Chapter 36 – Mind over Mischief

Santiago International Airport, Chile. 7:57am local time. 30th April 2022.

The first part is done, the job she was originally sent out to do was completed with brutal efficiency. She went straight up to the door and used the cane to unlock the huge impenetrable door and disable the security systems, which she designed and built in part. She placed the case just inside the cave before leaving quickly again, there was no time to gaze at their impressive wealth and there still is no time now. She still has the cane, she hopes to give it to Sly after they have helped him from breaking out of prison. But now they have a flight to catch.

"3 tickets to Paris." Penelope says over the counter, donning another wig giving her short red hair.

"Just one moment." The cashier says as she inputs the details into the computer after Penelope gives them the three passports, David's she found in his inner jacket pocket who is still in the boot of the taxi parked in the main car park.

"Okay, two in 29B and C and one in 44F." She says. "Check in is closing in 20 minutes."

"Thank you." She says before walking briskly along with Murray to the check in machine. A person is no longer needed to check people in when they can be done by a machine and a touch pad at a fraction of the cost. The one item of baggage is checked as well as all three tickets, the bag tag is printed out and Penelope quickly and methodically unpeels it and places it around the ergonomic plastic grip of the case for the cane as it goes into the bowels of the airport via a conveyer belt. The two of them now move through security without complaints, they have nothing to hide. Once through the customs and security checks as they try to kill time before the flight begins to board, Penelope begins to go through the mobile phone of the agent more carefully, looking for details; any details. The phone has hardly anything on it, as if it had only been in use for less than a couple of weeks. But what she does extract and jot down onto the back of her boarding pass if the phone numbers of anyone relevant, possible agents, contacts and most importantly, Barkley. The phone doesn't need to be switched to airplane mode because; firstly because mobile phones can be used on plane and secondly because she has had it on ever since she found out she was bugged in order to prevent them from being tracked remotely.

"They've checked in sir, they'll arrive back at approximately 1630." His assistant says as he flies back to Lyon on a private jet.

"Excellent, have transport ready for them when they arrive." Barkley insists.

"Yes sir." He replies before typing away at a computer.

The jet soars above France only for the briefest of moments, landing and taking off seem to be the only two parts of this very short journey with virtually no level cruising involved. But as the plane angles back down for the landing, The chief can't help but think that while he has been relieved that this whole chase is over, the criminals separated across Europe will keep on trying to escape; the brave may be caught but cannot yield.

In the perspective of things, this case is another loose end tied up. Sly Cooper is and was yesterday's news as far as the police and Interpol are concerned for several years, there are many more important and high profile cases to deal with that demand his attention. But this is the most personal, he has had the uttermost delight in separating them into different prisons with each to their disliking. Carmelita in the cold, Sly with his old enemies and Joey… well he got something a bit different to the rest of them. Because he is just another thief according to Barkley and holds no significant grudges against him that warrant something sinister, he went to a different type of punishment still in the experimental stages.

Prison overcrowding is always a problem that is going to get worse without more prisons, but with the hopes of not having to do that and to offer a simple and yet possibly very effective alternative, they introduced this program.

"You understand the drug you are taking?" The young doctor, fresh out of university, says to his test subject. The wallaby is not restrained in any way, this is a normal office where he is on one side of a cold metal desk with a clear glass top and the doctor is on the other side.

"Yes." Joey replies.

"Side effects may include nausea, headaches, muscle cramps and hypersensitivity amongst others." The doctor warns before opening a small plastic case containing one single pill that is half white and half blue.

"I just need to swallow this and then I can go out and be free?" Joey asks to reassure himself, he has not yet seen the inevitable catch that this program has to contain but doesn't know exactly where it lies.

"Yes." The doctor calmly replies as he jots down a note on a sheet of paper with undecipherable handwriting. Joey takes the pill out of it's case with thumb and forefinger and calmly puts in in his mouth before swallowing it with a glass of water placed on the table. The doctor waits until he has swallowed before explaining the true purpose of the drug.

"The drug is not a new type of steroid, it will actually make you pathologically hate stealing things. The mere thought of such an act will bring on the aforementioned side effects. It works by interacting with the chemicals released by the brain when you experience the rush of a theft, turning them into messages similar to your body not having eaten in 20 days or having swallowed poison. This will cure your disease." Joey is shocked, could it be true? He looks at the pen the doctor used before and thinks about taking it, just see if what he said is true. Slowly, a headache ensues, not very painful but it's there. The doctor can see he is trying to bring on the drugs effects.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, the symptoms get worse each time you think about it and even worse if you do it." The doctor says just as Joey gets up slowly from the padded wooden chair, slowly rethinking his way of life and waiting for the headache to stop as he shuts the door on the small office and walks down the hospital without guards escorting him out, they have a lot of faith this drug. In fact it works not only for thieves but any criminal as the next patient, a white-collar criminal guilty of stock manipulation enters the room. The doctor messes with his head again, saying that it's a new steroid for a company and gets him to take it before indulging the secret of the drug. Of how it with make him sick and feel nauseous whenever he thinks about trading stocks illegally. He tries it out and the result is the same and he feels puzzled as he walks out of the room as to how he can be controlled like that with just one little tablet; how his, and indeed, every other person in this line comes to realise just after they swallow. The secret to such a wonder pill is readily available, not created in a lab and almost everyone has used it at some point in their lives and yet no one can touch it, no one can hold what's inside that pill as it has no physical form it can take.

They just have to believe…