Chapter 18 – By the Pool
Tyana jumped up immediately, all thoughts of Jeff now far from her mind, and pulled off her trainers. She tugged on her boots and then inquired as to the what's, where's, who's and why's of the mission.
"A few hours ago Quande and Bret finished analyzing the details of all the disks we scanned. We know the names of the people making the card replicas. And we've found the first person's location. We're raiding"
"I presume the target of the mission is to render him unable to make the cards, correct?"
"Right" Shadow loaded a gun. They hadn't a clue whether the people creating the chips were under maximum security, or none; but they weren't going to be caught out, whatever the outcome.
"And how exactly do we do that?" Tyana got a knife, slipped it inside her boot, then got her own gun.
"While you were out with lover boy" despite the upcoming situation Shadow managed a grin, "which we simple must gossip about later" Tyana chuckled at her then paid attention, "I had to work out the kinks of this memory eraser. It had been tampered with so that instead of wiping the memory, the flash of blue was programmed to the other end of the spectrum, red, and with the chemicals released it would therefore successfully restore memories. I had to get the filter back to blue and check it works." Tyana stopped loading her gun at what she heard and raised her head very slowly, finding that in her hands Shadow held the device they had been talking about. Tyana's throat went dry and she came over dizzy,
"Where did you get that?" she asked calmly, stopping herself from stuttering.
"Your drawer, Bret said he sent it with you. He told me what to do to fix it, because he want to erase the memories not res…" Shadow trailed off when she noticed Tyana's face had drained of all colour. It dawned on her. "Oh frail…Ty it was programmed for Jeff, wasn't it?"
Tyana just continued to stare at the device within Shadow's firm hands. The moment she saw Tyana's eyes clue with salty tears, Shadow felt like banging her head repeatedly against the wall. But Bret and Quande had insisted upon it. And they could reverse it again, she was sure. "Oh, Ty, we're so sorry. I mean, I didn't know, I thought they made you bring it, like, especially for this." Tyana had averted her eyes from the technology and was now abruptly continuing to load her gun. Shadow fastened a hand over hers, stopping her from carrying on the task, "We'll fix it again, I promise"
Tyana just pulled her hands away in upset and shoved her gun into her waist band. "What else do we know about the card maker?" It was obvious she didn't want to talk about it; didn't want to acknowledge that the one thing that stood between her and ultimate happiness was now morphed back into the form that had made her so miserable in the first place. Shadow filled her in on the other details as she gave them both the smallest ear piece communicators they had. Tyana fitted hers instantly while she listened and then realized she was ready. Gun; check. Knife; check. Communicator; check. She was done. Shadow was the one with the memory eraser. Tyana pulled on a sweater to conceal her gun and they left a minute later.
It was half an hour later when they arrived at their destination and Shadow was worried over the fact that Tyana had yet to say a single word since leaving the hotel. She would fix it all as soon as they got back to the hotel but right now they had a mission to do. They crept round the side of the house in which the chip maker lived and worked until they found a window they cold fit through. Luckily it wasn't fastened correctly and so Tyana managed to slip a small flat object up between the gap and pry it open a little further. When it was wide enough for her fingers to fit in she slipped a hand inside then pulled until the window came swinging open with a clang. Both girl's winced and waited for any sign of alarm from the chip maker but when no one came to investigate the noise Tyana jumped up inside then pulled Shadow in. They were in a downstairs bathroom. Tyana stepped up to the door and opened it a crack, looking to see if they had company. When it became apparent that they were still undetected Tyana slipped outside of the bathroom and crept along the hallway so silently that even Shadow, who was right behind her, couldn't hear her footfalls.
The sound of a television was coming from the room at the end of the hallway so Shadow brushed past Ty and tip toed down there. Glancing through the crack in the door she concluded that the chip maker was content watching the people on screen and so the girls turned and moved to investigate where inside the house he made and kept his chips. They opened a few doors very quietly on their way back up the hall until they came to one separated from the others at the very end. Behind it stood another door. Large and silver.
