Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

   “You’re going to need to access the main server in order to look up the AI Blume is planning on replacing me with…then murder them without remorse.”

   “Bags, this wasn’t what I had in mind when I said ‘I’d do one more Op before heading home.’” Wrench panted as he skidded into the server room, out of breath from running through the darkened building non-stop.

   When Bagley had requested he’d do one more mission, Wrench had honestly thought it would be something along the lines of a data heist or car theft. But no. turns out the Dedsec AI had found out that Blume was planning on replacing him with another AI Skye Larson had lined up, and decided that there in fact ‘could be only one’.

   Great.

   “Please! You make it sound like I’m making you do something hard.” the AI huffed indignantly. “I’m simply asking you to Murder my replacement. That’s all.”

   Yep, just break into Blume tower, hijack their servers and control-alt-delete their new AI. simple. As much as Wrench hated to admit it, it was probably for the best. If this was like any of the other AI’s then it was possible that things could get really messy if they allowed it to be installed. Best to put it out of its misery before it could gain any type of power.

   “Just load me into the Main Server and I’ll drag the little bastard out. Then you can put the bullet into their Metaphorical head.” There was a slight amused hum in Bagley’s tone as Wrench made his way through the server room; glancing over his shoulder every so often to make sure he wasn’t being followed. “Or, you know, whatever method you prefer.”

   Once the main Server had been located and the punk was sure that there was no one around who could shoot him, Wrench deployed his Rootkit and hacked into the system; and started handing over access to Bagley with a few clicks of the keyboard. “Okay Bags, You’re in. Now Hurry up and do your thing so I can get out of here.” Wrench hissed, crouching low just in case the upload triggered an Albion response team.

   “Right! Let’s see who the sorry Blighter is that Blume has lined up to replace me with.” Bagley’s icon appeared on the screen, and the fans within the server tower suddenly started to kick into overdrive with every tic of the upload; giving the Dedsec AI more and more access. “An American! They're replacing me with a Bloody American! Of all the Nerve!...No Offense.” 

   Bagley went mostly quiet after that, only the odd grunt or growl of frustration. but if Wrench were to guess there was the AI equivalent to fist fight going on, based on how hot the server was getting ass Bagley attempted to wrangle in the other AI. it was almost to the point that the Punk was worried that the machine would overheat or alter trigger some sort of failsafe hidden somewhere in the system.

   “What…you think you’re so smart?” Bagley finally spoke after a long period of silence, and the AI almost sounded as if he was out of breath. “Think this is funny? Cute lil Joke on ol’ Bagley, huh? You won’t be laughing when my operative pulls your plug. You know who will be laughing though? Me, that’s who…wait. What are you doing? Don’t touch that!”

   Wrench had stopped paying attention when he realized that Bagley was simply taunting the other AI, probably not realizing the punk could hear every word of it. But the panic in the AI’s voice at the very end had been enough to draw his attention. “What’s up?” he turned to look back at the Server tower only to be knocked off his feet as the building seemed to shift around him.

   “What’s this? Temporal Relocation activating? Well that doesn’t sound good.'' 

   “Temporal Relocation?! What kind of Star Trek shit is that! The Fuck have Blume been working on!” Wrench stumbled to his feet as the building trembled once, quickly turning on his heel and started sprinting towards the door. Not wanting to get caught up in whatever was happening. 

   Screw trying to kill Bagley’s replacement at the moment. Maybe another time he would come back with a larger group and they could just purge Blume’s systems.

   But the building shifted once more, sending the hacker toppling over once more before he could make it towards the door. 

   Wrench pushed himself up and looked towards his only exit, noticing that the walls around him were starting to take on a Pink and Blue-ish glow that started to envelope everything around it; and a strange dust was starting to fall from the ceiling. 

   It seemed he was trapped on all sides, so in a last ditch effort to try and buy himself a bit more time before the glow hit him as well, Wrench pulled his back to the nearest server and pulled his knees to his chest.

   “I just wanted to go home.” The Punk mumbled into his knees, his mask reflecting his emotions. Images of Marcus and the others; would they believe things ended like this…or would they just think that he was ghosting them again? They would probably spend the rest of their lives Hating him for just disappearing once more.

   “Well Shit. So much for Killing my replacement.” and of course that was what Bagley was worried about most.

—

   Outside the building had started to draw the eyes of several passersby as the telecom tower started to glow and eerie pick and blue, the brightness growing in intensity with every second; until it was hard to look directly at.  then in a blink of an eye…the whole tower was gone without a trace.

Chapter Text

   Stars danced across Marcus’s vision for a moment before he dared open his eyes again, preparing for the fact that it was indeed an armed guard sitting across from him.

   He’d just deleted his profile from the Blume servers and installed a back door when the building had suddenly started shaking beneath his feet. Fearing a possible earthquake the Hack chooses to stop fooling around and make for the nearest exit.

   As he quickly dashed through the halls, Marcus had taken a signal moment to glance behind him only to run head first into another body. Knocking them both off their feet.

   Slowly Marcus opened his eyes and was surprised by what he saw. 

   Rather than someone dressed in the tan and red uniform on the usual armed guards that patrolled around versus areas around San Francisco, Marcus saw a man dressed mostly in leather and Spikes. Bits of pale white skin and almost white blonde hair peeked out from under the swoop neck hoodie he was wearing, and various Hacker themed tattoos littered their skin. The most striking thing though was the spiked mask that stared back at him with two glowing exclamation points displayed on it’s visor.

   Had Dedsec sent someone in to check on him?

   “There They Are!”

   Marcus was suddenly shaken from his thoughts by the sudden shouting of a pair of guards coming down the hallway towards them. The New comer seemed to notice them two, as he glanced over his own shoulder before hopping to his feet in one swift motion. Marcus watched slightly slack jawed as the leather clad man reached into a pouch on his belt and produced two metal balls both with a slightly green glow, and threw them at the approaching guards. The Balls exploded, with green gas, knocking one guard out cold and left the other coughing so hard they couldn’t see.

   As the green gas started to fill the room, without a single word said the masked man turned back towards Marcus and ran past him, leaving Dedsec newest recruit to stare as the man literally disappeared before his eyes.

   “Who-Who was that?” Marcus stared after the man for a few more moments as questions just flooded his mind.. Had he really been a member of Dedsec? If so then why didn’t they say anything? And how did they just disappear like that?

   “We…We need Back up!”

   The questions would have to wait, as Marcus wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth; he’d been given a distraction and now with reinforcements on the way, he wasn’t about to waste his chance to get away.

   “Now, I don’t want to alarm you . But I’ve gone through…well your records, and I have to say that I don’t think we’re in London anymore.” Bagley’s voice broke the silence as Reggie made his way slowly away from the telecoms tower as casually as he could, despite his heart pounding in his chest; his mask tucked safely and out of sight in the folds of his balled up vest under his arm. “And after hearing the words ‘temporal relocation’ I have to wonder if we’re even in the correct year seeing as I can’t access anything outside of your opkit. It’s like ctOS 3.0 doesn’t even exist.”

   Reggie halted in his step as he eyed the lit up form of the golden gate bridge that stretched it’s way across the harbor. “Pretty sure we’re in San Francisco, there bud..” 

   The blonde let the words hang in the air for a bit as the situation he was in was starting to sink in once more. He just didn’t have the energy to freak out any more.

    “Pretty sure the year is 2016, too. I’m think it’s around December” he continued turning to head into a nearby park so he could take a seat on a bench.

   “2016? Bloody Hell, that’s the year ctOS 2.0 was released. But what makes you think that that is the year we’re in?”

    The engineer was silent for a moment as though back to the encounter back at Blume when he had been running like a mad man through the halls trying to find an exit. He’d crashed right into someone.

