Benjamin yawned as he returned to his seat in front of the dozens of monitors. Taking a bite out of his sandwich, he gave them all a slow scan. Each monitor showed a different enclosure throughout Sanctuary in shaded of beryl. Only a handful of the images had movement in them. He watched the nocturnal animals move about their areas. The night shift was easy and peaceful. No one came here at night. No one could. He couldn’t leave until morning. Keeping the animals safe made him feel he was doing something right.

One of the videos of a hallway caught his attention. He switched the images for a closer monitor and rewound the feed. Something blurred past the camera. Benjamin jumped, his chair rolling away and knocking over the Brugmansia at the wall. Something was happening! Forwarding and rewinding took him a few moments to find a frame that was relatively un-blurred. He saved it and then sent it off to his supervisor. He had never seen his supervisor.

While he waited for a response, he tracked down the intruder through the cameras, marking down timestamps and camera IDs, to the rare Arrau turtle enclosure. “So, going for the big game, then,” he said the screen. A ding from his email.

‘Benjamin, initiate the lock-down procedure and follow Protocol 49-C. -Peter.’

He stared at the single line of text ‘49-C?’ He clicked on the lock-down button that perpetually sat in the corner of his screen. Immediately alarms blared. He could hear bolts sliding into place inside the security doors. In the monitor, the figure, turtle in hand, shot off and slipped under the security door. The computer could now keep the suspect on the center monitor, jumping camera to camera, by tracking the turtle. He picked up the plant and moved it away from the cabinet. Inside he found the printed blueprint labeled 49-C. Unrolling it, he looked at what counter measure this would allow him.

Step 1. Kill the lights. He killed the lights.
Step 2. Initiate aether suppression ball at junction ASB-488. He found the location on the print and activated it. The monitors washed out before filtering out the extra light. The ball shot down the hallway.

“Excuse me,” he said over the microphone, “If you stop now, the penalty for stealing the arrau is simple arrest.” The figure kept going. He sighed and continued, “If you keep going, then it’s going to be upgraded to death by the time the aether reaches you. In about 30 seconds from now.” Amazingly the figure picked up speed, though now crashed around like a bumbling beetle. “Suit yourself.”

His email dinged again.

‘Prepare the Protocol O-26. -Peter.

Benjamin kept his eye on the escaping target while he pulled out Protocol O-26. “Not on my watch are you going to steal one of our animals.” Unrolling the new blueprint, it was a layout of the outside defenses. He smiled. “This should tip the balance back in our favor, you thief.”

The Dice Roll

Credit Card	Balance
Key	Blueprint
Poison Flower	Brugmansia
Bug	Beetle
Apple	Beryl
Lock	Bolt