Glances
By Mitch, Shaine, and Shatterclaw. Individual rating: PG.
Mitch Wolfstone cautiously sipped at a too-hot cup of coffee as he sat in the Chicago ADP break room. He glanced out the window.
"Hey...isn't that Erik Kohl? The vice president of Genom?"
"Yeah." Detective Jacob, an ADP Boomer, nodded. "His niece got mugged yesterday...looks like one of the Birdman cases but there's something funny going on there. She said 'Birdman' in German but then claimed not to have even seen it."
"Huh. That's odd." Mitch took another sip of his coffee. It was cooling down a bit, now.
Suddenly the diminutive woman standing next to Kohl started shouting. Mitch couldn't hear through the glass, and couldn't read her lips - she was probably speaking in German again. Kohl snarled something back at her, and she recoiled visibly. After a few moments, she began to cry and he folded her into his arms.
"That's horrible!" Mitch gasped, clearly quite disturbed.
Jacob gave him an odd look. "The girl's not exactly a sterling character either. Haven't gotten any reports back on her, yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if she were as bad as him."
Mitch still worried about her...but he tried to put it out of his mind. "Want some coffee?"
Jacob tapped his head, as if to say Made in Japan, then said, "Nah. I usually don't drink that stuff."
///
Two days later, the explosion of a plane at O'Hare drove Shaine Kohl out of the ADP's collective thoughts. Mitch spent the entire day after that sifting through bits of wreckage, unable to get the whole thing out of his mind. Erik Kohl had never been too much of a media darling, or famed for his kindness, but Mitch was beginning to truly dislike the man. All of the Birdman reports up to that point had been positive, benevolent acts and he just couldn't bring himself to believe that these Steel Ravens had taken out Genom's special delivery because of spite.
But it was time to go home and forget about it, at least for a while. He collected a few papers and disks to peruse later that night and left, locking the door behind him.
It was a pleasant enough day and he didn't live too far away, so he decided to walk home instead of taking the B EL. The downtown area was beginning to come alive as evening drew near. People crowded the streets...
Wrapped up in the industrialized beauty of it, Mitch failed to notice the young woman with the laptop until it was too late. She brought her arms up around the computer as she fell, apparently more concerned for its well-being than her own.
"Sorry! Sorry..."
The blue-eyed woman, her hair in a rather unusual layered style, got to her feet and walked off without saying a word.
Mitch stared after her. She looked just like Shaine Kohl...and there were bruises on her face and arms.
"Hello? Can I help you?" She kept going as if she hadn't heard him.
She must be connected to this, Mitch thought as he began to follow her.
She was headed for a low rent district...not a nice place to live. Mitch began to think about what Jacob had said. Was she in league with Kohl? Or a victim? The black and blue mark over her cheekbone didn't look like it had been caused by a hand. More like she'd fallen, or run into something.
The woman stopped as her cell phone began to ring.
"Yeah? Aw, Bell..." Her eyes narrowed as she listened to the person on the other end. "I'll take care of it later.
"La-ter. Do you understand that word?"
She hung up, then ducked over toward a side street. Opening the case at her side, she pulled out a laptop and inserted what looked like a PCMCIA card. She started typing.
Mitch couldn't see it or her very well. It was getting darker, and shadows covered them. Finally, the woman switched to a one-armed hold, giving up on her attempt to keep it in place with just a leg for support, and typed with her left hand only. She was nearly as fast that way as most people were with both hands.
Now Mitch could see the screen. There was a large dialog with the Genom logo on it. She typed furiously, then switched windows, typed in what looked like a login, and waited. A moment later she swore under her breath and began shutting the machine down.
What is she doing getting involved with such a scummy organization?
The cell phone rang again as she packed the computer away. "All right, all right...it's locked solid. I'll have to find another way in tomorrow. See you then."
She was about to hang up when she appeared to hear a voice calling to her from the other end. She brought the phone back up to her ear and began pacing across the alley as she listened.
"How about a direct link into their mainframe?" Belladonna asked.
"You can't do that. They've got it locked down too tight. Access permissions restricted to on-site machines only.
"I have a few other toys to try, but that's more risky."
"If only we could get into their offices...I'm sure we could bypass that crap they call programming."
Shaine winced. "And do you think they'll just let us walk in the front door?"
"Hmm, well there's a first time for everything..."
Mitch radioed his partner: "Get everything we have on Shaine Kohl, copy."
"Crim wants to know if you want to meet with him."
Shaine thought about it. "Yeah."
"Sure thing," Mitch's partner replied. "I'll have a copy of the file for you when you get back."
"Ten-four."
"Half an hour, at the pool hall downtown. Later." Shaine closed the cell phone again.
///
Erik shifted nervously in his chair. Carter was gloating far too much; the call from Tokyo had to have something to do with his recent failure.
He couldn't let himself think about it. Instead he thought of the few records of the battle on the highway after the Raven's planes crashed. Yes, that was much better.
