Warehouse on the pier

“What are these strange devices on the walls” , The magi asked quickly discarding the shackles on their wrist. 

Quincy “ They're meant to detect shapeshifters, usually they work, our design team are interspecies, and these devices were designed by a few quanari themselves , they were the ones who tested them.”

The magi  , who took the form of a red haired teenager, shifted into a full clone of Quincy, the alarms lay silent not letting out a peep. 

Quincy , who now was looking into a proverbial mirror , was about done with the experience of handling the magi.

“Magi ,maam, will you stop, please. “ He asked looking away.

The Magi shifted into a woman in her mid twenties . “Call me Sara or Ms. Kreeling , do not call me Magi.”

Quincy apologized realizing he may have just insulted them. “ Sorry , Ms.Kreiling”

The door opened . Commanding Officer Owens walked in. Every time he met her , she seemed busy always looking after the men and women of the Protectors. 

“ Ms. Kreeling , as I understand it , it was a misunderstanding on our part for mistaking you for one of the kidnappers. We are wondering why you're still around, given the enormity of the situation and you’re status as a magi.” 

“Ah , do not worry ‘bout all of that” , The magi seemed to switch connotation and accents when they  wished at times. “ I've been waiting for a friend he should be arriving in about two minutes”

“What was that ?” Both Quincy and Owens asked . 

Owens in a low voice said almost incredulously, “ How would he know where to find you “

“Oh he is private detective , one with a lot of connections. If you have more questions you should ask lieutenant Risa , she met him before during her training in the mountains.” Sarah answered.

Owens was baffled. Lt. Risa was a friend of hers . She was the only person who called her by her first name of Katelyn , everyone else called her  by “Captain, or Ma'am” due to her rank.Risa was different. She was the sole survivor of her platoon in her winter training , the same training that Maji Kreeling stated she met this mysterious person. Risa never mentioned a second person during that incident. Indeed there was also no evidence of anyone else in the accompanying area found in the forest. It was ruled that a cyberbeast escaped from a private region that accompanied the forest and decided to pick off Risa’s unsuspecting platoon. Risa survived because she managed to kill the cyberbeast by sheer luck or at least that was what the report said.

The communicator buzzed it was Risa. Owens had not even dialed her number.

“Yes” Owens replied. 

“ Katleyn , I have someone here for you.”   Risa used her first name on comms , this was serious . She never ever did that.

Quincy said in a light manner “ Katelyn?” . Looking at her with an eyebrow raised but looked away when she shot a particularly cold look at him . 

She turned. “Miss Kreeling would you follow me”. 

The Magi bowed “ I would love to.”

Katlyn opened the heavy iron doors that abridged this old storage room out into the hallway.

The walk down the hallway to the elevator was quiet , only pierced by the sharp taps of her leather combat boots. The elevator hummed as it went up to the first floor. 

The elevator opened to another hallway . This hallway led to the entryway that Lt.Risa was located at. She walked briskly to the entryway.  Within twenty feet of the door she saw Risa and a six foot man having a rather in depth conversation .

“What are you doing here , showing up out of the blue , asking to see my Commanding Officer , who is my friend, by the way.” Risa was actually yelling

Owens stayed out of site behind one of the bins that was by the wall. She wanted to establish how Risa knew this person.

 “Risa this was not my idea,” The figure said. There was a silence for two minutes.

The figure spoke up “ Any way how is Mary?”

Mary if Owens remembered correctly was Risa’s Ex. 

“We broke up , she could not stand that I was working for a paramilitary organization, or maybe it was the fact that I was not willing to leave the southside as it is now, or both.” Riss visibly relaxed. “ I here now you are working as a Federally signed PI , what brings you here Chase?”

Chase , “ I was  invited here by a Maji , she said that she told you I was coming , but I see that was not the case . She seems to have tricked all parties involved”

Owens glanced at Sarah who was buisey tying her imaginary shoe laces.

The man whose name is Chase turned “ I know someone is watching us?”

Owens stepped out of the behind the bin. 

“Hello”. 

She felt like a schoolgirl caught in a lie.

The magi was behind her snickering behind her , obviously amused at the awkward situation.

She looked at Risa who was hiding a smile.

Then she looked at Chase who looked at her cooly not hinting whether he was amused or annoyed. He walked up to her. He was a good head taller than her.

“Never expected you to eavesdrop.” He said , “ You're probably wondering how we know each other “ He motioned toward him and Risa. Then he turned toward Risa , “Can I?”

“It's about time she learned the truth” Risa said. 

