The huge red letters are a little intimidating to most people but Taeyeon and Yuri are too focused on their mission to pay attention to them. The first step is to get in. And to get in, they have to get past the security panel. To do that, they have the all-access cards cloned from Daniel and Nicholas.

“Three, two, one.”

Together, they slot the access cards into the panel and watch as a security number pad appears on the blank screen. A six-digit passcode is required.

“What’s the code?” Taeyeon asks.

“Just a moment. Our Deer is getting it for us.”

---

On the other side of town, their Deer is sitting on the toilet bowl, staring hard at the token in her hand.

“Yoona, I’ll be just outside waiting for you,” Summer calls from the sinks. It’s code for Summer is keeping watch while she waits for the passcode to appear but it doesn’t slow her heart down at all. If anything, her heart rate increases as the token lays dormant on her palm.

It should be anytime now . . .

The token lights up and six numbers appear.

“Zero-eight-zero-five-zero-seven,” Yoona reads the numbers to Tiffany through the ICE on her wrist.

“Got it. Thanks, Deer.”

Yoona laughs as she stands with the token. It hadn’t been too hard to sneak the token from Nicholas, but putting it back without him noticing is going to be a challenge. Nothing she can’t handle with Summer’s help though. They are the best team when it comes to things like that.

---

Taeyeon taps the numbers read out by Tiffany and steps back as the great, heavy slabs of metal roll apart. “Entering CORE.”

“We’re ready.”

“Entering.”

“Ten minutes.”

Taeyeon takes a look around the CORE as the heavy metal doors close behind her. This is nothing like what she has imagined. Tall, towering blocks of steel occupy most of the room. She feels like a dwarf in a digital forest and for a moment, is at a loss over their next step.

“Over here.”

Taeyeon looks to where Yuri points. It is a terminal with a screen and lots of buttons.

“This looks like a control tower.”

“What about that one?” Taeyeon points at another terminal across from them.

“This is a main station. Let’s try this one.”

Taeyeon nods her agreement and pulls the connection kit out from her vest pocket. “We’re going to try this machine labelled ‘Main’.

Yuri slots in her access key and the screen flashes ‘Access Verification’. They hold their breaths as the words flash once, twice, thrice, before turning green. ‘Access Granted’.

“We’re in.”

“Plug the decoder in.”

“I don’t see an input point.”

“Look on the side.”

Taeyeon bends to the left while Yuri looks to the right.

“Paper Girl, over here.”

Taeyeon brings the decoder to Yuri’s side and plugs it into the jack near the back that Yuri is holding open. Upon insertion, the cover slides back and it is inconspicuous like a door disguised as a wall.

The screen is suddenly full of tabs popping open as the decoder does its thing.

“How long will this take?” Taeyeon asks, checking the time left on her ICE.

“One minute.”

“Alright.”

Yuri goes to the doors and stands by them, ready to unlock them to facilitate a quick escape.

“Once this is done, we’re out of here,” says Taeyeon, giving Yuri a thumbs up.

---

“What’s the matter?” Yoona asks Nicholas, her heart rate rising as she finds returns to find him patting the pockets of his jacket.

“Nothing you need to worry about, beautiful. Please have a seat while I speak to my people.”

“Go ahead. Don’t worry about us.”

Nicholas nods curtly and walks away from their table, leaving his jacket strewn over the chair, brows dipped in concern.

Yoona exchanges looks with Sooyoung as they take their seats. This is an unexpected turn of events. And a possibly deadly one too. What can they do to avert the impending disaster?

Their eyes turn to the jacket they had taken the token from earlier. Putting it back there is out of the question now. Where else can they put it?

Yoona’s ICE buzzes just then. S.N.S.D. to the rescue.

Don’t lose your memento. Check for holes.

At once, Yoona’s mind clicks. Holes. Of course. The simplest solution. She exchanges looks with Summer again. They received the same message and are on the same page.

“You know what? Let’s see what Nicholas is up to,” Summer says out loud.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Yoona counters.

“I’m bored. Let’s go.” Summer stands and takes a step before turning around. “Aren’t you coming with me?”

“We should just wait here for Nicholas.”

“Come on . . .”

“Okay, okay.” Yoona stands and walks to Summer, passing between her and the jacket. On her hand is a diamond ring with an embedded blade and she runs it cleanly across the bottom of the inner pocket, making a fine slit end to end. “Let’s go.”

Summer joins her at the reception and they exchange another look before heading out the way Nicholas brought them. Yoona spots a cleaner with a trolley along the corridor outside and smiles. The perfect place to dispose of the token. She slips the cleaning cloth in her pocket over it and rubs both sides before dropping it into the bin on the trolley as they pass by.

And not a moment too soon either. Nicholas comes trotting back, arms open in question.

“Why are you out here?”

“Yoona was worried about you,” said Summer, not missing a beat.

That put a smile on Nicholas’s face. “Didn’t I tell you ladies not to worry? Everything is just fine. My people are on it. Now, let’s return to our table.”

---

“Emergency. Evacuate now.”

Taeyeon starts at the urgency in Tiffany’s voice. “Ten more seconds and we’re done.”

“Abort it. Now.”

Meeting Yuri’s eyes, Taeyeon bit her lip and shook her head. They were too close to abort now. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one . . . done. She unplugs the decoder and dashes to Yuri who has opened the door in anticipation of their quick exit.

“Back to Test Lab Y.”

“You’re ten seconds late, Taeyeon.”

Taeyeon stays silent as they jog back to Test Lab Y. Her fight with Tiffany can wait till they are out of here and on safe grounds.

They are about to round the corner when Yuri stops short and takes a step back. The sound of footsteps from the far end of the corridor drifts into their ears and they back up immediately, turning the other way instead.

Dashing silently around the other corner, they hide themselves as the footsteps come down the corridor they were just in. The footsteps stop halfway, presumably at the entrance of C.O.R.E., and soft murmuring can be heard.

Yuri chances a peek around the corner and pops back almost instantly. She puts two fingers up and shakes her head. Taeyeon bites her lip and sits on her heels.

“Where are you now? Report location.”

Taeyeon taps on Yuri’s arm and nods at the corridor behind them. Yuri nods and they move silently down the corridor, taking the longer path back to Test Lab Y. They round the next corner with caution, but it is clear this time. Moving as swiftly as they can, they close in on Test Lab Y and are less than half a minute away when they hear footsteps coming from the corner behind them.

.

Taeyeon pushes herself harder, suddenly thankful for the ruthless training they were put through. Yuri, the more athletic one, is two lengths ahead of her and opening the door as she catches up. With adrenaline pulsing through her veins, Taeyeon enters Test Lab Y and presses herself flat against the wall inside while Yuri closes the door.

“Test Lab Y,” Taeyeon whispers.

“I figured as much. Ran into trouble?”

“Two guys were checking the CORE but we dodged them.”

“Get back into the vent. Fast.”

Yuri is already there, pulling herself up into the hole. Taeyeon waits for her to get in and grabs her hand for a lift up. They put the vent cover back and barely even get a breath in when the door opens, light spilling into the darkness.

“You check this one. I’ll check the next.”

“Look, there’s no one in here. The boss is paranoid.”

“If anything goes wrong, it’s gonna be on us.”

“Hello, anybody here?”

“Cut it out. You’ve made your point. Next.”

Taeyeon doesn’t realize she’s holding her breath until it rushes out with the light that disappears as the door is shut. “Holy crap,” she whispers. “That was close.”

“Pull out, both of you,” said Tiffany.

Taeyeon began crawling through the vent. “Paper Girl pulling out right now.”

---