A cool spring breeze ruffles the water around Greendale's fountain, driving the resident turtles into sheltered nooks among the decorative boulders. Overhead, the setting sun casts a red glow on the tall thunderclouds that add drama to spring weather in the Colorado plains. A few students and teachers walk along the sidewalks between campus buildings; the scene looks much like an ordinary evening at Greendale Community College. Perhaps some of the passersby are more alert than usual, glancing around warily every few seconds before continuing on their way. Still, none of them seem to notice a figure quietly dart around the corner of a building and into the bushes beside the fountain, making hardly any sound.
Taking out a pair of binoculars, Abed Nadir surveys the office building that stands across a parking lot from the fountain. The spot, he notes approvingly, is an excellent vantage point for a secret agent-as it would be for a filmmaker, but for the moment his role has shifted from observer to active participant. Studying the windows one by one, he identifies the office he was looking for. Professor Duncan is still there. That means Abed has some time to wait.
Watching a large group of students emerge from their class, he takes note of the ones who seem especially wary-the ones who are part of the secret paintball game that's been happening all over campus for the last few days. With Frankie's ban on paintball, Greendale couldn't match the epic campus-wide wars that were one of the highlights of the study group's first two years, but playing secretly has its own appeal in the need for stealth and subtle strategizing. Like a spy movie. It took careful study just to identify Abed's rivals in the game. Just this afternoon, he realized that the students in one of the most formidable alliances are all part of the current Duncan Principle research team-which means that the man he's now watching is probably running the show.
As night falls, the streetlights over the parking lot come on. Focused on his surveillance, Abed doesn't notice a new arrival until a shadow falls over his face. And there she is, staring at his hiding place from the sidewalk.
Abed knows Annie's been playing paintball-he caught her studying campus maps and looking furtively at him a couple days ago in their apartment. They haven't talked directly about it; probably they assumed a moment like this would happen, maybe preferred to anticipate it.
Abed steps out of the bushes, standing in a dark corner beside the fountain. "Doing some birdwatching?" Annie asks smoothly as she approaches, one hand hovering near her coat pocket. Her mouth curves up slightly for a moment, then she assumes the stoic expression of a veteran spy working undercover.
"I'm not at liberty to say," Abed replies, getting into character.
"Maybe you need something to jog your memory?" Annie's hand twitches ominously. Abed slowly reaches for the paintball gun tucked into his belt underneath a sweater.
"If you weren't all about school rules, I'd think you might be up to something," he warns.
Annie takes a couple of steps closer. "Well, in this game we're rarely what we seem to be, are we?"
"Very true," a third voice announces in a British accent. Abed and Annie turn around to see Professor Duncan watching them with a smug expression. Startled, Abed realizes he let himself get uncharacteristically distracted from the original plot thread. "For example, you might think I'm a rule-abiding member of the Greendale faculty who should report you to the proper authorities for playing paintball on campus. But then again, maybe I have a mysterious secret alter ego who-"
"Uses his students as cannon fodder while he tries to win paintball without actually doing anything?" Annie asks sharply. Exchanging a glance, she and Abed step outwards to either side of Duncan.
"Well, I hardly think-that's not a fair assessment of-the strategy is the real key to winning, you know!" Duncan sputters, dropping the suave voice he's been affecting. Offended, he backs up a couple paces but then stops, glancing around to check that they're not being watched. They all stand still for a moment.
Suddenly Duncan grabs for something under his sport coat. Abed pulls his gun, already knowing it's superfluous. He barely sees Annie's hand move. In a split second, Duncan is clutching a knee covered in blue paint and his weapon is clattering on the sidewalk.
Annie hastily tucks her paintball gun out of sight and kicks Duncan's under a nearby bench while he walks away in a huff. "Cool. Cool, cool, cool," Abed summarizes the scene. The standoff hadn't quite fit the spy motif; more of a Western feel, which reminds him of the game their second year at Greendale...but it's safer not to dwell on that with Annie here, standing right in front of him with that fierce look Abed associates with Greendale's more epic competitions. "How did you know about Duncan?" he asks, directing his thoughts towards more pragmatic concerns.
"I followed a couple of his students from the scene of a fight in Borchert Hall. They met with him in a supply closet instead of his office. It would've been a lot less suspicious if they hadn't been so secretive."
They start walking down the sidewalk, getting away from the evidence of their unauthorized action scene. "Have you been using your detective skills to figure out who's sponsoring the game?" Abed prompts.
"Why question it? They're bringing paintball back. Did you want to send them a thank-you card?"
