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LLAMTECH HEADQUARTERS-LOBBY
Austin, TX

This girl didn’t need another enemy, Becky thought.

The pause lengthened. Ashley stood ready to cut her losses and high tail it out of here should this girl decide to rat her out.

“You know what?” Becky placed her hands on her hips and leaned to the side. “It’s the season of giving, isn’t it? Let’s say that I do believe you. Moreover,” she stepped in closer, “what would you say to having some help in whatever investigative breaking-and-entering you clearly have in mind?”

It took a moment for Ashley to disengage her readiness to flee. She hadn’t expected that response.

“I-...Wait, you’re-..” The girl with the ponytail had to shake her nerves out. “You’re serious? Like, you’re actually going to help me sleuth around here? You’re not about to..I don’t know, waltz me over to security? Or hit me with that taser you think you’re being discrete about?”

Becky remover her hand from her purse at that one, clearing her throat at being awkwardly called out.

“Nope. You have my curiosity, imposter. As it so happens, you could say I’m pretty well versed in this whole ‘amateur detective’ business. Let’s take a walk, shall we? Talk me through this.”

Ashley was beaming.

“You know, you’re probably the first person I’ve met in a while that’s been on board with this sort of thing. Good on you, blondie.” She elbowed the reporter and gestured for her to follow deeper into the building’s lobby. “Let’s walk.”

Becky didn’t quite understand the ‘blondie’ bit at the end, seeing as they were both, you know, blonde? In any case, her heels clacked on the lobby tile as Ashley lead her down a corridor to the right of the lobby-Christmas lights and Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ still lingering throughout.

The reporter didn’t want to admit it out loud for the sake of holding her cards close to her chest, but she felt a sort of kindred spirit with this manic stranger. That scrappy attitude of wanting to take on an unstoppable enemy with what little means you had, fully aware of the consequences of failure-it was something she found admirable. It was something she saw in her friend Cass back home, and fellow report Maggie Smith at MDT. It was the same kind of “spark” she had seen in other aspiring detectives she had befriended. There was something charming about that.

Charming, but terrifying. Becky knew she had a propensity for not just trouble, but attracting people who were also magnets for it. Hell, she realized she hadn’t even asked for this girl’s name before deciding ‘yes, absolutely, let’s commit corporate espionage’.

Was she too trusting? Maybe that was her issue.

“I don’t think I ever actually got your name, ‘imposter’.” Becky remarked as she picked up her pace to catch up.

“Ashley.” The girl threw over her shoulder, stopping at an elevator and pressing the ‘down’ key. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, I guess. I’m just thrilled to have some help, honestly. My own friends are getting less and less encouraging of this behavior.”

“The feeling is mutual, ‘Ashley’.” The elevator bleeped and the doors parted. Both girls stepped inside-with Ashley making one last look down the hallways to make sure they weren’t being followed. “Speaking from experience, it’s just because your friends care. My own gals don’t like like ANY of the messes I’ve ended up in. But when it comes down to it? They always rush in to help me, even if it means being...I don’t know, being tied up at a vet clinic, or..being overpowered and bound at a charity event! Or being fully wrapped in ropes at-“

“You’re beginning to run out of synonyms for the same thing. I get it.” Ashley’s tone was dismissive, but when Becky actually looked over at her she noticed an earnest smile on the girl’s face. “Sounds to me like we’ve got the same sort of run of bad luck, Rita Skeeter. I’ve been streaming investigations for over a year now-some of them turned up some pretty great buzz, others not so much. But get caught and restrained by security
goons once? You never live it down.”

Granted, you got caught and tied up by goons on stream maybe five or six times-but this girl doesn’t know that.

“But each of those times I got captured?” Ashley continued, “Same thing as you. You can bet my girls were there to bail me out too. Every. Single. Time.”

“Every time? I thought you said it was a one-off occurrence?”

“SO, here’s my plan!” The conversation was forcefully moved forward. “We’re headed down to the R&D level. I’ve commandeered a badge that should be able to get us in, but..it’s an accounting guy, so I’m not really sure how much good that’s gonna do us. I suppose if it’s a limited access card, we can try cutting our losses and heading to the finance floor? Maybe try digging through the books for some kind of..I don’t know, unsavory investments?”

The doors opened back up, revealing a long gun-metal hallway, like something out of Star Wars. Give this to LlamTech, every inch of this campus had a pleasant aesthetic to it. Softly glowing LED panels lined the corridor, their shapes bouncing off the immaculately polished grey floors.

Becky examined the area-suddenly becoming a little unsure about following along in this. “So...you’re walking in here without a plan? Like, what about security cameras? Or guards?”

“I sort of..um..just thought I’d talk my way through that.” Ashley nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “Far as I can tell, if you just act like you belong here, nobody asks any questions!” Becky’s unenthused expression said she was still unconvinced. “Look, if anybody approaches us, I plan to commandeer my friend Adrianne’s identity. She works here in the robotics division. This company’s so large I’d be shocked if anyone was capable of putting a name to a face. Someone approaches us, and I’ll just smile, shake hands, and say something like ‘Adrianne Olson, nice to meet ya! Wasn’t Short Circuit a great movie?’ and we walk away! I’m just here to show my friend, you, what I work on during the Christmas party! Easy, right?”

“Riiiiiiight...” Becky crossed her arms incredulously. “So what happens when someone calls you out on that? Fool-proof though that plan sounds..”

Ashley placed a reassuring hand on the reporter’s shoulder. “Listen, Spider Jerusalem-you have my word that if anything goes wrong, I’ve got a super secret plan up my sleeve. Naturally I can’t say what it is, provided either somebody is listening or you plan to turn-coat on me-but I assure you, I have an indestructible secret strategy that almost always works when dealing with LlamTech.”

