Crouching low, I exited the elevator, remembering the glass windows which allowed views into the labs. My motion enhance detected nothing, so I rose. The labs on either side of the corridor had dimmed lights, the eerie silence prickling my skin, even while suited. I walked toward the restricted area, then used my enhance to try and scan for activity behind the vault. The enhance flashed red in helmet: FAILURE.
Gods! The vault was too thick for the enhance to work. I had to risk it. Removing my helmet, I stuck the capture device back on the column of the scanner, drew a long breath, and stepped beneath the glass dome. It hummed to life, and I imagined what I’d do if Lingyi’s gadget failed. I wore a face mask, hiding the lower part of my face, but everything would be on camera. Our only hope was no one was watching or would have any reason to review tonight’s footage. My vision was bathed in blue light, then the scanner fell silent. Pulse racing, I waited for my fate; the steel door eased open several seconds later.
I tucked the device from the column back into a pocket. Lingyi had not failed me. I put my helmet back on and listened at the door’s opening. Hearing nothing but the soft whirring of machinery, I went inside and shut the vault behind me. The lights had been dimmed in the empty laboratory, but flickered on to full brightness when I entered. It felt even colder than when I had sneaked in with Daiyu. Going directly to where the flu virus was stored, I peered through the glass top, then carefully removed a duplicate vial from a pocket. Arun had made me a replica that looked exactly like the three stored inside this case from my description. I visually compared the vial to Jin’s and was satisfied.
Unless they retested the sample, no one would know the difference.
Putting the decoy vial away, I ran my hands over the rectangular steel case. When I had visited with Daiyu, I didn’t get the chance to study how to access the vials. There had been no noticeable touch pad on or near the case. The time ticked away relentlessly for me in helmet. Two thirty-six a.m. already. Gliding over the lower edge of the case, my gloved hand felt the outline of a square button. I pressed, and a touch pad extended outward. The only thing I could think of to do was to enter Daiyu’s personal code, knowing it was unlikely she’d have access.
Surprisingly, the glass case lifted open, releasing an even colder burst of air. I took a vial out and slipped our placebo in its place. Securing the sample into a hidden pocket, I exited the lab, relieved to see an empty corridor. Halfway to the elevator, I heard someone whistling a soft tune and wheels being rolled across the tile floor. Cursing, I ducked into one of the doors on the right as a janitor turned the corner.
He hadn’t seen me. But just as I was feeling smug over my fast reflexes, the lights in the lab turned on, triggered by my motion; the janitor stopped whistling. “Hello?” he said. “Who’s there?”
Shit!
I rolled behind a workstation, out of view of the glass windows that lined the entire upper part of the labs. The wheels continued to roll, slower now, coming closer. Then silence, and the click of a door opening into the room I was in. “Hey,” the janitor said in a gruff voice. “Anybody there?”
I didn’t move, didn’t breathe. I could take him down with a sleep spell injection if necessary, but that just left a doped-up janitor for someone to find the next morning, giving security reason to go through all their recordings. For the second time that night, I prayed for luck to be on my side.
“Useless technology,” the janitor said after a long moment.
He rolled his cleaning cart into the room, and I took advantage of the noise to palm a syringe into my hand. It was a night of crap choices. But he wheeled past my workstation and kept going to the other end of the lab. I observed his retreating back and slipped out of the room, running toward the elevator at a crouch. My clock read 2:49 a.m. in helmet.
The elevator seemed to take much longer to arrive. By the time I exited out the same door I had entered, it was past three a.m. Leaning against it, I slowly let the tension in my muscles go. I’d been sweating without realizing and dialed my suit temp down with a thought command. The moon had all but disappeared behind Taipei’s polluted haze, so I used my helmet’s glow to light my way. I stopped for a moment and withdrew the vial when someone shoved me hard from behind.
I spun around and saw a you boy in a red suit, illuminated with deep purple designs.
“Why did you break into Jin Corp?”
I was so stunned, the boy got another shove in. This time, I glimpsed Daiyu’s friend’s face behind the helmet: Joseph Chen.
“I didn’t break in,” I replied in a calm voice.
“Why aren’t you connected to the com sys, then?”
He tried to push me again, and I stepped out of the way. “I don’t owe you an explanation,” I said.
Joseph ripped his helmet off. “Let me see you.”
I knew what Joseph was itching for—a fight. Ignoring him, I turned to leave. He slammed into me from behind and I spun around. Smacking a palm against my chest, he grabbed for the vial still clutched in my hand. Afraid the vial might shatter between our wrestling over it, Joseph swiped it from me. He held it up, triumphant. “What did you steal?”
Pissed, I removed my helmet too. “You followed me.”
He grinned. “I live in the 101 too. Saw you in the garage taking off on your airped. I was curious.”
“I didn’t take anything,” I lied. “That’s mine. Give it back.” My words echoed ominously in the dark alleyway.
“Bullshit,” Joseph said. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted. What is it . . .” He twisted the vial’s stopper. “Some kind of drug?”
I clamped my hand over his wrist, gripping hard. He tried to jerk his arm back, but I was much stronger. For all of Joseph’s bravado, I was certain the guy’d never been in an actual fight before.
“Whatever,” he said and dropped the vial.
I caught it just in time, my heart in my throat. Gods. But before I could secure it back into my suit, the clueless you boy hit me in the cheek with a loose fist. Pain registered immediately on Joseph’s face as he shook his hand. The guy really didn’t know how to fight.
I had no choice. I couldn’t risk him remembering or following me back to the 101, haranguing me the entire way. I punched him hard in the jaw, hard enough to leave a bruise. Hard enough to make it swell. It had to look like a mugging.
Joseph stumbled back, the whites of his eyes standing out in the dark.
Tucking the vial safely away, I reached for a syringe dosed with a memory-wipe. I stabbed Joseph in the back of his hand.
“What the hell was that?” He stared at me, mouth open, then crumpled to the ground.
I patted him down, searching the hidden pockets in his suit. Cashcard. Six thousand yuan in bills. Taking the notes, I tossed the cashcard on the ground beside him. I checked the Palm tucked in one of his pockets, making certain it was juiced and transmitting his location. I almost felt sorry for him.
He’d have a killer headache tomorrow morning.
? ? ?
Lingyi called for a group meeting the next day.
I went after dropping off the vial at Arun’s lab. He thumped me on the shoulder before he took it in his gloved hands. “You kick ass, Zhou!”