    It was none other than Marcus Holloway. 

    Without getting into a bunch of nonsensical timey-wimey bullshit, it was clear that the Marcus he’d ran into was a fair younger version of the man that he had called just the other day. And seeing as how the other hacker hadn’t seemed to recognize his mask he guessed that Marcus had only just erased his ctOS profile. 

   “That guy I ran into, back at Blume…that was Marcus. Far be it a much younger one then the one I know.” Wrench started to explain, glancing around a bit to make sure no one was listening in. It was night, and the park was mostly empty. With any luck to passers by he just looked like some dude using a Bluetooth device sitting on a park bench. “Seeing as he didn’t seem to recognize my mask and call my ass out. I’m guessing he just erased his ctOS profile, meaning  he only just joined Dedsec.”

    The whole group should be there celebrating their newest member.

   “That all happened in December 2016, just before Marcus’s birthday. That’s how I know what year and month we’re in. that and it's just a little too cold for it to be anything but December in San Fran.” while to anyone else it might feel like a chilly fall, compared to London's winters, but Wrench had live here most of his life; this was just how December was here.

   “I see.” the AI hummed quietly taking in all the information before speaking again. “Well based on the data you’ve given me, I have good news, bad news and possibly upsetting news. Good News first! You’re Back Home in San Francisco! But it’s well over a decade in the past and you don’t have anywhere to stay and little to no resources at your disposal except for me and whatever you brought with you.”

   “Great” Reg sighed and leaned back into the bench. He didn’t have a whole lot of cash on him either, he had a bit of E-Cash which was a crypto coin that currently didn’t exist yet and any physical money was all in Pounds. Not exactly anything any shops would take around here.

    As for other items, he had the pistol Aiden had given him before he headed out, his cloak, two more ninja balls, Lady Smash and the multi-spider drone he had made himself. Nothing that would help him out right at this moment.

   “I would recommend finding a safehouse of sorts to stay in while we sort out how we’re supposed to get back to our own time.” Bagley advised, seemed to take things seriously for once. “Any chance your mates from this chapter of Dedsec would be willing to help?”

   “Isn’t like a big part of time-travel supposed to be a whole thing that’s like don't interfere with the past or some bullshit.” The hacker just chuckled as he looked towards the sky. “It’s what the Sci-fi movies say to do, so I’m pretty sure that’s a rule.”

   “Ah, right now the Telecom’s tower has been fused with the Blume building of this time with all the grace of a five year old sticking two Lego buildings together with bloody gum. If that isn’t already interfering with the past then I don’t know what it is. That’s totally disregarding the fact that you were seen by several guards and cameras using your cloak, as well as your buddy Marcus.”

   “Okay, Okay” Wrench raised his hands in defeat, trying not to laugh at the AI going off. Sometimes it was too easy to get Bagley worked up. “I get your point, but with any luck that stuff won’t come into play and will be written off as camera glitches and heluations caused by the gas from my ninja balls.” he tried not to laugh at that either...heh balls. “I’m just saying it’s probably not best to drop this on them as well, they're just starting the mission to take down Blume and ctOS 2.0.”

   “Perhaps we could assist. Get it done faster for them and they could then help us.”

   “We got it done without assistance from the future, they don’t need us.” While Reg was well aware of the pitfalls the group would suffer and some hard hitting tragedy that he would love to stop from happening, he honestly wasn’t sure what effect it would have and in the end some of these things would make them stronger. “Besides, the others might not recognize me without my mask on but there is someone with them that will. Me. he will recognize my face because it’s also his face.” and he would rather not make his own anxieties worse.

   "They could still provide use with much needed assistance and we might be able to avoid stop certain events from happing in the future. Like the Bloody Down Fall of Dedsec in the first place." 

   The engineer ran a hand down his face as he tried to decide how to handle things from here, Bagley clearly wasn't going to give this up unless he was given some other means. “Okay, look I think I have a plan.” he sighed. “I think I remember a few old bank hacks we used to use around this time, to make a bit of extra cash. I’ll use some of those Zero-days to get myself some cash to use and get an apartment, maybe a change of clothes, something a little more discreet. From there we can decide what to do.”

   It wasn’t the best plan, he knew this, but it was what he had at the moment and it would at least be better than being on the streets, and if he kept his mask off then he should be able to travel around the bay area without notice. 

   A synthetic sigh flittered in through his opkit as Bagley seemed to accept this idea. “Fine, seeing as I’m currently contained only to your device I have no choice in the matter. But I still think we should seek out this times Dedsec for assistance.”

   “We’ll see.”

   Unless it became completely necessary and they had no choice, Reggie wanted to remain as hands off with Dedsec as possible. The last thing he wanted was to screw up the future more than it already was.

Chapter Text

   “During a rather interesting Light Show last night, The Blume Building received a New Addiction. The New Blume seemed to Appear out of thin air. We’ve reached out to Blume’s CEOs but they have yet to make a comment.”

   The hacker group sat around the couch, just staring at the image of the tower on the TV screen. They had all been at ground Zero when that thing appeared.

   “An interesting light show is putting it mildly.” Sitara scoffed as she stared at the image of the tower as the news anchor continued to prattle on about the tower.

   “Yeah, the thing nearly blinded me when it appeared.” Wrench added, glancing over at the artist. “Just be glad you were still in the van when it happened.”

   “It wasn’t just a light show either. Across the city reports are coming in with minor damages to buildings and cars thought to be caused by a small scale earthquake.” Josh spoke up, his eyes glued not to the TV but instead the Laptop he had brought with him, his skillful fingers dancing across the keyboard as he quickly flicked through different news sites. “I don’t understand how a whole building can just…appear like that. It’s not possible.” For a quick moment he looked away from the screen to glanced up at the others. “Do you think Blume has been working on some kind of cloaking technology that we don’t know about?”

   “Not sure, But I’m thinking we should probably put that new tower on our list of things to check out.” Marcus nodded, turning his attention to Josh only for it to be drawn back to the Tv as another image flickered across it’s screen.

   “Blume’s New Tower wasn’t the only thing to appear. Cameras from within the Building caught this…”

   Marcus stared in awe as looping footage of the man he’d run to last night appeared on the screen running down the halls, stopping only to glance up at the camera before disappearing from sight.

   “Witnesses say that this masked man seemed to appear and disappear right before their very eyes, only to reappear later on. Maybe online theories have started to call him ‘The Phantom’ or ‘the Bay Area Ghost’. What do you think? Possible Dedsec hacker? Or could he possibly have some connection with the new tower. More on this story as it unfolds.”

   “Dude, that’s the guy I ran into at Blume.” Marcus announced, pointing towards the screen and looking over at Wrench. “You got a Brother or something, cause you two look a lot alike.” He’d tried to tell them all about the guy last night at the party but apparently only Josh seemed to have seen him, and had written it off as a glitch in the cameras.

   “Dude! I have no clue who that Fuck that is!” Wrench’s clear shock and distress was fully displayed on the screen of his mask if the escalation marks and tone of his converted voice were anything to go by. “That Fucker is totally ripping off my style too! Like what the Actual Fuck?!” 

   “I don’t know man, dude seemed pretty cool to me.” of course at this point the hipster was just teasing the poor punk, just to get a reaction. While it was true the two did look a lot alike, they were about the same height, same tattoos, and a very similar sense of style, there were some very clear differences he could see now. The hair was the same style but Wrench's seemed to have more ashen blonde colour to it,  while the ‘Phantom’s’ was almost completely white; he was paler then Wrench as well. 

