The guns and boots were loaded into the back of a black SUV. Pharynx made his way over to the driver's door, so Aria walked around to the passenger. As she got in, she gave the door an extra firm slam to shut it.
"So are you finally going to tell me what the assignment is?"
"Seat belt," Pharynx said as he grabbed his own, snapping it in place.
Aria let out a low growl, rolling her eyes. With her middle-finger, she grabbed her belt and pulled it across her body, snapping it in place.
Pharynx glanced at her, then returned his attention to the car. He started up the engine, pulled out of the parking spot, and headed for the garage exit. The drive went on in silence, making their way through the city streets.
It was as they were reaching the edge of town that Pharynx finally spoke.
"Around three a.m. this morning, we picked up an energy surge in Ursa Major State Forest. One that was very similar to the readings we get for Equestria. Shortly after eight this morning, a camper was found on the side of a hiking trail, severely injured. The wounds look to be inflicted by a large predator -- which, despite the name, don't exist in the forest -- and during his conscious moments, he talked about the forest coming alive and attacking him."
He shifted to look at Aria from the corner of his eye.
"Any of that mean anything to you?"
Aria shifted, looking through the front window as she tried to think back. After a few seconds she gave a shake of her head.
"Once we went to the surface, our biggest focus was causing chaos and feeding on the negative emotions," she stated. "Didn't exactly bother to learn a lot about the surface creatures beyond whether or not we could control them."
Pharynx let out a small grunt and turned to face the road as he continued.
"Our main assignment is to try and locate, capture, and return the creature to SMILE."
With that, the conversation came to an end. The drive continued in silence, neither speaking. Which was fine with Aria. She turned and stared out the window, watching as the inner city turned into the outer city, which gave way to suburbs, and finally the countryside. Trees blurred into one another, interrupted by open fields and the occasional signpost.
It was pretty boring.
As she caught sight of the big wooden sign that had the shape of bear and the words "Ursa Major Forest" painted on it, Aria thought about how stupid the entire idea was, and by extension, how stupid humans were for such a thing in the first place. They destroy massive amounts nature, claiming it is in the name of "progress," or "civilization," or some other stupid term, and when they realize they might destroy all of it, instead of stopping, they slap a fence around a part of it, and claim "we're not messing with this piece."
Except that was a load of crap. They were constantly messing with it. Like building look out towers to keep eyes out for fires (although, Aria was pretty sure she heard somewhere that people in parks and such would set intentional fires to clear out some of the underbrush and somehow reduce the risk of all out forest fires). The places that were supposed to "preserve" nature would allow hunting, and in some cases needed to because humans had wiped out all the predators, making it so that their hunting was the only thing keeping the prey species from overpopulating and eating everything. Paths would be cut through and maintained them so that people could safely hike. Because driving for hours to spend twenty to thirty minutes doing something they do every day, but surrounded by trees instead of building made so much sense. They also set up camping sites: little areas where people could spend hundreds of dollars to spend a night pretending they were homeless. Then there were camping trailers and recreational vehicles. Because nothing said "one with nature" like being in a giant metal box filled with all the modern conveniences they could get away with.
Taking an exit, the SUV left the main road, and went up along one that led to the entrance of Ursa Major Forest. Although, it turned out not directly. There had been a few more miles and several turns before they finally reached the entrance. There was a small guard shack, with those raisable traffic barricade things blocking the path on each side.
From the shack stepped out a woman in what must have been a ranger uniform. She had a big smile on her face as she made her way toward the driver's side window.
"Good morning," she called out as the window rolled down. "What can I do for you fine folks this nice day?"
Aria managed to catch a glimpse of a smile on Pharynx's face as he turned to lean out the window. A warm and friendly voice came from him as he spoke.
"Good morning, Ranger..." he lifted a hand, pointing at the name tag, "... Blaze." He turned enough to glance toward Aria. "My partner and I are with The Wildlife Department. You heard about the hiker that was attacked."
Ranger Blaze let out a gasp, bringing a hand up to her chest.
"I did," she confirmed. "So horrible. And honestly, kind of strange. There shouldn't be any animals like that out here."
