I_L: Chapter 6

 

The inspector sat in a striped blue suit, her wooden chair pinching her bum. Next to her, the Merchant whistled, her corset tightly keeping her waist slender and thin to lead into her pencil skirt covering over her boots on one side. In a circle table, other members of the Merchant Guild looked over parchment paper and ink-written notes. Some physically present, many with latex bodies propped against the wall and projecting a virtual presentation.

They handed a file to Noelle. "They call him HubBlood. He's ex-Merchant Guild. An outgoing and flirty character, he was excommunicated for spilling Guild secrets." Noelle looked over the picture of a man with bronze augmentations and metallic skin from the neck down, slick brown hair and a kempt mustache. "He's going to exchange some type of sickly transaction with a private A.I.M. vendor. Xi doesn't like deals like this made off the cut, creates too many loose ends. Chaotic arrangements make them pretty jittery, and I don't blame them."

In the corner of the room, Roselita sat bored, playing around with her hair while the white-masked Merchant member droned on.

"Oversee this trade goes smoothly, and if not.." The room took a brisk pause, as if cobwebs had blown thru every throat. "..do take him out."

"Is that really necessary?" Noelle asked bored, looking over his profile, not used to reading on physical paper.

"He's a liability. A loose cannon trying to play A.I.M. for his own self-aggrandizing ends. We've had some theoretical speculation on what the exchange might be, nothing confirmed but, if we're anywhere on the mark, in reality Xi will have a personal interest in seeing him suppressed anyway."

The Merchant gave a sly look at Noelle, before confirming they'd carry the task out for the guild and allowing everyone to be dismissed.

"Well that tied up with a neat little bow. Case closed." The Merchant cheered, before sliding off her chair and leading Noelle through the halls.

The two carried themselves down long halls with stony arches, the architecture of the Guild's basilica. The garden planted outside the immediate path seemed to drive Noelle's gaze towards the light shafts peering through the top glass, lighting up the hand-crafted monuments of Merchants past and making the baroque path beautiful and yet ominous. The heavy scrolls placed on platforms in the alcove were shielded by Lumiwrap from small projectors keeping them ripe thru the ages, to where even the dust and specs softly laid across each of them seemed as if they'd been preserved in time. She wondered why the people of such a wealthy world would have to preserve these items as a relic of the past, why they'd have to hold the memories of those who made the things in the first place.

"How's our guest?" The Merchant asked, hands behind her back as she looked around aimlessly, avoiding Noelle's gaze.

"The Hivesman? He's doing fine. Seemed to like our oatmeal, he talks but he's rather quiet." Noelle similarly avoided meeting her eyes. I have Pawn now. My one ticket.

"I see." The way she moved, the Merchant acted as if she knew every fig, scroll and beam of sunlight in this building as if it were here friend. "Curious. What do you plan on doing with him? Do we even know who he is?" Her voice echoed off the stone, as if it were the sound of a child speaking.

"We're gonna see what happens. For now there's been no direct order to turn him in since I filed the report earlier." The exit could finally be seen in the distance.

"Interesting." She sounded like she found it all exciting. "Is it your hope to get him into the hands of Denipol, or is it your intention to let him find his way back to the streets into the Cascade? He could fall into the wrong hands if you've got anything to say about it." They both stopped at the door, her other half waiting for her response.

"Well... if you could get me someone that can be trusted..." Noelle fumbled for words. "Someone... on the inside. Then I can give him a good seeing-to. Get the truth out of him."

The Merchant snickered. "But Inspector.. you ARE someone I've trusted. If there's anyone that can get the squeak out of that man, it's you." Shortly after, they both exited promptly and headed by vehicle back to the Project Station.

⍟

 

 

 

 

Back inside, the Hivesman sat up in a private bunk. He seldom wandered off, and wouldn't address anyone else if left alone. While others were attending to their own business, Noelle sat in a rotating chair around a table projecting a Compt Netport, her hands gesturing and

manipulating different access codes and branches of channels for every bit of information she could.

Theabelle snuck up close to the Inspector, going from bold and brave to sheepish on a dime at times. She wore a black T-shirt, her hair cut short in a short-bob "You're a long way from home, aren't you?" she asked her.

Noelle turned around gave a small smile. "I guess I am."

 

"You can't be more than a few days out of the ship can you?. Why are you still in here?" "Well, they needed me here." Noelle insisted.

