Dagfinn
Maid Of Doom
The hazy air of early morning city air clouded much of the skyline. The sun was still about an hour from rising over the horizon, but the man was already starting his day. Getting his orders from his higher up, it was clear what he had been assigned to. At first, this string of murders seemed to have no connection and happened rather sporadically. Just some coincidence that they've all been connected to the Salvation Program that the government had tried to cover up.
After the murders began to pick up and no wavering of the victims, it became clear that it was the work of a serial murderer or a group targeting these people. With that, he could see why that he was assigned to this investigation. Sure, he might be a bit out of his comfort zone in terms of the type of case, but his personal connection will drive him to go further than any other agent.
There was one thing that confused Nero, though. His superior told him to get a mercenary to aid him in the investigation. Of course, the man protested, saying that he was all that was needed for this case. Still, his boss ignored his argument and told him to get the agent. All he had to go on was a name, a picture, and the places that they frequent. He couldn't go against the orders now, seeing as if he did, he'd lose everything and ruin his pledge to his foster mother. So with that in mind, he began to walk down the alley before lighting a cigarette. It was gonna be a long, unpleasant day...
***
Ordinarily, Lavanda would not be out this early; however, work had been slow these last few months. There was more than enough income but as the jobs came less frequently she had more free time on her hands. For a person with no hobbies, it is quite the inconvenience. Being left alone with one's thoughts is not how she'd prefer to spend her time. Especially considering her growing paranoia...
Several years ago Lavanda sought to locate old Salvation soldiers, some that had been old friends and others just because they lived near her. It wasn't an odd occurrence when she found that the perpetrator of some of her investigations were old soldiers, it made sense to keep tabs on them. For the most part, soldiers manage to hid well among the populous. Drowning out their differences and oddities with alcohol and drugs, or the smarter ones would do it with a therapist... And drugs. Still, nothing could stop Lavanda from spotting the prosthetics, no matter how good they looked. Certainly, she couldn't find and keep track of all of them, but of those that she could a growing number of them seemed to be snuffed out. If they were concerned, and Lavanda feared they were, then she could very well be a target.
As often as she moved Lavanda felt some comfort. The more years passed the less she looked like she'd even been able to participate in the program, hardly a soul knew of her now. Didn't stop her from being worried about her well-being. Maybe it was time to move again?
The thoughts passed as she took a sip of her drink. Looking as if she stared into empty space as she observed the bar. Quieter than normal, but not empty. It ran 24/7 and never once had it been empty.
***
Nero navigated through the narrow alleyways, only cutting across streets to once again duck into an alley on the other side. As he began to approach one of the locations that his target frequently visited, he made sure he had his gun in his holster and that it was loaded. If his boss was wrong about all of this and this woman became hostile, he wouldn't hesitate to fight back. Still, he looked at the picture one last time and sighed heavily. Was this really who he was looking for? What use could she be? She looked like she was younger than him, so how could she be connected to any of this?
There didn't seem to be many people around the bar, but it was rather early. He could stick around for a bit and see if the woman showed up eventually. Being a mercenary, it really screws up your sleeping schedule. His superior told him that she has been visiting this place more and more. So, if he stuck around he'd eventually run into.
Going up to the bartender, Nero asked if he knew of a woman named Lavanda and showed him the picture. The bartender nodded and said she'd been coming a lot the past couple months. With that information, he ordered a light drink and took a seat in the far corner of the bar. He wanted to observe those who came in without looking to suspicious.
About a half hour passed and still no sign of this woman. Of course, Nero couldn't proceed with his investigation without attempting to recruit this woman. His boss would treat it as an act of disobedience. He became lost in his own thoughts, looking back on his past as the drinks slowly crept up on him. He didn't notice, at least at first, that Lavanda had entered the bar and took a seat. It took him a few minutes as he lazily glanced around the room and noticed the new body sitting alone.
"Oh, shit... Found you, huh?" Nero whispered under his breath as he stood up suddenly. Subtly wasn't exactly a strong suit of his, so he approached the woman from behind. "Are you a Miss Lavanda Moore?" His voice was harsh and a bit hostile in tone. It wasn't hard to confuse his confrontation as an aggressive act. Still, he didn't mind a fight if she wanted to pick one with him.
