-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 CHAPTER THREE Wade sat at the front counter of Provisions and Prose, flipping through a magazine without much interest. Tom was doing a bit of housekeeping— returns, the most depressing part of being a bookseller— pulling all the books that hadn’t sold to send back to publishers and distributors for refunds. It was a pretty robust pull list. Sales had been a little slow. Though, the anti-Flock organizing night had been a bright spot, both in sales and in Tom’s experience. It wasn’t like he thought about Maritza all the time. But she came up now and again in his thoughts a normal amount for a beautiful woman to come up in his thoughts. So when she walked into the store, black hair shining, Tom felt like he’d conjured her with his mind. “Hey!” she said brightly. She gave Wade a fist bump, which Wade loved. Wade was big into fist bumps. “How’s it going, dude?” Wade lit up like the sun, and chatted a bit with Maritza. Tom took the opportunity to get his body regulated, breathe slowly, moron, and to find a good spot for the stack of books he’d pulled. “Tom!” She smiled wide, and Tom felt a tug in his chest toward her. “You were right, it was so so good.” “Yesteryear?” As if he didn’t wonder what she’d thought on a daily basis. “I tore right through it, and I haven’t been able to concentrate on a book in ages. Got something like it for me? This time I’m paying for it.” Tom put up his hands, don’t shoot, but couldn’t help the stupid grin he knew was stamped on his face. “Your money’s no good here.” “Our sales are like, crazy down,” Wade chimed in. Tom closed his eyes, let the moment pass. Wade was right of course (Wade was usually right) but it was not the time, man. He’d always been a lousy wingman. “Really,” Maritza said, warmly. “I am delighted to support my local independent bookstore and its anti-mass surveillance ownership.” She elbowed him playfully in the side, and Tom nearly fell over sideways. She touched me. Tom didn’t say anything (no way in fuck is she paying for a book), but he motioned to the fiction section and pulled some options for Maritza. He tried to pull fun stuff, the kind of escapism she probably needed in the midst of all her organizing. “This one,” he handed her a copy of The Searcher by Tana French. “Does all the fun stuff of a police procedural mystery, but the main guy is a retired cop so he’s not allowed to do cop stuff anymore, which lends it a cool vibe without being like, straight up copaganda.” Maritza smiled appreciatively at that. “You got my number.” “I don’t actually,” Tom said, shocked by his own game. “Would it be weird if I asked for it now?” He could taste his heart in his throat, tin and thrum. She gave him an appraising look, and for a second Tom thought he’d been a little too bold. “Yeah,” she said. “But only if you use it.” Tom also shit his pants. They exchanged numbers, and Tom gifted her the Tana French paperback. There was some argument about this, but it was settled that, when they went for coffee, Maritza would pay. “Oh and also, if you’re not sick of me by then, there’s also a canvassing thing coming up.” Tom could see it the second she switched into organizer mode, the way her shoulders pulled back and her chin lifted. It was, he couldn’t help but notice, really hot. “I saw on Signal. Was already planning to be there.” “Great.” She looked to Wade. “You’re more than welcome to come too, man.” “No, thank you, I’m not a big oooh look at me guy.” “That’s not really—” Tom started. But Maritza’s laugh cut him off. “That’s fair enough. Maybe we can get you to hand out fliers at the Fourth parade.” “Maybe.” Wade had lost interest in this conversation and had returned to his magazine. “It hasn’t hit the chat yet, but city council is talking about expanding the permitted usages, outside of what was voted on before,” Maritza said. “You’re kidding.” “I wish. I guess a lot of cities are doing this, so it’s possible the Lawndale PD could be using these for domestic violence, vandalism, terrorism charges, you name it. Not to mention sharing all the data with federal agencies.” “Terrorism?” “You know how they are. Everything’s terrorism now. They charged those protestors with it just last month.” “Jesus.” “I’m sure Jesus has nothing to do with it.” She sighed deeply, and tried to smile, but Tom could see how troubled Maritza was. Maybe because he shared her concerns. This was bad. After how disastrously his first attempt at shooting down a camera had gone, he’d been wondering if he should even try again. He’d gone back to the camera by the school during the day to see, and realized that, because of the angle he’d shot the camera with, all the slugs had simply ricocheted off. All that faff and nothing to fucking show for it. But now hearing that the cameras were going to be used for whatever the fuck the police felt like using them for, he knew he had to keep going. It wasn’t