//------------------------------// // Mission Log 16: Emrini in Altipolis // Story: Stolen Minds // by TcogArchitect //------------------------------// Published November 26th, 2013 "How the fuck did an Emrini get here? We are literally in the middle of the military!" "I don't know, but from what we've gathered so far, it's just the one. The problem is, we don't have any idea where it could be hiding, or how long it's been here." "Obviously. So, where was it spotted?" "Here, on the east side." She tapped the map, not far from where we were. "A group of kids were heading home after soccer practice at school, when they heard something rummaging around in an alley. One of them had a flashlight, and shined it down the alley to find an Emrini, digging through a garbage bin. Obviously, it scared the shit out of him. All three of them screamed, and it noticed them. As soon as it charged, though, they all ran. Two blocks later, they finally stopped and looked back, only to find an empty street. For whatever reason, it didn't chase them. We haven't been able to find anything since." I nodded. "Alright. I want to talk to those kids again, make sure there isn't anything else, then I'll check out the alley." "Sounds good to me. I'm coming with you, though. This is way too important to leave you alone with it, and I don't feel comfortable letting anyone else know about it just yet." "Agreed. Let's go." Half an hour later, I was standing outside a high school, still armed, with the commissioner. She led the way inside, and headed for the principal's office. The secretary said that he was currently busy, and to wait. The commissioner sat down, while I decided to go for a less friendly posture leaning against the wall with my arms crossed. A few minutes later, the door opened and a rather punk-looking teenager exited the room. "Try not to do anything that would land you here again, Zach." "Yeah, whatever." The teen left, obviously having not paid any attention to what the principal had been saying. The principal, for his part, sighed and rubbed his temples. He was an older man, the edges of his hair white, and gradually turning a dark brown where it was denser. He didn't have any bald spots, though, so he wasn't that old. He stood at somewhere around 5'5". Pretty short, nowadays, but his stance was that of someone who believed in what he did, and he was proud to say so. Having regained his composure, he turned to us. "Anyway. Yes, what can I do for you today, commissioner? Hopefully not another notice of truancy?" Seelah stood up, smiling as she shook his hand. "No, not today. I just came over to talk to a couple of kids who reported some suspicious activity a couple days ago. Would you mind if we talked to them for a little?" "Of course not! It's good to hear that at least some of the students here are able to talk to the police without being in handcuffs." As we went into his office, she gave him the names of the kids we needed to talk to, and he called them over the intercom to come to the office. A minute later, all three were standing with us, though I was leaning against the wall behind the door, preventing them from noticing me when they came in. They all seemed honest enough, if a little trashy. All of them were wearing jeans that were probably three sizes too big, and held up with straps and belts. The first one, a white kid that was about 5'3", was also wearing a white tank top and had a tattoo of a hard-edged red butterfly on his right shoulder. The second one was a dark-skinned girl with short hair, who stood at almost exactly five feet tall, had on a red t-shirt and a black leather jacket. The last one was hispanic, the tallest of the bunch at around 5'7", and wore a simple black long-sleeved shirt. "Okay," the commissioner began, "I just need the testimony you three gave me the other day again, to make sure nothing changes. It's standard procedure, so no need to worry about being questioned a second time. It doesn't mean anything about whether or not anyone believes you." Before they started, I turned on a jammer that would disrupt any surveillance equipment trying to pick up the conversation from outside. I wasn't particularly worried, but there were procedures about this sort of thing, and this warranted a higher level of paranoia than usual. "So, go ahead and tell me what happened when you saw the Emrini." The first kid spoke up right off the bat. "Well, like we said, we were coming home from soccer practice. The team had all decided to stay later than usual, for a scrimmage. By the time we left, it was dark out. The three of us live right next to each other, though, so we weren't too worried about it. Anyway, we passed by one of the bigger alleys, between a couple of restaurants, when this big clattering comes from down in the dark somewhere." He finished, and the tall one spoke up to continue the story. "Yeah! I had my flashlight with me like I always do - see?" He pulled a small LED flashlight out of his pocket, proving that he carried it around with him. "- so I turned it on to look in. We went in a little ways to try and see better first, and when we found that Emrini there, he was going through the garbage, like a hobo or something. We all screamed - I mean, come on, who wouldn't? - and it turned around, screaming right back." He shuddered at the memory as the girl finally spoke up. "Obviously, we ran. We weren't gonna fight that thing! I mean, I'm all for heroes, but us trying to take down an Emrini would not have gone well." Seelah nodded in agreement as she jotted down a few last notes. "You made the right call. None of you have the training for that sort of confrontation. I think we're just about done here. Right?" I stepped forward, making all three of them spin around and gasp as I spoke and finally made my