X File Eve
Part 2
A Parasite Eve 2/ X-Files x-over fic
By: M.H. Torringjan
November 22, 9:40 a.m.
MIST Headquarters, Los Angeles, California
Aya Brea sat at her desk in the office section of the MIST building in LA.
She had only been there for forty minutes, and she was already bored. She
considered going down to the shooting range for a while to get in some target
practice. She might take on level five that morning. That's how bored she was.
She turned on her computer and logged on to the network. She checked her E-mail
account for the first time in a couple of days. Only a couple of junk mails
that had made it through the complex web of spam-block that Pierce and Maeda had
installed in the E-mail system. She deleted them and opened the solitaire
program to play a few rounds. After a few rounds of losing, she got tired of
that and turned off the computer.
She looked at the picture on her desk of Eve and Kyle at the park. On the
days when she had nothing to do, she started missing the two. Kyle had been
back for two months, but she still had no idea of where he lived or of his phone
number. He had told her that it was to protect himself. She had insisted that
he didn't need to secrete himself if he wanted protection. He had dismissed the
idea as though it had come from a child. Aya had ignored the subject since
then.
She walked into Maeda's and Pierce's office. Maeda was working on the
computer, as always. Pierce was on the phone with someone.
"Morning, Maeda!" Aya said. She leaned against the door, since both of
the chairs were taken (as usual; she wondered if the two ever left the office).
"Hello, Aya!" Maeda said, looking up from his work. "What you need?"
"Well, I was coming in here to check if Pierce would come with me in the
target range for a while," Aya said.
"He might be able to help you later," Maeda said. "We think we've found
another carrier in the area, and he's trying to talk them into meeting with us."
Pierce slammed the phone down into its cradle. "God, I hate it when they
don't listen! Bastard wouldn't even meet with me so that I could explain it to
him easier!"
"That's too bad, Pierce," Aya said. "And I always thought you such an
influential speaker."
"Well, I gave him our number, so he may call back later on," Pierce said.
"Hopefully, *before* he lays waste to the city."
"So, Pierce, can you come and help me with the target range?" Aya asked.
"I suppose so, Aya," Pierce said. "Think you can hold down the fort for a
while, Maeda?"
"I should be fine," Maeda said, waving them away. He looked back to his
computer and began typing away again.
Pierce and Aya walked down to the parking level and into the shooting
range, which was empty as usual. Usually, she and Rupert were the only ones who
used it. Most of the others thought that the only good training was in the
field. Really, Aya only used it for recreational purposes (which she was able
to justify by saying that she was training). Pierce took his place in the booth
and waited for Aya to get ready. She donned her shoulder holster and earphones
and took her place in the booth.
"Ready, Aya?" Pierce asked through the PA system. She nodded back to
him. She was using her favorite, the M93R. "Music?" he asked. She held up
three fingers for track three, "Heaven-Sent Killer." "What level?" She held up
all five fingers. Pierce gasped and turned the dial. "You know the drill," he
said as she walked out onto the floor and to the back of the room. She pressed
the "A" on the back wall and waited for the targets to appear.
Pierce stood in the control room and watched through the window as Aya
danced circles around the targets. They had recently gotten a new batch of
targets with new pictures painted on them. They were worth more points and
mixed in with the old batch of targets. Pierce watched the small monitor that
told him where all the targets were located and how many points Aya had racked
up. He watched as Aya was struck by her blind spot, behind the barrier. He
could see the annoyed look on her face when she realized that that was where she
had missed and always missed.
The clock was at one and a half minutes remaining, and there were more
targets appearing. Pierce looked at the score and noticed it go down by three
thousand points. Aya had just shot a woman target. She frowned again and went
back to shooting. The phone started ringing, and Pierce picked it up.
"Pierce," he greeted.
"Pierce, it's Rupert. Aya's there, right? She wasn't at her desk, so she
has to be there," Rupert said.
"No, she's in Aya Land right now. I'll call you back when she goes sane
again," Pierce said.
"Funny. Tell her to come to my office when she's done on the range. It's
important," Rupert said and hung up.
Pierce watched as the clock on the monitor ticked down to zero. Aya ended
up with one-hundred thousand points even, even after having shot four women
targets. He couldn't blame her shooting a few women on level five. She didn't
usually shoot any on the lower levels, so he doubted that she would in real
combat. Besides, how often did people actually run across the path of the
NMC's?
"Great job, Aya! That's enough to get you two-hundred BP!" Pierce called
in. The rewards were small, but it was fun anyway. "Sorry, but you don't have
enough time for another round right now. Rupert wants you in his office."
Aya frowned and walked out of the range. Pierce followed her back up to
the office section of the building and waited outside while she talked to
Rupert.
"So, getting bored sitting around here?" Rupert asked as Aya sat down in
the chair across the desk from him.
"Well, it has been a good month since I went out on assignment," Aya said.
"Not much big has happened in the way of NMC activity since the Neo Ark stuff
went down."
"Well, what do you expect? Without the express help of humans, there's
not going to be that many naturally occurring NMC's," Rupert said. "And
actually, that's why I called you in here. We got a fax from the Atlanta MIST
office asking for some assistance on an outbreak in the Okefenokee Swamp in
Florida. They've lost two agents on this, and they haven't seen those species
of NMC's before. When they described their outbreak, it sounded to me like
ANMC's."
"Do you think there might be another facility?" Aya asked.
"That's the only place that ANMC's could come from, as far as we know,"
Rupert said. "Of course, I'm not saying anything with any certainty. I just
think it would be a good idea if you went out and looked around, killed what
NMC's and ANMC's you could, and got the Atlanta office out of a jam."
"Could I maybe be able to fly? That's a hell of a drive. And by the time
I got there, the town might be reduced to ashes."
