One thing that had changed was the directory. At one time his name was included in the list of names projected in gold letters. He remembered how proud he was the first time he saw Jacob Quince, Code Developer and Researcher on the directory and how he asked Xia to take a picture of him next to it. She thought it was silly, but asked him to take one of her next to her name when she finished. “For my parents,” she said when he told her she was being silly. Now, with a strange name displayed in place of his, that day seemed like a lifetime ago.
“All right, Nicolas Grady,” Sandy said, “you have a 2:35 with a director of sales relations named Sara Nguyen. It’s the best I can do. The system won’t let me double book anyone.”
“Nicolas Grady?”
“Why not?”
It was only 1:20, but that was fine. He could make it work. He started for the reception desk, then hesitated. The two men sitting behind the raised counter were the same two men who had worked reception three years ago. They started around the same time he did and were at several new employee functions Jacob attended. They’ve seen thousands of people come in and out of here since then, he told himself. They won’t remember you.
In unison, the two men asked, “Can I help you?” They glanced at each other in what seemed to be a rehearsed routine.
Playing along, Jacob faked going to one then the other before stopping.
“It doesn’t matter,” the one on Jacob’s right said, “we do this all of the time.”
“It happens when you work with someone for years,” the one on the left said.
“Understandable,” Jacob said, going to his right. “I have a 1:35 appointment with Sara Nguyen.”
“Your name?”
“Nicolas Grady.”
The man checked the schedule. “I’m sorry, the appointment is at 2:35. It looks like you’re a bit early.”
“I could have sworn it was 1:35. There must have been a change. I had some messages this morning, but I haven’t had the time to check them.”
“It happens more than you think,” the man helping him said.
Jacob could see that the second man was looking at him, his face showing he was searching for a memory.
“I remember there was a place in the building to get a cup of coffee. I don’t want to have to stand in that line outside again.”
“I don’t blame you. There’s a cafeteria downstairs, and the coffee isn’t bad.”
The second man’s face took on a look of recognition. “Do I know you? You look familiar,” he said.
“Shit,” Kat said in his ear.
Jacob remained calm. “I get that a lot. Some people say I look like a young Nicolas Cage, but I don’t see it,” he said.
“Nice touch,” Sandy said.
“I don’t know,” the first man said. “Maybe the eyes.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Well,” Jacob said, “I used to have an account here before I was transferred to Austin. That was a few years ago. How long did you say you’ve worked here?”
“About three years.”
“That must be it. I was an outside rep setting up future sales for the New Day project. That was about three years ago. I was in and out of here quite a bit back then. I even got invited to a new employee function by one of the researchers. Maybe you saw me there.”
“Well, mystery solved,” the second man said.
“You do not forget a face,” the first man said.
“It’s my superpower.”
The first man turned back to Jacob. “You can take the first elevator down to the cafeteria.”
“Thank you,” Jacob said.
Alone in the elevator, he said, “That was close.”
“Some quick thinking,” Kat said. “What’s the New Day project?”
“It was the project Xia and I worked on when I was here.”
When the elevator opened, Jacob went down the hall, past the cafeteria, and into the stairwell. The central core of the building’s local network was three levels down. He had been there only once while working on the New Day project and had no reason to pay attention to security at the time, so he didn’t know what sort of potential resistance he was walking into. He stopped at a landing took the gun out of his backpack, holding it in the palm of his hand, examining it. Folded, it wasn’t much bigger than the flipper he carried in his pocket. He turned it over and pressed the release button, the gun expanding and unfolding to its full size. He stuck it into the waist of his pants.
“Sandy, do you have Kat linked to the security system yet? I would like to know what I’m getting into down here,” he said quietly as he started back down the stairs.
“Almost.”
“Can you see?”
“I could, but I’ve got my eyes on you, making sure the fake is working. The system keeps trying to reject the Nic Cage code I’m running. Plus, I’ve got to see what I’m doing while I’m trying to connect Kat. If I don’t get her connected, getting out of here isn’t going to be easy. With more hands or screen space, I could do it.”
Jacob sighed. “Sorry, you’re right. Just hurry, I’m almost there.”
He stopped on the second landing he came to, deciding that if one gun was good, two would be better. He took the other gun out of his boot and unfolded it. It was smaller and fit in his jacket pocket.
Midway down the next flight of stairs, Kat’s voice filled his ear. “I’m in. Let me cycle through to find the right camera.”
Sandy said, “All right, I’m going to work on installing the rootkit on the security system.”
“I’m a few stairs from the door,” Jacob said.
“Hold on, there’s a shit-ton
