Tonx swore and slammed his fist against the tall plastic pedestal in front of them. They were at the base of the third of eight monolithic buildings, each blotting out the sky in a sheet before them. They'd had absolutely no luck in tracing any sort of information about where the box might be beyond knowing it fed into the data center for these eight buildings. Scanning the directory was useless, he knew, and access to the data center was limited to monthly maintenance visits - the next of which was three weeks from now.
"This is hopeless" he said, swearing again.
"Chill" said Cass, her voice level. "At least we're doing something. Besides, it sounds like Feed's got a good lead."
"The boy's going to get us fucked, playing with haxors in some underground like that. That shit's more illegal than heroin around here."
"Feed's got a good head" she said.
"I know" said Tonx. "It's just so fucking hopeless. We've got to find that box, get our code out from under the nose of some bigwig IT official, and then market it. You know I haven't even figured out a way to Proof of Concept it yet?"
"Don't worry" Cass said, turning her back to lean against the pedestal.
"Listen, why don't we go back by the data center again? Maybe I can sweet-talk one of their suits into taking me to lunch… "
"No" said Tonx. "It's bad enough that I've dragged you here to act as translator, I don't want you sweet-talking dangerous corp-boys."
"Did it ever occur to you I might have wanted to come here?" asked Cass, her voice suddenly cold. "I'm from here, you know."
"Sweets" said Tonx. "Sorry. I'm just worried about you, that's all. Of course I figured you'd want to come. But" he ran his hand through his hair, tucked away some errant strands. "I just don't want anything to happen to you, you know?"
Cass smiled. "Don't worry. I can take care of myself."
Tonx's comm rang. They'd gotten him a new one at the airport, used the IDs Cessus had gotten for them to clear it. He'd kept the yellow Hello Kitty glasses, though. Something about them appealed to him, some sort of retro-throwback irony thing.
Tonx yelped as he saw it was Marcus, mashed the channel open.
"Marcus" he said, "where the fuck are you?"
Cass couldn't hear what Tonx did, but she could see Tonx's face and the sudden color that blotched it. He almost threw his comm across the foyer, changed his mind and punched the plastic pedestal again with his free hand.
"You're what?" he hissed. "With who? No, I don't give a shit about how many of them there were. We've been running around like fucking crazy wondering where you were."
Tonx was silent for a moment.
"Yeah" he said. "Yeah" he said again, more quietly. "Okay, that's true, but… "
He ground his teeth together, and Cass grimaced.
"Actually, yes. That would work perfectly." He turned and stared at Cass. "Marcus?"
The mod fighter said something on the other end of the line. Tonx smiled, baring his teeth. "You're still in big trouble. I'll call you back." He hung up.
"What?" asked Cass.
"Motherfucker's spent the last 24 with a group of 'young lady admirers' who have a fan club here. They picked him up at the airport after his flight was delayed. He says he couldn't get to a comm unattended until now."
Cass blinked, then smiled, then laughed a deep, belly shaking guffaw that doubled her over holding her sides.
"It's not funny" insisted Tonx, although now he, too, was smiling. "Asshole's got us an ace in the hole, though."
He leaned over and shoved at her playfully.
"Stop laughing, I've got to make a phone call."
Xing had understood the logistics alarmingly quickly, even for someone familiar with the network from the inside. They hadn't told him why they were crunching the data, but the choices for what would require that kind of processing power were relatively small. It was either biotech or a big chunk of cryptography, and there was already a whole canon for applying quantum computing to crypto.
"We appreciate your not prying too deeply about this" Cessus said for the third time. "We can't tell you what we're doing until we're done."
"I understand" said Xing. "However, we are still suffering from very hurry network. Government is using your code, now. This is not good for you, no?"
"No. They've got data we need. Or they will, once this virus finishes its work" said Fed.
