Do it with Panache!

1 Vic-the-Slick   Vic, also known by his formal name, Vincent Fumigalli, wore his best Hawaiian shirt under a white glittering polyester leisure suit and tight pants.  His sunglasses shade the areas just below his eyes, hanging precariously at the tip of his large pointed nose.   Not that he needed sunglasses, it was evening. The onetime salesman of the year would tell you he won a worldwide competition selling for prestigious brands like Canon or Xerox, depending on his mood. In reality, he won by default selling in a category where he competed against himself. And he wasn't selling copiers, he sold laserdisc players. What happened earlier this week was that Carmen sent out clues to a few of her henchmen to meet at a place and time. After decoding the clue, Vic thinks this place is the Dahlia's Ring Hotel and Casino on Macau's newly opened Cotai Strip* and the time was now. If he was right, he should start seeing other V.I.L.E. agents roving around.  This was how Carmen picked who would join her in a heist. You figure it out, you're in; you don't figure it out, you're lost. So it goes, if the heist needed more people, her clues were easier. *The Dahlia's Ring Hotel and Casino is a fictional, Gothic themed hotel (Gothic revival architecture considered fruitful in the 1760s - 1840s) where our story starts. Cotai Strip is a real strip in Macau.

2 Ken_U_Belevitt "Are you sure this is the right place, Mr. The Slick?" Ken U. Belevitt said approaching just behind the leisure-suit clad senior officer. He was no indication that Vic had guessed corretly. Ken had only been following him around since they left HQ in Antartica. "There seems to be some sorta weird convention going on right now. I just had to lose two teenage girls who wouldn't stop calling me Pugsley." The paranoid computer hacker seemed nervous, and to anyone who knew him, it was really obvious: this casino was littered with overhead cameras and monitors. The cameras made him nervous because he was being watched. The monitors made him nervous because of a traumatic incident that occured when he was a child.

3 Lee-Jordan ((Updated my profile on what Lee's been up to while writing this post.)) It had been a while. A long chunk of time that Lee Jordan spent thinking about how he would put things back to where he'd like them to be. It started when ACME brought him in the second time, determined to put him away "for good". Yea, right.  After going through what he went through, Lee put all the blame that should have been on himself on someone he considered drove him, Carmen Sandiego. That was it, the root of all his problems. Lee spent time tracking her down. He was a little smarter now and his patience paid off when he picked up a coded message that looked like something Carmen would send her people. He's been wrong before, hitting dead ends, but Lee had no problem killing time at a place like Macau. He sat in a crowded bar, keeping an eye out for VILE agents he'd seen before.

4 Patty-Larceny [OOC: I so told Vic not to post before I do, hehehe, sorry guys!]  Patty Larceny was in Macau under the name Lacy Petticoat. She was lost in Singapore for the most part of this week thinking that was the location Carmen meant. While there, she hit Tiffany's and FENDI, getting herself a new bag, shoes, and a pair of sunglasses to match her headband and tight little shorts. So she's a spendthrift sort of shoplifter when she isn't thinking, at least she could pull it off.  The little blond girl huffed when she saw Vic's bright sparkly suit. "Don't you know how to do disguises?" she plopped a shopping bag next to Vic's seat. Oh, wookie on things, Patty thought. She wanted to be on a solo heist this time. Maybe Carmen won't go by a first come first served basis. "And what are you doing here, this is so my heist!"  Seeing a bushel of hair somewhere behind the polyester suit, Patty almost squealed... again. "OMG, Kenny!" Then she hit Vic on the shoulder, "You guys made an ALLIANCE?!"

5 Emmesey-Squire Sir E. Brum (a.k.a. El Capitan) looked at the busy streets of Macau. He was waiting for his contact for the delivery. Suddenly he spotted a teenage girl who by the way she dressed would be described as a "Goth". She was walking slowly while reading a book titled "Circus Gothica. A study on Goths.". As the  walked on he could hear her humming. As she got closer and closer he could hear say "Mandylion without a face. Deathwish without a prayer. To which he said nonchalantly "End of hope. End of love. End of time. The rest is silence." The girl continued walking on right by his right side and say "This is what you need." in a whisper and continued on her way still humming. Sir E. Brum felt a large bulge in his pocket. he took out the contents of his pocket and put it in the Suitcase he was holding. As he turned to leave, he spotted out of the corner of his eye a little blonde girl and a guy wearing a tacky leisure suit. "Those couldn't...but no." Sir E. Brum thought. But who else has blode hair as bright as that; and that guy? Just plain eww. He decided to follow them at a distance and use the mini Directional Mike to listen in on their conversation

6 Ken_U_Belevitt "P-P-P-Patty...ah-dah-dah...I-it's not what it l-looks like." Ken was panicking, no doubt because he felt his beloved's wrath upon him and he did not like it one iota. "I-I thought Vic said he wanted to get Chinese!"

