As Lynx stood at the edge of the hill overlooking Isaac Korrin's estate, the woman couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about the task ahead.
From where she was standing, the mansion looked like a fortress. A veritable stronghold with sleek, glass walls that reflected the twinkling lights of Utopia's sprawling skyline. The city itself, a luxurious playground for the wealthy, seemed distant to her at this moment. Its glittering attractions slipping through the shadows like a ghost as the woman focused all of her attention onto her target.
The heist job that Lynx had agreed to technically started two hours ago. And the hunt for the documents locked away in Korrin's private residence was officially on. By the end of the night, Lynx will have everything she needs in order to achieve her dream. And she'll finally have the opportunity to put this god-forsaken tube in the middle of space behind her for good.
Or at least, that's what she hoped.
But even now, just as she was beginning to make her first move, the glitter withdrawal was still messing with her mind. And the symptoms were eating her from the inside out as she stealthily moved towards the back entrance of the mansion and slipped through the security system without being noticed.
If there was ever a case for why people should avoid synthetic drugs at all costs, then Lynx would surely be the poster child for it. Even after finally putting the stuff down months ago, glitter still managed to maintain a stranglehold on the raven-haired woman's life. Then again, she had been using it consistently for well over a decade. So it made sense that the woman's body had basically forgotten how to function without ingesting it twice a week without fail.
Even so, none of that was important at the moment. There were bigger to fish to fry.
Lynx's limbs shook, and her fingers were barely steady enough to keep the small datachip pressed to the security panel at the mansion's rear entrance. Sweat was beginning to trickle down the back of her neck, and her vision briefly blurred as her body screamed for relief from the constant throb of pain inside her skull. It had been weeks since her last treatment. But to Lynx, it felt like a lifetime. Her body, accustomed to the manufactured highs, was now officially rebelling against the lack of them. So much so that it caused her hands to tremble as she carefully keyed in the override code on the panel.
'Focus.' she told herself. 'One step at a time.'
A few seconds later, the screen on the panel turned green, and the door popped open. With a quiet sigh, Lynx slid inside the residence with an ease that only came from years of experience. Even making sure to silently shut the door behind her to avoid any unnecessary suspicion.
'Step one down, and a few more to go.'
-(o)-
Just like Lynx had expected, the mansion's interior was a masterpiece of modern design. Stainless steel walls, polished marble floors, and a sleek chrome lining filled nearly every corner of the building. It was certainly a far cry from the rundown corners of Utopia where she usually found herself. And for a brief moment, the woman couldn't help but wonder exactly how much this place costs.
Once she was finally able to shake off the initial shock of the mansion's interior, Lynx proceeded to her intended destination. Every step she took was deliberate and measured. Every move she made was swift and decisive. She couldn't afford any missteps, especially after coming so far.
Lynx moved quickly down the building's northern hallway, doing everything that she could to keep her breath shallow and measured. If her information was correct, there shouldn't be any guards in this area. However, she wasn't in the mood to take any unnecessary risks for the sake of being just a little bit faster. She made that mistake once before and nearly failed a job because of it.
First on the "To-Do" list was disabling the mansion's cameras. Korrin's security system was state-of-the-art, and there were cameras practically everywhere in the building. They were at almost every turn and corner, and pretty much in every room. Lynx wasn't just here to steal; that wasn't how these jobs usually worked. She also had to erase every trace of her presence to ensure that when she left, no one would ever know she had been there. That was one of the conditions for the bonus payment for the job.
In her many years of experience in this line of work, Lynx learned a harsh reality of the process. The victim was always going to find out that they had been robbed. It was almost a guarantee. Her job was to do what she could to delay that inevitability as much as she could. After all, clients needed as much time as possible to do whatever they needed to with the stolen goods.
At the next junction, Lynx knelt beside a small ventilation shaft that connected to the next room. One that she wasted no time in disconnecting from the wall and crawling inside of. Once she was safely inside, the woman couldn't help the small grin that appeared on her face. Inside that room was exactly what she was looking for, the hub of the mansion's security system.
The security system was the exact same one that was written down on the blueprints. One where the digital camera feed looped on a continuous stream, powered by the mansion's main power unit. With no time to waste, Lynx proceeded to pull out her datachip, hook it up to the main computer, and watched as the device did its magic within the system. After a few seconds of whirring and beeping, the screens in the control room would now show a repeating image of an empty hallway until someone came through to fix it.
This also came with the added benefit of temporarily disabling the rest of the system inside the house by tricking it into thinking that it's getting an update. Thanks to that, the laser grid inside the mansion would be down for the next hour or so. Just long enough for her to get what she needed and leave.
'Another one down.' The woman thought while rising to her feet. With the camera issue now out of the way, Lynx pushed forward onto her next objective.
-(o)-
Along the way to her next destination, Lynx finally realized just how annoyingly oppressive the mansion's luxury was. The pristine surfaces reflected every one of her movements as if the walls themselves were watching her. Every turn she made and every step of her specially made boots on the marble floor felt like it echoed through her very bones. However, Lynx wasn't new to this. And she wasn't new to being watched. Despite all of that, her mind stayed sharp, even if her body was beginning to tremble with increasing intensity.
