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"The Agency: Meeting of Souls "Written By: Karina Pairings 13x6 [eventual], 5xS, 3x4, Others undecided at this time. Warnings: Extreme Alternate Universe setting. Unbetaed, Aussie spelling and grammar, not much else in the early chapters though it will involve murder, stalking and possibly some colourful language down the track. Some Out Of Character depictions are unavoidable considering the alternate universe setting. Rating: M [In Australia that would be mature adult 15+] Not sure with the new rating system about international ratings. Rated for violence and language and adult concepts. Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. That's about as plain as you could say it. Summary: The world took a very different turn with the acknowledgement of psychic abilities and training of select psychic individuals enlisted in elite fields such as law enforcement and politics. A grading system for the strength of psionic abilities was developed and those who were the top of the elite have been dubbed Prime Talents and are highly sought after. Elite institutions have been developed to mark, train and employ individuals with useable psionic talents. The colonies of canon Gundam Wing do exist in this fic and were constructed before the psionic system was founded. With the advent of psionics in open use in society younger people are appearing in positions of power as they are awakening to their abilities earlier and are highly trained in their fields of expertise. Archive: Gundam Wing Universe [gundam-wing-universe.net]
//…// Thoughts Many thanks to ShenLong for betaing this chapter.
Chapter Twenty Five “So what time did Zechs get in last night?” Quatre tried not to look guilty, or rather, suspicious. The last thing in the world he wanted was to attract attention to himself and his companion. It was an unassailable truth that when one walked with Duo Maxwell, one did so with the certain knowledge that security guards would focus on you. Nor was it just security at Tsuberov with an interest in his friend. Duo had just that kind of reputation, not that he ever did anything really bad; it was just his ongoing battle with Otto that was the problem. Their contest amused everyone and people liked to keep abreast of who was in the lead at any given time. If Duo was out and about you could be sure people would be watching in the hope of witnessing one of their famous altercations. “I am not sure what time he returned, as I never actually heard him come in. I had expected him to travel with me to the hotel, but Otto sent me back around ten thirty last night saying Zechs would be working a little later than normal.” “Damn, he bum off, you think?” Duo practically bounced along, a backpack slung over his shoulder and looking like he had not a care in the world. “No. I think, perhaps, the opposite.” “The note left on the table by the door telling us to allow him to sleep suggests he was working pretty late.” Duo hitched the bag a little higher, waving a greeting to another student and marching on, all smiles. “It’s not often any of us are given permission to sleep in. Are you sure he didn’t fail the test last night?” “I doubt there is any test Tsuberov can come up with that Zechs would be incapable of managing with at least a passable grade. No, Duo, I am not sure he did not fail, but I think his late night had little to do with his test schedule.” Duo paused and eyed Quatre with a quirked brow. “Little tetchy this morning, Q?” The Winner heir stumbled to a stop and rubbed a hand over his face. “Sorry. I’m a little out of sorts I guess. What you are planning to do… Well, I can’t say that I approve.” Duo chortled and bounced on his way, almost dancing a circle around Quatre as the blonde caught up with him. He was all grins, in a fine mood, and not inclined to be fussed with his friend’s misgivings for his pet project of the day. It was convenient they both had a free period, as he could do with a lookout and he was not inclined to put off his little experiment. “That nice bushy spot over there will do.” Quatre almost growled with frustration. He was not accustomed to being ignored and Duo had been ignoring his stated misgivings all morning and was obviously not about to listen to him now. If he had half a brain, he admonished himself, he would turn his sorry butt around right now and leave his companion to the fate that awaited him. No doubt it would feature Otto and a stiff kick up the backside by way of eviction from the University. “I think it more likely Zechs was late because he met Gabriella last night.” Maybe if he could interest Duo in something other than this ill thought out experiment he would forget about the harebrained scheme. Perhaps he could keep him occupied enough to forget the constraints of time, until it was too late to make the attempt? He could but try to distract Duo, and hopefully save both their butts from being summarily expelled from Tsuberov. Duo settled with his back to a tree trunk and stretched languidly before delving into his backpack, producing his laptop and proceeding to set it up. Quatre huffed and almost threw himself to the ground, kneeling beside Duo with a scowl. “You can’t do this!” Duo blinked, startled at the outburst from his friend before breaking into a smirk. “Of course I can. It will be easy, trust me. Scowling will give you wrinkles and age you prematurely, you know? So lighten up, Kitty Kat. Now, here’s the man… erm, bug. There you are, my lovely. The Ghost Roach, secret spy extraordinaire.” Duo almost purred as he ran a finger lovingly over the miniature robotic device, surveying once again the clean lines and unique nature of the beast. Quatre moaned softly, tearing his gaze from the miniature robot and surveying their surroundings. They were not too far from the Security Offices, and at any time one of the guards could notice them and bring them to Otto’s attention; and Otto’s attention spelt doom. “Allah, preserve us! Duo will you listen to me? This is too dangerous.” “I do listen to you, Kitty Kat. All