The Detective comes prepared for her mission, just as Captain Dyne requested.

Full lockpicking set, floorplan map, cookies for the takodachis in case she needs to bribe some of them, a few Concoctions, wire cutters, blanks for her pistol, battery powered mini speakers with some pre-recorded noises in case she needs an audio distraction, and… stickers, so she can mark off any sensitive or important locations she manages to reach for the security review.

And her watch of course, and Bubba. Her most essential tools, even if she won't be using Bubba today.

"Wah wah wah, wah-wah wah!" Bubba burbles excitedly as they approach the palace. He hops in place on her shoulder. "Waaah!"

"I have to be sneaky again today Bubba."

"Waaah~" Bubba whispers dramatically.

The castle appears as normal today. No obvious extra guards or obvious security measures, and the usual crowd of people is still present going in and out. The sky is somewhat cloudy today, though the forecast didn't predict rain. It's probably an irrelevant detail, but it pays to note everything you can.

There are, however, notices along every entrance warning as to a security test happening today, and so all visitors should expect 'alerts, loud noises, and other disruptions' and that the palace will be closing to visitors early today at five for the purposes of 'intensive testing'.

The Detective swallows. They're really expecting a lot from her. She's reasonably sure she can meet expectations this time; after all they want her to try and cause chaos, but it would be just like her to find some way to disappoint them regardless.

She enters through the right side entrance like usual, flashing her ID to the guards. For once, they properly stop her to scrutinize the card, taking their jobs very seriously today for the test no doubt.

When they're done scanning it, they nod and allow her in, with one of them saying "I would wish you luck today if it weren't at our expense, Detective."

She's so stunned at one of the guards actually talking to her that she fails to respond for a few seconds, and when she does it ends up being a sputtered "Ah- uh- you too?" before she hastily shuffles inside to avoid embarrassing herself any more.

With ten minutes to spare before noon, she makes her way over to the security room up on the third floor. It's strategically placed right near the main staircase and has a large one-way window that doesn't allow her to see inside. It's the second door to the left, just after the help desk. Amelia steps inside after once more verifying her ID with the guard stationed at the door.

"Ah, Detective, right on time." Captain Dyne gives her a curt nod, and waves her over to a large table that has a series of maps and papers laid out on it. "Once again, pardon the short notice, but the timetable for this test had to be decided rather suddenly. This year's Royal Gala had a time chosen on unusually short notice, and this test must be completed in advance."

Royal Gala? Right, she forgot that was a thing. It's a huge deal every year for people who care about celebrities and whatnot… so it's never been relevant for the Detective before, but she supposes it will be now. "Of course. It is no issue." She says stiffly.

"Wah." Bubba says professionally.

"We cannot conduct the full infiltration test until the public is out of the way." Dyne says. "But we have some smaller scale tests planned of which you can aid in testing. Primarily, we need to ensure our new communications systems are effective. The old system was too slow in coordinating around threats."

The Detective nods, remembering her first visit to the palace. The guards weren't exactly slow to react, but they did tend to pile in one at a time, allowing her to run or sometimes walk away from the guards long enough for her watch to recharge.

"So if you wouldn't mind, Detective, please proceed to somewhere on the fourth floor and press this." He gives her a simple disk with a button on it. "De-registering you from the system won't be practical until everyone is gone, so until that point, this button will trigger the alarms in place of that."

The Detective nods again.

While she could very well detail the exact tests they conduct for this phase, they're frankly not that interesting. It mostly involves her using her watch and walking around the third floor and seeing how long it takes the guards to react each time she makes a jump while squeezing the button.

Their response time is encouraging. Ten seconds at the slowest is much faster than they used to be, though this is without the Detective making an effort to evade them.

The real test, however, begins at five. The Detective can feel the tension in the air as she's temporarily de-registered from the security system. Bubba displays a similar level of energy, hopping in place on her shoulder in excitement.

She feels just a bit absurd showing Dyne, the captain of the guard, a pack of stickers as they're about to begin, standing just outside the front gate of the palace where two guards are stationed.

"Th-They're to mark things I've managed to reach, or important people I've managed to get close to." She explains. "To prove where and who I managed to reach."

"Prudent." Captain Dyne nods, unfazed by the generic pack of glittery stickers of various animals and objects.

"Are there any limits on what I should be aiming for?"

"Please refrain from causing damage to irreplacable parts castle." Captain Dyne says. "Many of the artworks are not replaceable. However, feel free to sabotage, for example, the camera systems if you can manage it. The Royal Family has additionally been informed of the test and are expecting interruptions, so you are free to, ehm, tag them. They will not be participating as part of security, and will not offer resistance."

The Detective nods seriously.

"The guards will consider themselves incapacitated if you can mark a vital area with one of your paint rounds, and we expect you to do the same." He continues. "Understood."

"Yes Sir." The Detective nods again. She glances to her shoulder. "Bubba."

"Wah?"

"I can't take you with me for this, so do you want to watch with Captain Dyne?"

"Wah!" Bubba nods rapidly. Captain Dyne raises an eyebrow, but doesn't argue against the tako floating over to sit on his head. He's probably used to it.

"Be good, okay?"

"Waaah!"

"Don't interrupt the captain."

"Wah!" Bubba nods again, flaps wiggling excitedly. "Wah-wah wah, wah wah wah wah!"

The Detective has no idea what Bubba is saying, but it's cute. She's more than happy with how vocal Bubba has become. He seems happy.

"If that is all…" The captain says. "The test begins now. The guards have instructions to deny you entrance as they would any civilian if the palace was closed. You will have to use your own ingenuity to break in."

