07-04-2010, 03:35 AM
The name will be explained later don't worry =)
The bits of story will be seperated by P.A.N.T.H.E.R. files on their gear, history, and organization
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4:
Part 5:
Part 6
Part 7:
PANTHER Files:
Interface Lenses:
APE Suits:
Commander Kuda:
Paul Beckett:
The bits of story will be seperated by P.A.N.T.H.E.R. files on their gear, history, and organization
Part 1
Spoiler:
Clara felt the weight of the puffy jacket on her body. She had left her cell phone, her PDA, and her tracer at home. She didn't want to be followed. It had taken enough to get away from her dad, she didn't want secret service following her down the street. Thus she kept her hood on, and her jacket wrapped closely around her body. She was looking out for men in dark suits and shade, she didn't notice the boy in a sweater and jeans...
The boy was leaning against a building scanning the people walking by. The Interface-lenses in his eyes quickly scanned and ran a background check on everyone he saw. Nothing...nothing....nothing. Finally his gaze landed on Clara. His interest perked, but he stayed in cover. He whispered to the small microphone implanted within the roof of his mouth, a private method of communication between the unit. "I got her, she's walking down 5th avenue, watch team, respond." A few seconds passed, then the speaker similarrily implanted in his ear buzzed. "Nae checking in. Driving down 8th, will head to your coordinates." Morie Nae, a recent recruit. Her parents immigrated from Korea, and she was soon after discovered hacking into the P.A.N.T.H.E.R. files. Despite her lack of experience, she was an excellent fighter and invaluable computer expert. She was posing as a mailwoman, making her rounds. "Garcia, checking in, moving to your location." Matteo Garcia, recruited as most of them were, selected by their genes at birth. He was the only one in full gear, on the rooftops, just in case something got sticky.
Clara passed him, barely noticing his presence. He scanned the rooftops, looking for trouble. "Bogey, we got a bogey!" Nae's voice rang in his ears. "He's on 6th, looks like he's speaking into a radio, we've got trouble. I'll load the scent configuration and GPS data into the interface. Steven, head after her." Steven Burgamy turned towards Clara, who was turning the corner onto 6th. He ran after her. The scent configuration and GPS data loaded into his body. His heightened nose quickly picked up on the man's scent. He was in a window, staring into the scope of a sniper rifle.
Steven picked up on scents of anticipation and worry. He looked left and right, there were multiple men and a few women. They were all carrying concealed weapons, revealed by the Interface-lenses. "Garcia get down here, this isn't gonna be pretty, Nae, we need that van here now." Clara was just a bit ahead of him, she had passed the view of the group on the right, but was still in plain sight of the group on the left. One man on the left started whispering to the person next to him. They both turned toward Clara and whipped out hand guns. She didn't notice, but Steven did. He rushed foward, grabbed Clara from behind, and pulled her behind him. He pulled out his own gun faster than lighting. His lenses instantly targeted the hostiles, and his body moved to fire. He let loose two shots, and two bodies fell.
Then Garcia came down. He lept from the third story rooftop and landed on all fours, un-harmed. He pulled out the two machine guns strapped to his belt, and started shooting at both groups. The men rushed to get to cover, as the few civilians screamed and ran. A loud screech was heard as a Mail truck surged down the street. Clara tried to stuggle away, frightened at the gunshots, but Steven's grip was solid. The truck halted in front of them. "Get in!" Steven shouted. Not that she had much of a choice, he practically threw her in. Matteo jumped in the empty cargo area and closed the doors. "Drive!" Morie obeyed, slamming on the gas pedal.
Clara finnaly found her voice again. "Who are you people?" she sputtered. "No questions." Steven Curtly responded. "What the heck is going on?" "I said no questions." They glared at each other as Matteo climbed into the back seat. The vehicle was built as a car within a car. At the push of a button, the cargo would detach, and an extra set of wheels would pop out, revealing a small white car, and leaving behind the rest. As soon as Garcia was in the front car, and the car was on a smaller street. Morie pressed the button and the car seperated. There were safe, and in cover, for now.
The boy was leaning against a building scanning the people walking by. The Interface-lenses in his eyes quickly scanned and ran a background check on everyone he saw. Nothing...nothing....nothing. Finally his gaze landed on Clara. His interest perked, but he stayed in cover. He whispered to the small microphone implanted within the roof of his mouth, a private method of communication between the unit. "I got her, she's walking down 5th avenue, watch team, respond." A few seconds passed, then the speaker similarrily implanted in his ear buzzed. "Nae checking in. Driving down 8th, will head to your coordinates." Morie Nae, a recent recruit. Her parents immigrated from Korea, and she was soon after discovered hacking into the P.A.N.T.H.E.R. files. Despite her lack of experience, she was an excellent fighter and invaluable computer expert. She was posing as a mailwoman, making her rounds. "Garcia, checking in, moving to your location." Matteo Garcia, recruited as most of them were, selected by their genes at birth. He was the only one in full gear, on the rooftops, just in case something got sticky.
Clara passed him, barely noticing his presence. He scanned the rooftops, looking for trouble. "Bogey, we got a bogey!" Nae's voice rang in his ears. "He's on 6th, looks like he's speaking into a radio, we've got trouble. I'll load the scent configuration and GPS data into the interface. Steven, head after her." Steven Burgamy turned towards Clara, who was turning the corner onto 6th. He ran after her. The scent configuration and GPS data loaded into his body. His heightened nose quickly picked up on the man's scent. He was in a window, staring into the scope of a sniper rifle.
Steven picked up on scents of anticipation and worry. He looked left and right, there were multiple men and a few women. They were all carrying concealed weapons, revealed by the Interface-lenses. "Garcia get down here, this isn't gonna be pretty, Nae, we need that van here now." Clara was just a bit ahead of him, she had passed the view of the group on the right, but was still in plain sight of the group on the left. One man on the left started whispering to the person next to him. They both turned toward Clara and whipped out hand guns. She didn't notice, but Steven did. He rushed foward, grabbed Clara from behind, and pulled her behind him. He pulled out his own gun faster than lighting. His lenses instantly targeted the hostiles, and his body moved to fire. He let loose two shots, and two bodies fell.
Then Garcia came down. He lept from the third story rooftop and landed on all fours, un-harmed. He pulled out the two machine guns strapped to his belt, and started shooting at both groups. The men rushed to get to cover, as the few civilians screamed and ran. A loud screech was heard as a Mail truck surged down the street. Clara tried to stuggle away, frightened at the gunshots, but Steven's grip was solid. The truck halted in front of them. "Get in!" Steven shouted. Not that she had much of a choice, he practically threw her in. Matteo jumped in the empty cargo area and closed the doors. "Drive!" Morie obeyed, slamming on the gas pedal.
Clara finnaly found her voice again. "Who are you people?" she sputtered. "No questions." Steven Curtly responded. "What the heck is going on?" "I said no questions." They glared at each other as Matteo climbed into the back seat. The vehicle was built as a car within a car. At the push of a button, the cargo would detach, and an extra set of wheels would pop out, revealing a small white car, and leaving behind the rest. As soon as Garcia was in the front car, and the car was on a smaller street. Morie pressed the button and the car seperated. There were safe, and in cover, for now.
Part 2
Spoiler:
Clara sank into her seat. She remained quiet, trying to get comfortable in the old scratchy car seat. She began to study her saviors/captors. The girl driving, identified as Nae, had clean dark hair had streaks of gold in it. She had a flawless coplexion and a beutiful, oriental look to her. Her face was calm and almost sullen as they drove. The boy with the machine guns, Garcia, had caramel colored skin and dark, curly, hair. He sat in front of her, debating with the third person, an annoyed and somewhat worried expression on his face. Burgamy, light skin and light brown hair. He looked with a stern face while insisting they should kill Clara now. Clara shuffled nervously, and caught a glance of herself in the mirror. Her face, a nice tan color, was sullen and smudged. Her hair, normally nice and straight, was messy and wind-blown. She even thought she saw a grey hair amung the strands of deep brown. She sighed and tryed to listen to the two debate in the front seat.
"You realize how big of a threat she is, she knows about us!" Burgamy half-shouted. Garcia fought on her behalf. "Nae was in the same spot, she could be one of us!" "The president's daughter? Heck no." Finally Nae spoke up "It's not your descision anyway, now shut up until we get to HQ." The rest of the ride was in silence, with Steven staring down Clara, and Garcia looking straight ahead. Clara looked out the window, trying to judge where they were. They were still in D.C. but she wasn't exactly sure where. They finally stopped at the front door of a big building. Clara looked out and protested. "This is the police station! What are we doing here?" Steven, aggrivated, said again "No questions." All three walked inside. The building was old and a dirt-brown. Now it just held the offices of the head officials, and was relativeely abandonded.
"Get in." Garcia said, motioning toward an elevator. Clara reluctantly stepped inside. It was one of those glass elevators that were in really fancy buildings, what one of those was doing here, she had no idea. Nae opened a latch revealing a keypad, she entered some numbers and another latch opened, a small rectangular slot with seemengly no purpose. Nae pulled something out of her pocket. A golden badge, with the imprint of a paw on it and the word PANTHER lining the top. She slipped the badge into the slot, and after a few seconds it started to move, straight down.
The elevator plunged underground, almost blocking out all available light. Clara looked around nervously, wondering if something was wrong, but the others didn't seem too worried. Then, the HQ came into view. It was a massive undergound structure. Multiple buildings lit with some sort of massive overhead light. The buildings were rather plain, and were painted with corporate grey. She couldn't tell how far out the buildings stretched, they went on as far as she could see. The elevator lowered into a building. The inside was less bland. The inside was painted a warm brown, and small private offices dotte the halls. The group stepped in and the elevator rose back to the surface.
Here Clara stood out like a sore thumb, it seemed like every agent here knew she was an outsider, and knew she didn't belong there. They would turn and stare her down with that same cold gaze that everyone here seemed to have. They walked down a hallway, past mutiple groups of onlookers, ranging from a group of what looked like 10 year olds, to a group that looked 80. They headed to a set of grey double-doors. Clara was feeling anxious to say the least. They had already suggested killing her, and if not that, she would become one of them? She had no idea who they were! The doors opened to reveal a large white office. A Woman faced a giant screen that hung on the wall, and on that screen was an image, the face, of her father.
Both heads turned to meet her. The woman spoke. She had short brown hain and deep, feirce eyes. She was fairly tall and like the rest of them, had a muscled build. "Aah, perfect timing." She spoke with power and arrogance. "As you can see President Tompson, we have things under control." Clara stepped foward "Dad what's going on?" Her father looked somewhat worried. he sighed and looked at her. "Clara this is the PANTHER unit, a very secret part of the national defense, and because you've discovered them, actions will have to be taken." There was a long silence, Claara was too stunned to speak "What kind of actions?" Nae, speaking from behing her. The woman spoke up. "She will become one of us." she said, smiling. She tryed to fake a kind, warm face, but it was a thin disguise. She couldn't hide the cold sharpness that seemed to radiate from her.
Nae, Garcia, and Burgamy nodded but Clara remained still, in shock. "I'll go tell the surgeons to get ready." Burgamy, who then headed off. "I'll go get someone to measure her for her APE suit." Garcia, he too turned then headed out the door. Clara's eyes remained locked on the screen, unable to think, unable to move. Nae came up behind her. "Come on, let's go find you a dorm." The woman nodded and Nae led Clara out the door, Clara almost in tears.
"You realize how big of a threat she is, she knows about us!" Burgamy half-shouted. Garcia fought on her behalf. "Nae was in the same spot, she could be one of us!" "The president's daughter? Heck no." Finally Nae spoke up "It's not your descision anyway, now shut up until we get to HQ." The rest of the ride was in silence, with Steven staring down Clara, and Garcia looking straight ahead. Clara looked out the window, trying to judge where they were. They were still in D.C. but she wasn't exactly sure where. They finally stopped at the front door of a big building. Clara looked out and protested. "This is the police station! What are we doing here?" Steven, aggrivated, said again "No questions." All three walked inside. The building was old and a dirt-brown. Now it just held the offices of the head officials, and was relativeely abandonded.
"Get in." Garcia said, motioning toward an elevator. Clara reluctantly stepped inside. It was one of those glass elevators that were in really fancy buildings, what one of those was doing here, she had no idea. Nae opened a latch revealing a keypad, she entered some numbers and another latch opened, a small rectangular slot with seemengly no purpose. Nae pulled something out of her pocket. A golden badge, with the imprint of a paw on it and the word PANTHER lining the top. She slipped the badge into the slot, and after a few seconds it started to move, straight down.
