Summary:Batgirl (the redheaded one) sets out to find the Tech Ninja who's been causing problems. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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It's late at night and all sane people have gone home for the evening. The insane ones, or perhaps less san, are the ones that are still out. More specifically, those who prefer to work in the shadows and those who want to stop them. Sometimes … it's not easy to tell who's who.
On the roof of a building opposite a pharmaceuticals company, a dark figure takes a three point crouch and looks out over the street. Silhouetted, it's difficult to tell much except for the 'points' on the head - marking the figure as likely one 'bats'.
"Oracle, I want the feeds for the surveillance cameras. If my data is correct, there'll be a hit tonight." Someone has been routinely hitting companies suspected of supplying drug dealers and Batgirl (the most senior one?) wants to work this out.
There is certainly a pattern to the attacks. The 'hits' as it were. The rather suspicious timing of them - just as the drugs are about to be moved - suggests either an inside job or someone that has compromised the communications of the companies in question. Given that none of them SHOULD be talking to one another that's quite a feat.
The camera feeds pick up someone moving quickly, running silently over the rooftops before making a leap that he can't possibly make… only to bounce off something mid air into a second leap and make the rooftop he was aiming for. The figure is masked. His entire face is covered in a black and orange hex grid. He's also clearly armed, but otherwise it's not entirely clear who he is.
Though there may be reports on him from other Bats.
There's something from the Bats. Nightwing and Penny-Two had made their reports, though Nightwings had excessive mentions of guacamole and chips. Shiranui. That was the name that Nightwing had given the figure. At least, Batgirl thinks that's who this is. The description matches.
As for compromised communications, if they are, the work is good. Oracle hasn't been able to determine any points that would match that.
Still, with the feeds giving her that visual, the redhead starts moving. Grappling gun firing to anchor into the next roof and sending her swinging across the void. As she reaches the arc of the swing, another button is pressed - causing the woman to rise quickly and then swing herself to the roof.
That should put her in the oncoming figures path.
The Oracle network detects something like an intrusion, but not an intrusion. There's something accessing the machines of the security system for this building but it isn't a hacking effort. It's just like someone has made a connection out of the ether and told the machines what to do. The security for the building goes offline within fifteen seconds. The entire system. If that had been a hack, it would be a very clever and effective one but there was no outside traffic. It's like the machines just decided to… take a break.
The Redheaded Batgirl finds herself still rising when Shiranui leaps over her location. That'll put her behind him as he heads moves toward the rooftop access. Which has just unlocked. By itself.
Behind is probably a good place. Gives her an advantage.
"Oracle close down that access and bring the security back online and ensure the building is locked down tight." Batgirl speaks to her hud. It's not a person at the other but a VI with several cleverly coded scripts that run on command. But then it's all back. That makes her frown, as she watches Shiranui sail over her, just before she makes her feet.
Maybe it will give her advantage - Batgirl is not the most agile or acrobatic of the Bats. She's not got the training of Nightwing or Red Robin and with her previous injury, things are still a little delicate.
She can be stealthy though and as Shiranui makes his way to the rooftop acces, she follows - opening a pouch on her utility belt, preparing herself.
Her own system show the security reinitialize and when it beings to do that Shiranui stops. The security shuts back down. Again there is no access per se. There's just the machines turning off. As if someone were physically accessing them, but that's impossible.
The masked and armor clad man stands stock still for a moment and Batgirl can see something light up on his back.
"I can see you back there." He finally says. He hasn't turned his head. Hasn't moved. How he can see her is something of a mystery.
"Are you the one messing with the security systems?"
That stops Batgirl. Shiranui calling her out. There's little light here and she's kept to the shadows. "Can you now…" she answers, stopping herself as Oracle reports.
Systems reinitialised
Systems stopped. Reintitalising.
"What if I am?" She answers, watching the lights dance up his backbone she stands there.
"How are you accessing them? I'm not getting any hack attempts." She's clearly monitoring it. "You're the one they call Shiranui."
"Wouldn't you like to know?" The answer is almost challenging. It's like playing with a light switch. Every time Batgirl tries to power the security on something cycles it back off. There's no access to close down. Interestingly though nothing is affecting the computer systems. It's just the security and door locks. Is that deliberate or is that a limitation in some way.?