She watched her as she worked, nodding as she saw her touch a projected key and open up more channels and pages.

"They?" she asked.

 

Noelle shook her head. "I'm not very good with words sometime. Xi, the Upper Realms." She clarified.

"You don't seem very happy about that." Theabelle rubbed her shoulders, pinching her dress abit.

Noelle waved her hands about, gesturing her way out of her line of sight. "They made me do something I wouldn't normally do once. Back when I was a security chief.. The people had to save themselves."

Thea nodded again. "Why didn't you stop doing it?"

Noelle shrugged. She didn't really have a proper response to it. "Ryoichi used to say ‘The gods are always testing us. Best know how to cheat.'"

The girl hopped on the table, her head falling thru the translucent projected screen packets and pages with a flicker.

Theabelle sat back on her heels, raising her arms wide in an attempt to keep her balance. “Whose Ryoichi?"

Noelle shrugged again. "He was one of my co-workers. A partner. I knew him for quite awhile, a good man. Great sense of humor. We dated a few times, then we broke up. I still cared about him after. I still had to work with him. Before I got this job, well he died on a mission."

Thea turned her head up. "Oh.." Her eyes seemed laced with struggle, trying to find the right sympathy. "I'm sorry to hear that.."

The Inspector stared in silence. "Sorry won't bring him back."

 

The air went cold and stale for a moment, in the silence both seemed weighed down by the futility of the moment.

"Do you ever fear you'll die? You're always on dangerous missions and stuff."

 

Noelle sighed, turning her neck around. "You stop caring once you realize how unimportant you are. If it weren't for me, they'd just get another Inspector or Security Chief."

She felt Theabelle throw her arms around the girl. "But.. you're important to me. I trust you." The girl's body against her own, brought physical comfort, but at the same time made her

feel somewhat uneasy. Noelle cleared her throat. "No one wants to lose their friends. Or their life. But I remember, vaguely when I was young there was someone who taught me to stray off the path."

"Path? What does that mean?" Thea asked.

 

"It means, I guess you could say fitting the mold or doing what you're told. Doing what's expected in life. If you don't take such chances or risks, well it doesn't lead to anything but a very quiet funeral someday. A life unlived.. but there's more to it than that. I think the one who told me about the importance of straying, stressed the importance of straying for others, and not just getting lost for the sake of being lost."

"You mean.. to help others, make a difference?"

 

The inspector paused. "Well, help isn't the exact word for it. But it should involve other people. I think if we only help ourselves, we will only ever be a part of ourselves. If we only make a difference to ourselves, we will never make a difference to others. That person who taught me that is someone I'll always treasure, and I hope one day to meet again."

"I see.. do you have some kind connection or faith in this person? Love, belief, trust?" Theabelle asked, eyeing Noelle in such an innocent way.

She had to stop and think carefully about it. "I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. To have faith is powerful. To have faith in something beyond yourself is powerful. But, to not have faith in something, or anyone.. to not have to depend on others, is also powerful.

There's power in both those choices."

Something about the girl's presence seemed to bring comfort to the Inspector. The world suddenly became a much brighter place. A place where people might actually care about her and be happy to be with her. Something that made her want to feel and understand that again.

Someone who had done the same, and who had told her the truth about the world.

 

Noelle's compt got a message. She swiped her hands over while hugging Thea, seeing new messages from Red Vixen.

"Who was that?"

 

"I don't know." Noelle said, trying to swallow the lie.

 

Theabelle finally let Noelle go. "Do you remember anything about before you worked the Lots? Like what happened to you, where you were born? I've been thinking about it alot lately."

On the bridge, Noelle saw the Meeks standing over by the door watching them. "Let's not talk about this now." There was a look of pure distrust. From what the Inspector gleamed, Meeks had kept hush about the stunt she pulled at the club, for what reason she couldn't say yet. Meeks gave a faint sneer.

"Good afternoon. Have a nice day?" She asked in a condescending tone. She wasn't happy with the Inspector one bit. Soon she walked inbetween Noelle and Theabelle, as if shielding the latter from the former. "No, anything to say? Wouldn't be too hasty, Inspector. For all we know you might be so fast, we'd start seeking double." Meek's slit like pupils dilated rather accusingly.

Noelle felt agitated. "We're done here." The Inspector stood up with a glare for Meeks.

