For Ivy Monaghan, there was nothing more refreshing than waking up to the harbor sunrise. Her apartment was small, meant to be inhabited by only one person, and with standard furnishings that could best be described as plain and unimaginative. But she could forgive it all in an instant for the view. Out from the room's floor to ceiling windows, Ivy could see colorful Victoria Harbor nestled between a frame of nearby skyscrapers. The dawn light was heavy, staining her beige furniture violet and pooling on her hardwood floors. She also had a front row view of the ACME building - Hong Kong.

Way to remind someone of work, ACME. Ivy thought to herself as she towel dried her hair.

Just as the detective was about to leave the apartment, her ACME communicator began to beep. Clicking it on, she responded, "This is Ivy."

"Good morning, Ivy." The voice of Venus Liu, the Hong Kong branch's executive secretary greeted. "The H.K.P.F recently apprehended a man suspected to be V.I.L.E. henchmen, Lars Vegas. Suspect was on his way to Macau island with forged documents. Your assistance is urgently requested for identification and interrogation."

"No one else is available, Venus? I'd hate to cancel class."

"I'm sorry Ivy, you're the only one in the area who has seen the suspect first hand. We've secured a substitute for your students this morning."

"Got it, Venus. Thanks." Ivy sighed.

Being V.I.L.E.'s greediest member, it wasn't out of character for Lars to try sneak into Macau. They might be able to hold him a while, but an arrest would be unlikely without a warrant. Besides, he might not even be working for Carmen anymore.

Oh well, it never hurts to ask.

Disclaimer: This event takes place a week after Hiatus ends and is a foreshadowing of what is to come. Chase Devineaux’s dialog has been approved by Chase Devineaux.

9:00 pm. Clayton Street, San Francisco 

Ivy Monaghan flipped on the lights to her apartment. Owned for little more than two months, it was a simple one-bedroom space amongst renovated townhouses. She didn't need much, but enjoyed the large windows, which (if the fog permitted) would give her a decent view of the harbor. With no time to unpack since returning from Hong Kong, a few boxes were strewn about the room, and bubble wrap still covered much of the furniture.  

Dropping her jacket and scarf on the floor, she made her way across the living room, past a long dried up houseplant. The detective kicked off her shoes as she entered a galley-like kitchen and opened the refrigerator.

It held very little food, aside from a box of Chinese takeout, a jar of pickles, and packets of mustard. Feeling too lazy to heat up the leftovers, Ivy settled on a cherry creamsicle from her freezer. 

She crashed into her leather couch, the most prominent piece of furniture in the room, and stretched out before the television.  

Click.

“The Duchess looked delighted as she walked Lupo…”

Click.

“Rocklin California seeks to ban smoking in all areas, even in homes...”

Click.

“—a very prominent spot next to the harbor, and that’s why it was important to build something that fit into the city’s skyline…” A deep male, rather familiar voice announced.

Ivy raised an eyebrow.

It was Chase Devineaux speaking to talk show host Debra DeLune about the new ACME building. For the past few weeks, the detective agency’s PR machine had been on power drive. At the center of it all was the Director of Operations.

Ah, ACME’s resident heart-throb. Ivy thought as she took another bite of ice cream.

“And what of the notorious Carmen Sandiego?” Debra DeLune asked, “Do you see her being brought to justice in the near future?”

“Absolutely,” Devineaux replied assuredly, “No one can run forever. VILE has never been so quiet. The stakes have been raised, and they know it. At this very moment, ACME specialists like Chip Masters are hard at work researching a recent breakthrough in tracking technology.  It's years ahead of current methods. We can track previous offenders anywhere in the world.”

That was odd… did he just single out Chip?

Just then, Ivy’s communicator buzzed with an anonymous message.

OPSEC MEANS NEVER SAYING "HI"

OPSEC
Don’t Let the Enemy Know

What To Protect

Nature of Mission and Objectives, CJCS Alert/Warning Orders,

Date/Time of Execution, Deployment Routes

Staging areas and Operating Locations, Reasons for

Implementing conditions, (DEFCON, FORCE PROTECTION

CONDITIONS, INFOCON), Any Capabilities and

Limitations, Strength/Disposition/Readiness/Command

Relationships of Forces of Personnel and Equipment.

Critical Information is anything that can be used by an

Adversary to impact AMC operations.

Okay, now this is getting ridiculous.

(This is a highly edited Chat RP between Carmen Sandiego and Ivy.  Story is for entertainment purposes only.  Enjoy!)

Ivy's life was changing significantly. Only a few months after she thought she would decline her job offer as an instructor at the Hong Kong branch of ACME Academy, she changed her mind and accepted. She realized how much she wanted the experience, and Zack could use experiences of his own. They couldn't stay the teenage brother and sister team they were forever. Change was evident.

She was now enjoying a news magazine in Excelsior Caffé, a small coffee place in the South Wing of Terminal 1 of Tokyo's Narita International Airport. The night before, she was still in San Francisco, packing after a long day of saying goodbye. The occasional cake and food weren't bad either. In a few minutes, she would board her connecting flight to Hong Kong.