The elevator plunged underground, almost blocking out all available light. Clara looked around nervously, wondering if something was wrong, but the others didn't seem too worried. Then, the HQ came into view. It was a massive undergound structure. Multiple buildings lit with some sort of massive overhead light. The buildings were rather plain, and were painted with corporate grey. She couldn't tell how far out the buildings stretched, they went on as far as she could see. The elevator lowered into a building. The inside was less bland. The inside was painted a warm brown, and small private offices dotte the halls. The group stepped in and the elevator rose back to the surface.
Here Clara stood out like a sore thumb, it seemed like every agent here knew she was an outsider, and knew she didn't belong there. They would turn and stare her down with that same cold gaze that everyone here seemed to have. They walked down a hallway, past mutiple groups of onlookers, ranging from a group of what looked like 10 year olds, to a group that looked 80. They headed to a set of grey double-doors. Clara was feeling anxious to say the least. They had already suggested killing her, and if not that, she would become one of them? She had no idea who they were! The doors opened to reveal a large white office. A Woman faced a giant screen that hung on the wall, and on that screen was an image, the face, of her father.
Both heads turned to meet her. The woman spoke. She had short brown hain and deep, feirce eyes. She was fairly tall and like the rest of them, had a muscled build. "Aah, perfect timing." She spoke with power and arrogance. "As you can see President Tompson, we have things under control." Clara stepped foward "Dad what's going on?" Her father looked somewhat worried. he sighed and looked at her. "Clara this is the PANTHER unit, a very secret part of the national defense, and because you've discovered them, actions will have to be taken." There was a long silence, Claara was too stunned to speak "What kind of actions?" Nae, speaking from behing her. The woman spoke up. "She will become one of us." she said, smiling. She tryed to fake a kind, warm face, but it was a thin disguise. She couldn't hide the cold sharpness that seemed to radiate from her.
Nae, Garcia, and Burgamy nodded but Clara remained still, in shock. "I'll go tell the surgeons to get ready." Burgamy, who then headed off. "I'll go get someone to measure her for her APE suit." Garcia, he too turned then headed out the door. Clara's eyes remained locked on the screen, unable to think, unable to move. Nae came up behind her. "Come on, let's go find you a dorm." The woman nodded and Nae led Clara out the door, Clara almost in tears.
Part 3
Spoiler:
Nae led Clara into another building. The buildings were connected with long white tunnels, which only made Clara feel even more isolated. The new building was all white, almost like a hospital. They stopped at a white door and went inside. The interior was a bit more reassuring; it had Amber walls and a dark red bed. There was a small chair near the bed, and a lamp. Other than that the room was empty, waiting to be filled with Clara's belongings. What she would wear, and when and how her things would get here, she could only imagine.
Clara solemnly sat down, she sighed then asked. "So now what?" Nae sat down in the chair, equally, and even more surprising, sincerely, as solemn. Nae was different; she wasn't as cold, as harsh, as cruel. "You'll be recruited, be turned into a PANTHER. First you'll undergo the operation; there you'll receive your interface lenses. Then you'll be fitted for your APE suit, and then you'll be one of us." Clara nodded like she understood. "Nae, why are you so different?" she finally asked. "You're not like the others." Nae looked up, and smiled. "Call me Morie, I’m like you Clara. Most PANTHER agents are chosen at birth, like you, I wasn't. We'll be different" Clara blinked, the whole thing sounded so surreal.
Nae went on. "I was just mad, mad about a stupid government decision. So I started hacking, and I found the PANTHER database. Didn't take them long to track me down." Nae stopped. Clara thought about this, all the others seemed so cold, and they were chosen at birth, what could this mean? "How, how are they chosen?" Nae looked up. She didn't speak for a few seconds, then said. "They are selected for a rather common birth defect, a defect that makes it hard for them to feel empathy. Then the nurture that trait, every agent chosen at birth is fully heartless. They can never love, never have friends, they only want allies. They will never hold any attachment toward you, to them, that’s simply a waste of time. One more thing, they will kill you as quickly as they would an enemy." She said this last line almost too softly to hear. Her head had sunken, either out of sadness or shame. Clara looked down as well, this was insane.
Burgamy walked through the door. "The doctors are ready for you." Clara looked up, Nae nodded. Clara stood up and headed out the door, unsure of what she was getting herself into.
Clara solemnly sat down, she sighed then asked. "So now what?" Nae sat down in the chair, equally, and even more surprising, sincerely, as solemn. Nae was different; she wasn't as cold, as harsh, as cruel. "You'll be recruited, be turned into a PANTHER. First you'll undergo the operation; there you'll receive your interface lenses. Then you'll be fitted for your APE suit, and then you'll be one of us." Clara nodded like she understood. "Nae, why are you so different?" she finally asked. "You're not like the others." Nae looked up, and smiled. "Call me Morie, I’m like you Clara. Most PANTHER agents are chosen at birth, like you, I wasn't. We'll be different" Clara blinked, the whole thing sounded so surreal.
Nae went on. "I was just mad, mad about a stupid government decision. So I started hacking, and I found the PANTHER database. Didn't take them long to track me down." Nae stopped. Clara thought about this, all the others seemed so cold, and they were chosen at birth, what could this mean? "How, how are they chosen?" Nae looked up. She didn't speak for a few seconds, then said. "They are selected for a rather common birth defect, a defect that makes it hard for them to feel empathy. Then the nurture that trait, every agent chosen at birth is fully heartless. They can never love, never have friends, they only want allies. They will never hold any attachment toward you, to them, that’s simply a waste of time. One more thing, they will kill you as quickly as they would an enemy." She said this last line almost too softly to hear. Her head had sunken, either out of sadness or shame. Clara looked down as well, this was insane.
Burgamy walked through the door. "The doctors are ready for you." Clara looked up, Nae nodded. Clara stood up and headed out the door, unsure of what she was getting herself into.
Part 4:
Spoiler:
She woke up in a strange bed, in a strange room. It was like one of those elementary, except this was real. She was laying in a hospital bed, surrounded by pale, empty walls. She heard a buzzing in her ear; it was Morie, “Clara, sit up.” Clara looked around, no one was there, the room was empty. The voice again. “Clara, now, we need to test the speakers.” She reluctantly sat up, and then stood up. Her head hurt, and she was very dizzy. “Good, now I need you to speak to me, think “Nae” and then say something.” Clara did as she was told, saying “Morie, what is going on?” An older man, most likely a doctor “Clara you now have a microphone in your mouth, and a speaker in your ear, this is for communication, and it is controlled with a mini-computer installed and wired into your nervous system.”
Clara sat down. Computers in her brain, speakers in her ear, what next.” The man’s voice returned. “Now Clara we need to continue the tests.” His voice was harsh and emotionless. “I need you to think “lenses on”” She did so, and her whole world changed. Her Interface lenses had been turned on and immediately began scanning everything. Her vision had been muddled with green circles and lines as the Interface scanned and marked each item. “Good”, that man again “Now think “night vision”, then blink.” She did so, turning on night vision. This continued for a while, with multiple tests. Then the doctor said. “Come on out, we’ll get you in an APE suit, and configure it to your interface. She sighed, frustrated, and walked out the door.
In another part of the building…..
Commander Kuda walked down the hall, heading toward the forensics wing. She moved with the grace of a cheetah, yet held a dangerous air about her, and that’s the way she liked it. If they were calling for her, then something had to be going on, something big. She entered the wing, which was modeled after a governmental forensics building. The lighting was dim except for in examinations. The furniture was smooth and everything was painted a dull, dark blue.
She entered the room, where a lone examiner was waiting for her next to a covered body. He seemed a bit less than concerned, which was puzzling considering he was the one who called her here. “What’s the problem?” She spoke with an icy coolness. “Just a murder.” Was the bored response. She took a second to respond, she was too shocked. “What? We’re not here to do the police’s job, we’re here to deal with big problems, not a petty murderer.”
She was pissed, but kept a cold expression. “Oh don’t get me wrong, this went to the police first, but the warden thought this would be more of our department.” This did little to help her mood. “Well why would the possibly think that?” The man looked up. “They sent this victim to us not because of the act that he was murdered, but how his body was treated.”
The examiner continued. “The body was cut, it had writing on it.” Kuda took this in for a second, “What do you mean “writing”?” The examiner moved to the body and began pulling the sheet off from the head. “There were 7 letters scrawled onto the body.” He called them out as he uncovered them. “P, A, N, T, H, E, R.”
She moved toward the body, stunned. No one outside the government knew who they were, and even then, the people who did were watched very closely. But here it was, proof, someone knew about them, and they were trying to send a message. She looked toward the examiner “Begin the DNA sweep and wound examination immediately. Call me when you get results.” He nodded and she moved toward the door, just a bit shaken from what she had just seen.
Clara sat down. Computers in her brain, speakers in her ear, what next.” The man’s voice returned. “Now Clara we need to continue the tests.” His voice was harsh and emotionless. “I need you to think “lenses on”” She did so, and her whole world changed. Her Interface lenses had been turned on and immediately began scanning everything. Her vision had been muddled with green circles and lines as the Interface scanned and marked each item. “Good”, that man again “Now think “night vision”, then blink.” She did so, turning on night vision. This continued for a while, with multiple tests. Then the doctor said. “Come on out, we’ll get you in an APE suit, and configure it to your interface. She sighed, frustrated, and walked out the door.
In another part of the building…..
Commander Kuda walked down the hall, heading toward the forensics wing. She moved with the grace of a cheetah, yet held a dangerous air about her, and that’s the way she liked it. If they were calling for her, then something had to be going on, something big. She entered the wing, which was modeled after a governmental forensics building. The lighting was dim except for in examinations. The furniture was smooth and everything was painted a dull, dark blue.
She entered the room, where a lone examiner was waiting for her next to a covered body. He seemed a bit less than concerned, which was puzzling considering he was the one who called her here. “What’s the problem?” She spoke with an icy coolness. “Just a murder.” Was the bored response. She took a second to respond, she was too shocked. “What? We’re not here to do the police’s job, we’re here to deal with big problems, not a petty murderer.”
She was pissed, but kept a cold expression. “Oh don’t get me wrong, this went to the police first, but the warden thought this would be more of our department.” This did little to help her mood. “Well why would the possibly think that?” The man looked up. “They sent this victim to us not because of the act that he was murdered, but how his body was treated.”
The examiner continued. “The body was cut, it had writing on it.” Kuda took this in for a second, “What do you mean “writing”?” The examiner moved to the body and began pulling the sheet off from the head. “There were 7 letters scrawled onto the body.” He called them out as he uncovered them. “P, A, N, T, H, E, R.”
She moved toward the body, stunned. No one outside the government knew who they were, and even then, the people who did were watched very closely. But here it was, proof, someone knew about them, and they were trying to send a message. She looked toward the examiner “Begin the DNA sweep and wound examination immediately. Call me when you get results.” He nodded and she moved toward the door, just a bit shaken from what she had just seen.
Part 5:
Spoiler:
After the tests she went back to her dorm. Her new suit was warm and made her feel powerful. Morie followed her in. They sat down and began to talk about what would happen next. “We’re only teens, so we don’t get to see much action; we’re usually on watch missions and undercover work.” Morie said, reclining back on the bed. “Every now and then a gang gets out of hand, gets some big weapons, that’s one of our jobs.”
“Ugh, that’s it?” Clara moaned, she felt more confident now, almost dangerously so. Her body pulsed with energy; her skin tingled with power. She could get used to this. She rocked back into the bed. “Don’t worry.” Morie said “You’ll get your chance in the action. As for now, we’ll need you to get an undercover identity.” “What do you mean?” Clara asked. “Well, everyone has a cover, you need one too.” She looked at the ceiling, great; she’d have to get a job.
In another part of the building……..
Kuda had been called back to the forensics wing. She moved quickly, she wanted to get this particular case over with. Someone knew about P.A.N.T.H.E.R. and was trying to send a message. That person had to be silenced, period. She walked down the hall and into an examination room. The examiner from before was gone, replaced by their head of forensics, Doctor Katherine Boyer, Kat for short. Kuda walked next to her and began to speak.
“Hey Kat what do we got?” Kat turned around looking frustrated and said. “We’ve got a problem; there is the blood of 8 different people on this body, with only 1 being the victims.” Kuda blinked, “And the blood?” Kat pulled up a Holo-screen “All 7 are recently out of jail, all on counts of domestic violence.” She pulled up pictures of all 7 suspects, as well as a picture of as knife. “All 7 also have this knife in their possession which is consistent with the carvings; the murder weapon however, was a gun that caused wounds I’ve never seen before.”