7 Carmen Carmen Sandiego arrived in Hong Kong yesterday evening at 20:51 hrs (8:51 p.m.) local time on flight EK 380 from Dubai.  While the 6-hour flight was not terrible, Dubai had been unforgiving, and hot.  Instead of heading directly to Macau as planned, she made last-minute reservations with the newly renovated Mandarin Oriental Hotel, who immediately dispatched a transport limousine as part of their service. Inside the black BMW 7-Series, heading down Lantau Link, she rechecked the name on her passport: Adalyn Landry, Paris, France. Rain began to pour as an unpredicted tropical storm brushed past. Ms. Adalyn Landry spent a wistful night at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong and in the morning had breakfast consisting of the aromatic Mariage Frères Marco Polo and pastry from the hotel's renowned cake shop.  The rain from the night before left a prismatic halo around the rising sun.  She felt better; rainbows, to the often-chimerical thief, were always a good sign. By evening of today, she was across the bay and reconnoitering in Macau, around and about the Dahlia's Ring Hotel and Casino.  Then, towards the time Vic the Slick graced the security cameras with his flashing white polyester attire, Adalyn Landry walked down the steps leading to the hotel's lounge.  Intuitively, something felt very wrong and another urgent change of plans was in order. Among the few dozen people going about their business, Carmen Sandiego as Adalyn Landry walked past Vic and Ken the same moment Patty put down her bags, then headed out the door. Later, when she felt it safe, Carmen dialed the number of the mobile phone she astutely placed in Patty's shopping bag.

8 Vic-the-Slick Being far from a deducing man of any caliber, Vic barely noticed the vision of proper beauty trimmed with a trail of very light, very expensive perfume past by the bench where he sat. Patty's little high-pitched voice distracted him and he started explaining about how he had no "alliance" with Kenny and even if he did, it was all part of the game. She should get over it. Then one of Patty's bag started ringing. "Hey, your bag's calling," he pointed to it so Patty would notice while dodging her girly punches.  [Posting this while it's hot.]

9 Patty-Larceny "Don't change the subject," Patty hit Vic again. "My phone isn't in my---" She stopped suddenly. He was right, her bag was buzzing. Patty's eyes grew wide like two little clear blue sand dollars. It's Carmen, it's Carmen, it's Carmen, screamed her head under locks of wavy blond. "It's Carmen!" She whispered sharply to Vic then pushed him out of the way. Pulling out the phone, Patty noticed the words 'Private number' in place of the caller ID. She hit the green button and quickly identified herself, "Pats!"

10 Carmen "Listen carefully," the instruction came amidst minor background noise of passing airplanes. "Patty, take Kenneth and go to the Macau Maritime Ferry Terminal. Purchase a Turbo Jet ticket to Hong Kong. Tell Vic to wait 45 minutes then head to the Heliport." Carmen checked the clock; she was on the move as well. "Hang up, and get rid of this phone." The ringleader disconnected. By this time, she had identified what she wanted and was devising a safe way to begin moving her game pieces.

11 Emmesey-Squire Sir E. Brum quietly whistled. "Whatever is going on it sounds hot. But then again, whenever Carmen is involved it's always hot." he thought to himself. "I want in. Which means I have make myself seen to the others. They'll think I'm in on what they're planning even though I'm here simply by coincedence. Even if they suspect I'm not really in on the plan, they'll let me in on it thanks to the wealth of tech and magical items at my disposal." Sir E. Brum put away the book he was holding "Medieval torture methods."(which in actuality was a front for his mini directional mic) back into his suitcase. He put a stick of Pocky in his mouth and began walking casually towards the Casino in which Vic, Patty and Ken were congregating in. Once in he went up behind the golden-haired girl that was Patty and said politely "Excuse me Miss, but would you happen to have the time?"

