"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.

//…// Thoughts
~/.../~ Telepathy

"The Agency: Meeting of Souls "

Chapter Five

The suite of rooms chosen to house the Winner heir and his room mates was a mirror image of the upstairs suite in layout and design. The upper floor suite faced over the rear of the dormitory building and the new suite overlooked the front grounds. On entering Treize nodded briefly to his partner and Yuy signaling he desired the opportunity to be alone and work with his abilities. Chang motioned Yuy to one side and watched as Treize walked slowly through the lounge and then the kitchen, sensing the rooms with his talents focused. With the Prime occupied the other two men turned to discussing the newly installed security system, each attempting to find a flaw that might place the students at risk.

Treize quickly excluded the pair from his awareness, focusing not on the here and now but on the residue of the past. He extended his perceptions cautiously through exactingly maintained shields, allowing the residue to seep into his awareness and not overpower him in a deluge of emotions. Here he found what had been missing from the upstairs suite of rooms and had so disturbed him. The residual impressions left by past occupants were a pressing awareness within his perceptions; the left over remnants of personalities flavored everything surrounding him, from the air itself to the furnishings.

He could sense laughter, bitter and sweet, honest and false lingering as a shimmering fog in his awareness. He had no difficulty in picking up residual frustration leading into heartbreak and tears, anger. There were pockets of other strong emotions, impressions of tears flavored with overflowing joy instead of sorrow and fear. His slowly spreading net caught in its mesh triumph and elation as well as indecision and hesitation. Desires unrequited and desire fulfilled, lust for another’s body and frustration and satisfaction sexually oriented and mixed within was the underlying lust for success.

This was what he had expected to find in the other suite and had been conspicuous by its absence. This swirling core of emotions he was familiar with from his own days within such establishments as Tsuberov. The overlying emotion he sensed permeating the atmosphere was exactly as he had expected it to be and assured him this suite had been well used in the past. Stress leached from brilliant young minds pushed to the limits, only too aware of the pressure on them to perform to the expectations and beyond of family and teachers. The designers of Tsuberov might have gone to a great deal of trouble to ensure a pleasant environment with all the amenities young people could wish for, but they pushed the expectation of excellence on their students.

//Yes, this is what I expected to find upstairs, the evidence of people living their day to day lives. This was missing, wiped out somehow and its absence is most disturbing. In this suite it is strong enough that it may cause a problem for both Winner and Marquise. It is an old building and it has seen many students pass through its halls. The stress levels are higher than I expected and I will need to advise the establishment of the need for a dampening field or Marquise certainly, most probably Winner as well, will not settle easily within these rooms. The head blind and less sensitive would not understand how trying on the nerves this residue could be. Their high empathic rating will see them hit by this atmosphere as soon as they enter the suite and though I have not been privy to either of their test results, I expect they will be in at least the lower Prime readings. If Marquise is in the final months of his tenure here he will need all of his attention on his work. This level of residue is a distraction he will not need.//

As a Prime level Telepathic Empath he was within his rights to advise the university staff of necessary precautions required to be taken for the good of a psychic trainee. Unless you could actually feel this residual emotional pollution you could not fully appreciate the extent to which it could affect an individual with prolonged exposure. Since two of the three soon to be residents of this suite were high level empaths of Prime or near Prime level function they would be particularly sensitive. It was his duty as a Prime to ease the way for up and coming potential talents where ever possible.

He was aware of Chang and Yuy standing at the door and discussing the security protocols they had been advised were in place. Later this day the students would return and everything needed to be in place to disrupt their routine as little as possible. Studying at the levels of these elite students required a rigidly maintained schedule to ensure all physical and mental obligations were met. From what he had thus far learned of Tsuberov it was one of the more caring institutes for up and coming young Psi’s. Of course it did help that the majority of the students here would be placed under contract to their own family corporations and would in time become the heads of the greatest business empires and family conglomerates within the Earth Sphere. Money always ensured a better degree of care.

His slowly paced walk brought him to the bedrooms and he paused in the doorway to the central room, the one he expected Zechs Marquise would be using on his arrival. Logically it made sense for the staff to arrange the bedrooms in the same order as they had been in the original suite. He stared at the double bed for a long moment, eyes narrowed at the brief flash within his mind of a memory not his own. No details, he had not been able to break through the block sufficiently for that, but the blurred impression of blood filled his mind. There was something more to be learned from Ms Bloom and he would need to arrange another meeting with her.

//Blood? I am intrigued by why she thought of blood when there was no suggestion of it in the forensic report. I know there is a more detailed report due either tonight or tomorrow but… why blood in this room and no impression of it from either of the other two bedrooms?//

A fleeting touch within her mind of that blurred deep crimson one naturally associated with blood and fresh blood, not stale drying blood. No, there was something he was missing and he needed to further pursue it. The block placed over her mind was a powerful thing and it was something he would need time to circumvent if he did not wish to leave her with the intellect of a vegetable. It was probable he would require more than one more meeting with the woman to win through the controls placed over her recall to shed light on this matter of stalkers and intruders.

It was a room like any other, slightly smaller in size than the other two bedrooms of the suite, just as that other suite it mirrored. As yet the personal effects of the three had not been transferred so this was a blank canvas upon which none of the three had as yet placed their imprint. Winner’s would be the largest room which was on the right hand side in the suite above and on the left hand here. Marquise would have the centre and Maxwell the right hand suite.

