The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Sienna and the girls filed out of Sam's car like a bunch of overly excited little clowns. Of course, the clowns referred to the children, not Sienna. She wasn't even sure where Sam's role fell in this metaphor.

"Boss, what's our plan?" Teddy asked.

Everyone else seemed to listen to her, though Athena would occasionally start taking charge as well. Sienna wondered if this was a check and balance of power at work, or just the usual way the sisters got along.

"The plan is to meet with Aleia Iakta first, and then... I think we'll see how things go next, Trinity."

Trinity perked up immediately, and all six of her little raccoon ears stood up.

“Send one of your clones to make contact with Aleia. Perhaps… wear a scarf around your face? We don’t want to be easily recognized.”

“Oh, I have something suitable,” Sam said.

She went to the passenger side of the car, rummaged through the glove box for a few minutes, and then came back with a pair of sunglasses, a neck warmer, and a baseball cap with the university logo on the front.

“This is my passerby disguise outfit,” Sam said. “There’s another jacket in the trunk, but it’s a bit too big for Trinity.”

"Why did you prepare all this?" Sienna asked.

Sam raised one eyebrow. "Just in case I need to disguise myself? A hat can cover my hair, a neck warmer can cover half my face, glasses can cover my eyes, and the coat is one of those puffy styles."

My aunt gave it to me. I felt it made me look quite fat, so it's perfect for disguise.

“Okay,” Sienna said, mentally adding another strange thing Sam had done to her list.

Looking around, I found nothing unusual at the moment.

Sam parked the car a block away from where Aleya Iakta was, so Sienna wasn't too worried that they would be discovered if he was being followed.

Her concern was that it would lead the people who were following them to their location.

“Sam,” Sienna asked, “do you know where the subway goes from here?”

Sam grinned, revealing a set of teeth in a somewhat frightening way. "Hey, boss, I'm glad you asked about this." She reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and tapped it a few times. "Look, I downloaded this."

Sienna took the phone and looked at it. It showed a map of Eau Claire, with clear lines running through the entire city—clearly the subway lines.

Sienna remembered seeing a similar map with a more cartoonish style in the subway station.

“Oh,” Sienna said. The map not only marked the exits where the subway stations should have been, but also some passageway entrances.

“Yes,” Sam said, turning his phone around. “I checked on Google Maps, and those entrances to the tunnels are still there.”

They're like little shacks scattered throughout the city. I've always seen them, but I never really paid attention. I guess the municipal government uses them for storage too.

“Where’s the nearest entrance?” Sienna asked. She wasn’t familiar enough with the city of Auclair to pinpoint their exact location on the map.

Sam glanced at Sienna, then half-turned and pointed to a building about ten steps away from her.

“Oh,” Sienna said. It was indeed a shack-like building, a small brick structure sandwiched between two apartment buildings, with a narrow alley on each side, and a sign on the front bearing the city's emblem.

“Well done, Sam,” Teddy said, giving Sam a thumbs-up. Sam then lowered his hand and gave a high five, which the others followed suit.

Sienna pondered for a moment, then asked an important question. "Do you have the key to that place?" she asked.

“Uh,” Sam said, “no.”

“That building is right by the main road, you know,” Sienna said. “It wouldn’t do if people passing by saw you picking the lock.”

“I can smash it open,” Teddy said.

Sienna wasn't sure if she could do it. The door was the kind of plain, industrial door that she doubted even a bear would have a hard time finding a foothold to pull it down.

“Okay, we’ll talk about that later,” Sienna said. “We need to figure out how to get Trinity to Aleia Iakta first, and then we can think about how to leave.”

“Should I go?” Trinity asked. One of her clones was already dressed in Sam’s clothes, looking… a little silly, but not too outrageous, just a girl dressed in clothes suitable for slightly cold weather.

Sienna hesitated. Sending a young child alone to a coffee shop to meet a stranger might not be the safest course of action.

“I’ll go with you,” she decided. “I look completely different now than when I’m doing my ‘heroic’ activities. To most people, I’ll just look like a local student. I’ll be nearby when you meet Aleya Iakta. The rest of you can stay with Sam.”

“Okay!” Trinity agreed.

“I don’t like you going out on your own,” Teddy said. “What if some capitalist tries to lure you away with sweet talk and empty promises? They’ll come up to you and tell you they’ll give you a nice house in the suburbs, and then bang! You’ll be a wage earner, spending millions on a mortgage for years.”

“I don’t think I’ll be in any trouble,” Sienna said. “Don’t worry too much. And if anything happens, Trinity will let you know.” She hesitated for a moment, then crouched down to be about Teddy’s height. “But I wouldn’t mind a hug, to get some good luck.”

After hugging Teddy, it meant it was time to hug Athena too, and Trinity naturally wanted to come over and hug her as well.

Thankfully, Sam didn't ask for a hug. Sienna wasn't sure how she would respond if Sam had asked.

“Alright, let’s go,” Sienna said, extending her hand, which Trinity, disguised, grabbed. “After we leave, try to find a way to enter that passageway without getting us all caught.”

Sam gave her a thumbs up, and then Sienna and Trinity set off.

The café where Aleja Iakta was hiding wasn't far away, located on a trendy street lined with boutiques and clothing stores, with a busy bus lane directly in front.

“Okay,” Sienna said, stopping on the street across from the cafe. “Here’s the plan: we’ll cross the street first, and then I’ll go to the counter to buy something.”

I'll show you who Alejandra is, and you can sit opposite him. Tell him where to meet the others, and then come back to me.

“Okay,” Trinity said.

“Could you repeat the plan?” Sienna asked.

“We went into that place to eat, and you went to buy some food. While you were buying food, I told the henchman to go where the rest of us were. Then we left with the food.”

Trinity emphasized the food a bit more than Sienna had planned, but otherwise, she seemed to understand. "That's right. If you do a good job, I'll give you three donuts, how about that?"

Trinity's eyes lit up, and her tail began to swirl behind her.

"Oh, remember to hide your tail well too, don't expose us."

They crossed the street hand in hand—Sienna had specifically taught Trinity to look both ways before crossing—and then went into the café.

The coffee shop wasn't too crowded at the moment, probably because of the time of day. Lunchtime had passed, dinnertime hadn't arrived yet, and most of the after-get off work rush hour should have already passed.

Trinity sniffed the air, and her hat twitched as she did so, until Sienna gently patted her head and stopped.

Sienna looked around and saw Aleia Iakta sitting alone in a corner booth, a spot with a clear view of the doorway.

Sienna crouched down, almost as tall as Trinity. "He's the guy over there in the blue coat. Go sit in the chair next to his booth and tell him the boss wants him to meet up with the others."

Trinity nodded, then skipped over to Aleia Iakta. She climbed into a seat not far from him and began to talk to him.

It just looks like an innocent girl chatting with a stranger.

Sienna waited in line, keeping an eye on her sister. When it was her turn, she ordered a box of mixed flavor donuts—without the cream filling, since those are too easy to make a mess of—and paid for it.

As soon as she picked up the box, she quickly circled the café, avoiding eye contact with Aleia Iakta, and then asked Trinity to leave with her.

“This went surprisingly smoothly,” Sienna said as they walked back.

“Yes,” Trinity said, “then I can get three donuts, right?”

Sienna sighed. She thought she was quite capable, but now look what's happened. "We'll see."

As they approached the next intersection, she glanced back and saw Aleia pull up her coat hood and leave the store.

Hopefully he won't be followed, and hopefully no one will see this exchange or have any thoughts about it.