Into the Void - 5
The concluding page done by Endium over on FA.
Into the Void – 5
For an unknown amount of time the creature that was once Serathin stood in the empty vault, the fully encased draconic sabre-wolf’s visor glowed with an unearthly purple light as it waited patiently. Time mattered nothing to it, it had been activated and until its orders came in it would sit on standby until such time that it received new orders or its body needed to be replenished. Suddenly the cuffs on his body tingled as it got what it wanted, the HUD lighting up as new information came across it.
“New mission orders received.” It said as its body began to shimmer and disappear. “Engaging stealth mode…”
Elsewhere in a rather lavishly decorated office a large television monitor continued to blink with the following statistical information:
Infiltration Unit: “Void”
Current Host: Serathin
Function: Espionage
Sync Level: 100%
Mission Status: In Progress…
In front of that screen was an ornate mahogany desk with a laptop on it, the screen filled with the visage of a red dragon. “Have you received the upload?” The creature asked.
“Yes, we just received the results and the data looks promising.” The figure in the chair replied, his features deliberately covered in shadow aside from his clawed hands that were clenched together and covered in what appeared to be a shiny silver substance. “Are you sure he won’t remember anything when he reverts?”
“Of course, just remember our arrangement,” the dragon responded, “we get the codes to activate him when we need our own… industrial espionage.”
“Of course…” The mysterious figure replied.
“We look forward to our continued business transactions with your lab Mr. Sivilath.” The dragon replied before the viewscreen went completely black. Mr. Sivilath looked up at the viewscreen one last time before he reached for a remote and turned it off, and just as he did the phone in his pocket rang.
“Yes?” He said, hearing the voice on the other side of the line give him a status report. “Good, keep me informed and have accounting wire the remaining funds to Enduring Technologies... and tell them that once we have confirmed that Void has accomplished his task to pay his ‘handler’ accordingly. We do want to make sure he’s happy after all…”
Epilogue:
Serathin awoke to the blinding light of the rogue ray of sunlight that managed to escape the barrier of his blinds and find its way into his eyes. After a few groggy minutes of awakening he realized he was at home in his bed with a throbbing headache, no doubt from the partying he had done once the job was complete. As he struggled to piece together the last few hours he had a vague recollection of stealing something, then handing it off to the usual shady fellows in exchange for a payment that had already been wired into his offshore bank account. “Need to stop drinking so much after a heist.” He muttered to himself as he grabbed his street clothes.
Half an hour later he was on the streets with a handful of aspirin in his system and a coffee in his hand, eagerly taking the route to his usual newsstand. He always enjoyed hearing the news about his accomplishments after the fact, but he didn’t want to use the internet lest someone somehow connected the dots and he had no patience for the blather of the news. When he got there it appeared he wasn’t the only one who wanted the news, a small crowd had gathered around the stand and the friendly tiger that manned it struggled to keep up with the demand.
“I can’t believe this.” Serathin overheard as he waited in line. “Someone actually had the nerve to break into that place?”
The draconic sabre-wolf’s ears perked up as he listened in closer. “I heard that the security teams have no idea who did it, the whole base is in an uproar! I heard that the military has already gone into full lockdown just to contain the incident, though it looks like it’s not doing them any good.”
Serathin nearly dropped his coffee as he resisted the urge for his entire body to twitch. Base? Military? What they described was a far cry from the job that he pulled last night. When he finally got his paper he saw the headline that had created such a buzz. ‘Top secret technology allegedly stolen! Thief leaves no trace of crime!’ the paper read, showing a picture of the research facility that they had built on the edge of town. He realized immediately why it was so newsworthy, several of his contacts that cased the place said that their security was so state-of-the-art that you’d have to be insane to try and take anything from there. Apparently someone was though, and to have done it without leaving any evidence…
As he nearly tore the paper open to find some evidence of his own crime his burner phone suddenly rang, the sabre-wolf quickly walking to a secluded corner of a nearby park before he opened it and recognized the number. “Rigel, what’s going on?” Serathin asked nervously. “You don’t usually call so soon unless there’s something wrong. Was there a problem with the payment?”
