Chapter Text
The day started out relatively normal. Wrench snaps awake from the couch as Horatio, Marcus, and Sitara slip in, already armed with coffee. Josh is looking exhausted, but still pouring over his computer determinedly. Blessed little bastard~ Wrench would bother him, but the scent of heavenly caffeine is seeping through the mask and he’s got a craving.
Wait!? Does…Marcus have…doughnuts? Oh praise be to the stars! A breakfast of champions!
“Ohhhh, praise be to the stars; a breakfast of champions,” he hums outloud, making a beeline for the coffee cups and waiting like an impatient puppy for Sitara to hand him his cup; fitted with a straw, of course. Glazed doughnut. It’s the little things in life…
Wrench is already drooling as he dutifully heads back to his station. Work might have to be a little delayed due to sticky fingers from sticky things and holes, but it’s a good way to get a headstart on the day. Things can wait until after food time.
…That? Would last about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, a good ways across San Francisco was a woman laying in bed. Again. After her aunt had encouraged a wake up call and a walk to a local cafe. The caffeine from their coffee encouraged a jittery, keep-awake-feeling she didn’t like all that much, but couldn’t help.
Only one thing left to do in a time like this… Go back to spreading her neat little virus. Cause it’s amazing what you can do with some spare change and determination to learn coding…as well as a “brand” of sorts. “Kool Kat” is way too good at getting people interested in her code, clicking on that one wrong link and….bam! Your computer is hers just long enough to steal some key files and be out in no time flat.
You’d think people would’ve been all over it sooner, but she’s no DedSec; nobody really cares about the rando who crops up every few weeks, stealing computer files. Police don’t have time for stuff like that when there’s other things to worry about… I.E. DedSec, yet again!
Makes her sphere of influence grow without people getting wise until it’s too late and she’s already added in a few more upgrades and updates. Ahhh, the benefits of solo work….
Opening up her laptop, Kat immediately starts setting up and upgrading a few more pitfalls of code, preparing a few more sites for her sneakin’ leisure when a popup appears on her screen. Someone fell for her code, but this is… Whaaat? DedSec logo, everything is highly encrypted… Surely the DedSec didn’t fall for her bumbling mess of code, did they???
Kat’s fingers went flying, trying to pry her way in more from the door they already opened.
“I’ll check some shit out with Haum,” Marcus said, plopping into his chair. Coffee almost gone, but ready to get to work on his laptop and get shit worked out for their next opportunity to fuck with the higher ups. Gotta take the chance when given, after all!
So there he went, checking the news sites from Nudle to see what was new…but noticing a website that claimed to be a personal Haum newsite. Seemed like it was active with new stuff and- forgetting to check before he clicked- Marcus quickly found himself staring at his screen going black, a popup blocking his computer. It was almost…DedSec-esque in nature, with the meowing, animated kittens, monochrome theme, and the center text: “Kool Kat is Receiving What You’ve Allowed”.
“…Aw shit,” he hissed, trying to backtrack out, but… No good. His computer was frozen out on this side. Go figure that the salt in the wound was everyone would notice the meowing eventually.
“Who let a fucking cat in here?!” Was Wrench’s call from his workbench, angry down-slashes showing his displeasure. Sitara was already up and walking over…and gasped.
“Shit!!! Marcus, did you fall for some lame trap?” Yeowch, Sitara. His ego is already hurtin’; don’t go kicking it while it’s down!
“It was disguised as a Haum website!” A truly valiant attempt at defending his honor, but Sitara and Josh went to cracking down on what was going on, while Wrench prowled over to get a personal look-see at Marcus’ computer.
“…Sure one way to get your name out there,” he mused, hovering over Marcus’ shoulder. He shot the mask-wearing weirdo above his head a look, Sitara desperately trying to back out of the freeze…when it just. Stopped. No prompt, if her shocked face was anything to go by. It was dark for a moment, but then resetted to the desktop. Everything…seemed okay, but after the freakout, nobody was hoping too much for that.
“I’ll…go check the systems,” Josh mumbled, heading back to his station just as silently as he’d left it. Wrench’s mask displayed double question marks, looking back and forth between Josh and Sitara.
“What the fuck just happened?! What, did this…cat-person seriously just fuck over DedSec? We’re supposed to be better than this!!”
“Telling us what we already know isn’t gonna help us, Wrench!! The sooner we find out who this bastard is, the sooner we can get ‘em. Just…go make yourself useful. Marcus, you’re on break. Check your files, see if we missed anything. I’ll get to back-tracking our guy. Ratio! Help out!”
“Yeah, yeah… On it!”
And that’s how Marcus found himself getting text updates from the crew in a local, nearby cafe. Sipping on his drink while he watched the chat happening live.
