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MAZE - Chapter 619 - Bird, dogs, and a turtle
🕑 Added 2023-03-06 13:00:06 +0000 UTCBecca was driving her car. Luckily it was 3 A.M., and there were few cars out at this time. She didn't want to use her Hyper Focus skill now since she didn't know when Zestra would need her help. Turning to the right, she arrived at the parking lot where she would leave her car and quickly found a parking spot. She took a deep breath and looked around the empty car for her purse. It was inside the glove box, and Becca picked it up and opened it to look for something before heading out. With her elbow, she pressed the horn, startling herself in the process. Cursing under her breath, she opened the door and left the car, still searching for something in her purse. Before she could even close the door, Becca tripped, spilling the contents of her purse into the floor. She groaned and grabbed everything while leaving the door of the car open. After a few moments, she heard a voice in her earbuds.
"If being a reporter doesn't work, you have a talent for acting," Zestra teased. He knew she couldn't say anything back to him right now, and he wasn't going to let that chance slip. Everything so far was part of their plans. There were cameras everywhere, but Zestra's invisibility could deceive even the best sensors. However, if he was going to walk all the way here, there were too many chances for things to go wrong. So they took the best alternative. Zestra came in the car with her, doing a similar skit when she first opened the car door so there would be some time for him to walk inside.
Becca got herself together, grabbed the bag with her laptop inside the car, and locked the vehicle before heading to the coffee shop. It was just around the corner, and this was a very safe part of town. After all, there were several business buildings that dealt with somewhat sensitive information. This was another reason why the coffee shop was used to people showing up in the middle of the night to work. The life of someone working a desk job could be rough at times. Becca also made sure to wear a pair of non-reflective blue sunglasses so that no one would see where her eyes were looking. Her excuse would be that her eyes were strained, and this would help with the blue light from the computer.
Going inside the shop, a server walked over to greet her, "Welcome to Overtime. Is it your first time here?"
Becca nodded, "Yeah. I had to work, but if I stayed in the hotel, I was going to sleep. Is that ok?"
"Sure, come with me," the server walked to the side, passing by the counter and a few tables with a single person on each, "Now, we have a couple of rules here. You are free to stay for as long as you want, but for every hour, you need to spend at least 20 gold on our products. If you want, you can pay in advance for the time you will be here, and the pay will be deducted from your tab at the end."
"Oh, really? Yeah, that sounds nice. I think I'm going to do that. If I don't stay the entire time, can I get what's left of the pay back?" Becca asked.
"Unfortunately, no. But you are free to order whatever you want as takeout. We also have some 1 gold candy to make sure you don't leave any money behind," the server explained.
"I see. Yeah, that's ok," the reporter nodded.
"Great. You can have this table here in the corner. We try to keep it empty for our more… popular customers, like you, Ms. Swan. I'm sorry to say your ring tattoo around the eyes is not exactly inconspicuous, even with the glasses," they were in front of the corner table, here Becca would have her back against the wall and no one would be able to see what she was doing on her laptop.
Becca chuckled, "Oh, this wasn't to hide. My eyes are just killing me for staring at the computer all day. I'm sorry if it looked like that."
"No problem. Now, are you going to talk with someone during your time with us? If so, I would ask you to use a soundproof spell or item. If you don't have one, we offer loans for 10 gold an hour."
"I have one, thanks," Becca pulled a black ring box from her purse, "Also, this will make it so that a mask appears in my face, but it's just an illusion, so you might see my hand going through it, don't freak out."
"Oh, that's a nice one. I'll have to see if I find a few for the shop. Feel free to order whatever you like from the menu. Sam will bring it to you so no one will bother your work."
"Sam?"
The server pointed to the side. A small robot turtle was floating around the shop and delivering the orders to the tables before going back to the kitchen, "Sam."
"That's just adorable," Becca chuckled.
"It really is. Now how long are you staying with us for? Or would you rather order as you need?"
"You said 20 gold per hour, right? So… I'll stay for five hours. 100 gold is easier to count."
The server nodded and set up the pay on the table. Soon, Becca put on the ring that would activate both the soundproof spell and the mask illusion. She turned on her laptop and was about to speak with Zestra when she decided to wait. The elf was talking nonstop in her ear, teasing her about her delay and her acting, and talking about some show he watched last week. Now he was complaining that this walking was boring and wanted someone to talk to. He was way too relaxed, considering what they were about to do, and that annoyed Becca. Instead, she took a look at the menu and, after a couple of minutes, ordered a large cup of espresso, a soda, and a burger. During all that time, she already had the soundproof and illusion active, so no one could hear or see her mouth moving. Then she looked at her email and rearranged her desktop before speaking with her partner.
"Ok. I'm set up."
