Chapter Eleven – Nobodies

Chapter Eleven – Nobodies

“Pre-2020 Russia was a military powerhouse with some economic issues and a growing sense of discontent in its lower classes.

It can’t be said that the nation has prospered, but it has grown far more populous and despite some repeated disasters, has managed to cling onto its power through turbulent times. Its borders are the same, but the population has become hyper-concentrated around a few massive cities. Its military still uses machinery and equipment dating back to the last century, but they outnumber any other nation’s man-for-man.”

–A History After the Drop, Online Lecture by Professor Sterne

***

Myalis, being the awesome AI that she was, tracked the movement of our men in black through the entire building. They had a pair of hover vans parked up on the same level I had parked at. Just a couple of small unmarked vehicles that slid in and waited while the other hovercar owners rushed out of the building in a hurry.

We were able to spot them moving down a few floors, always using the stairs, always ducking out of people’s way without ever actually saying anything.

They had arrived within forty-five minutes of the incursion starting, and had reached Kattallina by the one hour mark.

Five minutes later they were back in their vans and taking off to parts unknown.

I looked at the images Myalis had picked out on the screens, one of each of the guys in black. There were two teams of four. Kattalina had run into one of them, the other had retreated right after. I could tell that some of them were women under the armour, but other than distinguishing superficial genders I couldn’t tell anything about them.

No skin showed, no hair, they wore darkened visors that hid their eyes, masks over their lower faces, and each camera they passed fizzed out and died soon after they appeared.

Both teams had one member that wasn’t as well armed as the others, a person with a large backpack with antenna sticking out of the top, along with obvious vents cut into the fabric. Judging by the glow behind their visors, and the stuttery way they moved, they were jacked into something. The team’s tech specialist, maybe?

“I can’t see any logos,” I said after eyeing the still a bit more.

None are present. I’m running their equipment through a list of manufactured goods. Most of it is standard issue for a few different paramilitary organizations, but none have their entire setup.

I shook my head. “Can you go over that again?”

Their boots, for example, are used by six paramilitary organizations in North America. Their guns are used by eight. Their helmets by four. None of them are all used by the same group. Their equipment borrows pieces from many companies, but not from one single organization.

Were they doing like the orphanage and raising some second hand mercenary store? “What about their vans?”

Rentals, from what I cane tell. From a local distributor, under a false name. All tags were removed, but one of the cameras by the entrance was able to see the serial printed on the corner of a windshield.

Images moved around until I could make out a zoomed-in image of a window reflecting a finger-width serial code. “Nice,” I said. “Does it point us in any useful direction?”

Unfortunately, no. I can’t trace the credit information used. The bank they used to pay is secure enough that it would require more than a mere internet connection for me to slip past.

I put ‘calling the bank to ask nice-like’ on my list of things to do. I leaned back into my seat, eyes idly following the motions of the group caught from odd angles as they made their way up while carrying a knocked-out girl and a dog with them.

“Why’d they save the dog?” I asked.

It was too much to imagine that they just didn’t like the idea of hurting a dog. Not that people going around armed to the teeth, with no doubt legally dubious intentions during a crisis couldn’t have a conscience. Something told me that I should probably assume that they weren’t saints under those masks.

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Maybe they’re just not cat people.

“Was that a joke?” I waved it off. “No, nevermind, I don’t want to know. We… fuck, I don’t know what to do from here.”

Following them would be difficult. We don’t have the resources on hand to see from every camera across this part of the city.

I hummed as I thought. I didn’t have that kind of power. Myalis was pretty good at tracking things, obviously, but she had her limits.

My open palm smacked the desk. “Longbow!” I said.

The Vanguard?

“Remember? He had control of the cameras across the street from where we were yesterday. He said something about hacking into them.”

I could likely do the same. Though it would be a rather big investment of points to obtain the equipment to crack every security system in the area. Perhaps drones to physically connect to each closed network?

“Can you call him?” I asked.

One moment.