In fact, he had to fight to keep a dazed smile off of his face as he thought about that one Raven and her incredible strength of mind. It would be a nice change of pace to have someone like her, be able to put some effort into breaking down her resistance. The only thing he couldn't stand about Boomers was that they were too damned tractable.
The phone console chimed. "Ah...that must be Mr. Mason now." Carter smiled as she accepted the connection.
"Ms. Carter. Do you have the Steel Ravens for us?"
"No, but I have the one who lost them. Mr. Mason, I believe you know Erik Kohl?"
"Ah, yes, we've met," Erik interjected. "I believe it was the defense convention in Tokyo two years ago?"
"Indeed." Mason clearly wasn't pleased by the interruption. Kohl was a fop and fond of Boomers on top of it; Mason couldn't stand him.
However, he was a useable fop. Much better than that harpy Carter.
"I sincerely hope that we can put this behind us and find some way for me to atone," Erik continued smoothly, smiling at Mason. He didn't think the other man was the type to fall prey to his false charms, but there was no harm in trying. "After all, as Ms. Carter has said, I have never failed the company before."
"Why, Erik...I don't remember saying that!" Carter batted her eyelashes at him.
"I remember it," Mason replied, and was slightly shocked when Erik winked at him. Carter's back was turned to her subordinate, and she missed the gesture.
Mason indicated his receipt of the message with a slight jerk of his chin, almost a nod. "Now, if we could get down to business...?"
///
The pool hall was just on the edge of the rebuilt district, and not much nicer than the area surrounding Shaine's apartment. She paid for a table and chose the shortest cue.
Mitch, following close behind, found a spot at the bar. A meeting with Erik, dear? Her bruised face and the intent expression she'd worn during the phone conversations made her seem much older...too old to be Kohl's niece. And far too old to be the girl who'd cried her eyes out onto his shoulder half a week ago. Mitch began to wonder if she really was who she said she was. His wife, perhaps? Or his toy. Maybe that's why she didn't want to come down to the station and talk about the mugging. She's afraid her story won't stand up to questioning...
A large, dark-skinned man began to walk toward her. "Hey, man! Where ya been?" Shaine went up to him and embraced him.
Another boyfriend? Mitch asked the barkeep for a cup of coffee. It was awful, but warm.
"Right here playing pool, kiddo."
Shaine went up on her tiptoes and began to whisper to him.
"Crim, there's a man tailing me. Looks like police."
"Yeah, I know."
Something's up...what are they saying?
"He's tailing you? Why?"
"I don't know. I ran into him on the street and he just started following me."
"Is he ADP?"
"Looks like it. Nice clothes, but not too expensive...and knows how to stay out of sight pretty well."
Mitch sipped the coffee as he continued to watch. Conversation's getting pretty tense. Jealous ex? There's something here that I just can't put my finger on...
"He's over at the bar..." Shaine laughed softly. "Drinking coffee."
"So, how's life been?" Crimson's voice was pitched louder...obviously meant to be heard. It was a feeble remark to be making so far into an emotionally charged conversation.
"Great, great!"
"Yep," Crimson whispered. "ADP, probably a scientist or support staff." Then he raised his voice again. "I'm getting hungry. What about you? Want to go grab something to eat?" He didn't give her a chance to answer. They rushed out the door, his arm around her in a possessive fashion.
Mitch threw a couple of dollars on the table to pay for the coffee, then followed them out.
///
Well, Erik thought. Perhaps that wasn't so bad.
He hummed to himself a little as he walked back down to the labs. Evon stood near the door, leaning over a subordinate's shoulder.
Evon turned. "You're going to have to tell me more about what we're using this new design for. I can't go any further on what you've given me."
"Of course. If, ah...we could go into my office?" Evon reluctantly followed him.
Once inside, Erik sat down and rested his chin upon one hand, staring off at an angle toward the window.
"Well? Are you going to give me the new Boomer specs or aren't you?"
Still gazing out the window, Erik murmured, "Actually, there was something I was hoping you could tell me."
"Oh?"
This isn't the way I wanted to bring this up...but I do need a new Boomer soon and I want it to be as true to life as possible. "That tattoo Shaine had on her back...what was it again? I only ever got to see a little of it."
"Tattoo? Erik, you're out of your mind! She never had any tattoo!"
"Oh. I suppose she didn't tell you. Or show you, rather. I just saw a bit of it, like I said. It looked like some sort of circle...made out of rope? Some sort of coil?"
Something in Evon's face changed. Switching to Intellectual Mode, I see. Nice trick, to be able to counter any trauma by treating it as if it were an engineering dilemma.
"An...ouroborous, maybe? She always loved that show 'Millennium,' and that was the logo. And Dana Scully on 'The X-Files' had one like that. An in-joke."
"Ah...yes, that does sound like her." Erik smiled contentedly. He turned to look at his brother. "Yes, I think I have those new specs right here." He slid a manila folder out of his desk drawer and set it on top of the desk.
///
Mitch heard Shaine's voice drift out of the alley. He cautiously approached the corner, then peered in.
