Greg crept forward, slowly moving across the carefully trimmed grass. His fingers brushed against the surface, his powers set to as low as possible. Just enough to reduce the sound of impacts from footsteps and ease the pressure on the grass itself. It was great practice, really, he should honestly do it more often. Just maybe not in this particular context. His gut twisted nervously again and he glanced back at the others, “This is a really, really bad idea, did I mention that earlier? I feel like I haven’t said that yet,” He whispered urgently.
Behind him, in a line, were Alex, John, Lily, Snow, Cass, Val, and Ollie. The whole crew plus the new addition that Lily had insisted on bringing along with them. Apparently Cass was cool now, she was pretty and laughed nice but Greg really wasn’t sure about it. Alex was practically vibrating with excitement, John was as deadpan as ever despite the mild sweat on his brow, Lily looked apprehensive and curious, Snow as just as eager as Alex. Cass and Val were keeping an eye out rather than showing any emotion about their current course of action while Ollie stared at their destination with bated breath.
“Dude, don’t chicken out now,” Alex grunted, “We’re so close!”
Greg smiled widely at him, his eyes wide with barely restrained stress, “Then you lead the way, into Sonya Chernovna’s beach house. The Sonya Chernovna, who sells guns and military hardware.”
“I doubt she has weaponized security, for the beach house,” Ollie pointed out, keeping his voice low with everyone else, “Definitely has some kind of advanced security, though.”
Greg pointed to Ollie, “See? Smart guy! Listen to him!”
The moment after he said that, two forms darted past him. He barely had a moment to react before whirling around to see short black hair and long blonde hair darting towards the small hedge that lined the outer island-side patio of the beach house. A moment later the two figures leaped into the air, almost in unison. They flipped, bending backwards in mid leap before pivoting into a perfect landing on the other side. Lily glanced over at Cass and shot her a thumbs up, the blond girl rolling her ams and smirking at the others with a raised eyebrow.
Greg chewed his lip.
“I’d let her bend me like that,” A small voice echoed in his head. He and the others left behind all turned towards Snow who stared back at them blankly, “What?” She asked, “I would.”
“T M I, Snowcone,” Alex grunted and entered a track-runners posture.
Greg groaned, “I guess we’re doing this,” He muttered as a hand clapped onto his shoulder. He looked back to see John inches from his face, his deadpan expression broken only by a nearly curved smile. For John, the look was practically psychotic. He darted past Greg who hurriedly slapped his hand to the ground and reversed gravity even more, the others in hot pursuit. John sailed over the hedge, Snow launched herself before letting herself float until Lily caught her, Ollie, to Greg’s surprise, threw himself into a front handspring and used the gravity to hurl himself past the defensive plants. Val just hopped over, no effort.
The next thing Greg knew, he was standing on the other side as well, rubbing his head and looking around, “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” He murmured, still trying to keep his voice low.
“I can’t believe we didn’t do it sooner!” Alex laughed and Greg held up his hands desperately to try to get his friend to quiet down. It was no use, “Ho-lee-shit! This is it! Sonya Chernovna’s beach house, where she has all those wild parties. Supermodels, heroes, the rich and powerful,” He said with a too-wide grin. “Can you imagine all the cool stuff that’s probably here? We gotta check it out, right?”
“Hey, she didn’t say we couldn’t go,” Lily said, shrugging, “Besides, if there's an obstacle, I hop over it. It’s kind of my thing.”
“Hell yeah! Parkour girl gets it!” Alex barked, clenching his fists.
“Parkour girl?” Lily asked, squinting at him.
“I wanted to see it too,” Cass said, looking up at the building. “How she lives in her downtime.”
“You know… most of us are going to sign with ASTA right? Won’t we get in trouble?” Greg tried one last futile time to speak up for reason.
Val scratched his head and walked past him, “Just don’t touch anything or do anything stupid and you got nothin’ to worry about, it’s Alex we should all be concerned about.”
“Huh?” Alex blanched.
Ollie nodded, walking with Val, Cass and Snow close behind. Snow stuck her tongue out at Greg as Ollie glanced back, “This is a chance of a lifetime, I am to take it, personally. It could give me some insights about my future sponsor. The only person who would actually cause any real trouble is Alex.”
“Hey!” Alex growled.
