Episode 2: The Alliance
Detective Victor Kane sat at his cluttered desk in New Haven Police Department. His hollow eyes scanned the case file on Brown’s murder. The day had been a rollercoaster ride, and his gut told him that this wasn’t just another murder, something sinister was going on in Apex as much as he didn’t want to think that.
All that was on Kane’s mind was the death of his partner, two weeks earlier whose body was found in the garbage dump at the back of Apex. Unbeknownst to them Kane believed they covered it up and it was connected somehow.
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. “You’ve got a briefing Kane,” Delgado said, leaning against the wall.
In the briefing room, a grainy image of Cipher was displayed on the wall. Delgado crossed his arms. “That’s our guy, Apex says they were in the building right before Brown’s death.”
“A hacker like Cipher doesn’t leave breadcrumbs like some fairy tale, I don’t know about this. Something feels rather odd.” Kane frowned.
Delgado raised an eyebrow. “Orders are orders, Detective. We track him down.”
Two days have passed since the murder and Kane wasn’t going to back down. He had been studying Cipher’s movements for days, and tonight he was meeting an informant at the Black Market, the perfect opportunity to find Cipher’s location. Kane felt the rain wash over him as he stood in a darkened alleyway waiting for the informant.
“Detective Kane,” Cipher’s voice echoed from the darkness.
Kane spun around, his hand moving towards his gun. “Show yourself.”
Cipher stepped forward, his hood covering his face. “A friend of mine told me you were looking for me.”
Kane pulled out his gun and aimed it at Cipher. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Jonathan Brown.”
“I didn’t kill Brown. Apex wants you to believe what you want to see. He died because of the Pheonix Protocol not me.” Cipher replied, his hands holding up to surrender.
“You have guts showing up here, this better not be a trick.” Kane said, his eyebrow raising suspiciously.
Cipher tossed a small drive at Kane’s feet. “Here’s some evidence of what they’ve been doing to their employees. If you have questions, meet me at the Junkyard tomorrow night.”
Before Kane could respond, Cipher vanished into the shadows.
Cipher wasn’t keen on meeting at the Black Market again so waited at the junkyard for Kane to arrive, that’s if he was coming alone. Kane approached cautiously, his hand on his holstered weapon. The air smelled of rust and oil, faint mechanical sounds echoed in the distance.
“Over here,” a distorted voice called out.
Kane turned to see Cipher step from the shadows near an old, rusted elevator. His hood was up, and his augmented glasses reflected the light, masking his eyes.
“This is your idea of home?” Kane asked, looking around the junkyard.
“It’s good enough.” Cipher replied flatly, beckoning him to follow.
They stepped into the elevator together. Cipher pulled a lever and it descended underground. They finally reached Cipher’s lair. Kane’s eyes flicked over all the stolen equipment.
“Impressive setup.” Kane said, crossing his arms.
“Flattery isn’t why you’re here man.” Cipher said he grabbed a data chip from a nearby computer and handed it to Kane.
“This is everything you need to know about the Phoenix Protocol. Just like I mentioned the other day it’s a manipulation program. Apex has been implanting chips into people’s brains to control their thoughts and actions. Brown found out about it and tried to stop them. That’s why they killed him, and they pinned it onto me.” Cipher said, with an angry look.
“Mind control? So, you’re saying that Apex has been turning people into puppets?” Kane replied curiously.
“There are files on test subjects, footage of them committing crimes while under Apex’s control. They want to use it to silence anyone who opposes them.” Cipher exclaimed.
Kane’s skepticism faded, as he finally connected the dots. “If we’re going to take down Apex we’ll need more than this chip. Where’s the rest of the data?” Kane asked.
Cipher turned to a map on one of the monitors, highlighting the location. “Their off-site lab. That’s where the core files are stored. We break in, grab the files, and broadcast them to the entire city.”
“Breaking into a lab sounds like suicide but I’m in. Just one other thing, this doesn’t mean I trust you. You double cross me, and I’ll take you down myself.” Kane replied.
Cipher nodded and moved back to his main computer with Kane watching over his shoulder.