"I never thought we'd be back in Scotland again so soon," I commented quietly as we walked across the large open lobby towards the lifts.
My favourite arctic kitsune agreed, "Me neither. Especially not this far north again."
Cara's heels clicked on the polished marble floor as responded dismissively, "We're here to do a job. It's as simple as that."
I was honestly impressed at how well she was able to walk in those shoes. She barely had any experience being human-shaped, yet now she was dressed in a smart-looking skirt-suit with perfect make-up. She had near-perfect poise too, and that plus the outfit combined with her imperious attitude all came together and made her seem like some kind of rich and powerful business executive.
Yuki and I were also in 'human form', since I'd hidden our ears and tails again. And I'd changed our facial features, so we had more of a 'generic young woman' look that nobody would be able to identify. As for our clothes, we weren't dressed as fancy as the bird girl but our outfit was still suitable for an upscale office environment. The last part of our disguise was a small leather attaché case, that made us look like we were Cara's secretary or personal assistant.
And like our raven friend said, we were there to do a job. More specifically, this was our second assignment from Gaia. She'd come to see us again Sunday evening, after we got back from a nice roast dinner at our parents' place.
Our boss opened with some good news. That minister we visited Saturday night was sufficiently scared off, in fact rumour had it he'd soon be stepping down from his position. Unfortunately Gaia had some bad news too. The minister's partner-in-crime at the oil company was apparently going ahead with their scheme regardless, and Gaia wanted us to stop him. The even worse news was he'd already returned to his company headquarters in Aberdeen that afternoon, so another two-hour drive to London wasn't going to cut it this time.
Our boss couldn't give us a home address for the CEO, so we'd have to visit our target while he was at work. And that meant we'd be doing this job in broad daylight. Shirley and Wesley offered to help out though, and together the five of us quickly came up with a plan.
Then Monday morning Yuki Cara and I packed up and set out on our bike for our day-long ride to the 'Oil Capital of Europe'. We got another good sleep in a fancy hotel last night, and now it was about ten o'clock Tuesday morning and we were ready to do the job.
When we reached the lifts I pressed the call button, then when one of the doors opened we stepped inside. I hit the button for the top floor, but instead of the doors closing an alert appeared on the small screen above the panel. The upper floors were only accessible to those with appropriate clearance, which meant the lift wouldn't move unless we swiped an authorized badge over its reader.
"Take care of that would you?" Cara stated in a tone that made it clear it wasn't a request.
I didn't take offence, I knew she was just playing her role as an important demanding executive. Then again bossing people around seemed to come naturally to Cara, so it wasn't exactly a stretch for her.
Yuki's tails started wagging in headspace as she responded, "Yes ma'am."
We placed our hand over the lift's badge reader as if we were swiping a card, and the little arctic kitsune's magic surged. A small spark jumped from our fingers into the panel and all the lights in the little metal box flickered for a moment. Then there was a 'ding' sound, as the doors slid shut.
"We never really discussed what we're doing after we finish up here," I commented as the lift started upwards towards the top of the tall modern office tower. "Are we just getting back on our bike and heading straight home?"
The little arctic kitsune pouted, "It seems a shame to come all this way only to turn around and head back south again an hour later."
I frowned, "What do you want to do then? Is there some touristy stuff you're interested in?"
"We're only about seventy-five kilometres away from the Cairngorms here," Cara pointed out. "I believe Yuki wants to visit the mountains again. Perhaps to stock up on spring water?"
My eyebrows shot up, "Seriously? You want to go back to the mountain again already? It's only been three weeks since we almost died there."
Yuki's ears and tails were all drooping in headspace as she sighed, "I know Aster, but we'll be safe this time. We could -"
"Time to go to work," Cara interrupted as the lift reached the top floor.
The doors opened to a small lobby that was somehow even more posh than the big one down at ground level. The floors and walls were more smooth dark marble, but all the fixtures up here were brass. All the doors leading out of the area looked like polished hardwood rather than painted metal or pressboard, and they were all unmarked except one in the far left corner, which was an emergency exit.
Directly across from the lifts a receptionist was seated behind a large wood desk. She was an attractive blonde who looked to be in her early thirties. Her outfit was every bit as fancy and business-like as what Cara was wearing, except the receptionist's blouse had a much lower neckline. She also had a small subtle wireless earpiece in her right ear, but didn't seem to be speaking with anyone. And finally she had a thin sleek laptop open on the desk in front of her.
To our right there was a waiting area that wouldn't have been out of place in some fancy manor house. Two large drum chairs sat to either side of a big sofa, and all three pieces were finished in plush black leather. What looked like an antique walnut coffee table sat in front of the sofa, and a matching walnut sideboard against the back wall was home to a collection of fine glassware and a dozen bottles of expensive liquor that was probably worth more than my annual salary in the factory.
As we emerged from the lift the receptionist frowned slightly while her eyes flicked up and down over us. I was positive she was wondering who we were or how we got there, considering her floor was supposed to be secure. She'd know we didn't work there, but she could see we didn't have an escort either.
"There's security cameras in the corners," Yuki commented in headspace.
I responded internally, "Disable them if you can? Actually can you just disable all the security stuff on this floor? The receptionist might have a panic button under her desk, and there's probably going to be more cameras in the other offices."
"Maybe?" she grimaced. "Unless I can get my hands on part of the system, it'll be easier to just black out the whole top floor. That way there's no chance of missing anything."
