Riley watched as the tech officer ran a series of programs on the smartphone's hard drive. "Why are you doing all these? What's the deal with the drives?"
"They might look completely insignificant, but those programs are absolutely," the tech officer explained. "They're what makes an op-phone what it is,"
"How so?"
"They allow it to bypass security detectors so no one suspects a bloody thing,"
"Bypass…right. As in …if someone checks it, it looks and act like a perfectly normal mobile, but deep down, it's nothing of the sort?"
"Spot on."
--- [Inside the DCI's office]
"Elena Vance?" Mrs Miller scoffed, staring down at Riley's proposed undercover identity on the paperwork "No, that's not right at all,"
Mrs Miller was still busy marking up corrections on Riley's legend when she heard shouting outside her office door. The door creaked open slightly "NO, no you cannot go in there without permission?!" She heard her bagman screaming.
It was Detective Sergeant Harris. He was technically a qualified DS, but Mrs Miller treated him like her personal bagman – forcing him to manage her diary and guard her door like a glorified secretary. He sounded properly stressed.
"I know, Sarge, I'll be two seconds I promise… She knows me." The intruder responded, throwing the door open wider.
Was that?
"Morning ma'am," Riley greeted, stepping into the room.
Of course
"I don't recall telling Harris to buzz you," Mrs Miller said, completely ignoring the greeting.
The coldness in her voice made Riley to stutter. "Um well…I…um…I…the commander is to sign the RIPA today, and my NUTAP course for the undercover register has been fast-tracked down to 2 weeks. I was told my placement would be at a restaurant – The Verdant Plate. The superintendent said I should come directly to you for the rest of the brief,"
There was a moment of silence. Then Mrs Miller spoke, her voice rising in tight anger.
"Do you have an idea how incredibly silly you sound?"
Riley's eager smile faded a bit. She had been insulted to the face plenty of times by the coppers downstairs, but she didn't expect this kind of treatment from a senior officer.
"I am exceptionally busy at this precise moment, which I am entirely certain my bagman made clear to you. Yet you decided to barge right into my office and interrupt my work?!"
"I'm so sorry ma'am… I was just overwhelmed. I'll take my leave now and come back at a better time,"
Riley left before Mrs Miller could say more. Mrs Miller kissed her teeth in annoyance, side eyed the door where Riley had passed before continuing with the corrections on the legend.
--- [TSU, basement]
Mrs Miller walked in briskly and directly to a bloke who sat by his desk. She dropped some paperwork before him "I've had a proper look through the legend, and I've made some necessary corrections,"
"Corrections?!" The confused man screamed. He had predicted it somehow, as he spotted her walking in through those doors.
"But ma'am, this took us days to finish, we can't just…make another one," The man looked at Mrs Miller in anger
"Sure you can, prioritize this, it needs to be done within 48 hours,"
"…?" The man's look said it all. And without a word, he then pulled out his phone fron his pocket.
"What do you think you're doing?" Mrs Miller asked
"Calling the Superintendent who actually tasked me with this, just to confirm if he's aware of this change,"
"I've already briefed him," She may have sounded confident, but her insides were shaking "Do you not take my word for it?"
"I'm just calling to double check," The phone rang, but the mechanical voicemail responded that the user was busy.
"Looks like the gaffer is tied up. I suggest you get right on with the legend work. 48 hours isn't a lot of time. The clock's already ticking," Mrs Miller strode out.
---
~Executive floor, Scotland Yard
The room was completely soundproofed, stripped of windows, and required a biometric scan just to approach the corridor. Inside, the atmosphere was clinical. No chalkboards or action-film suspect walls, just secure monitors and high-ranking officials.
Detective Superintendent Henderson stood by the smart-display, while DCI Mrs Miller sat across from a stern-faced man in a tailored charcoal suit. This was Commander Robert, the Authorising Officer for the Met's specialist operations.
"The target is BlueCrest Tech Co., specifically the primary CEO, Nathaniel Marcello," Henderson began, clicking a remote. A crisp corporate profile of Nathaniel appeared on the screen, followed by crime scene photos from the cold 'air-gap' case files—each featuring the crimson, spray-painted letters: EG. "We have verified intelligence connecting old-model BlueCrest communications hardware directly to three separate, high-level hits nationwide. The local network infrastructure at the Marcello estate is a digital fortress. External interception is impossible. We need physical, internal proximity."
Commander Robert took a glance at the photos, then picked up a thick, red-bound legal dossier on the table. The cover read: RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000) – Section 26: Directed Surveillance and Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) Authorization.