12 Patty-Larceny Hitting the red button, Patty put the phone in her shorts' pocket to be thrown away when they got to the harbor.   "Vic, we're splitting up," Patty whispered, "You have to wait 45 minutes then go to the Heliport."   Emmesey-Squire said: "Excuse me Miss, but would you happen to have the time?" Patty recognized that voice as belonging to El Capitan, a magical member of VILE, but she pretended not to know him. "I don't have the time, but, like, my uncle does." She pointed to Vic and his watch. They were splitting up into two teams so Emmesey with Vic was even with her and Kenny.   Patty then waved her hand for Kenny to come with her. "Hey I'm hungry, like, want to go grab a bite of something?" They were going from here to a cab and then to the Macau Maritime Ferry Terminal 2/F for departure. Patty always thought Kenny was a mix of weird and a pinch of annoying with the conspiracy theories, popsicles, and plans. But this is the first big case they were in together and she didn't work with him all that much outside of headquarters, maybe he's just shy.

13 Ken_U_Belevitt Not catching on to the incognito language, Ken shook his head and said. "Well, okay, but I hope this is just across the street instead of across the continent this time." Ken followed Patty towards the exit of the casino. Half way he pulled out his shiny blue yo-yo and clutched it tightly in his hands. After hearing, or at least thinking he heard the whir of a few security cameras turn his way, he began to turn it in his hands. He did this to keep his eyes forward instead of turning his head around. likely he'd glance something that'd startle him and panic, causing a big scene.

14 Vic-the-Slick "It's about 8 o'clock," Vic replied outloud, making a show of it because that looked like what Patty was doing.  "Looks like it's just you and me, Capt'," he said in a lower voice, "we wait here 45 minutes and head to the heliport, Patty's got a set of her own things to do." Taking a look around the halls, the Dahlia's Ring casino had a soft opening 3 weeks ago, the Grand Opening was scheduled for next month.  People were already flocking, but the hotel part hasn't opened yet.  Vic looked up to check out the skylight 40 floors above where he was sitting. Construction was still going on probably during hours when the Casino closed. His eyes fell to the slots. "Heyah... Emmesey," Vic looked at his friend, "Y' got anything in y' magical stash that'll win us a few bucks.

15 Emmesey-Squire "Thank you." Sir E. Brum responded while at the same time nodding to show he understood Vic's "other" comment. He thought for a moment. "Well I do have the Amulet Coin which is supposed to double your pay out in anything involving money. But I've never tested it out as I don't gamble. Usually I carry it in my pocket for good luck." He pulled out a quarter-sized coin from his pants pocket. The coin was made of pure Silver and had strange writng on it; lookng at it for a few seconds he lifted it up so Vic could see fo himself.

16 Patty-Larceny "You look tense, Kenny," Patty stated while she called a cab and in her 'tourist mode' pointed to the destination on a map she picked up at Tourism Macau. "There, Ferry Terminal?" She smiled to the Taxi driver, who nodded happily.  He was a small man in a blue polo shirt with a larger head and a stubby mustache.  His license and registration was on the dashboard, and Patty took out her phone camera to take a little picture of it for keepsake. "Get in!" She called to her VILE partner, "don't tell me, is this your first time in Macau?"

17 Lee-Jordan Lee could have killed himself if he missed all the signs, but some VILE agents weren't all that easy to spot in a fancy casino.  He ordered some tonic water and took another look around. A blonde girl left the building with a frumpy looking boyfriend. Why are the cute ones always taken?  Then there was a strange looking man with a guy in a glittering suit holding up a coin of some sort.  That flashed the red flag for Lee and he almost spilled his drink.  That had to be Vic the Slick. Time to move to a more discrete point of view.

18 Ken_U_Belevitt Ken smirked. "Well, yeah, but I'm used to it being my 'first time' in a lot of places these days." Once he and Patty were in the cab, Ken was able to relax, and he put his yo-yo back in his pocket. "It'd take all night to explain my troubles. When we get home I could just show you the color-coded flow chart I made involving them." Ken seemed to be looking at his feet and he wrung his hands together as they drove. He was actually looking out the corner of his eye at Patty. He gave a light humming sigh.

19 Patty-Larceny Once in the cab, Patty pulled out her pink iPod Nano and stuck one half of her Shure(tm) headphones into her left ear so she could hear Kenny talk with her right.  She forgot where she stole the iPod, but she remembered saving up to buy the headphones so they would be custom fitted to her size.  And who'd want to use something that's been sitting in someone else's ears anyway? Gross! Kenny said: "It'd take all night to explain my troubles. When we get home I could just show you the color-coded flow chart I made involving them." Ken seemed to be looking at his feet and he wrung his hands together as they drove. The blonde not-so-innocent college girl peered down to Kenny's feet, curious to see what he was looking at.  When she didn't find anything interesting, she looked back up and said: "Cool, I like colors and charts!" "So, like, I heard you went through that room with the flame throwers at VILE," she hid a giggle then giggled anyway, "it must have been funny, I mean, fun?" [OOC: Got that flame thrower room info from Carmen, Kenny, hope you don't mind!] ^^

20 Ken_U_Belevitt "I don't know how I survived that actually. I just closed my eyes and tried to make myself real tiny." Ken shrugged. "It's a small price to pay to be a part of VILE. We're doing the work those corrupt government officials are to scared to do. Freedom for homo-sapiens! Defeat to the San Francisco mole men!"