Much to Becky’s surprise, that did very little to reassure her.

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

Juliana O’Mara was strangely lively for this evening. Perhaps years spent in a stuffy corporate environment meant she missed out on even the most banal of Christmas traditions, leaving this time of year as something usually enjoyed by those beneath her.

But not tonight. Tonight, even the blandest of Christmas songs-the kind that most people would switch off the radio from-lit her face with a vibrant glee. Lord knows she hadn’t even been drinking-but with every upbeat song, she couldn’t help but grab Jackie or a nearby board member and treat them to a brief Yuletide waltz. Nobody objected, of course, seeing as the CEO’s ruthless reputation hung around her at all times. People were thrilled to see this side of O’Mara, sure-but not one person didn’t think it could turn on a dime. Even as the woman’s evergreen satin dress flowed around her with each spin and drop, the employees of LlamTech couldn’t help but feel uneasy about all this. Even those who had never met her were unsure about this version of the CEO-every story they had ever heard depicted her as a bloodthirsty corporate shark that fired people on a whim and didn’t care who she destroyed to get what she wanted. But the woman swing dancing with her assistant to a big band rendition of ‘Jingle Bells’? It was such a far-cry to everything they had heard.

It terrified everyone.

The song finally ended on a long, jubilant note as O’Mara gave Jackie one last dip for their dance. The crowd gave their applause to the band and the two made their way back to the large table reserved for the LlamTech higher ups. Those on the ballroom floor could feel the collective sigh of relief as the two departed-no longer having to fear being terminated on the spot for accidentally stepping on the CEO’s feet.

The green dress worn by the boss-lady trailed behind her. As was her style, it had the usual trailing wizard-like sleeves and flowing train, but still cut short enough at the front to show off her long legs. Like she so often did, the dress was pulled up with a flourish as she took her seat at the head of the table before taking a small sip of the cranberry martini she had brought over for the second she left the dance floor. The band had taken a quick break, so the speakers returned to playing their variety playlist of Christmas music. A bouncy, hurdy-gurdy melody began to play and O’Mara’s face lit up.

Jiggidy-jig!
Ee-ah, ee-Ah!
It’s Dominick the Donkey!

Jiggidy-jig!
Ee-ah, ee-ah!
The Italian Christmas Donkey!

The CEO clapped along and smiled widely at her entourage. “Have any of you heard this absolute GEM of a Christmas song? I head it for the first time earlier this evening and it simply...” she tried to put the feelings into words, “I just couldn’t BELIEVE what I had been missing out on all these years! If I had known that everyone sat around their Christmas tree and sang this song about a whimsical little donkey delivering presents to Italy, I would have hopped on this Christmas train AGES ago!”

A chorus of cheery agreement echoed across the table.

“One of my favorites!”
“Right as usual, Miss O’Mara!”
“This was my wife and I’s first dance, actually!”

The woman settled back into her chair, holding her martini glass aloft as she looked out into the crowd wistfully.

Fucking hyenas.

“Reminds me of another wonderful song I heard earlier. You all know the one? About the little boy trying to buy Christmas shoes for his mother? One of my favorites.”

“Absolutely!”
“A true Christmas classic!”
“We sing it every year!”
“That one is my favorite!”

O’Mara put her drink down and rested her head on her hand playfully before turning to a large balding man to her left-likely a VP, director, or chief executive of some sort. She never bothered to learn titles or names unless it was needed.

“Your favorite? Really? The Christmas Shoes?”

“Of course! A delight every time I hear it!”

“I’m sure.” O’Mara’s smile widened. “What’s your name again, friend? I know we’ve met, but I just can’t for the life of me recall.”

“Jergens. Christoph Jergens?” The man held out his hand. “I’m your VP of operations, remember?”

“Of course...” she placed her hands on the table and looked away from the man. “Pack your things. You’re fired.”

“An excellent joke, as usual Miss O’Mara! B-“

“I’m serious. Get out of my sight.”

“I...wha-...but?..”

“If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a ‘yes-man’.” O’Mara didn’t even look at him now. “The song is about a small boy putting shoes on a corpse. How could anybody enjoy that? You’re either a disgusting little cretin, or a sycophant. Get out. You’re business with LlamTech is over.”

The man was half laughing, half shocked-still not convinced she was serious. “Miss O’Mara, I’ve been with this company twenty years! It’s-“

“Merry Christmas, Mister Jergens. Get out.”

The CEO gestured to two members of her security detail who promptly pulled the man out of his seat and quietly removed him from the party. The man slumped in their grip, dumbfounded at the insanity of what had just transpired.

She’d deal with the termination paperwork later. For now, it was Christmas!

And God help whoever accidentally left that Christmas Shoes song on the playlist.

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

“So...you were serious about raiding the accounting department?” Becky Carter sifted through the last few years of financial statements for all sorts of subsidiaries within LlamTech. “You realize most of this information is public, right?”

“Listen, I don’t see you making any good suggestions, Sarah Jane.” Ashley chided over her shoulder from the LlamTech laptop she had pilfered. “All I need is thirty minutes to learn how Excel works, and I can guarantee we’ll have some pretty damning leads.”

“Oooh, that was a deep pull. I had worried you were running out of fictional journalists for a minute.” Becky closed the filing cabinet, realizing they were getting nowhere. “Something tells me they’re not just going to document ‘nefarious research’ in the notes on their books.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“Yes. I would be. I would be very surprised.”

Ashley closed the laptop with a groan and stood back up. “Fine! What are your thoughts? If it’ll keep you from complaining, by all means! Take the lead!”

