The Heist (Part 2)

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The sun was coming up ever so slowly as she drove down the road, painting the early sky orange and red behind the black mountains. Playing over the radio on mid volume was "Old Enough to Know Better" by Wade Hayes. The song was upbeat enough to keep her awake, and it rather fit her current mood. She did know better, she just didn't care at this point.

With her arm propped up on the door with her fist supporting her head, her eyes were half open as she drove with one hand on the steering wheel. Her backpack was strapped into the front seat with her hoodie draped over it to hide its bulk from view, not that she was concerned with anyone around here caring to go snooping through it.

She wore a white t-shirt, and wire frame glasses under her red ball cap. Its tilted angle kept the sunlight from hitting her eyes as she drove through town. Now that she checked out of the hotel and was on her way to return the rental car here in Big Bear, over an hour from Los Angeles, the only thing on her mind before returning home was food. She hadn't eaten since the previous morning so she needed at least something in her system. With the decent head start, she figured she could afford a short stop at a gas station or something. It didn't matter where as long as people minded their own business.

Her cover was only as good as it needed to be. A modified driver's license and cash marked for the correct time period. Luckily the people she rented the car from didn't complain about her only having cash and paid in advance. However, she had to be careful about what she said. She couldn't mention anything that didn't exist or happen yet, not including herself of course. Or show anything that didn't exist yet for that matter. If it weren't for that she'd be listening to her own music list on her mp3 player. That was just one of the rules, other than blending in and leaving no viable trace of yourself before going back to your own time.

Casting a glance at the backpack and the two AI units inside along with all the parts she took from the Foundation, her brows furrowed in thought. One of the rules also stated to not change the past in any way that would affect the present day. She could only imagine the kind of panic going on back in the headquarters' garage if they cared to notice what was missing among the boxes of scrap and cybernetic tech. The latter was purposely left behind, and was something she couldn't touch, since she remembered seeing in her time that it had been sold to the medical industries. That wasn't something she could risk the future on, unlike the AI's. Sure though, finding them missing would raise quite the fuss and everyone would be looking for the culprit. Even so...

She shook her head. Taking them won't change much of anything, she thought as she turned the car into the parking lot of a local 7-11 and pulled into a corner space. The Foundation can move on just as well. Regular law enforcement always does. They just need to put more backbone into it.

Once inside the gas station she made it a point to avoid bumping into anyone, keeping the backpack strapped tightly around her shoulders to minimize clattering as she looked for a good candy bar or packaged muffin of any kind. She grabbed a water bottle out of the refrigerated shelf while she was at it.

It wasn't necessary to avoid the cameras in the building this time. If the cameras back at F.L.A.G headquarters did managed to catch her on video they would have only seen her black hoodie, and her backpack was rather common among civilians these days. All she had to do was hide her hoodie under the back seat of the car and pretend everything was normal. Thankfully she didn't have to pretend she was fully rested and wide awake to boot. This time of morning, people would be suspicious if she was.

Still, this little five minute break did wonders for her exhaustion and alertness, and she was back on the road in no time to the rental dealership. After that was a short hike into the woods south side of Mill Creek Road and she could go home.

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