Burn Code

Fifteen

I tried Paul’s communications ports again. Between calls, emails, and texts, everything associated with him was gone. It was if he had become the victim of his own police jack or worse yet, neurofried.

Splitting the header apart on the video, I searched backwards through the relays. The police server had sent it to me which had received it from the central router. The central router only had one string of numbers as the original source signal.

It was a set of GPS coordinates. Mapping it revealed a run down warehouse and I grimly wondered if things could get any more cliched. I zoomed around the satellite image, looking for any sort of approach that didn’t leave me wide open.

Grendel told me to be there in an hour, but didn’t say why. Did he want to boast and brag a bit before he killed us both? Maybe kill one of us while the other watched? Film his great manifesto for the world to see?

I needed a plan. Going in without and a couple of backups made no sense. I wasn’t even sure if having the police on speed dial would be a valid option.

I would have to revert to subterfuge. My code was Grendel’s code — I had the means to hurt him if he didn’t target me first. An hour didn’t give much time, but I had to get something keyed and ready.

Whatever I wrote needed to work quickly so that ruled out recoding any of his major systems like he had mine. A loop code would suffice if I could link it to a specific sub chain. I worked up a script to force a perpetual restart sequence with a hard spike if he attempted to power down. Instead of shutting off, whatever system I attached it to received an extra surge of power. I built in an optional command to trigger a remote spike in case I needed it.

Unless he was specifically rigged with absorption circuits, there was a good chance the spike would overload and fry. Optic or aural nets were the easiest to target but it required touch to quickly pass the coding along to the worm laying dormant in his system.

If he had found the worm and quarantined it, my plan was useless.

I packed three additional things before heading out. I tucked a lighter into my pants pocket — if Paul was already dead, setting something on fire might give me enough of a distraction to escape with my life. I grabbed a small flashlight — no sense in literally walking in blind.

The last item was a taser. I kept it for whenever I had to meet someone in person from online I didn’t know. It provided a bit of added insurance that I would walk away unharmed. Detachable prongs made it easy to trigger remotely, but my aim had to be spot on.

I hailed a driven cab at the corner — the warehouse was too remote for the autocars. Sitting in the back seat, I found reassurance by wrapping a hand around the pistol grip of the taser in my pocket. Shallow comfort for sure, but it was something. As the cab rolled over the uneven road, I loaded my scripts into the sensor pads of my fingers.

“Miss, you sure this is the place?” The taxi driver asked as he pulled up the gravel drive towards the abandoned warehouse.

“Yes, it is.” I swallowed my heart before plastering a smile on my face. “I’m thinking about demolishing it and building a retreat.”

“Remote enough for it, that’s for sure.”

I tapped the dividing glass. “Here’s fine. I’ll walk the rest of the way.”

Don’t be shy; we’re waiting.

A message from Paul popped up in my optics. Grendel was still using his frequencies or else forcing him to send messages as he wanted them to read. The packet information didn’t differentiate.