***
His walking was more than loud enough to alert her to his presence before he spoke, so while he didn't startle her. Lavanda was still a bit surprised he spoke while standing behind her. Not very personable she guessed.
For a moment she glanced over at him, prepared to simply say yes. Another miscellaneous customer. Though there was a pause after she looked at him. No, he was different he didn't fit her profile of the standard criminal, nor did he look to be working for any corrupted politicians. Simultaneously too clean and too rough to be either of her usual client bases. His demeanor somewhat reminiscent of a soldier, but he was far too young for that.
Lavanda simply turned back to how she sat before, her focus now on someone new who stepped in.
"Who's asking?" she took a sip from her drink. She didn't know what it was, but she knew there was something different about this... Lavanda couldn't tell what wanted and was somewhat intrigued already.
***
Letting out a sigh, he paused for a moment. As much as he hated the words that were about to come out of his mouth, he knew he had no choice. "I've been asked to find you... By my employer." With that, he took a seat next to her. Before he could explain why he was asked to find her, he needed to make sure that she would join him on the investigation. There was too much valuable information to go on about to some stranger.
"We need you for a 'special' job. My employer believes you have a certain skill set that will prove useful to us... So, I need an answer." Although it did seem a bit forced, Nero did his best to hide his emotions as he continued. He had to at least make an honest effort in recruiting this mystery woman before continuing on with the investigation. His boss sees everything, so he couldn't try to disobey their orders.
Still, of all the people that his boss could've have chosen, it had to be this girl? What makes a random mercenary like her so useful? He had never even heard of her, to be honest. His boss must be hiding something from him, so being cautious around this woman was probably for the best. Nero has realized what it's like to be stabbed in the back when you drop your guard. He knows it all too well at this point...
***
"If you're not going to answer me, would you at least mind giving me a clue?" Lavanda preferred to know a little about her employer before saying yes, or a little bit about the job... This man wouldn't give up either and she wasn't surprised. He clearly didn't want to be recruiting her, it was just his job.
"The photograph," she continued, "most people find me off a digital picture or, hell, even verbal description. You were given a photograph were you not?"
Of course, she didn't see him holding a photograph but she didn't need to. The evidence was on his hands. The man very nearly gave himself a paper cut, he probably didn't even feel it considering it didn't actually cut through. Yet the mark on his finger was still apparent to her. The paper that did it had been thick, probably glossy paper as opposed to normal printer paper. Plus the fact that identified her with ease, sure it took him half an hour or so... Lavanda chalked that up to the fact that he didn't want to recruit her, that or because he was tired and had zoned out for a while. Probably both.
"Could I see it?" She wasn't entirely sure what she'd learn by seeing it, but she had a feeling she could learn a little something by what they had of her. Whoever wanted to recruit she knew now was definitely different than normal.
***
Hesitant at first, Nero stared at her for a few moments. He wasn't sure if he should give her the image. It was odd that she knew that he even had a physical photograph on him. With that, he took note of her attention to details. Whether it was from an augmentation or just a natural gift, it was impressive regardless. Letting out a soft sigh, he reached into his back pocket and retrieved the photo. He took one last look at it before handing it over to her.
"I doubt you'll learn much from that, if that is what you are trying to do... I just need an answer before I can say anything more about this job." Nero's tone softened a bit. Her little analysis of the minor papercut piqued his interest a bit. If she was like this all the time, he could understand why his boss wanted to see if she'd join a bit more. Still, there wasn't a blatant connection to the murders and this woman. There were probably plenty of 'observant' people in the department, but his boss chose her out of the blue.
The man turned to the bartender and order a drink. While his patience was typically thin, the woman, who seemed to have something special about her, kept him intrigued. She looked a few years younger than him but was probably older than he thought. Considering she is a mercenary that caught his superior's eye, she had to be doing something right for a while now. Other than the obviously prosthetic limbs, she looked rather cute. Still, Nero couldn't judge people on their prosthetic parts. At this point, he is more artificial than human, at least physically. It looked like she was in the same boat as him, though. Much of her body was artificial. What was prosthetic looked older, much older in fact. Maybe it was all she could afford in whatever underground hospital she went to? That was another odd thing he took note of. She was definitely getting more interesting the more he looked into her.
