Thyra put the dagger back in her pocket and walked out the gate. It was starting to grow chilly. Luckily, she had a shawl.
"Well, let's go," she said, mentally running through all the information about "Sam" that she had memorized. Of course, most civilians wouldn't notice if she said she had a dog at one moment and then said she had a cat the next (especially if they were drunk), but she was going to get this mission done right.
"God, I hate these shoes," she muttered.
Aedha gently pushed a button on the other side of the gate with her elbow to close it. Once it had slid close, she hurried to catch up with Thyra. Ignoring her comment, she smoothed down her hair and grinned. "Just take a left at this street."
ReplyDelete"Thank you, Aedha, I know which the direction the transport is in," Thyra said, giving Aedha a look.
ReplyDeleteAedha giggled, which doesn't happen often. She thinks giggling is girlish and usually scoffs at it.
ReplyDelete"Public transport, to such a fancy party? I don't think so! I got us something better." She winked, leading the way down the street.
"But you said -" Thyra protested. Then she realized that of course Aedha would have planned something else. She couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing...
ReplyDeleteAedha reached the end of the street and looked out expectantly at the empty road. She checked the time on her wristcom again, tapping her foot impatiently on the pavement.
ReplyDeleteThyra crossed her arms. "What exactly are we waiting for?" The streetlights were dim, but she couldn't hear or see any signs that something was coming.
ReplyDeleteAedha shushed her as the faint sound of a vehicle was heard down the otherwise silent street. It was a slick black chariot, fast and definitely very modern. It came to a halt in front them and Aedha turned to grin at Thyra as the door slid open with a smooth click.
ReplyDelete"Don't ask how, just go in!" She gave her an insistent push.
All Thyra could really think of was how expensive this chariot cost. It was sleek and looked like the newest model. It was the type of vehicle that only the most Elite Agents and higher ups could afford.
ReplyDelete"What's the address?" she asked, finally bringing her thoughts back.
Aedha slid into the vehicle, nearly crowing with joy. "Oh gosh, look at all these....controls!" She instantly began pressing some of them to see what they did, completely ignoring Thyra.
ReplyDeleteThyra sighed. "Aedha, you said we weren't going to be late," she reminded.
ReplyDeleteAedha grinned. "We're not. I'm just taking my time appreciating this expensive wonder of technology."
ReplyDeleteIt was obvious she has never operated a vehicle before, let alone a chariot.
"It is pretty wonderful," Thyra admitted. "Do I even want to know how you got such a vehicle?"
ReplyDelete"Don't ask, don't tell." Aedha said sagely. She examined some of the controls, switching some of them on and humming slightly under her breath.
ReplyDeleteThyra knew she could always trust Aedha to know what she was doing when it came to mechanical things. But she eyed all the buttons and wondered what they were all for, hoping Aedha wouldn't let her down this time.
ReplyDelete"Don't worry. I mean, how hard can it be to operate this thing?" Aedha frowned slightly. Why the hell were there so many controls? And more importantly, where the hell is the destination manual? She messed around with them for a while longer, long enough for it to become awkward.
ReplyDeleteThyra raised an eyebrow, starting to get concerned. The only thing she was learning from watching Aedha was how to open windows, blow air conditioning, and flash brightly colored lights everywhere, among other useless functions.
ReplyDelete"Are we actually going anywhere or are you just going to play around all night?"
"Yeah, yeah. Just give me a second to figure stuff out." Aedha tried a switch, and a promising sound was heard. But still nothing happened. Darn it. Where's an input panel when you need it?
ReplyDeleteThyra sighed. "Uh-huh. You have to figure stuff out, I see. I would have thought you'd have read a manual on how to operate this high-class chariot by now."
ReplyDeleteAedha rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, like it would ever come into use until today." She leaned back in the seat, staring at the ceiling. "Themis Agents, best of the best, known for doing top secret hush-hush missions of justice, the backbone of the city, blah blah blah, and we don't even get our own vehicles. What a ripoff."
