A Question of Principle
Paris (GMT +3)
Knowledge is power.
~ Francis Bacon
The universal key to any lock is knowledge.
~ Eddie the Wire
From The Secrets of Lockpicking
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Upon reaching the perimeter of the museum, Carmen could instinctively sense that something was amiss. It wasn't the usual activities of those who were "determined" to protect the premises from individuals such as herself, but something darker and more insidious.
Does competition really make a person stronger? Or does it merely immunize against the possibilities of surprise? She had always suspected that one day, this would happen. Someone would come along and test her position in the criminal underworld, thinking themselves better and end up failing miserably due to the lack of insight she had detected when she emerged from legality into the superior ranks of the darker arts.
She didn't doubt her ability to sense such shortcomings. What deeply disturbed her was the lack of such apparent shortcomings in the competition. This could prove to be more dangerous than she had originally thought.
Yet the lack of the thrill of the chase had recently began to threaten her mind with somber conclusions. There was no longer any real danger to her pursuits. No prison could hold her, no agency had held her for very long...
The possibilities that this new threat presented awakened a new channel of fear and within such opportunities a deeper purpose resurfaced.
A faint smile curved the ruby red lips beneath the shadows of the similiar colored fedora.
No one ever said she had to play fair...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kali stood by, the concern upon her face evident even in the darkened shadows. Although there were several of Jida's hired accomplices crawling about the premises, she senses something was about to go very wrong.
Despite her doomed soothsaying predictions, Jida remained undaunted. She pulled a cigarette from the weathered pack her in her jacket and chewed it nervously. Only then did Jida's gaze fall upon her with a disapproving glare and she smiled weakly but did nothing.
The gaze suddenly turned menacing and she pulled the cigarette from her lips and blew an imaginary puff of smoke into the chilled air, her breath crystalizing into a cloud of frozen water vapor. This act proved to be too much for Jida, who deliberately stopped all concentrated thought and strolled toward her with an undisturbed ease.
He stood before her with a blank expression, his hand open and waiting. Kali handed him the cigarette and raised one eyebrow apologetically.
The coppery stare narrowed, she could hear a deep inhalation of air and she quickly placed the entire pack from her jacket into his palm. This action seemed to satisfy the strange spector of a human that loomed over her as he returned to his position and began to concentrate upon his former task.
She smiled momentarily as she placed her hands inside of her pockets and whispered,
"You missed your calling. You should be working for the Surgeon General..."
He grinned at the odd complimend replied,
Everything is ready to go?"
"Yep. At least it's as close as I can get it."
"That's not reassuring, Kali..."
"Then stop playing the game. Go home and accept your losses." He stood abruptly and stared back at her, switching on his headset,
"Never. Let's go..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The intital entry was easy enough, Kali had once again provided him with a foolproof route of success. Her years working for some of the most dangerous criminal minds clearly showed in her experience to out think the complex circuitry of the top rated security systems of the world. The ironic thing that always amused him to no end was the fact that she had aquired her certification in electronics after her first conviction for B&E. Had she spent a longer term imprisoned for her crimes, there was no doubt that the state penitentiary would have funded her education further...
It was such an odd twist of fate which had allied the two of them. In the years he had spent pondering his father's death, he had attended all the trials of the associated accomplices with a hungry eye to every detail. But when he saw her, he knew something was inherently different about her. She lacked the fundamental qualities needed to be a cold, calculating professional in the criminal world, and yet there she was. The apparent sardonic aura when the charges were read to her with a redundant drone. The way she sighed and raised her eyebrows and nodded in agreement to her guilt. What was it she had said?
Oh yes, that was priceless. How could he ever forget?
" Thank you. Yes, I did it, I fully admit to my part in all of this. Let me apologize first to people in attendance here today. The laws of this state require that I must be judged by a jury of my peers. You fine people of the jury have nothing in common with me...well, isn't that a fine joke? Now you have the chance to see what happens to those tax dollars you have been paying all those years. I did it, and I had a lot of fun in the process. Stop wasting my time and let's get this over with. Today is one more day away from my release onto probation..."
Something had endeared her to his cause from that moment on. He knew he had to know her better.
But now was not the time for memories...
He swiftly found his place in the dimmed lights of the Louvre and allowed the limits of his keen perception to converge into a well practiced calm.
How the moments seemed to tick away like an eternity...across the headset he could hear the occasional crackle of interference and he noted every interrruption with an almost paranoid line of thought.
It was then that a sudden soft click caught his attention in the distance of the room and his heart soared with a giddy anticipation. He knew it was her...
Yet she did not approach him at first, her intrinsic nature obeyed the laws of a specified respective distance. Even in the dim, imperceivable light, her presence was powerful.
