The Project X series-2. Xx is for...?

Tech support

A few weeks had passed and Phil had heard nothing from the project X team. That was his name now for anything and everything to do with them. He kept busy with his other cases and checking the phone he was issued,  very frequently, but there was nothing.

Some more days went by. Phil continued with his cadres and went out to a recent theft from a residential property. It was a pretty routine investigation-wise, nothing out of the ordinary it was quite boring. He went outside to check the garden for footprints and his phone rang, not his job mobile but his project X mobile.
He fumbled in his suit pocket trying to get the mobile out quickly. On answering he was nervous,  hoping it would be Storm, clearing his throat and altering his voice to try and sound cool;

"Hello"

"Detective Phil Gray?" asked the caller

"Yes"

It was a female voice but he didn't recognise who It was.

"I'm inferno"

"We need the information in the next 2 hours. It would be very useful to us" said  Inferno.

"What we need, exactly will come through on your mobile device. When you recover the intelligence, contact us."

"Thank you...Miss Inferno...and thanks for allowing me into the team" said Phil

Inferno said no more and the call ended.

Phil knew what he needed to do. He wrapped up at the crime scene & made his way back to the police station.

During the drive back in his new car he couldn't stop thinking about Project X. He was blown away by Lightning crush his car right in front of his eyes.

He walked into the station nervous. He couldn't shake the fact he was going to be accessing systems to provide information to an outside source, not for policing. The systems he used were audited, he needed to be clever and also needed to prevent anything from jeopardising Project X, he wasn't quite sure how he was going to do this. As soon as he sat down his desk phone rang. It was the scientist who had their bike stolen or so he thought...

"Good afternoon officer"

"Hi Roger how can I help you?"

"You know we have already met?"

"Yep, I came round yours the other day Roger!" Replied Phil a little confused.

"No. This is Professor Woods! The voice suddenly changed" he was using a voice mask.

"Professor Woods...the Professor Woods? he said the name quietly ducking slightly lower in his cubicle.

"Yes we have met, I'm not so clever when it comes to gardening and who else would have quantum computers in a domestic dwelling that can replicate missing CCTV"

"You're the guy with the messy garden?"

"Yes he's one of my scientists, we couldn't risk calling round so we placed a message in the frame of the bike. It's something from a favourite spy film of mine. We both shared enjoyment of that film so it became a code as such, if things went wrong working for the government, which they did" explained the Professor.

"Before we knew you were onboard we needed to get hold of the CCTV footage. We knew you'd take a chance on someone who could help you progress the case when your tech team couldn't."

"Oh my...that's amazing, you know me better than I know myself.....shit...hey you know these phones are recorded"

"Don't worry! You'll get to know another one of the team very shortly. Expect a fake report on your computer which will introduce a seemingly legal, but false case for you to investigate and enquire about our subject.

The team were close to moving in on a potential target and needed some more intelligence. Professor Woods continued to explain the details.

You can do your checks without being caught out or suspected. The main phones and your police computer system will be going down very shortly. The fake report will be entered into the system for you to investigate as a cover. Our conversation will be erased as well. You'll never meet them but they are our tech support. Meet Clive in 5-4-3-2-1"

All of the department's phone lines went dead and computers were turned off, the power was cut also. After about 10 seconds or so it all came back on. Everyone thought it was just a routine power cut so nobody suspected anything, but Phil of course knew it was Clive, Project X's tech guy.

The file appeared in Phil's caseload. A new investigation-someone project x was very very interested in. Phil opened the file. Very impressive this Clive with how it was allocated to Phil to investigate, it looked no different than a genuine case file, what a great cover. The subject's name was Anderson, he had a previous military history, was dishonourably discharged, a charge sheet with different law enforcement. He was not a nice guy.

Phil was confused though. Why couldn't Clive just hack the main computers...something he would question when he next spoke. Maybe it's because they were not cops so wouldn't know how to use the information he thought to himself. More likely if things did get discovered the investigation into misuse would start & stop with Phil. Am I just a scapegoat he wondered?

After a few enquiries on the system, Phil found Anderson. He was living a few towns away and had a small holding. Phil had been briefed on his secure phone by text, Anderson's job had been to source weapons in large quantities for Colonel Thomas and his merry band of men. Only a handful escaped being detained by the Project X team, he was one of them. Most likely he escaped with Colonel Thomas, Thomas probably kept at a safe distance anyway and would take the glory after the dirty work was done.

Phil added the information to the secure phone and sent it over to Project X. They were good to go.