Kuda paced around the room. “Domestic violence usually doesn’t account or murder and it most certainly doesn’t account for their knowledge of the organization. Still, it’s the only lead we got, do we have addresses?” Kat pulled up a list of GPS coordinates “These are their given addresses.” “Alright” Kuda said, she moved toward a speaker and pressed a button. “I need apprehension squads on the following locations.” She recited the coordinates, eager to get this over with.
Uptown Washington Dc………
The man was standing in line, just standing like everyone else, waiting to see the President make his speech. When he got to the front they would check him for weapons, and then let him in. Security was tight; it had been this way since 2012. That attack forced to security to take every precaution they could think of. Despite this the man smiled, they would find no weapons on him, because his weapon wasn’t in his pocket, or in his jacket, instead, it was on his finger.
He was wearing a thick silver ring on his left ring finger. To anyone else it would look like a regular wedding band. To him, it was the weapon he would use to do the near impossible. He shuffled among the crowd, trying to get closer. The President would be appearing soon, and he had to be ready.
At last, he appeared at the podium, the Vice president to his left, the first lady sitting down to his right. He smiled, and pushed a small button on the ring. Two things popped out of the ring, a blowtube, and a small needle, thinner than a hair, almost impossible to notice. He used his Interface lenses to aim, and his APE suit brought his hand to his mouth.
The needle flew. A silent, invisible bird of death. The President twitched, there would have been only a silent pinprick on his neck, nothing worth noting. Then the man aimed at the VP, another needle flew, another twitch, and that was done. Then he aimed at the first lady, another needle, another twitch, and like that his job was done. He smiled, and moved to the rear of the crowd and got ready to exit. The President began his speech, unharmed, and totally unaware.
“Ugh, that’s it?” Clara moaned, she felt more confident now, almost dangerously so. Her body pulsed with energy; her skin tingled with power. She could get used to this. She rocked back into the bed. “Don’t worry.” Morie said “You’ll get your chance in the action. As for now, we’ll need you to get an undercover identity.” “What do you mean?” Clara asked. “Well, everyone has a cover, you need one too.” She looked at the ceiling, great; she’d have to get a job.
In another part of the building……..
Kuda had been called back to the forensics wing. She moved quickly, she wanted to get this particular case over with. Someone knew about P.A.N.T.H.E.R. and was trying to send a message. That person had to be silenced, period. She walked down the hall and into an examination room. The examiner from before was gone, replaced by their head of forensics, Doctor Katherine Boyer, Kat for short. Kuda walked next to her and began to speak.
“Hey Kat what do we got?” Kat turned around looking frustrated and said. “We’ve got a problem; there is the blood of 8 different people on this body, with only 1 being the victims.” Kuda blinked, “And the blood?” Kat pulled up a Holo-screen “All 7 are recently out of jail, all on counts of domestic violence.” She pulled up pictures of all 7 suspects, as well as a picture of as knife. “All 7 also have this knife in their possession which is consistent with the carvings; the murder weapon however, was a gun that caused wounds I’ve never seen before.”
Kuda paced around the room. “Domestic violence usually doesn’t account or murder and it most certainly doesn’t account for their knowledge of the organization. Still, it’s the only lead we got, do we have addresses?” Kat pulled up a list of GPS coordinates “These are their given addresses.” “Alright” Kuda said, she moved toward a speaker and pressed a button. “I need apprehension squads on the following locations.” She recited the coordinates, eager to get this over with.
Uptown Washington Dc………
The man was standing in line, just standing like everyone else, waiting to see the President make his speech. When he got to the front they would check him for weapons, and then let him in. Security was tight; it had been this way since 2012. That attack forced to security to take every precaution they could think of. Despite this the man smiled, they would find no weapons on him, because his weapon wasn’t in his pocket, or in his jacket, instead, it was on his finger.
He was wearing a thick silver ring on his left ring finger. To anyone else it would look like a regular wedding band. To him, it was the weapon he would use to do the near impossible. He shuffled among the crowd, trying to get closer. The President would be appearing soon, and he had to be ready.
At last, he appeared at the podium, the Vice president to his left, the first lady sitting down to his right. He smiled, and pushed a small button on the ring. Two things popped out of the ring, a blowtube, and a small needle, thinner than a hair, almost impossible to notice. He used his Interface lenses to aim, and his APE suit brought his hand to his mouth.
The needle flew. A silent, invisible bird of death. The President twitched, there would have been only a silent pinprick on his neck, nothing worth noting. Then the man aimed at the VP, another needle flew, another twitch, and that was done. Then he aimed at the first lady, another needle, another twitch, and like that his job was done. He smiled, and moved to the rear of the crowd and got ready to exit. The President began his speech, unharmed, and totally unaware.
Part 6
Spoiler:
Uptown D.C. …
The entrance units were getting into position. It was a small operation, 10 agents per unit, 7 units, each preparing to apprehend their suspects. They were under strict orders. Move in undercover then breach at the same time, no casualties, no mistakes, everything had to go off perfectly. They were ready, in the various locations, all in some sort of cover. The cab driver, the mailman, the woman with her dog, the guy smoking on the corner; all were waiting for the signal to move in.
Kuda was in the control room. It was a dark room illuminated by only the neon green of the holo-screens placed throughout the area. She waited for the signals indicating that the teams were ready. “Team Aready. Team F, ready. Team D, ready.” One by one the 7 teams reported their condition. Kuda inhaled slowly, she spoke to all squads. “Alright let’s make this clean and bloodless, I want those men here alive. On my mark.” All the agents began to move to where they had to be, they were fierce, unwavering, fearless. “Breach now!”
They all entered, weapons ready, looking for their target. “Come out police!” The squad leader shouted. They waited for a response, there was none. “Secure the area.” The leader ordered. The agents fanned out, calling out when they were sure that no one was present. “Clear! Clear! Clea…Oh my God!” They had found their suspect. He was lying on the floor with a clean bullet wound in the middle of his forehead. The squad leader, a man named James approached. “Damn it.” He turned on his communicator “Kuda, we got a problem here.”
Similar reports came in from each of the squads. The suspect dead, the house empty, one bullet wound. Kuda sighed, something wasn’t right here. Why would anyone plant DNA to lead them to more dead bodies? There was more to this than she realized, she knew it, and she hated it. “Sweep the houses for prints, trace evidence anything you can find.” She knew, even before they started, that they would find nothing. Whoever this was, they were too clever to leave anything behind.
Downtown…
He started intently at the computer screen. He scratched his rough grey beard as he waited for the PANTHER agents to enter the houses. They were idiots, falling right into his hands. He waited until they had found the bodies, waited until they were sweeping for evidence. If there was any evidence, it wouldn’t last long.
He pushed a few keys on his keyboard. A popup came up asking him to confirm his decision. He did so, and the counter began. They would only have 10 seconds.
Uptown…
The agents were busy, looking for hair, prints, blood, anything. They almost didn’t hear the beeping. An agent looked up. There, to his horror was a small, yellow box, with a display counting down. 7, 6, 5, 4. “Everyone evacuate!” He yelled, they all took no more than a second to get moving. Only two had gotten out of the door when the explosion went off.
PANTHER HQ…
The report came in from all of the units. Explosives, a trap, agents, dead. Kuda stood in shock, the total death count? 52. 52 out of 70 agents were killed, and she couldn’t help but blame herself. Why hadn’t she seen this? Of course it was a trap! Her voice was still strong when she talked into the speaker. “Gather the living and report back to base. Looks like our guy’s smarter than we thought.
Kuda started to walk toward the door, the president needed to be notified. He wasn’t going to like this at all. She headed to her office, there, there was a large holo-screen where she had the ability to contact the president directly. She was required to do this every time a criminal fell under their jurisdiction.
She turned on the holo-screen to the familiar hold signal. She waited for the president’s face to appear. Finally it did, with a look of horror and fear on his face. “Commander, what in God’s name is going on? 7 explosions have been reported throughout the city. Do you know something about this?” Kuda swallowed, then began “President Tompson someone has found out about our organization, and I believe is working towards its immolation. Those explosives were set off as soon as agents breached buildings in order to apprehend multiple suspects.”
Tompson took this in for a moment, and then asked. “So this criminal, he knew where you were going?” “Yes sir, he must’ve planted DNA in order to throw us off. Have you been watching your top officers lately?’ This took Tompson by surprise “Not particularly no. Why? Should I?” Kuda responded curtly “Well Mr. President, very few people have knowledge of our organization, and you head officers are some of those who do.” “What! You think my people have something to do with this?!” Kuda responded calmly “We only have a few suspects, and your people are our best prospects.”
The president was silent for awhile. He wasn’t sure what to say, he wasn’t sure what he could say. Finally he spoke in a soft voice. “How is Clara doing?” “Clara? She’s fine; she’s working at a local pizza parlor undercover.” He perked up “So can I see her?” Kuda sighed, feigning sadness, then said “No sir, it would blow her cover and put her in danger.” He sighed looking disappointed. “I’ll launch an investigation here, see if anyone knows anything.” Kuda smiled “That’s all we ask.”
She flipped a switch and the holo-screen turned off. She hated these meetings, hated the fact that she was below someone. She stood up and started toward the door. The only thing to do now was re-examine the victim, and see if they could find something interesting.
She headed back to the examination room, hopefully Kat had found something, otherwise they were out of leads. She entered the familiar wing and found Kat working a desk looking something up on a computer.
“Has our vic been ID’d yet?” Kuda called out. Kat looked up with a somewhat disappointed expression. “Yep, his name is David Weston. He was identified by his sister yesterday. The thing is he had no contacts with anyone, he worked at home, had no friends, and didn’t go anywhere except to get food.” “Kuda leaned over her shoulder. “His financials?” “They all check out, no drugs, prostitution or any other unexplained spending.” Kuda walked over to a holo-screen, on it was the Vic’s information, time of death, etc. “So our victim was a loner, and yet one day he randomly gets killed? Where was his body found?” Kat stood up and moved toward the board, her dark waves bouncing as she moved.
“He was found in his home, we already interviewed the landlord and the security guard, no one unusual came in that night.” Kuda wrinkled her brow, this wasn’t adding up, a random murder, no unexpected visitors, yet obvious signs of pre-planning. “The window”, she thought. “Did our victim live in a home or an apartment building?” Kat looked down at a clipboard, “He lived at an apartment complex about 15 miles from here.” “What floor?” Kuda asked intently. “Ugh…. The seventh.”
Kuda sighed angrily, there went that theory. How could someone get to the seventh floor without going inside; unless it was a resident? But that wouldn’t make sense. Kuda thought. The guy knew no one, or did he? “I’m going down to the complex; I’ll call for backup if I need it.” She walked out the door and headed for the elevator.
A storage building in uptown D.C….
Clara ducked behind a crate as the bullets whizzed past her. She had actually been looking forward to this, such a stupid sentiment now. She had no idea where her teammates where, probably trying to avoid being shot. Some local mobsters had gotten a hold of some high grade weaponry, they were there to destroy it. There was another crate about 16 feet away. In between there was open space and her lenses detected hostiles a few yards from her position. Jump, she willed her body, her APE suit responded, and in an instant she was leaping for the other cover.
“There!” Yelled a man standing a bit away. He was with four others, all had AK-47’s, an outdated but cheap weapon. She turned mid-air to face them. Shoot, she thought, he body targeted the men and let out five rounds, then she landed in cover. She was breathing heavily. She peeked around the corner and saw five bodies lying on the floor.
“I found the weapons!” Steven’s voice rang in her ear. “I’ll move i-OH SHIT!” A loud explosion rang in the background. “They have RPG’s, I’ll load the weapon’s coordinates into the interface.” They data loaded, Clara knew where to go, it was just around the corner. She rushed forward, past the dead bodies. There was a man in her way, but his back was turned to her, beyond him, just a few yards away, were the men with the RPG’s, covered by some men with more modern machine guns.
Clara raised her gun as the man turned. He fell, a bullet wound in his head. His gun went flying, as the people behind him, turned to face her. She plucked the machine gun from the air, aimed and fired. The bullets met their mark, taking down the RPG men in front of her.
She slammed her body against a crate. The bodies were in front of her, the weapons, beyond the crate. She put away her handgun, and pulled out, a more special sidearm. “I’m going in, Steven, cover me.” She spoke into the com system “Will do.” was the bored response. He was a bite behind, still being held up by some gunners who hadn’t seen her.
