Spy School: Zoe or Erica?

The Cruise

The trip on the boat was an adventure itself.

At first, everything was normal. Erica assigned me to examine the ship-which was fairly giant-for any unwanted passengers. That was the easiest and most adventurous part of the day by far. Erica herself captained the ship. After all, she was pretty much the only teenage girl that knew how to drive multiple vehicles under duress. Also while defending herself against enemy agents.

With one hand.

Blindfolded.

Yeah, it was nothing to her.

Anyway, back to the topic. Exploring the ship was by far the most interesting thing that I had done in the whole day, considering the fact that there were so many rooms to explore- many that included fancy snacks and the best of all: handy things from SPYDER.

Since that the employees had touched much of the things inside the cruise ship, that would mean their fingerprints would be easily implanted on the items in the rooms. Which means that many things could be found, such as their identities and personal items.

The first few guest rooms had a few things that I struck me as odd. Still, SPYDER employees were all normal human beings. Just being employees for an evil organization didn't mean that
they weren't normal people that held normal secrets.

The fourth room I arrived in had two beanbag chairs and a big TV, and on the right wall was the biggest poster I'd ever seen in my life. I sighed and ripped it off.

Taking the giant plastic picture of Harry Styles, I chucked it out the window and watched it dissolve in the salty seawater. When it sunk to the bottom of the sea, I rolled my eyes. Teenage girls these days were drooling over people like him, meanwhile, people like us were saving the nation, learning essential life skills, and doing things that were a much better use of time. Sure, he was handsome, but still. Does he know how to defend his family? No. Does he know how to save millions of lives? No.

The next room had a cage, which I assumed used to hold a bird. That was all, so I went on the next.

The process took about the whole afternoon, but let me give you the highlights.

What I assumed to be the fourteenth room had a sculpture of Ariana Grande, which I raised an eyebrow at. Reluctantly, I left it be since her music calmed my nerves. But still. A life-sized sculpture!? What were people doing in their free time these days!?

The twentieth room had a pair of underwear right at the doorway. I promptly exited milliseconds later after I entered.

The thirty-fifth room had sticky notes all over the walls- which, after I studied closely, was actually a bunch of to-do lists. I laughed at what the goals were. If someone needed to remind themselves to stretch in the morning, I didn't know what to say.

The second-to-last room had a computer that was, after some testing, locked. Using my hacking skills, I quickly broke in to see if there was any hidden information. I came up dry, unless you counted a particularly interesting search history a worthy find.

The last room I entered was by far the best.

The first thing that caught my eye was a poster for boy bands. Gone out the window in less than a second.

The second thing was a folder marked with CONFIDENTIAL. I grabbed it and flipped through like a dog when it's owner came back home, but it was just profiles of Russia's and America's president. I never knew Donald Trump had a crush on Britney Spears.

The third thing I found interesting: there was no bed. Instead of a comfortable mattress, the owner of this room had decided to place a giant Egyptian rug in the middle of a room with a rock the size of a human head placed neatly at the edge. Assuming the rock was a pillow, I chucked it out the window. For some reason watching it sink into the ocean seemed satisfying.

The last thing I found: a stash of especially expensive perfumes and makeup. After seeing this, my mind was a battlezone full of ideas. Chuck it out the window? Not really, that would pollute the ocean with chemicals. Smash it on the walls? Seems like a good idea, but...

I shoved them into my pockets. Maybe I did have a chance with Ben. I just needed the right combination of things-personality, beauty, and, of course, a handy supply of cosmetics.

Finishing up the scan, I headed back up the captain's room. Erica was stiffly maneuvering the ship, acting like she hadn't been sitting there for the past three hours and just came back from a run.

"Oh, there you are," she said when I came back. "I thought enemy agents had killed you. You were lucky you arrived at this time, or I would've abandoned ship to go out and try to find you. Speaking of finding things, did you manage to snag anything interesting?"

"No, unless you count this interesting," I handed her the Donald Trump portfolio. She took a glance at it and shoved it in her pocket. "All of this information I already know."

"Wha- you didn't even read all of it yet! And where did you even get that information? Donald Trump is the president of the United States! His information is one of the most guarded things in the whole world!"

"I read the whole thing already," she said, picking my jaw off from the floor. "And about the Donald Trump thing: I'm a spy. It's my job to know things."

I rolled my eyes. Typical Erica. 

"What do you want me to do next?" I said, taking a long look at the control panel. As I turned my head to look at Erica, something caught my eye at the bottom of her shirt. Something suspicious.

My eyes narrowed. Moving my hand over to to the tiny ridge on Erica's waist, I grabbed a tiny slip of paper out of a hidden pocket in her shirt before she could react.

Flipping the paper over, I dodged Erica's attempts to take it back and took a good look. A small smile spread across my lips when I realized what it was.

"You kept a picture of Ben," I noted. "Don't be a simp, Erica."

"That is confidential!" Erica practically hissed, grabbing the paper back. "And I'm not a "simp". Anyways, you shouldn't be insulting me. You're the one with a bunch of beauty products in your pocket."

I blushed. She was right about that, and I had no idea how she found out, but nodded. 

Erica's eyes went from annoyance to surprise. I traced her eyesight, eventually falling upon a small blinking red device implanted deviously next to a control panel button. From a distance, it looked well like a button itself, but I immediately caught on with what Erica was thinking.

"Zoe, we need to get off this cruise ship now!" she said, taking my arm. "There's a live bomb in the cockpit that's going to go off in thirty seconds!"