Penny had a lot of work to do today in preparation for the future. She programmed her fabricator to make a bunch of security cameras, a server removed from her main system she could use to store video and also some security sensors that she started installing all over the house and in front of every entrance and exit, but not in the lab itself. That place was avoided on the excuse of company secrets and top secret research, but every way to the place was monitored. Oh and the same was true for the DTR, but that was labeled as an entertainment room, so there was nothing of particular value to steel there. Except the thousands of dollars’ worth in electronics, but who would steal that? With all the cameras covering every entrance and exit to the house, Penny could use the video as evidence to confirm her alibi in case she ever needed it by simply entering the lab or DTR and then teleporting out, then back in when she was done with her job and no one would be able to tell she wasn’t in that particular room the entire time. The entire system was closed and was not connected to the internet or any external devises that could be hacked or otherwise compromised. The only way to do anything to compromise the security from outside was to stop the electricity to the house, so Penny took care of that problem by connecting a bunch of batteries and connecting them to every system in her home as reserve power.

The next thing she did to secure her research data and prototypes was change all locks in the house and securing every door and window. She had watched a few videos about the ease with which some locks were beat and so she researched what the best locks and security measures were and implemented them. Now not just any lock pick would be able to unlock her doors. Still, she didn’t activate any of her security measures just yet. First she had to have a reason to increase the security of her laboratory, she being an unknown inventor and all, who would want to steal from her? So she just had to hit a few other research and development facilities to raise the paranoia of researchers all over the world.

First she made herself a directional EMP to use and stop cameras and sensors from working and detecting her, then a devise to clone access cards that she improved a little from the original designs she got from the dark net. Also a glue gun just in case she came across someone she had to neutralize from a distance. People underestimate the usefulness of a glue gun, but just in case it didn’t work as intended she also packed a few rolls of duct tape. Packing her suit and gear, Penny shapeshifted into a different body type and teleported to her first target, a D.A.R.P.A. research center.

Penny first waited until lunch to see if any researchers were going to eat outside where she could copy their card data or if that didn’t work, she could wait for them to leave home and copy their cards then. Either way, she would attack the facility in the cover of darkness and steal their research data to peruse in her secret inventions and pranks.

Later that night, Penny changed into her suit and used the copied cards, infiltration AI at slower speeds to break codes and UV light to see finger stains and smudged numbers to infiltrate the facility. She used her glasses and the multiple sensors in them to scan for security measures and guards, then proceeded to using her directional EMP to knock the measures out and her glue gun to stick arms and feet of guards and researchers that crossed her path. Most guards she neutralized before they pulled their gun out by gluing the hand to the holster during the motion to take it out. One guard however managed to pull his gun faster then she could react and started pointing it at her. A green prediction line appeared on her display showing her the expected trajectory of the bullet in a cone and following every movement and twitch of her opponent the line turned red moments before the trigger was pullet. Penny ducked under the cone, narrowly dodging the bullet and using her momentum she caught the outstretched hand and judo threw the guard before he fired his second shot and also disarming him in the process. She quickly used her glue gun while the guard was still on the ground and then continued on her way to the servers. Penny wasn’t as shaken by the experience as she expected to be, maybe because of the full body armor she had tested multiple times against much higher caliber bullets and was now wearing. Maybe because she was having a bit of fun playing at cops and robbers and was winning for the moment.

It didn’t take long to find the server room and connect to the database with all the projects in the facility. Penny browsed all the projects and was deliberating which ones to steal, then decided it wasn’t worth wasting her time and downloaded everything from drone research to human machine interface and smart bullets. On her way out of the system and the building, Penny left a detailed instructions of how she managed to beat all security measures of the facility, one or two suggestions of how to improve them and a promise not to sell the technology stolen today. Not that they were likely to believe her, but that was them problem and not her problem.

During the following week a few more high tech facilities were hit the same way. She properly timed her infiltrations to make it look like she was traveling from facility to facility with a car or a train and not just teleporting willy-nilly. Also when the news about the first two or three robberies hit the news, she activated her security system at home and started using a robot double to appear on video while she was robbing places of their hard studied research. After all it would be suspicious if every time there was a robbery in another town, she was cooped up in her lab or entertainment room.