***
"Wow, this is-" an old photo, taking her by surprise she didn't finish the statement. Instead, she just stared down at the image. Lavanda didn't look much different from her photo, her hair was shorter now and that was just about it. A simple headshot with a somewhat blurred white brick background, she was actually smiling in the picture. Back when she was still new to the Salvation Program, thankful to be alive and given the chance to help others...
"Hmm," she handed him the photo, stifling a laugh, "it's funny that anyone working in the government would want to turn to me for help, I'm not exactly grateful for what they did,"Lavanda took another sip of her drink, glancing around the room once more. She wondered what department he worked for, but didn't care to ask as she knew he'd not answer. What would they want her for anyway? Not as if she'd ever been a particularly good soldier anyway, sure she did her job to the best of her ability. However, she'd never really been noteworthy or a cut above. It wasn't until she broke away from the work that she found her 'true' calling in being a detective. Unless... That's what they needed?
Lavanda suddenly looked back at the man, speaking suddenly before he could get a word in, "unless this is about that string of deaths," she kept it vague, most of the people here now were drunk and uncaring, but it was good to be careful, "Walker, Campbell, and Cox all clocking out within the same couple of weeks seemed suspicious, but..." there were others that were possibly connected, it was just that those three stuck out to Lavanda, she knew them. They weren't close, but she knew them.
"If it's about that then I suppose I can't say no, and that we should probably go somewhere else to talk. If it's for something else... I'll have to decline."
***
The woman immediately knew that it was the government that was interested in her skills. This made the man tense up a bit. For Lavanda, it seemed like no big surprise that they would come back to her. It did seem like she had some sort of resentment towards the government, though. Maybe she had family connected to the research depart or something. Perhaps her prosthetics were the fault of some accident or something. Whatever the cause was, he didn't necessarily agree with it. The most important and defining person in his life happened to be a result of the government. Still, the man held his tongue, regardless of her opinion.
As she began mentioning names of the victims in a sort of familiar way, it raised the man's suspicions of her even further than what they were already. He was about to interject, but then she came to the conclusion of accepting the job about these murders. It did seem she has sort of connection to them. Something personal, more or less, to the victims. 'Is she a child of a participant? Guess that'd explain how she knows the names....' With that, he dismissed his suspicions of her for the time being. They were both mysteries to each other and seemed like polar opposites at that. Neither of them would've guessed that they had a lot more in common than what would appear.
"Huh... Okay..." Nero began to say. He wasn't exactly sure what to say. He honestly didn't expect her to agree to help, but with all this new information about her, it made a lot more sense why this stranger was to be recruited. Looking down at his drink, he took a big swig, downing the alcohol in a quick gulp. Putting the glass back down on the bar, he pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down an address. "Meet me at my apartment in two hours.... Gather anything you might need, cause this investigation might get a bit complicated." He looked around before turning to face the woman one last time. He gave her a small nod, his expression turned into one of concern. He was determined to stop these murders and catch whoever was responsible. It was a pleasant surprise to have someone who seemed to be more invested in this like he was. Unfortunately, these crimes were only a small piece of the puzzle in something much grander.
***
Lavanda simply turned back to her drink, in no rush to finish it. Not as if she needed to gather her things all that she needed for an investigation was herself. At least, she figured, by working for the government she'd be given some access to things to make the investigation easier.
Thoughts quickly turned over to the young man as she watched him leave the bar. An odd pick for this investigation, at least from a glance. Admittedly she knew very little about him, despite usually being able to decipher a great deal someone's life with a glance... He gave her a lot of conflicting details. More information would come with time, it always did. Although it dawned on her that she'd yet to even get his name. A bit unfair that he already knew hers.
After taking her time finishing her drink Lavanda finally left the bar, she still had time to kill but wasn't sure how.