[SITARA] It makes no sense!? How did they get in?
[JOSH] Marcus let them in. You give someone like that an open door chance by falling for the link, it’s practically a welcome mat.
[WR3NCH] So, uh, let’s not give them an open door??? Seriously, I thought we had code to prevent this shit from happening? (? ?)
[SITARA] UGH, we do, Wrench!! That’s not the point!!! The point is, this isn’t gonna get us our info on Haum back. If this Kat-person works for Haum or Nudle, we’re gonna get fucked.
[WR3NCH] Not even in the fun way!
[RATIO] Guys, chill! I got location!
That caught Marcus’ attention. Finally, something on the culprit! Sooner they got ahold of this tool, the better. Though just as he was waiting for Horatio’s reply… Something caught his eye. Or, rather, his ear.
…Was it just him or did the barista just call for a hot chocolate for “Cat”? ….”Kat”? It makes him perk up, ignoring the chat for a few to watch a girl get up. Brown hair, kinda young face, wearing glasses…and wearing a jacket that’s decorated like a cat. From paw sleeves (with a thumb hole) and even the fake bobcat tail clipped to the side of her jeans. No…fucking way. Could that be Kat? Kool Kat?!
He’s gotta check the chat again.
[SITARA] Isn’t that a coffee shop?
[RATIO] Yeah, it seems so.
[SITARA] …Marcus went there.
[WR3NCH] ……..ooooohhhh shit!! (! !)
[SITARA] MARCUS!!!!
[RATIO] MARCUS, CHECK THE CHAT, DUDE!!
[WR3NCH] EYYY YO MAAAARRRRCCCUUUUUUSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[JOSH] Marcus!
He gives a disbelieving laugh after scrolling up a bit, confirming the address. Yup, they’re both right here. Same spot. Same time…same day. The coincidence is wild as shit, but damn if he isn’t gonna take the chance.
He grabs his phone and what remains of his drink, walking over to where Kat sits. Well, here goes nothing!
“Hey, uh… Kat, right?” She looks up at him with an expression somehow mixed between resting bitch face and deer in the headlights. An amusing combo and it takes all of Marcus’ might to not grin or laugh a little.
“Depends on who’s asking,” she says, looking him over in a quick glance and almost protectively huddled over her laptop. That’s fair, given who she most likely is, but… Damn, if she doesn’t look like an overprotective gremlin about to start hissing “my precious”….
(Don’t laugh, don’t fucking laugh, Marcus–)
“Uh, Marcus. We haven’t met before, but, uh… I wanted to talk about something, if that’s alright?” Her lips go into a slight pout, tilting her head at him in consideration. It’s so…bizarre to see someone do that in real life. Not some TV show or cartoon or movie or whatever else. An actual human, tilting their head like a confused dog.
She seems harmless so far… Is it bad Marcus is already considering getting her on DedSec’s side before the day is out?
“…Sure, I guess,” she grumbles, quickly typing away as Marcus takes the seat across from her, much to her relief. Kat’s shoulders sag a bit from freed tension and the panic that’d been rising in those green (maybe?) eyes of hers had relaxed a lot.
“So… DedSec, huh?” She immediately freezes up again, deer-in-the-headlights look back in full force. Except now with more realized horror and shock to them.
“You’re…? Are you….?!” She’s hissing her words out at least, well aware of their situation. Thank goodness for that. Marcus nods slowly and finally lets himself laugh quietly when she ignores her glasses to lay face first on the table and whine softly. “Oh my fuck… I’m so sorry, Marcus, I just… I don’t control it once it’s out there! So one of you clicked it and I can’t even stop it until it’s over…”
“It was me.” She stops and looks up in surprise. Marcus honestly has to resist laughing again, but he is grinning. “I was the one to click. You know that Haum news page website you made?”
“…Are you kidding me? That one? I thought it sucked!!”
“Nah. Seems like two seconds of an idiot running the mindscape is all you needed.” Kat bursts out laughing and Marcus happily joins on in this time, Kat having to wipe away the tears from under her glasses.
“Oh my gosh, that’s… That’s really funny. I can’t believe you fell for that one….! I’ve made so many better! That’s so entry, Marcus…”
“Yeah, I know. I haven’t heard it enough from the rest of the crew.” That seems to make her wince a little, but she’s still smiling a little.
“How’d they take it?” Think your words, Marcus. Don’t go doing something stupid now, Marcus-
“You wanna see for yourself?” Kat’s jaw drops. Dammit! Oh well, she…technically proved her skills, right? What better way than to beat DedSec at their own game without trying? Besides, they needed the files back, anyways… Best way to do that would be to bring her back to base, right?
“…I’d love to,” she admits breathlessly, already shutting her laptop and grabbing her drink. “We can go right now, right? Cause I’ll be honest, I’ve been having daydreams relating to this ever since I moved back to Cali.”
