Friday, October 18, 2024

Short Story - High Security Facility


Bob, known to his online friends as "scannerFreak," was a seasoned radio enthusiast. A wizard with antennas and frequencies, he was always on the lookout for the next big signal to catch. This time, the challenge was new: a high-security storage facility had recently opened on the edge of town. Bob’s ears perked up when he heard the local news chatter about the state-of-the-art security systems and a network that kept everything hush-hush. For Bob, it was like a red cape to a bull.

Armed with his trusty handheld scanner, complete with the CloseCall feature, Bob set out for the facility on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. He had prepared well: dressed in nondescript clothes, his radio gear packed neatly in the backpack slung over one shoulder. He knew CloseCall could sniff out frequencies by picking up transmissions from nearby sources, so he parked a little way off from the facility, just far enough to not raise suspicion, but close enough to catch any stray signals.

He sat in his car, turning on his scanner and setting it to CloseCall mode. It wasn’t long before the first signals started to appear, mostly mundane chatter from a nearby construction site. But Bob was patient. He knew that good signals often took time to find, and the thrill of the hunt was what he lived for.

Then, a blip. A frequency popped up on his scanner, cutting through the static. It was a digital burst, something that sounded encrypted. Bob leaned in, eyes narrowing, as he tuned in more closely. It wasn’t the typical chatter he’d find on common security or maintenance frequencies—it had the cadence of something higher-stakes. He scribbled the frequency into his notebook, noting the signal strength and location.

He drove around the perimeter of the facility, triangulating his finds. CloseCall gave him a few more hits, and he began to piece together the puzzle. There were frequencies for the gates, others for internal communications, and even one that seemed dedicated to monitoring the facility’s surveillance feeds. Bob grinned, feeling like he was decoding the blueprint of a fortress.

His excitement was cut short when a black SUV pulled up a few car lengths behind him, its headlights cutting through the dim afternoon. Bob's pulse quickened. He casually adjusted his scanner, switching to a less conspicuous mode, and flipped open a map, pretending to be just another lost traveller. 
The SUV idled for a moment before turning away, but it was a close call—literally. Bob breathed out, feeling the thrill of the narrow escape. He decided he’d gathered enough intel for one day. 

As he drove home, his mind buzzed with the possibilities of what he could do next: maybe decode more of those digital signals, or post about the find on his favourite radio forum, keeping some details vague to protect the innocent (namely, himself).

Back in his garage, surrounded by a sea of coax cables and antenna parts, Bob sat down at his desk, tuning into his notes. He plugged the frequencies into a software-defined radio to get a closer listen. The encrypted signals were a challenge, but for scannerFreak, this was just the beginning of a new obsession. He chuckled to himself, wondering how the facility’s security team would react if they knew an old radio guy was already mapping out their hidden airwaves.

As he adjusted his headphones and caught the faint hum of another encrypted burst, Bob felt alive—on the edge of discovery, where every signal held a secret waiting to be cracked.

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