21 Vic-the-Slick "Now that's a beaut!" Vic said to Emmesey and the golden coin. "How does it work? I mean, they gotta have cameras around everywhere, two guys with a gold coin isn't gonna look good." He gave a narrow, haughty laugh and stood up.  "C'mon, buddy, let's roam around the casino, see if two sleek playboys can't get themselves a hot mama and a drink on the house." It was a better way to spend 45 minutes than watch out for new VILE agents.  That reminded Vic of something else, where the heck was Lars Vegas anyway? The guy was supposed to call from the airport an hour ago. [OOC: Here's what happened to Lars, Ivy's a doll for writing this!]

22 Emmesey-Squire "I don't know. But according to legend, you just need to have it on your person ex. your pocket and it's automatic." Emmesey responded. "Chill Vic. We're in a casino. Holding a coin whether gold or other wise is not very suspicious in here of all places." and this was coming from a guy who always made sure there were several escape routes in any place at any given time. Emmesey gave Vic a strange look when he said the words "playboys, and hot mama". Him? Emmesey Squire a.k.a El Capitan a playboy?! The very idea sounded ludicrous to him. After all he never held much intrest or feeling (save friendship and comraderie) for any woman. Well except that little-boy crush he once had on Carmen Sandiego when he first saw her and later heard of her but like so many other things that was a life-time ago. Nevertheless he followed Vic's lead.

23 Patty-Larceny Patty opened her mouth to say something about the whole flamethrower room being Vic's idea, but she decided to let that slide into oblivion when she heard Ken talk about moles. "Urm, yeah, mole men totally suck." "Hey, we're here!" She said when the taxi reached the Ferry Terminal. Paying the Taxi driver with cash, she got out. "Keep up, Kenny." Walking and waiting for Kenny every few steps, she tapped the window of the ticket booth and got two Turbo Jet tickets to Hong Kong. "Why do you have a yo-yo?" Patty asked while they waited to board the boat.

24 Vic-the-Slick Vic laughed in agreement with Emessey's way of telling him to 'chill'.  They started with the slots and ordered a few glasses of tonic water with lime soda. Carmen'd kill him if he had any alcohol before the heist even started.  He wasn't too worried about Emessey, that guy probably had a magical item for everything. "Let's try craps next," Vic the Slick rubbed his hands together then took his friend to the chip changer.  The chips at the Dahlia's Ring were slick plastic coins with a hole through the middle.  The casino's logo was this 'ring', and it was everywhere.  Vic thought it looked like a doughnut. [Emmesy, you can write the part about how the coin got them some money, curious if that works or they end up a few $'s short. Hahaha]

25 Ken_U_Belevitt Ken looked at the yo-yo in his hand. "It goes back to kindergarten...I was very shy, and I was nervous about going in for the first time. So, my dad gave me this yo-yo. I don't know why but it made me feel better. At the time I didn't even know how to make it climb the string, but after a while I learned just about every trick. So, it used to be an ice breaker for me, until, you know, people found out I could do advanced calculus in my mind....Oh, and then after junior high all I had to do is say: 'Hi I'm Kenny, a TV fell on my head....'"

26 Emmesey-Squire Vic-the-Slick said:  [Emmesy, you can write the part about how the coin got them some money, curious if that works or they end up a few $'s short. Hahaha]  Emmesey looked at the table. He remembered the last time he played this game, and it still ticked him off. He remembered how he lost five bucks playing and as a result he went 36 hours without sleep playing Super Caesers palace on the Super Nintendo. He would not stop until vengenace was his. He blocked out everything else and kept laying and playing till he won 2 grand and thanks to the Amulet Coin became 4 grand. Then he turned to Vic and asked "is it time to go yet?"