***
Nero took a deep breath as he left the bar and the woman behind. Now, things could finally continue. Sure, in reality, it hadn't been more than half a day since he was assigned to the case, but it seemed like forever for the man. As much as he didn't want to admit it to anyone, he was antsy to start working on this case. His personal promise to himself for his foster's death was an obvious driving factor towards it. By this time, the sun had finally risen and began its arc in the daytime sky. People were likely up and getting ready for work or other various things.
It was a brief twenty-minute walk from the bar to the apartment he had written down for Lavanda. He was lost in his thoughts the entire way, so the time went by rather fast. Upon arriving at the front door, he punched in a code on a keypad before the electronic lock clicked to signal the correct pattern was entered. Grabbing the handle, he pulled down and then pushed the door in. This place wasn't actually his apartment. It was a safe room that the government paid for. It was had various tools that many different departments took advantage of when they were given access to it. Initially, it looked like a pretty plain apartment. Sure, it had some nice furniture, but nothing out of the ordinary. "Guess I can go over the evidence that we have for now....." Nero mumbled to himself as he began to switch on lights.
He walked over to a large, flat table in the center of the main room. It looked plain enough, maybe a bit basic for some, but it had a hidden service about it. Reaching under the lip of the table, he searched around for a few moments before finding a small, square-shaped button. Pressing it, the table began to hum as if coming to life. The metallic surface began to separate into small squares before fading into a black, glossy material. The small lines that separated each square went from a plain white to a cyan color. "OK. Show me what we got." The man spoke aloud. After a moment of hesitation, the electronic table processed the request and various images of the crime scenes and blocks of texts began to pop up into the air. This state of the art Hologram table proved incredibly useful for investigations. Not only could it simulate and recreate crimes, it had an artificial intelligence built in to help give opinions.
This is what he planned on doing until his new partner got here. He wanted to get a clue to all of this. It didn't matter how little it was, it was a step closer to quickly solving these murders and preventing even more. Lavanda seemed to have the perfect balance of motivation and skills to help assist him in this endeavor.
***
By the time Lavanda got to the apartment, it had only been an hour since their first encounter. There was no point in her taking the full two hours, and even spending one hour doing nothing of substance had been too much for her. Now that she knew for certain the murders were connected her paranoia skyrocketed. Depending on how these people were targeted, she could potentially be safe... Given her appearance, she passed off easily more as someone that isn't a soldier than someone that is. However, if the murderer possessed the right intel on the soldiers... She was as good as gone. Sure a part of her felt bad for the soldiers that passed, but her main focus was on the protection of herself and those still alive. The victims were gone, dead, and Lavanda was as good as over it. Revenge isn't her style, and as much as she could wish otherwise. She didn't know any of the deceased that well.
Once reaching the apartment she found herself facing a code lock instead of a key lock. Not the safest way to handle things... Certainly didn't help that they seemed to rarely change the passcode. Despite not being informed the code Lavanda opened up the door with ease, well... After the second attempt. Figuring which numbers to use is easy, the order not so much.
***
Nero was too entranced in the data that he had up in front of him to hear the electronic lock click and the door slowly open. Between the time that he had arrived and now, he had come up with two noticeable patterns. He was gathering them so he could share them with both his boss and his new partner when he noticed her. "What the f-...?" He began to say before stopping himself and dismissing it. It didn't matter how she got in, figuring it was her hyper-analysis. He shook his head, grumbled something and then pointed to the holograms as he left the room for a few moments.
When he came back, he took off his jacket, rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and then lit another cigarette. "Alright, guess you let yourself in early..." He was a bit upset, but still dismissed it the best he could so they could get right down to business. "I've been looking over the crime scene and the notes the police have been taking. From what I can tell, there are two patterns going on. The first one being that a blade of some sort is always used. Whether it's the cause of death or just to inflict injury, there are blade marks on each victim's body." Pausing for a few moments, he tapped the ash off of his cigarette into an ashtray nearby before continuing. "The other one is parts missing from their augments. Whether it'd be just some circuitry or the entire thing, they all end up missing something from them...."
