'So Shell and Snow have gone into hiding now, which means that they will obviously cut off all obvious connections to them, including wifi ones, and keep their hiding location extremely secretive.' X summarized.
They were bunched around X's office, his real one, and pondering over the plans Shell and Snow had made.
It was still hard for Sheaf and Hacker to come to terms with the fact that X was working for ACE. When he'd talked to his manager about letting Sheaf and Hacker work on the mission in his office with him, they'd been quite discombobulated as he threw around names of his colleagues, ones they hadn't ever heard of.
It took quite a bit of convincing to let them into the building, as they had worked for SHADE, but X figured it out by offering to have them knocked out and brought in so that they would have no idea where the headquarters was.
The deal was quite steep, and Hacker and Sheaf didn't particularly like being knocked out, but it was necessary to be able to work in ACE's HQ, which was quite equipped with the latest technology and a treasure trove of information collected by the agents.
But it was nothing compared to X's office, which shocked Hacker and Sheaf so much that they just gaped at it for a good while, their mouths and eyes wide open. X, who came in after them, just laughed and patted their backs, causing them to finally close their mouths and take a seat.
'Oh my goodness, X! Your office is so cool!' Hacker burst out immediately in that bubbly way of hers. X cupped the side of his neck in response and laughed gently.
'Yeah, I mean, it's pretty decent.' He admitted quietly. Hacker and Sheaf slapped their foreheads in endearment of him. How was someone so talented this modest?
'This? This is modest? Look at all this.' Hacker responded, pointing to the spacious white-coloured room decked with quite advanced technology and high-tech screens floating here and there. Actually, more than the room's contents, it was the fact that X had such a large room to himself was disorienting. In SHADE, he'd adamantly refused to accept his own office, stating that he would be on the field most of the time anyway.
But now that Hacker really thought about it, she realized that he probably hadn't accepted the room because he didn't want to leave any traces of him in case he was caught, or he had to make a quick escape if things ever went south.
'Anyways,' Sheaf intersected, clearing his throat and splaying his hands on the papers in front of him, 'Shall we begin with all the planning?'
'Yeah, right. Let's do that. So, as I was saying, Shell and Snow must have cut off all the possible ties to reach them. First of all, we need to list the possible routes to get to them. That includes the people who they have interacted with, the goods they could have purchased for the mission, and the possible places they need to visit in order to launch the mission.'
'Okay, so they need three major elements in their plans; the scientists, the vessel to launch the weapon, and the weapon itself. All the other factors spring up from these basic three requirements of theirs.' Sheaf listed with his fingers.
Hacker reached forward and wrote down Sheaf's words in neat handwriting. Then she circled the word 'scientists' and tapped on it with the back of her pencil. 'Out of all the elements, these are the first people we can contact for information. How about we start with them?'
X leaned towards the paper and held it in his hand, squinting at it as he turned the idea over in his head. 'Wait a minute,' He pronounced, placing it back on the table. 'This idea is actually pretty feasible. You're right, Hacker. If we manage to get to a scientist and question him or her on Shell's whereabouts using hook or crook, our problem is solved!' He cried out, patting the table repeatedly in excitement.
Hacker smiled at the praise, but X could make out that her mind was already moving a mile a minute as she pondered upon the details of their plans.
'Okay, so since we need to get to a scientist as fast as possible, I suggest we target a person nearest to us to speed up the process. X, you can ring up your people and tell them to drop the plan of confronting one of the scientists whom we can personally get to.' She instructed with a wave of her hands in different directions.
X, shaking his head at her antics, dialled his manager and informed him of the changes in their plans. It took a bit of convincing, as plans weren't allowed to be changed at everyone's whims and fancies, but X managed to convince him to let them track down a meteorologist whose base was quite close to theirs.
'Okay then,' X announced when he cut the call and put his device down. 'I've talked to my manager, and we've figured it out. He wants us to get to the meteorologist as fast as possible, so we might as well make a plan and leave immediately.'
Both of them nodded and pulled the rest of the research papers closer, while X cleared his throat and began explaining their mission. 'So the meteorologist we're going to get information from is responsible for measuring the atmosphere's conditions to assist Shell in making decisions on when to launch the vessel, the optimal temperature and pressure levels to anchor the vessel. And since she's located quite close to us, we can easily reach her as well. Here's her info.' He pronounced and brandished a few pages in front of them.
Hacker and Sheaf grabbed the papers and quickly skimmed through the details printed on the paper, pausing every once in a while to remark on facts they thought would be useful. They finally stopped at the blueprints of her base and took to examining it carefully.
Sheaf, being architecturally knowledgeable, was the main information panel for the team. He took very less time to read through the whole plans and understand them, and then waited patiently for Hacker and X to catch on.
When X put the papers down with a slight nod, Sheaf quickly leaned forward and placed his hand over them. Hacker and X reached out in anticipation as well, and Sheaf began shaping the plan that had been forming in his mind.
'So, do you guys see the various entrances to this place? Yeah, there's the front gate that's obviously used by normal people. It's the gate that we'll avoid, obviously, along with several other windows and back doors. They seem like viable options for us to sneak in, but from my personal experience, they're almost always traps and laid with security measures.'
X nodded in agreement, still staring at the blueprints. 'Then which method do you recommend us to use, Sheaf? How do we enter this woman's base and threaten her?'