Without another word, the Captain turns around and marches up the path towards the front door of the palace, leaving the Detective standing outside with a pair of guards eyeing her warily.

The detective watches them for a few seconds, nods politely, and walks off to the side while adjusting her watch to jump back five minutes.

She then turns around, shoots one of the guards in the neck (with a paint round of course), and makes a jump only a moment later. She then calmly blends with some of the people walking down the street (thankfully there's quite a crowd due to the castle recently closing for the test, and naturally a number of people didn't get the memo and are gathered around the entrances in confusion.

The Detective then watches her past self have a conversation with Captain Dyne, followed by him walking away. Her past self then nods to the guards, walks off… and abruptly spins around and shoots one.

She shoots the other at the same time, not giving him an opportunity to raise the alarm. Despite the crowd, very few people seem to notice the attacks. The wonders of a silencer.

…it also helps that the guards don't collapse dead, so maybe she's taking advantage of this being a test just a little bit, but she's not all that bothered either way.

She casually walks out of the crowd, tipping her hat to the stunned guards as she strides past them. The crowd murmurs in irritation that someone was let past, and the guards snap out of their surprise and go about calming them and explaining things as Amelia makes her way into the castle grounds.

This was the easy part though. There were plenty of ways she could have gotten inside. Scaling the walls in an unmonitored location wouldn't have been that difficult.

While the Detective is willing to security being alerted by the 'murder' of two guards, she has a bit more of a stealthy approach in mind otherwise. Rather than go down the main path right into the sight of more guards, she opts to detour around the back of the palace into the hedge maze where the takodachis roam. She greets a few of the curious ones that float up to her, whispering to them that she's trying to be sneaky because she's helping with something very important today, and the takos give her whispered 'wah's in response.

She also bribes them with cookies, just in case.

With the takos pacified, she goes hunting. She walks slowly among the hedges, keeping an ear out for footsteps or voices, and watching the flights of the takos for clues. She knows from experience that the cultists who care for the takodachies do keep working when the palace is closed.

It takes a few minutes of careful searching. The cultist isn't stationed near the back entrance to the palace like they would be if the public were allowed back here so they could act as a guide, and can be anywhere in the maze, but by following the takos (always eager for treats and affection) it doesn't take too long to sneak around behind the cultist as they're giving out treats and rest her knife (still in sheath) against their neck.

"Ah." The cultist says; murmuring in a soft voice, sounding amused. "I have been killed."

"Yes." The Detective whispers back. "So, uh… I kinda need your outfit for a disguise, but since I'm not actually killing you, do you know where I can get a spare?"

The cultist hums. "I have clothes under the robe, Detective. You may borrow mine."

"Oh, uh, thanks." She mumbles, embarrassed.

A quick transfer later (leaving the cultist in a surprisingly normal purple shirt with black pants) and Ame is dressed in a long purple cultist robe complete with octopus mask. She is forced to leave her hat with the cultist though.

It's a simple matter to just walk through the back door after that. The guards don't even raise an eyebrow, having no reason to suspect she's not the cultist.

(Maybe the two guards at the entrance haven't been discovered 'killed' yet.)

The hallways feel eerily empty without the public there, but it's to her benefit. It's much easier to listen for individual sets of footsteps without the background noise of a crowd.

Rather than instantly go for the upper levels, she opts to move to the kitchen. It's close enough to dinner that the room is occupied, so the Detective stays out of the way of the cooks while slipping a hand into her sleeve and choosing a few stickers while pretending to look for more cookies for the takos.

It only takes a second of the cooks looking away for her to place her stickers on a few bowls and plates, signifying that she could have poisoned them if she wanted.

She grabs more tako cookies and steps out without anyone even noticing.

She pokes back in for a moment and puts a sticker on the head cook's back. The cake sticker seems fitting.

The throne room is usually closed off when not in use, so the Detective makes that her next goal. The main doors are actively guarded, but the back isn't.

That said, the back is locked electronically. Smart. Can't lockpick a keypad. There's also a camera pointed at the door in the corner of the hall, so she'll have to deal with that too.

She notices all this simply by walking past the door, not even stopping to look closer to avoid arousing suspicion. The camera has to go first then; fine. She can manage that.

Checking down the hall to see if there's another camera pointed at this one (there isn't, okay, that simplifies things), she takes a momentary detour over to the janitorial closet- which is locked with a normal tumbler lock- and takes it in her hand so that her sleeve mostly covers it and makes quick work of picking it and opening the door for access.

She spies what she needs quick enough: duct tape.

With a roll of duct tape in hand she strolls back to the camera watching the door. It's a relatively simple matter to climb the corner to get to the camera (out of sight, thankfully. It has a blind spot directly below it), force it's lens up and away (taking it offline would be too obvious) and then apply copious amounts of duct tape to keep it in place, leaving her free to mess with the back door to the throne room unnoticed.

The careful application of a knife to one of the button slots of the electronic lock eventually allows her to pop the button out entirely, and from there wedge the knife under the casing and brute-force the front off. It's a simple matter to cut her way to the lock from there and open it manually.

Not elegant or particularly subtle, but hey, it works. She slips inside the dressing area of the throne room, steps out into the main chamber, and triumphantly places a sticker of a crown on the chair.

She's embarrassed to admit she forgot to look for cameras, and a frantic look once she realizes reveals at least four of them: one for each corner of the room.

Right, well, she can fix that… probably. Hopefully. Depends on how their detection system works. There's a chance that making a jump will alert them to her presence, which would be less than ideal.

Well, it was bound to happen at some point. She was hoping it wouldn't be so soon, but them's the breaks. She bites the metaphorical bullet by stepping into the dressing room again and making a jump ten minutes back in time, before she managed to get inside.

