Summary:The Black Cat recruits a hacker for her crew. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
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The message is short and brief.
RESPONSE TO MSG #654-89.
The link provided is familiar, one provided to Broker's contacts. One that requires a response in the next five minutes with the code provided, and then the secured link is established with Broker. Careful process for a very careful person.
The message is answered not within minutes, but within a couple seconds. The terminal opens, routed through a host that deletes his logs whenever a connection is terminated and then overwrites them.
Saint Roe - Sup?
Broker - I may have something for you. A new property has arrived in New York. Successful campaigns in Los Angeles and Chicago, but looking for a crew.
Saint Roe - What they look for? Can provide the net side and digital solutions. Possibly backup. No clown masks, always bad luck.
A pause.
Broker - This is for The Black Cat. ID Confirmed.
Saint Roe - Black Cat as in the Kenyan Mask robbery last winter?
Broker - Yes. She's pulled up stakes and moved to New York. Subtlety, discretion and common sense required, she says.
Saint Roe - Sounds ok. Mind scheduling a meet'n'greet for the usual price?
Broker - Hang on.
A few minutes of silence, then:
Broker - GPS coordinates to follow. Alone. Warehouse near Brighton Beach.
Saint Roe - Roger. Roe over and out.
The Connection terminates.
About an hour later, Jane parks her truck close to Brighton Beach before moving over to the indicated warehouse. A messanger bag over her back, a watertight case in her hand. Before getting into the building, she stops, opens the case and lets the little quadcopter it contained fly, slowly circling the building, the camera below eying it while it also acts as a little repeater, allowing the haker to 'feel' other electronic devices communicating on the WiFi and bluetooth bands. She doesn't use a controller though, at least not with her hands, as she slips into the dark building.
There is a table standing in the center of the empty warehouse. On the table is a slim silver briefcase, one of those new ones that can only be opened by a computer code from a nearby terminal. There is a small terminal there, bext to the case.
Jane chuckles as she gets to the item, slowly caressing the metal case, with her fingertips before eying the terminal next to it, giving it a short tap with the index finger. "A test of sorts?" she asks, more herself than anyone in particular while pulling out her laptop, opening it and placing it onto the free space on the desk. The screen shows a green, circulating icosahedron, the faces filled with icons, and a couple keystrokes later a simple terminal appears on it, code appearing in it as something - or somebody - starts to write something.
The terminal screen opens with the number 60 in the center, which becomes 59…58..57…
Jane Roe frowns a second at the timer, lifting the terminal up a moment, looking for access ports before putting it back down, pressing a couple buttons on the laptop to try to connect to it via bluetooth and read its communication protocol. Nothing intrusive yet… YET.
49…48…47…
The Bluetooth protocol is detected—version 5.1, updated last week.
Oh, the best of the best? Jane chuckles as she hacks a little code into the console, though her fingers don't seem to match up with the speed the characters appear. She isn't coding it with her fingers after all, she's writing it with her mind. Faster. But the time flies by nevertheless. As she stops typing, the code on the screen seems to vanish as it compiles, just a single line appearing on the screen. *Sesame open*.
34…33…
Then eight lines appear, immediately filled by 14083401, and the red light on the case turns green as it clicks open.
Jane smiles as she stretches out a hand, the laptop spewing the mission impossible theme. Carefully she lifts the lid, eying inside while mumbling "Good morning Mr. Phelbs. Yadayada. This tape will self destruct in 5 seconds."
The lid rises to reveal ten sets of packed and wrapped hundred-dollar bills, the band around each pack bearing the label "$5,000." Fifty grand in new hundreds.
Then the voice is heard, about ten feet behind Jane. "Not bad. That's the newest update, and you hacked it in less than thirty seconds. What was the exploit you used?"
"Simple: the latest update contains an auto updater. Blocking the connection to the real server, impersonating it and installing an update. Of course, my update has just some more lines: auto-unlock once." Jane explains as she turns around. "Looks like an appatizer in the case."
The Black Cat, in all her provocative costumed glory, is standing in front of Jane. "Oh, that is one of two things. Your choice. If you are willing to do what it takes to join my crew, it's your signing bonus. If not, it's compensation for your time." She chuckles. "I need a hacker. Someone to handle the computer end. Our mutual acquaintance says you are very good. So, I had to see what you could do. But if you join, that means you are EXCLUSIVE. No moonlighting, no favors for friends, nothing I do not approve in advance. You want to freelance, then you don't get the perks a crew gets. Fair?"
