Marcus had noticed Wrench was strangely quiet the past few days around the hackerspace. Normally, it was a task in itself getting the guy to shut up once he started on a tangent. The guy always had something to say. Unusually, he mainly kept to his corner of the HQ and silently worked on his stuff. Or, at least, pretended to work on it. Marcus had a sneaking suspicion the man was too distracted by something to actually work.
Sitara seemed to notice this about him, too, because after two days of this odd behavior, she pulled Marcus aside and pointed at Wrench over her shoulder. "What's with him?"
Marcus shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know." He followed where she pointed, seeing him twirl around a few piece of cable in his hand, the other holding a wire cutter. However, he'd been staring at them for ten minutes already without doing anything.
"I've never seen him like this. Maybe something's wrong…" She said, casting a concerned gaze in his direction.
Marcus pursed his lips, humming thoughtfully. "Yeah, I doubt that. If something was wrong, we'd know."
Sitara lifted her hands up, clueless. "Well, go talk to him? You're his best friend. He might be more willing to explain things to you. And, you can be convincing when you need to be."
He perked up, cracking an amused smile. "Oh really? Like when?"
Sitara chuckled and rolled her eyes, not taking his bait. "Go work your magic, Prince Charming." She gently pushed Marcus in Wrench's direction, before returning to her own personal workspace.
He stumbled forward a step, rolling his eyes, before approaching the masked man quietly.
"What're you working on there?"
"Hmm?" Wrench hummed, as if surprised by his presence, then turned his eyes back to the things in his hands. "Oh just…this."
"'This?'" Marcus raised a brow, gesturing to the items. "What exactly is this?"
"…" Wrench was silent a moment, then finally shook his head and put them down on the counter. "I actually can't remember now."
Marcus laughed a little, crossing his arms and leaning up against the counter beside him. "Ok, something's up. You're a crazy motherfucker for sure, but I've never known you to be forgetful. Talk."
Wrench shrugged, trying to play it off. Problem was, it all came out in a rush. "Idon'tknowwhatyoumean-"
"Bullshit. You've been…I don't know…drifting, the past couple days. Not once since I joined have you never been hyper focused on our goal." Marcus waited for him to say something, until he just made a blind guess. He had a feeling he was right about it anyway. "Is this about Riley?"
That got his attention. Wrench's head jerked up quicker than necessary "Shh, man, keep it down. Don't go shouting it out to the whole group."
Alright. So it was about her. Marcus could work with that. "Did something happen between you two?" Suddenly getting excited at the possibilities, Marcus grinned wider and punched his arm. "Yo, you two dating?"
"What? No!" Wrench denied. The X's on his mask turned into angry slashes. The lack of embarrassment made Marcus believe him. "And I never said it was about her."
His friend scoffed in disbelief. "Uh huh. So if it ain't her, than what is it?"
Wrench looked around blankly for a moment, as if searching for a suitable answer. "Uh…death in the family."
Marcus replied instantly. "You hate your family anyway."
"My dog ran away."
"You don't have one. Also, you hate those too." These excuses were getting more and more ridiculous, but Wrench was adamant about not admitting it.
"I was diagnosed with schizophrenia?"
Marcus shook his head. "Ok, enough with that. Just lay it on me. I won't tell a soul. Promise." He held out his pinky in the old-fashioned yet still-honored method. Wrench stared at the offered finger and finally reciprocated, linking them together.
"Ok, ok…" He admitted, growing quieter so Sitara and Josh wouldn't hear. Marcus leaned closer to hear better. Though it took several moments of working up the nerve, he still got the words out.
"A couple days ago Riley was sort of…upset, and I offered to help her blow off steam." He saw Marcus' suggestive face and flashed two angry slashes again. "Not that!"
"Ok!" Marcus held up his hands defensively, allowing him to continue.
"Anyway, I took her to a place I knew and we just sort of…talked. For a long time. I realize I like spending time with her, and she seemed to have fun, and all in all…I have a thing for Riley."
Marcus held a hand up, palm upwards. "We already talked about this at the party, man. Did you forget everything from that night?"
"It's a little hazy, but that's not the point." Wrench waved his hand holding the wire cutters, dismissing that line of conversation. "It's just…I knew it was a thing but…now it's a thing thing. You know?"
