The Neo-Metropol Heist

19: Artem

It was another two days before they all finally assembled as a team in Artem's apartment.
When they made it home from the Beach, still jumping with adrenaline but fortunately not riddled with bullets, Theo had taken one of the vacant apartments on the floor that Artem apparently owned.
Priyat and Anni had only stayed for a day, until the riots had died down, then Mama Koslov had come to collect them.
Artem thought it was strange that Theo wanted to send them back to the place they'd almost died pulling them out of, but she'd said that without the riots, and under Koslov's wing, the Beach was the 'safest place for them'.
Artem thought that she actually made a lot of sense.
The kids were pretty cute, as far as kids went. He didn't have much experience with them, other than the fact that he'd been one once, but they were polite so he didn't mind them.
They quite liked him, too, he was mysterious and enigmatic and essentially a child himself, so they got on well.
Not nearly as well as they got on with Cad, though.
They had barely left him alone, hanging from his arms and using him as a technologically advanced playground.
He didn't seem to mind - in fact, Artem wasn't sure he had the required programming to mind. He happily obliged and didn't once try to fire a plasma blast at them.
Aphelion stayed in her room - kids obviously weren't her thing - when the children had explored the apartment, she'd almost phased into the walls to avoid them.
Artem washed and dressed in a shirt and trousers and stepped out into the living area of his apartment. He wasn't really sure what one wore to a conspiratorial meeting, so he'd just decided to wear the first thing that Cad pulled out for him.
He couldn't tell if it was odd or not that an artificial intelligence had a better sense of style than he did.
Aphelion sat on the back of the sofa, her hair pulled back and her glasses askew as usual. Theo sat across from her as Cad watched over them like a bodyguard.
"... Watching back the footage from Cad's memory banks," Aphelion said, "those gloves you use are incredible. Did you design them?"
Theo nodded, revealing the gloves she'd used to decimate the patrol force they'd encountered in Playa Perdido - the material of the gloves was covered with a metal mesh exoskeleton with wires trailing away. They were improvised and rough but Artem couldn't help but be impressed.
"I was analysing the footage and I think the voltage and current transference could be modified and increased to make them even more incredible. Do you mind if I take a look?" Aphelion asked.
Theo looked apprehensive for a moment, and then handed the gloves over.
"You know about this kind of thing?" She asked as she passed them.
"Aphelion knows about most kinds of things," Artem said, stepping into the living area, "she's our resident genius."
Aphelion cocked her head and didn't disagree.
"So you two have finally met?" Artem asked.
The two women nodded, Aphelion standing up looking at the gloves as she did.
"I'm not really a kid person so I was..."
"Hiding?" Artem interrupted her.
She scowled at him and Pete appeared from the workshop that Aphelion had recently appropriated.
The drone hovered over to them and a hatch opened in his metal hull, a folding arm with a clasping grip at the end of it appeared and took the gloves firmly with a buzz, disappearing as quickly as he'd appeared.
The front door slid open and Harry stepped into the apartment.
He greeted Theo and Aphelion with a polite nod and handed Cad his coat.
"What time is the old man getting here?" He asked Artem.
"Good to see you too, Harry," he replied, "he won't be long. How are things with your end of the plan?"
"I've got some ideas," Harry said.
Harry had taken up planning the escape, as the self proclaimed 'best driver in the North States'.
There was a piercing buzz and Edward's face appeared in the screen next to the apartment door, his lips pursed and eyes squinting against the rushing winter wind.
"Cad, let him in," Artem said.
Cad opened the door at the front of the building and a few minutes later, Edward Helten stepped into the apartment, wrapped in a ragged winter coat and scarf, his battered hat pushed down onto his head so that it partially obscured his eyes.
"Am I late?" He asked, checking the watch at his wrist. It looked dated but expensive.
"No," Harry said, "just in time. Were you followed?"
Before Edward could reply, a man appeared at the doorway and strode into the room.
"He was, actually," the man said.
He was striking looking, with piercing blue eyes, smooth skin and sharp, sculpted features that could only be the result of extensive vanity surgery.
Harry tensed up like a startled deer and Cad raised his weapon arm, rigid and threatening and scarier than any guard dog.
The handsome blonde man raised his arms in surrender.
"What the hell is this?" Harry growled.
"Relax," Edward rumbled, "he's with me."
"With you?" Harry said, "you mad old fool, you're going to ruin this whole operation. Who even is this guy?"
"This is Zakarias, Zakarias Maythorn," Edward explained, "you said you wanted a confidence man, I got you a confidence man."
Harry shook his head in disbelief, Artem watched carefully. Cad had lowered his arm, but remained rigid and observant.
Aphelion and Theo sat awkwardly almost in the centre of the scene, unable to move from it.
"Confidence man?" Harry laughed, "we don't even know who this guy is. We had a list, people need to be checked, vetted, everything before we even think about letting them know about this thing. That's how you don't get thrown in jail. Where did you even find this guy?"
Zakarias smiled warmly, practiced and assured.
"We met in a bar brawl," he said.
Artem couldn't help but laugh as Harry scoffed in disbelief.
"Trust me, Harry, this guy has a silver tongue like you wouldn't believe," Edward reasoned, "we can use him."
"I can assure you I'm not here to cause trouble," Zakarias said, gesticulating carefully as he spoke, like a seasoned politician, "Mr. Helten made me a business proposition and I said I was interested. If you're worried about me selling you out, trust me, the NMPF are not exactly my friends."
