The Fast Travel Building's security control room was buried beneath three layers of reinforced walls. It smelled faintly of metal and synthetic air filters with the hum of Xana-powered generators thrumming below the floor panels. Monitors lined every wall, flickering with hundreds of camera feeds of crowds panicking, guards rushing, drones sweeping through the air and lights blinking red across the floors.
Rielinne was already seated in the center chair, her legs crossed like she belonged there. The holographic interface bathed her features in pale blue light. Her expression was calm but her crimson eyes flickered occasionally as she toggled through feeds faster than any operator could.
Beside her, Iserra slipped through the door wearing the official Geneva Fast Travel Authority uniform. It was a slim white jacket and skirt with navy trims with the organization's sigil shining faintly on the left sleeve. She looked every bit the part, except for the faintly annoyed grimace on her face as she tugged at the stiff collar. Rielinne had already worn one.
"These uniforms are disgustingly itchy. Who even designs these? Bureaucrats with no sense of texture?"
Rielinne smirked faintly, still focused on the feed. "You're complaining about texture after we spent three hours from one to four scouting the entire building and planning how to take over the place."
"That was survival," Iserra said, sitting beside her. "This is torture. But who knew it would be this easy?"
The two shared a silent glance before Iserra pulled out two small data cards from her utility belt, both freshly encoded with staff access credentials and encryption codes of the entire building. The edges still glowed faintly from being recently printed. Rielinne took one, sliding it neatly into the card slot by the console.
"Perfect forgery. You are really good."
Iserra gave a modest grin, brushing her hair aside.
"Please. After all the tech I got from the Argemenes, this was child's play. Took me twenty minutes to clone the encryption patterns and make these for us. They really shouldn't put data card making machines in the same building. Amateurs."
The monitors shifted, giving them full access to the security feed grid. For a moment, silence reigned between them, looking at the chaos Naelle and Syraleh had unleashed. Then Iserra leaned back in her chair, scanning through the footage.
"Question."
"Hm?"
"Where are the actual staff members who are supposed to be in this room?"
Rielinne didn't even look up. "Disposed."
"Disposed as in?"
"As in, they won't be showing up again."
Rielinne's tone was so casual it almost sounded like she was talking about throwing away old paperwork. Iserra raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.
"Right. Efficient as usual."
"They were a liability. And, we needed their access without interference. It's cleaner this way. They would notice we're not part of the night shift staff so it's best they're dead."
Before Iserra could respond, the control room door slid open with a pneumatic hiss.
A group of seven armed guards entered, their weapons drawn but held low. Their leader, a grizzled man with a black beard and piercing eyes, stepped forward. His badge identified him as Captain Albrich, head of internal security. His gaze swept across the two "staff members" before settling on the main monitors.
"What's the situation?"
Rielinne straightened in her chair, her hands flying over the holograms as if typing commands.
"Assassins entered the building approximately ten minutes ago. They're using Flux suppression. Our sensors picked up minor Xana distortion in three corridors before going blank. Whoever they are, they're extremely powerful."
Albrich frowned. "And why are there only two of you on shift right now?"
Without missing a beat, Iserra chimed in, her voice just with the right amount of anxious.
"We've been the only ones here for the last ten minutes, sir. The others didn't return from their scheduled break."
That earned a confused grunt from one of the guards. "They were supposed to be nine or ten in here, right?"
Albrich turned sharply toward his subordinates.
"How many personnel were assigned to this wing tonight?"
"Ten," one replied.
The Captain's eyes narrowed. "Then where the hell are the other eight?"
Rielinne didn't flinch. She merely tapped a few keys and brought up a specific camera feed from one of the lower maintenance hallways. The footage flickered and then froze on the image of several bodies in blood-stained staff uniforms, slumped against the wall.
The guards froze. Iserra widened her eyes just the right amount, hand flying to her mouth.
"Oh by the Goddesses... those are the night shift techs!"
Rielinne's reaction was a subtle but believable mix of shock and calculation, her brow furrowed.
"That explains why no one answered. I thought the line was just jammed from the infiltration."
The room filled with a heavy silence, punctuated only by the distant hum of alarms echoing through the terminal. Albrich's jaw tightened.
"They were targeted first. Smart move. Whoever these infiltrators are, they're going straight for our infrastructure."
Iserra played her role perfectly, her voice trembling just slightly.
"They must have gone for the staff first since we're the ones who control the internal security systems. I… I think they're planning to shut everything down from here."
Albrich nodded grimly, pacing in front of the console.
"That's likely. Damn it, fine. Seven of you stay here. Protect these two. If the infiltrators try to breach this room, you kill them on sight."
"Yes, sir!"
He turned back to Rielinne. "Keep me updated on any movements. You see anything suspicious, you alert me immediately."
Rielinne gave a tight nod, her expression utterly convincing.
"Understood, Captain. We'll monitor all channels."
Satisfied, Albrich turned and stormed out with half his unit, the door hissing shut behind him. The guards stood outside. The moment the footsteps faded, the atmosphere shifted.
Iserra slowly turned to Rielinne, a small grin tugging at her lips. "We're so good at this."
Rielinne's lips curled into a faint, dangerous smirk. "Naturally."
The two of them leaned back in their chairs, their posture instantly relaxing. Iserra even kicked off her uncomfortable heels and sighed in relief. Through their hidden comms, Naelle's voice came through, her tone dripping with amusement.
"You two are terrifyingly good actors. I swear I almost believed you were staff."
Then came Syraleh, her usually calm voice soft with laughter.
"If I didn't know better, I'd have thought Rielinne was about to file a report."
Rielinne rolled her eyes slightly, still scanning feeds. "Focus, you two. Now that the guards think we're staff, they'll ignore any manual overrides we do. And since you can hear us, I will have to act as part of the staff too so be cautious."
Iserra cracked her knuckles, pulling up a complex terminal interface. Lines of code began scrolling rapidly as she accessed the deeper layers of the building's surveillance system.
"Perfect. I can now reroute the security camera feeds to show old footage. Meaning Naelle and Syraleh can move freely. The system will keep showing the last thirty seconds on repeat but I have to change them once in a while so please don't reveal yourselves."
Naelle chuckled in the comms. "That's my girl."
Iserra grinned, her eyes glinting mischievously. "Oh, don't flirt with me when I'm working."
Rielinne didn't look up. "She's right though. You're brilliant."
That earned her a quiet laugh from Iserra, who leaned closer to the console.
"Compliments from the stone-faced Rielinne? Mark this day, girls."
The guards stationed outside didn't suspect a thing. They were tense, focused on the doorway, their weapons raised. They thought they were protecting harmless staff members. Meanwhile, the real staff had been reduced to corpses somewhere in the maintenance corridors and the fake ones had just taken full control of the building's surveillance network.
Every movement, every guard patrol, every open access hatch, all of it flowed through Iserra's terminal now.
Through the comms, Naelle's voice came again, softer this time.
"So… we're good?"
Rielinne's eyes flickered with satisfaction.
"We're in control. Move as you please. We'll guide you through blind spots."
The chaos above continued with alarms, shouts and gunfire in the distance but here in the control room, the two Handmaidens sat quietly, composed, and completely unfazed. Iserra leaned back, her arms behind her head.
"You know we should really consider acting as a side career. We would win awards."
Rielinne didn't even blink. "They don't pay as much as the Argemenes do though. Who knew tech work in assassin training would come in handy?"
Naelle's laugh echoed faintly through the comms as the operation continued. Geneva's Fast Travel Building slowly fell into the control of the Null Handmaidens.