Ever wondered how to rob a bank and get away scot-free?

Well, here's a detailed guide on how that would look in the year 2060 --Kian style.

Step one; pick out a bank you know you can handle. Being egotistical and greedy is the leading death of us Inquisitors after all. That and women with cherry red lips, stay far away from those.

A manageable bank for me ended up being far south in the state known as California. The story goes it used to be a sunny wonderland, a mouthwatering plate for aspiring tourists, but nowadays the sun felt more like a weapon on heavy backs and tourists could no longer afford the profession.

As I drifted through the dark streets with careful steps, dodging glass shards that occasionally shone with dried blood, eyes hammered into my figure. Under the pressing weight of copious taxes and the technological thieves of middle and lower-class jobs, vagrancy had become a harrowingly visible problem worldwide. In this state, they might have a shot at outnumbering the starving rats.

I met each lingering eye with a cold hardness, extinguishing my pity. The vagrants no longer benefitted from the pity of residents, since they themselves didn't have money to spare. Instead, they studied passers-by for a hint of weakness, and like carnivores, attacked their prey --stripping them of their clothing and valuables.

In this state, cannibalism wasn't foreign either.

I'd imagine the only reason they didn't decide to attack anyone who dared to walk the streets alone was because of the existence of Inquisitors, and their inability to gauge the difference between them and normies before it was too late.

Loud chatter drifted through the murky dew and rose in volume as I continued my careful trek. I was nearing the better part of the south, which wasn't saying much although the difference was evident.

Houses started to look a bit more hospitable and less like ancient infrastructure. Cracked paint and broken fencing were still prominent and I could occasionally make it out the skitter of nervous rats and vagrants alike but I felt less compelled to hold my breath at the stench of rotting flesh.

Finally, I began to see the tail end of a crowd gathered in front of a three-storey building that seemed to glow amongst its bleak poverty-stricken neighbors. This was where a good portion of the unpocketed tax dollars were going all throughout the world. A building made for storing the fortunes of nobles built from the tears of the less privileged.

I reached the clearing and looked up at the name emblazed above the entrance. It read: "Eden Bank". It was nowhere near the top banks in the country given its location but it would certainly do.

I glanced at my watch. Six-thirty and it had already closed, but that wasn't the reason for the crowd gossiping and prancing around with their phones at the ready. This leads to step two.

Announce your robbery.

Sounds a bit counterproductive, yeah? Not in 2060.

Announcing a robbery on RogueNet alerts your followers of your plans and brings a cheering crowd that not only acts as cover, but puts the guards inside on edge. I, codenamed Scarlett Hood, had a modest five hundred thousand fans. It may sound like a lot, but compared to the top Inquisitors it was a drop in the sea. Regardless, I had gained my following by sharing a lot of my hard-earned money with them and for the more analytical Inquisitor fanboy geeks, I had a 100% success rate.

So why was the crowd allegedly meant for me ignoring me walking through them with an outdated suit, black slacks and expensive leather dress shoes on, you may wonder?

Because I was still Clark Kent of course, silly!

I reached the other end of the crowd, calmly walking into an adjacent alley that reeked of stale urine but was thankfully abandoned. A rat scurried over my feet. I frowned.

Perhaps not completely abandoned

Nonetheless, there were no phone booths in sight so this would have to do. I thumbed an object in my pocket and pulled it out, donning what turned me into the man of steel.

My trademark blood-red mask.

The texture was skeleton-like, complete with large eye slots that I could fit all five fingers in and probably still have space. It had two holes poked in the middle for (uncomfortable) breathing since the mouth was covered by huge sculpted teeth.

Most Inquisitors opted to go with unique masks so they could be identified by their fans when they showed up on the news and posts. I couldn't resist a little Halloween dress up myself.

I completed my game time outfit with gloves and a hat. My eyes glowed yellow as I tapped into my inner spark to bug a trap so it would stay on my head unless yanked off.

Step Three; have inside help. I circled around the alley from the other side, sticking to the shadows the building cast with a little help from a touch of Inquisitor spark. It may be at this point you begin to think this all seems a bit hard without being blessed with an Inquisitor spark that grants you a few magical abilities to twist things in your favor.