"I am the one they call Shiranui. You don't sound like Penny Two. And you don't look like Nightwing. And you don't swear like Bluebird. So… who are you then? And yes. I can see you. Reaching into your pouch. Stop that."
He still hasn't turned around. In fact he hasn't moved at all. Stock still. Almost creepily so.
"Are you tapped into the surveillance camera's?" Batgirl is more than happy to play cycle the security systems all night. When he says to stop, she does - which might surprise him. Her gloved hands coming up, so he can see them - somehow. "And why only the security and door locks? Why not the entire building. That would be more effective."
He can hear the amusement in her voice as she stands there. "Not British enough for Penny-Two and definitely too high pitched for Nightwing. And no, swearing isn't something that I do, preferably." beat "Which one do you think I am?"
If he can see her, he can see the cascade of red hair down her back and the yellow bat symbol on her suit. "I'll give you a hint. I was one the originals."
"That would make you a vampire. Also that show has the worst main characters." The Originals that is. They're all sort of unlikeable. Which might at times describe the Bats.
"Clearly you're one I've never met before. As for originals I'm afraid I wouldn't know. As to how I can see yo, since I presume that's why you're asking about the security cameras… magic."
He's not serious about that of course. Well, he's half serious about that. Might she take him seriously? Nothing else about him really screams magic in and of itself.
"Effectiveness sort of depends on what I'm trying to do. Do you open every door in a building when you just need one?"
"Oh, I don't know. They're all kind of cute. Well, the men are. Annoying though, you're right. I mean really, what a family."
Shiranui's not wrong. Sometimes it could describe the Bats.
"I'll accept magic for now. After all magic is just science we haven't explained yet. And I haven't explained you or your feats. That was a nice leap you made between the buildings." beat "And no, you haven't met me yet and you won't while you're being so rude and not looking at me."
Oh yes, the redhead is highly amused. "I can keep relocking the building all night." beat "Whether I open one door or all of them depends on what I'm trying to do."
Shiranui turns around. It's impossible to tell his expression because his mask or armor or whatever it is covers his entire face. There aren't even eye holes so it's not real clear how he's seeing out of it to begin with.
"I was looking at you. What makes you think that requires my eyes?" His voice is weirdly modulated but that is to be expected among the heroic crowd. Batgirl's voice is modulated as well.
"Then you are aware that it is a question of efficiency. Which is also why I am unlocking them and not breaking them. I COULD break them of course but unlocking them is simpler and requires less effort. Well… usually requires less effort. Not tonight, apparently."
"Oh, I see. You're like my mother and have eyes in the back of your head." The redhead snarks a little. It must be camera's in that mask, right? She's thinking. It's not like she can just scan him though that would be nice.
Still she doesn't give him her name, or which one of the Bats she is.
"No, not tonight. Of all us, I'm probably not the one you want to mess with technology like this." Batgirl considers as OracleNet keeps re-arming the door that Shiranui is trying to get through. "Why don't you tell me what you're trying to do and why you're breaking into what seems to be a legitimate business."
"If I were your mother I'd be calling you by your full name which I imagine is something like 'Margarette Elisa Batflap The Third.'" Flippant this one. Must come with having such a big… sword.
"Well I COULD just say that that it's Ninja Business and leave it at that. But how about I instead say that there is a pharmaceutical project underway in this city that I don't much think has anything to do with legitimate medicine AND also happens to be connected to ninja business. This places is one of the sites and I didn't think they'd let me peek at it if I asked nicely."
That's probably more helpful than a lot of people like this would be. Vigilantes are a suspicious lot.
"Margarette Elisa Bertha The Fourth, if you please." Batgirl retorts. Shiranui can be flippant and so can she. She's pretty sure it's not the big sword, or big anything else. She's grown up with Robins a plenty, after all.
It's his words though that make her pause and consider. "A pharma project, hmmm? One you don't think is legit? Maybe you should tell me more about it." The Bats haven't noticed anything unusual on the streets at the moment but that doesn't mean there isn't anything - with the amount of crime, smaller operations can slide by.
"Oracle, get me all the information you can on Vincentia Ltd. A full organisational breakdown - board and shareholders and what business they're known to do. A full scan of their social profiles and … dig into their finances. Who are they currently doing business with."