His face went a bit grim for a moment. He was obviously disturbed to some degree by the crime scene photos. The question that seemed to replay in his mind was why? Why were they targeting old Program members? Why were they taking parts from their augments? It didn't make sense, but it was his job to figure out the reason behind it. "We got more stuff to look into... Come on, let's see if there is any other murders like this..."
After the murders began to pick up and no wavering of the victims, it became clear that it was the work of a serial murderer or a group targeting these people. With that, he could see why that he was assigned to this investigation. Sure, he might be a bit out of his comfort zone in terms of the type of case, but his personal connection will drive him to go further than any other agent.
There was one thing that confused Nero, though. His superior told him to get a mercenary to aid him in the investigation. Of course, the man protested, saying that he was all that was needed for this case. Still, his boss ignored his argument and told him to get the agent. All he had to go on was a name, a picture, and the places that they frequent. He couldn't go against the orders now, seeing as if he did, he'd lose everything and ruin his pledge to his foster mother. So with that in mind, he began to walk down the alley before lighting a cigarette. It was gonna be a long, unpleasant day...
***
Ordinarily, Lavanda would not be out this early; however, work had been slow these last few months. There was more than enough income but as the jobs came less frequently she had more free time on her hands. For a person with no hobbies, it is quite the inconvenience. Being left alone with one's thoughts is not how she'd prefer to spend her time. Especially considering her growing paranoia...
Several years ago Lavanda sought to locate old Salvation soldiers, some that had been old friends and others just because they lived near her. It wasn't an odd occurrence when she found that the perpetrator of some of her investigations were old soldiers, it made sense to keep tabs on them. For the most part, soldiers manage to hid well among the populous. Drowning out their differences and oddities with alcohol and drugs, or the smarter ones would do it with a therapist... And drugs. Still, nothing could stop Lavanda from spotting the prosthetics, no matter how good they looked. Certainly, she couldn't find and keep track of all of them, but of those that she could a growing number of them seemed to be snuffed out. If they were concerned, and Lavanda feared they were, then she could very well be a target.
As often as she moved Lavanda felt some comfort. The more years passed the less she looked like she'd even been able to participate in the program, hardly a soul knew of her now. Didn't stop her from being worried about her well-being. Maybe it was time to move again?
The thoughts passed as she took a sip of her drink. Looking as if she stared into empty space as she observed the bar. Quieter than normal, but not empty. It ran 24/7 and never once had it been empty.
***
Nero navigated through the narrow alleyways, only cutting across streets to once again duck into an alley on the other side. As he began to approach one of the locations that his target frequently visited, he made sure he had his gun in his holster and that it was loaded. If his boss was wrong about all of this and this woman became hostile, he wouldn't hesitate to fight back. Still, he looked at the picture one last time and sighed heavily. Was this really who he was looking for? What use could she be? She looked like she was younger than him, so how could she be connected to any of this?
There didn't seem to be many people around the bar, but it was rather early. He could stick around for a bit and see if the woman showed up eventually. Being a mercenary, it really screws up your sleeping schedule. His superior told him that she has been visiting this place more and more. So, if he stuck around he'd eventually run into.
Going up to the bartender, Nero asked if he knew of a woman named Lavanda and showed him the picture. The bartender nodded and said she'd been coming a lot the past couple months. With that information, he ordered a light drink and took a seat in the far corner of the bar. He wanted to observe those who came in without looking to suspicious.
About a half hour passed and still no sign of this woman. Of course, Nero couldn't proceed with his investigation without attempting to recruit this woman. His boss would treat it as an act of disobedience. He became lost in his own thoughts, looking back on his past as the drinks slowly crept up on him. He didn't notice, at least at first, that Lavanda had entered the bar and took a seat. It took him a few minutes as he lazily glanced around the room and noticed the new body sitting alone.
"Oh, shit... Found you, huh?" Nero whispered under his breath as he stood up suddenly. Subtly wasn't exactly a strong suit of his, so he approached the woman from behind. "Are you a Miss Lavanda Moore?" His voice was harsh and a bit hostile in tone. It wasn't hard to confuse his confrontation as an aggressive act. Still, he didn't mind a fight if she wanted to pick one with him.