"Is this seat taken?" A woman asked. She was dressed well for the summertime in a chiffon shirt with long, loose sleeves and a matching skirt with ribbons that flowed just past her knee.

"Uh, no, go ahead," Ivy knew how crowded it was today, an open seat shouldn't go to waste. She barely made eye contact, returning to her reading and a cup of iced cappuccino.

The stranger sat down with her white shopping bag and said nothing, which eventually made the Hong Kong-bound detective feel an awkward need to start some kind of conversation.

"Where are y--?" Ivy put her magazine down, now having seen the woman, she was fully aware of why it felt so awkward. This was no stranger.

"I haven't congratulated you on your new endeavor," Carmen stated with an air of confidence, "It's truly inspiring how you've managed to tenaciously remain on this path."

"You mean like how I don't throw my life away?"

"Precisely," a smirk appeared, "you are simply that stubborn."

"I hope this isn't an attempt to get me to switch sides, Carmen," Ivy was now confident in her own right, "It's getting a little old."

"Nonsense, you make a much better adversary than you would a partner."

"At least that's something we can agree on."

"We can also agree on this being the right choice for you."

Ivy stopped short. No one had said that, not even some of her best friends. They've been telling her it was good, or nice, or necessary, but the word 'right' was never used. Boy, did it feel good. "You think so?" she lowered her guard a little.

"I know so, emphatically." With that and a pause for minor theatrics, Carmen placed the shopping bag she had with her atop the table.

"For me?" Ivy gave the bag a good gander. A leather bound book was inside, padded with fabric. It was impressive to look at and a real honor to hold.

"You seem the type to write if given the means," Carmen added. "This is a new chapter for you, it should come with a new book."

"You didn't have to..." flipping through the pages, Ivy imagined what kind of pen she'd use. At the same time, a boarding call for Singapore Airlines Flight SQ11 from Tokyo to Singapore was announced.

"That's my cue," Carmen stood up and offered a handshake. "Good-bye, Ivy."

"Don't be so sure, Carmen," the soon-to-be instructor shook Carmen's hand firmly. Saying that felt more like a formality because the chance that Ivy was going to see another International Grand Theft case from her new position in Hong Kong was slim.

"Hey!" Ivy called out with a sly smile as Carmen stepped away. "This isn't stolen, is it?"

"Keep it anyway," the infamous Carmen Sandiego returned her humour, "And ask me again the next time we meet."

Disclaimer:
This is Part II from Zack's Journal Post  A Surprise For Sis and will lead to La Vie de Luxe, Vive la France (Site-wide RP); Written in emails between Ivy and Zack. Permission was granted by both parties for it to be posted here.

It was near the end of the semester and everyone was acting off their usual game.  Some agents became particularly credit-hungry, going overboard on assignments and grabbing as many extra projects as they could; some already had their heads in the coming break; and a few were contemplating internships that would determine their future at ACME.  For Ivy, this meant she would complete her time as an ACME instructor.  There was no telling what the next few months would bring.

"Remember, those that haven't logged the required hours on the obstacle course need to do so by next weekend."  Ivy announced as the class began to leave. 

She just might miss teaching, but she was also itching to get back to field work.  Watching the class exit in a massive crowd she wondered how many of them were going to be assigned a new case over the break.  She remembered that Zack used to always get wind of Carmen's cases first, he'd... wait, was that Zack?!

Zack's clothes were still damp from the surprise shower on the main floor.  When he left Chase in the elevator, he placed his skateboard down and started to roll down the hallways like he always did. He began reading the numbers of the classroom as he sped down.

When Zack turned the corner, he saw a large group of students leaving a classroom, some with books up to their noeses, others with papers flying everywhere. He jumped off his skateboard and kicked it into his hands before he squeezed through the group of people and peeked through the door, seeing a familiar redhead relative.

"Hey Sis!"

"Zack!" Ivy was completely floored, "How did? When did?  What are you doing here?!?" 
Walking over to give her brother a hug, she continued, "And, I'm going to forgive you for calling me ‘sis'... just this once."

Zack embraced his sister back.

"I just got back today- extended "Reading Week" because of my high grades- so I decided to come and surprise you! Guess you really are surprised."

He looked around the now empty classroom, "Still teaching I see. What have you been up to lately?"

"Just about a thousand things... it's been hard to keep a cool head when my students keep missing class for important cases.  Now I know how our old teachers feel..." Ivy started when suddenly her communicator began to beep.  Looking at the screen she saw an urgent call to action for senior detectives.  A famous gargoyle statue was stolen in Paris and ACME needed agents on it ASAP.  With cases going on all over the world, the agency was at lacking man power.  Even the special operations division was preoccupied.  "Wow, VILE's been busy.  Looks like our team's down in numbers.  What do you say, Zack?  A quick case for old time's sake?"

Zack nodded once again and smiled.

"For old time sake! Let's get the show on the road!"