System Break

Pieter packed up his gear in to two large cases which looked like something the military would use to store and move weapons. He pulled a wire from his arm and jacked in. Moments later a loud click reverberated from inside the trunks.

"Expensive stuff?" Michael asked.

Pieter turned and smiled. "Not really, but they're my precious toys."

"The Huan techs submitted their report last night and gave you top marks."

"Really?" Pieter said and smiled. "I was thinking they would complain I was too slow. But its best to be cautious and certain."

Michael nodded. "Your payment is wired and once you're off the grounds your access will no longer work. I trust you won't give me a reason to come after you." With the last comment Michael raised and eyebrow and considered Pieter.

"No." Pieter shook his head. "I like happy customers. Angry ones aren't good for my health."

"How can I contact you in the future? Same method?"

Pieter shook his head. "I'll send you a message after I finish my next job."

"You're off there now?"

Pieter shrugged and Michael chuckled. 

"I'll take that as a yes." Michael held out his hand and Pieter held out a fist. 

"We don't shake hands where I'm from." 

Michael shook his head and they bumped fists.

"Bye Michael."

"Bye whatever your name is."

A flatbed robot with four wheels stopped by the cases and picked them up using its hydraulic arm. Pieter glanced at Benzhi's pod and walked out the door with the short, square robot following him.

The hacker took the shortest route to the garage and hopped into the back seat of one of the automated vans. He waited while the robot loaded itself through the large side door. 

"Bullet train departures," he said.

A computer voice replied. "Acknowledged. The closest bullet train terminal is Shenzhen City. The trip will take approximately one hour and five minutes. Please confirm."

"Dah," he said and pulled out his tablet.

"Confirmed." The voice said and the van began maneuvering out of the underground garage and off the property.

The hacker accessed the van's systems and turned off all internal listening devices and cameras. He then uploaded a fake log in its place and leaned back.

"Ah," he said. "Now who shall we be." He perused a database of fake identities that suited his height and weight. "Oh look, I can be a Simon. I'm feeling that. Simon from Singapore." And his accent changed. Instead of Russian he sounded British.

He copied his new identity onto a chip in plenty of time before arriving at the Bullet train. He used one of the station terminals to purchase a ticket to Seoul and checked in.

Within four hours he was on the platform in Seoul with his robot following close behind.

"Come here pet," he said and checked the robot for trackers. He found one and nuked it. He smiled. "I'd be disappointed if I didn't find at least one. But that's all you get Michael, enough so you don't look incompetent to your employer." Then he chuckled.

Simon hopped in a waiting auto-cab. "86 Cheonggyecheon-ro, Jung-gu," he said. The self-driving taxi zipped through the streets and stopped outside the Jangwha Corp HQ.

Simon walked inside and approached the front desk. "Hi," he said. "Are there any public toilets near here?"

The receptionist hid her scorn well. "English? Please type." She handed him a tablet.

He typed. "You are hot. I want to bang your brains out." He held it out to her.

She pressed the translate button and frowned. She typed something and showed him the screen. "Security is on its way."

He smiled, shrugged then waved. "Bye," he said and walked out the side entrance where his robot was waiting. He opened the case and put on a hoodie and mask. He didn't look out of place on the streets of Seoul wearing a black face mask covering his nose and mouth.

The cases changed colour to blue and his robot followed him down the alley to the next main road. He approached a car and checked its windows. It was the latest Hyundai self-driving electric vehicle. 

"Easy peasy," he said and hacked it. He opened the door and trunk for his robot. "Best Korean car please take me out of Seoul."

"Destination required. Unknown destination," the computer voice said in English.

"Terminal," Simon said, and the car's tablet lit up. He leaned over and tapped on the map. "There. Take me to this house."

"Confirmed." And the car began to whiz through the streets while Simon wiped its GPS logs and disabled its connectivity. When it arrived at the mansion in the hills surrounding Seoul, he waited for his robot to exit before sending the car back to where he found it, minus its memory of their journey.

He pressed a button and the gates opened after a minute. "Go to the garage," he told his robotic luggage carrier and they both made their way up the long drive.

He stood at the front door and waited. It opened after another minute and he was met by an old Korean woman. 

"Follow," she said, and she led him through the mansion. It was much like Huan's full of the latest technology and decorated with humungous amounts of money and little taste. There were enough security devices within walls to kill a swat team of cybernetic soldiers. Turrets flush mounted in the ceilings, but the circular indentations gave them away.

