Dead Weight

Hanging from a rope laced through an open window in the roof, Selene lowers herself down to the concrete floor two stories below. Unhooking from the line, she looks up against the rain to the bag of tools as it descends like a pendulum, swinging back and forth against its own weight until she can grab hold and help guide it the rest of the way.

Dragging the bag away from the rope, Selene moves out of the way for Leo as he plummets from the ceiling like a stone. Barely slowing himself, Leo leans forward and tucks his legs in before hitting the ground. With a quirky grin, he winks at Selene while rolling to his feet and stands up with a light stretch.

Tapping a button on his bracer, Leo runs a quick scan through his visor, whispering. “Low power, minimal readings. Place is as good as dead. Guess we can trust our guy after all.”

“I’m not so sure.” Selene grumbles, her voice tight.

“Relax, we’ve got nothing to worry about.” Leo lightly replies, patting her on the shoulder.

Rolling her eyes behind the sleek clear glass visor, Selene slings the bag of tools onto her back asking. “Still…I don’t trust it. You trust your contact?”

“Course I do,” Leo retorts, clicking his tongue. “Look. I don’t know about you, but I like easy money.”

“If it’s so easy, why did your contact give up the spot for free?”

“He owed me a favor.” Leo says, tracing the map’s glowing lines within the grid in his visor as he heads to the far wall.

Heaving the bag to the edge of the stairs, Selene pauses to stretch saying. “Owed you a favor?”

“Okay, so…the safe is locked. The guy couldn’t crack it. So, we got first dibs.” Leo says lightly, nonchalantly grabbing the bag from her.

“You didn’t think that worth mentioning?” Selene asks, her voice rising slightly as she steps forward.

“I brought the toolkit. What’d you think this was, a spacewalk?” Waving a hand at her, laughing, Leo starts down the stairs. “Plus, when I have been wrong?”

“You’re right…” Selene says running a hand through her hair, exhaling sharply. “You’re right, let’s just get this over with.”

Slinging the bag onto his back, Leo chuckles his way down the stairwell. “If anybody can crack this thing, it’s you.”

“Flattery will only get you so far, Leo. Get me to the safe.” Selene replies, her tone as cold as ice.

“Right…right, just a bit further.” Leo mumbles, shifting against the weight of the tool bag.

The two descend the rest of the stairs in a silence that lasts the length of two breaths before Selene asks. “What’s the deal with this place anyway? What is it?”

“An old safehouse,” Leo curtly replies, his voice strained. “Place was a refuge for some high-ranking corporate jerk.”

“Any idea who?” Selene prods, following him down the dark hallway stretching before them, the only light coming from their cufflinks.

“Don’t know, don’t care. Come on, safe’s ahead.” Leo says pointing his light at the approaching wall, massive steel vault imbedded within.

“Where’s the terminal?” Selene asks, shining her light along the walls.

“Give it a sec.” Leo replies, standing closely in front of the safe.

Scoffing at the bare walls, Selene shakes her head saying. “Give it a sec? Your guy wasted our time.”

“Give it. A second.” Leo repeats slower this time to make sure she heard him.

“No, no second. Admit it. He played you, and I was dumb enough to come along…” Selene points at Leo, getting right in his face, forcing him to lean away.

With a satisfied grin, Leo lowers Selene’s hand while raising a finger of his own saying. “I uh. I hate to say it. I really do.”

Turning around, Selene watches as a hidden panel in the wall slides open, revealing a recessed terminal. “How the heck did…”

“Motion activated. Sensors are pretty old though; you got to get really close.”

Stunned, Selene shrugs in defeat, eyes wide as she mutters. “Can’t believe it, but you were right.”

Clapping his hands together in triumph, Leo blurts out. “I told you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, let’s get to work.” Selene replies waving for the bag of tools.

Leo flops the bag onto the floor in front of the terminal, opens it up, and steps back to watch her work. It’s truly a beautiful thing. Not many people are capable of hacking military-grade tech, let alone bypassing the software entirely with a hard crack.

Ripping the lower panel off the wall with a crowbar, Selene dives beneath the screen, tearing out large chunks of frame, spilling the wires like guts. Swiftly she finds her way through the wiring to the panel tucked against the wall. Dropping the bar, she digs through the bag for a beat before pulling out a sleek handheld device with a silver nob at the front.