"I don't think so," Rupert said. "First off, you need a weapon, and I
doubt that'd make it through security. Second off, I doubt that the central
office would be willing to pay for the rental car, especially if some Scavengers
trashed it like last time. Just drive out there as quickly as you can."
"It's a good thing my car gets good gas mileage," Aya sighed. Rupert
handed her a map before she walked out of the room. Pierce met her as she
exited.
"So, what's up, Aya?" Pierce asked. "Got another guy in a chicken suit to
chase?" It had been an inside joke since the false alarm the year before.
"No, it's bigger this time," Aya said. She explained to him what Rupert
had told her. "So, I'm heading out to Florida, the Okefenokee Swamp. Do you
think you could take Eve for me while I'm gone?"
"Sure, I'll take care of the kid," Pierce said. "She's real fun to have
around. As long as she doesn't call me 'Uncle Pierce.' How long'll you be
gone?"
"Good question," Aya said. "May be two days, may be a week. Any problems
so far?"
"Not at all!" Pierce said. "Hey, don't forget to pack your Mickey ears.
Everybody wears 'em around there."
"I'm not getting within a hundred miles of that place, if I can help it,"
Aya said, "Unless it's to spend a week in a resort, NMC-free."
"I heard that," Pierce replied, his eyes glazing over slightly as he
fantasized about spending some time in a resort. Aya found it hard to believe
that he'd want to leave work for much of anything, but she suspected that he was
more fantasizing about him spending that week in the resort with her. She knew
he had a crush on her, but she was too embarrassed to bring it up, especially
considering the whole thing with Kyle.
"And don't worry about coming to look for me this time," Aya said. "I
really don't want you getting hurt like you did last time."
"Don't worry? You know I can't do that, but I will stay here with Eve,"
Pierce replied. "If you can handle some ugly ultimate beings armed only with a
grenade pistol, then you can handle whatever they throw at you. And remember,
call me if you need anything."
"I will," Aya said. She hugged Pierce quickly and walked away towards the
lockers. She opened hers and pulled out the equipment she would need for the
time being. She grabbed her M4A1, her .44 Mongoose, her M93R, her Tactical
Armor with additional slots, and her GPS. As an afterthought, she grabbed her
box of charms she'd collected during her adventures. She only had three, the
Skull Crystal, the Medicine Wheel, and the Ofuda, and she only used two of them.
She could hardly carry the things that she already had. Why would she need to
get more stuff when she killed NMC's?
She rode the elevator downstairs because of the load she was carrying.
She had more supplies in the trunk of her car for when she got there. She'd
need to fill up on ammo, first of all. She was running low on Maeda Specials
and rifle rounds. She walked to her car and dropped her guns and armor in the
trunk. Jodie was in the Armory, as usual.
"Morning, Aya! What can I do for ya'?" Jodie asked when Aya walked in.
"I need some ammo," Aya said. "I'm heading off on a mission to Florida."
"Ah, the Sunshine State! Or is that Hawaii? Well, either way, try to
have a good time when you're not taking care of those NMC's. What type of ammo
you need?" Jodie exclaimed.
"I need five boxes of rifle rounds and ten of Maeda Specials," Aya said.
"Wow! Gonna be a big mission, is it?" Jodie said. She walked in back and
brought out the requested ammo. "Okay, just scan your counter," Jodie said,
picking up the scanner and programming the number of BP into it. The light
flashed in Aya's left eye, deducting the required BP from her account.
"Thanks, Jodie! See you later!" Aya said. She picked up the ammo and
walked out to her car. As she stowed it in the trunk, she heard someone
approach her from behind. She turned, startled to see Kyle standing behind her.
"Boo!" he exclaimed.
"You should know by now that you can't sneak up on me," Aya said.
"One of these days, I'll catch you off-guard," Kyle said, grinning.
"Actually, you've got good timing," Aya said. "I'm heading out on a
mission. You up to coming with?"
"Where is the mission?" Kyle asked.
"The Okefenokee Swamp in Florida," Aya replied. "Rupert thinks there may
be another facility out there."
"There is," Kyle said.
"What? How do you know?" Aya asked.
"Remember I said that I was working with the government to find out
information and subdue the uprising in the Mojave facility? Well, they told me
about the facility there. They only said that it existed, but not much else. I
don't know where it is or how extensive it is compared to the Mojave facility,"
Kyle replied. "And no, I can't go with you. It wouldn't be safe for me to go.
Their golems would probably recognize me and kill me on sight."
"They have golems?" Aya asked.
"Yup. All of the facilities do," Kyle said.
"You mean, there are more?" Aya asked.
"Of course! What self-respecting global power restricts its research to
one facility? That would make it so easy to destroy millions of dollars and
years of hard work," Kyle said. "Simple economics, Aya. Why have just one when
you can have two for twice the cost? Or more than that for however many more
times the cost, as the case may be."
"So, where are the other ones?" Aya asked.
"Darned if I know," Kyle said. "I may be a well of information, but I
don't know absolutely everything."
"Well, I've got to be getting on the road if I want to get there in time
to save the day," Aya said. "While I'm gone, could you do something with Eve?
She hasn't seen you in two weeks, and she misses you."
"Sure," Kyle said. "I'll take her out to a movie after school day after
tomorrow."
"Really, it's been a year now," Aya said. "Do you still have to be so
secretive? I'm sure they aren't looking for you anymore."
"I wouldn't put it past them," Kyle replied. "Look, after you've put this
place out of commission, we can talk about declassifying me."
"Thank you. I'll talk to you later," Aya said.
"What, no good-bye kiss?" Kyle asked, which earned him the kiss that he
wanted.
"There. Will that last you until I get back?" Aya asked, grinning.