“I am not complaining! Far from it!” Becky stood straighter and checked her watch. “Usually by this time in an investigation something goes pretty far awry-so as far as I can tell, this is going swimmingly. Not one person has tied either of us up, threatened our lives, or... I don’t know...” The reporter laughed to herself. “I mean, I couldn’t even travel to London for a few days without getting all trussed up and thrown in mortal danger! I’m really not used to this! It’s...well..”

The indignity left Becky’s tone. All things considered, she was pretty thankful that this investigation hadn’t yielded any real danger. For once, things might just go off quietly and without a hitch?

“You know what Ashley? I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be snide with you. I’m just usually on guard during situations like this. I can’t remember the last time I did some good old fashioned detective work without it going downhill.”

Ashley patted her new partner on the back as she stepped further into the office space, shining her phone’s flashlight along the various desks. “The night is still young, man. I’m sure I can find a way to make this all go to hell.”

Becky was about to object fiercely, only before realizing she was joking.

“Tell you what, Kent Brockman-let’s tag you in. If we wanted to figure out where LlamTech was hiding the projects they don’t want the world to see, how would we dig that up? Where would you hide them?”

Becky held her chin for a moment. What had she tried keep hidden in her own life?

Her diary.

Her own intimate thoughts. The little journal contained every bit of introspection about herself, her friends, her late father, her career, and more-and she would be crushed if her safe haven for free thought was suddenly exposed to wandering eyes. In keeping it safe, she always opted for the easiest but most effective method of concealment.

“In plain sight.” Becky said aloud. “Somewhere people walk by every single day, but never bother to touch. Something so mundane that you’d overlook it a thousand times while searching for the less obvious hiding spots.”

Here’s to hoping her sister Dakota never inspected the derelict VHS player next to the TV...

Ashley’s expression was more than a little skeptical. “Not exactly sure that’s what we’re dealing with here? This is a multi-billion dollar security company. They specialize in protecting secrets.”

“I’m just going with my intuition on this one. If they really know the ‘science’ of secrecy,” Becky began picking up random objects off desks, seeing if any revealed a hidden button or activated some false wall, “then they’ll have these things hidden right under our noses.”

“Alright, sure thing, Scooby!” Ashley laughed. “Let’s go ahead and get Mystery Inc together while we’re looking for rotating bookcases and-“

The sound of moving machinery turned her head. She looked over to see Becky’s hand tilting a framed “Certificate of Excellence” on the wall a few degrees-which apparently was all it took to activate opening a hidden trap door in the ground.

Ashley looked at the reporter, then back at the trap door. Then the reporter again.

“Has anybody ever told you you’ve got the worst little smug grin when you’re right?”

“I could give you a whole list of people who have told me.” Becky grinned, as expected, smugly.

It was indeed the worst.

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

“Miss O’Mara?”

Jackie Garcia leaned in next to her boss’ shoulder, hoping to pull her attention away from the vibrant Christmas revelry. The CEO took another sip from her holly garnished martini and leaned back, caressing her assistant’s face playfully.

“Yes, Jackie dear?”

“Um..I hate to ruin the mood, but I just got a notification that one of the..um..one of the passages downstairs opened..”

“And so what? Nobody even knows those exist! If it’s open, it’s probably one of our daring researchers forging forward into the future!”

“It’s um.. it’s not.” Jackie was trying to broach the subject carefully, not wanting to be on the receiving end of O’Mara’s fury if her Christmas cheer was stepped on. “The cameras show two blonde girls nosing around for a bit. Security says one of them has broken into here before. Something about this ‘streaming detective wannabe’? Their words, not mine.”

O’Mara’s expression remained jovial for the party-but Jackie could see the sober venom in her eyes.

“Why don’t you run along and get the necessary info about these two? Be a dear and get it handled, would you?” Her voice was lofty, then quickly dropped to having a hint of murder in her tone. “I’d hate to think what I’ll have to do to anybody trying to ruin such a delightful little Christmas party. Be a dear and go fire up my computer? Then you scamper back up here to the party and have yourself a lovely evening. I’ll handle these two myself.”

Jackie nodded.

The audacity of some people! This had probably been the first time Juliana O’Mara had acted even remotely affable around people-and this is what happened?

She knew her boss would have a plan to deal with anybody trying to ruin her Christmas cheer.

Maybe it was an opportunity to warm up some of the more festive security options she had put together?

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

LLAMTECH LOWER LEVELS

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

The two sleuths descended the hidden stairs-Ashley with phone light in hand, Becky with a large tactical flashlight she kept with her at all times- Cass had given it to her as a birthday gift, feeling that any good amateur detective should have a comically large flashlight.

“You mentioned getting caught and tied up in London? How’d you manage that?” Ashley asked.

“It’s embarrassing, really. Had an old...shall we say antagonist? Antagonist from my past threaten someone across the pond. Had to get over and get involved, and, well...” Becky tried playing things off as cool as possible, “things got out of hand, and pretty soon I ended up tied up with another detective in a castle in the English countryside. We all did. This ‘antagonist’, who by the way is a literal gangster who’s obsessed with me, got to us and..well, I’m sure you can piece together everything else. I’d rather not go into detail. It’s humiliating.”

“Naaaaah, you’re fine. Funnily enough, I had the same sort of thing happen to me years ago.” Ashley reassured. “Found myself dumb enough to accept an invite to some made up ‘detective convention’ in London. Ended up with my friends nearly getting fed to snakes, and myself nearly drowned in the Thames with another snoop.”

“Please, I hate that word.”

“Sorry, drowned in the Thames with another sleuth. That better?”

