The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Someone knocked on the door, but this time, Sienna's heart didn't race, and she didn't break out in a cold sweat.

"Athena, could you go check the door?" Sienna was sitting at her desk, doing her homework on her laptop.

“Okay, big sister!” Athena said, skipping and hopping towards the door. “Hey, who is it?” Athena asked.

"It's Sam." A faint response came from outside the door.

“Big sister, it’s little brother Sam,” Athena repeated.

Sienna nodded. "She texted me, it's fine, let her in."

The door opened, and Sam slipped into the room, slamming his backpack down beside him. "Hey guys, hey boss," Sam said. "I brought some stuff, but that's a story for later. How's everyone doing?"

“We’re fine,” Teddy said. She lay on the floor, one arm around one of Trinity, who was being used as a blanket. Two other Trinity stood beside Sienna, “helping” her with her homework.

“Not bad, not bad,” Sam said. She shuffled over to Sienna’s bed and sat down; lately, everyone seemed to like sitting on beds. “So, what mischief are we going to get up to tonight?”

"I wish I didn't have to do anything."

Sam actually pouted. Sienna could forgive her sisters for this, after all, they were mostly still teenagers, but Sam—at least in terms of age—was already an adult. "That's so boring."

“Yeah, it’s boring, boss,” Teddy said, hugging Trinity tighter in his arms as if in protest.

“Hey! You’re squeezing me,” said Trinity’s other clone.

“Teddy, stop choking your sister,” Sienna said. “And Sam, stop encouraging them, please.”

Sam shrugged. "Fine. But I still think you missed a good opportunity. In the long run, inaction won't do you any good. You're on the news now, you know? It's time to take advantage of this opportunity. Do something to strengthen our 'power,' or do some public relations."

"I thought you wanted to be a silent observer so you could write your thesis."

Sam grinned. "Those things that aren't 'quiet' won't be written into the paper."

"Well... I can't really say. Isn't this a bit unethical?" Sienna asked.

“Sienna… I’ve become a villain’s henchman. I don’t think this academic dishonesty is the most unethical thing I’ve done this week.”

Sam jumped up. "So! If we're not going to do any 'villainous operations,' what should we do?"

Sienna sighed and leaned back in her chair. Just as she was about to put her arm on the armrest, she bumped into Trinity, whose head was resting on the armrest.

Sienna began to run her fingers through the girl's hair, and seeing Trinity's ears twitch slightly with each stroke, she found it somewhat amusing. "I do have a few ideas. Simon's files show he has several safe houses."

Aleya Iakta is still in a safe house; I don't know if she's gone back to school or anything. Anyway, I want to do two things. Investigate the other safe houses and outposts, and then contact Aleya Iakta.

“Another one of your henchmen,” Sam said. “Well, that’s cool. I suggest we check out the villain’s lair first.”

“I suggest we go to the lair,” Athena said.

"I think so."

“Count me in,” Trinity replied, then chuckled at her little joke.

Sienna reached into her desk and slowly pulled out her notebook, which contained the addresses and locations of various safe houses. There weren't many notebooks.

There are three safe houses, two of which are apartments, and the third one they had been to before, where they had fought Black Shield.

The location of their hideout is marked down there. There are probably two places. "Take a look at this," she said, handing the notebook to Trinity, who then ran over and handed it to Sam.

“Okay,” Sam said as he looked at the screen. “What should I look at?”

"Look at the last two. There's a hideout in a place called... 'Garland.' It's a small dance hall and bar."

“I know that place,” Sam said.

Sienna paused. "You...have been there?"

“Huh? Oh, right, as long as a girl is pretty enough or confident enough, they let her in. I’m both, so I get to drink for free, you know?” Sam said.

“Uh, okay,” Sienna said, trying to shake off the blush rising on her face. She would never go to a place like that in her life. “I think that’s where Homi was before he was arrested. That place might still be open for business.”

"Going to pull another protection money extortion scheme?" Sam asked.

“I think it might be a bit more legitimate than that,” Sienna said. “Maybe it’s a money laundering place? Anyway, I’m quite interested in the location of the other base.”

“Yeah,” Sam said. “I don’t understand this address.”

Sienna turned to her laptop and opened a window that had been minimized. “Right here,” she said. “I don’t know what this building is for, but it doesn’t look very big.”

Sam leaned closer, squinting at the screen. "Oh! I know this place."

"What place is this?" Sienna asked. "The street view map doesn't seem very useful."

Sam nodded. "Okay, let me tell you the historical background. A long, long time ago, probably back in the early 1990s, there was a plan to build the Eau Clare subway."

It will connect several places, including the city center, university campuses, and some places on the outskirts of the city, and may even extend to neighboring cities.

It wasn't originally intended to be a massive transportation system, but once completed, it's expected to be cheaper than taking the bus.

“I don’t even remember there ever being such a subway plan,” Sienna said.

“It was canceled,” Sam said, shaking his head dismissively. “It was probably canceled within a year or two of starting. I think there were a lot of problems with the budget, and a gang popped up in the construction team.”

Then there were a lot of corruption and other problems. In short, it was a complete mess. To make a long story short, nothing was built, and the project failed.

“This building is part of that project,” Sienna said. “Maybe Simont has a base in there.”

"Possibly, yes. I don't know how far the construction had progressed at the time, but it must have taken at least a year or two. There might be a lot of old caves down there."

I remember some kids went exploring and got lost. It caused quite a stir. So they sealed off all the underground passages.”

Sienna responded with a soft hum, "Alright. I don't think it'll hurt to take a look. Maybe there are more documents about the Simont organization inside."

Sam was halfway to the door when Sienna's sisters skipped and hopped after her. "I'm going to warm up the car!"

Sienna watched them leave their rooms one by one, then cried out in a panic, "Wait for me!" before frantically searching for her shoes and chasing after them.

Of course, half of her sisters forgot to dress properly before going out. So they ran back inside to find jackets, running shoes, and boots to wear.

Once Sienna confirmed that everyone was ready to cross the city, they went downstairs to the parking lot, where Sam's car was waiting.

“It’s not far from here. We could even walk there, but I’d rather drive.”

They approached the car, squeezed inside, and set off to cross the city once again.

Sienna used her social skills to ask Sam how his day went.

Fortunately, Sam was happy to fill the void with a torrent of words, talking incessantly about the teachers, what happened in the classroom, and her increasingly crazy plans, both near and far.

Sam was right when he said the station wasn't far from the school.

It's right next to some old shops that used to be in the city center. Across the street is an abandoned shopping mall, now filled with shops selling suitcases, flowers and phone cases, as well as a Burger King that hasn't been renovated since the early 21st century.

Sam parked the car at the end of the mall parking lot, then pointed across the street and said, "That's it, that gray building."

The space that was originally intended to be a subway entrance doesn't quite resemble a gray box. It could have had more potential. But it doesn't really look like much either; it doesn't appear to have been used much.

“There’s a sign on the door,” Sienna said. “I can’t quite make out what it says from here, but it doesn’t seem like a good thing.”

“It says ‘Closed’,” Athena said, then squinted her big eyes. “It also says ‘No Trespassing’.”

"Your eyesight is so good, why do you wear glasses?" Teddy asked.

“Because my eyesight gets bad without glasses, you idiot,” Athena said.

“Girls,” Sienna cautioned, “calm down. Let’s look around; maybe there’s an entrance or something.”

“I have a lock-picking kit,” Sam said. “And I’ve watched about three hours of YouTube tutorials.”

"...That's good."