Shaggy was awoken some time later by the sound of his cell door opening. His cell was pitch black. The sole light bulb overhead was out and his holo-screen was inactive. He rolled from his bed and carefully stalked toward his door, only to find it open a tiny crack. Whatever powered the door stopped just after unlatching the locking mechanism. He sighed to himself and set his should against the large door. With a heave, he started to open the door wider.
The screech of metal that met his ears made Shaggy instantly stop and pull back. Behind him, a blue light flickered to life and Obadiah’s face appeared on his Holo-screen. The old man said nothing, instead he held a finger up to his lips and stared severely. Shaggy glared back and waved at the barely opened cell door. Obadiah mouthed the words ‘deal with it’ and pressed his finger back to his lips. The screen went black again and Shaggy rolled his eyes.
Looking back to the door, Shaggy tried to squeeze his body between the door without opening it further. It took an aggravating amount of wriggling and he lost a portion of his prison jumpsuit. He still had to move the door a few times. Each time was met with a harsh metallic squealing that made Shaggy freeze. But he managed to get through eventually, falling into the dark cell block with a soft whump.
Shaggy pulled himself to his feet as his eyes adjusted. The cell block was almost completely black save for the small amount of light let in by the top windows. Pale blue moonlight cascaded down onto the cells opposite the windows, and Shaggy scanned them to see if anyone was awake. He couldn’t spot any movement, so he started down the long block, hugging the far wall as he kept an eye on the cells.
At the far end of the cell block, Shaggy could see a guard station built into the wall just beyond the door. But he didn’t see a guard. Trying to keep his gaze on both points of interest, Shaggy crouch-walked through the dark. Obadiah had explained to him that most of his nightly mission was going to be done solo. The old man was on overwatch with the cameras and would handle the doors. But there would be no person issuing instructions in Shaggy’s ear. Which he had originally seen as a blessing. But as he approached the empty guard station, he wished he could ask where the guard had gone.
Instead, he made it to the end of the hall and crouched low below the guard station’s window. With a large inhale, Shaggy tried to get a trace of the guard’s scent. He couldn’t track the guy with his collar on, but he might be able to memorize his scent and avoid it. Shaggy’s nose was filled with the scents of sugar, coffee and cigarettes. So he guessed that the wayward guard was off getting one of the three. With that out of the way, Shaggy stalked toward the barred door to the cell block. A muted buzz meet him just as he reached the door and he reached out a hand.
The door slid open easily and Shaggy quickly rushed through, closing it quietly behind him. Keeping low, he made his way through the large square room where the warden had addressed them yesterday and into the hallway on the other side. Another guard station sat at the end of the hall, but this guard was seated at his desk. Their eyes were glued to a screen Shaggy couldn’t see. But no alarm had been raised yet. So Shaggy made his way down the long hallway and toward the entrapment area door.
But just as he reached it, the door began to slide open. Shaggy hurriedly hugged the wall and stayed low in the dark as a shadow fell across the light from the open door. Heavy footsteps thumped in the dark, and Shaggy watched as a straight-backed guard stepped from the entrapment area. His head tilted back as he held his coffee cup in his mouth. The guard was blindly walking down the hallway, his head in his cup as Shaggy tried to creep along the wall. He noted that the guard’s hands were full of junk food, as a voice called from behind him.
“That you Oscar? Ya got my candy?”
The other guard tried to respond around the cup held in his mouth. But all that came out were nonsensical grumblings.
Holding his breath, Shaggy tiptoed past the oblivious guard and made a quiet dash toward the door. At the last second, he instinctually tried something and was surprised when it worked. His body was grabbed by the game system and he slid the remaining few feet into the entrapment room and around the corner. Shaggy was so shocked that his Slide Move had worked that he missed the guard starting to turn in his direction. Luckily, the door slid shut in front of him, snapping Shaggy out of his amazement.
The room came to life as the door closed and Shaggy saw the door opposite him jerk before slowly opening as well. He pushed himself against the walls again, just in case. But no one was past the next door, so he quickly rushed down the hall. He burst through the cafeteria doors and left them swinging behind him as he finally stood to his full height. Crouching running was not easy, especially over a long period of time under duress. Shaggy let out a breath and walked over to the kitchen counter, where the prisoners got their food. He was mid-leap when he heard another door open.
“So I just fucking hit him!”
“Bullshit.”
“Dude, it’s the truth. Scrawny little Supe just went down after that, screaming ‘Please, don’t hurt me!’ I’m telling you, it was epic, man.”
“And I’m telling you, you’re full of shit!”
“Fuck you, man! You weren’t even out during the riot! How can you understand what was going down? It was a fucking war!”
Shaggy held his breath as he crouched behind the kitchen counter. He could hear the two guards walking through the cafeteria. But at the younger-sounding guard’s question, the other guard stopped. His breathing was heavy and Shaggy could tell the guard was holding back some choice words.