   The masks were different as well, while clearly made with the same design in mind Wrench’s mask had a more pixelated display, And Marcus could clearly see the camera that was embedded at the top of the mask. The ‘Phantom’s’ was sleeker, with a clearer display and there was no camera the hacker had been able to see. If he had to guess he’d say Wrench’s was the clear original while the others more of an upgrade on it…far from a cheap knock off.

   That was another thing, his Tech. 

   “Dude had some pretty amazing tech. I mean I saw the guy disappear before my very eyes.” Marcus hummed, bringing a hand to his chin in thought. Being able to turn invisible whenever he wanted would make slipping in and out of places a lot easier. If Dedsec could get their hands on that kind of tech there's no telling what they could get done with it. “If we can get this Phantom on our side then we’ll be able to really get a leg up on Blume.”

   “A personal cloak would allow us to move around unnoticed.” Josh commented, looking at the TV then back to his laptop. “You really think he’d be willing to join us?”

   “All we can do is try.” the Hipster shrugged.

   “And if not, we steal his stuff.” Wrench put an arm around Marcus’s shoulders. “I think it’s fair since he clearly stole the idea for my mask.” It was an idea the Hipster had to agree with even if he’d rather not piss the guy off. They would just be borrowing it for a bit after all, and wouldn't want Prime eight to get to it first.

   “That’s all well and good. But let’s focus on one thing at a time.” Sitara smiled as she stepped in and turned her attention to Marcus and Wrench with a knowing smile on her face. “Unless you want to put off this CyderDriver mission to go Ghost Hunting?” 

   “No way!”

   Maybe online theories have started to call him ‘The Phantom’ or ‘the Bay Area Ghost’. What do you think? Possible Dedsec hacker? Or could he possibly have some connection with the new tower. More on this story as it unfolds.”

  “The Phantom…hm… you know it’s honestly not that bad, really. You Should really consider rebranding. I mean with mask, dark clothing, you’re use of the cloak and smoke bombs… And really The Phantom just sounds so much better the ‘Wrench’ wouldn’t you say. Much more Flare too. Even Bay Area Ghost is much nicer. And it shorts to B.A.G works well seeing as it’s just the two of us. Though you could shorten it to Ghost I guess…”

   Reggie let out a muffled sigh into his pillow as he continued to try and ignore both the TV and the AI’s ramblings.

   He’d only been awake for about an hour after apparently passing out with the TV on sometime in the wee hours of the morning, only waking up as the sun started to set and the sixth broadcast of the same story featuring him and Blume tower.

   He’d had a slight hope that when he woke up that he’d be back in his safe house in Brixton but no, he was in San Francisco; which was what he had wanted just not like this.

   “Are you even listening to me?!”

   “Yes, I’m listening, Bags.” Reg lied through his teeth, not taking his eyes off of his opkit device as he looked over many different news stories that continued to pop up. 

   So much for not interfering with the past. Seemed like everyone and their dog were talking about it, but then again the tower was hard to miss for anyone with eyes. It probably wouldn’t be so bad if they were just talking about the tower, turns out he was also making some headlines of his own. 

   While main scream social media talking mostly on the tower and mentioning him only in passing as the ‘Phantom’ Hacker, going a bit deeper onto some more hacker related forms showed the underworld was a buzz. Labeling him ‘Ghost’ with different theories about him, from him being a brother of the known hacker Wrench, to possibly even being a, get this, time traveler. The most conserving posts involving him were the ones involving groups deciding how best to get a hold of him or his tech. As if that wasn’t a recurring event in his life.

   “Look, I’m aware you’re worried about interfering with the past; but in all honesty with Blume tower sticking out like a sore thumb and you being caught on camera. I’d say the damage has already been done, so there is no point in hiding it anymore. Best if we just get assistance before people really start to get curious.” 

   Once more the engineer shook off Bagley’s request to seek out this time's Dedsec. He honestly didn’t want them to get involved and risk the fight against Blume. Sure the tower was hard to ignore, and Marcus had seen him up close, but so long as things remained in motion then the mission should all go as it had the first time around.

   “Good God, you're stubborn.”

   “That’s what I’m told. You’re just learning this now, after all this time?”

   “No, but before I just thought it was a good thing. You know this is how you always get in trouble, right. Avoid asking for help until it’s too late.”

   Bagley wasn’t going to give this up but then again he had been programmed to help Dedsec there for it shouldn’t be that strange that he’d want to seek them out.

   Time for another compromise. 

   “Look about this. For now we lie low. There’s a whole lot of other groups right now looking for me and my tech, a lot of them would do a lot of harm.`` The last thing he needed was Lennie and her goons getting a hold of anything he had on him. Josh had been smart to stop her from getting the nanobots, she didn’t need to get his cloak or opkit. “ And if…If Dedsec finds me on their own. Then I’ll join up and get their help with this.” It was the best Reggie was willing to offer, if Dedsec was able to find him on their own then chances were others would be arriving as well.

   He had no plans on helping them defeat Blume if they did find them, but he would guide them in the right direction if he could. Instead he’ll focus his efforts on Blume tower.

   “Alright, sounds fair enough… not like I could tip them off anyway, not with barbaric ctOS 2.0 being used in his time. How did you all live without me?”

   “Well not that that’s settled” Reggie grinned, somewhat satisfied that the AI would no longer harp on him about grouping up with Dedsec for sometime at least. “I’m going to use this opportunity to grab some Pizza from this joint down the street I know of. Been craving their shit for a while.”

   “Didn’t you just have Pizza from Food town just last week?”

   “It’s not the same Bags, you don’t get it.” Reg shook his head as he locked behind him before he started heading down the hall. “Look, if I’m going to be here then you better believe I’m going to all my favorite places.”

   “I can’t imagine any of them are good for you. Tell me have you ever consumed something that wasn’t just horrible for you”

   “Probably not.-oof”

   Reg grunted hard as for what seemed like the second time in 24 hours someone had slammed into him hard enough to knock him off his feet again. This time though he was on the stairs, and thus when his footing was lost gravity was a little more cruel as his back came hit the steps hard.

   “Oh My God I am so Sorry, Sir! Are you okay?!”

   The pain in his back and ass were quickly pushed to the back of his mind at the sound of that voice, as Reggie turned to face none other than Marcus fucking Holloway.

   “You two should really stop meeting like this.”

Chapter Text

   “I’m Marcus, by the way.” 

   The Hipster smiled at the blonde as they made their way to a local Pizza place that was only a block away from the apartment building. 

   The blonde looked at him with what Marcus could only guess was a look of uncertainty but for finally answering. It was understandable, from what he knew the guy had only just moved in and the first person he meets bowls him right over. “Reginald, but just call me Reg or Reggie.”

   “Reggie, huh?” Marcus hummed, looking over the blonde man. 

   His landlord had told him earlier that day that someone had moved in in the apartment next to him, not really giving him the man’s name. He’d hoped he would run into his new neighbor with hope of getting an idea of who exactly was living just past his walls and if it was going to be a problem. The Hipster just didn't think he would literally run into the man, let alone knock the guy half way for the first flight of stairs. 

   After apologizing three times and seeing the man limp as he got back up, the Hipster had offered to buy him a pizza from the local pizza place. He was grabbing some for the rest of Dedsec to celebrate the heist of the cyberdriver car after all.

   From what he could tell, Reggie was a fairly quiet man that was probably in his late thirties or early forties, his age showing through on a few wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes. with hair that was almost white and very light blonde hair that seemed to be short, though how it looked in the back Marcus couldn’t tell through the black hood that was pulled up over his head. Reggie didn’t seem to be the most expressive person he’d ever met but that may have been due to a lack of confidence or the thickening skin caused a large port-wine stain birthmark around his eye. 

   Other than that it was hard for Marcus to get a real beat on the guy’s personality. Heck, Wrench seemed easier to read than this guy.

