Legends Never Die
{ I would like to award @000marie198 for excellent performance as beta reader and editorial supporter. Another wonderful chapter because of your great work friend. }
Part 1 ~ Immortal Escape
Chapter 4 - Hacked~
( Chapter 1 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 5 )
Kit strolled through the dark halls, his ears flicking back and forth on high alert for any sounds of approaching footsteps.
He'd already passed by three scientists, two guards and a postman. None of which payed him any mind. It was too early for anyone else to be up, and even Kit was finding it hard to keep his eyelids from drooping.
"How much longer?" a voice whined in his ear, instantly kicking his mind back into wakefulness.
"Not much longer," Kit whispered, glancing down an adjoining hall before turning left, "Quit your whining."
A tiny huff and a hardly audible mumbling could be heard from the communication device tucked inside his ear. The voice apparently not willing to argue at the moment.
Kit was glad for the silence, his senses scanning his surroundings for any possible dangers.
Eventually he came across a hall, lined on each side by windows embedded with a chain link mesh; a cheap way out of buying legitimate bullet proof glass. Though, Kit would admit, the glass would at least stop anyone physically trying to brute force their way into the rooms beyond.
Behind the glass, were dark rooms, completely unoccupied at the moment. Tall, whirring machinery sat idling against the walls, their lights blinking on and off as the processors spun to life. The box-like machines were protected by a heavy duty plastic, and long desks stood in rows in front of them. Black wires attached the machines to ports propped on the desks, leading to computer like devices with curving black screens.
No one was there.
Kit turned to one of the doors, turning its handle with a resounding click. The door opened silently, and Kit glanced up and down the empty hall before stepping inside, closing the door behind him with yet another jarring click.
His eyes scanned the rows of desks and lifeless screens before picking one farther back to the right. Relatively out of sight from the doorway, and a place he assumed would be least conspicuous.
Hurrying his way to the port, he sat himself down in the swivel chair, the wheels rumbling as he slid up to the desk in one smooth motion. With a flourish he clicked the power button, a green light at the top of the screen blinking on.
He waited for the screen to light up, bathing his face in blue hues.
A code bar popped up, requiring a password. Kit typed it in, almost rolling his eyes at how easy it was.
"You'd think they'd at least make me hack it," he muttered.
"What was that?" The voice over the intercom asked teasingly, "Don't tell me you're bored out there playing undercover cop!"
Kit didn't respond, watching as the screen notified him to several different running programs as well as a tab requesting him to wait patiently while it fully connected to G.U.P database.
"Because that's certainly not how I would feel. But hey! You could stay back here if that'd help!"
"We both know that's not an option."
Silence. Then a suspicious,
"Do we...?"
"Well I do. And I've tried to tell you. So it's not my fault if you haven't been listening."
"Yeesh... Someone needs their coffee..."
Kit didn't respond, but an amused smile tempted the corner of his muzzle.
A long sigh in his ear. "Will it be much longer now?”
"Be patient, I'm connecting to the main server."
"Can't you just plug 'Mega in right now and get it started?"
"This incessant speech is causing unnecessary distraction. Requesting permission to mute him." Omega's voice came over the comm now.
Kit snickered at the indignant sputtering from the other voice.
"That's alright, Omega. I think I've lived with him long enough now that I've built an immunity to his nonstop talking."
"Hey!"
"Very well."
A huff. "So... Why can't you just plug Omega in and let him get a head start.?"
Kit released a breath, "Because for as amazingly unprotected these computers are, they're terribly finicky. If I plug the drive in, and Omega tries to access the computer before it's fully connected, the whole thing will shut down."
A thoughtful, "Oh."
The screen whirred. Finally the connection had completed and Kit grinned giddily, folding his hands together and stretching them out, the joints of his fingers letting out muted pops.
"I'm in."
"About time..." The voice muttered.
Kit decided to ignore him, reaching into his uniform's chest pocket and pulling out the uniquely marked device.
Pressing a tiny button on the side, a tiny antennae flipped up, and with a quick swipe he plugged the device into the computer port.
"Okay, 'Mega. Let's get cracking."
"Affirmative. Initiating download."
Dead silence could be heard over the comm. Omega's computer consciousness busy navigating the G.U.P database, and Tails busy breaking through as many coded files as possible.
"...Well, as fascinating as it is to sit here and listen to you both wordlessly hack into the most pretentious government agency on Mobius- I think I'm going to make some breakfast. I'm famished."
Kit chuckled, "No one's stopping you."
"Stopping who?"
Kit nearly lifted three inches off the chair, his whole body jerking to face the voice that had suddenly materialized beside him.
