"You know the plan?"

Useless snorted as we rounded the corner. "Yeah, I know the plan. What I don't know is why we gotta steal the ship. I mean, I know why we gotta steal it but..."

"We could always pick another ship," I suggested with a healthy dose of sarcasm. "One with over a dozen personnel, a weapon on each hip, not to mention whatever superhuman skills they may have at their disposal."

I could admit that the plan wasn't foolproof, hell it was downright the most insane plan we could come up with. Then again, stealing any other ship could send us to an early grave. At the very least I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Isaac and Nix wouldn't aim to kill. If we went for another vessel the odds we would end up swish cheese multiplied exponentially.

"See, you make it sound like Isaac won't shoot me, which he would because he hates me."

We came to the end of the corridor, just shy of the ladder that descended to the first. Isaac didn't approve of Useless, not a single aspect of him, but even that distinction wouldn't cause him to open fire on either of us. I was his niece for christ's sake.

"Still family."

Useless scoffed under his breath as I knelt down and activated my P.E.R.T.I.D. The plan was simple. So simple, in fact, that if Isaac was half the MIB he thought himself to be he'd see us coming from a mile away. He was preoccupied though, just like i wanted him to be.

The Lawless security cameras appeared on my screen gaining the interest of Useless who now leaned over to sneak a peek. "So we're just waiting for them to leave?"

I gave him a brief nod, my fingers a gentle caress over the keys of my holo board. In a matter of moments, the audio had connected and Isaac's frustrated voice filled my ear.

"I don't understand why it keeps spreading," He grumbled under his breath. On the small video feed, he leaned back in his chair his fingers buried in his graying hair.

"That girl of yours is a genius, you know that." Nix's voice drifted in from off-camera.

Damn straight, I thought with a small smirk, though in no way did I consider myself his. Nix never made any bones about my brains, not the way Isaac did. She was always first to point out my intelligence far surpassed those around me. It was nice to always have someone on my side, even if I at one point I hoped it would be Isaac.

"So much so that I've reached out to an old colleague to help take care of this mess. Her virus is insidious. It's attacking everything and disabling it code by code. We'd be sitting ducks if we left before it's repaired."

Nix laughed in the light casual way she did when Isaac's frustration tickled her. How in the hell a woman could balance refinement and brutality was a mystery in itself. Yet somehow Nix managed it and I marveled at her every once in a blue moon for it. Then I remembered she thought her cowboy had was cool.

"Take a deep breath rubber duck. In a few hours, it will be water under the bridge."

"If we're lucky," Isaac huffed before he pulled himself onto his feet.

I continued to watch the camera feeds as both Isaac and Nix made their way off the ship, their footsteps a faint echo bellow us before they disappeared out of the cargo bay. My doubts pertaining to the plan where many in number but my smugness that it actually worked was undeniable.

"Hook, line, and sinker, " I muttered, my hollow screen now deactivated. With ease, my P.E.R.T.I.D. slipped into my topknot and I rose to my feet.

"Showtime?" Useless asked with a cocked brow.

I laughed lightly as I glanced down the ladder well. "Like taking candy from a baby. The main show will be later though."

Useless bent backward dramatically and let out a groan. "Well let's get this over with then, " He sighed his frame now at its full height. "Looks like I won't be getting shot at today after all."

With extra caution, we moved away from our perch and made our way down towards the Lawless control room. "This is honestly going better than I envisioned," Useless mumbled his eyes not able to stay in one place longer than a few seconds.

"Well it better," I shot back. I had hardly slept the last forty-eight-hours, my mind a constant loop of problems and solutions. That didn't count the hours it took to write my masterful baby. If this plan didn't succeed it was a failure on my part.

Once on the command deck - and without suggestion- Useless plopped himself into the pilot's seat and began looking over the controls. "How long till we can get this show on the road?"

I took a seat next to him and slid my P.E.R.T.I.D. from my bun. This needed to happen as quickly as possible and not because we didn't have time. Mostly it was due to the simple fact that the more time it took the higher our chances of being caught became. Neither of us wanted that.

"Five minutes, if that."

Useless nodded in slow motion giving me the impression he didn't have a clue what was going on. When his lips parted and his inquiry slipped through my theory was proven correct.

"So didn't your little virus destroy the ship's internal system? Or am I missing something like I usually am?"

My lips curved upward at the thought of my baby. Not to toot my own horn but this was by far my best work yet. The icing on the cake just happened to be that Isaac fell victim to her glorious deception.

"Correction. Pearl is not a virus, she is a phantom electronic augmented reality layer."

Useless let out a sigh as he crossed his arms and swiveled his chair to face me. "You're such a fucking nerd."

"Well, this nerd just stole an ex MIB's spacecraft using said nerd power. So eat it."

Useless raised his eyebrow and faced the pilot console once more. "And yet with all that nerd power of yours, you still need me to fly you places."

My finger stopped mid-stroke to glare over at my so-called friend. I wasn't sure why or when we had formed a friendship, it wasn't like before all this space shit we were close, he had been one of my main tormentors back before all of this. Maybe it was as far back as our first alien abduction.

Was it weird to be able to list all of your alien abductions?

I shook my head. "You're just jealous you couldn't make the MIB think his whole system was under attack."

Useless spun his seat in it 360. "Fine, I'll bite. What does Pearl do?"

I faced my holo screen of my P.E.R.T.I.D. once more with a triumphant smirk. "Pearl is exactly what she sounds like. She's a program that appears to be a virus. To the victim, it appears that she is infiltrating every nook and cranny of their system. And she is, to an extent. What most don't realize is just because her code is intertwined with that of the attacked doesn't mean she can destroy."

Useless spun once more, his head now relaxed back on the headrest and his eyes fixated on the ceiling. "Simple Logan, I need simple to care."

Aggravated air escaped my lungs. "Fine. In Useless terms, Pearl is my attack dog in training. She only knows two commands, come and stay. Right now she's staying put, but when I hit this key," I let my finger fall to the abnormal shape of the enter key," she returns. No harm, no foul."

Useless stopped and pegged me with a dark stair. "So you're telling me that you made the MIB fear total system failure when that wasn't even a remote possibility?"

His eyes held mine for a few more moments before his eyebrows shot up and he spun back to his new-found controls, a soft smile on his lips. "Ingenious thinking, though slightly disappointing. Sure would have liked to see his reaction if his whole system did go up in flames."

words - 1315
total words - 10547
written - 03/26/2020
last edited - 05/05/2020