//I wonder if the three chose that arrangement or if they were assigned the individual bedrooms by the administration?//

Winner’s was the largest of the three, Marquise the smallest and it was Marquise who was the oldest of the roommates, a fact he would have expected to ensure Marquise gained at least the second largest room. Was there a pecking order between the three? If so was it affected by age, wealth or their natural personalities?

//Maxwell is a Sweeper brat and I have found those tend to be forceful personalities. Not overly pushy but assured of what they want and how to get it. Winner has had everything handed to him on a silver platter much as most other wealthy industrialists children. By upbringing they expect to be first. Marquise…? Well, reportedly a street kid. Amid all of this evidence of wealth and privilege I would expect he would go in one of two directions. He would either dig in his heels asserting the top tom cat personality until he is beaten into submission or he would melt into the background. The ‘I see you but you don’t notice me therefore I am safe’ attitude. They are really an odd grouping.//

His foray into the mind of the security agent come house keeper had revealed a reaction to all three bedrooms, not just to Marquise’s. There had been a fleeting impression of consternation which at first he had taken to be her reaction to the mess in Maxwell’s room but, which he had learned was in reaction to the existence of flowers. Or rather the stems of flowers. She had been quite adamant about that once he had made the initial break through. Stems, nothing more and try as he might he had gotten no clear view of the room. He would try again later to see within her own memories what the room had looked like when she had first entered. Something had disturbed her about Winners bedroom too and he had been unable to pursue that avenue as her stress threshold had been reaching the critical point. Maxwell’s room seemed to be his key to breaking into her deeper memories hidden by the block and he could afford to wait for her to recover.

//Tomorrow, if possible, I will tackle Ms Bloom again. If I need to I will approach Une and have her in for a more formal and controlled reading but even that will require exceptional care be taken with her. She is our only witness and though she may not have seen the killing she saw enough to warrant her silence be assured. I will need to be careful no one suspects I want to talk with her for more than security reasons.//

He had released Ms Bloom from his influence taking particular care to remove all memory of his questioning and had even laid a false impression of pique at repeated questions already answered in past interviews. Should the instigator of the mental block again touch her mind to check on the security of their work he or she would not be warned of his presence.

Perhaps what disturbed him the most was the ease by which he had slipped past the implanted neural unit. It should have taken exacting care and a great deal of time to win his way past that unit but it had been almost too easy to circumvent. It was possible she might have received a defective unit but such devices were exactingly checked for quality control as they had been known to short circuit and cause irreparable damage to the user. There was also the small matter that the devices were usually tested after implantation by certified psychics to ensure their protection was satisfactory. Tsuberov had enough of those to ensure the device was working upon her return to work.

//No, it’s not the unit that is at fault. Not mechanically, anyway. She has to have been exposed to a powerful Suggestor’s influence that already had established a bypass to avoid the implants effects. Difficult but not impossible to accomplish.//

A Telepathic Suggestor powerful enough to bypass the expensive neural unit employed on this occasion and set within the memories of the wearer a false recall and have them believe it implicitly, was to say the least, worrying. For this to work it normally would require hours for the woman’s true memories to be stripped from her totally or be held behind powerful barriers to contain them. In the case of Catherine Bloom it appeared the second option was the correct one. Her original memories were held in a type of stasis field and new memories implanted over those barriers. Not only had she had false memories implanted with sufficient force and skill as to be utterly believed by the subject, but an inhibitor also seemed to have been activated. Should the barrier be breached her mental well being was threatened and any ethical Psi would be forced to back off.

//Such an implantation calls for a lot of talent but more importantly it calls for time. I know of no Suggestor who could perform this level of work in less than ten to fifteen hours. You must go slowly and carefully or chance the subject being damaged. In this case the perpetrator could not have had more than an hour, perhaps less, as she has a set routine of duties and no one has mentioned she was late or missed entirely any portion of her schedule.//

As a Prime Telepath he was more than capable of placing inhibitors and memory blocks within a subject and mapping out detailed false memories they would believe implicitly. He had encountered instances before where those particular talents were required to be exercised both in training and in real life situations but somehow this instance felt subtly different. There was something about the woman’s mind, something he could not place a name to but it worried him enough to leave him concerned for her safety and mental well being. One thing he could sense was it had taken a great deal of power to create the block but he detected a disturbing lack of finesse. It suggested the work had been accomplished by a powerful but inexperienced Suggestor.

A disturbing combination.

//Considering I am currently standing in a complex full of high potential but ill trained psychics it will not be easy, I think, to point a finger.//

Perhaps the worst thing about the matter was when he took into account the modified memories of the woman and the lack of psychic residue within the suite. He was left with an uneasy concern about exactly what they were facing there. It took a high level of psychic ability to wipe out years of residual impressions but what was worse was the absence of the murder itself from that record.

Murder was a violent emotion whether it was based on hate, love or passion and it left a powerful imprint on the atmosphere of a room. A telepathic investigator usually required the assistance of a high level empath to map out the individual residue of a room or objects past. The two working together could then, if it was required, exorcise the imprint from a room or item. Disturbingly there had been nothing selective about the incident, not just an item or a single place in the room had had its residue modified. The entire suite had been wiped clean leaving it with less personality than a newly constructed building would have acquired from its builders. That screamed of power.

