~Those Who Were Lost~ - Additional IC

[SkyGinge]

The closet-sized computer room stank of masculine odour, like the changing room at one of those ghastly places where men who resembled oversized hunks of muscle satisfied their animistic violence. Such a compact space offered little in the way of barricade, so all the two men (Stern mainly, as the other man was still too tired and petrified to do much other than control his greedy breaths) managed to do was pile the two chairs against the doorway. All was dark and dim, illuminated only by the faint light of Stern's Comms. It reminded him of his six year old self, clambering through his black home in the dead of night, where everything slept, the only life in a place begotten of everything, like a faded memory.


That went surprisingly well, the men's collective pant was like a mechanical huff, Well, actually, I'll redact 'surprisingly'. Nothing was surprising about it all, in fact; everything went exactly to plan, as normal. A bit more Action-Man than usual, maybe, but it got the job done.


"W-what are we going to do now?" the neanderthal asked.


"It depends on how fast you can type," said Stern, "You're going to have to present your evidence rather promptly before the fed's arrive, or we're going to have less to argue with." Haruda and his crones will have a blast shredding me if this one gets out, but I've enough standing and evidence to survive without major repercussion. Him, on the other hand... his evidence had better be good.


Out there will be swarming with Council ants by the time the power gets on. Stern made this deduction because of the woman he had chair-projectiled, for if she knew where to find him, her crones would too. Little did he know of her true identity. Eli will be en route too, but he won't play my servant unless I'm very tricky about things. Your fate lies with your ability now, hacker-man.


The lights flickered back on. There was a moment's pause, and then the man was off. His hairy fingers rapidly drummed against the keyboard; rapatap-rapatapa-tapatapa-click. Stern held his Comms device up to the screen and flicked a button to record. Because, for oafs like Haruda, seeing is believing.


The computer screen was now littered with a scrawling web of code. Numbering, lettering. Stern liked to imagine that to computers, it was some form of cryptic poetry. Numbering, lettering, rushing across the screen! Stern was memorised by the unknown meanings it held.


A sudden flash, an ear-splitting blast, and bursting flame erupted from the number-spaghetti. The monitor exploded in an impressive boom of light and smoke and debris; wires lashed across the room like plastic tentacles. Stern dived for cover, clattering into the chair-barricade. He heard another thump; the hacker crashing against the wall beside him.


Chaos subsided into a light smoke. Stern coughed, and massaged his shoulder, knocked on impact with the chair. His mind was whirring with deductions and reason, but his body strode on. As the door swung open, he staggered over the the Neanderthal's fallen form, shards of leftover computer lodged in his skull an chest, the sweat of his shirt scorched by the explosion.


The man was dead.


@Ozerath


@Agent Nine


@PKCV2

 

[PKCV2]

Kam hadn't had time to even take another step once the lights had gone out when an unidentified assailant came crashing into his back. While his assailant wasn't heavy enough to topple him over, he did have to plant his right foot in front of him to stay balanced. Immediately the man's body tensed and his right hand dived straight to his pocket as her questions of flashlights and his destination. Why is she asking about the Archives? She know something? Government goon sent to check out the building?


The random thoughts swimming through his mind caused the man to abruptly spin to face this person. The momentum combined with the sudden nature of Kam's spin was more than enough to dislodge the hand that grasped at his shirt and reminiscent of a striking snake, his hand shot outwards to snatch the arm that once held him, his left hand wrapped firmly around the wrist of his new companion, the right hand still buried in his pocket. Easily able to link his fingers around the entire wrist he slightly relaxed his grip, still firm but a significant amount of pressure was subtracted. Apparently this mystery person was much smaller than him.


In the darkness that shrouded everyone, Kam would normally not have a fun time identifying anybody but the...bright colors...or color, stood out very much, especially when he was an arm's length away. Blinking hard he confirmed this person was indeed a woman...much younger than him by look...and was dressed in clothing that he definitely could not afford, almost made her look vulnerable.


Narrowing his eyes in hopes of clearing the darkness from the woman's face, Kam answered her questions with a slow, cautious tone, drawing out each pause between sentences in a painful attempt to seem like an ordinary citizen in the case of this person working for the Asterian government. Of course what ordinary citizen would have someone in an almost iron grip and be on their way towards the Archives?


"No money. No flashlight." Kam shrugged as he slowly released the wrist in hand and removed his right hand from his pocket, his body was still tense and slightly hunched over as if ready to pounce. While she didn't look dangerous he heard stories on how crafty agents could be. "Anyways, yes. I'm headin' to the Archives. If you're by chance going as well, you ain't planning on looking for something terrible are ya? If so I'm your guy if you want help.....no I'm only joking about that."


With that the man straightened up and turned back towards the building and continued his march, quietly hoping his pseudo-joke had thrown the possible agent off guard and deter his arrest if she planned on it.


