Corpo Age

Chapter 230: Suspicious Individuals

I glanced left and right, trying to take in everything in my surroundings as the middle-aged woman led me into her company building. She only came to a stop at the security turnstiles, where she knocked on the glass divider to get the attention of the security guard behind.

Inside, a gruff old man grudgingly nodded to indicate he understood. After a few seconds, he slipped a card under his window for the middle-aged woman.

“Inspector, Sir. Here is your security card. Please have it on your person at all times while you’re here.”

“Thank you—” I took a moment to read her own card hanging around her neck. “Ms. Devon.”

“My pleasure, Sir. Feel free to let me know at any time if you need anything.”Nôv(el)B\\jnn

My tour then officially began as I was led inside the building. She wordlessly guided me around the first floor, giving me free rein to do my inspection.

A city inspector’s job was normally to examine various buildings within the city to ensure it was up to code. It didn’t involve anything like fire inspections, as safety was the corporation’s own concerns. The only thing that mattered was that the infrastructure followed the demand imposed by the city’s management.

As a result, my guide first gave me a thorough tour of the entire first floor. I put on a show, taking the scanner I found in the car to take analysis of the walls and pillars.

Whenever I found something of interest like a terminal, I would hang around it for some time, giving time for my Nyes to sneak over and establish a connection for me.

The schematics I downloaded from hacking the receptionist’s terminal only gave a basic layout, without any labels. It had a communication line to every floor of the building, but that was the extent of what I found from it. I couldn’t snoop around too much if I wanted to stay hidden.

“Hmm, that should do it for this floor,” I declared.

“Sir? Is there a need for you to examine elsewhere?”

“Yes, if I was playing by the book, I would have to examine every part of the building, but we usually use our discretion on what to inspect. If you would please, I need to check out the seventh and the top floor.”

“Umm, the seventh floor is no problem, but we’ll need to wait for permission for the branch president’s floor.”

“No problem. I can wait while we tour the seventh.”

My inspection continued while Ms. Devon tried her best to convey my request to her superiors. I knew it was only a matter of time because the consortium wasn’t an entity any sane company would dare mess with. It was essentially a super conglomerate backed by the top corporations of the world.

I repeated my tricks, lingering near every terminal I was interested in, collecting every bits of information I could access. Very soon, it became clear to me this branch office didn’t have any details regarding the human experiments I was looking for.

I even snuck into the branch president’s office by leaving a projection of me in the toilet while I ran off. All I got in return was some manifests for their transports, which included moving people around. Knowing how they outsourced experiments, none of it was conclusive evidence.

Hmm, I didn’t have high expectations for a branch office. I guess I will have to get into their headquarters on Mars.

Just as I was finishing up peeking into the branch president’s terminal, an alarm suddenly rang out.

Shit! Did I get discovered? But I haven’t messed up at all! Did they have powerful hidden sensors?

There was no time for thinking, so I quickly raced back to the washroom. I briskly walked out, putting on a confused expression as I confronted my tour guide.

“What’s going on?”

“Sir! It’s just a small security incident out front. There’s no need to be concerned, but we should stay put.”

She swiftly led us to a small conference room and locked the doors behind us. It caused me to tense up and ready my weapons. There was a chance she had discovered I was an imposter and only put on an act to lure me somewhere isolated.

I had to decide if it was worth blowing my cover and striking first, or waiting and watching how things played out.

Without hesitation, I sent my Nyes outside the room, scouting our surroundings. In the meantime, I closed the distance with Ms. Devon, ready to subdue her at a moment’s notice.

She suddenly reached into her pockets, causing me to almost react, but thankfully, the reflexes given to me by our bio-coprocessor allowed me to clearly see it was a mobile projection device.

She didn’t suspect me at all and proceeded to place down the device, allowing it to project the security feed from some cameras. It showed a scene at the front entrance, where a dozen guards were arresting someone who seemed to be an average office worker.

“Who is that?” I asked.

“Don’t worry, Sir. I’m sure it’s just some disgruntled worker having a breakdown.”

I thought otherwise, so I quickly recorded the feed with my optics, so I could send it over to my intel department later. Otherwise, if I send it right away, Aurora Corporation may be able to pick up the outgoing transmission.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The little incident lasted a few minutes before the guards brought the captured man elsewhere. With it being over, so too was my inspection.

I didn’t make a fuss, kept up my facade, and returned to my car. Ensuring none of the employees could peek inside, I got in the vehicle.

“How’d it go?” Thorne immediately asked.

I shook my head.

“Nothing yet. We’ll try their other bases as we make our way to their headquarters.”

We chose not to infiltrate their headquarters right away because we needed more information about such a highly secured area first. Preparation was key, so our intel department had already dispatched people to lay the groundwork. It would take some time, which allowed us to keep to the schedule of our tour.

With that in mind, Thorne and I quickly finished up all the loose ends on Soluna and moved to the hangar where our ship was.

While we were walking past the security, I checked the camera feed to find all of our passengers gone. I had previously informed Lanus to allow the people sent by the local QG to take them away, and it did just that.

It’s weird how I never got the name of the QG I worked with, but I guess being paranoid is part of the job description.

Just as we approached our prototype starship, I suddenly received a message. It was from Lanus.

