Dress Off 08: Hotpants in Helsinki

"I had hoped she'd never find the location of the Archives themselves though, or that the encryption keys would be forever lost." Highsmith's head dropped for a moment, before she turned back to face the others. "We found the location of the Archives a decade ago." She said, matter-of-factly. The words immediately drew whistles of amazement from Bree and Monica, while Brittney and Olivia looked on concerns.

"We know where the Archives are?" Bree said, in a low whisper.

Highsmith nodded, and then slowly walked back to the couch, speaking in a tone that suggested a sense of relief at having the opportunity to get this off her chest.

"Yes. A secret known to very few in the Agency. In fact, previously known only to three people." Highsmith's eyes flickered for a moment, but she continued to talk with a calmness that spoke of years of being cool under pressure. "We not only found where the Archives were hidden, but we know roughly what they could do if decrypted. And that," Highsmith said, taking a deep breath, "was something we decided needed to stay hidden."

"I mean, can they really be that bad?" Bree asked, looking confused and doubtful.

Highsmith nodded again.

"I'm rather afraid it is. Imperilling-the-Free-World bad." She paused for a moment and took a sip of wine. "If I told you that much of what we're facing now started all the way back in 1920, I wonder if any of you could tell me what might have happened a century ago?" She looked around the room, as blank look after blank look greeted her in return until she caught the eye of Brittney, who had hesitantly raised her hand, with an expression that mixed uncertainty and growing interest in equal measure.

"Yes, Ms Barecat?"

Brittney shrugged slightly, before adding with a tone that took diffidence to a new level, "Well, umm, it was the year of the nineteenth amendment, I remember that much at least. I don't... you know... remember anything else about 1920." Glancing around at the confused expressions of her team mates, Brittney felt compelled to add "You know, women's right to vote. Women's suffrage?" She lowered her hand jerkily, looking like she was now regretting have potentially made a fool of herself in front of her superiors. Highsmith evidently read Brittney's expression perfectly, and was quick to nod in appreciation of her answer.

"Quite right Brittney!" Highsmith said with a smile, "The nineteenth amendment!"

Highsmith's eyes now settled on Bree's face, whose expression had doubled-down on 'blank incomprehension' and was beginning to experiment with 'general bewilderment'.

"So the archives have an encrypted part of the Constitution?" Bree asked, to which Highsmith betrayed her sudden amusement only by an almost imperceptible up-tick of an eyebrow.

"Ah, no." Highsmith replied. "Not... well... not that. At all, in fact."

She paused, and gathered her thoughts, hold the full attention now of all four women.

"I started this agency in the 1990s, shortly after the end of the Cold War. Agencies were springing up all over the place, in the vacuum created by the end of one world and the start of another."

Highsmith took a sip of wine, and began to slowly pace. "Few know what I am about to tell you. I didn't even know about it growing up. My... grandmother... was active in certain events in the 1920s. It was a time much like the 1990s and now -- the end of the First World War had fundamentally changed society in both Europe and America."

Highsmith paused again, and looked at each woman with a faint smile. "Across the world, women were slowly gaining power, the right to vote was just one of them. And just like those who lost on the battlefield of World War One, those who lost the cultural wars of the 1920s have never truly gone away. My grandmother was one of the people who fought in the early days against those who would return us to the old ways, when women were told their place by the men who ruled them."

Highsmith stopped for a moment, and wiped something from her eye. "I'm very proud of my grandmother, and I set up this Agency when I learnt of her legacy."

Monica reached for a box of tissues that sat on the table and offered them to Highsmith, but the woman gently batted away the offer and murmured her thanks.

"In her time though, there was a group who learnt of a great secret." Highsmith indicated 'O' with one hand, "Over time we've developed simple hypnotism technology to ---"

"Simple!" 'O' sniffed in an audible whisper, but Highsmith continued with a conciliatory peace gesture.

"-- Sophisticated hypnotism technology generated by the outstanding minds of our generation," Highsmith corrected herself smoothly, to a visibly mollified 'O', "and yet the hypnotism is temporary and noticeable to a close observer. So the hypnotised victim will eventually escape, and the technology cannot be used to truly control someone in a position of power."

