Cyber security Story teller

“So what’s your body count?”

I blinked at the man in front of me. That was not the question I suspected when I took the gig. Mel needed more idents, and she thought it was safe enough, so I plead my case to work solo. Get some experience, start making a name for myself.

I’d been itching to work and earning my keep. Maybe even start repaying Mel all the kindness she’d shown me when she took in off the streets. The idea of working for some corp, every move monitored by the Watch, made my skin crawl.

Most hackers went fishing in the Watch’s deep databases of everyone in the city, ran a generator over the data, and created brand new identities for their clients. I wanted to do something different, so I trucked out to one of the older cemeteries to find one of the mostly unguarded offices. Most had enough data to form the structure of the ident and I could work from there. Usually that was enough for folks looking to disappear, and there was always a demand to vanish from the Watch’s ever-reaching eye.

Plus, I watched the Watch lists. Lots of the generated idents popped up more than once. If this worked, and mine didn’t pop, that was my ticket to steady work. Outside a corp, that was the best I was gonna get.

Meanwhile, I certainly wouldn’t tell some random asshole what kind of access I did or didn’t have.

“Fuck you. Why are you here? Mel send you to watch out for me?” I glared at the stranger. I was going to murder Mel.

“Who the fuck is Mel?” The guy threw up his hands in frustration. “Who the fuck are you? What kind of creep are you, sneaking in here?”

“Me? I could ask you the same thing!” I shot back, crossing my arms. He was taller than me and I had to crane my neck to look up at him.

“I’m visiting my dead relatives,” he said, after a half second delay. He pushed his shaggy brown hair out of his face as it flopped over, coving his eyes.

I just raised my eyebrow.

“Fine, I was taking photos. For research.” He held up a camera.

That was not what I was expecting, and it must have shown on my face, because he turned beet red. “Not like that! The tombstones, fuck!”

I relented. “Here for data. Not like they need it, right?”

He relaxed. “Jim.”

I eyeballed him. “I’m … Flower.” I wasn’t. It didn’t matter, anyway. “So why’d you want to know my body count?”

“It’s kinda a thing.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s a competition. You get the most in a night, you get some creds. You’re the third person I’ve seen tonight, so I wanted to scare you off.”

That got my attention. Did someone else have my same idea? “Who the hell hired you, anyway?”

“There’s a posting I found.” He scuffed his feet. “Look, don’t get ideas now that I told you about it.”

I snorted. “Not my biz, which I gotta get to. Best of luck, though.” I could find the posting later. Time was wasting now.

He held up his fingers in opposite L shapes. “Hey, you’re a pretty excellent model.”

I flinched. I was average, at best. Too heavy for the mainstream, thighs that rubbed when I walked, chest that bounced painfully when I ran. Not at all like the rail-thin screen stars. “Yeah, right.”

“No, I’m serious.”

His eyes were ice blue, I realized. They flicked up and down, definitely giving me a once-over, a slow smile forming on his face.

Loud crashes came from outside before I could turn to leave, suddenly warm in the chilly night. The windows rattled against the walls.

We both froze and ducked behind the furniture. My nose wrinkled against the faint whiff of stale urine and dust. “More photographers?”

Sounds of flesh hitting flesh and concrete crumbling flared.

“Doesn’t sound like it!”

“We gotta get out of here. Follow me, I came in a back way.” I took off without waiting for a response, but the heavy breathing behind me let me know he was right on my heels. It wasn’t far to the back door, but once we got there, he took off toward the noise. “Where are you going?”

“If it’s another photographer, I gotta help!”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re going to get yourself shot!”

Despite myself, I followed him, stuffing files in my knapsack as I went. A small group stood around a prone figure. One crouched over the person on the ground, holding their shirt front with two fists. I grabbed Jim by the back of his jacket to pull him into the shadows. “Careful.”

“Hey!”

Eyes darting around, I didn’t see any weapons. Good. “It’s three on one!”

“Three on two, there’s a guy on the ground.” Jim wrenched out of my grasp and ran out to tackle the closest one. His camera clattered to the ground beside me.

“Fuck!” I tightened the strap to my bag and followed him out. The last one saw me coming, and I had to duck his swing first.

I plowed forward, shoulder into the punk’s chest. He tripped over the other girl’s feet with a grunt. Now that I was closer, I could see the figure on the ground was a girl. I almost fell over with the punk, but I tripped and fell on my ass instead. My thick, curly hair fell into my face, despite trying it up earlier. I cursed and took a second to pull the black strands back behind my face.

Jim’s target landed with a shout. I didn’t waste time. I grabbed the girl’s feet and started pulling her toward the building.

She got lighter, and together Jim and I heaved her inside. The punks decided they wanted to be somewhere else.

The girl was groaning. “I was snapping a pic when they jumped me.”

“You got the bull, too?” Jim asked her.