She waits a moment, pressing her ear to the door, listening.

A set of footsteps coming to the door… walking past. Click clack of guard boots. Good. They're oblivious.

The Detective takes the chance to look around the dressing room, noting the drawers, the vanity, and clothing rack. When she hears her past self start to fiddle with the lock she quickly knocks on the door, triggering an invalidation by introducing a noise her past self didn't experience and therefore stopping her from breaking the lock.

That should give her time to work. Hopefully it'll be a bit before someone notices the duct-taped camera.

She starts with the vanity, which quickly proves to be a good choice. She quickly notices one of the mirrors in the vanity is not just a mirror. Its surface is different to the touch. It's a computer screen. A quick bit of searching finds the keyboard and mouse and the computer itself inside one of the drawers.

Turning it on reveals… it needs a password. Yeah, maybe she should have expected that. With any luck it's the general security password, which she does in fact know.

She's not really supposed to know, but it's second nature to her to watch someone punching in codes or passwords when they're not paying attention to her. She's picked up passwords and codes from guards, Their Imperial Majesties, and Captain Dyne himself on various occasions.

It's a simple matter of brute-forcing the password from there. She starts with passwords she's seen Their Imperial Majesties use, and when those are too long because there's only six characters she instead runs through security codes starting from most recent, and gets it on the third try.

They must have forgotten to update this one with the most recent code. Maybe it's not tied into the general network like most of the other computers and has to be manually updated.

There's not a whole lot on the computer outside the ordinary. Memos and alerts, an email login, and a prompt to transfer notes from an outside source. She pushes that all aside and pokes through the menus, eventually finding access to the cameras.

She doesn't have access to the entire system from here; not by default anyways. There's another prompt for security clearance if she wants to see more than the first two floors, but that's fine.

The Detective hasn't actually had much access to the camera system, so it takes her a second to find the cameras for the throne room, but from there she is overjoyed to find they actually have manual controls (presumably so Her Majesty or her Highness, sitting at this very seat, can check out the situation in the throne room before ever stepping foot in the room itself) and it's a simple matter to point them up and away, step out and apply the sticker, and then go back in and point them back where they were before.

Nice and easy. Time for a new objective.

She spends a minute browsing the cameras, getting a sense for where all the guards are currently and if there are any blinds spots (bathrooms, a few nooks here and there, but most doors are covered).

It's also at this point she notices a guard come rushing in from the front, and she instantly knows the two 'dead' guards at the front gate have been found.

So she's on a timer. That's unfortunate, but she can make the most of this. She makes yet another jump back to that same point she'd jumped before, invalidating her past self again (she's going to have to remember her other past self who will attempt to break the lock in a few minutes again as well, as her past self who stopped her other past self no longer exists) and speedruns accessing the cameras and pointing them away, placing her sticker, and then getting out from that back door just in time to stop her other past self who was about to pick it.

That gives her maybe fifteen, more likely ten or five, minutes to work with.

Rather than wait for security to beef up after they're alerted, she makes straight for the third floor, taking her usual service staircase up and pressing her ear to her exit door.

Footsteps, again. Inconvenient. Time to see if her disguise holds up. She doesn't have time for another approach… though she will make another jump back to the beginning of this whole test just to give her more time to work with. She can't keep doing this forever without risking invalidation of some of her past stickers, but at least for now she can keep taking advantage.

As quietly as she can manage, she opens the door and steps out into the hallway while holding her breath.

The guards glance at her, but she moves with apparent purpose and their gaze quickly slides off her.

That's all well and good for moving around the third floor unbothered, but it won't let her get in anywhere she isn't supposed to. That and the security system will pick her up… she needs to find a way to take it offline, or at least get past unnoticed.

She remembers when she was first hired an alarm spell was mentioned. If that's still being employed in some fashion, she might be able to knock it offline by overloading it, but that mostly depends on what the spell is tied to. If it's tied to an object she can outright sabotage or break it, but if it's a true passive spell then destroying it is a bit more of a hassle. She can't dispel things, unfortunately. She's not trained in magic.

"I have to take it offline though. I can technically keep jumping around, but with their better response time that's even more risky than it used to be." She thinks, frowning under the mask. "No, not necessarily take it offline, just make sure it doesn't react to me. Taking it offline can do that, but if I can get myself registered again, that could work too."

The problem is getting someone to register her. There's no way she could do that now-

Her eyes widen under the mask. She can't do that now, but she could have done it before. She doesn't know if that's technically in the spirit of the test, but it would be somewhat anticlimactic if she didn't get to test them to their fullest extent just because she was stopped by the registration system. Besides, anyone truly dedicated to breaking in could probably get themselves registered.

With a bit of excitement heating her gut, she twists her watch under the robes to jump back a full day, waits until she reaches one of the blind spots for the cameras, and makes the jump.

She appears in the hallways in the exact same place, but a day earlier, startling a guard that was walking by. She quickly raises her hands and pulls off her mask, revealing her face to the baffled guard.

"S-Sorry, part of tomorrow's security test." She explains quickly. The guard seems a bit baffled, but flashing her ID confirms who she is and she's allowed on her way.

…granted, she doesn't have clearance, so she can't exactly go upstairs to see if Her Majesty is back yet, so…

Her Majesty did say to call if she needed to verify anything. Maybe it's finally time to use that and hope they'll understand. It's for the sake of the test.

Still she's never been more terrified making a phone call, standing in a random hallway on the third floor while one of the guards shoots her a side-eye.

Her Majesty picks up within two rings. "Hello?"

