I'm back at work with Steve and Dustin and we start talking about what we've gathered.
"That keycards opens the door, but unfortunately, the Russian with this keycard also has a massive gun." Dustin says as he paces in the back room we sit in. "Whatever's in Themis room, whatever's in those boxes, they don't want anybody finding it."
"But there's gotta be a way in." I say as I grip the ice cream scooper in my hands.
Steve plays with his hat from the table we both sit at before fixing it. "Well, you know..." He leans forward and looks at us. "I could just take him out."
"Take who out?" I ask sarcastically.
"The Russian guard." Steve says seriously. I give him a deadpan look. "What? I sneak up behind him, I knock him out, and I take his keycard. It's easy."
"Did you not hear the part about the massive gun?" Dustin asks.
"Yes, Dustin, I did." Steve says, matter-of-factly. "And that's why I would be sneaking."
"Ah." Dustin whispers. "Well, please, tell me this, and be honest, have you ever actually... won a fight?"
"Okay, that was one time-"
"Twice. Jonathan. Year prior?"
"Listen, that doesn't count."
"Why wouldn't it count? Because it looks like my brother beat the shit out of you. So what makes you think you can take down a Russian guard with a giant gun who is trained for this stuff." I jump in.
Dustin and Steve start arguing about how Steve thinks he can do this, but my attention is focused on something else.
"That just might work." I mutter to myself and get up and grab my back and my keys.
I run out to the cash register and take all of the paper cash from the tips jar.
"Y/n." Steve calls before I start running out. "Hey. Y/n! Hey, what- what are you doing?" He calls as he walks out from the back.
I turn around and walk backwards. "I need cash."
"Well, half of that's mine." He whines. "Where are you going?" Dustin comes up behind him.
"To find us a way into that room, a safe way." I call back before stopping. "And, in the meantime, sling ice cream, behave, and don't get beat up." I count off before giving them a thumbs up and a bright smile then leaving. "I'll be back in a jiff." I salute as I start running.
...
I drive back to the mall from where I came and go back to Scoops Ahoy.
"It is fascinating what 20 bucks will get you as the County Recorder's Office." I say as I lay down a large sheet of blueprints. "Starcourt Mall. The complete blueprints."
"Not bad." Dustin says to me with an impressed smile.
"So, this is us, Scoops," I point to a spot on the blueprints, "and this is where we want to get." I slide my finger to the storage warehouse.
"I mean, I don't really see a way in." Steve says as he inspects it.
"There's not," I say before taking the top sheet off and revealing the vents, "if you're talking exclusively about doors."
Dustin looks at me in realization. "Air ducts."
"Exactly." I say with a smile before traveling over to the whiteboard and grabbing a marker before coming back. "Turns out, this secret room needs air just like any old room. And these air ducts," I circle the place on the blueprints where the secret room is before trailing it down along the vents to where we are. "Lead all the way... here." We turn to look at the vent beside us near the ceiling.
Steve takes the grate of the vent off and looks inside.
"Flashlight." Steve calls with a screwdriver in his mouth. He hands the grate down the ladder to Dustin and Dustin hands him the flashlight. "Thank you." He hands the screwdriver to Dustin as well.
He turns on the flashlight and looks inside the small vent shaft. "Yeah, I don't know, man. I don't know if you can fit in here. It's, like... super tight."
"I'll fit." Dustin assures as Steve climbs down the ladder. "Trust me. No collar bones, remember?" Dustin climbs the ladder after he takes the flashlight from Steve.
He climbs in, fitting his torso in. "Steve, hurry up and push me!"
"Okay." Steve says before climbing the ladder. "I'll push ya." He pushes on Dustin's feet.
"Not my feet, dumbass. Push my ass."
"What?"
"Touch my butt! I don't care!" Dustin shouts and Steve climbs higher at starts pushing. "Come on! Harder! Push harder!"
"I'm pushing!"
"You're playing with my legs!"
"I'm not playing, I have terrible footing."
"Come on!"
"I'm just gonna shove you, ready?"
"Just shove me?"
"One, two..." Steve tries shoving him. "That work?"
Someone starts ringing the bell at the register.
"Ahoy, sailors! All hands on deck!" Erica calls from the counter and continues to ring the bell.
I look at her for a moment, an idea soaking in my head as the boys continue to shout at each other and Erica continues to demand more samples. I smirk.
...
We explain to Erica that we are gonna need her for our plan because she's small. She inspects the vent before coming back down.
"Yeah, I don't know."
"You don't know if you can fit?" Dustin asks from across Steve as the three of us lean on the counter with Erica across from us.
"Oh, I can fit. I just don't know if I want to." Erica explains.
"Are you claustrophobic?" I ask as Steve silently scoffs.
Erica snickers. "I don't have phobias."
"Okay, well, what's the problem?" Steve asks.
"The problem is, I still haven't heard what's in this. for. Erica." Erica explains.
We end up giving her a bunch of free ice cream. Steve slides a banana boat over to her as we all look at her in the booth we sit in.
Erica slides it back and we watch it. "More fudge, please." We stare at it. "Go on." She waves her hand.