She leaped from behind the crate, firing her pistol straight at the weapons. This handgun was special, it was designed to shoot pyro bullets, specially designed bullets that would detonate on impact. The shot was aimed perfectly, hitting the weapons crate, exploding, and starting a large fire. She stood there, shaken by everything that had just happened.
“Good work guys, lets head home.” Steven’s voice buzzed in her ear, he had finished off the last of the men, and was now tugging at her arm. “Hurry up, we have no time to lay around.” She followed, her feet half-dragging on the floor.
The reality of what had just happened struck her like a load of bricks.
The entrance units were getting into position. It was a small operation, 10 agents per unit, 7 units, each preparing to apprehend their suspects. They were under strict orders. Move in undercover then breach at the same time, no casualties, no mistakes, everything had to go off perfectly. They were ready, in the various locations, all in some sort of cover. The cab driver, the mailman, the woman with her dog, the guy smoking on the corner; all were waiting for the signal to move in.
Kuda was in the control room. It was a dark room illuminated by only the neon green of the holo-screens placed throughout the area. She waited for the signals indicating that the teams were ready. “Team Aready. Team F, ready. Team D, ready.” One by one the 7 teams reported their condition. Kuda inhaled slowly, she spoke to all squads. “Alright let’s make this clean and bloodless, I want those men here alive. On my mark.” All the agents began to move to where they had to be, they were fierce, unwavering, fearless. “Breach now!”
They all entered, weapons ready, looking for their target. “Come out police!” The squad leader shouted. They waited for a response, there was none. “Secure the area.” The leader ordered. The agents fanned out, calling out when they were sure that no one was present. “Clear! Clear! Clea…Oh my God!” They had found their suspect. He was lying on the floor with a clean bullet wound in the middle of his forehead. The squad leader, a man named James approached. “Damn it.” He turned on his communicator “Kuda, we got a problem here.”
Similar reports came in from each of the squads. The suspect dead, the house empty, one bullet wound. Kuda sighed, something wasn’t right here. Why would anyone plant DNA to lead them to more dead bodies? There was more to this than she realized, she knew it, and she hated it. “Sweep the houses for prints, trace evidence anything you can find.” She knew, even before they started, that they would find nothing. Whoever this was, they were too clever to leave anything behind.
Downtown…
He started intently at the computer screen. He scratched his rough grey beard as he waited for the PANTHER agents to enter the houses. They were idiots, falling right into his hands. He waited until they had found the bodies, waited until they were sweeping for evidence. If there was any evidence, it wouldn’t last long.
He pushed a few keys on his keyboard. A popup came up asking him to confirm his decision. He did so, and the counter began. They would only have 10 seconds.
Uptown…
The agents were busy, looking for hair, prints, blood, anything. They almost didn’t hear the beeping. An agent looked up. There, to his horror was a small, yellow box, with a display counting down. 7, 6, 5, 4. “Everyone evacuate!” He yelled, they all took no more than a second to get moving. Only two had gotten out of the door when the explosion went off.
PANTHER HQ…
The report came in from all of the units. Explosives, a trap, agents, dead. Kuda stood in shock, the total death count? 52. 52 out of 70 agents were killed, and she couldn’t help but blame herself. Why hadn’t she seen this? Of course it was a trap! Her voice was still strong when she talked into the speaker. “Gather the living and report back to base. Looks like our guy’s smarter than we thought.
Kuda started to walk toward the door, the president needed to be notified. He wasn’t going to like this at all. She headed to her office, there, there was a large holo-screen where she had the ability to contact the president directly. She was required to do this every time a criminal fell under their jurisdiction.
She turned on the holo-screen to the familiar hold signal. She waited for the president’s face to appear. Finally it did, with a look of horror and fear on his face. “Commander, what in God’s name is going on? 7 explosions have been reported throughout the city. Do you know something about this?” Kuda swallowed, then began “President Tompson someone has found out about our organization, and I believe is working towards its immolation. Those explosives were set off as soon as agents breached buildings in order to apprehend multiple suspects.”
Tompson took this in for a moment, and then asked. “So this criminal, he knew where you were going?” “Yes sir, he must’ve planted DNA in order to throw us off. Have you been watching your top officers lately?’ This took Tompson by surprise “Not particularly no. Why? Should I?” Kuda responded curtly “Well Mr. President, very few people have knowledge of our organization, and you head officers are some of those who do.” “What! You think my people have something to do with this?!” Kuda responded calmly “We only have a few suspects, and your people are our best prospects.”
The president was silent for awhile. He wasn’t sure what to say, he wasn’t sure what he could say. Finally he spoke in a soft voice. “How is Clara doing?” “Clara? She’s fine; she’s working at a local pizza parlor undercover.” He perked up “So can I see her?” Kuda sighed, feigning sadness, then said “No sir, it would blow her cover and put her in danger.” He sighed looking disappointed. “I’ll launch an investigation here, see if anyone knows anything.” Kuda smiled “That’s all we ask.”
She flipped a switch and the holo-screen turned off. She hated these meetings, hated the fact that she was below someone. She stood up and started toward the door. The only thing to do now was re-examine the victim, and see if they could find something interesting.
She headed back to the examination room, hopefully Kat had found something, otherwise they were out of leads. She entered the familiar wing and found Kat working a desk looking something up on a computer.
“Has our vic been ID’d yet?” Kuda called out. Kat looked up with a somewhat disappointed expression. “Yep, his name is David Weston. He was identified by his sister yesterday. The thing is he had no contacts with anyone, he worked at home, had no friends, and didn’t go anywhere except to get food.” “Kuda leaned over her shoulder. “His financials?” “They all check out, no drugs, prostitution or any other unexplained spending.” Kuda walked over to a holo-screen, on it was the Vic’s information, time of death, etc. “So our victim was a loner, and yet one day he randomly gets killed? Where was his body found?” Kat stood up and moved toward the board, her dark waves bouncing as she moved.
“He was found in his home, we already interviewed the landlord and the security guard, no one unusual came in that night.” Kuda wrinkled her brow, this wasn’t adding up, a random murder, no unexpected visitors, yet obvious signs of pre-planning. “The window”, she thought. “Did our victim live in a home or an apartment building?” Kat looked down at a clipboard, “He lived at an apartment complex about 15 miles from here.” “What floor?” Kuda asked intently. “Ugh…. The seventh.”
Kuda sighed angrily, there went that theory. How could someone get to the seventh floor without going inside; unless it was a resident? But that wouldn’t make sense. Kuda thought. The guy knew no one, or did he? “I’m going down to the complex; I’ll call for backup if I need it.” She walked out the door and headed for the elevator.
A storage building in uptown D.C….
Clara ducked behind a crate as the bullets whizzed past her. She had actually been looking forward to this, such a stupid sentiment now. She had no idea where her teammates where, probably trying to avoid being shot. Some local mobsters had gotten a hold of some high grade weaponry, they were there to destroy it. There was another crate about 16 feet away. In between there was open space and her lenses detected hostiles a few yards from her position. Jump, she willed her body, her APE suit responded, and in an instant she was leaping for the other cover.
“There!” Yelled a man standing a bit away. He was with four others, all had AK-47’s, an outdated but cheap weapon. She turned mid-air to face them. Shoot, she thought, he body targeted the men and let out five rounds, then she landed in cover. She was breathing heavily. She peeked around the corner and saw five bodies lying on the floor.
“I found the weapons!” Steven’s voice rang in her ear. “I’ll move i-OH SHIT!” A loud explosion rang in the background. “They have RPG’s, I’ll load the weapon’s coordinates into the interface.” They data loaded, Clara knew where to go, it was just around the corner. She rushed forward, past the dead bodies. There was a man in her way, but his back was turned to her, beyond him, just a few yards away, were the men with the RPG’s, covered by some men with more modern machine guns.
Clara raised her gun as the man turned. He fell, a bullet wound in his head. His gun went flying, as the people behind him, turned to face her. She plucked the machine gun from the air, aimed and fired. The bullets met their mark, taking down the RPG men in front of her.
She slammed her body against a crate. The bodies were in front of her, the weapons, beyond the crate. She put away her handgun, and pulled out, a more special sidearm. “I’m going in, Steven, cover me.” She spoke into the com system “Will do.” was the bored response. He was a bite behind, still being held up by some gunners who hadn’t seen her.
She leaped from behind the crate, firing her pistol straight at the weapons. This handgun was special, it was designed to shoot pyro bullets, specially designed bullets that would detonate on impact. The shot was aimed perfectly, hitting the weapons crate, exploding, and starting a large fire. She stood there, shaken by everything that had just happened.
“Good work guys, lets head home.” Steven’s voice buzzed in her ear, he had finished off the last of the men, and was now tugging at her arm. “Hurry up, we have no time to lay around.” She followed, her feet half-dragging on the floor.
The reality of what had just happened struck her like a load of bricks.
Part 7:
Spoiler:
Downtown…
Kuda drove down the street in her black Chrysler 2034. Hover-car’s were available, but they were expensive, and the organization didn’t need any attention. So here she was, stuck at a red light on Peace Street. The apartment complex was just a few blocks down. She had one goal, get in, get answers, and get this case over with. She pulled into the parking lot with a bit of relief.
She got out of the car and headed inside, dressed in her usual attire, dark leather pants and jacket and a brown undershirt. She opened the door and simply stated her demand. “Where is the landlord?” The guy at the counter looked up. A plump man, he had graying hair that was thinning considerably at the top. His square jaw with multiple chins fell as he felt the astounding authority Kuda held about her.
“Th-that’s me.” He stammered, his voice a bit more than shaky. “Good” Kuda said with a smile, “Let’s talk in your office” She motioned, he followed her in. “Sit” she said. He remained standing “what do you wa-?” “I said…sit.” She interrupted. He sat down, this was her favorite part of any investigation. She loved breaking down any one who tried to deny their involvement.
“Do you know this man?” She said, producing a picture of Weston from a pocket in her coat. He wrinkled his brow, studying the picture. “Why yes, this is that Weston fellow, he lived on the 7th floor, but he was killed a few days ago.” “Yes he was, and you Mr. Baker” she said, reading the name tag he sported on his chest. “have made a statement that no one out of the ordinary entered the building on that day.”
“We-well yes.” He stammered “No one went upstairs but…the residents.” He said the last two words slowly, now realizing what they meant. “Well Mr. Baker, with that said, the killer could only be one of your residents, or one of your employees.” He looked up “There are no employees, it’s just me.” Kuda smiled, “Well, that narrows it down even more doesn’t it?” She leaned closer. “Let me be frank Mr. Baker, the spotlight is on you now, there was no sign of forced entry, and the door was locked when we found it. Only you could have done that undetected, and unless someone jumped through the window, we’ve got our killer.”
His eyes widened. “The window washer.” He whispered, barely audible, but clear as crystal to Kuda’s heightened senses. “What window washer?” she demanded. He moved away from the table and went to a file cabinet nearby. He began shuffling through files feverishly. He must have discovered something.
“Every week,” He spoke with a stutter “I get someone to wash, to wash the windows.” He pulled out a file and started pulling out its contents. “The same guy, he, he comes every week, but last week, someone else came.” He displayed a piece of paper. “It was a woman, she seemed a bit off but, but I thought nothing of it, she signed this work order form and then went to wash the windows.”
She sighed, this was good, this was really good, they had a suspect now, and most likely video footage and fingerprints. She pulled out a cell phone from her pocket, she didn’t need one of course, but she still had to look like an average detective. “I need a TRIO team here ASAP.” TRIO, Tactical Research and Intelligence Operatives. They were the best in their field, if there was any physical evidence to be found, they would get it, period.
She grabbed the piece of paper, she had left a phone number and a name. She scanned the scrawled handwriting, it wasn’t an actual name she left. It was just a word, just one word. On the name slot was inscribed “Otium”. She wrinkled her brow, odds were the phone number was fake, but if she was employed by the cleaning company, wouldn’t they know her?
They would never know until they asked. “Can I have the phone number for the cleaning company that you use?” “Ugh, sure, of course.” He went through a few files and pulled out a business card. Dickson cleaning services was printed on the top. She checked the number, then the number Otium left, sure enough, they were one and the same.
She dialed the number on the cell phone. A hoarse voice answered. “Dickson cleaning, can I help you?” She curtly responded. “This is detective Dafonte I need you to answer a few questions for me.” He sounded annoyed. “Yeah, yeah whatever.” “Do you employ someone who goes by the name Otium?” He grunted “No, never heard that name, it’s a pretty darn strange one too.” She continued. “Did you send an employee to the Baker apartment complex on Peace Street, on March 17?”