//We are dealing with more than we suspect. It is early in the investigation and as yet we are missing too much to make a detailed assessment but I don’t think this case will be straightforward.//

The entire case could hinge on the memories of Catherine Bloom. Having placed his own carefully modified memories in place to obscure his true interaction with her he had, for the moment, done the best he could. If Ms Bloom was undisturbed by his probing and indeed generated a small amount of frustration at having had her time wasted he had done the best he could to ensure her safety in the short term. If her assailant was not alerted to his suspicions they surely had time to unravel this Celtic knot of a puzzle.

He had requested she escort them to the new suite arranged for the students to satisfy their curiosity and the requirements of the students security. The polite request had drawn a somewhat tart comment on the male of the species being unable to find their way out of a paper bag which had settled his mind to no end. It was the catch phrase he had hung on the false memories he had implanted and he waved aside his partners indignant response, satisfied, and ushered everyone out of the suite.

On the way downstairs Yuy, who had ignored her rather abrasive nature to date, had requested she detail the security arrangements in place to ensure the Winner heirs safety. There was very little in the way of niceties between the two but so long as they maintained their professionalism Treize decided to stay out of the mix. He was not about to play with the woman and have her believe she loved the agent. A little bit of friendly competition between security agencies never hurt anyone. What was of concern to him was that while they searched out the murderer the three young men be safe.

Ms Bloom had explained the alterations in the security systems en route and on arriving at the suite she had excused herself to oversee the preparations to remove the boy’s possessions. Her abrupt request permission be given for such a move or the boys would find themselves standing on the pavement after dark, was met with a glare from Yuy and grudging permission being granted.

“Somebody must have interrupted something.” Chang’s voice drew the Prime’s attention.

“That is not in doubt, what is of concern is whether it was a burglar looking for loot or a love struck student.” Yuy perched on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. “It is more than possible it was a student with stalker tendencies.”

“The flowers suggest we can rule out a burglar. There is no reason I can think of for an intruder to leave flowers other than a romantic assignation being planned.” Chang mused. “I know of no instances where a burglar leaves flowers as a calling card.”

With his psychic inspection concluded Treize made his way to join the other men at the breakfast bar and himself settled on a stool beside Yuy.

“There was a bouquet of flowers in the kitchen and from her memory they were placed on the sink. Lying so…” He gestured toward the sink indicating how the flowers had been laid out. “Still in their wrapper and no, I do not recall any identifying logos for a florist. I will have to delve a little deeper into her mind to clearly catch such details.”

Yuy sighed. Of course things could not be so simple. Chang rubbed absently at the bridge of his nose and looked about the lounge imagining what it would be like to live in a place such as this.

“While her memory was not clear by any means I did glimpse Maxwell’s bed briefly. The bed was strewn with the stems of roses. There were few leaves that I noted on the stems. Marquise’s room… well, I just caught the wash of blood red from her mind. To have pushed harder would only have caused her damage and perhaps destroyed the memory entirely. I think there must have been perhaps a dozen long stemmed red roses in the bouquet in the kitchen. One must presume they were intended for Winner’s bed but would one be correct with that assumption?”

“The stems in one room and blood in the second room, perhaps it was some sort of oblique warning? Something to the effect of ‘hands off Winner, he’s mine’?” Yuy suggested.

Chang sighed and shrugged slowly stretching cramped muscles. The day was far from over and he was beginning to feel the effects of a headache. Something was off about this entire business and he personally was looking forward to going home for the day. Sally always seemed to know how best to soothe his thoughts and often bring him to inspirational insights.

“Winner would appear to be into boys if that magazine is anything to go by. Of course it might have belonged to one of the other two students and he may only have been curious. It may have been a warning to them to keep their hands to themselves if they are considered a threat. Blood in Marquise’s room would suggest he is considered the larger threat. It would help if we knew with certainty which way Winner swings and if he has anyone showing marked romantic interest in him.”

“Well, I venture to suggest we go with caution there. The Winner’s are powerful and something of a dynasty. He is the only male heir and has twenty nine sisters. That he is a catch is not in doubt. It might be more than frowned on if he should be shown to be homosexual in the course of the investigation and he has not revealed his sexuality to his family.” Treize knew from personal experience how well some families would greet that news.

“Discretion will be required.” Chang agreed. “The problem is we do not actually know what our corpse was.” At Yuy’s arched eyebrow he shrugged. “Was he a burglar? Might he have been the stalker? If the stalker was the killer or the victim has yet to be determined.”

Yuy rubbed at his temples. “I am almost afraid to consider either option exclusively. It is viable which ever way you look at it but I have to ask myself what in the suite would warrant a burglar’s interest?”

“There have been petty thefts at the University in the last few months. Nothing expensive really, certainly nothing I would consider valuable on anything other than a personal level. It could even be a protest action or a cry for help.” Wu Fei stood and began to pace the length of the lounge, slow and even steps, an aid to concentration.

“Possibly unrelated to what went on in the suite though if it is unrelated to the killing where does that leave us?”

