Cabal of the Phoenix (2 of 8)

Nathaniel and Carr

Nathaniel and Carr walked through the cold, pristine hallway; each had in his stride an aura of confident assurance gained only through long years of experience. They both knew that if they were found out, their lives would be forfeit—or at least they would be after all they knew was extracted out of them—but both remained calm.

Amidst the hollow echoes of their hard-soled shoes on the floor, Carr looked ever so quickly at Nathaniel; the face his friend wore was not his own, but that of the accountant Harvey D. Kinchen. Harvey was not just another sleeper accountant, but was a member of the Syndicate. In particular, he kept records of all the financial transactions for the Detroit Technocracy, managed their taxes, and also advised them on how best to invest their funds. Nathaniel had been able to mimic Kinchen’s face, using both his Life magick and his adeptness in the arts of disguise. By listening to recorded voice samples, Nathan knew how to talk like the Technomancer, and by studying videotapes, he also knew how to move like him. Nathaniel had been trained long ago how to impersonate someone, and he had been one the best even before he had acquired proficiency with the Life sphere of magick. His new face was a plain one, with non-descript green eyes, sunken cheekbones, and a rather large nose, which sat awkwardly above a large mouth. Nathan wore a gray suit jacket, with large dark brown patches on the elbows as matching plain grey pants flowed loosely over his now thin legs. Carr was amazed at his teammate’s transformation. As his darting eyes reached Nathan's black shoes—still uncomfortably loud in the empty hallway—he snapped his gaze back before him, where it belonged. Acting his part to perfection, Carr kept his eyes roaming, only more ambiently, looking around the hallway scrutinizingly. Although his partner looked determined and perhaps a bit uncomfortable, Carr had a subtle cockiness that was the more than the mark of who he was supposed to be. Moving towards the inner sanctum of the Syndicate construct, Carr was impersonating one of the Men in Black: a foot soldier for the New World Order ("NWO"), one of the legion of non-descript spies of sorts, whom often 'checked up' on their Convention brothers.

No one the two mages passed suspected that they were Tradition mages masquerading as members of the Technocratic Union. Some of those they passed even nodded to Nathan, to which he tipped his head gravely, letting his eyes dart at Carr, and each of his colleagues understood what it was like to feel the sudden harshness of an NWO audit. Not everyone in the office was a mage and those that were not did not necessarily know who their co-workers really were, but even they were able to imagine something unpleasant, whether it was the IRS or the FBI. Carr had to admit the genius of the Technocratic construct. With such delicate interweaving into a sleeper establishment, the Traditions were hard pressed to find their enemies’ bases in the first place, much less be able to destroy it with the abandon that they would have liked to. Although, lately it seemed as if all the Traditions could do was fight amongst each other. That was partly the reason that this group had come together: to focus the efforts of several like-minded mages, who actually wanted to take action.

Even though the plan was intended to work this well, both men were still tense beneath their calm veneers, though each one dealt with it differently. Nathan had the advantage of not having to sweat or appear nervous by subtly manipulating his Life magick. Carr, on the other hand, was just plain overconfident. He was a computer hacker and cryptographer extraordinaire; if he could not hack it or break it, it did not exist, so he had good reason to be confident. However, not all of his missions revolved around the touch of a computer button—and that was what he so often forgot—and that was when his overconfidence prevented him from recognizing his own mortality, for better or worse.

Carr, mimicking a typical Man in Black, was dressed in a black suit, with a white shirt and black tie; he smiled inwardly at the extra touch of the generic, plastic sunglasses, appropriate despite the darkness outside. Besides, with his Correspondence magick, he could see as well, if not better, than normal, with or without the sunglasses. His hand firmly grasped the handle of the case of his laptop computer. Usually he would have worn it tightly bound over his shoulder, the only thing between it and his naked flesh a skintight black jumpsuit, but now he was not acting the part of Carr Stanton, secret agent, but Carr Stanton, Man in Black. He was not sliding into a hidden Technocratic base and jacking their systems, he was walking right in and doing it.

The simplicity of it all still amazed him, but he supposed that things like this were bound to happen when you had the right plan and the right leader. Before his team had met Sebastian, they had been a tightly focused team, one that could do just about anything, for a price. But now they were even more. The crazy thing was that Sebastian did it in such a wild, unpredictable manner, that it was amazing he was still alive, much less successful; but Sebastian seemed to have a knack for making his schemes pull out of the nose-dives they inevitably fell into right before they hit the ground. A sane mage would have no business following Sebastian, perhaps, but one who wanted to live a long time would. Carr just hoped he would not be around the time when Sebastian was wrong, because someone who was on such a constant precipice as he, had a long way to fall.

