With our group assembled, we made our way to the first checkpoint: the crossroad. Unlike in the nightmare which I've just expierienced, the lights were still on. We were about to head to the corridor when I heard footsteps behind us.
Agent Nebula caught a glimpse of the approaching person and ordered us to split up, which we did in an instant. I reached the corridor, as I was the one closest to it. At first, I considered being completely motionless and sit out the encounter unnoticed, but pure curiosity got the better of me. After some hesitation, I cautiously peeked out of the corridor.
The mysterious person was none other than Anthony, much to Nebula's surprise. He didn't notice me, but saw Arika, much to his own relief. Seeing that the unexpected visitor was on our side made me far less angsty. I now carefully observed the interaction, more focused on how it went than on maintaining my cover.
- Oh, Arika! - Anthony called her - I was hoping to find you!
Arika, though initially hesitant, came out of hiding.
- It's about time for the nightshift to begin and you managed to get some sleep, so... could you replace me? - Anthony asked.
Arika wasn't sure whether to accept or not. I could see the internal dillemma in her gray eyes, which were looking back and forth frantically as she scrambled for an answer. I wasn't the only one to notice this, as Agent Nebula winked at her, signalling accept.
- Okay, no problem - Arika agreed and made her way to the cockpit.
Anthony didn't stick around and slowly shuffled along to the crew quarters. Agent Nebula glanced at me, which was a sign that hiding was no longer necessary. I wasn't entirely sure what to do, now that we're one member short. However, I did put my faith in Nebula, as she probably devised a plan right now.
- Let's continue like nothing happened. We can handle this by ourselves. Arika would have been useful, but here presence wasn't priceless - Agent Nebula didn't mind the sudden change of plans.
While I had my doubts, I was ready to do my thing, with or without Arika. I led Nebula to the armored door.
- It's time to enter. I'll see if it's locked or not - Nebula whispered to me.
While I found entering one hour and fifteen minutes early questionable, some part of my brain told me that Nebula wanted to do something before Leonid and his cooperator arrive. I trusted this internal sense and stood by, ready to take action if needed.
The door wasn't locked, indicating that noone was there, considering how Leonid carefully locked the door the last time he was here. Nebula pulled out some plastic gloves and opened the door after putting them on. Before I entered, she handed a smaller pair to me.
I was about to ask "Why do we need these?", but I deduced that it was to prevent us from leaving fingerprints that may tip off Leonid about our visit.
I passed through the armored door, not knowing what to expect. Why was it armored? Was it hiding something? I really wanted to know, so I pushed forward.
What I found inside was underwhelming. I expected to find a secret machine or a hidden weapon in there. Maybe plans that we weren't meant to see.
Instead, the room didn't seem to be anything special. It appeared to be a storage room filled with random, unimportant things. There were the typical crates, with labels such as Provisions or Spare parts. Much to my dissapointment, there was no TOP SECRET or CONFIDENTIAL label. Why did Leonid select such a random spot for his secret meeting?
- I'm not going to lie, I expcted to find something more... interesting in here - I sighed with dissapointment - Why did he chose such a random and accessible room for the meeting and why is there an armored door that protects nothing dangerous?6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTDFa6w6xf
- It's such an obvious place to visit that most don't bother to actually inspect it, claiming that it's "Too easy" or "Not hidden enough". In a paradoxical way, it's the perfect spot. As for the door, I doubt that this - Nebula pointed at the supplies ahead of us - is all there is to this room.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYaaLI11nv
- So we need to search further? - I guessed.
- Indeed - now it was clear why Nebula wanted so much downtime.
Without further ado, I got to work, checking every inch of the room for hidden clues or, generally speaking, secret things.
- Time Skip -6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Nuxc4hU2u
Despite our great efforts, we didn't uncover anything worth investigating. Some broken or rusty parts of the submarine were thrown away to rot, but they contained nothing of relevance. I was pretty exhausted and disheartened.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YgAUtEl34
Agent Nebula, on the other hand, would seemingly never run out of determination and patience. This inspired me to get up and, despite my diminishing hope, continue searching. Nebula was actually surprised by this and on a side note, so was I.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkOlzAYrWR
This added courage luckily paid off, as I finally discovered something intriguing: a computer, but not just any computer. This setup reminded me of Nebula's secret room in the Science and Containment Centre. Several screens near each other, with tangled wires all over the place, connected to a keyboard. There was also a laptop, but it was currently deactivated. Careful not to leave any traces of my activity, I tried to boot it up, but it was protected by a password which we didn't know.
Interestingly, post-it notes were scattered around the room. Most of them gave up on sticking to the wall and fell onto the floor, making it seem even messier. While I tried typing in some obvious passwords, like password or 123456, Agent Nebula collected the notes and hoped to find the password jotted down, but sadly, our enemies were smart enough not to do that.
