Introducing....HARDWARE

"A tried and true battle"

EASTPOINTE RECREATION CENTER

DAKOTA CITY

News crews flock to the front of the newly reopened rec center, rushing to get a glimpse at whoever was the next to arrive. A reporter took her cue from her producer and checked her background quickly before going on air. "Thank you, Megan. We are outside the Eastpointe center that has been completely rebuilt after the damages suffered during the riots late last fall."

The unmistakable custom Mercedes of Edwin Alva arrived next, and everyone in the vicinity's focus fell on him. Reporters, bloggers, podcasters, and local affiliates for world news outlets converged on the CEO of Alva Industries the moment his personal bodyguard, Pierre, opened his door. "As you can see, Edwin Alva, who helped expedite the repairs with his generous donation, is here to support his friend Lieutenant Jefferson's mayoral campaign."

Alva ignored almost everyone clamouring for his attention, instead of giving the polite, sincere facade he'd had well-practiced as he entered the building led by Pierre.  Not too much later, Edwin Alva found himself in front of a microphone in the middle of the center's gym.

The crowd had given raucous applause for their homegrown millionaire and appreciated he had taken the time to not only attend the Lieutenant's fundraiser but speak as well.

"Last year this city faced turmoil unlike any we could have imagined. And it was during that time, heroes were forged. I'm not talking about the capes and masks you see on your televisions every night," Alva's gravelly voice boomed in the state-of-the-art gym as he continued his introduction, "But heroes like the man whose guidance and tenacity helped us through the Big Bang and the aftermath of it."

On the side of the stage stood Lieutenant Roderick Jefferson, watching Alva put him over to every city official, politician, and local business owner attending. He smoothed his hands down his dark blue suit and straightened his tie just as Alva finished up. His wife gripped his hand tightly and he gave her a warm smile before stepping onto the stage. "Ladies and Gentleman of Dakota, I proudly present to you my dear friend, a hero you all have placed your faith in for years, and the next mayor of this great city:

Roderick Jefferson!" Alva stepped aside and helped lead the crowd in raucous applause. Jefferson crosses the stage to the podium and gives Alva a firm handshake. They lock eyes for the briefest of moments, and a message is shared between the two of them without a word needed. Alva leaves the stage quickly to the left. He notices the rather grim demeanour that Pierre is wearing as an expression once he reaches him. As Jefferson begins to address the crowd, Pierre leads his boss out of the gymnasium and into the much quieter hallway.

Alva peers around to make sure they are alone before his entire demeanour shifts from the one the public knows to the man he is behind closed doors. "Sank enough money into this crap as it is. Jefferson's got to have this thing handled at this point." Alva loosened then pulled off his own tie before shoving it into Pierre's rather massive arms and walking down the hallway.

"He's running away in the polls right now, boss." Pierre assured Mr. Alva as he hurried to keep up with his pace. "With a week left before the election, it's his to lose at this point right?" Alva ignores him as they continue down the hallway. He checks his watch and turns back to Pierre.

"The drop-off go smooth? You heard from anyone yet?" Pierre once again grimaces, struggling with how to answer his boss's question. Alva does his best to stifle his annoyance at his trusted chief of security as he halts on the spot and turns to face him. He raises an eyebrow at Pierre, who finally meets his stern gaze with great reluctance.

"Apparently there was a...issue or two." Pierre uttered under his breath, and his eyes immediately dropped from Alva's face as his boss barely contained the budding anger in him.





ALVA INDUSTRIES

TWENTY MINUTES LATER

Edwin Alva walked through the Shipping port of his upper east side production facility, and he still couldn't believe what was in front of him. Police and EMTs rushed in and out of the building, doing their best to help those wounded in whatever catastrophe occurred there. Alva watched as his security team were either wheeled out on stretchers barely conscious or in body bags. He saw Pierre in discussion with a pair of officers on the scene, behind them what was left of a semi's trailer. Half of the thick metal plating seemed to have been incinerated clear off.

"Excuse me, Mr. Alva?" The CEO turned around and faced the young women approaching him. She turned around briskly, giving succinct orders to the patrol officer with her before he departed. She offered her hand, and though it almost disgusted Alva internally to touch someone he knew wasn't worth a quarter what he was, he put on his usual personable guise as he shook it. "I'm Detective Chase, I was hoping you could answer a few questions that might help give us the right foot to start off on whatever-" She gestures around at the carnage left, her focus lingering on what remained of an Alva sign that had been cleaved clean in two. The scorch marks on its letters are similar to the ones on the semi-trailer. "Well, whatever tore through here tonight."

"I'm glad to be of any sort of service I can, detective. Though I'm not sure I can do better than whatever our cameras must have caught." Alva answered.

Detective Chase could tell Alva wasn't interested in talking with her, but she went ahead anyway. She had a job to do and was more interested in catching whoever was responsible than waiting on a man who had everything. Still, she considered, whoever was bold enough to storm one of Alva's facilities needed to be off the streets sooner than later.

"According to your people. all security footage in this wing of the building has been wiped clean and transmitted to an outside server. Our people are having a hell of a time trying to trace it back as we speak." The news delivered by Detective Chase made Alva's face lose all color. He managed to compose himself before responding.

"I'm not sure who you spoke to on my staff here but there is no way anyone could hack our servers let alone our security-"

"Uh, Mr. Alva sir." Edwin is cut off by Pierre calling him over. He turns back to Detective Chase and excuses himself with a curt nod.

"If you'll give me just a moment." He asks her, before briskly walking towards Pierre. They head towards the shipping manager's office, and Alva whispers tersely to his chief of security, "What in the blue hell is she talking about? Why don't we have security footage of any of this?" Alva is barely containing his anger as they step into the office. He paces back and forth, running his hands through his hair. Pierre quickly logs into the computer at the desk in the room and pulls open an email.

Alva stops pacing when he realizes Pierre is clearly trying to show him something. Alva peers over his shoulder at the e-mail, noticing the subject line above the video clip reads "Something you wish you were here for".

"This was sent to your private email." Pierre informed him, and a shudder ran down Alva's spine. There were a very select few who had access to that address, and none would want to cause him the kind of hell that he'd been caused tonight.

Pierre played the video clip, which was time-stamped audio and video footage of the building just an hour and a half ago.