“Sure..” Becky found herself warming up to this girl, all things considered. “So, nearly drowned, huh? Who did you upset to get that pulled on you.”

“Oh man, it was insane. Daughter of some famous criminal over there was orchestrating the whole thing. Ever heard of that ‘Mr. White’ guy from the UK?”

Becky was suddenly making the connections.

“‘Mr. White’? Like, opera mask, ‘world’s greatest criminal mind’, Batman villain type ‘Mr. White?’”

“That’s the one!” Ashley threw a finger up. “Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. His daughter’s a fucking psycho, too. Heard he’s long gone though, so that’s nice.”

Becky swallowed. “You’d be surprised. Funny story? When I was over there, that Mr. White creep was sort of involved from beyond the grave. Even in death, he was still obsessed with getting the upper hand on this detective girl. She-“

Ashley held up her hand to stop Becky. Now it was all coming together.

“Dude, I’m just connecting the dots. Are you talking about Sara Phillips?”

Becky nearly squealed “Ohmygod yes, I am! How the heck do you know her?!”

“We go waaaaay back. Fun fact, she was the one that nearly drowned with me. Good times.” Ashley smiled. “God, I can’t remember the last time I saw her. She doing alright?”

“She’s head of this investigation society at White Rose University? Don’t know how long it’s been since you talked to her. Despite the whole, ‘every criminal in England was trying to capture her’ thing, I’d say she’s doing great.”

“To quote your cowboy friend from earlier-‘don’t that beat all’?” Ashley joked as they entered yet another long corridor at the bottom of the stairs. “Looks like I’ve got to give that girl a ring when this is wrapped up.”

It was with that mutual connection that the two realized they had more in common than they had thought. It was almost like that connection implied they could begin sharing the less embraceable parts of their own stories. Ashley expounded upon the near miss in London, on her run-ins with LlamTech’s various security implements, of her daring rescues of heiress Madeline, and of her own brushes with peril. Becky, too, gave the long-short of what brought her to the UK. She told of Marta’s sick obsession with making the reporter her pet, of Dottie, and the Perfume Lady. She talked about her propensity for pissing off the wrong people, of her numerous investigations that ended on an embarrassing note.

All in all, it seemed trouble still attracted trouble.

“It’s honestly way too personal at this point. It used to be I just wanted this Marta psycho in jail because of, you know, the crime? What with the money laundering, drug trading, and so on-but she’s done everything she can to make my life hell. Hurting my friends, my career, my family even. It’s messed up. I honesty can’t remember the last time I went a day without having that woman cross my mind-and I guess, in a way, that means she wins.”

“Tell you what, Summer Gleason-when this is over and done with, and the whole world knows LlamTech is up to some nasty shit, I will personally help you put that bitch behind bars.” Ashley saluted as they approached a single panel door at the end of the hall. “Scout’s honor.”

“I’d like that very much, Ashley.”

The two stood before the door. For all the showmanship and effort it taken to find this hallway, there had to be something worth digging up down here. The deeper they delved in to this facility, the more nefariously sci-fi their surroundings become. The door alone was an ominous metal panel, shouldering a small panel to the right with a cheery LCD display featuring the LlamTecch logo. Ashley pulled the keycard from her jacket and gently placed it on the panel.

No effect.

“Can’t say that shocks me. Didn’t expect mister accounts payable’s credentials to work that far down.” Ashley grumbled.

“Why don’t we try-“

The door slid open.

Ashley’s glance shot back up. “I stand corrected. Guess it DID work.”

The reporter was unconvinced. “Call it a hunch, but that seems like somebody unlocked it for us. I like to think I’ve got a pretty good sixth sense for red flags-and I don’t like how easy that was.”

“Relaaaaax, Jimmy Olson! Whatever’s down here has got to be good. A quick fifteen minute look is ALL I need. Then we’re out.”The blonde in the purple jacket lead the way inside-disappearing into the low light of the room.

“That was literally not a counter-argument, but whatever.”

The place was lit-and frankly decorated-like a submarine. The tunnel the two entered stood at about 7 feet tall, with only enough room for them to walk single-file behind one another. Soft red lights permeated this underground lair-glowing through the various grates and pipes above them. If their previous surroundings looked like an Apple campus, their current environment was more akin to something out of Blade Runner or Alien. Wires from various bits of electrical works were exposed. The inner workings of everything from plumbing to the elevator machinery were visible. It was imperfect. Messy. A far cry from the polished elegance of the surface levels. While this tunnel was “the main drag” of sorts, various smaller tunnels carried off on either side every few feet. It felt like a warehouse? No, that wasn’t the right word. Maybe a barracks?

Or a prison?

“Not a fan of all these side entrances we’re going past, Ashley..” Becky had to add, compelled to look over her shoulder every few seconds. “I just can’t shake the feeling that somebody knows we’re here. We’re open to an ambush in just about every direction.”

“What did I say about relaxing, girl? If we’ve got to fight something, it’s not going to do you any good to be on edge like that! Besides, remember my secret plan?”

Becky swallowed her pride. Maybe she was overthinking. Ashley hadn’t lead her into danger so far, so how bad would it be to trust her on this? Maybe her instinct was better than she gave her credit for?

The hue of the tunnel’s lighting changed as they went deeper. Now a soft blue light washed over them, with more of those LlamTech LCD panels intermittently appearing. Ashley held up her hand to stop them at another junction with tunnels to the left and right.

“You heard that right?”

Becky stopped and listened.

“......mmhhhffhh......”

Both girls nearly dropped their flashlights in an almost cartoon-like scramble of panic.