"I don't think so. Maybe another one-" he was cut off by Aya kissing him
again, deeper this time. "Much better. Talk to you later!"
"Could you open the gate for me?" Aya asked. "The control's over there."
She pointed to the small box on the wall beside the door. Kyle went to it and
pressed the button to let Aya speed away in her relatively new car.
November 24, 2001, 9:15 p.m.
Harden Sheriff's Department
Aya parked her car in front of the Sheriff's office. She was relieved
that the city was still there after she had taken so much time driving. On her
way in, though, a few of the buildings didn't look too healthy. She wasn't sure
if that was the work of NMC's or if it was the natural state of buildings there.
At least the town was larger than Dryfield. She considered taking a short
detour on her way home to visit Dryfield and Mr. Douglas. It had been a while
since she had heard from or seen him.
She walked into the building and approached the front desk. She showed
the man at the desk her badge. "I'm Aya Brea with MIST. I was told that
someone here was asking for me."
"Man, more FBI?" said the man behind the desk. "You think there's enough
of you out here yet?"
"There may not be," Aya said. "So, who was asking for me?"
"I don't really know, but they're all in back right now," the man at the
desk said. Aya walked behind the desk and through the door into the "back
room." There had been three cots set up in the middle of the room and the other
furniture pushed to the side. Three people were in there, dark rings under
their eyes. One was an older man with a hard face and black, short hair. There
were two women, one with red, short hair, the other with blonde, long hair.
"Someone ask for a hunter?" Aya asked.
"You're from the LA branch?" the blonde asked. "I'm Laura Flash from the
Atlanta branch. These are John Doggett and Dana Scully from the FBI central
branch. They've been drafted."
"We work with something called the X-Files," Doggett explained.
"Concerning unexplained phenomena. We were called out here on the subject of
the death of a naturalist." Doggett then went on to recount everything that had
happened up until that point. "Nothing has happened since Wednesday night, but
we've been looking around for clues as to what's going on."
"We found something at the hotel that may help," Laura said. She went
into her overnight bag and pulled out a small plastic bag to hand to Aya. The
bag contained a small, metallic implant.
"Well, looks like Kyle was right," Aya said quietly to herself.
"Excuse me?" Laura asked.
"Nothing," Aya said. "I've seen these before. They were used on the
NMC's we found in the Mojave Desert, too."
"The Mojave Desert?" Scully asked.
"About a year ago, I went on a mission to exterminate some NMC's in the
Mojave Desert. While I was there, I found an underground facility that was the
source of the problem and was part of some big conspiracy to transform the whole
of the human race into NMC's," Aya explained. "That facility has since been
destroyed, but apparently, there are others."
"What a coincidence-" Scully began.
"Don't start, Scully..." Doggett said.
"All I'm saying is that we know a little something about conspiracies,"
Scully said.
"Anyway, where are we heading first?" Aya asked.
"The only place we can think of to look for these things," Laura said.
"The swamp is full of them, according to my GPS."
"Which reminds me, could you download the map into my GPS?" Aya asked,
holding out her GPS. A few button pushes later, Aya had the blood-red map
displayed on her screen. They walked out to her car and stuffed it like a clown
car with their equipment and themselves.
They parked the car at the hotel to walk to the swamp. Aya really didn't
want her car trashed again. She turned on her GPS. According to it, there were
NMC's inside the hotel.
"Hey, this place's hot!" Aya exclaimed. "Didn't you clean it out last
time you were here?"
"I thought I did," Laura said. "I guess they repopulated since last
night."
"We'll split up. The two groups will be me and you three," Aya said.
"Are you sure you'll be all right alone?" Scully asked.
"Yeah, I think I'll be okay. I've dealt with these buggers before," Aya
replied. "I'll take the second floor. And you might want to stay downstairs at
all times, just in case."
"In case of what?" Doggett asked. Aya only shrugged in response. She
opened her trunk and grabbed the Tactical Armor, the Mongoose, the M4A1, ammo
for both, the Ofuda, the Skull Crystal, a couple of medicines, and a bottle of
cola, in case she started running low. After equipping, she ran to the second
floor to begin her extermination.
Scully, Doggett, and Laura watched as she ran up the stairs and entered
the first room. All of the rooms had been unlocked when the police went
through, and all of the contents of the rooms left as they had been. A few
moments later, they heard gun shots come from the room.
"Let's get going, you two," Laura said. She handed the two of them their
weapons, an M4A1 for Doggett and an M93R for Scully.
"You know, I'm really not comfortable with this," Scully said.
"Come on, Scully," Doggett said. "If we needed help, I'm sure these
people would be willing to give it to us."
"But I was taught that you should only use lethal force in extreme cases,"
Scully said.
"So was I. I think this counts as an extreme case," Doggett replied.
"If you don't want to do this, Miss Scully, we won't force you to," Laura
said.
"Thank you, Laura," Scully said. She handed the gun back to Laura and sat
back down in the car. "But if either of you needs first aid, I'll be here.
Don't hesitate to ask me."
"That's what we need the most, Miss Scully," Laura replied. "We'll be out
soon enough."
Doggett and Laura walked to the front office of the hotel and walked in.
Upstairs, Aya looked at her GPS. The room was finally clean. She looked
at the melting pile of NMC's that laid across the room from her. She reloaded
the Mongoose. She loved that gun at least as much as she loved the M93R.
Everyone kept going on about how nice the grenade weapons were, but who needed
them when you had this little beauty? She had bought it just after she had
gotten back from the Mojave Desert and had used it on every mission since. She
gave the room a quick look over and found nothing in it of interest.
