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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. Many thanks to the wonderful ShenLong Deb for betaing this chapter for me. Archive: Gundam Wing Universe [gundam-wing-universe.net]
//…// Thoughts
Chapter 35 Duo was far from happy and fervently wished himself elsewhere. Anywhere would do, it didn't matter so long as he was somewhere other than walking at the side of the Crown Princess of Sanc. Him, Duo Maxwell; Sweeper brat. At home in the smelly confines of a working ship, getting down and dirty with machines whose smooth running determined life over death for everyone on board. Duo Maxwell, walking with a Princess as though they were the best of friends? It seemed a cosmic jest on a grand scale. It was just… wrong. Right about now there was a lot to be said for the virtues of his small shared cabin on a Sweeper ship. Even with his too noisy cabin mate, who had the mistaken idea he thought about nothing else but getting into a shared bunk and screwing the daylights out of him. Asshole. But even that annoyance would be better than this. When the offer had been made to him he had been only too pleased to have the opportunity to attend Tsuberov and advance his education, and his mind's talent… and get some serious down time away from the Nuisance, yes, always a capital when thinking of That ape with a `ME' complex. The slime ball extraordinaire thought he was God's gift to male and female alike. What was the guy's name? McInty? McInly? Something of the sort, and it was unimportant, but just now sharing a cabin with that loud ultrapunk crazed fanboy in love with himself seemed the lesser of evils. All he could do was hope they managed to cross the foyer and enter the elevators with no fuss or bother; and a great deal of speed. He wanted to escape any curious eyes that might be roaming and noticing things best left unnoticed. He was really uncomfortable with the idea of taking this young woman up to the suite, but how did one say no to her? Taking any female to a male suite would be a woefully bad idea, but a Princess? It really was not done. He was going to catch all sorts of shit over this! He would be lucky if the Sweepers took him back. She had proven herself to be incredibly persuasive… in fact how had she persuaded him? What was wrong with just him going to check on his friends? What did he think he was doing agreeing to escort her anywhere, let alone to the suite he shared with Winner and Marquise? Why had he agreed? There was no excuse he could give that would make a whit of sense if someone stopped them and asked where they were going. Yes, the sooner they were out of the public eye the better… but, no, it was far better for him to just turn around and tell her to wait and he would go up and see what was going on. There was really something wrong about him agreeing to do something so stupid. "Do relax. It does not look as though anyone is specifically observing us, and looking worried will only serve to draw attention, Mr. Maxwell. We have every right to be seen walking together, it's the social thing to do." Yes, right, that was right. Quite right. He had mastered the art of avoiding attention at an early age and he had perfected that art at Tsuberov, having to deal with the ever watchful Otto. That man had eyes in the back of his head and probably x-ray vision too! Thinking of Otto, where was he? He had to be around somewhere and he would certainly want a `please explain' for them leaving the reception room. Duo cast a cautious glance over his shoulder; almost hoping the man would materialise and rescue him from this doomed folly. "Really, Mr. Maxwell, you are so tense!. Relax will you?" Sparkling blue eyes caught his, smiling at him with a wave of serenity. "It is perfectly acceptable for a young man to escort a young woman around." And that was another thing; the constant politeness was getting his back up! Princesses were expected to be polite, but so much politeness and polished vowels were giving him a headache! He really needed to get a grip on himself and he was about done with the whole Mr. Maxwell bit. "Duo." The Princess blinked, arching one regal eyebrow as she looked enquiringly up at him. "Duo?" "My name is Duo. Being called Mr. Maxwell so often makes me feel like I'm ninety… or standing in front of Otto getting the riot act read to me… again." A burble of delighted laughter escaped the Princess and she looked him up and down with a discerning eye, deciding she liked what she saw. He was so different to the usual young men who postured and presented themselves in such a false manner. "I must say you are very well preserved for ninety, Mr. Maxwell, but in deference to your delicate sensibilities, I shall call you Duo if it is your wish." Duo grunted softly, choosing to ignore her amusement and then reminded himself one should not grunt