Steve takes the banana boat with an annoyed expression on his face and leaves.
"Alright." I pick up the blueprints and hold them up in a way where Erica can see it. "You see this?" I point to the red line I drew on with marker. "This is the rout you're gonna take. Then we just wait till the last delivery goes out tonight. Then you knock out the grate, jump down, open the door."
"Then you find out what's in those boxes?" Erica asks as she eats her ice cream.
"Exactly." I say as I put the blueprints back down.
Erica hums. "And you say this guard is armed."
"Yes, but he won't be there." Dustin clarifies.
"And booby traps?"
"Booby traps?" I ask, confused.
"Lasers, spikes in the wall?" Erica lists off.
I chuckle. "What?"
"You know what this half-baked plan of yours sounds like to me?" Erica asks as she looks at Dustin. "Child endangerment."
"We'll be in radio contact with you the whole time-" I try to convince her.
"Ah, Ah, Ah!" She cuts me off as she waves her finger in my face. "Child endangerment."
"Erica? Hi. Uh..." She turns to Dustin. "We think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Great harm. Don't you love your country?"
"You can't spell 'America' without 'Erica'." Erica shrugs before playing with her smoothie and slurps it loudly.
Dustin looks at the table with confusion and realization. "Uh, yeah, yeah. Oddly, that's, uh, totally true. S-so, don't do this for us." He looks at Erica again as she still slurps her smoothie loudly. "Do it for your country. Do it for your fellow man. Do this for America... Erica." Dustin ends his speech.
Erica stops slurping and sets her cup down with a smile. "Ooh! I just got the chills." Dustin smiles happily. "Oh, yeah, from this float, not your speech." Dustin's smile falls. "Know what I love most about this country? Capitalism. Do you know what capitalism is?"
"Yeah." Dustin and I both say.
"It means this is a free market system. Which meant people get paid for their services, depending on how valuable their contributions are." Dustin and I look at each other. "And it seems to me, my ability to fit into that little vent is very, very valuable to you all." Dustin looks at me nervously, knowing where this is going. "So, you want my help?" I glare at her slightly. "This USS Butterscotch better be the first of many. And I'm talking free ice cream. for. life." She picks up a cherry and eats it.
Damn this girl is smart.
...
"Erica, do you copy?" I ask through the radio.
"Mm-hmm. I copy." She responds from inside the back room of Scoops. "You nerds in position or what?"
"Yeah, we're in position." I respond from the rooftop that we were at when it was raining and we were spying. "It's all quiet here, so you've got the green light."
"Green light, roger that. Commence Operation Child Endangerment."
"Can we maybe not call it that?" I ask and Steve nods from beside me.
"See you on the other side. Nerds."
I look at Steve and he looks at me nervously before we turn back to the door and keep look out.
...
"Alright, nerds." Erica says after a bit. "I'm there."
"Do you- do you see anything?" I ask.
"Yeah, I see those boring boxes you're so excited about."
"Any guards?"
"Negative."
"Booby traps?"
"If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?"
"Thank you for that." I say, annoyed.
"I'm in." Erica says after a moment.
"Oh, God." Steve sighs as he puts his face in his hands.
Not a moment later, the doors open and Erica walks out. I shake my head with a smile.
"Free ice cream. For. Life." Erica says as she puts a hand on her hip and points sassily.
We get up and go back down the stairs to meet with her.
We go inside the room and Steve uses a box cutter to open the first box that rests on a conveniently placed table. He hands me the box cutter and opens the box revealing some kind of metal case.
He twists the large latch and pulls the lid off, commencing some kind of air hiss sound like from a sci-fi movie.
We look inside as Steve puts the lid off to the side. There are four handles in the center of four cylinder things.
"That's definitely not Chinese food." Steve comments. He looks at us and uses his hands to gesture that we should get back. "Uh, maybe you guys should, you know, stand back."
Erica and I step back, but Dustin refuses with a 'No.' and a shake of his head.
"Just... just step back, okay?" Steve says as he lightly pushes Dustin back.
"No." Dustin says again.
"Step back. Seriously." Steve says as he holds Dustin back.
"No. No!" Dustin refuses. "If you die, I die." They look at each other for a moment before Steve shrugs.
"Okay." Steve pulls out one of the cylinders to reveal some kind of green goop, definitely from a sci-fi movie. "What the hell?"
"What is that?" I ask quietly before the room starts rumbling.
"Is that just me, or did the room move?" Dustin asks.
"Booby traps." Erica whispers from beside me. Suddenly the room rumbles again.
"You know what? Let's just grab that and go." I suggest as I step forward and take the canister before turning back to Erica and putting it in her bag.
Dustin goes to the door and presses the 'open door' button. "Which one do I press, Erica?"
"The press the damn button, nerd." Erica demands.
"Which one? I'm pressing the button, okay?"
"Press 'open door'!"
"I'm pressing 'open door'!"
"Just open the- press the other button." Steve walks to the panel of buttons.
We start arguing until they start pressing buttons that they aren't supposed to and a giant door slams over the original.
We look at the door in fear and confusion before the room starts falling. We all scream in fear as it starts going faster and faster.
*2053 words