The girl was a bit off balance, and stepped back with a wave of a hand. "Oh.. I can get out now, huh? Great, thanks." She seemed to want to leave, but Meeks seemed to have a hand in the Inspector's thoughts, and she stepped back. "Take a leave of absence."

"What?" The antler girl asked.

 

"You're dismissed for the moment. But you'll be on duty on this ship for the next week." She said. The girl tried to protest, but the Inspector wouldn't have it.

"You do understand I don't want any trouble here?" Meeks stomped her hoof. "I'm trying to cut you some slack, I know YOU don't want any trouble. We don't want any secrets to spill now, do we?"

"No trouble.." Noelle answered. "I'll work with the crew on that matter and manage my own affairs. You should manage yours. I want you to stay here and protect the Hivesman."

Meeks grit her teeth. "If you think I'm staying here, you're crazy."

 

Noelle sighed. "You will watch over the hive until this matter is dealt with and that's final. Understood?"

Meeks nodded, walking over to the kitchen area of the dome. "Inspector Noelle? What was that about?" Theabelle asked.

"It's nothing. Why don't we go get ready for-" She got another beep from her compt. "Go get ready." her mouth finished, swallowing heavily.

⍟

 

 

 

The rest of the team assembled within the Project Station, Noelle allowing the Merchant to run her mouth and largely repeat what they'd been told. The particular transaction that needed overseeing, the weariness against shady deals off-script from an Ex-Guild member, the precarious unknowns of what was being exchanged, and the convictions the Mercenary Guild expressed towards ending his life should the deal go absolutely south. With some of the trigger happy fingers of the members around the table, Noelle didn't really know if she could trust them to enact anything but. She was mostly busy swiping on her Compt, nervously trying to comprehend the conflict of interests she'd gotten herself in. Her job was to facilitate the best exchange possible, but the rest of the team was made up of individuals who clearly held a strong pulse on the line of life and death for this target. She was busy reviewing the details on screen, her hand shaking and her heart thumping with the stress of the moment.

AE197382:V1X3N: [An A.I.M. client of the PFU is doing an illegal transaction with a Mercenary Guild member tonight. We're going to intervene on their behalf to prove our fidelity to their interests. This will be done in the naked Public at the Metropolitan Cosmetta. Capture client, dispose of seller if possible, wrap up loose ends. Don't be held up. Meet us at the downloaded coordinates. Reply to affirm.]

A few hands were raised when she began to talk and interrupted an argument between Brick and Blackbox, the other members of the group trying to find out what was up with the Inspector buried in her dinky device. Noelle held her hand up, pausing until the last moment when she was ready to drop her hammer and start swinging so to speak.

"I'm fine. We're talking about some type of drug deal. It's not too complicated. It's just..." she paused to think for a bit, before she shook her head and pushed on. "Okay, I'm taking a guess. That's the most that can be gotten for the information. That's all I know." She couldn't show her face right now without swallowing her fear of spilling all her secrets.

She pressed send. [Got it. Will be there.]

The rest of the Lot crew waited in eerie silence, their boss staring at her phone.

 

She didn't have to say a word, they knew what was going down. The team was all ready, with their own weapons kept.

Blackbox,had a few other things to do. She'd be the one to make the call the Cosmetta security and let the N.P.E know they were coming. Brick had his gauntlets out and his fist was ready. He'd be the last person who would be able to slip past the Inspector, she worried making it easier for everyone else to catch her off-guard. Ragnor and Vengence stood in wait, to abide by whatever orders were given. Hawk was eager to go whereever Ragnor went. Thea, ironically, was the weakest link in this particular chain, but the rest of the crew trusted her to play her part. Meeks was still on orders to stay in the Station, she was the last person that Noelle could trust at the moment.

 

 

 

"Well let's get moving, I think we might have a few hours before they show up. Clearance for our Station's warpdrive to dock-in shouldn't take more than 20 minutes."

Blackbox's thumb swiped across her face, before he turned to Brick. "You know your moves to the nearest port of entry, right?"

"Yup, I'm a big boy with this, ain't I? There'll be no time to take the scenic route back." He ruffled his chunky hands through his hair, a nervous habit,

He turned to Ragnor. "You sure you got that thing loaded, Rags? Seems like you need a

 

test

 

run."

 

Ragnor flexed her flail, on full charge still. "As if I'd do it on purpose. It'll be fine. All I

 

need

 

to do is point and press."

