In truth, Tom had been confused as to why Alpha couldn't have obtained this information by himself; The Organization should have more than enough resources for something as this. Alpha shook his head when Tom inquired, however.
"I'm unable to use them for now", he spoke expressionlessly. "The network dome over this city has been changed too. They've implemented an algorithm that continuously changes and monitors all access points. It'll be difficult, but getting the pattern to it and accessing the Director's computer would-"...
"The what?!", Tom blurted out incredulously. "Do you mean the FBI Director?". Alpha nodded. Tom rubbed his head for what seemed to be the thousandth time that day. "Can you explain everything from the beginning, please?".
It turned out that Alpha had attempted to get information from the CIA and the FBI log before he had tried to contact him. But he faced the same problem with both: they had completely changed their network system, especially the CIA as they were primarily an intelligence agency. Their servers were now hardwired and spread all over the world. He would have to travel to each one and hack separately. Though they had the most detailed information and were by far the best choice for him, he had only one choice of motion as he had already been discovered in London. The FBI Headquarters was in the U.S. and so he caught a flight there. The situation was similar there too, just that the servers hadn't been moved yet. They had all been gathered to an undisclosed location with the data drives as well, most likely for reconfiguration before they were deployed.
To get to them was the issue, however. As the network dome over the city had been changed, access to information he had before was lost. Not only could he not locate the area where the servers were stored, but he also couldn't even get a blueprint of the FBI Headquarters. All copies had been deleted. To make matters worse, getting into the headquarters in a disguise wouldn't work either. Brain wave scanners had been installed to the metal detectors stationed at all the entrances. They were programmed to match the brain waves of all the employees that worked there to the ones in the database. Those had been taken during the yearly physicals done on the employees. The database, however, was in one of the data drives.
The location of their storage was not recorded on paper or a computer. Only those who transported them knew. But their locations were constantly being changed and the only one aware of where they might be would the FBI Director. Or a device on his person with similar workings as the nuclear code generator used in 'The Football'*. His daily life was constantly changing so tailing him would be futile.
Alpha briefly considered directly capturing and questioning him. Threatening a family man like the Director worked most of the time. The idea was discarded though. The force that was gunning for him may have a monitoring device on the man which could transmit his location and the content of their 'conversation'. He also was very much aware of the resources at the disposal of The Organization and Ethan Bryce; killing the Director and replacing him multiple times was well within their abilities.
The best method would be for Alpha to plant a network beacon on his person. The beacon would both transmit the position of the Director and intercept any signal coming off his person. Since catching him was out of the picture, Alpha decided to place the beacon where he was sure to be found: his office.
But getting to the office had another headache attached: the headquarters' blueprints. All digital copies were gone which meant that there were only physical ones left. And it would definitely be mobile. He would have to put in some effort to obtain the identity of the holder and the blueprints themselves. Doing this would, however, bring himself to the notice of those traitors stationed at the Bureau. So he had chosen Tom as his insider. He had both the motive and the method.
Tom could only stare incredulously at Alpha for a good while after he finished speaking. He felt both impressed and terrified. He could tell that this robotic man was definitely a big deal in The Organization; enough a deal for so many implementations to be put in place just to prevent him from gaining access to the data drives. This was the cause of his impressed feeling. He felt terrified, however, when he found out the real details of the ongoing war. The realization of what he had gotten himself into dumped a bucket of cold water all over his James Bond fantasy.
So here he was in a small break room with Patricia, attempting to get information on the changes in the office. He had a small recording device in his suit jacket that would be turned over to Alpha when he returned home.
Patricia shook her head hurriedly once she heard Tom's speculations. "My sources tell me there's a conspiracy going on too", she whispered excitedly, obviously happy at having the chance to gossip juicily. "And it goes all the way to the top of the pyramid too! But it's not the PR boys that were moved; Harry and Bob over at IT both got promotions, Steve and Phil from Recon moved up too. Even Mark got moved to the field! He only comes to the office once in a blue moon now. And all those weird 'supervisors' that they added to each department? Sketchy too!". Tom nodded too; he had seen or heard of some of these. "I heard that its an uprising. Someone wants the director's position!", he replied solemnly. "That's why they put those supervisors in place. He wants to keep an eye on everything now. He probably trusts those guys he promoted too.".
Patricia nodded like a chicken pecking rice; she thought this was the case too. As she opened her mouth to continue speaking, their ears both picked up the sound of footsteps approaching the office door. As if planned, Tom quickly stood up and manned the coffee machine while Patricia pulled out a small makeup mirror and powder set. The door opened and a black male walked in with an empty coffee cup.
The atmosphere in the room told him that something had been going on before his arrival. But he really needed the coffee so decided to quickly get some and leave as soon as possible. "Hey Tom, pass me the jug, yeah?", he said, seeing the man fiddling with the coffee machine.
"Huh?.. oh... yeah. Sure", Tom replied, initially confused. He passed the jug over to the man and grabbed his cup and dumped it into the sink, preparing to leave the room. Before he closed the door, however, he mouthed to Patricia who was watching him, 'We'll talk later' and went back to his cubicle. Hopefully what he had acquired today was enough for Alpha to act alone. Tom would very much prefer if his neck didn't play around another man's chopping board just to satisfy his curiosity.
Sighing and rubbing his temple again, Tom vowed silently. Never again. Never again would he care about anything that didn't affect him. Never again.
*The nuclear football (also known as the atomic football, the president's emergency satchel, the Presidential Emergency Satchel,[1] the button, the black box, or just the football) is a briefcase, the contents of which are to be used by the President of the United States to authorize a nuclear attack while away from fixed command centres, such as the White House Situation Room. It functions as a mobile hub in the strategic defence system of the United States. It is held by an aide-de-camp.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_football