Post by Rodion Rezanov on Apr 23, 2020 18:24:58 GMT -6
Three stories below the executive board room within a custodial storage area, the handsome profile of Rodion Rezanov sat silently in the red glow of the single window. Dressed in the guise of a janitor, fingers of one hand pressed against the glass, he focused through closed eyes, letting his electrical impulses run through the glass and alloys of the wall. The flowed up to the windows of the boardroom, interpreting the vibrations of the men’s voices as they resonated against the glass surface. The distorted voices resonated loud and clear in Signal’s ears as eavesdropped on the pretender president and his crony, Brandt Dietrich.
Three months of studying the security procedures and habits of Luthor Corp. had finally paid off, providing a near consistent window of access to the closest space to the executive board room that he could hope to obtain. Just within his range, just close enough to be able to circumvent the vibratory security feature of the windows to counter longer range listening devices. Luthor had thought of everything, except Rodion’s unique ability to use electrical impulses to pick up on the deviating voice patterns. It was a strain, without his amplifier in the guise of an iPod filtering his signals through earbuds Rodion would have only been able to make out a few words. As it was, Signal was able to hear everything and one had to take delight a corrupt president being foiled by their own arrogance, because were he in the White House, this would not be possible. Now, he was getting direct confirmation that President Lex Luthor was behind a plot to reinstate the banned Sentinel Program. With those murderous machines back on the street the Metahumans that opposed Luthor would be too busy trying to survive. At least that seemed the most plausible goal, of course, when it came to Lex Luthor one could never be too sure exactly what was going on in that deranged mind.
“Let’s just say I’ve made some strategic purchases.” Luthor explained.
‘He compromised some agents in the Bureau.’ Signal wasn’t surprised.
Brandt acknowledged with a slow nod, “Excellent. Then we will proceed with phase two. I shall inform Wilson to proceed with the contract.”
There business concluded, Dietrich’s footsteps trailed off to the door.
“Oh, and Brandt.” Luther called out to the man’s back, “We don’t need another ‘Canada’ on our hands, now do we?”
The Red Skull didn’t turn, merely paused as his teeth grit with rage before continuing on his way, his steps heavier.
‘Canada?’, Signal pondered but his first concern was the hitman. ‘Wilson’, he knew of only one man with that name who would meet Luthor’s standards… Death Stroke.
________________________________
The chime of his old fashioned wind-up wrist watch signalled the end of his window. Rodya was already in motion, his mental clock precise. It had to be. Luthor Corp’s security was unlike anything he had ever endeavoured to circumvent. Every step, every motion had to be perfectly executed. The slightest anomaly would be processed, overlaid and discovered. It had only by the exploitation of the presence of new employee to the system that Signal had been able to bypass the organic security system. The movements of the new custodian would take a few weeks to incorporate into the computer analysis of the building, so accurate it could predict the locations of every fruit fly in the structure within a 24 hour period. It was the incomplete patterns of the new employee that had provided a few temporary blind spots allowing him to gain entry, but now he had to get out.
On the floor below him, the janitor was on the move. Like all Luthor employees their movements throughout the building were economized to create daily patterns that would provide the predictability the security system required. The subtle form of micro-management was an ingenious method to highlight anomalous presences but Rodya had discovered that during the tracking process of a new employee horizontal mapping had priority. The system could be fooled with a vertical shadow.
Signal was able to manipulate security cameras and sensors but it wasn’t possible to make himself invisible to the air pressure sensors which would be alerted by the absence of his mass. Below Signal, his mask strolled down the hallway pushing his maintenance cart. He was able to track the man’s movements by the universal tracking devices that everyone carried these days. The unique signal of everyone’s personalized device was to Signal what scents were to a dog.
The janitor moved, Signal moved. He knew his pattern, all he had to do was stay on top of him until he entered the elevator, then the real fun began, but he had to make it there first. The hallways were full of cameras which he had to ever be mindful of as he temporarily generated feed-back loops to make himself invisible. Child’s play for him, but it was only one level of security and one that took a toll on his attention. There were still security guards patrolling the aisles, directed by the system in chaotic patterns that Signal wasn’t able to predict. He had to rely on extending his sensitivity to detect them via their comm-link to the system. It was a lot to process and on top of all that he still had to act as naturally as possible so as not to arouse suspicion in any of the other employees roaming the halls.
