Locking Hard or Hardly Locking?

“Leader Jackal, I’m not sure…”
“Hey man, you said it yourself. Sometimes you gotta get in there and get the information yourself, and like HELL that’s gonna come easy at this point.”

Jackal grumbled indignantly, putting the slightest bit of pressure on the tension wrench as she wiggled her hook into the lock’s mouth. One pin, two pin, three… as she checked the lock, she threw a look back at an antsy-looking Calcifer. His expression was a mix between alarm, awkwardness, and anticipation, as his gaze swept from side to side… making sure they were truly alone in this hallway as they attempted to pick the lock to Mercy’s office.

It wasn’t easy getting Mercy away from here… certainly. After realizing that they’d get nowhere without that feather back, Jackal hatched this plan to distract Mercy, break into their office, and get it back… and Cal had been tasked with making the initial distraction that’d keep Mercy away for at least an hour or so. Sure he COULD’VE grabbed Oleander’s attention to whisk Mercy away for something or other… but Hops had called Calcifer’s cell at that moment to see if Misty was settling in alright, and after getting off the phone he had a brilliant idea. Cue one brisk, awkward talk with Angora… and soon enough Cal and Jackal had enough time on their hands to bust this door wide open.

How then, pray tell, were these two to ensure that no one else would come down this hall? Funnily enough Calcifer also knew someone else who worked closely with the church… a bun who worked the Employee General Store who went by the name of Kain; t’was simple enough to bribe the bun with a good time (or… a good bag of cookies) to get him to set up a sudden “buy one get one free” deal on all grocery goods… basically everyone in the building flocked to his shop, so Jackal and Calcifer’s way was as clear as crystal.

Now they just had to get in. That’s the hard part.

“Would it not be faster to open it with a… a sharp smack? I have watched many a video online of demonstrations of such a nature…” Calcifer said as he looked over Jackal’s shoulder.
“Not so loud… but yeah it would be. But do you really wanna leave behind evidence that someone’s broken in? Mercy could sniff that out from miles away.” Jackal whispered back as she reached in further with her hook. She pressed her ear close to the door, listening for the characteristic clicks of the pins in the barrel.
“Ah yes, of course… would you perhaps be keen on passing down this interesting talent of yours—”
“Grrah, just SHUSH for now, nerd; I need to concentrate! I’ll tell ya later, just keep watch…”

Calcifer nodded, and a tense handful of seconds passed before a soft click resonated from the lock, and a little extra pressure on the tension wrench from Jackal popped the door right open.
“That’ll do… figures that Mercy would buy some really annoying locks to lock up their shit. Anyways… your turn now, archivist — let’s ‘archive’ our stolen feather back.” With a huff Jackal walked in and started rooting through desk drawers… and Calcifer did much the same.
“You know, that’s not the proper wording for that…”
“Ehh, you know what I mean. Danny.”
“Don’t call me Danny.”
“Heheh.”

Exchanging a word every now and then about interesting finds, the two eventually found… a lot more than they were bargaining for. A special circle of something or other… a continuation of something from Mercy’s predecessor? Jackal grumbled in confusion, but Calcifer was so, so intrigued… and luckily this bun’s propensity for taking notes came in handy when Mercy’s sudden arrival was imminent and the two buns could only stalk away out the window with one shimmering feather in hand.

Now they had a lead… who knows where it could go?