"So you have something you need. We also have need" said Xing. "We have no free access to rest of world. This closed-market capitalism prevents free exchange. Chinese hackers live in vacuum, no access to new ideas. We are very good talent here" he spread his arms to encompass the office, "but cannot progress. Means no opportunity for work outside of China. Not good for individuals or for groups."
"I sympathize, but I don't know what we can do about it" said Cessus. "We think we know where our data is being kept, but I don't know how that will help you."
"I have told you. We need connection outside of government proxies. You are very good hacker, know networks very well. Maybe you can set up spoof machines on outside… " Xing let his words trail off, hands folding gently in front of him.
Fede frowned. Xing seemed like a nice guy, but having a few international machines cracked so they could connect to them would hardly circumvent the government proxies for long.
"How does that help you long-term?" he asked.
"They want a set of machines, probably government boxes" interrupted Cessus. "If they get a nice range of them cracked from the outside they can backdoor more as they need them. It'd be impossible to do from inside China, and just incredibly difficult from outside."
Xing smiled.
"It's also very dangerous; the U.S. government frowns on having its boxen ownzored by international competition."
"Can you do that?" asked Fed.
"Sure. It'd be really hard, and really risky - what with being a violation of international law - but possible" said Cessus. He scratched the back of his head, tossed a handful of dreads over his shoulder.
"Besides, it sounds like fun. Okay, Xing. You got a deal. You help us get our data back, and we'll crack you a route out of China."
"Excellent" said Xing. He straightened, adjusted his shirt. "I think we can help each other very well. Now, your missing data is stored on publicly-accessible box, yes?"
"It's on somebody's private box in an apartment on the other side of town. The only folks who have accessed it are government officials" said Cessus.
Fed's comm rang. "Excuse me" he said, stepping to the back of the room.
"What is the address of the box?" Xing asked Cessus.
"I don't know, it's NAT'd all to hell and back. It's in a huge set of apartment buildings, 100 stories each" said Cessus.
Xing smiled. "Very good. Is the box using port re-routing for its access? Port 1019 for SSH?"
Cessus looked down at the smaller man for a long moment, his face blank. Then his fingers fluttered, calling up data, and he nodded.
"Yes, that's right."
"Very good, very good" Xing said. "You are looking to get data from Harry Chow. He is China's lead IT Security Officer. He is big problem for us. It would be very happy for us to assrape him."
Cessus blinked. "Assrape?"
"You say this in English, yes? Means make unpleasant?" asked Xing.
"Um, yes" said Cessus.
Fede ran back to them, falling on a small plastic chair as he came. He jumped from the floor; "They found Marcus" he said, breathless.
"Where is he?" asked Cessus.
Fede filled him in, much to Cessus's amusement. Xing looked on, confused.
"Tonx says we should use Marcus as a distraction somehow, make some kind of media event. Apparently Marcus has gotten a lot of popularity over here since his commercial."
Cessus sucked on his lower lip for a moment before turning to Xing.
"You know which apartment this Harry Chow lives in?" he asked.
"Yes, of course" Xing said. "We even have sympathizer live on same floor. But security very tight. No way to get in without being noticed, and building have very many guards."
Cessus smiled. "You ever hear of 'The Shok-a-ru'?" he asked.
"Shock-a-roo?" asked Fed.
"The Shark" said Xing, pronouncing the word crisply. "Yes. We know of him. He is Pokari Sweat salesperson, yes? Very popular with Gothic Lolitas now. They are girls wear all black dress. He is very big mod fighter, yes?"
"Right" smiled Cessus sweetly. "He's my brother, and he's just been discovered by your local fan club."
The smile came on very slowly to Xing's face, and took a long time to leave.
The rain had washed the air clean during the night and the next day dawned bright and clear. Fede woke around 4am, having slept soundly thanks to the cold meds Tonx had ordered for everyone from the hotel vending machine. He showered in the tiny stall across from their room, the water turning suddenly cold just as he'd gotten the little plastic package of shampoo open. He emerged soon after, dressed in a one-piece white jumper made of Tyvec. The spun plastic fibers made for a bizarrely thin and warm outfit, and he wondered again why he'd spent his life in jeans and tee shirts. He met Cessus coming out of the room, suit stretched taut against his skinny chest, gonads captured in a neat little bubble.