She nodded. “Got a coupla dozen.” She waggled her camera.

Jim nodded. “Yeah, ‘bout the same.”

“Probably some scam, anyway,” she said, sitting up and rubbing her arms. “Always is. How about you?” She jerked her chin at me.

“Just a passer-by.” I patted my bag, still snug against my chest. “Personal project.”

She sneered. “Weirdo.”

Not the first time someone called me that. “Weirdo who just saved your ass.”

She winced. “Yeah, thanks for that.” Her tone was sincere, at least. “I appreciate not ending up in the clinic.”

I winced. No one went to the nearest clinic unless you were desperate, or wanted to leave in a body bag. Even Watch officials didn’t bother with shutting it down anymore. There wasn’t a city-approved clinic for miles. Those charged a week’s pay, but at least they were clean.

“No problem,” Jim said, flashing a crooked smile. “What do you say we get outta here, hit another spot?”

I nodded. “This place is too crowded. I got a way out, if you follow me.”

The other girl nodded. “Yeah, I could do with a drink.” Jim hauled her up, hands lingering on her waist.

The back way was apparently unfamiliar territory for them, because they both started snapping away. I convinced Jim to send me the ad the pair had seen to run a trace on it while we walked.

I wished I could access the cameras that I knew were watching us.

Instead, we were all a little jumpy, ready to see the punks again. I shot off a message to Mel; she’d want to know.

Unfortunately, the buildings were in the dead center of the cemetery. I’d mapped out a route that took us through the darkest, oldest sections. Overgrown trees were everywhere, casting deeper shadows. Groups of tombstones pocketed the area in different sized groups. Jim called me over to shine a light on the oldest. “Woah.” He scraped his hand over the stone, making moss fall. His fingers traced over something. “1866.”

I was standing on a skeleton.

Well, that had to be bad luck, right?

Flicking my eyes down, beneath my feet, and then up — not that I could see stars for the glow of the city — I took a careful step to the side.

The others took their pictures.

I tried not to shudder. Yeah, I was after the same data, but the pictures made it too macabre for my tastes. There wasn’t much movement, so we took our time, although the other girl winced and grabbed at her side more than once. When I moved up to look at it — broken ribs, I figured — she waved me off.

She wanted to walk around in pain. That wasn’t on me.

My tablet beeped twice. The first was a reply from Mel, just a warning to watch my ass. The second was the data on the ad. I scrolled through, looking for any sign of who placed it and why. At first glance, it looked just like a Watch-sanctioned official gig. Not that I cared about what our city surveillance teams thought was worthwhile work. They claimed they made us safer, but there was plenty that slipped through their fingers. I knew firsthand. The Watch only showed up when you paid for them. Everyone else? Left to fend for themselves.

The second glance told a different story. First, Watch seal was an old, out-of-date copy and the name on the ad was John Dillinger. The name sounded familiar, and the others were still taking photos, so I followed my hunch and pulled the files from my bag.

I appropriated a flat-topped tomb one row over as a makeshift desk. I tried not to think too hard about who remained inside. There were a lot of loose papers to flip through. The other two finished and wandered over by the time I found a paper with a list of names of the long-dead. “Aha!” I tapped my finger on one. “John Dillinger, the name on your ad, was an old gangster.”

Jim peered over my shoulder to see the paper. I was suddenly hyper aware of how close he was standing. Our eyes met, and he gave me a small half smile. He leaned closer, so we were touching, and reached to tap the top of the list. “These are all gangsters from way back. Some of them were local heroes in their day. What’s the meta on that ad?”

I handed the tablet over. He started scrolling while the other girl yawned. “I thought we were going to get drinks.”

“Don’t you want to know who sent you out here to get beat up?” I asked.

The girl shrugged and looked away. “It’s over. I’ll heal. It’s fine.”

Jim tapped my shoulder to hand the tablet back. “Look, there’s an address. It’s not far.” He grinned at me, eyes twinkling. “Wanna come?”

I was already shoving the papers back into my bag. “Yeah, I wanna see what this asshole is doing with these pics he sent you out for.” I was getting a bad feeling.

The other girl made a face. “You two are crazy. I want to drop my files, get my credits, and spend the rest of the night getting shit-faced and forgetting this ever happened.”

Jim waved a hand dismissively. “You do what you gotta do. I’m getting my credits face-to-face.”

“Whatever. Have fun getting yourselves murdered.” She checked her phone before walking off to the east, disappearing into the shadows.

Jim smacked my shoulder lightly. “C’mon, it’s this way.” He pointed in the opposite direction.

I took his offered hand. “Let’s go, then.”

We chatted as we went. He had a little brother, I learned, and had a camera in his hand ever since he could walk. It was easy to talk to him. I almost forgot what we were doing until my watch buzzed. “Um, we’re here.”

We both glanced up at a concrete brick of a building. “Yeah.” He looked back, eyes boring into mine.