the time. You were saying that Zechsy met with Gabriella last night and I’m sure I have heard that name before somewhere.” Duo rolled the bug over in his hand and flipped the base out, inserting a fuel cell before carefully resealing the unit. “Of course you have heard of her; every psi has! Gabriella. The Gabriella.” Quatre worried at his lower lip, casting worried looks about them. “You don’t mess with Otto like this, Duo. I know he has enjoyed the challenge you present to date, but bugging his bloody office is not a good idea.” Duo loosed an evil cackle. “Literally bugging!” “This is so not funny!” Quatre hissed. “T’is too! Hey, you swore. Now, now, naughty Quatre,” Duo crowed, waggling a finger at his friend. “We must not swear when we are the Winner heir, must we? T’is not done.” “Dealing with you some days would make a saint swear,” Quatre hissed through gritted teeth. Tilting the laptop a little to face Quatre, Duo motioned to the screen where a view of an air vent in the side of the security building was portrayed. “I dropped a couple of cameras around the building earlier to make this part easier. You know if my controllers were watching this, I bet they would revise my training schedules up.” Quatre’s eyes widened. “Have you been holding back?” Blue eyes tinted with a glimmer of violet widened in an overdone display of false innocence. “Me? How could little old me fool the exalted examiners of Tsuberov? I do exactly as they instruct me to do; to the letter.” “Duo!” “What? Can I help it if they judge me by averages? One thing I have never been is average, Q. Don’t sweat it, Kitty Kat. They’ll tag me next exam, you can bet on it. It’s a biggy; full assessment criteria and talent grading. You know there is no fooling the machines once they start monitoring you.” “How did you manage to slip their radar?” Duo waved a hand expansively. “I haven’t. I just did a bit of developing over the holidays, and Kinetics are only given major assessments three times a year. Can you see anyone? I wouldn’t want this little guy noticed zipping around the place.” “You are changing the subject,” Quatre hissed. “I’m getting to it,” Duo snickered. “You don’t make it easy, you know. So? Anyone strolling around in sight?” Sighing Quatre looked about them as casually as possible, defeated for the moment and knowing he should walk away. His father would be horrified; he was horrified, but Duo was his friend and had supported him in the past. Could he do no less now? “We are going to be in such deep shit.” Duo snickered and winked. “Coast clear?” “Yes! Hurry up before someone finds us.” “Your wish is my command.” He knew he should be more serious, but what he was about to do was likely to get him expelled from the establishment and that would piss off the Sweepers to no end. But his curiosity was famous, or more likely infamous, and he hated being lied to, and someone was not telling them the truth… or at least not the whole truth. He fixed his attention on the small device, not concerned with the actual lifting and moving of the unit. He had hefted far heavier items than his Ghost Roach; his concern was on moving the device unseen. His mind's ’hand’ closed over the object to be moved and he ‘felt’ the weight, size and shape of the bug. Most people mistakenly assumed Kinetic talents teleported objects from point A to point B, and certainly the Prime Kinetics Duo had had the pleasure of watching on training tapes could make the transfer so fast it looked like teleportation had taken place. To his knowledge, however, no one could actually teleport so much as an atom, let alone a three ton crate. An experienced kinetic talent pushed, or pulled, an item through space so quickly often no actual movement was detected by a watcher; the human eye not being equipped to follow objects at such speeds. Those kinetics that moved cargo and assisted in moving anything from a space ship to a pencil around, did so with care for bystanders to the action. It was possible, and happened often with learning talents, for a bystander to suddenly find themselves impacted by an item at near supersonic speed. People had died from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There were designated areas no one was to enter wherever Kinetics worked; this safety zone was to allow the Kinetic to work without worrying about killing someone with the force of an impact of an item being moved. Once he sent the bug zipping on its way, anyone who happened to walk across the flight line would see nothing until the impact occurred, and the result would be the same as if they had been shot by a high velocity bullet. Duo was not inclined to hurt anyone and needing to know no one was around was not simply because he did not want to be caught in clandestine circumstances. He had no desire to start a kill tally. The small, very solid device was enfolded in his talent's grip; a light grip to ensure he did not crush the delicate instruments. A Kinetic talent had to be aware of the potential to kill, should their assigned subject be living, as well as the potential to crush the targeted destination because of high velocity impacts. Kinetics were generally not paid on how much material they destroyed, though some were employed in such a capacity. It was almost a certainty that as a kinetic talent amid the Sweepers, he would have his fair share of crushing salvage materials to make storage easier until they sold metal for recycling. A direct line of sight between his current position and the Security Office enabled him to see his target destination, though he would need to stop short of the building. He would need to complete the manoeuver using the camera he had placed near the vent earlier in the day. Assured there were no witnesses, and certainly no one in the immediate area who might be ‘shot’ by his projectile, Duo ‘pushed’ with his talent and in the blink of an eye his hand was empty. At almost the same second he needed to ‘break’ the velocity of the bug or have it impact on the building's wall, defeating not only his intent to peek into Otto’s office, but