[FEATURED BY @antiheroesgalore, and by @action as Book of the Month, September 2023]
The black spandex suits and cat-eye masks were made obsolete in the last decade. The Super Villain community has no distinguishing feature that tells them apart fro...
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Veronica adjusted her hair nervously and walked up to the man in an olive green suit and long black hair swept back. His back was to her but the moment he heard her footsteps amid the noise, Malcolm turned to look at her.
"Well?" his eyebrows were raised questioningly. "What did Monsueir Vaugn want?" he asked Veronica, falling for her impersonation.
"Oh, well our host heard that I had flown in from Mexico specially for his masquerade gala tonight. He just wanted to thank me for being here," Veronica replied with a sly smile and spoke with the slight French accent she had heard Jacques use on one of her phone calls. Alexandre nodded. Just then, one of his men came close and whispered something in his ear, and the Frenchman gave a slight nod again.
"So...shall we get down to business?" he enquired, with a formal bow of his head. Through his black half-mask, Veronica caught a glimpse of his sharp grey eyes and knew that this man was skilled at what he did. She hoped that the transaction Esme had originally had in mind would go smoothly, without any trouble from Alexandre's side.
"Certainly. The sooner the better, is it not?" she replied. "As soon as I have what I want, you will be given the pearls."
"Well, since I shall be giving you the USB first before you pay me and therefore am at a risk here, nous aurons un accord, oui?"Malcolm stated with a curt smile. Veronica's heart skipped. If Jacqueline had been here, she would have been dead due to her lack of linguistic skills. 'We will have an agreement, yes?' Malcolm's last words echoed in Veronica's mind. What was he upto now?
"What sort of agreement?" she asked warily.
He chuckled in a way that got on her nerves but she was careful not to show it. "I will give you only half the information you need before I get the pearls. After I have them, the second half will be told," he spoke as he fingered his glove.
"Very well. Agreed"
Alexandre glanced at the tall man beside him and gestured to him. The man nodded and slipped him a small black box, about three inches long and wide. Malcolm opened the box and eyed its contents, making sure everything was in order. A second later, he handed it to Veronica, who took it cautiously and opened it.
Inside the velvet lining of the box lay a two-and-a-half inch pen drive. Veronica immediately recognised its shimmering metal to belong to a military-grade pen drive. You could stomp on it thrice, throw it into a furnace or drop it from a cliff and it would still remain intact. That USB contained the blueprints of the Vaugn Mansion.
Veronica took it out carefully and plugged it into the USB port in her Device Reader and Altitude Check (DRAC) watch that doubled as device reader and scanner that could read USBs. It was an agent's special multi-utility watch.
'Scanning new device' the DRAC watch read. Then, a small icon bearing the symbol of an image appeared on the small screen. 'Vaugn Mansion Blueprints' it said. Veronica tapped on it and verified it. It was the blueprints alright. Two clear images of the interior and exterior of the building.
She looked at Malcolm and smiled in satisfaction. "What about security? Passwords or authentication needed?" she enquired about the details.
"Ah well, that would be the second half of the information," he replied, his lips curling as he raised his eyebrows meaningfully. Veronica had to keep up with her side of the bargain. "Very well," she muttered and looked around for a figure in a violet satin skirt and white high-collared top. The moment Jacqueline caught Veronica's eye, she softly headed towards her and Malcolm, a white velvet pouch concealed in her hand. Malcolm saw Jacqueline heading their way and knew that she was one of Veronica's, or rather Esme's, 'assistants'
"I didn't know you replaced Pierre," he muttered and frowned slightly, referring to one of Esme's older assistants. Veronica smirked and eyes still on the arriving Jacqueline, replied, "I don't like to be known by the company I keep."
Jacqueline reached them and handed the white pouch to Veronica. "Did you get it?" she whispered in her ear. Veronica nodded. She gave Jacqueline the small black box, which was slipped into a purse.
Malcolm poured the pearls onto his palm and ran a thin device, resembling a smartphone with its screen, over the pearls. It was a Density and Composition Scanner.
'Class 1 pearls. South Sea. Number 200134' it read, authenticating the pearls. Malcolm smiled with a satisfied look.
"Well, now for the second half," he said, handing the pearls pouch to the man beside him, who pocketed it and disappeared into the crowd.
"Inside, the case will be found in the Security Vault, first floor, corner room. You can expect infrared cameras, pressure-sensitive tiles and finally a safe box for the case. The box will be of unbreakable, reinforced glass. Military-grade," Malcolm said.
"What about passwords?" Veronica asked quickly.
"Password to the glass safe is 'Amenophus'. Apart from that, you will need to pass a retinal scan that recognises only Chris Vaugn. You will also need a voice sample of his. Apart from this, remember, the security box for some reason runs on the mansion's main electricity line. If any problem occurs, you can try turning off the main power supply to try to open the box after you've put in the password.
"Right." Veronica was listening in rapt attention. "Anything else?"
"That would be all."
Veronica was quiet for a couple of seconds. "Thank you", she smiled at Malcolm.
"It was a pleasure, Madame Jacques. I look forward to doing business with you again," Malcolm remarked and nodded with a glint in his eyes that didn't betray his thoughts.
"Likewise," Veronica replied and gave a parting nod, heading off slowly. Once on the periphery of the gala hall, she put her hand to her earpiece. "Transaction complete," she said.
In a minute, all four girls were together near one of the intricately- designed gold pillars. "We're done here," Camilla said. "Let's go pay a visit to our host and then leave, shall we?"
They headed over to find Chris Vaugn. He was surprisingly not surrounded by the bunch of people they had imagined him to be surrounded by, being the host.
"Mister Vaugn?" Rene called. Their host was in conversation with a couple of people and seemed startled at the voice from behind.
"Vespian Emeralds," Jacqueline introduced the four of them and held out her hand. Vaugn's middle-aged face broke into a broad smile. "It's an honour, ladies! I've heard so much about you...," he gushed, truly start-struck.
"Well sir, you've got a fairly good reputation yourself!" Veronica replied and grinned at him. "We'd just like to say that the party is fabulous and the mansion is simply stunning, but I'm afraid we can't stay till the unmasking, sir," she said in mock-disappointment.
Vaugn's face fell. "That's a pity...," he murmured. Veronica had a hard time focussing on his eyes for a clear retinal shot.
"I'm sorry, sir. It's just that something urgent's come up quite unexpectedly you see," Camilla said apologetically. Veronica let out a small sigh of relief when she got a clear shot finally.
"Ah yes," Vaugn sighed. "That's how it is with agents, isn't it?" He grinned understandingly. "Well, I'd like to thank you four ladies for coming tonight. It sure means a lot."
'Our pleasure, Mister Vaugn." Camilla smiled. They bid their host adieu and made their way out of the grand mansion. "We did it, agents!" Jacqueline smiled and slapped them all high-fives. They headed out into the cool air to look for Adrian Ranks, who was supposed to be watching Jacques.
"Woah," Rene said in shock at the sight that met their eyes at the place their BMW Gran Coup was parked.
