Later, it was now evening, and the B.E.E.S. workplace was soon packed with cars nearby and lines of people, all wearing formal outfits, trying to get inside. Richard, Mindy, and Ken met back and snuck in between the lines in their formal attire as well. Kelly stayed behind in the office to control the maintenance room with her laptop and hacking skills.

Ken wore a blue-green suit with dark brown shoes, while Richard had a scarlet red coat, white shirt, black pants, and beige shoes, reassembling an outfit without being a real one. Mindy wore a long silk dark blue dress with silver shoes and a dirty blonde wig.

The group made it in; between the vast halls and people in line, it made the event grander than expected on the surface. At the far end was a counter with a lady looking over a list. She checked to see who they invited, who worked here already, and who bought tickets ahead of time. Richard squinted his eyes and noticed how familiar she looked. It turned out to be Christy, to his surprise.

Considering what happened before, he felt his group wasn't going to make it through without suspicion, if at all. Mindy noticed his worries as they headed closer to the booth and reassured him she already had thought ahead of a plan she prepared, which was why she brought the wig in the first place. Mindy warned him not to make eye contact with Christy when they reached the end of the line.

Once they made it to the booth, Christy asked for the next person to step up. When asking for names, Mindy cleared her throat before replying.

“My name is Violet Mer—”

“She’s already here.” Christy interrupted as she looked through the checklist.

“What?” Mindy questioned, flabbergasted. “I thought she was sick!”

“Recovered quickly.” Christy snatched the wig off her head. “Trying to break in and ruin things again, are you?”

“How did you figure me out?”

Richard rolled his eyes. “Wow, great cunning plan you had there.” He muttered with sarcasm.

“Quiet!” Mindy hissed.

Christy shook her head. “Regardless, I’m not letting you guys in. It’s thanks to you I got demoted, and I’m pretty sure my boss hates me now!”

“We don’t have time for this...”

She spotted the videophone from across the table and snatched it from under Christy’s nose. Christy gasped as Mindy held it in the air with a scowl on her face.

“Hey, give that back!” Christy shrieked, her arm reaching to get her phone, but Mindy pulled it back.

“Let us inside, or else I’ll delete all your data on this!”

“No, don’t! I will call security and kick you out of here for good! I’ll even contact the police if I have to!”

The remarks took Mindy off-guard, as her plan was already falling apart before it got to shine, much less start.

Richard groaned, placing a hand on his face. “You should’ve thought this through, for like, more than ten minutes.”

“I don’t see you helping.” Mindy retorted. “Are you going to make rude remarks the whole time?”

“Will you just give that back to her? Blackmailing won’t help us in our case.”

“Fine!” Mindy pouted, handing Christy her device back.

Richard walked closer to Christy and talked in a more somber tone. “Christy, I’m sorry for the troubles I’ve caused, and for making a rift between you and Lily.” He bowed before making eye contact with her again. “I was hoping to make things right. That is, if you let us in.”

Christy let the words process in her head. She inhaled and exhaled before replying.

“Alright, you guys can enter.” She turned to glare at Mindy. “Except for you.”

“Wait, what?” Mindy’s mouth gaped open. “Why?”

“You know the reason.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll bring you some souvenirs once we finish the mission.” Ken joked, as he and Richard walked past them.

“Without me?” Mindy complained. “You can’t do this without me!”

“Yeah, we’ll try though. Good luck with getting to the main event.” He muttered the last part under his breath so she wouldn’t hear him.