She runs the nob against the edge of the inner panel releasing the magseal, causing the plate to drop free to the ground with a crack like thunder against the concrete floor. Selene then rummages through the bag some more before pulling out a pressure gauge and micro-pump.

Leo takes a step toward the safe, running his fingers along the sleek metal surface. “Time?”

“Not long now.” Selene replies, switching off her cufflink light and adjusting her visor to night-vision.

“You still think the job is bunk?” Leo asks, laughing.

“No. I’m thinking your guy really couldn’t crack it, look at this thing.” Selene grumbles, hooking the micro-pump into the safety line.

Shining his light across the dark wall, Leo wipes the dust free from an old finger print scanner. Giving the screen a tap, it flutters to life trying to register his print, but times out unlocking anyway. Pausing for a second, he watches a small notification pull from a subroutine before the user interface kicks in.

//Safe, security…

Shrugging off the unfinished alert, Leo flicks a few settings, and the safehouse hums to life with a sickly yellow glow. Sighing in relief, Leo turns off his light saying. “There, isn’t that better?”

“You’re lucky the visors detect light you idiot.” Selene replies, tone flat as she adjusts the micro-pump’s pressure, watching the gauge like a hawk until the seal gives with an audible clack.

“Strange…isn’t it?” Leo asks looking around at the bare hallway, only the passage of time remains in the form of dust.

Putting her tools away, Selene pushes the bag off to the side as the door cracks open of its own accord. Focused on the vault as it slowly opens, half focused, she mutters. “What’s that?”

“I don’t know, that was fast. It’s all feeling too easy.”

“No. No, you don’t get to do that.” Selene quickly retorts. “You convince me to come here, talking about an easy payday.”

“Okay. Fine, you’re right.” Leo says shaking his head with his hands up in defense.

Pointing inside the vault to hundreds of pale plastic cases, Selene walks forward saying. “Look at that.”

“Credits…” Leo mutters, his smile spreading slow and wide, eyes sparkling with the mischief.

“Physical chits. Leo. Physical chits!” Selene shouts, picking up a case filled with carefully stored metallic chits.

Ripping open a spare duffel, Leo tosses it onto the floor and starts scraping in an armful of cases. “Get as much as you can.”

Selene grabs as many cases as her arms will hold before shoving them into the duffel saying. “Untraceable. We can pay Davick back no problem.”

“And run far away. Not to the mines either, to a colony ship; real luxury.” Leo replies, head in the clouds as the metal floor groans beneath their shifting feet.

Opening a second duffel, Selene shoves another batch of cases inside, ignoring the hum of the floor as she stands. “Get it all. We have enough bags.”

Leo opens a third duffel and shoves it on top of the full one. “Talk about payday.”

“Easy money. Right?” Selene says laughing, a bright smile spread across her face.

As Leo walks into the center with another armful of cases, the floor suddenly heaves and shifts sending him tumbling over the duffels to the far end of the room. Metal bars drop from the ceiling, blocking their way out of the vault.

“What’s happening?” Selene screams as the alarm blares and lights switch to a blinding volley of red and white.

“I don’t…oh, no.” Leo replies, rolling to his feet. He rushes to the bars, grasping for the bag of tools, just out of reach. “No, no, no!”

Selene pushes Leo to the far end of the room against the metal shelves and holds him by the collar, speaking through gritted teeth. “What…happened?”

“I didn’t,” He grabs her hands, forcing her to back down as he steps forward, voice shaky and tight. “I didn’t see it.”

“See what?”

“I should’ve.” Leo mutters, his body trembling as the hallway lights start shutting off, one by one in a sequence leading to the vault.

“Spit it out.” Selene shouts, shaking her hands free. “What’s happening?”

The moment the lights shut off outside, the vault door begins groaning under its own weight as it starts to close. The old hydraulics working perfectly as if time didn’t exist here. Only the emergency lights and those inside the vault bring any peace as Selene stares on in horror.

“It’s too much…” Leo mumbles under his breath. “The weight. It’s too much.”

“We had it, Leo…we were gonna be free.” Selene whispers, tears welling in her eyes. “We could’ve finally been something. You and me.”

“Selene, I’m so, so sorry…for everything.” Leo quietly mumbles, collapsing in defeat into the duffel bags, watching as the vault door swings shut with the hiss of shifting hydraulics, sealing them in with nothing but dwindling oxygen and silence.