also going unnoticed by Security. Moving literally at the speed of thought the device would punch a neat hole in the wall and end up in the building itself. Definitely not a desirable outcome. Quatre held his breath as the bush by the building trembled and Duo sucked in a breath. “Did you overshoot? Do we need to run now?” Duo, with a tiny portion of his talent holding the bug suspended in mid air in the middle of the bush, snorted in amusement. “Not yet with the running and screaming. No disclaimers of innocence needed at this time, Quatre. It’s sweet, trust me. Now I just need to get the vent open.” Quatre eyed the laptop screen where the vent was revealed. “I don’t suppose it can slip through one of the holes?” “Ghost ain’t that small,” Duo breathed, eyeing the laptop for a long moment, “though I might just be able to widen the hole at that corner enough to get him in. I was going to unscrew the vent, but this might work better.” Blue eyes were now distinctly violet and deepening in colour as Duo concentrated on using his talent delicately, so as to avoid raising any alarms. He hooked Kinetic ‘fingers’ in the gap and extended force slowly, widening the gap by degrees until he was sure he had sufficient room. He slipped the robot into the vent and set it gently down, puffing out a breath of air as he sat back in evident relief at a job well done. “Yeah, it’s in the vent and no alarm raised. I am soooo good.” He smirked at Quatre. “See? No problem.” “You have been lucky,” Quatre hissed. “And it’s only so far so good, thank you. We are not out of here yet.” The irrepressible grin sprang into existence. “Give me a few minutes and we should have a view of Otto’s office and get the low down on what’s really going down here.” Quatre sighed and settled back against the tree, pulling around his own backpack and beginning to remove from it some light snacks. Duo would be hungry after using kinetic talent and he ate like a horse at the best of times. They had been sure to include some high calorie snacks before starting this venture. “I’m really not sure about this, Duo. It is grounds for expulsion if we are caught and not even the Sweeper Council will be inclined to save your butt. It would go on our records, and I shudder to think what my father would do.” The irrepressible Sweeper bounced and flashed a grin. He settled with his back firmly to the tree, casually tossed a few snacks out of his pack to add to the pile between them and then settled the laptop on the pack on his knee for ease of access. “No chance of us being caught now. Otto’s got his vents monitored you know? I did a sweep earlier and found some pretty high energy signatures which really surprised me, but that was not a problem. Genius that I am, I looped one of his camera feeds back on itself and bridged to a secondary system and it will show an uninterrupted signal while I trundle the Roach up to the vent in his office. He’s a sneaky bugger our Otto, but he can’t out sneak the Maxwell.” Defeated, Quatre simply sighed and watched Duo set up his program, listening to the merry humming as Duo worked. He was not going to win this one and he knew it. Short of removing himself from the action and dobbing in his friend to cover his own backside, there was nothing he could do. “There we go. Everything checks out and now we just follow the vent until we get to Otto’s office.” “Do you even know where it is?” Duo sniggered, staring at his friend. “You are kidding, right? Of course I know where it is, I’ve had more than one lecture from him there. I think the idea of being lectured in his office was to get across to me how serious he was at the time. But it gave me the exact location and I’ve pulled up the architect's plans of the building; I know the vent system and how best to use it to get the roach there. Oh, and don’t worry if we are interrupted either, I’ve got that covered. See?” From a pocket Duo produced a fly sized, gossamer winged creation. “We are testing this little beauty if anyone asks. I’ve rigged the secondary program up all ready to go if need be. So Zechs met Gabriella?” Why did he bother? Quatre berated himself. Duo could run rings around anyone when he set his mind to something. He should know better than to try to distract Duo when the Sweeper had his mind set on nefarious schemes. “Gabriella is the premier Telepathic / Empathic Prime. She is acting as liaison between the Psi’s and the Government over the new amendments to the laws governing psychics currently being debated. She is also the T/E Primes personal trouble shooter.” “Oh yeah, I remember a few people have mentioned her. Looks something like a gypsy from a few hundred years ago, has a mouth like a fishwife and is afraid of no one.” Duo considered Quatre for a moment with a cocky grin. “Sounds like my kind of gal.” “That’s as fair a description of her as I have heard. Certainly once you meet her you never forget her. The only thing you forgot, was that she has a heart of gold under all that brass. I’ll be interested in knowing what Zechs made of her… and especially what she made of him.” Quatre popped the top on a juice bottle and sipped, blue eyes scanning the immediate area of the grounds for any sign of possible trouble. “I think it's fairly safe to say he now has friends in high places. Very soon, if not now, we can stop worrying so much about his future.” Duo frowned as he input a command to the bug and absently brushed bangs from his eyes. “I don’t know if I will stop worrying about him in a hurry. It’s the benefactor that worries me the most, and I’d say it is a foregone conclusion he won’t be too happy to learn the Primes are butting in.” Quatre grunted softly, peering around the far side of their shelter at the faint sound of voices. He hunched lower, drawing back as best he could into the deeper shadow of the tree and pressing into the undergrowth for cover. “Otto is on his way to the Security Centre with Duke Kushrenada and that Oriental he runs around with.” A cheeky smirk dawned and he glanced over at his companion. “Hey, Duo, Mr. Cute Bunns is with