Places did start to beef up their security, but not to the point a little hacking and reconnaissance with stolen tech couldn’t help and beat. And by the end of the week she did have two or three prototypes built from the things she stole. And now it was time to infiltrate the place she needed the most of she was going to pull the biggest prank she was planning.

Penny stood in front of her home in the dead of night and planning how to infiltrate the place. Her robot double was sleeping in her bed in the loft, which meant that the lab was empty and ready to be robbed of prototypes and research data. Penny had insurance in case of theft and damages, so she didn’t plan to be gentle. Using a ring with thermite coating, she removed the lock entirely, instead of picking it and used her directional EMP on the cameras and censors before entering the house. Penny didn’t use her previous knowledge of the security systems in the house, but very carefully scanned every wall and corner, sneaked silently and with care and deactivated everything she found with the EMP. Insurance would pay for the damages and she wouldn’t lose a dime and the infiltration would look more professional to the police. When Penny got to the lab, she infiltrated her own computers and used the same tools as in the other places to steal all her data and then leave a note with pretty much the same message, before exiting the place. Then after traveling a few block from the house, Penny teleported into the lab and waited until morning.

The Penny robot double woke up and followed Penny’s routine, then it checked the security footage from last night. When it saw all cameras were malfunctioning, it ran to the lab, where Penny put it in her pocket dimension and called the police to report a break-in at her house, then after checking her logs, also reported stealing of intellectual property. During the night she had hidden a few machines and inventions away, so the police was free to look around the lab and they wouldn’t find anything suspicious. No AI superintelligence, super or quantum computers or fabricator from fiction. Just very advanced work computers and scanning equipment she could say she invented or improved herself. She certainly knew how to build them after all her studies.

What followed were hours of asking questions, reviewing footage from destroyed and surviving cameras and dusting for prints and gathering evidence. Then other agencies were called and the whole process was repeated a couple of more times. A few prototypes were stolen, including her hover scooter and a couple holographic projectors, which she made sure the police were on the lookout for. She told them that Jenny also had one, which was a present from her, just in case there was a misunderstanding. In the end Penny wasn’t suspected of anything thanks to the indisputable evidence recorded by a camera in her room, proving she was free to continue her life like before.

There were claims submitted to the insurance agency, and while Penny waited to hear from them, she continued by hitting a few more places in the following day or two. She couldn’t be the last name on the list of targets. That could become suspicious in the future or in the process of the investigation, so she ensured someplace else was last.

Penny also called her team and told them about the theft of some prototypes and a lot of data, but everything was patented and nothing major was missing, so they didn’t pursue the subject very deeply. She also called Valentina Santiago’s phone and had a long conversation about the theft. The insurance would pay for the loss and they didn’t lose anything vital, so their business would continue to run smoothly. If Penny could gather the money for a production facility of course. Penny didn’t want to rely on investors to move her company forwards. She had watched and read too many scenarios where the investors didn’t agree with the way the company was run and bad stuff started to happen. Better develop her company slow and steady and see where that led them.

When she was sure that her home was left alone and no longer under surveillance, Penny returned all the equipment to their proper place after sweeping the house for foreign monitoring devices. Thanks to a few last minute magic enchantments the work of the AIs wasn’t interrupted and could connect to her and the internet even while in her pocket dimension, but she really should place all her secret and sensitive equipment somewhere more secret. She couldn’t move all her things every time something came up. She had to increase the size of her pocket dimension to 10x10x10 meters and soon even that would be filled out with more stuff. Good think she was already working on something on the subject.

Now that most of her problems with explaining from where the prankster got all the tech for the pranks they pulled, Penny got back to her lab and started analyzing all the data she had stolen and thinking of fun and creative ways to combine them for her greatest prank yet. Still it would take a long time before she could pull it and she had other things to keep her busy for the foreseeable future.