"Whatcha got going there, Nate?"
Nathan Echols discreetly tapped a corner of his screen, shifting one display for another as his boss, Dr. Jack Adkinson, walked into his office. "Nothing much at the moment, Jack. Systems analysis, mostly. Why? You got something for me?"
For a long moment the head of the Batten Industries Engineering and Design department looked at him, and Nate felt himself start to sweat a little. There were times he thought the older man knew way more than he was letting on, which bothered him a little. He'd been working on his own personal pet projects since being hired two years ago, using company resources to get things set up, quietly creating the things he would need. With a company as big as Batten's, it was easy for little things to get 'lost' in the shuffle. There had been a couple times he had to be more careful than usual, with a couple of the larger projects, but it had seemed to him no one had noticed.
Unlike most of the Engineering and Design group, who each worked on pieces of each assigned task that came their way, Nate was one of the few who got to see the whole picture. And - like his boss, Jack - he was good at putting things together.
Six months after being hired, he had managed to accidentally piece together a secret that he was fairly sure no one else at the company knew about.
It was only a theory, of course. But no other explanation had made any sense.
From the moment he uncovered that secret, he knew two things for certain - he wanted to be a part of it, and he didn't want anyone else to know he was a part of it.
He had his own ideas.
Finally, Jack spoke, nodding, and walked over to Nate's desk, dropping a folder on his desk. "Batten has a few ideas to implement in his harbor sensor network. I need you to take a look at them and see which ones can be done without having to pull the whole network off of the harbor floor."
Nate nodded and flipped open the folder. Flipping through the thick sheaf of papers, he chuckled. "Just a few, huh? When do you want this by?"
Jack grinned and shrugged. "End of the month, preferably. I know you have other projects you've got going."
It took a real effort to keep the alarmed look off of his features and pretend to be persuing the first page of the file for a moment before he looked up at his boss. Somehow he managed a nonchalant shrug and a grin. "I'll find time to fit it in, boss."
Jack gave the younger man a grin that looked a little too knowing for Nate's taste as he turned to leave the office. "I know you will, Nate."
Once he was gone, Nate touched the display, bringing his previous screen back up. On it were listed a number of different things: specs for two vehicles - a motorcycle and a sports car - along with one for a light armored suit, varying weapons of a non-lethal nature, grapple guns, lightweight rappelling line, tracer devices, lockpicks, a miniature rebreathing device, and other items.
Another section of the screen displayed files of currently wanted criminals in the city of Rhy'din. The first file depicted a younger, well-dressed man with silver-white hair that looked extremely windblown and tousled, yet somehow arranged, along with varying bits of information about him, including a name.
Wayne 'Whirlwhind' Jones.
Nathan Echols discreetly tapped a corner of his screen, shifting one display for another as his boss, Dr. Jack Adkinson, walked into his office. "Nothing much at the moment, Jack. Systems analysis, mostly. Why? You got something for me?"
For a long moment the head of the Batten Industries Engineering and Design department looked at him, and Nate felt himself start to sweat a little. There were times he thought the older man knew way more than he was letting on, which bothered him a little. He'd been working on his own personal pet projects since being hired two years ago, using company resources to get things set up, quietly creating the things he would need. With a company as big as Batten's, it was easy for little things to get 'lost' in the shuffle. There had been a couple times he had to be more careful than usual, with a couple of the larger projects, but it had seemed to him no one had noticed.
Unlike most of the Engineering and Design group, who each worked on pieces of each assigned task that came their way, Nate was one of the few who got to see the whole picture. And - like his boss, Jack - he was good at putting things together.
Six months after being hired, he had managed to accidentally piece together a secret that he was fairly sure no one else at the company knew about.
It was only a theory, of course. But no other explanation had made any sense.
From the moment he uncovered that secret, he knew two things for certain - he wanted to be a part of it, and he didn't want anyone else to know he was a part of it.
He had his own ideas.
Finally, Jack spoke, nodding, and walked over to Nate's desk, dropping a folder on his desk. "Batten has a few ideas to implement in his harbor sensor network. I need you to take a look at them and see which ones can be done without having to pull the whole network off of the harbor floor."
Nate nodded and flipped open the folder. Flipping through the thick sheaf of papers, he chuckled. "Just a few, huh? When do you want this by?"
Jack grinned and shrugged. "End of the month, preferably. I know you have other projects you've got going."
It took a real effort to keep the alarmed look off of his features and pretend to be persuing the first page of the file for a moment before he looked up at his boss. Somehow he managed a nonchalant shrug and a grin. "I'll find time to fit it in, boss."
Jack gave the younger man a grin that looked a little too knowing for Nate's taste as he turned to leave the office. "I know you will, Nate."
Once he was gone, Nate touched the display, bringing his previous screen back up. On it were listed a number of different things: specs for two vehicles - a motorcycle and a sports car - along with one for a light armored suit, varying weapons of a non-lethal nature, grapple guns, lightweight rappelling line, tracer devices, lockpicks, a miniature rebreathing device, and other items.
Another section of the screen displayed files of currently wanted criminals in the city of Rhy'din. The first file depicted a younger, well-dressed man with silver-white hair that looked extremely windblown and tousled, yet somehow arranged, along with varying bits of information about him, including a name.
Wayne 'Whirlwhind' Jones.