"Yea…" Marcus slowly began nodding his head, but it quickly morphed into a definitive shake negative. "…nah. What's the difference?"
The masked man sighed, putting down his tools and cables. "A thing just means you're interested, whereas a thing," Wrench's mask flashed quotation marks to show emphasis, "is something…more."
Marcus shrugged. "So, what…you love her?"
"That is a forbidden word!" Wrench hissed quietly, pointing at him accusingly. "Call it…an extreme crush that I can't get out of my head."
Marcus finally smiled, punching him playfully in the arm a couple times. "Aww, the Wrench has feelings. Should I buy a tux for the wedding?"
Wrench stood straighter and turned to walk away, but Marcus laughed and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Stop, I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. But seriously. Good for you, man. Have you told her yet?"
"No…I don't know if I should." He admitted uncomfortably, crossing his arms as if to ward off the question.
Marcus held up both hands in confusion. "Why the hell not? And don't say the mask, because you know that won't be a problem if you trust her enough."
Wrench shook his head, looking away shyly. "…Her boss pulled the plug on her assignment, so she's going back by the end of the month."
"What? For real?" Wrench nodded. "Why?"
"Not sure. But the point is, if she's leaving, how would a relationship work?"
Marcus shook his head, thinking the answer was obvious. "I've heard long distance things aren't the worst. And she'd only be, what, 2…3 hours away? You could make it work."
"That's betting on the fact she even feels the same way. Or would want to make it work." Wrench pointed out, and Marcus nodded his agreement.
"Well, yeah. But you won't know 'til you take the chance, Wrench."
"…Who says I want to?" Was his stubborn question, eyes changing into three dots on either side, but Marcus wasn't having it. All this naysaying was just Wrench's way of protecting himself from potential heartache, but even Marcus had heard enough of the pessimism. The dude had to either commit or give up his feelings. No other way. He straightened, slapping the masked man on the shoulder comfortingly.
"If you didn't, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Wrench had nothing to say to that. Giving him a few more pats on his shoulder, Marcus walks towards Josh's desk to go over some intel from the last op, and to see if there were any other leads on new targets. He looked back over his shoulder, seeing Wrench standing there thoughtfully.
Riley was practically giddy inside when she received another text from DedSec that morning. She had yet to leave the house, finishing up her makeup when they contacted her. Her inevitably boring workday was about to get a lot more interesting, she just knew.
Riley, Marcus could use some help getting into the ProviBlue servers. We need to install a backdoor. Think you can help?
You bet. What do you need?
He just needs a way into the building without detection, but security has tightened since the exposure video was released. Maybe you have an idea?
Riley chewed on her lower lip in thought. Hmm. How could Marcus get into the building? There weren't a lot of options on the ground floor besides going directly through the front. All personnel went through the same front entrance, and they all had databased badges that were scanned when you walked in. Not very easy to bypass without alerting somebody.
I'll see if I can figure something out. I'll keep you posted.
At least, she hoped. So far, she didn't have any ideas, and the last thing she wanted to do was let DedSec down.
Her drive to work was a very distracted one. Ideas kept turning around in her brain. Ways to infiltrate, possible rooftop entrances, and just the general location of the servers in general. They were located in the basement levels, but which exact floor and behind what door, Riley wasn't sure. Her daily duties didn't give her access to that information.
It wasn't until she parked in the employee parking lot did she come up with a somewhat solid plan. If an employee lost their badge, they were issued a new one at the security gate. If Riley could get a new badge, and maintain her old one, things might just work.
She walked into the building, trying not to look too inconspicuous. The security guard at the check-in was reading a newspaper, and looked up when she reached the desk. "Can I help you?"
"Uh, yeah. I somehow misplaced my badge at home and I can't find it anywhere. I'm really sorry, but could I get a new one?" She tried to look as sincere and apologetic as possible. Which wasn't hard. She had plenty of practice pretending.
The guard gave an obviously fake smile, and a not-so-subtle eye roll before rising from his chair. "Yeah. Come on over."
"Thank you." She said, following him into a side office.
He instructed she sit in a chair facing a small camera, and smiled for the ID photograph. Once done, he operated the computer and within minutes she had a new badge printed and dangling on a lanyard.
"Try not to lose that one." The security guard grumped, following her out the door into the lobby.
"Thank you, I won't." She said, scanning the new badge across the scanner. It blinked green, and she walked into the sales area of the first floor.