time to give up, it was time to level up. “Do you think we can get the churchy folks into the coalition if we tell them Jesus would have hated Flock?” Maritza scoffed. “If you figure out the messaging, I wish you all the luck in trying.” Tom pressed his hands together in mock prayer. “May the good lord guide me.” “You guys flirt weird,” Wade said. Tom watched Maritza’s cheeks flush a warm pink. “Mind your business, Wade.” Tom opened the door for Maritza, just for something to do with his hands. “See you soon.” - -- Tom practiced. He practiced putting his gear in and out of his pack. He practiced readying the pistol— putting on the suppressor, loading it, taking off the suppressor and unloading it. He was careful to always load the gun wearing black, nitrile gloves, so that his prints would never be on any slugs, but he took them off for everything else. He practiced taking off and putting on his disguise as quickly and smoothly as he could. He practiced this all in the privacy of his bedroom where Wade wouldn’t see him because there was a nonzero chance he looked like a lunatic, and that didn’t need to be witnessed by the Fairbanks family’s greatest shit talker. It was a bit like being a Boy Scout. A lot of pack management. He needed to know where everything was in his pack, at all times. He could hear his dad’s voice echoing in his mind, yelling, really, to keep his gear organized and accessible. All that yelling had paid off, eventually. Tom wasn’t a good Boy Scout, but he was going to be good at this. He had to be. As he got set to leave, Tom peeked into Wade’s room. Just to be safe. Wade was snoring away, his face soft with sleep. If Tom was going to do this, he needed to do this right. To never get caught. Because Tom’d be damned if he left Wade to their mom again. She wasn’t a bad person. But she couldn’t handle Wade on her own. She was too distractible, too fragile herself. After Dad had died Mom kinda lost it, drinking and forgetting things, and that’s when Wade had moved in with Tom. Tom had promised Wade, there and then, that he’d always have a home with him, and he fucking meant it. Failure just wasn’t an option. Tom peeked through the little windows in his front door. The street was silent. Which made sense. It was 3am. He lived in a sleepy part of town, mostly families and old folks. Then he hefted his larger pack onto his back, and slipped out into the night. A lot of fretting had led Tom to realize that he actually needed two disguises. One for walking around, and one for the actual strike. That way, if he, Tom, was somehow captured on camera leaving his house, he would not be the same figure who was then captured on camera walking around, and definitely not the same figure seen shooting down a Flock camera. So once he was about a few blocks away from his house, Tom ducked into the bike lane that cut through the lightly forested area behind the high school, set up well off the actual path in the undergrowth, and changed from his regular Tom clothes into black bloc gear: a black sweatshirt with no logo, black pants and black boots he’d gotten from a thrift shop, and a nylon balaclava. He left the larger pack there, now using a smaller pack he’d nestled inside it. Using the same backpack across disguises, he’d realized, made the whole costume change thing moot. Having changed, Tom could move a little more confidently. He wasn’t Tom anymore. He was just a weird guy, moving through the night. For his own amusement, he named the interim disguise Arthur Dent. As Arthur, he could move differently than he would as Tom. To the point. Stepping up driveways to avoid being seen by the sporadic cars. Jumping fences. Then, once Tom was closer to the Flock camera he wanted to shoot down, Tom hid again— this time in a small park he didn’t even know the name of, that boasted one toddler-sized play structure and zero cameras. He was glad he had practiced changing so many times. Changing in the dark in the bushes wasn’t easy, but at least he had a lot of reps. He stowed his sweatshirt in his pack, and put the Batman cape on. Having learned his lesson about visibility with the stocking, this time Tom wore IR blocking welding goggles that had been like $30 on Amazon. His field of vision was limited, but at least it wasn’t pitch black. And he grabbed the prepared air pistol. The second, smaller pack he stowed in the bushes where he’d changed, and then he headed on his way. The night was cool and crisp for a summer evening, but Tom could feel the sweat forming beneath the balaclava. He did his best to breathe slowly, calmly. If he could keep his breath calm he could keep his body calm. Teaching his body to be on alert, but not to be panicked was, he realized, a skill of its own. A skill he could learn, was learning, was using right then. Even though the one by the school made him the most angry, Tom didn’t want to hit that one again, so soon after his first (pathetic) attempt. So he’d scouted out another camera. This one was on the freeway onramp most people in town took if they were headed to Pine Crest, where all the outlet shops were, and the Costco. Countless people drove by it every day. If he could successfully take this one out, a major point of data collection would be down. The camera itself was on a breakaway pole, and unfortunately in a brightly lit patch. He needed to shoot it through the lens, which meant he had to shoot from the front. So he’d be on camera. But Tom was full in disguise this time. Since Flocks collect license plates, the lens was facing toward the freeway. Tom had walked by this spot a lot of times, and tried to scout alternative means of approach, but unfortunately, the only way was just to walk up the side of the well lit onramp, position himself about six or seven feet from the front of the camera, and shoot. Which is exactly what Tom did. Even at around 3:30 in the morning cars still came by about every five minutes or so. There was no way to time it such that he’d be inoculated against another car driving by, so he had to be on high alert for cars, ready to duck into the darkness if another car came, while also still getting where he needed to go. Facing the camera, Tom felt a wave of disgust. Here it was, the avatar of big tech there to steal and sell everyone’s data. The personification of eroding civil liberties. The glass of the camera’s lens shone in the streetlight. Tom took aim. He fired. On the fourth shot, the glass of the lens shattered, and a spray of shards showered onto the ground. It was more satisfying than Tom cared to admit, but it was also very clear: he’d done it. The camera was done for. He grinned beneath the balaclava as he sprinted away. - -- Jay Reardon used to take meetings all day but about a year into his time in office, he’d stopped. They were all the same. Whining, annoying, listen to me and my niche fucking opinions. Jay didn’t have time for it. He wanted to be mayor of Lawndale within the next five years, and governor of the state within the next fifteen. He simply did not have time to meet constituents at coffee shops to talk about their sidewalks and their feelings. But unfortunately, he still had to meet with fellow city council members. Don Laredo had scheduled this meeting a week ago, which was an unprecedented amount of foresight in Don Laredo’s career so far as Jay could remember. Don was a fucking moron. But he was a useful fucking moron, and so Jay made time for him even as he fantasized about the day when he wouldn’t have to take any more meandering, pointless calls with this bloviating blowhard. At least it was happening in Jay’s office where he could surreptitiously keep his eye on his desktop while Don talked. Don rapped on the door (too loud, always too loud) before blundering in without awaiting a welcome response. “More cameras down,” he boomed. Jay motioned for him to shut the door, for fucking discretion, which Don did after rolling his eyes like a petulant teenager. So this meeting was technically illegal. Good thing he’d come in yelling about it. Thanks to state law, city council members were not supposed to talk about official business out of the light of public meetings. “You were saying?” Jay said. It was a good thing he’d had so much practice masking disdain from his voice. Not that Don was a creature of subtlety. “We got what, two hundred cameras around the city?” “Yes.” Don hefted himself into the chair across from Jay’s desk. “Well, my buddy over on the force was telling me, at least thirty of them are down.” He picked up the framed photo of Jay’s wife, and smiled lasciviously. No. He was not a creature of subtlety. “What do you mean down? Like for maintenance?” “No. Taken offline by vandals. A lotta them got sprayed with paint, and that’s easy enough to fix once Flock finally comes out to repair ’em. But the queue for maintenance is like a hundred years long. And a lotta them been sawed down. One even got shot out, on the freeway onramp. No maintenance appointment is gonna fix that. More expensive to replace than repair.” Jay furrowed his brow. This would come out of the police budget, and the police were always bitching about needing more money no matter how much money Jay shoved down their throats. “How much is this costing us?” “Well, it’s not free!” “Has this been reported to Finance?” The financial oversight committee was the greatest thorn in Jay’s side. Other than his constituents. “No. LPD hasn’t and you know I’m not gonna.” Don rapped his knuckles on the wood of Jay’s desk. Too loud. Jay knew what Don meant without Don saying it. Both Don and Jay had taken substantial campaign donations from a local hedge fund manager. And both Don and Jay knew very well that those donations would stop if they didn’t support Flock, where the very same hedge fund manager was heavily invested. “Well. If Finance doesn’t know and LPD