   “So the landlord said you moved in sometime this morning. Did the allure of San Francisco draw you in or is rent just so high that you needed somewhere cheaper to stay” the hacker grinned as he tried to pin down a bit more information on his neighbor while trying to be as friendly as he could be. He couldn’t really pin down any kind of accent in the man’s quiet voice, making him unsure if the man was already from here or if he might have been from out of state.

   Once more Reg turned his head to look at him, light blue eyes looking straight into his soul and for a brief moment he thought he saw the older man smile. For a moment he wondered if the Blonde knew what he was up to and was already several steps ahead. “Nah. I used to live here years ago, but I had to move to London for work. Been kind of homesick ever since so I’m just moving back now. needed somewhere cheap to stay.”

   “Oh yeah? What do you do?” 

   “Robotics Engineer.” 

   It was probably the quick and confident way that Reggie had said it that caught Marcus so off guard. But before he could ask anymore he saw the blonde stop and noticed that they had arrived at their destination. 

   Marcus glanced into the door seeing that there was a bit of a line waiting for him on the other side, it would be a little awkward to continue their conversation while waiting in line. He looked back at the blonde and tried to smile once more. “I’ll be back in a bit, if you want to wait out here.” 

   “Yep.”

   The Hipster gave a quick nod before turning and heading into the restaurant.

   While being separated from the older man meant that their conversation was now at an end, it did allow him to grab his phone from his pocket and use the ctOS profile Dedsec had given him access to. He hadn’t really planned on using it on the other man, at least not so soon and not without reason but there had been something about the guy’s answers to his questions and demeanor that bothered him.

   It wasn’t that Marcus didn’t believe him, far from it. He could believe that Reggie was in fact a Robotics engineer, but there were only so many places around the city someone with that profession could be employed and most of them were in contract with Blume. If he had someone in contract with Blume living next to him then that was a threat he wanted to know about before it became a problem.

   “He’s attempting to use a profiler on you…dear god, it’s a cute little thing. Look at it go. Trying to find your information on the ctOS records.`` The AI chuckled as he alerted Reggie of the intrusion Retro was trying to cause. “ What would you like to do about this? Would you like me to wipe up a little profile for you based on the information you’ve already given him? It would provide a nice little cover from the ctOS and I could always scrap it if we need.”

  “Hah…common Marky Mark, being a Robotics engineer isn’t that strange.” the Blonde chuckled slightly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.

   He should have figured that Marcus might try to profile him, hell the guy had been trying since they left the apartment building. If it had been just about anyone else he might have thought they were just being nice, but he knew Marcus too well. The Hipster had turned the charm up to ten and had focused on what he’d been doing. If he was just being nice, Marcus would have asked more about London.

   “Yeah, give him a fake profile, Bags. it’ll give him and the ctOS something to chew on. Give them my first name, age and state that I’m a freelancer. With any luck that’ll keep anyone from Dedsec from snooping around us thinking I’m working for Tidus or some shit.” Reggie spoke, doing his best to keep his voice as low as possible as he watched Marcus go to work on his phone, smiling only slightly. If this had been the Marcus from his time no false profile would have stopped him from getting to the truth, and there was a chance the false profile won’t fool this Marcus either.

   It was a trait that Reggie loved about the other man…it was also a trait that could really get him in trouble if the hipster kept digging into his history. 

  “Alright, profile has been made and sent to both the lovely Marcus and to Blume’s servers, you are now a somewhat registered citizen. Now are you going to ask the lad out or just keep gawking at him while he’s not looking like some anime school girl protagonist.”

   The engineer suddenly felt his face go red from the AI’s words and he quickly turned away from the door completely. “I’m not gawking.” he hissed back, turning his eyes to look down at the ground. 

   “Oh, and what were you doing then?”

   “I was just… Look I’ve had a thing for Marcus for a long time…My Marcus. He’s also kind of My best friend. I haven't seen him in years.” Reggie spoke through gritted teeth trying not to completely lose his cool, or look like he had completely lost his mind. “Sorry if I’m having a rare sentimental moment.”

   “Oh, is that why you are still refusing to request help from Dedsec? Even though I totally won our little agreement. He found you on his own, therefore you agreed to join.”

   Reg left out a harsh sigh and rubbed at his temples to try and relieve some of the stress he was feeling. God he really hated this AI sometimes. “One, he ran into me by accident. Two, he has no idea I’m the ‘Ghost’ from the News. And three, you don’t win agreements, Bagley.”

   “Says someone who clearly never won one.”

   “Shut Up Bags.” 

   “Hey, sorry that took so long.” Reggie nearly jumped out of his skin when Marcus jumped into his field of view, holding several pizza boxes. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle yeah” the hipster let out an awkward laugh, passing him the box on the top of the pile and glancing around the area. “Forgot to ask what you wanted, hope pepperoni’s good. Also, who were you talking to?”

   shit.

   “Oh! I look forward to seeing how you get out of this one?”

   “Sorry, I was just on call with an old coworker I had back in London.” Reggie did his best to try to seem relaxed as he pulled his hoodie back just enough for Marcus to make out the glow of his Opkit, hoping that it looked enough like a Bluetooth to make up for the fact he looked like he was talking to air. “Dudes a bit of Twat. as they say over there.”

   “Excuse me!”

   “Anyway.” Reg tried to ignore Bagley once more. “Didn’t you say you were meeting up with your friends. I mean thanks for offering to buy me food, but I don't want to keep you from them any longer” he really hoped he didn’t seem like he was shooing the other man away.

   “Yeah, but…” Marcus looked him up and down again “You sure you’re going to be able to make it back to the apartment okay? I mean you still gotta pretty back limp there.”

   “Trust me that Limp has been there way longer than I’ve known you.” The engineer did his best to just laugh the question off. It was true, he’d been limping around long before he’d known Marcus. 

   “If you're sure.”

   Marcus watched the older man limp away for a few more moments before he pulled his phone out from his pocket, balancing the food in one hand as he looked back towards the profile that had come up.

   Reginald [redacted]

   41
   Freelance Robotics engineer
   Income: [redacted]

   It contained no more information than what his new neighbor had already given him, not to mention the thing seemed like it had been done quickly by someone who wasn’t familiar with ctOS. While the amount of redacted information was worrying it didn’t stick to Blumes handle work.

   It wasn’t impossible that the engineer knew how to keep himself hidden from preying eyes.

   So far Reggie seemed like a nice guy, weird…but nice. So for now he would leave things be.

   Dedsec had big fish to fry.

Chapter Text

   Marcus coughed hard into his arm as he tried his hardest to escape the drone that was slowly chasing him down; demanding that he cease his protest all the while launching tear gas at him.

   Perhaps coming down here had been.

   It had been a week since the tower and the Ghost hacker appeared from thin air, and Sitara had figured it was about time they learned a little bit more about the tower and what was inside.it was that or they would try to track down the Ghost. And since the masked hacker had disappeared without any trace, they had figured this would have been easier.

   It was only supposed to be a quick trip, he wasn’t actually supposed to enter the building, just hook into the nearest ctOS hub and have a look around through the cameras. Only for some reason the cameras from the main Blume Building did not connect to those in the tower. So he had been forced to go inside.

   It had been like something out of Star Trek or Star Wars. like he had stepped right into the future the moment he walked through those doors. 

   The red laser grid doors, the metallic walls, and holo-grams floating just off of walls. 

   Then there had been the elevator leading down into a lower area.

   It had been darker there, but no less futuristic in it’s design. Causing the hacker to ask himself just what Blume was working on down here. 

