– I see. I realized that a long time ago. Thank you.
– Thinking outside the box. It's quite possible they have set up legitimate international organizations too. We have to look everywhere, everything is under suspicion – Putin's secret bunker and the safe house where Bill Gates' archives are kept, everything. This place can be under a plausible pretext closed, secret with restricted access. In any variants it can be a circuit in the signal transmission system. The logic is the same. Just as they created hidden mines, from which missiles will fly out three days after the winner will launch a salute in honor of victory, so also hidden transmitters, servers will work at the right hour, on a predetermined signal, perhaps automatic. And everything around can serve as a screen to hide it. For example, you could hide anything anywhere in some billionaire's secret and heavily guarded fortified bomb shelter somewhere. You had on your list of locations in the US to be thoroughly scanned. Including brain scans of the staff, unnoticed by them. We've done everything you think we've done before, now we're going global. I think we underestimated them. They could plant it everywhere, because we don't know who they are, we only know they are, because they're somehow manifesting themselves. They could put it in Cheyenne or Raven Rock, or even the Kremlin. I've come to the conclusion that they've been running this show, with actors in the form of friends and enemies, as well as we have. I've been to Cheyenne once. Go there. My heart tells me it's harder than we imagined. I'll make all the arrangements, they'll meet you, organize everything. According to the legend, you'll be a researcher at a closed research institute. It's fashionable now, it's called experience exchange. Whoever needs it will know why you're there.
The Master was silent, elbows resting on his elbows, his palms spread apart, gesturing that that was all. Ruthra stood up, shook Hentu's hand, and headed for the exit. He stopped at the door and asked:
– So everything's okay on Polygon?
– Yarovitovich will figure it out for himself," Hent replied thoughtfully.
– What did Alikhanov die of? – Ruthra asked, squinting his eyes a little, indicating that he was not satisfied with that answer.
Rutra decided to show his principled position regarding this and further investigation, which was based on the fact that since he had "entered" the role, the status, so be kind, accept what you wanted. Hent, as it turned out, was even pleased by the question. He smiled, shook his head affirmatively while shaking his index finger, pointed at Rutra, changed his smile to a "firm" expression with tightly pressed lips, and answered:
– It's called "woe is me", we'll figure it out before you get there. You've found the main thing. Go on to new feats, the motherland should know its secret heroes, though maybe later on. By the way, it's almost a second homeland for you there, you'll remember your service.
Ruthra smiled, too, then changed his expression to a serious one, letting him know that uncertainty breeds when he doesn't get an answer to his questions, blinked at Hent with both eyes, said he understood, walked out, and headed for the elevator. The hardest part was explaining at home that he was leaving again. What to do, I had to.
Rutra went down to Zero, work was boiling, around the world many people were hustling. Anyway, the point of Center Zero was to keep tabs on those who kept tabs on others. Rutra assembled the team, listened to the reports, made important observations about collecting banking information. A variety of information from multiple entities flowed into Center Zero legally. Everything that happened with accounts, transfers, transactions, bearer trusts, and more could be inaccessible to all but those who registered and the one who was registered. Everything that was registered was official information, certainly not accessible, but it was registered. Accordingly, no matter how hidden it was, it was still reported. It was important for the client, whose property or finances were kept secret from the whole world. These reports were received by some controlling or registering body, and it in turn fell under another control. And so on in complicated ways to the center "Zero". Accordingly, when there was information that a special service was monitoring the banking operations of citizens, Rutra smiled.
Rutra commissioned a review (over the last 30 years) of large transfers and financial transactions of international organizations legally operating under other names; the same for employees of closed research institutes, suspended or dismissed high-ranking military officers, intelligence officers, their relatives and their circle of contacts.
– I hope you can handle your main job and your new one. Is that clear? How long my next business trip will last, I cannot yet determine.
– You won't be in touch? – asked the head of security.
– That's a possibility.
– What to do if BT Group refuses to use the single digital signature certificate protocol previously adopted in the European Union? – The Information Control Administrator has already asked.
– I don't think it will come to that, if it does happen, then they should certainly, in accordance with our internal rules, coordinate this issue with the center. If not, you turn on Tempora and blocking of inter-network traffic, and then GCHQ will take over.
GCHQ – Government Communications Headquarters is the UK intelligence service responsible for conducting electronic intelligence and ensuring the protection of government and military information. The center is a member of the UKUS SIGINT alliance and is responsible for the collection and analysis of information in the countries of Europe, including the European part of Russia and Africa. The intelligence service is part of the Joint Intelligence Committee, together with MI5 (domestic intelligence) and MI6 (foreign intelligence).
– For all questions you will contact me, using a specially organized for this program communication complex, under the legend of the Institute of Experimental Physics. Not directly, but through Christina to VNIIEF Sarov, and there the automation is already in place.
– I see," the employees replied in unison, some in a voice, some nodded, mostly the male part; the female part expressed the expected and, apparently, long overdue.
– Tell me, Chief, why do you keep leaving us? – smiling and jokingly asked the ladies from the analytical department.
– Everything will be fine, I'll be back soon, we'll celebrate, – said Rutra, reassuring, because in "Zero", purely because of the specifics of the organization, there was an atmosphere where the team could not "go wild" in the circle of "alien" individuals.
Something suspicious was seen in everything, and it was already a professional reflex.
– Yay, hurry up, it's getting boring.
– All right, keep your nose to the wind, I'm outta here. Goodbye.
– Goodbye," they said in unison.
Already on the way out, the head of his own security department approached him and said in a quiet voice (more to indicate the individual importance of the information than for the sake of secrecy):
– You know, I've been paying attention lately to the fact that our department is getting information out of official channels of communication.
– How did you figure that out?
– There has been no dispatch from you, however there appear to be assignments based on the recommendations of your analysis.
– Orders from who?
– From a higher authority.
– From Hristoforovich?
– Yeah. You can send it to us directly.
– Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I must have missed something. What's the nature of these recommendations?
– Ordinary – make a report, analyze what's going on, plan something.
– What was the last one?
– You should have been reported to you by your assistants, they probably think you know. That last one was rather odd.
– Which