Sheaf grinned widely like he had been waiting for this very question to be asked by one of them. He spread his hands in a gesture that meant, why didn't you just say so? and tapped on the roof of the base with forceful hits.
'The chimney, guys!' He exclaimed with wide eyes. 'We can use the place's chimney system to break into it! It's ingenious, really. Nobody thinks that people can come in from the chimney, so, the place won't be covered with security measures like the rest of the house. It'll be perfect!'
X and Hacker looked a little sceptical about the plan, much to Sheaf's chagrin. It really was quite an awesome plan, and now he just had to make them see the same. He tapped his fingers on his knees impatiently as the duo digested the plan, its implications and possible repercussions.
'But Sheaf,' X began with a slightly concerned look on his face. 'How can we be sure that the chimney isn't sealed in with security measures as well?'
'Ah, that,' Sheaf murmured, eyes scanning the chimney again. 'That has a simple solution, really. If we get clearance from your manager, we can go there right now with all our equipment and gear, check out the place and scan it with sensors to make sure it's clean, and then sneak in when we know it'll be safe.'
Hacker and X tilted their heads as they took in the new information and tested it out with everything they already knew. They were still processing the plans, but Sheaf knew that they would eventually agree to it.
His hopes were eventually realized when X looked at Sheaf straight in the eye and gave a slight nod, the ends of his lips curling in a small smile. 'I think this is a good plan, Agent Sheaf. Now let's put it into action and bring it to fruition.'
X lightly patted his knees and stood up, pulling out his device and dialling his manager. As soon as he picked up, X bombarded him with the latest updates on their mission and the plans they had designed to execute.
Sheaf and Hacker waited anxiously with fingers crossed as X exchanged a few more words with his manager before cutting the line and turning to them with a wide smile. Both Hacker and Sheaf gave wide smiles back in return, as this obviously meant that their plan had been given the go-ahead.
X clapped his hands and rubbed them together gleefully, startling them and bringing their attention back to him.
'Guys! My manager approved of this mission and all our planning! He told me that he'll quickly send over all the equipment we'll need that I don't have with me and that as soon as we get it we should embark upon our mission.' He enthused like a small child that had been given permission to play in the park.
Hacker and Sheaf shared his enthusiasm though, so all of them held their hands out, palm facing downwards, and gave a quick call of encouragement and raised their hands together.
Then X grabbed a duffel bag and began shuffling around his room, looking for all the gear they would need for the mission. Since Hacker and Sheaf knew their way around here quite well by now, they also chipped in and began grabbing all sorts of cool gear that they kept squealing about every two seconds.
They went off track quite a few times in their endeavours, getting distracted like little kids in a candy store. More often than not, X had to leave his own packing to come and guide them back to what they were looking for with a slight shake of his head.
He didn't mind, though. It was nice to be around them again, and up until then, he hadn't realized just how much he missed being in a team with them. With Hacker and Sheaf, everything just clicked into place. They didn't need prior training as a team to somehow be able to work together in perfect harmony, which was why he wasn't too bothered that they didn't really have a proper plan to follow. He knew that it would probably go wrong somehow, and then they would wing the heck out of it.
'Ready to go?' X asked after he had put the final grappling hook in his jacket pocket.
Both of them turned to him and gave him a mock salute with all seriousness. 'Yessir! We are ready for the mission sir!'
X laughed at their silliness and shouldered the duffel bag. Hacker and Sheaf were about to offer their help in carrying the bag because it seemed heavy when a few soft knocks were heard on X's door. He strode towards the door and opened it to find a guy holding up a small bag filled with all the tools X had asked for.
X thanked the guy, accepted the bag and gently closed the door with a tiny excited squeal. We're really doing this! He thought giddily, we're going to hunt down Shell and finish her off once and for all, one way or the other.
Sheaf came up from behind him and put a hand on his shoulder as Hacker quietly took the bag from his hands and wore it on her shoulders.
'Come on Agent X. Let's go get what we need.' Sheaf said in a low murmur. X nodded and opened the door again, stepping out of his office with Hacker and Sheaf hot on his tail. They passed through the corridors Hacker and Sheaf had now grown familiar with and stopped at a point where Hacker and Sheaf had to be knocked out so they could be carried out of the place.
X gave them an encouraging nod to which they replied with terse smiles as they were swiftly knocked out with minimal pain. Then they were seated on wheelchairs with their heads lolling on their shoulders. Two of ACE's base staff took control of the wheelchairs and began walking with them with X taking the rear of the procession.
The team soon crossed ACE and exited the place, now making way for the meteorologists' house. X had offered to take them there on his own till the place, but the two helpers had resolutely refused to let X do all the work. And so all of them continued walking till they reached the meteorologist's house.
X thanked the helpers and took reins from there. He woke Hacker and Sheaf and together they stowed away the wheelchairs. Then all three of them quick scaled the house and snuck into the lawns by climbing over the wall using their grappling hooks.
'This is it guys,' Agent X whispered as they formed a group huddle. They put their hands together for one last team cheer before they broke out into their pre-planned positions and ran to scale the house's walls and climb onto the chimney from different directions.
All right, ready to break a sweat? Lift that finger... lift it! You can do it! Now tap that vote button. Whew! Good workout everyone! See you at the next chapter