at a Princess. It would be considered uncouth. "Its okay for you, Princess, but I'm the one who will cop the flack over this little escapade. Who will give you shit over this? You are the Princess after all, and I'm just the commoner being led astray. I'll be the one blamed for setting hands to the royal personage and I will be the one who gets expelled." Come to think of it, he would get into trouble… but no; that was okay… wasn't it? His head ached the more he thought about it. "Nonsense!" Relena elevated her nose a little, looking particularly prim and proper, and thoroughly ruined the effect by grinning wickedly. "I'll have you know there is a fund in Sanc which is dedicated to the sole purpose of supporting those 'commoners' you so casually class yourself as, who have been `led astray' by the nobility. I'm sure I can get your name on the roll and pull a pension from it, but we might have to lie and say we had sex!' Relena's delighted laughter peeled out across the foyer at the owl eyed look Duo turned on her. The Sweeper prodigy, who prided himself so much on his gift to shock, was left gaping at the young woman on his arm. And why had his headache lightened so suddenly? The pain was much eased and it was easier to think and appreciate the beauty of her in that moment, her blue eyes sparkling with genuine amusement. "I'm sorry, but the look on your face is so funny! I must apologise if I have misconceptions about you, but I have heard so much on the grape vine about the infamous Duo Maxwell. You did not strike me as being the worrying sort, or of being particularly concerned about what other people think. Did I have totally the wrong idea about you?" Duo sighed softly and decided `what the hell?'. He could not deny that he did not particularly object to thumbing his nose at authority, and rules were only made to be stretched, warped, twisted and, if necessary, resoundingly broken. But still, what had possessed him to agree to this? She was the `Flower of Sanc', a Princess. A Crown Princess, next in line for the throne and no doubt she was `daddy's little girl'! He was going to be slow roasted over glowing coals. He was a Sweeper brat, brilliant, handsome, full of himself… Okay, she didn't have to know why he grinned, time to stop grinning now, but that aside anyone seeing them together had to know mischief was afoot. They had to be the original odd couple. And whenever he set out for a little innocent fun Otto always seemed to know it and come looking for him. Wait, hadn't he just been hoping Otto would turn up? Glancing quickly over his shoulder into the reception room he took a moment to scan the dancers and was not sure if he should be pleased or not that he failed to see the Security Chief. That absence was not particularly encouraging though, and he was not certain whether he wanted to see Otto or not. Thinking about it was only aggravating his headache, pushing it back into the extremely uncomfortable pain zone, and deciding he was damned no matter what he did, Duo tucked Relena's arm through his and led her in what he hoped was a casual fashion toward the elevators. "I think my reputation is a little overdone, actually and everyone has the wrong idea about me… which I suppose could be considered a good thing, although it does have its drawbacks." "Drawbacks?" Relena enquired, smiling sweetly at an elderly couple entering the foyer from one of the five restaurants the hotel boasted. "Oh, definitely drawbacks. The primary problem with my sort of reputation is that Otto is always keeping tabs on me; just in case I should do something he might frown upon. As if little old me would do anything to try the day of the illustrious Security Chief." Duo put as much injured innocence into that as he could. "We really need to get out of sight before he notices the dubious quality of the company I am keeping. This could totally ruin my reputation." Relena stifled a giggle. "Should that not be the company `I' am keeping?" Duo flashed a megawatt grin at his companion and winked. "Nope. I can't have the guy thinking I'm trying to go up in the world by compromising a well to do young lady. I have my reputation to think of." As he was relaxing his headache was easing and he was tired of wondering exactly why he was so willing to chance his position at Tsuberov. It was just too much of an effort to think about it. "Oh, I do like you! Sweep me off my feet and take me to Sanc, we could be married by dawn! I could so tolerate being romanced by someone who can make me laugh!" Duo rolled his eyes at her delighted giggle. She really wasn't so bad, far from the stilted prim and proper young woman he would have expected. "I try to please, but I'm about as straight as the moon shuttle doing a figure eight to reach the Earth via Mars." Blue eyes glinted wickedly and Relena blew him a kiss. "Even better! You are perfect! I