The bio comes up. Vincienta Ltd is by all appearances an absolutely upstanding company. They're a subsidiary of a Japanese company called Fujikawa Enterprises and have been operating in New York for a number of years. The board is mostly American but there are a few foreigners tied to it. Pretty big names. The kinds of people that Bruce Wayne runs with. There does appear to be some kind of whisper campaign regarding them on lesser known social media sites. People posting that odd things are happening or that the company brass is cold and uncaring and maybe corrupt but they get hit by the company's PR and legal team pretty quickly as a rule.
"Are you sure you want me to do that because I'm not entirely certain you're going to believe me. I think that three normally rival ninja clan are engaging in some kind of biological experimentation via the pharma industry. I just don't know quite what yet."
"Oracle, everything you can on Fujikawa and I want to know who was posting that stuff on the social media sites." Were they ex-employees and if so, why? Disgruntled employees are certainly thing and what the rumours indicate isn't really anything out of the usual. But still, Batgirl is thorough. "Route that to my personal server and I'll review it later."
"You must have a reason for thinking that, Shiranui. I'd like to know why." She's serious at least. "You're right. I don't believe you. At the moment. However, you don't do what I do and not develop a healthy level of scepticism. None of the information that I can find ties the company remotely to anything untoward."
which makes her just a little more dubious, perhaps.
"I have some first hand personal evidence that three clans of ninja are working broadly together in this town - even if their foot soldiers occasionally brawl - and that some of these companies are connected to those clans. I know that there have been unusual drug shipments that have not wound up at any of the medical distribution centers and I know that several of these companies have high level projects that are not being overseen by the FDA. Not solid, any of it, but taken together I thought it was enough to investigate."
He doesn't give more than that, that he has personal reasons, but this Shiranui does seem to be rather thorough in his own right.
"The question in my mind is why are you so curious. Vigilante types aren't usually this talky."
"I'd like to see your data." Batgirl answers. She's going to go digging and see what she can find. Fujikawa isn't ringing any particular alarms at the moment. "And I take it you're going in to find evidence?" He can't see the green eyed look from behind her own hud, but it's there. Piercing.
"If you are. I'll come in with you." It's not a request. She's going to do it.
"Am I? I hadn't noticed." The redhead smirks a little. "Maybe, unlike the others, I believe honey catches more flies than vinegar. Maybe I work on data as opposed to gut instinct."
"You should talk to Nightwing. He thinks guacamole catches flies." There's a short pause. "Though he may have a point. Ever left guac out overnight?" It can be bad if you don't have good pest control. Then again that's true of pretty much any gooey food.
"You want to come with me? Forgive me but how do I know you won't stab me in the back. For that matter, how do you know that I won't stab you in the back?" This Shiranui is clearly willing to talk but he has a rather healthy level of skepticism.
"I shared some of my data. Are you familiar with a voice on the radio named 'Penny-Two'? She got some of my last haul. I might have more but call me crazy, there's only so much I'm willing to take on faith so if I share again it'll be while I'm standing there."
"His guacamole is pretty good, though." Batgirl responds "And no, I haven't but I've seen the results. Someone has to clean up, of course." Talk about pest control.
"No, I'm coming with you. That wasn't a request." The redhead answers matter of factly. "You don't and I don't, so it will be an adventure, won't it? I mean, you have to agree that instead of attacking, I did talk … first. Do you want to fight though? Cause we could do that."
"Ah well. If you're very good, I'll share the data that Oracle just pulled on Vincentia and it's parent company. Including the major shareholders, the Board members and where they live." beat "Give them till morning and they'll have bank records as well. If there's something rotten, I'm sure to find it."
"I remain dubious that anyone who talks about his guac that much has a very big one. I mean good one." The smirk in Shiranui's voice is almost audible.
"Well in that case why don't you lead on. You can unlock the door for me." This entire time the two have been cycling the security system back and forth and at this point it must be very confused as would anyone monitoring it if they weren't both very good. Fortunately they are very good.
"Are you saying you'll share if I play nice with you? Because that would be incentive to play nice."
"Compensating much?" Batgirl lets out a sigh. "I'm saying that if we find something in here, I'll share. Yes." Clearly she expects to find something. Maybe it's just Shiranui's confidence that's doing it or maybe the records that Oracle have found have raised her suspicions.
"Unlock the door, Oracle and get control of the BMS. Don't take the system down, yet but be ready to get us through." She too is confident that doors will just magically open and camera's won't see them though she looks at Shiranui "Or do you have magic for that as well?"
