This is a short tale of the Becoming Monsters Universe by AiLove.
The idea for this was pure fun. My wife, who puts up with me every day and alpha reads everything you see, has three characters. One you've seen before, two who are new to the universe. All three star here.
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Story 3: Mission Impawsible
The security guard walked his usual night patrol. Long ago, when he'd been trained, the people doing it had told him to vary his routes and timings. That it would not do to become predictable. He'd even listened to the instruction... for all of two weeks. After that, he'd figured out the quickest way to get his mandatory patrols done and stuck to the plan. It gave him more time to keep up with the stories he liked to read and the phone games he liked to play. This was twice as true today, some unknown benefactor had given the area a temporary loot bonus, so he really wanted to get back to it. After signing the last actual sheet of paper on his route, he decided that maybe the far back part of the building didn't need to be looked at directly this one time.
He didn't spot the pair of bright blue eyes watching him cut his route short. Blue eyes belonging to a golden-blonde Fox, one who he had recently been referring to as "unknown benefactor." To be fair to him, he hadn't been looking up at the air vent Cara was hiding behind, which made it harder. To be unfair, he wasn't exactly being thorough about his job.
The Fox pulled the grate of the vent back and to the side, almost silently, then carefully lowered herself to the ground. She briefly made sure she was prepared, her tools were in the pockets of her brown cargo pants, her long-sleeved black shirt was straight. She touched her plain black choker with her left hand as she adjusted her glasses with her right. "Alright, I'm in and the guard's distracted," she spoke in a quiet but firm voice. "Now what?"
"Lea here, all clear from here," over her earpiece came the motherly voice of the Corgi positioned at the roof of an adjacent building. "Reina?"
"I have your location." This woman's voice was smooth and level, accompanied by some taps at a keyboard. Reina the Otter rarely came with them on these ops, a strictly work-from-home kind of girl, but she never let that hold her back. "Assuming the map's correct, there should be an office two doors down the hallway to your left, room 124. What we need is in there."
"Got it." Cara turned and took a few more silent steps then tested the door. It was locked, which was expected, but since the lock was a physical one she had a few options in her pocket to deal with it. One quick examination, one pair of lockpicks properly selected, and about thirty seconds of effort and she was inside what turned out to be a fairly lavishly appointed office. At an ornate desk was a computer. Cara knew that was more than likely the target. Walking softly over, she powered it on. "Looks like the computer's locked."
"So unlock it!" Reina's level voice got a tinge of humor in it.
"That's a skill I didn't pick up, princess." Cara was looking around the room for anything else which might be the file they needed. Maybe, for once, it would be an actual file folder.
"Just because you're the one with abs doesn't mean you get to skimp on spycraft."
No luck looking around, half the bookshelves weren't even real books. Just false fronts with a couple of entertaining knicknacks behind them. Cara wished she could swipe them, but no telling who would be looking for what tomorrow so she settled for taking pictures. "I don't see YOU out here."
"Because you're the one with abs. Don't get your tail in a knot, plug in the USB drive and I'll take it from here."
Lea giggled over the coms as Cara reached into a different pocket to pull out the drive in question. It had a picture of a rat drawn on it, something that made Reina giggle but which meant nothing to Cara. Still, as soon as she plugged it in and the light came on, it only took fifteen seconds or so for Reina to say "I'm in."
Cara listened at the hallway door. Nothing, but for some reason she was feeling on edge. She had long since learned to listen to these gut feelings, they had saved her life and her mission more than once. Something was saying that time was short. "Hurry it up, please. I need to get clear. Lea, anything?"
The Corgi took a look through her sniper scope. "Looks like two guards are talking in the office by the front window. One's playing on his phone. You sure you need an extraction?"
"I don't know, and that's the problem. I'm calling it, get in position. Once you are, I'm yanking that drive and booking it one way or the other." She started to look through drawers rapidly, hoping something would stand out.
"Ninety seconds on the download, trying to be thorough in case they have any canary tokens." Reina sounded focused, the sounds from her side indicated a lot of action happening very quickly. "Haven't hit any real security, and given the kinds of missions this team goes after that's concerning."
Cara found a manilla folder in the top drawer of the large desk, a red label reading "Milk Freeze" on the front and several tabs throughout. "I might have found something else, taking some pictures then getting clear. Either of you ever heard of a Project Milk Freeze?"
Lea was on the move, getting to where her minivan was parked. "Nope, sounds like someone's making popsicles for a summer barbecue and was too cheap for ice cream."
