Skar: Twenty

Skar: Nineteen

[SP] every time you kill someone, their fatal wound shows up as a scar on your body.

*****

In retrospect, as the production van got past the security, I realized that first blood; was a bit of a misleading term to describe what I was doing. Yes, this was an offensive – or at least it could be classified as one, but the most important thing here was that I obtain as much information as possible without leaving so much of a trace. Any opportunities to hit Prescott would come depending on how well I handled this small mission. And knowing that time wasn’t a resource at my disposal, I knew I had to act fast and get it right, mistakes had the potential to be fatal.

And for that reason, I had packed the latest cutting edge technology I would use for the mission, I had no idea exactly what fortifications and tech Prescott had rigged all over his house, but for someone who put a lot of pride in his money – of which he had a lot - and had a lot to hide, I knew he would go all out on that stuff. And me? I could only compete with what I had in terms of money and connections, as well as experience. He had a lot of things at his disposal, but unlike him, I was right in the center of things. That was an advantage I intended to utilize.

As we began filming, a lot of people came out of their homes, eager to see the movie being recorded, the movie scene, and of course, the award-winning actors. Of course, the cast was quite star-studded, but then I was completely uninterested in the glitz and the glam as a person. Box-office, blockbusters, Hollywood, and all that didn’t concern me, so maybe I was looking a bit out of place as the only one who wasn’t trying to sneak or beg for a selfie with any of the actors and actresses.

As we approached Pickett Street, I began to look for the best way to quickly escape the area. We had been filming without any breaks or cuts, and if this was the pace they had set for the whole shoot, then we would be in and out without a chance for me to do what I needed to do. How the hell was I supposed to break into the house, or even do anything at all, if they were going to do things that way? I then realized that my best bet was to cause some sort of commotion.

But as I decided to plan that out, just as we entered Pickett Street, the production manager decided that we all took a fifteen-minute break. It was the middle of summer, and it was getting hot, so she decided it would be a good idea for us to all take a twenty-minute break.

Twenty minutes felt like all the time in the world for me to do what I set out to do and get out of there. As soon as the van stopped, everyone hopped out to do one thing or the other – actually, mostly to go and suck up to the actors and actresses so they could get a ‘pic for the gram’.

“Shallow and stupid,” I thought as I put on the grey wig and grey mustache. I took off my clothes, changed into a shirt and tennis shorts, wearing the pouch that gave me a bit of a belly. Adjusting my gait, I tucked the shirt in and put on a pair of reflective shades. My pouch contained all I needed, and being under my shirt, its shape made it seem like it was part of my belly. I then put on the “I ❤ JERUSALEM” cap which completed my whole ensemble.

A senior citizen taking a walk for those who saw me. Thanks to the tech on me, the security cameras would continue to replay the last recorded scene before they were hit by the electromagnetic field of my signal jammer. In other words, neither a security camera nor scanner or sensor of any sort would detect my presence.

I carefully disembarked the van, unnoticed by the throng of the crew and ordinary estate residents surrounding the actors and actresses. Crossing the road while watching security put the whole thing in order, I allowed my special x-ray glasses to scan the lawn of 21 Pickett Drive as I walked into it. There were a few bugs and pressure sensors here and there, and I avoided them as I made my way to the back.

As I hoped, there was an open window there, I whipped out my phone and set it up before producing the pad-shaped remote control and six bugs. Bugs in the shape of spiders, small but just big enough to carry a camera and audio devices. It was just the level of cutting-edge technology for the job, and I was glad I invested in about 36 of these. They were solar-powered, meaning that I had to position them in corners where they would get some light.

I didn’t see that as a challenge, and I activated them and put them all through the window. That concluded the easy part. The hard part was now using this joystick to control them until they reached a nice location where they’d go unnoticed and still be able to record well.

And I now had thirteen minutes to do this and change.

*****

TO BE CONTINUED.

Thanks for Reading.