"Basement?" Shadow whispered in tones so hushed Tyana didn't hear her at first. They both nodded. The girls slipped behind the first door and closed it silently behind them then turned back to the larger silver block. It had a small box cut into the wall to the left with a number pad, screen and enter button on it. Tyana presumed one must type in the correct code for the door to open. She cast her mind back over the documents she had memorized from Clem. One number seemed to reappear in a couple of places. She tried her luck.
Tyana stepped up to the pad and typed in the number she hoped would work. "5937" The screen lit up. The door, soundlessly, opened. Tyana smiled triumphantly, looking at an impressed Shadow over her shoulder, and then moved down into the attic. They closed the door behind them.
"D'ya reckon this place is soundproof?" Shadow asked quietly.
Tyana shrugged, "I dunno, but we should keep our voice's down anyway, no point in risking it" she murmured back. Shadow agreed and then immediately they noticed how full the room was of shiny silver devices and machines. It seemed as though it took a lot to make those tiny little chips. The girls began to search for the chips already made, if any, and after a few minutes Tyana discovered a well armed volt. It took them a great while but they together managed to open it using a combination of strength, luck and intelligence. Inside was one chip, completed. They took it and Tyana slipped it into her bra, muttering how comfortable it was after a short, quiet giggle. Shadow bit back a laugh and then they move dot take care of the chip that was soaking in liquid silver inside, a device counting down numbers and flashing with statistics attached to a rod of metal which touched the chip. The girls shut the device off; carefully used the tongs provided to remove the chip then wrapped it in tissue and stuck it in Shadow pocket. This meant that their opposing project was now behind in its plans, at least by a few days.
They began to inspect the vast quantities of equipment and supplies. Tyana stole the bag of gritty granules that had to be melted together to form the base of the chip and Shadow found the materials used for the inner programming. She stole that also; both girls planning to analyze the materials before destroying them. They began to pick apart the machines, unscrewing them and then destroying the central nervous system, so to speak.
"Having fun?"
They whirled at the voice, finding the owner of the house standing at the bottom of the basement stairs. Two girls, he thought, easy. He charged them. They both elbowed him in the face at the same time, knocking him to the floor as well as out cold. Shadow sighed,
"Well that was boring" they found a chair and tied him to it using the cables they had ripped out of one of the machines. They continued to dismantle and destroy everything, selecting various things to take with them. By the time they were certain there was no chance in hell any of the equipment could be repaired the owner awoke and Shadow pulled out the memory device from her bag.
She grinned. Both girls jumped up the stairs and opened the door in front of them. "Yo, jack ass" Shadow called with a challenge, causing the man in the chair to swivel his head to look up at them. Shadow pressed the flash button, making sure to cover her eyes and look the other way. They would have to get glasses or something she decided. The flash did its job. They left as silently as they had come. Mission Accomplished.
Tyana was disturbingly silent all the way back to the hotel but it didn't take a genius to figure out why she wasn't speaking. Clearly the woman was upset over the fact that she would not be able to give Jeff back his memory until after Shadow and Tyana's mission was completed. The older woman of the two with the shocking pink hair felt badly for her; she truly did. But she had been ordered to fix the device, it wasn't as if she had a choice; or even knew for that matter. But she apologized when they got back to the hotel nonetheless.
"Look Ty I'm really sorry we had to change the device, I know how much Jeff means to you"
Tyana scoffed, shook her head and moved around her still friend. Shadow turned and followed her. "You don't know anything; none of you do. Don't act like you do" She headed towards the lifts.
Shadow sighed, "Well I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm taking the stairs" she didn't push her luck and so left the turquoise haired girl to sulk. She did.
Tyana waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor as she pouted, sniffing back a single tear. She scuffed her shoes on the floor, understanding that she shouldn't be upset because it wasn't as if she would never get the device back, it was just a matter of waiting, but feeling betrayed over it anyway. A figure out by the pool caught her eye. Tyana pushed aside her disappointment, forgot the elevator that just at that moment tinged open, and wandered out of the doors. The moonlight shone off of the glistening waters ebulliently, basking the figure that dipped its feet into the white and black ripples in its magnificent glow. She settled down beside it with a sigh, smiled at the person's pleasantly surprised face and then slipped off her shoes and socks.