isn’t saying anything I don’t see why it’s our problem.” Jay turned back to his computer, checked the rest of his schedule. Mostly calls. “All the focus on Flock will blow over. I’m moving forward with pressing charges on that one organizer, and you’ll see. The rest will fold when they see we’re throwing the book at her.” “And the vandals?” Jay shrugged. “I’m sure the police’ll do the same. They’re attacking cameras, Don. I’m sure we’ll get them on tape sooner rather than later.” Don sucked his teeth dubiously. “That’s fifteen percent of the cameras down within a year of them going up.” Jay didn’t realize Don could do math. “That’s Flock’s problem. I’m sure they’ll get them fixed.” “That’s the thing!” Don was yelling again. Great. “They’re NOT! Some of them have been down for months, and Flock hasn’t done shit about it!” “For the love of God keep your voice down,” Jay hissed. It wasn’t until he could see the look of shock and disapproval on Don’s face that Jay realized he’d let the mask slip. He took a breath, and comported himself. “The most important thing is that we keep it under the table. Last thing we want is press. So. How many of these cameras are visibly disabled?” “How the fuck should I know, I’m not a janitor.” Jay smiled through his annoyance. People don’t realize how close a smile and a grimace are, really. “Well, let’s figure that out. If we can even get shell cams up in their place, so people think they’re being watched. We get the Flock contract, they feel safe. Win, win.” Don smiled at this, and Jay was relieved to hear the tetchiness was gone from his voice. “Dummy cams. Brilliant. You’re brilliant!” “Not compared to you, my friend.” They chatted a bit more about a few things— the new park being proposed, the looming teacher’s strike, and Don’s golf game. And finally, after taking the hint (Jay looking at the clock constantly) Don excused himself from Jay’s office with as much volume and pomp as possible. Alone in his office Jay took a deep, steadying breath. Don was mollified easily enough. But if enough of these cameras required expensive repair and replacement, the whole contract could be called into question by their fellow city council members. And questioning the contract would not lead down a road Jay wanted to walk. There were too many questions he didn’t want answered. They needed to catch at least one of these assholes. And fast. - -- THE LENSBREAKER'S FIELD GUIDE by Tom Fairbanks Compartmentalized Identities ============================ Stealth only goes so far. You will be witnessed as you move around at night. To protect your true identity you become a different person. Change your behavior, bearing, and gait. Most importantly, never cross the streams: your true civilian identity does not go anywhere near a FFP at night; none of your disguises ever go home. Civilian Guise - -------------- Your true identity. The only guise that ever comes or goes from your home. Used for transit. Also used for legitimate in-the-daylight activities such as recon. But never used directly to carry out a strike. • What: beanie, hoodie, exercise or casual pants, sneakers or exercise shoes. When used at night: a medical mask once you’re off your immediate block to reduce the chance that an acquaintance drives by and recognizes you. • General bearing: out exercising, minding your own business. Cold / detached / focused on getting where you’re going or doing what you’re doing. • Comportment towards law enforcement: Nothing to hide, no answers owed. It’s perfectly legal to walk around your city at night wearing a backpack, and if stopped you owe an officer zero explanation. Still - have a concept of what a plausible alibi is in your own head and act in a manner that is consistent with it. Street Guise - ------------ In large metropolitan areas, society has a special type of blindness towards people living on the street. While it is a sad reflection on humanity in general, we have collectively developed an instinct to look away whenever we see an unhoused person rather than make eye contact and mark them in our mind. The street guise is the primary way to move around in a medium-to-large city at night and not look out of place. • What: beanie, balaclava or bandana, older distressed work wear jacket with a large hood, ponchos, random old hoodies, older work wear pants or jeans, worn down shoes. Prefer navy, dark gray, or black colors. Aim to cover your nose, mouth, and brow, but fully masking your eyes makes you more conspicuous. • General bearing: you’re shooting for “blending in”. Come up with mannerisms and behaviors that seem mundane, and use these whenever anyone may be able to see you. E.g. trying to light a nonexistent cigarette (carry a lighter), sitting down leaning against a wall, facing away tying a shoe. The idea is to seem to be going about your business without seeming suspicious. You’re just there, doing your thing and want to be left