27 Patty-Larceny They got to the water and Patty threw in the cell phone Carmen told her to get rid of.  Pats was kind of listening to Ken, there wasn't a lot she could do since most of the shops here are closed and stealing candy from the stand was a little shallow. Almost. When she walked by the candy booth, she swiped a pack of cinnamon gum. "Want some?" she offered Kenny the first stick as soon as they were in the boat.  It was a nice way to travel, fast and easy, but the tickets were kind of pricey.  Patty sat, crossed her legs and fidgeted, twirling her curls with her fingers. She looked at random strangers and what they were wearing.  One guy took out his wallet to check his ticket and then put the wallet back in his pants' right pocket.  Another guy took off his Paul Smith designer sunglasses and clipped it to his shirt.  If this was a bus with an easy exit, Patty thought, she'd be having a field day! "What brand was it," she started to ask Ken when she was bored again, "the TV that fell on your head?"

28 Ken_U_Belevitt "I don't know.." Jen groaned, absently accepting the gum. 'She doesn't even know I exist' he thought to himself, then popped the gum into his mouth. It would have tasted better without the wrapper still on it.

29 Vic-the-Slick [Good job, El Capitan! 4 grand's perfect! Write us getting into a ride or something after this? We can steal a car, anything's open.]  Emmesey-Squire said:  Then he turned to Vic and asked "is it time to go yet?" Vic checked his TIMAX watch (a fake TIMEX he'd become attached to because it saved him from going to jail a few times). It's been over 45 minutes, the thought of being late made Vic nervous. "Yeahum, time t' go," he said to Emmesey, "C'mon, gotta get a real fast cab to the heliport, y' got ideas?" They went to the chip changer and Vic was already twitching with his hand on the booth. "Lady, can y' make it faster? Me 'n' him's gotta hot date waitin'." The attractive Asian lady at the booth looked at both of them.  Unconvinced, she shot her eyebrows up and chuckled, saying something quietly in Cantonese. When she was done, she smiled, "Thank-you and have nice day!"

30 Emmesey-Squire Emmesey thought for a minute. He had a lot of ideas, most of them didn't involve a cab but he supposed it'd be less conspicuous if they used a cab. He pulled out a cell phone and pressed speed dial. Once it picked up he made a brief command, "It's me. I need you to send someone with a cab and make it fast." he hung up. "Let's go." He told Vic who had finished getting the four grand he won during craps. We headed out of the casino to find a cab waiting for us "This is our ride dude." He told Vic as he opened the door for him and let him get in first. After Vic was settled in he let himself in and told the driver "Take us to to a place with plenty of of private airspace." The driver nodded and took off really fast.

31 Vic-the-Slick [Nice one callin the cab, Emmesey!] So Vic and magically resourceful Emmesey were in a cab. This has got to be one of the smoothest heist he's been in so far. But Vic was the kind that counted cookies before they were all baked and there was no guarantee things wouldn't go wrong. "She'll want us at the helipad," Vic said to the driver, "There's one at the Macau docks." The driver made a sharp turn and Vic held on to the door. He watched the area, looking around like a lost giraffe. Then he spotted one standard helicopter waiting on a private launch pad. It didn't stand out much as a VILE helicopter, but Carmen saved the fancy stuff for only when ACME was close. Vic would have passed right by if he didn't make out the way it was positioned. "That's gotta be our ride," Vic said aloud, "stop the car, we gotta run. C'mon!"   The spindly henchman got out of the cab first and ran to the helicopter.  They weren't very late, only by five or ten minutes.

32 Emmesey-Squire Emmesey told the driver he'd be paid once the job was over, driver nodded and sped off. Emmesey chased after Vic as he ran toward the helicopter and stopped right in front of it. "I'll drive" he told Vic when he caught up. Normally he never drove or flew himself (excluding his personal motorcycles or his Giant-Robot Car) but he didn't want Vic to drive as he knew more about the job than he did the least he could do was pilot for him. As he got in the pilot's seat dug out of his pocket what appeared to be a PlayStation controller he plugged it into the dashboard. A soft female voice said "System activated, welcome back Mr. Squire." "It's good to be back." he replied. He waited till he and Vic were buckled in before he pressed the Start button which started the helicopter. "Well here we go." he thought to himself. He pressed the X button which lifted the Helicopter off the ground, then he pressed up button on the directional pad and they shot forward.

33 Patty-Larceny  Ken_U_Belevitt said: "I don't know.." Jen groaned, absently accepting the gum. 'She doesn't even know I exist' he thought to himself, then popped the gum into his mouth. It would have tasted better without the wrapper still on it. "You're sort of weird," she giggled, "like, the wrapper... it's still on the... nevermind."  Having Kenny around was sort of like having a little brother.  A paranoid one that gets jumpier than Vic in a room full of cockroaches.  They were getting closer to Hong Kong by now, and the city lights were nice to look at.  Patty liked cities. She liked the shopping, and shoplifting, but most of all, she liked big giant buildings, fancy cars, and getting her hair done at salons full of flamboyant people. "We should get you a hair cut," Patty looked at Kenny's hair, "something that'll bring out your beady green eyes."

