Jonathan's Ten Millions

Luckily for Jonathan, there were twenty-four hours convenience stores in the Atlas! Jonathan was somewhat surprised by this fact - but it was certainly for the best.

Of course, perhaps Jonathan would have been much better off formalizing the final list of required purchases and buying his items in one purchase, rather than rushing headlong into the first convenient store that he came across. Never mind the fact that buying such strange items in such a public place could rise an eyebrow or two, he was that desperate.

Jonathan understood that every second of his delay had consequences. Consequences that he won't be the one paying.

Cinder was tortured, maybe not daily - but regularly. Every day, every moment, Jonathan spent in idle thoughts and preparations could turn into a new round of torture for Cinder.

Jonathan was not going to hesitate.

Therefore, finding a fast and good enough round-the-clock supermarket, in which Jonathan found without any problems everything he needed, he plunged ahead.

A small knife, glasses, a set of trash bags - and other things necessary to rob a bank - for Jonathan anyway after saying goodbye to a hundred liens from his pockets later - Jonathan sighed.

Buying all sorts of office supplies was the easiest of all the steps in Jonathan's plan.

The next step was buying the Dust.

Tass was surprisingly cheap in this world. And, even though Jonathan needed a fair amount of tass, with which he planned to be extremely wasteful with - Jonathan's money was more than enough for such a spending spree.

Jonathan was still surprised that people in this world can just buy tass, but at the moment, unfortunately for Jonathan himself, he had more important concerns.

Purchasing the Dust he needed, turned out to take a slightly longer time than Jonathan expected, since finding a 24-hour Dust store was a bit more difficult. But luckily and to Jonathan's unending surprise - such a service was available in Atlas.

Furthermore, there was no extra charge for the Dust... However, only because the tass store belonged to the Schnee... Like, apparently, all the Dust stores in the Atlas.

Not that Jonathan cared about the local monopoly of Dust, of course.

Finding his target was the next step for Jonathan. For the bank robbery that is.

Shaking his bag full of various miscellaneous materials, which would be useful to him in the subsequent robbery of the bank. Jonathan was still a bit mystified that casing a bank would one day become his goal.

Shaking his head, Jonathan began searching for the appropriate bank to rob.

A bank robbery - especially the one Jonathan had in mind - had to be done under certain very stringent conditions.

First, Jonathan could not steal intangible money, so he needed to find a bank with a vault containing cash bills... Or, um... What were the names of the plastic lien squares in this world? Tautologically speaking, banknotes could consist of plastic...

Either way, Jonathan needed a bank with an available vault filled with cash. Also - it was necessary that this storage has strong lockable doors and thick walls… the stronger, the better. A requirement, however, that was not particularly stringent, since, one way or another, any bank vault had to have a similar level of protection.

Lastly, the security system. Any bank clearly had a security system - but Jonathan needed that security system to be effective.

In other words Jonathan needed to find the most secured bank there is.

Maybe um… Jonathan looked around. This is much harder than they make it seem in the movies.

Of course, the movies usually lied about the presence of security laser beams and such in bank safes, people still need to enter and exit after all. A commercial bank usually needs regular access to their vaults so a too stringent security measure is usually a detriment.

But in this world there was a working robotic security, and most of the local technologies used tass in one way or another. An energy source which could, after being used, strike with electricity or create fire. Jonathan did not particularly want to suddenly find himself cut into pieces by a laser cutter that appeared out of nowhere. And oh, a so Technocrat favorite, one that he needs to be prepared for nonetheless.

Robbing a bank in an unknown new world suddenly seemed like a very bad idea to Jonathan.

But, there's no other choice, so he only pulled his cloak, rushing further along the roads of Atlas, trying his best not to meet the gaze of the rare passers-by this late into the night and the various robotic patrols.

In any case, the bank robbery Jonathan planned was something he could only pull off during the day, and only during the bank working hours.

Not because the light of the local moon threw him off or something that esoteric. It was simply because Jonathan was well aware of how significant of an event a bank robbery was.

It will most likely make it to the front page of local newspapers... Or the main Atlas TV report.

And Jonathan really needed to be on the front page for this to work.

Without his face and any specific references to himself of course, Jonathan was not that stupid, but… In the event of a bank robbery - especially the one that Jonathan had in mind - the police will definitely be on the lookout for any possible suspects. So, Jonathan has to be especially stealthy since his lack of identity would definitely be a great big red flag.

