The First Meeting

“One more time, run me through it boss, real serious and focused like. Pretend I’m him.”

“Are we serious with this guy?” A static disrupted voice buzzed from the flickering hologram standing beside them.

‘Boss’ pressed a button on his wristpad and the hologram flicked out.

“Thanks,” winked Bolace. “Now, let me hear it.”

Marzen, ‘boss,’ took a deep breath, stood up straight, and began.

“The Agency is stocked bottom to top floor with equipment in every room, and I have specs on every piece.

“I3s: The entire building is under surveillance, but you won’t see it because of the cloaking technology. I3s are two generations behind, which means they’re still using screen-based cloakers, and the cameras themselves are protected from any physical attempt at sabotage.”

“As opposed to those slick new holographic cloaker you made, eh boss? These Agency slops working with dino tech.” Bolace sat with a fat smirk on his face.

“B400s: reflector beams– highly concentrated light beams manipulated to cling to surfaces. They shine different frequencies of light onto surfaces to simulate light levels and patterns. They’re standard for every interrogation room, and most upper-level meeting rooms.”

“Nothing but the best tools for psychological manipulation on those terrorist j-walkers.” Bolace shook a finger in the air, as if making a point that couldn’t be forgotten.

“Finishing on the B400s: It’s standard for those rooms, but to the would-be surprise of every Agent, any room can be manipulated as well. The drones that circle the building aren’t just security, they also have B400s installed on them. Nifty trick for when the Agency decides to blacklist one of their own. It’s a subconscious attack on their morale… Set the beams to create a heavy, gray atmosphere, rob them of dopamine for 8 hours every day, put a tail on them, but just to make them paranoid, then when they start to show signs, fire them…” Marzen’s voice trailed off, barely more than a whisper by the end.

“I know, boss. It’s bad, real bad. This is your chance though. C’mon, he’s almost here.”

Marzen nodded. 

“CC380s: drones. As we already know, they patrol every aspect of the Agency’s exterior. Not just ground coverage, but any attempts at breaching the Agency through the roof or windows will be met with instant alarms and a maximum 5 second response time. After that, you have three-hundred drones on you. These were developed for crowd control after the occurrence of riots starting growing. They’re armed with ionized nets and a mass shock-relay. The ionized nets are large enough to pin five people under one net, searing their flesh the net makes contact. The mass shock-relay… Well… I think he’ll know enough about that first hand.

“Security itself: The Agency doesn’t take many risks here. At every entry are nano-scanners, originally developed to help detect the presence of disease carriers who weren’t showing symptoms. The Agency reconfigured its triggers after the Resistance sent someone with poison in their blood to self detonate in the lobby. Now, you could have something in your bones and The Agency would know.

“T80 Sentries: also at every entrance; fully armed with no stun setting. Their shoulders carry rifles that fire charged particles. The particles are hot enough to burrow through layers of skin before it actually detonates. Once it detonates, well… One shot is all it’ll take. The sentries can be overwhelmed with sheer numbers, but it will take a lot of numbers, as they’re also built with standard issue plasma coils in both forearms. Each weapon has its own dedicated CPU, meaning the eyes are for show only; T80s are processing movement and targets at a rate the human brain couldn’t dream of achieving, and are capable of slaughtering droves of people just as quickly.

“Inside, the Agency has a full scale defense system in case it ever is breached. Blast doors are ready to seal sections of the building off. Channels along the walls are also modulated to release any option of gasses into the sections: poisons, paralytics, tranquilizers, whatever they want. They can isolate a portion of the building, destroy the threat, and clean it up without the threat ever finding anything important.

“Lots of fancy toys they got, but you’re going to get him in, boss. How?”

“I have the unique ability to override their systems.”

“Which ones?”

“All of them.”

Bolace’s eyes widen. “Nice dramatic touch.”

“But,” Marzen continued, “not all at once. The technology, for the most part, is only as current as the budget can afford, which means its only as current as whatever can be afforded after the top pads their pockets. The technology at entry points, though, are far more advanced than inside.”

“So?”

“So… I predict it won’t be long before the Agency finds me. Bringing me in will be the last mistake they ever make.” Marzen’s eyes held a glint of excitement as he began the next steps of the plan.

“On my way in, I can disable the sentries and scanners without anyone noticing. That entry, and that entry alone, will be vulnerable. Trying to enter through any other point of entry is a risk I do not advise taking. Once you’re inside, I’ll see you, even if I can’t hear you; I’ll shut down the interior systems, and you take the lead from there.”

Silence lingered in the air for just a moment, Bolace looking at Marzen and Marzen looking back. A grin, more genuine, spread across Bolace’s face. He stood and shook Marzen’s hand. “There are millions of people who don’t know your name, all of them indebted to you for what you’re about to ignite.”

A series of patterned knocks along the wall of this empty warehouse echoed inside. Bolace nodded, took one last full look at Marzen, and left through a secret door in the floor.

Replacing him, a single man walked in, barely visible in the dim light. He approached Marzen, and sat.

“So– you’re the mole, the architect. Tell me everything.”