GABRIEL
Around 3 pm Simon walks in and says he got a call from the security team downstairs, informing him that for about an hour early next week all elevators will be out of service because the inspection team found some irregularities in the mechanisms.
Blue takes it calmly, while I, still slightly on edge, say,
"Weren’t situations like this usually a reason for concern for you, something that called for extra caution?"
"They were, but at the beginning of the week I have almost no meetings outside the building, so I’ll just spend that hour here."
"And what if it’s a setup meant to prevent police or security from getting here quickly during that hour, and some team breaks in and has free rein until help arrives?"
Blue sets aside the stylus he had been turning between his fingers and says,
"I like the way you think. Scenarios like that are always possible. But I want to believe that with you here, whatever happens, you’ll be able to handle it."
"Blue…" I close my eyes briefly. "I mean, Mr. Lowen. I admit, I like risk. I’ve always been drawn to risky situations, but this is suspicious."
"Gabriel. Elevators sometimes break, and there isn’t always a terrorist attack behind it," Blue says calmly.
"After twenty-three attacks, or twenty-four if you count that paintball incident, I’d be a bit more cautious than that, and trust me, you’re talking to someone who’s broken the law more than once and played on the edge a lot."
Blue presses his lips together slightly, as if thinking, his eyes drifting over me.
"Why do you like risk so much?" he asks, dropping the elevator topic.
"I like it—" I stop and sigh. "Actually, I should use the past tense. Liked. It made me feel alive."
Blue grimaces slightly.
"Poor reason."
I shrug. "Perhaps. But for a moment, I stopped being nobody, irrelevant, somewhere in the background. I became someone dangerous, someone people were forced to pay attention to. And it gave me that rush."
"I take it this was related to hacking."
"Yeah, but we should get back to the elevator thing…"
"I’m more interested in your illegal dealings." Blue pierces me with his sharp gaze.
I give a small shrug, though much less confidently this time. "Well, I pulled a bunch of stunts I probably should’ve gone to jail for, some with my friend Archer, who’s an excellent systems hacker, and some completely on my own, staying up at night and playing… the villain online." A hesitant smile appears on my face.
Silence settles over the room. Blue lightly moves his fingers over the table, rolling the stylus back and forth in short motions.
"Give me an example of what you did," he says, lifting the cup of green tea Simon brought him earlier.
I smile modestly. "Would you know how to break into a city traffic camera system?"
There’s a short pause. Blue sets his cup down, slower this time, but doesn’t answer. He just watches me.
I tilt my head, a faint grin pulling at my mouth. "I’ve done it."
That earns me another look… assessing.
"Have you?" he says with no obvious reaction.
"Yeah. I’m a criminal, I guess, but that part you already know," I say in a casual tone, feeling that edge of satisfaction creeping in. "Municipal traffic grid. Cameras, signal control, the whole thing. Nothing huge, a mid-sized city system, but still."
Blue leans back slightly in his chair, studying me now with a somewhat peculiar expression.
