Rift – 7

You can read the previous part here: Part 6

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1 April 2052

After a good night’s sleep, Rachel woke up. She looked around her room, looking at the book that she wanted to read. Rachel spotted the cover, which had: DESTROY THIS! written on it in bright red. The real name was A Complete Assessment of The Cipher, and Rachel knew that this was a spy file. She opened the book and flipped through it, showing the statement “All for one, and one for all.” Beneath this was a short commentary about the meaning of the phrase to the Cipher. “All resources must go to the Cipher, and the Cipher will split all resources as they wish,” Rachel read aloud.

Beneath it was scribbled Cipher or Director?, which Rachel realized was wondering whether the Director or the Cipher was making these decisions. She decided not to put any thought into it, as there were more important things to worry about. First, she looked at a floor plan of the Cipher’s headquarters. That was when it hit her. This floor plan was practically ancient! The Cipher’s building no longer had a dome, neither was it 7 stories tall. More like 700.

According to the information that the Cipher had fed them, the tower was seven-one-four stories high – never say 714 – but nothing else. Literally. There was absolutely no other information about the Cipher Tower. 

Rachel decided to make a blind guess. They could make up the plan on the fly. At least she hoped they could. She called Cara and told her to be at the Cipher Tower at midnight the next day. 

At about 11 PM, Rachel woke up and changed into dark clothes for the break-in. She hoped that Cara would be sensible enough to wear dark clothing to avoid detection. Some of Cara’s socks could probably be seen from Everest’s base camp even if the socks were on the summit ridge. 

As the clock struck midnight on 2 April, Cara and Rachel met next to the Cipher’s Tower. “I see your taste in clothing hasn’t magically changed,” Rachel said dryly.

Cara was wearing a bright yellow tie-dye with a gleaming golden watch. “We’ll be spotted from half a mile away!” Rachel hissed.

Cara pouted. “With my super ninja skills?”

“You aren’t a ninja!” Rachel spat.

“Well, this is all I have to wear right now,” Cara said.

Rachel sighed. “Come! We’re sneaking in using the electric tower.”

There was a massive electric tower next to them, which seemed to look like a miniature version of the Eiffel Tower. To Rachel, each one of the small triangles meant a handhold or foothold. They could climb up the tower and inch across the electric cable. Then, they could look for an open window on the floor it led to. 

Cara pointed out a slight flaw in the plan. “What if nobody’s stupid enough to leave a window open all night?”

“Have some faith,” Rachel said, walking toward the tower. Cara picked up a rock and followed her.

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You can read the next part here: Part 8