"You'll like playing nice with me. You'll see." The words are tossed over her shoulder as she enters the door. "Where abouts where you going to head?"
"He is, I think but don't tell him I said that. He seems sensitive." Deliberately misunderstanding is a common tactic of Bat-males so Batgirl will likely be used to it. "I do have magic for that as well but since you're being the magician I think I'll just be your lovely assistant on this one. I was heading down to the main lab on the thirty fifth floor. These guys are too smart to do something obvious like hide it in a secret basement lair behind several dozen locked doors. That makes people curious. What we're looking for will be hidden in plain sight."
There's a pause as the door opens and lets them in.
"By the way you know my name but I'm pretty sure you didn't give me yours."
"You'll get along famously with him, then." Batgirl answers. Yes, the deliberate misunderstanding cuts all ways. "You're not showing nearly enough skin to be my assistant." Comes the next sassy response. She's quick.
"Thirty fifth floor, Oracle. We'll take the stairs but you'll need to handle surveillance and tell us when the security patrol is due." beat "This way, assistant…" If she wasn't wearing her hood, it would be a cheeky look she cast in Shiranui's direction. As it is, she just moves quietly through the corridors of the building.
"You gave me my name. Margaret Elize Brittany the Sixth." beat "I'm Batgirl."
And yes. She'll wait for it.
"Batgirl. Much better than Marge which is what I was going to call you." Marge indeed. Or maybe Margarine if he got really flippant. "Showing too much skin is a good way to get dead. Hence why I'm not showing any at all. I like not being dead. Call it a quirk."
The tech ninja takes a deep breath and looks around. Stairs. Well this should be fun. Normally he would just bounce down them but he's not sure that Batgirl would keep up. Though she has a zipline if she's like any of the others he's seen.
"Estimated time of security patrol, fifteen minutes."
That's their window, according to Oracle. Down on the 35th floor the Lab is near the center of the building. Well protected though that may be a bit of a paranoid line of thinking. It's dark and empty and quite clean. Definitely looks like the kind of place where people test new drugs on microorganisms.
"I need into their computer files if you can manage that. If not we'll have to cut the drives out. I'm going to look for anything that looks like a sample."
"Here…" Batgirl hands over a communicator. "You can speak with Oracle. Save me having to relaying everything they say. The next security patrol is fifteen minutes and I don't fancy walking all these stairs." The grappling gun is deployed allowing the redhead to 'toss' herself over the rail. She can't 'bounce' the stairs like Shiranui does but it's much much quicker than walking.
"This room is lined to stop eavesdropping - audible and electronic both." The bat murmurs. They don't have long before the security patrol will be in their area, so she doesn't dawdle. "I've got the computers, never you mind."
She's got a data key and Shiranui might roll his eyes and think she's a 'standard' hacker. After a moment though she goes to work herself, fingers moving over the keyboard ever so quickly. "This will take a few minutes. And yes, you're right, too much skin is dangerous in the field but if you want to be my assistant, I'll need to see some leg."
So irreverant.
"You want that on top of all this?" All this being his entirely covered form and the sword he has. Yes he knows he's not a looker. But he's alive and that's way more important.
The blade hums and Batgirl can see Shiranui just slice the secure lockers open. Nothing quite like a light saber and yet clearly something in that realm. He starts looking through them, examining and discarding things as he goes. Not breaking them fortunately.
"No. No. Wait… this. This isn't marked with any of the usual data for their normal drug research. This has to be a special project though whether or not it's a legitimate one I couldn't tell you…"
Though he has reason to believe it's not. He's been listening in on these guys long enough that he's pretty sure he knows what their legitimate projects are.
The computer is a mass of research data, most of it mundane. For a moment it looks like there's nothing there. But then she notices that there are stray bits and bytes of information encoded on the end of the individual research files and taken together… they might form something cohesive.
"Hmmm? Oh well. Yes?" She's not sure how he looks, so there's that but she's teasing him dreadfully. Or perhaps that's terribly. "Nice blade. You'll have to show me how it works one day." That is tech, right?
"How's it marked?" She's serious again, it's like a switch - flippant and teasing and then, bam, all business. "I've got something here. It's very clever. The data is encoded in sections and tagged to the end of the files. You wouldn't know to look except the filesizes are odd - and even then, you'd have to know the files were odd to look at them."