He paused for a bit, she hit something. “Yeah, I sent one of my guys out there, to uh, clean the windows.” She wasted no time “Who did you send?” “I sent Richard Miles that day.” She pressed the phone to her chest and turned to Mr. Baker “What is the name of the guy who usually does your windows?” He took a second then said “His name is Miles, Richard Miles I believe.” She put the phone back to her ear. “Have you seen Mr. Miles recently?”
Again a pause. “Ugh, no, he never showed up again after I sent him off.” She took that in then said. “Thank you, we’ll call if we need you again.” She hung up the phone and placed it in her pocket. At that moment the Agents came in through the door.
They came directly to her “Why do you need us? We already swept the apartment for prints.” There were 8 of them “You two,” she pointed. “Sweep the window sill for any prints. The rest of you, Mr. Baker will lead you to the platform where the perp stood along with the cleaning equipment she used, sweep it all.” She turned toward him, and he quickly led the way. All the agents left on their assignments without another word.
The chase was on, Kuda could feel it. It wouldn’t be long now, soon, they would have prints, a face, and scents to track her with. If anything this gave a bit of relief to Kuda. She just wanted this to be over with. This was the first person who had come after them, it had always been the other way around. It was almost scary to think about it. Maybe Otium had planned this, maybe she was leading them into a trap. She pushed the thought out of her head, it didn’t even matter, they could handle anything.
She went after the agents. She found them busy at work on the platform. “How is it looking?” She asked, looking over their shoulder. One of the men turned toward her. “We found quite a few prints, mainly on the cleaning tools, should be easy to figure out who she is by these.” He turned back to the spray bottle that was in front of him. He scanned each fingerprint with his Interface lenses, they would be sent to HQ and ran through the system within an hour. He lifted his hand to find a thin layer of dust on his hand. “What is this?” He looked back at the bottle, then at the platform, the strange, yellowish powder was finely dusted on all of it.
“Hey guys, can you see this yellow stuff?” Each agent looked at whatever they were examining a bit closer. A chorus of voices all confirmed that the dust was apparent on all of the utensils. Kuda dully took note of this, it was just dirt, they had other things to do. “Try and find a scent sample, the more things we have to track her, the better.”
The man brought the bottle to his nose, and increased his nose’s sensitivity, firing up the sensor’s installed within his nose. Suddenly fire shot up his nose, and in an instant he was on the floor. He let out a yelp of pain, shocked at the sudden sensation. He writhed on the floor for a few moments. The other agents watched in horror, frozen.
Kuda finally found her voice. “Contact the agents on the windows make sure they don’t try to get a scent.” Two of the agents dashed off while Kuda pulled the fallen agent to his feet. Kuda continued “Collect samples of the dust, get it to the lab, it has to be analyzed.” The agents went off on their new assignments.
Kuda had a few more questions for Mr. Baker. She went into his office. He was sitting in his chair, looking down at his hands. His wrinkled face twisted into an expression of mixed sadness, and worry. “Mr. Baker?” She said, addressing him, “do you happen to have a camera system?” He looked up with sullen eyes “Well I do have one camera, it’s aimed at the door, just in case of a robbery, or now I guess, in case of a murder.”
He spoke with the softness of a gentle grandfather, his eyes never wavering from some item of interest only he could see. Kuda smiled, exactly what she wanted to hear. “Can you bring up the footage from yesterday?” He sighed, and turned toward his computer. “Anything you need.” He clicked away for a few seconds, then called her over. “I found her.” She looked over his shoulder, Otium’s face came into view.
She didn’t look like a killer, she had deep, ocean blue eyes, and bleached blond hair that was sharply cut off at the base of her neck. She was looking directly at the camera smiling. Kuda inhaled sharply. She knew where the camera was, she knew that they would be seeing this, she might as well have said cheese.
Kuda used her lenses to scan the image. It would be in the database within seconds, and the face would be scanned and ran through the database, after that it would be simple.
The TRIO agents walked into the room, “We have everything.” They announced “We should have database results within the hour.” Kuda looked up. “Alright, let’s get back to HQ, we aren’t out of the woods yet. Mr. Baker, if we need anything else we will contact you.” He nodded his head, but said not a word. She walked out the door, the agents trailing at her feet. It wouldn’t take long, she thought, before this was over, the enemy had already made a mistake, and that was all they would need to bring her down.
PANTHER HQ:
The elevator slowly came to a halt and the agents spilled out. They all darted off to their various dorms, that is, except for Kuda. They didn’t need to go with her, it was one of those things where only her presence was necessary. She headed over to the Investigation wing. It was a larger group of buildings on the East side of the complex.
It was a warm section, mostly colored deep brown and red with plush sofa’s and dark wooden desks. James was there, standing in front of a holo-screen with an expression of disbelief on his face. It had been about an hour and a half since they had sent the data to HQ, the results would be in by now, or so she hoped.
Kuda sat down in a chair behind James. The screen was incredibly busy, with various faces and fingerprints flashing on the right while constant images of Otium’s print’s and face were displayed on the left. She frowned, crossed her legs and folded her arms. “Why is it taking this long?” she questioned.
He turned towards her. “It finished a while ago; I’m running the data again.” Her expression grew even more puzzled. “Why on Earth would you need to do that?” He frowned “The scan came back with no matches.” Kuda’s blood ran cold. That was impossible, all 9 Billion living humans were entered somewhere in this database. All governments around the world required this entry at birth, and at years 10, 16, and 21. Even if someone had dropped under the radar for awhile, how could someone hide all these years, and show up as a powerful killer?
She stuttered for a moment “Tha-that’s not possible.”. She shook her head for a moment. “Did you check the classified files, the hidden entries?” “Checked ‘em all, nothing matched.” Kuda stood up and began to pace around the room, “There has to be something wrong, did we check for hackers?” He responded curtly “Brought someone down as soon as the results came in, the guy found nothing out of the ordinary.”
Kuda was almost shaking, her disbelief was extraordinary. She took a moment to regain her composure. She turned away from the holo-screen, not wanting to believe it. Finally she spoke “Tell me when the results are in. I have other things to check up on anyway. In the mean time, send the face data to every branch and agent we have, I want everyone on the lookout for this woman, and when the find her I want her down here, dead or alive.” She walked out without another word.
She walked out of the building and toward the forensics wing on the North side of the complex. There Kat had surely analyzed the powder and had some sort of idea as to what it was, how it was working, and perhaps how to get around its effect. She entered one of the dark buildings, where substance analysis took place. Here they would examine bullets, poison, anything of the sort.
Her lenses displayed the way to the office where Kat was working. As their lead expert, she would be working on this entire case. This was one thing that comforted Kuda; at least she had the experts on this. She entered the lab. All the lights were on, illuminating Kat’s well tanned skin and deep brown eyes. She was peering with intent into one end of a microscope. Across the table was a row of beakers with various liquids in them and a strip of paper inside each.
Kat looked up from the device. “If you’re looking for good news you came to the wrong place.” Kuda moved toward her and leaned against the table. “Alright then give me the bad news, what exactly do we have here?” Kat took a moment, then responded. “This, is an artificially made powder that causes a chemical reaction when it comes into contact with our advanced nasal receptors, that is when they are activated. I have to give this chick credit, whoever came up with something like this has to be one heck of a chemist.” Kuda leaned back, this couldn’t possibly be good for them, and unless they got a match from the database, they couldn’t track her by intellect.
Kat didn’t stop. “There’s more though. This substance was specifically made for our advanced nasal devices; that means that whoever made this powder had to be very familiar with the devices and the surgery involved in installing them.” Kuda’s head shot up. “That means that this girl had to either have an informant, or an accomplice within the organization.”
Kat nodded. “Exactly, but I doubt someone here made the powder, we’re watched like hawks.” She said this pointing up to the three cameras that were trained on the room. “It’s more likely that she is meeting with someone within the organization, or she found a way to hack us undetected.”
Kuda immediately wrote off the second theory, they had the most experienced computer experts on the job, no one could hack them undetected…..unless. “What if one of the computer programmers is letting her in?” Kuda thought out loud. The doctor answered the mainly rhetorical question. “I doubt it, they have tighter security there then they do down here.”
Kuda sighed, either they had a double agent, or there was even more to this case then she thought. “I guess there’s nothing to do now but wait, hope we get a sighting somewhere.” She started toward the door. “I’m heading back toward my room, call me if you get anything, I’ll have to call the president, but I’ll wait until the morning. She headed out, frustrated, tired and mad.
How could this happen? A double agent? In this organization of all places? It was a case with so many firsts, and it all fell upon her shoulders. She almost seemed to crouch with the weight of that pressure. She tried to calm herself down, they had agents everywhere, in all walks of life, undercover everywhere you could think of. It was simply a matter of time before someone spotted her. When that moment came, when Otium made that mistake, they would be ready, and they would take her down. That’s all she had to do, Kuda thought; all she needed to do to catch her was simply watch, and wait.
The West side of DC…
The neighborhood wasn’t exactly very populated. It was a small collection of apartments and houses. This portion of the city had been all but abandoned, leaving it to the homeless, the gangs, and the dealers. The buildings were run down and had a very worn look about them. It was late, and the moon cast deep shadows on the streets. The building where Otium was headed was no different.
It was a raggedy, old apartment building, long abandoned, or so it looked. She entered, the lobby looked no different than one would expect. It was the office that was the place of interest. The room was dark, with the only light coming through the cracks in the ceiling and the soft, green glow of the various holo-screens.
He was sitting at the desk, his wrinkled hands moving slowly across the holo-screens. His pure white hair, tinted green from the light. He turned as he heard her enter, his grey eyes expressionless within his old, yet somehow powerful face.
She walked over to a torn couch that was at one end of the room. It was the only remnant of the old office, an un-cleaned blemish within the room. She sighed as she laid down and asked “Ugh, this job was so boring.” She said with a heavy tone of frustration “When am I gonna kill some Panthers?” She was impatient, bored, and very anxious.
He turned toward her, his expression unwavering. “You’ll have your chance Otium, we need to stick to the plan at hand. The people higher up want things to be done a certain way, and it is my job to keep them happy.” She sighed out of annoyance. “Then let’s get it done! All these mind tricks and subtlety; it’s too slow, too boring. ”
He stood up from the desk and moved away from the screen. On the holo-screen a list of names were displayed “All in good time, my targets will soon be dead and then we can begin setting the trap.”
Otium smiled. “Just promise me we won’t take too long ok?” The man, named Paul sat back down in his chair. “Where is Carlos? I sent him out yesterday; he couldn’t possibly take that long.” Otium sat up “He should be on his way, said he was busy, only God knows what that could mean.” At that moment the front door opened, and Carlos made his presence known.
“Honey I’m home!” He said in his usual sarcastic manner. He walked into the office with a gleeful smile on his face. “Did you miss me?” Paul was un-amused, he kept his harsh expression and said “You had me worried, I saw you had done as asked, there wasn’t any trouble?” Carlos’s attitude diminished upon seeing such a serious demeanor. “No, everything’s done, the switch is ready to flip.”
Paul checked his watch. “Good, the PANTHER commander should be contacting the president in a few minutes, the higher ups want it done today, then is as good a time as any.” He turned toward the computer screen and highlighted the first three names, then pressed Enter. A pop-up came up with three options, attack, disengage, and cancel.
He waited a few minutes until he was sure the timing was right, then tapped the first option. It wouldn’t be long after that. The nanobots injected in the President’s VP’s and First Lady’s bloodstream would soon latch onto the heart, then detonate. They would all be dead within a few minutes. He stood up and then gestured toward Otium and Carlos.
“Otium, you know what you need to do, when you have one, take him to the warehouse. Carlos, go get the location ready. I’ll check on the hideout where our men are waiting. After both of you are done we’ll meet back here, Carlos and I will head out to the hideout and Otium, you know what to do.” They all stood up and Paul gestured toward the door. Otium and Carlos headed out on their assignments. Otium smiled, it wouldn’t take long for there to be some action.
Panther HQ…
Kuda dialed the White House. She had some information, minimal as it was, and she was obligated to inform President Tompson. The familiar hold signal came on as she waited for his face to appear. You would think that if this matter was of such importance, he wouldn’t mind picking up the phone quickly.
Kuda bit her lip, she knew she was being bitter, she didn’t care. The second search came up blank, so did the third, and the fourth…. Needless to say her mood wasn’t exactly agreeable. In any case she had work to do, and she couldn’t let her emotions get to her. Emotions made her reckless, sloppy, and she couldn’t afford to be sloppy.
