Illustrated Scene: Stratagem's Morning Meeting

Feb 2016 Scene 1

Universe: Save the Day

This is part 2 of a book written in the superhero universe created by Zia

The artwork features Stratagem, the superhero of Boston, and was done by Tkddbull back in the day.

1,923 Words

***

The sun was just beginning to rise on the east coast, illuminating the thin form of Agent Simms of the Supernormal Affairs Department, who stood outside the FBI headquarters in Boston Massachusetts. The Russian blue house cat adjusted his cufflinks and straightened his black suit coat before settling back into the total stillness of a cat as he waited. Only his tail moved, swishing back and forth like the pendulum of a clock. Simms stood there for a while before absently adjusting the small pin on his shirt that would have clipped a tie to his shirt, if the whip cord thin cat had been wearing a tie.

It was one of the subtle ways which field agents of the S.A.D. were different, the superhero Stratagem reflected as he observed the cat through his goggles from some distance away. The badger's goggles were set on high magnification mode, allowing the hero to observe the agent from afar before revealing himself from the shadows of an alley across the street.

Satisfied that the meeting was not some kind of complicated trap or illusion, Stratagem left his hiding place and crossed the street. The badger timed his exit so that when he reached the crosswalk he would catch the walk sign perfectly; limiting the time he was on the street in full costume in broad daylight to a minimum. He hated to reveal himself so openly, but the FBI had asked him to make an entrance, and he was willing to oblige the men and women of Boston's SAD if it didn't detract from his work. Still, passersby gawked, and several snapped photos with their cellphones.

Stratagem was always careful to approach the FBI building from a distance, because he knew that the SAD of Boston were even more paranoid then the rest of their departments around the country. Working in the shadow of the world smartest superhero had molded them into a cagey, watchful, and he had to admit, efficient bunch of civil servants.

"Good morning Agent Simms," the badger said briskly, "shall we go inside?" The badger was acutely aware of the way people who he had walked by had stopped, and that a small group of Bostonians were watching them with interest. A few were taking more pictures, and Simms ushered him inside without a word.

The badger followed the Russian blue without a word, and the two of them made their way into the secure areas of the Boston SAD without a word to the other agents they passed by.

Stratagem glance about the SAD office as they walked, making note of the upgrades the building had made since his last visit. He was pleased to see the agents had taken his advice and secured the few minor holes in their security systems. Then the badger frowned slightly as the advanced microcomputers built into his goggles began alerting Stratagem to the new uploads on the website BostonBadgerWatch. The site's existence both amused and disturbed him, but the people of Boston seemed obsessed with knowing more about their secretive hero. He had hacked the websites years ago so that he could delete anything that was too revealing before it was put online, but it still a little embarrassed that so many people felt the urge to take his photo.

Agent Simms continued leading the badger through progressively more secure looking doorways, without uttering so much as a word. Stratagem took note of the way that the other FBI agents glanced at them, and then glance away from him in a furtive fashion, as if they hoped he hadn't seen them looking.

The atmosphere in the building was different than usual. The SAD agents were embarrassed to see the badger, when normally they greeted his infrequent visits with interest. As the silent cat continued his progress through the building, Stratagem found himself growing more and more on edge, his attention sharpened by the way no one acknowledged Simms on their journey.

Agent Simms eventually led the badger to an elevator, where a retinal and handprint scan granted them access to the secure lift. Once the elevator was in motion, downward from the feel of it, the cat pulled a small white noise generator out and activated it. Stratagem had designed the little device for the elite agents of SAD years before, and once it was at full effect, the cat finally spoke. "Thank you for coming Stratagem. I apologize for the silent treatment, but I had to ensure we spoke privately."

"From your precautions and the attitude in the office I take it this matter does warrant the level red alert you sent me," the badger said quietly. The color coded alert system Stratagem had designed for the team was one he'd shared with the SAD so they could contact him, and red indicated a extremely serious threat of national scope. There was only one level above red, and there had fortunately never been an indigo level threat, a designation that said the threat at hand endangered the very existence of life on the planet.

"It does." The cat looked him in the eyes for the first time that morning. "I will come right to the point, Stratagem. The SAD has suffered a security breach of the most serious nature." The little elevator came to a stop, and the door opened on a short hallway that led to another security door.

Behind his goggles, the badger narrowed his eyes. The hallway bristled with laser sensors, motion sensitive pressure plates, heat and motion monitors, all tagged and noted by his goggles. The cat walked through the mesh of security alert systems, and once more Agent Simms pressed his eyes and paw pad to the scanners.