The walk to her desk was a quick one, and she had herself situated in no time. Dan was there before her this morning, an unusual occurrence, so she made sure to be extra careful when sending her text to Josh.
Ok, I think I have an idea. I told security I lost my badge, and they made me another one. I can get this to Marcus on my lunch break, and he should be able to use it to get inside. They would think he was an employee.
After a few minutes, Josh responded back.
That should work. Where and when can you meet?
I take lunch at 12:45. Meet me at Spruce, if you can.
There were a few more minutes before a reply.
He'll be there.
She checked her watch, glancing around for any sign of Marcus. He was a little late. She'd already sat down in the outdoor patio dining area and ordered her food. Normally, DedSec was early, or relatively on-time. Maybe there was some holdup or-
Before she had time to finish the thought, someone hopped the little fence dividing the restaurant seating with the sidewalk beside it, and slid into the seat across from her. Marcus smiled back, folding his hands on the table in front of him.
"How's it going, Riley?"
She smiled, setting down her drink. "Pretty good. You guys looking to target ProviBlue again?
He shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "Not specifically, but you never know when a backdoor into their servers will come in handy. Better to be prepared beforehand."
"I understand." She nodded, twisting in place to reach for her bag hanging on the back of her chair. "And this is for you."
She produced the badge and slid it over to him. "You'll need to change the picture, but I'm sure digital picture editing is something you guys can handle, right?"
"Josh'll have this fixed in no time. The kid's a genius when it comes to these things." Marcus said, inspecting both sides.
"I bet." She said. Marcus suddenly leaned forward, a mischievous grin on his face.
"Hey, if you don't mind me asking…what do you think of Wrench?"
The question took her by surprise, and her brows furrowed naturally. "Wrench? What about him?"
Marcus shrugged, giving a noncommittal expression. "Just…first impressions, thoughts, feelings, anything."
Riley didn't know exactly where the question was coming from, but she didn't want to seem rude. Perhaps her silence would give him the wrong impression, that maybe she didn't like him or something. That wouldn't be good.
"Uh, well, he's definitely different, that's for sure." Thinking back to the way he'd gleefully smashed up the junk in that junkyard had her smiling involuntarily. "And funny. I've never met someone quite with a sense of humor like him. And..well, he's a much better hack than I am."
"That's all?" He pried, raising his brows. Riley tilted her head and thought, not quite sure what else she was supposed to say.
"I mean…I wonder what he looks like under the mask but, I know that's important to him so…I guess?" She shrugged, taking another sip of her iced tea. Marcus didn't appear to believe her though.
"Uh huh. So if you had the chance to go on a date with him, you'd say no?"
"Where did-" Riley coughed up some of her drink, not expecting so blunt of a question at all. Marcus handed her one of the table napkins, and she covered her mouth while trying to express the liquid that had accidentally gone down her airways. After a moment, most of it passed and she grimaced.
"I mean…I didn't say…why do you ask?" She was sure her face was bright red by now, and judging by Marcus' satisfied expression, it was.
"No reason. Just had to know."
Riley was about to question him further on the matter, wondering why he was so interested in her feelings for Wrench, but the waiter returned to the table with her food. They paused, seeing Marcus.
"Oh, will there be a second for the table?" They asked, setting her food down in front of her slowly. He tucked the badge into his bag and held up his hands.
"Oh, no thanks. I was just leaving."
"Not staying for a bite?" Riley asked, already salting her baked macaroni and cheese. Part of her wanted some time to herself now that he was asking tough and embarrassing questions, but she'd be remiss if she didn't at least offer him lunch. "I'll buy if you're hungry."
"Ooh, tempting," He said, pointing tow fingers her way, "but I really should get going. Lots of things to do."
"Suit yourself." She said, giving him a friendly wave as he left over the fence where he'd come from. She watched him saunter his was down the street, eyes on his phone, until he disappeared from sight. She returned her attention to her meal, slightly shaken by his questions. Did he suspect something of her? Or…another thought made her blush deeper.
Did Wrench mention something to him?
The rest of the day went by as usual for her. Work was fast and then slow, busy and then dead. Her time was taken over by replying to emails and answering calls. At least the customers weren't too grouchy today, or at least, she managed not to get the calls with the pissed off ones. It was an average day, all in all.
