Ethan looked at George as the others had picked their points. He stood up as he knew he had to do something.
“I will check out his apartment,” he said with a nonchalant shrug that bordered on a level of insubordination.
There was no real lack of respect there. Ethan knew the boss lady was aware of his abilities and his personality for that matter. He was being professional in his own way. Ethan promptly stood up from his seat and left the conference room after the others. After he exited the warehouse, he made his way to the garage where his car was parked.
His plan was to stakeout Chan’s apartment complex to see if the man would return to his home. It was very unlikely though, the person of interest would not return to a place where he could easily be found and captured by interested parties. In some cases he might return to retrieve something of necessity whether it be documents, credits, or even personal protection and never return.
The drive down to the residential district was uneventful. Ethan had gotten used to the advertisement screens and holograms. His face went across several shades of color as he drifted past them. It was a never-ending lightshow meant to praise excess and glamour all the same. The only lights he cared for were the ones on his car lighting his way through the bright streets. Alta had sent his car the address of Chan’s residence. Ethan had it plugged into the navigation and drove his way there.
Chan’s apartment was on the east side, near the middle class district. The buildings were the new models that were commissioned by the city to cover the crumbling faces of the old city beyond them.
Ethan reclined in his seat as he turned off his car on a curb across the street from the apartment building. He decided to watch the entrance for some time before he would leave and enter.
The building was twelve stories high and represented a form of architecture pioneered by the late Moshe Safdie in his first Habitat 67. Its aims were to combine the benefits of a suburban home with the economical living space of an apartment. The complex had a total of 200 residences all in the form of concrete cuboid living spaces. The cubes were neither lined up evenly nor stacked upon each other, but rather they were spaced apart in various patterns that seemed unorganized. The cubes were then connected by open air walkways and elevators that connected to the lobby. In between these spaces were swimming pools and gardens.
According to Alta, Chan’s quarters were on the tenth floor, on the north side of the complex. The north side faced an artificial lake. Ethan guessed that the view was anything but a recourse for Chan, more of an escape from his day job in a sense. The home was supposed to be a sanctuary, not a reminder of the corporate loyalty program that he had been groveling away for years with little to no reward.
Immediately, Ethan called for Catherine Delanio, the hacker. She helped him where his gun could not, the little things in every day technology. In that digital world, he had come to rely on her as his guardian angel.
“Cat, it’s Ethan. Can you access Easton Apartments and see if anyone entered Mr. Chan’s home within the past three hours?”
Easton Apartments had a system where the occupants would swipe a card upon entry into their residences to signify that they were home. This was all logged in their main computer for security reasons. Any intruders who entered an apartment without the card would immediately alert suspicion and a call from the security office.
"Well a hello to you too. Chan...Easton Apartments."
There was the sound of fingers on a keyboard.
"Yeah, yeah...and...hang on."
Something was beeping in the background on her end. "Sorry Antony got me doing something for him too. That stuff is WAY more interesting. Modded strippers though never took him as the kind ot like the fake girls but what do I know?"
Cat chuckled, "Alright I am in. You want to see the whole building or just his place? Tell me what you want and I will patch it over to you. God their security for the building is laughable...oh what's this...hmm. You want Chan's place going to have to give me an extra five. Who is this guy cause he is wired but like...just him..."
There was a sound of annoyance.
"So yeah you want his place in particular give me five. Want to watch some of the strippers while you wait? I can send you that first."
"I'm fine," Ethan rarely indulged in that unless it was an act necessary to pull off a job, "Just his place, I want to check inside without setting off the alarm."
His eyes drifted along the lonely street where a couple of people shuffled about in pairs and trios beneath the lights.
Cat grunted slightly in amusement. "Not into having an audience for that sort of thing huh? Can't say I am shocked. You don't strike me as much of an exhibitionist."
There was silence for a moment.
"I don't know who is watching this guy or who did his security but it is way more than I thought some researcher needed. I am in though. I can show you who has been in and out of that apartment. Some one left there two days ago in a big hurry and it wasn't Chan. There is no one in there now. You want me to keep watch? Make sure you remain off camera while you do your dirty work?" Cat purred into the phone.
Ethan nodded his head as though Cat was there with him, "Two days ago? You should run a check on that and send it to George."
He pulled out of his car, the scissor doors cutting close behind him.
"Alright, I'm going to pay a visit," he said over the comm as he dashed across the street to avoid oncoming traffic. He glanced over his shoulder every so often.
"Send to George, got it. And I am watching you. Well not you because we know you aren't into that so I will be watching your back. Those watching the camera as watching past footage of the same old boring shit. Have fun in there. Careful what you touch." Cat chuckled.
