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I'm sitting in the safe house, looking over the water in Ghent, a door opens with Carmelita guiding Penelope into the room, Bentley looks to them while Murray quickly looks uneasy.

Penelope looks at all of us and she says "Nice club house." with a light smile.

Bentley says "Look, we need your help in figuring out what is going on."

Penelope says "So what, I work for you?" with a teasing smile.

I say "No, you work for us and you are to cooperate with Bentley, those are your orders! Or you can go back to Paris, only I'll put you on the worse way to get there." getting just annoyed.

Carmelita focus on me "You and I unfortunately are tied by legality and procedure, but Bentley, Murray and Penelope aren't. If we have both sides of the coin working together, we'll get through this a heck of a lot faster. Belgium doesn't have much of note in terms of what we think Muggshot may want here, so we're going to have to get creative."

The turtle looks to me and he says "Adam, do you have any ideas why?"

I shake my head "Other then Belgium can make a decent launching point for military action I can't say much."

Carmelita says "Either way, if it leads to the recovery of the black box and figuring out what's going on with it then we need to do it, because it's stolen property to begin with."

Penelope looks to me "What makes this black box so important exactly?"

I say "It's from the craft I came in, but the data was unreadable so it was simply put in storage. But the purpose behind a black box is for data on the accident the craft suffered, I guess someone thinks they can recover something else from it. But I can't say for sure."

Bentley wheels over to a computer and he says "I'll get some drones in the air for recon, Penelope I want you to take one of the back up computers with a mobile signal emitter and tag along with Adam and Carmelita and began scanning radio and digital frequencies."

With that Penelope, Carmelita and I head out in a modified police cruiser, the mouse is in the back seat with the laptop on a tray in front of her as she sits in the middle as head set rests on her head, the vixen is driving and I'm simply looking around, taking in how Ghent looks. The city is to put it simply just stunning, the medieval architecture just jumps out at you as it displays it's history. Castles and cathedrals, relics from centuries ago, statues and stained glass on many other structures... if I didn't have this assignment right now, I would be exploring this city on foot as I love the fantasy creating architecture of that time, true modern say signs and what not kind of break up the look a tad but it's easy to wave off.

Penelope pulls her headphones off "I think I got something, there's an event taking place at a major cathedral called 'The Caped Owl' and it's being presented by someone who use to work at Interpol."

Carmelita says "Who?" without taking her eyes off the road.

The mouse squeaks "The Contessa."

Suddenly Carmelita pulls the car over which catches me by surprise as I actually have to brace myself and the vixen says "The Contessa is here?!" as she looks at the mouse in disbelief.

I gasp for air from the shock and I say "Who is the Contessa?"

The vixen sighs "She use to be a warden and high ranking officer in Interpol, her operations were located in Prague where she had a rehabilitation center where she used hypnosis on inmates and her castle estate which was her estate and became her fortress. Thankfully she was stopped and arrested, but she was released for good behavior and became a real estate agent."

I say "So if she's here it could mean something!"

Carmelita says "I don't want to jump to conclusions... but it is worth checking out."

I decide to the cruisers equipped laptop to look up the Contessa's profile and I am beyond unnerved, the top half looks vaguely humanoid, with blue skin, red eyes, long blue hair, she has what look to be scorpion claws for hands and the lower body is that of a black widow spider, her clothing in this old image is a red dress with an hourglass buckle and red gloves for her arms. I can feel my fear response kicking in as slowly back away from the screen.

I hear from the mouse "Adam? What's wrong?" after a few seconds I feel my shoulder being touched by the vixen "Adam?"

I look to both, they both are looking at me with some concern and I reply "She's a spider?"

Carmelita says "Yes, are you afraid of spiders?"

I give a nod and I say "I am."

The vixen pats my shoulder "You'll be fine, just keep your distance." and she resumes driving.

Penelope picks up a comm-device and informs Bentley of what we're doing and she confirms he's sending some drones our way. I decide to clear the entry on the laptop as I don't want to even risk glance at it, spiders are interesting but they've always had an effect on me where I kind of freak out, thankfully it's gotten better over the years but it still impacts me, most notably when it comes to smaller spiders. To help clear my mind I resume looking at the city, it's vast buildings and water canals, my mind trying to come up with all kinds of theories of what could possibly be in the black box. We arrive at a massive cathedral that towers to the sky, black banners depicting the head of a silver owl adorned in a cloak are adorned on it as a small crowd gathers. Carmelita and I get out of the car but tell Penelope to stay put, we blend into the crowd and try to stay in roughly the midsection. There's a standard podium, the Contessa standing just behind it as two massive vulture-looking guys stand on either side of her, I already feel the shiver going down my spine at the sight of her but I manage to keep my cool.

The Contessa says "Welcome to the event of the Caped Owl, I am the Contessa the director and organizer of the event. This art event is meant to inspire the next generation artists and to help motivate art as a whole, the gallery is planned to open in three days at 7pm and I hope you all can attend. But for now, I have allowed access to the front so that you all can get a sense of what we have in store for you."

