The Heist

7:10pm, Tuesday, Kendra Motors. Only a corner was lit in the waiting hall. They were all alone. "I still can't believe we're doing it today". There were six of them, Ektaj, Kenneth, Rajath and three strangers, who looked familiar to Ektaj. Ektaj was repeated a pattern of rights and lefts in whispers. He looked at his watch, "an hour more. I hope the plan's clear for you all and you'll not spoil it and look suspicious".

"It's not the plan that's unclear" replied a dark man with his head down, "it's our confidence. What if it's not our fault we look suspicious? What if they're already informed of our coming and they'll already suspect us?".

"How will they get to know of our coming? We've kept it secret, didn't we?" replied Kenneth, turning insecure all of a sudden.

"The one who planned this hadn't the time to attend us, when there's just an hour for what we're gonna do. Heaven knows where he is, and no one knows what he's doing. He's probably trying to convey this message to the Austrian police – which you thought was a secret. We can't trust a man whose face you've barely seen!" cried the dark man in rage.

"I am heaven, perhaps, since I know where he is" returned Ektaj, "he's in the bank. The bank which we are yet to rob"

"What the hell would he be doing there? Supervising things?" started another man with round spectacles, "It makes sense now. What Freddy had said is indeed what's happening! He is probably informing the police, and you're gonna get caught!"

"He works there!" cried Rajath, scarlet with rage on seeing allies quit before his eyes. The dark man gasped. Who would plan to rob the bank they work in? "Yes. Logan works there, and he'll be there until we go to him. It's a part of the plan. So, WHY DON'T YOU GUYS SHUT UP QUESTIONING AND DO YOUR PART?" Everyone fell silent, their heads down again. Rajath inhaled for a moment and in a low voice, apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm just not myself when I'm nervous".

The time ticked away. "7:30! We better get going then".

They started packing. Especially Rajath. He had several bunches of wires and transistors to get ready. Kenneth stuffed his chameleon into his hat and quietly told it what it had to do. The men had nothing much to take with them. They just freshed up and put neat clothes on, as if they were to attend a marriage.

8:01pm, The Avarez National Bank. Logan sat in his chair and listened as the other employees talk.

"Every time someone comes, why won't you take your legs off the desk for one time and guide them? You never will. Because all you've got is 'Udanta! You've got work!' and nothing else".

"You are just over thinking that you're over working" replied the other.

Logan thought that this was the perfect moment to start. "Udanta's right, Naomi. You should sometime take those legs off" he said.

"Oh really?" said Naomi, rising from her chair, "then why don't you do the work instead?"

"Alright, fine. I'll go the next time when someone comes" he said. "Now that is good" replied Naomi. Logan smiled to himself that his plan worked. He just hoped someone else wouldn't come first.

The gang entered the main hall of the bank at 8:10pm. Logan could see five people – two of whom were Ektaj and Kenneth. They spoke something, inaudible, with the receptionist and showed a card to him. The card worked and the receptionist let them in, after scanning them. Naomi whistled to Logan as soon as she saw the gang. Logan sighed dramatically and pretended as if he were speaking to the gang.

"This way sir" he picked up a bunch of keys and led the way through a narrow tunnel, which was lit in blue. The light was not sufficient for someone to get a thought that it was a nation-wide bank.

Meanwhile, Rajath was in the Kendra Motors, ready with his set up – a combination of wires, controllers and transistors. Some alarm deactivators and a weird computer. He had access to the security cameras in the bank.

On the other hand, Logan kept silent and led the way through the half-lit tunnels, as long as he was sure that they were barely visible to the people in the main room. It was only after Rajath assured them, through the devices in their ears, that Ektaj started to talk. "Okay. He says it's safe to speak now".

"I am just thankful to god that the first part was successful. Nobody had a doubt on us" said Kenneth with a sigh of relief.

"Listen" said Logan in his grim voice, "the three of you leave now with me, as had been told to you, and so that the staff doesn't get a doubt that you have disappeared into the bank's vaults. And Ektaj, be careful. Once Rajath opens the gate of the entrance to the vaults, the alarm go blaring and he better get it off as quick as possible"

"Alright"

They bid goodbye and good luck.  Ektaj and Kenneth, who still had his hat on his head, quickly slipped through the passage which, according to Logan, led the way to the labyrinth. Logan and the three men waited for a while in the cold and blue chamber and walked back through it. They entered the staff room in no time. "Thank you for your time, sir" said the dark man. Logan nodded. As they tried to step out through the security scanner, the security cop started talking, "Wait!" he said.