Though the Bank employees would be the first suspects if he were to be 'too' successful in hiding his identity. And Jonathan did not want one of the bank workers' to be charged with what Jonathan did.

He had already done too many things that he was uncomfortable with, he didn't want to also become guilty of the unfortunate bank employee's jail term.

Anyway, the next few days are going to be uncomfortable no matter what happens.

Jonathan sighed again.

No more second guessing. Only forward.

***

The nearest bank Jonathan found that would work, of course, was not open round the clock. Not that Jonathan was looking for one that does.

Now, the first part of the plan is to locate if there are any surveillance cameras nearby. It didn't take Jonathan a few seconds to do, the bank's outdoor cameras weren't hidden. Good.

The next step is to find the nearest manhole, one that is not in sight of the cameras, and also where a bystander wouldn't see him. This was found within walking distance, which was also good.

Putting his bag full of various things on the ground, Jonathan took out a crowbar for testing. After making sure that there's no one around, he tried to pry the manhole cover, and tried to move the heavy lid. It turned out to be much more difficult to try than Jonathan initially thought, and only after several attempts, did he manage to move the lid from its place.

Jonathan is then presented with a view of the deep darkness, which immediately threw out a very unagreeable smell. What a surprise, a sewer not smelling like roses.

Jonathan's breakfast almost exited, digested food trying to rise to his throat before he forcefully swallowed it back.

Excellent. He didn't want his plan to fail at the very last stage because of some trifle such as a sewer hatch that did not budge.

As Jonathan nodded to himself, he turned to his bag, and pulled out the penknife. Sighing as his hands felt like ice as he removed his gloves for a second. Concentrating all his Will, his Quinta Essentia, Jonathan then cut the palm of his hand with one swift movement.

Blood quickly started spilling from the wound, causing Jonathan to hiss in pain. He waits for the wound to bleed sufficiently before putting the knife back in his bag and pulling out a small vial of Dust.

His blood is the same quintessence, the same tass that carries power. Shedding his blood, full of quintessence, he appeals to the world of Quinta Essentia, his Will. Shedding your blood with your own hands is an act of Will, it is a manifestation of your resolve to the world.

And his Will is his Quinta Essentia. His blood is his Quinta Essentia.

A moment later, his blood mixed with the Dust scattered on his hand, the quintessence is mixed with Quinta Essentia, erasing the border between Will and Prime. Ars Potentiae, for Will is the unification of everything and the beginning of everything, as the quintessence is the beginning and end of everything.

Kneeling down, Jonathan with his bloody left hand, Aer's hand, quickly drew a small pentagram on the manhole cover. He then put his hand, still stained with tass just below the pentagram, leaving a bloody imprint on the hatch as his signature. His job done, he slowly waits until the remains of tass, whose power he had used, slowly begin to fade.

After another moment, Jonathan exhaled. The ritual had been successful. Mixing his blood with quintessence, he used his power, his personal seal on this hatch.

It is like the ritual of people becoming blood brothers. By exchanging their blood, two people that have no patrilineal relationship with another, symbolically become brothers by blood.

So in a ritual, Jonathan donated his blood to a household item, and created a bond by taking for himself a part of its constituent, ordinary road dust and quite a bit of stone chips, chipped from the hatch itself. Thereby formally exchanging 'blood' between himself - and an object that had no blood. In a sense the manhole cover and Jonathan were now linked.

Furthermore, since the tass and blood were one at that moment, the drops of Dust that fell on the hatch also became linked. At the same time, by leaving his own seal, his bloody palm, his personal signature, Jonathan had ritualistically turned the hatch into his property.

And since his property was mixed with his blood, giving its 'blood' in exchange, it also meant that this property has become a part of his body.

Jonathan grimaced slightly at the remains of dust and other debris on his wounded palm as he stood up. The stinging pain caused him to suck in a breath of pain. Jonathan quickly reached out for some sanitary napkins in his bag, immediately trying to wipe the dirt off his palm, as the small cut in his palm slowly stopped bleeding.

This step was important in many ways. In particular, teleporting to a 'part' of your body, albeit separate from the body itself, was much easier than just teleporting to the marked sewer hatch.

