Crash and Burn

Chapter Twenty Three

Layla's POV:

"Alright so today is unfortunately a boring paperwork day. You have your own office now and a place to hold your pet when you're busy" Mother said as she led me down the hall. Scarlett stayed 2 paces behind me, looking at everything and everyone without a care. So far Mother hadn't said anything about it so I allowed it.

We came to a pair of one way glass doors, just like her office, and she left me with a folder. I went in and sat at the desk, sighing. Scarlett sat on the couch and yawned.

"It's freaken 6:03am. Why did she need you so early again?" She asked through another yawn. I opened the work issued laptop and immediately began phase one of my plan.

"Oh she didn't. I asked her to meet me this early so we have a head start, tonight we'll be busy" I told her. I heard her gasp and cracked a small smile.

"Tonight? What's happening tonight? Are you gonna disappear for 12 hours again?" She asked, tilting her head and glaring at me. I frowned and finished the email, switching to the work I was assigned.

"I can't tell you right now. When we're somewhere more secure. Okay I just emailed the tech team for a model of the collar. Administration Privileges allow me to be able to look through it thank god" I told her, cracking my fingers and getting to work.

(Time Skip)

They bought it in a medium sized black box, complete with a remote. When the guard delivering it asked if it was for a new pet I just smiled and told him to get out. Scarlett raised an eyebrow.

"I needed one to test the code. Mother shouldn't miss it for at least a week, maybe a couple days." I explained. She nodded. I plugged it into the computer and went to work.

30% in Mother decided to drop in with a stack of papers concerning security. I quickly ripped the collar from the computer and hid it in my bag. She dumped the papers on top of the earlier papers and apologized, saying it was a busy week. Scarlett snorted and gave me a look of pity.

Throughout the day there was never time to input the code I wrote into the collar's codes. Every time I was nearly finished with something Mother or her secretary would drop off work for me to do. I managed to get Scarlett some food during all the madness, mozzarella sticks.

By the time I finished everything it was nearly 7pm. 13 hours straight of work. My eyes hurt from staring at the screen for so long. Scarlett was laid out on the couch, boredly watching another Netflix show. The door opened and the pet girl followed by her guard came in. She bowed respectfully before speaking.

"Your Mother sent me to tell you that you may go home. Your work day usually ends at 6:45pm. She requests you drop off the collar you wanted to check out at Tech Lab 4 it's a prototype and has the new update installed on it" She said. My heart leapt.

"Alright thank you." I replied. Another bow and then she left with her entourage. I closed the laptop and began packing the work up. Scarlett yawned and sat up, stretching.

"Do me a favor, Never ever take me with you to work ever again. That was more torture than getting whipped" She said. I chuckled.

"Sorry. I'll let you explore next time. Whatever clearance I have I can grant to you." I promised. She snorted and absently handed over the dreaded leash, waiting for me to walk. I hated the leash law but if I didn't obey it they'd find some way to punish her and I'd get off with just a fine.

We walked out of the office and down the hallway to the elevator. Taking the elevator down to the lobby we exited Tech Lab building 1 and went to the parking lot. Scarlett began to look troubled the farther we walked away.

"Hey Lay, weren't you supposed to return the collar? It's the prototype of course they'll notice its missing" She said. I let go of her leash and opened the door for her, hurrying her into the car before rushing around to the driver's side and climbing in.

"There's probably a backup somewhere. Too important to just have one that anyone with Admin privileges and above can take." I explained. Another snort. I turned on the car and pulled out of the parking lot onto the road, heading out of the facility.

"Alright. Now that we're away from the cameras and audio recordings, we can talk about tonight" I said once we got far enough away. Scarlett looked surprised.

"Cameras and Audio recording?.. how did..? Know what Nevermind. Geek." She said with a smile. I rolled my eyes.

"Listen. Tonight for the Resistance, we are essentially 'kidnapping' people's pets and hiding them away in our various bunkers. Tonight the list is pretty heavy. One house on the list has at least 8-9 pets in it, some who've been there for years. Not gonna be easy. I want you to come with me and help coax them out." I explained, letting my eyes stray from the road for a split second to see her reaction.

"The Resistance? What? You work for the Resistance? There's a Resistance?" She fired off questions. I chuckled and gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"Work for? I created the Resistance" I said after a moment of silence. Her jaw dropped. I smirked and stepped on the gas, speeding home.

(Time Skip)

Scarlett's POV:

Layla explained everything on our way back to her house. 4 years ago she started out the resistance with the help of a bunch of other programmers and professional hackers on the island that shared the same views as her, that this place was wrong and 100% illegal. Overtime the group expanded, they managed to recruit a small portion of the security on the island into their mix and their operation grew. Months before her 20th birthday they began their pet napping. There were at least 5 other pets total, scattered around in safe bunkers underground all over the island.

By tonight that number would rise to 17. 8 in house one, 1 in house two, 2 in house three, and 1 in house four.

We pulled up to the penthouse and Layla had to stop talking about it. She parked the car and we went up to the penthouse, walking into the living room. Zane was perched on the couch kissing the neck of a girl with Curly dark brown hair and caramel colored skin. He stopped when he heard us approaching. The girl opened her eyes and scowled at us.

"Down kitty." He said and actually patted her head. She beamed and kissed him, her hand sliding down his chest until..

Nope nope nope not watching this.

Layla must of read my mind because she snapped out of her pause and rushed away to her room, slamming the door and locking it. I heard the girl's giggle and something along the lines of 'fluffy bunny'. I instantly hated her.

"Wow. That was fast. He already has a new pet." She mumbled. I glanced at the door then back at her.

"So what are you going to do now?" I asked, watching as she pulled out the secret laptop and a USB. She took the collar out of her bag and plugged it in.

"Uploading the code. If it works we can use it tonight to help with freeing the girls. We can skip the bunker and take them straight back to the USA." She said while typing. A loading screen popped up, going from 0% to 7%. She made that window smaller and began working on other things. I grabbed my iPad and began just playing games. The room fell silent, save for Zane's pet's annoying giggling and Layla's typing. Suddenly she gasped. I glanced up at the maximized loading screen, which now glowed green.

A big 100% was displayed and the white words 'Successfully Uploaded' were displayed under it. She squealed in happiness and gestured for me to come over. She connected her phone to the prototype collar and hit a button. The green light went blinking out but the 4 vials didn't shoot anything out, instead they retracted.

"I did it!" She said, pumping a fist into the air before opening her secret chat window and excitedly typing. I found myself smiling too. Layla could free me.

I'll be free. We'll all be free.