Lonely Thieves

Intermission 2

In a room hidden from the prying eyes of the Three Great Families, two figures sat in a darkened room illuminated only by the light of the monitors covering the walls. One figure sat in the back unmoving behind a silk curtain, their identity unknown even to their companion.

The other figure was named Trevor, and he sat in the middle of a giant wall of monitors. His brain was connected to a giant terminal placed upon his head, which allowed him to connect his mind completely to the network. This was a rather controversial technology, as politicians hemmed and hawed over the possibilities of brains being hacked and hijacked while using this terminal. However, it allowed users to comb through the internet at speeds beyond that of normal human means, so hackers created a demand for such a device on the underground market.

"The heads at the Overman Foundation are starting to sweat," he remarked as he scanned through several hundred news articles at once. "Seems your rats are a little bit too hard to find."

The figure was silent. Their response did not come from their mouth, but from a neural impulse that was sent straight into Trevor's brain. He sat back in his seat and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Are you sure? You told me to be hands off with this whole thing. You want to change the plan at this point?"

Silence again.

"Fine. You're the boss."

Trevor sat up and put his hands on the keyboard. He didn't actually have to type anything thanks to the terminal, but it felt more comfortable for him this way. He felt his neurons grow hot as he began to access the network. After a few moments of silence, he finally let out an exhausted groan and leaned back in his seat.

"There. But you won't get any more out of me than that. They'll find me if I get too inconspicuous."

Silence. This time the figure had nothing to say. The hacker smiled wryly in his seat.

"Well, don't mind me. I'm just stuck here doing whatever you say. Couldn't hurt to clue me in on this plan of yours."

Trevor turned his attention back to the network. He was keeping an eye on the situation, but he was also watching videos and streaming VR games on the side as well. All in all, it was a cushy job. So long as he was this person's eyes and ears, he could use this terminal as much as he liked. Top of the line technology, and all he had to do was sit in a dark room and keep this stranger company. Not too different from what he was already doing at home.

There were limitations, though. The stranger was particular about one thing: he was not to attempt to uncover their identity by any means. Since they were constantly behind the silk curtain, Trevor could never make anything out aside from a slight silhouette, but it was honestly not a hard rule to abide by. Still, there was the curiosity that came naturally to a guy like him who enjoyed prying into things he wasn't supposed to.

Still, that wasn't enough to get him to break the terms. After all, not only was he getting to use top-of-the-line technology, he could even use the penthouse they were in as long as he liked. Sure, he couldn't invite anybody over, but there was no one that he would want here anyway. These perks were way better than a lame job working in an office.

Trevor turned his attention to a video site where he found a news clip that interested him. It initially seemed irrelevant, but as he watched it, he slowly changed his mind.

"Hey, boss? You're gonna wanna hear about this."

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Ingrid Hayasaka slowly paced around the room in the abandoned apartment building she had commandeered as her subordinates continued to observe the two moles they had sent to take back the necklace. She had an earpiece in that was connected to the wire they had placed on them, but it was mostly idle chatter at this point. She had turned it down in order to allow herself some silence to think.

After all, she had just heard some pretty shocking things, though she was sure it wasn't the whole picture. Turns out the emerald necklace was pretty important after all. She'd gotten the idea before when Kaufmann and Amoretto visited her office, but now she was certain.

But what was on those flash drives they were talking about? Unfortunately, they didn't elaborate, and no mention of the necklace had come up since. Ingrid was curious, but there was no point wondering when they didn't even have the item in question.

For a moment, Ingrid wondered if she should broach the subject with her grandfather, Tom Hayasaka. However, in the same instant, she rejected the idea. While she respected him and was grateful to him for taking her in, she also knew that he was a paranoid man who trusted no one. If her grandfather didn't tell her to begin with, there's no way he would tell her even if she tried to ask.

In the end, she was left with even more questions than answers. That wasn't really how she wanted this operation to go. She was already toeing the line by opening her own investigation, so if she didn't get results soon, she was going to be in trouble, and being the granddaughter of Tom Hayasaka wasn't going to save her.

As luck would have it, she suddenly felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. It was Kaname. Ingrid considered not answering, but knew that Kaname would take any chance to talk bad about her to Grandfather. It was better to humor her for now.

Ingrid walked into another part of the apartment to take the call. "What is it, Kaname?" she asked curtly. "I'm busy working right now."

"I'm sure you are, Ingrid. But are you so sure that you should be proud of that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Grandfather was asking around for you. He wants to know why you aren't overseeing the patrols at Innocenti Bank Headquarters."

Ingrid swallowed nervously. She'd expected Grandfather to find out about this at some point, but she hadn't exactly expected Kaname to be the one to confront her about this.

"I have my best men in charge of patrolling the area. I hardly believe that my presence is necessary there."

"Whatever you say. But if you aren't working on the patrols, what are you doing, Ingrid?"

"I'm communicating with the investigation team searching for the suspects in question."

"But I thought Grandfather told you to leave that to the Overman Foundation. Are you disobeying his orders?"

Ingrid bit her lip in anger. She was always like this. Always trying to suck up to her grandfather, trying to make her look bad. Bad memories of her childhood began to surface, but she pushed them back down. She had gotten over the past already.

"I'm the captain of Hayasaka Security. I deserve to be involved with the main investigation, not stuck on guard duty."

Not that either Kaufmann or Amoretto bothered to give her any more than cursory reports. They might as well have sent her blank pieces of paper. Then she could have at least used it to refill her printer.

"Whatever. Just remember, Grandfather is watching you even when you think he isn't."

Kaname hung up. Ingrid didn't like what she was insinuating, but she liked even less that she thought she was probably right. She wasn't a fan of distrusting her grandfather, but whether she liked it or not, he was the kind of person that invited it. She put away her phone and walked back to the main room. Judging from her subordinates' reactions, there were no changes in the situation.

She sat back in her seat and sighed. There was no turning back now. She just had to hope that her one lead turned up results.