Parc de la Tête d'Or (Park of the Golden Head) Lyon. 10:23am
The square building that they have been searching for is now in sight. They walk through the park casually, like they are just having a nice stroll together. Sly's mind is still on Carmelita, fixing her head to Penelope in his mind to make this awkward situation more comfortable. Penelope's mind is thinking about Bentley although not manifesting his face onto Sly. She wonders how he is going, whether he is taking this little 'outing' well. Would he ever forgive her for what she is doing? Does he think she is trying to separate the Coopers from the rest of them? These pass and go through her head like cars on an assembly line. What she is thinking about more pressingly is how will Sly react to what she has done. Every step she takes closer to that building, she feels worse about it. She doesn't say it Sly, he has to find this out for himself. She thinks it's the best way for him to figure out what is going on. The cool mountain air from the nearby Alps makes the day slightly colder, even though it is summer, it is still not very warm. Sly has to reach for the also black jacket in the bag that contains his cane; He moves the cane around and searches for the jacket. Just a zip up with a higher neck to keep the neck warm. If this were nighttime, even without invisibility, he would be unseen.
Only the high fence with razor wire on the top prevents them from entering. There seems to be no guards around so it doesn't look like they will be caught out. Sly gets out his cane and climbs a nearby tree in order to get over the fence. It's a bit of an oversight for a building that is meant to be secure. Maybe there will be more tests for him on the inside. He lets the gate open for Penelope and they walk across the empty tarmac side road of the building. Sly had never contemplated going inside one of these buildings, at least not when he is caught. He expects to see everyone look at him, stunned at his audacity. He peaks through the thick glass panes to check for security numbers. He can count the number of guards on no fingers. Sly walks through the rotating doors with Penelope close behind. Sly goes into the lobby and sees no one there. Is this what security has come to these days? It shows why he has been unable to be caught. They walk slowly up to the stairs; the elevator is too risky considering this might be a trap. Every situation could be a trap.
He goes to the first floor and sees row after row of empty cubicles, shouldn't it be busier than this? Considering that they are searching for him night and day in this new campaign of theirs. But via his hearing, he finds the typing on a single keyboard to be a disturbance. Only the forehead can be seen but he doesn't see them. Sly ducks down below the height of the cubicles. The typing is quick but unrushed; Sly's movements are the same. As he gets closer he can hear the faint mumblings spilling out of his mouth, like he is trying to figure something out. Surely law enforcement hasn't been hit that hard by the financial downturn that an entire floor of cubicles is reduced to one man on a computer.
"Just a few more calculations on the image." He speaks to himself, willing the computer on to make the calculation to what ever he is doing.
"The proportions should be right, it's… just." He speaks as the computer spits out another failed result. No match is made.
"You stupid piece of semiconductors!" he says as he gets up and flips the chair over in anger at how bad this system is. Only he stops to he that raccoon Sly Cooper stops the chair with his foot. And it's the mouse the director was with a week ago. Together.
"Hi" Sly says, casually picking up the chair with his cane without looking. This only freaks out Geoffrey more at his physical weakness compared with this specimen. He almost falls out of his chair at the sight of him. This is not who he was expecting to see. He fears that his life is now over now that the world's best thief is standing opposite him.
"Please, don't kill me!" He cowers as he tries to prepare for what he thinks is the inevitable. Sly just sees this over reaction and tries to dispel it.
"Woah, slow down there. I'm not going to hurt you." Sly says.
"How can you say that?" Geoffrey says as he backs away slowly from Sly. "You were responsible for the recent murder of 30 innocent school children." Sly is shocked that he even suggested it.
"I may be a thief but I'm not a cruel maniac. There is a very large difference between the two." Sly says then realises where he would have gotten this Ill-conceived information. "Take me to the director now."
"He left in a helicopter." Geoffrey explains frantically with all the adrenaline pumping in his body wanting him to flee the situation.
"You can give me and my… friend here the tour, while we wait for him to arrive." Sly suggests. Geoffrey is completely complicit. Death shall not me on his menu for today. Neither it is on Sly's menu to be giving it to this poor, freaked out aardvark.
"But first, why isn't anyone here?" Sly asks.
"They're trying to find you." He replies. "I they call everyone back here because they find you, you will be caught, there is no way you can get out here."
"I'll find a way." Sly says while he walks with some swagger down the empty hallways of the Interpol Headquarters. They turn a corner to the elevator shafts and they stop.
"What do you want to see first? More offices, the directors office, the break room." He starts.
"Do you have some war rooms here?" Sly asks, trying to pretend he doesn't know already.
"Uh." He replies back, not wanting to divulge the information, but Sly takes out his cane from the bag. This makes him spill it all out.
"There's the war room down stairs, level -8." He replies while being scared.
"Perfect." He says as they wait for an elevator. This ping signifies it arrival. The wait is almost comparable to that in his dream that was so long ago. That is almost like another world to him. They enter the smooth stainless steel insides of the elevator and find the button for the war rooms. Penelope is getting worried as well, worried that they are getting ever closer to the source of all her anxiety. The elevator takes a long time to reach the underground bunkers that are dimly lit by fluorescent lights in the roof. The near darkness makes it for almost perfect conditions.
"Go back to your desk and stay there, I don't want anything to happen to you." Sly says to Geoffrey who stays inside the elevator. Initially Geoffrey thinks that Sly's words are just a part of his smooth talking ways. But being a handler and an analyst, he knows all of the different speech patterns of criminals. All of his experience wants him to think that he is lying. But all of his training tells him that Sly feel genuinely concerned for him. Maybe that line between right and wrong is completely blurred for this infamous raccoon. He doesn't know what to say back, so he just hides inside the closed doors of the elevator and the safety of his cubicle. It may not protect him from an explosion but just being in a familiar place seems safer to anyone.
Meanwhile, Sly and Penelope sneak around the dimly lit corridors of the underground hub that is the war rooms. This place has much more people in it. All of the analysts must be still down here, constantly searching for the signs of Sly. They don't need to look in far off places when he is in the same building. Of course, they don't know that right now, they probably won't know until it is too late. With each passing step, Penelope looks for a way to distance her self from Sly before he sees the horrid truth that is in this same area. She physically quakes in her shoes at the thought of the sight of Sly seeing the this complete and utter personal violation of not only himself, but of everything that he knows and thinks. She only tries to mentally prepare herself for the escape that she will have to make when he find out. The muggy, humid conditions down there suggest that there is no vent out of the here. All the air must be recycled in a closed system to help with security. The sweaty air however comes from the people working days and night to find one raccoon.