them.” Quatre grinned like an idiot as Duo’s head shot up and the laptop and backpack were discarded speedily. Duo stretched himself out beside Quatre and craned his neck around the bush as he looked for the men in question. “Oohhh, will you look at that arse?” “If you like I can find out who he is through more normal and acceptable channels, Duo?” “Nah, not as much fun as this. He is soooo very touchable. I bet his arse is as hard as rock.” Quatre snickered. “Maybe you need to feed him up a little; get some padding on there. Hard is not necessarily comfortable, you know?” Duo blinked and stared at his friend. “I don’t believe you said that.” The Winner heir laughed softly. “Of course you do.” “Not as angelic as you look, are you, Kitty Kat? I bet even Daddy doesn’t know what his little boy gets up to.” “You’ve got that right,” Quatre sighed. “What my father does not know won’t hurt me. I don’t know what I will do when we eventually have to part ways. Going back to being the ever so proper Winner heir is not something to look forward to.” “Well… do we really have to? Part ways, I mean.” Duo sighed as the group of men entered the building and hustled himself back to working on the laptop. A few clicks of the keys and he had the Ghost Roach’s feed back on screen and a picture transmitted in infrared of the interior of the ducting system. “Neither of us will be at Tsuberov forever. Unfortunately life does not work that way.” Duo shrugged and considered a junction in the air ducts for a moment before choosing the left turn and then glanced at his friend. “What I mean is, I am going to have computer access no matter where the Sweeper Council places me. That is more likely to be Howie’s ship than anywhere, and I know the Old Man will not begrudge me a bit of air time to trade news with an old Uni buddy. It’s a foregone conclusion you will have access to computers too, and it does not take long to send off emails or establish a vid channel for a face to face over long distance. We don’t have to lose all touch with each other.” “I know that, but a quick trading of messages and a ‘how are you doing?’ on the com line is not the same thing. I like hanging with you, Duo. With you and Zechs; you both are like… well… I’ve not known what it was like to have real friends before. I don’t want to lose that.” “Yeah. It’s been great. Howie and the crew are alright, you know? I enjoyed myself before I came here, but I never had friends like you two. I guess we just have to take what we can get and not allow ourselves to let distance close us off from each other. No telling where Zechsy will end up because he’s going to be a Prime, but if he’s a ‘free’ Prime we can talk to him on the net. Lord knows where he will be going the way the ESUN is expanding. We can’t let distance kill our friendship.”
“The empaths we had stationed last night did not so much as twitch through the night session at Tsuberov.” Treize murmured. “There was no untoward activity at the hotel to report either.” “Either our stalker is still incapacitated by his little display of bad temper, or neither Mr. Winner nor Mr. Marquise is his target.” Wu Fei settled comfortably in his seat. Treize stared out of the window overlooking the manicured lawns and park like gardens. A few students were visible, most hurrying smartly toward class, a few choosing a shady place to relax on the lawns. Otto, in the process of placing mugs of coffee along the front of his desk for the other three men, glanced up at the tall Prime before settling into his seat. “You still believe the perpetrator may be suffering the effects of a psionic backlash?” “I would be extremely surprised if he was not,” Treize returned. “The wreckage in the suite was clear enough evidence of a phenomenal amount of kinetic energy expended in what I am sure was a very short period of time. Given what I have witnessed whilst observing other Kinetic talents, I think reducing the suite to so much dross could have taken as little time as ten seconds.” Otto visible shivered. “You know, you are making me more and more afraid of how unprepared we are to deal with this person when we find him.” Treize and Chang exchanged glances, each only too aware of the capabilities of a high kinetic talent on a rampage. Otto really had no idea of the potential for disaster that loomed before them, and he was wise enough to know his limitations. “We have reason to be afraid, believe me.” Wu Fei sighed. “Even a super psi would have a problem keeping that amount of destruction quiet, or suppressing the minds of the students in the vicinity of the suite for more than a few seconds.” Heero stirred in his seat, reaching out to claim a mug for himself. “I do not profess to know much about the abilities of Psychics in general, and nothing at all concerning hyper active super psi’s, but surely there must have been some control involved? Some degree of conscious control must have existed, but you make it sound as though it was a spur of the moment incident.” “I think you will find it was,” Treize murmured. “I very much doubt the destruction in the suite was premeditated. The chaos is too random; there is no pattern in the destruction. The jumble of debris suggests everything happened at once.” “For it to happen at all, without disturbing the students housed to either side, or on the floor directly below, says there must have been some element of control involved. It was only the water leaking into the suite beneath that raised an alert,” Otto argued. “You do not rip plumbing out of walls without making a noise,” Chang confirmed, glancing apologetically at his partner. “And it takes a great deal of kinetic strength to accomplish the feat at all. That means a great deal of noise. Of necessity plumbing is firmly anchored at strategic points and the pipes are more than sturdy and durable. Yes, the plumbing was old in the suite, but I had a good look at it and I have confirmed my findings with the Building Inspectors assessment of the damage. There was nothing wrong with the pipes, or the walls, prior to the incident. There were no