A tiny, winged figure dropped carefully onto a pipe outside the doors of Kleptomancy HQ with a soft plink. Aspira quickly hid her translucent wings behind her, hiding them in the folds of her dark tank top. Ambling tentatively down the pipe, the faerie reached up to make sure her goggles were still sitting atop her head, pushing her bangs to the sides. A tangible silence filled the air as she pulled a headset from one of her quiver pockets, before being broken with the static crackle of radio.
“Do you read me? Report in please-”
“I have visual on the target,” she responded, peeking around the corner and adjusting her black pants. “Red hair, small horns, about one and a third meters, grey suit; the usual. Options?”
“Alright. We need you to get one of your tranquilizers into him. Commence plan A?”
“Roger that, Commander.” Soft steps pattered down like rain on the metal pipe as she continued running.
“You have 10 minutes. Go. Your partner will be on the line shortly.”
“Acknowledged.” She attached her headset to her goggles and quickly dodged around the corner. Grabbing an arrow with a rope tied around the end, Aspira knocked her bow and aimed. Shot. Hit. Friction from the rope warmed her hands as she began to climb up.
Her fingers trembled with apprehension as she stepped onto the horizontal beam connecting the sides of the room. Leaning casually on the table in front of him was Aspira’s target, who whispered slyly to another person behind a desk. As if on cue, the business people began laughing.
The faerie grimaced and knocked another arrow, this time with a grip at the arrowhead. The arrow shot through the air like lightning, piercing the targeted wood with a small thunk. Gleaming in the moonlight, the arrow sunk a good two inches into the wooden support beam.
“Agent Aspira, I’m online. Anything you need?” The crackle from her headset returned. She startled.
“Ah, Exuber, you almost scared me. Can you get the temp readings from that arrow? I’m going to head through the wall tunnel.”
“Anything for you, Cupid-”
“I’m on a mission. Don’t even start.”
“Ah, shot through the heart once again!” Exuber giggled through the headset. In exasperation, Aspira pinched her nose before stepping back into the darkness and letting her eyes adjust to the tunnel.
Light announced the other end, as she walked through the shroud of black. Aspira grinned and pulled her goggles down onto her face.
“The target is on your six, down at 30 degrees - pi over 6 radians if you prefer that - and currently standing still, according to your readings. I’m not getting readings on sound, but I can see the heat signature-”
Aspira checked her scoping lense. “Exuber, I’ve told you I prefer degrees, and I can see him; he’s not far away.” She peeked over the ledge at the end of the tunnel. Target grinned at his friend, who pat his shoulder with a wide smile.
“Visual on Target. I’m taking aim,” Aspira continued as she knocked a third arrow, this one with a needle thin tip and a canister built into the wood. She waited for Exuber to affirm her shot. Nothing.
“Exuber?”
Something on the other side of the line popped and crackled. Aspira let her bow go slack in her trembling hands.
“Exuber‽” she called out.
A deadline greeted her. “Plan B, then.” Aspira took a step away from the ledge. Target was missing. Target’s friend grinned up at her through the wall. She clutched her arrow to her chest.
“Who is Exuber?” One of the target’s eyes suddenly glared into the tunnel. Aspira readied her bow, knocking her arrow swiftly.
“No one of your concern.”
“Is he the bug Adam found a couple minutes ago?”
“Bug?”
“Yea, green, ugly, ‘bout twice as short as you. Put up a good fight.” Aspira forcibly widened her eyes in mock horror. Exuber’s skin was pale lilac, and he towered about 3 centimeters above her. .
The eye squinted. “You look like him. ‘Cept with one set of wings. He must’a been a lucky bastard to get that second set of his.”
“Uh… yea, I missed out on wing day,” Aspira muttered bitterly.
“Sure.” The eye moved away from the hole, and Aspira sucked in a breath of relief. Then, a hand squeezed in and plucked her up by the wings.
For a brief moment, all she could think about was the strange smell of burnt cheese coming from her captor. Something pungent. Smoky. Suffocating.
It occurred to Aspira that this wasn’t a good thing. She adjusted the scope of her goggles and set the thermo-detector on. The arrow reading heat signatures from earlier still granted her vision. The figures were moving. The target was moving.
