The footsteps grew louder with every passing second. The guard was already nearing the corner in the hallway. Once there, Liam would be in plain view. With his heartbeat picking up speed, Liam prepared for the coming fight.

A final soft click echoed from the door, drawing Liam’s attention from the approaching guard. The Lock picking device went quiet, signalling the completion of its job. Perfect timing Liam thought as he silently nudged the door open. Slipping through the crack and sneaking inside. He closed the door softly just as the footsteps rounded the corner.

That was far closer than he would’ve liked. But he made it to the safe room just in time. Making a mental note to add a little more wiggle room to future plans, Liam pressed his ear to the door, waiting for the guard to pass. His deep breaths muffling sounds from outside. As Liam was running through the next steps of the plan, he realized something was wrong. Where was the lock pick? Patting his pockets he couldn’t find the little device. With a sinking feeling, realization washed over him. The lock pick wasn’t on him. It was still in the lock on the other side of the door.

Liam reached for the doorknob. Ready to go for the missing device, but stopped at the last second. The guard was already in the hallway. Opening the door would signal where he was.

Listening to the footsteps grow louder, Liam imagined the guard approaching the door. Would he notice the foreign object? Or would Liam’s luck prevail and the guard walk past? There was nothing he could do now. Everything was up to chance.

A moment of carelessness after a lucky break making it into the room. Who would’ve thought such a small thing would cost him the stealth he’d worked so hard for? Best to prepare for the inevitable discovery, Liam decided. When the guard noticed the lock pick Liam would jump into action. If he was quick enough, he could silence the guard before any warnings were sent.

Time seemed to slow down as the guard moved through the hall. With each step a tension built between Liam’s shoulders. Ever so quietly, he tightened his grip on the doorknob. Ready to act if called upon.

Finally, the guard reached the door. Liam bent down prepared to pounce, but the moment passed. The clicking of shoes miraculously continuing on. The guard missed the lock pick! The man must be exhausted from late night patrols. His boredom from the never changing rounds coming to Liam’s aid. A stroke of good luck! Liam wouldn’t let it go to waste.

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Liam crept back into the hall. Crisis averted, he thought. Deftly removing the lock pick from the door. He wasn’t about to test his luck and leave the thing behind again.

Creeping forward Liam tried to get back on track. Recalling the building's layout from memory, as he couldn’t pull out a map, Liam followed the path he’d laid out earlier. If the rest of the guards kept to their patrols, he’d be able to avoid all of them. A big if, but it was all he had to work with.

Stealthily Liam moved through the mansion. Going from one room to the next. In the inky night they all looked the same, but Liam was never lost. The first thing he did, when he got this assignment, was to memorize the layout of the house. How could he get lost after doing that?

Over the next few minutes Liam crept through most of the building. Expertly avoiding all the guards along the way. To his relief there weren’t anymore nasty surprises waiting to jump out and ruin everything.

Finally, Liam turned a corner and was face to face with the last real obstacle of the night. In front of him was a plain door. It looked no different from any of the others scattered around the mansion. But the room beyond was special. For it held his real aim and a set of guards. Unlike their counterparts, who patrolled the house, these two never left their post. Which left only one option to get past them.

Liam had prepared for this, all he had to do was execute the plan. Reaching down, he squeezed the tongue of his right shoe. With an odd pop the fabric came off. A clean cut with no frayed edges.

Placing the fabric on the ground, Liam tapped it once. After a moment’s pause, four metal legs unfurled out from under it. The legs stretched out, reaching nearly as wide as the fabric itself. Then they jointly lifted the little fabric spider into a standing position.

The tiny thing wasn’t much to look at. A mismatch of fabric with bits of metal sticking out from underneath. The metal looked like it might accidentally fall off at any moment if the robot moved too fast. Regardless of its shabby appearance, the little thing was still Liam’s crowning achievement. It was the first and only robot he’d created. Given the materials Liam built it with, the thing was smart. Able to carry out orders remotely. Liam had so many plans for the robot but he didn’t have the time or money to work on them yet. That would change after tonight. But for the present the little guy would have to be enough to complete the coming task.

The little shoe bot looked around, surveying its new surroundings. Before focusing a small camera at Liam. Almost like it recognized him and was waiting expectantly for a command. Smiling down at it, Liam made a few hand signs. Instructing the robot to move into the next room and see how many people were inside. If there were only two it’d move to the next part of the mission. Otherwise, it would come back and let him know there was an issue. It was a fairly basic command, but was priceless in situations where Liam needed another pair of eyes. Usually he’d follow the robot's progress on his arm monitor, but with that device acting all buggy, he’d have to trust the little robot without watching along.

With commands given the little robot spider scurried over to the door. Every step it made was almost soundless. Straining his hearing, Liam thought he might be able to make out little clicks as the metal feet scurried along the ground. But that could also be his nerves playing tricks on him.

When the tiny robot reached the door it wedged itself in the gap at the bottom. After some effort, the little guy wriggled under the door. Sneaking into the adjacent room, like a ghost. With the robot inside Liam tensed, hand subconsciously reaching for the suppression stick. He waited, listening to the stillness of the night. No sounds came from the room ahead. The guards missed the little robot’s entrance.