“Quite the opposite, if you can believe it.” The voice on the other line said with a slight hint of nervousness. “Am I correct to assume that the $50,000 payment was for the Enduring Tech job?”
“You already know that.” Serathin whispered as he looked around. “Why?”
“Because there was a second payment made to your account an hour ago.” Rigel replied. “No name, no corp number, just a single lump deposit… of $450,000.”
Serathin nearly dropped the phone when he heard the figure, even with the ‘fees’ he would have to pay on it to clean the cash and use it the sum would support him for a few years and would be the largest payout ever on a job… a job that he didn’t even know of. “Are you sure it’s not a mistake?” He asked when he regained his composure. “Another ‘specialist’ on the darknet perhaps.”
“It’s for you, they signed it as such.” Rigel replied with a sigh. “Listen, I don’t get involved in your business, I just take care of the rewards and consequences for it. Next time though make sure you call me before you take a job this big, okay? If I wasn’t on-line at the time I might have raised a red flag with all that money moving through my channels. Okay?”
The sabre-wolf nodded numbly before he realized he was on the phone, then muttered an affirmative reply before he hung up the phone and broke it in half. He shook his head as he tried to put the pieces together in his mind, his headache worsening as his normally analytical mind failed to put the pieces together. He decided that trying to piece together such a puzzle on a hangover was a bad idea, or at least that’s what his inner voice told him as he sat down on the bench. His thoughts turned to what he would do with the money instead, a shiver of pleasure running down his body as his pained grimace slowly turned to a smile. Soon the pain in his head and the puzzle was all but forgotten as he got up and threw his empty coffee cup away while he schemed in his mind, so preoccupied in his thoughts he failed to notice when his he pulled his hair out of his eyes and his hand brushed against the newly-pierced obsidian metal studs in his ears…
Into the Void – 5
For an unknown amount of time the creature that was once Serathin stood in the empty vault, the fully encased draconic sabre-wolf’s visor glowed with an unearthly purple light as it waited patiently. Time mattered nothing to it, it had been activated and until its orders came in it would sit on standby until such time that it received new orders or its body needed to be replenished. Suddenly the cuffs on his body tingled as it got what it wanted, the HUD lighting up as new information came across it.
“New mission orders received.” It said as its body began to shimmer and disappear. “Engaging stealth mode…”
Elsewhere in a rather lavishly decorated office a large television monitor continued to blink with the following statistical information:
Infiltration Unit: “Void”
Current Host: Serathin
Function: Espionage
Sync Level: 100%
Mission Status: In Progress…
In front of that screen was an ornate mahogany desk with a laptop on it, the screen filled with the visage of a red dragon. “Have you received the upload?” The creature asked.
“Yes, we just received the results and the data looks promising.” The figure in the chair replied, his features deliberately covered in shadow aside from his clawed hands that were clenched together and covered in what appeared to be a shiny silver substance. “Are you sure he won’t remember anything when he reverts?”
“Of course, just remember our arrangement,” the dragon responded, “we get the codes to activate him when we need our own… industrial espionage.”
“Of course…” The mysterious figure replied.
“We look forward to our continued business transactions with your lab Mr. Sivilath.” The dragon replied before the viewscreen went completely black. Mr. Sivilath looked up at the viewscreen one last time before he reached for a remote and turned it off, and just as he did the phone in his pocket rang.