Lynx's forehead was slick with sweat as she approached the next obstacle, a security guard stationed near the stairs. One of Korrin's private hired guns, the kind that you could only get when you had near limitless money at your disposal.
The man in question was leaning against the rail of the aforementioned staircase, his eyes half-lidded, but still alert. He was staring down at his smartphone, completely unaware of the mercenary silently creeping behind him.
Lynx took the opportunity to creep up on the man. Her movements were silent as she edged along the shadows, all while staying low to avoid being seen. Every muscle in her body ached, but the woman fought through the discomfort. Now was not the time for any of this. It would take everything in her to get through the next few minutes without being detected, and the thought of failing... well, that was simply too much to bear.
The moment she was close enough, Lynx pulled a small tranquilizing dart out of her belt. Tools like these were designed for quick knockouts. Barely a second of pressure against his neck, and the man would be out cold. The chemicals inside the dart wouldn't be enough to kill him, but they were certainly enough to put him down for quite a while.
The woman held her breath as she quietly pressed the dart into the guard's skin, just below his ear. The man jerked slightly, but didn't even make a sound while the dart's contents were being pumped into his flesh. His body instantly crumpled into the corner, the smartphone slipping from his hand and landing on the floor with a muted thud thanks to its protective case.
Fortunately for Lynx, the man wasn't too big to be stuffed into a nearby closet. Hiding bodies was tough work, after all.
'Focus. Keep moving. You're almost there.'
Lynx didn't hesitate, barely sparing a glance at the unconscious guard before moving on. There was no time for distractions. She was getting closer to the heart of the mansion now, to the office where Isaac Korrin kept his most important possessions. And most notably, the files she needed.
The next phase was the trickiest. A multi-layered security system protected Korrin's office. One that was independent of the rest of the mansion's system that Lynx had already dealt with. Aside from a physical key, retina scans, voice identification, and a complex passcode were all needed in order to get inside. This wasn't the kind of thing you could just bypass and break through, but Lynx had her methods.
The woman quietly dropped to her knees in front of the door, her head swimming as she adjusted the tiny code-breaking interface device that she'd been using for years. A gift from one of her contacts that she always used for tough situations like this. The device was basically the modern equivalent of a skeleton key that one could read about in those old fantasy stories from Earth. And it worked on damn near every kind of electric locking system that one could imagine.
'Thank the gods for industry standardizations.' The raven-haired woman thought to herself as she prepped her device.
Her hands shook uncontrollably as she inserted the interface, linking it directly into the office's security systems. The withdrawal still gnawed at her mind, making it hard to focus, but she had no choice now. She had come too far to back out now. Luckily, the datachip she had used earlier made this whole ordeal a lot easier than what it would've been with just the interface.
The system fought her, but Lynx pushed through while ignoring the sweat beading on her forehead. She had done this a dozen times before.
'One wrong move and it's over. Focus. Focus.'
Her breath hitched as the door finally clicked open.
Success. Now, it was on to the files.
Lynx then slipped into the office, moving with the smoothness of a seasoned predator as she stealthily closed the door behind her. The room was surprisingly minimalist, a blend of modern design and expensive art. A pristine wooden desk sat in the far side of the room, one with a small locked drawer at its side.
'Bingo!'
The files were there. She knew it. Just like all the intel she received from Milo said they would. After all, what else would be in a safe that looked so expensive, guarded, and high-priority?
But as Lynx approached her target, the sound of a door slamming down the hall startled her. Her heart skipped a beat.
Someone was coming.
'Fuck!'
Her mind raced. There was no time to hide. Lynx quickly dove under the desk, every nerve screaming as she pulled her silenced pistol out from her jacket. Whoever this was had to be one of the guards. Isaac Korrin wasn't even supposed to be home right now. Fortunately for Lynx, the man appeared to stop halfway down the hall to talk to someone on his phone.
Without any hesitation, the woman decided to use this small window of time to secure the goods before anything else happened.
With a practiced ease, Lynx pulled out her lockpick set and immediately went to work on getting the drawer open. And it took less than thirty seconds before she succeeded in undoing the lock. Without any hesitation, the raven-haired woman clutched the drawer handle and pulled it open. The documents-they were there, all in one large, sealed envelope. It was everything she needed, everything she had fought for.
The footsteps suddenly grew louder.
'Shit!' Lynx cursed as she got ready to make her escape.
The woman grabbed the files, barely sparing them a glance before shoving them into the inside pocket of her jacket. She barely managed to slip into the far shadows of the room just as the door to Korrin's office cracked open.
'Too close. Too close.'
Lynx held her breath, her body shaking with fear as opposed to the normal withdrawal. She had to leave. The longer she stayed here, the more dangerous it would become.
"All clear...." The guard then said in a sarcastic tone before making his exit. "It's not like anyone without a key can actually get in here...."
As soon as the door closed, the sound of heavy boots passed by, giving Lynx a chance to breathe a silent sigh of relief.
'Time to get out of here.
However, Lynx knew one thing for certain: this was only the beginning. She had the documents, sure. The payout was all but hers at this point. But this was when the real challenge began. Getting out of this mansion in one piece...without getting detected. And Lynx wasn't sure if her body would allow her to make it out unscathed.