The bustling, bright city they had left behind seemed like a distant memory. Here, in the industrial sector, the world was made of shadows and silence. The flashy neon signs of the main roads were gone, replaced by the deep, dark outlines of empty factories and warehouses. The air itself felt heavy and smelled of old metal, machine oil, and the wet, chilly breeze coming off the nearby river. The only noises were the faint, constant rumble of the highway in the distance and the unsettling sound of something small—a rat or a piece of trash—scurrying through the litter-filled alleyways.

Ace became a part of these shadows. Dressed in a dark hoodie, he moved without a sound. His heart pounded in his chest like a steady, anxious drum, each beat counting down the moments until there was no turning back. He reached his hiding spot at the opening of an alley, directly across from the Mill and Foundry street intersection. A tall stack of old, rotting wooden pallets concealed him. He pressed his back against the cold brick wall behind him, taking a small comfort in its solid, unfeeling presence.

A quiet crackle sounded in his ear from a nearly invisible earpiece. Evelyn's voice came through, calm and controlled, which was amazing considering he knew she was managing a high-stakes operation from their motel room.

"I'm watching the live feed from the traffic camera," she whispered. "The street is empty. Silva, are you ready?"

From the driver's seat of the huge flatbed truck he had "borrowed" from a construction site, Silva's deep voice responded. "I'm set. Just say the word. This big rig is aimed right at the crossroad. They won't get through."

"Kaito?" Evelyn asked next.

First, Ace heard the rapid clicking of keyboard keys, and then Kaito's voice, filled with intense focus. "I've hacked the traffic light system. I'm keeping the light green on their route to make sure they don't slow down. I've also accessed their digital shipping papers. The target drive is listed as 'Project Chimera – Demographic Analytics.' It's definitely inside the van."

Ace closed his eyes for a moment, taking a slow, deep breath to steady his nerves. It was really happening. The data was right there, so close. The secret pressure from the mysterious System in his mind—the threat of losing $50,000 from their future—felt like a physical weight on his shoulders. He could not afford to fail.

"Two minutes until they arrive," Evelyn said, her voice becoming a little tighter. "I'm tracking them on the city's official GPS map. They just passed the old flour mill. They're right on time."

Ace's hand closed tightly around the unusual-looking USB device in his pocket. He had just forty-five seconds once he used it. He mentally rehearsed the plan one final time: Plug in the device. Wait for the unlocking sound. Get inside the van. Find the black drive with the silver logo. Break the physical lock. Get out.

"One minute," Evelyn updated.

The quiet in the alley became absolute, so deep that Ace could hear the blood rushing in his own ears. He leaned forward slightly, peeking through a gap in the stack of pallets. The intersection was bathed in the sickly yellow glow of a single, flickering streetlamp. There wasn't a soul in sight.

"Thirty seconds."

Then, a new sound cut through the night's silence—the low, powerful growl of car engines, getting louder with every second. Ace's body tensed, every muscle ready to move.

"I have a visual," Silva's voice grunted in his ear. "One armored van, two escort SUVs. They're coming into view now."

Ace watched as the convoy rolled into the intersection. It was a intimidating procession. The first SUV was a massive, black vehicle with dark windows you couldn't see through. Following it was the armored van, a sturdy, boxy vehicle painted a plain gray. A second SUV followed close behind. They moved smoothly and confidently, as if they owned the night.

"Kaito, change the light," Evelyn instructed, her voice sharp.

"Doing it now." A soft electronic click came through the earpiece. The traffic light at the intersection, which had been green, instantly switched to red.

The lead SUV slowed and came to a stop, its red brake lights glowing. The van and the rear SUV stopped behind it. For a few seconds, nothing happened. It just looked like three vehicles waiting patiently at a red light in the middle of the night.

"Silva," Evelyn whispered. "Go."

There was no reply from Silva over the radio. Instead, a deafening ROAR shattered the silence as the flatbed truck's massive diesel engine started up. From a side street to the right, the enormous truck, loaded with heavy concrete barriers, lurched forward. It didn't speed; it moved with slow, crushing inevitability, like a force of nature.

Silva didn't crash into the convoy. What he did was even more brilliant. He drove the huge truck straight into the middle of the intersection and then, with a deafening screech of twisting metal, he deliberately jackknifed it. The long trailer swung sideways, creating a wall of concrete that completely blocked Mill Street in both directions. Finally, with a grinding crash, he rammed the truck's cab into a light pole on the far side of the road, blocking the only escape route down the side street. The convoy was perfectly trapped.

The doors of the lead SUV flew open. Two men in sleek, dark suits jumped out, their hands moving toward weapons hidden under their jackets. They weren't police officers. Everything about them—their posture, their expensive suits—screamed high-priced corporate security. They looked both furious and completely bewildered, shouting and pointing at the gigantic truck that had appeared out of nowhere.

"The blockage is a success," Evelyn reported, her voice tight with adrenaline. "Ace, go. Go now! Bluebird! Bluebird!"

The moment Evelyn gave the signal, Ace was already in motion. He slipped out of the alley like a ghost, sticking to the deep, dark shadows that ran along the fronts of the empty buildings. The security guards from the first SUV were completely focused on Silva's gigantic truck, shouting at its empty cab. The drivers from the van and the back SUV were also climbing out, adding their own shouts to the confusion. The chaos was his perfect cover.

