ARRIVING

I can already see the destination in the opposite corner of this large square. Or, at least, the entrance. Most of it is underground. I see slighly worn out diagonal paths over the brick square, and they shine just a little. I can slide over them. I give it a little try. Yes, I could slide the entire way. Unfortunately, two women in front of me are on that same path. They haven't quite figured out how to do the sliding. They look backwards, see me, and move sideways to a parallel but broken up path. Okay, good.

I slide over the path and pick up speed as I go along. It feels a bit like cheating the usual physical laws, but still, I like it.

Underground, it's quite a journey through all kinds of spaces, typically with low ceilings, before I come near the core part, where it will happen. I wander into a room that I think could be the place we'd be. I see a few men at the other end, facing the wall, or actually, a huge window, onto something. Another man comes inside immediately after me, delivering something to the men at the other side. I already decided that I'm in the wrong spot. While leaving, having my my back turned, I overhear one of the men say "you brought a Maroccan?" What could he mean by that? Was he referring to me? Interesting, but do I look Moroccan? I don't think so. Various other ideas go through my head, why they would refer to me as a Maroccan, but they all remain guesses.

THE BOOK

Another door leads to the bar. Well, finally! I sat down immediately to the left, at a table. The counter is a bit further along. The bar has somewhat of a subtle U shape, and I'm hiding in one of the stumps. I've started reading a book, which gives a lot of background of this location underground. The beginning 20-30 pages seems a bit dry. I flip forward, until I reach the part that describes the room I was just in. It says that this room is well guarded, because it sits at the midpoint to the other half. The window is well guarded, and everyone who manages to get through and look through that window, will be killed.

That makes that other half quite interesting! What's so special about it? Also, having just been there, those guys seemed quite relaxed that I wandered in. Nothing gave me the impression that they might attack me because of that window.

I browse further along. The book contains a variety of different stories, about the location, but also stories about the people who were here, or perhaps still are associated with this place. It's quite the enjoyable book.

I've moved to the other stump of the U. From here I have a great view on a lower side room, the entrance hall just before the bar, and of course the entire bar itself. I've gotten to a part in the book that introduces square roots, spending pages on solving them. I never learned how to manually solve square roots, so I'm fine with just skipping to the solution. The equations themselves seem to be out calculating various scenarios of how the oxygyn in a room gets used up. That's a bit brutal. And it is about the very bar I'm sitting in right now. I don't think that such calculations require square roots.

Meanwhile I see that one of my companions has arrived in that lower room to my right side. She's meeting up with a squad of women, all delegates of - I don't know what. The delegates are nicely dressed up, somewhat formal. They all lined up, as she walks by and gives each one a hand. It's quite interesting and I'm a little jealous that she already has a role to play. I like her too, we met before. My (dream) girlfriend is around too, but not playing a role at the location itself. I wonder what kind of project my companion has going on with the delegates. It can't be related to the heist type of thing we prepared for here.

I glance back at the book. More pages with square roots.

The guys, my friends, come in. I see them in the hallway. They draw quite some attention to themselves. Strange. This is supposed to be a discrete heist. I decide that I should pretend not to know them. They don't notice me, or pretend not to notice me.

Back to the book, the chapter with the squares reaches an end. It now, just to be overly clear, shows drawings of people suffocating, and the estimated times for that. Well. Should I be worried? That's not going to happen with anything I'm part of. This book is overly dramatic.

The guys, who went into another side room, opposite the bar's counter, open the door and call out. "Miss Leclaire!? The Show Must Go On". On my right, in the lower room, I see her looking up. She's starting to move to them, which is going to take a little while, as there's no direct access from here to there.

So, okay, when do I get something to do?