“Ashley, gagged moans are not what I wanted to hear down here

Description
LLAMTECH HEADQUARTERS-LOBBY
Austin, TX

This girl didn’t need another enemy, Becky thought.

The pause lengthened. Ashley stood ready to cut her losses and high tail it out of here should this girl decide to rat her out.

“You know what?” Becky placed her hands on her hips and leaned to the side. “It’s the season of giving, isn’t it? Let’s say that I do believe you. Moreover,” she stepped in closer, “what would you say to having some help in whatever investigative breaking-and-entering you clearly have in mind?”

It took a moment for Ashley to disengage her readiness to flee. She hadn’t expected that response.

“I-...Wait, you’re-..” The girl with the ponytail had to shake her nerves out. “You’re serious? Like, you’re actually going to help me sleuth around here? You’re not about to..I don’t know, waltz me over to security? Or hit me with that taser you think you’re being discrete about?”

Becky remover her hand from her purse at that one, clearing her throat at being awkwardly called out.

“Nope. You have my curiosity, imposter. As it so happens, you could say I’m pretty well versed in this whole ‘amateur detective’ business. Let’s take a walk, shall we? Talk me through this.”

Ashley was beaming.

“You know, you’re probably the first person I’ve met in a while that’s been on board with this sort of thing. Good on you, blondie.” She elbowed the reporter and gestured for her to follow deeper into the building’s lobby. “Let’s walk.”

Becky didn’t quite understand the ‘blondie’ bit at the end, seeing as they were both, you know, blonde? In any case, her heels clacked on the lobby tile as Ashley lead her down a corridor to the right of the lobby-Christmas lights and Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ still lingering throughout.

The reporter didn’t want to admit it out loud for the sake of holding her cards close to her chest, but she felt a sort of kindred spirit with this manic stranger. That scrappy attitude of wanting to take on an unstoppable enemy with what little means you had, fully aware of the consequences of failure-it was something she found admirable. It was something she saw in her friend Cass back home, and fellow report Maggie Smith at MDT. It was the same kind of “spark” she had seen in other aspiring detectives she had befriended. There was something charming about that.

Charming, but terrifying. Becky knew she had a propensity for not just trouble, but attracting people who were also magnets for it. Hell, she realized she hadn’t even asked for this girl’s name before deciding ‘yes, absolutely, let’s commit corporate espionage’.

Was she too trusting? Maybe that was her issue.

“I don’t think I ever actually got your name, ‘imposter’.” Becky remarked as she picked up her pace to catch up.

“Ashley.” The girl threw over her shoulder, stopping at an elevator and pressing the ‘down’ key. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, I guess. I’m just thrilled to have some help, honestly. My own friends are getting less and less encouraging of this behavior.”

“The feeling is mutual, ‘Ashley’.” The elevator bleeped and the doors parted. Both girls stepped inside-with Ashley making one last look down the hallways to make sure they weren’t being followed. “Speaking from experience, it’s just because your friends care. My own gals don’t like like ANY of the messes I’ve ended up in. But when it comes down to it? They always rush in to help me, even if it means being...I don’t know, being tied up at a vet clinic, or..being overpowered and bound at a charity event! Or being fully wrapped in ropes at-“

“You’re beginning to run out of synonyms for the same thing. I get it.” Ashley’s tone was dismissive, but when Becky actually looked over at her she noticed an earnest smile on the girl’s face. “Sounds to me like we’ve got the same sort of run of bad luck, Rita Skeeter. I’ve been streaming investigations for over a year now-some of them turned up some pretty great buzz, others not so much. But get caught and restrained by security
goons once? You never live it down.”

Granted, you got caught and tied up by goons on stream maybe five or six times-but this girl doesn’t know that.

“But each of those times I got captured?” Ashley continued, “Same thing as you. You can bet my girls were there to bail me out too. Every. Single. Time.”

“Every time? I thought you said it was a one-off occurrence?”

“SO, here’s my plan!” The conversation was forcefully moved forward. “We’re headed down to the R&D level. I’ve commandeered a badge that should be able to get us in, but..it’s an accounting guy, so I’m not really sure how much good that’s gonna do us. I suppose if it’s a limited access card, we can try cutting our losses and heading to the finance floor? Maybe try digging through the books for some kind of..I don’t know, unsavory investments?”

The doors opened back up, revealing a long gun-metal hallway, like something out of Star Wars. Give this to LlamTech, every inch of this campus had a pleasant aesthetic to it. Softly glowing LED panels lined the corridor, their shapes bouncing off the immaculately polished grey floors.

Becky examined the area-suddenly becoming a little unsure about following along in this. “So...you’re walking in here without a plan? Like, what about security cameras? Or guards?”

“I sort of..um..just thought I’d talk my way through that.” Ashley nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “Far as I can tell, if you just act like you belong here, nobody asks any questions!” Becky’s unenthused expression said she was still unconvinced. “Look, if anybody approaches us, I plan to commandeer my friend Adrianne’s identity. She works here in the robotics division. This company’s so large I’d be shocked if anyone was capable of putting a name to a face. Someone approaches us, and I’ll just smile, shake hands, and say something like ‘Adrianne Olson, nice to meet ya! Wasn’t Short Circuit a great movie?’ and we walk away! I’m just here to show my friend, you, what I work on during the Christmas party! Easy, right?”

“Riiiiiiight...” Becky crossed her arms incredulously. “So what happens when someone calls you out on that? Fool-proof though that plan sounds..”

Ashley placed a reassuring hand on the reporter’s shoulder. “Listen, Spider Jerusalem-you have my word that if anything goes wrong, I’ve got a super secret plan up my sleeve. Naturally I can’t say what it is, provided either somebody is listening or you plan to turn-coat on me-but I assure you, I have an indestructible secret strategy that almost always works when dealing with LlamTech.”