Of course, other magicians might say that such a level of preparation was excessive. He was a foolish mage. None of the magicians of the Order of Hermes and absolutely none of the bani Bonisagus would say such a foolish thing.

The Magicians of the Order knew that magic does not tolerate even the smallest neglect. They know that there's no such thing as being 'over-prepared'

After another moment, Jonathan hooked up the hatch with a crowbar, and then turned it over, hiding his bloody marks from a possible bystander. No need to make them start worrying over a bloody cult or some such nonsense.

Jonathan then looked at his bloody and dirty palm. "I'll have to handle it later," Jonathan sighed and looked around him.

It seems that he can take the next step only in the morning, when the bank is open… Sighing, Jonathan yawned when he looked at just how late it was at the clock on the bank.

Almost four in the morning...

A bank robbery was a lengthy affair. The sort of business that sometimes needed to be interrupted by sleep.

***

Cinder had a strange dream. A very, very strange dream.

In it, she had met some strange guy doing strange things, with strange feelings and strange motives… Cinder twitched in her sleep from the strange dream before freezing.

Something was wrong.

The surrounding sensations were unusual. It was too bright, unlike her room. There, there were no lights and no windows, so it was always dark. And the electricity was not running in an abandoned warehouse.

Cinder didn't try to deal with electricity, she had no knowledge and… Cinder didn't want to be electrocuted.

The sensation on her back was also unusual - almost unpleasant even. It was too soft - not like the sensation of the usual assembled sheets separating her body from the planks of the broken bed. It was not so hard, without the unpleasant torn holes...

There was a pillow under her head — not the usual folded clothes. With that last confirmation, Cinder shuddered sharply. She immediately rises from her stupor, in panic checking her surroundings.

The bed that is dirty from her clothes, which Cinder had not taken off before she fell asleep the night before. The blanket that fell from her, the pillow that she smeared with her hair, and the bedside table besides her that is empty...

"Did I accidentally sneak into an uninhabited room?" Cinder gritted her teeth. "Damn it, Miss Sunny would be... Okay, no need to panic Cinder, you just need to take off the bed linen and throw it in the pile. Say that one of the guests climbed on it in his shoes... Maybe one from Mantle? Is there anyone in the hotel from Mantle currently? Miss Sunny said the people from there had disgusting manners..."

Stopping for a moment, Cinder unexpectedly found a discarded white T-shirt lying on a chair… One that is definitely not hers.

"Is this a... rented room?!" Cinder froze from shock, if it really was a room somebody rented - then she was done for!

After another moment, Cinder heard a familiar noise. The sound of a key being turned and a lock being opened.

Cinder, purely on reflexes, fell out of the bed, and rolled under its bottom.

'Damn, the tenant, the tenant is here!' Cinder froze as she hid under the bed, trying to hold her breath.

'Damn, go away, go away, don't find me!' However, having made a step into the room, the visitor froze for a second at the entrance. He then closed the door behind him - after which, as if knowing that Cinder was in the room, he approached the bed.

"Cinder?" Cinder suddenly heard a familiar voice.

'Ha?' - Cinder blinked - 'This is the same voice... As in the dream…'

"Cinder" Cinder again heard the voice, followed by a sigh, - "You're not under the bed, by any chance are you?"

Cinder froze in horror, as if trying to grasp her situation. Dream... Her dream…

"You…" Cinder felt so strange as she questioned the voice from her dreams. "Who are you?!"

"Cinder", - the voice of the speaker sounded... A little mocking. Kind, - "Can you crawl out from under the bed, please?"

Cinder froze, the scene seemed surreal to her… not that Cinder knew what the word means.

This... This... It was just a dream! It doesn't work that way! It was just a dream!

Her torment could not have ended so easily! With a snap of your fingers - and that's it! No more problems, just salvation.

In one moment, out of nowhere like a fairy godmother making her wishes come true.

"I-I will not get out!" With her mind in disarray, Cinder tried to threaten the dream in response, but stumbled on the very first word.

"You're not real! It doesn't work that way! I'm still sleeping!" Hearing these words, the invisible observer sighed before Cinder saw through a small gap how someone - Jonathan - knelt down, then tilted his head, causing his eyes to appear in front of her face.