"That's part of why we're here," Pharynx replied. His voice then dropped to a deeper tone. "Can you keep a secret?"
The park ranger gave a nod.
Leaning out the window, Pharynx looked up and down the road.
"You didn't hear this," he said just above a whisper, "but we think someone might be using the forest as a way to smuggle animals."
"What?" Ranger Blaze cried out, getting a quick shush from Pharynx.
"I know it sounds strange," he said, "but in a way it makes sense. I mean, most people don't bother to research what sort of wildlife lives in the park, and they're not going to think much beyond hearing something beyond 'I hope it doesn't come near me.'" Reaching out, he placed a hand on her arm. "Keep this to yourself, though. We don't want them knowing we're onto them yet. Plus, if others find out, they may try as well."
"Right, right," the ranger said with a nod. She placed her hand on top of Pharynx's. "Although I should warn you. The FBI are here as well."
"F...B...I..." Pharynx repeated, getting a nod. "Did they happen to say why they were here?"
"No," she answered with a shake of her head. "They just identified themselves and ordered me to open the gate."
After a second, Pharynx let out a chuckle.
"Well thanks for the heads up." He gave her hand a pat before pulling away. "And don't worry. I promise we want tell them you told us." There was another chuckle. "Although I doubt we have to worry about it. Knowing them, they probably have fill a report on their arrival, and then wait for orders on where to start. In triplicate."
That got a laugh from the park ranger as she pulled away. Walking back to the booth, she did something that made the barricade raise up, letting them pass through.
Pharynx gave her one more wave as they drove by, getting one in return. As soon as the window was up and the shack was behind him, the smile vanished, leaving him with the bored and annoyed look Aria normally saw on his face. His hands shifted on the wheel, tightening.
"The FUCK was that?" Aria cried out.
"An animal attack, even in a state forest, doesn't directly fall under FBI jurisdiction," Pharynx stated. "Even if it was, they wouldn't be able to send agents to investigate so soon." He turned enough to look at Aria from the corner of his eye. "Call headquarters. Inform them that a rival agency might be out here."
Aria opened her mouth to respond, and stopped. The rant she had been building up to was suddenly forgotten as Pharynx's order sank in. Especially the last part, and what it indicated.
"There are other agencies like ours?" she asked.
"At least one that we know of. Make the call."
"Right." Aria gave a shake of her head, focusing on the task she had been given. Reaching for the inside pocket of her dress jacket, she pulled out her phone and turned it on. Among the list of contacts was now one that simply said "office" and had no picture included. A quick tap of her thumb and the phone was ringing.
"Hello?" a modulated voice called out.
"This is Aria Blaze, calling with Pharynx," she announced. "We're at the park, but... he thinks some rival agents may be here."
A second passed.
"Please hold," the voice said. There was a click as she was put on hold. The sound of music now came from the phone's speakers. Aria rolled her eyes, letting out a groan of annoyance. Not for being put on hold, but because of their choice in music. Aria could recognize the tune, some recent pop hit that all the stations played and every television show had to include at least a few bars of. Except they had butchered it. The tempo had been slowed down, and the tune had been turned to an instrumental, with a series of horns filling in for the lyrics.
When that ended and another started, it took a while to recognize the song. Not just because of the change, but because a part of her mind refused to admit that anyone would ever turn a classic like that into elevator music. It was a CRIME! One that could only be corrected in one way: whoever thought this was a good idea would have to be hunted down and sacrificed to the rock gods. The defilement of Lord Flashy Mercury must be avenged!
Before the details of the ritual could be fully developed, the abomination was cut off and the modulated voice returned.
"Thank you for holding," the voice said. "Please continue with your current objective. Should you encounter other agents, try to identify them and the agency they are with if possible. Do not incite conflict or provoke them into doing similar to claim self-defense. Understood?"
"Understsood," Aria answered. Although, she was kind of curious. Was the comment about inciting conflict or provoking such a standard message, one intended toward her? Admittedly, considering her past and what she was, it would be a fair warning.
Some minutes later, they pulled into one of the parking areas for a hiking trail.
As they did, Aria noticed the other black SUV parked there.