Cara didn't pause to read the pages. Flip, focus, snap, flip, focus, snap. "Well, whatever it is, it took fifteen pages of plans."
"Big barbecue, then." Lea reached the van in a dark corner of a parking garage that didn't charge, and therefore didn't track who came in or out. "I'm in position. No movement out here. Reina?"
"Got the data and left a present, we can search it later."
Cara put the file she had just photographed back where it was when something hit her. "Lea. Did you spot any hidden rooms?"
"None."
"How many guards did you say were in the front office?"
"Two, why?"
"Because three were on the schedule for tonight." With a crash, the office door flew open, and a Human goon with a gun barged in with murder in his eye. Cara, being the only murderable candidate in the room, decided not to wait and see what he was going to do with the gun.In an instant, Cara vaulted over the desk and landed directly in front of him. Her first strike was an elbow to his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and making him drop his gun. The spare second let her draw her taser and apply it to the base of his skull. The man dropped like a stone, and Cara booked it for the nearby side door. "Reina! Please tell me the door's unlocked!"
"It was three minutes ago. Someone set off a silent alarm just now, I couldn't stop it but it only went to the local police station. Looks like it's still open."
Cara tried the door. It was thankfully not locked. She took off running across the chilly autumn night, the Indianapolis air holding no memory of the sun from twelve hours prior. No gunshots followed her, and a few seconds later she got into the back of a nondescript blue-green minivan which drove off towards the airport. She let her heart rate come down a bit before speaking. "Thanks for the pickup, Lea."
"Don't mention it. Snacks are in the center console, I know you like fruit bites, and since my niece does too I decided to stock up earlier."
"You're the best." Cara tore open a pack and got chewing as Lea drove, heading for a private strip where a plane awaited them with the ramp down. "Say, Reina, while we were on the flight here I saw some pictures of yours from a couple years ago. Seriously, girl, your muscles looked like they were carved in marble by a Greek sculptor. Tell me again why you're not out here punching bad guys?"
"I decided karate wasn't for me after that one demon. Hacking is more fun, and I can work from home." There was a pause as she tapped something into her system. "Speaking of. By the time you two get back tomorrow afternoon I should have an analysis ready. Setting the automated scripts on it now, but I need to hit the hay. Kids have soccer in the morning."
"And your husband's waiting to... snuggle." Lea inserted with a knowing smirk.
"He does enjoy the fact that I can hold my breath for eight minutes at a stretch, yes, but the snuggles afterwards are amazing. Reina out." There was a click.
Given that Cara and Lea were in the same minivan and Lea was parking in the cargo bay of their plane, the two took out their earpieces as well. Cara shook her head a bit. "I'm beat. If it's all the same to you, I'm going to grab the pillow and just rack out back here."
"No problem. Blankets should be between the seats. I'll head forward to make sure the flight crew is alright before going to sleep, myself."
"Thanks again." Cara crawled around gathering things up and got herself settled in. The back of the van was definitely better than most cots she'd slept on, and probably better than the seats up front. This would do nicely, she was asleep before the plane took off.
The town of West Yellowstone wasn't a particularly large one, but it served two important purposes. First, it supported Yellowstone National park, including a university and an airport also associated with it. Second, there was a restaurant in town that was good at serving carnivores and had private rooms. Ones with locking doors. Lea the Corgi sat at the table already, wearing black athletic clothes to go with her choker and glasses. She knew the orders for all four people who would be present and told the waiter long enough ago that the food arrived just before the others. She had the sausage and gravy in front of her, covered to keep its heat. The second to arrive was a Human man in jeans and a white tee shirt by the name of Chuck, or at least that's the name he gave Lea after authenticating. This team's handler and interface to the various agencies they often found themselves doing missions for. At least this time. They came and went. He sat in front of the steak and potatoes and waited patiently.
Third to arrive was Reina Ruddertail, black hoodie and jeans with a blue headscarf her own little signature. She cleaned her own glasses before locking the door and sitting in front of the smoked salmon. Two minutes later, the door clicked unlocked and Cara stepped in before closing and locking the door behind her. She glanced at the table and sat in front of the rabbit stew. "I'm assuming this guy isn't here to join the team. Handler?"
Chuck nodded. "Correct, but how could you tell?"
"Kind of easy to identify squad members. Smart girls with blue eyes and glasses with a thing for chokers and black shirts, plus another thing for nerdy boys with senses of humor." Cara shrugged and started to dig in.
