Icarus watched the guard and waited. The Guard’s lazy patrol
meandered from the front entrance to the alley on the right side of the
building. To an unassuming observer, he looked alert and ready for anything.
However, on closer inspection one could tell the earbuds the guard used spouted
some atrocious audio book, and he kept checking his Pad for his step count. Icarus
checked his watch too, out of habit. It took the man 145 seconds to make the lap.
“Time to go.” Snatching the curriers hat off the trashcan, Icarus started on a
brisk jog #3 towards the doors. The guard still needed to travel half way back
to the doors. Icarus stood, waiting at the door and fidgeting. The performance
would be noticeable to any other Hermes, but the guard surely would just see
another messenger clone waiting to move.
“Hey, build your buffer.” The guard said finally closing the
gap. “Ya’ll are in such a hurry.” Icarus ground his teeth, “Of course sir! The
Hermes Line is the pride of the Jinteki messenger corps. We hurry so you don’t
have too!” He checked his watch again, 35 seconds into the conversation. “Apologies
sir, but I have specific SLA’s I am required to maintain. I am on a level one
Red Label delivery, and I again apologize, so I need to get inside for this
delivery. Floor 10.” Icarus checked his watch again and started tapping his
toes lightly. The conversation lagged behind his estimate by 30 seconds so far.
“Fine, let’s get you inside for your delivery.” The guard pressed
his thumb to the scanner, unlocking the door. “Apologies again for taking up any
part of your day.” Icarus spouted the company line as he bowed, following the
company script through to the end. The guard let out a beleaguered sigh, and Icarus
smiled. That one bit always made him smile, even during his days actually running
packages and messages. Straightening out, Icarus bolted through the door in imitation
of his peers.
Icarus thumbed the elevator control switch. Luckily, the one
thumbprint on file for the clone line worked on pretty much every floor. It
took 45 seconds for the elevator to descend. When the elevator hit his floor
and opened with a ding, Icarus popped inside and pushed the buttons for floors
10, 15, and 45. The tenth floor contained the data he needed to steal, and the
other floors would make it just a little harder for his brethren to make
deliveries on time. The Elevator ride took 95 seconds to make the journey to
his target. Icarus looked down and saw his foot tapping along to the music.
Groaning, he shoved his foot flat to the ground. “I will not be like my brothers;
I will not be like my brothers.” The Mantra calmed his nerves, though not his
urge to fidget.
The server bank door he needed into sat at the far end of
the hall. Luckily, he saw no cameras in the hall. Typically, the hardest part
is getting in the building after all. Now came the hard part, getting inside.
There should never be a messenger inside the server room, so his prints wouldn’t
work now. He pulled out his electronic lock pick. The machine clicked and
whirred against the door. It took about 15 seconds, but the lock clicked open
for him. Icarus strode inside, looking around for the hard drive he needed to
steal. 4 minutes and 25 seconds later, Icarus hurried outside, stopping to bow
again to the guard. It payed to play to type after all. Now he just needed to
find someone who could read the data.
No comments:
Post a Comment