Groaning internally, Aspira searched her quiver. As soon as she found it, she stabbed an arrow into her captor’s palm. The tranquilizer acted quickly, and Target’s hand relaxed. She gently pried his fingers apart and flew out before he hit the ground. Target’s friend, who had been sitting at a desk, looked up suspiciously. Aspira sighed and shot a grappling arrow, escaping into a hole in the wall.
“Exuber? Do you read me?” She whispered forcefully. “Are you ok?”
A fuzzy noise greeted her before Exuber replied, “Never been better. Uh, don’t worry about the weird-” He cut off again, replaced with static, “-in danger, I don’t think-”
Aspira silently placed a ‘mission complete’ beacon on the wall and activated it. Surveillance would pick up the Target as soon as they could. It hadn’t been a very clean job, but it was still complete. She had more pressing matters to attend to.
Exuber continued, “- what do you mean, we’re trapped? I need to get the ship running ASAP, we can’t be-” Aspira began running through the wall-tunnel. There had to be another exit. She pulled up a map of the secret tunnels on the holoscreen attached to her wrist and navigated her way through.
Someone else, which Aspira couldn’t hear, seemed to be talking to Exuber. He replied quickly, but whatever was wrong with the connection continued cutting him off. “-am I still on the line? Yea, I’m making sure Aspira-” Readying another grappling arrow, Aspira flung herself out of the tunnel and back into the warm skies. Slinging herself into a tree nearby, she crouched and watched the Universal Spy Service airship land on the roof.
“-Yea she’s ok. Target managed to cut off the line and I’m not sure how to fix-” Aspira waited until USS officers began entering the building before bringing up her holoscreen again. Scrolling through the commands, she found ‘call ship’. Soon after, a small hovercraft blinked in and dropped a rope down. Aspira grabbed on and sighed as the hovercraft lifted her into the entry bay.
“-Definitely. I’m keeping the line on so I can oversee without my computer; it the power outage impaired my connection-” The hovercraft was small - economical in a way, but homely in another. Aspira stepped quietly down the narrow hallway and peeked into the control room. A tall pixi dressed in dark green shorts and a lab coat sat at a holo computer. The screen in front of him flared red with an error message, and he typed furiously at the keyboard.
“There’s -something wrong with the processor, it doesn’t- want to turn on. I’ll need to cut off the power, -the hovercraft may freefall for a moment, but I trust- my flying abilities.” Exuber stuck his tongue out in concentration. A holoscreen to the left of the pixi depicted a syren, who nodded quietly. Aspira crept in silently and sat down at another holo computer, buckling herself in. Once the lights went out, a sudden weightlessness tugged at her.
“Where’s the throttle‽ Oh, there it is. We need emergency lights in here - why are there no emergency lights?” The pixi laughed nervously, before engaging the hyperspace module. In the darkness, Aspira could feel the sudden change in velocity. She tried desperately to quench the terrible airsickness she felt. It subsided slowly, leaving her dizzy.
“And… lights on.” Exuber’s voice returned to her headset. Aspira inhaled sharply and checked the window. His piloting was usually very smooth in space, but his take-offs could be rocky.
“I see you haven’t improved your driving while I was busy,” Aspira chuckled, still slightly nauseous. Exuber startled in his seat and spun to face her. He clicked his headset off before he spoke.
“Well, you only gave me a day to improve. Y’have to look at my long term improvement, Aspira.”
“Long term was never your strong suit. You get bored too easily.”
“Not my fault y’all come up with so many boring missions. I’m always the one carting you around, Legolas. Don’t try to kill me, ok?”
“So what exactly happened? Your call started breaking up when you finally responded...”
“Some idiot - not me, I swear - decided it was a great idea to leave a signal visible to enemy antennae when using the radio headset. So, like you’d imagine, our target intercepted the call and managed to cut me off. I spent a few minutes trying to reconnect, then he crashed my holo comp and my visuals were cut off. HQ called in - you remember Bit and Equi? Yea, they helped me troubleshoot, and eventually I established a more secure - albeit weaker - connection. I’m not sure how much you heard, but Bit is a computer genius!”
“I’m sure she is.”
“Yeah.” Exuber bit his lip. “I’m glad you’re ok.”
“I’m glad you are too,” Aspira responded with a grin, “I need my partner-in-crime to function, otherwise I couldn’t get my job done.”
