1:2:3 Missing (Part 2)

“What do you think you’re doing?” Undulia looked ready to hit her. The alarm continued blaring. She shouted over to Lore to make sure they couldn’t hear her. “I don’t know why the hel Loren brought you here or what sort of alien control you have over him but it ain’t working on me. Your Essex girl story may have worked on someone else but the moment saw you I had a feeling and when you stepped into my office I got my confirmation. So yes, I see you, you orange freak. The only reason you aren’t down there with the other xenos is because he outranks me.” She could see Char was getting uncomfortable “If I could, I wouldn’t hesitate. So give me a reason, I dare you.” Undulia feigned a punch. Char strafed left to avoid it. “Pathetic.” Undulia deactivated the alarm. “Everything alright over there?” She shouted over to Lore.
“Fine, just testing a theory.” They replied. Lore held their eyes closed for a moment, they tried to ignore the pain.
Char returned to the group. “She’s on to me.” She sighed.
“Well, If she tries anything, she’ll have to deal with us.” Lore smiled. They held their Breacher at the centre of the case. As they moved it, it began to tick; faintly at first, the ticking grew louder and louder, faster and faster as it came closer to its destination. Lore flashed up the display before turning to Char and Destiny. “Whoever our criminal is, they were using a knock off Breacher.”
“Sure it’s a knock off and not the original?” Char shook her wrist revealing her leather band.
“It would have to be a knock off. Neither of our devices give off that level of alpha radiation. They give off a bit but nothing that lingers like that.”
“Why look then?”
“When I stood inside, I got a mouthful of metal. Breachers are known for elemental exchange. Excess electrons and neutrons are dissipated into the atmosphere, usually to little effect, creating some weird isotopes sure, but nothing harmful. Destiny suggested I scan for radiation.” Lore turned to face Destiny. She had her nose buried in the folder.
Destiny looked up before joining them. “Given the shatter pattern showing that the case was broken out of not in to, and everything else we know, I believe I have some new information.”
“Care to share?” Char asked.
”There was a device once used by The Protectorate before the invention of the Breacher. It was a one way transporter that relied on an atomic core of plutonium for its power. The Temporal Shredder, known colloquially as a Shredder would be the most likely candidate for the thief’s arrival.” Destiny created a model to show them. The device looked like a test tube crossed with a grenade. It had two small indents at its base so it could connect to a computer.
“Old tech used to steal old tech.” Lore smiled. “Fitting. Do we know of anyone with access to these Shredders?”
“It’s a short list. Only high ranking Protectorate staff would be allowed to access historical items like this. A list that got shorter twelve years ago when The Protectorate announced that all remaining Shredders were either in Inquisitor possession or inert due to radioactive decay. Your name would have been on that list.”
“So an Inquisitor comes to a planet to steal an old sword… Why?” Their mouth suddenly became dry. The throbbing in their head returned.
“Or maybe… Maybe you stole it?” Char joked.
Lore smiled. “Again, why?” Char shrugged.
“Anyway, we should be able to trace the user now. Burnt out Shredders leech plutonium into the atmosphere, not enough to do any damage but enough to create a trail. They couldn’t use it to escape so they’d have to go somewhere.” Destiny gestured to Lore’s wrist. Lore tapped at their Breacher creating a holographic interface. A torch like beam came from their wrist, illuminating a faint cloud emanating from the broken case and trailing toward the broken window.
They followed it as it made its way to the square. Undulia began towards them but they didn’t notice, they continued following the trail. Then, they hit a wall; less of a wall and more a familiar chain link door with two heavy locks stopping them. Undulia caught up.
“Any leads I should know about?” She placed her hand on her pistol.
“We have reason to believe the suspect has entered this area. We need to get in to continue our search.”
“Oh right, because it’s quite a mess back there and I’m going to need something to keep everything calm. Got to be a professional covering his tracks.” She removed her hand from her waist and crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. “We’ve had issues with him before. All of the witnesses have confirmed that this is our guy.”
Lore flattened the sheet out revealing a soot stained skeleton. They looked as though their skin had never seen the sun and their stomach had never known fulfilment. Their hair may have been a different colour naturally but the soot and carbon that caked their skin did well to hide it; most of it at least. Streaks of blue ran through their hair like veins of ore in stone.
“Calls himself Blue.”
“And you’re sure it was them they saw.” Lore took another look. The folded face staring back at them looked so young. “Absolute teapot.” They itched their face. There was an unusual feeling in the back of their nose.
Undulia took the picture back. “He most certainly is.” She screwed it up again and buried it in her pocket. “So, you work out how he did it?”