I shook my head, trying to focus. “Yeah, let’s go see who this asshole is, wasting your time.”

He blinked, refocusing himself, suddenly all business. “Let’s get that asshole.”

The asshole in question was on the second floor. Halfway up the stairs, we stopped to cough; the stench filled my nostrils and threatened my stomach. “What the fuck?”

“I don’t know!”

Unsurprisingly, most of the doors on the second floor were hanging from their hinges. One light flickered over a door.

Fantastic.

BOOOOoooomm

My ears rang.

The stench doubled.

Jim had produced a sawed-off shotgun from his jacket and shot out the lock.

“What the fuck?”

He shrugged. “What, you’re not packing?”

“No! Why would I have a gun?”

He rolled his eyes. “Asshole, you sent me on a wild goose chase!”

I pulled the knife from my boot, nearly cutting myself. I was shaking — I put it back.
Jim kicked in the door. “I was talking to you!”

A voice — old, male? Everything still sounded like a tunnel — called back. “Are you one of the bloggers I sent to find my cousins?”

I stepped through after Jim. An older man sat at a rickety table, sipping a cup of tea. Steam wafted from the cup. I could just barely smell the jasmine under the stench of rot. When I turned my head, I saw what was producing the stench.

A row of bodies sat against the wall, in varying states of decay. Two were remarkably well preserved, sporting intact faces. Two more were rotting. Flies buzzed around them, and I spotted more than a few maggots. One was little more than desiccated flesh holding the bones together.

“How rude of me! Let me introduce my family. I never have guests over. This is quite unexpected.” He set the tea down with a little clink as the cup touched the saucer.

Jim and I exchanged a wordless look. Clearly, he hadn’t expected this either. He slowly slid the shotgun back into his jacket. This man was no threat.

“These are my parents, Katherine and Aaron. My brothers aren’t ready for guests, I’m afraid. They weren’t embalmed like my parents were. That’s my grandmother at the end, there.”

We stood there in stunned silence.

“Well, are you the bloggers?” He finally prompted.

I gave a small wave. “Flower.”

Jim swallowed. “James.”

“Oh, grandmother, don’t be rude. Flower is a lovely name.” He wagged a finger in the corpse’s direction as he slowly stood up.

“Did you find my cousin? Let me see your pictures.” As he walked closer, I could see his sagging, splotchy skin and thinning white hair. He moved quicker than I would have thought, though.

Jim queued up the photos and handed the camera over. “Here. These are from tonight.”

“Um, why are you looking for your cousin?” I couldn’t help myself.

“Family is so important, don’t you think?” he asked. “I just want the family to be together. We got so scattered during the riots, and I always regretted losing touch when I went into that facility.” He trailed off, flicking through pictures. “No, none of these are mine.”

“What facility?”

Jim nudged my foot. “Do we still get paid? The ad said nothing about a specific name.”

“Oh, yes, I have some credit chips. Let me get them.”

Jim pulled my arm closer to the door. “What’s with the questions? Don’t you want to get out of here?”

“Yeah, well, don’t you think we should tell someone about this? This old man needs a facility!”

He frowned. “It was probably New North Park. They took in lots like him, pre-riot. It burned down a couple of years ago. City ain’t gonna do anything for him if we report it.”

I vaguely remembered that fire. “Yeah.”

Jim softened and pulled me in for a hug. “He’s not hurting anyone. Not even offending the neighbors.”

“Yeah, ok.” He had placed that ad, after all. That took some basic know-how. Other than talking to his dead relatives, his mind seemed intact. He seemed clean enough, and I spotted plenty of empty grocery boxes stamped with the city seal. That meant he was getting out to the weekly drop points or had the credits to pay for delivery.

Calling the Watch was guaranteed to make his life worse, not better.

“Here you go, young man.” The older man snuck back into the room. “You take your lady friend out for something nice, ok?” He patted us both on the arm.

“Uh huh, will do,” Jim said, grabbing my hand. “Let’s go.”

I let him pull me out of the room and lead me out of the building. After a block of walking in awkward silence, I broke it. “Well, that was some fucked up shit.”

“Not how I planned to spend my evening with a such a pretty lady,” he said, smiling down at me.

My heart thudded. “Excuse me?” I forgot all about the horror I’d just seen.

He stopped, turning to look at me. “I’d like to take you on an actual date, if you’d let me.”

“Um, sure?” I looked down, suddenly unsure of myself.

“That didn’t sound like a yes.” His hands slipped to my waist, pulling me closer.

I looked up to find his blue eyes staring intensely down at me. “An actual date sounds great.”

“Fantastic. I gotta dip. Need to check on my little brother.” He leaned down. “Any objections to a goodnight kiss?” The question was a whisper.

I shook my head and stood on my tiptoes to meet him halfway. His hand slid up to my neck as our lips met.