"All is well, Cinder." Cinder looked into such... Such... Such disgustingly understanding eyes, hear his disgustingly soothing voice… Everything is like in a dream.

"This is not a dream…" - Cinder blinked, - "You're... Real…"

"As far as one can know one's real at least." - Jonathan smiled, and then sighed, - "By the way, can you crawl out from under the bed? It's a little uncomfortable talking to you while… although, if you want to lie on the floor, I certainly do not blame you." Jonathan smiled.

His mocking smile making Cinder frown, just now realizing the stupidity of the current situation. She hurriedly crawled out from under the bed, rising from the floor at the same time as Jonathan did.

After a moment, being in front of Jonathan, Cinder involuntarily lowered her head. "Cinder, please do not lower your eyes."

Cinder shuddered, looked up at Jonathan, looking him over. The same T-shirt... Cinder could even notice a couple of wet spots on it. The same pants, the same pose, the same face, and even the same voice… it was not a dream.

"It ... Was ... Not a dream." Cinder blinked, as if she couldn't believe her eyes as she looked at Jonathan.

"As you can see, I'm as real as it can get." Jonathan smiled at Cinder kindly, after which… he petted her head. Cinder froze at the act of care, looking at Jonathan like he's an alien.

"I… t-thought… y-you… and you…" Cinder felt completely lost, without any words to describe what she's feeling. She felt like she's stupid, completely unable to pronounce even a phrase.

"Y-you're... Real... I thought…" A moment later, Cinder was pulled in and hugged with one hand, while with his other hand, Jonathan continued to stroke her head.

"Well, well... I'm real…" - Jonathan smiled, - "I promised you, didn't I."

Unable to bear her rolling emotions, Cinder again clung to Jonathan. She was holding Jonathan as if afraid that as soon as she let him go, Jonathan would suddenly disappear.

Cinder could feel her tears rushing out.

"Crybaby…" - Cinder heard Jonathan's voice... Still so stupidly kind...

"I… I… Me n-no... c... cr... crybaby…" - Cinder, continuing to sniff, rested against Jonathan's chest, through rolling tears she could squeeze out an answer.

"Of course not, Cinder", - Jonathan's voice could be heard again, his hands softly rubbing her back. "You are the strongest…"

***

Cinder pulled away from Jonathan a few minutes after she was able to calm down. But, as if fearing that he would disappear if Cinder just looked away, she did not even take a step back, wrapping her arms around Jonathan and continuing to look up at him.

"What's next?" Cinder looked at Jonathan carefully with red teary eyes. Jonathan swallowed inaudibly.

'I wonder if the old man also saw me like this when I was a child?' Jonathan sighed.

Cinder looked at him… With absolute trust. If Jonathan had told her to jump out the window right now, that she would fly, caught in the wind - Jonathan knows, that Cinder would not hesitate even for a second. She would even take a run for a better jump, and jump she would. Fully trusting that she would either grow wings or that gravity would not affect her.

If Jonathan had told Cinder to take her collar off right now… Her collar - even knowing what was coming next - she would have trusted Jonathan. He could do anything and Cinder would have believed him.

The feeling was pressing. Suffocating.

It was the heavy burden of responsibility. Jonathan has yet to even start taking responsibility for himself, he's barely an adult for god's sake! And, now unexpectedly, he needs to care for Cinder. Jonathan could feel the physical weight of his responsibility for Cinder.

Jonathan exhaled. Is this what those teenage parents he watches on the TV felt?

If until that moment he was worried that he was going to rob a bank, now all his doubts have completely disappeared.

Cinder was like a little wolf cub, a wild and distrustful wolf cub. But, humanity had made the most faithful creature on earth from a wolf through long selection and domestication.

Jonathan... Jonathan had repeated their same feat, having domesticated a wolf cub in three days. Though Jonathan feels that comparing Cinder in any way to an animal would give him some very serious burns.

And so, even if he robbed a bank, perhaps even ruining the day for several rich people, a dozen workers, and maybe someone will even incur huge losses, but...

So it is done.

His Order's motto had never sounded so close to Jonathan's heart. As he wills it to be, So it will be done.

Therefore, smiling at Cinder's forceful behavior, Jonathan tried to pry himself from the girl. Only to find himself taken into a tight grip, which Cinder did not plan to release under any circumstances. Jonathan exhaled.

