, that’s the easiest part,” said Eve, “there are plenty of signs and interactive maps. We’re actually close to one now”.

“Good, let me know when you’re there. I’ll be on the line all the time”.

“Close?” said Lon.

“Yeah, it’s over there in between the stairs and the lifts,” she pointed ahead of them inconspicuously at a staircase and a series of lifts set in what looked like one of four gigantic support pillars that
were arranged inside the lobby in a quadrilateral fashion.

“Close?” he said again, “I can barely see it”.

“Well, it’s the closest one”.

Out of determination to get the job done quickly, he picked up his pace.

“Okay, Mammy” said Eve once they had reached the navigation console, “we’re looking at the map now”.

“Right, tell me which floors the server rooms is on so I can make a note”.

“Dammit! There are loads!” she exclaimed.

“I can imagine that, just tell me where they are”.

“Okay, twentieth
… fortieth… sixtieth… eight- every twenty storeys it looks like… until the three-hundred and-fortieth floor”.

“Oh my word,” said Strys in disbelief.

“Fuck!” exclaimed Lon. “That’s like seventeen server rooms!”

“There’s one on the minus-twentieth floor as well,” she despaired.

“Well that makes things difficult,” said Strys, “but we might be lucky; all the government’s data is likely stored on one set of servers kept within one data centre”.

“But we still have to find that one set of servers!” said Lon. “How the hell do we do that?!”

“Calm down man, you’ll just have to do it systematically”.

“Where should we start? The basement?” asked Eve.

“Yes, it would be stupid to miss it”.

“Well,” said Lon, are we taking the escalator,” he pointed to a series of escalators going to the floors above and below in the lobby’s distant centre, “or one of these lifts? The lift would be quicker, right?”

“Of course the lift is quicker,” said Eve, “let’s get in”.

“Before you do,” said Strys, “how tall would you estimate the ceiling to be?”

“About… twenty metres,” said Lon, “why?”

“Okay, just go”.

They took the lift straight to the floor of the building’s lowest server room, where there was much less open expanse and many more corridors than the entrance lobby.

“Somehow this makes me feel claustrophobic,” said Lon.