The air in the Clockwork Spider pub felt thick with new, dangerous energy as Lena talked about the secret air shaft. Anya felt a deep sense of satisfaction. Her team was ready. The path, even if it was very risky, was clear.
"Alright," Anya said, looking at Lena's serious face and Jaxon's unwilling agreement. "Tonight, we move."
Jaxon grumbled, pushing himself out of the booth. "Tonight? Anya, we need to get ready. The security in the Upper Spires isn't like the weak police in the back alleys. They have heat sensors, sound traps, pressure plates, and many layers of fingerprint and eye scanners. We need tools. We need information. And honestly, I need a stronger drink."
"We don't have time," Caspian's voice cut through Jaxon's complaints. He appeared from the shadows near a pillar, where he had been quietly listening. "I just got a message on my phone. A secret street message. The CID Special Enforcement is sweeping Sector 7-B right now. That's the area where The Scribe's old records are kept."
A cold knot tightened in Anya's stomach. "Are you sure?"
"My network is good, Anya," Caspian said, his voice flat. "They're moving faster than I thought. The paintings I put up must have made them angry. They're getting closer to him now."
Jaxon slammed his hand on the table, making his computer tablet clatter. "Darn it! This is what happens when you act alone, Anya! You stir up trouble, and everyone gets hurt!"
"We are hurt, Jaxon!" Anya shot back, standing up to face him. "Elara is gone. And if The Scribe is taken, we lose our only clue about what they're looking for, and why they're doing this." She looked at all three of them. "We go tonight. Now. We'll make it up as we go. We'll use what we have."
Lena, always thinking clearly, stepped between Anya and Jaxon. Her quiet authority calmed the rising anger. "He's right, Jaxon. There's no time to get fully ready. But we still need a plan. The air shaft is only part of it. We need to turn off or get around the security inside. And those old records themselves are a nightmare of old technology and hidden traps." She turned to Anya. "The Upper Spires uses an old-style scanner system for some of its older, less-used entry points. It's simple, but hard to fool without the right 'key.'"
"What kind of key?" Anya asked, already knowing the answer wouldn't be easy.
Lena gave a small, humorless smile. "A scan of someone's eye. Or a fingerprint. From someone allowed to be there. Someone… important."
The meaning was clear. Getting a scan from a high-ranking Upper Spires official, especially very quickly, was almost impossible. It would mean getting uncomfortably close to the very powerful people they wanted to expose.
Caspian, sensing the change in the conversation, spoke up. "There's a big party tonight. At the Prosperity Tower. It's the yearly Grimstone Founders' Ball. All the city's 'best' people will be there."
Anya's eyes met Caspian's. The Founders' Ball. A gathering of Grimstone's most powerful people, the same ones who gained from the city's badness. It was a long shot, a very bold move that went against every instinct she had to stay hidden. But if they needed a scan, that's where they'd find it. The thought of stepping back into that world, even for a moment, made her skin crawl.
Jaxon groaned. "You're not serious about crashing the Founders' Ball, are you? That's not just a death wish; that's getting publicly executed."
"It's the only way we get a 'key' without telling the whole CID police we're here before we even reach the archives," Anya said, her decision firm. "Lena, can you make a device to copy a scan from a distance, if we can get close enough?"
Lena thought about it, a faint spark of excitement, maybe even a challenge, in her eyes. "It would be rough. Risky. But... in theory, yes. If we can get very close to someone important, and if their scans are still in the old system."
Anya looked at Caspian, then at Jaxon and Lena. The plan was half-formed, desperate, and probably crazy. But the CID was closing in on The Scribe. Time was running out.
"Alright," Anya announced. "Here's the plan. Jaxon, Lena, you focus on getting us an eye or fingerprint scan from the Founders' Ball tonight. Caspian, you and I will watch where the CID moves towards Sector 7-B, and find a way to distract them if we need one. We'll meet back here, in four hours. We get that key, or we find another way. But we get to The Scribe."
The unspoken tension in the air was strong. This wasn't just about Elara anymore. This was a direct attack on the core of Grimstone's power.