Chapter 34
After a fitful night of sleep, Esmie woke to a bright day.
Sunlight filtered through the blinds of the biggest bedroom she found upstairs.
She pushed herself up, groggy and sore from the day before.
Checking the analog clock on the nightstand next to the bed, another relic of Deepika’s, it was already past noon.
She had slept through the morning, which considering she didn’t go to bed until almost five earlier that morning, made sense.
By mid-afternoon, Esmie had eaten, worked out, showered, and searched the apartment for anything else she could use.
Deepika kept a lot more relics here, including a desktop computer shoved into one of the closets.
Esmie hoped she could get it to work to do some reconnaissance on the Genetronetics party.
Her goal was to get inside the building undetected, listen to the employees’ conversations, maybe start a few of her own to get some intel, hear the announcement, then leave before anyone would ask who she was.
Thinking about it seemed impossible, but Esmie didn’t dwell on it.
She needed to make the impossible…possible.
But first, the computer. Esmie set it up on the wooden kitchen island separating the main part of the kitchen from the dining room.
One stool remained. It seemed a little crooked but held her weight when she tested it.
After turning on the computer, an old window logo popped up with a tiny tune following it.
Interesting. A light blue screen with a couple icons greeted her.
Using the mouse, which took a few tries to get used to as she was accustomed to touch screens, she clicked on the internet icon and placed her cursor in the search bar.
She stretched her fingers, aligning them on the detached keyboard with a chord to connect it to the monitor.
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. She wasn’t even sure where to look.
Typing in Genetronetics would pull up countless articles about their breakthroughs in technology in regard to stem cell research and regrowing limbs.
Esmie searched her memory for what she learned about them in school.
When they were a small company, they were huge on helping the community.
It was a modern miracle when they grew their first limb, a leg, to replace one that was amputated on a veteran soldier.
To see it work, was a feat in science and the medical world.
Within a few years, they were able to regrow and replace all manner of limbs.
Then they moved onto smaller organs like the ears and eyes until they were able to even grow hearts, lungs, and all the organs in the body.
Human life expectancy boomed. By the time Esmie grew up, it was a common thing, which made Genetronetics the conglomerate it was today.
A thought struck her. Leo had protected her tablet and phone by encrypting it so no one could trace her actions.
She chewed her lip, staring at the ethernet cable connecting the ancient desktop computer to the internet.
It would be easy for them to pinpoint her location once she started her digging.
While she could navigate around code, she wasn’t as adept at it as Leo and Samson were.
Closing her eyes, she wished to Elohim that she was better at code.
The computer beeped. Esmie opened her eyes to find a black window open, with commands of code inside.
It paused. Her eyes widened. How could she forget she could control technology?
She had been so focused on the telekinesis part and hiding her face from people, she hadn’t worked on her technology powers.
Her hand smacked her forehead. That would’ve been useful yesterday while hiding from the surveillance cameras.
But it would help her in the future when she crashed the party.
Esmie closed her eyes, telling the computer what she wanted. Code flashed through the black screen.
Once the computer finished encrypting itself, Esmie searched the internet for Genetronetics articles.
Many of them went over information she already knew.
Some discussed the legacy of the CEO, an obituary of sorts, but nothing more than the facts.
When she was done searching what she could find, she used her powers to dig deeper and found the Genetronetics employee portal.
Jackpot. Esmie rolled her shoulders, cracked her knuckles, and asked the portal to let her in.
It was a weird feeling talking to the computer, it obeying her requests, and then spoke back to her on how to proceed.
Kind of. She would get nudges on keys to press, or which files to open.
Finally, she found the invitation outlining the event details, including time, location in the building, what to wear, and what to expect.
There would be security in place, obviously, to ensure only those on the list would be able to enter.
List. She needed to access that list. Esmie dug deeper, only stopping for water and a quick bite to eat before continuing to peruse the company files and emails.
In an obscure folder with a lot of encryptions, which took a while and some coaxing to bypass, Esmie blew out a breath when she found the access file to all of the guests for the party, including memos between top execs.
