VON BOYAGE

  The bot hummed softly as Will steered it around the pillar building, circling slowly toward its east side. As he got closer, he could see the Cardinal’s fake upper floors. The topmost section, closest to the sky panels, was too hot for anyone to live in, so a fake fa?ade had been built around the pillar to obscure it. Even from this distance, Will could see the peeling paint and warping windows of the fa?ade—scars of years spent baking under the relentless heat.

  Will made it around to the east side of the high-rise and tapped his earpiece. “Becca?”

  A moment’s static filled the line before her voice cut through. “I see you, Will. Stay on course. Your entry point is the cable duct on your right, just below that exhaust vent.”

  “Right,” Will muttered, his eyes fixed on the duct. He slowed the bot as he approached, bringing it to a complete halt mere inches from the high-rise. With a few taps on the controls, the bot latched securely onto the side of the building and docked.

  Will exhaled slowly, adjusting the camera to focus on the duct. Without taking his eyes off the screen, he felt around the small cabin. His hands brushed against the coiled data cable he had stashed earlier, and with a flick of his wrist, he began unspooling it. Once he had enough length, he grabbed one end and attached it to a long segmented machine with multiple tiny legs—the crawler. Mounted on its head was a camera and several folded mechanical arms, each equipped with various tools.

  After a quick glance back at the screen, Will opened a small hatch to let the crawler through. Heat slammed into him like a wall, stifling and thick. Will grunted as he shoved the crawler through the opening. The data cable followed the crawler, and he quickly sealed the gap. Heat still crept through the opening for the cable, but it wasn’t as oppressive as before.

  Will ignored the sweat dripping down his nose as he stared at the unblinkingly camera feed. The small drone came alive as he took control, quickly latching onto the cable duct. He guided its arms and activated the buzz saw attachment. The tool emitted a high-pitched whir as it cut into the duct, and a minute later, there was a clean, circular opening. Will carefully stuck the removed section to the duct wall with quick-acting adhesive and proceeded inside.

  The drone disappeared into the duct, and Will switched the feed to the crawler’s camera. The duct was pitch-black inside, and Will fumbled with the controls for a torch. Light streamed from the crawler’s headlamp, a narrow beam illuminating the cramped interior. Will was greeted with a bundle of wires and cables running along the duct. The crawler stuck fast to the bundle, its legs clinking softly against the metal walls.

  Will breathed a sigh of relief. He was in.

  “First hurdle down,” came Remy’s voice through the earpiece.

  “Only ninety-nine more to go,” said Will.

  “Don’t jinx it,” Remy said seriously.

  “Right…” Will muttered as he nudged the crawler further along the duct. The drone descended, its segmented body making soft clinking sounds as it snaked down the cables. The thick bundle of wires held strong under its weight, and Will kept the bot steady, feeding the data cable slowly as they progressed downward. After every dozen feet, the duct branched off into side conduits that led to different floors, but Will ignored them, keeping count of how far he had traveled. Remy was doing the same with the sensors attached to the cable.

  “Ten… twenty… thirty feet,” Remy counted softly. “You’re almost there.”

  Will continued unspooling the cable until Remy’s count reached about fifty feet. The crawler swiveled its head around the duct, and its torchlight illuminated the smaller conduits branching off from the main pipe.

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  “Alright, Will. That should be the floor,” Remy’s voice came through.

  Will paused, staring at the two paths ahead on the screen. The duct had split into two, and it was a coin toss on which way to go.

  “What do you think?” Will asked.

  Remy exhaled long and loud as he considered, but Becca had no hesitation.

  “Left,” she said firmly. “The floor plan’s patchy, but the apartment should be somewhere around there.”

  Will nodded. It was a good guess.

  “It’s in the general area,” Remy agreed.

  Will steered the crawler carefully, shifting it onto the left branch. The wires were tighter here, and a sudden scrape against the pipe made him wince. Will navigated the cramped space for the next few minutes. The pipes were a tedious maze, and the crawler took wrong turns more than once, forcing Will to backtrack.

  “Good thing we packed extra wire,” Remy muttered. “At least we’ve got some wiggle room.”

