Dis*, Dis*position Options

[BlackHat]

Club Kraze, Costume Closet
4:24am

Mathew nodded, and seemed impressed. "Good eye," he said, waggling the scanners before returning them to his jacket pocket. He then produced another RFID business card and offered it to Mary, "This should have most of the technical specs on it if you're interested, but the data is held in optical memory - less of an issue to convince the client that their data is purged from the system when the job is done. No risk of data seepage or accidental neural retention... plus the latest line of data compression modules out of Neuronet's R&D trivialize the extra space you can eek out of your wetware." Mathew seemed competent when talking about headware - at least as it pertained to his job - but to someone with Mary's technical background (and familiarity with SOTA tech) it might sound more like he was reciting a marketing pitch than showing more than a surface understanding of the underlying cybernetics. The data flashing across the electronic paper of the business card and available on the RFID tag was of a similar sort - specifications for an assortment of high-end cybernetics and software packages (some not even publicly available - although both Mary and Sara may recognize some codenames), from a handful of corporations, which were all presented in a manner that underlined the impressive degree of security that they could provide - at the client's discretion, of course.

Mathew paces around the closet, inspecting himself in one of the mirrors and wiping away a bead of sweat (which may have come from the poor ventilation in the closet, but was more likely from the situation he has found himself in). "Your friends out there are playing a very dangerous game," Mathew says, looking at Sara's reflection in the mirror. As he turns around to face her, he continues. "Selling paydata before you actually have it is a good way to get a lot of people killed." He pauses for a moment, as though considering the situation carefully, before going on. "So, let's cut to the chase.... Do you already know which security features the actual client opted for?" He looked her up and down, appraisingly. "... because if you don't, you'd probably have better luck hacking into a bank and stealing enough money to win the auction, yourself." Mathew smirked, indicating that he was exaggerating, but from the specs on the cards he had given both Mary and Sara - perhaps not by much. "... plus, if you went that route, a single mistake wouldn't cause the people on the other side of the door to kill you.... not that they are likely to let any of us live, anyway." Mathew seemed to be gauging both of their reactions at this last statement more than his previous comments or questions.

[TakayamaYuuko]

Club Craze, Costume Closet
4:25 am

Mary retains a straight face. "Let me say I have nothing but the deepest respect for Transys. Good to hear Ainsbridge is going that direction. The brain's such an analog system, it's not a binary signal - it's how many ions cross the threshold, and where, and how many synapses are clustered in a particular spot, and trying to translate digital into that's just no good at all. For the other matter... I first met Mikey Inc. about half an hour ago when we hired each other to steal something. I don't think they suspect I know anything about cracking headware, because I don't. Even if that doesn't give me some safety, I've never heard anyone say 'The fourth time is the charm.'"

She studies the card a moment. "This might give me a couple ideas, but what are you thinking? You wanna give Mikey Inc. the slip? You have any ideas on that? Because they've got an impressive set of orks around here."

[BlackHat]

Club Kraze, Costume Closet
4:25am

"Well, step one was to get off that stage. Step three is some form of escape, yeah." Mathew smirked. "Step two is... a work in progress." He shrugged. "Maybe one of Micky's well-armed friends will turn out to be a sore loser, or maybe I can get myself a signal." He checked his commlink again. No luck. "My absence will be noticed in the next five minutes, and my GPS trail leads here. I could have an armed extraction team here in ten minutes, if I could smuggle something outside." Looking back at Sara added, "No offense, but I'm not really planning on you successfully recovering the data." He smiled politely.

"Worse comes to worse, if things get desperate," Matt opened his suit jacket slightly to reveal a small firearm in a concealable holster. "I may have to take myself hostage.... Again."

[Ghost_in_the_Sys...]

Club Kraze, Second floor private party
4:24 am

Sara had been in a bit of a daze as she was lead up to the stage in front of the crowd and was introduced as a data consultant that would be verifying the data. At least that didn't mean she was expected to get the data out. At least she hoped it didn't mean that, as she knew about as much about hacking as the average teenager. Perhaps notably less. Decrypting and encrypting she could do fairly well, but she had to have access to the encrypted data in the first place to even be able to do that. All this runs through her head as she stares out at the not exactly friendly looking crowd and then to the data courier. She takes the card from him just a bit numbly, the information flashing up in her vision in a moment as she reads the info on the card's chip. It is an impressive setup, or rather, a potentially impressive setup depending on what is and isn't actually being used.

