//------------------------------// // Adagio: Better Planning // Story: Going Our Own Way... // by Dreagknight-LostWriter //------------------------------// “Where did she go?!” A male voice yelled out with a gasp of air. “I don’t know man, but she couldn't have gone too far. Let’s try over there.” Another said as he too was gasping for air. It was only a short while later and after hearing their footsteps running in the opposite direction did Adagio let out the breath she was holding. Letting her body relaxed, she held up the phones she had stolen from the guys who worked at a phone shop. She was lucky that she had slow them down as she doubted she would have gotten away otherwise. Checking the phones, she found them to be unlocked and without a password. “Perfect, now all I need to do is clear it then it should be good as new to sell.” Lifting her head over the bushes to see no one was around, she slowly got up and dusted herself off. “Well, I can’t come to this side of town ever again. At least in the moring.” She muttered to herself, walking home. Shoving the phones into her pocket, she let the event replay in her mind. It was a stupid plan, one that she didn’t think through at all. She saw an opportunity, a moment to strike. Without thinking she had pulled her hood on and stolen the phones. She hope that she had managed to avoid any cameras but she wasn't too sure on that. Though her body was still pumping adrenaline from the sudden rush, her mind had slowed down to a crawl. The first true act of thievery and she had already messed up. *** Sitting down next to the pot of smoldering embers, Adagio looked at the phones again. She could sell them, that much would be easy, but if she did so now she ran the risk of being caught. No, she would have to wait before she could cash them in. “So much for a quick buck. Dammit Adagio, keep your mind straight. First a plan needs to be made before you act. I should only do small things, reduce the risk of the police searching for me.” She said to herself, using a twig from the pot she drew mindlessly on the ground. “Take what I need, not what I want. Save up enough money and get into a proper place, maybe a hotel and move on from there. No, hotels are expensive for a long period of time but I don't have much of a choice. If I had a fraction of my power I could solve that easily.” She sighed, shaking her head of the mental image and thoughts. She knew thinking about her gem would only make things worse on herself, that it would make it harder to move on without them. She needed to adopt a new method, something that could, in her mind, take the place of her gem. Looking around her she didn't know what that could be. Threats and sabotage? That was easier said than done and Adagio knew she could never gain the power or fear over the city without some help. Laying down on the floor, her eyes looked to the hole in the ceiling as she wonders, “maybe I should try being nice. People do things for others when they are nice, or so I hear. Thief at night, nice in the morning?” Letting her own eyes fall to her chest, she watched herself breathe in and out, a simple distraction to her otherwise racing mind. It wasn't much of therapeutic as it was calming. There was just too much on the matter to consider and she found herself raising to a panic. Once calm, she looked towards the window. “I will just stick to stealing first, I need some new clothes anyway. Then afterwards I would entertain that idea… maybe.” *** Later that night, Adagio decided to take her chance at a store, this time making sure to be more cautious in her efforts. Grabbing the duffel bag she had found, she looked around for anything else she may need. She wasn't a complete amateur at thieving and she knew some of the basic, but giving she hadnt need to resort to it often made this little adventure that much more harder for her. Leaving her abandoned shelter, she made her way across town to the closest clothes shop she could think of. “Alright, now, let's see, how do I get in?” Adagio asked herself, looking around the shop for any weak points to break through without raising the alarms. She knew without a doubt that the moment anything opens or break the alarms would go off. “Okay, maybe if I cut the power I could get inside without anything going off. Though I still need to find a way in.” Walking around the store and trying her best to stay out of any camera sights, she looked around for anything that could be used to get inside without much issue. The building itself was a single shop, a front door and back door and looked to be a hybrid of a house. Adagio found the place to be a bit over the top but the clothes in the shop was surprisingly stylish to her taste. Still, the building was well secure, not that Adagio didn't see that coming. It was only when she found the power box did she saw a little flaw in the security system. “Well well well, what is this?” She asked, seeing a generator plug that looked to be tape on. “This looks faulty, and it connected to a backup generator? Maybe if I just,” Using a twig from the ground, she pulled the plug from its place, waiting to see what happens. When no alarms went off, she went ahead and used her lighter, burning the rest of the wire free from their place. It was dangerous, and she new fire wasn't meant to be played with, but with no other means to properly cut the wires she had to take her chances. As the rubber melted and the wires tangled together, she stepped away to listen for any alarms. Hearing that everything was all clear she went for her next step, getting inside. Running her fingers along the windows, she looked for anything that was open. “Damn, all of their windows are locked. I can’t break the windows that would just contradict my effort at cutting the power.” Adagio continue her survey around the building, running multiple ideas of how she could get inside. She knew she could try brute force but that would require her to have a crowbar and that along didn't mean it would be quiet. Again her thoughts went back to the window and the idea of breaking it. Though the option was there, her main issue would be getting in, getting what she needed and getting out without the occupant inside waking up. “Maybe I should take some time into learning how to pick locks, that may be useful… And possible more tools...” She mumbled to herself, disappointment washing over her once more as another plan of hers failed. Picking up a rock she rolled it around in her palms, frustrated that she hadn't thought this through again. She was about to throw the rock threw the window out of frustration until she heard something coming from behind her. “Who’s there?” A female voice called out from a distance. A sudden light flashed on Adagio’s back, startling her from her thoughts. She was careless, she shouldn't have spent so much time wondering about after cutting the wires. A quick curse slipped from her lips as she took off running. “Hey! Wait!” The voice called out to her. Adagio didn't listen, she didn't stop running. She ran as far and as fast as she could before stopping to catch her breath. Looking behind her she found to her satisfaction the person didn't chase her. She moved over to a tree, pressing her back to it as she sat down to catch her breath. “How could I be so stupid!” She berated herself, pressing her hands to her head. “I need to do better!”