The morning passed slowly. Barry processed evidence mechanically, his mind only half engaged with the work.
The other half was planning. Calculating. Building the framework for what came next.
At 11:45 AM, he stood up and grabbed his jacket.
"Taking lunch," he called to Marcus.
"Cool. Want me to grab you something?"
"Nah, I'm good. Running errands."
Barry left the building and got in his car, a ten-year-old sedan that was showing its age but still ran reliably. He drove toward the docks, navigating through downtown traffic.
The electronics district was exactly as sketchy as he'd expected. Narrow streets. Buildings with peeling paint.
Shops with barred windows and hand-painted signs. This was where people came when they needed technology and didn't want to explain why.
Barry parked on a side street and walked into the first shop on his list.
The interior was cramped and dimly lit. Shelves were packed with laptops, tablets, phones, all of varying age and condition.
A man sat behind the counter, middle-aged, bored expression, not looking up from his newspaper.
"Help you?" the man asked without enthusiasm.
"Looking for a laptop," Barry said.
"Something basic. Doesn't need to be new."
"Budget?"
"Three hundred. Cash."
That got the man's attention. He looked up from his newspaper, eyes narrowing slightly as he assessed Barry.
Young kid. Clean clothes. Probably not a criminal but definitely not here for legitimate reasons.
"Got a refurbished Dell in the back. Three fifty."
"Three hundred," Barry repeated.
The man shrugged. "Three twenty-five and I throw in a carrying case."
"Deal."
Ten minutes later, Barry walked out with a laptop in a worn carrying case. No receipt. No record of sale. Just a cash transaction that left no paper trail connecting the device to Barry Allen.
He put the laptop in his trunk and drove back to CCPD, arriving with fifteen minutes left in his lunch break. Enough time to eat the sandwich he'd packed that morning and review his next steps.
Tonight, he'd set up the digital infrastructure. VPN. Encrypted email. Secure browsing. Everything he needed to operate without leaving traces.
And then he'd go after DeVoe's research.
---
Barry got home at 6:15 PM.
His apartment was quiet and dark. He flipped on lights as he moved through the small space, dropping his keys on the kitchen counter and setting the laptop carrying case on his tiny dining table.
First priority: food. He'd been burning through calories faster than normal since the transmigration.
The enhanced intellect required more energy. His body was working harder even when he was sitting still.
Barry made a quick dinner from what he had available. Pasta with canned sauce. Not gourmet but filling.
He ate standing at the counter, thinking through the evening's tasks while he chewed mechanically.
The laptop sat on the table, waiting.
Barry finished eating, washed his dishes, and sat down at the table.
He opened the laptop and powered it on. The machine took a minute to boot up, old hardware groaning to life. When it finally loaded, Barry was greeted with a basic desktop screen. The previous owner had wiped it clean. Good.
He connected to his apartment's wifi and immediately went to work.
First step: VPN installation. Barry navigated to the ProtonVPN website and created an account using a burner email address he'd set up on his phone.
He paid for a year of service using a prepaid debit card he'd bought with cash weeks ago. No connection to his real identity.
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