alone. • Comportment towards law enforcement: Avoidant. Law enforcement treats unhoused people unfairly, especially those staying in a single place. If you’re sure you’ll be noticed by an LEO in this guise, then slowly and deliberately move on from that location. Loitering gives them an immediate pretense for further harassment. One thing about the Street Guise, said plainly. This guise borrows an invisibility that isn’t yours. It exists because society has decided its unhoused neighbors are beneath notice, and if you misuse it, the cost lands on them— not you. After any incident on a block, police canvassing starts with the people actually living on it. You are wearing someone else’s anonymity. Treat it like it was borrowed, because it was. Gray Guise - ---------- In smaller to medium sized towns an unfamiliar, potentially unhoused face might be more memorable than not. In these towns there’s a non-zero chance that a person driving past you will recognize you. This makes the Street Guise more of a liability. Instead optimize for clothes that break up your silhouette, covering key distinguishing parts of your body with plausible outfit pieces. Take into consideration: if someone who knows you gets within 20 feet of you this guise breaks down. But from 50 to 100 feet if you cover defining traits and move your body differently than you normally do, there’s a strong chance to evade recognition. • What: rimmed baseball cap, bulky clothes, loose clothes. Gray and tan colors. One-size-larger-than-usual used flannels are a fantastic option. Items that cover your ears completely like a beanie are great. A face mask too, if that wouldn’t stand out against your town’s baseline. Hoodies or jackets with hoods can be good. Jackets with neck coverage. Basic shoes. Bulky belt. • General bearing: again shooting for “blending in”. Walk like you absolutely belong wherever you’re going. You should never carry a functional cell phone— but a broken one, or anything phone-shaped, is a great prop. Jab at it while looking down, cap pulled low over your face and eyes and to a passerby you’re just another person absorbed in a screen. • Comportment towards law enforcement: Oblivious. You’re just a person going about your night. What would a LEO even want with you? General confusion if addressed. Stealth Guise - ------------- An all black, full body, identity-concealing outfit. Maximum concealment of your identity, form, and features. If you are seen, there is practically no way you’ll be identified. However, someone wearing what essentially looks like an all black Halloween costume is very conspicuous. Anytime you are seen you will make an impression. Your goal is to not be seen at all. Use this guise to strike and retreat quickly, and to hide entirely in shadow should anyone appear to witness you. • What: Full face mask, full body black poncho, ninja costume, cape and cowl, monk’s habit, balaclava and goggles, full body cloak, large wool blanket. Gloves. Dark nondescript shoes. The ability to quickly put this on and remove it is key. • General bearing: moving with intense purpose. Stealthy movements when approaching or retreating. Lie or squat with a cape or cloak to hide your entire body in darkness when needed. Run or sprint for short bursts when you need to move in the open. If you’re observed, keep moving, don’t speak. • Comportment towards law enforcement: None. Unless it’s Halloween, this guise cannot withstand scrutiny from law enforcement. Exercise extreme situational awareness to always hide before spotted by an LEO. Auxiliary disguises - ------------------- When the goal is not necessarily to conceal your identity, but just move around in areas you otherwise shouldn’t without being noticed, consider these. The goal is for a casual observer to have zero thoughts about your presence. • Hardhat + vest: it’s true that you really can walk almost anywhere if you’re wearing a hard hat. Add a clipboard and hi-viz vest, or a surveyor’s wheel, and no one will give you a second look. • Landscaper: Knee pads, hi-viz vest, bandana, trash bag, gloves. Great for moving around near freeway on-ramps / off-ramps. • Package delivery person: Amazon delivery person’s vest over any standard civilian clothes makes the entire disguise. Add a bandana and baseball cap + a clunky-looking electronic tablet and you’re able to move around residential blocks inconspicuously. Even in the 3AM-6AM hours in major cities. What to Disguise ================ It’s helpful to analyze specifically everything we’re trying to hide. Face - ---- A picture of your face will very likely score a hit in a rudimentary facial recognition search. A computer vision algorithm detects specific anchor points on your face and derives fingerprinting geometries from them. The counter-measure is to simply mask these anchor points so they can’t be used. A bandana or a balaclava to mask the face; mind that an uncovered brow can be very