X-Factor Case File: The Triskelion Files - Log 5

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Sue and Arthur break into SHIELD's Triskelion building for information. Fortunately, the information they want is as far from the classified databases as possible



Triskelion was likely the most secure building in New York City. Towering 60 stories above the East River, it was the current home of SHIELD. Day and night, the VTOL Quinjets could be seen entering and exiting flight bays placed in the upper stories and the lights seemed to always be on inside. Fortunately, while SHIELD was one of the most important and power intelligence agencies and counter-terrorism groups in the world, it was still a United States government agency, with all the bureaucracy and compartmentalized workgroups that came with it.

The identities of SHIELD agents and most of the executives were classified, but thousands of people worked at the building every day, most falling well below the line for any security beyond an NDA and a passcard. As they’d discussed, the leak was likely someone with low to no clearance, but incidentally worked in a position that information like the leaked photos flow through.

Sue's heels clicked as she crossed the floor, struggling a little with her name badge as she clipped it to her jacket coat, "I've always hated these things," she told him when she finally got it attached, "they're always so stiff and fiddly. I mean it does look more professional than a neck loop but it gets the day off on entirely the wrong foot," she told him as her eyes flicked casually around the room taking note of the guards and security features. Sue deftly maneuvered Arthur into the blind spots she'd located making it look like their path was just that of a random pair of co-workers making their way through the always crowded lobby.

Arthur peered down, amused, from behind his sunglasses. "I'd much rather have a card if it came down to it. You'd be surprised what you can do with a clip, some twine, and some sticks when stuck out in the middle of Patagonia."

His part in their little tango across the lobby was a lot more footloose than Sue's ballerina act. In fact, Arthur exuded the type of "I come here every morning" carelessness that at any moment he might start complaining about the commute. The sunglasses, however, were necessary as his eye was ablaze. Luck ensured that anyone who might care about their level of clearance was distracted by a sudden phone notification, shoe emergency, or other minor, everyday annoyance. Wrong foot indeed.

There was a cheerful blip from glass gate as the two passed through the security desk with only a passing look from the two guards on duty as one of them got an alert for a sprinkler malfunction on another floor.

The doors opened, and they were passed the first hurdle.

"I do know they're a lot less secure though," Sue pointed out with a grin, "They fall off with the slightest touch and if someone helps them along." She smiled at Arthur. She had been tempted to lift one of the security guard's key cards while he was distracted. Although if she had the use of the card, it would raise too many questions and leave a trail. A trail of SHIELD agents would follow her to the ends of the earth if they spotted it. And one thing she didn't want was for SHIELD to start nosing around on her trail, since no matter how good you were everyone makes a mistake eventually and then they'd catch up with you.

"So..." the blonde tapped her teeth as she glanced at the lift. "If I were an archive in a building like this I would," she punched the down button, "be somewhere underground."

"Sounds like a plan to me. This place has inspired so many bad action flicks, afterall. Files are always in the basement." Arthur stated this like he was reading a report from the CDC or citing facts from a textbook. The elevator pinged cheerfully and a mechanical female voice with the slightest Irish accent announced "Lobby" as the door opened and a slew of junior executives flowed around the two blondes.

Arthur smiled wider, and extended an arm to propose that Susan go first. "After you."

"Why thank you kind sir," Sue bobbed in a curtsey before slipping into the elevator and pulling on a pair of new gloves, "First stop, B1, lets hope they didn't spend too much on prettying the place up, it'd be easier if we had wires we could follow to a data archive."

The door pinged open with the same Girl Friday tone.

"That should be..." Arthur trailed off, eyeing the people who moved through the hallway with detached interest. Wordlessly, he turned to Sue and shrugged with a coy smile as people milled by behind him. His eye flashed, and the man turned to randomly stumble into whoever was unlucky enough to cross paths behind him.

Ten minutes later, the two were standing in front of the scheduling and human resource management archival office due to the very nice directions Arthur had been given. He munched idly on a scone each had been offered in their mad tour -- around the office and down a flight of stairs to B3 -- as attaches to some office that Arthur had already forgotten the name of.

Sue blinked and rubbed her eyes amazed, "What just happened?" she asked Arthur as she glanced over at the retreating back of their erstwhile tour guide, "We were upstairs and then down here and scones and..." She gave Arthur a look. "Where exactly have you been all my life? This whole luck thing could have come in really useful," she teased as the knelt down in front of the lock reaching up to reclaim two pins from her hair. "Give me a sec, and there we go." with a click the door swung open and the younger blonde nodded at it, "What a strange coincidence that the door should be open. I think we should check it out don't you Agent Smith?"

Arthur laughed at this. It was loud, and totally broke the moment. "Getting lucky is my thing, but I hate to think what poor bastard tripped on loose shoes or got called into a meeting he was unprepared for. Still, in a building this size..." The man trailed off, thoughtful, but just as quickly snapped back to the question at hand. "I have no idea what we're looking for. You're the expert, Miss Smith. Dazzle me."

"You mean my sparkling personality and rapier wit haven't already dazzled you, Mr. Smith?" Sue asked teasingly as she slipped into a chair in-front of a computer screen. "Ok. So: basic password. We can get around that easily enough now, then we just need the shift rosters so I don't need to get too fancy. We can avoid that firewall and then run a search." The younger blonde muttered to herself as her fingers flew across the keyboard as pages of code appeared and disappeared at her whim. "There's the data and lay a believable false trail to... holiday schedules looks good. Clean up the back trail and..." Sue held a USB key up triumphantly, "we're good to go."

This was met with a pair of smiling eyes. Arthur dangled his shades between two fingers. He absent-mindedly rolled them back and forth, his body lumped back against a cork-board in complete boredom. "You see, hacking always looks so dramatic in movies. What you need are some glasses and so low green lightning to enhance the mood. You also make it look too easy. Where's the tension? The build up? The drama?"

As if on cue, the man's left eye began to glow.

The door opened and a yawning man holding a coffee cup walked in. He blinked a couple of times and paused. "Uh, who are you guys?"

"Finally," Sue span in her seat and glared at the unlucky man, "There you are. Late! When Agent Smith and I get called in to collect data for a report for the deputy director we expect someone to be here to talk us through it. But instead you were nowhere to be seen and we had to dredge our way through the system by ourselves." She berated him not giving the man a chance to catch his breath, "Your filing system is a mess, I have half a mind to have the entire department sent back to training in how to file properly."

Captain coffee was obviously flustered in how he began to say something several times in response to this but then stopped. Arthur smiled at his sympathetically, gesturing toward Sue as he mouthed "She hasn't had any caffeine. Sorry."

"I- uh. I- look, we've been so busy here that the e-mails have just piled up. Just give us a couple of days."

Sue sighed and stood up, "Fine," she allowed, "Just don't make us come back down here next time. The deputy director hates being kept waiting and it's our heads on the line."

"Speaking of which," and this time Arthur spoke a loud, "Look at the time. Miss Smith, we have a meeting. All the meetings." The man was not wearing a watch.

The two kept their eyes locked on the man as they left — Arthur with the same apologetic smile, Sue critical — and no one even questioned them as they left the Triskelion. Afterall, the hardest part had been getting in.