The Sapporo Outbreak (9 page)

Once again, Dodgson was answered by eleven altered voices repeating "Understood."

Adrenalin surged through Dodgson's bone-tired body. After eighteen long, hard months of meticulous planning, endless all-night coding sessions, triumphs and disasters, they were ready.
 

He
was ready.
 

Looking out of the big bay windows behind the monitors and into the dark winters night, the thick snow falling fast, causing the yellow street lights to flicker, he smiled to himself.
This is it. No one will see this coming
, he thought as the low hum from the student bar next door drifted into the room.

Lewis Dodgson and this small team of freedom fighters would strike out at WhiteStar Corporation, shredding its entertainment facade to reveal its real purpose - an unending, insatiable trawl for personal information. WhiteStar Corporation had the world playing a game. And while they played, WhiteStar gorged on the seemingly inane likes and dislikes, simple choices, small conversations and decisions every iSight player made. Looked at in isolation, this all seemed so trivial. But over time, all these small clues built a profile more accurate than any other. WhiteStar knew where every player lived, who their friends, colleagues and family were, what their personal preferences were, where and when they worked, and where and when they relaxed. WhiteStar knew the choices a player would make - and how those decisions changed depending on the circumstances. They knew every players aspirations and fears, secrets and sins.
 

WhiteStar knew
everything
.

Faceless forces had conspired to protect his father's killers. They had driven his mother out of her home and to her death. Dodgson understood only too well the danger in an organisation like WhiteStar holding the information.
 

And he knew how to stop them.

Snapping back to the monitor, Dodgson leaned forward and stared intently at the tiled thumbnail superheroes on his screen. "Ok then, in that case I ask that you all vote on the following question."

Dodgson paused.

"Should we proceed with the full-scale corruption and public release of iSight 3?"

Dodgson paused again and slowly breathed in to try calming his pounding heart before continuing.

"I'd ask everyone to cast their final vote now please."

Dodgson's fingers briefly flickered over the tablet, and a simple two-column graph appeared. The 'No' column didn't move, within seconds the 'Yes' column jumped from zero to four, seven, nine, ten, eleven - then twelve votes.
 

Above the graph, a simple strip of words appeared. "Voting complete."

Dodgson cleared his throat, and took a deep breath to clear any hint of excitement from his voice.

"Ok - it's unanimous. The last act of ANONet will strike at the heart of WhiteStar Corp in Sapporo Japan. We'll hit them during the next scheduled security update. Which means we have..." Dodgson quickly checked his monitor, "twenty one hours to get everything lined up. There's a lot to do, so I suggest everyone gets some rest then prepares for a very long day tomorrow."

#

3am Wednesday, Seattle Washington (Minus 19 Hours)

The Gulfstream G550 rolled to a gentle stop inside the cavernous whitewashed aircraft hanger on the outskirts of Seattle Airport. The winter wind howled outside, and wet flakes of sleet danced and swirled over the black tarmac. The two enormous soundproofed steel doors began closing, and a moment later the sounds of winter were replaced by silence.
 

The gleaming jet's door lowered to reveal a set of stairs, and almost immediately a handsome young man in WhiteStar Corporation blazer walked down the stairs, onto the polished concrete floor. At the same time, a solid-looking steel door in the wall of the aircraft hanger and parallel to the plane's staircase opened. Four figures appeared, and quickly walked toward the aircraft - the first two deep in animated conversation, the other two in silence.

Inside the aircraft, Santos, Skinner and Hill sat in the deep leather chairs and watched as the group neared. Santos recognised the first two men instantly - the slim Asian man leading the conversation was Kaito Tanaka. He was short - Santos estimated 5.6 or maybe 5.7' - but his exuberance and the sheer force of his character seemed to make him larger somehow. Tanaka's slicked back black hair, moustache, goatee and leathery brown skin were instantly recognisable. His expensive black Armani suit, black silk shirt and polished black patent leather Italian shoes completed the look. Santos felt Tanaka overdid the 'man in black' look, and in their last trip together she'd told him so. Tanaka had smiled graciously, and explained that it was the way the world expected him to look - that the way he presented himself was part of the iSight brand.