Aya walked to the next room over, 201, and walked in. She aimed her gun
and took a quick shot at the stranger that was standing behind the bed. It
began to move towards her as quickly as it could. She took another shot, which
knocked it to the ground, where it began to melt. From the bathroom, she heard
the call of a bone suckler. She quickly walked to the door, aimed, and shot.
The sickening splat of the suckler exploding set off two others sitting right
beside it, saving Aya some bullets.
She looked up at the light fixture and saw some moths flying around. She
quickly cast a shot of Plasma to knock them out of the air. The dust floated
harmlessly to the ground as she reloaded and looked around the room. This was
where the first dead hunter had been found. She looked around the room and
found the ownerless weapon, a PO8.
"She expected to take out NMC's with this?" Aya said to herself. "I hope
she had some more weapons waiting for her in her car." Aya walked out to the
hallway to go to the next room. Looking to her left, she saw a pair of snakes
crawling towards her. "Great, more of these guys." She shot the two serpents
as they crawled towards her. One of the shots missed, and that serpent reared
back to strike. Aya ducked as the snake jumped over her head and sailed over
the railing. She doubted that it would die from a fall like that, so she left
it for the others to deal with.
According to her GPS, room 203 was empty. She moved on to 204 and stepped
through the door. A quick glance around the room said that there was nothing
there, but she felt the slight tingle in her body that meant that her
mitochondria sensed NMC's. She walked to the bathroom and looked in. Nothing
was there. She checked under the bed, and nothing was there. She opened the
closet, and bats flew out at her, biting at her face. She quickly swatted them
away and used combustion. She must not have looked hard enough under the bed,
because a scavenger crawled out from under it and bit her on the leg. She
quickly kicked it off and took aim with the Mongoose. Two shots in the head
were enough to calm it down.
Aya reloaded and searched the room for anything she could use. She found
a small first aid kit, which she used to treat the minor injuries she'd
received. The last room for her to worry about was 205, which probably wouldn't
be too much of a problem. She hoped that the others would be all right.
As she opened the door to 205, something inside burst through the door,
throwing her to the ground. Before she could think, something had wrapped
around her and was dragging her inside. Aya looked straight into a face with
very large teeth. She pointed her gun as quickly as she could and fired once
before another appendage took the gun from her. She thought that the shot had
hit it in the mouth, but she wasn't sure. The creature was large enough to fill
half of the room. It had limbs like tentacles and hands with sharp claws. A
quick shot of Apobiosis caused the monster to drop her and her gun. She cast
Energy Shot, loaded her Maeda Specials, and fired away at the monster's
grinning, toothy face.
Five shots later, she had an empty gun, and the creature was still alive.
Aya tried reloading the gun. As she dropped the next six bullets into place,
the creature swiped at her with its tentacle. She was knocked against the wall
with enough force to leave a dent. A small trickle of blood ran down the back
of her head. She'd probably have a headache later on. She stood up and closed
the gun. A few quick shots rid her of the annoying tentacles and opened up her
target area very well. She opened fire relentlessly on the head, reloading only
when necessary. The beast fell easily to the Mongoose without its tentacles.
The final blast came in the form of an inferno from Aya. As it melted away, Aya
found a box of Maeda Specials in the remains, along with a cola and a pack of
riot grenade rounds. She picked all of them up and stopped. Had she just heard
something outside the door?
Doggett and Laura pushed open the door to the front office, the first room
that held NMC's, according to the little GPS gizmo that he had been issued. It
might have been just him, but he could have sworn that GPS was something
completely different than that. Doggett pulled the M4A1 up to the ready and
walked through the door. The overhead light was turned on, as it had been since
the hotel had first been overrun.
Doggett saw one of the creatures that Laura had described to him and
Scully as they walked through the door. He quickly took aim and fired at it in
the back. As it turned, he pumped three more shots into its chest, sending it
sprawling to the floor. Behind him, Laura fired her gun out the door behind
them. Doggett ran into the room and took aim at one of the two rabbit-looking
creatures. He fired a few quick shots and jumped out of the path of the other
one, who quickly lunged at him when it realized what was going on.
He heard a scream behind him from Laura. He shot the rabbit and ran to
her assistance. She had her arms pinned by one of those chameleon monsters, and
her legs were red from some deep wounds that the monster had given her. Doggett
took aim and fired three shots at it, drawing its attention from her to himself.
It began to disappear, and Doggett fired again. It was distracted, and phased
back in. He repeated this process three times, until it laid, melting, on top
of her.
"Do you think you can walk?" Doggett asked Laura. She groaned in
response, and he took that as a negative. He reached into the pocket of his
vest and took out one of the healing bottles that he had. He sprayed her leg
with it and picked her up onto his shoulder. He carried her out to the car,
where Scully stood, looking around alertly.
"That was quick," Scully said.
"Get her to the hospital," Doggett said. As he and Scully put Laura in
the back seat of the car, the sound of a large explosion rocked the second floor
of the motel. "Oh, great. Our expert just got herself blown up."
"Go check it out," Scully said as she sat down in the front seat of the
car. Doggett ran up the stairs as Scully drove away. He walked along the
pathway, noticing that his skin felt a bit warmer than it had a few moments
before. He chalked it up to the increased action and kept walking. He took his
place beside the doors one by one, and looked in quickly, aiming at nonexistent
monsters. As he came to room 205, his skin felt even hotter than it had a few
moments earlier. It was almost like he had a bad sunburn all over his body.
He ducked into the room and aimed his gun. As soon as he did, he
regretted it. The burning sensation in his body flashed to a high point, and he
saw fires begin to ignite on his body. He screamed and threw the gun away,
trying furiously to extinguish himself. A few moments later, the burning died
down, and Doggett held himself, looking up at Aya, who had her gun leveled at
him.
"All right, who are you really?" Aya asked.
"'Scuze me? I already told you who I am," Doggett said.