“Because, you little shit, I was watching the camera feeds from the main control tower. You lined up with your little riot buddies and then rushed D-Block. Do you want to know what we all saw then?”
“Umm… No?”
“The entire control watched as you took a toilet seat to the head and then passed out. You had to be carried out of D-block by your damn legs. So don’t go spouting your bullshit with me. Why do you think you had to pull night duty after coming in for the riot?!”
“Well then, why are you here?”
“Don’t fucking worry about it. Hey, are those doors swinging?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“Cram it, Rookie! Were those doors swinging when we came in?”
Shaggy wanted to slap himself as he remembered the two large swinging doors into the cafeteria. He had probably crashed through them harder than he needed to. As he heard the guards move to investigate, Shaggy crouched toward the back of the kitchen. According to Obadiah, the vent he need was toward the back wall under a shelf. As he moved, he kept an ear on the two guards.
“Control, check the MCU. We might have a Polter or Spirit loose in the Cafe.”
“MCU?”
“Damn it, Rook. The Magical Containment Unit. Containing magical prisoners can result in lots of nonsense. Those folks are like giant beacons to the supernatural.”
“So there’s a ghost loose in here?”
“Maybe. Do you have your MagTac gear?”
“I think so?”
There was a clattering of tables and chairs as the second guard seemed to throw something. Shaggy paused and put his back to a large metal fridge. He chanced a look over his shoulder, but from his position, he couldn’t see out of the kitchen area. But he could hear though.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Urk-Argh!”
“Fucking hell, Samson! Do not tell me you started your patrol without applying the Mind-Barrier stamps or the standard-issue Magic Diffusers. I swear to the Gods if you are without either, I’ll report you so fast you won’t have time to fucking blink! The last thing I need is you possessed by some low-rank poltergeist! That’s a shit-ton of paperwork!”
Shaggy spotted the vent and made his way as the rookie sputtered a response. It sounded like the younger guard had his kit. He just was unfamiliar with its use. Shaggy kept his ear on the conversation as he crawled closer to the vent. He was mildly curious about the guard’s anti-magic equipment. The barrier stamps were self-explanatory, but he wondered about the Diffusers. Apparently the Diffusers were like Anti-magic wands.
Shaggy listened to the older guard explain their use as he made it to the vent and started to unscrew it. Without the proper equipment, Shaggy was forced to use his fingers and pinch the bastards as he unscrewed them. It hurt like hell, but thankfully the screws were that long. He had gone through three of them before the guard’s radio squawked to life.
“Patrol, this is Control. MCU is locked down tight. No emissions reported tonight.”
“Confirm, Control. Patrol out.” Said the grumpy guard.
“Well, that’s good, right? That means I won’t have to use this stuff?”
“It also means something else made those doors swing.”
“Dude, fucking leave it. It was probably the wind.”
Shaggy didn’t hear the end of the conversation cause he slipped into the open vent and stood the grate up behind him. It wasn’t secured to anything, but it would withstand a cursory examination. He rubbed his fingers as they screamed in pain and crawled through the narrow space. This had been the most confusing part of the plan to Shaggy. He and Obadiah had gone over it multiple times. But the vent system was so baroque that Shaggy found it confusing. Although Obadiah had said it would be simple. All he had to do was follow fans.
As Shaggy thought of their conversation, a fan ahead of him turned on. It wasn’t expelling a large amount of air, but it was enough for Shaggy to feel a chill go down his spine. He pushed forward until he got to an intersection. The fan ahead stopped and a burst of air came from his left side. Shaggy grinned as the old man’s words made sense now. The cyborg was in the system leading Shaggy with the fans. He almost wanted to laugh, but the cramped space and the pain in his hands just wanted him out of the vents.
Shaggy pulled himself through a maze of air ducts, following the fans as they led him to his destination. As Shaggy remembered it, he was going to be dropped outside the library and from there he’d have to scale a damn elevator shaft. He wasn’t sure how difficult that was going to be, but after squeezing his broad shoulders through narrow metal for so long, he was ready for a change. He was sure he’d been pulling himself along for thirty minutes when the flow of air switched again. This time, the air flowed from above him and lead out a tiny vent below.
He peered through the vent’s slats and spotted a tiled hallway. But there was a problem. From this side of the vent, he couldn’t reach the screws. Obadiah had said that he shouldn’t leave a trace. But opening this vent without breaking it seemed impossible. Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Shaggy reached down and tried to quietly break the vent at its edges. He was louder than intended at times. But with some vigorous pulling and shoving, he managed to yank the damn thing free. Of course, when he dropped to the hallway floor with a crumbled metal vent cover in his hand, he scowled at it. That was a big problem. But one he would deal with on his way back. He jumped up and jammed the cover into the vent diagonally. He would be back after his mission was completed.
