HEART, AND EAR, AND EYE

Job 7: Lights, Trances, Action!

Sly meets Thaddeus where the old shacks meet the river, close to one of the light shows around an advertisement. He deliberately keeps his back to the light show as he laughs at Thaddeus. "Really?"

"Does it not suit me?" the older raccoon asks. He spreads his arms in a good-natured shrug. His bright orange vest catches the lights behind them, making Sly feel like everyone is watching them; the helmet on Thaddeus's head is similarly bright. His belt is covered in tools—hammer, wrench, pliers. "Manual labor is beneath no one, after all."

"It suits you almost too well." Sly snickers. "Isn't it a little bright?"

"That is precisely why it works, Sly." Thaddeus leans on his cane, which he's put cloth over so it looks like one of the wolves' oversized flashlights. "I know I wrote about using people's expectations against them in the Thievious. Or were you incapable of fully understanding such matters?"

"Well I, uh, that is..." Sly pulls out his binoc-u-com and contacts Murray. "Okay, big guy, what do Bentley's notes have me doing?"

"At least you have some skill at changing the subject." Thaddeus takes out his own binoc-u-com to listen.

"Well, it says there are three of these hypnotic light-shows around town," Murray says. "They're really bad news, Sly."

"I hear ya. What do we have to do?"

"Bentley's notes say the controls for each of them are locked down tight. You're going to have to pickpocket the keys from guards in each of the areas—he hasn't got the guards marked with waypoints, but they're all wearing special goggles to keep from going spinny-eyed." Sly zooms in on one of the two guards by the spotlights: sure enough, they're wearing goggles that look like they belong in a Matrix movie. "Then you'll have to climb up to, uh, wherever the spotlights are coming from and turn them off."

"This shan't be a problem," Thaddeus says; the camera refocuses upwards, past some iron girders and rickety walls, past where the spotlights are mounted, to a small gray building at the top of the unstable structure. "Will there be guards in the spotlight control station?"

"Yeah," says Murray. "And Bentley's notes say you can't beat those guys up without setting off an alarm. You'll have to figure out some other way to get rid of them."

"That won't be a problem," says Sly. "Keep an eye on Carmelita for me, okay?"

"I don't think she'd want me to," says Murray.

"Not like I do," Sly corrects. "Just check up on her. Bentley, too. Thaddeus and I will be fine."

"Indeed," says Thaddeus, "I will endeavor to keep my descendant out of trouble."

"Okay," says Murray.

They put their binoc-u-com's away. Sly turns to Thaddeus. "So, why are you wearing that get-up?"

"This is what the workers wear when making repairs," Thaddeus says. "We will be able to climb the scaffolding and convince the guards at the top to allow us to, ah, 'fix' things in these outfits." He reaches under his hat and pulls out a matching outfit for Sly. "Although, they may still use passwords to see if we were really sent by the spider woman."

"What are these passwords?"

"There are two," says Thaddeus, handing Sly a piece of paper. "The ground password is square triangle circle x; the rooftop password is x circle triangle square. Can you remember that?"

Sly thinks to himself, What is the ground password? Square triangle circle x. What is the rooftop password? x circle triangle square. Not quite as easy as having Bentley in his ear telling him everything, but Bentley's busy. "I think I can manage."

"If you need assistance, you can always check the passwords in your gadget menu." Thaddeus tips his hat at Sly, a motion more suited to his top hat than the hard hat he's wearing now. "Put that on, and then we can relieve the guards of their keys."

"What, in this?" Sly asks, shaking out the clothes. "It's bright, it's noisy... they'd spot me a while away."

Thaddeus raises an eyebrow, looking distinctly unimpressed. "Can you at least climb in a less than perfect outfit?" he asks, with an air of extreme patience. "Because I will have no problems relieving them of their keys in this 'bright' 'noisy' get-up, but crossing those ropes in this weather makes my bones ache."

Sly opens his mouth, then closes it wordlessly; no one's been disappointed in him like this since he was seven. At least, not in a way he cared about. "I'm sure I can," he says instead. "I'll just... watch, and make sure you're safe until you can get me the keys."

Thaddeus does not roll his eyes; that wouldn't suit his dignity. But he turns away with an air of grave disappointment and irritation... only to stop, facing the spotlights, and remain unmoving.

"Thaddeus?" asks Sly, but there's no response. A glance at Thaddeus's face shows swirly-eyes.

Sly hooks Thaddeus with his cane and turns the other man around. "You okay? Bentley said the lights would be mesmerizing."

