A young man strode through the massive metropolis of Lucasta. Skyscrapers towered overhead against a blue sky, and the streets and sidewalks were filled with a variety of people and hovering vehicles. In this age, technology has never been so advanced. The brightest minds in Lucasta had made way for astounding inventions; from automatons to Artificial Intelligences. In a place such as this one, a creature could do anything they pleased, from eating at the many unique restaurants to visiting the impressive landmarks. If not interested in the city, one could go north to the Forest, or south into the desolate Wasteland. Although this was all available to anyone, it held no interest to the young man. At the moment he had his mind fixed on one thing.
“The Lucasta First Bank!” came a loud announcement through a megaphone. Standing at a nearby street corner was a tall man dressed in a black suit similar to the young man’s. “Built long ago in the 3000s, it still stands today! Just a quarter-mile walk from here!”
The young man continued on, ignoring the Bank’s facts spewing from the man’s mouth.
A pinging noise emitted suddenly from a metal bracelet around the young man’s wrist. He tapped it, and a small hologram of another younger man’s face appeared. Pale blue eyes gazed at him from under a mop of dirty blond hair. Despite the innocence of a youthful face, this young man was the mastermind behind the operation. The team he had assembled were all perfect for the job, and known personally and trusted by him.
“Hey, Tomlee.” the mastermind spoke first.
“Hey, Aleksandr.”
“Um…” Aleksandr pushed his blond hair out of his eyes, “how far are ya from th’ destination?” His voice carried the distinct accent from Ruhst, the poorer, more dangerous side of Lucasta. The city’s troublemakers were all sure to have some connection to the place.
Tomlee glanced behind him at the man spouting facts into the megaphone. “About a quarter-mile,” he told Aleksandr.
Aleksandr looked away from Tomlee at something off of the screen. “You should be fine. There shouldn’t be any armored vehicles deliverin’ goods in th’ next three hours. Remember tuh stick to th’ plan, yeah?”
Tomlee quickened his pace. “Yeah. Are the hover-vans in position?”
The blond-haired boy grinned. “Of course. Julian and Sebastian are already in position too. Though I don’t know why ya chose tuh walk. Ya do know th’ street cameras can track ya, right?”
Tomlee shrugged. “Eh, I live closer. I know you can just disable them from where you are. No one’ll think of it, seeing that the street cameras tend to “go out” sometimes anyway.” He looked up from the face of his friend. “See you in an hour. Time to set the plan in motion.”
Aleksandr nodded. “Will do.”
Tomlee tapped his bracelet, and the hologram of Aleksandr disappeared, leaving Tomlee standing in front of it: the Lucasta First Bank.
It was an impressive sight, standing in the midst of the newer buildings. Towering at one hundred twenty feet of solid concrete and giant rectangular glass windows, the entrance stood guarded by six massive columns. Inside, a twenty-foot tall wall of thick iron bars separated the tellers from the people. There were no windows on that half of the bank. Blinking cameras and stoic guards kept watch, inside and out. Down below lay the vault, which contained roughly one million bars of solid gilded steel, along with Lucastan Credits and other forms of riches. It could only be accessed through the voice activation of certain people and the simultaneous turning of three different keys. For the eight thousand twenty-nine years the Lucasta First Bank stood, all attempts of robbery had failed, and the security had only gotten stronger over the years.
Tomlee smiled to himself.
There was one flaw, though. Below the vault, a small drain ran directly beneath. Surprisingly, this drain had gone unnoticed until discovered by Aleksandr during one of the preparatory scans. There, Sebastian and Aleksandr would blow through the floor of the vault, while Aleksandr would cut the power to the cameras. Tomlee and Julian were there to incapacitate the people downstairs in front of the vault before they opened it. The guards would definitely try to open the vault to investigate, but wouldn’t expect an attack from behind. Tomlee and Julian were both told by Aleksandr that the drain could only fit two people with their equipment. Any escape through that way with more than two would be too slow, so Tomlee and Julian were stuck with the hard part: getting back up the stairs and out of the building.
“Ugh, I hate these crowds.” A voice came from behind Tomlee. “You ready Tom?”
Tomlee turned to see Julian Wire. Also wearing a black suit and tie, Julian stood a full head taller than Tomlee with similar black hair. They both differed in build and complexion. Tomlee was tanned, but not as dark as Julian. While Julian was broad and muscular, Tomlee was built but slender. Tomlee knew how to carry his weight, but Julian was the main muscle of the operation.
“Yeah. The bank’s cameras should be out now.” Tomlee proceeded up the stairs leading to the entrance. “We have three minutes before people start noticing. You have your things right?”