"Your Majesty." She says, wincing at the way her voice cracks in fear. "I- apologies for interrupting-"

"It is quite alright, Detective." Her Majesty says quietly, as understanding as always. "What do you need? Are you quite alright?"

"Y-Yes." She stammers. "I- uh- need your assistance, if you have returned to the palace already."

"But of course, Detective. Just a moment."

She's not quite sure what she's supposed to wait for, but doesn't have to wait long. A portal- purple and black swirling together- very abruptly opens in front of her, and Her Majesty steps out a moment later, as elegant as always, though they do raise a single elegant eyebrow in mild curiosity at her outfit.

"Did you join the cult today, Detective?" They ask teasingly. "We are happy to have you of course, but I was under the impression your faith lay elsewhere."

"I-It's part of the security test." She explains sheepishly. "I jumped here from tomorrow."

"Oh my." A smile creeps onto her face. "You are not trying to involve me in something illicit, are you?"

She tenses, her shoulders hunching. She should have thought of that. Why did she think she could ask the Empress to help her get around their own security system? Who cares if it's for the sake of the test; she disgraces Her Majesty by even thinking she would consider-

"Speak, Detective, what can I help with?" Her Majesty prompts. Their tentacles slither out from her back, cutting off the Detective's vision of the connecting hallways and the guard still watching them. Her breath catches in her throat when Her Majesty reaches forward and brushes her hair behind her ears, trailing their fingers across her head and cheek as they do so. "You need only say the word."

"Um-" The Detective swallows, staring wide-eyed "I…"

"...perhaps say a bit more than that, Detective." Her Majesty murmurs, their smile growing a fraction. "Unless you wish for me to find a way to coerce it out of you? Hmm?"

They crack open an eye just a fraction, and the Detective finds herself panicking a little. She just needs to get the words out. "N-N-No need, Majesty! I need only to be registered to the security system again!"

The Empress pauses, processing those words. The Detective sweats silently, hoping that she is not about to be called a fool, that she is cheating the test, that-

"Clever." Her Majesty says, smiling fully. "You are not making things simple for my guards are you, Detective?"

She ducks her head in embarrassment, though she's not quite sure over what. "N-No, Your Majesty."

"Good." The Detective flinches when a hand presses to her forehead and a tingle runs through her body. "You are registered once more. Is there anything else you need, Detective? Anything at all?"

"I- uh- if you have a way to recharge my watch?" The Detective says meekly.

"Easily done." Her Majesty says, tapping the watch with a single finger. The gem in the center immediately flickers with power again, ready for a jump. "Anything more?"

"No, Your Majesty, I will be fine." The Detective says, bowing her head and looking at the floor. She's imposed enough already by calling the Empress themself for such a simple, stupid thing as getting registered to the security system to avoid doing the work herself. Even if she did have something else in mind, she has no right to request it.

"You are quite sure? You do not need equipment or guidance? Food maybe?" Her Majesty asks softly. "Did you remember lunch, Detective? Dinner?"

"Y-Yes, Your Majesty." She says weakly. "I should probably return to my duty, Majesty."

"Of course, of course." Her Majesty relents. "Best of luck then, Detective. Do us proud. I expect to hear of your exploits tomorrow."

"No pressure or anything." The Detective thinks, swallowing thickly. "Of course, Your Majesty. I shall not disappoint. If you will pardon me…"

The Empress (reluctantly? That can't be right) pulls back a step, giving her some space. "Good luck, Detective."

With a few twists and a click, she's back in the present day (as much as any day can be the present to a time traveler) in the same spot as she left, just a few seconds after making her first jump.

She promptly walks up to the one the stairways to the fourth floor while the guards watch her carefully, slips a hand into the pocket of her cloak, and withdraws the cultist's ID card.

..and then remembers there's a chance the cultist doesn't actually have clearance for the fourth and fifth floor. Well that's… a problem she'll deal with if it occurs. Maybe she can shoot the guard or something.

She lets out a quiet sigh of relief when the card is accepted and she opens the door without issue.

The fourth floor is blissfully quiet, though she knows she doesn't have much time to work with and while she knows the layout of this floor thanks to the map and some of her own exploration she doesn't actually know what each room contains. She remembers a few things from her initial cat-and-mouse game with the guards back when Her Highness first hired her, but that hardly covers the entire floor.

"Maybe I should try to sticker Her Majesty and Her Highness before the guards become active." The Detective considers. Getting to the fifth floor is as simple as going up the stairs at this point, and getting to Her Majesty should be effortless. She's already bypassed the majority of the security by this point.

That's sort of depressing to consider, but at the same time, she has a massively unfair advantage and security is currently at its lowest level. If a threat is known to be coming to some extent, it would obviously not be this easy to get inside. She could not simply walk around with a robe and a mask and expect to get by without anyone bothering to ask her to take one or the other off.

She opts to go to the far side of the fourth floor before finding a staircase up, opting for one that will pop out near the entrance to Her Highness' pool. A familiar enough location.

As usual, she waits at the door to the hallway, listening patiently. She'd make another jump, but, well, jumping forward from talking with Her Majesty once again put her watch into cooldown. A two hour forty minute cooldown specifically. She has to work without it from now on. Still, that's a small price for being registered and not easily traceable.

No noises, so time to move. She doesn't have much spare time. She slips into the hallway, glancing around furtively.

Nothing.

Good.

She checks the pool first, peeking through the door and not finding anyone. She stickers the inside of the door with a water droplet sticker as proof she could have tampered with the water.

"I wonder if Her Highness is even here today." She thinks, frowning, as she closes the door. "They've been rather busy lately. More so than usual I mean."

Next is the meditation room. She doesn't bother with subtlety here. If Her Majesty is inside there's no way the Detective is going to be able to know beforehand, and she needs to grab the override glove anyhow.

