The agents split up

Valerie had lost her focus, thanks to her rather thorough groping at the hands of the security supervisor. Luckily, the lewd thoughts in her head were interrupted by Iris's voice in her ear.

"Agents, hope you are ready. We need to cover a lot of ground here, so I'll need you two to split up. Hawk, you head downstairs, then left and find the server room. Valerie, head straight and then right - the archival storage should be there. I'll send further instructions to you individually once you're in position."

Valerie and Hawk acknowledged the message, nodded to each other and headed in different directions.

For her part, Valerie began to make her way to the archives. She noticed a couple of odd looks from people she passed, likely due to her incredibly skimpy outfit. The fishnet stockings and garter straps poking out from underneath her dangerously short lab coat practically screamed for attention. She chose to act nonchalant, and hoped nobody would interrupt her. Pretend like you belong here, she told herself.

She arrived at her destination without too much trouble. However, she faced her first obstacle when her badge didn't open the door. The card scanner beeped red, indicating she didn't have access. She relayed this information to Iris, who let out a mild curse in her ear.

"Ah shit. It seems archive access isn't granted to employees of your level. I can't raise your privileges any higher without arousing suspicion in the network. Do you spot any alternate means of entry?"

The door had a small glass window that allowed Valerie to peek inside. Valerie tried her best to be discreet as she looked inside.

The room was very tall with no windows. The light was dim, and it appeared to be climate controlled to aid in the preservation of documents. Tall shelves were spread evenly along the floor, similar to a library, with the odd reading table breaking the monotony. It was hard to make out much details, and Valerie was interrupted by a cough. She turned away from the window, only to find a bespectacled old man glaring disapprovingly at her.

"Excuse me, Miss. May I help you?", he demanded.

"Oh, no, thank you.", she responded, trying to appear natural. "I'm waiting for a colleague of mine. We need to consult some journals in the archive."

"Hmmmph", the man grumbled. "They've closed off access for the week due to maintenance. Didn't you read the department memo?", he glared at her.

"Huh? Oh - yes, indeed!", she replied, laughing nervously. "So that's why Sven isn't here! Thanks a lot - now I can go back to my office!"

"You're welcome, young lady. Now, which department do you work in again?", the man demanded.

"I'm sorry, I must go! Talk to you later!" Valerie beat a hasty retreat, not wanting to indulge in any more questioning than necessary. Nosy questioning like this was how you cover gets blown. She quickly rounded a corner and ducked inside the ladies' toilets, before relaying what she had learned to Iris.

"Not ideal." replied Iris. "But it might be a blessing in disguise. If the place is closed off, that means you'll be alone in there. All we need to do is to find the maintenance access..."