Piecing Together Some Stuff
Vincent
A couple of hours afterwards, we four sat in squashy armchairs in our cabin. When Fizz and ‘Punzel had come in, they had headed straight to the showers without a word. I went and made some fish and potatoes for dinner. The girls finally emerged from the bathrooms in their bathrobes and wolfed down the food I had laid on the table.
While eating, I was able to observe them more closely. ‘Punzel was paler than usual and her coal black eyes lacked their usual soft sparkle. Fizz had worried lines across her forehead and her hair seemed to sag, almost as if it had lost some of its previous zeal.
Cho
After food, we all changed and sat down on the soft armchairs surrounding the fire. Fizz was wearing a black sweatshirt and black capris. Sandy was wearing black track pants and a cotton white T shirt. Snowy had on white shorts and a sleeveless white top. I stayed in my customary black silk pyjamas with white designs.
We were all holding cups of hot chocolate in our hands. There seemed to be some kind of paper on the table, covered with numbers. Taking a sip of his, Snowy began to speak. “So, what did you girls overhear at that meeting thingy? Or was it just another dead end?”
Zacharias
“It was, unfortunately, not a dead end,” sighed Fizz.
“Why is that unfortunate?” I questioned, aghast.
She answered, “Well, right from the beginning, we knew that this school was involved in some kind of illegal activities. Our enrollment in it was not just due to some kind of test, but because of something more sinister. I don’t know why, but I guess that somewhere I was hoping that this was really all true. That we are special kids with remarkable talents and that we’re being trained to do good for the world. The reason that I’m upset is that that part of me died tonight.”
Angelina
As I finished that long speech, I felt something on my shoulders. Sandy had put his arm around me.
“Come on Fizz,” he said. “Whatever may be the ulterior motives of everybody around us, you cannot deny that we’re special. We truly are. Look at Snowy, he hacked into one of the most protected banks in the world in less than an hour! ‘Punzel here could solve the entryway puzzle faster than anybody else could. I don’t want to brag, but I’m pretty smart. And you! You, Fizz, are the strongest person I know. Physically and emotionally. I don’t much believe in destiny, but our meeting has to have been fate.”
Vincent
I grinned and started to clap. ‘Punzel joined in, then Fizz.
“Now let’s hear what interessant stuff you overheard at this ‘meeting’,” I grinned.
‘Punzel said, “It started off with Fa C talking about how great this organization is and how many ‘raids’ it has made. I got the impression that a ‘raid’ was some kind of heist. Then Fa C started a presentation on previous raids and raids to come.”
“Did you hear of the DeLuca emerald robbery? That was them,” put in Fizz.
Cho
“The DeLuca emeralds? They were worth millions of dollars!” exclaimed Sandy.
“2 million to be exact,” said Fizz grimly. “And this is just one of their more recent raids, the last one, I don’t recall exactly what, was worth 3 million dollars! That’s a lot of money.”
Sandy and Snowy were both slowly turning pale. They glanced at each other in consternation.
‘Is there a problem, Sandy, Snowy?” I asked.
Snowy slowly got up and went to the table to pick up the papers I had noticed earlier.
Zacharias
I took the papers from Snowy’s hand and passed them silently to Fizz. Her brow wrinkled in confusion.
Snowy explained, “These are all the recent transactions of Fa C’s account.”
‘Punzel gasped, “You found the account!”
“Did you doubt our abilities?” I deadpanned.
“No!...I mean...It was..difficult...but nothing you guys can’t handle...but...uh” she trailed off, her cheeks looking very pink. I pretended to look offended.
“Oh, stop teasing,” admonished Snowy.
Angelina
“Anyway,” he said hurriedly, his voice one pitch higher than normal, “Continuing, these are some details of said account. It looks like Fa C deposited 2 million dollars in cash most recently and just before that, 3 million dollars.”
All traces of joking and teasing were wiped from our faces instantly. I read double checked the paper in my hand. Snowy was right. I showed the paper to ‘Punzel, who frowned at it in the flickering firelight.
“It says here that most of the money was transferred out of the account in less than two days! Why would that be?” she wondered aloud.
Vincent
“We’re not sure,” I informed her, “But we think that Fa C wanted to transfer the money to a safer account. As Sandy so aptly put it, ‘two barely teenagers just hacked into this account’. These other accounts must be more secure ones.”
“That would make sense,” pointed out ‘Punzel, “But there are way too many loopholes in that idea. First, she’s left some money in the account. Second, now that you have the account numbers of these other accounts, you could easily hack them. And, in any case, If they are indeed safer, why didn’t Fa C just deposit the money in those in the first place?”
“She has a point,” said Fizz, “And I don’t see any repeated account numbers anywhere. how many accounts could she possibly have? No, I think it’s something else.”
Cho
“What name is on the account? The very first one that Fa C transferred to?” asked Sandy suddenly.
“Shrai A. Upa,” I read out.
Sandy frowned, “That name sounds very familiar. I’m sure it’ll come to me later.”
Snowy opened his mouth to speak, but it was cut off by a voice that seemed to come from the ceiling. It was similar to the morning alarm voice that always had to throw Fizz out of bed. It said now, “Lights out.”
“What was that?” asked Fizz.
“We’ve never heard that one before,” said Snowy.
Zacharias
“But we never actually have stayed up this late,” I indicated to the clock, which read, ‘23:00’.
“True, haven’t you noticed? We’re all mostly early birds. Well, with the exception of Fizz, who’d sleep all her life if she could”
Everybody laughed at that.
“Hey!” exclaimed Fizz, mock offended. “What do you-”
She was cut off by the voice in the ceiling saying again, “Lights off in 10 seconds.”
Nobody moved. In exactly ten seconds, all the lights, including the fireplace, went out and the room was plunged into darkness.
Angelina
‘Punzel and Snowy gave identical little screams and Sandy started in alarm. Being used to being thrown out of the bed regularly, I wasn’t very surprised at such, well, extreme action.
We all groped for the beds in the dark and clambered onto them.
‘Punzel called, “Wan an!”
I don’t know Chinese, but I knew what she was saying. “Goodnight!” Sandy and I called back
“God Natt” said Snowy, and we drifted off to sleep.