For awhile, Riley hadn't been able to think of anything besides her conversation with Marcus earlier, but eventually work picked up and she had no time to do so. Her attention was completely thrown into completing tasks as they were given, and before long, it was only a few hours until her shift was over.
Suddenly, a couple security guards ran past her cubicle, talking quietly into their radios. It was too low to hear exactly what they were saying, but she was willing to bet what was happening. it wasn't too often a security issue came up, and her conversation with Marcus that morning was no coincidence to this. She hid a smirk, eyes never straying from her screen.
There was a moment when the lights flickered throughout the first floor. At one point, she thought she heard a loud pop or low boom, barely out of her hearing, but she could have been imagining it. Some of the employees murmured suspiciously in the cubicles around her, no doubt having noticed the security running by and the strange occurrences up on the sales floor, wondering what was going on. She wasn't concerned, and continued talking with the customer on the phone at the time.
Marcus must have ended up getting noticed by security. There was no other reason for them to suspect anything had been wrong. Riley shook her head.
You're slipping…She thought with amusement.
Higher management must have wanted to keep the incident under wraps so the employees didn't know, because there was no major announcement or alarm that rang out. The day ended as normal, and nobody stopped Riley at the door. She was half afraid they'd realize that she had a hand in him getting into the building, but that was a long shot. How would they know? The exchange had happened at a restaurant a few miles away.
Riley was just about to enter her car when Sitara sent a message.
I've got a special mission for you. Interested?
Riley smiled, somewhat tired but always enthusiastic when it came to anything DedSec.
Sure. What've you got?
Come by Gary's Games and Glory, and wait for further instructions ;)
Ooh, cryptic. What exactly will I be doing?
You'll just have to go there and find out!
Riley shook her head, opening her car door and sitting in the driver's seat. If this was all just to gain her interest, well, it was definitely working. What did they want her to do at a game store? Two missions in one day? It seemed their partnership was starting to expand a bit further.
Riley reached the game store, and parked in the side parking lot. There were only a few cars here. She stepped out, looking around for any sign of DedSec. Nothing. Humming to herself with intrigue, Riley closed the door behind her, locking her car up, and walked to the entrance.
The inside smelled…vaguely familiar. She frowned, trying to place it. It was nice and quiet, with people focusing on their games and comics and books. A few looked up when she entered, but most paid her no attention. She didn't recognize anyone inside, so she texted Sitara.
Ok, I'm here. Now what?
Go all the way to the back. There should be a door. Open it with the code 0935.
Lifting her gaze, she spotted an smaller opening directly opposite at the end of the store. She made her way there, letting her eyes roam around the shop. This place was pretty cool. Some of the figurines she'd have to come back and get her hands on.
There was a woman on her phone in the back corner. She looked up but eventually lost interest in Riley, going back to whatever it was she was doing. There was a door on the other side, with a keypad beside it.
Glancing over her shoulder because, honestly she didn't know what exactly she'd find behind the door, Riley hesitantly typed in the code. There was a moment of nothing, before the door slid open sideways, like in a sci-fi universe. Riley's mouth formed a perfect 'O' from the sheer coolness of that, and she stepped inside a bit more eagerly than before.
As soon as she looked at the long flight of concrete stairs heading downwards, Riley knew where she was, and a pleased smile overtook her lips. She descended the steps to see the unforgettable DedSec hackerspace.
Sitara glanced up when she heard Riley's footsteps. "Hey, you made it." She said, putting down one of her spray cans. "Hey gang, Riley's here!"
Riley looked over to see Marcus raise a hand in greeting from the couch. Josh glanced over from his desk, and Wrench waved from his place on the futon facing the screens. It looked like he was watching a movie or something. They all called out in greeting. She looked back towards Sitara, smiling stupidly. "You guys are entrusting me with the hackerspace location?"
"Of course." The hacker said, as if there weren't any other answer. "You've definitely earned our trust and respect. Just, be sure not to break it."
"I won't." Riley pledged hurriedly, shaking her head. Sitara laughed at her seriousness, holding out a fist. They fist bumped each other, and she held out a hand to the space.
"Allow me to officially welcome you to DedSec, Riley. Feel free to come and go as you like."
Riley felt a small swell of pride. "Thanks."
Sitara went back to her art, leaving Riley to slowly step further into the hackerspace. She first went to Marcus, who was on his phone, laying back on the couch.