34 Ken_U_Belevitt "I don't get haircuts." Kenny murmered. "It's a great place for a local government to slap a tracing tag on you. Not to mention all of the dead hair on the floor attracts ghostly apparitions." Ken hesitated for a minute, making a squeaking noise under his throat. "But if you like to get haircuts, I suppose they're not so bad."

35 Carmen Near harbor waters in Hong Kong, and inside a black fifth generation BMW 7 series, Carmen received word that Vic's helicopter had cleared Macau and was on its way to Hong Kong. The pilot, the spotter noted, was Emmesey Squire. "Mai nous nous dirigeons vers le port?" True to her cover, she spoke French, and the hotel had provided a French-comprehensible driver. As requested, the car approached the port, awaiting the arrival of a little blond girl and her companion for the day.

36 Vic-the-Slick Vic didn't like flying. More than flying, he didn't like being a pilot of any sort of craft. He found out during one of VILE's driving exercises that he liked to talk a lot, and when he does, he takes both his eyes and hands off the wheel. That's why he usually left the driving to someone else. "I can see the turbo jets in the harbor," Vic said to Emmesey, "betcha Patty and Ken's down there somewhere!" He looked at the game controller used to fly the plane, "Is that thing going to let us land nice? If anyone sees, don't want them to think we're impotent*." *Vic means "incompetent".

37 Patty-Larceny "Haircuts aren't bad, silly," Patty gave Kenny a nudge, "How do you keep your hair that fuzzy length if you never cut it?" The boat moved up to the landing place and Pats took her time getting up, taking Kenny's arm so he doesn't get lost when they leave.   "I think Carmen's going to send someone to pick us up," the college girl nudged her paranoid friend, "keep an eye out for something fancy and red?"

38 Emmesey-Squire  Vic-the-Slick said: "Is that thing going to let us land nice? If anyone sees, don't want them to think we're impotent*." Emmesey gave Vic a large predatory smile. "That all depends on the player. Besides,if anyone thinks we're incompentant they won't live to say it." Even though he was confident in his own flying abilities, Emmesey wished he was using one of his own crafts. "Vic I'm gonna lower it down a little, see if you can spot Patty and Ken or are we not supposed to pick them up?"

39 Ken_U_Belevitt "I just comb it in. After a while it's like working with foam rubber...." Ken took out a pair of binoculars and began to survey the area. "What about that helicopter?"

40 Vic-the-Slick Vic scanned the area for Patty and Ken, but it was almost 11 pm, too dark to see a lot.  If it weren't for Patty's bright clothes, he'd probably overlook her. "Yeahum, there's the blonde and Kenny," he snorted, "bring the bird down, ah?" To Vic, Emessey was a surprisingly good pilot, landing shouldn't be too tough. It was about here the salesman's experienced eyes spotted a black BMW with its lights on and engine running near the harbor.  He couldn't be sure, but it looked like the kind of thing Carmen would use to attract only the right sort of attention. That, and the fact that it was the only car that looked like it was ready to speed off any second. "Not to make a huge fuss," Vic tapped his pilot, "I think that's our next ride." If he knew Carmen was actually in the BMW, he might have been less calm.

41 Emmesey-Squire El Capitan nodded. He punched the appropriate combination of buttons and moved the the analog sticks till he got into the perfect landing position then he eased over to where Vic had pointed out and punched a button for the craft to land a few feet away from Patty and Ken. When the craft had landed and fully stopped El Capitan took out the controller from it's port and retracted the cord. He slipped it back into his pocket, opened the door on his side and got out. El Capitan took a moment to checkout his surroundings by bringing out and putting on his Sun-Glasses. First he used Night vision to get a better picture of things, then switched to Thermal to see if there weren't any surprises waiting for him and his cohorts. He then tried Ultra Violet and multiple Spectrum then tried Sonic Imaging. Satisfied for now he punched in commands into his wristband computer to continue scanning the area using the Global Satellite Web the people in his network had in orbit. Some might say he was being paranoid but the term Cautious was a more positive word. Plus it wouldn't do for his enemies to be able to stage an ambush for him and he walked right into it. At least not until the item was sequred.