structural weaknesses a person might have exploited. The psi that did the deed had phenomenal power at his disposal.” “You should know, you are the high level kinetic talent in this room.” Otto scrubbed at his chin in a signature mannerism they were beginning to recognize. The man was worried. “I am not arguing against the strength of the man, I am merely pointing out that he has subtlety with it; if subtlety is the correct word,” Treize interjected. “He has been sneaking around your dormitories for some time, and no one has suspected his presence before this. He knows he must remain undiscovered and, since he is also a T/E, at the instant he let loose, on a subconscious level there was the knowledge he must be quiet. He must remain unseen and unheard and the subconscious is a powerful thing. I need to sense the room again, going deeper this time. I have no doubt in doing so I will find the evidence of what his mental state was at the exact second he generated his rage in a physical manifestation. No one heard anything and I suspect this was possible because at his level of talent he was capable of generating a blanket suppression field.” Otto sighed and chugged on his coffee. “Well, it is your area of expertise. I have to go with what you determine from the evidence. Given the state you are suggesting the perpetrator would be in, I gather you are of the opinion it could be a few days, possibly as much as a week, before we have to worry about any repeat incidents?” “More or less.” Treize observed Otto for a long moment, ignoring Chang’s brief nod and confirmation, and instead concentrating on the Security Chief. He was not certain what it was about Otto that worried him, but there was something not quite right. He could not point a finger to something specific in his manner, or even in something as subtle as the tilt of an eyebrow as he talked, but something was off about the man. Perhaps it was simply that extremely expensive mind shield Otto employed against telepathic intrusion? Whatever it was, there was something about the man that screamed deception to Treize. //He’s not the stalker. His mental ‘signature’ is all wrong, and if he was he certainly would not be on his feet now. No, there is something else about him, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.// It was extremely difficult to hide from an empath. Thoughts were easy enough to hide behind a synthetic shield, or by mental noise generated naturally, but emotion was something else again. The human body and mind was designed to be one massive emotional generator. From birth the need to communicate with others of your own kind drove the human body as well as mind. Every physical twitch had a meaning; every word spoken carried underlying currents echoed within the body. Empaths were sensitive to these rarely seen, and supremely subtle, signals blending with the emanations of the mind. Words were not necessary when one learned to read the human body and Otto generated a level of subtle deception. Treize had no doubt he could work his way through the defences the electronic device provided the man, but it would take time to accomplish the task. Time he did not have and should he do so without a dispensation he would be in a great deal of trouble with the law. Prime, or not, one did not lightly trespass within the sanctity of another human mind. Unless sanctioned to do so, of course. No, he could not trespass in Otto’s mind at this time, but he was concerned enough to find out who had performed the surgery and adjustments to the device. And, perhaps more importantly, who had paid for the procedure. Surgery of this nature was phenomenally expensive and at this time the new shield systems were carefully controlled by the government. //The black market is a possibility of course, but I don’t think that would be the case with Otto. Gabriella knew him. I received the impression she was surprised to see him in Tsuberov, and anything that can surprise Gabriella requires my investigation.// “Given you are certain the Psi at fault would be at least partially incapacitated by his tantrum, what medications might be used to aid in the recovery of such a backlash?” Heero eyed Treize thoughtfully. “If medicines have gone missing from the infirmary or pharmaceutical department that match the requirements; or should they have been dispensed to a person in the last day or so, we may be able to work from there.” Otto rumbled softly, a low growl reflecting his temper of the day. It was early and already his stress levels were rising. He could see no promise in the day for a speedy resolution to their investigation, and while he understood the complexities of the situation he was only human. “If you could give me the names of any medications that might be used in such a situation, it would help. I can have the school medical supplies checked and the dispensary records examined. All medication is closely monitored and security on the drug vaults is tight. Drugs are logged in as they enter the university and the staff at the Infirmary and at the laboratories, are careful with listing all dosages administered to those in training. Everything is logged to strict procedures. Actually…” Otto fell silent, a deep frown furrowing his brow. He was clearly giving serious thought to something before voicing his concern and he spent a few intense seconds staring first at Chang and then at Treize. “What have you thought of?” Chang queried. “I was wondering… It is no great improvement in our current situation but… Is it possible we are not dealing with a super psi going out of control, but instead with someone who has somehow gotten their hands on some of the prohibited Psi enhancing drugs?” Treize felt a chill envelope him. It was something he had preferred not to consider, though it had crossed his mind once or twice. He had a nasty tendency to want to avoid thinking about the banned substances which enhanced a psychic’s abilities to the point they damaged their brains. Chang stirred uneasily, rubbing his right hand over his left upper arm. He clearly was