"Yeah- I'm right outside the building, besides the entrance staircase, where are you?"

"I think I might just be around the corner. Can you go out in the open? I'll try to find you."

"Okay, sounds good." Zed briefly responded. He walked out of the shade of the skyscraper, and into the open streets, before stopping and glancing around the area seeming to be looking for somebody. He got his phone out again, and lowered his voice a little more so no one in the crowded area could really hear him speak ,"I'm out, do you see me-?"

"Zedaph! Over here!"

He turned to where he was called, lowering his phone. She was standing in the shade of another nearby building, separated from the crowd of people and in a more quiet area, gesturing for him to go there. He approached her.

"So you're detective Gemini Tay?" He asked.

"Yes, that's right." She nodded, her tone half-whispering. "I assume Joe already told you what's up?"

"Yeah, I think I needed to sneak something you'd give me into the CEO's office, right?"

"Mhm, we needed you to sneak in and attach a bug nearby the place, and then listen to whatever information you can gain from it." She explained, getting out some sort of small device from her pocket. "I know this sounds really shady, but please trust us on this."

"But how am I supposed to sneak it into the building without it getting detected? There's a lot of security measures that have been added after all the assassinations that have taken place, including unregistered electronic detectors." He questioned.

"Oh- don't worry about that- as long as it's off, it shouldn't trigger any of those detectors." Gem replied. "We've studied most of Aque corp's devices - or well, got someone to study them - and made it so this bug is undetectable."

Despite being in an electronics producer company, Zed admittedly had no idea how this all worked, but just nodded. There was also the problem of how in the world he was supposed to get all the way up to the CEO's office, but he decided to figure that out by himself.

"Alright, you know how to operate these, right?" She asked while handing the devices to Zed, both the transmitter and the spy bug.

He looked at the electronics nervously, but nodded. "I got this."

"Good. Well, good luck. I'll be going back to the police department now, feel free to call me if something goes wrong." She smiled, before taking a few steps back and waving. "See you later!"

Zed waved back as Gem walked away, before sighing, and turning back to the building of Aque Corp. He needed to get to work.

He walked onto the staircase entering the building along with a few other workers. He hesitated as he was in front of the detectors, before holding his breath and going through, sighing in relief and stopping when he reached the other side.

He was inside the building now, he had successfully smuggled the devices into the building, now comes the problem of how he's supposed to go up to the CEo's office when those floors are off limits for everyone but the head of districts, the secretary, the right hand man, and the CEO himself.

He walked to the elevator, and walked into it along with other employees. First he needed to go to the marketing district, though, so he won't be marked as absent. The mission was definitely going to take a while.
He thought of what he should do as the elevator went up. First off he should probably go to his office and do actual work, since he had time until the end of the day to do this. And then, after that, he could try to sneak into the higher floors. Not being seen by people won't be an issue up there, since only a small amount of workers are even allowed up there, but the security is going to be the main problem along with the security cameras- oh, and also the fact that he'd never been up there.

His mind was still ticking as the elevator stopped, and as he walked out of the elevator along with everyone else that was in it. He walked through the corridors, not focusing on really anything.

And so the next second, he bumped into someone.

"Ow-" He muttered out in pain as he recoiled.

"Oh, whoops- sorry, I wasn't looking at where I wa-" The person said an apology, but then suddenly stopped.

"It's fine, I also wasn't lookin-" But then, seeing who he bumped into, he completely froze, and it seemed that the other did as well. "I-Impulse?"

"Er... uh-" Impulse mumbled. "G-Good morning, Zed! Um... Nice seeing you?"

"Where have you been??" Zed immediately asked. "Dude, I haven't seen you all week!"

"Well... uh... maybe that's because it's Monday?" The other chuckled nervously, but stopped at the look Zed gave him. "I've- been around. All over the place."

"And where exactly is 'around'?" Zed asked, eyes filled with suspicion, but also concern. "We haven't had a proper conversation since last week Thursday- and speaking of our conversation from Thursday, what did you mean b-"

"Well I- uh- need to go now!" Impulse cut him off, his voice an octave higher than usual. "Need to go talk to Scar- Later, Zed!"

And without skipping a beat, he quickly walked away, not daring to look at Zed.

Zed opened his mouth to stop him, but then stopped, getting an idea. Impulse said he was going to talk to Scar, meaning he was going to the CEO's office.

If he could somehow follow him into the top floors, it would mean that he can sneak past most of the security. He also realized that even if the security cameras caught him, the security guards don't even have access to the cameras in the top floor, and the only way he'd get caught is if the bug got found and they need to check the footage to find who planted it, which could be easily avoided if he hides it in a good spot. It was a big oversight that nobody knew until now. Another thing he realized is that although the security prevented people from going up, it can't be said the same for going down.
He looked down the hallway where Impulse ran down. This could be the answer to his problems. The only thing is that he has to make sure that Impulse, or anyone as a matter of fact, doesn't see him.

