Skirted Spies: Season 1

Episode 14-2: "Ispio Exists!"

McAllen, Texas: Cinemark Movies 6

Alisa's P.O.V.

"Jackal, what did you do?" I asked covering my mouth with my hands in astonishment. He had knocked out a poor kid working in the projection room of the theater, using only his elbow to deliver an effective blow to the unsuspecting head. The kid fell with a thump.

"Don't worry," Jackal said, "he'll be just fine. He'll wake up with only a small bump on his head. Now then, shall we get to work?" He makes his way to the modern projector sitting at the end of the room, already in use to show the latest movie that's come out this month. He stares at it for a moment, "Alisa dear, could you help me with this. I'm not as technologically advanced as you are."

I don't know which personality I prefer: the one where he's spasmodic is scary enough, but when he's prim and proper, that makes me feel like he's got something wicked cooking up in his head.

Hesitantly I step over the unconscious kid, gripping the laptop that I brought with me even tighter. I placed it down next to the projector, and unrolled the necessary wires I stashed into my jacket pockets to hook up the two devices. The computer powered on, and was properly synced up with the projector.

"So, everything is set up?" Jackal asked.

I nod slowly, "Uh-huh. All we gotta do is boot up the media player and launch the video. It'll play at the same time the movie is playing."

"Fantastic work, Alisa." He reaches down to play the custom-made media we created, showing images of the newspaper clippings and photos we've gathered throughout the years. The opacity was less than that of the movie, but it was still enough to catch the attention of the viewers in the audience. Whispered words of "Ispio" could be heard among the crowd, asking what that word meant or what it was, and more importantly, why was it taking up the screen that the movie they paid to see was on.

"Well, that was effective," I said peering down towards the audience.

"It's only a matter of time before more people start getting interested in this particular group. They just have to, right?" he asked me sincerely; I could only shrug in response. "I mean, don't they want an explanation as to why so many scary organizations are popping up on the map? People who are that smart don't just have a slip up somewhere and get the cops called on them." He walks over to me and takes a peek at the crowd too, "Damn blind sheep."

I turn to him, "Why is it that you want to expose Ispio? You seem to admire their work a lot."

He laughs, "I'm tired of secrets, Alisa. Aren't you?"

"I... I suppose so." Truthfully, the secrets are the very things that fascinate me. It's why I got into conspiracy hunting in the first place. Catching wind of Ispio has been the most exciting news I've ever received, and I wanted nothing else but to learn more about this strange secret society hidden within plain sight.

A banging on the door startled me out of my thoughts.

"Hey! Whoever is in there, you better stop tampering with the projector!" a man's voice shouted. The doorknob started to jiggle, and abruptly stopped once he figured out that it was locked. Jackal seems unaffected by the sudden intrusion as he continues to lean on the tiny window slot.

"I think we've over-stayed our welcome," he whispers to me.

"You think!?" I shouted frantically. "I don't want to get in trouble! You said this was something safe! I can't afford a fine for vandalism of private property, Jackal!"

He grabs a strong hold of me to keep me still, "Easy there, Ms. Granite. We'll just politely leave the premises."

He's joking right? He's got to be joking about that plan. We can't just "politely leave the premises," they're going to want to detain us once we step out of here. Not to mention the unconscious employee on the ground that they'll no doubt press charges for. Suddenly, the room fell quiet as I noticed that the man has stopped trying to come in. Jackal feels the uncomfortable silence too as he gradually loosens his grip on my arms.