distinctive for some people. IR can somewhat see through very thin cloth, though this is often overblown. Avoid nearly see-through fabrics and you will be fine. Eyes - ---- Sunglasses during the day, goggles during the night. Note that during the day sunglasses block visibility of your eyes, but these are transparent to IR cameras at night. And on the flip side, there are special lens coatings for goggles and glasses which reflect IR, but are transparent during the day. At night, it’s very important to walk the line between concealment and your own visibility. If your eye covers are too dark, you’ll be less observant. Perhaps worse, if you constantly perceive things to be darker than they truly are at night, you will have impaired judgment about how much stealth you’re actually employing in your movements. Airsoft goggles - the type made of solid plastic with a bunch of small perforations - are a really good option as they completely conceal your eyes but still allow a decent amount of nighttime light through. They don’t fog up, and are designed with a wrap-around form factor to not limit your field of view. Body - ---- Generally speaking, anything distinctive about your body should be hidden. If your build is particularly large or thin or short, find ways to make your disguise move you in the opposite direction. Flowy loose clothing, shoulder pads, or lifted shoes might be your friend. Tattoos, Piercings, Facial Hair, and Other Markings - --------------------------------------------------- A tattoo or piercing caught on camera during a strike could give you away completely. Consider fully taping over your tattoos with duct tape (as well as adding random pieces of tape in other locations to obfuscate where you’re actually concealing something). Aside from intentional markings, consider that even temporary injuries or persistent bandaids on specific parts of your body can be tied to your Civilian identity. If you have a handlebar mustache or a distinctive beard, a Batman cape and cowl is probably not the best stealth shroud to use. Digital Fingerprint - ------------------- Your phone advertises Bluetooth and is connected to cell towers (for which location is known). And mass surveillance companies have already revealed plans to collect and store device signatures. Flock may easily roll this out as a software update, or may already have. Do not bring your phone, smart watch, medical devices, or any other Bluetooth-enabled items on strike missions. If you have a medical device that you can’t remove but that sends signals, purchase Faraday fabrics and fashion a body wrap around the affected area. Unique Equipment - ---------------- Be very aware of any equipment in your kit that is going to be on camera, and think long and hard about how distinctive it might be. If an investigator is able to freeze-frame on a bike you use or a specialty brand of slingshot you bought online, it’s possible that those purchases are the final clue needed to track you down. Opt to mask all branding and distinctive features by removing tags or covering with duct tape. Consider disguises for your equipment too. When possible, buy your distinctive equipment with cash, wearing a baseball cap and a medical mask. Or buy online with smaller businesses that will allow you to send a USPS money order - which does not require ID to purchase. Mail these purchases to an alternate address under a pseudonym. Fingerprints - ------------ If you must handle a device (e.g., a Ring camera) or touch a surface (e.g., a metal pole or fence), wear gloves and/or have a disposal plan. The more you wear gloves, the better your dexterity while gloved will become. If shooting projectiles, wear nitrile gloves while handling and loading your ammunition as a 100% rule. Gait - ---- The state of the art on this is not as far along as people imagine. Like facial recognition, it’s a one-to-N matching problem, meaning that it requires a database of N possible matches against which to compare. Unlike facial recognition, there is no centralized database of everyone’s gaits, nor is there likely to be one soon. Therefore, gait analysis won’t be used to identify you out of the blue, at least as of 2026. Do keep an eye on the state of the art here, though. However, gait analysis could certainly be used to confirm you as a suspect if you become a person of interest in an investigation. As such, it’s worth being mindful of when you’re likely to be on camera and varying your walking style. But this is a secondary concern to maintaining your ability to flee effectively. Rocks in shoes or strange orthotics are not recommended. Hide Sites ========== Changing disguises is pointless if you are observed while doing it. Through daytime exploration and reconnaissance, find clandestine locations - Hide Sites - within your intended area of operations. Use these to change guises and prepare your gear. Spend as little time in Hide Sites as