Spy School: Zoe or Erica?

The Meeting

At exactly 1:50 AM, all the lights in my room immediately started flashing on and off.

Not only that was the reason I woke up- the bed also started rattling like a massage chair. Not to mention my alarm clock also started screaming like a siren, which just made waking up even worse.

None of these built-in 'torture Jayde in multiple methods' applications turned off, until, of course, I dressed, brushed my hair, and got out of bed. The second I tried to get back onto it, everything just started going crazy again in my room.

Reluctantly, I headed out of my dorm to the living room, reaching for the lights in the corner. Mysteriously, they didn't turn on.

"They're not working," Trixie's voice poked through the darkness, making me jump straight back into my room.

"Jeez, at least warn me before you do that again!" I said. "And why didn't you bring a flashlight of some sort?"

"Isn't the darkness kind of ominous?" she said. "Also, it's going to be faster and easier this way. And don't try to fall asleep on me- I'll be asking you questions every now and then."

I nodded, then threw out the question that had been haunting my brain the very night. "Why two AM in the morning? Why not later in the morning, when I'm more alert?"

"There are some things that other people wouldn't like to know in this meeting," she simply said, quickly waving off the question. "Anyways, here's the briefing: I'm going to give you a place where I think SPYDER's hiding out currently. Your job is to get there, set the needed traps, apply the bombs, and get done with it."

"That's all? No 'SPYDER is planning this' or 'stop this bomb'? Just place some traps, an explosive, and get over with it?" I said, feeling something suspicious about this. Usual mission briefings were more specific, not just a quick 'do this'.

"Don't ask me questions," Trixie said in a harsh tone. This also struck me as odd. I never even knew Trixie had a harsh tone. Did something happen with her the other night?

"That's not all your duties. You're also going to need to stay in that building and spectate the trap, seeing if it works. After it is set off, your job is to quickly disarm the agent of all her weapons and drop the package off to a place."

"So... I create some traps, watch the target Agent get caught in them, disarm the agent, bring him to the spot you'll need?"

"Exactly," Trixie said, in a much happier tone. "You'll begin setting the traps tomorrow, and the location I'm talking about right now is the Ice Cream place two miles left from this exact position. You'll find it eventually."

"Wait- where are my supplies for my trap? And where in this Ice Cream place do I place the trap? Also, when do I go there to spectate?"

Trixie seemed to sigh, though I couldn't see, since everything was pitch black. She grabbed what I guessed was a pillow from the sofa and flung it at me.

"Hey!" I complained, throwing it back.

For once, Trixie didn't retaliate. I think the drowsiness has finally gotten to her.

"Your supplies will be delivered to your room this morning," she said, setting the pillow down on the sofa again. "It's a simple cage trap- a virtually unbreakable metal-enforced block container that will spring up from the ground and trap the person who triggered it. Nobody can get the person out unless they have the key, or you have enough heavy ammunition to blow up an entire city."

"Ouch," I said. "It sounds pretty nasty."

"Not only that- but the trap you'll be setting is going to be in the entrance of the Ice Cream Parlor. Tomorrow they'll be closed, so you'll have to find a way to break in and install it while making sure the trap will only harm the SPYDER agent."

I nodded. This was a lot to take in, but it sounded pretty simple. Set the trap when nobody was looking. Catch the SPYDER agent while their guard is down. Disarm them. Bring them to the spot.

"Where do I bring the captured agent to?" I asked, this being my final question.

"Right back here," Trixie said, patting my arm affectionately. "And one last thing: do not speak a word of this to anybody. Not even my sister. Got it?"

Before I could even nod or question this statement, she bounded out of the room, leaving me by myself with a butt-ton of information and orders that I could yet have to follow in my near future.

A typical day of a spy. Nothing was unusual whatsoever, unless you counted the fact that I actually wasn't sleepy anymore- so I decided to go read some books. 

Yes, I can read. I'm not just a social media addict, I also especially like the Percy Jackson series. Which is exactly what I fell asleep to that night.

--- Fast-forward to morning ---

When the trap's building instructions and pieces finally came, I was restless. There was nothing that made me more jittery than knowing I had legit instructions on what to do the next day. I just wanted to get it over with and head back to the beach, maybe catching some waves with Ben in the meantime. I heard he was pretty sick when it came to surfing.

The items I received were relatively simple: a human-sized metal cage that I barely managed to carry up the secret exit, simple blueprints that were needed in construction, and a pressure plate with wires connecting over to the cage. A pulley system was also neatly wrapped into a relatively large plastic bag, and I grabbed everything that I could hold and stuffed it into my arms, slowly bringing the pieces up to the shore in about three heavy cycles of pain.

After quickly calling a taxi and making sure that he wasn't going to be suspicious about my multiple heavy carry-on pieces of luggage, I sat back and started thinking about how I was going to break into the Ice Cream Parlor.

Option one: pick the lock. I had considered this one big-time, proof being that I had brung several pieces of wire with me, safely in my pocket. This option was the easiest, unless the parlor decided that they were going to need a high amount of security, in which case, this plan wasn't going to work.

The second plan I had: disable the cameras, short-circuit the electronic locks with my taser, and quickly install the trap. This one was a little more of a backup, since I didn't expect an Ice Cream Parlor to be heavily guarded. 

My last plan was the worst: forced entry. I would use the tiny log I'd brought as a mini-battle ram, in which case I'd obviously use to break through the doors. What would be the most interesting part about this one is when the owner of the shop comes in, realizes that someone had forcefully entered the parlor, then realizes that they hadn't stolen anything except for a few breaths of air.

I mapped out my plan in my mind: Use one of the three options to enter the Parlor, quickly install the trap, then make sure I was there to spectate when the SPYDER Agent was the first to arrive into the building. Wait for him to be trapped, grab him, and send him back to the hideout.

Alright, I thought. Let's get this done with.