"Cinder, let me go, please." Looking into his pleading eyes, Cinder frowned. But, finally, if still with great slowness, so reluctantly released her grip… But she did not even take a step back. Instead, she just stands in place, to look up into Jonathan's eyes.

"Cinder." Jonathan breathed out... Ha, what was the worst? That Cinder would believe absolutely everything that Jonathan tells her. Or that Jonathan knows how much power he had over Cinder? "You still want to go with me ? I can…"

"Yes!" - In a threatening gesture, as if preparing to grab Jonathan and gag him if he even tries to say something about an orphanage, Cinder raised her hands, interrupting his words. "I will leave only with you!"

"Okay." Jonathan sighed and smiled at Cinder. He then laid out his plans. "I... I'll take you away from this hotel and take off your... That pendant. But it will take me... at least several days to prepare. I'm not sure how long it would take, but I think... at the most by the end of the week everything will be ready."

Cinder nodded attentively and very seriously to Jonathan's utterance, catching every word.

Jonathan almost flinched at how attentively and seriously Cinder listened to him.

She was ready for anything. Why? Because Jonathan said so. Jonathan was the first, the ONLY person who treated Cinder well, that helped Cinder. So she will do anything for Jonathan.

Jonathan was almost physically ill from the realization of how high the stake was at the moment. At just how important his actions were to Cinder. Only the realization that he was responsible for Cinder kept him from shuddering, forcing him to continue talking.

"So before that, I need you not to draw attention to yourself,", - Jonathan sighed, - "Avoid any pun…" Jonathan stumbled on that word before continuing. "Punishments by all means, don't draw attention to yourself. I... I need to prepare a base where we can stay at and... lastly don't tell anyone about me and…"

Jonathan hesitated continuing on, noticing just how Cinder was nodding in time with not even the words - but every letter he uttered. She followed every movement of Jonathan's face with her eyes. She was transfixed.

Jonathan swallowed his saliva as he looked at Cinder before finishing his sentence. "And good luck."

"Good luck!" Cinder immediately replied seriously...

And there was nothing else, no tears, no hysterics, no denial... Nothing.

As if it was Jonathan that was taking the risks now, as if he needed Cinder's luck. As if it was not Cinder herself that is carrying the greatest risk, even with that damn collar around her neck.

"Oh, that's right, the carpet! I almost forgot!" - Cinder exclaimed suddenly. She didn't even flinch at the thought of what Miss Sunny would do to her.

She was just surprised that she forgot about such a trifle.

"I need to hurry!" - Cinder then unexpectedly with all seriousness nodded to Jonathan, taking on faith that his plan will succeed. "I must not attract any attention!"

Then, almost jumping up and down with excitement, she rushed out of the room.

Jonathan, left alone with himself, swallowed the lump that rose from his stomach. Cinder… Responsibility pressed on Jonathan with such force that he could only grit his teeth so as not to turn his stomach inside out.

But… Jonathan chuckled so sadly to himself, now he was sure…

He will clean the bank vault to the last speck of dust.

***

The next day, two p.m in the afternoon. Jonathan was sitting in the lobby of the bank, with several sheets of paper, scissors, and a marker in his hands. Luckily for him, none of the robots present took any notice of Jonathan's strange behavior. Nor is there anyone trying to kick him out of the place. And whatever the guards were doing now, they clearly considered the lone teenager sitting peacefully in the bank lobby as not something to pay attention to.

Okay, it's time.

Jonathan felt herds of goosebumps galloping through his body, nervous thoughts swarming in his head like a hurricane. The feelings overwhelming him were so strong that Jonathan simply physically could not show them outwardly even if he wanted to. It is as if the dozens of emotional stimuli had drowned each other out, turning into white noise. But outwardly, he was calm and his demeanor was unassuming.

Okay, no need to panic, one step at a time.

Jonathan continued to slowly cut small white circles out of the sheets of paper, then marking them with the marker.

Number one, number two, number three…

Window number one, window number two, window number three ...

Bank employee number one, bank employee number two, bank employee number three...

There was the bank fire evacuation plan hanging in front of Jonathan.

Okay, time to do this.

Jonathan tugged at his cloak a little, all the while drawing the floor plan on a new sheet of paper before spreading the circles in place.

People, they were representing people.

