Chapter 4
When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Emma on her laptop. "Did we get in?" I asked.
"Yea we got in. And with great pay too! Just look at all their benefits! If we worked there until retirement, we would never have to pay for anything, plus, the dental is better than we get here!"
I rolled my eyes. "Hello, is Emma home? Evil company, remember? When do we start 'working'?"
"We can come in at noon today. They were obviously pretty excited to get our applications. Sam went down to the cafeteria to get breakfast. I think we should do the same."
"Do you thing that Sam was ticked off? She seemed too quiet yesterday. I think that she really wanted to be a part of the mission."
"If she is, she'll get over it. We all know that being a spy means taking and giving for the team. And Sam's smart. She'll understand." As right as Emma was, I couldn't help but feel bad. Sam was a great spy, and a big part of the team. I didn't want to leave her behind. But Emma was right. Team meant giving and taking. We had to do this with or without Sam.
When we got down to the mess hall, it was more crowded than it usually was. Most of the girls enjoyed sleeping in on Saturdays, but something about today was different. Somehow, word about our mission had leaked. Of course, it was very hard to keep a secret in a dorm house full of spies. Especially girl spies, the biggest gossips in the world. Emma and I tried to go unnoticed as we went through the breakfast line, but that didn't last for long.
"Did you guys really get a, like, real live mission?" Said the perkiest, jumpiest, girl in the school, Tara.
"Um, you could say that. You also couldn't say that, like, to anyone else." said Emma sternly.
"But this is the most exciting thing that has happened since Kelsey blew up the science lab! I just have to tell everyone! It could be big news if you succeed! You're the first one of us Junior detectives to get a real assignment and not one of those fake things that they say are important! This is ground breaking!" Tara went on and on, but I tuned her out and sat down with Sam. I could tell in a moment that Sam was in a sour mood. And considering that we were having waffles, this wasn't a good sign.
"Good morning Sam." I said as cheerfully as I could muster.
"What's so good about it? Did you and Emma get the jobs?" She asked, though I knew she didn't care that much, if she wasn't going to get to help.
"Yea, we got the jobs," I tried to say it like it didn't matter. "Hey, maybe we can still find something for you."
"Don't worry about it. You can't focus if you are worrying about me." It sounded like she meant it, but at the moment, I couldn't tell.
We finished our breakfast quickly and went to get ready. Emma dressed in a snazzy black polo and skirt. She definitely looked the part, though the skirt and heels would be a problem if she had to run. I also wore all black, but in a much more movable style. It looked like I would be doing any of the fighting that happened today. Sam sat on her bed reading the latest Vogue and refusing to dress. Though she would never say it, Sam was really upset. I knew Emma could tell too; we had all grown very close in the short two years we had been on a team together. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do for Sam at the moment. We bid Sam good bye and left to have our makeup done.
Being only sixteen, we had to have a professional makeup artist do our makeup to make us look older. It worked well too. I could barely recognize Emma when she was done. Soon, disguised and equipped, we boarded the air car and were on our way.
Emma, being the planner that she is, started going over everything we both already knew about surveillance work. "I'll probably have a better chance than you to overhear plans that are higher up and more top secret since I will be dealing with the technology and will be around the people who are planning this entire thing. But, you will be more easily overlooked because people always underestimate the intelligence of the grunt workers."
"I know, Emma."
"Remember, Breanna already has twenty years of security work under her belt, so you have to look like you know exactly what you're doing. It might even help if you looked a little bored so people will continue to underestimate your intelligence."
"I know, Emma."
"Unless we're really lucky, which hasn't seemed to be the case, we won't hear anything about this top secret plan today, but we need to do some serious poking around soon, in case the virus is going out sooner than head quarters thinks it will."
"I know, Emma."
"It would be really great if one of us could lift a higher level security card off someone, but I could also just reprogram whatever cards we get in my spare time. Since we are coming in as late as noon today, we have to do the basic scouting as quickly as possible, so it's a good thing we all already know the floor plan."
"You sound like our teachers."
"The e-mail saying that we got the jobs didn't say anything about our assignments that included what floors we will be on. It just said I will be doing level three secretary work and you'll be on level two guard duty. Those aren't referring to floors though. Just like a regular survey, whoever is on one of the upper floors will take the top half, and whoever is lower will take the bottom half, but you will have an easier time moving about the building, because I'll probably get stuck at a desk, so if you can, do a little more than your half."
"Will do. You know this is all simple procedure stuff, right? We both know what we're doing."
"Yea, but I know you'll just get lost inside your head and forget to think about the mission if I don't keep your attention for the ride over." She gives me an apologetic smile and turns to check that her weapons and ear piece are hidden. I know she's right; I do tend to get lost in my head thinking about other things.
Being a security guard gives me more places to hide weapons, therefore I have an assortment of knives, sprays and two guns all within reach in case I need them. Emma is only able to carry two knives on her person and small gun in her hand bag. That shouldn't be a problem though, if someone suspects that there are spies in the building, no one suspects an office worker. I will be a much more likely target in this mission, but I barely notice the pressure of that anymore.