“There is more to this than we are seeing.” Treize murmured. “From my point of view the facts are as follows. It took a high level telekinetic to stop the victim’s heart and a very high level telekinetic ability to make the body fit in the refrigerator. Likewise it would take an extremely high telepathic talent to circumvent the neural unit fitted to Ms Bloom. Now by high I imply a near Prime talent and the Suggestors ability would also have to be near or into the Prime talent range to cover her memories so effectively of the incident. Now there is the matter of the suite being wiped of emotional residue to be considered. Our highest Prime Telepaths and Empaths working together could not have accomplished that feat in a short time. Yes, it is possible for us to do it but it would take days to wipe an entire suite of psychic residue. I believe you will concur the killer did not have hours, let alone days in which to accomplish this feat. Much as I hate to say it I have to be honest about this. It takes an unknown force to wipe out the entire emotional signature accumulated in a room that has been in constant use for as long as the suites in this building. Taking these facts into account I have to suggest we may not be dealing with a single talented individual. If it should prove we are dealing with one person then, quite honestly gentlemen, I don’t particularly want to meet them.”

“More than one person involved? Wonderful.” Yuy whispered. With a soft groan he stood and stretched cramped back muscles and rotated his left shoulder. “A possible stalker who may, or not, be dead and who, if he is alive, might be a high level telekinetic and telepath. A wonderful combination to consider finding amid a University crammed to overflowing with high level talents. Not to mention the room wiping episode which I have to take on trust since I am as head blind as you can get. The room feels like any other room to me. I would really like to consider I am in pursuit of one person, you know, instead of hunting a pack of rabid what’s it’s. Is the stalker alive or dead? If the stalker is dead who is the murderer and what was he, she or it doing in the suite?”

“I would think the stalker is alive, if it is a stalker we are dealing with.” Chang decided. “It could always have been a student prank gone horribly wrong. Someone altered the Bloom woman’s memories of her morning’s activities. Someone tidied up the suite after them, removing any evidence that might point to them. The DNA evidence will remove from our suspect list those who have lived in the suite and have a legitimate reason to have entered it. I can not believe the perpetrator could remove such evidence.”

“The DNA evidence will unfortunately take a week or more to process and eliminate names from our list and there is always the small chance that there will be no DNA on record to match.”

“Oh come now, Treize, everyone in this day and age is DNA tested shortly after birth. The odds on finding an unregistered individual are astronomical.”

“So are the odds of finding a person crammed into a refrigerator in a kitchen unused for months.” Treize tartly returned.

“This whole thing does not make sense. The murder took place sometime through the night and the body was discovered soon after eight this morning by Ms Bloom. Forensics will give us a more exact time reference for the man’s death. It is even possible the body may have had nothing to do with any Stalker. It is equally as feasible Ms Bloom surprised a student in the midst of some idiotic prank who panicked, altered her memories and cleaned up after themselves and bolted.” Yuy sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “Well it’s just as plausibly outlandish as the other scenarios.” He moved to the kitchen and paused glaring at the fridge. “Why would a stalker stuff a body in a refrigerator?”

Treize agreed little in this case thus far made sense and he found himself staring at the duplicate of the offending refrigerator. Too many of the questions hinged on matters of psychic ability and were not the usual questions they might find themselves entertaining in a murder investigation. It was, after all, most uncommon to find a woman with a very expensive neural implant with a host of forged memories. The matter of the psychic anomalies associated with this case already worried him and he knew Yuy could not appreciate the dangers that might be involved in pursuing the perpetrator.

“It is possible the John Doe walked in on the stalker.” Kushrenada rose from the stool, pressed a hand into his protesting back and moved to settle on the couch. Finding this a far more comfortable location he crossed his legs neatly and tilted his head back to consider the ceiling with narrowed eyes. “A logical progression would be if John Doe intruded on a stalking ritual, such as placing the flowers about the suite as a means to welcome back Winner. If this was the case and the stalker was a kinetic of considerable talent it might be reasonable to assume the stalker was startled and struck out without intending to. Conjecture, of course, but what else do we have at the moment? The stalker would have a body to dispose of.”

“Which he or she disposed of by stuffing John Doe into the fridge for someone, perhaps even his or her light of love to find.” Chang continued and shook his head to show he doubted the scenario.

“It has been known to happen before.” Yuy looked thoughtful though it was clear he was doubtful. At this stage of the investigation all they could do was speculate and it was best to cover all possibilities. “There was an instance shortly after I was registered to operate as an investigator where a stalker killed a burglar in his would be lover’s flat. He considered the intruder to be threatening his obsession and left a note to that effect. He claimed he would always protect her from anyone and everyone who might threaten her.”

“No notes here.” Chang commented. “It would have simplified matters had there been.”

“Perhaps there was not enough time?” Treize mused. “It makes a warped kind of sense. There has been that series of thefts in the University after all. Perhaps he or she determined to protect the interests of his/her infatuation from all types of harm. They considered theft to be included in their definition of a threat.”

“Which would indicate Winner is the love interest. The other two boys get dismembered roses and blood in the bed as a warning to stay away from his light of love. Would the blood in Marquise’s bedroom indicate Marquise is considered to be the greater threat?” Chang draped himself over the breakfast bar, frowning in concentration.

“It does make a warped sense.” Yuy agreed. “We would need to locate the bloodied bedding from the room and determine what was slaughtered to supply the blood. That can add to the profile of the killer. The initial forensic report never mentioned evidence of blood in the bedroom. I may need them to check the room again for evidence. It is unlikely in the clean up of the room the stalker would have changed the mattress as well as the bedding. Someone would have reported a missing mattress by now if that was the case.”

