A Change of Plans

The next morning, Astur, Kretea, and Ystur walk up to the Capitol Building wearing black suits. Astur and Ystur are hiding their tails beneath their clothes while Kretea has her hair tied back.

"These clothes are too tight, especially around my chest. And my leg is getting hot with my tail wrapped around it," Astur complains.

"Deal with it. My leg is hot too. We stripped these clothes off of the three in the trunk. If you wanted something better fitting then you should have picked a better target," Ystur says. "And how do these things work anyway?" Ystur waves the stolen Employee ID.

"There is a panel at the entrance where we put the card up for it to be scanned. The security is simple, as it seemingly only checks for the authenticity of the card itself and not the holder," Kretea explains.

"The plan for today is to get a sense of the layout for the Capitol Building. We're trying to learn the patrol routes, when are the halls at their busiest, and if we can get free meals here," Astur says.

"Wait, hold up. One of those things is very different from the others," Ystur says.

"But it's very important. We don't have any money to buy food and went the entire day yesterday without food," Kretea says.

"Why do I get the feeling that food is the main objective for the two of you…"

As the three approach the entrance and more people gather around, their previous discussion comes to a halt so no one overhears. Using their stolen Employee ID's they get into the Capitol Building without any trouble and perhaps because of the large number of employees, there isn't anyone giving them trouble over being an unfamiliar face.

They make their way to a less crowded area, the woman's restroom.

Astur lowers her voice, "Here's what we're gonna do. Let's split up. Ystur, you should spend the day wandering around the halls and figuring out the best paths to take and which areas have the least amount of people at any given time. Kretea, you can scout out the area around the Treasury, find out the guards routines and look for any potential blindspot. I'll hit the canteen and secure us food for the day."

"I guess that's fine," Ystur says.

"No, wait. Lady Astur, I believe you are far superior to me when it comes to sneaking around. As such, you should be the one to scout out the Treasury and I'll secure us our food," Kretea suggests.

"I know what you're thinking. You just want to eat and fill your stomach," Astur says.

"But isn't that what you're trying to do?" Kretea asks.

"Nonsense. I'm simply putting the right people in the right place."

As the two of them are arguing over who goes to secure their meals for the next day, Ystur looks on with a blank expression, thinking, "Who do they think they're fooling? They're both drooling at every mention of the canteen."

"How about this," Ystur says, Astur and Kretea look over to her, "Why don't we just go to the canteen whenever we feel like it for our meals."

"But then someone isn't doing anything," Astur says.

"The two of you can deal with scouting the treasury then," Ystur says.

"Ehh… that seems like a pain," Astur says.

Despite her complaining, Astur does go along with Ystur's idea. As they leave the restroom and split up, Astur and Kretea meet up with Ystur again as they all come to the canteen.

"We probably should have come here first, considering our food situation," Ystur says.

"Yeah," Both Astur and Kretea agree.

The Employee ID allows for two free meals a day, requiring upfront payment for anything more. Thankfully for them, much like the front entrance, the canteen has an automated system, so there isn't anyone to question the obvious mismatch on their ID's. Due to their cover as employees, they eat quickly before heading their separate ways again.

Astur and Kretea make their way to the hall that leads to the Treasury. Looking from afar, they see the hallway has a few security cameras and at the end of the hallway is a double door with two glass panels at the top. Through the door's windows, a guard station can be seen. The large door that leads to the Treasury has two guards stationed in front.

Not seeing any chance to advance further, Astur and Kretea retreat to a nearby lounge. Being 10:30 in the morning, there are few people in the area, mostly slackers wandering around. Taking a seat on the lounge's sofa, Astur and Kretea light up a couple of cigarettes to pretend they're on a smoke break.

"The first problem is definitely those security cameras in the hallway. We'd be found out right away if we were to stick around in that hallway to spy on the guards inside. We should have brought the nerd with us, he could've dealt with this easily."

"Indeed, that relative of yours could most definitely deal with simple security cameras."

"Do you think we should ditch the whole meticulous grand heist thing and just blow the place up?"

"Although that sounds very much like you, I don't believe we should. Look," Kretea points to the wall-mounted TV in the corner of the lounge.

On the television, the video being played is a news segment, "On the topic of the recent robbery of the International Bank, security footage has revealed the identity of the thieves. A group of five people…"

As the news anchor is detailing the names and identity of the thieves, Kretea continues, "Don't a couple of them look familiar?"

"Yeah, we saw them at the casino the other day. We can totally pin this on them so long as we don't do anything flashy. Damn, so that means no exploding buildings. Actually, I have a better idea," Astur calls Ystur, "Come meet up with us outside the front entrance, I'm making a change to the plans."