Who: Ari What: A job for Vivi. Where: The Miliona estate in the Nobles’ District When: Backdated! Monday, May 26/Gemini 6 Rating: Tame (unless you object to a little b&e) Status: Complete
Ari had been invited to the Miliona estate several times in the past as hired entertainment. It had been several years, but not much of the grounds had changed, and that made things easier tonight, as she slipped through the gate that had been left open for her, as promised.
Really, having someone on the inside (though her contact had no idea to whom he or she had opened the door) made these sorts of things much less troublesome, especially in the case of such a very tall wall.
The garden was shadowed and silent. No dogs, she had been told, only guards. She slipped between trees and rose bushes, a small figure in dark clothing and soft, silent shoes. She circled the estate once, noting possible entry points. No parties planned tonight, and no way to slip in with temporary staff. She would have to do this the hard way -- but fortunately, even the hard way was not so hard when the Milionas’ gardener seemed to have a fondness for large, shady trees.
She picked the likeliest one and shimmied up it, thinking in amusement (and some slight guilt) of Drake, who still thought she had never in her life climbed a tree. Well, what he didn’t know wouldn’t get her arrested, and she never had climbed trees for fun. For work, however? She scooted out onto a branch until it was almost too thin to bear her weight and then dropped, landing on the sloped edge of the roof over what looked to be the kitchen entrance. She’d have to find another way down but yes, for work, trees served her very well.
The roof had a few peaks and valleys, the fashionable look of almost-a-castle that some nobles seemed to favor, just in case those below didn’t realize that they were the next thing to royalty. Pretty enough, she supposed and -- ah, there, a window looking out onto the roof, perfect -- extremely convenient.
It was easy from there: lift the window hinge with the slimmest of her lockpicks, drop onto the soft carpet of a slightly musty guestroom in the north wing, and make her way through dimly lit hallways, ducking out of the way whenever footsteps were heard and humming herself to invisibility. Only the somewhat cavernous atrium caused her any trouble -- even her soft steps echoed in such a space -- but she made her way around the balcony with no one any the wiser, admiring tapestries and various bits of artwork displayed on walls and the cases and nooks built into them. But tonight, she knew, was not for personal shopping.
Ideally, no one would ever know that anyone had been here at all. Tonight wasn’t for taking.
The lock on Lord Miliona’s office door was impressive, she had to give him that. It took her nearly a quarter hour to dispatch it and she only hoped she had not left any too-visible scratches on the doorframe, which was fortunately made of a very sturdy wood. The EKP would know the situation for what it was, but hopefully, they would never be summoned.
Ah well, to make an omelette…
The office had a faint scent of cologne overlaid with the thick smell of cigar smoke. Ari wrinkled her nose; what a filthy habit. Fresh, too, so no doubt the master of the house had been here before he’d retired. But the house was quiet now, and her work was before her in the form of a very large mahogany desk with dozens of drawers and cubbyholes. Even with her particular skills in this area, and the small magicite stone she carried providing a faint but steady light, this would take some time, especially considering she didn’t know what she was looking for. She hit on something, though, when she discovered a locked drawer with a false bottom. More papers here, stacks of them, most with so many numbers that they made her head spin (she had been robbing the wealthy for years, but even so that was quite a lot of zeros).
She could not make sense of them, however she tried. She could read financial statements to a point -- her mother had tried before giving up -- but all of these abbreviations made it nearly impossible to puzzle out what was being sold or to whom, and why the client should care.
She picked a few items that seemed to be duplicates eventually, for something to take. Then, in a moment of brilliance, withdrew the memstone she carried and activated it, pointing it away from her. She made no sound, only turned pages. Nothing but a gloved hand would be seen by the client -- she would know the thief was likely female by the size of the hand, but little else. It would have to do.
She flipped through every paper from the false-bottomed drawer slowly until the memstone flashed once, signaling she had recorded to capacity. It would have to be enough.
She tucked the three sheets she had selected into her tunic, then put everything back as she had found it, quickly re-locking the drawer, and moments later the study door behind her. It was time to find a likely door or window on the first floor and see herself out.
A good guest never overstayed her welcome, after all.