Guess what.
“What?”
Trevor’s got a lead on another One True Mate.
Timber clapped his hands together and rubbed them vigorously. “Nice. I’m ready for her.”
Canyon scoffed.What makes you think she’s your mate?
“I’m up,” Timber said.
You’re not up. If anyone’s up, I’m up. But they can’t find her. She’s missing.
“Like thefoxen.”
Funny you say that. She might’ve lived on Street Zero.
Timber looked pointedly at him. “AfoxenOne True Mate? Interesting.”
You think it’s possible?
“Sure, why not?”
Who’s her mate, then?
“Me—I already fucking told you.”
Trevor doesn’t thinkfoxencan mate withwolven.
“Didn’t anyone tell himfoxencame fromwolven?”
That’s what I said!
They reached the tiny bluff substation and parked the truck. Canyon pulled out their equipment while Timber got the ATVs out of the shed. They sprayed scent blockers on everything, working quickly in the dark, then they drove away, off-roading up the bluff to a spot in the forest they knew well. They stopped and covered the ATVs, then shouldered their rucksacks and covered the last miles on foot.
Back in Spookville, everything was silent and dark. They worked their way into the center of the neighborhood, passing houses and trees in silence. When they reached Building #1,Canyon got to work at the door. He used tools to access the inner workings of the retinal scanner, then set Predator’s transceiver to replay the last ‘accept’ from the scanner back to itself. It should have gotten them in right away, but it didn’t.
Canyon growled lightly.Replay attack was blocked. Someone knows what they’re doing.
“Database insertion might work.”
It’ll take a while—let me try something else.
Canyon finessed and tricked his way past multiple levels of security, accessing the code that interfaced between the lock and the scanner itself. The code streamed past on Predator’s small screen. Canyon read it from the top until he found what he was looking for, then he had Predator insert a few lines, then he backed his way out and tried the replay attack again.
BEEP.
The door slid open smoothly.
Timber fist-bumped Canyon, then moved past him into the dark hallway beyond. “I’ll take the first floor; you take the second.”
They were quick and quiet, and met back exactly where they had started in a few minutes.
I think it’s a school,Timber said.There’re classrooms and empty lockers and a half-gymnasium.
Could be,Canyon said.I found classrooms upstairs, but there’s nothing on the walls, no supplies, no files, and the computers are wiped clean.
Right. No pictures on the walls, no trophy cases... but come see this—
