The five of us stood around the projected schematics, the glowing lines painting our shadowy Raiment in an eerie blue light.
The carefree teenagers were gone, replaced by soldiers preparing for a war they hadn't chosen but were determined to win.
"Julian Thorne isn't just the Mayor's brother," Maya began, her voice a low, steady current in the vast, silent space. She had become our spymaster, our intelligence director, and she wore the role like a second skin.
"His company, 'Thorne Security Solutions,' is a fortress. The building is a marvel of paranoia. Reinforced walls, biometric scanners at every checkpoint, and a private security force of ex-Guild sidekicks who couldn't make it in the big leagues but are still dangerously competent."
She gestured, and the schematic zoomed in on a sub-basement level.
"The vault. It's a self-contained unit, physically air-gapped from the building's main network. Lead-lined, pressure-sensitive floors, audio sensors… it's designed to withstand a direct assault from a B-rank hero."
"So a frontal assault is out," Jake muttered, cracking his knuckles.
The eagerness for a brawl was still there, but it was now tempered by a grim understanding of the stakes.
"A frontal assault was never the plan," Mark interjected, his own projection appearing next to Maya's—a dizzying web of code and network pathways.
"Their digital security is military-grade. Breaching the primary network is impossible. But Thorne has the same arrogance as every other corporate titan in this city.
He spent millions on the vault's security, but he connected its environmental controls—the temperature and humidity regulators—to the same cheap, secondary network that runs the building's lighting.
It's a pinhole vulnerability in a mountain of steel. It's our only way in."
This was the new dynamic of our team. Maya provided the physical reality, Mark provided the digital one. They were the two halves of our operational brain.
"Thorne is also hosting his weekly 'gentlemen's poker night' on the night we've selected," Maya added, a look of profound disgust on her face as she highlighted the penthouse suite.
"The guest list is a who's who of the city's corrupt elite: three city council members, two high-ranking Guild officials, and a handful of corporate CEOs. They'll be in one room, a convenient collection of targets."
I listened, processing the information, the pieces of a new, terrifyingly audacious plan clicking into place. My previous missions were clever pranks in comparison.
This would be a declaration of war. It was time to stop being a ghost. It was time for the Evil Villainess to make a public appearance.
I held up a hand, and the team fell silent. I didn't use my datapad. I used my voice, the layered, resonant echo filling the warehouse, giving my words the weight of a decree.
"We will not sneak in. We will not be subtle. We will walk through the front door and announce our presence to the entire city."
They stared at me, their shock palpable.
"This is not just a heist," I explained, my voice cold and steady.
"This is a performance. The city thinks we are monsters who steal children. We will show them what kind of monsters we truly are. We will become armed robbers. We will become hostage-takers."
I laid out the plan, each phase a step deeper into the abyss.
"Phase One: Infiltration. Oracle, Ghost. You will go in during the day. Disguised as IT maintenance. Your objective is to plant a physical access device on the secondary network. You will be our eyes and ears inside their system."
Mark and Leo exchanged a look, a silent acknowledgment of the trust I was placing in them.
"Phase Two: The Takeover," I continued, my gaze shifting to Jake.
"Havoc, you and I will make our entrance at night, once Thorne's party is in full swing. We will be loud. We will be terrifying. We will take every person in that lobby and in that penthouse suite as our hostage. We will lock the building down."
Jake's eyes widened, a slow, dangerous grin spreading across his face. This was the fight he had been waiting for.
"They will send heroes," Maya stated, her voice practical. "They will send the police. They'll surround the building."
"Exactly," I confirmed. "We want them there. We want the entire city watching. Which brings us to Phase Three: The Deterrent."
I opened the System Store, my VP balance a healthy 650. I navigated to the 'Tactical Gear' section.
[Item: 'Intimidator' Bomb Props (Set of 5)]
Description: A set of five visually identical, non-functional explosive devices. Feature realistic casings, complex wiring, and a digital countdown timer that can be controlled remotely by the Host.
Emits a low-level, harmless energy signature designed to fool basic bomb-sniffing equipment.
Cost: 200 VP
I made the purchase.
"I will announce that the building is rigged with explosives, linked to my vital signs. If they try to breach the building, if they try to harm me, the bombs will detonate.
The threat of civilian casualties will paralyse them. They will be forced to wait. To listen."
"You're bluffing," Leo whispered, a note of awe in his voice.
"A villain's greatest weapon is the perception of her power," I replied.
"Phase Four: The Vault. While the world watches the hostage crisis upstairs, Oracle will use his access to the environmental controls. You will crank the humidity in the vault's chamber, forcing the air-gapped system to trigger a manual maintenance override.
Ghost, you will use that window to bypass the internal lock and empty the vault. Havoc and I will keep their attention focused on us."
The final piece was the narrative.
"Maya. This entire operation is for an audience. I need you to control what they see. I will be feeding you exclusive, internal footage from our operation.
You will edit it. You will package it. And you will leak it to a single, specific source."
I projected a new profile onto the screen. A young, determined woman with intelligent eyes. Anya, the newest investigative reporter at V-Net.
"This reporter," I explained.
"She is hungry. Her network is anti-establishment. While every other news channel is showing the police cordon and the terrified faces of the hostages, V-Net will be showing our side.
They will ask the questions no one else will.
'Why did the Villainess target the Mayor's brother?' 'Where did a private security consultant get eight million credits in untaxed cash?' We will not let them frame us this time. We will write the story ourselves."
"Are you sure?" Maya asked, frowning.
"Yes." Because I knew who that woman was.
The plan was laid bare, audacious and terrifyingly complex. We were no longer just pushing back against the system. We were holding a gun to its head.
I looked at each of them, my shadowy gaze lingering on their masked faces.
"This is our most dangerous mission. The risk of failure is absolute. But the world has branded us villains. It is time we started acting like it."
No one spoke. But in the determined set of their shoulders, in the fierce light in their eyes, I had my answer. They were ready.
The city wanted a show. We were about to give them the performance of a lifetime.