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Emerald Sustrai crouched in the shadows along the exterior wall of the Evans mansion, hiding from the mansion’s security staff; she flinched at each baying cry from the guard dogs. She must have tripped some kind of brand new alarm that wasn’t listed in her extensive and orderly notes. The sound of dogs’ barks echoed in the night, but they were all far on the other side of the estate. Emerald, being a great thief, knew that the worst place to stay when alarms went off were wherever you had triggered the alarms. She’d dashed through the darkness along the wall until she found some sort of garden that was thick enough to hide in. She’d let the patrols have a few more minutes to settle down, and then she’d make her move. She fidgeted with her thick black balaclava she wore; the discomfort of her hair getting matted underneath it was worth hiding her face, but she hated wearing it. Her scalp hurt.
Lately, the Atlesian Gentry was up in arms due to a rash of highly efficient home invasion robberies. All of their outlandish and expensive attempts to safeguard their valuables had failed. Every new camera was discovered almost before they were installed. New security staff always claimed to see flickers of movement, but never saw the team of thieves that were clearly perpetrating these robberies. Nobody floated the idea that all of the robberies were the work of one person; clearly that notion was preposterous! Emerald profited greatly from this delightful repudiation of reality.
Eventually, the compound quieted back down, and Emerald was able to creep out from her hiding spot. Her eyes were perfectly adjusted to the dark; she was in her element tonight. She had memorized the map of the grounds, and she was able to step over every tripwire and snare between her hiding spot and the servant’s entrance. Luckily there weren’t any other new surprises. According to her benefactor’s information, the servant’s door was the best way into the house. As long as the Evans family hadn’t done any major renovations that they hadn’t bragged about, she knew exactly where the safe would be once she breached the house.
Emerald jimmied the door open with a credit card she’d lifted from some rube on the tram earlier. Silently, she slipped into the room within, a cloakroom just off one of the kitchen. The only light in the room came from over the sink. It gave the room a dim atmosphere that would be just enough for someone to get into the fridge for a midnight snack. Emerald glared at the doughy man standing with the fridge door open, blinking owlishly at her. The Evans patriarch opened his mouth to squawk an alarm.
As fast as she could, she ensnared his mind with her Semblance, making him see an empty room, and hear a gust of wind rattle the door in its frame. He cocked his head, confused… Hadn’t there been somebody there, standing in the doorway? Emerald leapt at him, swiping the flat of her bladed gun at the Evans family member’s head. She caught his limp body before it hit the ground; she pressed two fingers to his throat, but his heartbeat was strong. Her benefactor had one rule: Emerald could steal what she wanted as long as everyone lived to see another day. Moving as quickly as the heavy, limp body she was dragging allowed, she stuffed his chunky body in the pantry and spiked the door as best she could. Hopefully the snores emanating from the pantry wouldn’t be noticed.
The house remained quiet, with the occasional overheard mutter from the guards outside. They were terrible guards, Em’s favorite type. They all performed the bare minimum of what their job description demanded and walked away with a fat paycheck for giving the wealthy a false sense of security. Emerald snuck through the dark house, creeping through the richly appointed living room and into the study. Dozens of leather-bound books rested on shelves that lined the walls. Small tables laden with tchotchkes were the only obstacle between Emerald and the safe behind the huge mahogany desk. Bruno Evans seemed to be compensating for something given the size and weight of the desk here, Em thought.
She sat in the oligarch’s chair and spun around to face the oil painting of a craggy-faced, ancient woman- the Evans Historical Matriarch, Halina. Emerald had received a lecture about the sins of this cruel woman from her benefactor; it was always important for her to make sure Emerald was robbing the right sorts of vicious character. Emerald was just interested in the booty she’d get, both from behind the safe’s iron hatch and from her benefactor after the heist. She allowed herself a moment to blush from her memories of previous heists. No victory tasted as sweet as double victories. Her benefactor could do some amazing things when she set her mind to it.