Ethan entered the complex. He found it interesting to navigate through the piece of architecture. He passed through the various gardens and fountains that ran along the open-air walkways. A breeze brought the brisknessb of the man-made lake toward Ethan as he picked up his pace.
"Hey doll security is passing in the hall to your right. Just keep walking, head down. They seem more intent on discussing their next boost and mods than actually doing their job."
She was watching a few things. The loop for Chan's apartment, the current cameras to ensure Ethan didn't get noticed by anyone that shouldn't as well as footage from the strip club.
"Thanks," he continued along.
He passed each security camera knowing that Cat was watching him. As he neared Chan's apartment, he noticed through the window that the lights were off.
"All clear. No one in the halls around you. Some people milling about in other places but you should be free to snoop. Give me one second..." Cat stated.
"And I have disarmed the security on the door, all you got to do is get in. Won't notify a soul." She sounded very pleased with herself.
The ex-cop cocked his brow, "I thought 'won't notify a soul' was already a given."
"Honey there is a difference between the video feed they got watching this place and the alarms on the doors and such. Don't worry though, you are lucky you are working with me. I got everything covered. I am watching you though..." Cat chuckled.
Ethan knew she saw his head nod as a reply that meant 'fair enough.' The door to Chan's cube slid open and the foyer lights clicked on immediately, but those were the only lights that greeted him. It was an ordinary apartment, and an initial glance it looked undisturbed by the rummagings of the stranger that Catherine had highlighted. Ethan wondered if the intruder was another contract killer sent to take down Chan before anything else leaked.
He found it funny considering his own reasons for going about the scientist's home. There was a transparent tablet set on the table. It was probably a master control for the majority of the apartment's appliances and electronics from the television to the window blinds. There were few holophotos in his home, he probably lived alone. Ethan checked the bathroom, everything seemed rather kempt and compact.
The bedroom was neatly furnished, Ethan could tell the man made his bed, nicely folded with no creases. He was a perfectionist. Throughout the room there was a certain lack of decor, which gave Ethan the impression that it was not an apartment for one man but more of a hotel room that had recently been cleaned up by housekeeping.
Across the room was his workspace which consisted of a desk and several computers humming silently. The home laboratory had a chemistry set up with burners, flasks, and test tubes. They had not been touched for the days, but the computers might have been another story.
Ethan went to the computers first, he tapped a key to turn the system on. Immediately he was bathed in blue LED backlights, apparently the system had been running for a few days. There was a window open, it was personal mail. Chan or whoever had last touched the computer had forgotten to close it.
I'm out man.
This shit is way too deep for me.
That was it.
"Cat, see if you can access Chan's computers and find anything useful. I'll take a look at his lab set," Ethan walked over to the less than interesting tubes. It seemed all the documentation was very likely in digital format.
Hello.
In the corner of his eye, Ethan spotted a little glimmer of light that landed on a small plastic bag filled with what appeared to be dust. The bag itself was nestled among the equipment. Ethan picked it up with his augmented hand, he was still getting used to the metal. His eyes narrowed at the substance within.
"See if I can access it?" She huffed in slight indignation.
"Ethan, honey a little advice when it comes to women. Don't talk as if they might be capable of something. You know that I work for George because I am the best right? See if I can access it...."
The sound of keys and her grumbling to herself replaced her sentence for a time.
Ethan smiled, "My apologies. You won't hear me say that again," he pocketed the little bag.
"Alright once you are done playing lab rat, which by the way what the heck is he doing with a lab set in his home? Once you are done go back to the computer and I will show you what I found. He and someone else have been very busy little bees. Also I think you need to make it up to me, you know for implying that I might be able to get access to some wanna be drug lords computer."
"I'll try to make it up to you in whatever way I can," Ethan returned to the computer, "What am I looking at here?"
"You, my dear are looking at emails from our Mr Chan to a few different parties. Some are very interesting. Now then..."
The screen changed and a new group of files came up.
"Also we have some research notes...some formulas and stuff which is Imogen's department."
The screen flicked back to the emails.
"He has a few interesting contacts. Some are corp guys, some are less well on the up and up if you get my meaning. I bet if I did some digging you will find some of these names are black market. I am thinking just from the little bit I have read. Feel free to look it over."
The screen changed once more, the mouse moving to open a new set of files.
"Here you go. These are super interesting. Seems Mr Chan might have a partner. These are some financial records. Our little lab rat has some money squirreled away and there is pay sent elsewhere. Now about making it up to me..."
"When I get back."