Bentley shakes his head. "I believe I know why we are to work together," Thaddeus says. "We will not be able to look at the lights while doing this. I must keep my back to the spotlights."

"Okay," says Sly. "I'll stand on the tower and let you know what's going on behind you. You'll have to walk forwards, backwards, or sideways."

Play resumes as Thaddeus; Sly takes off behind him and climbs the spotlights. Taking some experimental steps causes a problem for the player: the camera is fixed. To avoid the guards and pickpocket these keys, you have to rely on Sly's directions. The two guards have their back to the light show, one to the right, the other to the left, looking in every direction except behind them.

Sly's directions are clear in his ear. "There's no one behind you, Thaddeus," he says, as Thaddeus moves forward. "No one near sight or approaching on either side." Thaddeus continues forward, slipping the key from the guard's pockets. "Nice. Back up now, you're clear."

Thaddeus does so, then shifts sideways, ready for the next guard. "Patrol on your left, coming closer. Looks like it's circling the nearest building. Don't get any closer." Thaddeus waits until Sly gives him the all clear before continuing sideways, retrieving the second key with ease. He backs up until he reaches Sly, already waiting to run across a rope. "Here," he says, handing Sly the keys. "You may continue."

"How ya doing, buddy?" asks Murray in his ear.

"Pretty good," says Sly as he climbs. "How are the others?"

"Carmelita's just finished in the tea shop, but it'll take her a while to get out again," says Murray. "I think she'll need a shower when she gets back."

Sly stares at a length of sheer wall and pulls out a one-use wall hook "Can't she just use the rain? Or is it that bad?"

"I think her fur changed color."

Sly winces. "How's Bentley?"

"He's found spiderweb ropes holding another of those creepy black light things," Murray says. "He can't get close enough to destroy them; says you'll have to later."

"Great." Sly does a neat ninja-spire landing and balances there while he throws another wall-hook, scowls, and aims the next one higher. "I am so excited for that."

"I bet. Oh, you're almost at the top! You know what to say to the guards, right?"

"Of course, I'll just answer their password and tell them I need to fiddle with the equipment."

"Right, that's what Bentley's notes say."

"And just to make sure they don't suspect anything," Sly reaches the top landing by the guard station, "I'm-a gonna use my Ita'lian ac-acent!"

Murray groans, but that's all the time they have for communication, because Sly's already knocking on the door to the guard station. An angry looking porcupine with an alarm button in hand approaches the door. "What is the rooftop password?"

Oh, Sly remembers this. "Ec-su, circul, tri-angle, squwahe."

The guard squints at him. "Why are you using a fake accent?"

"I-uh just-uh transfehed ovuh," Sly says. "I've-uh always sounded like-uh dis!"

The porcupine bristles, but nods. "Need to do some adjustments to the light show? That's the third time this week. The switch is on the roof."

And with that, Sly's allowed past. He jumps to the roof, unlocks the controls, and adjusts them: the lights turn off.

"Righteous!" says Murray. "You nailed that switch! I'll send you the coordinates for your next job."

"I'm on my way."

Sly makes his way back down the tower and meets Thaddeus. Together, the two thieves make their way across town, passing one light show to go to the further one away; the closer light show isn't over any advertisements, and it's better to clear Murray's path for destroying them than to be efficient. "I cannot believe a mere change in outfit is enough to prevent you from working," says Thaddeus. "Did the previous Cooper teach you nothing?"

If Sly blushes, it can't be seen through his fur. "My dad... when I was eight years old, Bentley and Murray and I stole cookies from the head of the orphanage."

Thaddeus doesn't say another word until they reach the next waypoint: an elegant circular fountain with four jets of water around its edges, aiming for the center. Each jet is lit, flashing and blinking in mesmerizing patterns. A guard platform with a security hut and several locked-down switches hovers above it, supported only by ropes tying it to the tops of nearby buildings, which keeps the fountain itself out of the rain. Two guards, wearing special goggles, circle it in different directions.

Sly doesn't realize he's staring at it, unmoving, until Thaddeus claps a hand to his shoulder and turns him away. "For one who only had the Thievious to teach him, you have done quite well," says Thaddeus. "I never would have guessed."

Sly tosses his cane from hand to hand. "Thanks."

"There is much that hasn't been put in the book over the years." Thaddeus removes his hand from Sly's shoulder. "You are young, still; you have time to learn. When you have finished with these fiends from the future, come visit me. I would love to share what I know."