presence known. "Almost. I just need to know two things; first, if the Emrini you saw seemed particularly large, or if it had spines on its back or tail." They shook their heads 'no'. "Okay, good. Second, if there was anything else in that alley that seemed out of place. An open door, a lowered fire escape, anything. Do you remember something being different about the area from any other time you've seen it?" They all calmed down as I spoke, and shook their heads again. I sighed. "I didn't think you would. Most people have trouble observing their surroundings properly when the adrenaline starts pumping. You're all free to go back to class." They nodded and left, closing the door behind them. "So, Commissioner? Any discrepancies?" Seelah shook her head. "Nope. Almost word-for-word the same story. I was already pretty certain they were telling the truth, but now I'm convinced." I nodded my agreement. "Yeah. Which means there's been an Emrini minor running around Altipolis, doing who-knows-what for who-knows-how-long. We need to find him. Now. Let's get to that alley, see if I can figure out where he went." She nodded, put away her notebook, and we both waved our goodbyes to the principal as we left. A short walk later, we were standing in front of a police cordon placed around the alley in question. The commissioner flashed her badge, and the officers present lifted the tape for us. Seelah stood off to one side, allowing me full access to the area. Unfortunately, nothing jumped out at me as being an obvious solution. I walked the full length, but found nothing other than locked doors to the restaurants that used the dumpsters, basic fire escape ladders, and an overturned trash can next to a manhole. Wait a second.... I turned back to the manhole, and knelt down to inspect it more closely. As I thought, the manhole had scratch marks right next to it in the pavement. Like someone had moved it without the proper tools. I put the middle finger of each hand into the two holes in the cover, and heaved it out of its home. I pulled my own flashlight out of my pocket, and shined it down into the hole. At the bottom, there were several visible scratch marks in the concrete, even at that distance. I put the cover back, and returned to Commissioner Seelah. "Well? Find anything useful?" "Not just useful. I found out where this fucker is hiding. Get me city sewer maintenance. I need to talk to them ASAP." An hour later, we walked in the front door of a plain, white building labelled 'Sewage Treatment and Maintenance'. The receptionist directed us toward the director's office, and we quickly made our way there. As soon as we were in, he motioned for us to sit down. The place was nice enough, though perhaps lacking in the decoration department. "So," he started with a little too much enthusiasm, giving away his nervousness, "what can I do to help you today?" "I need access to your employee records, and the full sewer network." I wasn't wasting any time on this, much to his confusion. "Um, sure. Although I'm curious as to why you would need all that." "Does the term 'level six security' mean anything to you?" Apparently it did, because the color drained from his face. "Right. Sewer and employee database record access, coming right up." "Thank you." ---------------------------------------- An hour later, Seelah and I had sifted through about half the records of employees who worked in that area. I hadn't expected it to go quickly, though. We were looking for a veritable needle in a haystack, and it was possible someone had done something, either inadvertently or on purpose, to make the search harder. I was about to suggest getting something to eat, when Seelah gave a shout of triumph. "I found it! Mercury Mercer, no picture, no birth certificate, no place of residence, paychecks made out to cash, and no fingerprint data or social security number." I came over, and sure enough, the file was practically empty. "Don't get excited yet. We'll go through the rest first, make sure there aren't any others like that. Then we'll move. First, we have to make certain we aren't barking up the wrong tree. Going after the wrong guy prematurely could cost us a lot of valuable time. Can't afford to make mistakes like that on this one." She nodded her agreement, and I went back to my seat. With renewed confidence, we blazed through the rest of the files, finding three more employees with similarly empty records. One in four. Much better numbers than previous. We returned to the director's office, printed files in hand, and placed them in front of him so he could read the names. "We need to talk to all four of these employees. I suggest calling all of them at once while they're on duty, make it seem more like an inspection or something, so the one we really want doesn't get too suspicious." He nodded, and placed the papers back on his desk. "I'll call the district supervisor, let him know what's going on." ----------------------------------------- Another two hours later, and I was in the sewers, Seelah standing next to me in the shadows near where the supervisor would be gathering the employees for a surprise 'tool inspection'. Numerous police officers had already been positioned throughout the sewers, each armed with hard rubber bullets, stun guns, and halogen flashlights, to take the Emrini down without killing him. I wanted him alive, so we could find out what he had been doing down here, and for how long. If it came down to it, though, I still had my shotgun and rifle, just in case things got too risky. I started planning out a chase, so if he bolted, I would be ready to cut him off. I was shaken out of my musings, however, by a tap on my arm. I turned to see Seelah biting her lip nervously. "So... if this works, and you're available afterward..." I decided to