@Agent Nine

 

[Agent Nine]

Without warning, a hand shot out and seized her by the arm. The suddeness was enough to make Lenore flinch, but she didn't shrink away from the stranger's hold, her reddish-brown hues widening as she strained herself and tried to see more of them. It was much too dark to make out details, but they were obviously much taller and stronger than she was. And yet she saw no reason to feel threatened, going so far as to patiently wait for them to release her arm as opposed to trying to free herself.

​

Eventually they did. Blinking, Lenore let her arm drop to her side as the man spoke. No flashlight, huh? Well that made things a bit difficult...hopefully, this power outage wouldn't end up being permanent. As far as she'd noticed, freak incidents like these didn't happen too often...but that didn't mean that the ship's various technicians weren't prepared to handle such things; they were probably out there, now, creeping around in the darkness in search of some frazzled generator or wires that had burned out. She'd toyed around with the lighting in her own home, and knew from experience that the smallest of problems could end up making huge messes.

​

"Anyways, yes. I'm headin' to the Archives. If you're by chance going as well, you ain't planning on looking for something terrible are ya?" the man said, and a tiny smile grew on Lenore's face, similar to the telling one she'd given her father, earlier. It was the smile of someone who knew that they were bound to get themselves into trouble.

​

"I'm going. That message from earlier, about Hades and the trees...it was strange. I want to know what it meant," she said, her tone casual. Then she could hear the man's footsteps as he began to walk, again, and she went to trot alongside him. "And I saw some people run this way...a stiff woman and a detective. I think they know what's happening."

​

Well, at the very least, they knew something. Why else would the man she'd met earlier have run off, like that?

​

"It'll be hard to get around. No lights. They'll come back on soon, though."

​

@PKCV2
​

 

[PKCV2]

A smile. As soon as he had mentioned his destination, the practically glowing girl produced a small grin, doing much to ease the worries in Kam's mind. With her smile in mind and his back to her, glimpses of Kam's usual personality started to surface as he contemplated the curiosity this girl exuded as she commented on the mysterious message that spurred the ship-wide unrest. Maybe...maybe he could twist that seemingly naive curiosity into a weapon or tool of sorts...one that he could freely and easily manipulate to carry out his plans. The sounds of the girl falling into pace beside him only made Kam's heart flutter with delight...delighted that he had just acquired a possible scapegoat and delighted because she more than likely was familiar with technology rather than her dusty old companion she decided to accompany.


Before opening his mouth, the girl mentioned that two people had already found their way to the Archives, a stiff woman and a detective by her descriptions. Already his plans were muddled by specific circumstances, this one just held the power to potentially throw his ass somewhere to suddenly cease to exist, forgotten by everyone he knew and loved...which was nobody.


Throwing his hand onto his companion's shoulder, Kam produced a wide smirk but kept his gaze forward, his voice transitioning to a tone he used when speaking with a friend. "Say...you really think the ominous guy on the screens was telling the truth? The trees and the Hades layer...sounds like we've been kept in the dark this whole time. Doesn't that make you feel...angry? Some kind of...repressed feelings buried deep down in that heart you got there? It's just speculation on my part."


Kam shrugged as he steadily moved onward, removing his hand from the shoulder. "My name is Kam...Kam Chancellor." The man rotated his body, peering into the thick darkness for signs of life or electricity and found nothing.


"I hope you can deal with people...peacefully preferably."

 

[Agent Nine]

A firm hand was suddenly on her shoulder, big enough to engulf it entirely, and Lenore turned her head to squint at it, a bit confused as to what it was the man was doing. The gesture (if that's what it was supposed to be) only made less sense as he began to speak, asking her what she thought about the odd things that the man had said during the launch.


"Doesn't that make you feel...angry? Some kind of...repressed feelings buried deep down in that heart you got there?"


Angry...? Why on earth would she feel angry? Furrowing her ivory brows a little, Lenore was silent as she thought his questions over, mulling over the strange wording and how he'd sounded when he'd spoken. Unless she was looking too deeply into it, it had almost seemed as though he wanted her to be upset about the whole thing...in reality, though, the only thing about the strange man that bothered her was that his "message" had interupted the launch. She hadn't gotten the chance to see the dropship breach the planet's atmosphere, assuming that Asteria's camera crew had video feeds from the vessel, itself. Nor had she been able to see its inevitable touchdown, and the faces of the hand-chosen few who'd been given the privilege of scouting the unexplored land in place of the rest of them. Were they excited about the whole thing, or nervous? Afraid, maybe, of what lay ahead? What was it about them that made them so...special, compared to everyone else?

Rousing herself out of her thoughts, Lenore refocused her attention on her new acquaintance, deciding that she'd been silent for long enough. "I've no reasons to be angry. Don't know if what the man said is true or not. And if it is, it isn't really surprising," the young woman said, shrugging her tiny shoulders. "Of course the High Council keeps secrets. All people do. It'd be nice to know them, though. And feelings aren't in my heart. They're in my head. A muscle can't feel, silly."

With that, she was done, and fell back into silence as they continued to walk. Then the man introduced himself, surprisingly enough, and Lenore found herself repeating his name over and over again in her head. Short names were easy to remember. "My name's Lenore," she replied, giving him another smile. "I don't see people, much. But if we run into some, I can try talking with them."