She steps inside and flicks the lightswitch, revealing an empty room. Perfect. She moves to the hidden floorboard and extracts her prize.

Naturally, the bedroom has to come after that. She (very cautiously) opens one of the grand doors with the glove.

She never really took time to study the bedroom during her first day here. She was busy preparing to fight a thief.

The room, unsurprisingly, is quite large, though not as grand as you might expect from royal chambers. It's neatly fits a four poster bed with delicate violet drapes, a fully-stocked bookshelf, a plush loveseat with pillows of blue and purple adorning it, with (adorably enough) a large, cartoonish, stuffed shark plushie that is nearly as big as the Detective that is currently taking up most of the space. There are three armchairs stationed around a small table as well, which currently sports a tray with an empty plate and cup on it; presumably the remnants of some meal.

In addition to that, she can also see a holster up on the wall holding Her Highness' trident, as well as the familiar lecture currently housing the Book of the Ancient Ones. Just like last time, it tugs at the corner of her mind, urging her to touch it.

Telling herself what a bad idea this is, she nonetheless takes a book sticker from her page and cautiously applies it to the cover of the book.

She can hear whispers when her finger- separated from the book by the sticker- presses against the book for a brief moment. It sounds… calm? Amelia tilts her head, squinting as she tries to listen for a moment.

Pins and needles run down her spine when something brushes at the edge of her consciousness, and she yanks her hand away. That's enough of that. She should know better than to mess with the Book. The sticker is enough.

There's also two doors at the back of the room, so she takes the opportunity to walk over to one and-

She freezes upon hearing a voice behind the door.

"-way they're going to fit, and 'the black one' really doesn't narrow it down." Her Highness' voice grumbles; just barely audible. "Nearly a quarter of them are black! Why am I even doing this? Ina would be able to find it in five seconds."

The Detective does a quick mental calculation, glancing at the various places she might be able to hide in the room. She might… yes, she can work with this.

Without wasting another moment she knocks on the door, and Her Highness goes silent. Amelia quickly climbs up the corner of the room, using the same technique as she did for climbing up to the camera earlier, holding a wide-spread pose in the upper corner of the room while Her Highness opens the door.

Her Highness apparently has their hair in a different style today. They still have a bun, but it's lower-set, and there are two small braided strings of hair dangling from either side of it that go down just below their shoulders. Other than that, they're dressed in some sort of button-up shirt rather than the suit the Detective is used to seeing.

"Yeah, what-" Her Highness stops, scanning the seemingly empty room. They squint at the Book of the Ancient Ones. "That better not have been you."

The Book doesn't respond. The Detective holds her breath as Her Highness takes a step out into the room, and silently drops behind her queen and oh-so-carefully places a shark sticker on the back of their neck before retreating into the walk-in closet and finding a rack of clothes to hide behind.

"Ina?" Her Highness calls, apparently walking around their room. The Detective hears the main bedroom doors groan open. "Seana? Dyne? Gina?"

No response.

"What the- a sticker. Did Ina…? Is this part of the security test or something?" Her Majesty mumbles. "Who else could have put a sticker on AO though? Dyne maybe? AO would probably let him…"

At this point she hears a door slam open somewhere and the shouting of guards. Patience is her only option.

Some sort of conversation ensues between Her Highness and the guards. She can only pick out a few words like 'stickers' and 'neck' and 'inside' until someone shouts. "She was just here! Move! Don't let her reach the Empress!"

She feels strangely victorious as she hears the guards leave. The test isn't even over yet, she hasn't escaped the bedroom yet, but she feels accomplished either way.

Escaping shouldn't be too much of an issue, but she plays it cautious either way. Her Highness eventually finds their way back into the walk-in closet and-

"Detective."

She freezes. Glancing left to right. She doesn't see Her Highness anywhere.

"Come out, if you would."

The Detective finds herself obeying without even thinking about it. She cannot refuse an order.

"...I'll be honest Detective, I did not think you were actually still here." Her Highness says as soon as The Detective comes into view; her red eyes wide with genuine surprise. "Where exactly did you find that outfit anyways?"

"T-Took it off the cultist feeding the takos." The Detective mumbles, removing the mask and bowing her head on impulse. Her Highness is owed respect, test or otherwise.

Her Highness snorts. "Quite the secret agent, aren't you? Count me impressed. When did you get past me?"

"When you opened that door a few minutes ago." The Detective says, pointing to the door to the closet. "I was up in the corner. Dropped behind you and slipped in."

Her Highness blinks rapidly. "Really now?"

She nods.

Her Highness shakes Their head, grinning. "I almost feel sorry for the guards. Be on your way, Detective. I eagerly await the results of the test so I can hear of your exploits."

She swallows thickly. She needs to do something even worth their attention then. She should have known better than to seem like she was bragging. She should have been more humble. "Y-Y-Yes Your Highness."

The Detective can't leave fast enough. If she is to live up to even a fraction of what the Queen expects, she has no time to waste.

She catches movement out of the corner of her eye and has her gun out before she can think about it. She snaps a shot onto the guard's throat, but it's not enough to stop their initial yell.

Without a second thought she's on the move. She bursts through the doors to the main stairway, shooting one guard and kicking the gun out of the hands of the other before shooting him too, and then vaulting over the railing and grabbing the landing just as she's falling past it to swing herself onto the landing under that (the one for the fourth floor), resulting in a swinging kick to yet another guard's chest and then another snap shot from her gun to the other guard before she swipes her stolen card through the scanner and moves into the fourth floor.

That much chaos means she's surely being followed, so she makes a quick decision to take a sharp left and ducks into the nearest door.