"No, you told me who you wanted to think that you are," Aya replied.
"I'll have to admit, you had me fooled with the whole X-Files thing. Your
partner gave you away, though, when she said that you knew about government
conspiracies."
"You think she meant *your* government conspiracy?!" Doggett wondered.
"Well, you do work for the government, and why would any other branch of
the FBI get called out here when MIST is sufficiently able to handle the
problem?" Aya replied. "Now, who are you working for?"
"We were telling the truth! When my partner mentioned government
conspiracies, she meant a completely different one!" Doggett said. "She and her
other partner were big into this whole government conspiracy about aliens and
men in black!"
"Yeah, I've heard better stories in the romance section," Aya said. "And
why were you toting that gun at me?"
"We thought you were in trouble!" Doggett replied. "What was the
explosion we heard?" He looked at the ground behind Aya, noticing the rather
large pile of goo that must have been a monster.
"You know what you just felt?" Aya asked. "Try that times fifty. That's
what you heard."
"Well, what caused it?" Doggett asked.
"The monster," Aya said. For some reason, he didn't believe her, but it
looked like he'd have plenty of time to find out the truth.
"And why didn't it effect you?" Doggett asked.
"Good question," Aya replied. She moved her gun from his face to its
holster for the time being. Doggett could tell fairly easily when he wasn't
being told something, it happened so often to him. He'd ferret the explanation
out of her later. Right then, he had other things to worry about.
"Laura was injured," Doggett said. "Scully's taking her to the doctor for
treatment."
"Hopefully, she'll get back soon," Aya said. "My car's got all our
equipment in it."
"Well, until she does get back, maybe we should finish cleaning this place
out," Doggett said.
"Give me a minute. I've got to make a phone call," Aya replied. She
picked up the hotel phone and dialed the number for the LA office. Pierce
picked up the line.
"Oh, hi, Aya! How're things going out there?"
"So far, about the same as always. We've already got two hunters down,
one permanently. I took down a big sucker just a couple of minutes ago.
Haven't seen anything like it, myself. And that's saying something."
"Cool! Sure you don't need any help out there?" Pierce asked.
"I already told you, I don't want you coming out here," Aya said. "You
already got hurt badly once, and I don't want to have to save you again. Now,
if you could pull up some information on two people for me."
"I can do that, Aya," Pierce said. "Who're the lucky contestants?"
"One John Doggett and one Dana Scully. They claim that they're Bureau
agents. Look up the claim for me, please."
"All right, should be no problem," Pierce said. "Oh, and that Kyle guy
dropped by the other day to take Eve out to the movies. Something bothers me
about him."
"You've been saying that for the past two months," Aya said. "So, unless
he didn't bring Eve back, just lay off the guy."
"All right, but let it not be said that I'm not cautious," Pierce replied.
"I'll call back a bit later, when I get a chance, about those ID's," Aya
replied.
"Be careful. We don't want our star hunter knocked out. Besides, this is
still your fight," Pierce said. Aya hung up the phone and turned to where
Doggett was still sitting down.
"Feel better?" she asked him.
"Yeah, the burning's died down for the most part," Doggett replied.
"It usually does. Mitochondria burn through energy pretty quickly when
they have to," Aya said. Doggett raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Never mind.
How much longer will it be until your partner gets back?"
"It may take a while," Doggett replied. "She's a doctor; she'll probably
want to help out when they get there."
"Give her a call and make sure she's on her way back here," Aya said.
Doggett took out his cell phone and dialed Scully's number. "I'm going to clean
out the first floor. How far did you get?"
"We finished the lobby and the parking lot had a few," Doggett replied.
"You think you'll be all right up here alone?" Aya asked.
"I'll be all right," Doggett replied. "Just close the door on your way
out." Aya walked onto the breezeway, closing the door behind her, and turned to
see a green-suited pawn golem soldier standing down the way from her.
She quickly drew her Mongoose and fired two shots straight into its chest,
sending it to the ground with a thud. She walked over to it as it twitched on
the ground and put a final shot into its head. "Well, this'll be fun," she
thought to herself as she reloaded the gun. As long as she didn't run into any
knights, she'd be perfectly happy.
End Chapter 2
Part 2
A Parasite Eve 2/ X-Files x-over fic
By: M.H. Torringjan
November 22, 9:40 a.m.
MIST Headquarters, Los Angeles, California
Aya Brea sat at her desk in the office section of the MIST building in LA.
She had only been there for forty minutes, and she was already bored. She
considered going down to the shooting range for a while to get in some target
practice. She might take on level five that morning. That's how bored she was.
She turned on her computer and logged on to the network. She checked her E-mail
account for the first time in a couple of days. Only a couple of junk mails
that had made it through the complex web of spam-block that Pierce and Maeda had
installed in the E-mail system. She deleted them and opened the solitaire
program to play a few rounds. After a few rounds of losing, she got tired of
that and turned off the computer.
She looked at the picture on her desk of Eve and Kyle at the park. On the
days when she had nothing to do, she started missing the two. Kyle had been
back for two months, but she still had no idea of where he lived or of his phone
number. He had told her that it was to protect himself. She had insisted that
he didn't need to secrete himself if he wanted protection. He had dismissed the
idea as though it had come from a child. Aya had ignored the subject since
then.
She walked into Maeda's and Pierce's office. Maeda was working on the
computer, as always. Pierce was on the phone with someone.
"Morning, Maeda!" Aya said. She leaned against the door, since both of
the chairs were taken (as usual; she wondered if the two ever left the office).
"Hello, Aya!" Maeda said, looking up from his work. "What you need?"
"Well, I was coming in here to check if Pierce would come with me in the
target range for a while," Aya said.
