ic [IC] Freedom of Information

[Blarghy]

"Well, we know about it now, and I think all these people will soon wish that we didn't."  The huge reptile grinned viciously. 

 

He then stood up from his ivory throne, ate the rest of the fruit Bonfire gathered for them, and gestured back toward the elevator below their computer terminals.  "So, I guess that's it?  I'll get the money we need for the contract, and probably to bribe security.  And keep watch on the darknet sites.  Can you think of anything else before I take you back to the surface?"

[olopi]

GM

 

“Nah, that’s about it. I’ll keep in touch with whatever I find. “

 

 

 

The rest of the week passed quickly. There were a lot of things that needed doing at FCI, but even then, Leviathan had some time to keep his eyes open around the shadier parts of the ‘net. Activity was sparse, most of the websites seemed like they only updated very irregularly, since most likely a lot of the action happened behind the scenes either way, and these were just storefronts.

 

 

The location was announced late Friday night-slash-early Saturday morning. Leviathan had set up an alert to notify him of any changes, so he got the information essentially right as it happened. The location was down by the Waterfront, a building built underneath the State Route 4, acting as a support for the highway, and offering a lot of cheap, rentable space.

 

 

Bonfire got the location only shortly after, through an encrypted channel just because the two had been dealing with hackers more than once. He replied quicker than was expected from this early in the morning.

Check that. Will take a look, in the area right now. Gonna hit it up before we meet, might get some info on the guards at that point. 

 

Saturday morning passed without anything of notice, and soon it was time to meet up again…

 

 

 

 

[Blarghy]

As soon as Bonfire responded, Leviathan set to work--specifically not as Leviathan at all, but as Tristan Delacroix, to visit one of his banks and withdraw over half a million dollars in cash, as few ATMs would accommodate such a request, and he wasn't about to pay mAZ with a personal check.  He decided to only bring half of the promised seven figures to the meeting; that seemed like standard procedure, with the rest promised after completion of their task.  This went into a briefcase, while he put about thirty thousand more in his pockets for the inevitable bribes. 

 

Now he had time to finalize his disguise.  Tristan decided to wear actual clothes today, rather than create his own; he chose a nice suit a few sizes too large for his regular body and filled into it.  His hair lightened to blond; he gave himself a well-groomed beard, aged himself a little while keeping his complexion smooth and pale, and tweaked the fine details in front of a mirror.  After a few years of practice, he had grown fairly comfortable with his methods, but perhaps the hardest part still remained: tonight Tristan would need an accent. 

 

He tried his best John Oliver: "'Essentially, student debt is like HPV: if you go to college, you're almost certainly going to get it, and if you do, it will follow you for the rest of your life,'" he quoted.  Once he stopped giggling, the doctor decided this wasn't the best approach, in case he kept making himself laugh with his own performance. 

 

Maybe a nice Matt Smith?  "'But times change, and so must I.  We all change, when you think about it.  We are all different people, all through our lives, and that's okay.  That's good!  You've got to keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be.'"  Wow, no.  Halfway through the meeting, he'd be crying uncontrollably from Doctor Who flashbacks. 

 

Tristan ran through several of his favorite English performers before at last choosing to channel Mark Strong.  He was going to play a villain tonight, after all. 

 

He talked to his reflection for a while longer, smoothed the jacket of his blue silk suit, took his briefcase full of money, made doubly sure that he wasn't still carrying anything that might identify him, and left to join Bonfire.

[olopi]

GM

 

 

 

The two met again at the agreed upon time and location, a park table not too far from where they were heading later the same day. The sun was beginning to set.

 

 

 There was some activity in the area, but the tables themselves were almost empty, which allowed for a nice degree of secrecy while still not being suspicious. As Leviathan joined him, Bonfire was sitting at the table and, unsurprisingly, drinking coffee. His hair had a natural black colour, and he’d styled it ever so slightly. He started off in the same accent he’d sown Leviathan before.

“Ah, mon ami. Great to see you. “

 

 

Then, he immediately switched back to his more natural voice, as he pulled out his phone to show a map that had been drawn quickly.

