Bird of Paradise • taekook

Eleven

Jungkook cuts off the spiralling thought, "It's fine. We'll get there before it's bright enough for them to get out, and I'm taking her home."

Silence floats between them for a beat. When Jungkook speaks again carefully, there's a hint of light east of them behind the dark hills that zoom pass, "So, are you a cop?"

"Hmm?"

"The... um, the laptop..."

"Oh." Taehyung's response is dazed.

Jungkook half expects him to change the subject, or for the familiar silence to veil them again. In a way, maybe that's better. Safer, than to tear into the unknown that they're now both avoidin-

"The local police probably requires clearance to look up data like this, and it would take them quite a while to go through raw footage. No, this data is powered by military satellites, and the search software is proprietary, tweaked by me and others in my group for efficiency."

Jungkook snaps his head, and spots Taehyung tossing the said laptop onto the backseat casually. He gulps and rubs the steering wheel with his thumbs, "Military, then?"

Another pause, but the response eventually comes, quiet and a little detached, "CIA is generally not considered to be military. Intelligence is the main focus - information, knowledge, gathering and manipulation of data, etc.." a sigh that blends into the dark, "How the info is used, however, could be very much related to military, yes."

The words drop but make no sense in Jungkook's mind. There's a sudden tightness in his chest, but he ignores it, "This is your job, info gathering?"

Taehyung shifts in his seat, and eventually, to Jungkook's reluctance, responds, "Have you ever heard of Anonymous? This internet group?"

Jungkook frowns, "I think so? Hackers, white mask, that kind of stuff?"

A small chuckle, "I always thought the Guy Fawkes mask was a bit too much, but some people love it. A symbol for anarchy, they say. I think they forget it was initially more for protection during demonstrations."

Jungkook hums uncertainly. The windshield wiper groans against the dizzy downpour, and even though he can't see the road clearly, he wants to believe they're on the right path.

"That's the thing about Anonymous - so much lore and hearsay that sometimes even the members are confused what it's all about. The public assumes it's this hip and dangerous vigilante group with infinite power, when really, Anonymous is just an empty shell that's often hijacked by smaller groups with their own agenda. Hmm, not that different from the inner workings of CIA when you think about it."

Jungkook clears his throat, and chooses his words carefully, "Are you a part of Anonymous also?"

"Was. That was the first of my many blunders. Well, I guess it was pretty glorious for a while there, collaborating with hundreds of people all over the world, taking down whatever government or news group that we felt was against the common folks. LulzSec was what we called our little group, a corner for the misfits with a dark sense of humor." Taehyung's voice turns a tad softer, wistful, but he sighs and continues, "But all fun things must come to an end, and for Victoria and I, that end became police arrest and court rulings that caught the attention of a few particular individuals at CIA."

"Why would the CIA keep an eye on hackers?"

"Why wouldn't they, of all people?" Taehyung's voice is raised, words tumbling out faster, as if they've been bottled up for far too long, "They do everything and more - hacking, exploitation, extortion, trading, coercing intel into whatever their message is - they're the legitimized masters in the area. And there's a division buried within CIA's Clandestine Service group, a division where they stash all the criminals picked up along the years to do their bidding."