"This ain't gonna happen" he wheezed. "I can walk if I bend over, but that's it. This shit hurts, dude."
Fede laughed. "I like the hat" he said. Cessus had a surgeons' cap on, his dreads stuffed into it like an oversized shower-cap. Cessus grimaced and tried to tug the suit into a configuration that made more room.
"Seriously" he said. "No way I can work like this. And besides, security will never believe we're there for an audit if I look like a clown."
"Don't worry about it" said Fed. "Just act like you don't like it any more than anybody else does."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Cessus.
"I mean you're fucking ugly like that, dude" laughed Fed. They went back into the room. Poulpe was standing in front of the tiny mirror, adjusting his carefully folded tie. He ignored them completely as he made his preparations, checking his new tape recorder and using tissues from a small plastic package to polish the tiny scuff marks off his shoes.
"You ready to roll?" asked Fed.
"Yes, Feed" said Poulpe. "Do I look like a reporter?"
"Sure" said Fed. "As much as anybody does, I guess. You just have to be the spotter, you know? Don't kill anyone and they'll just stare at you like they do every other foreigner."
Poulpe smiled with thin lips and adjusted his hair again. He'd developed dark circles under his eyes ever since they'd landed in China, and Fede was suspicious that he was using makeup to cover them.
"It is good to be a foreigner sometimes, Feed. You are reminded how much control you have over how others see you" he said.
"Or not" said Cessus from the bed. He'd unzipped the top part of the tyvec suit and tied the arms around his waist before lying down. "Sometimes people see you how they want to, you know?"
"That is not the point" said Poulpe, turning. "Why would you want to focus on what you cannot do? Is it not better to take control over what you can?"
Cessus just shrugged. "Can't control everything" he said.
"This is true. I must go, to be in place ahead of time. Do not look for me" said Poulpe.
"I hope we don't hear from you" said Fed. Poulpe turned on him, his eyes narrowing, and he raised his hands in defense. "I mean it'd be better not to hear from you during the run, right? Because that'd mean there weren't any problems, right?"
"Oh" said Poulpe. "Yes, you are right."
He examined his tie in the mirror again.
"My apologies. I am not used to this sort of work. I am nervous."
He turned and left. The room was silent for a long while, the old air conditioner rattling in the background.
"That there is one weird motherfucker" said Cessus eventually. "I don't like him one bit."
"Me neither" said Fed. The room was quiet again.
"Okay" sighed Cessus. "Might as well get going. But listen, I'm going to wear my suit like this, okay? Don't give me any shit about it, we'll be all right."
"You worried your wang is going to get tangled up?" joked Fed.
"My 'wang'?" said Cessus unbelievingly. "Are you calling my penis a 'wang'?"
"Hey, you're the one with the split dick" said Fed.
Cessus shrugged again. "The ladies like it. Don't be dissing the mods, man."
"It's your urethra, dude" said Fed, checking his comm again to make sure he had the route ready. He pulled a dull green backpack over his shoulders, the wadded up clothing inside making for a soft load. Cessus would carry most of the actual equipment. With his goggles on Fede was pretty sure he could pass for a Chinese serviceman, but what did he know? They all looked the same to him.
"You ready?" he asked.
"Ready steady" said Cessus. They marched out of the room, the lock sliding shut automatically behind them. They took a right outside the hotel, following Fed's map. They walked three blocks and caught a taxi waiting for them there. The driver eyed them impassively through the polyplast window, following the directions Fed's comm sent his GPS. They crawled through traffic, fumes turning the middle distance into a waving haze. Fede pulled his goggles off in the heat of the taxi, knees pressed up against the back of the driver's seat. Cessus sat next to him, his head slumped against the window. They stopped at a light and Fede saw a tiny dog look out of a wooden basket an old woman had over her arm and realized he didn't know if it was a pet or lunch. He let his head slip back against the rear window and stared at the roof of the car.