 

"That sounds simple enough." Brick held out his hand to Thea, making her way over to

 

him.

 

"You okay there? You feel up for this?"

 

"I can do this! I'm ready, point and I'll shoot!" She raised her guns up gleefully. Noelle wanted to expire.

"You alright, ma'am?" he said to the team's leader, Brick giving her shoulder a good

 

shake.

 

She shook her head and said "Fine, Brick."

 

"She can handle herself Pizzaboy. Probably still out of it from that road rage last time."

Ragnor joked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The approval didn't take long. Soon the Project Station's temporal-spacial field gleamed, luminosity briefly overflowing inside until it shifted once again. The teleportation took the group out on a parking dock about 2 miles from the Cosmetta. A short ride later, the group looked up at a monolith to industry, about 20,000 glass panels decorating the glorified shopping mall the size of a small-town. Digitalized holographic woman in blue caps, hoop skirts, perfectly molded hair buns and white gloves greeted Noelle and the ratpack at the entrance, instantly copying themselves and offering themselves as tour guides. While they monologued on about the Cosmetta's many shopping districts and commercial sectors, the inspector had run the timing in her head and put in a new injunction.

[Cutie. You're a B00MN00B right? Are you in the building? I need a favor.]

 

⍟

 

 

 

 

The group made it to one of the elevators able to take them to the 96th floor.

 

She held everyone up, raising her hand. "You know, I hear they have thy best caramel pretzels here. Sorry, I must get one of those. We're early, so hope you don't all mind if I go to get a taste."

Everyone looked at her, then at each other, only for the Merchant to clap. "I think that's a great idea. We'll mostly just be watching them, if everything goes ideal. No point in looking like creeps just tailing them without a bite to eat. It's way less conspicuous that way, hands off to our brilliant leader!"

They all waited in line at a stand. Thea's stomach started to churn. "Actually, can you buy me one too?"

Noelle smiled, checking her Compt. "Of course!" She glared at a large sundial overtop a water fountain and waited the seconds. '3.. 2.. 1..'

An explosion rocked the building. Everyone panicked, and Noelle leapt into action. "Seems like some kind of attack! Ragnor, Vengence, Brick you all check the south side. Thea, Hawk, the east! Blackbox and Merc, go secure safety and help with the evacuations."

The Merchant stood flustered. "Shoot, of all times? It's gotta be related to the tail. But what will you-"

"I've got a handle on that. I'll take the elevator and check on the target personally, make sure nothing escapes our sight! Keep searching. We'll catch up later." She announced, already heading towards the elevator chute. She opened the door and stepped into the elevator, then pressed the button for the 95th floor. Exactly where she planned to meet up with the Wreckers.

Thea and Hawk after a fast trek, looked at the east wall. It was completely blown out, glass shards raining onto the ground. "A bomb? I don't think they're trying to stop HubBlood with something like this.. this wasn't even on his route." Hawk said.

"Maybe someone fed them false info?" Thea suggested.

"Or maybe.. we're the ones that have been duped somehow." He said.

 

The elevator doors opened, and the Inspector stepped out. Vixen, Wulfenborn, Crazed, Vandal and the Ripper were waiting for her. Most impatient out of the group was Cutie, who leaned on her side by a wall.

"I don't take it you just wanted a stray demonstration of my skills, did you? I'm always happy to lend some fireworks, don't know why you asked it specifically to be planted up northside."

"To buy us some time." Noelle said casually. "Come on, they're meeting the floor above us right? The security footage will capture anyone that comes by elevator, but the stairs are pretty much unmonitored because no one takes them. Let's go!" She nudged her head for the group to follow, met with a little bit of confusion why the Inspector felt as if she was in charge of them now. They went straight into the stairs for the next floor, and there was no way she was taking the elevator. Her own crew would no doubt be taking it up. Their objective was to spy, nothing else.

Soon the group walked silently through the top lobby where a rather exquisite cafe was located.

Noelle looked around nervously, spotting firstly the man who matched the target's profile. HubBlood. Secondly, a vendor giving out various masks.

"Pss.. there he is." Red Vixen said.

 

"Yeah, follow him! But first I gotta do something real quick." She ran to the mask vendor "What the hells that for?" The Ripper asked.

"A little friendly face for the night." She said. She could have sworn she heard him snarl at her, but she ignored it. She was just doing her duty to her crew.