But he was willing to take the risks, seeing that this might be his only opportunity.

He followed where Impulse went, he first needed to catch up. He fast-walked through the hallways, blending in with the other employees. He wasn't really sure where he went, but since he said he needed to talk to Scar, he was probably heading towards the stairs and elevators area to go up the building.
He kept walking, and reached the first set of stairs that connected the 5th floor to the 6th. He walked up, but then stopped as he was at the mid flat point, hiding a bit behind the wall. He was right, Impulse was there, walking to the next set of stairs.

He quietly waited until Impulse was out of view, before quietly walking up the other flight of stairs, and peeking out at the next floor. Impulse was at the other side of the room, going up the next set of stairs. And once he was out of view again, followed.

*Beep*

*Click*

He heard the sound of the security gates opening and footsteps, stopping and waiting a few seconds as the footsteps got quieter and the gates closed, before going up the stairs.

Then he stopped by the gates that stood between the 6th and 7th floor. The 7th floor was supposed to be only available to Deputy heads of districts and above, so it was to keep all other employees out. He needed to be quick, since even though he could open this one, he can't open the one for the next floor, which was exclusive to heads of districts and up.
He quickly got out his worker's id card, and scanned it on the card scanner right in front of the gates. With a beep and a click, the lights on the side of the gate turned green, the gates opened along with the other one behind it, and the invisible infrared sensors in the middle turned off. He quickly passed through, sneaking around the corner so if Impulse was just around he wouldn't get heard, but either unluckily or fortunately, he wasn't.

He rushed halfway down the hallway, before slowing down to make sure his footsteps weren't heard. This next part was the tricky one, he needed to make sure he wasn't heard or seen, but also make it before the gates closed again, which meant he needed to run through at most 7 seconds after Impulse does.
He sneaked through the floor 7th corridor. He didn't need to worry about being seen, considering the chances someone sees him there is minimal, but more on making sure Impulse doesn't hear his footsteps.

He reached the bottom of the stairs leading up to the 8th floor, quietly stepping up on the first step. And on cue, he heard a beep, and the sound of the gates opening, and footsteps.

He had less than 5 seconds to react, and so he basically fast-walked the stairs, not stopping once and even skipped a few steps. He reached the gates, and went through just in time as it immediately shut as he went through.

He breathed for a moment, before tensing up. He quickly turned to see if Impulse had heard him. And unluckily for him, he did.

They both just awkwardly stared at each other.

"Oh- uh- h-hey, Impulse!" Now was his turn to chuckle nervously. He gulped, gazing away while internally panicking. He was just caught red handed. "...It's... not what it looks like?"

"Z-Zed-? W-what are you doing h- wait-" Impulse asked, before realizing that there was a bigger elephant in the room. "Were you following me!?"

"...maybe? Okay okay wait I swear I can explain-" He frantically scrambled, almost at shouting levels. He's lucky that no one was around the area and that no one heard him.

"Yeah- an explanation would be nice please." The other eyed him, He didn't seem too mad or upset, but mostly surprised.

"Well- uh-" Zed stuttered, trying to make up an excuse that didn't include the fact that he was planning on following him all the way to the CEO's office for a shady thing some detectives made him do. "I- I uh- I needed to get some of the paperwork from your storage office up here, but since you wouldn't talk to me, I couldn't ask you for them! So I just... followed you up here to get them myself?

"

Zed hoped that was enough of an excuse to be convincing, slightly sweating nervously as he briefly turned away from Impulse. It was quiet for a moment.

"I... see..." The other muttered slowly. He didn't seem to be too suspicious, but he also didn't seem fully convinced. "Well- uh- sorry, for, uh, avoiding you, but I've just been really busy over the past week. Y-you can go get the stuff yourself, I need to go somewhere now."

"Oh- alright, thanks." He sighed in relief as he watched Impulse take a few steps back. "You go do that, mate, I'll go- get the things I need."

After some more awkward silence, they both just nodded at each other, and parted ways as Impulse went to the stairs leading to the next floor, while Zed pretended to go down the hallway.

Well that didn't go so well, Zed sighed to himself, stopping as Impulse was out of view. He was able to get out of trouble for wandering around where he shouldn't be, but now Impulse was suspicious and on the alert, so he couldn't just immediately follow him up again.
Luckily for him, the next floor didn't have another security gate, and the next id scanner would just be the one locking the CEO's office itself, and he doesn't particularly need to go through it since he could just leave the bug somewhere outside and it'd probably still pick up the voices from inside. Still, though, he needed to wait a bit before making his next move.

He decided to take the other stairway upstairs to be safe, and so he doesn't run into Impulse again.

"O-oh- so is that what happened?"

"Yeah, since we know we weren't the ones that did it, it must mean that someone from the outside must've done it. It's a shame that the X-T-V keeps blaming us for everything that happens to it."