When the door opened, it revealed rank upon rank of server racks that formed a huge data farm. Stratagem glanced sideways at the cat, "This is your backup records storage. I believe that Director Crick has left specific instruction that I was never to be allowed in this room."

"That is correct. Director Crick gave strict instructions you never been granted access to such a room because this is where we store our backup high secrecy files. The things we have kept secret from everyone outside our agency, and especially from your team." Agent Simms said blandly as he led the badger along a row to a spot where, instead of another humming, glowing server rested, there was a hole. "Unfortunately, as of last night that is no longer a concern," the Russian blue gazed at the badger with the same mild, almost blank expression he’d had all morning.

Stratagem's mind spun as he stared at the hole. One of these blade servers could hold a staggering amount of information, and he knew better than anyone what kinds of secrets the SAD kept.

They were ordinary men and women who, with some frequency, fought, captured, and even killed the various super villains and criminals who threatened America. When a super scientist's lab was confiscated, their experiments often went into the vaults of the SAD. They spied upon and investigated supernormal events around the world, and had infiltrated a great deal of the world's secret intelligence apparatus. While it was their official policy that they did not know the identity of any superhero, Stratagem suspected they knew the secret identities of at least three Extraordinaries and a dozen or more foreign heroes. The SAD knew more about superpowers than any other organization on the planet.

That knowledge on the open market would be priceless, and once sold would lead to the downfall of not just the Supernormal Affairs Division but governments and heroes across the globe.

As he pondered, the black cat continued speaking. "We've dusted for prints, vacuumed the floor for stray fur, and reviewed all the security footage for the building. There is no evidence at all of an intruder, and no obvious way they could have come in or out of the room. We are convinced this is the work of a supernormal individual. It's the only explanation."

"You seem extremely calm, given the circumstances." Stratagem said quietly as he knelt to inspect the hole.

"Yes, well I am taking some comfort in the fact that I know the encryption on the files has not yet been broken." Simms smiled very slightly. "We use some of the algorithms you designed along with a random access key generator. Without the key generator, it would take centuries to crack the code."

"With a traditional computer," the badger said calmly as he clicked on a flashlight to inspect the dark recess. "A super mind could design something to break it in a few weeks. Where is the key generator?" Stratagem asked in the same academic tone that Simms used.

"Oh, it's on a satellite." Simms said with pure feline smugness. "This makes it very hard to sabotage with super science. It broadcasts a series of random numbers, but if you send it the right signal then it will return the correct code embedded inside the gibberish."

"Has the satellite signaling system been compromised?" Stratagem asked as he examined the edges of the hole carefully, taking note of the way the support brackets were neatly severed by a welding torch.

"Not yet, but we expect it will be the next target." Simms said calmly.

"Has security around it is being increased until the server is recovered?" Stratagem asked calmly as he stood up.

"No. The head office in Washington already has the highest security available already. We've placed the agency on alert, but we can't bring in more people..."

"Without compromising your existing team and possibly introducing a traitor, I understand." The badger stood, casually dusting off the knees of his trousers. He stared down at the space, the hole in a defense he had helped to build. "Which, I suppose, includes me? I could very easily be responsible. You want me to investigate, but not officially. I can't be part of your operations."

"I'm glad you understand." Simms said calmly. "Personally? I think we should bring you in on this officially. This isn't your style, and it wouldn't be in your interest to do this." The black cat crossed his arms, his tail flicking back and forth. "But there are those in the security business who distrust your team a lot more than we do."

'We do' Stratagem noted. That meant this visit was sanctioned by Director Crick, but not by someone else higher up in the FBI. With that, the cat uncrossed his arms and began walking to the door. As he shifted his paws, Stratagem saw the little flash of grey in his paw as Simms withdrew a thumb drive casually from his coat pocket, and with deft ease, palmed it into the badger's hand as he passed by. Stratagem turned and followed the black cat, walking calmly as he slipped the thumb drive into a pocket.

Stratagem followed Agent Simms out of the FBI office, his eyes darting over the projected display in his goggles as he reviewed the evidence from the SAD's investigation. Everything pointed to a professional, super powered theft, but without any calling cards or trademarks which would point out which super criminal, or villain, might be responsible.

Stratagem stepped out into the brisk Boston morning, staring up into the bright blue sky for a moment before making his way to MIT and his first class of the day, his mind consumed by the consequences of the theft.

This was going to be bad.