"Wow, Adira, this pie is gorgeous." Dean grins, stuffing another steaming spoonful in his mouth.

"Literally. It's like my mouth is having an orgasm." gawks Joe, and I look over at his empty plate, which he is now licking clean.

Macks sits grumpily at the far corner of the foldable table I've set up, his arms folded across his torso. I can tell he is in agony, watching everyone devour their pie whilst he has none, but he said it himself, not me. I still couldn't believe how childish he was being. It was quite distracting.

"Ok, guys, if you don't mind, we should start." I announce, and everyone's eyes turn towards me. I swivel round and retrieve the giant blue sheet of paper rolled up behind me, and spread it out over the table, using a few heavy books to secure it in place.

"Oh, wow. This is the real deal." AJ says, his eyes scanning the blueprint of Newman's house "Where did you even get this thing?"

"My uncle works as an architect. He has loads of these lying round the house." That was a lie. My uncle isn't an architect. I don't even have an uncle, I think.

"Ah, cool. But a blueprint of Newman's house? That's a bit... I dunno..."

"Doesn't matter where she got it." Dean says "She's got it."

Yeah, doesn't matter that I bought it from the black market.

"So I've studied this thing quite meticulously, and as you can expect, this place is absolutely teeming with security. Like, there isn't one room in his building that isn't protected in some way. I'm talking biometric scanners, bulletproof shutters, even a built-in trapper mechanism that keeps intruders from escaping."

"Well, you can't blame the guy, most of the population probably want him dead."

"Exactly, which is why it's near impossible for any ordinary person to just waltz in. His front gate is guarded by four heavily armed security positioned here, here, here and here." I point to the blue print "Which rotate every 6 hours. Then the gate itself can only be opened with a keycard, which is owned by Newman's family, all his staff, and Newman himself. However this can be easily acquired, because we have an in."

"An in? Who?" AJ asks, but I can tell he soon remembers when his expression changes

"Me." Macks says, catching me off guard "Or should I say my auntie. She cleans for Newman, I can just nick her card, easy peasy."

"Yeah, shouldn't be a problem." I say "However there's still the security guards, but I have a plan for that. Each guard is fitted with a built in communications chip implanted in their ear, so they're sent updates 24-7, even off whilst duty. If we play a sound at a high enough frequency it will scramble every chip in a 2-mile radius, meaning not only will the guards at the gate be rendered unconscious, but every guard in the building. But it only lasts half an hour, so we have to act fast."

"I can build something that'll do that, should just need a speaker, a set of headphones... and maybe some x-ray machinery, I dunno." AJ thinks

"High frequency? Couldn't we just use a dog whistle or something." Dean suggests

"Y'know, actually, that just might work."

"Right, so, glad that's sorted. We now need to talk about cameras. Probably should've mentioned this first, but they're everywhere. They cover like every inch of his house, so we need to get rid of them. The only way to do this is by getting into the mainframe of his house, which is fortunately located outside the building on the east side. The mainframe controls all the cameras, but nothing else. All other security protocols are coordinated from the inside. This thing is password protected, but I'm sure it's nothing you can't unscramble, AJ."

"Yeah, shouldn't be a problem."

"Cameras are our most important line of action after successfully passing the gate, and once cameras are out, we'll be free to do whatever. Luckily, the front door isn't highly secure other than the usual key and lock that you would expect. I guess the expectation is that no-one gets past the front gate. But I happen to know there's a spare key under his doormat, rookie mistake--"

"Ok, hold on. From what I've heard so far, you've really thought this thing out. That's great 'n all, but I just want to know. . . how do you know so much? Like, the guards and the keycard and the mainframe and everything. As much as I love mindlessly absorbing information, I do need an explanation." Macks leans back in his chair, giving me a cold, hard stare. I could just smell the suspicion from the other side of the room.

"You're right, I-- I haven't been completely honest with you guys. The reason I know so much is because. . . I've staked out his place before."

"Wait really? You been to Scarsdale? No shit. . ." Joe exclaims

Dean and AJ share shocked glances. Macks doesn't break eye contact.

"Yeah, I've actually thought about doing this thing before, about a year ago. I was planning to do it when I was a bit older but recently I've been reminded to take chances whilst I can." Macks still looks at me, and I can tell he's not buying it, despite it being the truth. If I were him in this scenario, I wouldn't either. It's more likely that I'm some sort of double agent. Or maybe it's because I have trust issues.

"Ah, right. You've staked out his pod, sweet." He shrugs, masking his hidden suspicions.

"Yeah, so yeah, right. As I was saying. The spare key, which is pretty dumb in itself, gives us access to the front door--"

"Question: Why are we going through the front door? Why not like through the window or something?" Joe asks, rightfully, which leads me nicely onto my next point.

"Yeah, well, not all of us are going in through there. To the left side of Newman's door is a drainage grid linking to an intricate network of underground pipes. This pipe here leads to another drainage grid located directly infront of the window where Newman's oxygen is stored here. Then we'll use a drone mounted with a laser to fly up in front of the window and create a hole in the window. This will be the job of three of us, preferably AJ and two other people. Then the other two have the job of being the distraction, at the front door."

"Distraction? We're not in a movie, things aren't that easy." Macks laughs, and I just hate the smug look on his face. I wanna punch it. Like, he'd offered to help in the first place? Why's he being such a dick?

"No, but I know that Newman has routine security inspections to make sure his systems are up to date, to prevent any risk of a cyber attack. Usually he stays at home during this, but you might all know this weekend there's a rally in Masonville, and he's supposed to be giving a speech or something. If we catch him just as he's leaving the house, he won't even realise we're not the real people. He'll just be in a rush to get there."

"Really? Is that such a solid plan? Sounds like it's reliant on luck."

"None of this plan is luck. . ."

"So how are you so sure he won't sus us out?"

"Cuz he won't"

"Prove it."

"Because like I said, we'll choose, the right, moment."

He laughs "The right moment. . . of course."

"For God sake, what's your issue!" I raise my voice unintentionally, and eyebrows are raised across the room. The other boys sit awkwardly as we bicker.

"My issue is your whole plan is flawed. It's completely circumstantial."

"Ok, how would you suggest we do it then? Hmm?"

". . .you can't seriously expect me to think on the spot."

"Exactly, so don't come at me with all this 'circumstantial' bullshit."

"Adira," Joe speaks up "He was only giving his opinion."

"Oh my gosh. . . seriously? You're sticking up for him?"

"I mean, he's not completely wrong."

I look round the room at ashamed faces. Guilty faces. Lying faces.

"You all agree with him, don't you? You think my plan is flawed?"

Silence.

"Fine, if it's so flawed, you should all just go."

"Adi--"

"Just go, ok? What's the use, it was a stupid idea anyway, near impossible. It was nice meeting you all, though."

No-one dares speaks, AJ doesn't even look at me. They all just scuttle out the door one by one like some cowardly sheep or some shit.

Cowardly sheep, that's what they are. Couldn't they have just spoken up? Told me? This is supposed to be collaborative, not a one-man show. They would've all just mindlessly went with my idea, because what, they feel sorry for me?

That's probably it as well.

And quite frankly, now I feel sorry for myself.

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Hey, author here! Hope you're enjoying the book so far. Please feel free to comment any favourite bits or criticism if necessary. Or just comment anything, I really don't mind :)

It's funny because I decided to do the chapter names in roman numerals and once I got to nine it was testing my knowledge a little 😅

So yeah, don't forget to vote and comment, your support is greatly appreciated.

- Dalola <3