14.

  I had never understood parkour. What was so fun about running around, climbing walls, and doing little flips? That was until I hit the Paranormal PEDs. Adrenaline and excitement thundered around my body as I leapt, jumped, and scaled anything in front of me. I didn’t even bother getting the train to the bakery, I simply ran the entire way. It was like I had unlimited stamina. I just kept going and going, pushing the limit further each time. I was jumping clean across railroad tracks, leaping from buildings, scrambling up towers, and sprinting at full pelt mile after mile.

  By the time I reached the bakery I was only just about breathing heavily and a light sheen of sweat had formed on my face. I crouched on top of a fancy robotics fabrication shop, looking down into the garden of the bakery. I watched the guard walk his pattern around the perimeter of the bakery. He seemed to walk around the outside, then into the garden, into the back of the bakery and then back out to begin his loop again. It took him about five minutes to do so. That meant I had a five minute window to get in, get the donuts, and get back out again. Two more security drones buzzed by at street level and I crouched further into the shadows of the rooftop. If I was spotted lurking around by one of those I’d have way more than a guard to deal with. I watched a litterbot rolling down the street, sanitising and sweeping as it went, other than that there was no other movement. That was the thing with the Core: it was orderly and people lived their lives to proper schedules. At this time of night, on a weekday, most people would be tucked up in bed, getting their mandatory 8 hours before going back to work again in the morning.

  I surveyed the bakery and chewed on the inside of my lip. I checked my Grandad’s old analogue watch on my wrist. I had maybe 25 minutes before the potion wore off. I needed to get moving. I slunk down from the roof I was on, flitted across the street, scaled the ornate iron street lamp like a snake slithering up a tree, and leapt 10 feet onto the row of shops and tiny flats that backed onto the bakery’s garden. I lay flat against the peaked roof, and surveyed the bakery. The door was a bulky metal monstrosity with a keypad and facial recognition. There was no way I’d be able to break in that way. There were three cameras pointing down into the garden, covering every angle of approach. The windows were barred and within view of the cameras.

  I watched the guard arrive and punch in a code while standing up to the facial recognition cameras. The heavy door buzzed and unlocked. I tried to see the code but it was too dark. I considered just rushing the door behind him but that was too risky. Even though he had been a douche to me before, it didn’t mean I wanted to hurt the guard and I had a strong feeling he wasn’t the type to be frightened by an underfed teenager and desert his post.

  My eyes continued to rove around the building. Peering into the darkness, I tried to find any weakness in its defences. Seriously, why the hell did a bakery have so much security? CCTV, key pads, facial recognition, a guard, what next, motion detecting lasers? Was donut theft that big a problem in the Core? I saw the guards flashlight shining through the windows downstairs and that’s when my eyes were drawn to a large silver tube extruding from the side of the building. It went straight up over the roof like a chimney… and it looked just big enough for an underfed mageling to slide through.

  I heard the door buzz open again and the guard strolled out again. This was my chance. I stood up and took a couple of steps back and then sprinted towards the edge of the roof. I leapt like a squirrel gliding out of a tree, my outstretched hands finding the bars around the second floor window. I held on tight, my body swinging around and bumping into the building. I barely felt it. My body was as light as a sack of feathers. I pulled myself hand over hand up the side of the building, and then jumped for the roof, pulling myself up by the tips of my fingers. I looked back down to make sure none of the cameras had seen my mad leap. It seemed I had remained unnoticed, so I tiptoed across the corrugated metal roof of the building and looked down into the metal extractor pipe. It was wide enough for me… just about. But it was completely dark and I had no idea where it led to. What if it led to an oven and I got myself cooked alive?

  I checked my wristwatch again: only 20 minutes left, I didn't have time for dithering. I took a deep, steadying breath, and then hopped into the pipe. Splaying my feet against the side of the pipe, I used my hands and the soles of my boots to slide my way down. I didn't know how far it was, really, and I couldn't tell in the darkness. The last thing I wanted to do was break a leg or twist an ankle. The pipe was absolutely filthy, and dust and smoke clogged my nose. I pulled the scarf tighter around my face, stopping briefly to yank my hood up as well. Chances were, if there were that many cameras outside the place, there'd be just as many inside.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  I reached the U-bend at the bottom of the pipe without incident and then realized that the extraction pipe was covered with a grate. I pushed it gently and found it was screwed into the wall. Well, no time for subtlety then. I laid down as best as I could, raised my heavy boot, and slammed it into the grate. It took three attempts, but I finally managed to kick it in.

