The warehouse was vast, its steel beams echoing with noise and laughter. Dex, his extremely long hair flying wildly, sprinted across the floor, chased by Rhea, a short woman with sharp glasses and sharper words. Their bickering ricocheted through the cavernous space, Dex pleading to let him keep it while Rhea threatened to shave his head if he didn't give it back.
On the other side of the warehouse, Lila sat cross-legged at a table, her ponytail swaying as she shuffled cards. Across from her lounged Eli, dressed absurdly in a zookeeper's uniform, grinning like a fox.
"You changed your occupation now?" Lila asked, arching a brow. "No longer picking pockets?"
Eli raised his hand, revealing a card he had plucked from her without her noticing. "I picked your pockets though."
Lila swore, slamming her cards down. "You bastard!"
Eli chuckled, sliding the card back across the table. "You forgot what I taught you all those years ago. Never... turn... your back on me."
"You are a fucking asshole, you know that," Lila shot back, though her lips twitched with reluctant amusement.
Just then, Dex crashed onto their table, scattering cards everywhere. He groaned dramatically, clutching his ribs like a soccer player faking injury on the field. His wails echoed through the warehouse, exaggerated and pitiful. Rhea stood over him, deceptively small but radiating strength Lila and Eli immediately pointed fingers at her, their voices rising in mock outrage.
Rhea rolled her eyes, snatching back her dangling keychain from Dex's hand. "He's faking it," she declared, her tone sharp. "This idiot stole my keychain, and now he's acting like I broke him in half."
The four of them were back in old habits, bickering and fighting like cats and dogs. Their voices bounced off the steel walls, laughter and curses mixing into chaos.
Then the sound of tires screeching cut through the noise. A car drove into the warehouse, its headlights slicing through the dim interior. Instantly, all four turned toward it.
Marcel stepped out. For a moment, the group froze, then their faces lit up, beaming like children seeing their mother return home. They rushed toward him, their excitement palpable.
Marcel sighed, shaking his head. "What are you all fighting about now?"
Without restraint, Rhea leapt onto him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Dex who seemed to have miraculously recovered, peeled her off of him while saying, "Why are you so shameless?"
Marcel patted her back, calm as ever. "Alright, alright, that's enough." Rhea stuck her tongue out at Dex in triumph as she got down.
Eli seized the distraction, swiping Marcel's wallet with a smug grin. "You are getting careless, Marcel."
Marcel chuckled, pulling a lighter, keys, and a zookeeper access card from Eli's pockets. "Will you look at that. Who's truly careless?"
Eli froze. "…"
Lila burst into laughter, clutching Marcel's shoulder. "How does that feel, huh?"
Eli hmphed. "Thought you retired."
Marcel smirked. "Thought you were still robbing rich grannies. What's this?" He pointed at the zookeeper uniform.
Eli sighed. "For your information, I was supposed to steal a bloody meerkat for a pretty little cheque before you called me."
Marcel's brow arched, his expression unreadable. "Well, drop that job," he said firmly, striding toward the table. He placed a rolled-up blueprint on the surface. With a deliberate motion, he unrolled it, revealing intricate lines and symbols. "I have something with an even bigger pay cheque. This is what we are looking at."
Rhea whistled, her eyes widening as she leaned closer. Her fingertips traced the laminated surface reverently. "Th-this is the Ecliptic Vault… by Alaric Voss. Did you know this was his last masterpiece?"
The others groaned in unison, rolling their eyes. "Ugh, come on," they muttered. Rhea was always like this, geeking out over safes, living and breathing their mechanics as though they were works of art.
She ignored them, her voice brimming with excitement. "There are only three of them in existence. One is beneath Mansory Diamond Co. The other, I heard, is owned by a private mercenary syndicate in Cove."
Dex tilted his head. "And the other one?"
Rhea shrugged. "I don't know. It was a private order."
Marcel tapped the tablet, pulling up an image of a sprawling mansion. "It's here."
The four leaned in, studying the screen. Lila raised a brow. "That's a fancy place."
Marcel turned to Rhea. "Can you crack it?"
Rhea laughed, almost hysterical. "Can I crack it? Hahaha… I don't know."
Eli blinked. "You don't know?"
Rhea's eyes gleamed. "This beast is a paradox. It's mechanical yet alive, mathematical yet artistic. Its locking system is a triple-axis gyroscopic core, rotating in unpredictable sequences that mimic celestial motion. Each rotation aligns with a constellation. Only when the stars match the vault's internal clock does the mechanism allow access."
Dex scoffed. "Can't we just blow it up if she can't handle it?"
Rhea gasped, her eyes wide as she leaned closer to the blueprint. "Inside, the walls are lined with memory alloys. They shift shape when exposed to heat or vibration, making brute force useless."
Dex groaned, throwing his hands up. "So no blowing it up. Great."
Marcel's gaze sharpened as he asked, "Then can you handle it?"
Rhea hesitated, her voice high-pitched, drawn out like she wasn't sure."Yeahhhh… yeah."
Marcel patted her shoulder firmly. "Good."
He pulled out his phone, tapping the screen. "As per usual, I sent half. You will get the other half after the job is done."
Seconds later, the others' phones buzzed. Notifications lit up their screens, and their eyes widened at the string of zeros.
Lila grinned. "Well, I guess I can finally get a new bike."
Eli, smirking, unbuttoned his zookeeper uniform, revealing his hairy chest. "Guess I don't need this anymore."
"Woah, woah, woah!" everyone shouted at once.
Rhea covered her eyes dramatically. "My eyes, my poor eyes!"
Lila laughed, shaking her head. "Put that hairy thing back where it belongs."
Dex doubled over, laughing.
Eli huffed. "Wow. If this was Marcel taking off his shirt, all of you would be drooling. But when it's me, it's a problem?"
Rhea peeked through her fingers, smirking. "That's because he has nice packs and those abs… grrrrrr."
Marcel froze, his expression flat. "…"