would get to have an heir to keep everyone happy and I would do it without having to get married and actually sleeping with my partner." It took a lot to startle Duo Maxwell, Sweeper Brat extraordinaire and well known lover of a good prank, but the Princess of Sanc had the opportunity to see the young man baulk, stare wide eyed at her and perform a creditable imitation of a gaping fish. Tutting softly Relena graced Duo with a sunny smile. "Problem, Mr. Maxwell?" Had he really heard what he thought he had heard? Those blue eyes were dancing with mischief and her pearly whites were more than obvious as she smiled at him. Duo cleared his throat, glancing quickly around the foyer as they neared the elevators and speared the Princess with a firm glare. "You do realise that it is usually me saying outlandish things like that just to shock people into falling over their own jaws? You really are a danger to my reputation!" The Princess hummed softly in delight, blue eyes laughing at him silently and satisfaction and genuine delight radiated from her. "Then I have one up on you. Go me!" Duo laughed softly, delighted that his companion was proving to be rather more surprising than he had expected. He had the distinct impression that Relena Peacecraft had many faces and he had had the privilege of seeing one side of her that few people would ever be graced with the opportunity to witness. "You are not quite what I expected, Princess." "I try to do at least one unexpected thing every day. It keeps me entertained amidst all of the formality and pandering that goes hand in hand with being a Princess. One really is just the same as everyone else, you know." Just the same? Hell no, their social status stood at opposite ends of the spectrum and that reminded him of why they were going upstairs. Zechs Marquise. If anything Zechs' social status had to be considered even lower than Duo's and this slip of a girl was hell bent on seeing him. "Whoa, time for a reality check here! Princess, last time I looked not everyone could lay claim to the title of Royalty and a bloodline that goes back to the year dot." "Well, of course everyone can lay claim to a bloodline that goes back that far, Duo, otherwise I would be very lonely in this world, don't you think?" Blink. "Huh?" "Adam and Eve? The creation myth? We all stem from the same couple." Duo blinked and shook his head slightly. "It's a dream and I'll wake up shortly and complain about it being a bitch of a nightmare." Relena tutted softly and shook her head slightly, blonde hair bouncing in its stylised ringlets. "I assure you the blood in my veins is red, despite the `blue blood' comments I hear all the time. Little red and white corpuscles, just like everyone else." Duo blinked, eyeing the Princess for a long moment before he rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "I surrender. You remind me of the girl from the next ship over in the docking bay on L2 when we docked there last. I couldn't get a word in edgewise and she made no sense at all. So anyway, Princess, we need to get to the important bit. What's the big to do about talking to Zechsy in such a hurry?" Relena's smile vanished and her eyes reflected her sombre mood swing, becoming blue pools of concern. With a small sigh she shrugged elegantly and met his gaze, clearly fortifying herself as though she expected…. Duo was not quite sure what it was he saw in her expression, but for a moment he expected to be the recipient of state secrets and that was when he realised they were standing in the middle of the foyer and had been for an inordinately long period of time for a casual stroll. Shaking himself mentally he inclined his head and they resumed walking. "Since my arrival at Tsuberov I have become aware that every effort has been made, by certain persons, to ensure I do not have the opportunity to meet with Mr. Marquise face to face. When I first saw him I just knew what he was, or rather who he was, and I determined to meet with him. That was when the distractions, the extra work and the extra appointments that keep me so busy when I am supposed to be nothing more than another student attending Tsuberov, began. It does not take a genius to add up the clues, Duo. They don't want me meeting with Mr. Marquise and they are determined to keep me too busy to pursue the matter." "Someone is trying to keep you away from Zechs? Sorry, Princess, but I don't understand why you would want to talk to him in the first place. He's a great guy and all but he's sure as hell not in your social circle, at least not until he can be certified as a T/E Prime and then he's in a pretty elite circle." Duo had a sudden thought and he sighed, groaning softly. "Shit, you haven't got the hots for him have you? This isn't all about you rebelling to get a common as mud boyfriend with prospects?" Relena blinked, thought over the latter comment