Or, she tries to. Her shoulder meets the wood and completely fails to budge it. She blinks rapidly, scanning for a keyhole or keypad or scanner or something, but ends up with nothing. The door is just… closed. With no obvious way to open it.

(She tries to pull the doorknob instead of push. That doesn't work either. The knob does turn, which makes this extra strange.)

The Detective's mind races as she turns for the next door. What was supposed to be behind that door? She doesn't remember anything in particular. Wasn't it labeled as a storage room on the map? Maybe it was renovated and the door is intended to be just aesthetic?

The next room turns out to be some sort of… studio? Training room? All four walls are mostly mirrored, with a small closet built into the near corner. The floor is nice, clean hardwood, and the walls an inconspicuous beige where they're visible at all. There's also a cylindrical railing against one wall, going right through the middle of the mirror.

"Yoga room?" The Detective mumbles to herself, confused. "Dance studio? Both?"

Whatever, she can't stay here. There's nowhere to hide, no cover to use. She turns around immediately and exits back into the hallway just in time to hear footsteps on the stairs and shouts from elsewhere on the fourth floor. With an internal curse, she takes off down the hall and takes a corner just as someone else comes into view, managing to catch sight of the cloak she's still wearing and shout for people to cut her off.

Fine, fine. She can use that. They need to split up to cut her off. She just needs to be fast.

Without a second thought, she slips a Concoction out from her pocket and chugs it down, discarding the empty bottle onto the ground without a second thought. A faint numbness shots through her veins as her adrenaline spikes, and she puts on even more speed, taking the next corner at a breakneck pace while yanking off the cloak she's wearing.

Taking the corner reveals a squad of six guards, all pulling their weapons up. With only half a second to spare she throws the cloak at them, relying on the air catching it and causing it to fan out and block their vision, and then launches herself at the wall, managing to push off it and vault straight over the heads of all the guards while they pepper the cloak- and then the wall and ceiling- with paint rounds.

She rolls to her feet with her gun blazing, firing off her remaining rounds (only four, she forgot to reload!) at the closest guards which is just enough to keep herself from being shot while the guards at the back try to get a line of fire past their team and she ducks around yet another corner.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, gotta break line of sight…" She grimaces while slotting six new shots into her revolver. Her eyes frantically search the next hallway she turns into while shouts chase her from only a few seconds behind. "Window! That works!"

The window isn't exactly open, but that's quickly fixed by throwing her metal mask like a frisbee and shattering it entirely. She hops up onto the ledge with her boots crunching on glass. She takes a split second to choose a path- balcony railing up above her, pillar to her left, she can make that- and then jumps.

It's an awkward angle with momentum that doesn't quite agree with her choice of action, but the pillars of the palace are thankfully thick enough for her to have some leeway, so she can make a tiny adjustment as her feet and hands slam into it before pushing off again and just barely catching the ground of the balcony above her, and then pulls herself up and over the railing a moment later to the sound of shouting guards.

She's never actually seen the palace's rooftop terrace, and now is not the time to stop and stare. Her eyes quickly note the various lounge furniture and the stone garden that she vaguely recalls is where Kiara tends to land when she visits (she knows that only because she's looked up news articles about Kiara before), before finding the closest door to indoors and-

The Detective stops just as quickly as she starts moving. There's someone else up here. She ducks behind the closest piece of furniture (a beach chair) for cover.

She peers around the chair carefully, revolver in hand, getting a proper look at the figure. Around her height, wisteria-colored hair down her back in a flat sheet… she's seen this person before.

It clicks in her head a moment later. This is the lady that gave her that business card. The one that was maybe doing advertising(!?). What's she doing up here? Is the rooftop terrace open to the public?

No, no, even if it was, the public isn't allowed in the palace right now. Is she a guard? Hired help? Maybe she's a cultist. Doesn't totally explain why she's up here, but-

Focus. She doesn't have time to waste. She's testing security, not investigating random people who are no longer wearing hats and why is she still here? It's been a few days since she came to the palace hasn't it?

She eyes the lady warily. Maybe it's best she just ignores her. Sneak past, don't get noticed. No chances, right?

The Detective gets halfway to the door before the lady speaks.

"Am I not worthy of a sticker, Detective?"

The Detective freezes in place, still gripping her gun. The lady has not turned around from where she's looking out over the railing.

"Or a call, for that matter? I did make sure the number was not covered."

She swallows thickly. That's a call-out if she's ever heard it. "I- Uh-"

"I suppose I should have known better. Your shyness is quite apparent, no matter how much the news seems to ascribe to you some sort of calculated manipulation or hidden intent." The lady hums. Her voice somehow carries through the slight wind permeating the terrace that would otherwise smother such quiet speech. "You should really speak with the PR department. You are an employee of the royal family, after all."

What is she even supposed to do in this sort of situation?

"But I am interrupting, aren't I? Let me make you a deal then. Give me a sticker now and lunch tomorrow meeting at the front gate- I shall pay, worry not- and I shall tell you where Her Majesty is and deny knowledge of seeing you to the guards when they inevitably arrive. Fair?"

She nods mutely. What else is she supposed to do? She nervously walks up to the lady, who has only now bothered to half-turn towards her. The Detective pries a squid sticker off her page (she has no idea what to use!) and ever-so-carefully applies it to the lady's shoulder.

"Quaint." The lady hums, smiling, now turning fully to face her. "You will find Her Majesty on the fourth floor, no doubt under quite a heavy guard by this point. Take a right at the main staircase, and she will be the first door on the right once more… at least, until they decide to attempt an evacuation. You have them quite frantic, Detective."

