Page 38Snap

The stairwell was oddly free of cameras. Now, I did realize that there was the possibility of pin-hole cameras being build into the wall. But, considering the cameras outside, it seemed unlikely. Going down to the ninth floor was hardly any effort and was done in complete silence. There wasn't even a guard patrolling down-stairs that I could hear.

For such a tall building, the amount of security was rather low.

Then again, when I went into the corridors, there was not much to take either. Sure, there were some computers and screens in the offices. But none of them looked like particularly high quality. It was also very possible and plausible that they didn't expect people to come in from the roof without being noticed. Normally, getting climbing gear to get up there, or a helicopter, would surely be noticed.

With a smile I wondered if the police would look for telltale signs of climbing gear tomorrow morning when they found out about the burglary.

The hallways were laughably easy to navigate and the office in question was very obvious. It looked like a managers office with some more expensive computers in it. But today I wasn't planning to go inside. Of course I was curious why I needed to do this, but there were several reasons for me not to bother with that now.

It was the only security panel on the floor. Just a numeric keypad. Odd though, the doors didn't appear to be particularly stronger than the others. But, at least there was an alarm on them. It would mean that people couldn't go into this room easily. But why?

Removing the front of the panel was easy enough, even in the very low light of the corridor. I'd talked a lot with Tyler on how those things worked and knew that there was usually a tamper-alarm on them. Multiple wires that, if they weren't connected exactly right, would cause the building alarm to pop.

And this is where the infra-red goggles came in handy.

It took me a while to realize this, but wires with power on them were slightly warmer than the others. Crank the sensitivity of the goggles all the way up and it became noticeable. The only thing I had to do is find the one wire with no power on it. But, of course, there were two. Always that last final obstacle.

One of which was pulsing very lightly every second. It must be a status message between the security system and this keypad, just to know all was well and/or to know if the door had been opened.

So, with a little bit of effort and force, I managed to pull the important wire free. It wasn't as easy as they showed in films though. Electrical wires are quite strong and cut in your fingers as you pull them. Very nasty. But fortunately, the rubber insulation around it made it bearable. I knew the keypad would no longer respond to input. It wasn't a very useful method to override it, but it was similar to disabling an alarm button.

It had it's use.

Just after I did that, I thought I heard someone walking in on the same floor. I immediately crouched down and listened. But there was complete silence, not even another heartbeat that I could hear nearby besides my own. Seconds passed by while I calmed myself down. I really had to try and stay more calm during things like this. Even though they were new. I'd just disabled a security keypad and I didn't even set off any alarms.

Unless it was a silent alarm downstairs.

I couldn't help but feel that I was being tested by Seriph on some level. This was all quite easy for someone who was able to climb all the way from the roof and had a basic understanding about security measures. Not that I wanted to attempt to break into the ground level. That would be a lot more complicated and hazardous for me. Getting shot was not a pleasant sensation.

It is funny, since I started writing this I'd never expect myself to be hurt by a gun. But, with all the things I've done, all the bad people I've confronted, it was just a matter of time. Anyway, back to the story.

I placed the panel back, neatly and calmly and was satisfied with a job really well done. If only I could see the faces of the people trying to get in tomorrow morning. Then the inevitable blaming of the IT department of not setting the code, or something. Calling the security company, finding out it's been sabotaged. Then the horror of 'someone broke in!' and the inevitable search for missing things.

Which is impossible, of course.

In fact, the naughty-value of this crime was so good that I wouldn't mind doing more things like this. But that wasn't my immediate goal. I wanted to meet Seriph. Badly. I packed up all the stuff back into the backpack and went back out of the building, to the roof. I put my shoes back on and removed the gloves. For now I'd keep them in my backpack, as I didn't want to leave them here.

I didn't have to wait long.

The phone buzzed. (I wouldn't leave it on a ring-tone while breaking in, obviously. I'm just not going to spell that out every time)

While my powers as a vampire were in a certain way limited, there was a lot you could do by concentrating. I'd done it a few times before. Just holding my focus to find one specific person in a city. But this time I had a voice to guide me. I had no idea then if it would work or not, but I was hopeful it would.

"Yes?"

I listened intensely, for the city and the voice.

"Is it done?"

But who is in control?