"That... you would... thanks," Sly says. "Ready for the next set?"

Play resumes as Thaddeus, with Sly scampering off... somewhere... to direct him around the fountain. This is trickier, with the guards moving in opposite directions and him always needing to keep his back to the fountain, but Sly is very good at giving directions. It takes a bit of time, and a bit of ducking under benches, but Thaddeus gets the job done.

Sly meets him on top of a building nearby, where they do the key hand-off. Sly's just pocketed the key when he hears Carmelita in his ear. "Everything going well on your end?"

"Things here are set." Sly throws a couple wall-hooks and gets to the top of the highest building. From here, he can look down on the spotlights—and the guard station. "Did you see Murray off?"

"He's on his way to the waypoint Bentley set for the start of his job. I'll set the other ones based on whether or not the spotlights near them are still active."

"Nice." Sly removes his outfit and paraglides down to land on one of the ropes holding the platform over the fountain. He does not look down. "And Bentley?"

"We're going to need fire to destroy the spiderweb ropes. He told me he's going to hack and might not respond if he's midway through a computer system."

"Of course." Sly makes it to the platform and puts his outfit back on. He walks up to the nearest guard.

"Halt!" says the owl, brandishing his crossbow.

"I'm-uh haltin."

"What is the ground password?"

"Squawuh, triangle, cuhcul, ec-su."

The guard stares at him. "Are you an idiot?"

"I'ma new-uh." Sly tips his hard hat. "Only been in town a month-uh."

The guard sighs. "What, are you trying to sound like Tony? You're doing a really bad job of it. Do you know Tony?"

"I-uh haven't met-uh him yet."

"I'll see that you do," says the owl, scratching behind his ear with one arrow. "You would be fast friends."

Sly doesn't know what to make of that, but the guard lets him past anyway.

"That was horrendous," says Carmelita in his ear.

"Everyone always hates on the accent." Sly slips the key in the lock and turns off all the spotlights. "Ready to give me the next waypoint?"

"Fine."

Sly's made his way back to Thaddeus before Carmelita speaks again, "I just wish there was some way to do this without stealing."

"Miss Fox," says Thaddeus, looking around as though attempting to face her as he speaks, even though she isn't there, "are you aware of what my day job was, for the last thirty years?"

"You were a thief," she says.

Thaddeus tuts in disappointment. "I am a thief, Miss Fox, and have been my entire life, but that is not what I am known for. To my neighbors, old colleagues, society at large, I am a private detective. I worked side by side with many distinguished officers of the law, and am still consulted on difficult cases."

"You're joking," Sly and Carmelita say together.

Thaddeus laughs. "I noticed earlier that the two of you are having problems reconciling the public and private portions of your lives." He jumps off the building he'd been standing on and makes his way down the street, hands in his pockets; Sly paraglides after him. "Neither of you willing to accept the consistencies between them."

"Well, yeah," says Sly. "There's nothing similar about breaking the law and enforcing it."

"The rule of law is meant to protect the innocent from those who would take advantage," says Thaddeus. "Tell me, Sly, those you steal from, what happens after?"

Sly laughs. "By the time we're through, Interpol's gotten enough evidence on them that they go to jail. Murderers, traffickers, spice dealers... they do a lot worse than us."

"And by ensuring they are caught and penalized for their crimes, are you not behaving as law enforcement?"

Sly stops in his tracks. Carmelita laughs over the earpiece. "Please, he breaks too many rules for that."

"And tell me, Miss Fox," Thaddeus says, climbing to another rooftop as he speaks, "The rules you follow, that prevent you from going places and doing things, what purpose do they serve?"

"They keep cops honest, of course," snaps Carmelita. "If we didn't have checks on our power, we'd be no better than the criminals ourselves."

"Even when following those same rules prevents you from doing your own job, and adequately punishing those who'd harm others?" Thaddeus shakes his head in disapproval. "Independent agents like myself, who do no harm to the innocent but do not obey the rules, are needed to handle what law cannot touch. How we pay ourselves is our business."

There's silence from everyone until Thaddeus and Sly reach the final set of spotlights. Then Carmelita speaks. "I'm going to talk with Murray."

Thaddeus tips his hat to no one and turns to Sly. "Had you not made that connection yourself?"

"Not in so many words," Sly says. "I'm still getting used to the idea that Coopers can get along with the law."

Thaddeus sighs heavily. "Honestly. Well, we can discuss this another time. Attend!"

"Right. One more light show, and the city is safe." Sly moves into a good spot to give Thaddeus directions, leaving him alone on the rooftop.

