A grunt echoes in the narrow space, the metallic walls of the air-ducts vibrating as the Satyr moves through the maze-like pathways. She inches forward slowly, furry legs scrambling against the smooth flooring to gain enough footing to push her ahead. As she travels, her walkie talkie releases a squeak, the sound piercing as it bounced off the walls and shot into the dark. She freezes, her limbs going stiff as she tilts her head to listen in the dark.
Rolling her yellow eyes as nothing else is heard, the Satyr finds herself grinning as she digs her fingers into the button on the side of the communication device.
"Cucurbita, what did I tell you about playing with the walkies?" she whispers playfully, and she releases the button as a grunt immediately responds.
"ᵀʰᵉʸ'ʳᵉ ⁱⁿᵗᵉʳᵉˢᵗⁱⁿᵍ," the voice croaks.
"Yeah, I know, but that's not our objective. We're here to free the animals, sweetie. Not fangirl over the walkie talkies," Pickles sighs as she clips the talkie to the 'v' of her shirt.
Once the device is secured, she reaches forward, eyes moving to look through the grating beneath her fingertips. Containers and shelves of wires catch her eye, and she cackles wickedly, a plan forming in her mind. She grabs for the walkie swinging from her shirt and wrenches it out, a slender finger pushing the button on the side as she speaks.
"Speaking of objectives, I've found the motherboard. Give me your children for alien experiments," she grinned with a playful pitch. She received a grunt in response.
"ᵀʰᵉʳᵉ'ˢ ⁿᵒ⁻ᵒⁿᵉ ⁱⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ʳᵒᵒᵐ," the voice eventually drawls, and Pickles nods in response. Popping the grate before her out of place by pulling upwards, she slides it forward to create an opening. As soon as enough space to allow her to duck down, she does so, her hooves coming to a silent rest on the linoleum.
"I'm in the zone. Pickles out," she whispers into the device. She shoves it back into her blue tank top, scrambling towards the computer sitting at the desk before her.
"Alright girlie, let's get you all powered up," she chuckles as she cracks her knuckles, green fingers moving to hover over the metallic keyboard. Eventually finding the power button, she presses down on it, the monitor lighting up with a blue flash.
Files immediately begin to flock the screen, folders swirling to find their place as a loading bar fills in the center of the display. Silently moving the cursor to the folder that reads "𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲", she clicks on it, a grin forming on her lips as the monitor fills with different camera views.
A tab appears, the bright wording spreading as it blocked the camera views with a black screen. A bar materializes in the middle, stating that a password was needed to access the cameras.
Pickles frowned, fingers crossing each other as she rests her head on her palms.
"Why does a simple security system require a password to view the animals? Actually, now that I think about it, why is this room so high-tech anyways?" the Satyr asks, moving to stand on her furry legs. She makes a decision then and grabs the talkie from inside her shirt.
"Cucurbita, I need a passcode for the computer and some of the cages not connected to the internet and system to be broken open. Specifically the elephants' corral," she speaks, eyes narrowed as she scans the wires.
"ᵁᵍʰ, ʷʰᵃᵗᵉᵛᵉʳ," Cucurbita grumbled, and a thud was heard from the device before it cut out. Grabbing one of the red wires connected to a square-shaped object, she pulls, her expression lighting up as the alarm near the door goes dark, the red glow disappearing.
The zoo would most likely receive a notification concerning the sudden cut in security, but the satyr could care less, skipping back to the desk as she awaited the response of her fellow partner-in-crime.
"ᴾᵃˢˢ⁻ᶜᵒᵈᵉ ⁱˢ 'ᵃʳᵇᵉᶻ⁰²'," crackles from her chest, and she quickly types it, making sure to capitalize the 'z'. It works, the cameras popping back into focus.
Pickles cheers, throwing a fist into the air as she pats her back.
"Four for Pickly over here, zero for zoo boss. Let's go in for the win!" she zeroes in on the screen, the screen light reflecting in her yellow eyes.
In the top right corner, she watches as Cucurbita easily opens the gate for the elephants, dragging the metallic thing open. A body is on the ground near her, and Pickles hopes they were just unconscious. Cucurbita was a wild card she found in the streets, so she wasn't too sure about the state of the guard, but at the same time, she doesn't exactly care. She had a mission to focus on, so that's what she was going to stay on top of.