  Slithering out of the grate, I found myself standing precariously on a large shelf that, I'm sure, if it wasn't for the potion, would never have been able to take my weight. I crouched in the near-complete darkness and pulled my goggles down, bathing the world in a greenish tinge but showing me everything I needed to see, and perhaps more than I expected. There were cameras, two in each room by the looks of it, in the corners. But then my goggles revealed something else. There were lasers. Oh, there couldn't really be motion sensors, could there?

  The motion sensors seemed to largely be at chest height and knee height for an adult male, so that meant that as long as I stayed above them I should be fine. I looked around at the room I was in. It seemed to be the dough preparation place. There were large ovens and broad metal tables, which I assumed were used for creating the confectioneries, but this was all raw material. I needed complete donuts. I sighed, this was so stupid. Why was I even doing this? I shifted my weight and looked around.

  The lasers were at least static, but I still didn't rate my chances of getting through all of them. I carefully placed one foot in front of the other on top of the shelf and worked my way around the room, jumping over to another shelf that held a startling array of pans and knives. Careful not to cut myself or knock anything over, I worked my way around the room towards the door that I guessed led to the main shop front. Hanging like a drunken monkey from the shelves, I reached down and tried the handle, and of course, it was locked. I groaned and pulled myself back up onto the shelf, checking my watch: 16 minutes to go. I really suck at this. I licked sweat from my lips. I didn’t even know how to pick a lock, but I did have this. I reached into my pocket and withdrew a single remaining Bang Rock. When intelligence lets you down, there’s always brute force.

  I sized the Bang Rock up, and it was just small enough to jam into the keyhole of the door. Holding on to a large pipe, I dangled myself down and began working the Bang Rock into the keyhole. Once I was sure it was stuck fast, I looked around and saw a small wooden mallet. I grabbed hold of it, found my balance again, and swung the mallet. I missed the first time, which was embarrassing. I steadied myself again, placing my foot against the wall to stop me swinging so wildly about. Then I swung at it a second time. I connected, but not hard enough. I cursed under my breath, tension making my muscles twitch and my heart race.

  I reached back one last time, swung the mallet with all my might, and this time I hit the Bang Rock square in the middle. I was rewarded with a satisfying pop and a little screech of metal as the lock disintegrated and the door popped open. I can't believe that actually worked. A cocky grin spread across my face. I pulled the door open and dropped down into the vacant space, stepping through into an office. Inside was a heavy safe and, strangely, no cameras. I looked around for a moment, saw no donuts, and continued on. Fortunately, the door between the office and the shop was not locked. I pushed it open and was engulfed with the satisfying scent of baked goods.

  The shop was quite quaint, like a little patisserie in Paris or something, but I'd never really left New London, so I only had pictures and TV shows to go by. I checked my watch again: 13 minutes. Okay, just enough time to grab some donuts, get back up the chimney, and get out of here. I opened my backpack and then walked over to the glass display stand, where there were still some donuts left. I grabbed one of the boxes, folded it together, and began to indiscriminately fill it up with anything I could get my hands on. Then I stopped and filled up a second box, just in case. I didn't know what the Pigeon King's particular tastes were. I took as much as I could stuff into the boxes, taped them shut, and put them back in my bag carefully. Then I sighed with relief. I'd actually done it. Man, I was really starting to impress myself. Just then my stomach growled. Well, while I was here, why not have a snack? I hadn’t eaten since my stale bread and water breakfast. I went at the sweet treats like a condemned man having his last meal. I shovelled pastries into my face. They were soooo good! I wolfed them down, getting cream and preserves everywhere. Just as I was happily licking cream from my fingers I heard the sound of the main back door buzzing and unlocking.

  With a gurgle of my pastry filled stomach, I realized I'd failed to keep track of the guard! Now he was walking in and would see the blasted open door and probably go straight through the office into the front, where I was standing dressed from head to toe in black with a bag full of pilfered donuts.

  Well… I guess that’s what I get for being cocky.