This set of advertisements seem to be taking place in a public park of some kind, a large stretch of grass and trees. The spotlights shimmer through the trees, reflecting off the puddles and making spots dance in Thaddeus's vision even though he's not directly facing the statues the light show is centered around. There are three guards who have keys he needs this time, one in the woods, one by the fence surrounding the park, and one weaving between the three statues. Pickpocketing them all is an exercise in letting Sly tell him what to do and obeying.

If Sly weren't so very good at what he does, it would be impossible. How Sly himself isn't getting hypnotized in all this is hard to believe. But Thaddeus has to pickpocket with his eyes closed, listening for when the guard before him stops moving as he circles around the statues, Sly telling him when to stop moving or if he needs to turn left or right and when he's close enough to perform the pick, and he's been doing this so long he doesn't need to see to steal.

That's a point he probably shouldn't make with Carmelita.

Once Sly's guided him out again, he climbs a building and hands Sly the keys. "This may be difficult," says Thaddeus. "You will need to climb to the top of the statue to reach the control booth."

"If I need to, I'll close my eyes and let you guide me," says Sly. "It shouldn't be a problem if I'm fast enough."

In fact, for players' convenience, when Sly enters the zone lit by spotlights a 60-second timer appears on the screen. Getting to the top of the statues in that amount of time is a challenge, but doable; anyone but Sly would find it difficult, if not impossible. The control booth is closed, no doubt with a guard inside: Sly knocks on the door.

The guard that opens it is... not who Sly was expecting. "Wha'd'ya want-uh?" asks the large muscled Italian dog with a flashlight.

"I'm-uh here for repairs-uh," says Sly, trying to shake the feeling that he's seen this guy before.

"What-uh's the ground-uh passaword?"

"Squaw-uh, triangle, circul, x," says Sly.

"All right-uh, tough guy, you may-uh know the pass-uh word, but what's my nick-uh name?"

Sly's jaw drops. "The Killer B?!"

Tony 'The Killer' B laughs. "I thought it was-uh you. I haven't seen-uh you since that time in Venezia! Did-uh you put on that accent to see if-uh I'd remember? You needuh to stop."

Sly closes his mouth. "I thought it was good."

"It's not-uh. I thought it was a gooduh try, when you were just getting into Octavio's ganguh, but I've gone legit now." Tony struts in place. "Workin fur a re-enactament company! Things areuh looking up!"

Sly doesn't have the heart to tell him. "Yeah. They are. May I, uh, see the spotlight controls?"

"Sure-uh. You can do whatevuh you want, so-a long as you ditch the ac-acent."

Sly enters the little hut for the spotlight controls, the lights turn off, and he emerges moments later. "I'll be-uh seein you," says Tony B., shutting the door after Sly.

His earpiece crackles to life as Sly climbs down the statue. "What was that?" asks Carmelita.

"I don't think you'd believe me," says Sly.

"Cute."

"No, really." Sly jumps back to the ground and looks around for Thaddeus, spotting him on a nearby rooftop. "I'm not sure I believe what just happened. Can we forget about it?"

"If it gets you to ditch the accent, then fine. For now. Listen, Sly, Thaddeus," she says, "Bentley's not answering. He told me he wouldn't, if he were really into his hacking, but I think he'd feel better if he had backup."

"I know I would," says Sly.

"We shall ensure it is taken care of," says Thaddeus.

Play continues as Sly, running from rooftop to rooftop and jumping along as normal... until the theater comes into sight.

Every window is barred. Every door is closed. Lasers gleam in the cracks of the shutters, in dizzying patterns on the roof. Spotlights, dozens of them, sweep the ground in random patterns on all sides; even so, guards stand alert at the perimeter. There's a freaking tank circling it!

Sly whips out his binoc-u-com. "Bentley?" he tries, hoping, praying he can get in contact with the turtle. "Bentley!?"

"He's not responding," says Carmelita, taking over the line. "What's it like on your end?"

"I do not think there is any doubt that the turtle has been discovered," says Thaddeus.

Sly shoves his binoc-u-com away. "I'm going in."

"You will do him no good if you get captured as well." Thaddeus grabs Sly by the arm and restrains him. "We need to take a moment, calm down, regroup. We need a plan."

Sly glares at Thaddeus. "I am not leaving him there."

JOB COMPLETE

Thaddeus clubs Sly over the head with his own cane, hoists Sly over his shoulder, and leaves the Job Complete screen at a run.