How Much Shit Does One Man Need?

Going unnoticed was surprisingly enough, one of Malachi's strengths. Normally his appearance was considered flashy, but right now, he had his white hair tied in a ponytail, and his outfit was relatively plain. He had even decided to go without his mask, covering the massive chemical burn scar across his left eye with makeup. It wasn't perfect, but as long as no one gave him a second glance it would be passable.

Unfortunately, Malachi was forced to leave his bag in the hotel. The multiple key chains on it would only serve to get him caught. That, however, also meant he had to walk the whole way there. Barely holding back an irritated sigh, he continued. The thing about this city the Malachi hated the most, was that the sex district was closest to the city hall. Meaning he was the farthest he could be from the building. 

He begrudgingly continued walking, tempted to sprint there. But, he restrained himself. 

After around 30 minutes, he finally found himself in front of the city hall. He frowned at the sight of the place. He had been there many times before, but he had never been allowed past the foyer. Now, here he was, about to search the entire place.

He chose to stay farther from the building than necessary, as lurking too close would probably be a little too suspicious.

The only thing he actually had with him was a shim, but that was more for the sake of silence than convenience. If convenience were the main focus, he would have happily opted to smash the windows out with his bare hands.

The cold was biting at his fingers as he walked around the side of the building, trying his best to see the highest entry point. The lights, however, were too bright, obscuring his vision, as was the distance. So he pulled up the layout once more, letting out an annoyed breath, the condensation visible in the air. "Stupid weather..."

He carefully scanned the map, noting that the east wing had a glass ceiling. As he continued scanning the layout, he made sure to memorize where the cameras were, as well as their range. There were very few weak points, but they were still there.

Hacking the cameras would be challenging. Challenging, but not impossible.

Malachi leaned against a nearby building, opened his interface, and began hacking into the city hall's security cameras. He navigated through the menus quickly, typing in commands with incredible speed. The screen showed various feeds from the cameras around the city hall, all streaming live.

Malachi's eyes flicked back and forth, watching each one closely as they searched for the information he needed. After a few minutes, he had successfully hacked into the cameras, gaining full access to their footage and controls.

After staring at the screens in the east wing, he finally saw the cleaners leaving, returning to whatever-the-hell storage rooms Aeris kept them in. Thinking about it, it seemed almost unethical, but they're just bots, so no one really gives a damn.

Once he was sure it was clear, he casually approached the building, scaling the walls, internally cursing 'mother' for making him do this in the dead of winter. Luckily for him, the Dome's blocked the snow and ice, making it easier for Malachi to climb.

After nearly 10 minutes, Malachi reached the top. Surprisingly enough, he wasn't tired. He'd also gotten up faster than he had expected. He'd have to report that to 'mother'...

Shaking his head, he focused once more on the task at hand. Pulling out the shim, he slid it between the window lock and the frame. The window clicked, and Malachi gently pushed it open. He sat on the edge for a moment, looping the footage in the room alone to make sure he wouldn't be caught. Grinning madly, he hopped in, landing soundlessly despite the long drop. Luckily there was no one in the room, so there was no one other than Malachi there to hear the glass pane slam back down against the frame holding it up.

Pulling up the cameras once again, he ducked into a blind spot and unlooped the footage. Using the vantage points of the camera, he opened his interface and constructed a base map of the east wing from what he could see. He had decided to not make one of the rest of this building simply because it was a nuisance.

He sat on the ground for a moment, looking in the rooms through the cameras and trying to see if he could find any of the items requested. After all, the less he explored the harder it would be for him to get caught.

As he scanned the rooms, he let out a huff, realizing the only way he would find it would be the storage room. Grumbling to himself was something he found himself doing quite often lately, but he was far more stressed than usual. So he continued cursing.

He stuck close to the shadows the walls provided, easily evading the cameras views. When he stepped into a hallway, he pulled up his interface, watching the camera views. He let the small hooks in his fingers slowly find their way out, gently sticking them in the walls. They could support his weight well enough, despite how small they were. 

He climbed up the walls, sticking out of the cameras views as he pressed himself to the ceiling.

As he crawled along the roof, he quickly swung into the closest storage room, ducking inside the moment he was sure the cameras were looking away. He continued this process until he had gotten to the last room.

However, when he entered the room and closed the door behind him, he checked the footage once more, putting in his earpiece. But he noticed something odd in the foyer. The door opened, and the figure in the doorway was... 

Altair?

Or at least that was what he thought. But in his earpiece, the name he'd heard was a little different. 

The man had the same hair, though it was now in a ponytail. The same sickly pale skin, and the same black sclera... the same yellow eyes.

But Aeris seemed to know the man a little differently. "Mono! You got here quicker than I expected!" His voice came out sounding chipper, while the man's, Mono's, face was anything but. He seemed exhausted but put on a smile regardless.

Malachi realized that he had to get out of there. The room he was in was close to the staircase in the foyer, so at this point if he simply pressed his ear to the door, he didn't need the earpiece to hear them. 

Scrambling to find what he had come there for, he opened boxes, making sure that even though he was in a hurry, everything was put back neatly. 

He only needed three specific things; a CRISPR scanner, aerogel, and a specific file. Malachi didn't know what was in the file, only that 'mother' would kill him if he didn't get his hands on it. Hence, why he's in the closet, frantically searching for it.

He was still listening through the earpiece since he didn't want to put too much focus on them. 

After searching the room top to bottom, he gave up and pulled up the cameras once more. He scanned through the footage in the west wing, making a second map. He was starting to regret his earlier decision of not making a map of the entire building.

This one would be more dangerous since it seemed to be closer to Aeris' office. So, he got to work, climbing back up the walls after making sure they weren't pointed at him. When he was done he stepped out and quietly made his way to the other side.

Then he went back to his process of finding a room and hiding in it, scanning the rooms he had access to. He knew where the other two things were, but he needed to get his hand on this first. 

As he searched, he eventually found himself in Aeris' room.

The place looked about how you would expect. The room is filled with soft, neutral tones of blues, creams, and whites. The walls were painted a pale blue color, with a few small accents in a slightly darker shade scattered throughout. There was a bird-shaped lamp perched on a stand in one corner of the room, casting a warm glow over the space. In the center of the room was a large, fluffy white rug. 

His face fell at the sheer extravagance of the bed, the translucent ash blue canopy curtains making Malachi want to set the room on fire. "How much shit does one man need?" He grumbled before getting to work. As much as he wanted to trash the room, he needed to make sure he didn't get caught. 

As he searched the room, he grew more and more disgusted with the man. Drawer after drawer filled with toys Malachi's never even seen before. Feeling the overwhelming urge to shower, he hurried the search and left the room. 

The only place that he hadn't searched was Aeris' office. Of course, that was where he currently was, making the search from this point impossible. 

Eventually he settled on simply sitting on Aeris' bed. 

He laid on it, deciding that maybe extravagance did have its perks. Malachi sunk into the mattress, remembering the amount of time he, Aeris and Lux would spend there. They would always hide when 'mother' said it was time to go.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of those thoughts. That was then. He opened the cameras once again, deciding that watching him was better than thinking about him.

However, he was unaware of how long Aeris would stay in the office. And unfortunately for him, he had company, making the wait and watching him even more awkward and grueling. 

He leaned against the head board. Getting bored of staying cooped up in one room, he peeked his head out of the room. 

Glancing back at Aeris' office cameras, he noticed that Aeris' company had finally left.

He made his way out of the room and quickly made his way to the office. Business time.