She doesn't seem to register the suggestion to move somewhere else to talk until an ork places a hand on her shoulder and begins leading her away. It causes her to tense up for a moment, but when she realizes that she isn't being killed, she relaxes the tiniest bit, though retains a look of someone playing Russian roulette with a semi-automatic gun. Eventually though she does manage to come out of her fear induced stupor as she is left in the costume closet with the courier and... umm.... whoever this other woman is. Technical specifications begin being bantered about and she visibly relaxes as things move closer to things she actually knows.

In response to Mathew's direct question she finally speaks, nerves fairly evident in her voice. "Don't look at me! I have no idea what's going on here. A couple days ago I'm working like normal, then I'm fired for no reason, then I'm working on some personal projects, then people with guns break into my house to invite me to this party. And by invite I mean kidnap." She stops to take a few breaths to calm herself "They think I worked on whatever it is you have in your head, but I'm fairly sure I've never worked on anything that would be worth nearly so much money. And no, I'd be lucky if I could hack into a CalTech computer at the moment. I know enough about it to protect my own programs from it, but that's about it. I mean sure, if I had you in a lab for a few months I'm sure I could reverse engineer most of your defenses and bypass them, but I doubt anything you have in you would still be worth so much after so long."

She gives a sign and continues to ramble on "I mean sure, Smith might be a bit better at most hacking than me, but I doubt he could bypass any of this stuff either. I mean I made him, but I didn't spend all that long on him, and sure, he was made for hacking to test my programs and whatnot so he is fairly decent at it, but this is top of the line stuff. Heck, we don't release this one till next month." She says, pointing at one of the items that no one else can see because it only appears in her own vision.

She stops again, taking a few more breaths to bring herself back from hysteria "Well, we've got the first part of your plan, and I really like that third part right now, but I'm not so sure about the second part." Is that from a movie? It sounds like it could be. "Take yourself hostage? Yeah, that'll go well I'm sure. I mean, I could take the data hostage too. If like... any of these options were used, all I'd have to do is fumble around a bit and I'd delete all the data. I don't really want to get shot though, so, you know, you're more than welcome to shoot yourself instead or whatever exactly taking yourself hostage entails. I really like the sound of an assault team coming to rescue us in a few minutes though. Then again, they might shoot everyone that isn't you. Or maybe you too, I don't know, this is getting crazy."

Sara looks thoughtfully at the wall "Shame you aren't a troll. I bet you could break through that wall and we could run right outa here if you were." Not exactly the most helpful observation ever, but it is a costume room, not a prison cell. The wall may not be all that strong. "Well, we have plenty of costumes, but it isn't like we can disguise ourselves at this point, they know we're the only ones in here." She dislikes how limited her options are here. Mathew or Mary could take her hostage, as she must be at least somewhat valuable as the only person who could supposedly verify the data, but she wasn't really enthralled with the idea of being taken hostage, so decided not to mention it. At least not until there was a bit more brainstorming at least. She may be smart, but the options were so limited in this situation it didn't seem to be doing much good.

[BlackHat]

Club Kraze, Costume Closet
4:25am

Mathew nodded along, agreeing with everything that was said, but shrugging dismissively when Sara seemed to misunderstand what he meant by taking himself hostage. "Yeah, I understand why they need to keep me around, and keep me safe - at least until they have what they want. I also see why they think they need you, for the same duration," he was looking at Sara, "or, at least, if they change their mind, I think they'll have some explaining to do to their friends about why they decided they could forgo the third party data verification." He then turned to Mary, "What I don't quite get, is where you fit in."

"The fact that you're locked in here with us suggests one of two things. Either you are as much of a prisoner as we are... or you're still on the clock." He smirked, "Any idea which?"

[TakayamaYuuko]

Club Kraze, Costume Closet
4:26 am

"No idea. I shouldn't be on the clock. I've done everything exactly as I was told. Compared to everything Mikey had to do to set up this whole thing, and the numbers they're throwing around, I think he'd be happy to help me get my hands on the last pitiful wad of cash I've got. Mikey came recommended for that. By my doctor. My life's already over, really, and the Doc is one friend I want to have on my way down. From my experience, all I can say is: the assault team are never your friends, turning yourself into a hostage is not a good idea, and showing a gun only pisses them off. Ideally, you'll cooperate as best you can. If only because I'm as curious to see what's in there as anybody else by now." She smiles sardonically. "As somebody who's already off the cliff, I'm sympathetic and it'd be the same to me if you got away. If there were an intimation of unfair dealing, the bidders look like they'd provide you just the opportunity you're looking for..."