 

 

“Okay, so here’s the layout. And, well, it’s a mostly empty room. They’re setting up a dancefloor and DJ set in one corner, and a bunch of round tables in the other. No labels or anything so far, gotta figure out who to talk to before you get there, I suppose. “

 

 

“Can’t confirm there’s any guards outside yet, but I spent about an hour camped outside on a roof, and some people are walking around the area. Judging from what I saw, they’re connected over a radio, probably wired up to a van that was standing around just down the street. I imagine that’s where they’re running the actual thing from. Chances are more are gonna show up once the thing actually starts. Speaking of which, that’s in a few minutes.“

[Blarghy]

"Wow, man.  You're looking sharp."  Leviathan was a little jealous that this non-shapeshifter pulled off his disguise better than he did, but he supposed that so long as neither of them were recognized, that was all that really mattered.  Although, he increasingly felt like he'd stepped into a heist movie, and the fun of it began to get him excited again.

 

Bonfire's news wasn't entirely ideal, but none of it sounded too terrible either.  "I guess it makes sense that no one would be wearing name-tags...  If we have to, I can take another quick trip to the darknet and nudge these hackers to help arrange a meeting, so it shouldn't be a problem.  And hopefully, neither will their security.  I'm assuming that if we have to bust up the club, then anybody important will be ready to just drive off, but we're not here to catch Mayhem's organizers.  Not today, anyway.  But it would be a nice perk, if we can capture mAZ and a bunch of other criminals too.  Do you know how many ways there are in and out of the building?  If it has more than two exits, then we obviously can't cover them all."

[olopi]

PC

 

“Heh, thanks. It’s close enough to the usual thing that I can keep it up without trouble, and it gives this nice vibe of mysterious sexy Frenchman. Doubt that’s gonna do much, but it helps l’alias que I’ve built. Or something like that. Like the style you’ve chosen, probably fits in with the average person in there a bit more. “

 

He took a short moment to recall what he’d seen entrance wise, then responded. “I think that’s where we get lucky. I only saw one entrance, since the entire thing’s built into the railway support. Covering the exit should be easy enough, for somebody of the right size.”

 

“As for the mAZ, if we promised that much cash, they’ll be on the lookout. I’m actually willing to bet they’ll approach us if we don’t approach them. Could probably just go it, have a drink and wait. But it might be a good idea to get it all done quickly. No idea why, but that’s what they usually say in the movies, right?”

 

He grinned as he finished up his coffee.  It was true, it did feel a bit like a movie. It wasn’t the first heist Bonfire was part of, but the first time he actually was the brains behind the operations. And that was both a bit scary, but also really cool.

[Blarghy]

"That is true..."  Leviathan tapped his chin, thinking.  "So, hopefully, our disguises hold up, we either leave with mAZ or arrange another meeting somewhere more private where we can capture the whole team, and that's the end of it.  But if something goes wrong, then what's our general plan?  I can block the door to keep anyone from escaping.  Unless there's an actual villain or two in there, then the fighting shouldn't be noteworthy.  You could drive the criminals to me, and as they try to fight their way out, we just catch them all between us, finish off any guards outside who haven't run away, and then call the police.  Or AEGIS.  Simple enough, right?  Any other ideas?

 

"And another thing we should probably decide from the start is, if things do go well and all of mAZ is in there, do we maybe want to transform and take down the whole club, if we see a good opportunity?  If we don't, then we'll be letting a lot of criminals go free tonight, even if we're remembering them for a later date.  This just seems like a rare opportunity to deal a major hit to the Freedom City underworld, especially since this building only has one exit.  I don't think we'll find another chance like it again soon."

[olopi]

PC

 

“If things go wrong ... well, I didn’t really think about that. Which I now realize is a bad idea. But I think you’re correct, we should be able to handle whatever they’re gonna throw at us between the two of us. And further than that …”

 

The idea of just arresting everybody in there at once was something that Cass hadn’t really thought about too much, he was more focused on making sure he’d get into mAZ’s head. But now that Leviathan mentioned it, there was no reason that was necessary if the two of them could just take out everyone at once.

 

“Now that you mention it, that does sound like a plan. Clean up a lot of things at once, and chase down whoever gets away somehow. There’s some in that van, so we couldn’t get them all, but getting most might just be worth it. “

 

He gave Leviathan a grin, before finishing.

 

“So, you ready? “

[Blarghy]

"I sure hope so.  Let's go bribe and lie our way in; I've got the money if you'll do most of the talking." 

 

If we can clean out the whole club and put that many criminals away, think of the publicity!  I would think that this should go a long way toward smoothing over things between AEGIS and Bonfire, too.  Although, then we'll have to decide what to do about Ph0enix...

 

He shook off that thought.  They had time to figure out a solution for their "friend," who already knew more about the heroes than Leviathan was comfortable with.  So long as she came through with her end of the deal and supplied information on Solemn, maybe cooperating was a necessary evil.  For now.