"And yet?" Monica asked.

"And yet in the 1920s there was a group who discovered... something, a drug perhaps, a psychological technique that someone could be trained in, we're not sure what. Either way, what it allowed the holder of that secret to do was control the minds, permanently, secretly, of anyone they could get access to."

Highsmith walked up and down in front of the table around which the team was seated, and took a deep breath.

"The group who found this secret, a sect called the Order of Mielikki, realised quickly what they had found, and sought to hide it. They knew better than most that even if they were to try and wield such power for good, that ultimately it would corrupt. Especially with the forces -- such as those my grandmother fought -- at play in the world, seeking to re-exert control."

"So why not just destroy it?" Monica said.

Highsmith shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they thought that the secret may be independently discovered by others, who would choose to use it for evil. And if that were so, maybe they reasoned that they would need the knowledge too so as to fight back."

Highsmith paused in thought. "Or perhaps," she continued slowly, "they were as human as the rest of us and couldn't bear to lose something so powerful, even if they knew that they couldn't keep it so close as to be a temptation. Either way, the secret was encoded, and the sect -- based as they were in Finland -- created the Helsinki Archives. An encrypted document and a means of encryption, both sent into hiding and seemingly lost to the world at large. Both useless without each other. Yet all-powerful if ever reunited."

Highsmith stopped at that point, simply finishing her monologue with "And that's the truth -- at least as we know it -- of what may be only days away from being discovered."

****

It had taken a while for the group to digest all the Highsmith had told them. Bree leaned back and looked up at the ceiling, lost in her own thoughts.

Next to her, Monica glanced at Olivia and Brittney, concern evident, and then looked back at Highsmith. "And you said three people knew this." She asked.

"Yes. Myself, obviously, and ---" Highsmith started to say, before Monica finished the sentence for her. "-- Director Foxwell and Tess."

Highsmith acknowledged Monica's guess. "Which means that two of the three people who know of the location of the Archives are controlled by the very same group that we have to assume also possess the means to decrypt them." she said, finishing the line of thought.

"Well," Bree said, still staring upwards and slowly shaking her head in disbelief, "I never thought I'd look back with nostalgia at the time my biggest concern was how I was going to break out of that Arena." She looked at Highsmith. "Is Restoran this group you mentioned from the 1920s?"

Highsmith shrugged. "The name is not familiar to me, but perhaps."

Brittney stood up and looked around the room. "So... I mean... we're going to do something about that, right? We're not just going to sit here are we?"

Highsmith gave the group's youngest and most junior agent a warm smile. "No Ms Barecat, we are most certainly going to do something." She paused for a moment and made her way over to a low set seat near the window. The seat lifted up, revealing a small storage area underneath. Fishing out a small bag, Highsmith stood tall and looked at the four women in turn.

"It seems with Director Foxwell temporarily unavailable, it's time that I took a short break from my retirement. And," she continued to scan her audience, making firm eye contact and speaking with a voice filled with calm authority, "I couldn't hope to have a better team to work with."

"The four of you are travelling to Helsinki tonight. If it turns out that the Archives are fated to fall into new hands tomorrow, then we're going to make sure those hands are ours."

Brittney blinked. "The Helsinki Archives were hidden in... Helsinki?" She looked at Olivia with a wry smile, "I figured they'd have maybe tried somewhere further afield and less obvious."

Highsmith have a low laugh. "Well, they've evaded discovery for a century, so I'd suggest that those that hid them knew more about what they were doing than you're giving them credit for."

Brittney smiled ruefully, acknowledging the rebuttal.

Highsmith pulled out a USB key and looked at it for a moment, spinning it in her hand and apparently satisfying herself that she'd found the right one. Then, she tossed it gently to Monica, who let go of Bree's hand to catch it.

Bree stopped staring at the ceiling and gave Highsmith a meaningful look. "Most of our resources are back at HQ, and there's also the question of --"

"-- Director Foxwell." Highsmith finished. "Yes, but thankfully while we had to keep the knowledge of the Archives' location secret, there was nothing to stop us from coincidentally ensuring there was an Agency supply dump in that exact same city. I will take care of Director Foxwell, and Monica thank you for decrypting her laptop and disabling the tracker. I'll take that from here."

