Lizzie Chapter 29: Lock picking

Filed: Lizzie @ 6:15am on July 23, 2014 No comments yet! :(   Word Count: 845
This entry is part 30 of 31 in the series Lizzie

I had no idea how to draw Nina out. The fact she freed all of her pledges meant there was no way to get to her from below.

The other method, from above, would be even harder since she was pledged to the head priestess. Being easy to spot thanks to the diamond pin was one thing, but being able to be in the same room as them was another.

Fortunately, I had a plan to make my star shine and get me an audience with the higher shakers and movers of the society: my mixed idea.

Before leaving Annie, I pushed the idea to organize the first one for the next evening and she agreed to get everyone working on it.

Within the first hour, she had texted me back to confirm the venue (the same room where I was initiated) and the time.

I quickly ran my own pledges, Stephanie, my sexy redhead, Greg, her pledge which I like to use for myself and of course, Tim, who was slowly becoming my boyfriend.

When I stopped at my room, I saw Kylie and out of politeness invited her but as predicted, she refused.

“How can you do your research if you never participate?”

“I have my ways…”, was my only reply.

I had 2 classes that day. I know, I don’t talk a lot about my studies, but believe me, things are going great! I might not be the top student in my group, but I am certainly in the top three, and in one of the classes, Neural Logic Development, I am first in class.

There’s something in Neural Logic which just appeals to me… It’s based in part on pattern recognition more than on absolute logic. It makes it a lot easier for things like understanding speech because instead of trying to understand each syllable in sequence, the Neural Logic processing system can be programmed to try and identify what the user is saying by using inflection, tone, speed, hesitation, etc.. as input variables.

The boys, who tend to be more logic oriented, seem to find Neural Logic too abstract for their tastes and the girls, who tend to be more in this program for the psychology aspects of it, find the math and algorithms behind it too intimidating.

I seem to be the only  one capable to following both aspects at once, but then again, that’s one of my strengths.

At first, I wanted to spend some time with Tim that evening, but I had more homework than I anticipated and I had my special research project in mind…

The first bad news about the padlock, was that it was supposed to be tamper proof: it is supposed to be impossible to pick. But as I learned in my research on pick-locking, all locks can be picked, it’s just a matter of how and how long it would take.

I had one thing going for me: The place is deserted. If I go outside of school hours, and perhaps get Kylie was a watcher, I might have hours to work the lock.

I began reading at depth how to use the special tools needed to breach this lock, but I was making zero progress understanding.

I took a pause and visited the local hardware store where I easily found the exact same lock and bought two copies.

Sadly, even after going around three times around the hardware store, I couldn’t see anything remotely similar to the tools I needed.

I googled the depths of the Internet and all appropriate tools required a locksmith permit to order. Sad, I resigned myself to failure until I realized something: I had 2 identical locks!!!

I once again returned to the store and bought a metal saw with several replacement blades which were tougher and more resistant.

By the time I was back in my room, Kylie was there and I explained my predicament and plan.

Excited, she volunteered to help and soon enough, we had cut one the locking ring of one of my two padlocks: it took 22 minutes, but we got through it with a single blade. Sure, we pretty much destroyed the blade, but I had 5 more…

We ran to the Hawkings building, almost giggling like school girls, and reached the secret mailbox in the almost deserted building.

Kylie had the presence of mind to make a thorough search for an hidden camera and we didn’t find any. It made me think that perhaps, we should have installed one ourselves…

My roommate stood guard while I began sawing the loop. 34 minutes later and a second blade later, the loop broke and I called Kylie to be witness.

She decided to film it with her cellphone for her research.

The box revealed a staggering group of 21 envelopes, which we presumed, each contained $200. This meant a finding of $4200!

I grabbed the envelopes, placed them in my bag, used a towel we had brought (at Kylie’s suggestion) to wipe all of my fingertips, and relocked the mailbox with my own padlock only Kylie and I had the key for.

While we walked to return to our room, Kylie was smiling, happier than I had ever seen her.

Series Navigation«Lizzie Chapter 28: Seeing AnnieLizzie Chapter 31: Mixer»

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