DarkLight

Part 36: Return To The City

Soran was walking through the streets now towards the nearest transit station. Although he was wearing is Utopian Military grey cargo trousers and an ornate sandy-coloured trenchcoat that was inscribed and embossed with Skry symbology down its back, no one noticed him - no one could even see Soran for what and who he really was. Around his neck he wore a device that the Skry has reverse-engineered from stolen Utopian technology. It was a personal projector, it created a hologram around the user making them appear as someone else. Right now Soran was a human businessman with cropped, gray hair wearing a black suit and tie. A working proffessional that easily slipped into the unnoticed beurocratic crowds of the Corporation’s Plaza. The disguise also covered the Darklight Sword - it was the perfect disguise which was used by the Skry secret intelligence force when they needed to infiltrate the megacity.

Soran boarded one of the trains that hung from tracks running throughout the city and it sped off towards the Heart Of Utopia. Soran didn’t recognize anyone - soldiers were seldom allowed within the civillian run Plateuax as it was the heart of the management of The Corporation. Only specialized police officers and the occasional soldier visit, like the one Soran had earlier in the year, were allowed here. The train followed the track down under street level and through a tunnel that lead to the station directly under the Heart Of Utopia. Walking through the station Soran quietly considered his options: He had another device that would allow him to access the secured encrypted networks within the CCN Network but he shouldn’t head into the main tower - that was invite only. He would go to one of the other towers that flanked the side of the Heart Of Utopia. The Eastern Tower was the Communications And Monitering division - high in security and risky. The Western Tower contained many smaller departments dedicated to trade, market monitering and the stock exchange manipulation centres. More people, less security and lots of offices containing lots of computer terminals. That was his destination. He was in one of the oversized elevators  that was carrying him and a handful of others up the tower. It was late in the day now so although there were still a few office workers around. The doors slid open on the twenty-fith floor and Soran stepped out into a large open-plan office that was the home to the Stock Exchange support team. There were a few people around but it didn’t matter - he just had to check surveillance within the Heart building to see where she was. He found an empty desk and took a seat, removing a small circular device that he attached to the side of the computer terminal. Instantly the screen sprang to life with the heading:

“Security Camera Feeds”. The circular device contained a neural interface to automatically locate the information Soran needed from within the vast cache of data stored within the CCN. He scanned the feeds - there were around one hundred in all. He cycled through every page of camera images, taking a great deal of time around the ones outside her office, but she was nowhere to be found. She wasn’t in the building. What now? He had to find her. Checking his watch he saw that the Skry attack would be starting in around half an hour - he didn’t have much time.

Suddenly the screen changed. It displayed “The Jubilee Project” - it had popped into Soran’s mind for a split second and so there it was on-screen. Along the bottom of the screen showed in large red letters the word: ‘Classified: Highest Priority”. It was data Rammachandra clearly didn’t want anyone to see. Now a name flashed up on screen:

“Harris, Rin”. He hadn’t seen that name in almost a year. He had always known within his heart that his name was Soran, maybe that was his recessive Skry DNA making itself known back when he was still human. The Corporation gave him the name of Rin Harris, the fake name that marked his fake life as a member of the Corporation’s military. Rammachandra’s mind control had never been effective on him, never forced him to accept the propaganda so willingly like the other humans he knew, grew up around and worked with. That’s why he blamed Rammachandra for Natasha’s death, because he knew that deep down she was behind the decision to kill a young school teacher.