Lockers were the last thing on my mind during a Squid Trip. Even if I knew the rule, It won’t matter.

One thing is for sure: I won’t die in a meaningless explosion because of a stupid policy. Besides that, I am not known for respecting them.

I move closer to the balcony to give the older guard a dissimulated stare. The same treatment I received.

“I am Commander Cecilia Ellis’ daughter. This is not a normal procedure. I respond to the Columbus. Unless you want to call my mother and inform her I can't enter, you better open the entrance." I look deep in his eyes, before continuing "I must tell you, her mood today is awful. This day means great sorrow to my family. And, let me give you a piece of advice, she hates being undermined.”

His eyes jumps wide open, his pose stiffens and he looks back at me. For sure using my mother’s influence was the best excuse I could find.

Funny how it reminds me of Belle saying how intimidating I can be when I want.

I poke further:

“Hey don’t look at me, sir. I won’t be the one giving her the news. I give you this privilege.”

The guards exchange looks. The elder raises a brow and glances at his partner. The young boy smirks, amused by my performance.  It is him who takes the initiative.  Grabbing my transparent card on top of the balcony for closer inspection, he approaches the plastic to the sensor again. But, this time he presses a sequence of buttons.

It is easy to see which of them I need to target. While the older man actions are cautious, he is the vulnerable one. The young lad acts in a dissimulated way and is immune to my approach.

It would be easier to ask for their help. But I can’t afford any mistakes. If the terrorist group gets alerted by a change on the guards behavior, things can escalate fast to a tragedy. If the Dartboard asked me to intervene, then he believes the staff can’t disarm the bomb. Also, in Holoflix movies, authorities always turns out to be an obstacle instead of a helping hand during emergency crisis.

My SL turns on, again:

“What a gamble Dart. Genius move. You have style. Let’s add spice to your tale!”

Startled by another privacy invasion, I jump on my feet. I know we work together. But I hate being observed.

“Hey, whatever you are. What the wreck! Are you stalking me?”

“Nothing to worry Dart, I stalk everyone. Say hello to yourself. Move your head up and smile.”

A buzz sound comming from the security holocam in the corner of the room catches my attention. The device moves, adjusting to my angle. When I focus at the lens, my image looks back to me. The girl on the screen squints and her eyes glows with fury. Upset, she tightens her lips, fulminating me with her glare. 

A faint blip emanating from the sensor on the balcony interrupts my self contemplation. The sensor on the balcony emits a green light. The light spreads from the device over the younger guard’s shirt, painting the Squid logo above his chest. Then the beam moves side by side, and vanishes.

The older man’s rolls his eyes,unable to believe what he is seeing on the monitor.

His pose melts.

“I am sorry, Miss Ellis. I didn’t know you had an EVO rainbow clearance. You are allowed to go to the lockers. Come this way, Emissary.” he presses a button and the balcony door slides open.

What in the sails is an EVO rainbow? Did I hear he calling me Emissary? Emissary of what?

The guard interrupts my thoughts:

“I didn’t know they recruited young girls for the Columbus. Sorry for delaying your important assignment. My assistant will take you to the inner room and lead you to the lockers. Anything else, I can be of service?”

Isn’t nice when they behave like trained dogs? I say to myself. Quite an improvement in his behavior. I don’t know what the board did, but now I have the support I need, without blowing my cover.

However, the older guard is avoiding eye contact with me. It is hard to say if he is ashamed, worried or both. Does he thinks I am a threat to him or his job? He is being so subservient that reminds me of a puppy waiting for a snack. His green eyes dropped above their bags of age.

It makes me almost feel the urge to throw a stick and see if he goes after it. Meanie Lauren. Now I need to control myself to not giggle at this ridiculous idea. I am surprised about myself I am not mean like this. He is trying to be helpful, I should thank him instead of mocking.

“I’ll let you informed if I need something else. Thank you for your help.”

The younger man continue to act cool. He opens a smile and whispers in my ear without ceremony as he leads the way to the inner storage.

“Please, forgive my partner I am sure he had your best interest in mind.”

We cross a slim door that opens as we approach.

“Miss Ellis, do you need help to find your box in the storage?”

“That won’t be necessary, I can find my mother’s stuff without help.”