The safe’s combination worked like a charm; her benefactor was full of stories of her peers’ idiotic boasting; none of their secrets were safe among each other. Emerald rolled her eyes, suppressing a laugh. Men always thought their secrets were safe as long as they only told other men; no matter how many heiresses were in the room with them. Emerald scooped the contents of the safe into her satchel; high-denomination Lien, manila folders, and the true prize – a data drive stashed way in the back of the safe. Emerald rocked back on her heels with glee. This would net thousands and thousands of Lien if her benefactor could sell it to the right buyer. Into her satchel it all went. She produced a rag and wiped down everything she’d touched, just in case.
Cinching her satchel closed, Emerald rose to her feet. She looked around the study, hunting for something special to add to her private collection. She always liked to keep a souvenir from her successful heists. The crossed swords hanging over the fireplace were tempting, but she didn’t think she’d be able to sneak them out easily enough. The same went for the fine art that lined the walls between the book shelves. The landscape painting of the lighthouse on the coast was particularly tempting, but there was no way she could get away with it. She snapped a shot of it with her Scroll to document the wonderful painting. She’d have to find a print of it later. Maybe her benefactor knew who the artist was.
Emerald was almost ready to give up when her gaze lit on the sealed jewelry cabinet on the far wall’s bookshelf. A cheap-looking lock was the only thing that separated Emerald from her shiny pearl, gem-studded prizes. She gave the lock a quick twist with a bobby pin, and it popped open. Before she stuffed the prizes into her bag along with the real treasure, she held the best-looking piece up to the light coming in through the study’s window, admiring how the gems on the necklace sparkled in the moonlight. It would make for a perfect gift, even if her benefactor would never be able to wear it in public.
Emerald cinched her satchel tight around her slim torso; getting away from this house after she’d burgled it was theoretically easy, but her line of work was one that had to allow for any number of wild occurrences. Once, she’d successfully made it inside, stole her fill from the safe, but on her way out she’d run into a sleepwalking wife that mistook her for her loving husband. Emerald had been forced to fake out a sleeping seducer with her illusion-casting Semblance, which had left her with a massive splitting headache, but she’d managed to slip past her would-be paramour.
When Emerald passed back through the kitchen, she heard movement in the pantry. Bruno Evans was awake and confused. In a few seconds, she knew, he would start bellowing for help. She needed to bail. Now. She barely made it to the door before the patriarch was yelling at the top of his lungs for security, his wife, the police, anyone that could save him. Em burst through the door and cursed as she caught sight of the curious guard and her huge, fierce-looking guard dog. Her semblance never worked right on animals.
She ensnared the guard, and moved as quickly as she could towards the wall. The dog erupted into a cacophony of snarls and barks that shattered the night’s quiet. Emerald could hear other dogs raising the alarm elsewhere on the estate. The guard illuminated Em in her flashlight’s beam, even though she couldn’t see whoever was casting the shadow on the wall before her.
“Whoever’s there, freeze!” the guard yelled, her pistol out and aimed vaguely toward the wall. The shadow shrank away from her, and she could just hear the sound of someone scrambling up and over it. All at once, it felt like a sheet was pulled off the furniture of her mind, and a presence she hadn’t realized was there vanished. The guard dog had its front paws up on the wall, and it howled up at the sky in frustration. The other guards converged on her, asking what the hell happened. “I have no clue,” she said. “But we’d probably go get the boss. I think we might’a been robbed.”
Moments after leaping off the wall into the alley beyond, Emerald ambled as casually as she could down the cobblestone streets in the vague direction of her benefactor’s safe house. Her mask was stuffed into her satchel, and she was massaging her scalp to try to get the annoying tingle to go away. All she had to do now was avoid any of the city’s dumb cops and their robotic counterparts along her route. Her destination was an inn that straddled the line between tourist-chic and legitimate temporary housing. Emerald’s benefactor fed Lien into the business through side companies to maintain a room on retainer, for whenever a cheap inn room suited her. The pale-skinned heiress was waiting for Emerald as the thief trivially bypassed the lock.