Julian nodded, reaching up to pat something underneath his suit. “Of course. I’m sure you didn’t forget yours?”
Tomlee shook his head. Concealed in his suit were several flashbangs and a long black revolver. It should be enough to get the job done.
Both pulled on white gloves and tapped their ears, activating the special masks Aleksandr had given them. Immediately, pure white, smooth masks enveloped both their faces, concealing their identities.
A tremor from Sebastian’s explosion underneath the vault shook the bank, causing mild confusion outside.
Adrenaline coursed through Tomlee’s veins.
“Let’s go.” Tomlee entered the bank, tossing a flashbang far onto the marble tiles. Julian followed, quickly throwing another even farther, over the metal bars separating the people from the tellers.
Everyone inside looked towards the odd duo standing at the entrance. That was exactly what Tomlee had been hoping for.
Bang!...Bang!
People and guards alike fell to the floor, ears ringing and eyes blinded. Tomlee and Julian took this opportunity to run, jumping onto the wall of bars. It was slow going, both pulling themselves up a little at a time. Once they dropped down on the other side, victims of the flashbangs were already showing signs of recovery.
“H-Hey!” a guard stumbled forward in his dark blue Lucasta First Bank guard uniform. He fumbled at his guard belt for a gun, blinking disorientedly.
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“Oh, hush.” Tomlee’s fist connected with the guard’s face, sending the guard crashing into a teller, unconscious. He lobbed another flashbang back over the metal bars.
Bang!
Tomlee dashed for the door fifty meters away at the back of the bank. Aleksandr had said it led down to the vault. “Keep them busy, I’m goin’ down!”
Julian tossed another flashbang and pulled out an automatic rifle that was hidden in his suit. “Go!”
Tomlee shot the lock and burst through the door, finding a staircase leading down. He quickly descended, hearing Julian shouting behind him, “I want everyone on the ground! Now!” accompanied by a string of gunshots. Tomlee continued down, cautiously slowing down towards the bottom.
As he neared the very bottom of the stairs, he withdrew his revolver and peeked below. What he saw made him groan inwardly. Aleksandr hadn’t told him about this.
A large hallway stretched out before him, and at the end was the circular bank vault door. Instead of regular guards, six tall metal Lucasta Bank-owned automatons were investigating the explosion. Although humanoid, these machines were stronger than men, and by the looks of it, they were close to getting the vault door open. The voice-activation security had already been bypassed. If they succeeded in the turning of the keys, Sebastian and Aleksandr wouldn’t be able to escape the automatons’ relentless speed.
“Turn these keys,” one automaton explained to two others in a lifeless drone. “Once we gain entry, we deal with any intruders present.” It clenched a glowing blue electronic chip in its thin metal fingers, sticking it in one slot of three in the vault door. The slot glowed green. Two other automatons stepped forward, each grasping a glowing key.
Tomlee knew he had to take action. Descending the rest of the stairs and entering the hallway, he took careful aim with his revolver at one of the automatons who had yet to enter their keys. Then he fired.
With a crack the head of the automaton exploded, sparks flying. The body collapsed, the neck sparking and the key still clutched in the automaton’s metallic fingers. The remaining automatons froze in confusion, staring at their comrade’s frame on the floor. Tomlee took this opportunity to fire another shot. The second keyholder’s head promptly burst apart in another spray of sparks.
“An intruder!” one automaton said. “One of you deal with it.” Already two automatons were bending down to retrieve the glowing chips. Another turned toward Tomlee, already breaking into a run. Now that they were alerted to his presence, it would be harder for Tomlee to incapacitate even one.
It dashed at him, its smooth metal face glinting. Tomlee reacted quickly, firing his revolver, but the automaton dodged, moving at an inhuman speed.
Gotta get to the ones with the keys! Tomlee thought, diving to the side of the hallway just as the attacking automaton reached him. It barrelled past, its long metal fingers transforming into a crackling taser. Thankfully it missed, just inches from his chest.
Tomlee recovered, sprinting down the hallway at the vault door. The other three automatons had already turned the keys and were pulling the door slowly outward. With the other automaton hot on his heels, he had to act fast. Still running, he fired off the last four bullets in the chamber of his revolver. The first two bullets connected, sending one automaton crashing to the floor. The last bullets ricocheted off the vault door, one grazing an automaton and the other lodging into the metal torso of another.
With as much force as he could muster, Tomlee threw himself at the door. He crashed into it, jarring his shoulder and knocking the automatons to the side. The vault door closed a little, but not all the way.