Apparently, there were going to be side meetings happening during the party with some of Genetronetics top investors along with the executives.
Even the memos weren’t very clear, with partial beginning and endings of conversations such as “like we discussed earlier” or “we will finalize this information at tomorrow’s exec meeting”.
Piecing together the information made her dizzy.
After her thorough investigation into Genetronetics, Esmie excitedly thought about a way to contact Leo and Samson to update them on what happened.
Now with a computer at her disposal, she could.
First, she tried to email them, but without knowing their email addresses it was futile.
Leo’s email address had been through school which expired once he graduated.
She logged into the Law Enforcement Division website and searched.
Unfortunately, the personnel didn’t have email addresses by name, only divisions and employee alpha-numerical references.
Esmie searched emails to see if she could locate Samson or Leo’s signature, but after scanning through thousands, she gave up.
It would take longer than she could afford right now.
Could she call them? She could try calling their cell phones from the computer.
What were their numbers? Esmie attempted to get the old machine to call out, but unlike tablets, its capability was restricted to internet access.
Esmie huffed a sigh. She sat back, stretching her cramped body, rubbing her fists against her eyes.
Eye fatigue was a real thing. She wracked her brain trying to come up with a solution, but without a more updated system, she was stuck and fortunate to have gotten the information she acquired for her plan. But for now, it was time for a break.
When Esmie pulled herself from the computer, the sky had darkened significantly outside, and her stomach rumbled.
She stood, finishing off her stretch, then circled the island, entering the kitchen.
Tonight, she would cook something instead of making the quick meals Deepika had in the pantry.
While rummaging for pots and pans, she found a pad with a stash of pens and spices Andloor Capitol had long since stopped allowing stores to sell.
She set it aside the pens and pad to use later, then made arroz con gandules and the lean pork chops Deepika had stowed away in the duffle bag she brought.
A meal she hadn’t been able to eat in a long time because of the lack of ingredients which Deepika happened to have.
Esmie’s smiled thinking of her angel, Deepika.
She needed to find a way to thank the older woman.
Once dinner was ready, she set the dining table with the food and brought the pad and pen over to write her plan on.
Chewing slowly, she thought about how she wanted to attack the next night.
First, she would have to get in, which would be easy because she placed herself on the list once she found it.
She would use her powers to disappear from the surveillance cameras and to access the different areas of Genetronetics.
Hiding her powers while she was doing this would be the challenging part.
She also needed a decoy badge to appear like she was using it to enter any restricted areas in case anyone was watching.
On the next sheet, she drew out the layout of Genetronetics.
Finding her way around to the different meetings would be challenging if she didn’t know where to go.
As she double checked her plan her mind wandered back to Samson and Leo.
Maybe it was best she didn’t contact the guys.
They would only track her down and deter her from the mission she wanted to complete.
While she appreciated their protection, she was a bit tired of being sheltered from the world.
She needed to do this. For herself. She would fill them in later.
Esmie finished her dinner and washed everything, putting them back where she found them.
Drying her hands on a towel, she leaned against the wooden counter determining what to do.
Creating a badge was the first thing on her list. Next would be finding something to wear, especially a mask, which was the key part of her costume to get inside without anyone seeing the purple on her face.
Esmie chewed her lip wondering where she could go and get something nice.
Maybe she could shop somewhere? She didn’t even have money, so that wouldn’t work.
Esmie closed her eyes, rubbing her temples, praying for a solution. Her eyes popped open.
Deepika!
It would be short timing, but she was sure the wise seamstress could whip something together.
It didn’t have to be extremely complicated, just fancy enough to get in.
Perhaps, Deepika could make her a mask too.
She would have to go there tonight and beg for help.
Esmie grabbed her things, hoping she could make the long, dangerous trek with enough time to catch Deepika before she went to bed.
Cracking open the front door, Esmie peeked out, searching the area for anyone, then snuck out.
Jogging the now more familiar route, she prayed to Elohim, that the wise, sweet woman would be willing to help her one more time.