***
His walking was more than loud enough to alert her to his presence before he spoke, so while he didn't startle her. Lavanda was still a bit surprised he spoke while standing behind her. Not very personable she guessed.
For a moment she glanced over at him, prepared to simply say yes. Another miscellaneous customer. Though there was a pause after she looked at him. No, he was different he didn't fit her profile of the standard criminal, nor did he look to be working for any corrupted politicians. Simultaneously too clean and too rough to be either of her usual client bases. His demeanor somewhat reminiscent of a soldier, but he was far too young for that.
Lavanda simply turned back to how she sat before, her focus now on someone new who stepped in.
"Who's asking?" she took a sip from her drink. She didn't know what it was, but she knew there was something different about this... Lavanda couldn't tell what wanted and was somewhat intrigued already.
***
Letting out a sigh, he paused for a moment. As much as he hated the words that were about to come out of his mouth, he knew he had no choice. "I've been asked to find you... By my employer." With that, he took a seat next to her. Before he could explain why he was asked to find her, he needed to make sure that she would join him on the investigation. There was too much valuable information to go on about to some stranger.
"We need you for a 'special' job. My employer believes you have a certain skill set that will prove useful to us... So, I need an answer." Although it did seem a bit forced, Nero did his best to hide his emotions as he continued. He had to at least make an honest effort in recruiting this mystery woman before continuing on with the investigation. His boss sees everything, so he couldn't try to disobey their orders.
Still, of all the people that his boss could've have chosen, it had to be this girl? What makes a random mercenary like her so useful? He had never even heard of her, to be honest. His boss must be hiding something from him, so being cautious around this woman was probably for the best. Nero has realized what it's like to be stabbed in the back when you drop your guard. He knows it all too well at this point...
***
"If you're not going to answer me, would you at least mind giving me a clue?" Lavanda preferred to know a little about her employer before saying yes, or a little bit about the job... This man wouldn't give up either and she wasn't surprised. He clearly didn't want to be recruiting her, it was just his job.
"The photograph," she continued, "most people find me off a digital picture or, hell, even verbal description. You were given a photograph were you not?"
Of course, she didn't see him holding a photograph but she didn't need to. The evidence was on his hands. The man very nearly gave himself a paper cut, he probably didn't even feel it considering it didn't actually cut through. Yet the mark on his finger was still apparent to her. The paper that did it had been thick, probably glossy paper as opposed to normal printer paper. Plus the fact that identified her with ease, sure it took him half an hour or so... Lavanda chalked that up to the fact that he didn't want to recruit her, that or because he was tired and had zoned out for a while. Probably both.
"Could I see it?" She wasn't entirely sure what she'd learn by seeing it, but she had a feeling she could learn a little something by what they had of her. Whoever wanted to recruit she knew now was definitely different than normal.
***
Hesitant at first, Nero stared at her for a few moments. He wasn't sure if he should give her the image. It was odd that she knew that he even had a physical photograph on him. With that, he took note of her attention to details. Whether it was from an augmentation or just a natural gift, it was impressive regardless. Letting out a soft sigh, he reached into his back pocket and retrieved the photo. He took one last look at it before handing it over to her.
"I doubt you'll learn much from that, if that is what you are trying to do... I just need an answer before I can say anything more about this job." Nero's tone softened a bit. Her little analysis of the minor papercut piqued his interest a bit. If she was like this all the time, he could understand why his boss wanted to see if she'd join a bit more. Still, there wasn't a blatant connection to the murders and this woman. There were probably plenty of 'observant' people in the department, but his boss chose her out of the blue.
The man turned to the bartender and order a drink. While his patience was typically thin, the woman, who seemed to have something special about her, kept him intrigued. She looked a few years younger than him but was probably older than he thought. Considering she is a mercenary that caught his superior's eye, she had to be doing something right for a while now. Other than the obviously prosthetic limbs, she looked rather cute. Still, Nero couldn't judge people on their prosthetic parts. At this point, he is more artificial than human, at least physically. It looked like she was in the same boat as him, though. Much of her body was artificial. What was prosthetic looked older, much older in fact. Maybe it was all she could afford in whatever underground hospital she went to? That was another odd thing he took note of. She was definitely getting more interesting the more he looked into her.