"I'm going to copy these off and see if I reconstruct them. There'll be a key … Ah here. That's clever too - it's encoded as one of the swap files. No one touches those."
"It's marked with a project code name instead of the usual alphanumeric designation." Shiranui slips the dishes into what looks like a padded messenger tube and then slips THAT into an insulated bag. Clearly he knew he might make off with biological samples and that they have to be maintained at temperature.
"We only have a few minutes left. Do you have what you need because if you don't I'm going to need to shoot some guards. Or hit them. With my magic sword."
Magic again. But it isn't right? It looks techy. It probably is. But what kind of tech?
"Nearly. Keep your pants on, I don't want to see you legs yet." The redhead mutters. "98%, 99…. there we go."
Security patrol is entering your area in three minutes. That's Oracle.
"Alright then, Shiranui. Let's go. I don't want you hitting guards with your magic sword. Not given we took so much effort to get in here undetected."
For a moment Shiranui is tempted to try to lock her in here but since he's been playing nice so far it's be a shame to waste that. He gestures and the two leave in a hurry. It's not possible really to conceal all evidence of their having been present but so long as they get out, that's fine. The Lab won't know who robbed them even if the ninja clans behind it will. And they'll come looking for him but they're doing it already.
"You and Nightwing and hitting the cops and guards. It's not like I've hurt them that badly so far as you know. And THEY'RE using guns!"
Batgirl is fairly good at erasing her tracks on the computer. They'll know they were robbed from the lab, but it's going to take them a while to work out the data was compromised as well.
"I didn't say you couldn't, Shiranui. Just that I'd prefer you didn't this time. Let them guess for a while. If I don't miss my bet - you'll be given lots of chances."
"Oh probably." It isn't too bad to make it back to the roof but Shiranui doesn't stop there. In fact he doesn't stop until they're two towers over and that gives Batgirl a chance to see something interesting. She gets a good look at when he leaps. There's a puff of purpleish energy from his boots. And a second such puff when he 'leaps' on thin air. How often can he chain those jumps?
Good question.
Once they're a good distance away he stops and again turns to look at Batgirl. "Well. That was fascinating. What do you intend to do now. You have the data and you don't necessarily have to share. But I have the samples and neither do I. So how do we resolve that?"
Batgirl has to work to keep up with Shiranui. She's not as spry as Red Robin and certainly not as athletic as Nightwing but she manages.
She sets the in-suit camera recording though - she'll play the footage back and assess this Shiranui at her leisure.
"Was it?" Fascinating that is. "Me? I have to decode this data and reconstruct it. Oracle will help and then I can assess it." beat "You don't trust people much, do you? I did say if you played nice, I'd share. Are you telling me you're not going to play nice, now? Besides, I still want to see your legs."
No, she's not letting that go, Lovely Assistant.
"Do you have a way I can contact you? I'm assuming you don't me coming to you and I certainly don't you knowing where to find me." He's still got the communicator she gave him. "Or I can just get Oracle to contact you and we'll set a clandestine meeting. What are you doing to with your samples?"
"More that I want some guarantee of reciprocity." The tech-ninja says, pointedly ignoring the comment about his legs. He could tease back but he senses that would only escalate things.
"You can call me on this. I imagine it has tracking in it so, I'll leave it somewhere convenient." He really doesn't much trust people but he is willing to make himself available, just not instantly available. "There might be a radio frequency you can contact me on but I want to see if you can get that yourself, Batgirl. It'll tell me whether you vigilante types talk to one another much."
A test then.
"I've got a couple of people who can look at these and that's where I'll be taking them. If I get something I'll tell the Oracle and she can contact you. Should take me a couple of days. More if they have to do genetic sequencing on the bugs in here. But it should be just chemistry."
Batgirl smirks - not that Shiranui can see it when he ignores her teasing. It possibly would escalate it but would that be bad? Probably.
"A radio frequency, hmmm?" She supposes he gave it to one of the others. Just which one? Some of them are more communicative than others. She'll work it out. "That's very old tech for someone who likes his toys."
"And yes, sure. Just chemistry. Like what I've got to do is 'just computing'." She rolls her eyes. "Stay out of trouble if you can, Shiranui and maybe next time, I'll bring you some of Nightwings award winning guacamole."
And she's off, blending into the shadows and she skips across the rooftops.