and glared Duo onto the back foot. "Men!" Disgust dripped from the word. "Honestly! I shall not even condescend to dignify that with an answer! All the distractions they heaped on me did was guaranteed to make me more curious as to `why' my very polite and formal requests for a meeting were refused. When my requests were phrased more along the lines of demands, and I was still refused, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Someone, I don't know who or why, has determined I am not permitted to see him and I want to know who ordered it and why. Above all I want to know where my cousin is placed exactly on the Family Tree, and why he was not presented at the Palace as a teenager." Duo paused, staring in surprise at the young woman. "Whoa, wait a minute! Did I hear you right? Cousin? Zechs is your cousin?" "Oh yes, Duo, you heard me correctly. The Cousins," Relena placed a definite emphasis on the word, making it more of a title, "are really quite noticeable, you can't mistake them, particularly some of the boys. Zechs looks remarkably Peacecraft, he has the exact shade of Peacecraft hair and eyes, and his bone structure is spot on. There are varying shades of that pale blonde amidst the Cousins, of course, but he is just that exact shade of Peacecraft blonde, you know? Sort of white gold and silver. The curious thing is that I have no memory of ever having seen him around the palace. He has to be one of my Uncles son's, or maybe one of my Great Uncles son's, or perhaps even a grandson… Duo?" Relena trailed off, noting she appeared to have lost her audience from the glazed look in his eyes. "You look a little… lost?" Lost? Hell, the girl had babbled on about cousins and uncles and great uncles and grandsons… Hell yeah, he was lost. Princess or not she was not making a whole lot of sense. "Erm… Not meaning to be nasty or anything and please take this in the kindest possible way, but…have you got all your ball bearings upstairs, Princess? I'm thinking you have lost a few in passing. Zechs? The very same Zechs I know and share a suite with… is a Peacecraft… cousin?" The young woman appeared to take no offence to the suggestion she was somewhat lacking in her mental capacity, in fact she smiled before sobering and staring into Duo's eyes, her voice quiet and serious. "I assure you I am quite sane, Duo. He has to be a Peacecraft Cousin and the fact that he is here and not in Sanc is one of the topics I wish to discuss with him. I will eventually be Queen in Sanc and it will fall to me to be responsible for managing the Cousins and their future. As such I should have been informed there was as one amongst those who share my bloodline who had the potential to be a Prime in any of the psi fields. Your friend has Peacecraft stamped all over his face so he has to be a cousin; the bloodline is just unmistakable. " "You are really sure about that?" "I grew up with a host of these children, both older and younger than I, and I know one when I see one. I need for Zechs to tell me who his mother is and his father's name and, if he knows the reason, why he did not grow up in Sanc where he belonged. The friends I have made here could tell me little about him, but they did say that to their knowledge he grew up here, in the city. Do you know if that is right?" Duo guessed he looked more confused than he had before from the expression on her face. He really did not understand any of this; particularly why she seemed so upset at the idea Marquise had not grown up in Sanc. "If he is a cousin why should he be in Sanc? Why should he have grown up there?" "Because that is where all of the Cousins are, Duo. We keep close attention focused on our direct bloodlines; we have to for obvious reasons." The young woman looked around at their location, aware that they were, once again, standing in the foyer with their heads almost touching as they whispered to each other. "I do not wish to be rude, but this is really not the place to be discussing what is quite a sensitive matter. It is rather more public than I feel comfortable with whilst airing family laundry and those we name as Cousins, and I mean that with a capital C, are most assuredly classed as `delicate' family laundry. Can we please go upstairs?" "Ah, yeah. That would probably be a good idea." Duo took the last few steps in two long strides and pressed his palm firmly to the glowing sensor pad, glaring at the touch pad in disbelief when it continued to glow a dull green and the doors did not open before him. He pushed his palm once again to the pad with the same result. Nothing. Beside him the Princess stirred, looking at him curiously, waiting. She was a guest of the hotel in that she had come in with the Tsuberov party for the evening, but her palm print was not registered to be above the reception level and she knew it would be useless to try her palm print to open