Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, i couldn't break the next part in two because it would ruin the flow and adding it to this one would mean that it is very long. Still, i hope you enjoy it.
"She said they were thieves." Carmelita says.
"She sounds just like you." Joey states.
"Hold on guys, I'll get some photos of these guys." Bentley says as he zooms in the camera to capture a glimpse of them all. A pile of photos prints out beside them to take a look at. Carmelita takes the four pictures of the thieves and takes them to Sly.
"Do you know any one of these thieves?" Carmelita asks as she fans out the photos for Sly to see, he doesn't recognise any of them.
"Sorry." Sly says as he turns around to Joey, he suspects he might know something else.
"Maybe Joey can help us out, after all he's the one who's been with them." Sly says as he stares at Joey intently, forcing him to spill over with information.
"Okay, let's see. In order of appearance, this guy lives in the favelas in Brazil. He steals drugs for cartels in exchange for safety for his family. This guyalways went on about meditationand focus. He was a total nut job before I realised about his completely annoying ability to read minds. This girl down here was a total neat freak; she never left anything out of place ever. This included her thefts, never anything left, she kept boasting about her drug thefts in the Mexican desert. About how not a single drop of whatever they were carrying remained after she'd been there. Finally, This last guy knows every thing about diamonds. Him and I would have more diamonds than the royal families of the entire planet." Joey explains, it seems they were a real mixed bag when it comes to thieves.
"So they've got thieves from around the world from every continent." Sly summarises.
"Except one." Joey says, knowing what the next answer should be.
"Me." Sly says, determined not to be caught by Penelope.
"But why do they never mention my name?" Sly asks, a subtle detail extracted from the video can reveal an unseen clue.
"I don't have all the answers." Joey replies.
"So far you have." Sly states.
"Let's just analyse these photos to see what else we can get." Bentley says, getting into the repetitive task of analysis.
"Shouldn't we do something to stop them?" Sly asks Bentley.
"Not right now, but when the time is right, we strike." Bentley explains as he continues with the data crunching. The typing of the keys on the computer are echoing as he inputs each new line of data into algorithms which crunch the data into useful information. This 'big data' is the new way of trying to analyse and figure out everything that can be found out. The data is all out there, it just takes the right person to put it all to use. Bentley, being far ahead of the technology curve, is the master of this technique. His algorithms, backed up by his powerful quantum computing system, take information out of anything; pictures, video, sound, electromagnetic radiation in the air. Just about anything can be turned into information that's useful to someone. That information produces the result he predicted earlier, they have to let the thieves come to them.
Technology can only go so far when making a plan. Sly does this all the time, thinking quickly on his feet is what he does in order to make the split second decisions which can decide his fate in even smaller amounts of time. Thieving is what he does best, and thieves are hunting them. Sly should know what thieves do, how they react, how they move. But Sly is part of a dying breed of thieves, the master thief is almost extinct around the world but it is not a protected species. The motives between the petty and the 'righteous' are vastly different. Most small time thieves just steal maybe once or twice for the money. Some grow into bigger and badder thieves, chasing even greater paydays than the one before them. Along this process, the bad one's are weeded out by the natural selection that is the police. If you aren't good enough, then you are going to get caught.
Sly can see why thieves do it, the easy money is tempting. Being free from the rat race and taking it from other people. But where's the fun, the honour, the challenge in that? It's why Sly specialises in stealing from criminals. He gets all three of those things that keep him going. He doesn't need the money. A huge vault on Kaine Island is a testament to that fact. He just is a thief, he was, is and always will be, just like all of the Coopers before him and what he hope's is the next Cooper to come. He looks across to Carmelita as she sits, re-united with a shock pistol once again. Bentley took care of that one; he just made it the same as it was before. He claimed that he managed to get it back from the police in exchange for a tiny microchip that could boost their computers memory clock speed by 200%. She didn't really buy it though; Bentley was never that much of a smooth talker. Still, she is grateful for what this gang has done for her. Giving her safe refuge from the corrupt officials that want to lock her up in jail for going outside of the building. Breaking her out of prison twice in one day. Saving her on numerous occasions. It's clear that without Sly, she could still be stuck in the Contessa's hypnotic trance, doing whatever deeds that were commanded through the Clockwerk eyes.
"Sly, come look at this." Bentley says to Sly who looks up at Bentley and gets out of his chair. He takes a look at Carmelita, who is still fiddling around with the shock pistol and twirling it around the table as if in hope more than anything. Sly really wants to get her job back; it would mean everything to her if he did that. It is too early to think about that though as Sly sees what Bentley has brought up on his multiple screens.
"Do you see this?" Bentley says. It's a security camera feed at a crossroads in Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe. The two sides of the road are full of workers, anxious to get to their destination, not looking at anything else. Just focused on the job at hand. Not seeing what is happening around them. The footage rolls on, nothing out of the ordinary appears as the two sides converge in the middle of the road, weaving their ways around each other.
"I don't see anything." Sly says Sly, puzzled at what Bentley is trying to show him. "What am I meant to see?"
"Let me show you again." Bentley says as he rewinds the footage.
"You see this person?" Bentley says as he highlights the target on the screen for Sly to see.
"That look's like one of the thieves." Sly says.
"Exactly." Bentley answers. "Now watch what happens here." Bentley plays the footage and sees the red outlined thief walk into the foot traffic. Another red outline follows behind as well as the other two from the other side. Sly sees what this is now. It is a well-coordinated swindle. He sees the subtle pickpocket then the triple handoff where innocent peoples mobile phones, wallets and other expensive items end up in a shopping bag carried by the female member of their little group.
"I know how to be a thief." Sly says, thinking that Bentley is furthering his education.
"That's not the point I'm trying to show you. It's that theft itself. Look how they pilfered, from ordinary people, their belongings in the name of a quick dollar. We are going to confront them, but you need to make sure that you know who you are dealing with. These are people who will try to take advantage of us in order to further their selfish ways. No matter how much they try to relate to you as thieves." Bentley warns to Sly. He worries, maybe a little too much, about Sly and being corrupted into the normal street thief. It just shows how much he cares for them.
"I'm not like them Bentley, you don't need to worry." Sly casually states.
"Good, because you are going to meet them today." Bentley says.
"Name the time and place." Sly says, eager to show these 'thieves' who's boss.
"No, you're going to name the time and place, we are going to create a heist for them, but it's going to be a trap. We trap them in and keep them quiet in order to further isolate Penelope from any external help she may be getting." Bentley explains
"Sounds like we've got a plan." Sly says.