“Good evening,” Weiss Schnee said softly. Her skirts were arranged around her legs as she sat on the inn’s bed. “I trust your mission was successful?” A single dim lamp shone into the room. Weiss’ pale skin bathed in the moonlight shining through the sliver of unblocked window, and she seemed to shimmer. Her dazzling blue eyes caught the lamplight as the thief approached.
“Naturally,” Emerald said. She slipped the door’s lock shut and sauntered over to the tiny room’s bed. “It was as easy as pie. It went off without a hitch.” She tossed her satchel down on to the bed, and Weiss poured its contents out. Emerald eased herself down into the room’s armchair and propped her feet up on the bed. “And it was fun too. What’d I end up grabbing?”
Weiss sifted through the small pile of treasure before her. “Lien, that’s fine as a bonus I suppose. The documents in these folders will have to be analyzed, just like the other contraband information you’ve provided previously.”
“Those were just the appetizers,” Emerald said. With a languid motion, she slid onto the bed next to the wealthy heiress. She dipped into her pocket and withdrew the gem encrusted necklace she’d stolen from Evans’ jewelry case. Before Weiss could respond, she darted in and slipped the necklace around her neck. Weiss blinked down at it.
“This is very pretty, but you’re incorrigible.” Weiss lifted the necklace away from her chest and tilted it towards the candle, letting the sparkles of light dance over Emerald’s fondly smirking face.
“I thought you’d like it,” Em said with a bigger smile. “But what’s that?” She tapped Weiss’ ear with her outstretched hand and when she pulled it back, she held the data drive. “Wow, you should clean behind your ears more often!” She tossed it from hand to hand. “This baby is the real gold mine,” she said. “Evans’ private data storage. Worth a pretty penny, eh?”
Emerald caught a wince flashing across Weiss’ face. “Maybe not a Penny,” the heiress said, “but it’s certainly something,” she said. Weiss took the proffered drive and tucked it into her own bag; analyzing it could wait. She drew an opera-gloved finger along Emerald’s jawline. “You did well tonight, my dear.”
Emerald fought the shiver that ran up her spine at Weiss’ gentle touch. “I couldn’t have done it without your intel,” she said huskily. “However could I thank you?”
“The Lien you obtained…”
“That’s just money,” Emerald said. She shifted closer, rolling herself on top of the heiress’ lithe frame. She pressed her slender body against Weiss’ own. “You know, you’re risking a lot to help me take your rivals down a peg, Weiss. If you get caught, well, I don’t know what we’d do.”
The heiress’ skin tingled as she felt the thief’s fingers slide up her bare arm. “It’s the right thing to do, dangerous or not,” Weiss said. The other Atlesian noble houses were full of sycophants and warmongering deviants. They all made Weiss sick. “You performed a great service for Atlas tonight,” she said.
“I guess Atlas owes me one,” Emerald said huskily. She wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and kissed her. The heiress kissed back fiercely, their tongues dancing. The heiress’ body was radiating heat and Emerald writhed against her. Her deft fingers wound through the fine hair on Weiss’ scalp, which brought out a gasp. Their legs entwined. Her lips slid along the heiress’ jawline, nipping gently at the pale skin of her neck. Emerald pulled Weiss’ chin her up into a fierce kiss. Weiss swooned and pressed her girlfriend down against her. Pale hands caressed Emerald’s back, earning a squirm as Weiss found a ticklish spot.
This was the best way to finish a dangerous theft, Emerald thought, as she slid her hands over Weiss’ curves. The thief was happy (with the client’s willing body at hand), and the client was happy (under the ministrations of the thief’s deft fingers), and the victim was unhappy. Emerald sighed into the kisses from her wealthy lover. She caressed her paramour’s body, for a time stroking over her stiff, formal garb, but soon Weiss’ hand crept underneath Emerald’s soft, practical outfit, cool palm to hot flesh. That was the signal Em had been waiting for. They shed their clothes, and Weiss took a second to snuff the candle that lit the room, and all they were left with was the moonlight and each other.