"Hey, Marcus. How did the backdoor install go?" She asked, gaining his attention.
"Pretty well, thanks to that badge."
She raised a brow. "But…?"
He rolled his eyes, shrugging like it wasn't a big deal. "Security might have spotted me on one of the cameras getting down to the lower levels, but despite that, everything went off without a hitch."
She laughed, rolling her shoulders to get rid of a knot. "Yeah, well, maybe next time be a bit more stealthy and you won't cause everyone up in the sales floor to realize something's up."
"Shit, you try doing it next time. See how well you do."
Riley shook her head, not liking that idea. "I think I'll let you handle the dirty work."
He nodded smugly. "That's what I thought."
They both laughed, and she eventually wandered over to where Wrench was watching something on the many screens they had mounted to the wall. The iconic scenes of The Shining was playing, and she sat on the couch beside him.
"You like The Shining too?" She asked, already rapt into the story. The 'RedruM' scene was just beginning. Wrench turned to her with happy eyes. She liked seeing that expression.
"Hell yeah! The greatest horror movie of it's time. No contest."
Riley laughed, eyes returning to the screen. "I still can't watch it without the lights on or someone else with me, though."
"Really?" He asked, turning to her in disbelief.
Riley shrugged. "What? I have an overactive imagination. I might love horror movies, but I'm terrified of them!"
Wrench's mask now displayed two hashtag symbols, and he hummed. "Well, I can handle horror pretty well, so if you ever need a buddy, I'm your guy."
"I appreciate that. Now I can finally go see 'It' without feeling like I'll be murdered that night." She smiled wide, and Wrench wasn't able to look at it long. Just looking at her vibrant smile sent a pang of…warmth…through his chest. He shifted in his seat trying to force it down, but luckily the movie afforded him the distraction needed so he didn't have to answer.
Riley, on her part, wondered if he would actually go see all these movies with her, or if he were just being nice. Marcus' comments earlier at the restaurant gave her some hope, but only a small amount. No need to get her spirits up just to have them crushed again, right?
"Ma'am, I think we've got something you'll want to see." The chief of ProviBlue security said, holding up a tablet computer. Sandra Jennings looked up from her own desktop, staring at him a moment before waving him inside her office. The chief shut the door behind him and sat in the chair facing her.
"What is this?" She asked when he handed her the tablet. The screen showed a still-frame of a security camera posted in the front lobby.
"Somehow, the culprit got their hands on an ID badge to get in. They passed right through without anyone knowing otherwise." Right in the middle was the dark-skinned man that the knocked-out guards had described regarding the break-in to their servers. They hadn't been able to catch him or retrieve the data he'd stolen, and Sandra was not a very happy woman at the moment.
She tapped the screen and it began to play, showing how he casually scanned the ID against the scanners, which let him through without incident. Without so much as a glance around him, he sauntered inside towards the elevator. Sandra scowled, placing the tablet on her desk angrily.
"How is it they can just waltz right through our front door? I want answers." She demanded, and the chief nodded evenly.
"We might be able to help with that. See, we traced back to figure out the exact barcode number on the ID," he picked up the tablet from the desk and tapped the screen a few times, finally turning it back to her, "and were able to match it with one made this morning for a Riley Clarke."
Sandra stared at the employee picture of a young brunette woman. "She claimed to have lost her ID and needed a new one." The chief added helpfully. This…Riley, didn't look familiar by face alone, but they employed hundreds of people here. The boss of a company this big couldn't be expected to remember every single one of them. She narrowed her eyes, looking through her file.
"Hired about a year ago…" She muttered, scrolling down over the information. "A loan officer, with no previous offenses or reasons for concern." Sandra looked back up at the chief security guard. "Are we sure she didn't just have this one stolen?"
He shrugged. "That's what we thought at first, but we wanted to double check. And it turns out she used her original ID badge returning from lunch today. DIdn't say a word about her newly issued one."
"Hmm." Sandra felt an immense amount of satisfaction, finally having a lead as to who might be leaking the company information. But this woman had no other information or security clearance than the average worker. How had she gotten a hold of the information they had been exposed for?
She handed him the tablet again. "I want a full investigation done, and then we'll bring her forward to face the consequences. Make it airtight. No room for doubt."
"Yes, Ma'am." He said, taking her wave of dismissal as his leave.
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