Glancing at the workers at their desks, Jonathan sighed, placing the mugs in their supposed places.

Number one, number two, number three...

Then he sighed, he needed more power. Unfortunately, no one was allowed to bring any Dust in the bank. And Jonathan was no exception, he did not bring any Dust with him.

Well, not in any form that anyone can find anyway.

Jonathan remembered his lessons. Although the human body could only withhold a certain amount of accumulated quintessence, that amount was enough for Jonathan.

After carefully distributing all the marks in their places, Jonathan took a deep breath.

First, he needed to determine where all the people in this bank were, he needed to do some magia. And, of course, he could not cut his hand to draw out the quintessence in his blood to do it. Not to mention the fact that his wound had just begun to heal from the night. But this did not mean that Jonathan was deprived of a way around.

After all, the blood inside Jonathan's body and the quintessence inside Jonathan's body were basically the same thing. Really, spilling blood was only needed for some ritual, Mages don't go around cutting their wrists to cast magic.

Slowly burning his quintessence, Jonathan placed his fingers on a few of the round circles marked with a simple 'v'.

Visitors.

After all, before his eyes was a ready-made layout of the location of all the people in this building, it just lacked a couple of details.

Jonathan smiled as he slowly moved the circles indicating the customers' footsteps. After all, he did not just create a layout - he created a layout that displays the position of all the people in the bank in real time.

After a moment, he picked up a few sliced ​​circles - and blew them off, letting them fall where the people who were supposed to be in this model were. After all, it was with the help of Aer, air, that he could determine their form - coordinates.

After another moment, several circles fell into place, identifying the other people in the bank. The circles slowly moved around the model of the bank, as if under the influence of an invisible wind.

The place with a lot of staff looks like the main office? The security room or an observation post? Unfortunately, the evacuation plan went without clear signs about which room was a storage room and which was responsible for the security cameras.

Next step… no wait.

Jonathan noticed one of the circles marked 's', the security guards, move towards him. Apparently, his actions had attracted the attention of one of the guards, and he had little time. Okay, he'll have to do this quickly.

A moment later, Jonathan ducked into his backpack for the control circuit diagram, also cut out before. He then picked up the old camera he bought.

As he saw the guard rounding the corner, he feigned a yawn as he picked the camera up, 'accidentally' blowing off a few more cut out icons. This time squares marked with the letter 'c', representing the security cameras.

In his hands he held a video camera, which was also marked on the diagram. Lifting that up - he imitated the position of the other camera, in fact, blurring the difference between his camera and surveillance cameras. After all, there was only one word difference between them, right?

And so Jonathan, through his camera, watched himself and the visitors in the diagram, just as the surveillance cameras should have, looking at the entire building in miniature. Naturally, it follows that he already knew the position of the surveillance cameras.

But most important of all, of course, were not the surveillance cameras themselves, some of which Jonathan had previously located. But the control element, the server that stores all information from the surveillance cameras.

But, Jonathan already knows the location where his camera information is stored. So it follows that Jonathan already knows where the surveillance camera's information is stored.

After another moment, the 'server' square fell into place on Jonathan's model, at the same time as he heard the voice of the guard. "Sir, is there something wrong?"

There was little time, so Jonathan had to act quickly - after a second, the last few icons fell on the diagram - triangles marked with the letters 'l'.

The last thing he needs is the location of the main vault. After all, he already had the layout of the staff and the surveillance cameras in the bank. In the next step, he only needed to define the most important 'element' of the entire bank.

The Vault.

"Sir?" The guard approached Jonathan exactly at the moment when a dozen small triangles landed on the model at once, - "Can I help you with something?"

"No, no, nothing." Jonathan smiled at the guard. "I just... Completely forgot to do my homework for school... I'm in High-school you see. I'm sorry, I just wanted to get out of the elements and take a break…"

"Really…" Not really believing Jonathan's words, the guard looked at him, suspiciously. "In that case, I have to ask you to stop... Your homework... The main Lobby of a bank is not the place to do that."

Jonathan exhaled slowly through his nose, smiling innocently at the guard, - "Yes, I beg your pardon, I... must have been more tired than I thought... I understand, I'll be on my way then."