Liam wanted to follow the robot's progress. See what he would face inside, but couldn’t. He was forced to wait for the little robots return, or if it didn’t that was an answer in itself. After thirty seconds without seeing little metal claws reaching under the door it was official. There were only two guards inside.

Now for part two. Taking out the guards. The spider bot should be able to deal with one of them. Leaving Liam free to focus on the other. Fiddling with the suppression stick, Liam thought about what to use next. Should he stay with proven gear, or try something more creative, that was the question. There was merit in using a method Liam knew would work, but what was the fun in that? Plus he didn’t get a chance to use his inventions out in the field that often, might as well make full use of this opportunity.

After deciding to test another invention, Liam mentally scanned through his gear. Dozens of devices were crammed into his pockets. Each with a unique job. The assortment, an odd bunch of scavenged parts and new tech. Finally, he settled on what looked to be a regular tennis ball. This was one he’d been waiting to use. Smiling to himself, Liam prepared to break into the next room.

Taking a deep breath, he reached for the door. Alright this will be a little louder than before, he thought, best to hurry from here on out. With one last nod, to psych himself up, he opened the door a crack. The thing creaked loudly in protest to its sudden motion. Nothing to do about that, Liam thought as he heard people rustling on the other side. Unfortunately for them a little warning wouldn’t be enough. Throwing the ball inside Liam slammed the door shut. As the door was closing, Liam glimpsed the ball landing in the center of the room. Strangely, the ball didn’t bounce, in fact it didn’t even budge from where it landed. The ball simply touched the ground and stopped cold.

Almost immediately, after Liam shut the door, there was a soft pop inside the room, as if someone had opened up a bag of chips. Followed by the slap of metal hitting fabric. Then just as quickly as the commotion started it stopped with two muffled thumps.

Liam reopened the door and looked inside. On one guard's neck the little spider bot was scurrying back and forth. Diligent as always, the little robot made sure the guard stayed down. The man’s eyes stared blankly at the ceiling above, not dead, but he wasn’t getting up anytime soon. More proof the robot was the greatest thing Liam ever built, not that he needed it.

The other guard was tied up in a tangled web of metal wires. The wires were thin, the width of a fishing line. It looked like the man had rolled around in the wire and been twisted up in it. Following the line as it wrapped around the guard was nearly impossible. But looking down at the guard's feet a single cord was trailing away from him. It followed back to where the tennis ball landed. Yet the ball itself was missing. In its place the yellow fabric of a tennis ball was strewn about. Pulled apart from the inside, revealing a metallic contraption beneath, half fishing reel half stun gun.

Both devices deployed perfectly, Liam thought as he pumped his fist in victory. The end result was two fewer guards for Liam to worry about. Neither having a chance to call for help.

Knowing the recent scuffle might’ve drawn attention, Liam moved into the room. Baring the door behind him. Looking around he found a number of screens, showing security camera footage of the building. Liam paid little attention to the feeds, as they were only showing a replay from earlier in the night. Sure he could fix the camera system and check what the other guards were doing, but that would take time. Something he was running out of. And Liam was far more interested in what was in the next room.

Spotting a strangely plain door, towards the back of the security office Liam moved to it. This was a little odd he thought. Why was the last physical barrier so plain? In his mind’s eye, he’d imagined something grand like a bank vault. Inches of cold hard metal surrounded by sturdy bars. Instead what he found looked more akin to his childhood bedroom door, a simple wooden thing with a small plain handle. It went to show how even the most mundane of things could hide something altogether different behind them.

Throwing the door open Liam rushed inside. Brash he knew, but what with a clock on this entire situation sometimes you had to be like that. Inside he saw it. A small device sitting in a ring of light. The rest of the room shrouded in darkness. A little dramatic Liam thought as he hurried over. Looking at the devices digital display the red numbers glowed back at him. 10:15, 10:14, 10:13, it steadily counted down. Plenty of time Liam thought as he cracked his knuckles. Now the fun really begins.

Taking out a screwdriver Liam opened the device's metal case and studied its insides. Such a simple design he muttered to himself, this wasn’t even a challenge. After sneaking his way in here Liam had hoped this final task would bring a bigger challenge. As it stood punching the thing a few times would probably disable it. So much for putting his brain to use. With a sigh Liam got to work. Disappointed by the simplicity of the task. Disabling the device in record time, the display froze as lights in the room flared up. Filling the space with a warm yellow glow.

Liam’s goal was to finish with ten minutes left on the clock. After a few close calls he knew it’d be a little worse.

“Student Liam, 9:43 on the clock, no alarms sounded, and no collateral damage,” a cold voice spoke from a speaker in the wall. The information brought a smile to Liam’s face as he fought the urge to yell his delight. No alarms or collateral damage would significantly increase his score. He’d been worried taking down the last guards had triggered a silent alarm or notified another guard. But those worries were in vain. Hopefully this performance would get him into the top five.

With a click, what was a solid wall a moment before opened to reveal a hidden hallway. The overhead voice came on again, “Please proceed to the waiting area. Your final results will be calculated after everyone has a chance to complete the challenge.”

The smile didn’t break from Liam’s face as he left the room. In the coming days his life would change. He couldn’t wait for the journey to truly begin!