A quick shower, a couple of chicken strips for the dog, and a grilled chicken sandwich later, Gunther was back at his workstation. He logged back into the chat and was greeted by a very formal invitation from vulture of all people. He read it carefully, swinging around in his desk chair to read the large whiteboard calendar tacked to the wall. Next week was a vet checkup for Zero. The week after, he had to follow up on a shipment of...something. He furrowed his brow at the question mark on the board. Tracking cargo wasn't a problem, but he preferred to know what the cargo was. Mystery shipments made him uneasy. Of course, clients never wanted to talk about their deliveries, but he did his own research and invariably found a way to figure out what was in the box. Computers, weapons, medicine, and even the odd "hidden flash drive." This one, though, was a blank. No listing, no description, no ledger, no receipts, nothing. It would most likely be business as usual (intercept the package and reroute it) but he couldn't resist being at least a little curious.
So, nothing. He returned to his desk and tapped out a dry response. Vulture was still online and replied almost immediately, giving him information on a job. It didn't seem particularly complicated. Knock out the cameras in a city block for three minutes for 75,000 USD. That would certainly pay the rent for a while. He placed his thumb against a plastic panel on the side of his desk, unlocking the large pull-out file drawer that contained his records, all of which were falsified. The real records were on a hard disk buried beneath them under a thin wooden panel. He removed it and plugged it into his phone, checking the information on the cargo job.
$8,000. Just over a tenth of the other offer.
Gunther returned his attention to the keyboard, weighing his options. It sounded reasonable. He did a bit of research on the location and upcoming events. Everything checked out. There was indeed a fundraising event occurring in two weeks. According to vulture, he wouldn't actually be involved in this. Camera work is easy enough to manage without so much as picking a lock. Unfortunately, there was the possibility that the camera feeds were on a local network. It was unlikely, since it was in a major city block, but Vulture did mention an invitation to Russia. Did that mean digitally, or would he have to travel there to get into the feed? He would be opening himself up to capture or detection. In Russia. Definitely not a good thing, especially since a lot of the area would probably be locked down after the bombing. Plus, he didn't speak Russian.
If it was easy, he would get 75k without leaving his room. If it was hard, he might find himself in Russia. But it wouldn't be any fun without a challenge, and, ultimately, that would be the best part.
He decided to sleep on it and hash out a plan of action with vulture, who was offline by now. He didn't log in the day after. Or the day after that. By the fourth day, Gunther had already developed a plan of action for a ridiculous number of scenarios. News articles and maps had been printed and tacked to a large cork board installed in his room. Plane ticket estimates, area codes, and aerial maps with lines and arrows etched on them in permanent marker were arranged side-by-side in perfect alignment. He had even checked with nearby dog kennels for Zero. Gunther was not an impatient man, but he had taken enough into account to make an informed decision.
"I'll participate."
Twenty minutes later, a new member joined. He noticed that Keeper was offline, so he ran the standard body check on the new member. Never a dull moment.