Turning his attention to the hallway, Shaggy took in his surroundings. It was dark, with only limited light from a few barred windows. There was one turn in the hallway leading back toward the cafeteria. But Shaggy was more interested in the large circular elevator at the far end of the hall. He crept closer, pausing at the where the hallway turned before dashing across and rushing toward his goal. As he got closer, the elevator doors opened for him and Shaggy grinned. Until he saw what he was dealing with.
The elevator shaft was empty, the elevator itself being at its resting position. Which was high above them. Shaggy could see the housing that the elevator car traveled down. There were no maintenance ladders or walkways, though. He would have to climb using the large metal beams that made up the housing. With a sigh, Shaggy got himself ready to grab the I-beam across from the elevator door. He shook out his hurt hands and then slapped himself to psyche himself up. Once ready, he rushed to the door and jumped.
His hands slammed into the cold metal of the I-beam and he scrabbled for a hold. Getting one, Shaggy pulled himself up slightly and looked for another hold. There was the obvious one were the I-Beam’s met at a cross-section. But a thought occurred to Shaggy as he stared up the empty elevator shaft. With a mental command, Shaggy’s legs involuntarily kicked off the wall, and he was flung upward. He caught the I-beam a level up from where he started and almost crowed with excitement.
“The fucking collars can’t stop abilities or skills! HA!”
Shaggy’s grip almost slipped as he cheered himself on. He quickly righted himself and activated Pounce again. The skill took control of him and his legs kicked the wall again. He pounced the entire way up the elevator, making great time. He was having so much fun, he barely noticed when he’d reached the top. Shaggy was a little disappointed he wouldn’t get to try pouncing on the way down. He flattened himself around the circular elevator car sitting at the top of the shaft, wriggled his way to the top.
The car had an access hatch for maintenance emergencies. If the car malfunctioned, the maintenance crew would pull the car to the ground floor and hop on top. Now Shaggy and Obadiah were using it to access the top floor. Shaggy pulled himself on top of the elevator and waited for the hatch to pop open. It had an access code that would be inputted as needed. But Shaggy didn’t have it. Obadiah said he would open the hatch at the appropriate time.
Shaggy crouched and waited on top of the elevator. But after another five minutes, nothing happened. He was getting worried when after another five long minutes the hatched beeped and Shaggy pulled it open. He quickly threw the thing as open as he could and fell into the elevator car. As soon as his legs hit the floor, the doors opened and Shaggy held his breath. But no guards rushed him and all he saw was an empty hallway. He peeked around the corner and spotted one long hallway with two doors. One was halfway up the hall and had two large ornate doors. The other was at the end of the hall with a simpler wooden door.
According to Obadiah, Shaggy wanted the door at the end of the hall. It was the Warden’s personal office. The one just off the hall was for meetings and impressing CEOs and important Supes. Not bothering to crouch or hide, Shaggy rushed to the end of the hall and tried the door handle. Electricity snapped out at him and he yelped involuntarily. Cursing himself, Shaggy waited for hell to rain down on him. But nothing happened. Instead, the door made a loud click, and he tentatively tried the door again.
It pushed open easily enough and Shaggy walked into a well-furnished, but simple, office. He closed the door behind him and sighed loudly. He had made it.
“That was a stupid attempt with the door.” Obadiah’s voice said in the darkness.
Shaggy stopped himself from leaping out of his skin and quickly scanned the room. He was sure the old man was not in there with him. But he had heard Obadiah as clear as day. It was when he rounded the office desk and spotted a small speaker that Shaggy realized how the old cyborg was talking to him.
“Yeah, well, I figured I was home free.”
“You also climbed the elevator shaft much quicker than expected. If hadn’t been watching the weight sensors, I’d have missed you. How long were you up there?”
“Too long. What do you need me to do here?” Shaggy asked, changing the subject.
There was a holo-emitter for terminal access and he could see a keyboard in its own little space on the desk. He pulled the keyboard out and got ready to switch on the emitter. But Obadiah stopped him.
“Not yet. We need to account for the power draw you are going to cause. The warden’s terminal is designed to be a closed system. As soon as you attach it to the network, it’s going to output a lot of data.”
“So what the hell am I supposed to do?”
“We wait until the next guard changeover at Control. When that happens, I’ll have minutes to get in and find what we are looking for.”
“When’s that?”
“Forty minutes.”
“What the hell?!”
“You climbed the elevator shaft very fast.”
Shaggy fell into the plush seat the warden had in his office and grumbled to himself. Getting here had been nerve-wracking and painful. But sitting and waiting for the right moment was the worst thing imaginable. It was boring. He sat forward and placed his elbow on the warden’s desk. With his chin in his hand, Shaggy blew out a breath watched the clock on the wall. He had thirty-nine more minutes of waiting ahead of him.