Dante spent the rest of the night explaining the heist to Finn and what he expected him to do. The boy asked way too many questions, and since most of them were technical, Dante found himself parroting the answers Volcan gave.
Having to sit with two geniuses as they discuss their profession was nothing short of mental torture that brought back some rather unpleasant memories Dante would have preferred not to recall, and because of that, he found himself struggling not to give the brat another beating.
Thankfully, the three of them managed to cover everything and do some rehearsing before the meeting. The only thing left was for the brat to convince the rest of the crew, but that seems to be the most difficult part of the plan.
[Dante: Get on with it already!]
The message helped snap Finn back to reality, but it also caused his nervousness to flood out. When he noticed the glare directed at him, he was finally able to get his act together.
The lights went off and the projector came on, plastering a collection of screens on the empty walls. One of them showed a long corridor covered in a red carpet, with decorative plants lining its walls. Another one showed the interior of what seems to be a fancy restaurant. The third one showed a spacious lobby with a large fountain and a strange blue statue at its center. The last was the strangest of them all, displaying the interior of a spacious but still small elevator.
The angle from which the footage was captured hinted at it being from security cameras. It only took a glance to catch the others’ interest, but once they got a good look at the screens, their eyes were soon wide with shock.
"Is this..." Kirk held a hand to his mouth, disbelief clear on his face.
"That seems to be the case..." Mr. Pike straightened in his seat.
Each of the four projections had a few noticeable things other than the environment itself. The first one is a number of people dressed in blue uniforms, either standing around like soldiers or tending to various tasks. The second was a group far more extravagant: silk dresses, tailored suits, designer luggage. They walked around as if the marble floors were laid just for them. The atmosphere was calm, almost rehearsed—smiles exchanged between people who had nothing to prove but everything to spend.
There was a third group on the screens, but that one tried not to stand out in contrast to the more affluent crowd. The black suits they wore seemed more of a uniform than anything else, and the vigilance and alertness with which they handled themselves spoke of how their presence had a completely different purpose than everyone else.
Though all of it appeared like scenes from some movie or drama, everyone who saw the projection knew from where it was taken.
"Th-this is live footage captured through various security cameras scattered around Blue Ember." Speaking in a shaky voice, Finn began switching the feed of each screen. "As you can see, I have gained access to the hotel’s security system and can tap into the footage captured on almost all of its floors. I also have access to every digital device in the building, so long as it’s connected to its internal network."
"Every device?" Kirk asked.
"Y-yes! Every device!" Finn replied in a snap. "So long as it’s connected to the local network."
The room went silent once more, and everyone stared at the boy in awe. Everyone except Viktor, who glanced at Dante from the corner of his eye.
"Forgive me, young lad, but I find it difficult to believe the things you are saying." Said Mr. Pike. "I want to enquire about how you were able to achieve something this outstanding, but what I’m truly curious about is why?"
"Having an MLP at this young age..." Rose muttered, her expression darkening.
"He was spying on me the entire time I was working at that damned hotel. Don’t know where he got the idea, though."
Before the boy could answer, Dante cut in and spared him the awkwardness, though one could argue that he added to his embarrassment instead.
"So the two of you got beef?" Kirk raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that why his face is like that?"
"Hey, he pointed a gun at me," Dante replied. "What do you expect me to do?"
"Not to bring him here or tell him about the job. Not only is he a kid, but he also has problems with you. I don’t know about you, but those things don’t scream trust to me."
"Calm down, lamppost, we have already settled things. Besides, he accomplished what the four of you took weeks to do in less than half the time. And look! He’s still alive!"
It was a bit of a low blow that earned him displeased looks from almost everyone, but Dante didn’t really care.
"Everything you said suggests that you have the hotel’s AI under control." Mr. Pike turned to the boy, scrutinizing him with his sharp eyes. "How were you able to do it?"
Remaining static for a couple of seconds, Finn fought to regain a semblance of composure then replied.
"I have been studying AI for a few years now." He glanced at the yellow gym bag, which was on his back, the wires extending from it linking to the back of his head. "I have built my own and... Well, you could say I’ve gotten really good at handling them."
"At such a young age?" Asked Mr. Pike.
"Just so you know, I’m already fourteen." The boy said, his eyebrows furrowed. "And just because I’m young doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m doing."
As the suited man shook his head, the others exchanged looks as if checking each other’s reactions. Dante realized he needed one more push to convince them, so he turned to the boy and grinned.
"Hey Finn, show them that thing from yesterday."
As it was their last resort, Finn understood what he was referring to right away and turned to the projection. First, he switched between the camera feeds until he found what he was looking for. He then removed the rest and left only two, each capturing the same corridor but from different angles.
"Please look at this person." He pointed at a random man who happened to be walking down the corridor. "As this footage is processed by Ember first, I can always ask it to do things for me. Things ."
The man he was pointing at -a bodyguard, going by his tough build and the black suit he wore- suddenly vanished from the screen. One second, he was there, and in the next, he was gone. Strangely enough, nothing happened to him on the second screen.