“He had some outside help. Someone with a lot of tech and no morals whatsoever. He’s likely skipped planet by now though.”
She sighed and rested a hand on Lore’s arm. “That’s something at least. To be honest, I’m glad he’s gone. I’ve arrested him before. Disappeared before we got to the custody desk but the little arsehole wouldn’t shut up about this or that. Wanted putting in his own special cell block because the men’s block wasn’t good enough for him.”
“Wasn’t good enough?” Destiny tilted her head in confusion.
“He’s one of them.” She gestured to the gate. “A freaking null.” The word contorted her face in pained anger. “Never understand them.” She shook her head. “You’re not one of them freaks so stop pretending there’s more than men and women. Humans just aren’t like that. Maybe… maybe there are some exceptions like your null Inquisitor but there aren’t that many. Plus don’t get me started on the paperwork. I don’t understand why we humour them. Just to get ‘THEM’ into my car I had to fill in three different forms. Three! And then when they escaped, TWO MORE!”
Lore feigned disgust poorly. “Absolutely despicable.”
“So you think he really went in there?”
“That’s where the trail leads.”
“Guess you can kill two birds with one stone then.” Undulia moved her hand away and dug it into her jacket. “That’s the gate to the conglomeration.” She handed Lore a black card. “That’ll get us in and out. I’ll let you do the honours.”
“The conglomeration?” Char joined the conversation much to Undulia’s chagrin.
“Illia used to be a violent hel hole until we tamed it. The conglomeration is the result of namby pamby protesters getting in the way of progress and civilisation. It’s where…” Char could imagine how that sentence was going to end. “So, we going in or what. Be just like old times.” Undulia raised a hand. The symbol attracted two heavily armoured and armed officers to her like a magnet.
“Actually, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take a shot at this with just my team.” Lore stepped closer to Undulia blocking Char and Destiny. “As much as I’d love to see you in action, if anyone caught wind of what we were doing, it’d be a PR nightmare and we don’t need that. We can’t let ‘Them’ win.” Lore returned to their original position. “I need to show my ward how we can isolate and interrogate a target without alerting the wider populous.”
With a knowing smile, Undulia dismissed her two men. “Alright then.” She dug into another of her many pockets, removing a picture of a small, squat scientist. “That’s Tolan. You’d be hard pressed to miss him. Good luck.” With a nod and a salute, she withdrew and with her, she took the tension and stress she had gifted Lore at the start of the mission.
Lore sighed as though they’d never sighed before. And immediately, they felt sick. The headache that had been unknowingly gnawing at the back of their head smacked into the front like a spoon through an egg. Their vision blurred as the mask finished falling. Loren was, for now, gone and Lore was feeling the brunt of their actions.
“You’ve got a day in there before I’m sending people after you.” Undulia shouted back. “Twenty six hours.”
Shakily, Lore threw up their thumb before refocussing on not throwing anything else up. They waved Undulia’s card against the lock. There was a loud clang as it unlocked. Reluctantly, the gate opened. As Lore began their stagger through, reached out their hand to break their eventual fall. The need for this became apparent almost immediately. Char and Destiny struggled to catch them as they tripped but, out of the shadows, a small, dirty child put themselves between Lore and the floor.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Lore spoke in a half whisper. “Sorry kid.” They blinked repeatedly. The lower light levels were making their headache slightly less painful.
“It’s ok.” They covered their mouth immediately. “Doc said I shouldn’t talk to outsiders.” With that, they disappeared into the lift.
“You ok?” Char wrapped an arm around Lore.
“I’m fine. Feeling better. Let’s find out where that kid went.” Lore swallowed and began towards the lift. They hadn’t been entirely lying. The further they got from Undulia and the outside light, the better their head felt.
“Ok. Let’s get on then.” Char kept an eye on them as she summoned the lift.
The doors opened. They expected an empty carriage but were instead met by the small child and a short, squat adult.
“You three took your time getting here, come on.” The adult ushered them into the lift, supporting Lore as they walked. “Drink this.” They handed Lore a tincture of fluid. Lore gave it a sniff before emptying it into their mouth. It tasted exactly as it smelt: aniseed and mint. It wasn’t a miracle cure but it was beginning to help. Then the lift began to move. The screeching of the old pulleys tore through them. They removed their Sonics from their case and inserted them. The silence was golden. They took a deep breath and it was like they were breathing for the first time since they landed. The carriage had been lit by the single, faulty light on the ceiling until now. Streaming through the window, artificial sunlight from the wall lamps of the conglomeration. This change heralded their destination. Underground.