uncomfortable with the suggestion but he did not summarily dismiss the concern. “It is possible, we can not deny that, but they are playing with fire if they are. That type of enhancement can become addictive very quickly and the user tends to use higher doses of the substance over time, looking for the initial rush that comes with opening up the neural pathways. If the Stalker is using contraband drugs to enhance their abilities, the drugs will eventually destroy their mind.” “It is possible, yes,” Treize agreed, “but it would be more than difficult to acquire such drugs. You would have a limited supply of chemical enhancers at the laboratories, I would expect?” Otto nodded briefly and noted Yuy was scowling, clearly not happy with the direction their conversation was taking. “Storage and security of such drugs is monitored by government agencies and,” Treize thought he knew the nature of the man well enough to make an assumption, “you would be keeping separate records?” “I am,” Otto confirmed. “Pull your personal records then. Yuy, can we get a comparison between the supplier’s records and the University records? If we compare all three sets of delivery records and compare it with the dispensary records we should be able to determine if someone has managed to lift samples of the drugs before they were logged into the dispensary. It would also give us confirmation if someone has removed drugs from the dispensary, bypassing the protocols.” “I will arrange for the pharmaceutical and government records to be provided, and if Otto will acquire for me the university records of the pharmaceuticals, plus the disposal of out of date drugs and records of use, I will have a team detail the comparison. I should be able to have it available by tomorrow morning; evening at the latest.” “I will see to gathering my personal records when we are finished here and make arrangements for the University records now. How far back do you want me to scan the records?” “Four years.” Treize dismissed the surprise from all three men with a lift of one hand. “If the drugs have been used long term we need to know about it. By comparing the intake of drugs over a number of years we should get a full comparison and any change in the pattern should be obvious.” “Very well.” Otto rose. “I’ll make arrangements for a full printout of the records to be made. It will take time to go back over four years so I will get someone on it immediately. Excuse me a moment.” Chang waited until the Security Chief had left the office before turning to his partner. “Four years is a little excessive, don’t you think?” The Prime shook his head, once again motioning with his hand to dismiss the concern. He knew what he was doing and if there was abuse of the drugs it was a matter that had to be dealt with by the appropriate authorities as speedily as possible. “I do not. It is possible, if the perpetrator is using enhancement drugs, that he could have been using them in the long term in controlled doses. Perhaps sporadically at first, then building in frequency and dosage as the addiction set in. There is also something else we should not turn a blind eye to concerning drug usage. I recently became aware of a series of tests being carried out on the use of enhancement drugs to incite telepathic and empathic abilities in people who had previously been proven to be non Psi capable. The work is strictly illegal, but the evidence suggests the experiments have been carried on for some time now, and the drugs being used have to come from somewhere. These are specialist drugs, controlled substances, and their use is limited to a few select institutions. The black market asks a fortune for them.” Yuy sucked in a deep breath. “You suspect Tsuberov as a possible source for these drugs filtering into the underground?” Treize waved a hand in a weighing gesture, not ready to commit himself to the theory, but certainly not dismissing it either. “Tsuberov is a possible source, as in it is one of the few places the drugs are used to control Psi function. I have no idea if Otto’s suggestion is the source behind our stalker’s abilities, but the theory is plausible. Given what I know of the growing illicit use of these drugs in the underground, it is something we can not afford to ignore. It must be investigated.” “You have a point. Given the deaths that have already occurred through this use of psi enhancement drugs, we can not afford not to investigate the possibility, however remote, that it might be linked to the present situation.” Heero sighed. “While I have not worked on such an investigation myself, I do know there are a number of government agencies cooperating to locate the source of drugs being used in illegal experimentation. Three bodies have been found in the last year, and autopsies have shown severe brain damage was the cause of death in each case.” “Specifically Psi enhancement chemicals were detected?” Chang queried. “In each case traces of one, or more, psi enhancement drugs were found in the victims' systems. None of them, once they were identified, were found to be on the government lists as being psychics of useable talent.” “The illegal use of these drugs may have nothing to do with the instances occurring at Tsuberov, but there is nothing to say the stalker is not using such drugs to enhance a low psionic ability. At the moment I tend to doubt the perpetrator is using drugs. The psi signature I detected was not what I would have expected from a drug enhanced individual, but I was not specifically searching for such indicators. It is equally a plausible explanation that they might, at one time, have been exposed to the long term influence of such a drug and are no longer using it.” Treize made his way to the credenza and poured himself another mug of Otto’s excellent coffee. He was disturbed by the spectre Otto had raised; almost an offhand comment had led to a new area of speculation that, quite frankly, scared him worse than the idea of a rogue super psi. “Using enhancers at some time might have fried their brain for them and they survived it,” Chang