Rodya jerked his maintenance cart to a halt as a suit, his eyes set on a document as he strode toward him swerved into his path.
“Sorry.” The man apologized.
On the floor below, Signal’s shadow plodded steadily along. He had to quicken his pace to catch up, the security system providing only a very small window before it became aware of the overlap.
A roaming security guard down an adjacent aisle took interest in the quickened pace and instinctively diverted his course. Signal noted the guard’s non-threatening pursuit. They were trained to acknowledge the slightest thing out of the ordinary and Rodya couldn’t risk talking with the man, nor could he deviate from his mask below him. Turning down an adjoining corridor, he shadowed the custodian below him. Deviating from his mask’s course for a few seconds, Signal quickly opened a nearby door labeled ‘custodian’ and smoothly slipped his cart into the room just before the janitor below pressed the elevator button going up. He couldn’t deviate. As the guard approached from behind, Signal placed his hand over the elevator button and forced the doors to open.
“Excuse me.” Called out the guard as the distance quickly closed between them.
As the doors parted revealing the dark of the shaft and no elevator car the guard’s eyes widened but before he could act the custodian moved with cat-like quickness, his hand lightly flashing toward his face. A mere slap but it packed a punch. He stiffened, paralyzed by the electricity coursing through his body. As the guard blacked out, Rodya grabbed the man by the collar, heaving him into the shaft with him. He was heavy, and Signal’s grip on the hoisting cable began to slip.
“Dammit!” Rodya growled, struggling to maintain his hold.
He managed to slide down, gently rested the man on the roof of the rising elevator, wincing at the soft thud of one the guard’s boots that would surely resonate within the car. Fortunately, the custodian within was entranced by something on his device.
The car paused at the next floor and Signal deftly moved to the edge of the shaft, pressing his back into the wall, the side of the car just brushing up against his chest as it continued upward. The guard would be out for about an hour he figured, he'd only given him a little jolt.
Sliding down a corner beam to the bottom of the shaft, Signal made his way down to the point at which he had originally entered the building.
Three months of studying the security procedures and habits of Luthor Corp. had finally paid off, providing a near consistent window of access to the closest space to the executive board room that he could hope to obtain. Just within his range, just close enough to be able to circumvent the vibratory security feature of the windows to counter longer range listening devices. Luthor had thought of everything, except Rodion’s unique ability to use electrical impulses to pick up on the deviating voice patterns. It was a strain, without his amplifier in the guise of an iPod filtering his signals through earbuds Rodion would have only been able to make out a few words. As it was, Signal was able to hear everything and one had to take delight a corrupt president being foiled by their own arrogance, because were he in the White House, this would not be possible. Now, he was getting direct confirmation that President Lex Luthor was behind a plot to reinstate the banned Sentinel Program. With those murderous machines back on the street the Metahumans that opposed Luthor would be too busy trying to survive. At least that seemed the most plausible goal, of course, when it came to Lex Luthor one could never be too sure exactly what was going on in that deranged mind.
“Let’s just say I’ve made some strategic purchases.” Luthor explained.
‘He compromised some agents in the Bureau.’ Signal wasn’t surprised.
Brandt acknowledged with a slow nod, “Excellent. Then we will proceed with phase two. I shall inform Wilson to proceed with the contract.”
There business concluded, Dietrich’s footsteps trailed off to the door.
“Oh, and Brandt.” Luther called out to the man’s back, “We don’t need another ‘Canada’ on our hands, now do we?”
The Red Skull didn’t turn, merely paused as his teeth grit with rage before continuing on his way, his steps heavier.
‘Canada?’, Signal pondered but his first concern was the hitman. ‘Wilson’, he knew of only one man with that name who would meet Luthor’s standards… Death Stroke.
