We all shuffle outside as the sun starts to rise. Michael throws their two duffel bags and Kate's newest acquisition into the trunk and shuts the back of the Jeep, the sound echoing through the early morning air. Kate, back in her usual over the top colors and accessories, today's being tight sequin pants, a pink crop top, and a matching fedora yawns loudly and rubs her eyes. Michael -not looking much better- scratches at his five o'clock shadow and brushes down his much more mundane looking jeans and tee-shirt. He looks at me where I'm leaning against the cracked paint wall of the motel, "Thanks." He says, "for, the, ya know" he waves his flip phone at me and I nod, "Oh yeah, thank-" a yawn cuts off the sentence Kate was forming. Michael gets in the driver's seat and starts up the car. Kate steps over the cement divider and gives me an air kiss on the cheek, "Hey thanks, see ya later" she says smiling before hopping into the Jeep. I hear Michael ask about coffee through the open window, which is answered by a very enthusiastic "Hell yes!" as they back out. I watch for a second, then swiftly turn on my heels and bolt inside. I hang one of the blankets on the curtain rod using the chair, blocking out the outside light, leaving a lamp as the only light source and load up the computer. The programs still going at it, now with pages upon pages of numbers and the loading bar at the top telling me that it's just over halfway done. Quick math tells me that I have about 4 more hours to waste before it's done.

Now having far too much time on my hand, I sit on the edge of Michael's old bed. Looking around the room at the beige walls, I hear the distant sound of traffic start to pick up as the clock strikes 6:30. With nothing better to do, I turn on the T.V to the national news station. After the usual stuff about America's friendship with Mexico still being on the rocks, crime rates going up, they replay a part of presidential candidate Jay Collins recent rally and a familiar face appears on the screen. Senator Robinson at a podium expressing how much Collins immigration reform bill will keep Americans safe. I pull out my phone and record the speech he gives. I don't know much about Collins, but I've heard that this particular bill plans to pretty much close the borders entirely and crackdown significantly on illegal immigration. I send the video along with an article on Collins to Kate. I wonder if he knows that Robinson is doing something sketchy and make a mental note to look into Collins. I have a feeling this is going to be a bit bigger than I originally suspected. Letting the T.V continue to play in the background, I start to clean up the room, stripping the beds down to get rid of possible DNA and wiping every surface of fingerprints. I even grab a vacuum from a nearby cleaning maids cart and vacuum the carpet. Better not to leave any trace, just in case. 

Laying on a towel on top of one of the beds, bored again, I fiddle with my sunglasses, though that's hardly their main purpose. Taking inspiration from some old spy movies, I actually handcrafted the specs for them. The lenses are actually made of the same material as two-way mirrors, except that instead of a mirror the outside is just opaque black glass. This allows for text and images to be projected right onto the glass without anyone seeing from the outside. The stems are extra thick to allow for the added tech, including an antenna that connects directly to my computer, which allows for internet access and being able to access files remotely. One of the main problems I ran into while testing is the fact that as it's supposed to be hand's free, the accuracy of trying to only use your eyes to navigate the system was simply a hassle, so I created clear contact lenses that allow for more concise movement, along with a few buttons on the side. 

My computer vibrates and I perk my head up, putting the glasses on my head, its stems automatically extending, latching on invisibly at the back of my head, keeping itself in place.  The numbers for the PIN are displayed at the bottom of the program terminal. This is it! I plug the PIN into the keys and files start to run down my screen I select them all and right-click OPEN. Files and pictures start popping up across my screen and I start scrolling through them, my eyes getting wider as I go along. Shit. This is bad. Shit, shit, shit, shit. I slam the screen shut, my heartbeat starting to pick up. Closing my eyes, I try to calm down. God, I'm so stupid. I start to hastily pack up, stuffing my computer back in the pack. Peaking outside through the mock curtain, I don't see anyone but my paranoia has skyrocketed in the past few seconds, so I grab one of the chairs and book it out the bathroom window.

The air has become humid, I tumble onto the grass outside next to my bags of stuff and as I collect everything, I hear thunder in the distance. Focusing on the sound, I am able to get my heart to stop beating quite as fast, and I kneel under the wooden window frame hidden by some shrubs, trying to process what I saw. The wind whips by, causing a branch to hit me on the cheek but I don't flinch. I don't know what I expected from the hard drives. I was curious, which made me make a stupid decision. I pull out my laptop again and open it. It was still on the "continue running" setting so I'm able to bypass the security and pull up the files I found again. Pages upon pages of personnel files, schematics for high tech equipment, and chemical research pop up, all with the same logo I found on the top of the computer, this time colorized. The computer had been in a lab. Not my lab, thank god. They were based out of China, but a lab, all the same, this one going by the name of INOS Scientific Research. Images of white walls and needles flash through my mind and I shudder, closing my eyes, and mentally put the memories back into the box they escaped from. In my experience, the people who run the labs are ruthless, I'm betting that the leader of this one will do anything to get back information stolen from them.  A quick google search reveals that the lab is part of an international network of labs that are based around the idea of security. I drum my fingers on the body of the laptop, thinking. My best bet is to get the drives back into the computer before anyone notices they're gone. 

A plan starts to form in my mind. There's not much to it. Wait till the employee guy is helping someone, break-in, replace the drives, get out. I quietly skulk to where my run down bike is under a tarp, start it up and navigate the bike through some shrubs onto the main road. Hopefully, this will go smoothly.