the elevators. "How annoying." "How bloody convenient for somebody." Duo muttered under his breath, slapping his palm against the pad yet again and once again receiving no response. "Damn! These things just don't break down, you know." Relena frowned, looking about her and trying not to look worried. No alarm was sounding; no one appeared to be interested in them… She motioned to the elevators to their left where the glowing level indicators and arrow demonstrated the mechanics were working. "The other two elevators are working. All we have to do is give them a moment to drop off their passengers and then call one. When we finish upstairs we can report the fault to management." Duo grunted softly, staring at the sensor pad for a long moment before he moved to the keypad next to the first of the elevators in the set of three which accessed his floor. A quick glance at the floor indicator and he slapped his palm to the pad, waiting for it to light up to register the call and he glowered when the pad remained dark. "Oh my." Relena murmured. "That was unexpected." Unexpected? It was unheard of! The elevator continued to rise as he watched, but the call plate remained green. When the level indicator remained lit but stationary Duo slapped his hand to the pad once again, glaring at the device with narrowed eyes. Being interested in computers and the mechanics of machinery that required computers to work, he knew something of the system which operated the hotel's network. He made it his business to investigate every computer system he was exposed to, and he knew the odds of two of the three elevators failing were astronomical… . Unless... Duo grunted softly and strode to the third elevator, slapping his palm against the access pad and was not in the least bit surprised when the sensor pad remained the dull green of its waiting mode. Growling a curse under his breath he moved to the next elevator in the row, one that serviced the adjacent wing of the complex to the central wing inhabited by Tsuberov's students. There was nothing soft about the snarl that escaped him when it lit up bright greed with a soft and pleasant chime, acknowledging the summons. "Well… that is odd." The Princess remarked, chewing on her lower lip. "How annoying." "Otto. It has to be Otto. He must have been watching us and he's gotten Hotel Security to disable the elevators! He's in with the Security guys here at the hotel." Relena looked anything but happy and glanced around the foyer yet again. "Why should he do that?" Duo blinked, staring at her, wondering if she had heard any of his earlier comments. It appeared Princesses suffered from selective hearing, though it was probably not polite to point that out to her. "I would think he noticed you were with me and, no offence Princess, but he sure as hell would not want you upstairs in an all male suite. Quite the scandal that would be and that man is smart enough to take the quickest option to stop us. He's on good terms with the security here and all it would take is one phone call." "Oh, tosh!" Relena huffed, pouting a little. "One is not amused and nothing improper has happened. A girl, even a Princess, is entitled to have friends!" Duo snorted, glancing at the young woman. "Again, no offence Princess, but you are not just any girl, and it is rather late for unchaperoned social chitchat in a hotel suite." Relena blushed prettily. "Yes, well… Regardless of that, I do intend to engage in conversation with Mr. Marquise and get some answers to my questions. Further, I have no intention of returning to the University until I am assured he is alright. He looked quite dreadful when I left him with Quatre." "You are bound and determined to get this done tonight?" "I am." "Then I hope you don't mind the stairs, because it's rather a long walk." Relena looked at him in confusion, glancing at the elevator where the door was now opening for them to enter. "Stairs? Why not simply ride this elevator to the floor above your suite and then walk down the stairs one flight?" Duo sighed and turned his back to the elevator, motioning to the doors leading to the stairs further along the lobby. He could not say he was particularly fond of the idea of taking the stairs, but they really had no other choice. "Because of the way the hotel is constructed. The stairs from the level above my suite service the next wing and are not linked to the wing housing our suite at all. The two wings of the hotel join at an angle and require their own access stairs, being independent from each other. These three elevators service the five floors in the middle of the main building, the Tsuberov suites being on those floors. That set of three elevators," Duo indicated the elevators with an inclination of his head, "service the adjoining West wing which overshadows the west facing of the central wing; it does not link to the central