Manchurian Candidate 2

The doors to the helipad lobby burst open as a squad of armed security charged through, Apollo and Sakura fired the stun darts as they rushed the guards, leaping over the writhing bodies and into the small lobby with the elevator. Off to the side was the metal door for the stairs which they quickly went for, "Sparks! Plan B, which level are the servers located!" Apollo shouted into his comm as he vaulted down the spiraling staircase with Sakura on his heels covering his back.

"What? Wasn't there a comm shack on the roof ?" Apollo swore, "Yes! But the handheld you gave us is crap! We sat up there for an hour!"

"How is that possible! That handheld is custom made for decryption!"

"The firewall kept changing, adapting, it was like ten steps ahead of us!"

Sakura interrupted just as irritated as Apollo at the obvious questions asked by Sparks. This time the tech swore, "They must have a CRAY and some damned good AI running that firewall. I designed that handheld to be able to hack the NSA data centers in under a minute."

"That's very interesting, but I need the floor where the servers are located before the men with guns find us!"

"Right, let's see," Shouts of the guards echoed below them, "Sparks, anytime buddy!" Apollo stopped and peered over the edge and saw a dozen guards stomping up the stairs. He peered a bit too long as a guard saw him and fired several rounds up at him, a few bullets whizzed by his ear as he quickly ducked his head from the edge, "Sparks!"

"Got it!, Basement third level!" Apollo swore again.

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Sparks sat at his workstation, 6 screens arced around him two high, and he furiously played his keyboard as he assisted Apollo through the Metro Union Bank tower downtown. He quickly got schematics from the city of every floor but his luck in force-hacking into the security feeds was frustrating. Every trick and tool he used was blocked and in the midst of it all, he couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity with the firewall's AI code. It wasn't his, he knew that instantly, an acquaintance or another hacker. Then in a moment of epiphany, NEO-G! Damn, she's a slick one! NEO-G is notorious in hacker circles, her programing is elegantly efficient, and has a clockwork complexity few can match, even him. She came into renown by single-handedly shutting down all of New York City, all of it, right now to every phone, tablet, and video sign. It was just an e-Tag attack, an anime

character that is her avatar on the net just to announce who she was and gain some respect, but rumors persist that she snagged several million dollars from thousands of accounts. Nothing has been verified, however.

He brought up his IRC client and scrolled through his contacts, found her contact, and opened a chat window.

SPARKS57: Sup Neo

NEO-G001: Sparkie, fancy you online at this hour lol

SPARKS57: You know just trolling

NEO-G001: Yea? Find anything fun?

SPARKS57: Yea actually, MUB has some slick security, might try my luck.

There was a long few seconds before her reply.

NEO-G001: Should have known it was u sparkie, I see you still use those

outdated Hex keygens.

SPARKS57: They get the job done

NEO-G001: lol not against me

SPARKS57: Never would've thought u would join shadow neo

NEO-G001: Got debts with some nasty peeps sparks, besides he's cute ;P

SPARKS57: This isn't a game neo, shadow is bad mojo

NEO-G001: rofl you have no idea sparkie, he has a vision that'll change everything, join us? You don't need those washouts running around my building, you can have a future that'll test your limits, it's awesome

Sparks lend back in his chair, If she's on his side we don't stand a chance.

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Apollo and Sakura breathed heavily as they fought their way down the fire escapes, but more kept coming, every guard in the building was flooding the stairwells, and they were reaching the limits of their stamina."Abort, Abort, Abort!" Sparks called on the radios, "I can't hack the building servers, and the police have been called. I'm sorry Apollo but you have to get out of there" Apollo swore, "We can make it Sparks!" Apollo managed between heavy breaths, "I have come too far! We're on the second floor!" Sparks gave a sigh, "I know, but without me being able to support you, it's suicide. Please get out of there, I don't want another friend killed." Apollo slammed a fist into the wall, cracking the concrete, and shaking the stairs slightly. Sakura place a hand on his shoulder, "I with you Apollo, whatever you decide to do, but if Sparks can't hack the servers there's no point. Even if we get to the servers how could we get the data?" Apollo turned to her, tears in his eyes, "I know. It just sucks." he took a deep breath, "Alright Sparks, we're aborting. Get on the police scanners and security feeds around the building and gives us a way out."

_______________________________

Talon watched in the security room as Apollo and Sakura made their escape empty-handed, he chuckled, "Not so easy now is it Apollo?" He turned to the security chief, "Call off the police, say you checked it out and was only a malfunction." The security chief was dumbfounded, "Sir, wh-why?" Talon's gaze turned from amusement to cold steel, "Because I order it!" The man turned pale and quickly apologized as he fumbled with the phone. Talon turned back to the feeds on the wall as Apollo and Sakura slipped into the alley and disappeared. 'I hope you know what you doing Shadow because they could become a real problem.' Talon thought as he turned to the door and exited.

________________________________

The ballroom was filled with cheering people with campaign signs for James Hall, the polls just closed and Shadow has just become Alaska's representative in the U.S. Senate. Talon has also informed him of the attempted hack by remnants of the Hero Alliance. Neo-G has indeed earned her reputation and he made arrangements to have her rewarded handsomely. He just finished his acceptance speech and felt exhausted. Dozens of lobbyists have offered bribes and favors leading up to the election, and the favorable expectations of those parasites disgusted him, he'll have his staff work on a bill to abolish as much of the power from them as possible. When not offering bribes, lobbyists have a legitimate purpose, to petition the government of grievances toward those without the means to do so alone. However much of their work was not to merely petition and inform representatives but to buy favor toward a specific industry, group, or corporation. Drowning out those voices of real citizens with legitimate complaints and worries. He also recorded such bribes so as to target them later for Talon's centrifuges and put an end to them. Shadow had no time to waste on such scum, at least liars and thieves are honest of who they are, while these parasites deceive themselves believing in false causes and honey-laced lies of legitimacy.

Tania embraced him as he walked off stage, she became an unlikely companion in his march to rule, their affiliation began as a way to garner votes, and now she became more. While as James Hall he was able to be himself, to share himself with her, and sparked a relationship that he cherished more than his lofty goals. He led her to his waiting car with a look meaning 'there is business to discuss' and when the door sealed and the driver began to drive he turned to her, "Talon informs me Apollo is getting close." She nodded, "Yes I have received his report as well. I'll put more assets on him to prevent such breaches in the future." she replied as she took her heels off and massaged her feet. Shadow thought for a moment, "Observe him, but don't interfere too much, let him think he's staying ahead of us. I ordered Talon to feed him false intelligence and set up diversions. The man seems obsessed with bringing me to justice, merely stopping him at every turn will only fuel his defiance even more, and besides, I'm a bit impressed with the man." Tania gave him a smirk, "What are you up to?" He smiled back, "Whatever do you mean my dear?"