The next two days were practically a blur. Between Miss Bea showing us around town, Ben trying to help us learn the layout of the building, and attempting to find two people with enough clearance to gain entry to the lab that will be staying off the internet for a few days, and doing everything I can to reestablish a relationship of some sort with Ariah, I barely got enough sleep to keep functioning until the day of the break-in came. 

"Alright," Ben said, as the three of us came around the side of the building, "Are y'all sure you've got this?"

"Certain." Riah didn't look anything like herself. She was still short, but now she had short, silver hair that was practically shellacked into the shape of a helmet, and her purple eyes were currently a hard, steely grey.

Of course, I didn't look anything like myself, either. I'm taller now (which I'm not particularly upset about), and I think I'm rocking this new red-haired/ green-eyed look. 

We approach the door of the building, and Ben knocks rapidly about four times. Then he went in. The building was vastly different on the inside than it was on the outside. On the outside, the building was practically falling apart. On the inside, it was sleek and very technical-looking. The walls were painted a bright white, and there was practically nothing in the small room except a guard. 

"Scan your badges here." He sighed, clearly bored. Ariah and I look at each other. Time to see how well I can hack this system.

I close my eyes and reach out my senses as Riah scans her badge. Thankfully, our brains have built-in translators, so all I had to do was train it to see computer code as a language, and- Woah, it's fast in here! I barely manage to stop the computer before identifying Riah's badge as fake. I yank it back and tell the computer, Steve, that it's a real one. Steve protests for a nanosecond, but listens to me and grants her access. I swipe my badge and repeat the process. We hold our breath as the guard has us walk through the scanner, and then lets us in. 

After I let us into the facility, Ben took the lead, and we followed him through the long, twisting hallways of the lab. I'm pretty sure I lost track of what direction we were facing about fifteen minutes ago.

"Here." Ben stopped in front of a door that looked like every other door in this building. "This is probably where most of your friends are being held."

-------------------------------------

*krzch* Phase one is complete! I repeat, Phase One is complete!

Riah and Keris: Whaa??

Ben: *Eye roll* Bea, get off the walkie-talkie.

Bea: Killjoy.

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                                         G.