Lily sighed and nodded before patting Greg on the shoulder, “See, nothing to worry about. Just keep an eye on Alex and everything will be okay,” She said and made her way towards the door leading into the building with the others. Greg let out a sigh, there was no way he was talking them out of it, might as well just roll with it. He rubbed his neck and glanced up at Alex who made eye contact with him.
Alex’s nostrils flared, “I-I’ll show you guys!” He barked and marched past them. “I’m going in first!”
Snow raised a hand, “Oh no,” She said, her artificial voice deadpan, “Don’t do it. You could set something off,” She added, taking no steps to stop him.
Val snickered as Ollie stopped a few paces behind Alex who grabbed a hold of the handle. He tugged once and it opened without any resistance. There was a long pause as everyone stared at him and the spot where the door had been shut.
Nothing happened.
They all stared stupidly at the opening leading into the darkened interior for a few seconds, even Cass’ expression had gone comically flat. They looked at one another for a moment, then back at the door where Alex had already disappeared inside. Their eyes widened and they raced in after him, scrambling through the entry and onto a narrow path of what looked like hardwood floor. The moment they stepped on it, the floor glowed a little beneath their feet, casting just enough light around them to provide personal visibility. They could see one another and a few feet in front of their faces but that was about it. Greg tapped his foot against the floor and ran the tip of his shoe over the wood, it slid right over the seam between the two pieces, not even a bump. His lips formed a line, “The floor is a screen,” He said.
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The others glanced down at their feet and tapped against it themselves, the floor seeming to glow around their feet where they stepped but it was some sort of elaborate illusion created by the screens that made up the entire floor. “That’s cool,” Lily murmured.
Cass looked up and sniffed the air, “Do you smell that?” She murmured.
The others sniffed before Ollie spoke up, “Fresh air? But I don’t see any openings in the walls.”
“There are some vents on the sides of the room,” Snow’s voice joined in, filling their ears for a moment. She rest her hands on her hips and looked around the room, “It’s way too dark in here,” She said, “Can’t connect to the network so I guess the only option is…”
Greg paused, resting his hand on a rail that appeared to follow the narrow path that formed a square around the large room, he glanced at Snow and got a bad feeling, “W-wait!”
“Lights!” She broadcasted, making the sound audible to anyone and anything that could hear.
Immediately their entire world changed around them. The almost pitch darkness of the central room of the beach house exploded with light and color. Around them the sheer walls became a perfect mirror of the outside. Greg blinked against the sudden change in lighting before whipping his head to the left as he heard shouting. He froze. He could see the other aspirants playing volleyball in the distance. He looked up, there was the sky, a few stray clouds drifting overhead. He could hear the trees rustling as a breeze washed over him.
“She turned the entire room into a screen to project whatever she wants,” Cass said breathlessly, turning in place, “There’s even a breeze. Do you feel that?”
“Woah,” John breathed.
“No kidding,” Alex murmured before letting out a gasp, “Dude, look in the middle of the room!”
They all turned as one to see what the path that wrapped around the room overlooked. There was a living-room and lounge in the center, slightly recessed, necessitating one to step down a bit to enter. Inside were a number of couches and chairs spread out in a comfortable fashion, they looked a little out of place with the ‘grass’ and ‘sand’ beneath them. Yet the little comforts weren’t what garnered their attention. A large half-pillar hung from the ceiling to hang about ten feet above the ground. Numerous flat panels adorned the upper half of its surface. Greg frowned when he saw one move a bit. He took a step to the left and one of the panels tilted to point in his direction.
“What is that?” Lily asked.
“They look like directional speakers,” Ollie said, “I’ve only seen them in articles before.”
They all drew a little closer, Greg unable to help himself with his curiosity. He stepped into the recessed lounge and the pillar immediately reacted. Part of the pillar shifted and popped open revealing what looked like a C-shaped rail that projected out of the side. The rail split in half and began to move in a circle around the lower half of the column, some kind of silver fabric following behind it. It only stopped when it returned to its starting point, meeting its other half again. The silver screen stretching just a little to form a seamless connection with itself. A moment later the screen came to life and Greg was immediately blasted with the world news.
“Two navy subs were lost today when-” He covered his ears, it wasn’t loud, but it was so clear it was jarring. He took a step to the right and it followed him, “-a strike team is being assembled but without a clear location to investigate the Pandora-” He pressed his hands against his ears again.