[BlackHat]

Club Kraze, Costume Closet
4:26am

"...a situation I assumed will unfold naturally when they realized the guy auctioning the data doesn't actually have a way to get at the data without destroying it... but that might take a while. Perhaps you're right and they'll need a push." He looked at Sara. "Something like... if the third-party data-verification claims that the or the data isn't authentic, or isn't the data they were planning to buy. Thing is, it doesn't sound like you know what it is they are looking for in the first place - so your claim might not hold up to questioning." He thinks for a moment. "Let's say you did work on a project related to what's in my head. Why would Mikey think that would make you uniquely qualified to verify or extract it? They didn't bring any of your equipment with you, and didn't hand you a red-hot cyberdeck to work with, so I don't think they are expecting you to hack your way in. If that was all they needed, they could have hired a real hacker, and saved themselves some trouble." He paces around a bit. "Maybe they think you know some access codes, or some security procedures commonly used by your company. Of course, having you blindly try them risks loosing the data if you're wrong - so I doubt they want you to rush in." He looked back at her, inquisitively. "Let's suppose the data in my head came from your company - from a project you worked on, personally. I was either hired to transport the information for them, or hired by someone who came into possession of the data, and didn't want to get caught with it." He seemed to be weighing the likelihood of either possibility. "In the first case, your unique knowledge might be of use. You might be able to make an educated guess at the security procedures your company would employ, and potentially know why the transport was taking place, who was meant to receive it, and so on. Of course, Mikey already knew when and where I was being collected, so he probably already knows some of this - for all we know, he could be kidnapping the intended recipient, as we speak...." Mathew chewed on this possibility for a bit, before adding. "If it is the other case, somebody is either exfiltrating data from your company or some hacker got lucky and hit paydata... and I don't see how your background would actually be of any assistance, in terms of recovering it."

"So, let's assume it is the former case - since we are otherwise at an impasse. At the risk of learning more than I'd like to about this job, can you think of any information, procedures or contacts in the company that might be relevant?" He glanced somewhat nervously at the door. "Feel free to keep the details, to yourself."

[TakayamaYuuko]

Club Kraze, Costume Closet
4:26 am

If it was my company, and especially if it were Laruss or Smitt who arranged it - yeah, I'd have a fair idea of which features would be used.

"Not to speak for her, but if it was something I worked on, I'd probably deliberately trip the wrong flag and burn it all rather than let the company or anyone else get their hands on it." She shrugs. "I'm just saying."

[BlackHat]

Club Kraze, Costume Closet
4:26am

"...which again raises the question as to why Mikey would pick Sara to do the job, assuming she could... beyond the threat of death, which I suppose is usually enough."

"If we didn't mind loosing the only leverage we have, you're right. We could potentially cost Mikey quite a lot of money and have him loose face in front of his colleagues." He shrugged, "He wouldn't need us anymore after that, though, and, if he isn't planning to kill us already, costing him that kind of money would probably convince him otherwise." Gesturing vaguely at his jacket he continued, "If I wanted to, I could have knocked myself out a while ago and there would be a good chance that the data would have been wiped. Doing so would make my situation worse, not better.... but it would make Mikey's situation a lot worse, too. So, like I said, if the situation gets desperate enough, threatening to do so is still an option. Mikey probably wouldn't let me walk, but he might be willing to negotiate for something else - like Matrix access, or an escrow service - if he understands that I can take the data to the grave with me... and that I don't have any reason to believe he is going to let me live, anyway." He smirked, weakly.

"Same logic goes for you." He added, gesturing to Sara. "If the data is wiped, intentionally or not, these guys suddenly don't have any use for third-party data-verification... and you would become more of a liability than an asset." Matt shrugged, "I could be wrong. Mikey might be this great guy who will just have Mary here drive you back to your place and deliver a heartfelt apology for the inconvenience, but I think we can all agree that such a scenario is unrealistic."

[TakayamaYuuko]

Club Kraze, Costume Closet
4:27 am

"Oh, I agree that it'd be completely the wrong thing to do. I'm just speaking from the spitefulness of the already-dead. Just as I might go sock Mikette in the mouth for dropping a name that's outlived its value. The dead shouldn't talk, so I should just butt out, but don't you have a plan now? Act on it. Make them afraid. Squeeze it. Win concessions."

