I was expecting Dion's sanctuary to be a dark and brooding underground lair with floor to ceiling holo-monitors. When my vision materialized again after transitioning to Virtual, I found myself on the rooftop of a skyscraper. We were so high up that the clouds obscured anything below us. It was decorated with couches and lounge chairs. Raven appeared at the same time that I did and Dion was already there, of course, sitting on a couch. Dion and Raven both had their faces obscured by pixels, in addition to the censor that still formed a stripe over Raven's breasts, even over her black tank top. Others appeared simultaneously, some with that same censor over their chest and some without. Everyone had their identities encrypted, including me, I assumed. Raven had taken care of everything before sending my chip some code to connect me to Dion's space in Virtual. Raven sat next to Dion and I sat next to her. The other attendees found their seats as well.
"Who are they, Dion? And what's this about? We don't have a rendezvous scheduled for another two weeks." someone said.
"This is SorceressX and..."
I realized one detail we had forgotten to discuss a code name for me. I wasn't a hacker but I knew and obviously Dion knew that using my real name wasn't a smart idea. My mind blanked and I started to just say my name anyway.
"El--," I started.
"e-Lusive," Raven interjected awkwardly but stopped me from being a complete idiot. "This is my partner e-Lusive."
"Yes. Anyway, SorceressX is a player you all may remember from a couple of years ago, if you were paying attention. She's one of us in more ways than one," Dion continued. A few people nodded. "e-Lusive may have a contact inside our next target. SorceressX is here to vouch for him."
"What's the rush?" a familiar voice spoke.
"I will explain everything JD, if you just give me a chance to," Dion placated. It took me a few moments to register that JD was Jade's hacker name and he had mentioned that she was part of this group. "As I was saying, e-Lusive mentioned the corp in passing and it didn't ring any bells to me. So I researched it. While SoulTap keeps a relatively low profile, they have their fingers in every other corp's pie. They're a software developer who got their start in neuro-technology but has expanded well beyond that. The software they provide is kept vague, at least to the public. It's something about tracking data with code imbedded in the shit these companies sell. The companies use the data for marketing. However, it seems that every contract they sign requires that SoulTap have access to that data as well. How they get it and what they do with it is the true mystery. I've tried to get at their systems for clues but their security is unlike anything I've ever seen."
"So we're going after a marketing company? Is that really the best use of our time?" Someone asked.
"A marketing company doesn't have firewalls like this," Dion shot back.
"So a cybersecurity rat got over ambitious. Doesn't mean anything," the same person argued.
"We're doing this. As with any op, if you're out, you're out. Nobody is forcing you to be here. No harm done. The less you know, the better," Dion said authoritatively. A few blurred faces disappeared. He continued like it wasn't a big deal. "We need two things: a person on the inside to bypass their out-network firewalls and someone who can write a trojan that can crawl their systems and feed any useful information back to us. I'm expecting anything we catch to be encrypted to hell and back so this trojan has to be damn good. If we can figure out what that data really is and how they retrieve it, we could take down everything --every single corp they're connected to."
"Holy fuck..." someone muttered.
"I can write the trojan but I need the Sorceress's help," Jade said and stood up. "Sorry, babe."
I squeezed Raven's hand reassuringly.
"It's alright JD. Like old times, right?" She said.
"With that settled, I'd like to talk about the rest of the initial op privately with JD, SorceressX, and e-Lusive. The rest of you, be on standby. We'll likely need as much help as we can get after we grab the data we're looking for."
There were a few murmurs of acknowledgement and then suddenly it was just Dion, Raven, Jade, and I.
"e-Lusive? Really?" Jade said with a cackle.
"Well I didn't need a bunch of random hackers knowing my boyfriend's name!" Raven shot back, stifling her own laugh.
"Which one would that be?" Jade said. "Don't think everybody in the room couldn't tell you and Dion were..comfortable together. Spill!"
"So, yes, I'm with both of them..." Raven said sheepishly.
"But you didn't think I'd want to know? Girl, I can't believe you!" she said half-seriously.
"I didn't wanna make it awkward for you two at meetings or something!" Raven said with a shrug.
"Speaking of which, do we really need to be hiding our faces at this point? We all know each other. Although, I know we've never met in person, Dion." Jade said. "I guess it's up to you."
"Raven tells me you're her longtime partner in crime. Sometimes literally. That makes you okay in my book. Plus, you've been our best code slinger lately. It's past time we get better acquainted." The pixels on Dion's face dispersed and Jade and Raven followed suit.
"I, uh, don't know how to take my mask off, Raven. I mean, I'm assuming you put one on me. I just.." I stammered.
"Relax! You're on a rooftop with a bunch of hackers! We got you, fuckhole!" Jade said. My vision flickered for a moment and I assumed that was my mask being removed.
"Oh, I gotta know more about this history!" Dion said. I felt like a goldfish in a tank full of piranhas but as Jade stepped further into the moonlight, I noticed her extremely low cut dress and found myself no longer caring if I was friend or food. With only the thin stripe of pixel mosaic, I could see her curves clearly for the first time. Dion looked her up and down, noticing the same thing.
"It's a long story," Raven said. "There was a threesome and Eli was just being..Eli, you know?"