"Wait for my signal then," I told her, before turning my attention back to the receptionist. She was just about to speak up when Cara made a little gesture for me to do the talking.
Before the other woman could get a word in I gave her my best 'important executive assistant' act and introduced Cara with an alias and made-up title, "This is Ms. Campbell, Special Environmental Assayer. She's here to speak with Mr. Stevenson."
"I'm sorry, Mr Stevenson isn't taking appointments at this time," the woman responded smoothly. After glancing at her laptop screen she frowned and added, "I don't have any record of Ms. Campbell's visit. When did you make the arrangements?."
Our tall attractive companion stated, "I do not require an appointment, young lady. Simply point me towards his door and I'll take care of the rest."
"I'm sorry I can't do that," the secretary replied. She obviously doubted our story since she added, "Are you really with the Ministry of the Environment? Can I see some form of identification please?"
"I have Ms. Campbell's credentials right here," Yuki responded for both of us as we reached out as if to hand the woman something.
She raised her hand thinking she was going to get our identification, but instead all she got was a powerful zap from Yuki's magic. It was strong enough to stun her, but not so strong as to actually injure the receptionist.
"Sorry," the little arctic kitsune apologized as the woman slumped down off her chair. She ended up out of sight on the floor behind her desk.
I grimaced, "Yuki, cameras. Maybe you should black out the whole floor now?"
Her power surged once again, and a moment later the executive lobby was plunged into darkness. Some emergency lights made a valiant attempt to come on, but the best they could manage was a couple brief flickers before my headmate's magic drained them too.
By the time she was done I could feel our hair starting to stand up from all the power Yuki just absorbed, and I self-consciously ran a hand over our head to try and smooth it back down again. Then I reached out and spun the secretary's laptop around so we could use it.
Luckily the information on it was well-organized, so it only took us a few seconds to find out which door led to the CEO's office. And while we were doing that, our avian companion moved behind the desk to rifle through the drawers. She soon located a set of keys, so we wouldn't have to pick or force any locks.
"I can take it from here," Cara offered as she strode toward Stevenson's door.
Yuki and I exchanged a quick look in headspace, then we both shook our head. I replied, "We'll do it together. It's safer anyways, so we can watch each other's backs."
The bird-girl nodded once, then unlocked and opened the sturdy wood door. The executive offices must have been sound-proof, because we were suddenly able to hear the CEO barking into his mobile phone.
"...a bloody power failure!" he demanded. "Where's the back-up? Doesn't this building have a generator? What are we paying you people for?!"
Yuki's magic surged once more and the man's phone went dead, ending his call and cutting him off from any potential help. That's when he finally realized he was no longer alone. He looked up at us in surprise, then frowned in annoyance.
"Who the blazes are you? And what the hell are you doing in my office?!" he demanded.
Mr. Stevenson was a tall man, probably in his mid to late sixties. He looked like he'd been fairly slim and fit earlier in life, but now had some extra weight around his midsection and below his chin. His short hair was grey with some darker streaks, while his moustache was mostly still black. He was dressed in what appeared to be a custom-tailored navy blue suit, with a white button-down shirt and a red silk tie.
His office somehow managed to be even more posh than the executive lobby, and it was bigger than our apartment in Brighton. He had a huge fancy-looking wood desk, with big padded leather chairs around it. A small conference table surrounded by more leather chairs sat by the large windows off to the left. Those windows offered a beautiful view of Aberdeen's harbour, including the Victoria Docks and the mouth of the river Dee. Behind Stevenson's desk stood a tall bookcase and a private bar, while the opposite wall was home to another big leather sofa and some landscape paintings of various locations around Scotland.
"You may address me as Ms. Campbell," the beautiful raven girl responded in her typical imperious tone. "And I'm here to deliver a special environmental assessment."
Stevenson tried to respond, but no sounds came out of his mouth. His expression shifted through surprise, confusion, then fear as he realized he was no longer able to speak. I recognized that as one of Cara's tricks, she was using her air magic to negate any sounds the oil company exec tried to make.
Then our companion calmly told him, "No, I'm not part of your human government. I work for a higher power, and she is most displeased with you and your activities."
By that point Stevenson looked like he'd gone beyond fear. He was actually starting to panic, as his mouth kept opening and closing while he frantically loosened his tie then undid the top button of his shirt. That's when I noticed the colour had drained from his face, and his lips were starting to look a little blue.
"Cara what are you doing?" I asked warily. "Let him breathe, please."
"Don't worry my little fox friend," the raven girl replied calmly. She kept her eyes locked on Stevenson's as she continued coldly, "I'm not going to kill him. I am going to scare him though."
Yuki added, "He's still breathing Aster, look. Cara hasn't taken away all his air."
I realized she was right, the man was taking in short shallow gasps. He wasn't suffocating, but he was definitely struggling. Meanwhile Cara had already started talking to the CEO again, to deliver our message.
"That's right Stevenson," she told him in the same calm cold voice. "Gaia sent us to have some words with you. This is your one and only warning. We just walked right into your headquarters, all the way here into your own private office, unopposed."
She continued, "Understand that there won't be a second warning. If there is a next time, you won't see us, nor will you hear us coming. Wherever you are, we will find you, and we will finish you. So listen up human, because here is our advice to you."
Cara paused there for a beat before delivering the final word, "Behave."
That's when she released her magic, and Stevenson collapsed back into his chair gasping and panting for air.