That gets Marcus to laugh again, no contest.
“Really, Marcus?! Without prior warning??”
“She’s got our files anyways, Sitara! I didn’t see the harm… She’s like, 85% fangirl of us anyways,” he assures, raising his hands. To his credit, Marcus told her to sit down and she’s been sitting there since, looking around in content, suppressed awe while drinking the hot chocolate from earlier away.
Wrench, Josh, and Sitara are…less than thrilled over the new girl, but Horatio is willing to give her a chance if Marcus is…and that’s all they really need for a little bit of bend to give way. Sitara sighs and shakes her head with a shrug.
“Fine! But if she ends up turning to be a Haum rep or….undercover cop! I’m blaming you.”
Marcus shrugs casually, then gestures over to Kat, who gets up immediately and trots over like an eager puppy having awaited her time to shine. “So, why not introduce yourself?”
“Uhhhh, hey! I’m Kool Kat! 21, Capricorn, INFJ. I’m into robots and doing minor code, which… Shouldn’t have done much for me aside from being annoying, but I guess all things work out, eyyy~?” She shoots a pair of finger guns at Marcus which- to his credit- he pretends to have been shot at, furthering her confidence and brightening her smile. “I actually lived in Cali most of my life. Spent a few years in Nevada…and now I’m back! To bother anyone you wanna send me out at. So… Yeah!”
“Isn’t that a bit of too much info for a new group?” Sitara tilted her head curiously, arms crossing as she stared down Kat, almost…trying to figure her out?
“Pffftt, nah. I mean, you guys erased your records, too, right? I live carefully and deeeply undercover. Well, in a balanced life. You’d be surprised what a gal can do when you make up feasible cover stories and balance a shitty, home-alone life with the outside world and family! It sure is neato.”
“…Alright, I’ll buy it. Welcome to DedSec, Kool Kat.”
The chatter of everyone meeting the new member eventually dies down, Kat already making her home in a chair, laptop on her lap and getting to work on…something. Wrench isn’t about to be that nosy yet, but she’s in hackerspace now. In this house, it’s hacked or be hacked. And typically a cycle of that, to a degree.
Though in retrospect, she’s really beaten them to the punch on that.
“So… Kool Kat?” He finally manages to ask, visor translating his words into symbols; two question marks. She glances up at him above her glasses, slowly grinning. She pushes them up with a finger (that’s…very classy…and cliche) and only seems more giddy by the passing moment.
“I like cats and it’s obnoxious. What more could I ask for in a handle?” She has a point, to be fair. Everyone’s gonna hate that name before she gives them reason to. Wrench can really respect that. Hell! Worked on him, a little bit. “Besides, it was either that or something more obvious. Can’t have that.”
“You have other handles?” There goes the curious, wide-eye double zeros. Was she elsewhere on the internet before this? What juicy secrets are on those? He kinda sorta really needs to know.
“Oh, you’ll never know,” she dodges, looking back to her screen with a smug, chipper smirk.
…He could really grow to love-hate that look. Mmph.
“Fair play. Real name?”
“Chicken Nuggets,” she replies smoothly, but with a look that tells him she’s still screwing around with him. Too bad; he likes going for hook, line, and sinker.
“Really? That’s your name? Not like….Kathy Hawthorne?”
“Only the most delicious of names, Wrench. I refuse normality.” He snorts at that, his vocalizer turning to static for a bit…which is whatever. Not the first time, won’t be the last. It’s not broken, so who cares? “Don’t get so fried up over a joke, dude.”
…Everything goes quiet. Wrench isn’t sure what his mask is displaying, but he hopes for blank. If it’s stars or hearts, he may just have to die early. “…Was that a pun?”
“Could be. If you’re not chicken enough to belief it isn’t.” He hates her…and by hates, he means he would love to cover her eyes with a blindfold and kiss her stupid. Holy shit. His mask flickers between stars, hearts, and angry downward slashes…and he realizes all too late Kat is staring at him with contented wonder. His emotes are flickering, aren’t they? Fuck.
Another, longer view of his down-slashes show, before morphing to question marks…and Kat realizes she’s been staring. He’s questioning her without words. Her cheeks go pink and she turns away, chugging a barely warm cup of chocolate before intently throwing herself into her whatever project. Wrench hangs out around her a bit more, half-sitting on the desk before waltzing away abruptly to get back to his own projects.
But he’s got her on the mind, now. Curious… What else is she like? She’s got puns, but what about references? Plays video games? …Maybe; she seems like the type. But what sort of games?
He’s itching to find out. And if he drops a reference sometime in the next week… Well, it won’t be cause he’s trying to figure out what she’s about. Obviously. Of…course.