***
"Wow, this is-" an old photo, taking her by surprise she didn't finish the statement. Instead, she just stared down at the image. Lavanda didn't look much different from her photo, her hair was shorter now and that was just about it. A simple headshot with a somewhat blurred white brick background, she was actually smiling in the picture. Back when she was still new to the Salvation Program, thankful to be alive and given the chance to help others...
"Hmm," she handed him the photo, stifling a laugh, "it's funny that anyone working in the government would want to turn to me for help, I'm not exactly grateful for what they did,"Lavanda took another sip of her drink, glancing around the room once more. She wondered what department he worked for, but didn't care to ask as she knew he'd not answer. What would they want her for anyway? Not as if she'd ever been a particularly good soldier anyway, sure she did her job to the best of her ability. However, she'd never really been noteworthy or a cut above. It wasn't until she broke away from the work that she found her 'true' calling in being a detective. Unless... That's what they needed?
Lavanda suddenly looked back at the man, speaking suddenly before he could get a word in, "unless this is about that string of deaths," she kept it vague, most of the people here now were drunk and uncaring, but it was good to be careful, "Walker, Campbell, and Cox all clocking out within the same couple of weeks seemed suspicious, but..." there were others that were possibly connected, it was just that those three stuck out to Lavanda, she knew them. They weren't close, but she knew them.
"If it's about that then I suppose I can't say no, and that we should probably go somewhere else to talk. If it's for something else... I'll have to decline."
***
The woman immediately knew that it was the government that was interested in her skills. This made the man tense up a bit. For Lavanda, it seemed like no big surprise that they would come back to her. It did seem like she had some sort of resentment towards the government, though. Maybe she had family connected to the research depart or something. Perhaps her prosthetics were the fault of some accident or something. Whatever the cause was, he didn't necessarily agree with it. The most important and defining person in his life happened to be a result of the government. Still, the man held his tongue, regardless of her opinion.
As she began mentioning names of the victims in a sort of familiar way, it raised the man's suspicions of her even further than what they were already. He was about to interject, but then she came to the conclusion of accepting the job about these murders. It did seem she has sort of connection to them. Something personal, more or less, to the victims. 'Is she a child of a participant? Guess that'd explain how she knows the names....' With that, he dismissed his suspicions of her for the time being. They were both mysteries to each other and seemed like polar opposites at that. Neither of them would've guessed that they had a lot more in common than what would appear.
"Huh... Okay..." Nero began to say. He wasn't exactly sure what to say. He honestly didn't expect her to agree to help, but with all this new information about her, it made a lot more sense why this stranger was to be recruited. Looking down at his drink, he took a big swig, downing the alcohol in a quick gulp. Putting the glass back down on the bar, he pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down an address. "Meet me at my apartment in two hours.... Gather anything you might need, cause this investigation might get a bit complicated." He looked around before turning to face the woman one last time. He gave her a small nod, his expression turned into one of concern. He was determined to stop these murders and catch whoever was responsible. It was a pleasant surprise to have someone who seemed to be more invested in this like he was. Unfortunately, these crimes were only a small piece of the puzzle in something much grander.
***
Lavanda simply turned back to her drink, in no rush to finish it. Not as if she needed to gather her things all that she needed for an investigation was herself. At least, she figured, by working for the government she'd be given some access to things to make the investigation easier.
Thoughts quickly turned over to the young man as she watched him leave the bar. An odd pick for this investigation, at least from a glance. Admittedly she knew very little about him, despite usually being able to decipher a great deal someone's life with a glance... He gave her a lot of conflicting details. More information would come with time, it always did. Although it dawned on her that she'd yet to even get his name. A bit unfair that he already knew hers.
After taking her time finishing her drink Lavanda finally left the bar, she still had time to kill but wasn't sure how.
***
Nero took a deep breath as he left the bar and the woman behind. Now, things could finally continue. Sure, in reality, it hadn't been more than half a day since he was assigned to the case, but it seemed like forever for the man. As much as he didn't want to admit it to anyone, he was antsy to start working on this case. His personal promise to himself for his foster's death was an obvious driving factor towards it. By this time, the sun had finally risen and began its arc in the daytime sky. People were likely up and getting ready for work or other various things.
