Burgles

Chapter 1

          I found burgling to be easy. The robotic security bots were always slow, and this time was no different. I clung hard to the stolen scanner and sprinted down the hall, maneuvering my way through the mansion, keeping a comfortable distance from the bots's "deadly" force. Sure, their bullets were dangerous, but they'd have to hit me first, and they shot like stormtroopers. Deadeyes or not, I needed to escape. There were options. I could follow the given plan and jump out the second story window into a garbage truck that had my so-called partner ready to drive off into the sunset, leaving the mansion in the dust, or I could figure another way out. My gauge read twenty-five percent. That should be enough. The new girl would have to learn the hard way. I worked alone. This, like all my missions, was solo.

          Still clutching the scanner, I took a right down another hall. The size of the house helped me buy time to think, but I needed a place to slow down. Maybe figure out this scanner. The next left revealed an elevator. In a private residence? Who needed an elevator in a—I supposed I did? I dashed forward and hit the up arrow. The doors opened, and I stepped in. The panel showed five floors. I pushed five. I was on two. Not much time, but some. As the elevator began to ascend upward, I glanced around the small room. Normal enough, which meant all I needed to do was pry the doors open a smidgeon and the elevator would stop. I put the scanner down and looked at the floor indicator near the ceiling. I did my best to time it right, prying on the doors. After the elevator halted, I opened the doors all the way and smiled. Some people have luck. I demanded it. The latch to the fourth-floor doors was where I wanted it. However, before I continued with my dastardly plan, I wanted to see what I was up against. I picked up the scanner and studied it. The smooth spherical object resembled a small cannon ball. There seemed to be no button or switch or anything to turn it on. I set it on the floor again and gave it a little nudge with my foot. Nothing. I picked it back up in my hand and rolled it between my palms. Maybe this wasn't the scanner. Maybe it was some rich guys antique cannon ball that for some reason he kept locked up in a high-grade security vault. Tossing it in the air did the trick. The scanner floated a moment and unfurled like an armadillo of old. The dull, coal colored ball became a strobe of lights. A personal laser show. Beams of blue, red, green, and yellow shot out in all directions, until it abruptly stopped, clunking to the floor. I picked it up and tossed it in the air again. It slumped like a hunk of lead. Time was running out. I had been in the elevator too long and got nothing out of it but a ball full of colorful light explosions, which the bots undoubtedly detected. No more time to fool around. I needed to move. I put the scanner in my satchel and stepped up to the elevator doors. The latch came undone easy enough and the doors slid apart. I hoisted myself onto the fourth floor, about-faced, and jumped on top of the elevator. From there I found the manual operating controls. Before surfing my way up to the mechanical room, I clicked on my suit to begin calibrating the heat signatures around me. No doubt in my mind, twenty-five percent would be enough juice.

          Minutes later, I found myself bursting out of the mechanical room and onto the roof. No bots in sight, but, judging by the alarms, they were still on high alert. With twenty-three percent left I needn't worry about being detected. I walked to the edge of the roof and looked out over the cityscape. Civilization was a polluted dump. But, at least we still had the forests I guess. I took in a deep breath, sighed it out, and clicked on my headset.

          Lu greeted me with her conversationally metallic voice. "Good evening, Burgles. Hope all is going well."

          "Hey, Lu, yeah, everything's fine. How's the new girl taking it?"

          "She is not happy, if that is what you mean. Shall I play you some recordings I gathered?"

          "No, it's fine." I laughed, beginning to walk the perimeter of the roof, looking for an escape route. "But, could you patch me through to Papi?"