“Which would indicate the threat level to the other two boys has risen a few notches. If Winner should prove to be homosexual or even bi sexual and there is a relationship developing with either of the other two it could turn nasty. The stalker would not approve of the competition and may develop a mind to remove it.” Chang speculated

Yuy frowned, considering the level of danger that might face either of the two students rooming with Quatre Winner. He did not like the idea and glanced at the telepath. “Maxwell got a bed full of rose stems. You should have hung on a little longer for a more clear answer on whether or not the thorns were still attached to the stems.”

Treize rubbed at his temples in a vain attempt to ease the throbbing as much a residue of his using his talent to read the agent as the lingering after effects of his activities during his former case. “I had to let her go. Circumventing the neural unit implant places a strain on the individual and breaking through the block itself was stressing both her and me beyond tolerable safety levels. I can always have another, hopefully longer session with her. After we are both rested and less stressed I would expect the session should be easier. Certainly it should be easier on her to circumvent the conditioning itself, if not piercing the veil placed over her memories.”

“I think we still have a great many problems as yet unconsidered. There are probably questions we have as yet not thought to ask. Primary amongst my concerns is the idea of an individual running loose in the university with the ability and strength in both the psychokinetic field and the telepathic disciplines. This individual has the capacity to commit murder and has done so as well as taken the additional step of modifying the woman’s memories. We can not take anything she has said in her statement as being a true recollection of events. If we have to doubt her report I wonder if we can even trust the time she stated she entered the room.” Yuy rubbed at his upper thighs, digging his thumbs into muscle in a subconscious gesture he had developed during his training, a nervous response he had not, as yet, trained himself out of.

“One of many questionable statements made to us thus far. Who is to say others may not have had their memories modified?” Treize rested his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes. “I am inclined to believe we are missing something obvious here but for the life of me it eludes me. Supposition: If the Stalker should be the kinetic who killed, would he have completed his task, namely setting out his welcome for Winner? How obsessed is this individual? That is a point that may lead to more killings if obsession leads to something more. Why stop at one killing to achieve his or her goal? Ms Bloom has recalled there were flowers on the sink in the kitchen and we know there were other flowers, dismembered and being placed in the other bedrooms. Or were there? “

Chang rolled his eyes toward his partner and buried his head in his arms, still draped over the breakfast bar. “You are about to add more confusion to this already confusing case, yes?”

“Well, there were stems in Maxwell’s room though we have not as yet found physical evidence of them. There was the impression of blood in Marquise’s room though again we have found no evidence beyond her confused and altered memories. What about Winner’s room? I have the impression there was something in there that disturbed her. For that matter where was John Doe when he was killed? In the kitchen? Perhaps in the lounge or in one of the bedrooms? Did Ms Bloom see the actual killing or did she come in some time later? Did the kill happen, deliberate and cold blooded or accidental, then the body was stuffed in the refrigerator and… what then? Simply walk away as though nothing happened? Does the Stalker have the ability to wipe the psychic impressions from a room, a strong enough telekinetic talent to stop a man’s heart and is a telepath with a Suggestor’s ability of sufficient strength to circumvent a neural unit? I know I have already stated this but I will say it again. I am not looking forward to facing him or her.”

Yuy sighed and dropped his head but raised a hand index finger pointed and inscribed a circle in the air repeatedly tracing its path. “Around and around. I’m fed up with seeing the same scenery. We need a new thought in here.”

Chang snorted indelicately and after a moment of silence from his partners he straightened, pushing away from the bar and stalked around its length and moved toward the main door.

“You wish a new thought, Agent Yuy? Perhaps this will help the equation. There were three people in the suite other than Ms Bloom through the night. Yes, three, the victim plus two others. I think I prefer that idea to one psychic with so much potential.”

Treize stood slowly, a frown deepening as he turned to watch his partner who paused at the door, turning to see the reaction of his fellows. “You suggest the Stalker was surprised by the burglar and killed him with a psychokinetic blast or a squeeze on his heart to stop it beating?”

Chang nodded, a short sharp movement. Kushrenada sighed softly and resisted the urge to scream in frustration.

“The kill was accomplished, deliberately or accidentally and then… What? The Stalker was in turn frightened off by someone else entering the suite? Someone with the ability to wipe out the impressions in the room because… Why?”

Chang shrugged. “They did not wish their presence to be discerned by any psychic who might have been brought in by the authorities? I have no idea. It was just a theory I though I would mention as Yuy wanted something else to think of.” He smirked at Yuy who scowled at him. “A theory like all of the other theories we have kicked around thus far. At this stage of the investigation that is all we have to play with. Nothing about this case makes sense to me. So, where do we go from here?”

Treize shook his head slightly, amused and glanced at Yuy who cast a look about the room and with a faint shrug moved to join Chang at the door.

“I think it time to move to the techniques of basic investigating. We need to check on the surveillance cameras for the dorm block, discern which one’s cover the access points to the suite and watch the footage. We should make a note of every person who used the hallway leading to the suite and especially anyone who used it after lights out.” Yuy decided. “There is also the surveillance footage that covers the stairwell behind the garbage cupboard.”

“As good as anything I suppose and it is a place to start.” Chang agreed. “Do you know the layout of the cameras and how many of them cover the approach to the upper floor?”

