The Industrialist

TechNova Sector, Center Quadrant Sectors, Axe Central City

That night...

***

Lance prowled from shadow to shadow, behind buildings, trash bins, and lampposts, where the city lights had failed to reach. He could be walking so fashionably along the streets if the place had not warned about a neon-lit signage of 'No Trespassers'.

His knees were sore from crouching and kneeling to hide behind cameras and patrol guards. Commoners do this a lot, trespassing. Only to loot on electronic waste just a few blocks from where Lance had concealed. Well, a lot of them were caught so carelessly. However, the punishment was ten times the amount of the scrapped electronic waste. Not so lethal.

If caught, he would only be penalized with a monetary value that he could pay and be recorded in the system that held the list of violators that no one would care about.

No big deal. Not even his precious image be smeared.

Lance never had the audacity to steal anything, especially electronic waste. He had the mad skills of a Scrapper, transforming scraps better than the electronic waste that the TechNova Sector could offer.

TechNova held the most Information Tech companies in Axe Central City. The source of all Cloudnet operations maintenance and augmentations and programming. The Silicon Valley of today's age.

He pressed his palm against the concrete, he imagined the information surges below like streams of raging rivers and flowed towards the ocean of information, the end users within sectors.

Expectedly, TechNova the capital of all Information Technology companies, should hold the most intricate wirings that served as medium for the flow of information, the net. However, Lance was surprised that all wires were buried underground like veins endlessly pumping blood information towards the organs. 'The Central Nervous System,' He liked the analogy.

Just like any other sector of the Inland, the TechNova sector held no dangling wires overhead along the streets, unlike in major commoner sectors - Steelpoint District, Brasslot, and VrexasField.

Just a few blocks ahead, through the strobe lights of the security cameras and watch towers, held the central junction boxes of optical data wires.

'I should have brought Damian along.' Lance thought as he released four large exhalations. His heart raced like a trotting horse.

'Calm yourself, you idiot!' He convinced himself.

It would be so much easier if the Cloudnet would use satellite to transfer data and information. Just a few types in the computer would allow the user to access information so immediately. However, because of the outrageously polluted and contaminated atmosphere, such technology was no longer feasible.

Scientists still made alternatives out of the predicament, they used ground-enhanced and modified optic cables, masterwork materials, to make Cloudnet possible.

Uploading databases, basic information of facets of knowledge to the AI's drive made the setup challenging. Lance needed his AI to be upgraded to new features and could access information from the net for his immediate exploit. Such activity had been regulated by the Government and Corporation.

If Lance requested to access the Cloudnet and upload the information to his AI drives, the Corporation would disapprove.

Therefore, to augment the database of Jasper's AI drives, Lance should access the Optic Hub junction box in TechNova Sector.

Twenty meters would expose himself for a run until another wall of an establishment would once again hide him from the Security lights and cameras.

Convincingly, he had been running all his life. He was a coward of danger, however, his exploits with the rebels had strengthened his courage and lessened his cowardice, to some sort. Or that's what he had been telling himself as he entered the Sector.

He waited. He observed the sequence of how the torchlights moved as it randomly and routinely scanned.

Unfortunately, the numerous attempts of the commoners to steal the electronic waste had later increased the number of Security personnel to discourage further break-ins.

Who could blame them, these Commoners unceasingly discover ways to gain extra units to thrive or survive. Selling Electronic waste to scrappers was one way. Due to the Sector's holding the most advanced computer technologies, the electronic wastes held 30% common level scraps, 40% uncommon level, and 30% rare level scraps. Easy money if uncaught.

'I must create a diversion,' Lance thought as he pressed his back against a cold concrete wall of one establishment obscuring behind the torchlights.

He opened his knapsack and took one out of five poison bombs. He clicked it and the bomb activated. Then another click, the countdown appeared, five seconds.

He threw the bomb at the expanse of the road to where he would foolishly attempt to run. The poison bomb exploded and released a blue mist, thick enough to conceal movements. The torchlights focused on the increasing grasp of the blue mist as it covered the whole twenty-meter expanse of the road, Lance jolted for a mad dash.

His eyes could not materialize anything within the cloud, only the blue fragrant mist. Even so, he relied solely upon his imagination and the strength of his legs that quickened his pace.

The security guards immediately responded with handguns in holsters and electric batons on their hands, waiting for the mist to subside. Fifteen seconds later, the blue mist evaporated into the air, leaving nectar powder residues on the ground, and then the guards invaded the concealed space with their flashlights training for the culprit.

Luckily, the fifteen seconds of floating blue cloud drove all security guards to divert their attention to the poison bomb. Lance arrived at an array of junction boxes, and perfectly organized pipes that held the wires, fenced with a steel interlinked gate.

Lance took out his laser-filled hunting knife, activated it and it illuminated. He struck the padlock that kept the gate locked with the same knife. The padlock was sliced into two pieces and Lance entered.

'Padlock? How ancient.' Lance thought. There were some things that technology has not grasped. The lack of budget maybe?

Large metallic boxes like coffins, the junction boxes, piled horizontally along the fenced clearing, and plastic flexible pipes, arranged like city roads mantled the clearing, then converged towards the metallic boxes.

He heard the boots of numerous security guards marching toward the electronic waste yard. Fortunately, the yard was two blocks away from where he was.

The metallic boxes that held a junction of data repeaters and mind-blowing random connections opened so easily with the use of his laser-filled hunting knife.

As he opened the metallic cover, his sight was greeted with a series of ports, connections, boards, relays, and transformers, arranged so perfectly fitting the metallic confines. It was like a miniature city in a small box.

'C'mon, C'mon, C'mon,' Lance thought as he trained his hand along the intricacy of the electronic board design. 'It's gotta be somewhere here,' Finally, he found it, the port that would upload the stream of net information from the servers.

He took out a Universal Serial Hard Drive, a small black box, from his knapsack that he bought for 500 units at the market with 1000 terabyte capacity. He plugged it into one of the ports of the Main panel board. The USHD lit up its digital display suggesting, 'downloading…0%'

The advantage of downloading data directly from the lines would eliminate the introduction of atmospheric noise, hence, putting the downloading speed at its peak.

'Five minutes…' Lance thought as the digital displayed the countdown.

He settled himself down to the concrete, his back leaning against the metallic box and unresponsive to guffaws of the next block as security guards scoured the place. He heard boots looming randomly from everywhere and it was nearing him.

"This is for you, Jasper," He muttered to himself.

"Master, according to my scans, three guards nearing your location," Jasper said.

"Suggestions?" Lance asked.

"According to my algorithm, with the Moral Value code you programmed me, you should surrender."

"Surrender is for pussies, Jasper. I will fight back outta here!" Lance said.

He squinted to the digital display of the USHD. It said one minute. Quickly, he hid inside the coffin-like junction box and closed the tampered door in front of him.

"Master, you are not following my suggestion," Jasper said.

"Shut up, Jasper. Deactivate." Lance whispered and a power-down sound was heard from his earpiece.

'They might have found the sliced padlock,' He thought.

Three sets of boots slowly sauntering close. Opticom radios shrieked as they communicated with each other. He overheard them talking as they searched the place, while his perspiration loomed every pore of his body. Cold sweat ran along his cheeks. 'My sweat might short-circuit the boards here,' He thought as his back softly leaned against the panel board.

Suddenly, there was silence.

With the silence, he steadied his breathing. There were only two reasons that the guards were silenced, either they failed to locate his hiding or secondly, they already identified where he hides, granting the tampered metal cover that showed scars from the blade of his hunting knife.

He anticipated the latter.