Brian Saves the World, Maybe

Chapter 36 - Heist

Brian, Jessica, Dale, and Ralph all sat in Brian's living room.

"Is this our first full Participants team meeting?" Ralph asked.

"Uh, I guess so," Brian said, scratching his head.

"What did you want to tell us about?" Dale said.

Brian shared what he learned about the chip upgrade and its link to Project 84.

"So... What do you think would happen if you upgraded your chip?" Ralph asked.

"I would be able to go to the Gateway at any time, without a phone. But, we think the Borae might be able to control me if I did."

"Sounds too dangerous to me," Jessica said.

Brian wasn't sure what to think. If it was the only way to gain access to the Gateway, it might be worth the risk. "We at least need to learn more about these upgrades, if we can," he said.

"You said the message included GPS coordinates, right?" Dale said, picking up his phone. "What are they?"

Brian gave him the list of coordinates, and Dale entered them into his phone.

"One of these places isn't far from here," Dale said. "Let's go check it out."

The next morning, they all met outside Dale's barn (his choice) and piled into his van (also his choice). Ralph sat upfront with Dale, and Brian and Jessica strapped themselves into bucket seats in the back. It was a strange experience since there weren't any windows in the back of the van.

The location appeared to be an office building. When they arrived, there were only five vehicles in the parking lot. Dale parked in a lot across the street, and they watched for several minutes as people went in, and came back out a few minutes later. Apparently, the upgrade process was pretty quick.

"I'm going in," Dale said.

"Me too!" Ralph burst out.

Brian frowned. "Whoa, hold up. How are we going to do that?"

"We'll just have a look around," Dale said to Brian. "You and Jessica should stay in the van. It's more dangerous for you two to enter. We don't know how the upgrade works. Just walking through the door could trigger it or something."

That seems prudent, TV said.

Brian hesitated for a moment and then nodded. "Fine, but you guys need to be careful."

Dale smirked. "You know me."

Brian wondered if that was supposed to reassure him.

Dale continued, "If we're questioned, we can say we must have come to the wrong place, and ask for directions."

Brian nodded, digging around in his pocket. "Take this," he said, pulling out the invisibility device, and handing it to Dale. "Just in case."

As Ralph and Dale got out of the van, Jessica said, "Bye-bye, boys. Have fun storming the castle!"

Brian looked at her blankly, and Jessica motioned for him to say the next line.

I believe that is a quote from The Princess Bride. The next line is, "Ya think it'll—

I know what it's from, Brian broke in, groaning.

* * *

"Just follow my lead," Dale said, as he and Ralph approached the door to the building. "Watch everything you see, very closely. Catch every detail. Got it?"

Ralph nodded. It looked like he was trying to suppress his excitement, and mirror Dale's serious expression.

Dale opened the door, revealing a waiting room, much like a doctor's office. Three people were seated in the room—two women, and a man wearing a cowboy hat. They were behaving oddly. Rather than messing with their phones or thumbing through a magazine, they were simply staring straight ahead, with dead looks on their faces. None of the three acknowledged Dale or Ralph, or even looked in their direction, as they took a seat off to the side.

Interesting, Dale thought.

After about a minute, a door opened, and a man stepped out. He walked past Dale and Ralph, toward the exit.
As the man was exiting, one of the women in the waiting room stood up, and slowly walked through the door the man had come out of. The door closed behind her on its own.

Very interesting, Dale thought, showing just the hint of a smirk.

"That was weird," Ralph whispered.
Dale motioned for him to be quiet, and made a point of staring straight ahead, like the others in the room were doing. Ralph caught on and began doing the same.

A few minutes later, the woman who had gone through the door came back out.

It's showtime, Dale thought.

As the woman past by, Dale silently pulled the device out of his pocket, showed it to Ralph, and held his finger to his mouth. Ralph's eyes widened, but he remained quiet and gave a small nod.

The man wearing the cowboy hat stood up and began walking toward the door. Dale pressed the button on the device, stood up, and followed close behind the man as he walked through the door.

* * *

Brian and Jessica had been waiting for around 15 minutes when they saw Ralph burst out the door to the building. He started running toward the van at full speed. Ralph got in the passenger side, a nervous smile on his face.

"What happened? Where's Dale?" Brian asked.

At that moment, the driver's side door opened, then closed, of its own accord. Dale suddenly appeared in the driver's seat, causing Jessica and Brian to jump.

"All right, gimme back the toy," Brian said, holding out his hand.

"No problem," Dale said, passing Brian the device, with a smug look. He casually held up a strange-looking silver gun, pointing it at the ceiling. "I have a new one."