“Pfah! How little do you think of me‽”
“Well… if you’re really asking….”
“No! Don’t answer that!”
“Look, I’m just glad you’re safe.”
“Me too."
“Do you read me? Report in please-”
“I have visual on the target,” she responded, peeking around the corner and adjusting her black pants. “Red hair, small horns, about one and a third meters, grey suit; the usual. Options?”
“Alright. We need you to get one of your tranquilizers into him. Commence plan A?”
“Roger that, Commander.” Soft steps pattered down like rain on the metal pipe as she continued running.
“You have 10 minutes. Go. Your partner will be on the line shortly.”
“Acknowledged.” She attached her headset to her goggles and quickly dodged around the corner. Grabbing an arrow with a rope tied around the end, Aspira knocked her bow and aimed. Shot. Hit. Friction from the rope warmed her hands as she began to climb up.
Her fingers trembled with apprehension as she stepped onto the horizontal beam connecting the sides of the room. Leaning casually on the table in front of him was Aspira’s target, who whispered slyly to another person behind a desk. As if on cue, the business people began laughing.
The faerie grimaced and knocked another arrow, this time with a grip at the arrowhead. The arrow shot through the air like lightning, piercing the targeted wood with a small thunk. Gleaming in the moonlight, the arrow sunk a good two inches into the wooden support beam.
“Agent Aspira, I’m online. Anything you need?” The crackle from her headset returned. She startled.
“Ah, Exuber, you almost scared me. Can you get the temp readings from that arrow? I’m going to head through the wall tunnel.”
“Anything for you, Cupid-”
“I’m on a mission. Don’t even start.”
“Ah, shot through the heart once again!” Exuber giggled through the headset. In exasperation, Aspira pinched her nose before stepping back into the darkness and letting her eyes adjust to the tunnel.
Light announced the other end, as she walked through the shroud of black. Aspira grinned and pulled her goggles down onto her face.
“The target is on your six, down at 30 degrees - pi over 6 radians if you prefer that - and currently standing still, according to your readings. I’m not getting readings on sound, but I can see the heat signature-”
Aspira checked her scoping lense. “Exuber, I’ve told you I prefer degrees, and I can see him; he’s not far away.” She peeked over the ledge at the end of the tunnel. Target grinned at his friend, who pat his shoulder with a wide smile.
“Visual on Target. I’m taking aim,” Aspira continued as she knocked a third arrow, this one with a needle thin tip and a canister built into the wood. She waited for Exuber to affirm her shot. Nothing.
“Exuber?”
Something on the other side of the line popped and crackled. Aspira let her bow go slack in her trembling hands.
“Exuber‽” she called out.
A deadline greeted her. “Plan B, then.” Aspira took a step away from the ledge. Target was missing. Target’s friend grinned up at her through the wall. She clutched her arrow to her chest.
“Who is Exuber?” One of the target’s eyes suddenly glared into the tunnel. Aspira readied her bow, knocking her arrow swiftly.
“No one of your concern.”
“Is he the bug Adam found a couple minutes ago?”
“Bug?”
“Yea, green, ugly, ‘bout twice as short as you. Put up a good fight.” Aspira forcibly widened her eyes in mock horror. Exuber’s skin was pale lilac, and he towered about 3 centimeters above her. .
The eye squinted. “You look like him. ‘Cept with one set of wings. He must’a been a lucky bastard to get that second set of his.”
“Uh… yea, I missed out on wing day,” Aspira muttered bitterly.
“Sure.” The eye moved away from the hole, and Aspira sucked in a breath of relief. Then, a hand squeezed in and plucked her up by the wings.
For a brief moment, all she could think about was the strange smell of burnt cheese coming from her captor. Something pungent. Smoky. Suffocating.
It occurred to Aspira that this wasn’t a good thing. She adjusted the scope of her goggles and set the thermo-detector on. The arrow reading heat signatures from earlier still granted her vision. The figures were moving. The target was moving.
Groaning internally, Aspira searched her quiver. As soon as she found it, she stabbed an arrow into her captor’s palm. The tranquilizer acted quickly, and Target’s hand relaxed. She gently pried his fingers apart and flew out before he hit the ground. Target’s friend, who had been sitting at a desk, looked up suspiciously. Aspira sighed and shot a grappling arrow, escaping into a hole in the wall.