wing at all beyond the first floor. If you are accommodated in the East Wing you have to go to the far side of the main building to gain access. Like the West Wing the East Wing is also built above, but separate from, the central core of the building. It's a pain in the arse design that won awards, but I personally think it is a piece of crap. Anyway, if we can't use one of these three elevators, and obviously we can't, then we have to climb the stairs… or not go up at all." Was he hopeful she would refuse to use the stairs? Hell, yes. His headache, which had lessened considerably, now throbbed back into existence when he thought of not ascending. Relena sniffed, frowning at the inconvenience of it all. "Then we take the stairs. You should see the number of staircases in the castle at home. I am certainly not afraid of a few steps, Duo." Duo snorted softly in amusement. The Princess was feisty and he had to admit he rather liked her. "Okay then, the stairs it is." "Would you mind explaining to me just where you think you are going, Your Highness?" The low voice was deep, curt and very much unamused...and it came from directly behind Duo and quite effectively froze the pair in place. Duo winced, only too familiar with both the voice and the tone. He had had many occasions since arriving at Tsuberov to hear that voice and know it's every nuance. Relena blinked, staring down at her shoes before drawing in a deep breath and spinning around to smile graciously at the Tsuberov Security Chief. "Why good evening, Otto. What a pleasant surprise it is to find you here." ——————————————— The glass door whooshed into place behind her and Noin found herself alone with the Agency representative charged with greeting her. She was a young woman perhaps a year or two older than Noin herself though in this day and age, with the advancements in genetic technology, appearances could be deceptive. There was an air of competence, of command, about the woman and she was dressed as neat as a pin from the carefully coiffed brown hair to her sensible but fashionable footwear. The woman had the good looks of the aristocracy of the region, perhaps German, perhaps Austrian or Russian; they were all of the same base stock and well interbred over the millennium of civilised settlement. They had been interbreeding until it was difficult to tell one's country of origin until they opened their mouths; the distinguishing characteristics usually came down to accent and dialect. There was an air of competence and command about this woman which added years to her physical appearance. That too could be attributed, at least in part, to her breeding. The children of the aristocracy were force fed responsibility and performance, the requirements of their birthright, from the cradle. It aged them beyond their physiological age, ushering them into positions of prominence and rank at relatively young ages. "Prime Lucrezia Noin, I am Anne Une, Operations Director for the Agency. Welcome, and thank you for coming so quickly." A polite nod was offered in lieu of a hand shake, the standard protocol when greeting a psychic. "Director Une. It is a pleasure to meet you." Une was well practised in the protocols of greeting a Psi, Noin noted, making no overture to touch, leaving such gestures up to the unknown Psi to offer. Telepaths, empaths and certain other psi active individuals had problems with physical touch, though Noin was generally not one to forego physical expressions. She had no idea what this woman's talents might be, Une could well be a telepath or empath, in which case she would not offer the usual handshake as a greeting as a matter of course. Noin could decide to leave the greetings to ambiguous nods or take the greeting one step further on the social ladder. Meetings between unknown psi's could be a delicate matter, rather like a dance when the partners had never met and must feel their way to a trust in who would lead. Sometimes it could be a most delicate shifting of position to get the right movement forward. Noin inclined her head in greeting and after a carefully timed three second pause offered her hand, knowing it was the gesture that was important. It would not bother her if the touch was refused; it merely meant the woman facing her was sensitive to the spill over from a person which could be magnified through physical touch. Une stepped forward and offered her own hand to accept the touch, a faint smile curving her lightly painted lips. There was little make-up in evidence on that rather pretty face, just enough to accent the delicacy. They touched hands for no more than two seconds, the contact brief but symbolic, acceptable to both. Her level six talent was far from as volatile as that of a Prime whose telepathic or empathic sensitivity might easily be overloaded. Noin personally liked to get a sense of the people around her, and