# Decrypting a Fox: Part 2

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

#2 of Richard

Continuing the story of the foxy hacker

The doors parted silently, and Richard swallowed past the lump in his throat.&nbsp; He stepped out without a sound.&nbsp; There was no need to be silent, but it made him feel better.&nbsp; He walked past a couple of doors leading to various electrical and mechanical rooms and stopped at the door to the security centre.&nbsp; This would be his first real test.

The keypad had no maintenance slot.&nbsp; Richard hadn't expected it to.&nbsp; The keypad's readout had room for eight digits.&nbsp; With repetition, that allowed for 100 million possibilities.&nbsp; Richard's experience was mostly with software, but he had spent some time with hardware.&nbsp; He just hoped it would be enough.

Gently, he pushed a thin strip of metal in behind the top of the keypad.&nbsp; He bit his lower lip as he gently wedged it forward.&nbsp; If he went too far, an alarm would trigger, and he would be in no position to shut it down.&nbsp; When he felt the resistance increase, he stopped and looked at the thin crack he had made.&nbsp; It would have to be enough.&nbsp; Holding the strip in his teeth to keep the tension on the pad, he once again reached into his wallet.&nbsp; He pulled out a small wire.&nbsp; It was very low-tech compared to the connections on the pad, but he just needed to carry the current, and a wire did just as well as the fanciest connectors.&nbsp; He pushed the wire into the two spots where the alarm circuit should be.&nbsp; _What I wouldn't give for two more hands,_ he thought.&nbsp; He pulled a tiny flashlight out of one of many pockets in his pants and shone it down into the thin crack.&nbsp; He nudged the wire first one way, then the other.&nbsp; Then, he held his breath, closed his eyes, and pulled hard on the metal strip, jerking the keypad out of its housing.

The keypad beeped.&nbsp; _Shit._

His eyes shot open, and he quickly saw the problem.&nbsp; The wire had connected the circuit at the top, but the bottom of the keypad had a break as well.&nbsp; Swearing more fluently than one would expect of a fox his age, he quickly grabbed another wire and slammed it home.&nbsp; He didn't know if the beep had been a warning that an alarm would sound or that an alarm had already sounded, so he would have to work fast.&nbsp; He brought out the stylus again, tapping it against the keypad.&nbsp; It took him two tries before the door opened.&nbsp; Like a shot, he sprinted to the main console.&nbsp; This one had no UAP, so he would have to do it from scratch.

He forced his way past the log on screen and opened the console.&nbsp; He had no idea how much time he had, and he wasn't about to stop to find out.&nbsp; He began his game of chess against the computer, trying to outmaneuver it and find the password.&nbsp; Usually, he would have a small smile on his face, enjoying the contest, but this time, it was deadly serious.&nbsp; He would have panicked had he not been fervently attempting to gain access to the security network.

There!&nbsp; He'd found the username for the head of security.&nbsp; He just needed the password.&nbsp; His fingers moved swiftly over the keyboard.&nbsp; He was close.&nbsp; He could feel it.&nbsp; _Come on, come on_, he willed silently.

"Access granted."

Richard pumped his fist, letting out a silent "Yes!"&nbsp; Still, he had to find out if the signal went through.&nbsp; He scrolled through the recent alerts.&nbsp; "Shit."

It wasn't enough to warrent a rapid response team since he made the connection swiftly enough.&nbsp; However, a signal had been passed on.&nbsp; They had about twelve minutes and twenty-eight seconds to get out.

With no time to lose, he overrode the lock on the Valdheins' door.&nbsp; He fired up the security cameras in the hallway and saw the three thieves sneak in.&nbsp; They knew the Vladheins were out that evening.&nbsp; They just needed to get in, grab the loot, and get out.&nbsp; Richard rubbed a hand accross his muzzle and activated the intercom to number 612.&nbsp; "We have to move fast, guys.&nbsp; We have a bit of a problem."

He could see the wolf gesture to the others to move on.&nbsp; "What happened?"

"An alarm was triggered when I broke into the security centre.&nbsp; It's not the rapid response team, but they'll be at the front door in," Richard glanced at the timer, "twelve minutes, three seconds."

The wolf lowered his head as he thought.&nbsp; "Is there another way out of the apartment complex?"

Richard had already pulled up the schematics on another screen.&nbsp; "Easiest way out is the back door.&nbsp; Skybridge from the twelth floor."

"What does it connect to?"

"A casino and restaurant.&nbsp; There should be stairs leading to the alley just on the other side of the bridge."

"Okay.&nbsp; Stay there and make sure we're clear.&nbsp; When we're out, take the elevator down to us, and we'll get out on the twelfth floor."

"Copy."&nbsp; Richard could see the wolf going after his compatriots.&nbsp; He didn't know what they were stealing, but they promised him five hundred credits as soon as the job was done.&nbsp; That was all that really mattered to the fox.

He brought up the external cameras to make sure the security team didn't arrive ahead of schedule.&nbsp; He was also pleased to note there was a camera in the skybridge.&nbsp; Everything looked clear, so he started erasing his footprints in the system.&nbsp; He glanced back to see the team carrying two sacks that obviously had some stolen items in them.&nbsp; Richard waited for them to make the hallway before resecuring the apartment and blotting out any trace that he had been in the system.&nbsp; With luck, the security team would assume a false alarm.

Once he was confident everything was locked down, he left the centre, retrieved the wires, and closed the keypad.&nbsp; The door to the centre was once again locked, though Richard now knew the combination.&nbsp; He had it on a scrap of paper in one of his pockets.&nbsp; Better safe than sorry, he figured.&nbsp; You could never know when you might need something like that.

When he got to the elevator and pushed the sixty-first floor, he cursed silently to himself.&nbsp; He had left his card in the slot.&nbsp; If the elevator had been called by some late night denizen of the building, he might have never seen it again.&nbsp; He pulled it out of the slot and fitted it back in his wallet.

The elevator arrived, and the thieves came on board.&nbsp; Richard had already selected floor twelve, so the wolf just hit the close door button as he came into the lift.&nbsp; They all stood silent as the lift descended.&nbsp; Richard checked his watch.&nbsp; They should still have five minutes before the team arrived.&nbsp; Plenty of time.

They got off at the twelfth floor, quickly heading to the skybridge.&nbsp; The apartment had monodirectional security, so getting out was easy.&nbsp; They didn't even need to enter the casino to gain access to the stairs.&nbsp; Within another minute, they were in the alley.&nbsp; Within two, they were at the vehicle.&nbsp; The pulled away from the curb before the team arrived to check a malfunction at the apartment complex.

Richard felt almost giddy with relief.&nbsp; He was not going to jail, and he was about to be five hundred credits richer.&nbsp; For once, life seemed pretty good.

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/r17aYzEm
Part of the series Richard
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