Heist #2: The 31st Floor


The building has 37 floors and one basement.  During the day, research teams go in and out of the lobby.  The research teams can be found exploring the building from 6AM to 10PM.  At all times, a security guard can be found at every entrance.  Only those personally known to the security guard will be admitted without challenge; even presenting a valid ID badge will result in a verifying call to Central Command.

The interior of the building is filled with a musty smell.  Mold often grows on the walls; weeds have begun growing in some of the rooms, near the windows.  The elevator does not work; fortunately, a stairwell runs from the basement to the roof.  The research teams have only made it up to the 23rd floor; nearly the entire building has been emptied of anything valuable by looters.

The 31st floor contains the same abandoned office layout as most of the floors.  However, the room in the southwest corner is reinforced with a steel door and keypad combination lock.  Behind this door is what might be called a server room, with a Beowulf cluster of laptop computers powered by ancient radioisotope thermoelectric generators.  The room is airtight; a hole has been drilled in the north wall to the next room to let a cable through, then sealed with caulk.  In this room, two Yagi antennas are pointed out the windows to send and transmit data at a frequency of 1280 MHz.

In the server room, under a table, is a large metal trunk.  It has been bolted to the floor and locked with a padlock.

What’s the plan?

Heist #0: Warehouse B

Heist #0: Warehouse B

The warehouse rests in a light industrial district.  Workers move in and out from 5AM to 11PM, organized in two shifts.  The office manager, Mr. Bodner, works from 9AM to 5PM.  From 1AM to 4AM the neighborhood is quiet.

The warehouse is guarded 24 hours a day, with one security guard at each door.  Every 15 minutes the warehouse door guard walks counterclockwise around the building to the office door; he exchanges a few words with the other guard, who then walks back to the warehouse door.  The guards usually bring lunches that they eat while guarding.

The warehouse is mostly space for pallets.  There is a cafeteria/pantry, a restroom and an office.  Each outer doorway is a set of double doors, locked by separate keys.  The only inner door ever locked is the office, and it is always locked when Mr. Bodner is not in.  The guards have keys to the front door, but no other keys.  Only Mr. Bodner has a key to the office.

Inside the office is a cabinet.  It is locked with a padlock.  Mr. Bodner has the only key to this padlock.

What’s the plan?