"We just got inside the headquarters, everyone else's locations?" Bella asked into the earpiece as she and Lumina scanned the ID cards they'd found in the lab coats to enter the building.
"All four of us took the elevators down, Leon and Fenix are taking Level 2 to search and see if they can find anything helpful there, Owen and I are taking Level 3. All of us are looking for Level 4 access cards," Mina responded immediately.
The two women looked at each other, "Which level are you more familiar with, Bella?" Lumina asked quietly as they made their way past other scientists and towards the elevators.
"Owen, Fenix, and I know Level 3 the best, Leon worked more on Level 2. I'm guessing Fenix didn't want to leave Leon to deal with it alone so he went with him," Bella said, stopping and turning to face the taller woman, "Is it okay if you meet up with Leon and Fenix and I'll meet up with Mina and Owen?"
Lumina nodded, "Sounds good to me. I need the Level 3 access card."
Bella handed it over to her and explained in a low voice, "When you get into the elevator, there will be a card reader. Just insert this into there and the doors will close automatically and take you up there. You see that guy over there?" She subtly pointed at a man standing by the elevator, "Show him your access card, don't say anything else. He'll let you go up and you can meet up with Mina and Fenix, got it?"
The older woman nodded, "Stay safe, I'll go ahead. Are you gonna go up now or do you want to look around here a bit more?" She asked.
"No, I'm going to head up," Bella shook her head, "There's definitely nothing in here, I've at least made it here before I got caught and had to make a run for it. They'd definitely keep anything important up on higher levels just because it would be less likely for intruders to get further up."
"Alright, see you in a bit," Lumina patted her head before walking off towards the man at the elevator and holding the access card up. The man nodded and Bella let out a sigh of relief, seeing that she got through with no issues. After waiting a couple of minutes, she heard a voice in the earpiece, "Alright, I'm up at Level 2. Fenix, Leon, where are you both?"
There was an immediate response, "We just left the main hub of Level 2. When you step out of the elevator, go to the right and follow that hallway until you enter The Hub. You'll know it when you see it," Leon instructed, "From there, there should be six hallways branching off. Take the one on the left, closest to the huge window overlooking this area of the Sector."
Bella walked up to the man and showed him the card as well, waiting for him to nod before stepping into the elevator. As soon as she was in and the doors shut, she spoke into the earpiece, "I'm in the elevator, I'll be meeting up with Mina and Owen. I know my way around Level 3, just let me know where you both are."
"We just passed Lounge 4, we're heading towards the 9th Experimentation Room. We're going to start from there and work our way around, see if we can get either a Level 4 access card or any other information," Owen responded lowly.
Mina added, "Be careful. There's a lot of security personnel stationed up here. No one has noticed us yet but it seems like they're waiting for something."
"Got it, I'll see you both there," Bella said as the elevator slowed to a stop, "Lumina, you good? Did you meet up with Leon and Fenix?" She asked, stepping out of the elevator. Immediately, she was stopped by security personnel, seemingly armed.
"Ma'am, I'm going to need to ask for your access card. For security reasons," The guard said.
Bella pulled out the card and held it up to him, "Is this all, sir?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. The security guard simply nodded and stepped out of her way. She smiled a fake, sweet smile, "Thank you. Actually, do you happen to know where Dr. Montserrat or Dr. Heranzik are? I've been meaning to give them a couple of lab results. It would be very appreciated," She said, trailing her hand on his shoulder.
She heard the man cough a couple of times, "Uh, I'm sorry, Ma'am, I don't know where they are," He rushed to continue, "But I'll—Er, if you give me a way to contact you, I'll let you know where they are when I find out! Or I can take you to their offices!"
Bella simply smiled, "I would love to take you up on that offer, but I do have some work to take care of. Maybe you could let me know where their offices are? And maybe after I'm done with work, we could get…Some coffee or something?" She asked.
"Uh, yes! I mean, I'd love that—Um, I just…Do you want my number or something? So that we can, uh, plan something?" The man asked, seeming flustered.
She shook her head, "Just meet me outside the building in two hours, and we can have some fun, yeah?" She winked at him, "But first, you mentioned the Doctor's offices?"
The guard seemed to shake himself out of a daze a little bit, "R-Right! Their offices are on this floor, it's the middle hallway on the left from this floor's Main Hub."
"Thank you, cutie. I'm looking forward to seeing you later," She trailed her hand along his shoulder as she stepped around him. She waved over her shoulder, grinning as she noticed the man's slight blush. Perfect.
"Bella? Bella, are you there?" She heard Leon's voice in the earpiece, "Lumina is with us right now, are you good? You weren't responding."
"I'm fine, Leon," She smiled a bit, as she spoke under her breath, "I didn't realize they asked people for the access cards now, had to deal with something. Anyway, I don't have much help for you, but Mina and Owen, meet me at the Main Hub. I think I know where we could start looking for Level 4 access cards."