"He might be able to help you later," Maeda said. "We think we've found
another carrier in the area, and he's trying to talk them into meeting with us."
Pierce slammed the phone down into its cradle. "God, I hate it when they
don't listen! Bastard wouldn't even meet with me so that I could explain it to
him easier!"
"That's too bad, Pierce," Aya said. "And I always thought you such an
influential speaker."
"Well, I gave him our number, so he may call back later on," Pierce said.
"Hopefully, *before* he lays waste to the city."
"So, Pierce, can you come and help me with the target range?" Aya asked.
"I suppose so, Aya," Pierce said. "Think you can hold down the fort for a
while, Maeda?"
"I should be fine," Maeda said, waving them away. He looked back to his
computer and began typing away again.
Pierce and Aya walked down to the parking level and into the shooting
range, which was empty as usual. Usually, she and Rupert were the only ones who
used it. Most of the others thought that the only good training was in the
field. Really, Aya only used it for recreational purposes (which she was able
to justify by saying that she was training). Pierce took his place in the booth
and waited for Aya to get ready. She donned her shoulder holster and earphones
and took her place in the booth.
"Ready, Aya?" Pierce asked through the PA system. She nodded back to
him. She was using her favorite, the M93R. "Music?" he asked. She held up
three fingers for track three, "Heaven-Sent Killer." "What level?" She held up
all five fingers. Pierce gasped and turned the dial. "You know the drill," he
said as she walked out onto the floor and to the back of the room. She pressed
the "A" on the back wall and waited for the targets to appear.
Pierce stood in the control room and watched through the window as Aya
danced circles around the targets. They had recently gotten a new batch of
targets with new pictures painted on them. They were worth more points and
mixed in with the old batch of targets. Pierce watched the small monitor that
told him where all the targets were located and how many points Aya had racked
up. He watched as Aya was struck by her blind spot, behind the barrier. He
could see the annoyed look on her face when she realized that that was where she
had missed and always missed.
The clock was at one and a half minutes remaining, and there were more
targets appearing. Pierce looked at the score and noticed it go down by three
thousand points. Aya had just shot a woman target. She frowned again and went
back to shooting. The phone started ringing, and Pierce picked it up.
"Pierce," he greeted.
"Pierce, it's Rupert. Aya's there, right? She wasn't at her desk, so she
has to be there," Rupert said.
"No, she's in Aya Land right now. I'll call you back when she goes sane
again," Pierce said.
"Funny. Tell her to come to my office when she's done on the range. It's
important," Rupert said and hung up.
Pierce watched as the clock on the monitor ticked down to zero. Aya ended
up with one-hundred thousand points even, even after having shot four women
targets. He couldn't blame her shooting a few women on level five. She didn't
usually shoot any on the lower levels, so he doubted that she would in real
combat. Besides, how often did people actually run across the path of the
NMC's?
"Great job, Aya! That's enough to get you two-hundred BP!" Pierce called
in. The rewards were small, but it was fun anyway. "Sorry, but you don't have
enough time for another round right now. Rupert wants you in his office."
Aya frowned and walked out of the range. Pierce followed her back up to
the office section of the building and waited outside while she talked to
Rupert.
"So, getting bored sitting around here?" Rupert asked as Aya sat down in
the chair across the desk from him.
"Well, it has been a good month since I went out on assignment," Aya said.
"Not much big has happened in the way of NMC activity since the Neo Ark stuff
went down."
"Well, what do you expect? Without the express help of humans, there's
not going to be that many naturally occurring NMC's," Rupert said. "And
actually, that's why I called you in here. We got a fax from the Atlanta MIST
office asking for some assistance on an outbreak in the Okefenokee Swamp in
Florida. They've lost two agents on this, and they haven't seen those species
of NMC's before. When they described their outbreak, it sounded to me like
ANMC's."
"Do you think there might be another facility?" Aya asked.
"That's the only place that ANMC's could come from, as far as we know,"
Rupert said. "Of course, I'm not saying anything with any certainty. I just
think it would be a good idea if you went out and looked around, killed what
NMC's and ANMC's you could, and got the Atlanta office out of a jam."
"Could I maybe be able to fly? That's a hell of a drive. And by the time
I got there, the town might be reduced to ashes."
"I don't think so," Rupert said. "First off, you need a weapon, and I
doubt that'd make it through security. Second off, I doubt that the central
office would be willing to pay for the rental car, especially if some Scavengers
trashed it like last time. Just drive out there as quickly as you can."
"It's a good thing my car gets good gas mileage," Aya sighed. Rupert
handed her a map before she walked out of the room. Pierce met her as she
exited.
"So, what's up, Aya?" Pierce asked. "Got another guy in a chicken suit to
chase?" It had been an inside joke since the false alarm the year before.
"No, it's bigger this time," Aya said. She explained to him what Rupert
had told her. "So, I'm heading out to Florida, the Okefenokee Swamp. Do you
think you could take Eve for me while I'm gone?"
"Sure, I'll take care of the kid," Pierce said. "She's real fun to have
around. As long as she doesn't call me 'Uncle Pierce.' How long'll you be
gone?"
"Good question," Aya said. "May be two days, may be a week. Any problems
so far?"
"Not at all!" Pierce said. "Hey, don't forget to pack your Mickey ears.
Everybody wears 'em around there."
"I'm not getting within a hundred miles of that place, if I can help it,"
Aya said, "Unless it's to spend a week in a resort, NMC-free."
"I heard that," Pierce replied, his eyes glazing over slightly as he
fantasized about spending some time in a resort. Aya found it hard to believe
that he'd want to leave work for much of anything, but she suspected that he was
more fantasizing about him spending that week in the resort with her. She knew
he had a crush on her, but she was too embarrassed to bring it up, especially
considering the whole thing with Kyle.