The Wreckers trailed Hubblood, following him until he came across a Fennec in a white suit and hat. Hubblood had an odd briefcase, he clicked it open, showed it to the A.I.M. client and then once seen clicked it closed promptly. The two made their way to a cafe seat and started to chitchat. The Wreckers followed, they all had the same idea, taking separate seats near the corners of the cafe and not drawing attention to themselves, Cutie even buying from a vendor quickly to give the illusion they were eating as she paced around a long line for Salutes.

As Hubblood ordered his food, he glanced over at his A.I.M. client. He had just one thought on his mind, that this client was the one who sent the A.I.M. after him and he was not about to do anything that would endanger him. He knew the packets within the briefcase wouldn't fool forever, but they would buy him time. His thoughts were interrupted when he looked up and his eyes fell on the Wreckers, the weird girl in a clown mask having him feel something wasn't quite right about the situation. He tried to make his A.I.M. client leave the cafe but the client wasn't done yet.

After the line moved forward Cutie tried to make it look like they were making a fast and sudden right, hiding behind another group of teenagers. Hubblood did not seem to notice the diversion, he was deep in conversation with his client, who seemed almost desperate to be get the package and get this man off his back.

Noelle realized that Hub was getting suspicious. She saw the elevator open up behind way back the cafe, her other group coming out. Making a brisk stroll and trying not to start a panic, she made her way forward. Now that there was currently only one person paying attention

to them, her plan was to wait for a clear shot to get his attention. But when she stood, he caught her off guard, got up in a hurry and knocked her to the floor. She rolled and he came down on top of her, Noelle trying to keep her rubber mask on tight.

"What is the meaning of this?" The A.I.M. client asked. Vixen, the Ripper and Vandal started to corner him. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

Meanwhile Brick and Blackbox were starting to make their way towards Hubblood.

 

When he saw the two making the way towards the crowd towards him, he ran. Brick took notice and started shoveling his way through others to make it thru.

The A.I.M. client ran towards Brick. "You, you were with the Merchants during the mining crisis abit back! I never should've trusted a flake like that, please get me out of here!" He begged.

"Get out of my way-" Brick was interrupted by a fist. Vandal started punching Brick. Brick started punching back.

The Ripper was about to charge on him too when Thea jumped on him. Cutie made her way up, got on top of Hubblood and was about to start raining kicks down on him, when Noelle saw a way to distract the A.I.M. client. Hubblood swung his suitcase and threw Cutie off.

Vandal and Vixen made their way through the panicking group, Brick went for the fleeing fennec and blocked them both, but Blackbox pulled him aside.

Cutie, who was on the ground, started to crawl, scratch and bite at Hubblood's legs to no effect, Vixen and Vandal stopped Blackbox from going after the A.I.M. member.

While Brick started to grab a hold of him, while both Wreckers grabbed Hubblood and Vandal and started moving him out of the cafe's main lobby, backing him up inch by inch.

They stood as captives facing each other, a screaming population clearing away inbetween. "Finally. Wait a minute.." Brick looked at the client. Vandal grunted at Hubblood.

They looked ahead face to face. "Trade? I think you got our guy." "You first." Vandal demanded.

They were pushed to the opposite team.

 

In the exchange, Hubblood watched as his briefcase was nearly grabbed by Crazed and walked nervous. With a swing of it, he swatted Crazed back and dashed ahead. He looked at the

A.I.M. client, “This deal fell thru, come find me if you want the package.." He barely got a few feet before he was stabbed by The Ripper, and knee'd to the ground.

Brick looked onwards, seeing Ivan licking his blade as he waltzed behind Vandal towards the man he was facing. "Ivan, it's been a long time. I thought you quit being a hitman?"

The Ripper smirked and smashed his head forward on Brick's Abs. "You can never stop being a hit, man.." And stabbed his knife into Brick's shoulders, twisting it to extend the pain. Brick cried out, the blood splattering, but pushed Ivan forward and slammed him to the ground, before taking off his knife. Hub dashed.

"How's that for a hit?"

Vixen and Blackbox had been throwing kicks during the exchange. Cutie was still trying to get up. She had been knocked into a corner and a table lay smashed beneath her no thanks to the two woman.

Hubblood tried to crawl on the ground to get away. Vixen and the Blackbox both had their guns aimed at him. "Orders to terminate the target if things go south, right?" Blackbox said. Vixen had taken her knife and tried to slice through Blackbox's latex suit, but her blade failed to even dent it.