It was a brief twenty-minute walk from the bar to the apartment he had written down for Lavanda. He was lost in his thoughts the entire way, so the time went by rather fast. Upon arriving at the front door, he punched in a code on a keypad before the electronic lock clicked to signal the correct pattern was entered. Grabbing the handle, he pulled down and then pushed the door in. This place wasn't actually his apartment. It was a safe room that the government paid for. It was had various tools that many different departments took advantage of when they were given access to it. Initially, it looked like a pretty plain apartment. Sure, it had some nice furniture, but nothing out of the ordinary. "Guess I can go over the evidence that we have for now....." Nero mumbled to himself as he began to switch on lights.
He walked over to a large, flat table in the center of the main room. It looked plain enough, maybe a bit basic for some, but it had a hidden service about it. Reaching under the lip of the table, he searched around for a few moments before finding a small, square-shaped button. Pressing it, the table began to hum as if coming to life. The metallic surface began to separate into small squares before fading into a black, glossy material. The small lines that separated each square went from a plain white to a cyan color. "OK. Show me what we got." The man spoke aloud. After a moment of hesitation, the electronic table processed the request and various images of the crime scenes and blocks of texts began to pop up into the air. This state of the art Hologram table proved incredibly useful for investigations. Not only could it simulate and recreate crimes, it had an artificial intelligence built in to help give opinions.
This is what he planned on doing until his new partner got here. He wanted to get a clue to all of this. It didn't matter how little it was, it was a step closer to quickly solving these murders and preventing even more. Lavanda seemed to have the perfect balance of motivation and skills to help assist him in this endeavor.
***
By the time Lavanda got to the apartment, it had only been an hour since their first encounter. There was no point in her taking the full two hours, and even spending one hour doing nothing of substance had been too much for her. Now that she knew for certain the murders were connected her paranoia skyrocketed. Depending on how these people were targeted, she could potentially be safe... Given her appearance, she passed off easily more as someone that isn't a soldier than someone that is. However, if the murderer possessed the right intel on the soldiers... She was as good as gone. Sure a part of her felt bad for the soldiers that passed, but her main focus was on the protection of herself and those still alive. The victims were gone, dead, and Lavanda was as good as over it. Revenge isn't her style, and as much as she could wish otherwise. She didn't know any of the deceased that well.
Once reaching the apartment she found herself facing a code lock instead of a key lock. Not the safest way to handle things... Certainly didn't help that they seemed to rarely change the passcode. Despite not being informed the code Lavanda opened up the door with ease, well... After the second attempt. Figuring which numbers to use is easy, the order not so much.
***
Nero was too entranced in the data that he had up in front of him to hear the electronic lock click and the door slowly open. Between the time that he had arrived and now, he had come up with two noticeable patterns. He was gathering them so he could share them with both his boss and his new partner when he noticed her. "What the f-...?" He began to say before stopping himself and dismissing it. It didn't matter how she got in, figuring it was her hyper-analysis. He shook his head, grumbled something and then pointed to the holograms as he left the room for a few moments.
When he came back, he took off his jacket, rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and then lit another cigarette. "Alright, guess you let yourself in early..." He was a bit upset, but still dismissed it the best he could so they could get right down to business. "I've been looking over the crime scene and the notes the police have been taking. From what I can tell, there are two patterns going on. The first one being that a blade of some sort is always used. Whether it's the cause of death or just to inflict injury, there are blade marks on each victim's body." Pausing for a few moments, he tapped the ash off of his cigarette into an ashtray nearby before continuing. "The other one is parts missing from their augments. Whether it'd be just some circuitry or the entire thing, they all end up missing something from them...."
His face went a bit grim for a moment. He was obviously disturbed to some degree by the crime scene photos. The question that seemed to replay in his mind was why? Why were they targeting old Program members? Why were they taking parts from their augments? It didn't make sense, but it was his job to figure out the reason behind it. "We got more stuff to look into... Come on, let's see if there is any other murders like this..."
