HTH

Chapter Twenty One

Brooklyn, New York City, 2021

Jay and Vanessa had spent the past hour going over the schematics of NyuTech Tower. They had a 3D image of the tower on the wall of monitors in the center room, and were running through different scenarios of how to get in. Gabby, Ty, and Amber had been catching up in the wardrobe room. At one point Jay came out to get a drink, and Gabby asked him, "So what exactly is this?"

"What is what?" Jay asked, slightly confused.

"This," Gabby said, moving her arms around in a circle. "This building, room, whatever."

Realization dawned on Jay's face. "Oh. Well imagine it as a safehouse meets a headquarters building. Whenever anyone from 404 needs anything, equipment, a disguise, even just a place to lay low for a while, they come here. Or at least if they're near New York."

"404?" Ty asked, absentmindedly throwing a ball across the room and telekinetically bringing it back to him,

"My hacker group. The names comes from when try to go to a website that doesn't exist. 'Error 404.'"

Vanessa and Jay walked into the room. "Guys, we've got a plan." he said.

Everyone walked into the center room. Jay was holding a tablet that was connected to the wall of monitors, which still displayed NyuTech Tower.

"Okay, our two main goals is to find the chip and delete everything Dian has about it." Jay swiped on the tablet, and the model focused on a mid-level floor. "When Dian took me, he ran some tests on the 88th floor. Chances are, either the chip is there, the data is there, or someone who knows where it is is there." Another swipe, and the model zoomed out. "There's almost no way to scale the tower or reliably jump or zipline from another building. If Maddy was here, it'd be easier obviously. I've already contacted her, but I doubt she could get here in time. We need another gameplan.

"Dian has a private elevator from the ground floor, controlled by the guard at the concourse. We can get anywhere from that elevator, so we'll need to break in from the ground floor."

Tyler interrupted. "Wait. Is this a raid?"

Jay smiled. "Yep. We're gonna get in quickly and quietly. Once we get the elevator, we'll split up. You guys need to get the chip and the data."

"What about you?" Gabby asked.

"I'm gonna take care of Dian. His office is one of the top floors."

"And by take care of Dian, you mean..." Gabby asked, already thinking she knew the answer.

"We don't know how much he knows, and if he knows enough he could build another chip. There's only one way to eliminate that threat completely."

Amber pursed her lips but said nothing. Jay continued.

"But the thing is: once you find the chip, or if things go south...you guys need to get out of there, split up, and meet back up here at the safe house."

"We're not gonna leave you," Vanessa told Jay.

"Yes you are. If something goes wrong, I need to know you guys aren't gonna get arrested. Or worse. I've changed the security here to let any of you in via facial recognition. Hopefully we'll all be back here by midnight. If not, you need to get out of New York by dawn."

"But..." Vanessa said, then caught the look she was getting from Jay. "Fine."

Jay turned back to everyone else. "Get everything you need people. We're leaving in half an hour."

---

Jay walked through the wardrobe room and approached a metal door. He punched some numbers into a keypad, and the door opened, revealing a walk-in closet full of guns, computers, and various metal boxes. He grabbed a pistol, weighing it in his hand. Jay put in his back pocket and reached for a knife when he heard Gabby come in from behind.

"Since when did you become Ethan Hunt?" she said with a laugh, referring to the protagonist from the Mission Impossible movies.

Jay laughed. "I think that's a bit of an exaggeration."

He grabbed one of the metal boxes and opened it. Inside was a pair of syringes full of a clear liquid, with a cover over the needles. Jay placed both of them in a fabric holder with straps.

"What is that?" Gabby asked, eyeing the syringes.

Jay strapped the case to his leg. "Something for the fight with Dian. In case I need it."

Gabby looked thoughtfully at him. "You sure have changed a lot in the past few years."

"I guess so. I don't regret it though."

Gabby pursed her lips. "I hope you haven't lost any of your humanity."

Jay sighed. "I appreciate the concern, Pastor Carr, but I have no regrets for who I've become." He handed her an earpiece and a gun, which she looked at wide-eyed until he said, "Relax. It's a tranquilizer gun."

"Darn," she said jokingly, still slightly worried about Jay as he left.