I'd say you're goddamn right and if you haven't been blessed you better find a friend.

As I was saying, you get inside help. An Inquisitor may have the firepower to go in guns blazing on such a low-level bank, but that wasn't how I operated. Risk minimalism is key to a healthy life.

So, I climbed up the hidden fire exit. It was locked but I closed my eyes, channeling my spark, imagining the power flowing from my inner being right to my wrist and it obeyed, shooting out of my hand and frying the electronic lock.

I pushed against the mechanical door which budged without a sound, finding a man waiting on the other side with an assault rifle draped across his chest. I paused, my eyes glowing yellow cautiously. This was the moment of truth.

Bank security was one of the few jobs that hadn't been completely taken over by the advancement of technology. Only the elite banks had almost fully automatic security, complete with robots of destruction equipped to combat Inquisitors along with actual Inquisitor guards. Small banks like this one, however, relied on the old reliable skin and bones to secure the spot with no restraint on weaponry.

I had made a few extra coins as an Inquisitor bank robber, so I wasn't above bribing to make the job easier. This was supposed to be such a case.

The man started from behind the visor of a helmet, his cold eyes sizing me up before granting me a nod and extending his hand. I took his hand and gave a firm handshake before he moved to the side to let me through.

Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief. Had he betrayed me things would've gone a bit differently.

Step five; don't get betrayed!

I continued onward through the corridor.

Step six; be prepared.

I had the map layout memorized, so I knew exactly where to go. I heightened my senses with a little bit of effort, noting where the sounds of footsteps were. I aimed to avoid confrontation where possible, considering these were humans doing their job. However, if they got in my way, I didn't have room for hesitation.

Hesitation increases your chance of failure by fifteen percent after all.

I concluded that I could reach the saferoom and only confront one of the guards other than the main ones at the safe. The guard in my path was breathing heavily, even for my heightened senses standards. I had given an approximate time range of when I'd rob the bank to my followers and it was now well within that allotted time. No doubt the guard knew that and was anxious.

I waited until his back was turned to me and snuck up behind him, driving a knee into the back of his which sent him buckling to the ground under my weight. I popped open the visor on his helmet, revealing his bulging eyes, and mouthed a sorry before stuffing a handkerchief inside the helmet and slamming back down the visor.

After a moment, the man's weak struggle subsided and he drifted off to sleep. Some Inquisitors were brutal, decapitating humans without a thought, but I didn't see the point of that. An arcane blessing didn't make my life any more important than a man working for his daily bread.

I continued onward, monitoring the sounds of footsteps around me. I reached the room which contained the safe without further incident and after a pause to catch my breath, I darted inside.

I wasn't able to reliably pinpoint the number of people inside through the sound of their breathing, but I was able to decipher they were less anxious than the ones outside, which meant they may be more skilled. I counted six huddled in front of the safe door and quickly powered up a blast that chopped it down to five as my victim folded over, clutching his chest.

The guards -to their credit, reacted quickly, shouldering their weapons and firing blue blasts in my direction. Normal metal-incased bullets were a thing of the past and most guns now shot what people called energy beams.

I darted around the room nimbly, never staying in one spot as I zoomed across the room. As I hoped, the guards spread out around the room, which usually would be a smart move, but against an Inquisitor who specialized in speed and strategy, they were playing into my hands. Soon, their shots started to come dangerously close to hitting each other, not that they noticed in their frustration.

I egged on their annoyance, chuckling occasionally after a narrow dodge. Of course, there was a limit to my speed and I actually had a shield up, absorbing the beams that came a bit too close for comfort. However, since I never stopped moving it gave the illusion of me dodging each one.

Finally, with three of the guards hurt by friendly fire, I made my move. Snaking around one of the guard's field of vision, I ducked under his rifle, landing a solid punch right between his ribs. The man groaned, but I seemed to lack the power to put him out of commission through his armor.

Hearing the sound of a gun firing, I grabbed the man by his shoulder and pivoted, so that he was positioned in front of me as the beam connected square in his chest. He slumped backwards and I set him down gently.

