INTO THE VENTS

"Alright, time to head out" I pulled the dangling straps on the handles of the backpack which was already worn on my back *DAB* *DAB*

This action caused the backpack hands to tighten a bit more and fit a little bit better then I buckled the backpack around my waist to prevent it from falling off

Now all set I walked over, stretched once more and got into the vents closing it back behind me and I started to head for the Black room quietly.

*LEFT* *TURN* *RIGHT* *TURN*

It was quite easy to make my way through the vents because before I made the jump back I had already studied the original blueprints for the building. The original one which had not yet been altered removing the Black room from it. 

It was quite difficult getting the original blueprints from my time as they weren't online in a hackable archive but regardless of that initial hitch there was always one place where getting difficult items such as that was possible.

The central hub for all things and services both Legal, illegal and also things that seemed unheard of before, The Underground Market

There was only one of said original GHA first ever headquarters blueprint available and it took about a month and also about a million Neuros to attain but after that was done I didn't mind or felt a loss when the package arrived  

From the blueprints the Black room was on the sub level floor and the only way to get there was through the elevator and without a high-level ID card the chances of making it there was less than zero, for a normal person anyway. 

My only option and the one the plan was following was to remove the Identification confirmation process entirely and to do that I needed to gain direct physical access to the server or any port terminals in connection with it.

The Typograph Layer Moduling crystals was the only security measure that obstructed me from the elevators but with just the right tweaks if you know what you are doing can manipulate them completely.

Lucky for me that I was the one who fashioned them and there was a port on the fourth floor which was also the security floor and it was used to make alterations to the codes 

Since the crystals are versatile a change in their codes can drastically change its functionality instead of going to the main server which funny enough was also in the sublevels this time period.

The security floor was strategically placed at the middle of the entire building so that if there was trouble on any of the other floors the security officers would be of equal distance away from it which also ensured faster average response time.

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*CRAWL*

From the vents I had to go vertically downwards to get to a lower floor which was hard because of my weak frame and hands which weren't used to these types of work and also the dust on the surface of the vent reduced my grip in some places but somehow I managed to make it there, the fourth floor. 

I crawled until I got the the port and now positioned horizontally and directly above the port which was on the wall at the end of the fourth floor I took off the air vent lid. 

I wanted to jump down then make the changes to the port's control panel but I was closer to it from up in the  vent than from the floor so the only choice was to make the changes from there.

The only way that would be possible was to do it while upside down and using my legs to keep myself in place in the vents while my upper body would be dangling outside working

*SCREW*

Using the multipurpose screwdriver again I opened it up removing the cover of the port but my grip was not properly placed on the cover as I change hands because of being upside-down and all the blood rushing to my head made me dizzy. 

*DROP*

The cover fell to the ground but luckily a plastic cord connecting the cover to the body of the port totally prevented the fall.

*FWOO*

I exhaled sharply in relief

"I can't believe I was just saved by ordinary plastic... Damn!" I said looking at the spot the port cover would have landed on if it wasn't stopped mid fall

After that little scare I raised my body back up to allow the blood to flow back down for me to regain my balance and my breath plus my legs were starting to go numb.

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I went back again and carried on with the disconnecting and rewiring of the scanning AI chip the  crystals were working with all with the paperclips and calender binding cord making it to function as a normal elevator.

Without the scanning AI chip the crystals and then elevator would not be able to recorgnize and then differentiate between an authorized and an unauthorized ID card even to the extents that any object in an ID card shape and weight should be able to open the doors

After that I messed with the surveillance camera's databox in the port as well. 

I couldn't let anyone see me sneaking around so I put all the cameras on a thirty minutes loop and as for how I did that, there were two databoxes in the port that connected with the camera feed and what the monitor displays. 

The primary databox was directly connected to the camera feed line while the secondary databox was connected to the primary

The footage that the cameras captured entered the primary databox for processing, quality control check and sometimes facial identification which takes like micro seconds to do all simultaneously.

After all that processing is done the feed gets sent simultaneously to both a storage board and also to the secondary databox which does some finishing touches and wirelessly sends the feed to the monitors and that's what the security personnel in the monitor room sees.

The storage board was for in case they needed to see something that had already happened so they could reverse the feed to a limited time range. 

The storage board had what you would call cells that could store up to thirty minutes of data each and there were six of them and after every three hours the cumulative feed data gets sent to the cloud and then cleared off from the cells freeing them for new feed to enter.

The reason there were six thirty minutes cells instead of a one three hours cell was because of as ironic as it sounds security. 

If one cell gets damaged then there would still be five left to pick up the pace of the damaged one plus there would still be the memory of the other five in case it was a serious issue but if there was only one three hours cell then if damaged all the recorded feed would have been lost plus they would have to change it immediately which also takes time, time during which they would be cloud blind

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At the moment of my intrusion the forth cells was just getting filled up so what I did was to connect those cells of the storage board to the secondary databox and disconnect the primary from it. 

This made the feed that was being sent to the monitors to be the recorded ones from the storage board cells and no longer the live footage being caught on camera.

Since the live footage was still filling the remaining two cells then once they fill up all the cell data would get deleted and the new feed that will enter the monitors would be live footage again straight from camera feed to the cells then lastly to the monitors so I only had less than an hour to get things done.

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After connecting everything all that was left was to do the switch of monitor feed source but I needed to be lightening fast about it because the longer the time I took the longer the time of no feed entering the monitor would be and I was sure that someone was in the same floor with me watching those feed.

I needed to switch it at the right moment, just short enough that if seen it would be put up as a glitch in the system but also long enough that even if what was on the feed before the glitch and what was after the glitch were different the human mind would scope it under the possibility of the change happening during the brief glitch period

Ten seconds seemed like the ideal time so I pulled out the last cord, counted in my mind and on the last second I made the final connection and then the feed came back on but while I did it I didn't hear any form of complain from the monitor room which was just few meters away from me

"Looks like no one was paying attention to the monitors away" I grinned

I stretched my entire body from the top of the vent and almost fell down but then I braced myself and held on to the corner of the vent opening and finally I got a hold of the port cover. 

With that in hand I closed back the port and screwed it shut then I reached into the vent and grabbed my backpack next to my leg and threw it down then I jumped down as well making as little a noise as possible.

*STEP*

From the fourth floor I snuck passed the security room and walked over to the elevator.

"Let's see if it worked" I smiled 

*RUFFLE*

I stuck my hand into the backpack and brought out Amanda's school class president ID card and placed it on the wall of the elevator.

*BEEP*

It took some seconds for the elevator to get here but after it did the doors opened and the sound wasn't loud enough to be heard by the security officers who were behind closed doors of the security room.

*STEP*

Into the elevator I went thinking of how I found it funny and also ironic that the security floor had the weakest amount of security consciousness in the entire building

From the elevator I went down heading straight for the sub levels

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SEVERAL MINUTES LATER

I had my heartbeat racing with palms sweaty as I stared into the display and it counted 70%, 80%, 90%...99%,...

If this doesn't work then not only will my plans fail but the security would get alerted and I might get caught.