Much to Becky’s surprise, that did very little to reassure her.

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

Juliana O’Mara was strangely lively for this evening. Perhaps years spent in a stuffy corporate environment meant she missed out on even the most banal of Christmas traditions, leaving this time of year as something usually enjoyed by those beneath her.

But not tonight. Tonight, even the blandest of Christmas songs-the kind that most people would switch off the radio from-lit her face with a vibrant glee. Lord knows she hadn’t even been drinking-but with every upbeat song, she couldn’t help but grab Jackie or a nearby board member and treat them to a brief Yuletide waltz. Nobody objected, of course, seeing as the CEO’s ruthless reputation hung around her at all times. People were thrilled to see this side of O’Mara, sure-but not one person didn’t think it could turn on a dime. Even as the woman’s evergreen satin dress flowed around her with each spin and drop, the employees of LlamTech couldn’t help but feel uneasy about all this. Even those who had never met her were unsure about this version of the CEO-every story they had ever heard depicted her as a bloodthirsty corporate shark that fired people on a whim and didn’t care who she destroyed to get what she wanted. But the woman swing dancing with her assistant to a big band rendition of ‘Jingle Bells’? It was such a far-cry to everything they had heard.

It terrified everyone.

The song finally ended on a long, jubilant note as O’Mara gave Jackie one last dip for their dance. The crowd gave their applause to the band and the two made their way back to the large table reserved for the LlamTech higher ups. Those on the ballroom floor could feel the collective sigh of relief as the two departed-no longer having to fear being terminated on the spot for accidentally stepping on the CEO’s feet.

The green dress worn by the boss-lady trailed behind her. As was her style, it had the usual trailing wizard-like sleeves and flowing train, but still cut short enough at the front to show off her long legs. Like she so often did, the dress was pulled up with a flourish as she took her seat at the head of the table before taking a small sip of the cranberry martini she had brought over for the second she left the dance floor. The band had taken a quick break, so the speakers returned to playing their variety playlist of Christmas music. A bouncy, hurdy-gurdy melody began to play and O’Mara’s face lit up.

Jiggidy-jig!
Ee-ah, ee-Ah!
It’s Dominick the Donkey!

Jiggidy-jig!
Ee-ah, ee-ah!
The Italian Christmas Donkey!

The CEO clapped along and smiled widely at her entourage. “Have any of you heard this absolute GEM of a Christmas song? I head it for the first time earlier this evening and it simply...” she tried to put the feelings into words, “I just couldn’t BELIEVE what I had been missing out on all these years! If I had known that everyone sat around their Christmas tree and sang this song about a whimsical little donkey delivering presents to Italy, I would have hopped on this Christmas train AGES ago!”

A chorus of cheery agreement echoed across the table.

“One of my favorites!”
“Right as usual, Miss O’Mara!”
“This was my wife and I’s first dance, actually!”

The woman settled back into her chair, holding her martini glass aloft as she looked out into the crowd wistfully.

Fucking hyenas.

“Reminds me of another wonderful song I heard earlier. You all know the one? About the little boy trying to buy Christmas shoes for his mother? One of my favorites.”

“Absolutely!”
“A true Christmas classic!”
“We sing it every year!”
“That one is my favorite!”

O’Mara put her drink down and rested her head on her hand playfully before turning to a large balding man to her left-likely a VP, director, or chief executive of some sort. She never bothered to learn titles or names unless it was needed.

“Your favorite? Really? The Christmas Shoes?”

“Of course! A delight every time I hear it!”

“I’m sure.” O’Mara’s smile widened. “What’s your name again, friend? I know we’ve met, but I just can’t for the life of me recall.”

“Jergens. Christoph Jergens?” The man held out his hand. “I’m your VP of operations, remember?”

“Of course...” she placed her hands on the table and looked away from the man. “Pack your things. You’re fired.”

“An excellent joke, as usual Miss O’Mara! B-“

“I’m serious. Get out of my sight.”

“I...wha-...but?..”

“If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a ‘yes-man’.” O’Mara didn’t even look at him now. “The song is about a small boy putting shoes on a corpse. How could anybody enjoy that? You’re either a disgusting little cretin, or a sycophant. Get out. You’re business with LlamTech is over.”

The man was half laughing, half shocked-still not convinced she was serious. “Miss O’Mara, I’ve been with this company twenty years! It’s-“

“Merry Christmas, Mister Jergens. Get out.”

The CEO gestured to two members of her security detail who promptly pulled the man out of his seat and quietly removed him from the party. The man slumped in their grip, dumbfounded at the insanity of what had just transpired.

She’d deal with the termination paperwork later. For now, it was Christmas!

And God help whoever accidentally left that Christmas Shoes song on the playlist.

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

“So...you were serious about raiding the accounting department?” Becky Carter sifted through the last few years of financial statements for all sorts of subsidiaries within LlamTech. “You realize most of this information is public, right?”

“Listen, I don’t see you making any good suggestions, Sarah Jane.” Ashley chided over her shoulder from the LlamTech laptop she had pilfered. “All I need is thirty minutes to learn how Excel works, and I can guarantee we’ll have some pretty damning leads.”

“Oooh, that was a deep pull. I had worried you were running out of fictional journalists for a minute.” Becky closed the filing cabinet, realizing they were getting nowhere. “Something tells me they’re not just going to document ‘nefarious research’ in the notes on their books.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“Yes. I would be. I would be very surprised.”

Ashley closed the laptop with a groan and stood back up. “Fine! What are your thoughts? If it’ll keep you from complaining, by all means! Take the lead!”