  After what felt like an eternity of trial and error, Will paused, the camera feed showing a thin pipe leading directly into an apartment wall.

  “Found it. I’m in position,” Will whispered into his mic, looking at the back end of the plastic cover plate. Threaded through it was a thin coaxial cable that had split off from the main bundle of wires in the duct.

  Remy’s rapid typing came through the earpiece. “I’m looking at the sensors… yeah, that’s most likely Von-Bron’s apartment.”

  “Most likely?” Will muttered.

  “Or it’s his neighbor,” Remy replied with a chuckle. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  “That’s comforting,” Will exhaled sharply, wiping sweat from his brow. He eyed the outlet for a few more seconds before making up his mind. “Alright. I’m going in.”

  Will guided the crawler’s arms forward, the tiny blades slicing through the plastic cover plate in a clean circle. With a flick of the controller, he turned off the crawler’s torch. He didn’t want to enter the apartment with flashing lights. Will waited as the screen flickered and the camera adjusted to the low light.

  A couple of seconds later, gray shadows flitted across the screen, and Will proceeded to remove the circular plastic piece. He tucked it away safely and had the crawler peek through the new opening.

  The apartment was dark. A large window overlooked the city skyline, casting long shadows across the cozy living room. In the dim light, Will saw a plush sofa set, shelves cluttered with personal items, and a mounted flat-screen monitor beneath the shelves.

  He carefully scanned the room. There were no signs of movement—no lights on, no sounds beyond the occasional hum of the building itself. The coast was clear.

  Will turned to the large windows and had the crawler flash its headlamps on and off.

  “Visual!” Becca exclaimed. “Signal confirmed. You’re in the right apartment, Will.”

  A sigh of relief escaped Will, and Remy let out a celebratory whoop.

  “Now we just need to find the modem,” he cheered.

  Will was about to respond when a metallic clink echoed faintly from somewhere deeper inside the apartment. He froze, his hands hovering over the controls.

  “Did you hear that?” he whispered, scanning the camera feed again.

  “No,” Remy replied, his voice immediately on edge. “Becca?”

  “Nothing here,” Becca responded.

  Will tapped his earpiece, boosting the crawler’s audio channels. He sat perfectly still, listening. The apartment remained silent for a moment—until another clink-clink of metal echoed from deeper inside.

  “There it is again,” Will muttered.

  Becca’s voice came in sharply. “Will! I spotted Von-Bron. He’s headed your way.”

  “Damn!” Will hissed. He had hoped for a bit more time. He took stock of the wall outlet he had come out of and scanned for the coaxial cable. The thin wire led up the wall toward a shelf, where the modem rested.

  “You need to wait until he’s in the apartment and has fallen asleep,” Becca advised urgently. “Safer that way.”

  “Right.” Will quickly reeled the crawler back into the wall socket. He didn’t have to wait long. The sound of jingling keys came from the front door.

  Von-Bron entered, looking exhausted. He was still in his suit, though his tie hung loose around his neck. The apartment lights flicked on, and Will blinked at the sudden brightness. The camera took a moment to adjust to the new light.

  Von-Bron dropped his keys on a nearby table and looked around the apartment. Will’s breath hitched as the clinking sound echoed again from the far side of the room. The soft tap-tap of tiny metallic feet got closer, and he spied a tiny metallic figure slink into view.

  It was a cat drone—sleek, metallic, and covered in tiny silvery threads mimicking fur. The chrome pet robot strode into the room like it owned the place, its glowing eyes scanning the room. It trotted toward Von-Bron, emitting a soft purr as it rubbed against his legs.

  Von-Bron chuckled and knelt to scratch the drone behind the ears.

  “Oh, no…” Will muttered under his breath.

  Remy’s voice crackled through the earpiece. “What is it? What’s happening?”

  Will sent the live feed through the comms. Von-Bron gave the robotic cat a final pat and headed further inside the apartment. As soon as he was out of sight, the cat’s eyes lasered onto the wall socket, its metallic fur bristling.

  Shocked, Will sank the crawler deeper into the wall socket, and the cat hissed, its hackles raised.

  “Oh…” Remy breathed. “That’s not good.”

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