ReplyDeleteThyra shrugged. "If we rise up enough, we might earn enough to buy our own vehicles."
ReplyDeleteAedha snorted, leaning up to look at Thyra. "Yeah, after going through all that legal red tape and getting Elite approval. A whole bunch of useless nonsense, if you ask me." She sat up and leaned her elbow on a panel, running her hands over the chrome buttons.
ReplyDelete"You should have figured out how to operate the car before renting it or whatever you did at least," Thyra continued.
ReplyDeleteAedha rolled her eyes, and deftly turned the switch to pull up the holographic input panel and typed in their destination. The vehicle started up smoothly and they were on their way. "Happy now?"
ReplyDelete"That only took you," Thyra looked at digital numbers on the dashboard, "thirty minutes."
ReplyDelete"We haven't even spent thirty minutes in this vehicle." Aedha retorted. She has a tendency to lose track of time. "Stop worrying about time so much. God, it's not like we're going to be "late to class" or anything."
ReplyDeleteThyra hated not knowing what time it was, no matter the circumstances. "How long does it take to get there?"
ReplyDelete"Ten minutes, give or take....ten minutes?" Aedha shrugged. "Hey, you know I'm probably the worst person to ask about this kind of stuff." She reached into her handbag and pulled out what looked to be a stick of lipstick.
ReplyDelete"That's not too bad then," Thyra said, though she still gave it a loose time frame in her mind.
ReplyDeleteAedha made a vague noise of agreement and uncapped the lipstick. It was a bright red. She made a face and looked at Thyra. "Not really my color, but hey, I had to work with my available resources."
ReplyDeleteWith a twist of her thumb, the lipstick container unfolded to reveal a tiny transmitter device. Grinning at Thyra, Aedha took a small brooch from her bag and handed it to Thyra. "You know, just in case you come face-to-face with someone famous and you wanted a souvenir."
Thyra took the brooch and strategically pinned it to her dress. Outside the chariot, it grew brighter and brighter. Lights lit up every street. Thyra looked around, taking in every detail. She hadn't been outside the Agency campus in a long time.
ReplyDeleteAedha stared out the window, and made a low whistle. "Wow. Would ya look at those houses. I bet the people who live here eat out of crystal platters and drink orphans' tears."
ReplyDeleteThyra stayed silent, knowing that Aedha had lived on the streets when she was young. She herself was an orphan - her parents had died during a mission many years ago.
ReplyDelete"And....there we have it. That's our house." Aedha nodded towards a large mansion looming at the end of the street. It was made of while marble; extremely rare in the day and age where psydo-metals made up every constructed building and formations. bright lights illuminated the glowing stone pillars, modern and artistic but in a strangely archaic sort of way.
ReplyDeleteAs the vehicle approached the mansion, it was apparent to see the other expensive and fancy chariots lined up in front of the mansion's street, and the people lazily drifting towards each other and the mansion, engaging in idle chatter. Their fancy evening-wear shimmered in the bright light of the house.
"Well, it has beautiful architecture." Thyra took a deep breath. "I only hope the people are just as pleasant." Why did I ever let Aedha drag me into this? But she decided that since she was here, she was going to do her best anyway. She had been trained never to show her true emotions in the midst of an uncomfortable situation. This would be a heck of an experience.
ReplyDeleteAedha smoothed down her dress and flashed Thyra a smile. "It's showtime."
ReplyDeleteHer fingers flew over the controls and the door slid open with a slow click. She stepped out of the chariot, carefully lifting the hem of her dress out of the way.
Thyra adjusted her shawl and made sure her brooch was in place before stepping out of the vehicle. She left her face expressionless, because she was a little unsure of what to do and this was a safe middle ground. Though, she did give a little smile when someone looked her way, or else Aedha would have slapped her for being too unfriendly.
ReplyDeletePutting on a winning grin, Aedha all but strutted away from the chariot. With a wave of her hand on the chariot's outer controls, the vehicle slid away from the curb. With her hand on her pocketbook, she made a small head gesture at Thyra before beginning to make her way through to the front doors.