In just a few heartbeats, he was at the back of the armored van. The air was thick with the smell of hot diesel fuel and the sharp scent of burned rubber from Silva's dramatic maneuver. His heart was no longer a steady drum but a frantic, fluttering bird beating against his ribs. His eyes scanned the van's bumper until he found what he was looking for: a small, covered slot called a diagnostic port.

With surprisingly steady hands, he pulled the strange USB device from his pocket and plugged it in. It clicked firmly into place. A tiny green light on the device began to blink rhythmically.

In his ear, Kaito's voice came through, strained with effort. "I'm inside their computer system… bypassing the security now… almost there… Come on, you beauty…"

Ace waited, each second feeling like a minute. He could hear the guards arguing loudly just twenty feet away.

"—driver must be drunk or something—"

"—we need to get this moved, now!—"

"—I'm calling it in to headquarters—"

Then, a beautiful sound cut through his anxiety: a soft, but solid, clunk from inside the van's rear doors. It was the sound of the electronic locks disengaging.

"You have forty-five seconds, Ace," Kaito said, his voice tight. "Starting now."

Ace didn't waste a moment. He yanked the handle, and the heavy, armored door swung open smoothly and silently. The inside of the van was dark, lit only by the tiny, blinking green and blue lights on a series of tall, black computer racks. A wave of cool, air-conditioned air washed over him.

He leaped inside, pulling a small but powerful flashlight from his pocket. The beam of light swept quickly over the racks. They all looked the same, each one labeled with confusing serial numbers and codes. His mind raced, repeating the description like a mantra. Black casing. Silver OmniCorp logo.

"Thirty seconds," Evelyn said, her voice a tense countdown in his ear. "They're still arguing, but the guard from the back SUV is starting to look around more carefully."

Ace's light swept across the bottom row of servers. Nothing. He moved it to the middle row. More identical units. A sharp prickle of panic began to crawl up his spine. Had Silica given them bad information?

Then, his light beam caught it. Tucked into the very top rack, at the very back, was a unit that was different from the others. It was sleeker, with a glossy black finish. And there, in the corner, was the unmistakable, sharp silver emblem of a stylized 'O'—the OmniCorp logo.

"Found it," he whispered, a wave of relief washing over him.

"Twenty seconds."

The hard drive was held in place by a strong, metal lock. There was no time to try to pick it the normal way. Ace placed his hand directly over the lock mechanism. He closed his eyes, blocking out the fear, the shouting outside, and Evelyn's countdown. He focused all of his will, concentrating on a strange, inner power that only he possessed. In his mind, he commanded it to work, to feel the inside of the lock and force it to turn.

A sharp, burning pain flared behind his eyes, the price he often paid for using this ability so precisely and quickly. He gritted his teeth, feeling sweat bead on his forehead.

"Fifteen seconds, Ace!" Evelyn's voice was urgent, pushing him to move faster.

With a sharp, satisfying snap, the lock broke. Ace wrenched the black-and-silver drive from its slot. It was surprisingly light and cold in his hand.

"Ten seconds! Get out!"

He shoved the precious drive into the inner pocket of his hoodie, zipping it shut to keep it secure. He spun around and leaped out of the van, pulling the heavy door closed behind him. It shut with a soft, solid thud. He yanked the bypass device from the diagnostic port.

"Clear! I'm clear!" he whispered into his microphone, diving back into the darkness of the alley. Just as he disappeared into the shadows, the security guard from the rear SUV finally decided to walk toward the back of the van for a quick look.

The man glanced at the van, saw that the doors were closed and nothing seemed out of place, and simply shook his head before turning back to the main problem: the massive truck blocking the road.

Ace leaned against the cold brick wall in the darkness, his chest heaving as he caught his breath. The stolen drive felt like a hard, flat stone against his ribs. The headache pounded behind his eyes, but it was a pain he welcomed—a sign of victory.

"Ace is clear," Evelyn relayed to the others, her voice shaking with relief. "Silva, Kaito, we're done. Get out of there. Meet at the rendezvous point."

"With pleasure," Silva grunted over the comms. They heard the faint sound of a car door opening and closing in the distance. Silva would simply abandon the truck and vanish on foot.

"I'm scrubbing our digital footprint," Kaito said, his keyboard clacking furiously. "The traffic lights are back to their normal sequence. The record of our GPS hack is wiped. It's like we were never even here."

Ace stayed hidden in the alley for five more minutes, until he heard the first police siren wail in the distance. He watched as the corporate security guards waved their arms, explaining the "accident" to the arriving officers. As far as anyone knew, it was just a bizarre traffic incident.

Finally, he moved, slipping away through a tangled maze of back alleys, the stolen data a secret burning against his chest. They had done it. They had reached out and struck a blow against a giant corporation, and the giant didn't even know it was bleeding.

But as he walked, a message—cold, simple, and for his eyes only—flashed in his mind.

<<<>>>

MISSION: SECURE THE OMNICORP TARGETING DATA - COMPLETE.

REWARD: 'CORPORATE ESPIONAGE' MODULE - INTEGRATION IN PROGRESS.

<<<>>>

The first, dangerous part of the night was over. They had the data. Now, they had to face the consequences of having stolen it.

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