“What is this about?” Owens demanded.

Chase then looked at her , “Have you heard of the  Transmogrification virus?” 

The room chilled.She had heard of the T-Virus. It was supposed to be a relic of the time Earth was just a realm for horrid experiments. The Tvirus was among the worst. Scientists would take children and alter their genes forcebly by the administration of a virus . The results were often horrific . Most often, if the strain of the virus was wrong the child died of either internal hemorrhaging or just plain shock.Another side effect was psychosis or a break down in mental faculties. It was supposed to have been banned since the founding of the Free Cities. The last reported case of post-bith gene editing was recorded over forty years ago. 

“Yes , I have heard of that?” She said cautiously.

“So you are aware that the last reported case was forty years ago.”

She nodded.

“Now I’ll tell you something new.” He started to lean on the wall behind him. “While the government itself does not condone these experiments and tries to prevent them , rogue elements always pop up. Usually they are found out and brutally snuffed with the victims receiving whatever treatment is needed. But this time is different , the rogues managed to escape local law enforcement , and even specops . This has led the Ring of Magi to believe that there are people within the government and some of the paramilitary groups beyond the wall to be behind the latest incidents.”

The situation described was twisted.  It had the potential to turn into a firestorm real quick.

Owens took a step back, taking  a breath. 

“Rita how does this connect to you?” She asked.

Rita looked at her with an expression almost-- she could not place it. 

“You remember that accident that killed most of my squad,it wasn’t a cyberbeast. It was a pack of mutated children.” She said almost without reserve.

“What?” .

Risa continued. “ The area west of the mountains was being used by a rogue paramilitary to cultivate and experiment with the Virus. Unlike others the experiments came with almost a sixty percent survival rate but the subjects were rendered insane and somehow managed to slaughter everyone in the lab and exit the forest..”

“You dont mean”

“Yes, it was not one cyberbeast but a group of ten geneticaly enhanced crazed children that my squad ran up against. The other survivors were captured by blackops teams sent around the laboratories.This group managed to avoid their patrols. They first picked off our guards and started to taunt us for three days. They would hault our efforts to exit the mountains by killing at least one of us. All while singing the song “Ring a round a rosie”

.the worst part was the tress echoed. At the beging of the exercise there were forty five of us. By the fifth day we were down to fifteen. Byt the seventh we were down to three. We did manage to bring down at least five of them at heavy cost to us.  The three of us decided on a last stand. If we were not going to make it out of the mountains we would take these abominations away with us. We layered the forest with mines and rigged the trees with explosives in a ring.We never considered the fact that the attackers were children or the fact that they too were mere victims, we just wanted to survive. The following uproar was a blur, I only rember that we managed to beat back the children . After that the remaining three children decided it was too much trouble and left. However , the toll was high . The last two Jones and Smith had been gutted in the confusion. I myself lie bleeding to death.However, Chase who was tracking down the children found me and treated my wounds. He even escorted me back to the headquarters in case the children attacked again.After the incident we were sworn to secrecy and that convenient cover story about a cyberanimal was created.”

The story was a bit rushed but Owens knew that Risa was not a storyteller. 

“So you too became friends.”Owens asked curious .

“Yeah sort of  ”, Risa trailed off for more than a minute.

Chase interrupted them. “ We can catch up later , we need to talk business.”

He continued. “ I thought the organization behind the incident in the mountain was dismantled, but that was a branch of a larger problem”

“You think the kidnappings have something to do with the experiments.”

“The children are the right age, and the police have stopped investigating these disappearances, which in itself should be a red flag.” Chase said almost without hesitation. “ You know this since you are also investigating the kidnappings.”

Owens nodded quietly. I didn’t know about the experiments though , she thought.

“What do you need anyway?” Owens asked.

“ Yeah , Sarah why did I come here?” He asked

Sara Kreeling sighed. “ You know Chase , it should be obvious.” she craned her neck in a mocking gesture.

“What that very vague note that you left me , you did not even mark the warehouse number , it took me two days to find this warehouse.” Chase said irritated.

For a second Owens thought  they looked like a couple. She dispelled that notion, a human and a a nigh immortal Magi, now that is funny. 

“ I knew you would find me you are an excellent tracker.”  Sara paused. “ Okay , Okay, I wanted you here because the Protectorate has been infiltrated.”

Chase’s eyebrow raised.

Owens and Risa both said ,”What.”

“Don't give me that look , you're group is the largest and most trusted of the Paramilitary groups, if you could not find the missing children it means someone inside your group has been helping them.”