ReplyDeleteCalmly, Thyra got into the line for security check. "You know how to fool the detectors, right?" she questioned quietly.
ReplyDeletePeople were chattering around them loudly. Thyra got jostled into the person in front of her and dropped her clutch. "Shoot," she muttered, kneeling to pick it up.
Aedha was still busy looking around the courtyard, a couple of feet behind Thyra. She was completely engrossed in something, and she either ignored or didn't hear her friend.
ReplyDeleteThyra retrieved her clutch and walked back to Aedha. "You know how to fool the detectors right?" she asked again.
ReplyDeleteAedha whirled around to face Thyra with a look of confusion. "Huh? Why would we need to fool the detectors?"
ReplyDeleteThyra raised an eyebrow. "Weapons, remember?"
ReplyDeleteAedha stared at Thyra for a moment blankly before bursting into laughter, attracting the attention of everyone around them. She didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon, and most of the people in their vicinity shot glares at the uncivilized madwoman.
ReplyDeleteThyra grimaced, resisting the urge to smack Aedha with her clutch. "Shut up, will you? Am I missing something, because honestly Aedha, this isn't funny."
ReplyDeleteAedha chuckled, trying to stifle her amusement. "We're not going in the front way, honey. We don't swing that way." She announced loudly with a giggle, which earned them even more stares from the surrounding people.
ReplyDeleteThyra couldn't resist rolling her eyes. "Well then, shall we go?"
ReplyDeleteWith a grin, Aedha nodded towards her right. "Security camera on the victorian-style lamppost at 3 o'clock. Don't look now. Another on the left at the same position and following the pattern there should be at least two more. They're 8th gen business-grade cameras, quite tricky. However they seem to be a little outdated, probably only the version 3." She rattled off the stats as if talking about the weather. Apparently she was able to gain all that from a quick glance.
ReplyDelete"Nothing we can't handle," Thyra said. "We should try to skirt around them, but obviously we'll still have to act natural. Shouldn't be too hard, most of these people are drunk anyways."
ReplyDeleteAedha laughed. "Lucky for us....I also happen to know that this particular mansion has an enclosed garden on the west side. The owner's private gardens at that. I'd imagine there aren't too many cameras there." She winked at Thyra. "Research Saves."
ReplyDeleteThyra hates the fact that she doesn't know the exact layout of the mansion, all the exit options, places she could go if she got too claustrophobic. Of course, she's an agent - she needs to be able to think on the fly, jumping out a window or something, but at this point, she doesn't know anything, not even the name of the owner. She feels so unprepared. Useless, because she can't really contribute in any way at this point. "Good," she said simply.
ReplyDelete"The hardest part will be trying to get back there without seeming suspicious." Aedha looked around. "Lucky for us, no one seems to particularly be interested in us."
ReplyDelete"Exactly. We're just two girls at a party," Thyra said. "If we get caught I'm sure we could come up with a viable excuse."
ReplyDeleteAedha laughed, pulling Thyra along by the arm. "Oh, I'm sure there's plenty of reasons for two people to be scampering off to be alone at a party like this." She winked at Thyra, tossing her hair in mock flirtation.
ReplyDelete"Oh, but of course," Thyra smiled. "Exactly the reason why I dislike parties."
ReplyDeleteAedha led the way through the crowd, going at a leisurely pace to not attract attention. Glancing around quickly, she stepped off the walkway into the bushes, cursing slightly as the branches grabbed at her dress.
ReplyDeleteThyra nearly made it through the line of bushes unscathed, until she realized that one of her shoes had gotten caught, so that she was awkwardly standing one-legged, one branch digging into her calf.
ReplyDeleteAedha didn't notice Thyra lagging behind. She was pushing forward, muttering to herself about the garden being in the general direction.
ReplyDeleteThyra desperately tried to pry her foot free, but nearly fell flat on her face. She looked around. Maybe she could quickly cut herself free with one of her daggers?