________________________________
The chime of his old fashioned wind-up wrist watch signalled the end of his window. Rodya was already in motion, his mental clock precise. It had to be. Luthor Corp’s security was unlike anything he had ever endeavoured to circumvent. Every step, every motion had to be perfectly executed. The slightest anomaly would be processed, overlaid and discovered. It had only by the exploitation of the presence of new employee to the system that Signal had been able to bypass the organic security system. The movements of the new custodian would take a few weeks to incorporate into the computer analysis of the building, so accurate it could predict the locations of every fruit fly in the structure within a 24 hour period. It was the incomplete patterns of the new employee that had provided a few temporary blind spots allowing him to gain entry, but now he had to get out.
On the floor below him, the janitor was on the move. Like all Luthor employees their movements throughout the building were economized to create daily patterns that would provide the predictability the security system required. The subtle form of micro-management was an ingenious method to highlight anomalous presences but Rodya had discovered that during the tracking process of a new employee horizontal mapping had priority. The system could be fooled with a vertical shadow.
Signal was able to manipulate security cameras and sensors but it wasn’t possible to make himself invisible to the air pressure sensors which would be alerted by the absence of his mass. Below Signal, his mask strolled down the hallway pushing his maintenance cart. He was able to track the man’s movements by the universal tracking devices that everyone carried these days. The unique signal of everyone’s personalized device was to Signal what scents were to a dog.
The janitor moved, Signal moved. He knew his pattern, all he had to do was stay on top of him until he entered the elevator, then the real fun began, but he had to make it there first. The hallways were full of cameras which he had to ever be mindful of as he temporarily generated feed-back loops to make himself invisible. Child’s play for him, but it was only one level of security and one that took a toll on his attention. There were still security guards patrolling the aisles, directed by the system in chaotic patterns that Signal wasn’t able to predict. He had to rely on extending his sensitivity to detect them via their comm-link to the system. It was a lot to process and on top of all that he still had to act as naturally as possible so as not to arouse suspicion in any of the other employees roaming the halls.
Rodya jerked his maintenance cart to a halt as a suit, his eyes set on a document as he strode toward him swerved into his path.
“Sorry.” The man apologized.
On the floor below, Signal’s shadow plodded steadily along. He had to quicken his pace to catch up, the security system providing only a very small window before it became aware of the overlap.
A roaming security guard down an adjacent aisle took interest in the quickened pace and instinctively diverted his course. Signal noted the guard’s non-threatening pursuit. They were trained to acknowledge the slightest thing out of the ordinary and Rodya couldn’t risk talking with the man, nor could he deviate from his mask below him. Turning down an adjoining corridor, he shadowed the custodian below him. Deviating from his mask’s course for a few seconds, Signal quickly opened a nearby door labeled ‘custodian’ and smoothly slipped his cart into the room just before the janitor below pressed the elevator button going up. He couldn’t deviate. As the guard approached from behind, Signal placed his hand over the elevator button and forced the doors to open.
“Excuse me.” Called out the guard as the distance quickly closed between them.
As the doors parted revealing the dark of the shaft and no elevator car the guard’s eyes widened but before he could act the custodian moved with cat-like quickness, his hand lightly flashing toward his face. A mere slap but it packed a punch. He stiffened, paralyzed by the electricity coursing through his body. As the guard blacked out, Rodya grabbed the man by the collar, heaving him into the shaft with him. He was heavy, and Signal’s grip on the hoisting cable began to slip.
“Dammit!” Rodya growled, struggling to maintain his hold.
He managed to slide down, gently rested the man on the roof of the rising elevator, wincing at the soft thud of one the guard’s boots that would surely resonate within the car. Fortunately, the custodian within was entranced by something on his device.
The car paused at the next floor and Signal deftly moved to the edge of the shaft, pressing his back into the wall, the side of the car just brushing up against his chest as it continued upward. The guard would be out for about an hour he figured, he'd only given him a little jolt.
Sliding down a corner beam to the bottom of the shaft, Signal made his way down to the point at which he had originally entered the building.