The most “powerful” man on the planet appeared on the screen, a usual look of casual boredom and sleepiness etched on his face. “Yes Kuda what is it?” He spoke in tired monotone, probably due to lack of sleep, after all it was five in the morning. Kuda had already drunk about ten cups of coffee to keep herself awake, but it didn’t show. She had managed to keep her look of unwavering strength and power.
“Mr. President, we have some new information regarding a suspect.” He perked up, suddenly awake. “Really now? What can you tell me about him?” Kuda looked up and started listing what she knew. “She is female, roughly 5’10 with blond hair and hazel eyes. She is very resourceful and seems very intelligent, she also has probably done this before considering the skill with which these crimes were performed. We found her prints and face scan but…” She paused, still trying to grasp the next concept. “her records are not on the database.” She finished.
He didn’t speak for a moment, he looked as taken back as she was. He managed to speak. “That can’t be, we have everyone on the system. Are you sure? Did you run the scan again?” Kuda replied keeping calm “Yes sir, we ran the scan multiple times, there were no results, and we checked for any signs of computer attacks, there were none, she somehow was never entered into the system.
Again there was a prolonged silence, he realized how that made things more complicated. Finally he spoke “Couldn’t you guys just, you know, sniff her out?” Kuda winced at the wording. You would think that people would use words that separated them from dogs. “We could have tracked her by scent but there were problems, there was a powder on everything that completely disables our nasal sensors.”
He took that in for a second. “What does that mean?” Kuda did not hesitate “It means she most likely has an informant, someone within the agency, which could also explain her absence in the databank. It means she has knowledge about our agents which she can and has used against us. This also means she is very dangerous, and needs to be stopped and brought in at any costs.”
The man in front of her seemed much older than he was. This was the first president since 2012 to go through something like this, and it was probably only the beginning. “Kuda, you need to end this as soon as possible.” “I know s-” “Someone like her can’t be left on the street.” He interrupted. “I will give you any clearance you need but you are to use any means necessary to bring her in.”
He continued. “If we do have a situation with an informant, he or she needs to be found and stopped.” Kuda nodded, she would let him go on his rant, it meant nothing to her, she knew this already, but he wanted to pretend he was in charge, and she had to let him. As soon as he was finished she would go and handle this her way. To her the president was just a puppet, someone to assure the public everything was ok while she handled everything in the background, he knew nothing about handling national threats, that was her job, and she did it well.
The president just went on ranting “One more thing you have to…” He froze, then clutched his chest. Kuda spoke, “Mr. President? Mr. President are you ok?” He didn’t speak, his face went pale. A trickle of blood came from his mouth. Then he fell to the floor, out of view. Kuda could see secret service rushing to him, but nothing else.
Kuda was frozen, this couldn’t be happening. She switched on her mike, sending a message to a group of agents. “It looks like we’re going to need a pickup team, we’ve got a new body and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Kat, I need you up for an autopsy. We have no time to waste people, we’ve got a president down.”
It only took minutes for the complex to be up and busy. Kat and a few of her colleagues were getting the labs ready. James and a few others had left to the White House to pick up the body if there was one, and sweep for evidence otherwise. Others were just looking over old evidence or trying to look busy while they waited for news. The whispers were already floating around, assassination, murder, Otium. The last word was present in every conversation, with everyone attributing the attack to her.
A few minutes later, James’s voice buzzed in Kuda’s ear. “Kuda, we got a problem here.” Kuda responded “He’s dead isn’t he?” A few seconds later the response came “Not only him, we have two other bodies.” Kuda shook her head, how much worse could it get? “Who?” “The VP, and the First Lady, looks like the same cause, whatever it was.” “Bring them all in, I’ll have Kat set up two more labs.”
Kuda switched over her mike to Kat. “Kat there are two more bodies than we thought, I need two more autopsies ready to go.” She quickly responded “Any more good news?” Kuda ignored the remark, she didn’t feel like participating in humor. The entire investigation just became a lot more complicated, and she didn’t like that. Who knows what they would find on the bodies. If Otium was behind this it would be nothing they could trace and there would be no prints.
About thirty minutes later, James arrived with the first body bag. Only one stretcher could fit in the elevator at a time, so it was only him and the President’s body. Agents were lined up along the hallway heading to the forensics wing, partly to pay their respects, partly to assure themselves that it was true, he was dead. The other bodies quickly followed and, one by one, were taken to the forensics wing. The labs were prepared, soon they would know what happened.
A few hours later, Kuda was called to the forensics wing. They had results. Kuda wasted no time, she walked quickly, almost running. Nothing like this had ever happened before, but if the president was poisoned, a toxicology report would tell them everything. There was one detail that haunted Kuda. How did they all die at the same time?
It would be nearly impossible to poison three people simultaneously, and even if one could, the poison wouldn’t kill at the same rate unless it was incredibly powerful. Kuda shook the thought out of her head. It didn’t matter anyway, all of her questions would be answered soon anyway.
She walked into the laboratory. Kat was there, sitting at a holo-screen. On the screen a scan was running, for what she had no idea, but she would find out. Kuda walked behind her “Please tell me you have something definitive Kat?” Kat looked back at her, “I wish I could Kuda, I wish I could.”
Kat moved to the body that was laid out on the table. “There was no poison in the bloodstream, but there were high levels of some sort of metal, I’m running a scan to find out what. The metal didn’t kill him though, he was killed by multiple tiny explosions within his heart. I’m guessing they were remote-controlled microscopic explosives. It sounds far-fetched but it would explain everything.”
She went on to explain “The explosives would leave high amounts of metal within the blood, it explains how they all died at the same time, it would also account for the signs of explosives within the heart. It would also explain this.” She picked up a small needle from the desk. “This was found in the President’s neck, one was also found in both of the other victims.”
She handed the needle to Kuda, who held it up to her face. It was as thin as a hair, only about half as long as a cell phone. Kuda put it down, scratching her head. “So the question is how and when?” Kat frowned. “That’s the problem. If it was remote controlled, it could’ve been anytime. As for how, I can’t figure that out.”
Kuda sighed “An unknown technology that’s impossible to trace, sounds like Otium.” “Looks like it, but I can’t make any guarantees.” Kat said with a smirk “In the meantime I’ll put an ear out on the street, see if our informants know anything.” Kuda straightened herself. “If you find anything else, let me know.”
Kuda headed toward the door, but froze when she heard Kat call her. “You forgot one thing Kuda, you still have to alert the next of kin. Clara needs to know what happened.” Kuda frowned, she hated having to deal with emotional crap. If it was any other agent it would have been easy, but Clara wasn’t like them, she still had empathy tying her down. This trait made her weak, made her hard to deal with.
Kuda set her communicator to contact Morie Nae. Nae was the only other agent with the same problem, it would be easier for her to deal with Clara. Kuda had neither the time, nor the energy to deal with a crying girl. Morie would do it for her. “Nae, wake up.” A groggy groan was the response.
A few seconds later a different response came. “Yes Commander how can I help you?” Kuda smiled “That’s more like it, the President and his wife have both been killed, I need you to tell Clara. Do it now.” Kuda shut her communicator off. The entirety of the instructions was said with cold indifference.
Kuda continue back towards her office, she had work to do. She had people to contact, a killer to catch, and a new president to inform. She would also have to continue the search for Otium, agents had to be deployed, messages had to be monitored, and tactics needed to be changed.
As she sat down in her desk she took a brief moment of rest, her first since she had left for the apartment complex. Her lack of sleep had started to show, as dark circles began to form under her eyes. She reclined her chair back. Not once did she wonder how Clara was taking the news…
Kuda drove down the street in her black Chrysler 2034. Hover-car’s were available, but they were expensive, and the organization didn’t need any attention. So here she was, stuck at a red light on Peace Street. The apartment complex was just a few blocks down. She had one goal, get in, get answers, and get this case over with. She pulled into the parking lot with a bit of relief.
She got out of the car and headed inside, dressed in her usual attire, dark leather pants and jacket and a brown undershirt. She opened the door and simply stated her demand. “Where is the landlord?” The guy at the counter looked up. A plump man, he had graying hair that was thinning considerably at the top. His square jaw with multiple chins fell as he felt the astounding authority Kuda held about her.
“Th-that’s me.” He stammered, his voice a bit more than shaky. “Good” Kuda said with a smile, “Let’s talk in your office” She motioned, he followed her in. “Sit” she said. He remained standing “what do you wa-?” “I said…sit.” She interrupted. He sat down, this was her favorite part of any investigation. She loved breaking down any one who tried to deny their involvement.
“Do you know this man?” She said, producing a picture of Weston from a pocket in her coat. He wrinkled his brow, studying the picture. “Why yes, this is that Weston fellow, he lived on the 7th floor, but he was killed a few days ago.” “Yes he was, and you Mr. Baker” she said, reading the name tag he sported on his chest. “have made a statement that no one out of the ordinary entered the building on that day.”
“We-well yes.” He stammered “No one went upstairs but…the residents.” He said the last two words slowly, now realizing what they meant. “Well Mr. Baker, with that said, the killer could only be one of your residents, or one of your employees.” He looked up “There are no employees, it’s just me.” Kuda smiled, “Well, that narrows it down even more doesn’t it?” She leaned closer. “Let me be frank Mr. Baker, the spotlight is on you now, there was no sign of forced entry, and the door was locked when we found it. Only you could have done that undetected, and unless someone jumped through the window, we’ve got our killer.”
His eyes widened. “The window washer.” He whispered, barely audible, but clear as crystal to Kuda’s heightened senses. “What window washer?” she demanded. He moved away from the table and went to a file cabinet nearby. He began shuffling through files feverishly. He must have discovered something.
“Every week,” He spoke with a stutter “I get someone to wash, to wash the windows.” He pulled out a file and started pulling out its contents. “The same guy, he, he comes every week, but last week, someone else came.” He displayed a piece of paper. “It was a woman, she seemed a bit off but, but I thought nothing of it, she signed this work order form and then went to wash the windows.”
She sighed, this was good, this was really good, they had a suspect now, and most likely video footage and fingerprints. She pulled out a cell phone from her pocket, she didn’t need one of course, but she still had to look like an average detective. “I need a TRIO team here ASAP.” TRIO, Tactical Research and Intelligence Operatives. They were the best in their field, if there was any physical evidence to be found, they would get it, period.
She grabbed the piece of paper, she had left a phone number and a name. She scanned the scrawled handwriting, it wasn’t an actual name she left. It was just a word, just one word. On the name slot was inscribed “Otium”. She wrinkled her brow, odds were the phone number was fake, but if she was employed by the cleaning company, wouldn’t they know her?
They would never know until they asked. “Can I have the phone number for the cleaning company that you use?” “Ugh, sure, of course.” He went through a few files and pulled out a business card. Dickson cleaning services was printed on the top. She checked the number, then the number Otium left, sure enough, they were one and the same.
She dialed the number on the cell phone. A hoarse voice answered. “Dickson cleaning, can I help you?” She curtly responded. “This is detective Dafonte I need you to answer a few questions for me.” He sounded annoyed. “Yeah, yeah whatever.” “Do you employ someone who goes by the name Otium?” He grunted “No, never heard that name, it’s a pretty darn strange one too.” She continued. “Did you send an employee to the Baker apartment complex on Peace Street, on March 17?”
He paused for a bit, she hit something. “Yeah, I sent one of my guys out there, to uh, clean the windows.” She wasted no time “Who did you send?” “I sent Richard Miles that day.” She pressed the phone to her chest and turned to Mr. Baker “What is the name of the guy who usually does your windows?” He took a second then said “His name is Miles, Richard Miles I believe.” She put the phone back to her ear. “Have you seen Mr. Miles recently?”
Again a pause. “Ugh, no, he never showed up again after I sent him off.” She took that in then said. “Thank you, we’ll call if we need you again.” She hung up the phone and placed it in her pocket. At that moment the Agents came in through the door.
They came directly to her “Why do you need us? We already swept the apartment for prints.” There were 8 of them “You two,” she pointed. “Sweep the window sill for any prints. The rest of you, Mr. Baker will lead you to the platform where the perp stood along with the cleaning equipment she used, sweep it all.” She turned toward him, and he quickly led the way. All the agents left on their assignments without another word.