ReplyDelete"Look Thyra, we're almost there!" Aedha whispered excitedly. When there was no reply, she looked around and realized she was alone. "Um...Thyra?"
ReplyDeleteQuickly, Thyra slid out a dagger and started hacking at the branches. She was nearly done when she heard a voice ask, "What exactly are you doing?"
ReplyDeleteCursing under her breath. Aedha started retracing her steps back to where she came from. She reached the beginning of the hedges, and still no sign of Thyra. She didn't want to call out for her in case someone else hears. Wondering if she should find the garden and wait for Thyra there, she stood at the outset of the bushes and looked idly around the courtyard.
ReplyDelete"Oh, well, I kind of got my shoe stuck in this bush. Funny how that happens," Thyra said, making her voice breathy and a higher pitch than normal. Quickly, she dropped the dagger into the bushes. She might lose a dagger, but she wouldn't blow her cover.
ReplyDeleteThe person she was talking to had dark brown hair tied back in a low ponytail, dark eyes, and a square jawline. He held up a hand to help her stand upright.
Aedha huffed, blowing the hair out of her face. She sat down on the edge of the curb, not caring if her dress got dirty. She could totally do this mission on her own, but what's the fun in that?
ReplyDeleteShe facepalmed. "I knew I should have brought communicators", she muttered to herself.
"Date abandoned you?" An amused voice called down to her. She looked up to see a tall man in an immaculate suit and a half smile standing a step away.
"Nah," she laughed. "I lost my friend somewhere in the labyrinth of greenery." she nodded towards the hedges behind her.
His eyebrows were raised even higher. Obviously he came to some kind of assumption. Aedha just smiled coyly at him, letting him assume all he wanted. "A handsome man like you without a date?" She asked.
"No, not today. I was invited here by my brother, who's more socially-inclined than I." he laughed as he offered a hand and gallantly pulled her to her feet. She stumbled a bit, giggling as she fell onto his chest. "I like your suit." She tilted her head up and muttered.
Thyra undid the straps of her shoes and slipped her foot out. "I should have done that first," she muttered. She could see what she was doing now, and soon enough the shoe broke free.
ReplyDeleteHer companion chuckled. "Here let me help," he said. Thyra hopped over to a nearby tree and managed to get her shoe on.
"Thanks," she said.
"So what's your name?"
"Sam. Sam Wiltshire," Thyra said, the name rolling off her tongue.
"Nice to meet you, Sam." He held out a hand and Thyra shook it. "I'm Luke Richards."
Thyra filed the name in her memory. This was a perfect opportunity for the profile she needed to collect. He certainly fit the description; pressed white shirt, polished shoes, everything.
((headcanon that Audens the more serious of the two brothers? Think dean and Sam?))
ReplyDeleteThe man's grin widened. He leaned down slightly to whisper in her ear. "I like your dress." He murmured in a honeyed baritone.
Aedha blushed only half fakingly. "You gonna hold me in your arms here all night, or are we gonna go check out the party?"
It was his turn to flush. "Ah yes, where are my manners?" he chuckled, letting go of her to bow extravagantly. "Thomas Richards is my name. Would you accompany me to this evening event, ma'am?"
Aedha took his proffered hand and swept her shawl onto her shoulders with a flourish. "Cassidy Nolan." She said easily. "And I would be delighted to have such a handsome man as an escort."
Arm in arm, the two of them headed towards the front gates of the mansion.
"I doubt you came alone," Luke said.
ReplyDelete"No," Thyra replied. "I came with my friend. I don't know where she is at the moment. Probably somewhere inside."
"Then by all means, we should go find her," Luke said, gesturing towards the house. I need to find my brother as well. Keep him in check. He's probably already got one girl on each arm."
Together, they started towards the gates, and Thyra smiled. "He's that kind of man, I guess?"
"The ladies always seem to fall for him," Luke said wryly. "Guess he's the better looking one, though I'd never say it to his face."
Surprising herself, Thyra replied, "You're not so bad yourself."