The clock in the van clicked over to 3am as I finally pulled into the deserted parking lot of the data center, tired and irritated. I didn’t get the page until after midnight, and of course the data center is an hour out of town – supposedly they built it here in the middle of nowhere to take advantage of green power transmission lines. The only sounds as I grabbed the replacement hard drive for the failed unit was the ticking of the cooling engine; even the crickets had the sense to be asleep at this godforsaken hour.

I set the drive in my tool bag and locked the van before setting off across the poorly lit parking lot towards the monolithic, squat building. My badge got me into the external door, but that only let me into the “mantrap” – a secure area where a remote security guard could verify my credentials and make sure… I don’t know, I’m not carrying a bomb or something? The external door closed solidly behind me and clicked locked again as I found myself in a stark white, brightly lit small vestibule. The ceiling bristled with cameras to watch me from numerous angles. This wasn’t my first rodeo, so I opened my toolbox and set everything on the shelf in front of me so they could be visibly inspected.

I pressed the button calling the security company. The screen in front of me flashed with the words “Stand by…” and was quickly replaced by a tired looking Hispanic man. “Good morning,” he started. “I’m Jaime. What can I do for you?”

Having done this many times, I held up my driver’s license next to my company ID card in front of the camera above the monitor. “Lonnie Agnew for CenCore Tech. I have to replace a hard drive in one of their RAIDS. I should be cleared.”

Jaime studied the proffered identification, then his eyes looked past me. “Yeah, you’re cleared, but who is he?”

My brow furrowed as I looked right and left. “He who? It’s just me.”

Jaime pointed towards my shoulder. “The guy behind you. Who is that?”

I froze as I felt a cold breath of air against my neck. I turned to look behind me and the bright room and monitor dropped into darkness.