Recovery and Redemption

A Nervous Stomach

The morning of the heist had arrived and Carmen was feeling less than up to it. Something did not feel quite right. It was not simply the dread of leaving the protective walls of ACME. Nor was it the fact that she would be pulling off a heist for the first time in something like two months. While both of those were quite terrifying prospects they were not the total summation of what was going on. There was something else that she could not put her finger on. She felt....different. Not quite right.

In large part it was probably because of all of the late nights she had been pulling lately. Doing research on this case and planning how to best execute this heist and get VILE to be doing something truly productive in her absence. It was not easy and the work had been taking its toll on her. Yesterday she had nearly nodded off in the middle of a staff meeting. How embarrassing that had been! Zack had managed to cover for her, and she was thankful for that, but it shouldn't have happened.

The topic of the meeting had taken rather a serious tone too. To fall asleep when ACME's lead epidemiologist was discussing the potential threat posed by the theft of bubonic plague samples. Completely and utterly unacceptable. Especially when it was something that she had been studying so much on her own time. She knew all to well the potential risks of a virus like that being unleashed on an unsuspecting public. If things were not taken care of soon and the samples either retrieved or destroyed results could prove disastrous. As horrific as this whole situation was, or would soon be, it had sparked an idea.

While it had been something she had been contemplating since she had first found out about the theft; Carmen hadn't been fully prepared to set it into motion until now. This had required a great deal of planning into the night, and making contact with several of her closest colleagues at VILE out of the blue. Yet it seemed like they would be able to begin laying the groundwork for her project today, or rather within the next three days that she had laid out specifically for this heist.

In some ways it was a relief to know that VILE would have something productive to occupy its time while she was away. A directive straight from her that would reassure them and potentially keep the detectives busy as well. If everything went as planned it could also serve to be incredibly useful to the community as well. It had required a few adjustments to the heist she would be undertaking today, but that was a small price to pay. It would all work out if she could just get through it.

Just thinking about the heist exhausted her somewhat both mentally and physically. Which was probably why rather than heading out into the lab after she had gotten ready this morning, she was instead lying on her bed fully clothed with the lights out. She had every intention of going out and getting some work done; once the pounding in her head subsided. She really should have gotten to bed sooner the night before, and now she was paying the price for it.

"Good morning Carmen!" The Chief said popping into her room. The dark seemed to catch him by surprise. "Carmen?" he asked again looking around.

"Good morning Chief." she said from where she was lying on the bed. The light he brought in with him was almost blinding in the dark causing her to wince.

"Rise and shine, it's time to get working on the case and to get ready for today! You've got places to be, people to see, and items to steal!" Chief said excitedly.

"Are you always so chipper this early in the morning?" Carmen asked him standing up and turning on the lights. "Especially when it comes to this? Aren't you supposed to be, lecturing me or something? Talking to me about the evils of my thieving ways, telling me how much you would like to see me behind bars?"

"What's eating you?" The Chief asked turning to look at her. "Oh my, you've done a wonderful job with your hair and makeup today. You look terrible! Nobody will have any trouble believing that you are sick."