since this woman would be working with her she wanted to know what to expect. Besides, when you spent as much time with the dead as Noin did the touch of warm living flesh was more than welcome, even if she was a medium level telepath. Une was tightly shielded, as one would expect from a person in her position. Noin sensed cool efficiency, perhaps a touch of loneliness, the briefest flicker of the impression of a face through the shields but nothing more. "We shall make short work of the necessary procedures and have you out of the terminal in short order. Are you hungry?" "Famished." The prim young woman with the too serious brown eyes inclined her head toward the door. "I suggest you permit me to have your luggage sent to your allocated accommodations, and while that is being done I will take you to dinner. I will drop you at your assigned accommodations later." "That would be fine." The thought of something decent to eat reminded her of just how hungry she was and that she had been neglecting her proper diet whist working the previous case. She would need to make a point of following her scheduled dietary plan to pick up her nutrients. Working for an organisation like the Agency, where they managed a psi's needs on a daily basis with due care, would have her back to her proper regime in a few days. If she was not mistaken about this professional young woman, and she was generally an astute judge of character, they would be eating at an establishment which catered to the very specific dietary requirements of a psi. Une, true to her word, made short work of the official paperwork for Noin's arrival, whisking her luggage through Customs through a priority inspection and arranging for the luggage to be sent ahead to Noin's accommodations. "I have made arrangements for you to stay in an apartment complex run by the Agency specifically for high level Psi's, particularly for those employees with a telepathic or empathic talent. Your suite will be fully shielded for your comfort and if you require anything full service is available 24 hours a day." "Sounds good." Noin murmured as they swept out of the terminal and to the side of a plain, nondescript vehicle parked in the VIP reserved slot. Une pressed her hand to the driver's side of the vehicle, sliding her fingers under the handle and Noin caught the low chime before the door unlocked. Opening the door Une reached into the vehicle and tapped a finger to a key on the dashboard, the door on Noin's side unlocking immediately in response. As she settled into the front seat Noin took note of the leather upholstery, the intricate arrangement of the dashboard and the red light flashing on the dash. Une noticed the alert light at the same time, settling into her seat and reaching to flick her fingers over the buttons beneath the light. "Une." "Activity update, Commander. Prime Khushrenada has ordered an alert for Prince's Park, instructing the park be searched and the CCTV camera feeds to be commandeered. " That was unexpected news, Noin decide, though only the brief arch of a single perfect eyebrow revealed such. Une was quite adept at keeping her reactions low key. "The reason?" "The Prime detected the presence of a suspect in the general area of the park and is hoping for a possible identification to be made from the footage. Agents are searching the park with psi detectors at the present time." A finger tapped for a moment against the black skirt she wore, tapping in a slow rhythm for a few heartbeats as the woman considered her response. Noin wondered if this was the case she was to work on, or if it was one of possibly hundreds the Agency was handling. "And the Prime?" "Has retired for the evening, Ma'am with….One moment, please Ma'am, a communication from the Prime's bodyguard is incoming…" Une took the opportunity to activate the laser restraints; first making certain Noin was comfortably seated then turned on the ignition. "Commander Une?" The radio lit up a fraction of a second before the voice of the com officer filled the vehicle. "Go ahead." "My apologies for the delay, Director. We have an update from the Prime's security contingent. He is attending to a matter related to the case, is in no danger and is under surveillance. " "Acknowledged. Keep me informed of further updates. Une out." Slender fingers flicked over the com link and Noin watched Une frown, the fingers of one hand pressing briefly to her temple and Noin guessed a headache was developing. She would have liked to question the woman about the Prime, she was hoping to meet the man after all, but she was not feeling confident enough to question the woman's reaction. "That insufferable man is supposed to be resting." Une sighed, resting her head back against the headrest for a moment before straightening up and guiding the car into the flow of traffic leaving the terminal. "I will end up sicking Sally