Violet Machine

Division 3: Chapter 5

At Lindsey's behest, the untouchables gathered at Commissioner Ryans' office the following rainy morning, ensuring that the gathering was out of the eyesight and earshot of Steele.

"Okay everyone." Lindsey began, "Before we begin, has anyone made any progress in the investigation?"

"I spoke to Winslet in Osiris' cyber security unit." Marty piped up, "She said that the chip that carried the virus used to have a company symbol on it, no idea whose as it was partially sanded off, although she was pretty sure that it resembled a letter."

"Anyone else?" Lindsey asked, no one else said a thing, "I thought so, the bastards are gonna escape again at this rate."

"Then let's go over what we know so far." Ryans interjected, "Last week, Osiris Multinational was attacked via it's cybersecurity by a virus that hijacked their EAST system."

"The virus was planted on and brought into the system by a high up member of the company; CEO Alex Xander's former Executive Secretary, Kyodai Otoya, my first cousin. It was designed to strike when the first suspicions were raised, which it believed was when, at twelve-fourteen PM local time, Kyodai Otoya sent a break up text to her, now deceased, ex boyfriend, James Mitchells, who we now know was the one who planted the virus on her that morning using a stealth chip." Lindsey added.

"And James was under strict instructions to make sure Kyo didn't talk." Sandy interluded, "So when the chip was removed before it could kill her as it was supposed to, he arranged for Incubus to kidnap her, and when that failed, tried to finish her off himself, which led to his death at the hands of a military Tron in the employ of Osiris."

"Exactly." Lindsey confirmed, "So far, we've got zilch beyond that, I take it from the silence we had earlier that all other leads were dead ends?" she inquired, followed by several nodding heads, "I see. We've had no further luck with the late Mr Mitchells' black box, it's custom encrypted and the one device that can break such codes is currently in maintenance."

"Maintenance?" One officer piped up, "That thing was given a clean bill of health two weeks ago."

"Believe it or not, Steele's orders." Lindsey detailed, "Ryans and I have discussed this matter at length and we agree that it's quite clear that Chief Steele and any officer loyal to him can't be trusted."

"Then what if we need more help?" another officer asked.

"That's where I've taken action." Ryans declared, "Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I have put forward a reward for a mercenary crew to help us in this investigation, furthermore, Osiris Multinational is committing a team of their own to the investigation as well. So we will have additional resources in this undertaking."

"Commissioner?" Sandy asked, raising her hand, "If I may, we shouldn't just scoop up any old crew if we're bringing mercs into this. We need a team who knows what they're doing."

"Any ideas?" Ryans inquired.

"I might know someone." Sandy confirmed, side-eying Lindsey to clue her in.

"Richochet's crew?" Lindsey inquired.

"That's the one, they helped us out recently, Jasper's a rough woman at times, but she's got an honest crew." Sandy explained, "If anyone's going to be able to do this, it's them."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure." Sandy said, "I'll go talk to them myself if I'm allowed."

"Alright." Ryans said, "If we're bringing in Jasper's group to help, that frees up most of you to continue your regular duties."

"Commissioner?" one officer piped up, "How many of us are needed?"

"Marty, Sandy and I will take the rest of the Cyber attack investigation from here." Lindsey stated, "The rest of you will have the job of keeping our cover, stick to your duties and turn Steele's eye away if he starts getting suspicious."