The Detective nods. Fourth floor, turn right, first door. She was so close to Her Majesty without even knowing it, and it won't be so simple the second time around.

"Best of luck, Detective. I shall see you tomorrow." The lady says, and turns back to gazing over the railing. "You have twenty seconds before someone comes to check up here. Make use of that time."

That spurs her into action. Discarding her utter confusion for a minute, she dashes towards the door inside, but rather than actually go in she takes a leap just before arriving and grabs the lip of the roof's gutter and pulls herself up to the roof proper.

Ten seconds later guards burst from the door, quickly swarming the entire terrace. She watches them for just a second while they talk to the lady, and when they don't instantly turn towards her and therefore prove the lady has lived up to her promise, she sneaks around the back of this small rooftop segment and drops onto a windowsill below.

Thank Baelz for the elaborate decoration of the palace. It provides so many hand and footholds to work with.

The window isn't exactly open, but it IS unlocked, and she can nudge it up with her foot and slip in without too much effort.

The room she's slipped into is… a bathroom? A very fancy one. The 'tub' is actually built into the floor, and is more like a wading pool than anything. Still, there is also a shower in the corner and a sink on the far wall, so it's probably a tub.

She finds the door quickly and pushes it open, exiting into-

"Hello again. You're rather fond of this place apparently." Her Highness says with dry humor.

-the Imperial Bedroom. That would explain the fancy bathroom. "My apologies, Your Highness!"

"Really, if you're so fond of it you can just say so." Her Highness chuckles. They're sitting at the small table, now adorned with papers instead of an empty food tray. "Me and Ina would be more than happy to give a tour, Detective."

"I-I am quite fine!" The Detective yelps.

"Never took you as one to brag, Detective." Her Highness responds with a smirk. One of their eyes closes in a… wink? Is the queen winking at her? Did she accidentally make a joke? "Though it is undoubtedly true I suppose."

The Detective discards any notion that she might understand what Her Highness is talking about. This has to be some sort of inside joke. "I needed a way back in. I'm sorry, Your Highness."

Her Highness rolls their eyes. "You're doing your job Detective, stop apologizing. If anything I'm disappointed you can't stay for longer. Perhaps it is about time we offered you residence at the palace, hmm?"

"I couldn't possibly-"

"Are you sure about that?" Her Highness interrupts, properly turning to face her. "I'm sure we could make an appropriately persuasive offer. Such a long commute each day must be a hassle after all."

The Detective swallows thickly. What is going on? "Uh…"

"But that is a conversation for later. Be on your way, Detective." The Queen smiles, turning back to their work. "Do not let me distract you from your job."

That's her cue to leave, and she takes it eagerly. Anything to escape the confusion of this conversation. She still has to reach Her Majesty anyhow.

Stepping out of the door, she finds there is a single guard stationed there, and she shoots him before he can react. She then confiscates his radio and earpiece and moves towards the main stairwell while slipping it in.

"-is secure, but C is already tagged." A voice is reporting as she listens in.

"I want a full sweep of floor five from Search. Escort, are preparations complete?" Captain Dyne's voice crackles in response.

"Affirmative Captain."

"Commence extraction immediately. Barrier, keep the path out secure. Lock windows, and be sure to look up in every room you enter." Dyne barks. "Treat no possibility as implausible!"

"Yes Sir."

Hmm, that makes things tricky. She can't very well assault a fully-armed escort team without the element of surprise. Times like these she wishes she had a grenade. A paint grenade, she supposes. That would do the job nicely.

But without a grenade she's going to have to rely on some other tricks. She needs… hmm…

She pulls out the map she's kept with her, scanning it briefly. It doesn't have nearly as much information as she'd like, but if she remembers correctly then some of these supply closets also house electrical panels. She's not wholly familiar with the electrical systems of the palace, so it would be a gamble, but she might as well try. A bit of chaos is just about her only chance right now.

Deciding to risk the main stairwell again, she pulls the speakers hse brought with her out of her pocket, cranks up the volume, kicks open the door (there are no untagged guards there, good) and activates the speakers while tossing them down the middle of the stairwell, resulting in a loud series of crashing noises emanating up and down the stairs while she ducks back into the fifth floor and takes a random side stairway at high speed.

The radio in her ear immediately confirms her distraction had some effect, as confusion erupts for a few precious seconds while she makes a break through the fourth floor and ducks into a stairwell down to the third just in time to avoid someone rounding a corner down the hall and potentially spotting her.

She gets off at the first floor, going straight for the only panel she knows exists (because it's the same closet she got the duct tape from earlier).

That plan is slightly thrown off by her nearly running into sight of a pair of guards in the hallway where the supply closet is located, and she manages to pull herself back around the corner before they can notice her.

Right, okay then. Shoot them? Sneak? Distract them?

Who is she kidding? She doesn't have the time to waste on stealth right now.

Two shots, the guards are out. She hurries past them to the closet and finds the panel quickly enough. She slaps a sticker on it (a lightning bolt!) and then promptly turns all the switches off. No need for the wire cutters she supposes. Captain Dyne would probably appreciate not having to replace everything.

The first floor is abruptly plunged into darkness, just as planned. Combined with the dimming light outside, it makes the hallway hard to see in better than a dim light.

Works fine for her. Echolocation is a boon in situations like this. If she could cause a total blackout she would.

"Sir! The power has been shut off on the first floor!" A voice barks over the radio.

"Poseidon…" Captain Dyne curses. "Through the garden! Now!"

Right, last chance to get Her Majesty before they're out of reach, and she doesn't know which direction they'll be coming from or how quickly they can leave, but she needs to get to Her Majesty or else she can't really say she did her job and thoroughly test the system?

