Zachary Plotter - Live and Live Again

Vir Haar

Zachary and Richard dropped down from the hatch in the ceiling on rope. The two were fully dressed in black. Their hoods had little slits about the eyes and lips, but they were small and concealed. They landed on the marble floor and Keep took out a map of the museum. They located the position of their target and followed the shown path  on the leaflet. They passed intricate vases locked inside the bullet-proof glass boxes that contained them, as well as  ancient paintings on the walls and the occasional interactive display to amuse any bored children. Zachary and Richard couldn't make out any detail of the objects, mostly because the building was pitch black dark, but partly because they hadn't the need nor the time to try to.

The objective was to steal the prize possession of the museum - a painting uncovered from 1507 titled 'Vir Haar' in a quiet village in Africa. It was estimated to be worth $4000 upon it's discovery, but after six years of fame and fortune the painting's value had  dramatically increased to over $30 000 billion globally, which equates to just under £20 000 000 000 000. Plotter and Keep were to receive a million each, and had the whole heist planned to every last detail. The task had been appointed by a new face to the pair, going by the name Lance Fott, a fat and greedy (for money and food) hacker who made his money through blackmail. Fott was a fugitive and intended to bribe the courts with the painting. Zachary and Richard had been sent in to commit the burglary.

The first obstacle the pair faced were the two armed guards, however they were no problem for Plotter. He took out a small black straw with two poison-tip darts inside, and using his precise aim he pointed the straw at the minute exposed part of their necks between their bullet-proof vests and their visors. Hit! Hit! Both men were dead within ten seconds.

The next thing they were challenged with was the pair of high-security vault doors. Each were impossibly thick, with twice as much weight as there was volume. No bomb nor blade could penetrate these doors, like any other, and there was mighty concrete underneath the area to stop and drilling. The walls were heavy titanium, and there was quite literally no way in. With 360 degrees of protection, no one was ever going to get in while the doors were sealed. But Richard had a plan. He'd had the entire strategy worked out ever since the discovery of the ever changing lock system on he doors, where the gears and cogs would physically change position every half hour to one of four alternative combinations. The pattern in which these changes were made was random, so it was impossible to know for sure which key to use (the guards and staff were trained with the system however) to get in.

Due to the fact that locks altered every 30 minutes, there was a short period where the lock was venerable. Keep had worked out that should the mechanics be jammed during the change, then the doors would have to open up slightly to make adjustments. They would only shuffle slightly, but this was enough for what Keep had in mind.

The timings of the door were always 27 and 57 minutes past the hour, as they had worked out previously. Zachary and Richard had waited until two changes had passed to make sure they were correct. Then, when the time approached for 57 minutes past twelve, Zachary  held a small tank of gas and it's tap and hose up to the join between the two doors. At the precise moment he let out the gas and directed it inside the doors and into the mechanism. The gas got into all the gears, but cooled down and solidified once inside, just as Keep had intended. As the time came of the lock to change, the gears froze up. They tried to change several times, pushing and shoving against each other. after a few minutes of the doors shaking about, the reset protocol went into action. The doors very slightly opened, giving Zachary the chance to then slip some plastic explosive into the gap and set the fuse. The pair jumped back and explosives went off. Black smog filled the area. Zachary uncovered his eyes in thick smoke to see the doors battered apart. Inside the safe room there lay only a few items, however they were items with immense value. Golden vases with the word of Christ carved upon them, or priceless paintings, including Vir Haar.

The pair made their way over to the painting and examined it. It was a portrait of a beautiful African lady, framed in a gold boarding with intricate engravings. It was sealed inside a glass box upon the wall which was locked by a combination known only to a select few of staff who could be trusted with it. Through day it was under the observation of a guard, and though night the heavy duty protection was supposeed to take care over it. Not tonight however, so all Zachary had to do was use a small ssafe-crcking device which worked out the PIN in just 3 minutes. Keep opened the box and tested for laser beams. There had been unactivated by the PIN, so the two carefully removed the painting and made their escape.

Once on the roof, they carefully climbed down the side of the museum and ran past the security office they had taken out earlier.