The massive doors open, I shoot a quick look to Carmilta who motions me to head in, I follow the crowd, sticking close to whoever can hide me from the spiders gaze. The inside is just amazing, tapestries are hung like banners along the ceiling and sculptures in casings with complementing painting. A look up and I see a massive painting for the ceiling, it's the painting of a mechanical owl, it's eyes a piercing yellow with a background of the night sky, it's swooping talons grasping the globe. I actually become transfixed as it just looks so symbolic and well done, I can feel the dominating presence of the machine as it makes ready to claim the world as it's own.

I hear a familiar voice "Impressive is it not?", I look to see the Contessa moving towards me, her eyes right on me.

I try to keep my cool "Quite a painting, I honestly would love to have a copy of it on my wall."

Contessa says "A man of good taste, I know who you are. You are Adam, Carmelita Fox's new partner and the human who came from a different world. You've made a lot of headlines with your actions and have attracted some attention, but if you are here, so is inspector Fox."

I think 'I need to come up with something and fast.', I say "We're off duty at the moment, I wanted to see Europe and she wanted to take a trip." as I keep my cool.

The spider moves around me "How quaint, well I hope you and her enjoy your vacation and I hope you and her can attend the opening in a few days, she has an eye for the arts." giving me quite an eye and a flirty smile as she passes by.

I feel creeped out instantly and I try to link up with Carmelita, I eventually find her eyeing a sculpture.

Carmelita says "What's going on?" her brown eyes glancing at me.

I sigh "Well, the widow has the hots for me." earning a snicker from the vixen, I glance to her and I say "It looks like a normal gallery opening, though she is suspicious because we are here. What does that tell you?"

Carmelita says "That she's what we've been looking for after all."

Penelope, Carmelita and I quickly make our way to the safe house, we inform Bentley and Murray of the situation and he confirms that something is going on with the information from his drones.

Bentley says "Okay, we've got three days to figure out what's going on by the sounds of it. There are three things that we need to do and I have already come up the best ways to tackle it based on the five of our skill sets. Adam, we'll need you and Penelope to infiltrate via the sewer system and recon what you see, I'll have to tap into the Contessa's private satellite system as none of my equipment was able to access it and Carmelita and Murray, you'll need to see if you can break into the nearby warehouse the the Contessa has taken over, I speculate it's either gallery stuff or she's hiding something."

I go over it in my mind and I say "If I'm going to be covert, I'll need a change of equipment."

Bentley gives a nod and he says "What do you need?"

I say "I'm going to need a 9A-91 carbine and one of those new maxim 9's."

Carmelita gives me that eye as Bentley nods, the turtle says "Consider it done."

The mouse looks to me as she crosses her arms "You are going to need a code name while being covert, what will it be?"

I think on it for a few moments and I say "Cipher, will work perfectly fine."

................................

Hours tick by until night arrives, Bentley is sitting in his custom wheelchair, looking through a scope as he looks over the surrounding buildings. The turtle opens his communications, checking with everyone to see if they are in position and they all say they are, Bentley gives the all clear and with that they all begin their missions. Bentley activates the chairs booster and flies from building to building, until landing on a platform on the Catessa's cathedral, he begins to scale the tower, he finds an external terminal, he opens the robust computer and begins to access it, hooking an external drive to it.

Bentley says "Here it goes, let's see what the network has in store for us."

Carmelita and Murray use an unmarked black van to move towards the warehouse the Contessa is using, the two leave the vehicle and quietly sneak around with the hippo wearing a fake interpol badge and uniform, so that if they get caught they can at least come up with a quick excuse. However getting into the warehouse wasn't going to happen as they see rats wearing these heavy-looking hazmat suits, some are equipped with what look to be flamethrowers, some are armed with mp5 submachine guns, akm rifles and one is carrying what looks like a china lake grenade launcher, some flashes catches Carmelita's attention, she looks through a set of binoculars and sees a rate using an fn ballista.

Carmelita gets on her comm "Bentley, there is something definitely up. We've got rats armed here like a private army and we can't get close without tripping an alarm."

Bentley says "Take some recon photos and fall back."

Carmelita says "Alright, we'll be back soon." as she begins to take the photos.

Bentley sighs 'I hope things are going well for Adam and Penelope.'

.............................................................

"This sucks!" my voice containing just sheer annoyance as I try to traverse with night vision goggles in the sewer as Penelope tags along.

Penelope says "It isn't so bad, after a while you get use to it. I remember setting up the security in Holland and that went about the same way."

I say "Thankfully I like wearing gas masks, this mc-1 works perfectly well." keeping tabs with my new carbine "How much further?"

The mouse looks at a map "According to this, we'll be underneath the cathedral in another 200 yards."

