The next day...
The dark clouds hung over Kharagen like a plague, covering every visible inch of the sky. No light passed through the veil of clouds, no birds flew across the skies and yet the rain kept on pouring.
The rain kept falling, as it had for who knows how much time. Civilians wandered the streets – some in raincoats while others had umbrellas. The rain didn't discriminate, striking everyone and everything that stood in its unending wake.
However, at that exact moment, an EV entered the city – it's blaring headlights cutting through the darkness. It weaved through the streets of the capital city and eventually drove into the underground parking lot of an unsuspecting Hotel.
Once the vehicle was parked in the dim light, four individuals stepped out – Missio, Krishna, Henry and Mary.
The lieutenant General glanced around the parking lot, making sure no one was watching them. Then, he turned towards his teammates and opened his mouth.
"Henry, Mary, Go to our room and set everything up. Krishna and I will meet up with the other Captains."
The two nodded and began to head over to the stairs that led up to the lobby of the Hotel. Missio and Krishna followed them as well. The team ascended the set of stairs before finally arriving at the lavish lobby of the hotel.
Then, they separated. Henry and Mary moved towards the reception desk while Missio and Krishna headed towards the exit. Before they stepped outside, Krishna grabbed a pair of umbrellas from the nearby rack and handed one to Missio.
The Lieutenant General grabbed the umbrella from Krishna's hand. Once it settled in his grip, he pushed the door open and stepped outside. His friend followed suit and then both Operators opened their umbrellas.
The duo travelled through the rain with careful steps, trying to act as normal as possible as they headed towards their destination. After a few minutes, they arrived at a certain restaurant.
Shaking off the excess water on their bumbershoots and placing them in the rack, they strolled through the restaurant for a bit. Suddenly, a man in the very corner of the establishment waved at them as if inviting them to come over.
Missio and Krishna did just and sat down at the man's table. After a few moments of silence, the man cleared his throat and addressed Missio in a respectful manner.
"Lieutenant General."
Missio nodded.
"Captain. Have you confirmed the location of our target?"
The man nodded in response.
"Yes, Sun Daishen is in Kharagen at this moment. He... is staying in a rather unsuspecting apartment complex near the edge of the city."
Krishna crossed his arms and leaned back.
"Has he made any sudden movements as of now?"
The Captain shook his head, intertwining his fingers.
"No, his syndicate is conducting business as usual. He also doesn't seem to be a rush to leave."
Both Operators let out a sigh of relief at that moment. Missio leaned back, caressing the wooden table.
'This is good. He doesn't seem to be in a rush to leave which probably means we arrived earlier in his rotations. However, we can't be completely unsure of other possibilities... maybe he is suspecting an attack since his connection with Dick has been exposed. If that's so then he should've done something to keep us off his track but...'
Missio's brows furrowed.
'...He has done nothing... Is he so sure he won't get arrested?'
Missio clenched his fist, his scarlet eyes gleaming like the stars. Beside him, Krishna's face remained aloof yet a dangerous amount of emotions swirled in his eyes as if countless thoughts were burrowing through his head.
***
Once they had learned everything from the captain, they headed back to their Hotel. Placing their umbrellas back in the rack, they passed the lobby and took the elevator to the third floor.
The steel doors of the lift parted, letting them onto the third floor. Traversing a long corridor, they finally arrived at their room. Missio knocked on the door and stepped back slight. A few seconds later, the door swung open and Mary greeted them with a smile.
"Welcome." She waved, stepping aside.
"Looks pretty cozy." Krishna responded, passing by.
Missio followed right behind him, feeling the warm air brush past his skin. Shivering, the Lieutenant General turned towards the bed where Henry sat – cross-legged, his fingers gliding across his laptop.
Missio raised a brow.
"What are you doing?"
Henry licked his lips.
"Trying to hijack Sun's call."
Missio blinked.
"What?"
Henry shrugged.
"I got into the local cell center's server and now, I'm trying to hijack Sun's call. He's trying to contact someone but they're not picking up."
Right at that moment, Krishna's angry voice flew across the room.
"Idiot! What are you doing?"
The Operators snatched the laptop from his friend. Henry scowled and looked at Krishna.
"What are you doing? I was about to get into the call."
Krishna snorted.
"That's exactly the problem! You didn't study hacking 101, did ya? If you're going to hijack Sun's call, you have to hijack the BBU which is directing all the calls from Kharagen through the network. You're in the server? That's okay, I'll take it from here."
Missio titled his head as Krishna sat down on the bed.
"What would've happened if Henry accessed the BBU?"
Krishna's finger flew across the keyboard, tapping various keys as he replied in an even tone:
"Knowing him he would've tried to access it directly. Is that what you would've done, friend?"
Henry blinked.
"Uh... yes? What's wrong with that?"
Krishna shook his head, clicking his tongue yet his eyes never left the screen.
"That would've alerted the AI in the BBU of a foreign, unauthorized presence listening in on the call. Since, there would've been three users in one call. Instead... you want to hide behind the data of one the callers. When someone calls another, they're sending data to the cell tower to direct their call to the desired device. However, we can see that data and so.. if we mimic it exactly, then..."
A triumphant smile appeared on his face as he pressed one last button and turned the laptop towards his team.
"... The AI won't notice our presence... at least for a while until it realizes that the bulk of the data is too much for an ordinary phone..."
Before anyone could say anything, a voice came through the laptop, causing them all to shiver.
"Hey, Boss. Sorry for the hold up, some strange dudes were asking me some question about our syndicate and what not. Of course, I said I just knew as much as the last guy and gave them a good laugh. Ha!"