Jida fidgeted with his gloves in an unconscious muffled sound, and Carmen could sense a degree of discomfort.
However, this was not a first for Jida. He quickly regained his posture and chuckled,
"Infinite players play with boundaries and finite players play within them. Isn't that right, Carmen?"
Whereas she hastily retorted,
"Don't bother me with trivial thoughts. I want to know why you removed my clue for ACME from the museum in Amsterdam."
Jida stopped cold in his witty glee, almost stunned and sighed,
"Well, you don't waste time, do you? I thought we came here in pursuit of the same idealism. Otherwise I see no reason why you made this such an important matter. You could just as easily have sent one of your anonymous henchmen."
"You are incorrect in your assessment. You have made this a matter of my business when you took the clue I had left for ACME."
Jida shrugged, "I can put it back if you like..."
"You have a lot of nerve to stand here and claim you are more than the lowly criminal who has overstepped his boundaries. And do not glorify your audacity with untruths. We are nothing alike."
Jida calmly stated,
"I didn't say that. But you're statement betrays what I already suspected. I'm sorry Carmen, I merely assumed that you broke into the museum. Please accept my apology for my misconceptions of how an international thief as yourself got into the Louvre at two am."
Carmen stared directly at Jida with a look of utter contempt. Jida sidestepped the exhibit of the Sphinx and smiled apologetically,
"I truly do not mean to offend. I just can't resist an open invitation for a comeback. I believe we could benefit each other greatly. You see, I have amassed a power base not far from your own, and I think it's time I took control of what destiny has offered me. Until now, I have waited silent and patient to see what I wanted from what the world had to offer. After years of contemplation, I know that I require the same sort of calculating methodical practice to forget what life has left out. My bloodline is that of the worst criminal caste to ever grace the face of Earth. Yet I wish for a different category of criminality. I desire respect and love, to be known for what I am not for what I do. You have what I only dream of. The world over, you are known as the "criminal with a conscience" I wish to learn from the best. Show me what experience has taught you, and I will gladly benefit you through whatever means you require."
Carmen paused, taken aback by the statement of the mysterious man who openly offered his services in return for any price. She shook her head and stated,
"I don't understand your motives. Perhaps you could elaborate more. I have no difficulty in telling you that I am not interested in your proposition."
He leaned toward her, his eyes softening slightly as he stared her in the eye. That last statement wasn't entirely true, he could see something in her poise that told him otherwise, but was at a loss to determine exactly what it was hinting.He had spent years reading the body language of people, but she was more difficult to read than he had originally thought.
"Are you truly that afraid of having an equal?"
Carmen quickly retorted,
"What makes you believe you're capable of becoming my equal?"
"Now if that isn't the most arrogant thing I've ever heard. I know of your past disappointments, Carmen. You had truly expected a detective who followed the same law as yourself to freely offer to join you and obey your every whim? tsk, tsk, Lee Jordan had had other plans. Tell me, what is it like to have your trust shattered and your life ruined by a miscalculation of a person's character? I dare not speculate over all the details involved"
Carmen raised a hand and turned with an apparent disinterest,
"It seems you have speculated too much..."
" I suppose thats a matter of private business. I'm truly sorry for my forwardness. Jordan used you to accomplish his own twisted means."
Carmen paused and stood in the shadow of the Sphinx, the faint light of the auxillary lighting system barely betraying her presence. "Why should I not trust my intuition that you will attempt the same?"
" A very good question. I do have a hidden agenda of sorts. But it hardly involves taking over V.I.L.E or world domination and I would like to think I'm above kidnapping. I do not ask for your trust, you hardly know me."
"Yet you are certain of what you ask, the implications which are involved in working for me. While I still stand by my previous statement, my curiosity is piqued. I currently lack a source of amusement in my ventures..."
Jida paused and decided to leave the last statement she had made alone.
"Oh yes, I am certain. Surely you suspect that an individual as myself has mused over the various possibilities in a request such as this. For now, I challenge you to test my ability. I promise you little if any disappointment."
A faint smile curled her stern mouth momentarily before she calmly stated
"Well, then, let's proceed..."
At that moment the roar of the museum alarm rang through the air and the sound of sirens grew closer in the distance. Jida seemed temporarily startled and Carmen made a simple gesture with her hand, holding up four fingers and then five...before nonchalantly starting to walk away.
"What the..." He closed his eyes for what seemed an infinite space in time and the message hit him with a sudden urgency.
Forty-five seconds to escape!
Carmen shot him one last glance as she faded into the darkness, an apparent smile gracing her lips.
Jida froze in place, very much like a deer caught in the headlights of an approaching 747.
