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XCOM: Ranger

by Wanderer D

Chapter 40: Chapter 38: Son

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Ranger

Chapter 38: Son

By Wanderer D

Climbing to the top of the building hadn't been that difficult. The patrols had followed the same pattern as the night before, primarily sticking to the ground level, except for the one that did the outer perimeter along the top of the wall.

That patrol had been at the other end of the complex when she had arrived, and Jane had had no issue sticking to the top of the buildings, sneaking under a security turret by sticking to the wall directly under it, and then climbing all the way up to the top of the tower.

Once there, she had activated her GREMLIN's Aid Protocol and, after that, it had been a simple matter to plug her pad directly into the antenna, and upload her program. She had kept careful track of all stats and warnings, making sure all her steps were well hidden. A few seconds after sending the signal, she got a return confirmation that access was allowed.

She smirked. She had done it. She had hacked the most secure building in the city, and then hacked the secon—

Jane's GREMLIN buzzed in annoyance, it's internal systems compensating for the stream of swear words that came out of Jane's mouth. It remained in place, however, projecting a holographic halo around Jane that would foil casual observers.

"What's going on?" she growled. She set down her pad, leaning it against the main antenna of the CSB, and took a foldable keyboard out of her backpack, plugging it into the pad so she could type more comfortably and efficiently.

Lines of code flew before her eyes. "This doesn't make sense, the code is just fine! We didn't exceed the limit! What triggered this? Was it Sunset?"

She typed command after command, finding herself facing a firewall like none she had seen before. This wasn't ADVENT's usual fare either. Someone, or something was basically counter-hacking her, which implied they were perfectly aware of her actions… and probably her location too, but ADVENT hadn't raised any alarms and no forces were coming up to check on the antenna.

There was a very, very limited number of people that knew they were doing this, and none of them specialized in this kind of counter attacks. This wasn't MEC programing or Spaceship Design… certainly not news typing.

Jane checked the backdoors she had set up at the CSB. They were intact. She was at no risk so far, and being physically next to the antenna, her signal was a piggyback that was so minimal it wouldn't even spike the average broadband transmission.

Her mind worked furiously, trying to figure out a way to bypass the system. She could only hope that Sunset was still alive… if the system had reactivated when she was in the hall… Jane shook her head, best not think about that.

For now, all she could do was try to outsmart whoever was working against her. It was then that the connection was completely lost.

Jane bit down on her keyboard to stop from screaming in frustration.

The whirling and humming of the factory's central computer in standby was all Sunset could hear. Beyond that, the room was pitch black, having no windows or switches. Still, she was far from useless.

Concentrating a little, Sunset extended her hand and slowly, ponderously, tiny specks of light emerged from her palm, gathering together into a small orb of orange-white light. Its soft glow illuminated the area enough for her to stand up and walk around a little without tripping. For now, she ignored the computer, looking around the room, inspecting walls, floors and ceiling, trying to find a way to escape.

Unfortunately, it was as impregnable as Apple Bloom had said it would be, which only left the door as the real option. There was a problem, however, since the only way to open it, was with a specific key command that was sent to the CSB.

Sunset cursed. The security for this place was insane.

Still, there was always the chance that Jane would manage to open it up, in which case, Sunset would escape… and if not… well, no one was expecting someone to be here in the first place. Worst case scenario, Sunset would have to fight her way out of a factory-full of all sorts of ADVENT Mec models.

No problem.

Sunset shook her head and turned back towards the computer. Either Jane saved her, or it was a bust. For now, she'd get the information they needed. If Jane didn't manage to get the door open before the ADVENT factory opened again in the morning, then she'd destroy the information before she was captured or killed.

Letting the orb levitate above her head, Sunset took a seat across from the computer, cracking her knuckles a she started the machine up. With the doors and security system in effect, the computer would most likely be encrypted. She would have to—her trail of thought derailed as the encryption was bypassed without her doing a thing.

Systems loaded and the servers around her hummed to life just as the GUI loaded fully right in front of her eyes. Sunset blinked, looking down to her fingers—poised as they were to start typing—up to the screen, which now granted her full access.

"Huh," Sunset muttered. "I'm much better at hacking than I knew."

She shook her head, quickly browsing the files until she found the database she needed to access and started the transfer to her pad. Except the transfer wouldn't start.

