24 Hours Earlier
The leader never showed his face but whoever it was must've been a genius because even without his identity all the mercenaries, thieves, and con artists had learned to trust his plans. They never failed and were always executed flawlessly, however even they were phased by this last one. "Sir?" said the Thief, "yes?" replied the blacked hologram of the Leader in a deep, yet clearly fake voice.
"I know that we've accomplished a lot, and so far all your plans have gone off without a hitch but is this Associate of yours really worth the risk?" she replied, the hologram paused as if pondering what to say "the Associate... Is part of something greater, and his role is top priority. I know what I'm asking of you must be flawless but that's why I hired you, because you're the best." They stood silent for a moment then the Merc said "Where are we to rendevous afterwards?" "The abandoned temple downtown, look for the spire."
Then a new voice joined the conversation "and where do I join in?" "Excellent" the Leader said, the happiness evident in his voice "yours is the most important job of all. The target has seen these other three but your ability to blend in with a crowd will render you the perfect Spy according to our purposes." "Which are?" "All you need to know is he will be waiting for a train, he cannot board that train. More details will be provided tomorrow, but for now grab a chip and await further instructions. Dismissed"
the Leader's mysterious silhouette disappeared vanished as four slots opened in front of the agents standing around the small, circular table. The Thief grabbed hers and plugged it in, the Leader's prerecorded resonated in her skull as he explained her mission "-this is to be executed immediately, over." She left the others standing at the table without a word, exited the building, and arrived an hour later at her destination. There was only one place she knew of that could make cells like the one she needed. It wasn't going to be easy but it was essential to the mission, presently she stood at the high-voltage gate.
She looked down at the vial of bright green liquid in her hand, the Alchemist didn't part with the serum easily but she obtained it, using it sparingly she switched to Dimensional Vision to watch the progress. "One more drop should do" she thought, another drop fell onto the invisible barrier and ate away just enough of the physical and dimensional gate for her to fit through. Just then a bot wandered lazily over on the inside of the fenced area, it didn't seem to notice the hole so it flew away in its orbit of the facility. As it turned away from her she noticed faint, nearly indiscernable runes floating like invulnerable shields around it. Bots on their own were bad enough but enchanted bots were nearly impossible to sneak past.
This would require a viral serum, she reached into her small pack and pulled out a box with skull and crossbones on it. There were only three left, she'd have to be careful. She loaded one gently into her diamond rifle, (hers had been carefully cut to not reflect nearly any light, leaving it as stealthy as her) she aimed toward a bot, refocused to the circling runes, and fired. The ethereal needle stuck dead on to a rune that was shaped like a cube with a darkened corner. This was a Class 3 Strength rune, she worried momentarily about whether or not it would take but sure enough the bot began to shake and move toward the others.
Soon they were all shaking and eventually shutting down, that's when the alarm sounded. Most bot makers left the manuel operations out of the picture years ago but apparently they found this worth protecting enough to have a human guard watch the cams. They started to double the security measures, it was now or never, she accessed one of the deepest, most primal areas of her brain where the fifth dimension, magic as it used to be called, flowed the strongest. It changed the alchemical mix in her body to one of transparency, unlike serums that are painful and slow to take effect she focused on doing it herself with her personal magic, as an advantage it's nearly instantaneous and painless. The wall began the resetting process, thus the hole was about to close she realized.
She dove through not a second too soon, a satisfactory noise resounded as the wall was made whole again just as her foot cleared. She stood up and shook off the dust then pulled out several vials of what appeared to be colorful powder, as she opened the lid to each a word formed in her mind. Silence, Swiftness, and Direction buzzed in her head suddenly they became runes circling her, she knew where she needed to go. She sprinted up to the building and began to expertly climb the smooth surface like a mountain goat. A small handhold here, a pole to swing on there, and she made to the opening, she didn't need runes for this.
Amateur thieving in the streets during her childhood left her with the ability to flee around, under, and over any surface no matter how impossible it may seem. She recalled how lonely it was growing up as an orphan left to die on the street. Her temporary imbalance on a beam brought her back to reality, the vent to her right she knew was part of the refridgeration system. It would lead her to the cells, she knew that to make these cells required an arctic environment due to the natural instability of the material. She reached nimbly over to the vent and ripped the lid off, the runes silenced the act as she was doing it.
This allowed her to enter the frigid atmosphere unnoticed by the troops that continued to funnel out of the facility during the lockdown. She was in, she started to crawl through the cramped space until the small tunnel led to a fork, one led up, the other led down, and the final one kept straight. She knew that all factories like this kept their most valuable items in the basement so she began the slow descent. As she lowered herself she noticed a faint glow below her, it grew brighter the more she advanced until she knew what it had to be. She stopped immediately, inches from the first beam, they had set lasers throughout the shaft at intervals of about two feet.
This already proved to be her toughest job yet, she could only imagine what waited for her in the room itself. She flipped over acrobatically and began to climb headfirst down the shaft very carefully, looking feverishly for anything that could burn her limbs off. After about twenty minutes of contorting into nearly impossible positions the lasers gave way to open vent once more. She sensed that her target was close so she dropped the remaining fifteen feet to the bottom, landing gracefully and silently in front of the opening to a room. The inside was well lit and full of various weapons capable of unknown amounts of damage but she was focused on one thing: the eight perfectly round, black spheres held individually in place by clawlike restraints directly in the center of the large storage room.
She thought through how she would retrieve one: the Returning Blade wouldn't work, the restraints wouldn't release, entering the room was too risky, and she couldn't shoot it. Or could she? She pulled out her second viral serum and aimed toward the tiny access port in the claw's stand. She fired, then to her disappointment saw it bounce harmlessly off the frame and shatter. Quickly she pondered if there were any other way to obtain it.
When she came to the same conclusion as before she loaded the last vial. She slowed her breathing, zoomed to where the access port was the only thing visible through the scope, prayed silently, and fired. This time she heard a satisfying zap as it fried the circuits within, the claw was silent for a while then suddenly released the sphere. The Thief let out her breath and silently congratulated herself, then she took out another powder vial and blew its contents into the room. The powder gathered into a rune, the one for Recover and floated directly to the sphere.
The rune made contact and disappeared then the sphere began to float back to the Thief. She stretched her arm through the wide metal slots and caught it out of the air. The object was cold and heavy in her hands, every inch of it perfectly smooth and glossy black. She reached back and placed it in the refridgerated compartment of her pack. She called in and informed the Leader the cell was aquired then tapped a series of buttons on the arm of her suit, a brilliant light flashed through the vent and she was gone. Moments later a very satisfied looking woman was seen exiting the downtown temple followed by a distinguished looking gentleman with a briefcase.