“I am not complaining! Far from it!” Becky stood straighter and checked her watch. “Usually by this time in an investigation something goes pretty far awry-so as far as I can tell, this is going swimmingly. Not one person has tied either of us up, threatened our lives, or... I don’t know...” The reporter laughed to herself. “I mean, I couldn’t even travel to London for a few days without getting all trussed up and thrown in mortal danger! I’m really not used to this! It’s...well..”

The indignity left Becky’s tone. All things considered, she was pretty thankful that this investigation hadn’t yielded any real danger. For once, things might just go off quietly and without a hitch?

“You know what Ashley? I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be snide with you. I’m just usually on guard during situations like this. I can’t remember the last time I did some good old fashioned detective work without it going downhill.”

Ashley patted her new partner on the back as she stepped further into the office space, shining her phone’s flashlight along the various desks. “The night is still young, man. I’m sure I can find a way to make this all go to hell.”

Becky was about to object fiercely, only before realizing she was joking.

“Tell you what, Kent Brockman-let’s tag you in. If we wanted to figure out where LlamTech was hiding the projects they don’t want the world to see, how would we dig that up? Where would you hide them?”

Becky held her chin for a moment. What had she tried keep hidden in her own life?

Her diary.

Her own intimate thoughts. The little journal contained every bit of introspection about herself, her friends, her late father, her career, and more-and she would be crushed if her safe haven for free thought was suddenly exposed to wandering eyes. In keeping it safe, she always opted for the easiest but most effective method of concealment.

“In plain sight.” Becky said aloud. “Somewhere people walk by every single day, but never bother to touch. Something so mundane that you’d overlook it a thousand times while searching for the less obvious hiding spots.”

Here’s to hoping her sister Dakota never inspected the derelict VHS player next to the TV...

Ashley’s expression was more than a little skeptical. “Not exactly sure that’s what we’re dealing with here? This is a multi-billion dollar security company. They specialize in protecting secrets.”

“I’m just going with my intuition on this one. If they really know the ‘science’ of secrecy,” Becky began picking up random objects off desks, seeing if any revealed a hidden button or activated some false wall, “then they’ll have these things hidden right under our noses.”

“Alright, sure thing, Scooby!” Ashley laughed. “Let’s go ahead and get Mystery Inc together while we’re looking for rotating bookcases and-“

The sound of moving machinery turned her head. She looked over to see Becky’s hand tilting a framed “Certificate of Excellence” on the wall a few degrees-which apparently was all it took to activate opening a hidden trap door in the ground.

Ashley looked at the reporter, then back at the trap door. Then the reporter again.

“Has anybody ever told you you’ve got the worst little smug grin when you’re right?”

“I could give you a whole list of people who have told me.” Becky grinned, as expected, smugly.

It was indeed the worst.

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

“Miss O’Mara?”

Jackie Garcia leaned in next to her boss’ shoulder, hoping to pull her attention away from the vibrant Christmas revelry. The CEO took another sip from her holly garnished martini and leaned back, caressing her assistant’s face playfully.

“Yes, Jackie dear?”

“Um..I hate to ruin the mood, but I just got a notification that one of the..um..one of the passages downstairs opened..”

“And so what? Nobody even knows those exist! If it’s open, it’s probably one of our daring researchers forging forward into the future!”

“It’s um.. it’s not.” Jackie was trying to broach the subject carefully, not wanting to be on the receiving end of O’Mara’s fury if her Christmas cheer was stepped on. “The cameras show two blonde girls nosing around for a bit. Security says one of them has broken into here before. Something about this ‘streaming detective wannabe’? Their words, not mine.”

O’Mara’s expression remained jovial for the party-but Jackie could see the sober venom in her eyes.

“Why don’t you run along and get the necessary info about these two? Be a dear and get it handled, would you?” Her voice was lofty, then quickly dropped to having a hint of murder in her tone. “I’d hate to think what I’ll have to do to anybody trying to ruin such a delightful little Christmas party. Be a dear and go fire up my computer? Then you scamper back up here to the party and have yourself a lovely evening. I’ll handle these two myself.”

Jackie nodded.

The audacity of some people! This had probably been the first time Juliana O’Mara had acted even remotely affable around people-and this is what happened?

She knew her boss would have a plan to deal with anybody trying to ruin her Christmas cheer.

Maybe it was an opportunity to warm up some of the more festive security options she had put together?

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

LLAMTECH LOWER LEVELS

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

The two sleuths descended the hidden stairs-Ashley with phone light in hand, Becky with a large tactical flashlight she kept with her at all times- Cass had given it to her as a birthday gift, feeling that any good amateur detective should have a comically large flashlight.

“You mentioned getting caught and tied up in London? How’d you manage that?” Ashley asked.

“It’s embarrassing, really. Had an old...shall we say antagonist? Antagonist from my past threaten someone across the pond. Had to get over and get involved, and, well...” Becky tried playing things off as cool as possible, “things got out of hand, and pretty soon I ended up tied up with another detective in a castle in the English countryside. We all did. This ‘antagonist’, who by the way is a literal gangster who’s obsessed with me, got to us and..well, I’m sure you can piece together everything else. I’d rather not go into detail. It’s humiliating.”

“Naaaaah, you’re fine. Funnily enough, I had the same sort of thing happen to me years ago.” Ashley reassured. “Found myself dumb enough to accept an invite to some made up ‘detective convention’ in London. Ended up with my friends nearly getting fed to snakes, and myself nearly drowned in the Thames with another snoop.”

“Please, I hate that word.”

“Sorry, drowned in the Thames with another sleuth. That better?”