"That won't work on me. Why don't you jus-" Blackbox started to say something, but Blackbox got punched in the gut by a swipe of Wulfenborn's paw and couldn't continue her sentence. Crazed ran behind a trashcan, right where Hawk was hiding. The two glared at one another, then started to play rock paper scissors.

Wulfenborn roared at Brick and the arriving Merchant with a mighty flex, only for Blackbox to get back up behind her, squeeze her shoulders, watch her eyes go dark and her to fall over unconscious.

Meanwhile Cutie got back up from the floor, finally throwing off the table. She got back up and made her way towards Hubblood and tried to grab his briefcase, him kicking her away desperately.

Hubblood just kept getting up and trying to make a break for it. He just barely made it into the elevator.

"This is the worst plan we've have ever had." Cutie growled.

 

The Wreckers, Brick and Blackbox all tried to get in, the elevator started to close.

Vixen grabbed the briefcase from his hands before they could close fully, pulling them out as his chute went down. Ragnor and Vengence stood behind her. "Hand over the briefcase, and everyone goes home for a cup of tea." Ragnor said.

She refused. Her legs started to turn translucent and body density changing, she was starting to slip through the floor! Ragnor on quick instinct, gripped her shoulders quickly to pull her back up, and tossed her.

Vixen went through the window and looked at the A.I.M. client by the floor next to her, the poor guy was bleeding heavily from his mouth. All the while Cutie got in the next elevator to chase after Hubblood.

"Don't hurt him, we'll help him" The clown masked woman yelled, trying to speak gruff to disguise her voice. The Merchant strolled behind the Inspector and rolled her eyes, tapping her shoulders. "So uh.. who're your friends?"

Noelle turned away, blushing underneath. This was so fucked. "Backup. Just, backup." She replied.

"I most certainly will not." The Merchant whispered.

 

"Don't worry, even if he dies, we get the briefcase." Ragnor cheered, picking up the cargo from Vixen and punching her for good measure. She lifted it up- purple stains started to drip out. "Huh?" She pried it open with sheer strength, breaking the lock. Inside was a glass vial- cracked, the fuchsia fluid leaking everywhere, spilt completely.

The elevator chute started to rise back up. While the Wreckers slit, and Noelle ran away among the crowd in the commotion. The elevator opened and Hubblood was thrown back out,

sliding among the Merchant and Blackbox. Two hooves marched towards him, and with a raise of her hand, floated him back up. Meeks grabbed him by the neck, hand gripping what flesh and blood was left of him. "Ah'am sorry, no refunds."

After a few minutes Noelle arrived, maskless, pulling her jacket from the trashcan and sneaking back in. She pulled a pretzel from her pocket, trashed the clown mask and lazily walked back to the group, food in mouth.

The rest greeted her by showcasing Hubblood and the smashed cargo vial from his briefcase, seeming mostly oblivious to her involvement. Mostly.

The Merchant elbowed her as they were walking and taking the tail out in cuffs.

 

"You really are a piece of work." She said. "Wear a less stupid mask next time." She whispered into her ear, taking a piece of Noelle's pretzel and striding off for some well needed spending sprees.

⍟

 

 

 

 

Noelle laid back on a bench, letting the heat of the Station's artificial sunroof warm her up. The other day's events had left everything in disarray, and with no certainties she resigned to turn to a few moments of bliss before things went inevitably went south. Dark sunglasses lay on her, hands behind her head. Noelle was at the mercy of the world; she could do nothing about it. She felt as if could accept whatever fate had been dealt her way.

There was a knock on the door. Noelle didn't bother to get up, preferring to lay there and bask. She had been told at the station not to answer, and it had been reinforced to her by all the

Denipol agents who attended after they'd supposedly not only broken some kind of invaluable artifact in the stakeout, but nearly let the Ex-Merchant Guild seller get away. He'd since been transferred into Xi custody and was out of her hands. The media was ablaze with criticism of her as the Cargo Investigator, none of it positive. Noelle had heard this story dozens of times already. She was, in a sense, a star.

At the very least, none of it aware the double-role she'd played either. The only one who seemingly knew was the Merchant, and she figured she was self-interested enough that penalizing or risking her relationship with her was a negative. She genuinely liked Noelle and enjoyed their partnership, withholding that little detail was her own way of looking out for her.