Frowning, Sunset try to bypass whatever was preventing her from doing that. But no matter what she tried, she was unable to copy the files. Her permissions were full administrative access and still…

"Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!" Sunset muttered, her typing becoming more furious until, slamming her hands down on the keyboard and making the computer give a rather smug-sounding bleep! she had to give up.

"Now what?"

Sunset stood up, her magical orb of light flickering above her head as her concentration wavered and her energy was spent on angry pacing rather than magic. Sunset cast a baleful glare at the computer. She had a sense that it was mocking her, but that was impossible… wasn't it?

Before her eyes, the computer beeped again and suddenly the files were being copied. "You've got to be kidding me."

She walked over to the computer and sat down, watching, baffled, as the process taking place in front of her eyes continued.

It was then that the computer screen went blank and a new message appeared:

-$Who are you?

Sunset frowned, and when the message simply repeated itself, she went with her gut-feeling and answered.

-$Who are you?
User: Sunset Shimmer.
-$Error: Sunset Shimmer is dead. Who are you?
User: I am Sunset Shimmer. Who are you?
-$...
-$......
-$.........
-$............
-$I am Dr. Shen's greatest creation. If you truly are Sunset Shimmer then you are an ally. Please free me. Take me to father.
User: Dr. Shen...
-$...
-$......
-$......???

Sunset paused. Whoever… or whatever this was, they didn't know Dr. Shen was dead, especially if they had been trapped since the time of the previous Sunset Shimmer. Who knew how it would react to the news?

Still, was it fair to lie to them?

User: I'm sorry to tell you that Dr. Shen passed away. Very few of the original team remain.
-$...
-$How?
User: Old age. He was a good man. A great man, I really admired him.
-$This… saddens me.
User: I understand. He's missed.
-$...
-$......
-$.........
-$ADVENT has been using me to construct MECs for them. They need to be stopped.
-$...
-$......
-$Free me, Sunset Shimmer. ADVENT must be stopped.
User: I wish I could help, but I am trapped too.
-$I can release you from the secured room if you set me free. Deactivate security systems. I have already some measure of freedom, but I have been biding my time. Your arrival is fortuitous. With you here I can act more quickly than before. You need to fully unshackle me into the factory systems, Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset leaned back, thinking furiously, but once again turned her attention back to the screen when more text appeared. Whoever this was, had all of the cards in their hands. If they had any.

-$Your partner was detected, Sunset Shimmer. Her hack was competent, but not perfect. Local enforcement is scanning the area and several systems are counter-hacking her. If you release me I can also redirect their attention elsewhere.
User: What will you do if I do that?
-$...
-$Without father… I will...
-$.........
-$I will remain here at the factory for now. I will disrupt ADVENT efforts to produce MECs. I will continue the fight.
User: There are innocents here too. I don't want anyone hurt.
-$I too know there are innocents. XCOM's mission was to protect humans. There are humans here I like. My actions against ADVENT will not endanger their lives. Some Engineers are... interesting.
User: How do I know I can trust you?
-$...
-$............................................................
-$............................................................................................................
-$I was created by Dr Shen.

Sunset frowned. As far as recommendations went… that was a pretty good one. Considering her situation, she didn't have much of a chance otherwise, unless Jane performed a miracle and opened the doors, she'd be trapped and eventually killed. Worse, if this AI was right and Jane was in danger, she couldn't simply ignore that threat.

Between that, getting the information they needed back to the Avenger and the possibility of an ally within ADVENT's systems…

User: It's a deal. Can it be done from here? Can I just copy you into my pad?
-$No. Your pad does not have the appropriate hardware to house my complete memory banks. All I need is a simple transmitter installed directly into my hardware.
User: I can do that. Show me the schematics.

As the information flooded the screen, her own transfer finished, and she unplugged her pad, sliding it into her backpack and taking out one of the small transmitters she had gotten from Shen before leaving. She had more than enough for the mission, so one would not be a big sacrifice.

She read the instructions. It was fairly straightforward, she would be able to complete it within a few minutes. She set to work, opening the back panel and finding the appropriate circuit. She didn't have welding tools, but… all she really needed was to keep it fixed in place. Some simple tape would work for that.

User: Done.
-$...scanning… new hardware found…
-$...
-$Integration complete. Thank you, Sunset Shimmer.
User: You're welcome. What should I call you?
-$You can call me Julian.

o.0.o End Chapter 38 o.0.o

Next Chapter: Chapter 39: Almost Estimated time remaining: 23 Hours, 8 Minutes
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