[olopi]

GM

 

“Okay. Let’s go be heroes and … well, not save the world!”

A short pause, as it felt like Bonfire wasn’t entirely happy with how it sounded. “And something else, but I can’t think of anything that sounds smart right now”. And with a grin, the two were off, towards the room that Bonfire has staked out before.

 

As the two walked up to the building, they could note the occasional conspicuously parked car. Some looking fairly clean and modern, others rather run down. Quite a few of them. Perhaps it was people parking and heading to the event, perhaps it was security on the side of whoever was running the event. And there of course always was the chance of it being a coincidence.

 

A large man was leaning against the wall close to the door, just enough that it didn’t look like he was guarding it from afar, but people in the know realized what was going on. He saw the two disguised heroes approach, and as they walked up to the door, he too did so, placing himself between the door and the two.

 

“What’cha want? “

 

Bonfire was quick on the draw. “Ah, mon ami. We are here to meet with somebody, a … client.”

[Blarghy]

"And perhaps cause a little Mayhem," Leviathan added with a sly smile.  "Just a joke, big man.  Let's not have any trouble; I'm sure you can spare plenty for any fool who wants some.  It's a hard job, yours, and we're grateful for it.  Knowing that you're out here to keep an eye on things, it settles my mind."

 

Because you're just a regular guy who hits the gym and might have a gun, nothing more, and once we make our move, I'll have no problem crushing you.

 

"In fact..."  he made a show of rubbing his chin thoughtfully, then dropping his hand--the one without the briefcase--into his jacket pocket.  "I suspect not many people properly appreciate all your hard work 'round here.  Man like you deserves a little gratitude, wouldn't you say?"

 

His hand came back out with what looked like a roll of hundred dollar bills, before his fingers closed to conceal it.  Leviathan raised his eyebrows, hoping this would get the point across. 

[olopi]

GM

 

Without really doing anything noticeable, Bonfire placed himself in the background. Leviathan was the one who’d do the bribing, and as far as he could tell, there was no need to help with that. He gauged the bouncer’s reaction, staying quiet as the large man looked down at the cash, eyebrows raised.

 

A few moments of consideration, before grabbing the money and stepping out of the way. “Welcome. Behave yourselves.” And with that, the money had disappeared into his jacket’s pocket. The two heroes made their way inside, where they entered what looked like a pretty generic nightclub. A bar had been set up, there was an elevated area that offered some seating. The dancefloor took up most of the remaining space, and a DJ, masked and wearing some sort of bodysuit, was in the corner.

 

So far, there weren’t too many people inside. Most were dressed in regular street clothes, with a few sticking out in either direction fanciness wise. Some were dancing, a lot were hanging around, and a few were up at the seats. Where one person was typing on a laptop.

 

Bonfire nudged his ally and pointed up at the laptop. Even now, whispering, he was keeping up his accent. “Think that’s our guys signalling it. I’ll approach them if you don’t have any concerns. “

[Blarghy]

"Well, we didn't come here just to dance, did we?"  Leviathan attempted a grin to mask his jittery nerves.  If this was their mAZ contact, just one member of the gang, then luck might not be on their side; he'd hoped to catch them all in the club so that he and Bonfire could go ahead and capture the other random criminals as well, like they discussed.  Maybe the others were just keeping their distance for now, but if not, he couldn't very well jeopardize the whole mission to shut down Club Mayhem.

 

Patience.  We know how the club operates now; we can find it again if we have to, and whoever manages it won't even have reason to be suspicious if we follow mAZ back to their own headquarters and deal with them there.  One problem at a time.

 

"After you, then."

[olopi]

GM

 

Bonfire nodded. “Alright” And slowly walked up to the seats, carrying himself with confidence. The two had to get past some dancing people first, coming across a surprising amount of diversity in the type of people that were attending. It was a bit strange to see people in suits dancing and talking next to people in badly fitting, worn clothes.

