Thursday, February 20, 2014
Got Your Attention
Aedha grinned broadly. "S.A. Barnes gave an ultimatum." The Espionage Tactics class was Aedha's favorite, especially since the instructor was quirky and overall acceptable in Aedha's view. "He said if anyone was able to acquire the personal contacts of a regular high class citizen with all the requirements of a Standard Informational Profile without their suspicion, then he would give us 50 extra points worth of assignment grades. I thought a party would be a great place to give it a try."
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Thyra really didn't like the idea of going to a party. And a civilian party at that. But if S.A. Barnes thought it was important enough to give out extra credit...
ReplyDelete"Fine. Let's go to a party."
"Awesome! I did some...digging online and there's pretty big party going on at this rich bastard's mansion not too far from Central Station. I thought we could hop on a transport sometime around 18:00." She pressed a couple of buttons on her wristcom.
ReplyDelete"And look! I've already got us some fake IDs."
The holoprojector showed complete Identification Profiles for a certain Samantha Wiltshire and Cassidy Nolan.
"I hashed these out this morning." Aedha said smugly, not bothering to mention that she made a complete profile for Thyra without even knowing if she'll agree to go.
Aedha knew I was going to agree to this, didn't she, Thyra noted, considering how much detail was put into the IDs. Either that or she was just looking for an excuse to procrastinate.
ReplyDelete"Send me my profile," Thyra said. A couple seconds later, she opened up the profile on her wristcom. "I honestly can't see you as a Cassidy," she told Aedha as she scrolled through her profile. "It's such a... girly name, in my opinion."
Aedha batted her eyelashes at Thyra, coyly smiling. "Just call me Cass, won't you?" She cooed. She suddenly burst out laughing. "Calling you Samantha's gonna be interesting. Sounds like someone who sits around discussing the newest dress fashions and top hairstyles."
ReplyDelete"Good God this is going to be great. It's 15:00 now, wanna head back and see what we can throw together as party-going socialites with rich daddies?"
((I am so excite for this. SO. VERY. EXCITE.))
Thyra couldn't help smiling. It was just ludicrous - the two of them at a party, pretending to be socialites. And calling Aedha 'Cass' would be beyond ridiculous.
ReplyDelete"Samantha is better than Cassidy. You could call me Sam," Thyra suggested. Then she looked at the time. "Oh, I have to go to another class. We can meet up at 17:00."
"Alrighty then, Sam." Aedha grinned, pocketing away all her odds and ends. "Meet me back in our room at 17:00 then. I need to see if I can filch some makeup from a Senior Agent."
ReplyDelete"Oh joy," Thyra muttered as they parted ways. She to her Applied Physical Reactions class and Aedha to... wherever. I only hope Coreen or someone else doesn't happen to be in the room when we are.
ReplyDeleteAedha hurried off to the dormitories, popping her head into their shared room and calling out "HEY! ANYONE HOME?!"
ReplyDeleteNot receiving a reply, she darted in and punched in a code to the lock to deny access to anyone coming in from the outside. She rushed over to her bunk and reached under to unlock the clothing compartment underneath. At the very bottom (under five or six tunics all in the same color), she pulled out a bag.
"Finally I get to use these suckers." Aedha grinned. "Knew they would come in handy."
After two hours of calculations and experimentation, Thyra was let out of class. She rubbed her forehead as she walked towards the dormitories. It had been long and tedious. Nothing she couldn't handle, of course.
ReplyDeleteShe wished that she could drop her things off at the dormitories and then head off to the training arena. A good practice session always cleared up her head. But of course, she was going to have to deal with Aedha's insanity instead.
Realizing that Aedha must have blocked access to their room, Thyra knocked on the door. She used a series of knocks, long and short, so Aedha would know it was her.
When she heard the lock click, she took a deep breath and braced herself for the inevitable.
((Yikes. You almost god-modded there. "When she heard the lock click, she took a deep breath and braced herself for the inevitable." You're implying Aedha opened the door. This is thin ice!))
ReplyDelete"One sec!" Aedha yelled out as she got the finishing touches in place. She rushed to the door and unlocked it, pulling it open with a grin. "SURPRISE!"
Spread out on their beds were two dresses with accessories. On Thyra's bunk was a blue shoulderless dress with silver low-heeled shoes, and a matching handbag. Aedha's was deep scarlet with a black shoulderbag. Her outfit didn't seem to include footwear of any kind. Both dresses had plenty of ruffles.
"Hey now, don't make a face quite yet. The ruffles conceal pockets that I added. You could literally hide a machine gun in your dress. Also, I made sure your dress wasn't long enough to trip on, you're welcome."
((the dresses in question:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Juniors-Tissue-Taffeta-Surplice-Peacock/dp/B00EM5P018/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393117399&sr=8-1&keywords=prom+dresses
http://www.amazon.com/Shoulder-Quinceanera-Evening-Dresses-HE09816BK18/dp/B00BKRMW6M/ref=sr_1_3?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1393117570&sr=1-3&keywords=Prom+Dress))
Thyra tried not to grimace. She liked her dresses simple, not with ruffles and flowers and whatnot. And it was strapless . She did like the color though, and if she could carry weapons with it...
ReplyDelete"Well... at least I won't trip," she said, holding up the dress for further perusal. "When did you get these things? And are you just not going to wear shoes?"
Aedha shrugged, digging in her clothes compartment again. "Let's just say I have...friends in strange places. And my dress is long enough for me to wear my boots." She winked, holding up her black leather boots. She started taking her regulation tunic off, glancing over at Thyra's dress.
ReplyDelete"Don't worry. The dress will fit you perfectly." She didn't say how or why she knew Thyra's clothing sizes.