A moment later, she was just able to catch the glint of a metal door up ahead. Quickening her pace, Lenore went over to it and slid her hands over it, searching near-blindly for a knob or numberpad, of some sort; if the building was important, it probably had an electrical lock, which meant that it'd be open since the power had died...

A wooden finger caught on the indented handle a few seconds later, and she pressed herself up against the door, quietly straining herself until it gave way and opened. Smiling, again, she let herself in, assuming that Kam was right behind her.

"I found the entrance."

@PKCV2​

 

[Ozerath]

Javelin couldn’t believe how far Stern was apparently willing to go. The thrown chair was understandable; a way to seperate himself from the ZSF and get close to the dissident. But this...the man was knowingly committing treason. Javelin was really starting to worry now; if the fugitive managed to get his information out, it would be a disaster beyond comparison. But, she needn’t have worried. A blast of flame and sparks felled the fugitive and sent Stern to the floor. The feed from the recon probe fizzled then returned. “Convenient.” Javelin muttered to herself, then spoke more clearly into her comm. “Was that your doing?”


“Maybe, maybe not.” Martuf replied, vaguely smug as always. “What’s important is that the fugitive is neutralized. Now we’re just left with Stern. Go ahead and route my signal through the recon droid.”


Like a shy cat, the small round recon probe timidly rolled out from it’s hiding place and positioned itself at Stern’s feet. It began emitting a whirring sound as it put out a localized jamming field, blocking any unwanted surveillance. Satisfied with it’s environment, the drone activated its comm system, and a voice floated out of it. A strong, but caring voice, with a lightly amused tone that seemed to say everything was going to be alright. “Inspector Stern, I’m afraid I have some bad news. You’ve not only assaulted an officer of the Zeus Security Horse, but you’ve also knowingly committed high treason. These are very serious charges, Inspector Stern, and I think your reputation and keen mind won’t be enough to save you this time. But perhaps we can come to an agreement of some type.”

 

[PKCV2]

Seeing the beginnings of his manipulative efforts fall flat, Kam produced an inner sigh of exasperation, after all he was not a patient man. Quietly digesting her words, he realized she may have been smarter than he gave her credit for...or at least very literal as he looked off to the side after her muscle comment. The following moments of silence was welcomed as only the quiet taps of their shoes echoed off the ground/pathway, a rare moment of silence in the usually buzzing atmosphere, of course this also provided Kam time to contemplate what actually made his companion click. From the little interaction between the two, he hadn't learned much, only that the two definitely had no business working together...on equal ground at least.


Thinking further, the man could only recall the issues he'd had with the citizens of higher status than him. Sure Kam was born to successful and financially stable parents but he'd obviously strayed from that path, evident now that he lived and frequented in the poorer areas of the ship, at least there he was treated like a human. The pain and physicality of Gridiron combined with the satisfying thud of tackles was much preferred than taking orders from a wealthier supervisor at some random store. The credits that came from winning match-ups were enough to sustain himself.


"My name's Lenore."





Kam silently nodded in approval. At least this one didn't problems with the lower-class...then again it was dark and she probably couldn't see his features fully.


Standing at the entrance to the Archives, Kam could only wait and watch Lenore fiddle with the door, as she did so the man stood to the side, his body tense from the almost eerie silence, the looming tower casting an extra layer of darkness on everything it watched over. Finally the sound of an opening door broke the silence, a hushed swipe as it slid open and throwing caution to the wind, Kam followed Lenore inside.


From what he could see, the innards of the building definitely seemed...expensive. Rounded corners, sleek walls, and smooth floors? It could all be an illusion, cast by the darkness to alter the interior to seem like something it wasn't. Maybe it was all disgusting and corroded with the lights...more than likely not.


"Big building...following you missy." Kam said, his voice morphing with a South African accent by the last word. Slightly wincing he remembered that was how his father would say the word to his sister, the exotic twist enhancing the word in every way.


@Agent Nine

 

[SkyGinge]

A metal ball? Stern's heart, sunken deep at the time of the man's timely defeat, boomed back into being. There was so much to think about, so much to consider; life was a thousand piece puzzle waiting for him to complete. But now there was a new mystery.


"Seems the Council have invested rather a lot in little toys," the detective mused aloud, and as the final dust unearthed from the explosion began to dissipate, so did the fog of surprise that shroaded Stern's own mind. This is new technology. Or secret technology, if neanderthal-man, (RIP), was telling the truth. Right now, I'm inclined to believe him. So there's a fair few roads that may have lead to this situation. Case One: the ZSF girl outside managed to sneak this in amongst all the caffuffle, and either she isn't really a ZSF person at all, or the ZSF have far more power and development than the Council are letting on. Or Case Two: they were both in on it, and this was all some grandiose pratfall in which to snag me and get me out of the way. The latter option didn't come as a total surprise; Stern was well aware that he was hardly the world's most popular man.


