"Right, and what is part 2 of the plan again?" Becca's partner asked.
"So, now that we have the cameras, all we have to do is wait for a moment where you can go there, and then you hack the computers and get away," Becca explained.
"Yeah, no. I know that part. But what are the specifics? What are the entry and exit points? How many guards are there during the day and during the night? When do they take breaks and change shifts? What kind of security system do they use? What are their outside defenses? Where exactly is the file we are looking for? Do you know Haddock's password? What is our escape plan?"
Becca stared at the man that was helping her for a moment. He was wearing a tight-fitted black suit with a light gray shirt and a bolo tie with a single black gemstone in the middle. On his feet were a pair of black heavy-duty boots, and there was a large black leather belt around his stomach with a pair of metal ornaments on the sides. Covering everything was a deep blue long overcoat with a small line of white fur around the neck. The man had plump lips, a small nose, hazel eyes, blond hair, and pointy elf ears. That wasn't the natural color; you could see the black roots on top of his head and as a layer under his hair. If Becca didn't know he was a man, it would be easy for him to pass as a woman, which apparently was something he did intentionally.
"I… I… I don't know," Becca sighed after a while, "This is the first time I'm doing something like this. I'm usually more of a detective than a spy."
"I'm just joking with you. I know that this is not your forté. That's why you called me. Zestra Cobinath, infiltrator extraordinaire," Zestra made an elegant pose almost that of a dancer with one hand above his head and the other going around his waist.
Becca just stared at the man with a bewildered expression, "Do you do that often? Like pose out of nowhere and introduce yourself? I mean, I know you. What's the point?"
"Girl, you must be a blast at parties," Zestra rolled his eyes, "I'm just messing around. Well, not entirely. You already know me, and you know my name, and you saw what I did, right?"
"Yeah, I do. But I don't understand why you are asking me that. You introduced yourself, said your own name, and did that weird pose," Becca tilted her head.
"And that's how I know that no one planted a bug on you. This is actually part of a spell. If there was someone else listening to our conversation, you would hear the name of someone dear to you when I introduced myself," Zestra explained.
"Really? How does that work?"
"Basically, it works with my voice. I designate you as my recipient, but if my voice gets transmitted to a different place or there is someone else around us, everyone will hear a fake name instead of mine. And the spell uses the name of someone you love just to frazzle whoever is hearing," Zestra explained before clapping, "Now, can you show me the cameras? I need to see what we are working with."
Becca nodded and showed the cameras. She could either use her tablet to show the images or see them on her skill window. Using the system was the clear superior choice since she could see all the angles at once, but that only worked for her. The reporter showed everything to Zestra, who quietly listened to what she saw. Every so often, he would ask about a specific painting or angle, and Becca would reply to the best of her abilities.
"Right. I have to say. This was a very well-made setup. I'm surprised," Zestra smiled.
"Do I look that unreliable?" Becca gave him a sad smile.
"Not really, but some skills are not transferable. You are used to being a reporter, not scouting a place for possible entrances, hiding places, weak spots, security breaches, and stuff," Zestra turned to Becca and looked into her eyes as he lowered the tablet, "Before we start. Are you sure you want to be a part of this? If you want to give up, this is your chance. We can say that we coerced you, and you can drop the cameras. So far, you didn't do anything wrong. The moment we start planning the next step, that will change, and you will be an accomplice."
"I'm sure. Something is wrong, and the Guild is covering it up. And even if we are wrong, at least I'll know that I was just being paranoid. But yeah, if the Guild is doing what we think it's doing. I need to know," Becca nodded.
"Well then. Welcome to the world of crime. Try not to get addicted. When is the interview?"
"In five days. Will I have to go through with it, even after we get what we need?"
Zestra nodded, "It will be better. If you run away, you will be one of the suspects. Not to mention that they are likely to reschedule or cancel it altogether if they notice someone has broken in. You trying to get the interview will be annoying, and they will likely think you had nothing to do with all that. Then again, they might think you are related to the incident and interrogate you during the interview. But having you show up will already make it seem like you had nothing to do with it."
"Really? What about the whole 'criminals always come back to the scene of a crime' thing?"
"That is usually talking about petty crimes. Industrial espionage doesn't fall in the same category. And a good spy never goes back to the same place they stole something from since they would already have a target on their backs."
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"I see… well, I suppose it makes sense. In that case, if you already got what you want, why would you go back," Becca nodded, "What's our next step?"
"Surveillance. We need to know the schedule of everyone in the house. Usually, I case the place for a few weeks before heading in, but I imagine that keeping the cameras up won't be exactly easy. You can keep them up for how long?" Zestra started going through the cameras, already making notes on a piece of paper. Even if he was confident that no one else had access to his tablet. Plans and notes were better kept on paper so they could be destroyed later and not have any trail. Ironically enough, in this day and age, it is easier to get rid of a paper trail than a digital one.