Zed froze, and his breath swallowed. He made it, he was near the area he was supposed to plant the bug, the CEO's office. He heard people conversing inside from the outside. He'd never been up on the 9th floor before, but now he seriously thinks that instead of putting up security that can be easily bypassed by two people, soundproof walls are something they'd should've focused on more.
He slightly listened to the conversation, a little hesitant to do so since it felt pretty wrong and shady, but it's not like what he was planning to do there was any better.
He recognized one of the voices as Impulse's, and the other as the CEO of the company himself, Scar. He never really thought that much about the CEO, other than the fact that he seemed to be a decent and nice guy, but the fact that the police were suspicious enough of him to want to spy on him really says otherwise.

"Wait- the X-T-V people are accusing us of what happened!?"

"Not anymore, but they did, until the incident on Saturday. I assume you haven't heard of it?"

"No, I haven't- what happened?"

Zed was so focused on listening to the conversation, that he almost forgot what he came here for. He quickly got out the bug from his pocket, and carefully sneaked around near the door, just an inch away from the sensor's radius. He could still hear the voices from here, so the bug should also still pick up the signals.

"Someone was caught trying to enter the late Mr. Doc's office. The company said they did in fact catch them, but I doubt they did actually get them, they probably got away."

"Who did-?"

"That's the thing, they don't even know who did it, and yet they claimed they caught who did it. Doesn't make a lot of sense, I know."

Zed started carefully setting up the device. He quietly opened the nearby drawer, making sure it doesn't creak, and got out a roll of double tape. He attached one to the bottom of the bug, and carefully pressed it onto the bottom of the drawer's door, before slowly shutting it closed again.

"Do they have an idea of who did it?"

"They haven't said much on that topic, maybe it's just them being secretive bastards, or it can also be because they haven't even investigated the case too clearly, but one thing that's clear is that it has to be someone that has been in the company for a long time, and has a big enough influence."

Zed was done with the setup, but was still sticking around a bit, listening to the supposedly private conversation. He didn't know exactly what they were talking about, but from what he could gather, it was something about the X-T-V, and something about an infiltration.
He wanted to listen to the whole convo, but he knew he wasn't supposed to be there listening, and that if someone were to catch him, whether that someone is Impulse or a different district head, he'd be toast, and he didn't want to take the risk.

He started backtracking to where he came from, and went down from the 9th floor. He should just go to his office now and wait, at least until Impulse is out.

2 hours.

That's how long it's been since he planted the device. It's been 2 full hours, and he'd been spending a good portion of it being paranoid, turning the receiver on to see if there was any suspicious activity going on up there, but so far, nothing.

There wasn't much to hear from it. He does occasionally hear talking from it, but nothing important has popped up so far, nothing suspicious enough. The only things he'd been hearing out of the receiver are small talks, random passing footsteps, and silence.
He had no idea why the detectives wanted him to investigate the CEO, but he knew there must've been a reason. And yet, so far, the CEO seemed pretty innocent. He did suspect Scar a fair bit before this, but he was always unsure, and now he was even more unsure. Even the conversation he eavesdropped on earlier wasn't that suspicious.

But now, he can feel the paranoia creeping back into him. He hadn't turned the receiver on for only 5 minutes, but now he suddenly got an urge to listen again, in case something had happened.

He took the device out of his pocket once again, and turned on the speakers.

"...mporary deputy head of the Finance district? What about him?"

"I don't know, but don't you find him a little... suspicious?"

For the first time in those 2 hours, it seemed to be picking up an important discussion. He recognized the two voices talking as the right hand man of the CEO, Bdubs, and the CEO himself.

The Temporary deputy head of the finance district... Zedaph thought to himself. He did hear that since Hypno, the official deputy head of the district, had been absent, they had appointed someone else to temporarily take his place. He didn't really hear who got selected, though.

"Suspicious?"

"I feel like he might be some sort of double agent, if I'm being honest. He had always been suspicious from his first day here, as far as I remember."

"What about him gave you that impression? He seemed like a nice fella, especially for the few times I've talked with him."

"I just feel that he's not trustable in general, like, Bdubs, you know, he used to work for X-T-V! And then, well, he did join our corporation, the winning side, which was a great decision by him, but I'm not fully convinced he's fully just a normal employee. You know, after all those incidents at X-T-V happened, and suddenly he's been a lot less active. It's pretty suspicious if you ask me."

"Well, uh- then what do you suppose we do? Fire him?"

"Of course not, we can't just do that. The X-T-V have seriously been playing unfair recently, and I can't tolerate it for that much more. If they're playing dirty, then it only makes sense we should too. Plus, it's not like their company is recovering from the blows it's received after the incidents, might as well add more fire to the flame, as they say."

"...wait- are you proposing that we should-"

"Yep. Get rid of him. Quite literally."

There will be no escape when the truth comes out