The hacker hmms as she turns to eye the money, tapping her chin while closing the laptop. "Exclusive, huhu? I have this one gig planned with 'Surtr' and 'Pleistocene Epoch' aka 'Ymir'. Pays about a third of that sign up bonus though. They might want some extras though." A moment of silence as she turns back. "And then there's this lawyer that occasionally buys some information. Exclusivity is pretty expensive these days, especially with the considerable costs of living in the shadows."
The Cat nods. "I don't have an issue with prior engagements, as long as it's a one-time thing. And as long as you aren't feeding this lawyer anything about me or other members of the crew, I think I can allow that." She pauses. "Is the first gig a one-time thing?"
"A tryout, as they stated. A couple that just needs a little backup with the tech." Roe answers as she shrugs. "I think my lawyer friend is more interested in files for his cases than you. He's not district or state attorney after all. And it always helps to have a lawyer on the short line in case stuff gets awkward."
The Cat nods. "All right. Want to hear what you get as a member of the crew?" She smirks. "Your own apartment downtown, access to the best tech, an even split on every job, and the access to tolls you need for additional training. And you will be taken care of. Full medical, 401k account, expense account, even life insurance if you want to care for any beneficiaries."
Jane carefully eyes the money case as she picks up the laptop, slipping it back into her messanger bag. "A lot of benefits. How's the internet over there and do you rent it via a company facade?" She smiles as she faces the Black Cat. "And are there rental rules that I should be aware of like pets or visitor restrictions?"
Felicia chuckles. "I had a fiber-optic modem installed just last week with network ports in every room. I use a shell company to buy the place outright. And I do approve pets, after I meet them."
"That doesn't speak about visitors though." Jane answers with a chuckle, the drone buzzing in from the door. Just a little quadcopter. "That's one of them." she says, pointing to it, chuckling a little. "Not the smartest and not an AI, but being able to open a window to let some out would be great. Or roof access. Server racks, backup power system… I can write a list. If you can provide, I'm in."
The Cat nods, taking out a slim phone and tapping a few keys. "Seems fair enough. I was going to buy the floor below the penthouse, anyways. I have the penthouse, and roof access is not a problem. You give me the specs, I can put together the server you need to work."
"I put more than that together if you want. Security system, at least the digital side. Cleanroom to make own electronics could bebenefitial." Jane notes, then laughtes a moment. "If you get the floor under the penthouse, try to get two: one for the team, one filled with office cubicles and run a callcenter in it."
Felicia Hardy raises an eyebrow. "Call center? This is a luxury apartment building. No one's going to say boo to a ladybug about what goes up in that freight elevator, and if you need anything more than one server, it's easier to set up a server farm offsite."
Jane Roe says, "True true, just saying if you want to launder income, there's two ways: run a fitness club and use undreds of accounts that don't exist to get your money clean or run a callcenter and sell 'services'." Jane acknowledges. "And the callcenter is better to hide server farms and a tech lab." She chuckles as she taps onto the silver case. "So, some kind of contract to sign?""
The Cat smiles. "One last thing. I will listen to advice, but I make the final decision on any job, and if I say we're out, we're ALL out." She slips out a folded piece of paper. "This is your rental agreement. Fill it out, send it to the email at the bottom, and then Broker will have the keys and codes. If you go against the crew or try anything funny, you will get a chance to explain yourself. If you mess with the crew, you will lose access to everything, and Broker will know. And you and I both know how Broker feels about double-crossers. So I don't think a fancy slip of paper is that important, do you?"
"The Karma system of his site is bad enough. Don't need to get him involved." Jane says as she picks up the papers to scan over them, searching for a pen to fill it out, finding one in her pocket. "Name, huh? Well, let's go with Jane Roe…" she mutters as she scribbles into the lines.
The Cat nods. "And a code name. A pet name. Something we can use over comms."
"The Broker hasn't told you my handle? Saint Roe, unless you wanna use something different." Jane notes, leaving several blanks like SSN and bank account on the 'rental'. Stuff she just hadn't had. "Hope you don't mind me meeting my therapist at times."
Cat chuckles. "We'll just call you the Saint over the comms. Keep it simple. And if you need something to help you cope that isn't self-medication or violence, go right ahead. We can even pay for it with your medical insurance."
"Oh, I got that handled. Less trails you need to cover." Jane answers with a little chuckle, offering the papers to Cat. "If you want to look them over…"
Felicia Hardy hands the paper back. "You email this to the email listed there, and Broker will be in touch." She extends a gloved hand. "Welcome to the crew, Saint."
"Onwards to Glory, Cat." Jane answers, rolling the papers up as she takes the hand, gripping it with a little chuckle. "I will send you the list."