"Excuse me, sir." Now, carefully looking at Jonathan, who slowly rose from his seat, the guard smiled tightly at what Jonathan was holding. "I'll help you pack your stuff…"

"Of course", - Jonathan smiled, more than okay with the guard's undisguised desire to get rid of the strange visitor of the bank.

The guard also glanced at Jonathan's strange mock up of the bank. But, as one might expect, although the final version, Ars' result looked strange, it didn't look suspicious.

After all, what is the chance that the strange guy has made a complete layout of the bank? With the various paper shapes indicating the location of the surveillance cameras, the CCTV servers, the bank employees, and where the money is kept?

Jonathan rose from his seat, smiling at the guard, then, under the man's watchful eye, walked away. He walked carefully, trying to move while not shaking the markers that have fallen in completely random places.

So with an escape plan, a marker, scissors, glue, an electrical circuit diagram, a video camera, and a little creativity…

Jonathan was ready to rob a bank.

***

Leaving the bank under the watchful eye of the security guard, Jonathan walked away to the previously marked sewer hatch.

Jonathan watched the layout marked on his makeshift map carefully. Unfortunately, since this was not an artifact, after only a few seconds, the markers stopped accurately displaying the position of objects inside the bank in real time.

The main proof being that the marker showing the position of Jonathan and his camera did not budge even when he left the bank. But apparently, none of the bank staff were currently in the vault or near the server... The likelihood of the server, security cameras or money vault would be moved in the next few minutes were… well zero really. Unless the bank is secretly a Technocrat's one, where every part of it can move to different places.

Jonathan approached the hatch, staring at it, then exhaled one last time.

That's it then, he's all prepared.

Jonathan exhaled one last time as he glanced at his layout. The model is no longer showing the real state of affairs and the placement of people, so Jonathan needed to act quickly before one of the staff entered the money vault.

He needs to act quickly and decisively.

After another moment, Jonathan took out his camera. Fortunately, there were eight cameras in the vault - and two in the server room.

Very good.

Jonathan pulled out a marker, quickly drawing a small diagram of essentially only three nodes. The camera is in the center, the server room, and the vault.

After all, his camera was already connected to the network of cameras, so it was not difficult for him to connect to the surveillance camera inside the server room.

His new diagram mirrored the diagram he had drawn a little earlier - only now his camera served as his control element, processing the signal from the surveillance camera inside the server room - taking information from that element as a control element.

And, if Jonathan was in control of the camera controls, of course he could see what the surveillance cameras saw.

He sprinkled some Dust in front of his camera, as if like a veil, changing the view in front of it, before turning into nothing, giving its quintessence to a good cause. Unfortunately, Jonathan had used all the quintessence he had stored inside the bank.

But now, not limited by the bank's security, he could afford to be wasteful.

A moment later, Jonathan's camera now displayed the view from the security camera in the server room. Jonathan grinned, then picked up a crowbar he had left nearby, which he had left here a little earlier before entering the bank, and opened the manhole cover.

After all, he could see something in front of him, which means that what he saw could not be far. And, by dropping a bag full of dust, full of tass, exactly where it would fall if he doesn't know where it would fall, it would probably drop somewhere near where he's seeing. After all, it was a completely random movement of an object into the unknown.

And, of course, the Dust inside the garbage bag might not explode, instantly splashing out into an electric storm with a force that could instantly fry an ordinary person to the bone. Coincidentally also destroying the server and any video recordings...

But Dust was full of energy. Many explosive things were full of energy. And many explosive things exploded because of fire. And among the electric dust there was a bit of fire dust mixed in. Which Jonathan, of course, had shaken up.

After all, fiery things easily created a spark when shaken.

An instant later, the bank alarm howled as an electric tornado burned out the camera controls and all surveillance footage as the server room was engulfed by an electric fiery tornado.

The picture from the security camera, broadcasted on Jonathan's camera, also disappeared - as, most likely, the camera itself...

But Jonathan's camera was also connected with the circuitry and security cameras inside the bank vault. And, although, after the destruction of the controlling element, it meant little.

After all, the surveillance camera was only an organ of vision invented by people. And the best help for an organ of vision that did not perform its function of observation, of course, was glasses.

After another moment, the glasses, covered with Dust, were in front of the camera. With a quick movement of his hand, Jonathan wiped the Dust off his glasses, revealing the possibility of seeing again. He grins at the vault of money that he could see from the eyes of the security camera.