She shrugs after a moment of staring at the body, eventually labeling him as an animal enslaver, and turns back to watch Cucurbita open another gate, the elephants following her into the parking lot before running off into the night.
Perfect.
The masked woman seemed to disappear then, and Pickles scans the screen for her friend, tingles racing along her arms as she watches her walk from the shadows from across the park.
"Atta girl. Use those shadow thingies the way you want them to move," she grins. Assured that her disguised friend is fine, she scrolls through the cameras, managing to find a section dedicated to recorded viewings. Pulling out a flash drive from her bra, she inserts it into the computer box, quickly pressing download.
"These creepos are definitely hiding something, I can feel it at the bottom of my soul. I'll have to sift through this later though--" the Satyr pauses her rambling, and narrows her eyes at the screen. Currently downloading was a file that read "𝐋𝐀𝐁 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝟐𝐁".
" I knew those bastards we're hiding something," she smirks, moving the mouse to click on it. Before she could complete the action, she was interrupted by a forced cough.
"I had a feeling I would find you here," a female voice calls out, and Pickles whirls around, eyes wide as they focused on the blonde cop leaning against the doorway.
"Ah, uh, hey Officer Hatis! Fancy seeing you here! What gave me away?" Pickles waves and the cop raises a hand, her fingers rubbing between her eyebrows as if she was getting a headache.
"Pickles, this is the fifth time I've caught you trying to set a zoo--" a thunderous crash suddenly vibrates the walls, a shrill ringing sound echoing before dust falls from the ceiling, and everything calms. Officer Hatis tenses, and whirls around to stare down at the hallway, eyes wide as she rips her gun from the holster strapped to her thigh.
Taking the moment as a distraction, Pickles turns and snatches the flash drive, stuffing it into her bra again as she closes out of the computer, and shuts the monitor off. The room was bathed in shadows as the light retreats, and Pickles leaps, hands gripping onto the outer casing of the vent grating she had originally come in through.
"It t'was nice runnin' inter ya again missy! Unfortunately, I'll be missin' Saturday arcade time! Sorrynotsorry!" she yells before flipping upwards, the grating sliding back into place with a click as she begins to rapidly crawl through the air-ducts again.
"WAIT! PICKLES, WHAT WAS THAT--GET YOUR FURRY ASS BACK HERE--𝘿𝘼𝙈𝙉𝙄𝙏!" the officer yells, and Pickles sits still for a moment, listening as she hears the retreating footsteps of her friend.
"That's gonna be a doozy relationship to fix," she winced as she mutters under her breath, steeling herself as she slides forward on her hands and stomach.
"Pickles to Cucurbita, what's your status?" she takes another moment to speak over the talkies, panic rising when silence meets her.
A pumpkin face suddenly peers at her from in front of her, and she jerks back, mouth open in a silent screech as a gloved hand moves to cover her mouth.
"ˢʰᴴʰʰᴴʰʰʰᴴʰʰʰ," Cucurbita whispers, and Pickles nods, eyes wide as she attempts to calm her heart. The pumpkin mask seems satisfied at the silence she is met with when she moves her hand, motioning behind her.
"ᵀʰⁱˢ ʷᵃʸ," she murmurs, and she turns, beginning to lead the way out of the vents. Pickles follows, picking up the pace as her partner seems to just glide along the metallic surface. The Satyr's tense frame sags with relief as a grate popped open, her lips falling into a lazy smile as she skids to a stop.
Cold air assaults her senses as Cucurbita slips outside, her yellow high-tops crunching against gravel as she drops heavily to the ground. Pickles follows, eyes watching their surroundings as her hooves hit the ground nimbly, the force distributed evenly as she kneels upon impact.
A loud click echoes, and is quickly followed by at least a dozen. The Satyr freezes in place, throwing her hands up as a light is switched on, the intensity bathing them in a blinding wave. Illuminated by the flare, several cops step into the clearing from the woods, guns raised.
"Put your hands in the air and don't move!" one of them yells, and both of the criminals comply. They remain stiff as the officers run forward, and Pickled manages to make out Officer Hatis in the back, the blonde's face pinched as a hovercopter shot past the trees with a sudden hum.
"You're really in it this time, Pickles," Hatis says before the Satyr is forcefully stuffed into the backseat of the cop car. "And depending on how this night goes, you're not getting out of it for a long time."
. . .