   It had happened when Marcus tried to jack into one of the servers. An error had come up on his screen warning him that his device was out of date and therefore was incompatible. Then an alert had gone off through the tower, a voice warning about an unauthorized attempt at the system.

   At first nothing had come of the alert. If the guards in the main building heard it at all they either didn’t know how to get to where he was or just didn’t care. And soon the alert died down.

   All was quiet…but Marcus didn’t dare to move for several more moments.

   In truth he heard the Drone before he saw the damn thing. There had been a slight whirring sound as it’s motors started up, and then a metallic clicking noise.

   “A DISTURBANCE HAS BEEN DETECTED! SCANNING THE AREA!” A demanding voice blared from the machine as it rose into the air. A harsh light beaming from it’s front as it moved. And it wasn’t long before the beam fell on him. 

   For a hot minute Marcus just stood there staring at the thing, it had to be one of the biggest drones he had ever seen and it appeared to be completely automated. It made the drone Wrench had made for him look like a paper airplane.

   “YOU ARE IN A RESTRICTED AREA! SURRENDER TO ALBION FORCES AT ONCE! FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH RESULT IN IMMEDIATE TERMINATION!”  The drone blared it’s warning out. 

   Of course the hacker didn’t comply, surrendering to anything was just against his morals and secondly he had knew clue what Albion even was. But as if sensing the hipster’s defines of it’s orders, the drone made a few clicking noises; and in the darkness of the room Marcus could make out the barrel of a gun poking out of the front of the drone.

   Marcus took off running as fast as his legs could carry him, herding what sounded like shotgun shells hitting the floor right where he had been standing.

   “PURSUING THE TARGET!” 

   “DEPLOYING TEARS GAS CANISTERS!” 

   The drone was dogged as it chased the hacker down, enough tear gas to make even an elephant dizzy as it flew.

   Marcus' eyes burned from the gas and his gator did little to protect his nose and lungs from the effects of the gas as he ran, and soon the room started to swim around him.

   The elevator he’d taken to get down here had to be close by, but every step he took seemed to drag on and the drone was very quickly gaining on him; unbothered by its own toxic fumes.

   huh…Wrench probably would have loved that one.

   A tingling fear slowly crawled up his spine as he came to the realization that he just might die down here and no one would know to come look for him. He’d lost contact with the rest of Dedsec not that long ago. And even if they came looking for him, chances where they would suffer the same fate.

   He heard the Drone arm it’s shotgun once more and dread washed through him like a crashing wave.

   Then something crashed into him hard, knocking him to the cold tile floor; and knocking him away from the line of fire as well as knocking his hat right off his head. Something was then pulled over his face, pressing his glasses uncomfortably close to his eyes but at the same time Marcus felt that it was a little easier to breathe.

   Carefully he opened his eyes, which still burned from the gas and found himself looking at someone through a screen in front of his face. The person was kneeling next to him, looking down but he could make out very little detail thanks to his blurred vision; only a mop of blonde hair and a red spot on his face.

   “Marcus!” his rescuer coughed hard into his arm, as he looked down at the hacker. Their voice was familiar but Retr0 had a hard time placing it at this moment. “Make a run for…*cough*  the elevator while I distract the drone. Go!”

   The other gave him little room for argument and soon Marcus heard the sound of gun shots striking hard against the metal shell of the drone. 

   Now able to better breath Marcus got himself back to his feet and headed towards the elevator.

   “A noble gesture I’m sure, but I’d like to point out that you’ve left yourself completely exposed to this Riot Drone’s tear gas.”

   “I can manage.” Reg coughed hard as he fired at the drone with the pistol he stole from one of the guards up stairs at the drone, drawing it’s attention towards him.

   It had been by pure chance that he and Marcus had both headed to the tower on the same night, and it was a good thing too otherwise the hipster might have been erased from the timeline completely.

   Reggie had come broken into the tower after rumors of The Ghost had died down, with his main goal being to make sure Blume didn’t end up opening it’s Christmas presents early. Possible risking gaining access to ctOS 3.0 or worse some form of Albion drone. And now he was kicking himself for not considering Dedsec possibly interested in the tower as well. 

   He’d been trying to access the servers again, wondering if maybe he could send himself and the tower back to his own time; when he had heard the alert go off. His first reaction had been to brace himself for a heavy Albion response, worrying that he or Bagley might have tripped the alarm. But when no troops stormed the area, he almost managed to relax.

   That's when he heard it. 

   Riot Drone.

   Riot Drones were probably one of the Worst things ever made and Reg had a feeling that they would forever haunt him in his sleep. They had been a lot worse before he had the ability to hack into them, but the trick was always to find them before they found you. So when he had heard one that was just starting up, he went out carefully looking for it. 

   It was just a shame it had found Marcus first. 

   Marcus had run and of course the drone had followed him as he Drone shot canisters of Tear Gas, a weapon intended to be used against protesters in large crowds, and soon the room had filled with gas. As the Hipster started to slow down from lack of breathable air the Drone took it’s chance…

   And so did Reggie.

   Reg wasn’t as affected by the gas as Marcus was, it wasn’t completely blocked out but he had changed the fillers of his mask recently and his eyes were covered by the visor of his mask. He used this to his advantage as he tackled Retr0 to the ground and out of the line of fire.

   Deactivating the Drone to buy himself a bit more time, he quickly knocked Marcus’s hat from his head, pulled his Mask off and pulled it on over the Hipster’s face; ordering the other Hacker to flee while he got rid of the drone.

   Marcus complied and ran off towards the elevator, while Reg pulled his newly acquired pistol and took a few pot shots at the machine as it slowly started to turn back on.

   “Your No Aiden Pierce, Reg and even if you were your aim would still be off because of the Gas. you need to cheese it while you still can. Run to the Elevator with Marcus before the Damn thing Fully comes online!” Bagley basically screamed into his ear, the calm tone he seemed to have been programmed with seeming to override with sheer panic.

   “You sound..*cough* worried there Bags? Don’t tell me you’re…*cough* *cough*… Worried about me.”  Reg tried to smile, coughing hard as the drone came fully online and sung towards him; arming it’s automatic shotgun.

   “Of course I’m Bloody Worried, I’m Bloody stuck to you in another Bloody time! If you die I’m Stuck here with nothing but Boring ass drones to talk to!”

   “ELIMINATING TARGET!”

   That might have gotten a laugh out of the hacker if he wasn’t at all dealing with an angry drone that wanted him dead.

   But Bagley was right, he was no Gun Slinger and while he had been working with Aiden to improve his aim and confidence with a pistol; burning in his eyes was massively hindering him and leaving him missing his AK with his chaos causing hack rounds. 

   But Still Reg could see he was making some progress, seeing smoke starting to rise from the Drone as it started to drift a little bit; and a few more pulls of the Trigger and the drone finally crashed to the floor.

   Reggie huffed a bit as he was heavily out of breath, watching the drone as it laid a few feet in front of him; half expecting it to rise into the air once more. When he was sure the drone was ‘Dead’ he dropped the gun to the floor and allowed himself a moment to relax.

   Slowly he turned around to face the elevator, glad to see that Marcus had gotten away mostly unscathed…that had been way too close for comfort, for both of them.

   “Now that that’s out of the way, we should look at getting out of here. Unless you want to stick around and see if another Bloody Drone comes?”

   “Violence against Albion Drones is a Criminal offense!” 

   The icy cold robotic voice cut through him like a knife through warm butter, but not as quickly as the armor piercing rounds that ripped into his body.

   Slowly Reggie turned his head, as blood started to drip down his chin.

   There hovering in the air where the Riot Drone had been, was An Anti-Terrorist Drone.

   The Drone hovered there, watching the hacker that stared up at it, reloading it’s rounds as if to take aim again; yet didn’t Fire.

