Preparation 3: — "The Hacking Setup"

The basement was already cluttered, but Jiro somehow made it worse.

Boxes, tangled cords, and monitors covered every inch of the floor. He crouched beside a pile of hardware, muttering to himself as he hooked up wires that looked way too advanced for what we had down here.

Kaito stood with his arms crossed, expression caught somewhere between disbelief and irritation.
“Are you building a setup or trying to start a damn space program?”

Jiro grinned, not looking up. “You said I need eyes on everything, right? Well... this is everything. Traffic, surveillance feeds, drone networks, the whole city grid. You’ll thank me when we’re not getting our asses blown up on the highway.”

Kaito sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I was thinking one or two monitors. Not... whatever the hell this is.”

Rin leaned against the railing on the stairs, sipping something from a metal thermos. “You sure he’s not secretly setting up a gaming tournament?”

Jiro shot her a look. “Funny. You’ll be begging me to track your route when you get lost in the back alleys.”

“I don’t get lost,” Rin said with a smirk. “I just take… scenic detours.”

I stood near the desk, watching them all. The faint hum of the new hardware filled the room, it almost felt alive. Jiro’s excitement was infectious, even if Kaito looked seconds away from losing patience.

Jiro plugged in the last cable, and the largest monitor blinked on, a white-grid map of Lysethia City spread across it, lines pulsing as it synced to the system.

“Alright,” Jiro said, wiping his hands. “This is it. Traffic, checkpoints, surveillance loops. I’ll be your eyes during the mission. You’ll have me in your ear the whole way, rerouting you, warning you, keeping you alive.”

Rin whistled. “Damn. You actually sound competent.”

“Wow,” Jiro deadpanned. “Thanks for the overwhelming confidence.”

Kaito stepped closer, examining the screen. His voice was quieter now. “What about the Umbra security feeds?”

“I’m working on that,” Jiro said. “They’ve got a rotating encryption key every six hours. I can break through it, but it’ll take time. I’ll need to hook into their signal directly once you're close.”

Kaito nodded. “Good. You’ll stay here and keep eyes on everything from the base. Feed us updates as we move, no screwups.”

Jiro looked up, hesitating. “But wait... are you sure you trust me with that?”

Kaito’s eyes flicked toward him, unreadable. “I wouldn’t have let you touch this if I didn’t.”

For a second, Jiro almost looked proud, before Rin broke the silence.
“Aw, look at that. Daddy Kaito’s finally trusting the new kid.”

“Rin,” Kaito warned. "Shut the hell up, this isn't the time for jokes!"

“What?” She shrugged. “Just saying, it’s nice to see you not glaring at someone for once.”

Jiro chuckled nervously. “I’ll, uh… take that as a compliment... I guess...”

Kaito ignored both of them and opened a metal case on the table, pulling out a small black device. “This is the tracker,” he said, turning it over in his hand. “Once Riku’s done fixing the car, we insert this under the rear chassis. If things go south, I want to know where it is, even if we’re not inside it.”

“Smart,” Jiro said. “That thing’s got a failsafe beacon?”

Kaito nodded. “Encrypted signal. Even Umbra tech can’t jam it easily.”

I watched the way Kaito spoke, clipped, focused, precise. His tone always changed when it came to missions. It wasn’t just planning anymore; it was preparing for a final showdown.

Rin stretched and cracked her neck. “So what’s the actual plan? Drive in, blow up some shit, get the hell out?”

“Not exactly,” Kaito said. He zoomed the map, pointing to the far outskirts of Lysethia. “We’re hitting this sector, Umbra’s second-largest distribution hub. Kouji’s base of operations runs straight through here. That means checkpoints, drones, ground patrols, and cameras in every corner.”

Jiro frowned. “You think Kouji already knows you’re coming?”

Kaito didn’t hesitate. “He knows. He’s known since the last job. When you weren't here.”

That made everyone go quiet. Even Rin stopped smirking.

I shifted a little, glancing between them. “Then… why still go through with it?”

Kaito looked at me, steady. “Because this time, we end his plan, before his plan ends us.”

His words sent a chill down my spine. It wasn’t anger I heard, it was something colder, deeper. Like he’d already accepted what it might cost.

Jiro cleared his throat softly. “Okay. Then we need to assume he’s got everything wired, alarms, motion sensors, maybe even AI surveillance. If I can crack their system, I can loop the cameras and fake the traffic feeds. But…” He hesitated. “If I mess it up, even for a second—”

Kaito cut in. “You won’t.”

Jiro blinked. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because if you do,” Kaito said, deadpan, “we’re dead before we even hit the gate.”

Rin snorted. “Wow. Motivational speech of the year.”

Kaito ignored her again and turned back to Jiro. His tone softened slightly. “Listen… I know you’re new to this level of shit. But I’m counting on you, alright? You don’t get to freeze or hesitate. You’re the lifeline once we’re out there.”

For a moment, Jiro didn’t say anything. Then he gave a small nod. “I won’t mess up. Not this time.”

Kaito studied him, then finally stepped back. “Good. Be here tomorrow. We start dry runs.”

Rin pushed off the railing, already heading for the stairs. “Dry runs? Seriously? You’re really turning this into a full operation.”

Kaito looked after her. “You can skip if you’d rather die confused.”

She flipped him off without turning around.

I almost laughed, almost. But the tension still hung in the air, heavy and electric.

Jiro sat down at his desk, eyes fixed on the glowing map of the city. Kaito started walking away, up the stairs toward the main floor.

As the hum of the machines filled the silence again, Jiro muttered under his breath, not realizing I was still there.

“…We’re really doing this.”

I didn’t answer. Because the truth was, we were. And it scared the hell out of me.