The chase was on, Kuda could feel it. It wouldn’t be long now, soon, they would have prints, a face, and scents to track her with. If anything this gave a bit of relief to Kuda. She just wanted this to be over with. This was the first person who had come after them, it had always been the other way around. It was almost scary to think about it. Maybe Otium had planned this, maybe she was leading them into a trap. She pushed the thought out of her head, it didn’t even matter, they could handle anything.
She went after the agents. She found them busy at work on the platform. “How is it looking?” She asked, looking over their shoulder. One of the men turned toward her. “We found quite a few prints, mainly on the cleaning tools, should be easy to figure out who she is by these.” He turned back to the spray bottle that was in front of him. He scanned each fingerprint with his Interface lenses, they would be sent to HQ and ran through the system within an hour. He lifted his hand to find a thin layer of dust on his hand. “What is this?” He looked back at the bottle, then at the platform, the strange, yellowish powder was finely dusted on all of it.
“Hey guys, can you see this yellow stuff?” Each agent looked at whatever they were examining a bit closer. A chorus of voices all confirmed that the dust was apparent on all of the utensils. Kuda dully took note of this, it was just dirt, they had other things to do. “Try and find a scent sample, the more things we have to track her, the better.”
The man brought the bottle to his nose, and increased his nose’s sensitivity, firing up the sensor’s installed within his nose. Suddenly fire shot up his nose, and in an instant he was on the floor. He let out a yelp of pain, shocked at the sudden sensation. He writhed on the floor for a few moments. The other agents watched in horror, frozen.
Kuda finally found her voice. “Contact the agents on the windows make sure they don’t try to get a scent.” Two of the agents dashed off while Kuda pulled the fallen agent to his feet. Kuda continued “Collect samples of the dust, get it to the lab, it has to be analyzed.” The agents went off on their new assignments.
Kuda had a few more questions for Mr. Baker. She went into his office. He was sitting in his chair, looking down at his hands. His wrinkled face twisted into an expression of mixed sadness, and worry. “Mr. Baker?” She said, addressing him, “do you happen to have a camera system?” He looked up with sullen eyes “Well I do have one camera, it’s aimed at the door, just in case of a robbery, or now I guess, in case of a murder.”
He spoke with the softness of a gentle grandfather, his eyes never wavering from some item of interest only he could see. Kuda smiled, exactly what she wanted to hear. “Can you bring up the footage from yesterday?” He sighed, and turned toward his computer. “Anything you need.” He clicked away for a few seconds, then called her over. “I found her.” She looked over his shoulder, Otium’s face came into view.
She didn’t look like a killer, she had deep, ocean blue eyes, and bleached blond hair that was sharply cut off at the base of her neck. She was looking directly at the camera smiling. Kuda inhaled sharply. She knew where the camera was, she knew that they would be seeing this, she might as well have said cheese.
Kuda used her lenses to scan the image. It would be in the database within seconds, and the face would be scanned and ran through the database, after that it would be simple.
The TRIO agents walked into the room, “We have everything.” They announced “We should have database results within the hour.” Kuda looked up. “Alright, let’s get back to HQ, we aren’t out of the woods yet. Mr. Baker, if we need anything else we will contact you.” He nodded his head, but said not a word. She walked out the door, the agents trailing at her feet. It wouldn’t take long, she thought, before this was over, the enemy had already made a mistake, and that was all they would need to bring her down.
PANTHER HQ:
The elevator slowly came to a halt and the agents spilled out. They all darted off to their various dorms, that is, except for Kuda. They didn’t need to go with her, it was one of those things where only her presence was necessary. She headed over to the Investigation wing. It was a larger group of buildings on the East side of the complex.
It was a warm section, mostly colored deep brown and red with plush sofa’s and dark wooden desks. James was there, standing in front of a holo-screen with an expression of disbelief on his face. It had been about an hour and a half since they had sent the data to HQ, the results would be in by now, or so she hoped.
Kuda sat down in a chair behind James. The screen was incredibly busy, with various faces and fingerprints flashing on the right while constant images of Otium’s print’s and face were displayed on the left. She frowned, crossed her legs and folded her arms. “Why is it taking this long?” she questioned.
He turned towards her. “It finished a while ago; I’m running the data again.” Her expression grew even more puzzled. “Why on Earth would you need to do that?” He frowned “The scan came back with no matches.” Kuda’s blood ran cold. That was impossible, all 9 Billion living humans were entered somewhere in this database. All governments around the world required this entry at birth, and at years 10, 16, and 21. Even if someone had dropped under the radar for awhile, how could someone hide all these years, and show up as a powerful killer?
She stuttered for a moment “Tha-that’s not possible.”. She shook her head for a moment. “Did you check the classified files, the hidden entries?” “Checked ‘em all, nothing matched.” Kuda stood up and began to pace around the room, “There has to be something wrong, did we check for hackers?” He responded curtly “Brought someone down as soon as the results came in, the guy found nothing out of the ordinary.”
Kuda was almost shaking, her disbelief was extraordinary. She took a moment to regain her composure. She turned away from the holo-screen, not wanting to believe it. Finally she spoke “Tell me when the results are in. I have other things to check up on anyway. In the mean time, send the face data to every branch and agent we have, I want everyone on the lookout for this woman, and when the find her I want her down here, dead or alive.” She walked out without another word.
She walked out of the building and toward the forensics wing on the North side of the complex. There Kat had surely analyzed the powder and had some sort of idea as to what it was, how it was working, and perhaps how to get around its effect. She entered one of the dark buildings, where substance analysis took place. Here they would examine bullets, poison, anything of the sort.
Her lenses displayed the way to the office where Kat was working. As their lead expert, she would be working on this entire case. This was one thing that comforted Kuda; at least she had the experts on this. She entered the lab. All the lights were on, illuminating Kat’s well tanned skin and deep brown eyes. She was peering with intent into one end of a microscope. Across the table was a row of beakers with various liquids in them and a strip of paper inside each.
Kat looked up from the device. “If you’re looking for good news you came to the wrong place.” Kuda moved toward her and leaned against the table. “Alright then give me the bad news, what exactly do we have here?” Kat took a moment, then responded. “This, is an artificially made powder that causes a chemical reaction when it comes into contact with our advanced nasal receptors, that is when they are activated. I have to give this chick credit, whoever came up with something like this has to be one heck of a chemist.” Kuda leaned back, this couldn’t possibly be good for them, and unless they got a match from the database, they couldn’t track her by intellect.
Kat didn’t stop. “There’s more though. This substance was specifically made for our advanced nasal devices; that means that whoever made this powder had to be very familiar with the devices and the surgery involved in installing them.” Kuda’s head shot up. “That means that this girl had to either have an informant, or an accomplice within the organization.”
Kat nodded. “Exactly, but I doubt someone here made the powder, we’re watched like hawks.” She said this pointing up to the three cameras that were trained on the room. “It’s more likely that she is meeting with someone within the organization, or she found a way to hack us undetected.”
Kuda immediately wrote off the second theory, they had the most experienced computer experts on the job, no one could hack them undetected…..unless. “What if one of the computer programmers is letting her in?” Kuda thought out loud. The doctor answered the mainly rhetorical question. “I doubt it, they have tighter security there then they do down here.”
Kuda sighed, either they had a double agent, or there was even more to this case then she thought. “I guess there’s nothing to do now but wait, hope we get a sighting somewhere.” She started toward the door. “I’m heading back toward my room, call me if you get anything, I’ll have to call the president, but I’ll wait until the morning. She headed out, frustrated, tired and mad.
How could this happen? A double agent? In this organization of all places? It was a case with so many firsts, and it all fell upon her shoulders. She almost seemed to crouch with the weight of that pressure. She tried to calm herself down, they had agents everywhere, in all walks of life, undercover everywhere you could think of. It was simply a matter of time before someone spotted her. When that moment came, when Otium made that mistake, they would be ready, and they would take her down. That’s all she had to do, Kuda thought; all she needed to do to catch her was simply watch, and wait.
The West side of DC…
The neighborhood wasn’t exactly very populated. It was a small collection of apartments and houses. This portion of the city had been all but abandoned, leaving it to the homeless, the gangs, and the dealers. The buildings were run down and had a very worn look about them. It was late, and the moon cast deep shadows on the streets. The building where Otium was headed was no different.
It was a raggedy, old apartment building, long abandoned, or so it looked. She entered, the lobby looked no different than one would expect. It was the office that was the place of interest. The room was dark, with the only light coming through the cracks in the ceiling and the soft, green glow of the various holo-screens.
He was sitting at the desk, his wrinkled hands moving slowly across the holo-screens. His pure white hair, tinted green from the light. He turned as he heard her enter, his grey eyes expressionless within his old, yet somehow powerful face.
She walked over to a torn couch that was at one end of the room. It was the only remnant of the old office, an un-cleaned blemish within the room. She sighed as she laid down and asked “Ugh, this job was so boring.” She said with a heavy tone of frustration “When am I gonna kill some Panthers?” She was impatient, bored, and very anxious.
He turned toward her, his expression unwavering. “You’ll have your chance Otium, we need to stick to the plan at hand. The people higher up want things to be done a certain way, and it is my job to keep them happy.” She sighed out of annoyance. “Then let’s get it done! All these mind tricks and subtlety; it’s too slow, too boring. ”
He stood up from the desk and moved away from the screen. On the holo-screen a list of names were displayed “All in good time, my targets will soon be dead and then we can begin setting the trap.”
Otium smiled. “Just promise me we won’t take too long ok?” The man, named Paul sat back down in his chair. “Where is Carlos? I sent him out yesterday; he couldn’t possibly take that long.” Otium sat up “He should be on his way, said he was busy, only God knows what that could mean.” At that moment the front door opened, and Carlos made his presence known.
“Honey I’m home!” He said in his usual sarcastic manner. He walked into the office with a gleeful smile on his face. “Did you miss me?” Paul was un-amused, he kept his harsh expression and said “You had me worried, I saw you had done as asked, there wasn’t any trouble?” Carlos’s attitude diminished upon seeing such a serious demeanor. “No, everything’s done, the switch is ready to flip.”
Paul checked his watch. “Good, the PANTHER commander should be contacting the president in a few minutes, the higher ups want it done today, then is as good a time as any.” He turned toward the computer screen and highlighted the first three names, then pressed Enter. A pop-up came up with three options, attack, disengage, and cancel.
He waited a few minutes until he was sure the timing was right, then tapped the first option. It wouldn’t be long after that. The nanobots injected in the President’s VP’s and First Lady’s bloodstream would soon latch onto the heart, then detonate. They would all be dead within a few minutes. He stood up and then gestured toward Otium and Carlos.
“Otium, you know what you need to do, when you have one, take him to the warehouse. Carlos, go get the location ready. I’ll check on the hideout where our men are waiting. After both of you are done we’ll meet back here, Carlos and I will head out to the hideout and Otium, you know what to do.” They all stood up and Paul gestured toward the door. Otium and Carlos headed out on their assignments. Otium smiled, it wouldn’t take long for there to be some action.
Panther HQ…
Kuda dialed the White House. She had some information, minimal as it was, and she was obligated to inform President Tompson. The familiar hold signal came on as she waited for his face to appear. You would think that if this matter was of such importance, he wouldn’t mind picking up the phone quickly.
Kuda bit her lip, she knew she was being bitter, she didn’t care. The second search came up blank, so did the third, and the fourth…. Needless to say her mood wasn’t exactly agreeable. In any case she had work to do, and she couldn’t let her emotions get to her. Emotions made her reckless, sloppy, and she couldn’t afford to be sloppy.
The most “powerful” man on the planet appeared on the screen, a usual look of casual boredom and sleepiness etched on his face. “Yes Kuda what is it?” He spoke in tired monotone, probably due to lack of sleep, after all it was five in the morning. Kuda had already drunk about ten cups of coffee to keep herself awake, but it didn’t show. She had managed to keep her look of unwavering strength and power.
“Mr. President, we have some new information regarding a suspect.” He perked up, suddenly awake. “Really now? What can you tell me about him?” Kuda looked up and started listing what she knew. “She is female, roughly 5’10 with blond hair and hazel eyes. She is very resourceful and seems very intelligent, she also has probably done this before considering the skill with which these crimes were performed. We found her prints and face scan but…” She paused, still trying to grasp the next concept. “her records are not on the database.” She finished.
He didn’t speak for a moment, he looked as taken back as she was. He managed to speak. “That can’t be, we have everyone on the system. Are you sure? Did you run the scan again?” Kuda replied keeping calm “Yes sir, we ran the scan multiple times, there were no results, and we checked for any signs of computer attacks, there were none, she somehow was never entered into the system.