Both mages stopped as they came to a locked door. To the left of the door and about a foot above the door handle was a keypad; above that was a small apparatus that resembled the ocular tubes of a microscope. Nathan retrieved a key out of his pocket and inserted it into the keyhole above the door handle and turned it, hearing the bolt click open. A soft tone sounded and red letters illumined below the tubes, which told him to submit to a retinal scan. He leaned forward, slightly anxious at one of the most important tests of his disguise. He placed his eyes at the ends of the tubes and opened his eyes wide, waiting as red beams probed his retinas. Despite their inviolable confidence, both were relieved when the red letters darkened and below where they had originally lit up, green letters read, "Retinal Match," and another bolt clicked open. Nathan entered the six-digit code he had been given by Lee and the final bolt dropped. Nathan opened the door and the two passed through, shutting it behind them, hearing the bolts slide shut again behind them.

Nathaniel and Carr moved into an interior foyer, a large rectangle of a room, which was surrounded by doors that were each fronted by desks, ostensibly where each partner's secretary would be during the day. Carr let slip a cocky smirk and nodded his head slowly, finally letting out a soft chuckle. Nathan was in the middle of deciding whether to rebuke Carr or assent to his attitude, when a deep voice caught them both unaware.

"Hey, Harvey. What are you doing here so late?"

"Hunh?" Nathan was audibly started, but quickly regained his composure. "Oh, hey. You startled me. I uh—I didn't expect anyone else to be here either. You know."

I got it, Carr thought through their mindlink. Reaching outward through the link Carr asked Lee for immediate aid. Lee, this is Carr, situation critical, we need a mindscan on this possible Greyface.

I'm on it, Lee thought back.

"Sure Harvey,” the other accountant said. “Just doing some work on the Pentex file, wanted to get it done before I went home—oh. I see you have someone with you."

"Yes. He . . . uh . . . wants to see some of my . . . work."

"Lucky you. I better get going then," the man said.

"Okay," Nathan said. What are we gonna do about this, Carr? Nathan thought, shooting his partner a silent glance.

I don't know, Carr thought. If that multi-tasking, over-fried –

I'm here, Lee responded telepathically.

Beautiful, hardworking –

Cut the crap, Lee thought. He had NWO all over the brain once he saw you.

Sebastian's thoughts entered the link from elsewhere: Take him down: hard, fast, and quiet. Now.

Done, Nathan thought.

As the man walked closer to the pair of infiltrators, Nathan's fingernail on his right pinky finger grew longer, unseen by any except himself. Preparing for what was to come, he caused Life magick to course through his veins: the blood magick he wove almost bursting. Not wanting to chance anything, he delved into his own avatar, calling upon his inner reserves of Quintessence, what mages had long ago named the magickal energy stored by each mage's avatar. This had to be good, he thought. He might only have one shot. Nathan held his hand out to shake the man's hand as he left, and although the Technocrat looked at Nathan a bit curiously, he took his hand. The moment their hands met, Nathan curled his finger around so that his fingernail pricked the man's hand, securing the least bit of blood. It was only at that moment that the man knew what was happening. But by then it was already too late. Once the blood had been drawn, Nathaniel sent ripples of dynamic reality through the unfortunate vessel of the Technomancer: blood met blood and reality had been altered. Nathan had catalyzed an inverse reaction in the man’s system, causing the man's bloodflow to overflow, triggering a massive cerebral hemorrhage. The effect was a difficult one and took some time; if Nathan had been alone, the man might have pulled away in time to save himself, but Carr, reading his partner's thoughts, had crept behind the man and had pinned the man's free arm, while muzzling his mouth to keep him from calling for help. Nathan himself had a firm grasp on the man and held on grimly like a stone golem, not releasing him until he felt the life ebbed out of the man. Being a disciple of Life, he hated to see its destruction, especially knowing the intricacies and beauties inherent to all life, but he also knew that ultimately the Technocracy was a perversion of all life, and they, like the tyrannical system they perpetuated, had to be brought down and reformed. In this sense, he completely agreed with Sebastian.

Letting the now dead man's hand drop, Nathaniel allowed Carr to take the man’s slumping form as he moved to the correct office door. "Bring him into the office."

"All right," Carr said.

Moving quickly, with a hint of anxiousness—taking down the Technomancer had not been part of the plan—Nathan placed his palm on the scanning pad before the door. Once again, he had the satisfaction of seeing a dim red light change to green. He put his hand to the doorhandle to turn it—only it didn't budge. He tried it again. No luck.