possible. A hide site is a way to break the chain of traceability, so at a minimum a Hide Site has: • No surveillance cameras directly monitoring the site • No surveillance cameras monitoring the entrance or exit of the site An ideal Hide Site has: • Low foot traffic • Limited visibility • Limited approach directions • No nearby neighbors that will be bothered by your temporary presence • A location to stash and leave gear behind temporarily where it’s unlikely to be discovered • At least a city block’s worth of distance from any intended strike targets. Parks, forests, abandoned lots, large landscaping features like bushes, and areas between freeway on-ramps and off-ramps are all great sources of quality Hide Sites. If you’re in a very dense city, you may need to be less picky. When in doubt, spend a lot of time there just watching and listening before changing guises. Mission Structure ================= The structure of a mission is dictated by the need to compartmentalize our identities. We leave home as ourselves, arrive at a Hide Site where we can assume an Alternate Identity. The Alternate Identity moves on to strike and then returns to the Hide Site to switch back to being ourselves again. We then return home. Phases - ------ • Departure: leave your home as you normally would if leaving your house in the middle of the night, with a medium to large pack. It should go without saying, but empty your pockets of any items not explicitly and intentionally part of your loadout. This most notably means your cell phone, but also your wallet, ID, and keys. • Insertion: get from your home to your Hide Site carrying a medium to large backpack that contains both your gear and your other disguises. Change, unobserved, into your Street or Gray Guise including different shoes, pants, and backpack. Leave behind the first backpack and Civilian Guise. You’re now ready to operate. Hide the backpack as well as you can, covering it with leaves and dirt if that helps in the hiding. Note, though, that it is night and very low foot traffic is to be expected, so don’t worry too much. • Infiltration: Move on from the Civilian Guise Hide Site to your intended strike location. Find a second sheltered position - a “forward Hide Site”. Use this forward Hide Site to ready your strike gear. It’s ideal for this location to be at least a short distance away from your striking position (a.k.a. the final firing position, or FFP) in case a rapid exit is needed from the strike. You may also change into your Stealth Guise at this point, employing a disguise within a disguise. The decision on whether this is needed depends on how exposed your final firing position is to casual observation and how quickly and easily you can switch in and out of the Stealth Guise. With gear readied, proceed directly to the FFP. • Strike: Perform your strike. Verify your kill visually. Note that in the case of projectile strikes, this may mean staying and waiting for the next car to drive by and observing for the lack of IR flashes. • Exfiltration: Once you’ve struck, you are at your maximum exposure. A crime has been committed, and some degree of noise or disturbance that may be noticed is the result. Bystanders may be calling authorities to make a report. The longer you stay nearby, the greater your risk. Depart that position, falling back to the forward Hide Site. Stash your gear and change out of your Stealth Guise. Then leave. • Extraction: Return to your original Hide Site. Change back into civilian clothes and re-pack your larger pack. Return home. The inner phases of this mission structure - Infiltration, Strike, and Exfiltration - may be repeated in a loop in a single night. E.g. leave home to your Hide Site, change into your Street/Gray Guise - approach, strike, and depart multiple targets - then return to your initial Hide Site before heading home. Rationale - --------- If an investigator gets evidence that the Alternate Identity struck a camera, and they trace the Alternate Identity’s movements backwards or forwards in time, the chain is broken at each Hide Site disguise change. They may know that Alternate Identity went into the Hide Site and then 10 minutes later a differently dressed identity walked out, but that’s weak evidence. Remember that the police won’t have the benefit of video footage tracking each and every one of your steps, just “a person dressed in a work jacket carrying a black sack passed by this Ring camera at 2 AM” and “a person of approximately the same build but wearing different clothes and carrying a different backpack passed by 10 minutes later”. Having these “identity breaks” ensures any evidence gleaned about one identity - any mistakes we make that might reveal our movements or tactics - doesn’t follow us all the way back home. What You Leave Behind ===================== It’s not possible to leave nothing behind. Footsteps and trampled underbrush will always be a concern. Always