Eventually they lurched off the main road and down a side street, children in matching blue and grey uniforms running by the car, their laughter muted through the glass. The taxi driver stopped and Cessus paid with cash; Tonx had gotten a bunch from somewhere and wanted them to use it on the run where possible for anonymity reasons. Fede watched the transaction with envy. He'd never really handled paper money before.
They got out and let their GPS orient itself before setting off. They went down a long road behind the school the kids had come from, the ground-floor windows small and barred. They came by a tree-lined street hedged by shrubs and followed it. A block later they found that the shrubs contained a park, and just outside the park entrance was the junction box they were looking for. Cessus unslung his bag and set it gently on the ground before comm'ing Xing.
"Hey, is Billy there?" he asked.
"I am very sorry. You have a wrong number" said Xing.
Cessus hung up. "We're good to go" he said to Fed.
They'd spent most of the night before going over schematics and working through the process in their heads. Xing had gotten them the equipment, but late, and they'd had to do most of it virtual.
Fede lifted the brown-paper wrapped pieces out of Cessus's bag and was surprised again at how light they were. He set them neatly to one side of the service box while Cessus made a show of pulling out the right key from a big ring of them in his pocket. He bent over, Fede standing up by his side, and squirted a tiny aerosol can into the keyhole through a thin brown nozzle. Then he hurriedly shoved the key inside, wringing his hand around as though he were trying to shift it. He turned to Fede and blew out his cheeks, eyebrows raised. Fede gave him an empty smile, his mind elsewhere, going over the procedure.
Cessus grasped the key and twisted. The door opened smoothly and Fede could see him exhale. He shuffled to one side and pulled a larger aerosol can out of the bag. He went to work cleaning the expanding polymer out of the lock. Fede stepped forward and pulled on a pair of latex gloves as he examined the locker's contents.
Five minutes later he had a neat line of sixteen screws lined up along the edge of the locker's top. Cessus stood up, key in hand, a wad of paper towels tucked into a small plastic sack.
"We ready?" he asked.
"Ready" said Fed. He reached out and grasped the thick, L-shaped tube that relayed the fiber optic signals from the eight huge buildings hidden by the building behind them. Cessus comm'd Xing again.
"Billy" he said. "Billy, man I think we got a problem here."
"There is no Billy here" said Xing. "You called earlier."
"Sorry" said Cessus, and hung up. He nodded at Fed.
Fede twisted.
The piece stuck, unmoved, and Fede swore, adrenalin plunging through his system. He heaved on the relay and it sprang loose. Fede fell on his ass and banged the back of his head on Cessus's legs.
"Fuck" yelped Cessus as he staggered back. He jumped forward and pushed Fede back upright in front of the box. Fed snatched up the replacement relay and fit it in place. Neither of them spoke until Fede had put the last screw secured. He grabbed the doors and swung them almost shut, sidestepping out of the way to give Cessus access. Cessus threaded the tiny hair-thin cable from the replacement relay through the lock before fastening the door shut. Xing had planned this operation a long time ago, knew the specifications for the relay boxes as well as how they were actually deployed in the field. He'd preferred they take the risk, however, so now Cessus fussed with the miniscule fitting, a tiny grey bottle-cap shaped piece of custom electronics. When he had it connected he held it gently in one hand and fished around in his pocket with the other. He pulled out a little pink tube and carefully smeared its contents against the metal plate next to the keyhole. He softly pushed the bottle-cap onto it before counting to twenty and letting his hands go. The bottle-cap stuck.
"Walk" he said, grabbing his backpack and turning smartly down the street. His glasses unfurled, hands disappearing into his pockets. Fede wiped the sweat from his forehead and hurried after, bouncing slightly as he went. They circumnavigated the park.