Chapter 453: Clearance (1/2)

“Where is the Shard stored?” Zac asked after having made his decision.

“It is in a restricted holding bay, with multiple layers of defenses around it,” Jaol said, his eyes widening upon the realization that Zac wasn't deterred by the presence of the captain. ”The captain will come the moment he hears his cargo is being targeted. He is part-owner of the whole vessel, and it has taken a lot of damage from this mission. If the mission fails he will face disastrous consequences, but if he succeeds he will gain centuries' worth of resources.”

“How would I gain access?” Zac pushed, ignoring the warnings.

“You can't,” Jaol said without hesitation. ”I have no idea how to get inside!”

“Think harder,” Zac growled as a black mist started to steam out of his mouth, adding an acrid smell to the cabin.

“I-I… You would need to have special authorization. But it is impossible for you! You have no neural implants, and even if you get inside there are extremely strong autonomous Class-2 Guardians inside,” Jaol exclaimed.

“Don’t you have access-cards or something?” Zac said with a frown.

“Cards? Like a medieval key?” Jaol said with incomprehension. “Why would we have such a blatant security risk as keys that can be stolen?”

“I guess that means you’ll have to take me there,” Zac smiled.

“Are you crazy?! You will be spotted in ten seconds after leaving this place. There's no one on this ship that has eye-augmentations that even slightly look like yours,” the comm's officer staunchly refused. ”We'll both be dead within a minute.”

Zac snorted as he activated his Transformation skill, and the neverending black in his eyes quickly gave way to white sclera and irises. His deathly pale complexion gained life, and he was once again a normal human, at least outwardly indistinguishable from a technocrat human.

“Wha-“ Jaol sputtered as he looked up and down at Zac incredulously. “How is such a perfect transition possible? Not even the chimeral Transcenders are able to do something like this before reaching Class-3.”

“What’s with these classes you’re talking about?” Zac muttered. ”Isn't it just ranks?”

“We refuse to use the classifications of the Cursed Heavens,” Jaol said haughtily before remembering he was a hostage at the moment. “Uh, no offense.”

“So you’re just being obstinate? Each Class represents a grade?” Zac confirmed.

“Well, yes,” Jaol coughed.

”So can we go? And remember, our fates are bound together. I die, you die,” reminded his hostage.

”... You can't.” Jaol sighed after a short silence. ”That's what I've been telling you. You have no implants, so the Ship will consider you an intruder. Only people with clearance will be able to walk around this ship. I don't even understand how you can stand in my cabin without detection.”

Zac glared at Jaol before he looked around. The implicit meaning was that the technocrat had expected a rescue, but none seemed to be forthcoming. Zac's brows furrowed with contemplation as he tried to figure out what was going on. Was it the System that protected him? The problem was that he had no idea if that protection extended out of the cabin he found himself in.

”So how do I get clearance?” Zac asked.

”Get clearance? Impossible. You aren't even connected to the Multiverse Network through implants or your sigil, getting clearance is impossible. If it had been so easy we would have been infiltrated and extinguished long ago.

Zac felt a bit helpless as he looked around the room before he spotted a few small holes in the wall not far away. Did spaceships have air ducts? They should have, considering how many people were aboard. Perhaps if he cut through the floor he'd find whole service levels he could traverse instead. But before he could ask about it he suddenly had a thought, and his head snapped back toward Jaol.

”Sigils?” Zac said, an idea suddenly popping up in his head. ”Like this?”

He took out the necklace that Leandra had left with his father before disappearing. He still hadn't found any use for the thing, but it was obviously more than a simple piece of metal. It had been able to vibrate and move about in his Cosmos Sack when he met the technocrat researcher back on earth, and it might have other functions that would be useful now.

He wasn't really worried about attracting his mother's enemies either, as he was transported god-knows-where by the System. If anything it might rather throw Firmament's Edge off the scent by thinking Leandra had popped up on this vessel.

The small token suddenly shuddered, making Zac worried he had activated some hidden alarm, but it quickly calmed down again. However, the technocrat hostage wasn't as calm as he looked up and down at Zac with confusion and fear.

“This is impossible!! How did you get such clearance?!” Jaol almost screamed.

“What are you talking about,” Zac said, starting to get a bit exasperated by the rapid change of his captive’s emotions. “And keep your voice down.“

“A- I…” Jaol sputtered with clear hesitation on his face.

”Remember, if I get pushed into a corner I’ll take you out before anything else,” Zac muttered and pushed Jaol with his axe when it looked like the comm's officer was planning on cooking up another lie.

“I swear I don’t understand! I don’t recognize that insignia, but it has somehow given you Level 4-access on our ship! Even I only have Level 2-access. It uses some archaic access code I have never heard of before, designating you as a Council Inspector! What Council?!” Jaol blabbered.

Zac looked down at the necklace in his hand with mixed emotions. It looked like his mother had come through for him after all. He had already known that she was probably some sort of big shot among technocrats before something happened to maker her turn traitor, and this seemed to further confirm it.

But where was she? Why had she left Earth and her alone, even to the point that her husband had died from the integration? Long repressed emotions threatened to run rampant as he held the sigil, but he quickly gathered his wits and focused on the task at hand.

”Is Level 4-access enough to get to the Shard?” Zac asked.

”No,” Jaol said. ”It gives access to all parts of the ship except critical areas that need the Captain's direct authorization. In other words, special authorization.”

“Who has special access?”

“Just two people as far as I am aware. The Captain and Dr. Freid,” Jaol said.

Messing with the captain was obviously out of the question, which only left him with one option.

”Who is Dr. Fried?” Zac probed.

”Uh, no idea,” Jaol said.