“Yes?” He said, hearing the voice on the other side of the line give him a status report. “Good, keep me informed and have accounting wire the remaining funds to Enduring Technologies... and tell them that once we have confirmed that Void has accomplished his task to pay his ‘handler’ accordingly. We do want to make sure he’s happy after all…”
Epilogue:
Serathin awoke to the blinding light of the rogue ray of sunlight that managed to escape the barrier of his blinds and find its way into his eyes. After a few groggy minutes of awakening he realized he was at home in his bed with a throbbing headache, no doubt from the partying he had done once the job was complete. As he struggled to piece together the last few hours he had a vague recollection of stealing something, then handing it off to the usual shady fellows in exchange for a payment that had already been wired into his offshore bank account. “Need to stop drinking so much after a heist.” He muttered to himself as he grabbed his street clothes.
Half an hour later he was on the streets with a handful of aspirin in his system and a coffee in his hand, eagerly taking the route to his usual newsstand. He always enjoyed hearing the news about his accomplishments after the fact, but he didn’t want to use the internet lest someone somehow connected the dots and he had no patience for the blather of the news. When he got there it appeared he wasn’t the only one who wanted the news, a small crowd had gathered around the stand and the friendly tiger that manned it struggled to keep up with the demand.
“I can’t believe this.” Serathin overheard as he waited in line. “Someone actually had the nerve to break into that place?”
The draconic sabre-wolf’s ears perked up as he listened in closer. “I heard that the security teams have no idea who did it, the whole base is in an uproar! I heard that the military has already gone into full lockdown just to contain the incident, though it looks like it’s not doing them any good.”
Serathin nearly dropped his coffee as he resisted the urge for his entire body to twitch. Base? Military? What they described was a far cry from the job that he pulled last night. When he finally got his paper he saw the headline that had created such a buzz. ‘Top secret technology allegedly stolen! Thief leaves no trace of crime!’ the paper read, showing a picture of the research facility that they had built on the edge of town. He realized immediately why it was so newsworthy, several of his contacts that cased the place said that their security was so state-of-the-art that you’d have to be insane to try and take anything from there. Apparently someone was though, and to have done it without leaving any evidence…
As he nearly tore the paper open to find some evidence of his own crime his burner phone suddenly rang, the sabre-wolf quickly walking to a secluded corner of a nearby park before he opened it and recognized the number. “Rigel, what’s going on?” Serathin asked nervously. “You don’t usually call so soon unless there’s something wrong. Was there a problem with the payment?”
“Quite the opposite, if you can believe it.” The voice on the other line said with a slight hint of nervousness. “Am I correct to assume that the $50,000 payment was for the Enduring Tech job?”
“You already know that.” Serathin whispered as he looked around. “Why?”
“Because there was a second payment made to your account an hour ago.” Rigel replied. “No name, no corp number, just a single lump deposit… of $450,000.”
Serathin nearly dropped the phone when he heard the figure, even with the ‘fees’ he would have to pay on it to clean the cash and use it the sum would support him for a few years and would be the largest payout ever on a job… a job that he didn’t even know of. “Are you sure it’s not a mistake?” He asked when he regained his composure. “Another ‘specialist’ on the darknet perhaps.”
“It’s for you, they signed it as such.” Rigel replied with a sigh. “Listen, I don’t get involved in your business, I just take care of the rewards and consequences for it. Next time though make sure you call me before you take a job this big, okay? If I wasn’t on-line at the time I might have raised a red flag with all that money moving through my channels. Okay?”
The sabre-wolf nodded numbly before he realized he was on the phone, then muttered an affirmative reply before he hung up the phone and broke it in half. He shook his head as he tried to put the pieces together in his mind, his headache worsening as his normally analytical mind failed to put the pieces together. He decided that trying to piece together such a puzzle on a hangover was a bad idea, or at least that’s what his inner voice told him as he sat down on the bench. His thoughts turned to what he would do with the money instead, a shiver of pleasure running down his body as his pained grimace slowly turned to a smile. Soon the pain in his head and the puzzle was all but forgotten as he got up and threw his empty coffee cup away while he schemed in his mind, so preoccupied in his thoughts he failed to notice when his he pulled his hair out of his eyes and his hand brushed against the newly-pierced obsidian metal studs in his ears…
11 years ago
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