# Decrpypting a Fox

Author: Revresbo
Tags: Badger, Fox, Rabbit, Sci-Fi, Wolf

#1 of Richard

The start of a sci-fi story about a fox hacker.

"We need out of here yesterday!"

"I'm working on it!"

"Frag out!"

"Okay, that's it!&nbsp; It's open!&nbsp; Hurry!"

"Come on!&nbsp; Let's go!"

"Go!&nbsp; I'm right behind you!"

A tear rolled down his cheek.&nbsp; It was funny, in a way.&nbsp; He had not known them long, but he would miss them.&nbsp; He wouldn't be right behind them.

\*

"You trust this kid to get the job done?"

"He's one of the best."

"One of the best?&nbsp; He's twelve if I'm a day."

The fox in question flicked his ears in annoyance.&nbsp; The older badger was not even trying to whisper, letting the admittedly young fox hear his protests.&nbsp; He managed to keep his mouth shut with some difficulty.&nbsp; He'd shut that badger up once they got there.

If he were honest with himself, however, Richard was having some doubts.&nbsp; This was his first time trying a stunt like this, and the repercussions could be severe.&nbsp; Only if he were caught, though.&nbsp; He didn't intend to get caught.&nbsp; And he really needed the money.&nbsp; Crumbs in dumpsters only go so far.

The vehicle came to a stop.&nbsp; Richard gritted his teeth and steeled himself.&nbsp; Nerves made mistakes, and he did not intend to screw this up.&nbsp; Silently, he followed the three adults to the face of a large apartment complex.&nbsp; It stood at 200 stories, the top two floors devoted to an extensive penthouse.&nbsp; It was chosen because it had no living security guards after hours, instead relying on an extensive automated security system and a security team with a five minute response time.&nbsp; Most thieves gave it a wide berth.&nbsp; People had tried to hack its security, but instead got locked up until the security team could take them away.&nbsp; That was where Richard came in.

"All right, kid.&nbsp; Let's see those fabled skills of yours."

Richard inspected the keypad by the door.&nbsp; It was a simple affair and would be easy to crack.&nbsp; It was the security further in that would make trouble.

An alarm would sound if he tried to pull the keypad off and get at the connections beneath.&nbsp; However, there was a card slot for maintenance personnel that would disable the alarm.&nbsp; Richard had a number of cards from various maintenance companies.&nbsp; It was only a matter of picking the right one.&nbsp; He opened his wallet and slid out a B&E card.&nbsp; They were the most trusted in security maintenance companies, and if he were to have a building like this, they would be the ones he would call.&nbsp; He slotted the card in and watched happily as the keypad swung away, revealing the inner workings.&nbsp; The system would record that a B&E technician had been on site, but no one would notice that until morning, when they were long gone.&nbsp; A few taps of his stylus later, they were in the building.&nbsp; He shut the panel and retrieved his B&E card.&nbsp; It had taken him a lot of effort to get it, and he was not about to forget it.

Without a word, the four of them walked into the foyer of the building.&nbsp; The three adults spread out and made sure the room was empty while Richard went straight to the computer at the main desk.&nbsp; He seated himself in the chair and poised his fingers over the keys.&nbsp; This computer would be tougher to crack.

There was a universal access point, or UAP, on the surface of the desk.&nbsp; Richard grinned as he put his hacker's card into the slot.&nbsp; Once inserted, the card automatically got to work cracking the username and password.&nbsp; It didn't take long before his algorithms inputted them and gave him administrator access.&nbsp; He looked up at the wolf in charge of the venture.&nbsp; "We're in."

"Good.&nbsp; Find the Valdheins' apartment.&nbsp; They have what we want."

A few taps of the keys were all that Richard needed.&nbsp; "Sixty-first floor.&nbsp; Number six hundred twelve."

"Can you get access?"

"Not from here."

"At the room?"

Richard wiped his brow.&nbsp; He was not quite as calm as he appeared, but he wouldn't let it get in the way.&nbsp; "Possibly.&nbsp; The security centre would be the surest way, but access is... difficult."

"Where is it?"

"Hundredth floor.&nbsp; That floor has no apartments, just the security centre, computer mainframes, maintenance--that sort of thing."

The wolf frowned, thinking.&nbsp; "Which is safer?"

The fox stared at the screen, not actively looking, but just thinking.&nbsp; "I'd say they're equally unsafe.&nbsp; If something happens in the apartment, I might not be able to override it from there, but getting into the security centre would be more difficult.&nbsp; If I could, though, I own the place."

The wolf nodded.&nbsp; "The elevators?"

The fox called them up on the computer.&nbsp; "We have access to all the floors with apartments.&nbsp; We need keycard access to get to the hundredth floor and a few others.&nbsp; I can override that, though."

"Okay.&nbsp; Close that down, cover your tracks."

Richard nodded, erasing the records of his log on.&nbsp; He also caught that the maintenance access to the front door was stored in the admin files and erased it as well.&nbsp; After that, he logged off and removed his hacker card, moving quickly to catch up to the others.

Once in the elevator, the fox addressed the group.&nbsp; "Okay, here's the plan.&nbsp; We," he pointed to the badger and the scruffy-looking rabbit, "are going to the sixty-first floor.&nbsp; The kid will get into the security centre and give us access from there.&nbsp; Once we've got everything, we all rendezvous at the ground floor and stroll out of here without a care in the world.&nbsp; Got it?"

The other adults nodded while Richard observed the keycard slot.&nbsp; He inserted the B&E card again and was pleased to note the hundredth floor button light up.&nbsp; He hit the button as the elevator pulled up to the sixty-first floor.&nbsp; The others filed out without a word or a backwards glance as the doors closed and Richard rocketed up to the hundredth floor alone.

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/A1p2Aylm
Part of the series Richard
Next: https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/322499-decrypting-a-fox-part-2.md