"You know what happened in season two." Annie stops in her tracks and turns to face him, looking alert. Other people tend to get confused when Abed refers to their school years as seasons, but he knows that's not what surprised Annie. "City College set up the game to create chaos at Greendale," he clarifies. "We don't know if this mystery sponsor is up to something."
"Well, maybe," she says thoughtfully. "Have you found anything out?"
"I reached out to a contact who's taking tech classes. I'm hoping to get an update...right here." Abed stops at a newspaper stand in front of the library. Opening it, he hands Annie a copy of the Greendale Gazette. Then he reaches up to the top of the stand and pulls off a small plastic bag that had been taped in place. Abed and Annie sit down on a bench a few feet away; Annie quickly unfolds the newspaper and holds it up to hide their faces from passersby. Abed notes her impressive grasp of the appropriate tropes.
He opens the bag and finds a scrap of paper with some numbers written on it. "Coded instructions for a meeting," he explains. "He could have just texted me, but this way is so much cooler. The meeting's-"
"At the parking garage in an hour," Annie finishes his sentence. Abed stares at her. "What? You really need a more complicated code."
By the time of the meeting, it's fully dark outside and most commuters have left the campus. The upper levels of the parking deck are largely deserted, and the orange glow of the streetlights casts deep shadows around corners. Annie keeps a hand on her weapon as she and Abed search for their contact. Before she sees anyone, she hears footsteps. Someone emerges from behind a pillar, approaching cautiously.
As the newcomer gets closer, she realizes she knows him-it's Dave, the student from Jeff's law class who keeps volunteering to help out the Save Greendale Committee. Abed waves a greeting and Annie relaxes, though she still keeps looking around for any sign of rival players.
"I checked out the website for the game like you asked," Dave explains eagerly. "It's strange-the IP address is registered to Greendale, but it doesn't match any of the computers from the IT department's list. It's like they have some kind of covert setup on campus, but it's an official part of the school. They used an outdated format, too. Weird, huh?"
Annie frowns. "If they're based at Greendale, it could be anyone who wants to keep the tradition going, but how could they hide it like that?"
Before any reply, there's a mechanical sound-not loud, but distinct in the quiet parking garage. "Elevator," Abed whispers. Spinning around, Annie sees the doors open. Several people run out, fast and purposeful. As she jumps to the side, paint splatters on the wall just where she'd been standing.
Their opponents fan out to attack from all sides. Annie and Abed scramble behind a parked minivan and face in opposite directions, instinctively covering each others' backs. Annie sees Dave crouched behind a pillar, trading shots with two rivals. A third comes up from behind him; Annie hits him efficiently and he throws away his gun in frustration. Abed is holding off a couple more from the other direction; when he runs out of paintballs Annie turns around to engage them while he reloads. After a moment she hears footsteps and looks back to see a young woman approaching. Annie recognizes her as one of the students from Duncan's alliance. She takes aim; Annie's faster. Looking around, she sees the rest of the Duncan Principle research team walking away, out of the game. Annie turns to Abed, concerned; to her relief, there's no paint on him.
"How'd they find us so quickly?" she asks. "I've been studying countersurveillance techniques in class and I'm almost sure we weren't followed." Abed nods; she knows he has a keen eye for such things as well.
"I'm out," Dave calls. Sure enough, his shoes are painted fluorescent green now.
"Sorry we got you into this," Annie tells him.
"Are you kidding? I was in a paintball battle with two of the Greendale Seven. Classic college moment." Dave walks away cheerfully. Annie grins at Abed; she hadn't quite realized how legendary the study group's exploits had become with the newer students.
"They must have followed Dave," Abed muses. "But Duncan's group had no reason to do that. Now, if someone heard he was asking questions in the IT department..."
"They could have tipped off Duncan's alliance so we wouldn't know who was after us!" Annie exclaims. "Which means there really is something suspicious about the game, and if they have a secret computer setup-wait, I think I know where it is!"
"Where?"
"He said it looked outdated-they're using the old computer department we found last year! It's still closed to students, they could run their whole scheme from there in secret."
Abed nods seriously, with subtly different mannerisms that tell Annie he's still playing his spy character. "We'll have to investigate. It's a perfect place for a supervillain lair. We can get in through the trapdoor in the teacher's lounge, but we need to wait until there's no civilians around."
"We'll reconvene at 0100 hours, Agent," Annie announces. Something about paintball and the in-character dialogue makes her feel more daring than she usually would be, even as comfortable as she is with Abed. "I'll meet you by the library window. You know the place." She winks at him and walks away, wondering what impulse led her to make that callback.