The surveillance camera certainly didn't work anymore - but not Jonathan's. It still had a little charge.

Jonathan grabbed a few large trash bags, then grinned, and, looking at the picture in the camera, jumped into the open manhole.

After all, if he saw his goal, it was very close. And who knew where he would be the moment he jumped into an unknown place?

***

Finding himself inside the bank vault, Jonathan grinned as he saw barriers of light around and within. The walls of light separating the racks of money from each other, while also wrapping around the outside of the shelves creating a whole wall of light around the room. The wall of light preventing anyone from getting in, or leaving the crime scene.

A great way to defend against the usual ways of robbery. Even just standing in the room, Jonathan could feel the heat emanating from the hard light barriers. He definitely doesn't want to touch them.

However, Atlas really did not know how to handle teleporters at all.

An instant and a blink later, Jonathan grabbed a group of liens on the shelves sharply, pulling them with his hands, throwing the money into a trash bag.

A garbage bag that he immediately threw into another garbage bag. As if passing from hand to hand. Or, well that's what an outside observer might see.

The sewer hatch, under which now bags of garbage rested, bags full of money, was also a kind of part of his body. And what could be easier than passing a thing from one hand to the other?

Jonathan continued until he had completely cleared the shelf of banknotes, before grinning and closing his eyes, taking a step into the unknown.

He was instantly next to a new shelf, full of lien. The limitation for Jonathan, of course, was only time… Which he had a lot of, due to the fire he had created.

And the number of trash bags… And Jonathan took a lot of bags.

***

The bank hummed like a burning hornet's nest with activity. There was a lot of police activity, helping the people that were inside get out, while also securing the building. This was not surprising.

Not too long ago, an explosion inside the server room destroyed all the surveillance equipment. Someone, somehow had carried several kilograms of electrical dust and blew it up!

Naturally, there was no chance of rebuilding the sensitive electronics, not any time soon anyway.

Then came the alarm that everyone dreaded, someone was in the vault of the bank, illegally at that. However, after the surveillance system was sabotaged, this was probably to be expected. Of course, the shields of hard light activated instantly, trying to delay the intruder. But, in the general panic, this news did not give any solace to the bank staff.

Who?! How?!

Rob was having the worst day of his life. And he was already feeling kinda shitty after he had sent that strange guy out of the bank... Perhaps he had cursed the bank...

Rob, of course, did not believe in the curse of the faunus, but his grandmother told him stories... And Rob really didn't want him to turn into a frog after getting curses!

The evacuation of the personnel took place without any problems as the robots immediately cordoned the bank. After just a minute the police and other reinforcements appeared.

Rob could only pray that the culprit of all this trouble, the robber, would be caught red-handed. He watched from behind the back rows of the police cordon.

Explosions... Robbery... And all this on his shift! That guy obviously cursed him...

"Oi, mate!" Rob shuddered when he heard the address to himself, "What's going on over here?"

Rob turned around with the clear intent of swearing at someone spoiling Rob's already disgusting mood. But, instead of anyone else, his eyes stumbled upon the boy he had been thinking of just a few seconds ago. The boy who had probably cast a curse on him

He was wearing a confused look, holding his bag in his hands...

"R-robbery," Rob swallowed loudly, trying his best not to have himself cursed again.

"Oh…" The guy exhaled and looked sadly at his feet, - "It's a pity... I wanted to put money into my account…"

"D-don't", - Rob swallowed slowly, - "Better... Contact... Another branch…"

"Of course, mister", - the guy smiled, and then looked at the cordoned-off bank, inside which robots continued to enter slowly, preparing to arrest the perpetrator. "I don't think they'll let me into this bank anyway…"

"Ah-yeah", - Rob swallowed, trying desperately to wet his suddenly very dry throat. - "And... please... forgive... rudeness…"

"Hmm?" - the guy looked at Rob and smiled, - "Of course, it's no problem. You were just doing your job, please… excuse me too…"

"It's okay", - Rob smiled, looking at the slowly retreating boy.

Rob thought that he urgently needed to contact his grandmother... And ask her how to make amulets to protect from the evil curse of the fauna correctly.

That he had just spoken to the twenty-first richest man in Atlas, with a fortune of ten million liens, was something that Rob could never even imagine.