A grey wolf stood next to him, his posture relaxed with one hand shoved in his uniform pocket and another holding a mug with the words 'Computer Nerd #1' scrawled across the side. Despite the heaviness in his eyes his ears were pointed forward, curiosity dragging his hazel gaze between the fox and the glowing screen.
"Oh, uuuhh," Kit glanced at the screen, grateful that the words were small and the open windows stacked haphazardly on top of each other, "N-no one."
He laughed awkwardly, leaning forward and propping his elbow onto the desk, which in turn propped up his head.
"It's just early. And with no one else here, it's hard not to strike up a conversation with the equipment."
"Mmm."
The wolf took a loud sip from his coffee. Looking perfectly comfortable where he was.
"Tails? You good? Did someone catch you?! You need me to bail you out?! Blink twice if you need me to bail you out! I'll be there in five seconds!"
Kit tried not to react to the incessant voice in his ear, which was sounding way more excited than it should have.
Kit patted the desk with his free hand, leaning back so his head wasn't resting on his hand.
"Ya know how it is right? Sometimes these girls just need a bit of encouragement in the morning." He gestured to the computer.
The wolf's eyes seemed to lighten a bit.
"Oh yeah. I talk to my girl all the time. Got the fastest processor in this Bestia tech-center. I upgraded her myself."
Kit found himself relaxing, until a flash of suspicion crossed the wolf's hazel stare.
"But what are you doing here? I don't recognize you. And usually the interns or volunteers arrive later in the day."
"Oh, well, you see..."
"I just realized I can't actually see if you've blinked twice, so you'll have to tell me. Now tell me the truth-! Have you blinked twice?!"
Kit resisted the urge to grind his teeth.
"I've- actually been here for a while now. I'm mostly just moved around to inspect the bases and such. Ya know, make sure the training programs are up to current protocol, updating software systems, double checking sanitation standards."
Kit shrugged.
"And, ya know. Make sure things run smoothly."
The wolf's eyes had widened in awe and surprise.
"Dang," he whistled. "Sounds like a rough job."
Kit exhaled, relieved that his cover story was still working.
"They make you work insane hours too?" The wolf slowly began to amble away, though his face was still respectfully turned to face the fox.
Kit nodded, purposefully turning his gaze back to the screen, and tapping on the keyboard.
"Actually, I'm headed somewhere else later today. But I haven't been able to check the computer systems yet, so I wanted to get that done before I left."
"Absolutely understandable. My station's over here."
Kit only stole a side glance, noting with satisfaction that the station was ahead and to the far left, across the room from him.
"If you need anything, just let me know!"
"Thanks," Kit replied, his voice nearly a mutter.
"You still haven't answered me-!" A small gasp. "Are they keeping you from talking?! Don't worry, I'll be right there-"
"Don't even think about it," Kit hissed, keeping his voice low and ears erect. He wasn't too keen on being caught unawares a second time.
A low mutter he couldn't quite make out was mumbled with much chagrin. Kit promptly ignored it.
"Omega, what's your progress.?"
A beat of silence.
"I have thoroughly scanned and reviewed all available documents."
"And?"
"No beneficial data has been detected."
Kit felt himself deflate.
"What about, like, the high security stuff?" The voice in his ear offered uncertainly, "Aren't there usually some top secret files or something?"
Kit shook his head, "None that we haven't been able to hack into," he breathed, ear twitching in irritation.
"I cannot help but question how much G.U.N actually trusts this inferior organization. All of the information I have collected from our multiple infiltrations have been vastly disappointing."
"Trust..." Kit muttered, Omega's words tickling a thought in his brain. "Inferior..."
His head jerked up with a gasp, which he quickly tried to stifle before the wolf noticed, his hand clapping over his muzzle.
His eyes darted over to the wolf's station, but the Mobian hadn't seemed to notice. Relief pooled in his chest as he pulled his transmitting device out of its slot, wiping the computer's log of activity and powering it down.
He stood up, pushing the chair away from the desk and tucking the drive back into his vest pocket.
Glancing around once, he stretched and nonchalantly headed out the door.
"All good here!"
"Sweet!" The wolf swiveled around in his chair, giving Kit a thumbs up, "Hey, put in a good word for me to the big guys?"
Kit hesitated, hand on the handle. "Uh, yeah. Sure."
He stepped back out into the hallway, the door clicking closed behind him.
"Soooooo you got a plan?"
Kit grimaced, striding through the maze of a base.
"If you want to call it that."
"Will it involve taking the offensive?"
"Not in the way you mean."
"What're you thinking.?"
"Remember my theory about the government slowly disassociating Mobians from Humans?"
A long groan.
