Take 2

Four

That night Rayla woke Rylan and they snuck you into the night, dressed for scouting. Whispering, for no apparent reason, Rayla said:

"If we want to find C9 then we will need to track the man from where you left him."

"Okay, I took him back to Jauh Street and he had a hoverboard stashed there."

"We'll start there, put in the night vision contacts so we can turn our lights off."

Tyla, can you plot the fastest course to Juah street?

If by can you, are you questioning whether I can-

Just plot it!

After twenty minutes of tromping through the forest they emerged in the clearing the C12 city was in. Jauh Street was two streets down from them. Sneaking down the street it was completely dark. After about five minutes of searching this dialogue was insured.

I got his tracks over here, Rylan.

Great, be right over!

They had picked up on the slight trail left by the hoverboard. Locking in its signature Rylan told Tyla to light it red through the night vision contacts. Following the trail was easy, but it was not so easy to stay hidden. It was after the curfew in this town so the patrols were out. After dodging two, they got in a closer encounter with one.

They were sneaking down an alley, when they heard a group of soldiers turn their way.

Umm, Rayla...there is no turn off this alleyway, and there is another group of soldiers coming from the other direction!

Okay, how many? I have four on this side.

Judging from their footsteps....about five.

So if needed we could take them on, but...Rylan...

What, hurry up!

We may need to use CUW-

No! Definitely not! We are not using Climb Up Walls! That is a last resort, and I would rather take them!

But then they would be alerted to our presence! We are already too widely known!

But, Rayla-

They are getting closer! Tyla, initiate CUW on both Rylan and my gloves, now!

Ma'am, that could be-

Now Tyla, he will survive! Rylan, climb now!

So as the two teams passed in the alley no one was to be found. A sweating Rylan and a giggling Rayla were about five feet above their heads. Carefully making their way up the wall, trying to be quiet, the duo swung on to the roof.

Two minutes after the coast was clear they leapt down and started on the trail again. They reached a door where the steps provided through. Pulling out a blank key Rylan pressed it into the lock, after a second he pressed a button on his wrist and the soft key solidified, molded to the right shape. Unlocking the door quietly they snuck inside. Following the red footsteps they proceeded down to the basement. Sticking to the wall they turned the corner at the bottom at the steps. Pausing they stopped and listened. No sound emanated from the house, but Rayla deployed a Life Form Scanner. It skittered across the floor and stood up. Spinning a dim red light shone from it, but no green dots appeared. They continued after collecting the Life Form Scanner. Pulling aside a bookshelf they entered a tunnel, which they followed till a pin prick of light appeared. It grew as they approached it, it was a blue light, like snow. Emerging, they found themselves on a frozen lake, surrounded by snow banks.

Rayla, I added ice mode to our scouting suits.

Great, let's try it out!

Tyla, can you initiate code 3348 on our suits, and while you're at it, reprogram button 82 on our wrist controllers to turn it on and off.

Hey! That was donut mode!

Yes, but when are we ever going to need to look like giant donuts again? That was kinda a once in a lifetime experience.

You never know! Tyla, save the code to the memory base in a new folder called Donut Dance.

Yes, ma'am. Button 82 now has the code for ice mode. Would you like me to start it up?

Yup, and Tyla, scan for large air pockets in the ice, it could be a disguised cave.

All the while they were sneaking along the edge of the wall, trying to stay in the shadows. When they saw each other's suits go bright white so all they could see were each other's eyes, they flipped down their visors and walked straight across the lake, which had a slight dusting of snow. When they reached the other side Rylan turned and blew a powerful fan from a vent of his wrist, pushing the snow to erase their tracks. Rayla stopped three feet from the snow bank and knelt down.

Tyla, turn on metal detecting mode, please.

Red showed through her vision, just where she expected it to be. A mat was buried on the ground, one that would detect who passed over the area and either open a door or sound an alarm. Standing up she looked around. Spotting some more red a little to the left of the presumed door. It was an air vent. Pulling out a marble sized metal ball she rolled one towards it and pressed the button on her wrist. A small buzzing sound appeared and she stepped calmly over the mat. The electricity rings the marble word every time. She had done a temporary one, so when she picked up her marble again it would start working. Working quickly, Rylan pulled out the laser and started to cut the panel off, but Rayla stopped him. Placing her left knuckle on one of the screws she pressed a button on her right hand. It unscrewed immediately.

I added an automatic screw driver to my gloves. I don't want it to show we've been here.

Rylan nodded and looked back at the circle of snow drifts. Once finished Rayla let Rylan enter first.

Ten minutes later they were back outside, having confirmed that C9 was back.