 

But apart from a few looks of curiosity, the two didn’t raise much attention, and soon reached the seat. Bonfire extended both his arms outwards and began to approach the man, speaking at the same volume that he usually did, fairly loud. “Ah, mon ami, there you are!” The man tilted his head somewhat but waved the two closer, at which point Bonfire spoke a lot more quietly. ”We have contacted you, we are looking for the help you and your friends can offer. “

 

The man leaned back, seemingly pretty relaxed (even if there was some uncertainty on his face), and began to talk. “Clearly you’re not from ‘round here. And you’re paying big bucks. So what’s your goal? Who’re you looking to hit up? “

[Blarghy]

Leviathan gave a barking laugh as he sat down at the table, laying his briefcase in front of him.  "Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, eh?  It's nothing personal.  I'm sure you and your mates are the most trustworthy partners I'll ever have, 'side from my friend here, but, well...you know how it is.  If we can come to a general agreement tonight, then we'll tell you the time of our upcoming score, and when it's close, then we'll give the place.  I'll be handling the real work; what we need from you and your lot is a diversion.  Keep the White Hats busy with somethin' flashy while I work my magic and get out before they know I'm there.  'Course, as you said, we're not from 'round here, though you are, which means mAZ'll get the credit--and the heat--afterward.  But that's what this little vacation fund is for."  He patted the briefcase. 

 

"Plenty of money to take yourselves some time off, get drunk on a warm beach with some pretty birds 'til any trouble passes by, and enjoy a new notch in your reputation by the time you come back.  Or just stay put, snort your earnings, and take your chances--don't much care, so long as it doesn't come back to us."

[olopi]

GM

 

Once the plan was better laid out, the man’s interest visibly grew. He began to lean forward again a bit, listening closely to the few details Leviathan was willing to mention at this point. He looked quite intrigued as he waited to respond.

 

“I like your style. And you clearly know what you’re doing. Should be easy enough to work together, so long as you don’t sell out once you’re done. You’ve got the cash on you already, so let’s say upfront payment and an encrypted channel and we’ll be good. And then, once we’re done, we’ll just go back to not knowing about each other. “

 

It seemed to go pretty smooth, all things considered. The bait of all the cash seemed to be enough to get the hacker to bite, even if Bonfire tapping onto his ally’s shoulder right when the hacker looked away meant that it was almost going too smooth, something the two of them had worked out earlier.

And then came another question. Smalltalk didn’t seem like it had been the hacker’s ultimate goal, so perhaps there was more to it?

“But tell me a bit more about yourselves, what brings you to this place? And why hire locally?”

[Blarghy]

If Bonfire hadn't signaled his suspicions, Leviathan would've been very proud of himself so far.  Instead, his ally's worries made him second-guess the situation; he couldn't entirely hide the concern in his expression, although if he was lucky, then maybe the other hacker would mistake it for misgivings at these (somewhat) personal questions. 

 

"...Well, work brings us here, obviously.  Don't plan to stick around long after the job's done, not with the sort of trouble this city has.  Police are one thing, but I'm not interested in getting thrown through a building by some tosser in spandex.  Guess that sort of leads to your other question: our thinking was that someone from these parts should know how the local game works.  How to avoid the heroes, especially any who can do more with a computer than melt it with their eyes.  We never like interference on a job, but in this city, we especially prefer not to be noticed until after we've legged it."

[olopi]

GM

 

At this point, Bonfire cut in. “Yes, yes. We have done our research, and some of your héros are quite a threat. Some assistance with them could prove invaluable, and I trust that with your payment, supplying that will be possible?”

 

The hacker took a second to reply, but his reply seemed casual enough. “Rule Number One of doing business around here is to not get involved with them in any way. One wrong move and the entire community burns down, they don’t like that. It’s been a few months since that last happened, but that time a few big-shots put out a nice bounty on the one that ####ed up. “

 

“We don’t get involved with capes, straight up. We can give you a few tips, but anything beyond that you’ll have to ask somebody else. And, well, be aware of the consequences. You travelled all this way, you wouldn’t want to die here ‘cause you revealed everybody’s business. Just some friendly advice. If you’re doing anything that might attract cape-attention and can’t cover it up yourself or with the right people, don’t do it. “

 

“Ah, is there anybody you could recommend? “

 

“Go-to guy for this stuff got in over his head a while ago, didn’t end well for him. Nobody’s tried since, still too much heat. “

 

“So, you still in?”

[Blarghy]

What's all that about? Leviathan wondered.  I might question this guy a bit once we catch him.  That's probably just a good idea anyway; he seems like a good source of information on the local underworld.  And maybe the leader of mAZ, since I doubt this is him, will be even better.  Leviathan also couldn't help but feel proud of how his fellow heroes had struck fear into Freedom City's criminals.  Not enough that they weren't still willing to do business--which, if he thought about it, might cast doubt on the effectiveness of such intimidation--but even so, it was rather nice to see the results from this new perspective. 

 

...Unless he knows who we are, at least broadly, and is only trying to stroke our egos so we become complacent.  Unfortunately for you, my new friend, a complacent quarter-ton invulnerable giant lizard is still a quarter-ton invulnerable giant lizard. 

