Combustion

Clockwork Pt II

I stepped inside of the downtown bank, comparing its physical layout to the digital one I had memorized. My Timberlands were squeaking on the marble floor as I hesitantly made my way down the hall. The digital layout was identical to the physical one. There were four cameras positioned around the interior of the bank. There were also cameras in each of the tellers stations but I wouldn't be crossing their path so there was no need to worry about them. There was one camera aimed at the back entrance that I came through that caught the whole hallway which included the rooms to the vault, break room and a glimpse of the tellers stations and there was another camera facing the lobby at the end of that hallway. Naturally all the lights were off and the security guards were supposed to patrol with their flashlights on. I had my beam on extra high so the glare would react with the surveillance footage. I was keeping my head down and with the help of the guards hat and my flashlight my appearance would be safe. The bank trusted Montavue with their security and bought into their 4k ultra HD security system. They had motion detecting cameras equipped with infrared night vision, 2 way audio and the AI - SMD function which allowed the system to distinguish between humans, animals and cars better. Motion detectors set off the alarm on the camera causing it to record live action and activate its strobe lights and siren. I knew where each imaginary trip wire was, but I wasn't robbing the bank of cash so leaving a trace of my footsteps wasn't going to be an issue. The guards and customers casually cause the cameras to go off so there wouldn't be anything unusual happening here.

I exited the hallway, entering the lobby, triggering another wire. The camera in the far right corner activated and motioned in my direction as I tilted my cap down. The surveillance room was on the far left side of where I was standing. It was on the right side of the building if you were standing on the street walking in. I kept my head down and paced myself over to the door. I pulled out the key with the red tape on it and unlocked the door. An older white gentleman with glasses stood from the desk and equipped his flashlight and collapsible nightstick. I moved to the side allowing him to go by but he stopped just as I was about to go inside in his place.

"You didn't order any food by chance did you fella?" He asked looking me up and down. "That's against policy, you could lose your job."

"No sir, I'm very familiar with the company policy sir," I responded.

"Ok," he said with a chipper smile, "it's best to follow the rules around here. Makes things a lot easier."

"I agree sir," I nodded.

"Well, let me go see what the fuss is about," he said heading towards the entrance, "be back in as soon as I can."

I stepped inside the room, locked the door and checked my watch. 10:55. Five minutes to handle business. I hurried over to the desk the guard was sitting at and examined the layout. There was a laptop there with paperwork scattered across the desk. A half finished box of donuts sat on top of a file cabinet next to the desk. A cup of coffee that had grown cold and an ashtray piled full of cigarettes along with a mini clock and an old school phone with caller ID also sat on top of the desk. I glanced at the 85" tv mounted on the wall in front of the desk. There were 12 screens that made up for the 12 cameras located inside and outside of the building. The laptop acted as a control system for the cameras and the tv, a remote if you will. If I wanted to focus on a particular angle I needed to hover the mouse over that square and it would increase the size of the image. I viewed the outside angle where I came from to check on Blaze and the guard, they seemed to be ok. I then checked to see if the other guard was doing his job as he was supposed to. He had to do a sweep of the interior before he could do whatever he needed to do, no matter if he had to use the bathroom or go to the break room. As he was checking the tellers stations I got to work. I pulled out my iPhone and a charger cable to connect it to the laptop.

I needed to download footage from the last two weeks up until today. I was tipped off that someone I needed to find had stopped by here. I found the files I needed and began the download which was 18 GB total, I then pulled out another phone and made a phone call.

"Its downloading now, 18 GB, you should be receiving it on your end," I said while monitoring both the laptop and the tv screen, "What's the estimated download time?"

The person on the phone said, "Yup, I've got it and you've got about -" they took a moment to snack on nacho cheese flavored Doritos, "- about 4 minutes, 4 and a half."

"Make it 3," I responded and hung up the phone.

The guard finally made his way to the front door and was getting visibly aggravated from the confusion of the delivery driver. Someone had ordered a sandwich be delivered to this address at 10:40 and paid for it using the name of the older white man who claimed he didn't order any food. The delivery driver insisted that the guard take it so he could just leave but the guard wanted to get to the bottom of the order. He asked the driver if he knew what number the order was placed under and he told him it was ordered with the number of the bank, he even called back to show him. I radioed it into the other guard that Jimmy Johns was calling and he okayed the call but told me I didn't have to answer. I was worried he might say something about my voice but I guess him and the other guard don't conversate with each other much, or the radios they were equipped with just sucked that much. The download was 75% complete, if I had to guess, it still had about a minute and 45 seconds until it was finished up.

I looked at the tv screen again, hovering the mouse on the keypad over the outside camera. Blaze and the guard were still in place. I then moved over to the lobby cameras. The guard and the delivery driver were still conversing as the guard shook his head and finally pulled out his wallet to pay for the food. He was making his way back towards the breakroom now with a bag in his hand as the driver headed back to their car. As he exited the room and made his way towards the lobby the download was on 90%. I texted Blaze "PLAN B" with a fire emoji and grabbed my Beretta from my waistband. I watched the screen as the guard moved closer and closer to the door and repositioned myself behind the desk ready to take action. Just as he was about to knock on the door a shot rang from outside.