Nebular's voice hummed in his ear. "Alright, I've got the coordinates. Take a left up ahead and stay low."
Nox smirked, stuffing the sheet back into his coat as he stood up and started walking. "Relax, Neb. Weve got all the time in the world."
He moved through the thinning evening crowd, slipping between dimly lit alleyways. The smell of old metal and frying oil clung to the air.
"You're about three blocks away," Nebular reported. "Target's living in a small flat above an Electro-repair shop. Place has a security cam at the entrance—try not to wave at it."
Nox exhaled. "Always these security cams. Wait, can you hack or take them over? That would be big!"
"I could," Nebular mused, "but that would leave a trace. You want sneaky or flashy?"
Nox turned a corner. "This must be it. Any blind spots on the cam?"
"There's a small gap in coverage near the side entrance," Nebular replied. "You'll have about five seconds to slip through unnoticed as it turns to the right."
Nox scanned the area as he noticed a pipe leading toward the roof of the building. "Okay, what if we climb up that pipe over there?"
"Risky, but doable—depends on your climbing skills," Nebular analyzed. "You seem quite fit, so your chances are good. I've looked over the past few weeks of footage, and it seems that Mr. Clipboard lives alone and leaves for work around 9:30 until 18:30, so he won't be home. His species is sheep, and generally, it seems like he doesn't have many friends. Poor guy. Are you having fun yet?" Nebular teased, vibrating in his pocket.
Nox grinned as he grabbed onto the pipe. "Alright, then. A lonely sheep with a strict schedule—makes my job easier." He tested the pipe's stability. "Let's see if my climbing skills are as good as you think, Neb."
With one leap, Nox tugged on the pipe and slowly climbed up toward the window.
Nebular hummed in his ear. "Steady now. Wouldn't want you to make a dramatic entrance through the wrong window."
Nox gritted his teeth as his fingers slipped slightly against the grimy pipe. A layer of oil and dust coated the metal, making each pull a bit harder than expected. His boots scraped against the wall as he adjusted his grip, forcing himself upward inch by inch.
"just – a bit more…," Nox muttered, tightening his hold and pushing himself up until he finally reached the window ledge. With one last heave, he swung himself onto it, pressing his back against the wall to catch his breath.
"There we go."
He pulled out a small picklock from his coat. "This will do the job."
Nebular flickered. "Classic."
Nox smirked, sliding the picklock into the keyhole. "This is the easy part Neb."
With a few precise twists, he felt the mechanism shift. Nox stepped inside, carefully closing the window behind him.
His eyes scanned the room—papers scattered across the floor, some crumpled, others neatly stacked. The overstuffed cupboard in the corner barely held its contents, labeled by days, weeks, and months.
"Looks like Mr. Clipboard takes his work home," Nebular mused.
Nox smirked, stepping over a pile of reports. "Yeah, and by the looks of it, he doesn't take much else."
His gaze landed on the small bed near the window, a few potted plants beside it, the only sign of life in an otherwise suffocatingly organized space.
Nox took another glance at the sheet in his pocket. It was written on an old receipt from the 17.09.
"That might be the date when the health inspector came!"
Nebular vibrated in his pocket. "Good catch. That means whatever he wrote down that day is probably in here somewhere."
Nox tucked the receipt back into his pocket and scanned the overflowing cupboard. "Alright, let's find the right sheet before I drown in paperwork here."
He stepped closer, eyes darting over the labeled stacks, searching for anything marked with that date until he found it.
Nebular hummed. "Nice work. Now revise it and get out of here."
Nox carefully pulled the clipboard from the mess, flipping through the sheets until he crossed Chuck's "Crispy Crib."
His eyes scanned the violations marked in red. "Alright, let's make some adjustments."
Nox raised an eyebrow. "Oh damn, I can't just overwrite that. Neb, connect to the printer there. I'll scan the document, just print it without all these uh, little extras, okay?"
"Fine, give me a second."
Nox quickly moved to the small, dust-covered printer in the corner.
"Alright, I've got the scan. Printing a 'clean' version now—no glowing mystery sauces included. A shame to lose that piece of culture, right Nox?"
The printer sputtered to life, slowly spitting out an identical sheet—minus the damning violations.
Nox smirked as he read through the list, shaking his head at some of the absurd violations.
Health Violations – 17.09 – Chucks Crib -
Excessive grease buildup on cooking surfaces , got changed in→ Authentic seasoning method in progress.
Improper food storage temperatures , is now under→ Innovative temperature experimentation for enhanced flavors.
Employee failed to wear gloves while handling food , now says→ Traditional hands-on cooking approach, heritage technique.
Suspiciously high amount of stray animal visitors , reads → Community outreach program for local wildlife.
Unidentified glowing substance near fryer, edited to → Special house sauce undergoing secret fermentation.
"Perfect, that will do the job."
He slowly ripped out the old violation sheet . "Might be useful later!"
"Always thinking ahead, huh?" Nebular mused.
Nox smirked, tucking the original sheet into his coat. "You never know when some dirt on a bureaucrat might come in handy."
He carefully placed the newly printed version back onto the clipboard and slid it into the stack.
"Alright, mission accomplished. Time to disappear before Mr. Clipboard clocks out of work."
Nox glanced out the window spotting a problem "Weve got a problem with plan a – looks like the store below has opened and people are down there I don't know what they are gonna say about our little circus number climbing down there. Ive got a plan b."
Nebular processed for a moment "Understood. Calculating alternate exit routes. Plan B"
Before Nebular could finish her sentence he casually opened the door of the apartment and walked down the staircase, even crossing someone on his way down.
"Good day, mister," Nox calmly said as he walked by.
The older man barely glanced at Nox, grumbling a distracted, "Yeah, yeah, you too," before continuing up the stairs.
"or just go out the front door…" Nebular murmured. "Let's just hope he doesn't have a photographic memory."
Nox chuckled under his breath. "Please, Neb, I'm just another forgettable face in the crowd."
As Nox walked out the main entrance, he glanced at the security camera that just swiped over him. He tilted his head, smiled at it, and waved, after he calmly fused back with the crowd.
"Sorry, Neb. Force of habit. Haha."
"Unbelievable," Nebular sighed. "You just had to say hello, didn't you?"
Nox grinned, hands tucked into his coat pockets. "What can I say? Gotta keep up appearances."
"Right. Let's just hope they don't review that footage anytime soon," Nebular muttered. "Now, back to Chuck before you get any more 'habits' that might get us caught."
"Nebular, you gotta relax a little. There is nothing more unsuspicious than someone smiling and waving at a camera. We all did that once or twice before. And with no questions asked, there won't be someone reviewing that footage anyway."
"Alright, fine," Nebular conceded. "Fact-checking now... there we go. Security footage from this building auto-deletes after 78 hours unless manually flagged. So, unless someone has a reason to check it, you're in the clear."
Nox smirked. "See? No need to panic. Just another face in the crowd. Let's get back to Chuck, I'm dying of hunger."
"Hmm, I can already taste the dumplings," Nox grinned, picking up his pace.
"You really want to eat there after you've seen all the health violations?" Nebular asked, her tone skeptical.
Nox turned a corner in to an empty street and squeezed through a small wooden fence. "Of course. After all, these things just add up on the flavor."
"Right. Because a 'hint of grease buildup' and 'mystery sauce' really enhance the experience," Nebular added…