“There are three cameras covering the hallway, another seven covering the main hall and entry to the dormitory block and three on the fire escape. There are also the exterior cameras covering the approaches to the front and rear doors.” Yuy threw the door open and stepped out into the hallway, Chang on his heels.

Treize followed the younger men from the room at a more sedate pace, his sapphire gaze flicking up and scanning the hallway to place the cameras for this dormitory level and wondered if they mirrored the placement on the floor above. If they did then the hallway was rather well covered and they should have no difficulty identifying every person who had walked the hall.

//Chang may have been joking but it is actually a reasonable theory. There having been more than one psychic involved in the incident makes more sense than just one person having such talent. A single perpetrator would suggest the emergence of a Super Psi and should they be insane, unstable or just plain evil natured, we could be in a great deal of trouble. The theory of them existing as our numbers increase and our abilities develop has been bandied about for a score or more years. Someone of an unscrupulous nature with that amount of talent… No one would be safe from them.//

He followed through the dormitory building, down the sweeping curve of the staircase and out into the grounds. Yuy and Chang paused for him to catch up to them and neither disturbed his thoughts by questioning him.

//No, I think I prefer the notion there were at least two psychics in the suite. Prefer being the word of note, of course. The room was wiped to eradicate the identity of those involved or to wipe out the unmistakable imprint of violence. Was the intent only to remove the murder and the degree of power needed so badly overestimated? The room has been wiped and it is no accident. Any competent telepath or empath would feel the difference immediately on entering. //

The security control room for the dorm was in a smaller building hidden from the main complex of the University by a thick belt of flowering trees and extensive flower plantings. The walk from the dormitory block was pleasant and the psychic atmosphere that had so pleased Treize served once more to ease his thundering headache to manageable proportions. He took his time, making no effort to walk with Yuy or Chang and neither of the two seemed inclined to hurry. He presumed they each were busy with their thoughts on the murder and he was not inclined to peek. He had enough gloomy thoughts of his own without seeking out others.

It was a modern building though it was given a cosmetic facade to blend in with the older, grander style of the buildings within walking distance. The reception foyer was staffed by two women, each in their late thirties and two security guards were entering through a door requiring an electronic key as they entered. Yuy and Chang had delayed before entering until Treize joined them and at Chang’s discreetly arched eyebrow in silent enquiry as to his state of mind he nodded to indicate he was ready to progress to the next stage of the inquiry.

Yuy cleared them through reception, a brief flash of his identity card being sufficient to straighten the spines of both women who respectfully requested the identity cards of his companions. Chang was subjected to a respectful nod and Treize to a long and wide eyed look. He knew that look only too well and ignored it, not of a mind to entertain something he thought of as celebrity status. Primes were rare and you could not expect one to turn up on your doorstep unannounced every day.

“Mr. Otto will meet you in the inner offices, Sir.”

Yuy nodded briefly, accepted the visitors pass and waited for the other two men to receive their passes before moving to the interior door. A swipe of the card let them enter the room beyond where a security guard received their passes with a somewhat startled blink but no other reaction to the identity of the two Psychics and indicated the short hallway leading to another door.

“I know the way.” Yuy gruffly muttered and led the way down the hall and into a large busy office. For all the look of the room reminded Chang of the upper levels of the Agency there was a quieter, more laid back atmosphere here. Half the work stations were unattended and of those who were present none seemed to be exercising frustration or particularly intense concentration on their duties. The door opposite the one they entered by opened and a tall man, solidly built with dark curly hair and intense eyes motioned them toward him.

“Heinrich Otto,” Yuy murmured as they crossed the room, weaving through the desks and ignoring the curious looks directed at them “Security Chief for the entire university.”

Otto offered his hand to Yuy as they approached and cast a curious glance at his companions. Yuy accepted the hand shake and inclined his head slightly to indicated his companions.

“Heinrich Otto, Chang Wu Fei consulting representative of The Agency. Mr. Chang is the Psychokinetic of the team.”

Otto bowed respectfully, making no move to shake the man’s hand. The bow was just low enough to offer respect and not subservience. Chang returned the bow with the exact same amount of respect reflected and Otto inclined his head slightly, a more personal greeting. Treize Kushrenada recognized a diplomat when he saw one and Otto had more than a little skill in that field. He was well versed in more than European culture, hardly a surprise considering the mix of nationalities of the students who attended Tsuberov.

“Prime Treize Kushrenada the Telepathic Empath of the team.” Yuy concluded his introduction.

He had no doubt Otto would recognize the reference to the Agency. In his line of work the Agency would be only too well known. A cross between Guardian Angels and the Boogie Man was generally how the Agency was viewed.

Otto blinked, eyed Treize with open curiosity and did not offer his hand, instead bowing with just a shade more depth to the action than he had used before. He knew high level Telepaths rarely shared touch with strangers and if the desire to do so was there then the Telepath would be the one to initiate the contact.

“Your Grace.” He straightened, inclined his head at Treize’s acknowledging nod at his greeting and the confirmation he knew of his social standing outside of his position as a Prime Talent. “I was not notified of the Agency being involved in the investigation, Mr. Yuy.”

Otto looked impressed and more than a little intrigued by the unexpected arrival of two high level Psychic investigators appearing on his doorstep. He had called in the ESUN Security Agency considering the implications the identity of one of the youths possibly involved in the murder, but no one had notified him the Agency had been consulted. Treize had the impression the man was not too pleased though he made no move to betray his displeasure. It was something his empathy picked up and he was hardly surprised considering other much more volatile reactions he had known in the past to the Agency entering an investigation.