The next thing he saw clearly was the barrel of Shaine's gun. The huge, dark-skinned man with her must have pulled him off of his feet as he was dragged into the alley.
"Hold it right there, ADP."
"Play nice, Mrs. Kohl," Mitch shot back.
"Mrs. ...?" Shaine looked puzzled. "No. She died three years ago."
Mitch raised his hands in surrender.
"Get in the car." Shaine got into the backseat with him, then the Barracuda turned into traffic.
"Hey, Chief, what's your badge number?" That was the large man, who was driving. Shaine got out her laptop again, and connected via cellmodem. She had no trouble breaking into the ADP's personnel files.
"The name's Mitch."
"Got 'im, Crimson."
Cyberthugs, Mitch thought.
Shaine laughed in triumph. "He's a police scientist! We've got ourselves a lab coat!
"You're pretty good for a lab coat, ADP..."
"Had one already. He died."
"So where are we going?" Mitch asked.
"I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you. Don't you know that?" Mitch smiled at her, and she smiled right back.
"What are you doing in my car?" Crimson asked.
No answer.
"Hey!"
Mitch played it cool; he still had the revolver at his ankle and Shaine's attention seemed divided between the Miyako in her left hand and the laptop in her right.
"He's talking to you, ADP."
"Well?" Crimson stopped the car.
Mitch remained silent. Crimson grinned.
There was a springing motion under Mitch's seat, and the next thing he knew he was flying through the air.
"Crimson?" Shaine asked, worried.
"That was fun."
Shaine laughed a little as she realized that he'd had it all planned. Mitch found himself sitting in the middle of the street, with the seat cushion still beneath him.
"Hey, Crim, turn the radio on!"
Mitch could hear the loud music coming from the car as it drove off: ...tell me something that I don't know/You know nothing about the world around you.../It's not enough/Broken in two/It's not enough...
"Sure thing, Coyote! BEEP BEEP!" Crimson turned, and the car headed for his house on the New Gold Coast.
///
"This has been a fun night," Mitch muttered to himself. "You and your friend won that one...but you two have just become my new hobby."
Back at the station, Detective Jacob met him at the door. "Are you all right?"
"No!"
"Need coffee?"
"Yes," Mitch sighed desperately.
Jacob set the cup and the file on Shaine Kohl down together on the table.
There wasn't much there. A report on the mugging incident, and a note that she disappeared from her new apartment - bought by Erik Kohl - the next morning. Another note stated that more information had been requested from the Michigan police and the FBI. The department was trying to squeeze some information out of the Windsor police as well, but Canadian officials seemed reluctant to offer any help. Which made it all the more easy for her to hide.
Mitch walked to the records rooms and got a copy of the reports on Crimson. There wasn't much more there, either. Rumor...innuendo...some said he was the "Birdman."
"Birdman, huh?" Mitch murmured as he sipped his coffee.
"Oh, don't tell me you're going after that one! You have any idea how many hotshots have taken that one on? And found nothing?"
"What do you know about this?"
"What's in the file. That's it." Jacob lowered his voice. "Looks like Genom's got a vested interest. Whether it's in stopping the Birdman or helping him, I don't know. But Kohl sure went ballistic when the girl mentioned it..."
"Yes, but I guess that's to be expected after a close encounter with these Birdmen. I had one tonight..."
"You what?"
"I tailed them but turned up nothing."
"Tailed who?"
"Miss Kohl and her Birdman." Mitch's voice went sour. He sipped at the coffee.
Jacob got out a tape recorder. "Tell me what you saw."
"Put it away, Jacob. This was nothing."
"You do realize that I have to report this...and the fact that you won't discuss it with me."
"Report what? Incredible tales and inconsistent data?"
"There's nothing but rumors and inconsistencies in the Birdman file." Jacob's voice dropped again. "But for some reason, some higher-up wants to keep it from being closed."
"I'm going to find the connection," Mitch announced.
"What connection?"
"They're cyberthugs!"
"What?"
"How old is your programming, Jacob?"
"Genom...cyberthugs...the Birdman...and Kohl's niece. Sounds like you've been shooting up with something, man."
"I'm not laughing, Jacob."
Jacob shook his head. "Don't start playing Mulder, Mitch. Those are some hot topics, and if you get the wrong people angry.."
"Sorry." Mitch winced. "I still don't understand why people get so jumpy over office politics."
"I just don't want to see you lose your badge over this."
Mitch finished his coffee, then grabbed his coat. I need to stop at Murphy's...
Inside the bar, he soon met its owner and bartender, Angus. "Mitch, do you want a Guinness, lad?"
"Only half a pint tonight, Argus."
Mitch threw a hand of darts to calm his nerves, then walked over to the bar.
"Tough day, lad?"
He grabbed the glass and took a sip. "Yes, and interesting too...
"I just have to watch my step, Argus."
"Aye. The world is a complex place."
Mitch smiled and threw a five on the bar.
After two more rounds of darts, he was relaxed enough to continue on home.