“Why would anyone  help them.” Owens asked incredulously.

Chase answered this time , “ It could be a number of reasons,  resentment towards other groups and how the system works, or if a loved is involved. Or Money.”

 “ How would the later be even possible.” Owens asked.

“Imagine if you will that you have a relative or loved one who has either a fatal or genetic disease, then a person comes and says they can cure them only if you keep their actions on the down low.” 

Owens listened  closely breathing shallow, she knew who it was .

Chase and Sara both looked at her and said in unison . “You know who it is ?”

Risa chuckled, probably at the creepy in unison copy.

“Risa , you know where John Docks is ?” Owens inquired.

Risa’s smiled faltered. She frowned. “He should be at his post in communications. You think it might be him.”

“Lets not give him any warning,” she said starting to walk towards the communication room that was located in the back in room 107.

“Who is this John Docks,” Chase asked.

“ He is head of communication, he also is one of the few victims of the kidnapping. His daughter was kidnapped . However , his daughter was sickly , whereas everyone elses children was relatively healthy . This is the hub for at least half of the Protecterate. If you want to confuse our group you would have to do it from here.” 

 They were quiet as they approached the red door that marked the communication room. Owens took out the master key. She swiped in the key card reader. The door opened.

A big guy of five foot eight answered . “Hey commander what are you here for?” 

“Hello John , we have a few questions. “ Owens stated. 

Chase , Risa , and Sara all blocked the door.

John looked at those three , Owens detected a bit of uneainease in his gaze.

“Chase, Sarah, can you check the computers, you may find what youre looking for in the communications logs, if not check encryted emails or any other files.” Owens said.

John protested, “Hey t, what are they doing? Why not Risa?”

“Shut up docks.” She ordered.

John straightened up enhaling. He knew he was in trouble.

“Now where is youre sister ? DO NOT LIE.”

“I told you , she was kidnapped…” The blow that hit him , square in the stomach ,  knocked him down gasping.

“Chase , what have you found.”  Owens asked.

“There seems to be deleted  logs of communication by local police  and concerened citizens in the Red light district near the east port and multiple reports in multiple South of the Wall communities, and one report of North of the Wall incidents. This is a bigger scandal than I originally thought. Other groups must be tracking this.”

John blethereed, “ I dont Know who did that , someone else must have..” The next blox nocked out his front two teeth .

“ ‘at  ‘as ‘at or’” , What was that for. John yelled. 

“For lying , you and me are the only ones who could delete that information.” She yelled at him.

“Now tell the truth or , I swear to god , that I will kill you.”

She lifted him up by his lapel. He was physically bigger than her but right now she looked bigger than him.

“ ‘hey ‘aid they could save my sister.” He said.

“The militia has some pretty wealthy investors , we could have sent her northside if you asked, I would have vouched for you.” Owens said.

John put his head in his hands.

Owens buzzed Quincy.  “Lieutenant Harper, come up here and place Docks under arrest for withholding of evidence we will hold him until we can turn him to federal agents.”

“ Okay , sir” was the reply 

She chained Docke to a pole in the left corner of the room.

Risa “What do we do now ?” 

“You could help me , come to the northside for a bit.” Chase offered.

Owens would like to see the whole picture and who was involved it was tempting . Plus , many of the hierups are suggesting that she and Lt Risa take up federal positions.

“ I am not sure that I would want to be a government vigilante.” She replied.

“It would only be temporary, and I have read your file, you value the abilitie to help the most , what I am offering you , outside of becoming a pro bono doctor , has the potential to provide that to you.”

“You read my file,” She said.

“Two months ago I was forwarded two canidates to become Federal  Private Investigators. You and Lt Risa. I inquired to the Northern Protectorate Office for your files as per protocol. I read them  and was impressed with how trusted you are. During the fires las year you led the efforts in search and rescue efforts when people said it was futile. You even managed to slow the early disappearance of children and track down the minor militia behind them. I was already planning on recruiting Risa. However, I would like to work with both of you.”

Lt . Risa answered before her, “ I would like to work , you know me , I like challenge.”

“Are you sure ? the office is located north of  The Wall.” Chase said.

“I”ve always wanted to visit the northside, I hear that the northern redlight districts are more kinky than down here.” She said coyly.

Chase snorted, “Okay.” He said hiding a smile.

“What about you, Captain Owens?” h e looked at her.

“You know what I could use the experience.” She said.

“Don’t forget I'm in too.”Sara said causing all of them too jump. They completely forgot completely that she was in the room. They all started chuckling.