The Briefing (pt. 3)

"Please, put them on!" He urged them giddily, a halfway deranged smile taking over his face. His pale skin flushed and his whole face turned pink. Joanette knew that look. That was the look of a mad genius hiding destructive secrets. Seeing that could only make her curious as to what the spectacles in her hand contained.

Unfolding them, her eyes immediately caught sight of the difference in texture on the legs of the glasses, compared to the glossy and smooth texture on the outside frame of the glasses. The change was so minute it was hard to catch, but she had been using Skade's gadgets for a long time, and this was nothing new to her.

The frame sat snugly on her face, which was to be expected because they were made for her. What surprised Joanette was that the lenses were actually magnifying, but not to the extent where they would harm her healthy eyesight.

"They're voice activated. If anyone were to try and activate these gadgets other than you, the system would lock down and begin to transfer all the data recorded to your Agency profile cloud. After that, there is a ten minute waiting period to determine mistakes. If someone tries to active it a second time within those ten minutes, the system will begin to shut down and back up the newly transferred documents in your cloud profile. After ten minutes, if someone tries to activate it a third time, the system will delete the the files on the spectacles and erase any trace connection or evidence that will link them as spyware from The Agency, rendering them ordinary spectacles."

Joanette, Ken, and Alistair were staring silently at Skade with tentative looks on their faces. The engineer was almost out of breath, and his hair had somehow gotten even more disheveled, even though it hadn't been touched by anyone. Everyone knew he was a passionate man with many secret projects that only he was privy to, but the elaborate level of these eyewear pieces was beyond what anyone would've imagined he would do. Spy glasses weren't new, but connected to the cloud? That was new.

"What else?" Ken wondered, staring at his contacts wearily. He was kind of scared to put that much technology directly onto his eyeball.

"I'm glad you asked," Skade clapped his hands in glee, turning around in a single hop to grab two Rolexes. "These are pairing devices. They have a tracker in them that only you two can see to monitor each other's whereabouts. The interface of the watch seems normal, but they have been modified to act as smart watches. When activated in stealth mode, they will connect to your eyewear and you will be able to see and hear each other. When your eyewear is not in range, the watch will monitor your heart rate to detect signs of stress and send an alarm to the other."

"Like spywear fitbits?" Joanette inquired curiously, holding the Rolex in her hands. They seemed like regular watches, but they were milligrams heavier than the Rolexes she had in her closet. A difference in the way the second hand ticked also confirmed that there was a secret compartment in it somewhere. She would have to figure it out once she went back home.

"Precisely. I do suggest you synchronise them with your eyewear today, since you—"

Ken snapped his eyes up at Skade, who was looking down at the ground guiltily. Alistair was giving him a murderous look. "Wait, since we what?"

Nobody said anything. Joanette and Ken looked at each other with annoyed expressions. Of course Alistair was hiding something.

"What's happening? What are you hiding?" Joanette places her hands on her hips sternly. Her father was beginning to get on her nerves. She never placed her hands on her hips as much as she did whenever she was in his presence. That stance, along with the left leg drawn slightly backwards, was a sign that she wanted to jump at his throat and possibly put him in a coma. Were all parents so stressful? Joanette swore he was sucking the energy out of her. If she didn't get out of his area range soon, she would start to develop stress lines.

"You guys are set to leave in two days," Alistair placed his hands in his pockets and looked up to the sky, weary of the way his daughter was sure to raise hell.

"In two d— oh my god," the woman placed a hand on her forehead and turned her back on the group. She couldn't look at him. If she so much as laid eyes on his aura, she would strangle him. Two days wasn't even enough for her to pack a suitcase, much less get her supermodel life in order, create a cover for her possible long-term disappearance, and pick out the rest of the gadgets she would take with her.

"Does it hurt you to give us advanced warnings, Mr Bordeaux?" Ken sounded calm, but Joanette could tell that he was angry.

"I'm sorry but this was a last minute case, and there's no pair I trust in The Agency more than you two. Everything about this is highly classified, and if the leek three's so much as even got a whiff of what's happening here, the entire situation would be jeopardised."

"You say that every fucking time," The room chilled along with Joanette's voice. Ken even felt goosebumps. "Let's go," she grabbed Ken's hand and began to lead him out of the arsenal. Skade only looked at his boss and smirked.

"You're really in the dog house this time, Overlord," the Dane laughed to himself as he walked away and left Alistair to his own devices.

The head of The Agency felt mild levels of stress beginning to rise, and he took a deep breath. The masks sat on the table, the empty eye holes staring at him intently. There was nothing he could do now. He knew his daughter would forgive him eventually. When the time came, they would have their disguises and gadgets delivered to them. Everything would continue as planned. It had to.