Olivia perked up at that comment. "Oh, you mean we have some more of my gear stashed over there? Thank God, I was only able to grab a few items from my lab before we had to high-tail it." She beamed at Brittney and Monica, and then turned to Bree with a look of supreme confidence suddenly replacing her previous blank looks of confusion. "In that case Agent Carson, sounds like the odds just swung very heavily in our favour." A spark of recollection flashed across her face as well. "As it turns out, I liberated an item of experimental clothing that I think will make the best use of your abilities!" she added, clearly very pleased with herself.

Bree gave her a bemused look, but didn't try to argue the point directly with Olivia. "So we go to Helsinki, and retrieve the Archives before Harrington, Tess and the others get there." Bree continued, facing Highsmith "except they're probably already on their way there, and we're sitting in your apartment."

"True," conceded Highsmith, "but you'll be flying by private jet. My private jet, and if luck is on our side, they'll have had to first ensure their team is truly under their control before they could leave the Pacific Islands. Hopefully ladies," Highsmith looked out of the window to the city beyond, and took in a deep breath as the magnitude of what was to follow sank in, "that has bought us enough time..."

****

"Inviting looking place." Bree muttered, the imposing structure looming over them, as they parked across the road.

Brittney sat next to her, and leaned her head to one side. The building rose six stories into an overcast afternoon sky, the sun already setting over Finland's capital, as a long night stretched out before them. It might be a long night in more ways than one, Bree couldn't help but think.

There was much to like about Helsinki's architecture which, even with the occupations and bombings during the twentieth century, had much to offer fans of Neoclassicism, Jugend and Nordic designs. There were few if any skyscrapers to otherwise dominate the skyline, and Helsinki was a sprawling and welcoming city.

The building that was the target of their attentions though seemed very much to be the exception to that rule.

Six stories high and of a muddy brown complexion that it was hard to believe was ever in style, the building was so otherwise nondescript that it practically wrapped around the spectrum and arrived back at stunningly unique.

Nevertheless it was large and searching it would make finding a needle in a haystack seem easy in comparison.

"Doesn't exactly scream '1920s sect'!" Brittney muttered, squinting at all the many windows that seemed to be portals into identically laid out office spaces. Even allowing for the fact that it was late afternoon, it did seem odd that there was no-one sitting in the offices.

"I suspect not screaming '1920s sect' might in fact be the point." murmured Bree in response, who was still wearing the same pensive look that she'd worn on the private jet as it had soared across Atlantic Ocean. They'd barely had time to find the safehouse and storage unit after landing, before Brittney and Bree had headed out. They'd had no time at all to scope out the scene, to check when and if any guards would change, and to figure out their exit strategy if they had to leave in a hurry and with unwanted attention on their tail.

And yet despite having to act far too quickly for either Bree or Brittney's liking, they knew all to well that Tess, Harrington and whoever else was tagging along, would be here soon. And it was a near certainty that they would have a decidedly problematic advantage of numbers.

Bree shifted her white t-shirt, re-arranging her boobs so that they were at their most perkiest. "Are we coming through loud and clear?" She asked, her voice transmitting through the hidden microphone in a small silver necklace with a sparkling sapphire pendant.

"Loud and clear babe." Monica replied. Back at the safehouse, five blocks away, Olivia would be engrossed in the gear cache that the Agency had stashed in Helsinki for just such an occasion.

Monica was currently in the process of trying to hack into the security system. Bree's plan, concocted on the long flight over, consisted mostly of a series of steps where Bree and Britney would largely wing it basically depending on what came up. There was also a not-insubstantial investment in the hope that if Monica could work her magic on the security-side, then at least they might have a fighting chance of getting to the archives. And if Bree could get them in her hands, then it was just a case of showing a clean pair of heels while getting the hell out of dodge. It was definitely a plan that lent itself to cliches, and Bree was working hard at not outwardly revealing her own private reservations. This was even more fly-by-your-pants than even Bree would normally be comfortable with.

