Hacker: Prelude

I was going to write an actual chapter but, well, I got lazy and now I'm just writing a prelude I never planned to write.
______________

It was a night not meant for traveling, but nevertheless, two figures silently walked towards an imposing flight of stairs from opposite directions. They froze, their hands reaching towards the pockets of their cloaks. Then, one recognized the other and wordlessly beckoned to the other. The two began moving again and they climbed the stairs together. When they reached the top, the figure on the right formed a complex motion with his hand. As if from nowhere, a grand building appeared into plain sight, and the front doors slid open. The interior was filled with warm light, and the floors were composed of cold, white marble.

The man on the right, old and thin, took off his cloak and threw it aside, speaking to his companion.

"Hestia, it's not like you to come to work this late. You must have news."

The one he spoke to took off her cloak. She was barely above age, but seemed experienced beyond her years.

"The best of news, Jones."

Hestia made her way to the elevator, and entered. She formed a symbol with her hands as the doors closed, and the elevator shot up. Two minutes passed by before the elevator came to a halt, and the doors slid open. She stepped forward, and waited patiently as the doors closed again and the elevator shot down, called by another worker.

She was in an office, not as imposing as the front lobby or the facade, but the air was easily a whole new level of threatening. A man sat at the opposite wall, his pen moving slowly and gracefully, and a gigantic ornate hammer that was worlds out of place in the sterile room leaned against the wall. Behind an inconspicuous door to the right, painful screaming was heard. The screams were incoherent, but the message for mercy was clear. Suddenly, the screams stopped, and the man finished writing, and spoke, without looking up.

"You have permission to speak, Mod Haverance."

Hestia opened her mouth, clearly eager with anticipation. "Our scouts have found something, Lord Thanis. Something big."

Lord Thanis' voice rang gruffly with annoyance. "Well? Spit it out!"

"My Lord, they've found the Keystone to the Autoban."

Lord Thanis' face, still facing his papers, slowly twisted into a smile. Behind the inconspicuous door, the screams started anew.
_______

A man's eyes shot open rapidly at the stroke of midnight. He lay there, on a flat rock in a cave. After what seemed like a millenium, he disappeared, leaving only a faint image behind, appearing at the mouth of the cave, watching an ant scurry across the floor, and mused. The ant left his line of vision, and he slowly stepped into the night air, and smiled. Today was the fifth of August, the twentieth anniversary of the Hacker Hunter Uprising.

The first day of the end.