snorted. “Lovely situation, isn’t it? Non psi’s are feeling threatened and segregated because they are being made aware of just how much of this world is influenced by psionic enhancements. If they feel threatened to the point they attempt to force open dormant brain functions, who could tell what we will be facing in the future?” “Unfortunately something was bound to happen when the government decided to make as much use of those with Psi talent as possible. It was exacerbated by the decisions requiring higher level psi’s be contracted for breeding purposes.” Treize sighed “It will only get worse and the next three to four generations will be subject to tension until the status quo in the breeding shifts. Then non psi’s will feel they are an endangered species and matters will become particularly ugly.” Chang snorted. “It is bordering on what I would term nasty now. The new bill being proposed will further cement the legality of the surrogate breeding program and the contract breeding system between high level psi’s. It will ensure Psi’s do not become forced into marriages they do not want, but it is causing havoc with legal hereditary issues.” Of that Treize was only too aware; his fights with his family over producing a legitimate heir for the Dukedom were a constant source of aggravation for him. His extended family were not happy with the idea a Barton was the only heir at this time. “There are many people I have spoken to over the last few years, who are not keen on the idea of a world that revolves on the abilities of a few. The current system is far from stable and is leading to imbalance and unrest and if they do not strike a balance acceptable to the majority of the populace, it will ultimately lead to war.” Wu Fei stretched slowly, working cramped muscles. “And there are others, Heero, who are not keen on being the few with abilities being exploited for the gain of others.” There were always two sides to every coin, two faces to be examined and considered, not that some people thought so. Their view was right, regardless of facts, fallacies or fantasies. It was not a pleasing prospect for the future but, Treize mused, Gabriella had admonished him to trust her. “Hmm,” Treize sighed, sipping his coffee. “Back to the case at hand, please gentlemen. We need to be concerned with our stalker, not with the trouble that may, or not, rear its head as the world changes.” “If this stalker is the result of performance enhancing drugs, then the powers that be will be far from amused.” Wu Fei scowled into his cup. “That goes without saying, but for now leave that train of thought. We have a murder to consider and a stalker to hunt, and we require information we as yet do not have to further pursue this angle.” Treize motioned to the door. “Our Security Chief is returning.” A moment later Otto walked into the room, heading straight for the credenza to pour a fresh cup of coffee. “I have made arrangements for the lists to be compiled and printed. They should be available in a couple of hours and I will see they are passed on to you.” Otto settled behind his desk, eyeing Yuy and Chang for a long moment before he sipped his coffee and sighed heavily. “Have you learned anything from the body?” “Lucrezia Noin will arrive later today. Her exact time of arrival had not been confirmed at the briefing this morning, though her presence today has been promised,” Chang returned. “I believe she had a report to complete before she could depart.” Otto shifted his shoulders uncomfortably and stared into his mug. “I’m sorry, but I have to admit to being uncomfortable with the idea of bringing in a Medium. There should be other methods to identify a dead man.” “Speaking to the dead directly is still an area which gives rise to sceptics.” Treize considered the Security Chief with a falsely casual smile. “It will take time for that specific use of psi talent to be fully accepted. You are not the only one uncomfortable with the idea.” It was interesting, what he sensed from the Security Chief at the talk of a Medium. The man had been open and accepting about all areas of Psi and suddenly there was something in his reaction that Treize read not as uneasy suspicion, but as something closer to an uneasy alarm. The idea of a Medium communing with the victim did not please Otto. “There are other methods and by no means have we exhausted the scientific possibilities,” Yuy returned. “We currently have independent laboratories running source of origin checks to determine his area of origin.” Otto blinked. “Pardon?” “It is a method archaeologists have been using for over a century now. A detailed analysis of the bones and the teeth of an individual can be used to detect trace elements unique to specific geographical locations on the Earth. Where ever we live we absorb these elements and they remain in our skeletal structure. Determining these signature traces gives a geographical location and, since when we are young we tend not to be globe trotters, the area of origin is usually relatively easy to determine.” Chang inclined his head slightly to Heero and turned his attention to Otto. “When the tests are concluded and analysed we will have a location from which we will be able to begin a more specific search. It will narrow down the possibilities dramatically.” “He could be colony bred,” Otto observed. “How would source of origin testing work in that case?” “He was Terran bred,” Treize murmured. “His bone density is such that it was unmistakably produced by an individual who has not spent any great length of time in a low gravity environment. It is amazing really, how accurate science can be. It is a great help in our line of work.” //Ah yes, another uneasy spike in the leakage from his neural net. Nothing specific, but there is definitely something there.