Back in the labyrinth, Ektaj and Kenneth ran fast but quietly, into the blue depths of the labyrinth. Kenneth heard his heart beating, while his soul lagged at the border of his skin – they are actually in the Avarez Bank! The time of the theft has come!

Ektaj quickly talked to Rajath about which Logan warned them. Rajath mumbled in approval. He was too busy to talk, blocking the frequency of the security cameras in the labyrinth. The strangers entered into the waiting hall, and sat beside Rajath, looking at and helping him.

Kenneth and Ektaj already took several turns as directed.  The blue hallways were very short and narrow, and before they could rethink of which side they just turned, another turn came up. It became colder as they went deeper into the maze.

A right, a left, a left, a right and a left.

They made no sound, and with their backs bent, sneaked through the darkness, one turn after another. Once they turned right, a door blocked the way. It looked like a wall, nonetheless.

"Rajath, you seeing this?" whispered Ektaj, with his hand by the device in his ear.

"Yeah, it's a door" said Rajath, "But before I open it, I must warn you – beyond this door, is a long corridor, under the watch of a camera. This one, I can't access. The corridor ends with a lever, fixed to the wall. It opens a door beside you, which I don't have control on".

Kenneth thought for a while. "Leave that to me. This is my moment".

The wall-looking door was opened before them and gave way to a long and rather dim corridor, whose roof cannot be seen. Smoke rushed out of the corridor. Red smoke. Kenneth pulled his pet from the hat he was wearing and put him down on the floor, whispering to him what he had to do. Noog rolled his tail and suddenly turned white, then disappeared. Ektaj saw this with his eyes enlarging per moment.

"He'll do it" Kenneth turned to Ektaj, smiling.

"So how long do you suppose we wait here?"

"Don't worry. He's fast"

They didn't have to wait a minute more, when an opening appeared in the wall adjacent to them. It gave away a comparatively narrow hallway once again lit in blue in the edges. All of a sudden, Ektaj shuttered his eyes, and almost fell down. "Are you alright?" asked Kenneth and helped him stand erect. Ektaj caught his forehead and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he gave the green signal. Kenneth didn't believe he was okay, though. Who would fall off balance, all of a sudden? It took another minute for Noog to reappear. Kenneth thanked and stuffed him back into his hat.

They once again started their silent sprint into the coldness.

Back in the staff room, the German cop had suspicions on the three men. He stopped them and started an interrogation, which dragged attention of all the staff there. "I'm sure I saw more than you, going in. Cops! Hold them tight!"

"What? Are you out of your mind? How can you see someone who isn't there?" asked Logan. Four guards came forward and clung to the three men.

"Do you wanna prove me wrong?" asked the German cop, leaning forward. Logan knew something bad was going to happen. "I'm not speaking to prove you wrong. It's just something that no one believes. Seeing someone who weren't even there. Can you tell their facial description? If you do so without thinking or hesitating, and I believe that you aren't a mad man, imagining things"

The cop's face grew red, by the word Logan used. "There were two other men, if I can be clear" he said loudly, "One was a dark man, Indian I think, and the other was probably native, with a hat on his head". A chill ran down Logan spine.

Back in the labyrinth, Kenneth had a feeling that Ektaj hurt his head internally, after breathing the smoke, or something. He seemed to be confused and gazed at the surrounding, all times. They sprinted into the blue-lit hallway. The turns seemed to appear again, but not as fast as the ones at the starting of the maze. These were long. Ektaj directed the way, lagging at some points, with his hand at his temples. His behavior, overall, seemed to be weird after the lever room.

Logan twisted his lips and shook his head. "Still don't believe me, do you? You never have, of course" said the German cop, "activate the cameras. Show us what happened" he commanded the workers at cameras, and a swift motion appeared. There was no way he could stop a cop's orders, especially this one. A few moments passed by, and one of the men at the cameras replied that the cameras were being blocked. "What?" replied the cop, and everyone gasped. "The blockage seems to originate from the South" said the man. "The blocking signals can't affect from afar. It's probably the Kendra Motors" said the other man. "You're going to Kendra Motors now?" said Logan, hoping Rajath would hear it. "Don't worry. I'll leave you secured", said the German cop and quickly announced himself and two other guards to explore the Kendra Motors. They set off quickly, while few other guards surrounded Logan.