He smiles and nods. By his looks, I suspect this guy is  a few years older than me.  The boy, a muscular bronzed lad with a big curved up nose and thin lips. reminds me of the Neo surfers. Biologists and adventurers living in Patch B. Looking closer to his face, I notice a brand above his right eye’s SL. Diving above his blue iris, is a white and green pattern I know well. He is a fan of Lunarian Days! My favorite rock band.

This can be useful.

“So did you emerge the last LD album?” I ask trying to set up a link with him.

“So, you are a Lunarer too? Yeah, I did. To be honest, the band lost their vibe when Sheron dropped.”

“You don’t appreciate Fergy’s style?”

“Well, Sheron had more electricity and vibrancy. Her voice is much better.”

“You got a point there. But I must disagree. For me the rebel direction that LD took after Sheron was sensational. The new singer will surprise you. I can take it from here now. Thanks for the company.”

Things are going well. Yet, the last I need is a curious guard nosing around me.

Answering my thoughts, my lens flashes for a second. The guard presses the side of his SL saying:

“Hey! My screen went blank.”

“Mine is offline too” I pretend to have the same issue, remembering what the board instructed. “My connection wrecked.”

“This is unexpected. I must go check the routers.” He says leaving me alone and rushing back to the entrance.

This Dartboard is helpful. It seems to have everything in control.

The young boy’s profile pops up in my screen:

“Dennis Stingray, age 22. No criminal activities reported.”

“What are you doing?” I type in response.

“You seemed interested in knowing about the guard”

I bite my tongue. This Dartboard can be a nuisance.

I move to the storage to check the lockers and find the one marked as D-2566. I wonder if it is a coincidence, because I realize that number is the same year of my birthday.

After a quick inspection I find the rectangular metal locker with an opening to insert an EVO card.

I examine the reader in the box’s door.

I halt. It is an Evo 2 lock. My Evo 9 card clearance won’t be able to give me access to it.

The lens gets active again with another message from the Dartboard popping up:

“Don’t worry Dart, I gave an Evo Rainbow access. You can open any lock and have access to any installation inside the train for the next 20 minutes. It will be enough”

Evo Rainbow? The guard said the same thing. I never heard of such clearance rank before. We all know High Columbus are Evo Firsts.

Yet my poor Evo 9th card fits the lock and to my surprise the box’s door slides open.

I can’t believe in what is inside!

There is a brown school’s bag lying above the surface of the locker. It is MY school’s bag!

But that is not all:

Inside the bag I find a belt, a gauntlet and the backpack of a magnetic cable.

I hold my breath in awe. I am looking at the mags I was planning to steal during the invasion of the school tonight! There is no mistake. I recognize my dad’s initials and an odd dent in the left side of the gauntlet near the armband. I dented it when I dropped the gauntlet when I was younger.

This is both Impressive and spooky.

What the wreck am I stepping into?

Who or what is this Dartboard? How can he, or she, be so resourceful?

My head spins with a lot of questions dancing in my mind. But the message is offline and my lens went blank again. I turn it on and itthe device is behaving like nothing out of the ordinary happened.

I hold the cables against my heart. Hugging them tight.

When I grab the cables, I notice an octo-memory crystal inside a transparent case attached to the belt.

I put the structured crystal in my bracelet, the lens gets active and a layout of the Squid fills the screen.

Out of nowhere, a sequence of flashes pass thought my head in a split second.

I blink and everything becomes clear to me.

My mind examined every single detail of the layout in a matter of seconds. Without noticing I traced a course of action to disarm the bomb. Earlier today, when I was in virtual reality during the lecture, the same happened. I had the same insight. One look was enough for me to make a fail-proof plan to invade the institute.

And now I am excited and confident I can disarm this bomb with minimum effort.

I place the parts of the cable back in the bag and adjust the straps on my shoulders, before heading to the exit.

Moving pass the entrance balcony I rush to the nearest restroom to put my plan into action.

When I am arriving to the door, a known voice makes me stop.

“Hey miss Lauren, wait a moment.”

Dennis Stingray is heading straight to me.

____

Don't forget to add our novel, things are starting to happen. There is more about our exiled spaceships. Comment, share and let me know. See you in Ep 10.