"Come in." Noelle said, her eyes staring off into the distance.

 

A familiar face stood in the door. His expression was slightly wary; he had no idea if his arrival would be welcomed or not.

"I'm sorry, I'm here on business. I'm Agent Valken, alright?" The man spoke slowly.

 

Noelle snapped her head to the side, a scowl on her face. She hadn't seen Valken since her days as a Security Chief.

"I recall you. This is not the time, Agent Valken." She stood up and stretched, walking to the door, the agents watching the back of her slim, figure clad legs. "Go to the Station and wait for your superiors. We'll call you if we need you."

"It's about Baron." Valken said wearry, as if afraid to continue.

 

"Yes? Have the charges been cleared against him or what? Last I heard the investigation was ongoing." Noelle rose her sunglasses, a lilt of concern in her voice.

"That's just it, he's.. gone. He escaped captivity two days ago." The Agent handed her a

 

small

 

tablet containing all information of the breakout incident. "I see.." She sighed.

"It's a shock, I can imagine." He said.

 

"Yes, I didn't expect.. I've been wondering where he is, if he's alright.."

"As I said, the Station security has been looking into it. We'll do all we can for him." "Thank you." Noelle nodded and began to shut the door, then turned back. "One more

 

thing,

 

Agent Valken. There is a small matter."

 

"I don't understand.." He moved away from the door and back towards her.

 

"It's a precaution. No, a request. You may have seen a little of what I've become over the last few weeks, but you haven't seen all of it. I'd like you to see it, now." Noelle pulled out the dark glasses off her face. She turned to face Valken, the sunglasses placed on a table.

Valken could feel his face flush red and his eyes widen in shock.

 

"Do you know how much trouble I have had to go through to even be here?" Noelle's tone was quiet, but her words came out in an icy rage.

"What.. What do you want from me?" Valken stammered.

 

"I want you to see the real Noelle for me, the one no one else can see."

Valken stared at Noelle, trying to piece together what she had just said, and why she was doing it. Why was she showing him this? "I'm still getting the hang of this.." Was she a liar or was she really doing this for some reason he couldn't even guess? It was a difficult choice to make. "Watch."

She got upright, cracked her knuckles and put her hands towards him. Concentrating slowly, he watched as she started to wiggle her fingers, something oily, slick and foamy beginning to secrete out. This grew like a bulging aura, bubbling and expanding in a translucent liquid right along her hands and arms, until she formed full on clown gloves, and made a rose of the same slick, gel-like material to boot. He saw her hands still inside the clean bubbly liquid, reflected by its gloss.

"That's.." Valken didn't even know what to say. "What am I to say to this? Do you need my help?"

Noelle shook her head. "It's not a matter of need, my dear, it's a matter of courtesy. Please don't ask any more questions. I just wanted to show, someone. Thank you." Noelle smiled again, but this time a bit more coldly.

"I-if you say so." Valken managed, looking down at the ground. "But I don't know how you can do this. Can you tell me what you're doing?"

"I've already told you, I'm still getting the hang of the whole thing." She said.

 

Valken nodded and looked back up, watching Noelle as she turned away and slipped the dark glasses back on her face. "Is there anything else, then?"

Noelle shook. "That's all. Good seeing you again."

"Best of luck, Chief." A term of endearment if she ever heard one. Before she knew it, he left the room.

She laid back, slipped her sunglasses back on and clapped her hands together. In no time at all she created a slick, rubbery beach ball out of the bubbly aura, bouncing it back and forth abit, before throwing it away without a care.

Her body felt strange recently, tingly and full of life. It was different, like a fever. She walked with an entirely different stride, as if somehow her inner form had somehow changed. Noelle hadn't thought of Baron in days, and she suddenly wanted to get back in touch with him, if she could anyway. It was like a deep, dark shame she had to face, but couldn't do without. Her mind was a maze of emotions, some clear and others blurry. It was a lot to take in. Her life had been so routine for so long now, she'd never had any reason to question what was right or wrong or why she should even care. Until now.

There was a reason. There was a reason for everything she'd done, for everything happening to her, and now she had to go over and get to the bottom of it all over again. Like an investigator, she felt soon she would. She knew it, and now she was tired.

Noelle clapped twice, turned off her lights and took a deep breath. It would be hours before she even managed to fall asleep.