"Carr?" Nathan said slowly.

"What?"

"The door's not opening."

"What?" Carr said, looking upward.

"I said -- "

"Did you pass the palmprint?" Carr said, interrupting.

"Yes," Nathan said.

"And the door's still locked?"

Use the key, Lee's voice came back into their heads.

"Christ," Nathan whispered. He could not believe that he had forgetten such a simple mission detail. "Okay," he muttered, pulling a keychain out of his pants pocket. He discarded the one that had opened the outside doors; that left three more. He tried the first one, fumbling at it, nervousness creeping into him. It did not work. He tried the next one. It also did not work.

"Come on, Nathan!"

Nathan held the last key and glared over his shoulder. "I'm working on it," he snapped

Nathaniel inserted the last key, slowly, praying that this would be the one. He began to turn the key, only it would not budge. He tried again. And again. He pulled it out and then tried all five keys again. None of them worked. "We have another situation, Carr."

"What?"

"We don't have the key."

"Wha -- "

"Repeat,” Nathan shot a nasty glance over his shoulder. “We do not have the fucking key."

"Shit." Carr dropped the corpse roughly and advanced upon the door. He set his computer case down softly and opened it. "I knew it'd be wise to bring these." In his hands, he held two small metal tools.

"Do it," Nathan said.

While Carr began picking the lock, Nathan jumped back into the mindlink. Lee, mark this: the man did not have the proper key.

I saw.

The question we need to ask is why.

Yeah, Lee thought. Maybe he lent it to a friend or wanted it kept separate for security reasons?

I don't know.

While the two were talking, Nathan used his Life magick to release the biochemicals in his body that would induce calmness. He did not need to be jumpy or doubting himself. Lee could sense what he was doing and tried to help: massaging him empathically, exuding waves of confidence. In the short time it took Carr to pick the lock on the door, Nathan was as calm and reserved as if he was sitting in his own home, sipping on a cup of coffee and reading the morning paper.

Having picked the lock, Carr burst into the office, bringing his laptop computer with him. Carr immediately went over to Kinchen's computer and turned it on. Meanwhile, Nathan dragged the other Technocracer into the office and then returned to the doorway to keep a look out.

We're in, Nathan reported. Will keep you updated.

Carr had a near impossible task; he had to break into a Syndicate computer, crack all of its encrypted files, download them onto his laptop to examine later and then destroy everything remaining. Yet he had no doubts about his success. Carr had been a child prodigy, a quick learning self-starter who had spent time briefly with both the CIA and the Army as a computer programmer and decrypter. He had always had an aptitude for using computers: his brain simply had the amazing ability to calculate numbers at lightning speeds; combined with his ultra-high intelligence and an eidetic memory, it made him perfect for what he did. He could program anything and he could break into anything; when it came to computers, he was the alpha and the omega. He had been with the government right until he had been Awakened as a Mage, at which point he no longer felt comfortable there. Carr had fostered no strong ties anywhere he had been, but neither did he leave with any enmity. He had come and gone as an employee like a ghost—just like when he hacked in and out of computers—and in retrospect, was grateful he had done so. However, the Adepts he fell in with were smart enough to keep him off the hacking sceen just long enough to fall off the government's radar.

Nathan also had no regret about the choices he had made. He firmly believed in the counter-culture movement that he had associated himself with: an easy choice really, once he had seen what was going on behind most of the powers that be. Nathaniel looked around the foyer. He had already done his part of the bargain, he had impersonated Kinchen and completed the fingerprint and the retina scans. He had also already taken care of their one unexpected problem. Now all he had to do was wait.

Within fifteen minutes, Carr had done all he had needed to do. Turning off his computer, he packed safely in its carrying case, and handed it to Nathan. Then with a wink, he pulled a zip disk out of his inside jacket pocket. Turning back to Kinchen's computer, he inserted the disk, opened the lone file on the disk, and ran the program. The program was an Entropic Virtual Adept virus: a magickal rote which disorganized all the computer's systems, infecting them with pure chaos, making the computer no more than a pile of rubbish. Even so, it looked the same on the outside as it had before. He pushed the manual eject button on the disk and retrieved it, re-inserting into his pocket. Pulling out a small pen-sized wand from the same pocket, he began to wave it over each and every one of Kinchen's disks that he could find, ruining them all with another method of Entropy.

"Mission accomplished," Carr said, looking up from his seat in the chair.

"Let's jet," Nathaniel said.

"What about the other offices?"

"Not within mission parameters."

Carr simply shrugged his shoulders and followed Nathan out of the office, closing the door behind him.