*Report. Suspicious individuals detected.*

The message came attached with an image that depicted both Thorne and me, but behind us, a group of people was highlighted. I quickly sent it over to Thorne as well, who instantly started an internal call.

“Should we take them in to ID them?” he asked.

“Is there really a need to capture them to find out who they are? We’ve only crossed so many people in our alias as Shake and Echo.”

“You mean it’s—?”

“And by so many people, I mean we only crossed one group that fits the bill. Aurora Corporation wouldn’t be sending such amateurs and they don’t view us as an enemy, so it’s probably that pirate group we just raided. It seems they want their people back and have been sniffing around our ship.”

“Okay, I got lethal ready.”

“No, no, calm down. I never said we shouldn’t capture them. There’s still a lot we can learn from their mouths.”

We quickly came up with an action plan while we continued to walk toward our ship, feigning ignorance. I watched through multiple camera feeds as they trailed us. They were at least capable enough to sneak by port security. They even had a cy-sec specialist in the background, as the footage flickered for a second before they disappeared from the screen.

I knew it was to cover their tracks as they veered off toward our hangar.

“I can’t wait to get out of here,” I loudly proclaimed.

“Well, yeah. The prices of everything here are double everywhere else,” Thorne replied, playing along with me.

“Oh, I forgot to buy some souvenirs. I’ll be right back!”

I swiftly turned around and discreetly commanded my Argus to scan the area. I found a group of four hiding behind some crates. I walked nonchalantly while Thorne boarded the ship. As planned, he left the doors of the ship open for me, giving our fans a way in.

I could no longer rely on camera footage, so I kept track of them with occasional scans. I waited a few minutes so they could settle down before I returned.

I got seated in the cockpit, and we prepared to take off. Our prototype ship smoothly exited the energy shield protecting the hangar, and we began to accelerate. Just as we were doing that, our guests stormed into the cockpit with guns pointed our way.

“Let me see your hands!”

Collins - ???

“Eyes says our targets are back,” a young man informed his companions with a weary expression. “If we lose the lead here, we won’t be able to find our allies anymore, so make this count.”

The three youngsters beside him all solemnly nodded while the cheerful voice of a girl could be heard in their comms.

“Roger that!”

None of the people beside Collins shared that high energy, and they soon emotionlessly strode into the port. They had already cased the place and even attempted to hack into the ship of their target. However, their cy-sec specialist, the cheerful girl on the call, said it wasn’t practically impossible without being alerted immediately.

That was why their group set a trap, laying in wait for their targets to return. All they knew was that they were mercenaries and ones with a beefed-up security system at that. So they deduced one of them was a cy-sec specialist.

It made them confident that their four-man cell could overpower the duo.

The plan went smoothly as planned, perhaps too smoothly. They tailed the two mercenaries without being discovered, and they even left their doors open, inviting them to board their ship.

Normally, Collins would be a lot more hesitant when things went this well. Unfortunately for him, his mental state of mind wasn’t in its top condition. Over fifty of their members are reportedly missing, along with one of their spaceships. It was a loss that could set their organization back years, and he was determined to remedy it.

The last message they received from their missing allies was that they were being boarded, and from the footage, captured.

Collins was willing to risk his life in order to recover their valuable human resources. He believed it was worth it for the cause.

“We’re almost outside the perimeter of Soluna. Prepare to storm their cockpit,” Collins reminded his teammates.

“Umm, our tracker says our ship is still half an hour away. Are you sure you want to take action so soon?” one member asked.

“It’s fine. We can take over the ship and wait. We can use the extra time to interrogate them.”

Having exchanged glances with each other, Collin’s three team members nodded. They held tight their weapons, prepared to carry out their mission. They didn’t have to wait long before Collins judged they were far enough away from the city that no help would arrive.

They silently encroached on the cockpit and found the doors wide open. The two mercenaries operating the ship were completely clueless he thought.

This ship is too big for just these two. It won’t make up for losing The Chain Breaker, but it’s serviceable.

Taking a deep breath to save the matter for later, Collins commanded his team to rush into the cockpit with weapons at the ready.

“Let me see your hands!”

No response came from the two mercenaries. They didn’t bother to turn their heads or raise their hands, which agitated Collins.

“I said, let me see your hands! Hurry up or we’ll shoot!”

Again, no response. The four attackers inched closer as the tension rose by the second.

Collins stepped forward ahead of his men, going right beside the pilots. He saw them scanning the various instruments on their ship, but didn’t seem to react to his presence at all.

“Do you two really want to die? If you don’t stop what you’re doing and raise your hand now, I’ll start by shooting big boy over here!”

Collins screamed as loud as he could, hoping it would get the two men to do as he said. He knew he was just bluffing, and that he would only shoot as a last resort. He needed the information from these two.

Seeing the two mercenaries continue to ignore him, he gestured for two of his men to swing the butt of their rifles at them, determined to knock them out.

However, contrary to what he expected, the rifle stock didn’t work. To be more precise, it phased through the two motionless mercenaries.

Before Collins could comprehend what happened, he felt something press against his neck.

“Hands up,” a smug voice sounded out from right next to his ear. “Oh wait, that’s your thing. I’d rather have your hands behind your back if you would.”