"And don't worry about coming to look for me this time," Aya said. "I
really don't want you getting hurt like you did last time."
"Don't worry? You know I can't do that, but I will stay here with Eve,"
Pierce replied. "If you can handle some ugly ultimate beings armed only with a
grenade pistol, then you can handle whatever they throw at you. And remember,
call me if you need anything."
"I will," Aya said. She hugged Pierce quickly and walked away towards the
lockers. She opened hers and pulled out the equipment she would need for the
time being. She grabbed her M4A1, her .44 Mongoose, her M93R, her Tactical
Armor with additional slots, and her GPS. As an afterthought, she grabbed her
box of charms she'd collected during her adventures. She only had three, the
Skull Crystal, the Medicine Wheel, and the Ofuda, and she only used two of them.
She could hardly carry the things that she already had. Why would she need to
get more stuff when she killed NMC's?
She rode the elevator downstairs because of the load she was carrying.
She had more supplies in the trunk of her car for when she got there. She'd
need to fill up on ammo, first of all. She was running low on Maeda Specials
and rifle rounds. She walked to her car and dropped her guns and armor in the
trunk. Jodie was in the Armory, as usual.
"Morning, Aya! What can I do for ya'?" Jodie asked when Aya walked in.
"I need some ammo," Aya said. "I'm heading off on a mission to Florida."
"Ah, the Sunshine State! Or is that Hawaii? Well, either way, try to
have a good time when you're not taking care of those NMC's. What type of ammo
you need?" Jodie exclaimed.
"I need five boxes of rifle rounds and ten of Maeda Specials," Aya said.
"Wow! Gonna be a big mission, is it?" Jodie said. She walked in back and
brought out the requested ammo. "Okay, just scan your counter," Jodie said,
picking up the scanner and programming the number of BP into it. The light
flashed in Aya's left eye, deducting the required BP from her account.
"Thanks, Jodie! See you later!" Aya said. She picked up the ammo and
walked out to her car. As she stowed it in the trunk, she heard someone
approach her from behind. She turned, startled to see Kyle standing behind her.
"Boo!" he exclaimed.
"You should know by now that you can't sneak up on me," Aya said.
"One of these days, I'll catch you off-guard," Kyle said, grinning.
"Actually, you've got good timing," Aya said. "I'm heading out on a
mission. You up to coming with?"
"Where is the mission?" Kyle asked.
"The Okefenokee Swamp in Florida," Aya replied. "Rupert thinks there may
be another facility out there."
"There is," Kyle said.
"What? How do you know?" Aya asked.
"Remember I said that I was working with the government to find out
information and subdue the uprising in the Mojave facility? Well, they told me
about the facility there. They only said that it existed, but not much else. I
don't know where it is or how extensive it is compared to the Mojave facility,"
Kyle replied. "And no, I can't go with you. It wouldn't be safe for me to go.
Their golems would probably recognize me and kill me on sight."
"They have golems?" Aya asked.
"Yup. All of the facilities do," Kyle said.
"You mean, there are more?" Aya asked.
"Of course! What self-respecting global power restricts its research to
one facility? That would make it so easy to destroy millions of dollars and
years of hard work," Kyle said. "Simple economics, Aya. Why have just one when
you can have two for twice the cost? Or more than that for however many more
times the cost, as the case may be."
"So, where are the other ones?" Aya asked.
"Darned if I know," Kyle said. "I may be a well of information, but I
don't know absolutely everything."
"Well, I've got to be getting on the road if I want to get there in time
to save the day," Aya said. "While I'm gone, could you do something with Eve?
She hasn't seen you in two weeks, and she misses you."
"Sure," Kyle said. "I'll take her out to a movie after school day after
tomorrow."
"Really, it's been a year now," Aya said. "Do you still have to be so
secretive? I'm sure they aren't looking for you anymore."
"I wouldn't put it past them," Kyle replied. "Look, after you've put this
place out of commission, we can talk about declassifying me."
"Thank you. I'll talk to you later," Aya said.
"What, no good-bye kiss?" Kyle asked, which earned him the kiss that he
wanted.
"There. Will that last you until I get back?" Aya asked, grinning.
"I don't think so. Maybe another one-" he was cut off by Aya kissing him
again, deeper this time. "Much better. Talk to you later!"
"Could you open the gate for me?" Aya asked. "The control's over there."
She pointed to the small box on the wall beside the door. Kyle went to it and
pressed the button to let Aya speed away in her relatively new car.
November 24, 2001, 9:15 p.m.
Harden Sheriff's Department
Aya parked her car in front of the Sheriff's office. She was relieved
that the city was still there after she had taken so much time driving. On her
way in, though, a few of the buildings didn't look too healthy. She wasn't sure
if that was the work of NMC's or if it was the natural state of buildings there.
At least the town was larger than Dryfield. She considered taking a short
detour on her way home to visit Dryfield and Mr. Douglas. It had been a while
since she had heard from or seen him.
She walked into the building and approached the front desk. She showed
the man at the desk her badge. "I'm Aya Brea with MIST. I was told that
someone here was asking for me."
"Man, more FBI?" said the man behind the desk. "You think there's enough
of you out here yet?"
"There may not be," Aya said. "So, who was asking for me?"
"I don't really know, but they're all in back right now," the man at the
desk said. Aya walked behind the desk and through the door into the "back
room." There had been three cots set up in the middle of the room and the other
furniture pushed to the side. Three people were in there, dark rings under
their eyes. One was an older man with a hard face and black, short hair. There
were two women, one with red, short hair, the other with blonde, long hair.
"Someone ask for a hunter?" Aya asked.