“The Agency will be working liaison with the Security Office and were requested to participate by my superiors. Considering the forensic evidence thus far gathered it was decided the specialist services on offer from the Agency would be required to speed the investigation alone.”

Otto nodded and turned, leading the way through the door and down a long hallway. “This way, please. We will use my office to lessen the chances of anyone overhearing us.”

No one felt the need for casual conversation and they were silent as they made their way through the complex. Occasionally security personnel would pass them and the three investigating agents were only too aware of the curious looks cast their way as they passed. Otto turned down a side hallway and opened a door to a roomy office, motioning the three inside.

The Security Chief drew three chairs up to face the desk before settling himself down in the large leather chair and sighed as they settled before him. His desk, while neat, was cluttered with reports in orderly piles, an odd assortment of ornaments ranging from frogs carrying signs to a dolphin leaping from a spray of water and a closed laptop computer.

“Bad business this.”

Treize arched an eyebrow. “I imagine the John Doe would agree with you.”

Otto smirked, shaking his head slightly. “So what details can I help you with? I made the decision to call in the Security Agency considering who generally stays in that room, but I did not consider it would be necessary for a group of the Agencies reputation to be involved. So far we have managed to keep the murder under wraps but there is a force at work here that is unstoppable and I am afraid it will very soon get out of hand.”

Yuy scowled and Chang stirred restlessly in his seat. “What have you not informed me of? Who is involved?” Yuy looked decidedly unhappy.

“Students gossip, Mr. Yuy. The more one tries to keep a secret around here the more chance there is someone will notice and then the whispers and speculation start and leaks back to the families. Some of those families are not known for their tolerance of what amounts to a rare instance occurring near their offspring. I will be honest when I say we have not had a murder committed on the ground since the University was founded. It is not sitting well with the Board of Governors.”

“Rare and decidedly unpleasant as it is it has happened and we need time to investigate.” Yuy displayed no concern for the feelings of the governing body of the school. “The first thing we need to do is to see the surveillance tapes for the dormitory block. We will require someone be there to identify every person who entered the dorm that day and especially after night fell.”

“I know you have cameras covering the entrance to the garbage collection but by any chance do you have the interior of the stairwell under surveillance?” Chang interjected.

//That garbage disturbs him.// Treize glanced at his partner. //He is like a dog worrying a bone and the sooner he sees footage and assures himself of the security arrangements the better.//

“The garbage?” Otto arched an eyebrow, stared at Chang for a moment before he shrugged. “The inner stairwell the contractors use to collect the refuse is under surveillance, of course, and also the parking area where they leave their vehicles. I am well aware of the need to keep the inner stairwells secure, Mr. Chang. Every outlet door from the individual suites has an alarm installed which will sound should the doors be opened from the stairwell side. The doors are designed to be opened only from the interior of the apartments as an added security measure and a key card is required for anyone to access the stairwell from the ground floor. The garbage is collected every Wednesday evening between the hours of five and seven pm. One of my people always accompanies each of the crews as they do their rounds and only the guard in attendance can use the keycard. The key cards are Gene sequence coded and anyone who stole one would be unable to use it.”

“How many are in the crews?” Yuy queried.

Otto leaned back in his seat and shrugged diffidently. “There are four people per truck and three trucks service the entire University complex.”

//Wednesday for the collection means the garbage is not due to be collected until tomorrow night.// Treize allowed his gaze to wander absently about the room, admiring the collection of artwork and photographs adorning the walls. // So the garbage was not changed as a part of the usual routine. We need to find what was removed from that suite and that includes the bloodied bedding stripped from Marquise’s bed.//

“How many people have key cards to that stairwell?” Chang enquired, watching the security agent with a hooded gaze.

//You can see your pet theory about to be shot down.// Treize hid his amusement. //Gene sequenced cards are impossible to use unless you share the same DNA as is encoded into the sensors. One would have to chop off the hand of the registered user to use the card.//

“There is one active card per dorm block, plus the master card which is locked in the safe here at all times, accessible only by me. The other cards are handed out to the security guards assigned to accompany the refuse collectors when they arrive and not before. In the event of illness keeping a cleared guard from carrying out his duties a back up Optical card is activated enabling a stand in to fulfill the duties of the sick guard. The guards are not to give up the key cards to anyone else in the course of their duties despite the fact no one else can use them. Both the genetic coding and the optical sequencing are expensive procedures and the Board of Governors winces every time I hand them an expenses sheet for the security of this place. The Optical cards used as standby are coded so only the designated user can access them and are stored in my secure safe when not in use. If by some chance both the regular assigned guard and the stand by guard are absent at the same time I use the Master Key and personally accompany the garbage collectors. If the wrong person has the card the key simply will not work. I am sure you know as well as I do that short of chopping off a person’s hand or plucking out their eyeball the card systems are secure. I assure you I have no one handed or one eyed personnel running around the university.”

Treize fixed his eyes on the painting on the wall directly behind Otto’s desk. After a moment he allowed his gaze to move on, noting the heavy oak desk, an antique unless he badly missed his guess and the laptop on its surface was an extremely powerful and expensive model with a wireless modem. He took particular note of the small black box attached to the back of the laptop, recognizing it as a rather surprising security feature. Why would the security chief of a University, even one as elite as Tsuberov, use a scrambler on his laptop?