"Come on. That's just a conspiracy!"
"A well calculated one, if my resources are accurately documented."
"Conspiracy or not, I wouldn't put it past G.U.N to back it up. And based on the way they've specifically separated Mobians and Humans in their G.U.P bases, it wouldn't surprise me at all."
Kit turned down another hall, noting the gradual growth of activity as more Mobians began to roam the halls.
"Okay, so what? Even if any of that stuff were true, which I think is ridiculous, how is that gonna help us?"
Kit nodded respectfully to two female operatives passing him.
"It's all about trust. If G.U.N is really starting to lean toward discrimination against Mobians, it makes sense that they'd limit Mobian access to their database."
"So you're gonna break into the Human's half, and hope their database has what we're looking for."
Kit found the hall opening up into a sort of lobby. Elevators lined one wall, and he eyed the ceiling, his sharp eyes searching for cameras. There were several.
"Yup. That's the plan," his eyes probed the shadows, "Omega? Can you hack the cameras at the elevators?"
"I am capable of completing the request. Five seconds."
Kit started the clock in his head.
"And what if G.U.N simply doesn't like sharing its top secret information with its much smaller organization?"
Kit bit his lip.
"Then, we'll have to figure that out..." Which meant they'd probably have to break into G.U.N directly.
"Cameras no longer pose a threat. I suggest you proceed quickly."
"I call getting to bust into G.U.N HQ first!"
Kit's snout wrinkled, the voice, besides rudely overlapping Omega's, sounded way too cheerful. He strode forward, hoping no one would see him.
You belong here. You have authority. There's no reason to question you, repeated inside his mind as he straightened his posture and headed toward the wall of elevators.
"I'm not going over this again," he muttered, jabbing the button with his thumb.
"Why not? You seem to be able to go over it every other time I want to have fun."
"Then you know why my answer stays 'no'."
There was a defeated sigh, and Kit almost felt bad as he heard the spark of excitement die out of the voice.
"Okay okay. So, how are you planning to get through the human section?"
A chime sounded and the doors opened smoothly to the sides. Kit stepped in, the warm yellow light greeting him as he jammed the button to close the doors.
"Do you require assistance in locating the computer facility for the human sector?"
Kit exhaled. "Actually- yeah. That would be nice."
"Acknowledged. Pulling up base blueprints."
The elevator doors slid closed and Kit exhaled a breath of relief before unbuckling his belt and slipping his pants down.
"I'm gonna have to disguise myself."
He fiddled with the pant legs, trying to gauge whether one was larger than the other. Dubbing that neither were more favorable than the other, he decided that his left leg would better handle the discomfort he was about to place himself in.
"Disguise? What are you… No. No way. You can't be serious!”
Kit grimaced, twisting around and pulling his soft fox tail into his hands, smoothing the fur down as the elevator smoothly ascended.
"Serious as the last turkey on thanksgiving."
"But- how are you- what about-!"
The panic was overly evident. And it only made Kit more frustrated as he gently pushed his tail into his left pant leg, trying to wrap the appendage around his leg and smooth it down so it was as small as possible.
"Yes I'm fully aware. I'm already working on it."
"Working on it?! What does that even mean?!"
"I am also curious as to the nature of your solution to this problem."
Kit sighed, patting down some of the fur turned backwards in an attempt to make himself as close to comfortable as possible.
"I'm stuffing it in my pant leg."
"And how do you know that'll work?”
Kit tediously began to pull the pants back up, guiding it over the additional appendage.
"I don't. But I don't really have many other ideas."
"Tails,” the voice was dead serious, "If someone notices-“
"They won't."
Kit refastened the pants securely around his waist, straightening and smoothing out the uniform. He took a deep breath, letting it out slow. He didn't have a mirror. The shiny interior of the elevator would have to do.
The elevator slowed to a gentle stop.
Now or never.
He focused on his appearance, imagining a short man. Freckles. Dusty blonde hair with a strawberry tint.
The doors slid open and Kit stiffened. Humans. Walking casually past him. Not giving him a second thought. As their chattering figures retreated down the adjoining hall, Kit poked his head out of the elevator.
"'Mega, you're in the system still?"
"Affirmative. Though I only have limited access."
"Can you see me in the cameras?"
"If you can, pull the feed up here will you 'Mega?"
"Request acknowledged. Processing. Visual connection established."
"Okay, I'm at the elevator. I'm going to step out- you need to tell me if I'm all good to go. Okay?"
"Got it."
"Affirmative."
Kit glanced both ways one last time before timidly stepping out of the safe confines of the metal elevator.
"Well..?" he whispered.
"Well. You did it."
Kit felt a weight slide off his shoulders.
