The teens ran out of the elevator and Tanou simply followed them, asking questions or stopping to process what was happening would be a waste of time, and Ryan's expression at his obvious confusion confirmed it, he had to remain silent and follow them, At the end of a long corridor with white walls, they entered a room that was divided into two rows of small cubicles with curtains, those must be the dressing rooms, at the top of each cubicle there was a number that apparently had been assigned to each resident However, Tan still didn't know which was his.
"Number eleven rookie, learn it, you'll know that something belongs to you when you see that number," Ryan said before entering cubicle number five.
Kimi nodded at him from number nine, a short and quick nod that told him to follow orders, that everything was fine, Tanou didn't know if he should believe that, however, he had no other choice.
His clothes consisted of jeans, a simple T-shirt, and cheap tennis shoes, along with a small backpack that contained things like headphones, a cell phone different from his, a bottle of water, and a wallet with a false identification where he said he was twenty years old and a name other than his
Was he representing a simple middle-class twentysomething? It didn't sound complicated considering the dangerous mission he had imagined in his mind. He got dressed quickly, there wasn't much to wear anyway, he came out of him holding his school uniform in his hands, April stopped him.
"Leave your belongings in the dressing room, it is yours, no one is going to touch them, it is not safe to carry anything that could reveal our true identities in the missions" explained the brown-haired girl with a cheerful smile while wearing a long and shiny dress turquoise blue gala and high heels with rhinestones. On the whole, she looked older than she was.
"Why is your wardrobe so different?" Tanou asked without hiding his curiosity.
"Sure they will be playing totally opposite roles" Evie replied adjusting the black tie around her neck, combined with his suit of the same color.
Nivi came out of her dressing room also wearing a ball gown, but in her case in red and carrying the heels in one hand.
Tanou noted that he, Luk, and Ginger looked like ordinary college guys, Malik, April, and Nivi looked like part of a premiere red carpet, Evie, Ryan, and Ohm were wearing sober dark suits, and Mila, Kimi, and Marie were dressed in streamlined clothing, full of pockets and completely in black.
Soon Candace appeared to take them to the place where they would be characterized as her characters. Several makeup artists and stylists were waiting for them in a room that resembled a beauty salon, with mirrors and dressers lined with cosmetics and implements, each one sat in a chair with their corresponding number and listened attentively to Candace's instructions.
"Today you will infiltrate the celebration of the anniversary of the company of one of our allies that have been delayed in the breach of an agreement that we made with him, some of you will enter as part of the security and catering staff, a few others as guests and three of you remain outside incognito monitoring the situation, you must create the ideal situation so that April, Nivi, and Malik can talk to the subject and make sure to neutralize the security of the place if something goes wrong, it should be easy. Check the cell phones that were given to you, you have just received a file with the information necessary for the mission. "
Once the sentence was finished, the twelve cell phones sounded in unison with the same tone, announcing the arrival of a message, since Tanou's character didn't require much preparation or makeup, he was able to read the message without much bothering the makeup artist who just applied some makeup on his face.
His character was a twenty-year-old state university psychology student with simple tastes; music, hot movies, well, he was hired by a catering company that would take care of the food for the big party that night. The alibi was detailed and precise, they created a whole false life for his character, he had quite realistic looking documents to support his alibi, and when reviewing the profiles of the rest attached to the document they were just as detailed, with such planning it was almost impossible that something went wrong.
Tanou couldn't help but wonder how long it took to carry out this whole plan, how much work they had to work on it to get it into his hands; ready to be executed.
They finished reviewing the document and being fixed, they were traversed by all kinds of hidden weapons, in his case he carried a pen that became a blade and a communicator clock with which it was enough to press a button to alert the entire team of possible danger, Nivi accommodated a small razor in her garter belt, hidden under the dress, April's elaborate hairstyle was held up by an extremely sharp needle and every pocket in Kim's clothing was filled with weapons, blades of all kinds, and even a firearm.
Prepared, they went together to the underground parking lot from which several of them would depart, including Kim, who would go incognito.
"It's a simple mission, even boring, don't worry, you'll be safe," whispered Kim patting him on the back, in an attempt to comfort him.
"And will you be safe? I saw all the weapons they gave you. Will you have to use them?" he inquired with genuine concern, Kimi evaded the question, instead of answering it he chose to wrap him in a hug that Tanou reciprocated, over Kim's shoulder he could see the entire atmosphere.
The residents of Cloudhouse were worried, almost scared that this was the last time they would see each other; Nivi and Evie embraced while whispering things intelligible for the rest, the same happened with Ohm and Luk, then Luk was robbed by his brother Malik who joined their foreheads and said words of encouragement, the twins held their shaking hands to each other, Ginger, Ryan and April melted into an affectionate embrace, they all seemed genuinely close, united by difficulties.
Malik called everyone to have a little chat before leaving.
"If there is a god in heaven for sure he doesn't take care of boys like us, therefore we only have our own hands to protect ourselves, use them, use every resource in our power to return home alive, I hope we all meet at dinner. " Malik said, taking Ginger's hand next to him, who held Luk, and Luk held Evie, like this until they all held their hands in a circle.
As an only son Tanou Darawan didn't know the feeling of having siblings, he was far from considering the rest of the residents as siblings, but that sensitivity that floated in the air of that circle of joined hands was undoubtedly related to brotherhood.
They broke the circles and each was directed to the car corresponding to their character, Kimi gave him a worried look before the black tinted windows rose and the advance of the car separated them.
Tanou could only hope to get out of that situation safely and that as Malik said, the twelve could meet for dinner.