   There it was…same fear….and yet different… 

   Upon seeing the Drone was not attacking him, the Hacker disappeared from sight; no doubt using that cloak he was so fond of. 

   //Speak// inquiry:  “You didn’t Kill him” :endinquiry//

   The drone could have easily traced the hacker’s footsteps, through heat, or even by the blood trail.

   //Speak// reply: “No” :endreply//

  //Speak// inquiry: “Why not?” endinquiry // statement: “Didn’t you say he tried to stop you” :endstatment//

 //Speak// reply: “Yes, but” pause / resume “He is family after all. Just wanted to scare him a little bit.” :end reply//

   Wrench glanced worriedly over at Marcus as he drove to the hipster’s apartment so the man could wash up after having nearly been choked to death on tear gas.

   After they had lost contact with Marcus, Sitara had sent Wrench to go check up on their newest member, fearing the man had gone dark. By the time he had gotten there in his beat up old pickup truck, Marcus had come stumbling out of the Blume building, coughing and hacking in a mask that was scarily similar to his own. 

   Scared shitless of what might have happened, Wrench had run over to the other hacker, ripped the mask from his face and guided the man back to the truck.

   “It was him, Wrench…” the Punk quickly looked towards his passenger, it had been the first thing Marcus had said since he had come stumbling out. “The Ghost.”

Chapter Text

   He had to keep moving, that’s what he kept telling himself.

   Just keep moving, one foot in front of the other.

   But the blood was seeping through his fingers with every step he took, and his mind was starting to get fuzzy.

   He just needed to make it back to his apartment, and he could patch himself up. He had a first aid kit somewhere in there. 

   But why did there have to be so many stairs? Reg was really starting to regret having an apartment on the top floor.

   Just gotta keep moving…it’s not the first time he’d been shot and with his track record it wouldn’t be the last.

  “You're losing blood at a rather alarming rate.” Bagley’s voice cut into his foggy brain. “A trip to the emergency room might not be a bad idea. If only to just get patched up.”

   Reggie shook his head before groaning as he body pitched forwards, lucky he caught himself with his other hand; sadly it left behind a bloody handprint.

   “Can’t… can’t risk them… calling the police.” and there was a chance they would if only to file a report.

  “At least knock on one of these doors and get some bloody help! What about that Marcus fellow? You did save him from that drone! Now is not the time to be Stubborn!”

   He managed to reach the top of the stairs, and his eyes intently went to Marcus’s door. Marcus…Bags was right, Marcus was always willing to help him. No matter what. Even when he ghosted him Marcus still tried to reconnect. Just like how he would do anything for Marcus…it was how they were…

   “Marcus...”

   Suddenly his body pitched forward and he didn’t have the energy to stop the fall. 

   If he made any sound as he hit the ground he didn’t hear it.

   “No no no no no no no no no!”

   If he broke anything in the landing, he didn’t feel it.

   “Now is not the time for a quick nap! Get the fuck up!”

   All he could feel was the cold floor underneath him, as the world slowly started to go numb and dark.

  “REGGIE!”

   They had been talking about all that had transpired back at the tower and the mask that had been left behind by the ‘Ghost’ when they heard it. 

   A loud thump right outside Marcus’s door, as if someone had just dropped something heavy to the floor. Whatever it was, it had gotten their attention.

   “The hell..” slowly, Marcus made his way to the door and Wrench was right behind him encase this was something hostile. “Maybe it’s just my neighbors bouncing around.” the hipster gave an awkward chuckle not really seeming convinced by his own words.

   Slowly he reached out and turned the handle to the door and pulled it open.

   The body in front of them lying on their stomach and a puddle of blood forming underneath. They were clad from head to toe in black, with the only sign of colour being the red glowing loop on their back and the white writing on the cropped leather vest; their head hidden only by a hoodie.

   “It looks like the Ghost.” The hipster instantly recognized the clothing from the first time he saw the other hacker, there was no mistaking what he saw. Within seconds both hackers were at its side, Marcus kneeling down and checking for a pulse. “He’s still alive.” he quickly stood up, grabbing the person and hauling them up. “Help me get him inside.”

   For a moment Wrench hesitated, But still he stepped up and hooked the man’s other arm around his own shoulders and helped Marcus pull him into the apartment.

   “Here, help me move him onto the table.” The hipster pulled them towards the small Kitchen, only letting go to quickly clear the empty cups from the table’s surface; allowing Wrench to lie the man on his back. Finally Marcus turned to try a good look at the man they’d picked up off the ground. “Looks like my Neighbor.”

   “Your Neighbor…” the punk repeated the words with pure confusion. 

   “Yeah, Reggie. He moved in about a week ago.” Marcus explained doing his best to pull the vest off, and feeling how wet the sweatshirt underneath was. “I’m going to go get the first aid kit from the bathroom, you try and find that wound and put some pressure on it.” The punk gave a quick nod and the Hipster turned and started heading towards the bathroom.

   So Reggie had been the Ghost all along, Marcus shook his head, he really should have put two and two together. Reggie had moved in basically the same day the tower and the Ghost had appeared, he was able to keep himself hidden from profilers, and had the same hair and build as the Ghost. He honestly felt foolish for not seeing it earlier, maybe then he could have convinced the Ghost to join up with them.

   “I guess the only good thing that came out of all this” The hipster called out a slight smile on his face as he headed back to the kitchen with the first aid kit in hand. “Is we managed to catch a Ghost.” 

   To his surprise Wrench didn’t laugh along with him, not even a pity chuckle. Instead Wrench was strangely quiet, and his mask was hauntingly blank as if the mask was having a hard time figuring out the expression it should display. “Marcus.” The punk’s filtered voice was quiet, not his normal high pitched tone. “I think the only one we caught …was me.”

   Sitara and Josh had made it to the apartment in record time when Marcus had called them and taken over the first aid work. Meanwhile Wrench had taken to the couch, refusing to look over at the table as he tried to wrap his mind around what was happening.

   Admittedly he broke down just a bit…okay A lot.

   How could he not? There was a guy lying on Marcus’s kitchen table, with his face, all of his tattoos; heck he even had Wrench tattooed to his stomach in the exact same place the Punk did.

   The only difference between them seemed to be age. 

   This guy either knew him better than anyone else ever should or…

   The guy on the table was somehow an older version of him.

   It was impossible and yet there he was. Wrench had no explanation for it and it was freaking him out to no end.

   Worse, the guy’s face was completely exposed and at the same time so was his own. The mask that belonged to the Ghost was actually his…just more advanced. It explained a lot, the Ghost wasn’t copying him if this was all true.

   “You okay?”

   Slowly Wrench looked over at Marcus as the hipster came around the couch to sit next to him.

   “Define, Okay.” the punk muttered, bringing his knees up to his chin and feeling everything but okay.

   “Fair enough.” the hipster shrugged and glanced over his shoulder before looking at the anarchist once more, finally asking the question that was probably on everyone's mind. “So you really think that guy is you?”

   Wrench just shrugged his shoulders and hugged his knees tighter. He didn’t want to answer that question, he didn’t want to admit that that man was either him or some stalker trying to frame him for something.

   “Yeah I get it.” Marcus didn’t push, seeing to understand his plight in some way. “I mean I don’t know how I would feel if I ran into someone who could possibly be my future self.” the hipster glanced over at him before turning his eyes to the ceiling. “I mean either you have to subscribe to some really crazy sci-fi bs you only see in movies or it means there is someone out there just a little too into you…and I really don’t know what’s scarier.”

   Slowly Wrench started to unravel himself as the hipster spoke, finding some comfort in the fact that his best friend understood. “Yeah.”

