Uno and Fog: What’s in the Box?

I had shown The Fog the key and explained how I had gotten it.  He did not like the delivery system at all.  It certainly escalated his paranoia.  He was certain that it was some kind of elaborate trap or set up of some kind.  He wanted to upgrade security in the lair and in my home and he had several proposals on hand.

Which he had to have been preparing for sometime.  Since I was the one paying he had waited for a good time to present his suggestions and having my home invaded repeatedly recently put me in an agreeable mood, even if it was going to be my money being spent on everything.

I drew the line at lethal force and getting the base a self-destruct.  We compromised with the ability to collapse the entrances into the lair.  He wanted to use an incapacitating agent such as remifentanil, I pointed out the Russians had used it in 2002 and it hadn’t been a complete success.

To which he pointed out the only reason we would be using it was if we got attacked, and the possible loss of life would be us and the attackers, so I relented.  I asked him how he was going to get the stuff and he said he ‘knows a guy’ which I am sure he does.  For an individual that has abandoned any pretense of a normal life so that he could devote it entirely to fighting crime, I often wondered where he drew the line on what illegal activity was acceptable and not.

Sometimes I wonder if it is merely what serves his goals.   He has pointed out before that since we are unsanctioned extrajudicial agents, vigilantes according to the media, we were in fact criminals.

We had thus far kept a low enough profile that the New Amsterdam Task Force, named the Special Unit for Powered Individual Apprehension and Rendition aka SUPIAR which is apparently pronounced super because governments everywhere enjoy a good sounding acronym, wasn’t actively pursuing us, although I am sure they had a file on both of us.

Even if technically The Fog wasn’t powered.

That being said, there were at least three lawsuits against us with default judgments made by unhappy recipients of our intervention in their criminal activities.  One can’t very well show up in court and remain anonymous.  If I ever got outed, I was going to have to deal with several million dollar judgments.

Of course, if I got outed, I suspect the judgments would be among the least pressing of my problems.

There had been an attorney that enjoyed filing those types of lawsuits for a while, until one day he just disappeared.

No one ever found out what happened.

As for the penthouse, The Fog suggested hidden cameras and motion sensors in addition to the pressure alarms I had on the windows.  I insisted that none of the cameras be inside and it had to be a closed system.

I didn’t point out that someone like me could circumvent the system pretty easily and just agreed.  It was something and if we were lucky we’d get images of anyone that broke in the future.

The Fog had narrowed down the key to several banks and then proceeded to break into their data systems.  I was glad the guy was on my side, or I was on his, he could seriously wreck havoc on the system if he wanted to.

So while he violated numerous cybersecurity laws, I was at work after taking the day off to recover.  I wonder what was in the box the key fit.  I wonder where Ms. Teri was and what as going on, but there was nothing in the news that hinted at anything threatening the world.  I spend my time being impatient and directionless.

Luminary was back in the city after rescuing some village from an erupting volcano.  There was a small clip of him at a school with kids around him.  Kids love him.  He’s glowing like a miniature son, flashing too white teeth and he still has the tanned boyish good looks of a stereotypical surfer dude, but he had to be in his forties.

That’s got to wreck havoc with your relationships I muse, they age and you don’t.  When I was a kid there were a couple female actors connected to him, I never found out if it was merely a publicity stunt, or if he was actually dating him.  Either way, it didn’t end well for the women, The Vivisectionist got ahold of them.

That was the first time Luminary disappeared for a while.  I almost feel sorry for him.

Almost.

So I’m waiting, trying to work and getting little done.  When finally I get a message from The Fog.  I expect a list of banks and owners of the safety deposit boxes which the key might fit, but there is only one bank and one owner which surprises me until I see the name of the owner.

The safe deposit box is at First Bank of New Amsterdam which I believe Norte Corporation owns a significant interest in, but that’s not too unusual.

Because the owner of the account is Dominica Medina.

My mother’s maiden name.