[Ghost_in_the_Sys...]

Club Kraze, Costume Closet
4:27 am

Sara remains mostly silent as the others try and put things together, her mind racing to solve the problem before her. It was good at doing that, the ware in the head not hurting either. Eventually she speaks up. "My guess would be it is some kind of high end program if they grabbed me as a programmer, but I wasn't working on anything like that. Might have something to do with me getting fired though. Maybe they thought I'd be a disgruntled employee and would help them with whatever they think I'm going to help them with. They seem to think I worked on whatever this data is, so I'd also guess I was an easy target compared to the people actually working on it. Also, you're right, if I it was one of my programs, I wouldn't have any personal qualms about burning it because I could always rewrite it fairly quickly. I remember all my code, so it wouldn't take long to rewrite it all. Only qualm would be them shooting me of course. One thing you're touching on though, is that I do know some of my company's encryption and proprietary formats, so it could have something to do with that. I mean, I still wouldn't know anything about getting it out of your head, but like I said earlier, I am good with encryption, so once it is out I'm not an entirely bad choice for turning it into something usable. I'm also a good programer, so I'd at least be able to tell if it likely came from my company or not, and if it is the type and quality of program they think it is.

Also, if they really think I worked on this, wiped data likely wouldn't kill me, as they would think I know the program and would likely try and force me to write it. Not a great future, but it would mean I'd live for a bit longer, and escape may be possible at some point. They'd have to give me a decent, computer to work with and lots of time since they don't know how well I know the code, or how much of it. Still, I'd prefer to just get out of here now if possible. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll all shoot each other at some point for some reason and we'll be able to just walk out of here, or at least sneak out while they're shooting."

She pauses and considers "Best way to get them shooting would be to say the data is fake I think. Buyers would all get mad at the sellers at least, and it is the sellers that are keeping us here. In fact, if they think the data is fake, they may kill the sellers and just leave us be. It isn't like we'd be important at that point, except as witnesses I guess."

Sara pauses again and taps her chin "Okay, so, I'm thinking the best thing to do for now is wait and see. We wait for someone to win the auction, then we see if any of the losers decide to increase their bid with some lead. That could provide a chance to escape. Afterwards, they may leave, which would at least leave fewer people to deal with. Then after they extract the data, I could say it is fake, which might bring up another chance at a showdown and chance to escape. That's assuming they actually extract the data here and now. It may not happen till later when someone can get a real hacker or something in here to pull out the data. That gives us more time and opportunities to escape. Also, as long as you have the data in you, you're the most valuable person to any of them. Well, not counting the losers who might try and kill you just to stop anyone else getting the data. Or they may try kidnapping you, which is yet another chance to escape. I really don't see any concrete way out of this, just lots of potential chances to escape during some form of chaos or another."

Suddenly, Sara looks up at the ceiling and says "Speaking of chaos, I wonder what they'd do if a fire alarm got set off...."

[JavaLamp]

Club Kraze, Costume closet
4:28am

The door to the costume closet opens without so much preamble as even footsteps approaching. It's one of the orcs. He grunts so hard through his nose you can see his impatience plainly. "Out wit'cha." Heels clack across the synthwood backstage announcing the woman's presence again and she walks casually in view from the doorway. "Congratulations, it's your turn. Sara, You're pulling the data out now. We've prepared a deck for you to operate with. The bidding is wrapping up, and you wouldn't want to keep the buyer waiting."

Club Kraze, Bidding area
Already most of the groups have dropped out of bidding. Mr. Yorisho and the Bishop group alone remain, and meaningful glares are being exchanged by the non-bidding portion of each party.

"120 I am bid, do I hear a raise? 120 and one half, to One Twenty and one? going once... 122! Very generous. 122. 122 going once. 122 and one half..."

Club Kraze, Costume closet
Sara, Matt, and Mary are all beckoned out of the closet and Mary is pulled aside by the orc who'd opened the door. He hands an optical chip to her roughly and grunts again. It reads plainly "Read and Reply, do not share."