Rajath had received the information in advance through Logan's ear device. He had his soul wandering out of his body for a second. He quickly grabbed his computer and an alarm deactivator and ran into the repair yard. It was a vast area with no light. He had already powered down the building. He set himself in a corner, behind some tools and a vehicle. He reduced his computer's brightness down to when he could see at all. All he depended open was his ear device and his alarm deactivator. He could hear some noises of knocking the door down and talking in the waiting hall. Soon, lights were visible from the torches of the cops.

"Wherever you are, yield" said a voice.

It was in this moment that Rajath didn't want to be.

Back in the labyrinth Ektaj had trouble with his head. Kenneth just hoped if he was taking him in the correct direction. All that he believed in was that Ektaj had a good memory. They ran and ran until all they could do is walk. Then came this one broad hallway, with brightness multiplied, although it was not adequate. They walked faster than before, as Ektaj said that it was the last turn they had to take.

"You have a part in this, don't you?" asked Naomi to Logan, "Maybe that's the reason you accepted to go in there". Logan mumbled and shook his head.

"Show yourself!" Rajath could hear the cops come closer.

Kenneth could see an end to the final hallway, "Yes! We are finally here!". They quickly ran to the end, and there it was. The entrance to the great vault. There was no lever to it. Just a large blue metal wall. Two other ways lead here. One on the right and one on the left. "Rajath! We are here!" cried Ektaj.

Rajath one the other hand, received the message, but could not reply and risk himself in getting caught. The alarm deactivator stood beside him. He took it in his hands. It was pre-connected to the vault's threshold. Rajath exhaled quietly. And then he took his computer, which had a weak connection to the vault, as the staff of the bank was busy in weakening the signals. He pushed a button at last.

Ektaj and Kenneth had to wait for a minute, while they embraced themselves up for quickness in the next move. A moment later, the blue light in the hallway turned red.

Logan had to deal with the four guards and two of the staff. He felt like he had lost it, when the blue light turned red, and a loud screeching noise came from nowhere. It was the alarm. "Oh, no! It's the alarm! I guess the cop's right after all!" said Logan, "I know the way I took these people into. Follow me!" he said, turning to the guards, and loosened the hold of them and ran quickly into the hallway, followed by the guards, who had no other choice than to obey him.

Meanwhile, Rajath was in panic, since the connection was loose and the alarms were blaring. He had to disable it manually.

The red light brought smoke too in the vault's hallway. Ektaj's eyes were burning in the smoke and Kenneth was trying his best to contact Rajath, who didn't reply until then.

Logan led the way to the guards, without thinking of the upcoming consequence. Neither did he nor the guards know where he was leading them to. They just thought he was going for the vault's hallway. Logan took an eruption of turns, randomly. He didn't want to lead them to the vault!

It was long time since the alarm started blaring and the cops started searching for Rajath, and Logan started leading the way to the guards, when, taking random turns, he came into a long and narrow, when he had a feeling that he shouldn't run anymore. But it was not possible with the guards behind him, and their guns. He could see an end to the hallway which had a right turn. From the right opening, came smoke of red color.

Rajath wasn't in this much hurry before, but he started to have a hope that he was nearer to deactivating the alarms.

Ektaj had his eyes opened very wide and short, and Kenneth looking at the left hallway cautiously, as he thought he could hear someone coming from there. Rajath was in his last moment of the alarms blaring. Logan reached the end of the hallway, turned right where, all he could see was red smoke. Rajath pushed the button in his alarm deactivator. Ektaj too looked at the left hallway, at whose end, after a moment, a dark figure appeared.

And then, the red light and the smoke turned into blue again. All of a sudden, Ektaj shuttered his eyes, and almost fell down. "Are you alright?" someone asked and helped him stand erect. Ektaj caught his forehead and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he recognized the man. Kenneth was on his left. He caught his head and felt it pain so hard. He looked into the hallway on their left. There was no dark figure. Somewhere, deep in his consciousness, he could remember that he had been to that area before. Then, a small white figure appeared at his legs. Kenneth picked it up, "Thanks Noog" he said and put it on his head and placed a hat over it.

"Why am I here?" said Ektaj to himself, "Again?"