Elysium Falling (ONC 2024 Long List)

Chapter 5 Too Late To Switchback

Rowan found himself twenty stories up staring at the gray edifice of the presidential manor. The buildings reminded him of old earth photos of termite mounds. It was supposed to be grand, a monument to humanity but here near the surface you could see the corruption and decay. Tall pillars rose around the manor, itself thirty stories high.

The office meant nothing.

President of a country that no one paid any mind too.

Rowan supposed it gave those on the ground the illusion of choice. But all you had to do was take a sky car up and see the opulence above the clouds.

He turned to Dik who sat next to him. "I'm supposed to kill the president. Why? He's worthless."

Dik gave him a blank stare but after years of working with him Rowan could read him better than most.

"Don't give me that, Diiick. What's the game plan here?"

Dik shrugged and looked over at the building. "I just do my job, Rowan."

"You don't ask questions?"

"Not out loud," Dik said. 

Both men continued to study the building. Rowan had had them out here for a few weeks, checking every angle. It had to be natural causes which meant getting in and out undetected. The man might not have been important but the security was. Oligarchs kept this man on a leash - he wasn't important. The office was laughably in control of whoever had the most credits. 

Rowan whistled. "We'll need to disable every camera from twenty to twenty five tonight."

"Oh?" Dik straightened. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, he's pretty punctual - President Enerez has a new girl every other day at 4 o'clock. Probably has a heart issue or it would be every day. Except for Sundays. Apparently he goes to church with his family. Stand up guy." 

"And that gets us in?"

"Sure," Rowan turned to Dik. "What's more natural than a guy having a heart attack in the middle of a roll in the hay."

"Roll in the hay?" Dik shook his head. 

Rowan focused his attention back on the building. It had been a two fold movement. He needed as much info on Dik as he did on this job. Dik for instance grew impatient with the amount of time spent casing a place. Dik did the job by the book, there was very little creativity on his part. But he was also took pride in his work and managed a stellar record. Until Rowan had quit.

"I've got my m'tats. You?" Rowan flashed Dik a grin. M'tats were a specialized camera device, they erased the wearer from all recording activity. The human eye would still pick you up, but to the camera and any watching AI, you were all but invisible. 

"Serious? No long range shot, no build up, just get in, heart attack, done?"

"You don't like it? Wait outside." Rowan stood and stared at the ground. A memory roared  up at him before he could stop it.

He stared at the ground a hundred feet below. The wind kissed his face. He could end this, be done with the whole job. It wasn't unheard of for a watcher to kill himself off when he was done. 

"Hey!" 

He turned at the sound of the voice. It was a woman, long dark hair, tanned skin, yellow sundress with a jean jacket wrapped around her waist. 

"You aren't thinking of jumping are you?"

He stepped back, plastering a wry smile across his face. "Nope, just enjoying the view."