"Perfect." He strode forward more confidently. He belonged here. "Omega? I'll be needing those directions if you don't mind."
"Affirmative. At the next hall take a left."
Kit obeyed.
"You look weird as a human…”
"No criticizing my disguise, I couldn't see myself clearly in the elevator," he turned left, noticing another branching hallway ahead of him, "Turn here?"
"Negative. At the next juncture you will need to take a right."
"Got it."
If the Mobian section of the base was a maze, the human section was a labyrinth. It was frustrating that G.U.P seemed to refuse to use a similar floor plan, making each base uniquely confusing. Even Omega would get him turned around, the blueprints going against what was actually constructed. A couple of times Kit had to nervously pardon himself from suspicious glances, laughing at how confusing the place was for someone so new. Thankfully no one pressed him any further. Content to ignore the idiotic new recruit in favor of getting back to their jobs.
As he walked, Kit kept adding more increments to his height. Slowly growing from a little-more-than-waist-high-midget, to just-a-little-shorter-than-shoulders-average. It was weird seeing the world from a higher height. He could have easily looked over a crowd of average mobians.
Was this how Vector felt..?
"The computer lab is located directly ahead to the left."
It wasn't two seconds after Omega made the comment, that Kit spotted his objective.
Long windows lined the wall giving passersby a clear view into the large room packed full of desks, monitors and humming machinery. There was a station for phone calls, the humans behind those desks outfitted with their own headsets as they clacked away at their computers.
Others sat at their monitors while a human would shuffle papers back and forth, seemingly at random.
Kit knew there had to be a reason so many people were in there at once, he just wished he knew what it was.
He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat and gripped the handle.
"Omega? Can you unlock the door.?"
"I am fully capable. However, doing so may alert security, considering the amount of tampering I have already partaken in."
"And using my Mobian clearance badge would almost definitely alert security. Probably a lot faster than hacking it."
"Tails-"
"Just do it Omega."
"…Unlocking computer room door momentarily."
The light turned green and the handle clicked with the sound of the lock disengaging. Taking a sharp inhale, Kit opened the door and stepped inside. A chorus of tapping keys and mumbling voices enveloped him.
"Careful in there.."
When was he not.?
Kit pushed back the irritation, forcing himself to keep a bored expression.
He belonged here. He'd done this before. There was nothing special or memorable about him.
He slid into an empty space, not daring to look at the human two seats to his right. More humans slid into the room and if Kit had fur it would've bristled and a strange chill skittered down his spine when his ears didn't twitch towards the noise.
His fingers flew across the keyboard. The fur on his tail scraped and poked at his bare, human skin, making his seated position even more itchy and uncomfortable. A bead of nervous sweat dripped down the side of his face as he hacked past G.U.P's firewalls, praying that past at all he would find a mutual server, linking both networks together.
The computer screen lit up, and Kit had to bite back a cheer of victory as relief lifted his heart in a flood of emotion.
"This is it.! I'm in!" He whispered, glancing to his left and right cautiously while he reached into his uniform pocket and pulled out the device from before. Half a second was all he needed to find a port, and the device was plugged in.
He and Omega raced against the clock, checking file after file, folder after folder, digging deeper and deeper into G.U.N.'s database.
Every second that passed felt like a step closer to finding what they were looking for- but for every file they broke into, Kit felt a terrible sense of dread. Every moment he sat there, was a moment more for someone to catch on. For someone in G.U.P defense to realize that a malfunction occurred in the tech lab's door lock. That an unknown AI was surging through their network. That an imposter was surfing their most private, top secret files.
Even worse, Kit was worried that G.U.N would notice someone hacking into their system from within their own child organization. That they'd cut him off. That they'd figure out what he wanted. And then everything would be for naught.
He gnawed his lower lip, fighting back the urge to twist his tail nervously.
He broke into another file, hacking past the protection protocols and 'top secret' failsafes like a technological lumberjack.
The file burst open. A slew of detailed records, journal entries, photos, even clipped videos.
Kit's eyes widened, and he immediately hurried to download the file onto the drive.
Stress crashed against excitement, and he wasn't aware of his foot tapping hurriedly against the floor as he watched the percentage slowly tick upwards.
Finally, after what felt like hours, the computer let out a happy ding. The download bar read 100% and as quickly as it was in, Kit took it out.
His heart pounded in his ears while he wiped the computer, erasing any evidence of his hack, and powered it off. He desperately hoped that he didn't look as panicked as he felt, pushing away from the desk and walking towards the door.
Even striding through the corridors with the drive pressed in his palm was enough to make him feel dizzy.
They did it. Finally, after all these years, they'd found him.
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