Richard got up from the floor and stuffed a dime in his pockets. From the corner of his eyes, glass shattered all over the table as the liquid from his drink dripped down on the tablecloth. Eyes widened, he looked at the broken windows in front of him. People whispered, but none of them panicked too much over the incident. Bodyguards left the area to go investigate the source and stop the perpetrator.

Richard tilted his head. That noise from the glass was so quiet, despite the sustainable damage, did it go by everyone else? He found himself separated from Ken and struggled to find him amidst the crowd. Ting! A sound stopped him in his tracks. Everyone went silent and turned to the source of the noise. There, Lily stood on a podium, wearing a black silk dress, with matching heels, and holding up a glass of wine and a teaspoon.

She told everyone to calm down as things involving that incident will be resolved in no time. The party continued, like nothing serious happened.

“Now then, is everyone having a good time?” Lily called everyone in the audience, to which they responded positively. “That’s great to hear! Now many of you are new here?” A bunch of people raised their hands in response. “I see,” Lily said. “Well, it’s been a few years since this place had first been established.” She lowered her head and talked in a serious tone, pacing the podium back and forth.

“I was at a disadvantage, my schools and family weren’t supportive of my dreams, and I had to start from scratch, struggling to find a decent job.” She stopped in place. “That was when I decided to create my own independent business.” She turned to face the crowd.

“And unlike some people, help others in dire need, for I don’t want to see anyone struggle the same way that I had in the past. I hope to get more people towards their goals, as well as make the world a better place.”

As the audience applauded, Richard got misty-eyed as tears escaped his face, listening to her every word with such a hopeful expression. He remembered the time Emily had told him about her dreams of helping others in need. Ken glanced at him, but said nothing, not wanting to ruin the moment.

“That was all I wanted to say.” Lily bowed as she wiped her eyes. “For those who stuck around, thank you, and we hope to keep doing business with you. And for the rest of you, thanks for stopping by.”

She walked down the steps as an older man got ready to play the piano to soothe the atmosphere. Richard snapped back to reality, noticing her leaving. He called out her name as loud as he could, but the noises from the piano and crowd chatting drowned out his desperate cries to get her attention. He excused himself and ran to try and catch up to Lily.

Ken extended his arm to try and stop him, but was too late. He looked over and sighed in defeat, not sure what to do now. A finger tapped on his shoulder. He snapped around, only to find Mindy standing there, to his confusion and surprise.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Mindy? How did you get here?” Ken asked.

“I told you I’d catch up to you,” Mindy replied, adjusting her glasses.

“Uh, no you didn’t.”

“Yeah, that’s because you left before I could finish my sentence!”

“Ok, but how’d you get in?”

“After a lot of careful consideration...”

“You snuck in, didn’t you?” Ken interrupted.

“Why’d you even ask?”

“It was rhetorical. By the way, in case you’re wondering, Richard just left to search for Lily.”

“Already?” Mindy asked, her face brightening up. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get going before we get kicked out.”

Ken and Mindy blended in with the crowd and snuck past the guards until they reached a wall. The two of them trudged around to search for a door to enter.

.-.-.-.

They both entered an unfamiliar room with a long hallway. Mindy hurried upstairs, with Ken following suit and ran across the room. The halls had a long orange carpet with golden wallpaper around them, and nobody else was present aside from the duo.

Soon, they reached Lily’s office, which appeared to be unlocked and unguarded. Once they entered the office, Mindy wasted no time looking around the office while Ken waited outside on standby. She shuffled through the desks, pushed aside boxes, and even peeked under rugs.

Mindy came across a picture and moved it aside, only to find a safe hidden behind the walls. She took out an earpiece and placed it on her ear, tweaking it so she could get into contact with someone.

“Kelly, can you hear me?”

“Yes, are you in her office?” Kelly answered from her office across the building.

“Affirmative,” Mindy replied. She took out a pair of visors to put on and see through the walls. “I can see a rectangle-shaped item on the other side, but there’s a safe with a locked combination.”

“Hang on, I’ll take care of this.” Kelly used her computer to hack into the B.E.E.S. servers and steal the code.

Once she nabbed the code, Kelly copied and sent it over to Mindy. Mindy put the system in and opened the locker. Inside, a small blue object rested in the back corner. She picked it up to feel the contents, but to her surprise, this object had nothing glowing in the middle. It felt rough and chalky as opposed to the usual smooth glass she had touched before.

“I should’ve known, this is a fake.”

Ken opened the door and peered at her. “Mindy, we gotta get going.” He whispered. “Someone’s coming this way.”

“Are you serious? But we haven’t gotten the original capsule yet!” She scoffed. “I guess we have no other option. It’d be a pain if we get caught now.” I suppose it’s all up to Richard now.

Mindy turned off the earpiece and left to catch up with Ken. The two hurried out of there before getting spotted by the authorities.