Paris (GMT +3)
Knowledge is power.
~ Francis Bacon
The universal key to any lock is knowledge.
~ Eddie the Wire
From The Secrets of Lockpicking
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Upon reaching the perimeter of the museum, Carmen could instinctively sense that something was amiss. It wasn't the usual activities of those who were "determined" to protect the premises from individuals such as herself, but something darker and more insidious.
Does competition really make a person stronger? Or does it merely immunize against the possibilities of surprise? She had always suspected that one day, this would happen. Someone would come along and test her position in the criminal underworld, thinking themselves better and end up failing miserably due to the lack of insight she had detected when she emerged from legality into the superior ranks of the darker arts.
She didn't doubt her ability to sense such shortcomings. What deeply disturbed her was the lack of such apparent shortcomings in the competition. This could prove to be more dangerous than she had originally thought.
Yet the lack of the thrill of the chase had recently began to threaten her mind with somber conclusions. There was no longer any real danger to her pursuits. No prison could hold her, no agency had held her for very long...
The possibilities that this new threat presented awakened a new channel of fear and within such opportunities a deeper purpose resurfaced.
A faint smile curved the ruby red lips beneath the shadows of the similiar colored fedora.
No one ever said she had to play fair...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kali stood by, the concern upon her face evident even in the darkened shadows. Although there were several of Jida's hired accomplices crawling about the premises, she senses something was about to go very wrong.
Despite her doomed soothsaying predictions, Jida remained undaunted. She pulled a cigarette from the weathered pack her in her jacket and chewed it nervously. Only then did Jida's gaze fall upon her with a disapproving glare and she smiled weakly but did nothing.
The gaze suddenly turned menacing and she pulled the cigarette from her lips and blew an imaginary puff of smoke into the chilled air, her breath crystalizing into a cloud of frozen water vapor. This act proved to be too much for Jida, who deliberately stopped all concentrated thought and strolled toward her with an undisturbed ease.
He stood before her with a blank expression, his hand open and waiting. Kali handed him the cigarette and raised one eyebrow apologetically.
The coppery stare narrowed, she could hear a deep inhalation of air and she quickly placed the entire pack from her jacket into his palm. This action seemed to satisfy the strange spector of a human that loomed over her as he returned to his position and began to concentrate upon his former task.
She smiled momentarily as she placed her hands inside of her pockets and whispered,
"You missed your calling. You should be working for the Surgeon General..."
He grinned at the odd complimend replied,
Everything is ready to go?"
"Yep. At least it's as close as I can get it."
"That's not reassuring, Kali..."
"Then stop playing the game. Go home and accept your losses." He stood abruptly and stared back at her, switching on his headset,
"Never. Let's go..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The intital entry was easy enough, Kali had once again provided him with a foolproof route of success. Her years working for some of the most dangerous criminal minds clearly showed in her experience to out think the complex circuitry of the top rated security systems of the world. The ironic thing that always amused him to no end was the fact that she had aquired her certification in electronics after her first conviction for B&E. Had she spent a longer term imprisoned for her crimes, there was no doubt that the state penitentiary would have funded her education further...
It was such an odd twist of fate which had allied the two of them. In the years he had spent pondering his father's death, he had attended all the trials of the associated accomplices with a hungry eye to every detail. But when he saw her, he knew something was inherently different about her. She lacked the fundamental qualities needed to be a cold, calculating professional in the criminal world, and yet there she was. The apparent sardonic aura when the charges were read to her with a redundant drone. The way she sighed and raised her eyebrows and nodded in agreement to her guilt. What was it she had said?
Oh yes, that was priceless. How could he ever forget?
" Thank you. Yes, I did it, I fully admit to my part in all of this. Let me apologize first to people in attendance here today. The laws of this state require that I must be judged by a jury of my peers. You fine people of the jury have nothing in common with me...well, isn't that a fine joke? Now you have the chance to see what happens to those tax dollars you have been paying all those years. I did it, and I had a lot of fun in the process. Stop wasting my time and let's get this over with. Today is one more day away from my release onto probation..."
Something had endeared her to his cause from that moment on. He knew he had to know her better.
But now was not the time for memories...
He swiftly found his place in the dimmed lights of the Louvre and allowed the limits of his keen perception to converge into a well practiced calm.
How the moments seemed to tick away like an eternity...across the headset he could hear the occasional crackle of interference and he noted every interrruption with an almost paranoid line of thought.
It was then that a sudden soft click caught his attention in the distance of the room and his heart soared with a giddy anticipation. He knew it was her...
Yet she did not approach him at first, her intrinsic nature obeyed the laws of a specified respective distance. Even in the dim, imperceivable light, her presence was powerful.