// Treize was more intrigued by the man than ever. “I see. The wonders of modern science, indeed,” Otto murmured. “Well, given this information can be found using scientific means I have to ask, why the Medium? If Ms Noin’s skills are in such demand, I would have thought you would have waited until the tests determined country of origin and you ran… ah.” A small smile twitched his lips. “Do the tests take a more lengthy time than most?” “They can take up to a week to perform, which is far less time than they used to take,” Yuy responded. //He’s not at ease about this. It is leaking through the shield clearly enough and it makes me wonder if he wants the man to remain unidentified. Now that is an interesting thought. What might Otto be privy to that we do not as yet know? Something is definitely odd here and I want to know what it is. Perhaps I could convince Gabriella to fill me in on what she knows of Otto? She would be able to inform me of more than I can find in his file, I think.// “The Medium should be faster in acquiring a name for us and scientific tests will not inform us of why he was in the suite as quickly as asking the shade of the man.” Wu Fei set his empty cup on the desk. “Mediums tend to spook me out a little, but I have heard Lucrezia Noin is very good at what she does.” //And Otto is not particularly happy with that fact.// “It is time we returned to more practical labours. We need to speak with the housekeeper, or whatever it is you call her.” Yuy straightened in his seat. “Sitting here speculating is not getting this job done and I have no intentions of losing Winner, or one of the other two, to a stalker. Is Catherine Bloom available for an interview?” Otto seemed to shake himself out of his reflective mood and inclined his head. “I will have her called to attend a meeting. Do you intend a formal interrogation?” “No,” Treize interjected. “No, not at this time. There was something she said in our last interview that I feel needs to be clarified, that is all. I can talk to her without disturbing your routine any more than we have already. However, I do request that you speak to her and garner her cooperation in this matter. Fighting through her belligerence, as well as the established block, is not something I need to do every time I interview her.” Otto nodded. “Catherine can be a little intense on occasion.” //Intense? I would have termed it bad tempered and sorely in need of deportment lessons.// Treize thought. //Still, she is under the influence of a mind lock and false memories. It is bound to have an effect.// ——————————————- In the tree overhead a bird chirped, breaking the silence but neither of the two young men seated beneath the canopy heard it. Two heads, chestnut and pale blonde bent intently over the laptop and neither looked to be breathing. It might have been a sculpture for all the movement which had come from them in the last twenty minutes. “Stalker?” Duo breathed. “There’s a stalker in Tsuberov?” The question broke the tableau and Quatre sat back, resting his back against the tree trunk though his attention was still focused on the laptop. “Someone is dead. Someone died, Duo.” The braided youth seemed to shake himself out of his fascination with the computer resting on his backpack and he seemed to require a few minutes to absorb his friend’s words. “Well… yeah. Yeah, someone died. Remember when we initially arrived from the shuttle port, Otto told us there had been a death on the grounds of the university? I guess he was telling the truth. No one has said exactly where they died or who it was though.” Quatre winced at protesting muscles and began to work his shoulders, trying to ease the stiffness from inadequate movement for so long as he listened, rapt to the four men. There was no thought now of the repercussions of being caught bugging the Security Chief’s office. He had more to think about than being expelled. “Well, from the sounds of what we heard, they don’t have any idea who the victim is, so that’s understandable. Those men are the Investigators, Duo. We just eavesdropped on a murder investigation.” Duo rubbed at his cheek absently, considering what they had learned as he watched via the laptop and his Ghost roach’s feed, as the men in the office took their leave of Otto, leaving the Security Chief looking pensive. Otto stared at the closed door for a long minute, expression shuttered and slowly smoothing out to be carefully blank. In three long strides he was at his desk where he settled and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Not good.” His voice was soft but clear over the laptop's speaker. “Not good at all.” t.b.c. Karina Robertson 2008 -------------------- Notes: Quatre Rababer Winner: Psi student, 2nd year at Tsuberov Parapsychic Investigation and University. Current Level 5 Telepath, projected Level 7, Current Level Receiving Empath 9.3, projected Level 10, Prime. Current Sending Empath Level 2, projected Level 4. Colony of Origin, L4 Cluster [18 years of age] Duo Maxwell: Psi Student , 3rd year at Tsuberov Parapsychic Investigation and University. Level 8 Psychokinetic ability, projected level 9. Sending Telepath Level 5. Colony of Origin L2 Cluster [ 18 years of age] Sweeper adoptee. Under pre contract agreement with Sweepers. Treize Kushrenada : Level 10 Sending/Receiving Telepath + Receiving and Projecting Empath at Level 10. Prime rated. Agency Operative contracted term of 5 years with 2 years remaining. [25yrs of age] Training facility: Psychic Institute Munich Division. Chang Wu Fei: Level 9 Telekinetic + Receiving Telepath Level 5. Agency Operative contracted term of 10 years with 8 years remaining, [22yrs of age] Training facility:Psychic Institute Luxemburg Division. Heero Yuy: ESUN Security Agency Elite Operative. Government sanctioned Genetic enhancements performed by Romefeller Genetic Laboratory, Tokyo for adult service as Security Enhanced Operative. No Psychic Talent. Genetic induced enhancements include enhanced Strength, Hearing, Speed and Olfactory senses. Assigned regularly to liaison with The Agency’s psychic agents. [21 / 22 years old] Heinrich Otto: Tsuberov University Security Chief. No
Psionic talent. Staff Member at Tsuberov for five years. Fitted with
a Neural shield implant against telepathic intrusion. Former employment,
Sanc Imperial Guard. [35 years of age]. |