"Damn, girl. That took a while. Was it hard to get the people there to leave you alone?"
"Not at all. I was just deciding on what to eat. They have burgers and some amazing-looking desserts."
There was a long pause before Zestra spoke up, "Now you are just being mean."
"If you behave, I'll order some to go when I leave. Now, where are you?"
"About two blocks away. Open your laptop and open the file called 'Spooky Skeletons,' That will show you the camera I set up," Zestra said.
"When did you do this? Actually, how did you figure out my password?"
"Girl, please. I'm about to hack a computer that should be as protected as it gets. Do you really think I couldn't do that to yours? Also, I didn't. You left it open when you passed out. Don't worry. I didn't do anything else. We are on the same side, and my organization doesn't have a custom to backstab their members, even the potential ones."
"Ok then," Becca mumbled and opened the file. It went to a live feed with four cameras, one aimed at the entrance gate, another that seemed to be from very far away looking at the woods before the office building. That camera would move from side to side getting all the way to the gate before moving back, and two in the entrance coming from the back of two cars, "Damn, when did you do all this."
"When you were inside doing your thing. Now tell me what you see."
"Right, there are two guards on the gate. Then around the woods, I can see some movement, but I can't tell what it is. Dogs maybe? Two cameras on the gate. No, make that three. One is on each corner, and a third is on the ground to the left. I think that one focuses on getting the plates of cars. The guards outside don't seem to be wearing armor, but there is a bulge in one of them…."
"A bulge, you say?" Zestra said with a smirk.
"On his jacket, take your mind out of the gutter. Oh, thank you, Sam."
"Who's Sam?"
"The robot turtle that just delivered my espresso and my soda."
"Your stomach must be made out of iron. Also, isn't that caffeine going to make the effects of the skill worse?"
"I have the Hyper Focus for when things get hectic. And it's better for me to be a bit distracted than passed out. For now, I'm doing ok."
"Right. Just be careful. Change of topics. The camera showing the woods. There is a red flag on the corner of the screen when it turns to the left. It's right above the wall. Let me know when the area behind the flag is empty."
Becca waited for a few moments for the camera to get there. She couldn't tell exactly what was going on, but there was something moving there. After five cycles of the camera going back and forth and Sam coming back with her burger, the movement stopped, and Becca said, "It's clear now."
Zestra didn't say anything, but he pressed something on his watch and started counting from 10. As he reached one, he jumped over the wall just by the flag. At the same time, a bird slammed against the barrier covering the entire villa at high speed, getting shocked and creating a bright flash of electricity on the other end of the walls. This was the opening Zestra had to bypass the barrier now that the power was redirected to a single spot. Having a job in a room where the only danger was a Rampage had its perks. Since the city itself had so many barriers, the ones inside it couldn't be that powerful, or they would cause some interference.
Becca saw that happening on her laptop, and she watched it while eating her burger out of anxiety. Everything seemed to be going fine. She had no idea where the bird came from, but the problem came after Zestra landed. She only saw quick movement and then heard his voice.
"Oh shit!" Zestra gasped, and everything went silent. Becca held in a yelp and just kept going through the cameras, calling her partner, but she couldn't see or hear anything.
"Zestra? What is happening? Talk to me?" Becca asked. She was worried, but at the same time, she knew she couldn't do anything. If she went after him, things would get much worse. In the end, she could only wait. This only made her stress eat even more.
Ten minutes went by, and Becca was already going through her second portion of fries when she finally heard a voice in her earpiece, "I fucking hate dogs."
"Dogs? What happened?"
"There is a pack of dogs roaming the villa. I'm assuming it's part of the guard, and I had to run, hide and make them lose the trail."
"And did you?"
"Of course I did," Zestra sounded genuinely upset with the comment.
"I'm glad. Sorry about the dogs. Where are you?" Becca asked, trying to change topics.
"I'm east of the office. I have a clear path to the window of the… I think it was marked as the east conference room in your cameras. Is it clear inside?" Zestra asked.
"One moment," Becca swapped through the cameras. She did so without using her hands. Since the cameras she set up were all attached to a system window, she could move them by simply using her mind to do so. Almost no one did that because it took a lot of time, effort, and practice to learn how to move the windows that way, but since Becca could also move around her camera similarly, it didn't take her that long to learn this. The problem was that this was a waiting game. There was nothing she could do to create an opportunity for Zestra to enter, and she would have to notice any opening quick enough to pass the information along so the spy could make his move. Despite not being there herself, her heart was beating like crazy. One wrong step and the entire plan could collapse on itself, and if that happened, she would become the target of all the hate of the Guild.
Comments
Pletter
Kind of reminds me of the Japanese cat cafe's. They work in a similar way.
Gail Burke
That sounds like an awesome coffee shop. Wish they had them like that in really life
