fourcolorlove | open } { ship smash 2025

Sam was a few years before her time in Brakebills, but she had heard of him, his story had been one to pop up when she was doing research on her brother's death. It didn't connect to it so she didn't tug at that thread but she's always been curious.

"Hi Sam, I'm Alice."

Kady doesn't give up her favors easily, but the world hinges on this one. Doesn't it always. There's always something trying to end the world.

"Nice to meet you, Alice."

And it is. He assumes that she must have done something impressive to earn Kady's trust. He does study her curiously as he leans back in his seat, one hand resting casually on the table, just in case it needs to come up quickly.

"So what can I do for you?"

"Well, you can help me save the world, to start."

No sense in beating around the bush. Her ask is a big one. With some of her friends busy building up new Fillory she needs to focus on protecting this one for now.

Sam's eyebrows climb into his hair. "Well, that's a heavy ask."

It's not that Sam doesn't want to save the world - he lives on it, it would foolish of him not to at least try. But he's not entirely sure what exactly it is he can do for Alice that would get them there.

"Do you have something a little more specific?"

"There's something we need to get, and it's going to be hard to steal. We need as much help as we can get."

She realizes she's still being vague but she doesn't know how much she can trust him, even if he does owe Kady a favor.

"So this is a heist."

Okay, that sounds like Kady, even if it is attached to the end of the world. He's more actively listening now, the wheels in his head already spinning about what they might need.

"Where are robbing? A bank?"

"Not this time." Even if she wasn't technically herself when they robbed the bank she still remembers it. Or parts of it. Her time as a niffin is kind of a blur at times.

"A museum. We need an artifact."

Sam nods slowly. "Okay, artifacts and museums are more complicated. It'll depend a lot on which artifact you're looking for - what it does, how it reacts to being handled. And it'll depend on the museum. Smaller, more boutique places are more likely to be magician-run, so their security measures will be a lot more complicated than a bigger place like the Natural History Museum or MOMA."

Since they're in New York, he'll go with those examples, but it's generally true in most public-funded museums.

"We're looking at something smaller, sadly, which is why we need the help getting past the security measures."

And maybe if they had more time they could figure it out on their own without help from a stranger (okay, Kady knows Sam but he's a stranger to Alice) but they don't have more time.

"We have a week to figure this out."

"A week."

That's ... an unfortunately type timeline, but on the other hand they are all magicians. Maybe they'll be able to magic their way through a lot of it.

"Not a lot of prep time, but I guess we'll have to make it work. What are we stealing?"

"A statue. It's needed for a ritual that will help reset things before they get worse." It is a tight timeline, she's aware of that, but she also knows that most of the time, you don't get a lot of time ahead of time to work things out.

For once she wishes they didn't have to save the world but there it is.

"How big is this statue?"

He has a few size-altering spells in his repertoire that could help, but the bigger the statue, the more complicated the security measures are going to be - and the faster people are going to realize it's gone.

"A little larger than me," She says with a wince, because she knows that's a big ask. They're going to have to magic up some kind of decoy or they'll get caught far too quickly.

"Okay. That's got pros and cons. No cases or anything to break into, but people are going to notice it's gone very quickly. Might be better to try and get in there at night when people aren't around."

That could be points in their favor. Sam could see if he has any ins with the security team. And underpaid night guards can be easy to bribe.

"I'll have to do some recon work and get back to you. How many people do you have to help?"

Alice made a mental count. Kady. Julia. Penny 23. Margo. Eliot. Josh.

It could be worse.

"Six. Do you think that'l be enough? One of them is a traveler."

"A traveler could make things a lot easier. But we'll have to do some recon, make sure they don't have wards against them." Sam glances down at his watch, before looking towards the door. "Want to go check it out?"

"Yes. That'll help us figure out what else we'll need." She makes her way to the door, heading out to lead the way.

Sam follows easily behind her, as they make their way to the museum and pay their way in. Sam always does love a good museum, and even though he knows they're here for a reason he still slows and takes his time, eyes wandering over each of the different art pieces and occasionally pausing to read a side plaque.

He's also making note of the security, looking for runes and sigils hidden in the structure of the building but ... nerd. The man is a giant nerd. And may get stuck at a particular piece because there's an interesting story that he's reading.

Fortunately he's tall so if Alice loses him, he's easily found.

Alice is a tiny nerd, so they make a good pair. She takes things in even as they move throughout the galleries. She wishes she could just appreciate the stuff. When she was niffin she had been desperate for information and knowledge at any price. She's not like that anymore but she still.

She can't help but smile a little as he gets stuck on a piece.

"Find something you liked?"

He starts slightly, blinking at her before nodding. "Oh, yeah. Get this - this sculpture has a pretty sordid history. According to this, it's been stolen sold and recovered more than than any other known art piece in history."

And now it's here. Potentially ready to be stolen again.

"You don't say. You know, there might be a reason for that." Because that's the statue they need to steal, it turns out. Of course it's notorious for being stolen. Which probably means added security.

His eyebrows go up, catching the meaning there and turns his attention back to it again, scanning it a little more closely. "People like to spend stupid amounts of money on things with that kind of history too. Just to say they had it." Or maybe they just want to save the world. Who can say for sure?

"People will do anything for knowledge, to say they've experienced something first hand." And maybe, occasionally saving the world as well. They could have an uglier target, that's for sure.

Sam nods slowly. "Not to say that people's work shouldn't be valued as art. But I also don't think it's a way people should be able to sock away money without having to account for it."

"I agree, art should be valued, but some of the cost gets extreme, especially once the artist is actually dead." Her parents had a lot of old art in their home, so she's been exposed to a lot.

open } { ship smash 2025

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