on him if he does not slow down." Noin smirked, though she was careful not to be seen to do so and there was an interesting enough view through the window. So the Duke was an insufferable man, was he? He worked too hard, perhaps? As far as Noin could see it spoke volumes for his character, and Une's, if the Director of Operations responded with concern to the activities of her agents. It would be a pleasant change to have work colleagues both informed and accepting of the strictures binding high talent psi's. "I know a quiet little restaurant with decent food that is not likely to be overrun at this hour of the evening. We are not all that far away, so it will not be a long drive in this traffic. I understand you have only just completed the case you were working on?" "Yes, and I was only too pleased to accept the reassignment. It was not a… pleasant… case to be working. To be honest, it was one of the worst I have dealt with." "Serial killings are never pleasant." Une murmured. "I believe this one was particularly complicated. I suggest you get a good night's sleep, it should help you recuperate and I will have the standard medical kit on standby if you feel you could use a sedative to help you relax. I will have a driver pick you up at nine in the morning and bring you into the offices, and someone waiting to walk you through Security. You will find your suite is fully stocked, but if you wish for anything in particular just call. You can pre order breakfast for a preset time to be delivered to your door and, if you take the sedative, it might pay for you to log in a wake up call with the staff." "Thank you, I am sure I will be quite comfortable. How many dead am I to contact?" Scintillating pre dinner conversation, but she really would prefer to get the unpleasantness out of the way before the meal. She had seen enough diners around her put off their meals because of `shop talk' and she was rather hoping to enjoy her meal and put some emotional distance between herself and her last case. "At the present time we have only the one body and that is exactly how I wish to keep matters. The subject is an unknown; even the genetic registry is producing no matches to assist us in identifying him. I am hopeful we might still garner identification from that source; we are looking further and further afield in an effort to find some matching records, even possible sibling or parental DNA. It would be much easier if you could identify him for us and hopefully find out from him what you can about his attacker." "How did he die?" Une sighed, shaking her head slightly. "I am a kinetic and the thought of doing something like that… It would appear the victim's heart was stopped by kinetic talent… and then his bones were pulverised to dust in order to fit him into a mid sized refrigerator. " Noin winced. "His heart was stopped? So it is possible he might not be aware he is dead, if he was taken by surprise." Une took an off ramp, taking them out of the heavy traffic and into a quieter area where the night was flooded with neon lights illuminating the area which hummed with nightlife. Noin watched as they drove through the busy street, noting the number of couples walking arm in arm and hearing the thumping beat of night clubs despite the car's insulation. "We are uncertain as to the exact circumstances surrounding the death at this time. We suspect we have a high talent psychic, a kinetic with a strong telepathic or empathic secondary talent, responsible for the death. We suspect this individual is bordering on crisis. A full report on the case to date will be provided for you in the morning when we have our briefing. I could have brought it with me, but I thought you might appreciate the night off to recuperate after your flight." "I could do with a good nights sleep." Noin admitted. "For reasons I will go into at tomorrows briefing, we need to keep this case low key. The last thing we need right now is for the press to get a hold of any details and start a panic by claiming we have a killer psi on the loose. The sooner we locate the individual responsible and curtail their activities, the better for all of us." Noin frowned as Une turned off the main thoroughfare and drove into a narrower street where there was more discrete lighting and far less people. If the media should cause a panic by becoming rabid over a single death caused by a kinetic… people were like sheep sometimes, following the leader, stampeding in a panic when there was no need. With the bill before the ESUN House of Representatives that would further ease the strictures on the psychically gifted, they did not need a public outcry over one bad apple in the barrel. Yes, she could see why Une was hoping to keep the matter discrete and expedite a quick resolution. "I shall do my best to gather whatever information the deceased can give you." ~ * ~ tbc... |
