Nora prodded the elevator button into life, and a few moments later, the doors slid open. A few chattering programs slid out, hardly taking second notice of Nora in her helmet. Bit bobbed ahead of them and hovered near the code-covered buttons to the private floors; Nora swiped her wrist across them, blocking the brief holographic ID that popped up. Zuse's rooms were one floor above hers, which at least meant she would have a short time getting home.
Cor slid his hands in his jacket pockets and kept his head down as he followed Aroura through the club. He knew no one would recognize him, but he wanted to attract as little attention as possible. However, he did keep an eye out for anyone familiar the whole time in the hope of avoiding them right now. Once they approached the code lock, Cor looked away for a moment to give Aroura privacy to access the room where this locator system was.
Nora pressed a few buttons and the elevator began to rise, stopping off shortly at Zuse's private rooms. The entire floor had been his home, an open floor plan with wall-to-wall windows. Nora could just make out an enormous TV, a kitchen the size of the Games arena, and a bed that looked more like a small light tank - but no office. She had been here less than ten times, and she had no idea where it was, and the darkness made everything suffocating.
(I’m watching Tron Uprising right now!)
Cor let out a soft breath when he saw the former program’s living quarters. He knew it would fancy and probably extravagant to some extent but it was different actually being here. “Zuse really knew how to live it up… Even when he wasn't working.” he said softly, but still impressed. “How do you have access to all this?” he asked before he could stop himself.
(We stan. Favourite character?)
"I have my ways," Nora said smoothly, still trying to eye the darkness for something that resembled an office. If she remembered correctly, it had been off to the left. Stepping cautiously, she made her way in that direction.
(I love Mara… But I can't forget about Beck and Paige. Zed's cool too though.)
“Fair enough.” Cor shrugged, a little embarrassed that the question had slipped out as he followed the soft glow of her light lines. He hummed softly and looked around for a place where a light pad would be. Zuse… Or “Castor”, whatever he wanted to call himself was gone and it seemed unlikely that someone else would come in. Though the thought of Nora and her two annoying coworkers popped into his head. If any of them caught them… “Here. Maybe this will help.” he offered, holding out a small handheld light.
Nora tentatively took the light, testing its brightness; if anyone saw lights coming from in here, suspicions would be raised, and she didn't want that. This light, fortunately, was perfect. Raising it, she found the desk and headed over to it, swiping her wrist across the top. A brief holograph of her face flicked across it, and she blocked it just in time, hoping desperately that he hadn't seen anything.
"Well, this is the system." She set down the data cube. "Do what you do."
Cor smiled a little when she took the light and continued to follow her to the office. He noticed the brief flash of a hologram but she moved too fast for him to see the image clearly. “No problem.” he smirked, cracking his knuckles as he sat down at the desk and transferred the data to the tracking system.
Nora watched, somewhat apprehensive. What if the serial numbers were dead ends? No, they couldn't be. Maybe she was just anxious because they were in here, in Zuse's old quarters, investigating a bunch of programs-turned-puppets. It would be fine. It would all be fine.
“So… On a semi unrelated topic, ” Cor spoke up, keeping his voice low enough that Aroura could still hear it. “I’m assuming you heard about that psycho breaking out.” he said, almost sounding like a question as he continued to work.
"Cyrus? Of course I did. It's all over the news. His face is on just about every screen on the Grid."
“Yeah. I figured as much. Just wanted to make sure you knew about it.” Cor admitted with a brief nod. Hopefully, neither of them would encounter Cyrus but he didn't want her to be caught off guard by him… If that creep even made his way to this sector. “Well, good news is that Castor kept this tracking system very simple. You probably could have used it without my help.” he smirked faintly as he moved aside so Aroura could see the result.
Nora scowled. While the system did indeed look easy to use, she felt more comfortable with someone who knew his way around it.
Oh, cubes. Comfortable? Was that really the word she had just used? What was wrong with her?
“But I’m glad you're letting me help you with this since it is technically my fault for taking that job in the first place.” he amended when he noticed her glare. “Besides, I like to stay informed when I can.” Cor hadn't been trying to flatter her or anything this time, though he certainly was capable. He had been just been stating an opinion.
Nora nodded, understanding. "Now get to it."
Cor gave a single nod and tapped a couple more buttons causing the data to flicker above the table for her to see it. “It’s all right here.”
"Good." She leaned over it, planting her hands on the desk. "Can you track it?"
“You mean follow it in case the program that hired me comes to pick up the container?” he asked just to make sure that was her plan. “Give me a moment.” he said, turning back to the system and data.
"All right." Nora watched, Bit bobbing at the side of her head.
“Well, good news is that it doesn't look like it's left the warehouse yet.” he told her. “But that does mean that there's no sign of that… “client” yet.”
"We'll just have to keep an eye on it, then," Nora said, straightening.
“Agreed.” Cor nodded as he continued working before leaning towards the data slightly. “Hang on… If that's what I think it is…” he trailed off as he grabbed his disc. “Did Zuse have much experience with coding?” he asked.
"No," Nora said emphatically. "He got others to do it for him." Per usual.
“Then the program who made this system was very good.” Cor told her, unsurprised by her answer. “If I’m right about this, I should be able to just…” he said as he placed his disc on the desk next to the data cube. He let out a slow breath and lowered the holoscreen back to the desk and quickly tapped in a brief sequence before swiping a bit of data directly to his disc.
Nora watched, apprehensive. What if the code hid encryptions, data that could corrupt Black Light's code? She hated to admit it, but she'd almost grown fond of him. Almost. He reminded her of Cor, of whom she was almost fond as well.
Cor picked up his disc and smirked proudly. “I take it back. That program was a genius.” he told her. “I didn't think this was possible but it works. That data synced to my disc. Here, I can do it for you too.” he said excitedly. “That way we can keep tabs on the containers without needing to break into Zuse’s office.”
Nora's eyes narrowed. "You're sure it doesn't contain anything… unexpected?"
“Positive. It just sets up a little alert if or when something happens to the container.” Cor nodded. “Here. You can have Bit check it out.” he suggested, pulling up the information he was talking about.
Nora frowned, glancing at Bit, who bonked against the info, hesitated a moment, and then turned yellow. Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
"Well, I trust Bit," Nora said, her hand going to her back and retrieving her disc. She held it out to Black Light, still not entirely sure whether or not this was a good idea.
Cor would be lying if he said that he completely trusted this either but it was the best option they had at the moment. It sure beat driving to the dock every cycle. “I don't blame you for that. Bit’s are naturally better at detecting data than even the best program.” he agreed, gently taking her disc and repeating his earlier process. “It’ll just give a little blip when something happens and you'll have to look at your disc to see the information.” he told her as he handed her disc back.