Genosha - Step by Step: Breaking Into the PA Building

[x-adrienne.livejournal.com]

Maddie, Jean-Paul, and John break into the Genoshan Power Authority building in the city and make some discoveries about operations in the geothermal power plant.


The power authority building was deserted of employees at this time of night other than the two security guards who had been stationed at a control centre in the lobby. When Maddie had knocked on the door, pretending to be a summer student new to the city, out on the town with friends who had become lost, the guards had proved quite helpful, opening the door so they could take a look at the "malfunctioning GPS app on her phone." John and Jean-Paul had knocked them out and trussed them up behind the control centre booth very efficiently. However, when they failed to report in with their security company (they were just subcontractors, after all- budget cuts) at the top of the hour, questions would be raised. The clock was ticking.

Maddie stared at the two guards where they lay unconscious, propped up against one another for support. Shame they had to do that really, as they had been quite helpful and friendly, and they clearly weren't evil. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sighed. Maybe she could have convinced them to help, or at least make them help using her powers of telepathy, but that idea was too risky. Of course now they had to race against the clock and finish this task. Now was no time for her to stop and contemplate what else they could have done.

"Right," she said, trying to sound authoritative. "Let's see what these bastards are trying to hide. Where do we start?"

Unfortunately the security guards were no longer inclined to be helpful and Jean-Paul wasn't sure precisely where they needed to go from the control booth to get to the information they actually required. Forty-eight minutes and counting. Shuffling through papers at the desk, he frowned until he came up with a piece of paper. "Mon Dieu, I love governments and their standardized fire safety practices." Handing the paper over to John, he pointed at the hallway to their left. "I think going here will work best, oui? This room, it is for videos and computers, is it not?"

"Well, let's hope what you see is what you get." John folded the paper, crouched down next to the unconscious guard and grabbed his keys and his ID badge before heading off in the direction of the server room. He had noticed the date on the floor plan and unless the building had undergone reconstruction within the past six months, they should be able to locate all the evidence and information they needed behind door 254.

John swiped the badge over the electronic device and watched as the led light turned green. He opened the door an inch or two; checking to see if there was anyone in there, but they were in luck. There was no need for a repeat of 'crack some guy's skull against the nearest surface'. He stepped inside and took a quick glance around. There were several rack-mounted-servers on both sides of the temperature controlled room while the main console was in the center.

"Those fucking fuckers." Maddie had sat down at a console and pulled up several of the archived camera footage. The working conditions looked bad enough, but some of these mutants looked like they hadn't had a good meal in ages. But it wasn't enough to really get people fired up. She fast forwarded through one of the videos until something on the screen caught her eye. Maddie frowned, rewound the footage, then played it at regular speed.

On the monitor, she watched as one of the workers fell to the ground, and nobody stopped to help in up. In fact, the other mutants just walked right on top of him. He lay there, being trampled under foot, until two men in official uniforms stopped the workers and pulled the man to safety. Maddie cringed as she saw one of the supervisors kick the fallen mutant as they yelled at him, probably ordering him to get up, but she could not hear what they were saying. All she could do was watch in horror, knuckles turning white as her fists clenched in anger, as the men in uniform continued to kick and beat the man on the ground, even as the mutant tried to push himself up with trembling arms, until the officials were left kicking a lifeless body. The other workers paid no attention to the scene, unaware of the fact that just yards away, someone was literally being beaten to death.

"I'm gonna throw up."

Jean-Paul had been keeping one eye on the door, lurking near it while the younger people handled the computers and the transfer of files, but at Maddie's exclamation, he briefly left his post and moved to stand behind her chair. The images were disturbing, certainly, and definitely the worst case of physical abuse toward a mutant that he'd seen recorded. It was cruel, more than anything else. Heartless. And this video made the fact that the mutants in the factories were truly nothing more than slaves. "Mon ostie de saint-sacrament de câlice de crisse," he breathed, watching the life leave the mutant's body. He fell limp and still the abuse continued.

John had seen his fair share of torture and abuse happening within refugee camps while working abroad and was no stranger to it. He looked away though, because now wasn't the time to get distracted as they needed to get the information out. "Let's start downloading the content." Their time was running out and they needed to leave the building before they were caught. He moved toward the racks and inserted the flash drives into the different servers before signaling for Maddie to start the transfer.

"Oh this shit is going all over YouTube." In spite of their situation, the young redhead sounded almost a little pleased; there was no way all of this was going to go ignored.

"Oui," Jean-Paul murmured, moving back to the door and checking his watch. "But we have only twenty-three minutes left. We will put it, as you say, on YouTube once we are elsewhere."

John figured they would be passing the data on to someone who would be able to make good use of the information to allow them to get the truth out, and for them to be taken seriously. He wasn't sure if YouTube was the right medium for what they had in their hands, but they could talk about it later -- once they were out. The moment the data was transferred, he unplugged the flash drives, stuck two in his jacket pocket, and handed one over to Jean-Paul and the other to Maddie. It was a precautionary move just in case they got separated.

"All right," Maddie dropped the flash drive into her bra. That was probably the safest place for it; pockets could be picked, but she'd like to think that she'd notice someone sticking their hand down her shirt. Evidence carefully hidden, the young girl pushed her chair back into the station and turned to face the two men. She had no idea how much time had passed, but it was probably closer to the "get out now while you still can" end of the spectrum.

"Let's vamoose. None of this matters if we don't get back to upload this shit. Flamethrower, Speedy Gonzales," she turned to both of them in turn and grinned broadly. "Let's bring these arrogant fuckers down."

Jean-Paul quirked an eyebrow at the nickname, but he'd been called worse. "Let us go, then. We have," he checked his watch, "Fourteen minutes."