"If I'm doing things, maybe a day. If I just rest and don't use mana or other skills, maybe three or four. The biggest problem would be sleep. I can sleep, but it won't be a restful night," Becca explained.
"Ok, so we are on a deadline. Let's aim for three days. We gather intel today and tomorrow, and then we go."
The two went through every single camera until they found what they needed. From there, Becca focused on gathering information, while Zestra concentrated on setting up a plan. They had several options, and each one came with its own set of problems. But the biggest issue was the location of the information they were looking for. The obvious answer would be inside the computer in the office. However, Haddock was a smart man. If he had any incriminating information, it wouldn't be kept in an obvious place. If he had a secret safe or something, they would have to find it first, and there was nothing showing in the cameras.
For the next day, they took turns watching the camera. Becca was under a strict order not to move around, so she could keep the cameras going. The spell itself didn't use that much mana, but that changed when she added the invisibility part. A camera by itself only cost her about 300 mana per minute, but the invisibility spell asked for another 3 thousand, and that was for each of the cameras she had set up. Thankfully, she had some items that increased her mana recovery and a few mana stones that could manage to offset that issue. In the end, the time limit on the cameras wasn't because of magic, but because of the mental strain that it caused. Becca couldn't sleep properly, and she would always feel like her mind was in several places at the same time. The reporter also had a skill that could offset some of those effects. It was called Hyper Focus and allowed her to tune everything out for a period of time, giving her a chance to either work or rest her mind for one hour.
The good part of all of this was that she could set up several warnings on her tablet, and when one of the cameras noticed movement or anything that changed in the image, it could warn Becca or whoever was using the tablet. During one of her shifts the next day, one of those warnings triggered, and what she saw was strange.
"That's weird," Becca said after about two hours since she started watching the cameras.
"What?"
"I'm pretty sure Haddock took out the same book earlier," Becca replied.
"Maybe he likes it?"
"Then why doesn't he take it away? And why does he keep it in such an annoying place, to get to? I mean, look. He needs to use the ladder to reach it, and then he moves the ladder away o a different position. Also, both times he picked the book, then returned the ladder to a different place and walked to a third location to read."
Zestra perked up, "Can you show me the previous time he walked there? Without stopping what we are seeing now?"
"If I couldn't do that, I wouldn't call myself a reporter. Here," Becca changed to the recording she was making, and passed the tablet to the spy. Just like she said, Haddock went to the library, took one of the ladders, and went up to around the middle of the bookshelf before pulling a brown book with a golden eye in the cover framed in deep green. He opened it, moved his hand in an odd way, passing it on top of the book as if that was a prayer, and closed it before going down the ladder, changing its position, and walking to a different location. He opened the book again and just stared at it for a while, not even changing the pages. But thanks to the keen eye of a certain infiltrator, they managed to realize that his fingers were moving very slightly. Almost as if he was typing on an invisible keyboard.
"Ok. I understand why you were weirded out now," Zestra nodded.
"Do you think it's relevant?"
"Maybe. Can you move the camera?" Zestra asked.
"No. I can only set up movement when I'm close to the camera, or if I have a network of cameras going all the way there to send the signal. But I didn't do it since they might be able to track the mana," Becca looked to the side, noticing how the sheets in her bed were tossed around. She was moving a lot during her sleep and forgot to make bed. Her mom would be pissed if she knew about that. It may be time to take care of it. Then again, she was hungry, and some instant noodles could really hit the spot.
"Becca?" Zestra tapped her shoulder.
"What? What's going on?" Becca snapped back to the topic.
"This really messes with you, huh?"
"Yeah. Sorry," Becca shook her head, "Do you think we have enough?"
"Maybe, but I think that going in the evening will be better. Haddock doesn't seem to take anything back home aside from his tablet. So unless he keeps the files on his tablet, which would be a risk in itself, I think we are ok to go today in the dead of night."
"Right," Becca nodded but then realized a big mistake on her part, "How are you getting inside the villa? I only have cameras on the inside, I didn't set anything up outside the building."
"Oh, don't worry about that. I already have that covered, but we will have one more thing to take care of. Near his house, there is a coffee shop that stays open for 24h. They are used to people going there to work during the late hours of the night. So the plan is for you to be there while I go inside the house. Use a soundproof spell and keep working there. We'll use that recording of the video editing you were doing some time ago, and you'll be in a voice call with a fake number to pretend you are talking with someone else instead of me. While that is going on, you will be looking at the cameras and guiding me through the office," Zestra explained his plan.
"When did you have the time to think about all that?" Becca looked at the spy with a surprised expression.
"Preparation is half of the job. Now rest. I'll keep using the cameras while you get ready to stay up during the night."
Becca nodded and crawled onto her bed. It hadn't been long since she woke up, but the skill was taking a toll on her body. She barely felt like she slept before Zestra woke her up. It was already 2 A.M., and it was time to see what the Guild was hiding.