FISHING FOR FEATHERS

Job 4: Tidings In A Teapot

Carmelita returns to the safe-house with Murray, but Sly stays out, wandering from building to building until he ends up opposite the prison: the starting point of his next job. He pulls out his binoc-u-com and focuses on the entrance. "Okay Bentley, what's the plan?"

"Henriette has scoped out a swimming route she and her crew can take around the edges of the island," says Bentley; Sly refocuses his binoc-u-com behind the prison, to the cliffside there. Henriette waves her hook hand at him and indicates a rope stretched taut, a slide down the cliff to the sea. "But first, we've got to get them out."

"Okay, what do you need me to do here?"

"After Murray got information from some fishermen, I did a little extra sleuthing. They really cut corners inside that building—they shove food in through the windows, there aren't even individual cells—but they put a lot of money into making it escape-proof. The prison doesn't use normal locks. To get inside, you have to use the pristine ceremonial tea service from the shop in the center of town."

Sly turns around, letting his binoc-u-com give a view of town before focusing on an unremarkable building near the center. "So I just have to break in there?"

"Despite its looks, that building is a marvel of modern technology," says Bentley. "The highest quality locks, a top-notch security system... I don't think my bombs would even scratch the walls. To get inside, you're going to have to pick a few pockets, then go inside and get the tea set."

"All right. I'll talk to you again when I've got it."

Sly puts his binoc-u-com away and considers the area. Based on the waypoints, there are five pockets for him to pick, in positions ranging from 'strolling the beach' to 'standing on top of the prison' to 'guarding the wall in the woods' to 'wandering aimlessly through town' to, of course, the one guard that there always has to be asleep with his back to a wall in an awkward position to get to. And boy, is he ever in an awkward position. After climbing a tree and leaping from treetop to treetop and shimmying across a cliff and dropping partway down it onto a tiny ledge he can actually get at the guy's pocket, and getting back up involves paragliding until he can grab a hook-like rock outcropping and swing to a few rocks he can ninja-spire jump on back to safety.

Why does there always have to be that one sleeping guard in a stupid spot. Why.

Once that's over with, the trip back to town is easy enough to be almost insulting. Sly lets himself into the teashop and stops just inside to take it in. The randomly-moving lasers on the floor compliment the spotlights moving in slow circles, but the tea set—very delicate, porcelain or something, with blue flowers painted on the teapot and all the mugs—is on the far side of the room, in plain view.

Sly crosses the room, retrieves the tea set, and crosses back with his normal skill. The only sign that anyone was there is the blue Cooper mask he left in place of the teapot, the way he's done with all his crimes since he was a teenager. If Bentley knew, he'd certainly scold Sly. But Bentley doesn't know.

Once outside, Sly climbs to the roof and pulls out his binoc-u-com. "Okay Bentley, I've got the tea set."

"Great. Now, the lock system to open the prison is a little complicated. First, you need to go to the prison and slot the four teacups into the slots in the walls."

"Okay," says Sly.

"All the locks are activated by weight. You're going to have to fill the teapot with water from the sea and bring it back to the prison to fill all the cups before putting it into its own spot in the back wall."

"Sure, sounds easy enough," says Sly.

"That teapot is a special design," says Bentley. "It senses when someone's holding it and heats up its contents accordingly. Once you've filled it with water, you'll have to put it down every now and then to keep the water from boiling. If the teapot whistles, every guard around will come running. And that thing is delicate: you can't take any damage while holding it, and you can't set it down on just anything."

"Hmmmm." Sly zooms in on a few tables scattered by doorways throughout town. "Looks like there are a few safe spots along the way. I'll figure something out."

Sly puts the binoc-u-com away and sets about putting the teacups in the prison. Then he goes to take care of the teapot. For those of us who've played Sly 2, what happens next is strongly reminiscent of the problems involved with bugging Rajan's office. For those who haven't, however, Sly's trials can be summarized with a lot of running, putting down the teapot—fast—and getting out of the way before any guards, following the sound of his feet, find him. None of them pay attention to the teapot when it's just sitting on the table, but Sly still has to wait for them to clear out before he can grab the teapot and go running again.

This task would be impossible for a thief less skilled than Sly. But for Sly, it's just another day's work. A rather faster one than usual, but still just another day. The moon hasn't even moved in the sky when Sly's filled all the teacups (and dumped out the extra water before the dumb thing can whistle). "I'm all done, Henriette," he says, slotting the kettle into its place.

"That's fine, lubbuh, I'll take it from here," she says, moving to the front of the prison.

The door slams open from the inside, and five pirates tumble out, scurvy sea dogs the lot of them—literally, they're dogs. As soon as they catch sight of Henriette, they stop their mad scramble and line up, backs to the prison, though none of them salute her.

"Mangy, Rangy, Fleabag, Biter, and Spot, it's good to see you all again," she greets them.

"Nice ta'see you too, cap'n," says one; I don't know who's who. "We owe ya one."

"You owe me a cut a'yer pay," she informs them all, "or a favor. But right now, we need ta git. Follow me, chaps. We're goin swimmin."

Henriette moves away, followed by her captains, to the line she tied earlier. She jumps and hits the circle button to latch on, then slides along her hook far faster than Sly could run it. She lands on a rock at the bottom, scarce big enough for the pirates that follow her, and leaps into the sea.

"Okay Henriette," says Bentley over the earpiece/maskpiece/whatever, "you're going to have to swim. Now, the guards are on the alert all over the island after that break-in, but they can't see your boat from here. But you can't get to the boat from the water without a few pirates in there to hoist you up, since you made your ship so..."

"I like knowin' no one can get on without me invitin' em," says Henriette. "Don't worry, lubbuh, I got it all covered."

Bentley gives her a tutorial on swimming—though how he knows when none of that gang knows how to swim is beyond me—and lets her at it. Joystick to move, hold triangle to go faster, X to jump out of the water, circle to go underwater (which involves air meters, joy), and the square button to bop sharks on the nose. Which she does. Several times.

"Oy Biter!" she says at one point, when the cliff seems particularly scalable. "Here are directions to the boat. Keep a low-down and quiet!"

"Aye-aye, Cap'n," he says, and jumps out of the water.

She leads the others further around the island, smacking sharks and dodging electric traps with the others swimming behind her. She sends up Fleabag before going through a tricky diving section that involves a lot of almost-drowning, and orders Mangy and Rangy to swim in opposite directions as decoys while she gets out of the water and destroys an electric generator making a laser grid... after which they both get out.

Spot is the last one to go, halfway around the island. "Keep the boat safe for me," she tells him. "I'll flash mirror signals when you need to swing round next."

JOB COMPLETE

Henriette hauls herself, dripping, from the water. Her victory 'pose' involves ringing water from her hair and walking off before it fades away, in the opposite direction Spot went.