[mister__joshua]

David Johnson
Club Kraze, Second floor private party
4:24am

He felt the tension in the air rising as the bidding seemed to be drawing to a close. There were a group of people glaring at him, punching holes through to his soul. He had no idea why, but he could guess it was to do with his associate's ability to match every one of their bids. David wasn't a very confrontational person and so he tried to ignore them, but the persistence in their stare meant that he couldn't. If Mr Smith was to win the bidding, then these people may try and take the information by force. Odds alone suggest that they'd be better trained and better equipped than he was, and he didn't fancy his chances trying to protect Mr Smith by himself. He started thinking of a quick escape, looking for exits. He wasn't trained for this sort of thing! Why was this happening to him? Was this the sort of thing all of those people who'd been promoted above him had had to do, or had he just drawn the short straw? He muttered to himself again... "Come on, get a grip! I'm sure it'll be fine, there's nothing to worry about! This'll all be over soon and then you'll be tucked up in bed, on the road to promotion and success. The UCAS Dream."

[BlackHat]

Club Kraze, Costume Closet
4:28am

When their private conversation is interrupted, Mathew quickly ends it. "...I guess we will never know."

Things went from sounding bad, to worse. Not only had they procured a cyberdeck for Sara to use, but the bidding had not yet ended. If the drek were going to hit the fan, it wouldn't be until they were back in the same room. As they are being ushered away from the relative safety of their costume closet, he leans towards the woman who seemed to be in charge - to the extent that the ork guarding him would allow - and said (loud enough for Sara to overhear and respond if she desired, "Since you mentioned keeping the buyer waiting... we suspect that a reckless attempt to hack the system would probably result in the destruction of the data. Is the client prepared to wait long enough to allow us to do our best to be cautious - or would you rather Sara perform quickly and risk having to refund the auction?" He paused to let the question sink in. Although he was fairly confident that neither option was going to be acceptable, he felt obliged to make sure the woman understood the situation and expressly asked for them to gamble with their precious data. "Also, if I am going to continue to cooperate, I would like to discuss escrow services and what safeguards you would allow me to set in motion to insure my safe return when you're done with me.... " He also let this second comment hang in the air, expecting that both of these would also be unacceptable. However, he doubted the woman was ready to drop the facade that they would be willing to pay him for his cooperation.

The only way Mathew thought Sara would be able to extract the data in less than a few hours would be if the client had not opted to take even basic precautions. Despite the blame for the data-interception falling on the client, Mathew was sure his professional reputation would take a hit - but it wouldn't really matter, because he and Sara would probably be killed shortly after Mikey completed the transaction. If the client had even bothered to put a user-level password on the node, his expectation was that even a good hacker would spend the night just trying to find a way past the firewall - if she was taking her time, and trying to avoid setting off any kind of security alert on the node. Then again, if the data wasn't set to wipe if there was signs of trouble, it would just be a matter of time assuming the cyberdeck had reasonably strong programs. Of course, none of that meant that their captors would be willing to wait that long.

[TakayamaYuuko]

Club Kraze, Backstage
4:28 am

Mary looks over the chip briefly. She turns to the ork and says quietly, "I don't have a commlink. Is there a public terminal in the..." She gets a puzzled look on her face. "Uh, wait, hold on."

Mid-sentence, she has finally felt an item tucked into her waist, held tight against her by the waistband of the raggedy leg coverings she had come in. She fumbles about under the mass of cloth and gets hold of it. It's got a comfortable and familiar feeling to it, and she pulls it out. It's her commlink. The piece of the casing over the wi-fi antenna is still missing, and the whole thing is badly scratched and a little scorched. It looks like it's been to Hell and back. Her earbuds and glasses, bent with one ear-piece barely hanging on for dear life, are bundled to it.

It flickers to life.

She sheepishly bows her head to the ork. "Never mind." She withdraws a step to read the chip.

[JavaLamp]

Club Kraze, Just outside the costume closet
4:28am

Spoiler for Mathew

[ Spoiler ]

The woman looks at Matt for a moment, a somewhat bored look on her face. "Corruption or loss of data is that Data consultant's concern. She'll take as much time as she needs, there's no payment if she fails."

She considers this for a moment. "Though the failure's on her if she doesn't. She might get paid something else outside." Smiling, she crosses her arms under her chest. "Don't be so hasty to cash out, someone may want to hire your services after extraction. After the transaction, well, you won't be worth the bullet. We turn you loose as soon as the data's pooched or extracted. You think you'll need extra protection do you?"

Spoiler for Mary

[ Spoiler ]

You slot the chip and static-y life crackles through the glasses. A simple text item opens.

I heard the proceeds in the closet. Your new friends are jumpy, and the last thing I need is them turning this into a firefight. I have my arrangements, but someone's going to get hurt, or someone will die, I'll let you in on a little secret here, this is the 12th of these I've run. The last courier/consultant who made trouble just got themselves killed.