The last guard aimed down his sights at me but I put up a hand. "I'm warning you now," I said, "I've been using my spark continuously for a bit now and so my control may slip. You've seen me carefully discard of your friends but I can't promise you the same privilege."

The man paused, his eyes narrowing under his visor.

Step seven; bluff when the opportunity arises.

I bent down confidently, digging into the downed guard's pockets and removing a glowing handcuff. It had the ability to lock even an Inquisitor's hand in place. The discovery wasn't surprising considering the government had endless finance to put in to research for combatting Inquisitors.

"Drop your gun and walk over here slowly, I'll handcuff you and you can live to see another day."

The man grunted, lowering his gun slowly and throwing it away. Either he hadn't called my bluff or he didn't care enough to. There was no one awake to witness his betrayal and I'd proven I wasn't big on killing for no reason.

I handcuffed him as promised and instructed him to sit against the side of the wall.

Finally, it was time to greet my winnings. The safe door required a pin but it simply wasn't heavy enough to pose a challenge to me. I had lied about nearing my spark's control limit so I could conserve some energy for the door.

I placed my palm on the door with my fingers spread. Closing my eyes, I ignited my spark, feeling a flame rise from within that immediately caused me to break out into a sweat. I disciplined the heat, molding its shape to my wishes and being awarded with it rushing to my palm and starting to melt away the door.

A minute later, a gaping hole had materialized, just big enough to fit my five-eleven frame. I squeezed in warily. Usually low level banks didn't have traps in place but you could never be certain.

Thankfully, I wasn't met with something trying to kill me so I considered that a win. Behind the safe door, there was no physical cash. That had gone out of style ages ago. In the middle, there was a tablet-sized screen that rose from the ground as the sensors picked up my entry.

I hurried to the device, ignoring the request for a pin and instead pulling out a blank bank card which I stuck ontop of the touch screen device. A low hum emanated from the machine before the screen flashed green, then showed a balance.

This was where all of the money from the bank was electronically stored, so I was slightly disappointed to see a total of only fifty thousand, especially considering I had a reputation of splitting half my earnings with multiple followers on RogueNet.

I shrugged. A payday is a payday.

I quickly withdrew all of the money into the card and the display flashed. 'Withdrew by Kelly Clarkson'

A fake name of course. I couldn't have the feds knowing his name was Kian Caddel. Even my fans only knew me as Scarlett Hood and it was best I kept it that way. Plenty of organizations existed to hunt down Inquisitors who decided on a career of bank robbing and many a top Inquisitor went missing on a daily.

Step eight; bask in a job well d-

As I stepped out of the saferoom I felt a sense of dread fill my stomach like a wrecking ball. It was so intense I felt my flight survival instinct tugging me to get the hell out of dodge. I looked up to see the most recent Inquisitor killing machine gleaming in the doorway.

It stood in a sort of awkward crouched upright stance, with two machine guns mounted on either side of its mechanical body. Its legs were long and I knew from research it was insanely nimble, capable of impossibly quick turns on those thin legs.

I stared death in the face and for a moment, I was frozen solid.

Then a whir broke me from my stupor and the machine opened fire. There would be no bluffing my way out of this one.

The beams were a never-ending stream of red against my transparent shield which lit up under the onslaught. I knew it wouldn't hold much longer at this rate and searched desperately for an escape.

The doorway seemed to be the only exit, which meant I would have to make my own. Once again calling on my spark, I dashed forward at inhumane speeds, aiming for the wall. The plan was to smash through and escape the machine.

I had nothing to prove, the money was already secured in my pocket and would be useless if I ended up lifeless.

Just as I was about to reach the wall, out of the corner of my eye I saw a blur before I felt a force slam into my shield at what felt like Mach 10, breaking through it and causing it to explode. I was sent hurtling through the wall without protection, my shoulder taking the brunt of the force as the wall caved in under my weight.

I weakly tried to pull myself up as the roof seemed to spin like a basketball. Of course, the spinning stopped just in time for me to see the Machine step through the rubble of the hole my body created, its red eyes glowing menacingly as it looked at its wounded prey.

Me.

Step nine; pray to your God.

Chapter One - A Guide

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