I disconnect the probes, close the panel, and quickly pack the signal reader, interface board, and laptop back into my bag.
"Done," I say quietly. "Let’s go in."
"Great job, Gabriel," I hear Marcel’s voice right behind me, but I don’t have the courage to turn around, so I just mumble a quiet ‘thanks’.
Of course Edgar goes in first, even though he’s not trained in combat the way I am, but on every job he acts like he’sthealpha. Unfortunately, he’s taller than me too, and while I’m not short at six foot six, he still has about three inches on me. He turns, his tall frame filling the doorway, and Marcel steps in right after him. The others start pushing through, some of them bump into me, and I end up last.
My brief moment of triumph, of being useful, fades quickly, which pretty much sums up my life, because people use me and then forget I exist.
Of course we know the building layout well, since I already hacked the design office earlier.
But Edgar was the one who tracked down the original design firm, so he got most of the credit, even though I was the one who broke into their server to get the plans.
"Gabriel, carry this," David, one of Marcel’s guys, growls, dropping a bundle of connected fuel canisters on me. "It’s heavy."
That was his job, which makes him an asshole.
The gasoline containers are indeed heavy as hell, and I already have my backpack with the gear, so now I have to carry their load too, like some damn pack mule. The rest of the group moves freely, no weight on them, and I just sigh.
Edgar and Marcel are in front as we climb the stairs, and when we reach the second floor where the main lab is, of course I’m needed again, so Marcel turns, looking for me among his people.
But Edgar speaks first.
"Hey guys, let our dear hacker through; he’s got more work to do," he says, and I can’t miss the bite in his tone, because it clearly pisses him off that I’m needed and can’t just be shoved aside like a useless piece of furniture.
For a brief moment, as I step up to the panel, I catch Marcel watching me, his gaze intense and focused as he slips into that mindset of his.
This is his mission, and he’s been planning it for some time now. We’ve done a few smaller actions at Malden Pharmaceuticals before, more or less successful, but this is the first time we’re doing real damage. Before, it was just oil on walls and paint on doors, until Marcel decided it was time to take it to the next level in his fight against his longtime enemy: Malden Pharmaceutical and… Blue Lowen, the famous scientist and the CEO himself. Now it's time for their labs to burn.
"There are cameras in this corridor, so I’ll have to disable them first," I say, trying to stay calm, but my voice still cracks a little anyway.
"You sure you can handle that, Gabs?" Edgar cuts in, because of course he does.
I’m not a hundred percent sure how this will go, because cameras are different from a door panel, and they’re connected to the security desk two floors below, but I keep that to myself and stay optimistic.
For a moment, I look at the wall next to the door, recalling the installation plan I pulled earlier, where the IP camera lines run along the corridor and drop down through the same conduit as the access control wiring.
"I don’t need to shut them off," I say quietly. "I just need to fool them."
Edgar scoffs. "We’ll see… better be ready for security to come rushing in any second," he says, turning to the group.Everybody looks at me at once, and suddenly I’m way too aware of myself.
Still, Edgar is the only one with an especially twisted, contemptuous look.
I ignore him again, even though part of me knows that letting it slide only makes it worse, and for a second I wonder if I should just punch him, but that’s not who I am. I’m the quiet one who does his job and follows orders.
I crouch by the door panel again and unscrew the casing just like before, letting the plastic come loose with a soft click. Behind it, there’s a bundle of cables running into the wall and a small metal service box.
I remove its cover, and inside a thin ethernet cable runs through, exactly what I was hoping for.
Smirking, I pull a small network adapter and a short tap connector from my backpack, clip into the line, and attach the adapter to the interface board, then hook the board up to my laptop again.
The screen lights up in the dark corridor.
"How long?" Edgar hisses, glancing around.
"Leave him alone," Marcel says. "Gabriel can handle it, right, Gabs?"
I look up, and for a moment our eyes meet. His are pale blue, like the sky over the ocean. His face is so beautiful it is hard to describe. Marcel is a very short, slender omega, with a fragile build, but there’s immense strength and charisma in him. Everyone on campus knows him and respects him as the leader of the pro-environmental group. And me…? I admire his passion and his dedication. I have been part of this group for a year and a half, believing that one day, somehow, I would become more to him than just a loyal follower. Who knows? Maybe after this mission.