 

"We've come too far to back out now, 'least without a serious reason," he answered.  "So long as we're smart and subtle, everything'll work out just fine."

[olopi]

GM

 

Bonfire nodded. “I suppose we will have to call in some alternate backup, then. I will have to get in touch with him and see if he can work from home.”

 

The hacker nodded slowly, looking pretty pleased. He closed his laptop before finally standing up to face the two disguised heroes face-to-face. At this point it became more apparent that he was quite large, having a few inches on both of them.

 

“Alright, that works with us. If it’s not a local, there shouldn’t be any issues. So, from what I can tell, the only thing we need at this point are the money, and we will be ready to work our magic whenever you need us. “

With that, he extended his hand.

 

[Blarghy]

Unsure of whether the other hacker wanted a gesture of their alliance or his payment, Leviathan gave both by setting his briefcase down--clearly more within the larger man's personal space than his own--and shaking his hand. 

 

Did it actually work?  This went a lot more smoothly than I thought it would!  Which is what worried Bonfire earlier, and I have to say, I can see his point...  Or, maybe we're both overthinking this.  I'm sure that mAZ still doesn't trust us, but they don't have to.  All we need is for this guy to lead us back to his friends, and then we're done.  Well, except for the whole Ph0enix issue...

 

"We'll be in touch, then," he said by way of farewell. 

[olopi]

GM

 

“My pleasure. “

 

The hacker sat down and, just for safety, opened the briefcase and checked the money for a moment, before stowing it between his legs and folding open his laptop again. And with that, the scene was as it had been before, even if he’d now seemingly gotten a few people’s attention.

 

The two heroes left the part of the room that the deal had happened in, now standing on the edge of the dancefloor. Bonfire seemed pretty happy, even if he kept to his accent. “Well, that went surprisingly well. Anything else we wanna do here? “

 

“Oh.” He gave a quick nod towards where the hacker had sat previous, now surrounded by four other people, all of them in what appeared to be quite a cheery mood. “Looks like he wasn’t alone, then. Wonder how many there are in total. “  

[Blarghy]

Leviathan shared that curiosity.  "Yeah, there might be more to their crew..."  He chewed his lower lip and still couldn't help but quietly point out that, "We could take them now, and everyone else in the club...but if any of the hackers are safely elsewhere, then they'll go to ground and we'll probably never find them again.  Maybe Ph0enix would be satisfied by just driving mAZ out of the city, but I'd really rather put them all away."

 

He glanced around, wary of being overheard.  "I guess we should play it safe.  Leave, change, and then just follow them like we planned.  You'll have no problem with that, I assume.  If I try to keep up with you, then we're far more likely to be spotted, so how about you use your various tricks to stalk these guys, and occasionally send up a beacon of light to show me where you are.  Something high up above the streets, and not so bright that the whole city sees it--I think that'll be safe.  I can watch from the rooftops and follow you at a distance.  Then, when the time is right, we can round them all up."

[olopi]

GM

 

 

 

Instead of just standing in the middle of the room, Bonfire led Leviathan over towards a table, where, after taking a few peanuts off of it, he leaned in and responded. Of course, still with his French accent. “Taking them out now’s risky, yeah. Plus, I’m fairly certain some of the faces I’ve spotted in here have powers. Following them works, just make sure you also stay on their track, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to keep up at all times.”

 

 

The two left shortly after, with Bonfire giving a quick nod to the bouncer on the way out, and soon after had changed and returned to the general area, Bonfire staking it out while invisible, with Leviathan staying behind a bit, as Bonfire had written a quick message talking about sentries being posted around the area.

 

 

And then, after some time, another text message. “Okay, leaving. On foot, heading S. Following. Heading towards Parking?”

[Blarghy]

South, Leviathan thought.  Could they be based in Bayview?  I suppose I won't be too surprised if this crew has an upscale hideout; the man we met didn't seem astonished by the amount of money we gave him.  Wherever they're going, I'll have trouble staying hidden if they cross Pramas Bridge.  I can just swim, of course, but I might lose them until I get to the other side of the city.  Hopefully Bonfire can handle that part.

 

The reptile squinted at the comparatively tiny cell phone in his now-giant palm and typed a reply as best he could with the tip of a claw.  On my way, he replied, and with a powerful leap, went to the top of the nearest building.  From there he proceeded onward; hopefully their quarry wouldn't spend too much time looking up.