We make it to the under section of the building and we see an armed guard behind an m134 minigun, I motion for Penelope to stay put and I slowly advance off to the side. I aim through the scope and see the power source for the weapon, I fire the 9x39mm weapon which strikes it. causing it to spark which gets the guards attention. Now that the wolf is distracted, I quickly toss the spent shell casing in the water, I sneak up behind and bash the stock into his neck and he goes out cold, I unhook the batter and toss it into the water too, I motion to have the mouse join me and we both walk up some spirals stairs. We find a terminal hooked up to whats looks like an optic fiber bundle, Penelope begins to get to work and I continue up with my rifle at ready.

I think 'This is going smooth then I thought.' as I take glances around, specifically towards the ceiling.

I hear the Contessa "It seems that we've attracted attention, Inspector Fox is here and that human is with her." and another voice "Hmm, Muggshot did say he had a face-to-face with them back in Paris. I wouldn't doubt that they may think something is up if they had seen the black box is missing." this one was male but it has a french accent to it.

I slowly advance as I peak from a door to see that creepy widow walking with a well dressed up skunk next to her at her pace wearing a green suit of some description.

The skunk says "And it won't be long until they realize I'm no longer in prison, Tsao's engineers are doing their best but we really need to pick up the pace."

Contessa says "No worries Paradox, between all of us working together, no one will be the wiser."

That name... Paradox? So he isn't in a cell after all, but now we have someone named Tsao working with them. I need to get this mission finished and get out of here, since I'm under radio silence and I can't talk or anything without raising the alarm. I continue my advance, going up a staircase, ducking into cover when I see the guards, which are wolves and bats with the occasional vulture, all armed with medieval weaponry, sure at range I would have the edge but up close I'm done for. Eventually I find an office which has a golden spider web on it, I enter it and see I must be in the right place. The room is large with a decent sized coffee table, a few chairs and couch with a good sized desk that has a window just behind it as a massive safe sits next to it.

I decide to break radio silence "Penelope, I think I'm the Contessa's office." as I approach the desk.

Penelope's voice comes through "Excellent, place the drive and I'll start hacking."

I place the usb in it's place which the mouse confirms, I keep my ears open as I look around and out the window on occasion.

Penelope says "Okay, the computer is pretty bare bones, there no real personal files of any kind outside of some purchase information for the cathedral and mention of some small assets. Wait a sec... Cipher, is there a safe near you?"

I nod and I say "Affirmative."

I hear her type a little "Try the combination 8-5-5 on it, if it opens, take everything and get back to me."

I approach the safe, I enter the combination it's keypad, I hear the tumblers release, I open it and I see some paperwork in red and blue folders, along with a compact disk. I quickly grab everything and put it in my backpack, I close the vault and zero it out, I take the usb out and I start to hear voices come my way.

I quickly say "Going radio silent, head back to the safe house and I'll meet you there." and I turn it off, I look out the window and I see there's a fire escape, I open the window, leap out, close it and go down the fire escape.

Eventually I make it back with everyone meeting me and I begin to give my findings along with everyone else, when I mention Paradox is here and working with the Contessa it gets everyone's attention along with saying that someone named Tsao is also involved.

Bentley says "Whatever is going on, we need to get into that warehouse.", he looks to me and he says "Adam, can you go back into the field?"

I say "No problem, just tell me what you need me to do."

After going through the sewers again for half an hour, I'm finally back above ground, this time with Carmelita joining me as Penelope has to go over the data with Bentley, much to her reluctance.

The vixen whispers "Penelope told me how stealthy you were, excellent work."

I say "Nice to know playing Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell didn't go to waste." as take the lead, I look around the corner and see the rats that Carmelita had taken pictures of, no way I can take them head on.

We look around and find a ladder that leads up with a guard keep in eye out, I grab a soda can and toss it, the clangs get the rats attention, we get to the ladder as he walks away and we climb it up with Carmelita taking point while I train my carbine at the rats back for a few moments before climbing up myself.

Carmelita says "Enjoying with view?" as she flashes a teasing smile at me.

I smile under my mask as I know full well what she's taking about and I say "Heck yeah."

We get onto the roof and scan to see no one is up here, but we do manage to look through the windows to see Muggshot and his truck, unloading what looks like some stolen art, but also some weaponry and gems.

Muggshot says "Alright, we need to get these parts on board and get it to Tsao. The sooner we get the job done, the sooner we can get paid."

What looks like aircraft and tank parts start to be loaded onto the truck, along with some heavy-duty electronics, I can only imagine what's being done here. I quickly take some pictures and I motion for Carmelita that it's time to fall back.

Carmelita says "Think we got enough to form a plan?"

I say "I hope so."

We get back to the safe house and in form everyone what we saw, earning some looks from the mouse and turtle.

Bently says "They are using this place as a front for stolen art, but also to acquire funds for something called 'Hyperion'."

Murray says "Maybe they are building a robot or something."

Penelope says "Unlikely, but they are building some based on the black box technology."

Carmelita says "We need to shut this operation down, maybe we'll find some more solid answers then."

Bently says "Let's come up with a game plan and go from there."

To be continued...