As Tanaka drew closer to the jet, Santos silently groaned as she recognised the man he was talking to as Andy Harper. To many women, the handsome, rich bachelor CEO of software security company Hartec would be considered quite a catch. Santos had a very different opinion. Harper had joined Skinner and Santos on several WhiteStar trips previously and without fail he would hit on her. The first few times she'd turned him down, Harper had seemed genuinely baffled - as if it didn't make sense for any woman to reject him − and would then wave it away as some flaw in Santos' judgement. However, recently Santos sensed the tone had shifted. Harper would stand a little too close to her as he talked, leaning his 6.3' frame over the diminutive psychologist. When Santos expressed any opinion, Harper would make a show of appearing unimpressed while leering at her at every possibility.
 

This is going to be a long few days
, Santos sighed and slumped back in her chair.

#

Skinner caught Santos' movement in his lateral vision, but continued to observe the group as they neared the jet. The muscular Asian man at the back was clearly a bodyguard. His buzz cut hair and blocky build squeezed into an expensive suit certainly fit the mould. As Skinner peered through the wet snow drifting down, the bodyguard glided smoothly ahead of Tanaka while constantly scanning the empty hanger. Skinner watched with fascination as the man walked up the jet's stairs and onto the plane, his head quickly sweeping the plane fore and aft. The man exuded an air of controlled violence.
 

Skinner relaxed back in the luxurious seat and considered his Japanese billionaire host. He found Tanaka a fascinating man, intriguing - full of contradictions. His boyish enthusiasm and endless energy seemed a little at odds with his position as the CEO and driving force of one of the corporate world's cash generating titans. It was clear that Tanaka loved pushing the boundaries to create truly groundbreaking games which would entertain millions. Yet at the same time he was obsessed with ensuring these games recreated a stark reality - including the dark acts of the virtual criminals.
 

In fact, that search for realism was how Skinner got involved with Tanaka.

Two years earlier, Skinner's public profile had risen dramatically in the wake of a high profile, mysterious and extremely gruesome case he'd worked on in San Francisco. His stock had risen further after the University of Maryland announced Skinner as their youngest ever Chair of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
 

The week after the announcement, Skinner had arrived at his office in the university early - around 6am - as a torrential downpour took hold. Skinner grabbed his leather bag from the car and sprinted from his designated parking spot into the faculties main office. He stood in the dark tiled and oak-panelled hallway and, soaked to the skin, stripped off his jacket, his sand shoes and his jeans. Standing in white socks, boxer shorts and shirt, Skinner bent over and started flicking the water from his drenched strawberry blonde hair onto the century-old tiles. He muttered obscenities under his breath as a pool of water started forming under his feet.
 

Skinner slowly raised himself up, water still dripping from everywhere, his white shirt now transparent and hair rubbed and flicked into a punk-rock spike.

And for the first time he noticed four people - one very familiar - sitting on a row of cheap wooden chairs lined up against the wall. A row of faces gazing directly at the drenched professor. Impassive. Patient. As if seeing an eminent professor curse and strip was an everyday occurrence.

The familiar Asian man, slight, expensively dressed and all in black, cleared his throat and said quietly, "Good morning Professor. I understand it's a little early, but we are both busy men and I felt this was the best opportunity for us to talk."

Skinner stood in the dimly lit hall, soaking wet in his underwear as the name struck him.
Tanaka. Kaito Tanaka. The iSight guy
.

Just two years earlier, Tanaka was a new name. A man who had burst onto the global stage with the world's biggest grossing online game ever. The top five grossing movies of the year couldn't match the first year sales of iSight2. Tanaka's fame was exploding. He was the man in black who'd created a worldwide phenomenon. Fluent in several languages, the charismatic genius had captured the world's imagination. But it was the way he handled the tragic loss of his wife which had turned him from a much admired entrepreneur to a man loved by millions.
 