"And your proposed asset?" the Commander asked, his voice low and measured.
"Technical Surveillance Officer Riley Knox," DCI Miller answered firmly. "Five years with the force. Two years operational experience as a Detective Constable under CID, three years deep-core technical routing in the TSU. She has the specific operational awareness required to survive a hostile corporate counter-surveillance environment, combined with the technical intellect to identify air-gapped data strings."
Commander Robert finally opened the RIPA dossier. His pen hovered over the signature block.
"You are asking for a full CHIS deployment inside a private domestic residence?" Robert stated, staring directly at Miller. "Under the statutory code of practice, I must be satisfied that this intrusion of privacy is both proportionate and necessary. It is a severe legal threshold, Chief Inspector. If your asset is discovered stealing digital architecture from Marcello's private servers, Scotland Yard will face unprecedented legal and political fallout. Are there alternative, less intrusive investigative methods?"
"None, sir," Henderson took over. "We have exhausted standard warrants, financial audits, and network sniffing. We presume that all Marcello's operations are entirely offline, since the online ones are – flawless. We just need to confirm what business he had with EG – and if he is EG. If we do not place a human asset inside that estate, the EG network remains completely invisible."
Commander Robert looked down at the paperwork. By signing, he wasn't just approving a plan; he was legally shielding Riley Knox. Under RIPA, this document granted her the legal authority to act under a false identity, protected her from certain liabilities while operating in the field, and ensured that any encrypted files she cloned would be legally admissible in a British high court without exposing the Met's classified investigative tech.
"The asset will operate under the Legend: Elena Vance?" the Commander noted.
"Yes Sir–" DSU Henderson started.
"Not so Sir. There are a few ongoing corrections for the legend you're looking at. The asset would operate under the name: Riley Sinclair,"
Even Henderson who had earlier wanted to 'go with the flow' and cover up the corrections he just got to know about was left stupefied.
"Isn't the Asset's actual name Riley Knox?" Commander Robert's shock broke through his calm façade.
"You've got a good memory Sir. I noticed that the asset responds more to her name – Riley. Imagine this scenario where she has been fully into the suspect's house, and she is called. The suspect would call her over and over again, and if she was busy gathering evidence and noticing inconsistencies, she would briefly forget her name as Elena Vance. Whereas if she goes by Riley, she can respond like the actual person she ought to be…in any situation,"
"No we can't just–" The DSU's stupefied reaction never left his face.
"Superintendent, if you please," He signalled the DSU to stop talking "I get where you're going, but what if this suspect tries to look into her through her first name,"
"We also thought of that. First of all, the chances of that happening are one in a million. But, just in case, the Asset's identity is encrypted on our servers. So if someone tries to look her up, we immediately get notified,"
"That–" DSU Henderson still got interrupted
"And that's a plus 'cause it serves as evidence of his 'illegal' doings by trying to look up his maid's identity. No random person can know the Asset's real identity by just searching it on the internet. He has to be a hacker. And so it brings more scrutiny on the suspect's face,"
"That is brilliant," The commander commended, nodding slowly. He flipped to the final page of the statutory authorization forms.
"Under Section 29 of the Act, I am formally authorizing the deployment of a Covert Human Intelligence Source for a standard period of twelve months, subject to mandatory review in four weeks," Robert announced.
With a smooth, decisive stroke, he signed his name across the authorization line, stamping it with the official seal of the Covert Authorities Bureau. He closed the folder with a sharp snap.
"The operation is legally live. Clear her path through the agency shortlists, deploy the Legend, and issue the secure handset. Let's find out what Nathaniel Marcello is hiding behind those gates."
---
DSU Henderson pulled Mrs Miller to a corner immediately after the commander left. "What was this all about, changing the legend? Are you out of your mind? Why didn't you inform me?"
"There was no time. I got news of the legend not too long ago. And I couldn't reach you before the meeting. Your line was busy when I called,"
"There was no time to tell me, but there was time to make corrections hmm?"
"It was the name alone I corrected," That was a total lie, but she couldn't tell Henderson that. He would have never agreed to the change of name, talk more of other changes she made.
"What are you planning Barbara?" Did she forget to mention that she almost married this guy?
"Nothing!" Mrs Miller got offended, "Do you think that low of me? I'm not dumb to blow up a very serious mission like this. Not everyone is a schemer like you. Get the fuck out of my way, I've got way more important things to do,"
Henderson saw the hurt look on her face as she walked past and wanted to apologise, but she brushed past him.