"Ready?" Bree asked Brittney, who was looking clearly nervous. Bree had to remind herself that Britney was a junior agent still. Yes, she'd been out on the occasional low-stakes mission, had been out on a solo courier run in fact when she'd came back to Headquarters and found that the world had turned upside down. Yet there was a huge difference between a solo courier run and breaking into a secret sect's headquarters and stealing one of the most closely guarded secrets in the world. Bree put a reassuring hand on Brittney's shoulder and squeezed slightly, giving her a small smile.

"Just stick to the plan and you'll be fine." Bree said. Brittney smiled back, nerves evident but there was also a look of gratitude. Bree had been Brittney's saviour when she'd been at her lowest, framed by Harrington and left to be humiliated, and then Bree and Monica had been her mentors when she'd gone into the Agency. If Bree thought they had this covered, then Brittney was willing to put it all on the line to prove her mentor and friend right.

The two women were seated in a car, and Brittney fumbled at the door handle but was able to open it on a second go. Bree swooped out the other side, and patted herself down, before flashing a huge grin and pushing out her chest.

There was a man dressed in tattered clothings slouched by the door of the building, a bottle in a brown paper bag laying next to him. He didn't look like a guard and didn't seem to be paying all that much attention to his surroundings, however a few subtle cues in his body language left Bree in no doubt that he wasn't some random vagrant. He was the kind of guard who didn't want casual passers-by to know there was anything worth guarding.

Bree walked coolly around to the front of their car, and lifted up the bonnet, and then leaned in to look at the engine. The fact that such an act caused her bright-pink hotpants-clad ass to point directly at the guard and wiggle a little, seemed like a complete coincidence. A slight shift in the guard's stance suggested that Bree's pose had not gone unnoticed, even though he made no effort to leave his position. The subtle pattern on the hotpants began to shift, in a way that was hard to describe and hard to ignore.

Brittney leaned against the car door, dressed in a smart navy-blue blouse that nicely accentuated her body and a short black skirt that allowed for movement without being too obscenely short, and gave off an air of concern about the state of their car. Over one shoulder was slung a small black handbag. Bree's matching black handbag sat on the driver's side seat.

Nearby, Bree muttered to herself and began to experimentally play with something. "The car just felt like it was stalling!" Brittney exclaimed, loud enough that her voice carried through the crisp Helsinki air to the other side of the street. "Oh I do hope we're not stuck here!" she fretted.

As Bree leaned further into the car, she took the opportunity of whispering into her discretely hidden comms system "How long did you say these hocus-pocus hotpants would take to work their hypnotic magic?"

Olivia's voice piped in over the channel. "I can assure you that if the state of the bottom wearing them is up to standard, then the state of the art attire that I have personally designed will do their job in a matter of minutes!"

"'O', there isn't anything standard about my ass, Monica can testify to that. So here's hoping the gear works as advertised." Bree murmured. "Speaking of babes who have a personal invitation to inspect my ass anytime they want, how are you going with the hacky-hacky stuff, Mon?"

"The 'hacky, hacky' stuff is proceeding as planned." Monica's voice said, drily.

"We had a plan?! Yay us!" Bree said, trying to lighten the mood, knowing that everyone was a little on edge given how much was at stake and how little they knew of what they were walking into.

Monica snorted a half-laugh over the channel. "Brittney. Can you get a little closer to the building, the wireless network is weak where you are, and I'm in now but risking a dropped connection at any moment."

Brittney took looked both ways as she crossed the street. "I do hope someone around here speaks English!" Brittney exclaimed loudly, playing the role of the clueless tourist, as she waved her phone around as if trying to find decent cell reception. That she was in the middle of a city with a first world telecommunications system and perfect coverage was something Brittney hoped didn't occur to the guard.

Thankfully the guard only paid her only the most cursory of glances, as the last minute or two of staring at Bree's perfect posterior in the hocus-pocus hotpants seemed to be having the desired hypnotic effect.

As Brittney waved her phone, Monica grunted in satisfaction over the comms line. "Much better. I've hacked into their security camera system and have control over what they can see." There was a pause and then an intake of breath. "Oh! Nice!" she added.