“Snow! Can you shut it off?” He shouted, “Please!”
A few painful seconds later, the voice of the reporter stopped ringing in his ears. He let out a groan and allowed his arms to fall to his sides before glancing at everyone else, “That was-” He paused when he met their eyes, “What?”
“I didn’t hear anything,” Val said, scratching his head, “You okay dude?”
“I heard an anime theme song,” Ollie murmured, “I hope I didn’t interrupt someone’s playlist.”
“I heard a football game,” Alex added.
They all looked at one another then up at the flat panels that were still shifting to point in their direction, “I think we should move on,” Greg murmured, “Or better yet, leave.”
“That’s going to be difficult,” Cass said flatly. He turned and fixed her with a stare only for her to gesture over her shoulder at the pristine scene of the outside behind her. An uninterrupted view. Not even a door handle to break the illusion. He stared at the wall where the door should be, trying to figure out where the door could possibly start or end. “I think we’re out of luck as far as going out the way we came is concerned.”
“Why the hell would she make the door handle vanish?” Greg complained.
“Aesthetics?” Lily said, shrugging off to the side while she and Snow patted the sides of one of the couches experimentally. They looked at one another and nodded before hopping onto the couch, Lily stretching out and Snow relaxing on top of her. “It feels like a water bed, but less wobbly,” She sighed, “Oh that’s nice.”
“There’s a hall over here!” Alex called, “Splits off!”
“Stairs, a sub level,” John murmured on the other side of the room.
Alex looked up at Greg and grinned. Greg closed his eyes tightly and sighed, “You have got to be…” He frowned, “Okay, let’s have a look around since we’re here already. Just be careful! Everyone pair off! I’ll go with Alex, keep you out of trouble.” Greg grunted.
Alex shrugged, “Right, right, fine. Whatever. I’m taking the left hall.”
“We’ll hold down the fort!” Lily called, waving at them from her comfortable spot. Snow looked like she was already dozing off.
“With Val,” John muttered, walking over to stand next to his friend.
“Works for me, we’ll take the right hall,” Val said, punching the air a few times, “She’s gotta have a game room around here somewhere.”
“I’ll go with Cass downstairs then,” Ollie added, glancing over at the girl who gave him a sideways look.
She shrugged and nodded, “Sounds reasonable, you have a good eye,” She said primly and made towards the stairs John had pointed out.
The three groups went their separate ways, each proceeding into a portion of the mysterious place that they had thought was nothing more than a simple beach house. Greg couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy about the whole thing. No alarms had gone off as far as he knew, and there was no visible way out until they at least found the front door. Yet that uneasiness began to give way to something else, hungry curiosity. Just the living room alone was enough to clue him in on what Sonya Chernovna was really using it for, a testing ground, and he was very interested in what other marvels she was playing with.
Despite his misgivings, he followed Alex into the hall leading out of the living room and back into the darkness.
—
Sonya huffed out a small laugh as she lounged on the beach, reclining on a long chair and sipping at a smoothie. An actual smoothie this time. Her big sunglasses reflected the sun beating down on her stark-white skin. Her frilly pink bikini shimmered a little as she shifted, glancing over to the woman laying on the beach chair next to her, “Have some intruders in the beach house,” She snickered as a message came through in her HUD. She opened it and smiled at the selfie of Marta and Barry’s smiling faces on a boat with the water behind them. They’re so cute.
Carla glanced her way, tilting her own sunglasses down a bit. While Sonya had gone for revealing, Carla had gone for a bit more modesty. The one piece she wore was a bit transparent down the middle, giving a slight low-cut look but it was also accompanied by a sheer skirt that went down to just above her knees. “Will that be a problem?” She asked.
Sonya snorted, “Heaven’s no,” She said, waving a hand. She didn’t keep anything of real importance there, nothing related to Ishtar anyway. “I’m just surprised that Cass and Lily decided to participate in some home invasion.”
“They’re basically college students,” Carla pointed out, “Of course they’re going to get into trouble,” She shook her head, “That place is Amos’ current playground, right? Testing stuff out to put in your new house?” She asked.
“Yep,” Sonya said, reclining back on her chair, a smug smile playing on her lips, “This should be interesting.”