Jida fidgeted with his gloves in an unconscious muffled sound, and Carmen could sense a degree of discomfort.
However, this was not a first for Jida. He quickly regained his posture and chuckled,
"Infinite players play with boundaries and finite players play within them. Isn't that right, Carmen?"
Whereas she hastily retorted,
"Don't bother me with trivial thoughts. I want to know why you removed my clue for ACME from the museum in Amsterdam."
Jida stopped cold in his witty glee, almost stunned and sighed,
"Well, you don't waste time, do you? I thought we came here in pursuit of the same idealism. Otherwise I see no reason why you made this such an important matter. You could just as easily have sent one of your anonymous henchmen."
"You are incorrect in your assessment. You have made this a matter of my business when you took the clue I had left for ACME."
Jida shrugged, "I can put it back if you like..."
"You have a lot of nerve to stand here and claim you are more than the lowly criminal who has overstepped his boundaries. And do not glorify your audacity with untruths. We are nothing alike."
Jida calmly stated,
"I didn't say that. But you're statement betrays what I already suspected. I'm sorry Carmen, I merely assumed that you broke into the museum. Please accept my apology for my misconceptions of how an international thief as yourself got into the Louvre at two am."
Carmen stared directly at Jida with a look of utter contempt. Jida sidestepped the exhibit of the Sphinx and smiled apologetically,
"I truly do not mean to offend. I just can't resist an open invitation for a comeback. I believe we could benefit each other greatly. You see, I have amassed a power base not far from your own, and I think it's time I took control of what destiny has offered me. Until now, I have waited silent and patient to see what I wanted from what the world had to offer. After years of contemplation, I know that I require the same sort of calculating methodical practice to forget what life has left out. My bloodline is that of the worst criminal caste to ever grace the face of Earth. Yet I wish for a different category of criminality. I desire respect and love, to be known for what I am not for what I do. You have what I only dream of. The world over, you are known as the "criminal with a conscience" I wish to learn from the best. Show me what experience has taught you, and I will gladly benefit you through whatever means you require."
Carmen paused, taken aback by the statement of the mysterious man who openly offered his services in return for any price. She shook her head and stated,
"I don't understand your motives. Perhaps you could elaborate more. I have no difficulty in telling you that I am not interested in your proposition."
He leaned toward her, his eyes softening slightly as he stared her in the eye. That last statement wasn't entirely true, he could see something in her poise that told him otherwise, but was at a loss to determine exactly what it was hinting.He had spent years reading the body language of people, but she was more difficult to read than he had originally thought.
"Are you truly that afraid of having an equal?"
Carmen quickly retorted,
"What makes you believe you're capable of becoming my equal?"
"Now if that isn't the most arrogant thing I've ever heard. I know of your past disappointments, Carmen. You had truly expected a detective who followed the same law as yourself to freely offer to join you and obey your every whim? tsk, tsk, Lee Jordan had had other plans. Tell me, what is it like to have your trust shattered and your life ruined by a miscalculation of a person's character? I dare not speculate over all the details involved"
Carmen raised a hand and turned with an apparent disinterest,
"It seems you have speculated too much..."
" I suppose thats a matter of private business. I'm truly sorry for my forwardness. Jordan used you to accomplish his own twisted means."
Carmen paused and stood in the shadow of the Sphinx, the faint light of the auxillary lighting system barely betraying her presence. "Why should I not trust my intuition that you will attempt the same?"
" A very good question. I do have a hidden agenda of sorts. But it hardly involves taking over V.I.L.E or world domination and I would like to think I'm above kidnapping. I do not ask for your trust, you hardly know me."
"Yet you are certain of what you ask, the implications which are involved in working for me. While I still stand by my previous statement, my curiosity is piqued. I currently lack a source of amusement in my ventures..."
Jida paused and decided to leave the last statement she had made alone.
"Oh yes, I am certain. Surely you suspect that an individual as myself has mused over the various possibilities in a request such as this. For now, I challenge you to test my ability. I promise you little if any disappointment."
A faint smile curled her stern mouth momentarily before she calmly stated
"Well, then, let's proceed..."
At that moment the roar of the museum alarm rang through the air and the sound of sirens grew closer in the distance. Jida seemed temporarily startled and Carmen made a simple gesture with her hand, holding up four fingers and then five...before nonchalantly starting to walk away.
"What the..." He closed his eyes for what seemed an infinite space in time and the message hit him with a sudden urgency.
Forty-five seconds to escape!
Carmen shot him one last glance as she faded into the darkness, an apparent smile gracing her lips.
Jida froze in place, very much like a deer caught in the headlights of an approaching 747.