Oh, and if the consultant tries to lie to us. I wouldn't recommend that. The smoother this goes the more likely everyone goes home alive and a little richer.

[BlackHat]

Club Kraze, Outside the Costume Closet
4:28am

Matt nods, speaking softly, although he doesn't really care who overhears. "I do, and I think that if you actually intended to hold up your end of the deal that you would have nothing to lose by indulging me... don't you?"

[TakayamaYuuko]

Club Kraze, Just outside the costume closet

[ Spoiler ]

Understood. However, I think we have an added complication. He keeps talking about getting killed but I think he's more afraid for his reputation than his life.

She logs out and hands the chip back to the ork.

She goes back over to the consultant and the courier. She whispers. "Now that I can breathe moving air again, I'll try one more time. I think you really should cooperate. Being honest is going to get you more time than anything else and will be a good sight safer than getting people to shoot at each other. For your own sakes, please." She backs off to resume her seat.

[BlackHat]

Club Kraze, Outside the Costume Closet
4:28am

Matt raised an eyebrow at Mary's suggestion, but didn't respond. A minute ago, she was all "make them afraid" and "win concessions" and now she was suggesting they give up and help out. Rather than think too deeply about it, however, Mathew wrote it off as a facade for their captors, now that they were among them again. He suspected she was distancing herself from them, in case one of them did something crazy and it went poorly. He didn't blame her, but he wasn't likely to put a whole lot of stock in anyone else's suggestions, anyway. He hadn't been dealt the best hand, tonight, but he intended to play his cards as well as he could. He felt like the situation was still salvageable - particularly if his last requests were granted - so he wasn't about to do anything stupid, but he couldn't help but wondering whether he could even get his taser from its holster before the big ork beside him could take him down.

[TakayamaYuuko]

Club Kraze, Backstage
4:28 am

In the few steps back to her chair, Mary starts to regret the nihilistic streak that came over her in the costume closet. She was already dead, it was true, but she didn't need to drag anybody else down with her by encouraging their intent to jump. She had pretty much ruined her credibility with the others by telling them one thing, then another, then the first thing again. She could only hope that somebody else would help talk the situation down if it came down to it.

[JavaLamp]

Club Kraze, Just outside the costume closet
4:28am

The woman exhales audibly through her nostrils, she gestures to a seat behind the stage curtaining. "Well, make your requests, I'm guessing your data jack isn't set to auto-ASIST on connection so sit down and start talking while we get the consultant to work." Her voice is still dismissive as she offers a plug to Matt, it's sheem indicating the new plug wrapping.

At the same time, Sara is brought a chair that makes a solid thump as it's dropped by Matt's and a still-in-plastic Fuchi "Streamline Silver '60" cyberdeck is shoved into her gut with its user jack waiting in it's retractable dock.

The orc takes the chip back from Mary and walks straight up to the woman with Sara and Matt. She re-settles her stance and walks around to the back of Matt's chair.

Meanwhile, out front, both parties continue bidding steadily. Tension between the two rise visibly every few bids.

[BlackHat]

Club Kraze
4:28am

Matt sat down, as he was instructed, and took the plug he was offered. "No, it won't auto-assist. It will be silent until get receives the encrypted activation signal - at least, by default." He connected the plug to his magnetic inductive datajack adapter, and clicking that into place on the side of his head. "To begin with, I would actually prefer not to receive any compensation. Should you be successful in your attempt to extract the data, your discretion would be much more valuable to me than your money. I'm sure you understand. I don't want there to be any question that I am here against my will, and that - professionally - I am opposed to this endeavor." He took a long breath, "I am, however, willing to cooperate - with the understanding that doing so will save my life - to the extent that I will allow the datalock's defenses to stand on their own. If your consultant can get in, I don't believe it is because of any failure on my part, but, rather, a failure of my client to protect his property with the tools I have made available to him. On the other hand, if your consultant fails to bypass the security, there really isn't much I can do about that - and I assume we'll only get one shot at this." He glances at Sara then back at the woman in charge. "If we agree on those terms, I would like some insurance that you won't simply put a bullet in me when we are finished here, but I doubt that would be something you or the people you work for can easily give me."

He raised an eyebrow, and asked, "I don't suppose you allow me to make a supervised call to my agent, and let him know that I am safe and when and where he can expect to pick me up?"