Chapter 161: Infiltration

[25 minutes before Ethan’s deadline]"Can I do the accent?"

"For the last time Zero, no accent." Tag said over the ear piece in the hyperactive tennager’s ear.

He groaned dramatically. "But come on, Tag, I’ve been practicing my Mandarin accent for, like, three whole minutes!"

"Exactly my point."

Zero sighed as he revved the scooter’s engine, the small motor whining as he sped down the narrow road toward the walled estate ahead.

He wore a faded yellow delivery vest with a cap pulled low over his white hair, a cardboard box strapped to the back of the scooter marked with the logo of a local food chain.

"Man, you guys are no fun," he muttered, weaving past a slow-moving car. "How am I supposed to blend in if I can’t even sound authentic?"

"Not while speaking like that," Tag said again.

"But I watched Rush—" he started but was cut off by Spectra who was also in the basement with tag.

""That’s just what Jollywood think they sound like, Zero," she said, "they’ll start looking at you weirdly if you try it."

Before the conversation could continue, Silk and the always sleepy Juno cut in, "we’re in place."

"Great," Tag said, "Nico, Bypass?"

"We’re also in place, waiting on your signal," Nico’s calm voice responded.

They had finally completely sorted out their differences at the fact that Tag basically gambled all their lives for money and he still remained their leader.

Silk had also come to accept the fact that Ethan was now their boss, since, one, the pay they earn from him was nothing to scoff at and two, she had seen exactly what he was capable of, both in the tech world and the business world.... she’d rather stand with him then against.

"Zero, how far are you?" Tag asked.

"Five minutes," a response came from Zero.

"Alright, everyone knows the plan," he added, "we want to do this as quickly and quietly as possible, before they have the chance to realize, she should be long gone."

"Got it." They responded in unison.

"Bypass," he added, "loop their camera feed, I want a twenty minutes blackout."

"Child’s play," Bypass answered as he quickly got to work.

"No need to get cocky, keyboard Jesus," Silk said, "it’s just a simple FireLink OS, even a child can hack into it."

"What a weird way to flirt," Zero commented as he heard her words.

Someway and somehow, much to the surprise of the entire team, Silk and Bypass had started dating, though, their interactions hadn’t changed in the slightest bit.

Well, apart from Zero’s usual call outs.

"Can we make this fast," Juno finally said, his voice slow and bored, like he was already halfway asleep. "I’d rather get back to sleep."


"You literally slept through half the briefing," Spectra pointed out flatly. "How much more rest do you need?"

"Preferably as long as possible," Juno replied without missing a beat.

Before anyone else could say anything, Bypass interrupted.

"Loop’s live," he announced. "Their surveillance grid’s been fed twenty minutes of looped data. They won’t notice a thing unless someone reboots the system manually."

"Good," Tag nodded, "Zero."

Zero glanced at the gate coming into view, two security guards chatting lazily. He slowed the scooter, straightened his vest, and lowered his cap even more.

"Delivery time," he said with a grin. "Let’s hope they tip well."

"Just stick to the script," Tag reminded but got no response as Zero approached the guards.

"Delivery!" He called out cheerfully in Mandarin as he stopped his scooter in front of the gate. His tone was light and natural with no trace of his earlier exaggerated accent. "For Mr. Long. Extra spicy noodles, paid online."

The guards exchanged a look. One stepped forward as he looked at the kid. "We didn’t order anything."

Zero held up a printed receipt with a small grin. "Order number 2219. Notes say, ’Don’t screw up the sauce again.’" He added a little shrug. "And the address says it’s this place."

The guard frowned, eyes darting between the paper and Zero, the address really did say here.

"Wait here," he muttered, turning toward his partner.

"Okay boss," Zero responded as the man turned around and walked into the estate.

He then glanced back at the first guard, the one still eyeing him suspiciously. "So, uh... you think they tip good around here?" he asked in Mandarin, scratching the back of his head.