Most interesting is this annoying-voiced man's last words. An agreement. This could take many forms, of course, depending on the nature of his capturers; there seemed little point in wild speculation until he could deem a little clearer what was going on. And I doubt any personal trickeries will work here; these people are obviously smart, and by that mocking tone I doubt he'd be fooled by any theatrics. No. Better to play things straight. In the mean time... he carefully reached for his Comms; if he recorded this conversation, he'd be in a far better position for bargaining should this mysterious 'agreement' turned sour. But alas, the jammy devils had blocked things. He smiled wryly, having presumed as much already.


"Mr Oh-so-very-clever-technical-sphere," Stern crossed his arms, "I must admit I'm sadly very disagreeable. But do go on. What do you want from me?"


~~~


Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon... Hells! You damned machine! Inspecter Eli Karlson thumped his arm agains his Comms, suddenly realising it was atrtached to his wrist and wincing with pain. Technology was the bane of his existance. Whether it was something as complex as the Comms, or trivial as his damn alarm clock, the faceless things all seemed out to get him.


The policeman was stood in the middle of a corridor on the way up to the top floor, where Aaron had told him he'd be. But the stubborn mule wasn't picking up. That probably meant he was handling the situation as usual, but Eli couldn't help but worry. His friend was a pup without a leash, trouble-prone as some of the old damsels in some of the Archive's oldest tales. He always found himself being ridiculed by his friend when eventually, with a sigh of relief, Eli found him out of harm's way, an unsung hero again, unsung and yet unsmiling. 'Coming, mother,' he'd retort.


The picky watsit'll happily phone the others, Eli snarled, contacting the rest of his force. "Haruda, it's me, Karlson. How's the situation down there?" the situation was good; there'd been a few arrests, but after they'd shown their hand, the crowds had died down and were now being shepparded out of the Archives. "Alright. When you can, please bring as many men as you can to the top floor. Stern's doin' his thing." Harud made some 'sharp' comment about the detective extraudinare, and then the conversation was done. With another lofty sigh, Eli continued his slow jog towards the Archive's peak.

 

[Agent Nine]

Oh, he was letting her take the lead? It was a bit unexpected, but kind of him, so Lenore sent a tiny smile his way as she wove around her new acquaintance and stepped further into the building. Curious, she tilted her head back and stared upward, straining her eyes like her father had always instructed her not to as she tried to peer through the darkness at their surroundings. The building was definitely big...and the ceiling, if there was one, seemed to be miles upon miles above their heads, flanked by smooth walls and supposedly clean tiles. Possibly marble, like the sterile, whitewashed kind that was usually found in the more lucrative sections of the ship.

Well, now what would they do? The man she'd met eariler and the stiff woman had gone running in here, but Lenore had no idea where they'd gone. And it was a big building; she didn't want to have to go checking every nook and cranny for what would most likely end up being a single room. Not to mention the fact that it was dark, which made things even more difficult. The young woman was actually surprised that this place didn't seem to have a backup generator; she'd have thought that it was the norm in government buildings, if that's what this one even counted as.

Maybe finding some stairs would be a good place to start...

"I think we should find stairs," she said, looking around. "They're probably in a basement, or the top floor..."

And then she trailed off, falling silent as the distant sounds of running feet and chattering voices reached her ears. It sounded as though someone was coming. No...a lot of someones. All headed their way, too. The police, maybe?

Not really knowing what to expect or do, Lenore glanced over at where she thought the man was before turning her attention to the now-opened door.

@PKCV2
​

 

[PKCV2]

So the two, terribly mismatched duo that sported a woman and man on completely different ends of the spectrum were going to find a pair of seemingly government officials in a huge tower being suffocated by darkness. Kam scoffed at the idea once the scale of spaciousness began to sink into his mind. All of a sudden his plan seemed futile at best.


The last time the Football player had even been in such an extravagant building was back in his younger days, days when the bankers that gave birth to him still welcomed the man into their home...even the police stations Kam had been escorted to weren't as nice as one Archives tower.


Craning his neck upwards, his gaze reached the floating abyss above that was the empty space between the floor and the peak of the tower. Everything important was always tucked away at the very top right? With the choices presented...the very top floor and the basement. Thinking information and computers wouldn't be buried in a basement, Kam chose the top first.


"Maybe...we should start up to-"


The sounds of several approaching footsteps and hurried voice quickly silenced the hushed voice of the South African. The cascade of heavy steps immediately burned the image of combat-boot clad men geared for war storming their way towards the way of Lenore and Kam. An image that spurred the survival instinct inside Kam.


Quickly grabbing the wrist of his companion, Kam led his partner to the nearest pillar, skirting around it so that that the pillar and the darkness consumed the two. Then again the impending surge of security were probably too preoccupied with whatever task currently seemed to fill their minds. Poking his head from around the corner, the backs of the men at the end of the wave could just be seen disappearing from view.