Mina responded, "Got it, we're on our way."
She walked through the entrance of the Main Hub, which was essentially a large lounge with couches and tables, with a lot of cabinets lining the walls. Bella leaned over and grabbed a clipboard which had a blank table on it, quickly jotting down some notes so she looked more believable. She sat on one of the couches and discretely looked around her. A couple of seconds later, she saw two figures coming out from one of the hallways to the right. As soon as she made eye contact with the woman, they made their way over to her and sat on the couch in front of her.
"Hey, you alright? No one is suspicious, right?" Mina asked quietly.
Bella shook her head, "We're in the clear. I got some information from the security guy, apparently, two of the high-ranking doctors here who I know have Level 4 access cards have offices here. I think we should try searching there for now and see if we can get any clues on where those two are, or if perhaps one of them may have left an access card. It's a long shot, but maybe we'll get some information that's helpful for the rebellion."
Mina raised her eyebrow, "How exactly did you manage to get information like that out of a goddamn security guard? Honestly, I'm just impressed."
"Oh, don't worry, you'll learn," Bella grinned, "The next time we have to sweet talk someone, it's your turn. I've taken one for the team already."
"Oh no. Nope. I can't do that shit, Bella, I am terrible at flirting," Mina shook her hands, "I just get flustered and become a stuttering mess."
Bella rolled her eyes, "It's all about confidence, Mina! Just pretend they're Lumina or something, you can't tell me you don't flirt with your girlfriend. Besides, you're hot enough that you probably don't need to put in that much effort either way."
"...Man, I can't tell if you're just naturally flirty or have a way with compliments," Mina sighed, running her hand through her hair.
"Why can't it be both?" Bella smirked, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other.
Owen had a deadpan stare as he looked at the both of them, "Hi, yes, I'm still here, now what the fuck am I watching?"
Mina nudged him, "Yes, yes, we know you like attention, we haven't forgotten about you," Owen spluttered but she continued, "Okay, so we go to the offices. I'm guessing there's probably a lock or something. There's no way it could be that easy to get the office of someone with that high ranking."
Bella shrugged, "We'll deal with the lock as we get to it. Worst comes to worst, one of us can be a distraction while the others smash the lock open. Simple."
Mina stared at her, "Remind me how you become the leader of the rebellion again—Ow!" She leaned down to rub her ankle where Bella had kicked it, "Watch it! Those shoes could actually hurt! I can't exactly be much help if I'm out of commission!"
"Then maybe you shouldn't have said that," Bella grinned, "Now come on, let's get going."
As they walked through the hall, one of the scientists passing them by stopped and squinted at them, "...I don't recognize any of you. State your names."
Bella crossed her arms and glared, "Don't tell me you can't recognize one of the illustrious Rowlocks," Mina's eyes widened almost imperceptibly as she looked over at Bella, "Perhaps the name Governess Amrintha Rowlock may ring some bells? If not, my cousin Prince Julian will certainly hear of this disrespect!" She put on a bit of a "privileged princess" act.
The scientist's eyes widened, "M—My apologies, Milady! I…I was not aware that you were in the Sector, your cousin did not let us know that you were arriving beforehand. If we had known, we could have made your stay here much more enjoyable!"
Bella sniffed, raising her chin, "That would be unnecessary. I simply wanted to see what it was like to be one of the common people, which was why I didn't want anyone to know. So, do you think you can keep it a secret?"
"O—Of course! My apologies once again, Milady! And these two…?" He asked, looking over to Mina and Owen.
"My bodyguards. They are posing as my assistants. Now, excuse me, if you hold me up any longer, I will have to let Dr. Heranzik about this transgression," Bella said, turning up her nose.
The scientist shook his head, "No, no, I won't hold you up any longer, have a nice day, Milady!"
As the three of them continued down the hall, Mina moved closer to Bella before leaning over to whisper, "Now, why the fuck do you know the members of my family better than I do? I swear, I forgot that brat Amrintha even existed for so long."
Bella hummed, "You know what they say, to beat your enemies, you have to know your enemies. I probably know about more of Owen's relatives than he does as well, seeing as the Hernandezs and Rowlocks are on the list as White Lotus allies."
"That's not a hard bar to reach, seeing as the only living relative of mine I've actually met is Kaedan, and I know that I have a dad and had another older brother," Owen muttered under his breath.
"He's not wrong," Mina added, and Bella shrugged.
"Well, let me know if you want to hunt down Amrinth, or any of your other relatives for that matter," She said, "Just let me know. I can definitely point you in the right direction."
Owen raised an eyebrow, "By right direction, you mean…"
"I know most of the Rowlocks' locations down to the exact coordinates, of course. The ones who sided with the White Lotus, at least."
Mina shivered, "Remember I asked how you became the rebellion leader? Ignore that, I think I have my answer."