“Exuber? Do you read me?” She whispered forcefully. “Are you ok?”
A fuzzy noise greeted her before Exuber replied, “Never been better. Uh, don’t worry about the weird-” He cut off again, replaced with static, “-in danger, I don’t think-”
Aspira silently placed a ‘mission complete’ beacon on the wall and activated it. Surveillance would pick up the Target as soon as they could. It hadn’t been a very clean job, but it was still complete. She had more pressing matters to attend to.
Exuber continued, “- what do you mean, we’re trapped? I need to get the ship running ASAP, we can’t be-” Aspira began running through the wall-tunnel. There had to be another exit. She pulled up a map of the secret tunnels on the holoscreen attached to her wrist and navigated her way through.
Someone else, which Aspira couldn’t hear, seemed to be talking to Exuber. He replied quickly, but whatever was wrong with the connection continued cutting him off. “-am I still on the line? Yea, I’m making sure Aspira-” Readying another grappling arrow, Aspira flung herself out of the tunnel and back into the warm skies. Slinging herself into a tree nearby, she crouched and watched the Universal Spy Service airship land on the roof.
“-Yea she’s ok. Target managed to cut off the line and I’m not sure how to fix-” Aspira waited until USS officers began entering the building before bringing up her holoscreen again. Scrolling through the commands, she found ‘call ship’. Soon after, a small hovercraft blinked in and dropped a rope down. Aspira grabbed on and sighed as the hovercraft lifted her into the entry bay.
“-Definitely. I’m keeping the line on so I can oversee without my computer; it the power outage impaired my connection-” The hovercraft was small - economical in a way, but homely in another. Aspira stepped quietly down the narrow hallway and peeked into the control room. A tall pixi dressed in dark green shorts and a lab coat sat at a holo computer. The screen in front of him flared red with an error message, and he typed furiously at the keyboard.
“There’s -something wrong with the processor, it doesn’t- want to turn on. I’ll need to cut off the power, -the hovercraft may freefall for a moment, but I trust- my flying abilities.” Exuber stuck his tongue out in concentration. A holoscreen to the left of the pixi depicted a syren, who nodded quietly. Aspira crept in silently and sat down at another holo computer, buckling herself in. Once the lights went out, a sudden weightlessness tugged at her.
“Where’s the throttle‽ Oh, there it is. We need emergency lights in here - why are there no emergency lights?” The pixi laughed nervously, before engaging the hyperspace module. In the darkness, Aspira could feel the sudden change in velocity. She tried desperately to quench the terrible airsickness she felt. It subsided slowly, leaving her dizzy.
“And… lights on.” Exuber’s voice returned to her headset. Aspira inhaled sharply and checked the window. His piloting was usually very smooth in space, but his take-offs could be rocky.
“I see you haven’t improved your driving while I was busy,” Aspira chuckled, still slightly nauseous. Exuber startled in his seat and spun to face her. He clicked his headset off before he spoke.
“Well, you only gave me a day to improve. Y’have to look at my long term improvement, Aspira.”
“Long term was never your strong suit. You get bored too easily.”
“Not my fault y’all come up with so many boring missions. I’m always the one carting you around, Legolas. Don’t try to kill me, ok?”
“So what exactly happened? Your call started breaking up when you finally responded...”
“Some idiot - not me, I swear - decided it was a great idea to leave a signal visible to enemy antennae when using the radio headset. So, like you’d imagine, our target intercepted the call and managed to cut me off. I spent a few minutes trying to reconnect, then he crashed my holo comp and my visuals were cut off. HQ called in - you remember Bit and Equi? Yea, they helped me troubleshoot, and eventually I established a more secure - albeit weaker - connection. I’m not sure how much you heard, but Bit is a computer genius!”
“I’m sure she is.”
“Yeah.” Exuber bit his lip. “I’m glad you’re ok.”
“I’m glad you are too,” Aspira responded with a grin, “I need my partner-in-crime to function, otherwise I couldn’t get my job done.”
“Pfah! How little do you think of me‽”
“Well… if you’re really asking….”
“No! Don’t answer that!”
“Look, I’m just glad you’re safe.”
“Me too."