Shoving his hand into his front pocket, Kam quickly secured the homemade knuckle weapon onto his left hand. With nothing but a small wave indicating for Lenore to follow, Kam transitioned into a slow, silent jog after the security, keeping a healthy amount of distance between them.

 

[Agent Nine]

Lenore kept her gaze set on the opened door as the sounds of boot-covered feet grew louder. Obviously, her suspicions had been correct; why else would the authorities be storming the building, other than to deal with the disturbance that the strange man had caused during the launch?

Without warning, Kam suddenly darted forward and grabbed onto her wrist, nearly whisking her off of her dainty little feet as he pulled her along. Then they were behind one of the massive pillars, and the young woman narrowed her eyes at him, not really getting what he'd gone and done until she saw him peek out at where they'd been standing. The area had quickly become filled with police and, while she couldn't see them from where she stood, it sounded as though they were decently armed, the weighted metal of their guns clinking whenever they moved. And though it was dark, Lenore was just able to catch the man wave a hand at her. She gave him a nod and crept after him when he began to move.


The armed men would undoubtedly lead them to the strange man. And the detective and stiff woman from before would be there, too. What was to happen next, however, was a compete and total mystery. Lenore wasn't necessarily worried for her personal safety, nor that of her new acquaintance's, but a she held a small hope that they wouldn't be arrested.

@PKCV2​

 

[SkyGinge]

"Ah, appreciating our technology, are you?" the patronising voice smiled, "More than just a toy, I'm afraid, as I'm sure a man of your intellect will be able to infer. As for its origin, well, we know you're a man of mysteries, Mr Stern. Wouldn't it spoil the thrill of the chase to blast all ambiguities so soon?"


Damn his triviality, Stern frowned, He has me right where he wants me; so go ahead, cut to the important stuff. Utter powerlessness was a feeling the detective was completely unaccustomed too. He'd been caught like a rat in a trap. He was at his captors' absolute mercy. They could do anything with him; they had the grounds for blackmail, and the brains and technology to achieve it. They could even have him killed.


But they hadn't yet. This mysterious agreement meant that they needed him, somehow. And that was a fact he would use to wriggle out of his trap.


"Still here, Mr Stern?" the voice beamed in sinister sing-song tone. "Not wasting your time trying to think of an escape route, I presume?"


"Nope, just wasting my time waiting for you to tell me what you want."


"Polite as always, I see," the voice chuckled, "Sadly, we're rather short of time; your fellow policemen are fast approaching the top floor. So I'll have to be brief. On this ship, your analytical prowess is second to none. We'd like to use that. Failure to comply, of course, will result in some... rather unfortunate events on your behalf. But, alas! Time flies by. Expect us to contact you soon. Good day, Mr Stern."


A slight beep, and the voice disappeared. Javelin's hand clasped around it, concealed it inside her pocket. The woman rose to her full height, stood there for a brief moment. Stern, defeated but not destroyed, examined her. Her face... was perfectly expressionless; years of self-training and he'd never managed to have anywhere near as good of a poker face. Black, vacant eyes offered him no clue of his predicament, blank eyes within an almost artificial face. This is one of the very rare examples where the underlings are as reliable as the kingpins, Stern thought.


The door slid back open; the stamping marathon of policemen's boots echoed up the stairwell on the far side of the corridor.


"Hmm," Stern intoned, "So you're not going to arrest you."


"We already have," 'Javelin' (almost definitely a code name, which was yet another curious point) spoke, "Metaphorically, of course."


"Of course. Well, I suppose I'll be counting myself unfortunate enough to see you again soon."


The footsteps reached a fever pitch, and Javelin skirted off into the shadows with instinctive stealth to melt into the crowd of mixed standard officers and ZSF officers. A knackered Eli was first to greet him.


"Aaron..." he gasped.


"Deep breaths, Eli, deep breaths," Stern said, moving away from the open doorway. A flood of policemen crowded into it.


"What the hell happened? Why didn't you pick up your Comms?"


I was tricked by a shadowy organisation that nobody on this entire ship knows about, Stern said internally. But repeating the same words externally would result in 'rather unfortunate events', and though they might have been bluffing, Stern had seen enough to take the voice at what little face value he provided. So instead, he said. "There was a malfunction in the system."


"Yeah right," Eli groaned, "Did you find the terrorist?"


"Found and murdered him, by the way of things," Haruda's sneering frame appeared beside the pair, "The hairy lech's nothing more than charred flesh now. Blimey, Stern, didn't think even you were crazy enough to barbeque a man."


"And how do you propose I barbequed him?" Stern snapped, "My mind may be sharp, but when it comes to pyrokenesis I'm as useless as any other man. Perhaps use what little logic your brain has before you throw murder accusations around."


Haruda bared his teeth like the animal he was. "I don't like you, Stern, and I don't trust you neither."


"Neither of those facts surprise me," Stern dismissed, "In any case, the suspect's dead. The computer system exploded on him. How that happened is a mystery, but rest assured we can solve it."


I hope.


But for Stern, there were more pressing mysteries at hand.


@Ozerath


@Agent Nine


@PKCV2

 

[PKCV2]