opt for hide sites that have been at least minimally worn down by human presence. Parks are the best and very beautiful at night. Depending on your strike style, you may also be leaving forensic traces. These will be covered in their respective sections, but as a general rule always leave as little behind as possible. Most importantly, never leave your equipment behind. Much of it has fingerprints on it, and that same item may have made an appearance on security cameras earlier in the night. Always return for a piece of gear that you’ve discovered you’ve left behind. Full backtrack. You can almost always find it. Footage - ------- Probably the most significant thing you’ll be leaving behind is your image on security cameras. Both residences and businesses are loaded with cameras. A bit funny to have to say given the overall subject of this field guide, but: you should do your best to minimize how often you’re on camera. Ring doorbell cameras should be particularly avoided. Ring has a standing relationship with Axon to streamline police being able to get footage from residents via the owner’s Ring app. Owners get an anonymized and vague notification of a crime, and are given the option to essentially blindly contribute their footage to the surveillance state. This is another way evidence is gathered on every citizen— evidence that can be handed to law enforcement without a warrant— before a specific crime has even been committed. Yet another dystopian violation of our rights. There are good news pieces with these cameras too: a lot of them are truly closed-circuit and will never be looked at unless the owner of the camera deliberately goes looking for something. And all cameras tend to have a very zoomed out perspective in order to capture the entire surrounding scene. This means that distance is your friend— passing 50 feet away on the other side of the street is typically enough to be fairly inscrutable on most cameras. Probably the most interesting and surprisingly useful thing about cameras: they see a spectrum of light called Infrared (IR) that humans can’t see. This alone doesn’t guarantee that a given camera can see in the dark. In order to have night vision, a camera also needs to cast IR light over the scene itself. And if you have an IR viewer of your own, you can see those emitters light up at night— every camera suddenly as obvious as a porch light. Handheld IR monoculars can be had cheaper than you’d expect, and even the lowest quality ones do the job. Pairing the ability to detect cameras easily with the idea of crossing the street, you can now optimize your walking route to stay off camera as much as possible. Much more on this later, but note that you can also use an IR-viewing device to verify that Flock cameras have stopped working. Your First Mission ================== There is a lot of operational overhead involved in planning Hide Sites and FFPs, packing your gear, and switching identities - all in the dark of night. Add on top of this the actual mechanics of your strike and the stress of executing a mission with real stakes and it makes sense to have a dress rehearsal. Start your lensbreaker career with a “night recon” mission. The objective: in the dead of night, deliver yourself into striking range of your target, observe, then return home safely, all while protecting your true identity. This includes using Hide Sites to change identities as well as packing the strike gear you’ll need for a true strike. You’ll go through all phases of a mission, which will allow you to make your mistakes before risk enters the equation. Take note of what went well, what went poorly, any discoveries you made about your gear or surroundings, and what can be improved. Every mistake or bit of good luck is something to learn from. Upcoming Sections ================= • Know the Machine - how ALPR cameras work and why IR vision is so important. • Strikes - melee attacks, ranged attacks, why lasers are complete nonsense peddled by people who have never been anywhere near a direct action in their entire lives. Also it’s insane to use power tools when wheel-based pipe cutters do a better job 100% silently. • Mentality & campaign - how to be in it for the long run. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQGzBAEBCgAdFiEEsNJn5ehoQ80nDQtSy6rfLCyoCDsFAmrNUEwACgkQy6rfLCyo CDsWZgwAh5Hw/7zWw+xGVBvuBVNi0iD8r/+AAEe++vGJ5c3HHj/aPRrqJqQCVMCw A4RzESk/bhX2d6YlNSY9Ni+xMNoMkx2HgIkx4fGTs0CmYyVyP0/iNCNDPuypyKNO V3lgydzyQtzMmvqK6IbKUU2Cs1+TXu/TfojRzp15KZB+DJ2okjihMmKeoRkhnL0p J6K2yiKTOrjBN8RNkY5GIHlvwzodd9+ZomCYg0gaAjdPDVjZRRSTQeW9uZzesDtv q/cI8FRP1EWLsUI9HL16e7pahGcdbDNLSZ33VKn+ZSiFObi4JVTxcgfNPfhcP1pa B9FB7I9ZpgqLCOweNJIoUA6wa4LEd1pyBTNKfW2ZA5XKD8IQhTiWysc1wqseO5/Y QM9fCaPlXvqokbCCFMfpasf3sDyTmSzJV0fzYniiApig4ysdviKyQRUVR2HMsm0e y1vGXLx3CSuPAr57O18H/2KmNRQgv2d6100Eyd0bzumSz8A0KZEA2NiRBCCVkwT+ cqy56Rxq =0QGR -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----