“Sure..” Becky found herself warming up to this girl, all things considered. “So, nearly drowned, huh? Who did you upset to get that pulled on you.”

“Oh man, it was insane. Daughter of some famous criminal over there was orchestrating the whole thing. Ever heard of that ‘Mr. White’ guy from the UK?”

Becky was suddenly making the connections.

“‘Mr. White’? Like, opera mask, ‘world’s greatest criminal mind’, Batman villain type ‘Mr. White?’”

“That’s the one!” Ashley threw a finger up. “Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. His daughter’s a fucking psycho, too. Heard he’s long gone though, so that’s nice.”

Becky swallowed. “You’d be surprised. Funny story? When I was over there, that Mr. White creep was sort of involved from beyond the grave. Even in death, he was still obsessed with getting the upper hand on this detective girl. She-“

Ashley held up her hand to stop Becky. Now it was all coming together.

“Dude, I’m just connecting the dots. Are you talking about Sara Phillips?”

Becky nearly squealed “Ohmygod yes, I am! How the heck do you know her?!”

“We go waaaaay back. Fun fact, she was the one that nearly drowned with me. Good times.” Ashley smiled. “God, I can’t remember the last time I saw her. She doing alright?”

“She’s head of this investigation society at White Rose University? Don’t know how long it’s been since you talked to her. Despite the whole, ‘every criminal in England was trying to capture her’ thing, I’d say she’s doing great.”

“To quote your cowboy friend from earlier-‘don’t that beat all’?” Ashley joked as they entered yet another long corridor at the bottom of the stairs. “Looks like I’ve got to give that girl a ring when this is wrapped up.”

It was with that mutual connection that the two realized they had more in common than they had thought. It was almost like that connection implied they could begin sharing the less embraceable parts of their own stories. Ashley expounded upon the near miss in London, on her run-ins with LlamTech’s various security implements, of her daring rescues of heiress Madeline, and of her own brushes with peril. Becky, too, gave the long-short of what brought her to the UK. She told of Marta’s sick obsession with making the reporter her pet, of Dottie, and the Perfume Lady. She talked about her propensity for pissing off the wrong people, of her numerous investigations that ended on an embarrassing note.

All in all, it seemed trouble still attracted trouble.

“It’s honestly way too personal at this point. It used to be I just wanted this Marta psycho in jail because of, you know, the crime? What with the money laundering, drug trading, and so on-but she’s done everything she can to make my life hell. Hurting my friends, my career, my family even. It’s messed up. I honesty can’t remember the last time I went a day without having that woman cross my mind-and I guess, in a way, that means she wins.”

“Tell you what, Summer Gleason-when this is over and done with, and the whole world knows LlamTech is up to some nasty shit, I will personally help you put that bitch behind bars.” Ashley saluted as they approached a single panel door at the end of the hall. “Scout’s honor.”

“I’d like that very much, Ashley.”

The two stood before the door. For all the showmanship and effort it taken to find this hallway, there had to be something worth digging up down here. The deeper they delved in to this facility, the more nefariously sci-fi their surroundings become. The door alone was an ominous metal panel, shouldering a small panel to the right with a cheery LCD display featuring the LlamTecch logo. Ashley pulled the keycard from her jacket and gently placed it on the panel.

No effect.

“Can’t say that shocks me. Didn’t expect mister accounts payable’s credentials to work that far down.” Ashley grumbled.

“Why don’t we try-“

The door slid open.

Ashley’s glance shot back up. “I stand corrected. Guess it DID work.”

The reporter was unconvinced. “Call it a hunch, but that seems like somebody unlocked it for us. I like to think I’ve got a pretty good sixth sense for red flags-and I don’t like how easy that was.”

“Relaaaaax, Jimmy Olson! Whatever’s down here has got to be good. A quick fifteen minute look is ALL I need. Then we’re out.”The blonde in the purple jacket lead the way inside-disappearing into the low light of the room.

“That was literally not a counter-argument, but whatever.”

The place was lit-and frankly decorated-like a submarine. The tunnel the two entered stood at about 7 feet tall, with only enough room for them to walk single-file behind one another. Soft red lights permeated this underground lair-glowing through the various grates and pipes above them. If their previous surroundings looked like an Apple campus, their current environment was more akin to something out of Blade Runner or Alien. Wires from various bits of electrical works were exposed. The inner workings of everything from plumbing to the elevator machinery were visible. It was imperfect. Messy. A far cry from the polished elegance of the surface levels. While this tunnel was “the main drag” of sorts, various smaller tunnels carried off on either side every few feet. It felt like a warehouse? No, that wasn’t the right word. Maybe a barracks?

Or a prison?

“Not a fan of all these side entrances we’re going past, Ashley..” Becky had to add, compelled to look over her shoulder every few seconds. “I just can’t shake the feeling that somebody knows we’re here. We’re open to an ambush in just about every direction.”

“What did I say about relaxing, girl? If we’ve got to fight something, it’s not going to do you any good to be on edge like that! Besides, remember my secret plan?”

Becky swallowed her pride. Maybe she was overthinking. Ashley hadn’t lead her into danger so far, so how bad would it be to trust her on this? Maybe her instinct was better than she gave her credit for?

The hue of the tunnel’s lighting changed as they went deeper. Now a soft blue light washed over them, with more of those LlamTech LCD panels intermittently appearing. Ashley held up her hand to stop them at another junction with tunnels to the left and right.

“You heard that right?”

Becky stopped and listened.

“......mmhhhffhh......”

Both girls nearly dropped their flashlights in an almost cartoon-like scramble of panic.

“Ashley, gagged moans are not what I wanted to hear down here