The once thought to be heart-racing and absolutely idiotic police stalking soon became apparently clear that while it may still have been idiotic...it was nowhere near an exciting and exhilarating chase. The swarm of policeman seemed to be tunnel-visioning their way to victory as they never once turned back to confirm no unauthorized personnel was following, in addition they wouldn't even notice the two figures that were Kam and Lenore when rounding corners. Eventually the policemen surged through an opening towards the end of a long hall, passing by many rooms that only further convinced Kam that shadowing the forces would lead to great results. Their determination to reach their destination and refusal to stop and sweep rooms meant that something important was either in danger or somehow compromised, and what else could the men and women be rushing to other than say, a giant computer system that retained...interesting information.


Soon the thunderous wave of constant stomps filled and echoed throughout the expansive stairwell, doing well to mask the stomps emanating from the boots Kam wore as well.


Briefly twisting his head backwards to confirm his companion still followed, he flashed her a quick thumbs-up upon seeing her face.


From there they ascended...and ascended...and ascended even further. Kam was covered in a light sheet of sweat, staining his shirt and pulling strands of his hair to his face, damp and clingy. His calves and thighs burned. It had been a while since a workout session worked his body like now, his most recent memory was the 23 hour scrimmage in which his Gridiron team pit their best offensive players against their best defensive players, an extreme way to build endurance as 23 hours were spent tackling, bleeding, and vomiting. The final hour of the day to amount to 24 was dedicated to 100 yard dashes, full sprints back and forth until the day came to an end, which involved every member of the team collapsing on spot and retching with violence.


But finally! Finally they had reached the heavens as the staircase ended, flattening out to signal to any adventurers that they had reached the top floor. As the policemen continued their jog to their destination, which was a room at the other end of the hall, Kam and Lenore followed about 20 paces kept between them. Fortunately the mass of men funneled into the room leaving the hallway void of anyone except for their two followers. As the two neared closer to the room, an exchange of what seemed like two to three men reached Kam's ears...what he heard definitely piqued his interest.

 

[Agent Nine]

Lenore kept close as she followed Kam, unwilling as she was to let the distance between them grow too large. With the meager weight that she threw around, it was quite easy for the young woman to be stealthy when she needed to be, as nimble and silent on her toes as a cat was. And though her new acquaintance was laced with sweat after they had gone up a few flights, looking somewhat worn-out, Lenore felt as energetic as ever. This was the longest that she'd been away from home in a while, and she was thoroughly enjoying it. The last hour or so had proved to be much more fun than re-doing puzzles.

​

After some time, they reached the "attic", the stairs leading them into hall that seemed to be bustling with voices on one end. Curious, Lenore strained her ears so that she would be able to listen as they walked, the voices growing louder as they approached the single room.

​

"—...what little logic your brain has before you throw murder accusations around."

"I don't like you, Stern, and I don't trust you neither."


"Neither of those facts surprise me. In any case, the suspect's dead. The computer system exploded on him. How that happened is a mystery, but rest assured we can solve it."

Dead...? Lenore inwardly echoed, the foreign word floating about in her head as she mulled over the rest. The detective from before was definitely in there—she could recognize his voice—and apparently they had found the man they'd been looking for, but...now he was dead?


Frowning and wanting a better look, Lenore ventured forward a few more steps and pressed herself up against the threshold of the door, leaning out a little so that she could peek inside.

@PKCV2
​

 

[SkyGinge]

Gossip amongst the goons; the police-monkeys he had to put up with for colleagues began to spout with unprofessionalism the moment his heated conversation came to a (probably disappointingly) calm climax. Thankfully, Stern was spared more of Haruda's speculative tripe as the officer was required to telecomm their base to inform them of the terrorist's demise. He was well aware that Haruda's accusations spread like wildfire among the lower ranks (how easy he was to hate, he realised), but only now felt seriously fazed by them. The bamboozling organisation had proved something to him; his fallibility.


In any case, I've rather an intuitive hunch that the men up top are already aware of what's transpired here.


Eli, greyhound that he was, was concerned as ever. "An explosion, hey? You're a damn magnet for bad luck, aren't you?" Which was Eli for 'omigosh I'm so glad you weren't exploded'. Stern was lost, however, in the labirynth of his own mind, and his companion's discourse only crumbled against the walls of his introspection.


How? Why? What? The three central ingredients to any good puzzle. Stern was almost tempted to enjoy him.


Now the ZSF officers were conversing with Haruda, who, naturally, loved the spotlight too much not to question why they weren't instead questioning Stern. Maybe they're in on this two. But maybe not. Clear mind, Stern. Don't let the mysteries lead you too far astray.


Eli had paused, which probably meant that he was expecting and answer of sorts. "Yes, certainly," Stern dismissed, wondering if that was the right answer. A pair of gorilla like ZSF officers (he swore they got bulkier every day) lugged up the terrorist's cremated corpse and hauled him from the room. "I'm sorry sir," a spirited ZSF officer informed, "we're co-ordining off this area due to the incident." Makes sense, Stern thought, they want to give me as little tools as possible to work with. Hells, this is probably some twisted test. Toying with me, are you?