That's mostly what has her making a break for the back entrance, eschewing all subtlety in a mad dash to not lose her target. She can't rely on her watch to go back and try again! She can't let Her Majesty get away!

The W Concoction is undoubtedly making her reckless and she's not used to operating with only one chance to do something. That probably explains what happens next better than any excuse could.

She steps into the back hall just in time to see a large group of guards there with Her Majesty in the middle, and a pair of guards opening the door to the gardens. Captain Dyne himself is there next to Her Majesty, and his eyes fix on her immediately.

"Contact!" He barks, lifting the spear he's holding at his side.

The guards jump into action and The Detective does the same. She dives to the left as paint rounds splatter the ground where she just was, hiding behind an ornamental pillar. That was the worst contact she could have hoped for! Fine then, plan B!

Plan B, incidentally, is murder. Or the training equivalent of it in this case.

There's a few things around to help with that, thankfully. Chairs and tables mostly. With a deft lunge and kick she manages to slam a table onto its side to use as cover before she can be shot, and then pushing her legs on the ground she pushes it towards the group, relying on the full extent of her W-fueled adrenaline to maintain some sense of speed.

Paint rounds smack into the table and the ground around her, but she remains untouched until she can close the distance with her absurd approach method and then quickly grab two legs and haul the table into the air, using it as an impromptu tower shield and smashing it into the nearest guards to knock them off balance before letting it fall towards them and reaching around and grabbing one of the disoriented guards by the arm and quickly forcing him into a headlock with one arm while her other wrestles his gun out of his hand and starts to unload on the rest of the team, using her trapped guard as a human shield.

There's a lot of shouting going on, but she isn't parsing any of it. She's too busy shooting- and when the rifle runs out she simply pulls her revolver and starts using that instead.

While she's certainly sewn chaos, she can see Her Majesty and some guards vanish into the hedges. She has to keep after them!

It's the next risky play that seals her fate. She shoves her captive guard at another and dives low, executing a leg sweep to bring two more to the floor and taking another gun to finish off her former captive and the other guard still 'alive' before-

Something hard and small smacks into her back, sending her to the floor from the half-rise she had managed. She lies there for a moment in dazed confusion, adrenaline still pumping, while the shouting around her dies down. When she hears footsteps she's back on her feet, instinctively aiming her gun at the threat… who has their hands up, while the other guards look at her warily.

"Test is over, Detective. You got tagged." The guard says slowly.

The Detective blinks once, twice, and then lowers her gun. Her head is still buzzing, her nerves still frayed, trying to get her to act, to shoot, to fight. But she can't. She's done. She's failed. "Right. Right. Yes. Sorry. Concoction makes me jumpy."

She's still twitching and snapping her eyes to every movement when Captain Dyne and Her Majesty emerge from the hedges, with the Captain critically eyeing the paint all over the room and his guards while Her Majesty has their attention entirely fixated on their failure of a Detective who couldn't even accomplish the most basic logical objective of such a test.

The smile on their face looks so genuine, and it only makes her feel worse as-

"WAAAH!"

Something soft smacks into her face at full speed and nearly sends her tumbling to the ground again. A few seconds of frantic flailing gets the situation under control and the object off her face, which turns out to be a very excited Bubba.

"Wah wah waaah wah wah wah wah-wah wah!" Bubba burbles; all his tentacles and his flaps flailing and wiggling with energy. The happy smile on his face instantly has her stomach unclenching just a bit and an impulsive, tiny smile of her own creeping onto her lips. "Waaah! Wah wah! Waaah!"

"I'm okay Bubba." She says, falling back on her default and petting him between the flaps. "Concoction just has me on-edge."

"WAAAH!" Bubba grabs her hand and buries his face into it, nuzzling her wrist aggressively, trying to find some way to convey his extreme excitement.

It's while trying to hold Bubba as he flails around happily that Her Majesty and Captain Dyne approach. The Detective only feels slightly foolish speaking to the person whose security she was just trying to dismantle with an excited tako clinging to her cheek.

"Well." Captain Dyne says flatly, choosing not to comment on Bubba. "I think our system needs a bit of improvement. Thank you for your assistance, Detective."

"I think Bubba's excitement conveys my own better than I could." Her Majesty chimes in. The flaps on their head are also wiggling quite rapidly. "That was quite a show, Detective!"

Yeah, and it's a tragedy. She didn't even accomplish half of what she was planning to. She didn't find any sensitive documents or break into the security room or-

She takes a breath, pushing down those thoughts. It won't do to contradict the Empress. "Th-Thank you, Your Majesty. You flatter me."

"I will happily do more than that, Detective." Her Majesty says stepping close so that they're easily in arm's reach. They extend a hand to her. "Though first, may I purify you of that concoction you've mentioned, if it is indeed making you jumpy as you say?"

"I- Yes, of course." The Detective stutters, bowing her head into range while clutching Bubba in her arms. Delicate fingers touch her forehead (that's- why did she bow? She's probably sweaty, she could have at least wiped her head first-) and suddenly the energy is sucked out of her as her adrenaline fizzles to nothing and her legs nearly buckle on the spot.

"...perhaps tomorrow would be a better time to discuss, yes?" Her Majesty quickly says, their voice turning to more of a soothing whisper. "Unless you have particular need of her today, Captain?"

"I do need a detailed report." Captain Dyne says, slightly apologetic. "But beyond that, no."

The Detective is relieved at that. It was only a short test relatively speaking, but she has a feeling she's going to sleep the instant she sees a bed.

She'll need rest to deal with her lunch… meeting(?) with the strange lady tomorrow anyhow.

"WAAAH!"

after calming Bubba down. She has a few extra cookies.