   “In the end he saved my life back there.” Marcus smiled and looked over at Wrench, placing his hand on the punk’s shoulder. “So if he is you, then I don’t think you will turn out half bad in the future.”

   “Yeah, but if he is me, then why is he back here?” Wrench sighed, shaking his head but still not daring to look back at the table. Instead he turned his attention to Marcus. “What if this means…we lose.”

   “I don’t know about that.” the Hipster shook his head, a smile still playing on his lips. “If we lost in his time then I’d imagine he would have come to find us. Reggie kind of kept his distance.” His grin began to get more confident as he spoke. “I bet it means we win, and he kept his distance so as not to interfere. Like those time-traveling episodes in Star trek.”

   “I don’t know what's more interesting, the fact that either someone is imitating Wrench, that we possibly have a time-traveler among us, or that Wrench manages to live past 30.” Sitara interrupted as she walked over towards the two boy’s on the couch, drying her hands after washing the blood off of them. “I’ve done about all I can, don’t think he’s gonna Bleed out any more.” She took a seat on the arm of the couch, looking over at the two hackers; her lips drawn into a deep frown. “I figure we should take him back to the hackspace, let him rest in a safer place.”

   “You really think that’s a good idea?” Wrench looked up at the street artist, his voice still quiet and his mask displaying two slanted lines.  

   “Well I was thinking it would be for the best.” Sitara gave a slight shrug. “If he is you, then the hackspace might feel a little like home. Plus we’ll be able to check up on him and get him to the hospital if he starts to go south again.” then a devilish grin started to spread across her face. “That and he won’t be able to easily sneak off without our notice, so he’ll have to answer a few of our questions.”

   “What about his cloak?” Marcus asked, a slight bit of concern on his face. 

   “I’ve got Josh stripping him of any tech he might have on him. Unless that cloak is woven into his skin he’s not getting away.” the Artist explained. “Don’t worry we’re not holding him hostage, I just want to try and get some answers from him after all this.” she added, clearly sensing the hipster’s concern. “And if he really is the future version of our Wrench, then I’d rather have him with us then bleeding out in some alleyway.” She Wrench a playful look. “Sorry Wrench, but I know you too well.”

   “Yeah whatever.” 

   “Now the two of you come help move Future Wrench into the back of the car.”

   “Can we Not call him that!”

Chapter Text

It was a slow and painful struggle, but Bagley was determined to make it work. If only so he could check in on his operative.

It had been two very long hours since Wrench had gone dark, all of his gear removed from him excluding his Optik which allowed Bagley to monitor his vitals. But with that connection lost, he was now completely blind to the world around him, unable to provide help.

He would blame an old piece of programming for the panic he felt when Reginald first passed out. But nothing could compare to what the AI felt when he was suddenly disconnected from his only operative. 

Bagley had lost people before, members of London's old and current Dedsec who got in over their heads and met a bad end. Sometimes the operative would be mortally wounded and help wouldn't arrive on time, during those times he’d isolated a part of himself to that person's Optik and speak to them until they took their last breath before removing himself and marking the fallen operative as dead. It was never easy but Bagley managed by keeping a stiff upper lip and ensuring the operative died for nothing.

But this thought had been different.

Reginald had been there, his vitals weakening with every passing second, as he bled out on the stairs. Then a moment later he was gone like he just disappeared and Bagley was alone in the dark.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. 

Someone had disconnected Reginald's Optik. 

That was both worrying and frustrating at the same bloody time. 

But he did recall hearing that Marcus lad that Reggie was always on about before he was disconnected, so that meant his Operative was at least in safe hands.

At least he hoped so.

Bagley's only bit of relief came when something was connected to Reggie's phone, with an attempt at interfacing with it. The connection had the ctOS 2.0 signature on it, making its coding nearly ancient compared to Bagley’s own but it was at least something he could work with. 

It was prolonged work, like translating ancient writings found in some old human tomb, but Bagley was making progress. Slowly letting the connection in and translating it onto something he could use, giving himself access, bit by bit to the connecting device. 

Getting past the firewall had been a bit of a hassle but soon his efforts started to bear fruit, as he could hear voices as he was granted access to the mic.

"Any luck Josh?"

"There seems to be a slight compatibility problem but it seems to be connecting anyway."

It only took a sparing glance at Reggie's Optik data for the AI to identify at least one of the voices to be Josh Sauchak or Hawt Sauce, one of the members of the San Francisco Dedsec that Reggie frequently called when he was off duty. The two mostly just bounced engineering ideas off of each other.

There was no record of the other voice, so Bagley was forced to assume that it was another member of this Dedsec cell.

"Compatibility issues? You saying that the guy with the cloak is running around with outdated tech?"

"No, judging by the coding I'm willing to go as far as to say that it's our stuff that is out of date. At least compared to this. Here look." There was a pause and Bagley felt the connection get jostled a little but it wasn't removed. "What does it look like?"

"A clear piece of plastic with a camera in it."

Bagley managed to make a bit more progress and suddenly accessed the computer's camera, giving the AI an eye into where he was.

He first noticed that this wasn't the hall of that dingy apartment building Reggie had passed out in, but rather some sort of Dedsec safe house. So that was already good news as far as Bagley was concerned.

"Yeah, but I think there's more to it than that." Bagley watched as the hacker in the green hoodie reached out of sight to grab something before pulling his arm back. In the palm of his hand was a small device, no more significant than the very end of a human finger. 

Reggie's Optik.

"I pulled this from the side of the Ghost's face. I believe it somehow allows the user to see what is on the other device."

“Good to know you're the reason I lost contact with my Operative. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind for later”

The two hackers seemed to jump in surprise and even Bagley was shocked when he heard his voice broadcast over the speakers. All eyes were suddenly on the computer and Bagley fumbled slightly as he tried to think of something to say to try and gain some kind of control now that he was able to interact with the situation. 

“Well, are you going to return that device to where you found it, or just continue to sit there with your mouths hanging open with the hopes of catching flies?” That will show them, Bagley, Jolly good.

The two hackers gave each other what Bagley could only describe as a worried look before the one in the green hoodie quickly reached for something the AI couldn't see.

Oh, the connector cord!

"Now, hold on. No need to be pulling cords out all willy-nilly. Surely we can talk this out, like civilized folk." 

The two hackers paused, their eyes glued to the screen for a total of 30 whole seconds before they looked at each other once more.

"Okay, you wanna talk, we're cool with that." The hacker in the black Dedsec hoodie spoke first, looking away from his compatriot. "How about we start with a little interdiction?"

"Alright, I suppose that's fair. I'm Bagley."

"How are you accessing our systems?" The one in the green hoodie, Josh, cut in quickly, staring intently at the screen.

" Oh, you're not even going to give me your names after asking for mine, rude."

"Alright, you caught us. I'm Ratio and this is Hawt Sauce." Ratio smiled and held his hands up in defence, though Bagley did note that these weren't names but handles. 

That was good. 

"Pleasure."

"How did you gain access to our systems?" ‘Hawt Sauce’ pushed again, eyes staring daggers at the screen, his hand still outstretched to the side ready to pull the plug at a moment's notice.

“To be fair, you tried to access my systems first…well my Operative’s systems…I simply let you in and went through your open door. Just had to translate the ancient bloody scripture you are currently using for an operating system.” This wasn’t getting him anywhere as he still had no clue about Reggie’s condition, and he could almost see more questions forming in the minds of the two hackers. 

Maybe it was time to change tactics. 

“Look, I know you want to know all the details, and I am more than willing to spill all the love information right onto your laps, but on one condition…you prove to me that my Operative is safe and being taken care of.”

Josh glanced up at Ratio once more but this time the other hacker didn’t look back, instead, Ratio just looked at the screen, he forced happiness he pull into his smile seemed to slip away into something Bagley could read as more genuine, with a hint of understanding.