As Zakarias spoke, Artem couldn't help but listen. His words were warm and honeyed, spoken in a way that made them sound like truth whether they were or not.
"Artem," Cad said, out of nowhere, "I am detecting synthetic pheromonal distribution originating from a probable artificial gland modification."
Harry laughed.
"He's modded," he said, "fan-fucking-tastic."
Edward blinked.
"Modded?" He asked.
"Yes, I have certain modifications," Zakarias explained, his tone honest, "just an artificial phero-gland. It helps to be convincing in my line of work."
Artem knew about mods, artificial and synthetic cybernetic adjustments to the human body. They'd been hailed as the next step in human evolution when they'd first appeared.
When the drawbacks were discovered they were quickly outlawed and driven underground. Some simple ones remained available, things that allowed a person to think more clearly, have more energy, for example, but phero-glands weren't something you found on the shelf.
"We don't need the type of person that mods in this team," Harry said sharply.
Zakarias opened his arms as he spoke, theatrical. Artem liked him.
"It's not like I'm actively using it to deceive you," Zakarias said, "plus, it's only recognisably effective if you find me attractive."
Zakarias grinned.
"I'm not happy with this," Harry growled.
Artem stepped forward.
"When are you ever happy, Harry?" He asked, "he's here now. Plus, his mods could be handy. You wanted a confidence man and we have one."
Harry snarled and left the confrontation, his way of silently conceding.
Artem smiled in a friendly manner and held out his hand for Zakarias, who took it and smiled back.
"I'm Artem," he said, then gestured around the room, "you've met Harry, this is Cad, Theo and Aphelion. Welcome to thieves anonymous."
"Pleasure to meet you," Zakarias replied, bowing his head slightly at Theo and Aphelion. Artem caught Theo rolling her eyes when he looked away.
They all moved to the living area and found a seat, Artem staying stood up to survey the room.
"So, this is everybody," he said, standing next to Cad, "let's get down to business."
On the screen behind him, a collage of images appeared. The Neo-Metropol building, the Centenary Collection, and a picture of Sergei Castells.
"This is our target, and on the assumption that you all know what I mean when I say target..." he aimed the question at Edward and Zakarias, who both nodded, "let's talk details. Aphelion, do we have our in?"
Aphelion shook her head.
"Good start," Artem said.
"I need access to the building's intranet," she said, "it's not as simple as just running some code from here. I need to put a shunt at the local level to access the separate mainframe and infiltrate the interior systems."
"Pretending I understood a word that you just said, how do we do that?" Artem asked.
"Basic reconnaissance," Aphelion replied, "you need to get into the building and place the device inside - I'm pretty sure there'll be an access point on the ground floor but you'll need to look around for it."
"Right, sounds simple enough, which means it probably won't be. When will you be ready?"
"Whenever you are," Aphelion replied, removing a tiny spherical black object from her pocket.
"OK, we'll call that priority one, next up, our out. Harry, if you're done sulking?"
Harry narrowed his eyes at him, but didn't respond to the jibe.
"I've found the ship we'll need to get away," he said.
"Well, that's good," Artem replied.
"It's currently on-board one of the most advanced aircraft carriers in the RNS Navy, 25,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean," Harry said flatly.
Artem dropped his head.
"Right," he said, "of course it is."
"Does it need to be that exact ship?" Theo asked.
Harry nodded.
"This ship is the only thing fast and advanced enough to get us out of the hot zone when we're done," Harry explained, "anything else and they'll shoot us down before we can get over the Bay."
"So, now instead of just breaking into the most secure building in the country, we also have to find a way into the most secure military aircraft carrier too?" Artem asked.
Zakarias laughed.
"This will be fun," he grinned.
"I have a guy that can help us, and Cad will need to get us in and out," Harry explained, "and we have a deadline - in four days the ship it's on, the Righteous, is getting deployed to the European Turmoil Zone to support the effort there. Once it's gone, we might as well call this whole thing off."
Artem rubbed his eyes and sighed.
"Just tell us when we're going," he said to Harry, who nodded, "once we have the floor plans and security codes, we can start running simulations and deciding on our routes inside. Until then, we know what we're doing."
"The Neo-Metropol is holding the Annual Investor Conference in exactly twenty days, so that's what time we have left," Edward said, his voice gruff.
"That's not much time, so everybody, try not to get arrested. Priority one is getting Aphelion inside the security systems - until we do that, we're just trying to trick our way past a brick wall."
Edward stood up.
"I'll do it," he said.
Artem blinked in disbelief.
"You?" He asked, almost choking on the words.
Edward nodded.
"You can't be seen hanging around, it'll blow your cover," Edward explained, "I won't be in the building during the job so it's best if I do it."
Harry made a noise of agreement.
"He's right," he said.
"You and Castells have history, though, what if you're recognised?" Artem asked.
Edward laughed a throaty chuckle.
"It's been nearly forty years since I saw him, trust me, I didn't look like this back then," Harry explained, "I won't be recognised. And besides, Castells is a busy man, he probably won't even be there."
Artem had to admit, his plan made sense, it was safest for anybody who was likely to be inside the building during the job to stay away until then.
"All right," Artem said.
Aphelion pulled out her terminal from her pocket.
"I can set you up an ID just solid enough to get you in," she said.
Edward thanked her and sat back down.
"That leaves us free to go for the ship as soon as we're able," Harry said, handing Artem his terminal.
Artem looked at the screen, a 3D panoramic shot of the Righteous, and blueprints of the jumpship they were going to steal without any detail.
Suddenly, a strange feeling came over him.
They were really doing this, and it was all very real.