Again there was a prolonged silence, he realized how that made things more complicated. Finally he spoke “Couldn’t you guys just, you know, sniff her out?” Kuda winced at the wording. You would think that people would use words that separated them from dogs. “We could have tracked her by scent but there were problems, there was a powder on everything that completely disables our nasal sensors.”
He took that in for a second. “What does that mean?” Kuda did not hesitate “It means she most likely has an informant, someone within the agency, which could also explain her absence in the databank. It means she has knowledge about our agents which she can and has used against us. This also means she is very dangerous, and needs to be stopped and brought in at any costs.”
The man in front of her seemed much older than he was. This was the first president since 2012 to go through something like this, and it was probably only the beginning. “Kuda, you need to end this as soon as possible.” “I know s-” “Someone like her can’t be left on the street.” He interrupted. “I will give you any clearance you need but you are to use any means necessary to bring her in.”
He continued. “If we do have a situation with an informant, he or she needs to be found and stopped.” Kuda nodded, she would let him go on his rant, it meant nothing to her, she knew this already, but he wanted to pretend he was in charge, and she had to let him. As soon as he was finished she would go and handle this her way. To her the president was just a puppet, someone to assure the public everything was ok while she handled everything in the background, he knew nothing about handling national threats, that was her job, and she did it well.
The president just went on ranting “One more thing you have to…” He froze, then clutched his chest. Kuda spoke, “Mr. President? Mr. President are you ok?” He didn’t speak, his face went pale. A trickle of blood came from his mouth. Then he fell to the floor, out of view. Kuda could see secret service rushing to him, but nothing else.
Kuda was frozen, this couldn’t be happening. She switched on her mike, sending a message to a group of agents. “It looks like we’re going to need a pickup team, we’ve got a new body and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Kat, I need you up for an autopsy. We have no time to waste people, we’ve got a president down.”
It only took minutes for the complex to be up and busy. Kat and a few of her colleagues were getting the labs ready. James and a few others had left to the White House to pick up the body if there was one, and sweep for evidence otherwise. Others were just looking over old evidence or trying to look busy while they waited for news. The whispers were already floating around, assassination, murder, Otium. The last word was present in every conversation, with everyone attributing the attack to her.
A few minutes later, James’s voice buzzed in Kuda’s ear. “Kuda, we got a problem here.” Kuda responded “He’s dead isn’t he?” A few seconds later the response came “Not only him, we have two other bodies.” Kuda shook her head, how much worse could it get? “Who?” “The VP, and the First Lady, looks like the same cause, whatever it was.” “Bring them all in, I’ll have Kat set up two more labs.”
Kuda switched over her mike to Kat. “Kat there are two more bodies than we thought, I need two more autopsies ready to go.” She quickly responded “Any more good news?” Kuda ignored the remark, she didn’t feel like participating in humor. The entire investigation just became a lot more complicated, and she didn’t like that. Who knows what they would find on the bodies. If Otium was behind this it would be nothing they could trace and there would be no prints.
About thirty minutes later, James arrived with the first body bag. Only one stretcher could fit in the elevator at a time, so it was only him and the President’s body. Agents were lined up along the hallway heading to the forensics wing, partly to pay their respects, partly to assure themselves that it was true, he was dead. The other bodies quickly followed and, one by one, were taken to the forensics wing. The labs were prepared, soon they would know what happened.
A few hours later, Kuda was called to the forensics wing. They had results. Kuda wasted no time, she walked quickly, almost running. Nothing like this had ever happened before, but if the president was poisoned, a toxicology report would tell them everything. There was one detail that haunted Kuda. How did they all die at the same time?
It would be nearly impossible to poison three people simultaneously, and even if one could, the poison wouldn’t kill at the same rate unless it was incredibly powerful. Kuda shook the thought out of her head. It didn’t matter anyway, all of her questions would be answered soon anyway.
She walked into the laboratory. Kat was there, sitting at a holo-screen. On the screen a scan was running, for what she had no idea, but she would find out. Kuda walked behind her “Please tell me you have something definitive Kat?” Kat looked back at her, “I wish I could Kuda, I wish I could.”
Kat moved to the body that was laid out on the table. “There was no poison in the bloodstream, but there were high levels of some sort of metal, I’m running a scan to find out what. The metal didn’t kill him though, he was killed by multiple tiny explosions within his heart. I’m guessing they were remote-controlled microscopic explosives. It sounds far-fetched but it would explain everything.”
She went on to explain “The explosives would leave high amounts of metal within the blood, it explains how they all died at the same time, it would also account for the signs of explosives within the heart. It would also explain this.” She picked up a small needle from the desk. “This was found in the President’s neck, one was also found in both of the other victims.”
She handed the needle to Kuda, who held it up to her face. It was as thin as a hair, only about half as long as a cell phone. Kuda put it down, scratching her head. “So the question is how and when?” Kat frowned. “That’s the problem. If it was remote controlled, it could’ve been anytime. As for how, I can’t figure that out.”
Kuda sighed “An unknown technology that’s impossible to trace, sounds like Otium.” “Looks like it, but I can’t make any guarantees.” Kat said with a smirk “In the meantime I’ll put an ear out on the street, see if our informants know anything.” Kuda straightened herself. “If you find anything else, let me know.”
Kuda headed toward the door, but froze when she heard Kat call her. “You forgot one thing Kuda, you still have to alert the next of kin. Clara needs to know what happened.” Kuda frowned, she hated having to deal with emotional crap. If it was any other agent it would have been easy, but Clara wasn’t like them, she still had empathy tying her down. This trait made her weak, made her hard to deal with.
Kuda set her communicator to contact Morie Nae. Nae was the only other agent with the same problem, it would be easier for her to deal with Clara. Kuda had neither the time, nor the energy to deal with a crying girl. Morie would do it for her. “Nae, wake up.” A groggy groan was the response.
A few seconds later a different response came. “Yes Commander how can I help you?” Kuda smiled “That’s more like it, the President and his wife have both been killed, I need you to tell Clara. Do it now.” Kuda shut her communicator off. The entirety of the instructions was said with cold indifference.
Kuda continue back towards her office, she had work to do. She had people to contact, a killer to catch, and a new president to inform. She would also have to continue the search for Otium, agents had to be deployed, messages had to be monitored, and tactics needed to be changed.
As she sat down in her desk she took a brief moment of rest, her first since she had left for the apartment complex. Her lack of sleep had started to show, as dark circles began to form under her eyes. She reclined her chair back. Not once did she wonder how Clara was taking the news…
PANTHER Files:
Interface Lenses:
Spoiler:
PANTHER file #G203
CREATED: 4/23/2024
LAST VIEWED: 2/10/2048
Item Name: Interface Lenses
Physical Description: Devices that look like contact lenses. They are applied to the eyes and are perfectly clear
Functions: Interface Lenses have the following features
Vision:
Improved vision
Night Vision
Inra Red Vision
Thermal Vision
Interface functions:
Face Scanner
Radar with locations of other PANTHER Agents
GPS system
Other Functions:
Combat Targeting system
Firearm identifying system
Firearm aiming system
Available specialized asttachments:
Forensic Scanner *
Government Accesibility *
Vital Scanner *
* = only availabe to designated specialists
Item Distribution: Only available to PANTHER agents
Public Knowledge: Unkown
CREATED: 4/23/2024
LAST VIEWED: 2/10/2048
Item Name: Interface Lenses
Physical Description: Devices that look like contact lenses. They are applied to the eyes and are perfectly clear
Functions: Interface Lenses have the following features
Vision:
Improved vision
Night Vision
Inra Red Vision
Thermal Vision
Interface functions:
Face Scanner
Radar with locations of other PANTHER Agents
GPS system
Other Functions:
Combat Targeting system
Firearm identifying system
Firearm aiming system
Available specialized asttachments:
Forensic Scanner *
Government Accesibility *
Vital Scanner *
* = only availabe to designated specialists
Item Distribution: Only available to PANTHER agents
Public Knowledge: Unkown
APE Suits:
Spoiler:
PANTHER file #G284
CREATED: 3/14/2019
LAST VIEWED: 2/09/2048
Item Name: APE (Acceleration of Performance using Electricity) Suit
Physical Description: A skin-tight, full body suit made of a dark fabric, which is worn under regular clothes
Functions: APE suits have the following features:
Mobility:
Increased flexibility
Unnatural Reflexes
Enhanced speed
Increased durability
Other Functions:
Combat Targeting system
Firearm aiming system
On-demand bullet resistance
How the device works: The deivice connects with the computing device installed within the cranium and the interface lenses, and moves the body using eletrical pulses. These electrical pulses allow the wearer to dodge bullets, run at great speed, and leap to great heights. The suit can adjust it's firmness at anytime allowing the wearer to take bullets and fall from great heights unharmed.
Item Distribution: Only available to PANTHER agents
Public Knowledge: Known to police officials
CREATED: 3/14/2019
LAST VIEWED: 2/09/2048
Item Name: APE (Acceleration of Performance using Electricity) Suit
Physical Description: A skin-tight, full body suit made of a dark fabric, which is worn under regular clothes
Functions: APE suits have the following features:
Mobility:
Increased flexibility
Unnatural Reflexes
Enhanced speed
Increased durability
Other Functions:
Combat Targeting system
Firearm aiming system
On-demand bullet resistance
How the device works: The deivice connects with the computing device installed within the cranium and the interface lenses, and moves the body using eletrical pulses. These electrical pulses allow the wearer to dodge bullets, run at great speed, and leap to great heights. The suit can adjust it's firmness at anytime allowing the wearer to take bullets and fall from great heights unharmed.
Item Distribution: Only available to PANTHER agents
Public Knowledge: Known to police officials
Commander Kuda:
Spoiler:
PANTHER file #P2945
CREATED: 7/29/2018
LAST VIEWED: 10/17/2048
Basic Info:
Last Name: Dafonte
First Name: Karla
Middle Initial: U.
Sex: Female
Codename: Kuda
Age: 30
Position: Commander
Physical Description:
Height: 6’0
Weight: 145 lbs.
Hair: Medium length, Dark brown
Eyes: Hazel
Ethnicity: White
History:
Commander Kuda quickly rose through the ranks of the PANTHER organization. She solved the infamous “Halo” case, and captured the perpetrators. As she grew she became a powerful fighter in the PANTHER strike force, where she gained notoriety as a leader. She was promoted to Commander, and still currently holds this position.
CREATED: 7/29/2018
LAST VIEWED: 10/17/2048
Basic Info:
Last Name: Dafonte
First Name: Karla
Middle Initial: U.
Sex: Female
Codename: Kuda
Age: 30
Position: Commander
Physical Description:
Height: 6’0
Weight: 145 lbs.
Hair: Medium length, Dark brown
Eyes: Hazel
Ethnicity: White
History:
Commander Kuda quickly rose through the ranks of the PANTHER organization. She solved the infamous “Halo” case, and captured the perpetrators. As she grew she became a powerful fighter in the PANTHER strike force, where she gained notoriety as a leader. She was promoted to Commander, and still currently holds this position.
Paul Beckett:
Spoiler:
PANTHER file #P1673
CREATED: 2/12/2019
LAST VIEWED: 5/14/2048
Basic Info:
Last Name: Beckett
First Name: Paul
Middle Initial: J.
Sex: Male
Codename: None
Age: 53
Position: Inventor
Physical Description:
Height: 6’0
Weight: 195 lbs.
Hair: Short, Salt and pepper hair
Eyes: Deep Brown
Ethnicity: White
History:
Beckett invented the APE suit early 2018. The invention was discovered and kept secret by the PANTHER organization, who also gave Beckett a position within the industry to create and perfect other devices to further aid National defense. He developed Interface lenses 6 years later, and perfected the PANTHER surgery 2 years after that. He then focused his attention to developing weaponry. He retired in 2039, and died two years later in a car accident.
CREATED: 2/12/2019
LAST VIEWED: 5/14/2048
Basic Info:
Last Name: Beckett
First Name: Paul
Middle Initial: J.
Sex: Male
Codename: None
Age: 53
Position: Inventor
Physical Description:
Height: 6’0
Weight: 195 lbs.
Hair: Short, Salt and pepper hair
Eyes: Deep Brown
Ethnicity: White
History:
Beckett invented the APE suit early 2018. The invention was discovered and kept secret by the PANTHER organization, who also gave Beckett a position within the industry to create and perfect other devices to further aid National defense. He developed Interface lenses 6 years later, and perfected the PANTHER surgery 2 years after that. He then focused his attention to developing weaponry. He retired in 2039, and died two years later in a car accident.