Pity; you don't know theace I have up my sleeves.


"Oi!" Haruda liked shouting. It seemed to Stern to be his favourite passtime, alongside working out and poking fun at people who were cleverer than him. The man was just outside, by the stairwell, a few of his underlings flocking like crows around him, surrounding two uniniformed civilians. Ah, human curioisity, Stern mused, wannabe-philospher that he was. "What are you doing up here? Spying on us? Listening in on us? Planning to report back to your little leching group of terrorist scum? HEY?!"


Isn't that... It was. It was the little albino chimp from earlier, the one who had followed Stern about like one of the fangirls Haruda desperately wished he had. Hells, she'd been aggravating. But initiative too; he wasn't surprised her curiousity had led her after him. With him, her complete polar opposite; a heap of slightly aggitated looking muscle. Stern toyed with the idea that he might have been her dad; it was impossible to tell, with her unnaturally pale complexion disguising much sense of genetical connection.


In any case, Punch and Judy here aren't the terrorist co-collaborators Haruda would paint them as. Time to test something, methinks?


"I must apologise for interrupting your delightful belching," Stern said, "but these aren't terrorists either. I know them; they're friends of mine."


"Friends? You, friends? Don't make me laugh!" Haruda did not laugh, "You're in on this too, ain't ya? You killed the bearded man to hide your guilt! You-"


"Really, Haruda, you'd portray me as an elephant if they ever were to be the source of something potentially career-destroying. Relax. You're a high-ranked officer - you really should know that hiding behind a door is not servicable evidence for terrorism."


Haruda's fuse was running short, and evidentally he was reluctant to explode in front of the underlings he wished to respect him, so he simply said: "Fine then. They're your problem, Sherlock. But if you end up going kaboom, don't blame me." With that, the police procession marched off down the corridor, leaving Stern, Eli and a couple of lingering ZSF officers at the doorway of the crimescene.


"Not to be at all offencive," Eli offered, "but I also didn't know you had any other fri-"


"I don't. I was just feeling particularly charitable." Or rather, Stern said internally, I wanted to test something. Haruda will already be sizing up how to get my head on a plate. But somebody up there, somebody extremely powerful, needs me. It's time to see how far they'll protect their caged mind. Stern offered a few words to the duo: "I hope you enjoy not being convicted terrorists," and with that, he too began to trump off down the corridor.


@Agent Nine


@PKCV2

 

[PKCV2]

Focusing his hearing abilities in an attempt to capture as much of this rather interesting conversation as he could before having to slink away as the men had no other exit but the hall that the two eavesdroppers were occupying. So caught up in his work Kam only realized the motion of his partner leaning even further inside the room when it was too late and had no time to pull her back by the collar of her shirt. The next thing he knew a mass of armor and weapons surrounded the two, shouting and a barrage of questions filling the ears of the football player. The man who unleashed the stream of questions turned out to be a man of Asian descent, who projected an aura of importance and leadership, which meant that this guy was most likely the one in charge.


Leaving his makeshift weapon inside his pocket, Kam stared at the Asian man with narrowed eyes, his jaw squarely set and his chest puffed out, his pectoral muscles clearly visible through his shirt. The football player was clearly expecting a fight and if it really came down to one...he'd be all by his lonesome as his dainty partner would most definitely not be any help. Before Kam could fire off a biting retort another voice silenced the Asian man, the voice belonging to the other participant in the interesting conversation moments ago. From the slight gap in the crowd Kam could see the person the voice belonged to...and a sigh escaped his lips as his gaze settled on a rather diminutive man claiming that Lenore and Kam were friends. The policemen couldn't possibly believe that right? The idea was even unfathomable to Kam himself. To him it was the obvious gaps in social class and external features. People who lived like Kam did rarely made friends with the men and women that looked the way this lying man did.


Witnessing the Asian man's own disbelief in the lie, Kam opened his mouth in an attempt to convince the man. While he himself wouldn't believe it, this was the only way he was escaping the situation without an arrest or beating and his mind jumped at the chance for preservation, but before he could say anything the men were shuffling past the two, down the hall, and spiraling down the stairway without so much as a slap on the wrist. Turning from the departing crowd, Kam set his glare on the few remaining people, including the one who saved the wandering civilians.


"I hope you enjoy not being convicted terrorists." And with that the man began on his way following the crowd of police.


Flashing a shrug at Lenore, Kam turned as well to follow their savior, his voice slightly raised as he decided on retaining his won pace rather than catching up to the man.


"What the hell's going on here? We got that madness during the launch and now rumors are swirling through the air man! People ain't feeling as safe as they once did!"

 

[Agent Nine]