//Curious. The office itself is well appointed and more along the lines of what I would expect to find in a high powered executives office than a security commanders rooms. I wish I had so comfortable a work space. //

Even Chang had to admit it was unlikely access to the suite had been achieved through the garbage door and the inner stairwell. He might admit it was unlikely but that would not stop him from checking out the stairwell himself just to be certain. He would endeavor to circumvent the security procedures personally and use his Psychic talents to aid that endeavor but for the moment he would allow the matter to drop. He would review the camera footage from the approach points and the interior of the stairwell before making his next move.

Treize found his gaze once again returning to the painting hanging behind the Security Commander’s desk. A well fashioned frame, tasteful and of a style that would not detract the eye from the main subject of the painting and was, if he was correct in his assumption, worth a small fortune in its own right. The painting was of a pastoral scene with snow capped mountains in the background and a glimmer of deep blue-green sea to one side of the thatch roofed farmhouse depicted. It appeared to be harvest time in the painting with a huge cart piled high with wheat and drawn by two massive heavy horses while small children laughed and played as men tossed wheat sheaf's into the cart.

“You have good taste in art work, Commander.” He murmured. “Is that not an original Klimbert?”

Yuy blinked and glanced at the Prime, wondering no doubt what a painting had to do with the investigation. Chang shook his head and ignored the painting, glaring at him briefly for the interruption. Treize suspected he was silently commenting on the foibles of the aristocracy once again.

Otto glanced behind him and his smile widened as he studied the pastoral scene. “It is one of the advantages of working for Tsuberov, I suppose, a tasteful office. I only wish the painting was mine, Your Grace. It belongs to the University and is a part of their extensive collection. My predecessor was something of an art connoisseur and I inherited it when I took over his position.”

//Rather an expensive inheritance and just who was your predecessor, I wonder, to warrant such a decoration in his workplace?// “But are you not from Sanc?” Treize enquired quietly, never taking his eyes from the Security Chief..

Otto arched an eyebrow and glanced at the Prime. “Yes, I was born and reared in Sanc though it has been many years since I was home. How did you know?”

“That you were from Sanc or the painting depicts a scene from Sanc’s past?” Treize smiled his most charming smile, ignoring Chang’s eye rolling.

He was curious and his partner should know him better by now than to dismiss him as just another aristocrat showing off their knowledge. Nothing he said or did was without reason.

“Your accent, faint though it is, is quite distinctive. I have not been to Sanc since I was a child but I clearly recall watching the harvest when I was last there. They still prefer to harvest by hand, I believe?”

Otto chuckled, relaxing back into his seat. “Indeed, I believe they do. I prefer to think of Sanc as not so much being backward or against the advances of technology, but of a more back to nature attitude. It is a very peaceful place.”

Yuy growled softly, a barely audible sound though it drew the eye of each of the three men. “I beg your pardon, but I believe we have more to do than admire old artwork and talk about how to plough the fields.” He rumbled.

Otto grinned, quite unrepentant and seemed to have enjoyed annoying the Security Agent, a fact that was not missed by Chang or Treize. The man shook his head slightly but other than that small movement he ignored the smaller, younger man.

“Mr. Yuy is obviously not one to appreciative the Arts.” Treize murmured, in no way apologizing for his side tracking or for Yuy’s attitude. “I personally would not object to having a painting valued, I believe, in the vicinity of three million credits hanging on my office wall.”

“Where would be safer for it than hanging in the office of the security chief?” Otto laughed. “I don’t mind, I assure you, that they left it here when I took on the position. If I was still working in the palace I would not have the opportunity to view such a masterpiece, and certainly not on a daily basis. It would be locked in some temperature controlled vault where no one could enjoy the talents of the only Master Artist Sanc has produced in the last six hundred years. Such a waste that would be.”

Yuy sighed and rubbed at his eyes having the distinct impression if he did not change the topic and force them back to the task at hand they would still be sitting here at sunset discussing art. “Gentlemen, please, I am tired and the day is more than half over and we have a great deal of work to do. Can we not get on with this?”

“Of course, Mr. Yuy.” Otto grinned and rose from his seat, motioning toward the door. “The security station for the dorm block you want is down the hall. I will escort you and see that you are set up comfortably in one of the offices.”

Treize stood with the others, his gaze once again sweeping around the office and as Otto passed him he took the opportunity to more closely study the cluster of photographs placed below and to one side of the painting. Each photograph was of a group of men wearing uniforms that differed in each photo and he knew it to be a rogue’s gallery. Otto’s past, his memories of past employment. Some were official group shots and others of a more casual nature, looking to be taken at parties and a few taken at more formal social functions. He allowed Otto to lead them out of the office and stepped back to allow Yuy to pass and then Chang, who shot him a pointed look to which he grinned, unrepentant. Could he help it if he had an eye for the classics? A masterwork by an artist six hundred years dead was not something one saw every day. Nor, he mused, did one find an ex Imperial Guard from the Sanc Royal Palace working at a University so far from his home.

//I will place a request for Otto’s file and see why an Imperial Guard would give up his commission to work here. I wonder if I can get access to the University’s museum. I would like to discover what other gems they have stored here.//

t.b.c.

Karina Robertson 2006

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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].

Chapter 6

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