And here he was sitting in the University of Maryland's hallway before dawn, talking to a drenched Skinner in his underwear.

Skinner winced at the memory. Even now, two years and endless ribbing from Tanaka later, he still blushed whenever he thought of their first meeting. It didn't help that Santos brought it up at every opportunity. Skinner hoped it was because she liked the idea of him in his underwear - although he suspected it was simply that she loved embarrassing him.

"Professor Skinner. Doctor Santos. Mr Hill. I am so pleased you could all make it at such short notice. Take it from me - you will not regret it!"

Skinner looked up to see Kaito Tanaka announce his welcome while entering the luxurious plane. Hill almost sprinted down the aisle to meet him. "Mr Tanaka, it is always a pleasure to see you sir. Mr Miller and the board have all asked me to express their gratitude for accommodating their request."

Skinner noticed Tanaka's face cloud for an instant, before returning to his familiar sunny disposition and with an expansive wave addressed the group in typical Tanaka style. Another mini-speech. Another call to arms.

"My friends, I am delighted that you were able to join me in Sapporo to see first-hand the fruits of our labour. First, I'd like to introduce you to a good friend and the head of my security team, Mr Koji Itou. I have asked Mr Itou to join us on this, our last trip together, and he has kindly agreed."

Skinner and Santos exchanged quizzical glances. Neither had met Mr Itou before. In fact, neither knew he existed despite having travelled with Tanaka several times in the past.
 

Tanaka turned and bowed graciously at the stony faced man to his side. Itou returned Tanaka's bow, before turning back to face the group, his face betraying no emotion.
 

Tanaka continued. "In a few short days, thanks in part to your skill and expertise, the world will embrace iSight3. Indeed, I believe within months, over two billion people - that's
one third of the planet
- will play the game. In a few short hours, you my friends will see how much we have invested in security, in safety, how careful we have been to maintain control. You will see how ready we are to change the world!"

As Tanaka spoke, Andy Harper appeared behind him. Crouching slightly to allow his tall frame to cater for the low ceiling, Harper was looking very pleased with himself, as if Tanaka's compliments were directed at him. Skinner found the big man hard to like. Sure he was smart, confident and - from what Skinner could tell - knew what he was talking about. However, Andy Harper was also very impressed with Andy Harper - and the self-regard grated. Worst of all, Skinner suspected Santos was attracted to him. He had noticed the way Santos changed whenever Harper was around.
Why wouldn't she?
Skinner mused,
he's handsome, rich and confident
. Skinner's heart sank a little. How could he compete with that?
 

#

Over the North Pacific Ocean (Minus 16 Hours)

Hill looked up from his tablet computer to see Tanaka gesturing to join him. Hill let out an inaudible sigh. He knew he'd have to listen to the same sales pitch he'd heard dozens of times before. And look fascinated. That was the hard part.

Hill gathered himself, set his face to interested and walked up the cabin past Harper on his right and Skinner and Santos on his left, stopping beside Tanaka.
 

"Take a seat please Alex - there's so much to talk about."

Tanaka pointed to the thick padded leather chair opposite. Alex nodded politely and said "Thank you Mr Tanaka, I'm honoured that you'd find the time to talk during this very busy time."

Tanaka smiled. "Alex. Please. There's no need to be so formal. As I've said before, please call me Kaito."

As Hill settled into the deep leather chair, Tanaka launched into his big vision.

"We live in exciting times you and I. In less than a week, we reinvent entertainment." Tanaka paused to let his grand statement sweep over the young lawyer.

Tanaka continued, "When we released iSight almost five years ago, everyone told me the game would fail. The original investors were nervous. Some went as far as to demand their investment be returned. After all, they said, how many people would really pay to join an online game in which players could escape reality? A game which could only be experienced wearing iSight sunglasses and those crude wristbands. So ugly. So...inelegant!"

Tanaka scrunched his face as if disgusted by the thought.

"And yet Alex, they
did
. One quarter of a billion people did. Those investors - the very same men and women who'd panicked earlier - made fortunes.