All of a sudden, all eyes were on them, and Lenore could feel her small body go rigid, as if every ounce of flesh had turned to stone. Well, so much for sneaking about...and it was kind of pointless to try and stay hidden, now, wasn't it? Frowning, the young woman stepped out from behind the threshold of the door and took a few steps into the room, just as a burly officer came forward to meet them.

She'd expected the anger, but not the shouting, and did nothing but stand and stare as the man accused her and her acquaintance of being terrorists. Aside from the fact that he was wrong, it was a pretty silly claim; what evidence did he have, if any, to back himself up? And sure, they had technically been spying on them, but could they be blamed? The day's events had been interesting—really interesting—and Lenore had been given a reprieve from the growing staleness of life at home.


Besides, Kam and herself weren't the only curious souls wandering around. There were probably other people looking for their own answers, after the mild chaos that had gone down during the launch.


Lenore was silent, wondering whether or not she'd need to say something to prevent being yelled at, again, but she didn't get so much as a word out before the detective from earlier stepped in.


"I know them; they're friends of mine."

The shock that appeared on the young woman's face mirrored that of the shouting officer's. Her reddish-brown eyes flicked over to him, confusion and slight suspicion near-visible within them. Friends...? A convincing lie, but a lie nonetheless.


Surprisingly enough, the officer seemed to buy it and, with a look of pure annoyance on his face, wordlessly ordered his men to withdraw. No sooner had they left the room did the detective go to follow them out, apparently done with whatever investigative work he'd been doing before their arrival. Kam then went after him, looking as confused as she felt, and Lenore took it as a sign to follow suit, walking until she was flanking the detective's other side.

She was curious about what things he had discovered, but was even more curious about his reasoning behind what he'd just done for them.

"You could have let them take us away to be questioned," Lenore said, her tone casual but full of wonder. "But you didn't. Why lie and save us, instead? And what's all this about 'terrorism'?"

@SkyGinge | @PKCV2



​

 

[SkyGinge]

The juxtaposition between this pair of snoops is remarkable, Stern mused, Madame-la-Pale is as curious and efficient as ever, though how she teamed up with some meatheaded yob, I'll never know. Eli also trailed him, somehow finding himself caught up behind the would-be-terrorists, and, as usual, Stern had a crowd following at his behest. Perhaps that was why he so enjoyed hasty hand-offs like the ones he had just given; it forced people to chase him down if they wanted conversation.


Still, now Stern remembered why it was exactly that this girl was so particularly irksome. Perhaps I should have left them to Haruda and his dogs; her intuition will inevitably end in her demise. My test has only prolonged her fate. In any case, Haruda's hasty judgement would have been undermined upon return to base, so in away, I've even done that swine a favour. He'll be steaming now. He hates being undermined almost as much as I do, and after today I'm sure he'll file some kind of complaint about me. That was, of course, my intention, so we'll see how the mystery man up top deals with it. For now, I'd better put up with this conversation, if only to save what little face I've retained. As ever, conversation proved quite the thorn in the side of the detective who just wanted to piece together life's bigger jigsaws.


Firstly, the oaf (since it was polite to reply in order of address, after all): "I'm not surprised rumours are flying," his voice monotonous as ever, "Quite the show, wasn't it? But rest assured, Government will have a full-scale announcement of what transpired before the day is out." Probably omitting the truth, the detective mused, cynically, I can imagine it now; 'Today's launch was interrupted by a dangerous hacker, but thanks to the rapid responce of the ZSF and local policing agency, he has been rightfully detained.' No mention of me, I wager. Not that Stern particularly minded; he found life far more cosier out of the spotlight.


Next, the girl. He contemplated treating her to the same chafing wit as before, but it had proved terribly inconclusive in deterring her, and his mind was far too occupied with the promise of the day's puzzles for him to waste energy pretending to be Haruda. "Why not lie and save you, hmm? That's the real question. As I said earlier, it's a free ship, relatively speaking. One simply has to know which strings to pull. Besides, it's been a long hour, and poor Haruda was getting a bit jumpy. He's have arrested a granny if one happened to be within a hundred meters of the crime scene. Like the big man said, people are worried, and I'm not surprised your curiousity lead you up here."


"So you do know them!" Eli exclaimed, a small smile beaming from his beard, "I never thought I'd see the day, the day when Detective Inspector Stern made a friend."


"An acquiantance, rather than a friend," Stern corrected. "It's all relative, I find. In any case, I apologise," he continued, "that I cannot offer you further comfort, but sadly I'm not a particularly comforting man. Constable Karlsson, on the other hand, is a charming man. Aren't you, constable?"


Eli gave him that look, that sighing, 'why me' look that he often wore. Eli was forever burdening himself with the woes and problems of others, but Stern couldn't be bothered to waste precious puzzle time on that.


"Yeah, err, don't worry," Eli smiled earnestly, "I was pretty spooked myself, but the guy who caused the chaos is in safe hands now." He offered a small chuckle, and then his face tensed back into its usual concerned serious state. "Oh, right. I'll escort you guys back home, otherwise people will see you with us and get the wrong ideas. And we don't want any more chaos floating around; today's been a damned hell enough of it already."


@Agent Nine


@PKCV2