Just then, the automaton chasing him slammed into his back. With the extra force, the vault door shut with an echoing boom. He lay on his back, dazed. He made an effort to rise, when an automaton lunged at him, thrusting its arm taser into his stomach.
His body spasmed, and it felt like a thousand needles were stuck into his chest. He gritted his teeth and grabbed the automaton’s arm, straining. Having no effect, the automaton applied even more pressure and punched Tomlee in the face with its free fist.
The white mask on Tomlee’s face cracked. Paralyzed by the taser, Tomlee was powerless to stop the barrage of blows that followed. The mask protecting his face held temporarily but quickly gave way. White shards fell to the floor as the front of the mask was destroyed in seconds. Tomlee braced himself, shutting his eyes tightly.
But the blows never came.
A series of gunshots suddenly rang out, and Tomlee felt the weight and shock of the taser slowly abate. He opened his eyes to find the automatons crumpled on the ground, smoking. The one that had attacked him lay at his side, it’s head and shoulders reduced to shredded metal. Pieces of Tomlee’s mask lay around him.
The smell of gunpowder and burning metal permeated the hallway.
“Got to you in the knick of time it would seem.” Standing there was Julian, the automatic rifle smoking in his hands and the white mask covering his face. “I just got notified by Alek. We have to go now.”
“W-Why?” was all Tomlee could mumble. He couldn’t move. “I can’t move…”
Julian reached to help Tomlee up. “That taser got you good. Look, Alek said there’s someone else that’s gonna get here, and they’re not friendly.”
Tomlee was pulled to his feet. “Of course they aren’t,” Tomlee groaned. “Where’s Alek and Sebastian?”
“They already got as much gilded steel as they can carry,” Julian answered. “They’ll meet us at the rendezvous point. The hover-van should be there. As for the person coming, I don’t know. Alek sounded scared though.”
Tomlee was dragged by Julian down the hallway. Aleksandr scared? He didn’t scare easily. Whatever was coming…
A deafening boom shook the building, sending tremors through the floor. The sound of falling rubble could be heard above.
“We gotta go!” Julian slung Tomlee over his shoulder and sped up the staircase leading up. Tomlee could hardly focus his eyes as he was jolted around.
They burst through the door at the top, only to find destruction.
A gaping hole had been blown into the side of the bank. Around it, the wall was crumbling and concrete debris covered the ground. People caught in the explosion lay on the ground, unconscious or worse. A slowly fading haze of dust hung in the air.
Without hesitating Julian made his way towards the hole, stepping over concrete and limp bodies.
Tomlee was beginning to regain movement in his fingers as he was carried along. He estimated another ten minutes before he would be able to move fully again.
Julian stopped abruptly.
Tomlee strained to lift his head up. “What...”
“So!” Tomlee heard a female voice exclaim. “After the same thing?” Pealing laughter followed, echoing throughout the bank.
“Who’re you?” Julian asked, his automatic rifle pointed at the stranger.
“Doesn’t matter!” the voice replied cheerfully. “But the cops should be here soon, and I need someone tuh frame. Sweet dreams!”
Tomlee heard something being tossed onto the ground with a metallic clink. Before Julian could react, the air was filled with a pale blue smoke. He crumpled and Tomlee went with him, both falling roughly to the ground. Still paralyzed, Tomlee had no choice but to breathe in the gas. He slowly began to black out. He struggled, fighting for consciousness.
Through the growing haze, he heard footsteps approaching. They stopped at his side. Someone bent over him, and he got a clear visual of the attacker.
They were definitely female, wearing a slim dress suit similar to Tomlee’s. He searched for a face but found it behind a gas mask. Light brown hair peeked out the back of the mask, and bright hazel eyes peered at him from behind the glass eyepieces.
She reached out with a slender, glove-covered hand and poked his forehead. “Still conscious? You must be strong tuh resist th’ gas for this long.” Her voice was that of a woman in her late teens, around Tomlee’s and Aleksandr’s age.
Tomlee’s breath was becoming ragged. “Who’re you?”
“I thought you’d know that already!” She stood back up. “I’m on th’ Wanted List, same as Aleksandr.” She paused and spoke again, almost to herself, “He probably has it by now anyways…”
“What?” Tomlee asked. She knows Aleksandr?
She must have seen the change in his eyes because she laughed. “Ah, so ya do know Alek! If by chance ya do see him, tell ‘im ‘e shouldn’t interfere.” She paused. “Nevermind, ya probably won’t. Toodle-oo!”
The last thing Tomlee saw was her back walking away into the smoke. Then the world faded into nothingness.