Simon inspected the old maid leading the way. "I guess he doesn't replace everything with technology," he said dryly.

She grumbled. "Robots can't do everything."

Simon tapped his cheek making a popping sound. "Oh, many would disagree. Me - I love robots."

"Why?"

"They do whatever I tell them," he said, and she snorted.

"Tell that to the millions who cannot find work."

"That I like robots more than them because they do whatever I say?" Simon laughed. "Sure, that will solve their problems."

She grumbled. "Wait in here. He'll be with you shortly."

Joseon Industries was the new empire named after the old. And this was the home of one of its directors and wealthiest shareholders – Sejo.

A young man entered. "Ah we finally meet. What is your name today?"

"Simon," he answered and held out a fist.

Sejo looked at it with reluctance but then he relented and bumped it with his own fist.

Simon smiled.

"Did you accomplish your task?"

Simon's eyebrows raised. "Would I be here if I didn't?" He slid a small package onto the ostentatious carbon fibre desk. "Inside that anti-static container is a chip with everything you need. All their technology and intercept protocols. To you its worth billions of bitcreds."

"You like our new currency?"

"Sure, its tax free and almost untraceable."

"Almost?"

Simon smiled. "You can trace it - can't you."

Sejo shrugged. 

"If you can trace it then so can others."

Sejo frowned. "Don't mess with it … Simon. You're very capable it would be shame to lose such a talent."

Simon smiled disarmingly. "I never bite the hand that feeds me." He pursed his lips. "Not unless they bite me first."

"You just bit Huan Industries."

"You hired me to. So, you're my employer not them."

"How do I know if someone didn't hire you to steal from me?"

Simon chuckled. "That's a security issue for your team. I'm sure you have enemies and if they didn't hire me, they'd hire someone else."

Sejo sat down behind the desk and chuckled. "Then I'll pay you to tell me if anyone tries to hire you to steal or harm us. Does that work within your code?"

"Sure," Simon said. "But first payment for the chip."

"Do you need to instruct my techs?"

Simon shook his head. "It's all on there. If they can't work it out, it's not my problem. Get better techs. I'm behind schedule already - I delayed the project by days to ensure I got everything and covered my tracks. I don't have time to babysit corpo techs."

"This game is it as revolutionary as they say?"

"They've been streaming the tournament, didn't you watch?"

Sejo said, "A little. Admittedly my expectations were high, and I wasn't blown away."

Simon titled his head to the side and thought before he said, "Even kids richer than god like it more than real life. I can imagine a normal scrub would never leave."

"Is there anything else to it?"

"My payment is ten million bitcreds and an unconditional favour."

"What is the favour?" Sejo asked.

Simon grinned. "I don't know yet. But when I ask, you'll do it no matter what it is."

"Surely it can't be anything. Like commit suicide."

Simon grunted. "I'm not an idiot. I won't ask something that makes you want to kill me more than fulfil it. But it could be anything."

"Why don't I pay  you 100 million bitcreds now and we call it even," Sejo said.

Simon shook his head. "We had a deal. I want the deal we made."

Sejo sighed. "Very well." He tapped his desk and brought up a transfer. "Enter your account." Simon did so. "Okay … done. Now tell me the other secret to this game."

Simon smiled. "If you're asking you already know."

Sejo nodded. "Tell me anyway. If you're convinced, then I'll take it seriously."

Simon frowned. "I'm not convinced. I only heard them talk about it and saw nothing to sway me. For all I know its mumbo jumbo."

Sejo sighed. "We will run our own experiments and get to the bottom of it soon."

Simon stood. "Can I take an auto from your garage?"

Sejo waved a hand. "Yes, take one of the vans and send it back you're done." 

Simon stood, took a step to leave and Sejo stood also. The director put an arm out. "Tell me Simon is your real name Loki?"

Simon smiled. "That's a netrunner name, not a real one. And no, he's a group of people pretending to be one."

"You know them?"

Simon shrugged. "Anyone who runs in my circle knows that name. But its not like we meet at the club for drinks."

Sejo relaxed his arm and smiled disarmingly. "That's good. I'd hate to owe that person a favour."

Simon smiled back. "When I ask for the favour you'll laugh - at how easy it is for you."

Sejo's eyes narrowed. "I hope so."

The hacker known as Loki, wandered through the mansion, hopped in one of Joseon Industries auto-vans and left.