"Long time no see stranger" she smiled, looking over at her companion.
"Same goes for you" they replied.
Tyana's smile widened as she leant over and nudged the person gently in the arm, "So Jeff, what's the matter, can't sleep?"
Jeff grinned and shrugged, "Haven't really bothered to try yet"
Tyana's brow creased as she reached out, took his wrist in her hands and tries her best to read his watch in the darkness. "But it's almost 1"
He nodded, "Yeah, I know"
"Are you not tired then?"
He smiled; "I was…but I felt like coming back down her, seeing if I would find company" Tyana blushed in the darkness. They continued to talk.
Upstairs Shadow gazed out of their hotel room window down at the poolside and smiled when she saw Tyana and Jeff sitting there contently, talking. Without tearing her eyes away from them she spoke to both Bret and Quande who were lighting up the screens of their respective communicators. "How much does she love him Bret?"
She didn't notice his shrug, "No one but Tyana could answer that question. But my guess?" Shadow turned to look at his screen when he paused. He smiled warmly, even a little proudly, "So much so that the thought of life without him is unbearable" Shadow nodded, agreeing, and looked back down through the glass to where the two people sat. She smiled with her own warmness as she watched on, smiling widely when they knocked each other simultaneously into the pool. They seemed so perfect for one another. Shadow wanted something like that. Maybe one day she would find it.
Back at the pool Tyana gasped and laughed as she bobbed up and down in the water, squealing at Jeff for pushing her in, squealing at the water to leave her alone. She couldn't stop herself laughing, even when she saw Jeff take a massive great breath and duck under the water. She giggled and tried to look around for him, finding that the reflection of the night sky on the water made it impossible to see beneath its surface. She knew exactly where he was when two strong hands grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down into the blackness of the waters. She wriggled out of his grasp and swam down deeper in the pool with a powerful kick, mimicking a fish as she slipped beneath him then came up behind him and grabbed him back. They resurfaced together.
"You suck" Tyana yelped playfully. Jeff laughed at her and tried to break free of her embrace, finding she was stronger than he had expected. He was impressed. He kicking about, turning as he went, then faced her with a huge grin.
"You're no angel either missy" they laughed together. Slowly Tyana's giggles died out and then she began to glance down at the water with a strange expression. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm just not to fond of, like, open water"
"This isn't open water; it's a closed swimming pool"
"I know, but I hate it anyway" she stopped herself from mentioning that old school mates had tried to drown her when they found out she was apposed to The Witnessing. Ever since then masses of water larger than a bathtub full became a challenge.
"Why?"
"Just me being silly I guess" she lied. Jeff laughed a little, pulled a cute face, and then swam closer. He hesitated for a second but then pulled her into his arms. He smiled, "I promise I'll keep you safe"
Tyana grinned, "As will I you" they both laughed before they realized they were both soaked to the bone, hugging one another tightly, basking in the glow of the moonlight. Tyana stared up into his eyes, just as he looked down at hers. Slowly her smile faded. She bit her lip shyly. Then she grinned. Jeff smiled at her expression, his eyebrows lifted in curiosity. His silent question was answered when Tyana wriggled down and out of his grip, swam through his kicking legs then surfaced on the other side of him. He turned to her, only finding that she splashed him with a laugh. He gasped as the water hit his face then glared at her playfully and splashed back. Soon they were slapping water around at each other once more.
Upstairs Shadow smiled at how cute they were down there, splashing about and laughing together. Something inside told her that even if Tyana had to wait, they would be together.
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*A/N* wow, feels like such a long time since I updated. Probably has been actually, lol. Hope ya liked this chapter. Jamie thank you for reviewing, I'm really glad you're enjoying this story. I'll keep it coming.