- If Arika was here, we'd already have access to this laptop - I thought out loud.
- Let me try - Nebula suggested and I obediently moved out of the way.
I found a chair in the corner of this hidden section and brought it to the desk. Nebula sat down and tried to hack her way past the password, but the laptop's security system was foolproof. Maybe if Arika was here, she'd find a way around, but even with Nebula's impressive skillset, she couldn't get through. More concerningly, it seems like the device was booby-trapped.
The laptop uttered an innocent sounding beep. I got the impression that it wasn't as innocent as it sounded.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0b8nU4Vul
- That's worrying, isn't it? - I asked, even though the answer was predictable.
- Yes. It seems like the owner added a failsafe that detects any hacking attempts. If I were to guess, it notified said owner about an intrusion into the system. Go find a place to hide, the enemy can appear any time soon - Agent Nebula told me.
She quickly found a spot, that being a pile of rusting scrap. She moved some pieces and crawled into the pile, covering herself up with the junk. I looked around in stress, hoping to stumble upon a good hideout. Ultimately, I found a half-decent one. Still, better than nothing.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlbYZcd7j3
The hideout in question was a large crate which I moved to uncover the hidden section. I opened it up and found mercifully little inside, which explains how I was able to push it in the first place. I hopped into the crate, landing on some gears that did hurt a bit, but it wasn't anything serious. I grabbed the lid and covered myself up.
The tiny gap between the crate and its lid allowed me to breathe, but unfortunately, I couldn't see anything. I could only hear. I heard some quick footsteps. Someone made it into the hidden section. I twitched slightly, but remained silent.
I heard the sounds of typing and booting up the system. The gentle, monotonnous hum of the computer was mixed with loud, seemingly enraged clicking. Whoever the enemy agent was, they were checking if anything was found.
- Come here, we need to talk now. Someone broke into our hiding spot - the voice belonged to none other than Leonid, who was talking through a walkie-talkie.
I was about to find who was meant to receive the message I intercepted. I was in a very uncomfotable position, but didn't move a bit, not wanting to alert Leonid. Soon enough, a second person arrived.
- Is everything okay? - it was Rill Gomana.
This made sense, considering his unexplained recent absence. He was gearing up for the meeting, maybe taking a nap like us. I haven't seen him for a while, so I wanted to know what he was up to.
- Nothing was found. The alert went off before the enemy found anything. They could be anywhere, Rill - even though Leonid was talking to his trusted ally, he sounded menacing as always. I assumed that we were the enemy.
- Are you sure that proceeding with our plan is safe enough? Someone seems to know that we're up to something - Rill was audibly concerned.
- It surely is! The enemy found nothing, at least nothing of importance. Though, I do think we'll need to meet in another place next time, since this one has already been discovered - Leonid whispered, but I could still hear him. He was taking additional precautions.
- I just... I just... am not sure if this is worth the risk, Leonid... - Rill was clearly ashamed by what he said, but he wanted to get it off his chest. At least, that's what he sounded like.
- It most definitely is! What we're doing is making history, just like you always wanted! We're shaping the future and if all goes well, it will be bright for us... - Leonid was strangely enthusiastic, but I sensed a villainous satisfaction in his tone.
- You're right... but what if it doesn't go to plan? We've had our schemes thwarted several times. Who said that it won't happen again? - Rill was certainly afraid. I think he's having flashbacks of us foiling the Perseids' plots over and over again.
- Rill... when you joined my gang, you told me that you wanted to make history and change the world with your villainy, gaining your desired status along the way... If we worried about uncertain scenarios, we wouldn't have made it this far - for some reason, Leonid sounded geniuenly caring, but that evaporated with the next sentence - Now, get to work!
- Yes, boss - I heard Rill searching his pocket and pulling something out of it.
- Great - Leonid presumably took the object. He plugged it into the laptop, which led me to believe that it was a USB stick.
Because I couldn't see anything from my hideout, I couldn't tell what was on the drive, but it was definitely important.
- We're getting close... - judging by how Leonid sounded, he was probably smirking - Now, let's get out of here. We have things to do... - he finished ominously.
- Where should we meet next time, since this spot has been exposed? - Rill asked him as they made their way to the armored door.
- You think I'm going to tell you here? I wouldn't be surprised if the enemy was eavesdropping right now. Let's keep the confidential bits, well, confidential... - Leonid told him.
- Right, right... - Rill presumably nodded.
We waited for a bit to make sure that they've left for good. Afterwards, I climbed out of the crate while Agent Nebula freed herself from the clutches of the scrap pile.
- They left the USB stick! - I was tempted to grab it.
- They can't be that dumb, it must be a... - Nebula started, but couldn't finish.
All of a sudden, Alia appeared behind us, pointing a pistol at me.
- We're not that dumb, you are... - she smiled evilly, with Rill and Leonid joining her.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ix8KToQSp
and then Add to home screen.