The experience of riding an airplane without actually being able to orient myself was definitely what I’d consider off putting. When I had been flown to the island, it hadn’t been an issue since I hadn’t really been able to see- especially not as well as I could now. This time, there might have been some slight dissociation due to how much we looked like a simple animation of an airplane in operation.

I also learned that the angle I thought I was seeing things at was only tenuously tied to my own sense of balance. It shouldn’t have mattered since I technically saw everything at every angle at all times, however, living all my life with normal eyes created some hard to break mental blocks when it came to visual orientation.

All this to say that the one time I got up to go use the restroom we hit some turbulence, causing my brain to think the plane tilted more than it actually did, which translated to my perspective massively desyncing with reality- leading to overcompensation of my balance and an embarrassing faceplant.

When we eventually landed, I was so happy to have a good frame of reference for what is level that I almost missed the slight drizzle of rain. When I asked what the weather was going to be like while we were here, our handler said, “there’s a storm passing through right behind us- but it should be over in a day at most. Unless the Breach hits within the next few hours, things will probably only be wet.”

How they said that immediately set off alarm bells in my head, given the universe's tendency to maximize irony, so I mentally asked Cleo, “any way to add some sort of rain-jacket to my costume? And maybe some more insulation?”

After a bit of a pause, they replied, {Yes and yes, however, either would ruin the costume’s gimmick. You also probably won’t notice in the middle of clearing a Breach between the fighting and urban nature.}

“How about something like a clear poncho? That would keep my style visible while at least blocking the wind and rain- if not the cold.”

Begrudgingly, Cleo acquiesced, {that would be acceptable, I guess. As for the cold I recommend taking it as an opportunity to practice converting ULE to heat as well as doing conversion on a small scale. Just be careful not to cook yourself.}

With a final sarcastic “thanks,” I refocused on what else was going on: our group being led to a lounge where we could wait for the chauffeurs to arrive. Out of ostensible charity and kindness, the mayor had organized our transport for us- and of course it was running late. The obvious play off this was that they were going to use the opportunity to get some marketing materials for the next election.

From the very comfortable chair I had chosen, I scanned the surrounding hallways and rooms. Having found a suitable target for what was definitely not a felony as well as the means with which to make it so much easier, I slipped on my mask, turned on [Act Like You Belong]- [Unremarkable] always being running- and walked out of the room.

Despite [Unremarkable] hiding my tail and horns, I still hid those away under my jacket and a hat respectively on the off chance the videos from the security cameras would be saved and change hands enough to wear away my magic. However, this disguise wasn’t quite enough to make me feel comfortable, so I meandered over to an area marked off for maintenance or construction of some sort. Someone had left a high-viz jacket draped over a ladder- conveniently two of the best items to have when you want to wander where you shouldn’t.

A short walk got me to one of the cameras I had been hiding from. No one batted an eye as I set up and climbed the ladder to it, popped off the casing, unplugged a few wires, and connected them to my tail. I obviously didn’t have the necessary software to properly interface with the system, however, a blast from [Magical Hacking] and [RAT King] let me create my own usable connection with the magic doing the hard work.

I made a token effort to look like I was doing something while flipping through camera feeds until I found what I was looking for.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Out by the main entrance, there was not only a crowd of reporters, but also a small riser. Being what some might describe as ‘petty’ or ‘mischievous,’ I was annoyed at the implication of how public and likely time consuming the mayor’s ‘show of generosity’ would be. I quickly flitted between some ideas of how to ruin it.

While I pondered my options, I put everything back in order- minus a little intentional burning of some of the camera’s electronics- just in time to notice a security guard pass by me. As I followed them with my perception- stifling a laugh as they stopped by the camera I had been fiddling with- I noticed as they pulled out a radio and had a flash of inspiration.

Eventually, they were satisfied with visual inspection and started heading back in my direction. As they rounded the corner, I ‘tripped,’ landing face first into their chest before they caught me. A round of profuse apologies from both of us followed before they gave me a final pat on the back and continued walking- minus one radio.

After adjusting the operating frequency to some random number, I clipped it onto the inside of my jacket and headed back to the lounge to see if anything had happened during my little trip. When I entered, only a few people even spared me a glance- and those that did quickly went back to what they were doing without comment.

Deactivating [Act], I wandered up to our handler and asked, “any idea when our transportation will be here?”

After a quick glance at their watch, they huffed, “last I heard, they should get here in… an hour-ish.”

Happy that I had plenty of time to finish my preparations and get back on time to not be missed, I turned the perk back on and left once again.

The radio I had acquired likely had a good range, but I didn’t want to chance a signal not getting through, so I had to get close to the front entrance where the mayor’s preparations were being set up. My goal was to find a fire alarm and splice the radio’s speaker wires into the alarms switch- hopefully allowing me to remotely activate them whenever I wanted. Like right as someone potentially annoying was building up momentum for a speech, for example.

Acting like a normal traveler, it was very easy to follow the crowd most of the way there, and just as I got to where the entrance was within the range of my perception, I found an employee access door which I ducked into. Down the hall a few dozen feet was a simple pull-bar alarm.

There weren’t any people around at the moment, but I relaxed my perception to a larger radius to keep a lookout to be safe. I was perhaps a little overcautious and jittery as I removed the plastic cover, then opened the little electrical box it was mounted to with the small screwdriver I always had on hand. I didn’t really know what I was looking for when it came to wires, so I made an educated guess and stripped off a small patch on the ones that weren’t already bare. There were only three anyway, so my chances of getting it right were high enough.

After that, it was simple to pop the radio in half after taking a note of the frequency it was set to. I was a little concerned by the difference between the wire’s diameters, but went through with removing the speaker and wrapping the stripped ends around the bare parts of the matching set.

Worst case: this fails horribly and I just have to either sit through whatever is going to happen- or more likely, I’d just leave at some point. Best case: my shenanigans make the news and everyone gets a laugh.

Getting back through security would have been a pain, but once again MG privileges pulled through. All I had to do was approach one of the guards standing off to the sides of metal detectors, disable [Unremarkable], and pull out my fancy ID. I didn’t even have to say anything, they just gave it a look, looked at my… various oddities and led me through to the side.

When I walked back into the room, Kay recognized I had been out and asked, “may I ask what you were doing?”

Trying to keep a straight face, I stated, “taking a walk.”

With a sigh, she said, “while you are… about as old as me, it would be nice if you at least notified someone that you were leaving.”

From off to the side, I saw Chris snort and turn to Carlos, “I guess that means you owe me lunch.”

Curious, I asked them, “were you betting lunch on whether I was going to get arrested or something?”

Almost at the exact same time, both of them replied, “yes.”

After that, it got much more difficult to hold my face steady.