nip this in the bud. "I'm taken." "Oh." We lapsed back into silence, and waited for the supervisor to call in the mock inspection. When he did, it wasn't long before the relatively open area became crowded with bodies, all decked out in uniforms and sewer-cleaning equipment. Two figures, though, caught my eye. The first was hunched over, and had on a long, brown cloak, obscuring the wearer's features entirely. The other was also hunched over, but had on what appeared to be a hazmat suit with a darkened view window. Either one could be an Emrini, the way they were dressed. I would find out which soon enough, though. The supervisor went through the ranks, saying each person's name in turn as he went, making sure we could hear each one. "Get ready," I whispered, "It's about to get loud down here." I tensed my muscles as the supervisor approached the guy with the hazmat suit. He said the employee's name like every other, but it wasn't one of the ones we picked out. In fact, I remembered the file. He had a skin condition that required him to wear that suit at all times, and it needed to have a dark window to prevent the condition from getting agitated. And then there was one... I moved forward, straight toward the cloaked employee. As I approached, though, the supervisor glanced in my direction, then in the employee's. He seemed to notice this, and turned to see what the supervisor was looking at. And then all hell broke loose. He immediately spun around, and shoved through the few people between him and the exit. He leaped over the water, making his cloak flare to reveal his tail, wrapped around his midsection like a cummerbund, eliciting cries of fear and confusion from the assembled workers. "He's bolting! All units, get ready!" I immediately began pursuit as Seelah issued her orders, making the same jump as the Emrini, even with my guns. I ran full-tilt after him, reminding myself of the route I had planned out earlier for this direction. I made an early left, and then the next right, watching the Emrini pass the exit significantly closer than he had been before. I slid around the corner, picking up my speed again as I stood back up. I heard shots fired, but the sound of continued fire, followed by cursing, told me the chase was still on. I followed him through the tunnels, until we had left the perimeter that had originally been set up to prevent him from going too far. Now, it was just me, chasing him back to wherever he was headed. I kept on him the whole way, only slowing down for corners, to keep from falling into the river of garbage we ran next to, and losing even more time to the sludge. Eventually, I knew we were getting near the end of the system. We had run a significant way, and he had gone in a relatively straight line. He made one last turn, and I followed him into a large, open area. The sewage dropped off into a cavern, echoing around the space and drowning out any direction to other sounds. I readied my shotgun again, moving forward slowly as I more closely surveyed the environment. The entire area was shrouded in darkness, making it hard to see, but I could make out enough. The walkway I had been on continued into the open air as a catwalk, suspended from the ceiling by thick cables. The catwalk led to one of four large pillars, coming from the ground far below, and more catwalks connected them to other spillways from other directions. The rest of the space was filled with numerous levels of catwalks, connecting to an uncountable number of valves and consoles. Obviously, this was a control center of some sort, possibly forgotten by the sewage treatment facility staff entirely. The pillars, though, interested me the most. There was what appeared to be surveillance equipment filling the top of one, and its neighbor was topped with what appeared to be a bedroom, sans the 'room'. There was a large bed, magazines strewn about the floor, and a dresser with several photographs on it. I approached the first pillar, with the surveillance equipment, and noticed, as I got closer, that none of it seemed to be turned on. In fact, most of the machines looked like they hadn't been touched in a long time. I relaxed my pose, and called out to the Emrini. I knew he was in there somewhere, hiding in the shadows. "You might as well come out, now! I found you out, I followed you to your base of operations, and now I know about your equipment. Whatever you were hoping to achieve here, you've failed. It won't take me long to get out of here, and once I do, I'll have the whole military down here, sniffing you out. There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. You decide to cooperate, though, and I might be able to make your life a little less painful." I took a few steps forward, searching the darkness for any signs of movement. The sound echoed off the walls, accentuating the snarling and hostility in his voice. I decided to see what kind of effect me using his language would have. There was silence for several seconds. More silence. What the hell are you talking about? I thought curiously. This could explain quite a bit, if I can get him to keep talking about it. I heard a snarl from the blackness, obviously not happy about being insulted. I grinned. Once more, the cavern fell quiet, except for the waterfalls. After a few seconds, the shape I had picked out as the Emrini stood up, exactly where I predicted. He jumped down from catwalk to catwalk, until he landed heavily next to the bed. He stood up, and put his claws above his head. I walked up behind him, keeping my shotgun ready as I put a set of handcuffs on him, specially designed to hold an Emrini's tail as well, to prevent them from using it to escape. Once he was bound, I turned him around, and started walking back the way we came. I love photographic memory.