“Yeah no problem, man.” the hacker in the black hoodie nodded, backing away from Josh’s chair and in turn Hawt Sauce pushed away a bit as well, giving Bagley a good view of the inside of the hackspace. It took a few seconds, as Bagley used the computer’s webcam to look around the space as there was so much to see, but eventually, he was able to spot him.

Reginald was lying on a couch away from the workstation, eyes shut and head tilted to the side, and well Reggie had always been pale; his parlour had become a rather unhealthy shade.

“I told him to get help, bastard’s too stubborn for his own good.”

“He was in pretty bad shape when Marcus and Wrench got to him. Lost a lotta blood.” Ratio explained off-screen. "Sitara managed to get him stable enough to bring here, now we're just keeping an eye on him."

From this distance, Bagley couldn't tell just how bad Reggie's condition was or even estimated his recovery time. He just had to trust that these people would take care of his Operative.

"Right, thank you. Now I believe I owe you an explanation…

The AI took a synthetic breath to try and calm his haywire programming.

"As I said, I am Bagley, an AI designed to assist and coordinate Dedsec Operations in London."

"So you're an AI?" Josh's head popped back into view, eyes wide with excitement. "But you come off so… human. I mean you even bartered to see the Ghost. That could only mean that you're completely self-aware."

"Dedsec London has been holding out on the rest of us." Ratio added leaning into view once more.

"Yes, well one could say that my creator had a very… unique way of creating AI." If the use of living humans' brains could be called unique.

"Wait…is that guy your creator?" Ratio pointed back towards the hackspace, towards Wrench he was guessing since currently, it seemed the three of them were the only ones in at the moment. "Is that why you're connected to his device?"

Speaking of which, Bagley noticed the sound of a door sliding open and closed.

"Oh God no! Reginald may be smarter than most give him credit for but he is far from creating anything like me." Then again Reg might have been the closest one to being able to do so, but seen as the only people who'd done so we're both very dead. 

Even then one had only altered his code, while the other had technically cheated.

"No, normally I run on a much larger server base, though I am able to separate parts of myself to different Optiks to better communicate with operatives during missions. That is why I'm trapped in that little device right there, or at least this part of me is."

"So, you and the Ghost were running a Dedsec op before coming here?"

The AI could just make out the sound of three sets of footsteps making their way down a set of stairs he couldn’t see.

"Yes, then Blume tower pulled a bit of a fast one on us. Turns out, they've been working on more than we thought they were."

"Yeah, no kidding. Hate to tell ya Toto but you ain't in Jolly old London anymore."

"It's Bagley, and yes I am aware of the relocation."

"And while we're at it. Can we just rewind a bit? Cause I think we glossed over something."

"Hm?"

"That guy over there," the hacker in the black hoodie smiled as he pointed back towards the couch. "His name is actually Reginald?"

"I believe I already confirmed that."

"Yo! Who are you guys talking to?" A new voice joined the fray, one Bagley intently recognized from Reg's encounters over the past week.

Both Josh and Ratio turned to look behind them, giving Bagley a clear view of Marcus Holloway walking towards the desk with two other people following behind him carrying bags. One of them the AI recognized immediately.

Black hoodie, blonde hair, spiked vest, and that unmistakable mask, though not as high resolution as the one Bagley was used to seeing. He even walked with a limp as he followed Marcus, making sure to avoid looking at the couch as much as possible.

"Marcus, you won't believe what we found." Josh practically gushed as he turned completely in his chair. 

"I don't know we found some crazy shit in his apartment," Marcus replied with a laugh. 

"As crazy as a self-aware AI."

"Wait, What?"

As he set the bags down on the floor, Bagley quickly spotted Reggie's hammer sticking out of the top, leaning slightly as gravity pulled it closer and closer to the ground.

Perhaps a Warning was in order. "You'd do well to make sure that the head of that Sledgehammer doesn't touch the floor."

"Holy shit!" A young woman strode forward, marching past Marcus and the younger Wrench, looking at the monitor. "I thought you guys were talking to one of the other members."

“I know right, Me and Josh honestly thought we were talking to a real person that somehow hacked into our systems. Turns out this guy has some crazy AI attached to his devices.”

“It bartered, asked questions back, and got annoyed, in all honestly I think It could pass the Turing Test if it hasn’t already.”

Bagley could only watch through the webcam as the Good Lady Smash started to gain speed in her descent toward the floor, while everyone else in the room seemed to be too busy gushing.

“Yes, Yes. I’m very interesting, now the Hammer-”

“And get this…it’s programmed to help Dedsec.”

“Wait, this Guy is Dedsec?”

“I knew it!” Marcus seemed to be taking much enjoyment in that fact.

“What Dedsec cell has a self-aware AI?”

“Apparently the London cell does.” 

“He’s British?”

Lady Smash continued her descent, and Bagley stopped paying any attention to the hackers in the room as he looked around the hackspace, looking at all the tech that was about to go offline.

“He didn’t sound British when I was talking to him before? He did say he’d been in London recently. Said he was there on business.”

“I didn’t even know there was a Cell outside of the states.”

Of course, he would be just fine, as Wrench’s gear…or more appropriately in this case…his Wrench’s Gear, was protected against the effects of the Hammer’s mass hacking qualities.

Their own Main Base in London wasn’t even immune to its attacks. There were numerous times Wrench accidentally dropped it in or around the main hideout, causing blackouts, cars to go haywire, and devices to screen out feedback. A few operatives had even been up in the hospital cause they had been too close.

This place didn’t stand a chance.

“But none of that explains why he looks like-”

“Well, it’s been a pleasure talking to you all. But you are all about to have a bigger problem on your hands. Enjoy the Choas.”

And just like that, he was disconnected, as the Hammer finally hit the floor.

Marcus groaned as he picked himself up off the floor, having been thrown to the ground by a flash of green.

Looking around he saw the lights were out, computers were down, and the rest of Dedsec was in similar states as he was. Sitara was holding her head as Horatio rubbed at his back, the two of them having been thrown forward. Josh was grunting hard as he pushed his chair back after it had been pushed forward by the blast, his computer screen completely blank. And Wrench was pulling himself up from beside Marcus, his hand on his mask as it seemed to be struggling to calibrate.

“Everyone Okay?” Horatio was the first to speak up as he started to get back up.

“Yeah, I think so,” Sitara answered, holding her head. “What the heck happened?”

“Did Bagley… um…the AI do that?” Josh asked, rubbing at his chest.

Marcus just shook his head, forcing himself back to his feet. “Don’t think so. Seemed more like he was trying to warn us about something.” he sighed, offering a hand to Wrench, who gladly accepted once his mask came back online. “Guess we were too busy gushing over all that tech we found to pay attention.” he tried to laugh it off as he pulled punk back to his feet.

“Well, whatever it was, it knocked out power to the Hackspace. Even the servers are down.” Josh added, walking over slowly to join them. “It’ll be a while before they come back up.”

“Great, So What? We just sit on our hands until our systems come back up?” Sitara huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“The servers in my Garage should still be up.” Wrench offered, his voice changer sounding slightly off as he spoke. “Besides, we still have the Cyberdriver car to work on.”

“Sounds like a plan. We can check back here later, see if the powers back.” Marcus nodded, looking over at the others to see if they agreed.

“Not like we have much of a choice.” Sitara sighed, allowing her hands to drop to her sides. “And we do need to get to work on that car.” Josh came to stand beside her, nodding as well.

“You guys go ahead,” Horatio spoke up, gesturing towards the still-unconscious hack. “I’ll hang back with our guest and text you guys when the power comes back.”