Sighing, Thyra proceeded to put the dress on. Aedha was right - it did fit perfectly, God knows how she did it. She glanced at the shoes and decided to put them on last. She grabbed a handgun and some small, easily concealable daggers. She probably wouldn't need them at all - they were mainly for comfort purposes. Then, she pulled her hair into a chignon, sticking two sharp senbon in her hair for added protection.
ReplyDeleteAedha swept the trail of crimson chiffon over her shoulder. In a simple motion, she took her hair out of its normal ponytail and let it surround her face in a wavy halo. She dug in the bottom of the bag for a moment before taking out a stick of lipstick and mascara. Without even looking in a mirror, she expertly applied the makeup before pulling on her boots.
ReplyDelete"Uh, you might not want to bring too many weapons. Metal detectors and all that, ya know." She said without even looking at what Thyra was doing. She herself was busy concealing what looked like metal hooks into her boots.
"Like you aren't bringing anything metal," Thyra protested. But she removed the gun and a couple of daggers.
ReplyDeleteAedha grinned, tossing her hair. "Well, that's because I could find a way to fool the detectors." She punched Thyra in the arm playfully. "You can't exactly hack and slash your way through security, you know."
ReplyDeleteThyra rolled her eyes. Of course she knew. Aedha never let her forget that she could get past anything. Almost anything.
ReplyDelete"I cut down on the weapons. Can we get going now?"
Aedha checked her wristcom. 17:30. Right on time. She picked up her handbag, checked that everything was in it, and scrounged up two shawls, more for show than comfort. She tossed one to Thyra and swept over to the door.
ReplyDelete"Coming, Sam?" She sang out.
"Of course, Cass," Thyra replied, grabbing her own handbag.
ReplyDeleteShe was about to open the door when she froze. "Wait. How are we supposed to sneak out? It's a free hour... everyone is going to see us." She desperately tried to come up with a viable plan.
Aedha smirked at Thyra, not saying anything. She opened the door and stuck her head out, making sure that no one was in the hallway. Motioning for Thyra to follow her, she hurried down the hall towards the stairs.
ReplyDeleteThyra followed closely, trusting that Aedha actually had a plan. The shoes she was wearing made clacking noises on the stairs, but she still had to hurry on.
ReplyDeleteAfter she reached the stairs, Aedha pulled Thyra by the arm out of sight. She crouched down, out of sight, and motioned for Thyra to do the same. She tapped away on her wristcom for a moment, humming slightly as she did so.
ReplyDelete"What are you doing?" Thyra asked.
ReplyDelete"Wait for it...." Aedha whispered breathlessly. After a moment of silence, the alarms suddenly started blaring loudly. It was the emergency protocols for when high powered explosives go awry on-campus. The entire building would need to evacuate towards the training grounds until further notice. And Aedha just activated it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThyra didn't know if she should be appalled or appreciative of Aedha's genius. There had only been a few people in the dormitories, considering it was a free evening. As soon as they passed, Thyra stood up quickly and exited the building.
ReplyDelete"We'll have to make sure that we keep away from people," she said. "Or they'll wonder why we're headed in a completely opposite direction than they are."
"Hey!" Aedha called as she ran up to catch up with Thyra. "Where are you going in such a hurry? The way's gonna be pretty much abandoned, now that everyone left." She gathered up her dress in her arms and marched along as unladylike as it was possible.
ReplyDelete"Well, you never know," Thyra replied. She tried not to roll her eyes at how Aedha was clomping along. Thyra was jealous that Aedha could wear boots. Then again, if she could wear boots it meant she would be wearing a longer dress, and that meant she was more likely to trip. "Besides, if we're going to a party, we should try to be punctual."
ReplyDeleteAedha shook her head as she stepped around the rain puddles left by the earlier storm. "Those rich people always say, 'fashionably late' or something. Don't worry your little OCD brain, we'll make it."
ReplyDelete"I just don't want to stick out too much," Thyra said. "Because if we're late then people are more likely to notice. What time does the party start anyway?"
ReplyDelete"19:00, I think. Oh, stop worrying. We still have more than an hour." Aedha put her hand on the back kitchen gate, biting her lip thoughtfully. "Locked, just as I thought. Here, look and see if there's anyone on the other side." Aedha lifted up the edge of her skirt, removing a thin sheet of transparent film from a hidden pocket and got to work on the lock.
ReplyDeleteThyra peeked through the gate, looking left and right. No one was around. It didn't matter, she was still feeling self-conscious about her clothing.
ReplyDeleteShe needed something to keep her preoccupied. Or else she would spend too much time thinking up random scenarios that were never going to happen. And that would only distract her from the mission at hand.
Taking out one of her daggers, she began to throw it so it spun through the air like a baton, all the while keeping watch.
Aedha bent down to get a closer look at the lock, inspecting it. It was a normal military-grade high security lock, because apparently the Academy needed to keep its kitchen vegetables safe or something. She chucked to herself; ironically enough, she's had the most practice busting these kinds of locks. Carefully placing the film over the lock's input pad, she got to work.
ReplyDeleteIt was eerily silent. Thyra couldn't keep the thought that what they were doing was slightly off limits. Of course, they were allowed to go into town, but still, they were sneaking out. And Aedha's has too much practice with hacking into high security military grade locks.
ReplyDeleteFinishing up her work, Aedha slowly lifted the film off the lock and blew away any evidence of dust from the lock. Wrapping her hand in an edge of her shawl to eliminate the possibility of fingerprints, she tapped at the input pad and a faint click of it unlocking was heard. "Annnd....we're in!" Aedha swept her arm with a flourish as the metal gate slid open on both sides. "After you, Sam."
ReplyDelete