The guard grunted, unimpressed. "Wait."

"Sure thing, boss."

A couple of minutes later, the guard returned, his demeanor a bit changed, seeming a bit tired, but the first didn’t catch it.

The second guard opened the gate and said, "he asked to leave it inside the courtyard."

"Sure thing." Zero rolled the scooter forward, as he was led towards the courtyard by the guard.

Once they were far enough, he asked the guard, "so how does it feel?"

The guard turned to him, raised a brow before lazily replying, "like wearing someone else as clothes."

With his words, the guard’s expression started glitching... literally, before it covered his entire self and the figure shrinked down an inch and the second guard’s face disappeared, replaced by Juno’s tired one.

This was [The Mimic], a tech capable of turning you to anyone it scans for thirty minutes.

Though it doesn’t change your biometrics, it changes your appearance enough to completely fool anyone.

Ethan had made it just before they left for China, since he couldn’t be bothered to start it from scratch and he was in a hurry, he used the TDI and a couple of SP to generate the blueprint.

He had created it because he knew that there was no way he’d get Lillian back without breaking into the place she was being held...so he created this and a couple of other gadgets that would come in handy.

"Cool... Can I —" Zero started but was immediately cut off by a, "No" causing him to sulk a bit.

"Please?" Zero pleaded but was still met with the same response.

"I’ll let you use mine if you do a good job," Nico’s voice was heard through the earpiece.

"Really?" Zero asked, sounding excited but before Nico could respond, they were interrupted.

"Focus," Tag’s voice cut in sharply over comms. "Juno, the mimic has twenty more minutes of use, so you’ll have to hurry. Spectra, how’s our visual?"

"Still clear," Spectra replied from her couch. "No movement inside the house yet, but I’m spotting a few extra patrols heading your way, Juno."

"Got it," Juno responded before turning the tech back on by tapping the side of his neck. A second later, he had fully transformed to the guard again and was leading Zero to the location.

Said patrol walked towards them, but Juno’s face had no expression as he continued forward with Zero.

The two passed the group of guards, only exchanging subtle nods before moving in opposite directions.

They continued forward until they got to the courtyard in the East Wing of the building and that was when Juno’s comm pinged.

{Your target is inside, in the basement below ground, } Athena’s voice came through the comms as she guided them, {she’s currently restrained and there’re a couple of guards stationed at the main entrance that leads to it, but you can use the Eastern stairwell to get to it.}

Juno only gave a subtle nod in response, he couldn’t wait for all this to be wrapped up so he’d get back to sleep.

"Copy that. Nico," Tag said, switching channels, "you’re closest to the service hallway. Time to move."

Inside the house, a couple of maids moved around, since, although she had fallen from grace, Madam Xu still liked living like royalty.

One maid with a tray in hand walked towards the dining area.

She adjusted her posture, balancing the tray with one hand while brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Copy," she said calmly. "I’ll unlock the eastern stairwell in thirty seconds."

"Good," Tag replied.

As she passed two guards near the dining hall, one of them gave her a quick look before offering a polite nod. Nico responded with a small, deferential bow, her expression flawlessly composed.

Her voice, when she spoke, was perfect, it was the soft, rehearsed Mandarin accent of a local housemaid. "Excuse me, sirs."

Neither of them suspected a thing.

The moment she disappeared around the corner, the tray transformed into some kind of case which she took a chip out of and slid it under the hallway camera. It blinked once, then powered down silently.

"Bypass, the line’s yours," she whispered.

"Already in," Bypass answered from the van he was in, the sound of his keyboard being the only thing that could be heard. "Eastern stairwell unlocked. You’ve got a clean path down for the next ten minutes."

"Roger."

Meanwhile, outside the perimeter wall, Silk crouched behind a blacked-out delivery van, cracking her knuckles.

"Alright, kiddos," she said through comms, a grin audible in her tone, "time to make some noise."