"You're from the LA branch?" the blonde asked. "I'm Laura Flash from the
Atlanta branch. These are John Doggett and Dana Scully from the FBI central
branch. They've been drafted."
"We work with something called the X-Files," Doggett explained.
"Concerning unexplained phenomena. We were called out here on the subject of
the death of a naturalist." Doggett then went on to recount everything that had
happened up until that point. "Nothing has happened since Wednesday night, but
we've been looking around for clues as to what's going on."
"We found something at the hotel that may help," Laura said. She went
into her overnight bag and pulled out a small plastic bag to hand to Aya. The
bag contained a small, metallic implant.
"Well, looks like Kyle was right," Aya said quietly to herself.
"Excuse me?" Laura asked.
"Nothing," Aya said. "I've seen these before. They were used on the
NMC's we found in the Mojave Desert, too."
"The Mojave Desert?" Scully asked.
"About a year ago, I went on a mission to exterminate some NMC's in the
Mojave Desert. While I was there, I found an underground facility that was the
source of the problem and was part of some big conspiracy to transform the whole
of the human race into NMC's," Aya explained. "That facility has since been
destroyed, but apparently, there are others."
"What a coincidence-" Scully began.
"Don't start, Scully..." Doggett said.
"All I'm saying is that we know a little something about conspiracies,"
Scully said.
"Anyway, where are we heading first?" Aya asked.
"The only place we can think of to look for these things," Laura said.
"The swamp is full of them, according to my GPS."
"Which reminds me, could you download the map into my GPS?" Aya asked,
holding out her GPS. A few button pushes later, Aya had the blood-red map
displayed on her screen. They walked out to her car and stuffed it like a clown
car with their equipment and themselves.
They parked the car at the hotel to walk to the swamp. Aya really didn't
want her car trashed again. She turned on her GPS. According to it, there were
NMC's inside the hotel.
"Hey, this place's hot!" Aya exclaimed. "Didn't you clean it out last
time you were here?"
"I thought I did," Laura said. "I guess they repopulated since last
night."
"We'll split up. The two groups will be me and you three," Aya said.
"Are you sure you'll be all right alone?" Scully asked.
"Yeah, I think I'll be okay. I've dealt with these buggers before," Aya
replied. "I'll take the second floor. And you might want to stay downstairs at
all times, just in case."
"In case of what?" Doggett asked. Aya only shrugged in response. She
opened her trunk and grabbed the Tactical Armor, the Mongoose, the M4A1, ammo
for both, the Ofuda, the Skull Crystal, a couple of medicines, and a bottle of
cola, in case she started running low. After equipping, she ran to the second
floor to begin her extermination.
Scully, Doggett, and Laura watched as she ran up the stairs and entered
the first room. All of the rooms had been unlocked when the police went
through, and all of the contents of the rooms left as they had been. A few
moments later, they heard gun shots come from the room.
"Let's get going, you two," Laura said. She handed the two of them their
weapons, an M4A1 for Doggett and an M93R for Scully.
"You know, I'm really not comfortable with this," Scully said.
"Come on, Scully," Doggett said. "If we needed help, I'm sure these
people would be willing to give it to us."
"But I was taught that you should only use lethal force in extreme cases,"
Scully said.
"So was I. I think this counts as an extreme case," Doggett replied.
"If you don't want to do this, Miss Scully, we won't force you to," Laura
said.
"Thank you, Laura," Scully said. She handed the gun back to Laura and sat
back down in the car. "But if either of you needs first aid, I'll be here.
Don't hesitate to ask me."
"That's what we need the most, Miss Scully," Laura replied. "We'll be out
soon enough."
Doggett and Laura walked to the front office of the hotel and walked in.
Upstairs, Aya looked at her GPS. The room was finally clean. She looked
at the melting pile of NMC's that laid across the room from her. She reloaded
the Mongoose. She loved that gun at least as much as she loved the M93R.
Everyone kept going on about how nice the grenade weapons were, but who needed
them when you had this little beauty? She had bought it just after she had
gotten back from the Mojave Desert and had used it on every mission since. She
gave the room a quick look over and found nothing in it of interest.
Aya walked to the next room over, 201, and walked in. She aimed her gun
and took a quick shot at the stranger that was standing behind the bed. It
began to move towards her as quickly as it could. She took another shot, which
knocked it to the ground, where it began to melt. From the bathroom, she heard
the call of a bone suckler. She quickly walked to the door, aimed, and shot.
The sickening splat of the suckler exploding set off two others sitting right
beside it, saving Aya some bullets.
She looked up at the light fixture and saw some moths flying around. She
quickly cast a shot of Plasma to knock them out of the air. The dust floated
harmlessly to the ground as she reloaded and looked around the room. This was
where the first dead hunter had been found. She looked around the room and
found the ownerless weapon, a PO8.
"She expected to take out NMC's with this?" Aya said to herself. "I hope
she had some more weapons waiting for her in her car." Aya walked out to the
hallway to go to the next room. Looking to her left, she saw a pair of snakes
crawling towards her. "Great, more of these guys." She shot the two serpents
as they crawled towards her. One of the shots missed, and that serpent reared
back to strike. Aya ducked as the snake jumped over her head and sailed over
the railing. She doubted that it would die from a fall like that, so she left
it for the others to deal with.
According to her GPS, room 203 was empty. She moved on to 204 and stepped
through the door. A quick glance around the room said that there was nothing
there, but she felt the slight tingle in her body that meant that her
mitochondria sensed NMC's. She walked to the bathroom and looked in. Nothing
was there. She checked under the bed, and nothing was there. She opened the
closet, and bats flew out at her, biting at her face. She quickly swatted them
away and used combustion. She must not have looked hard enough under the bed,
because a scavenger crawled out from under it and bit her on the leg. She
quickly kicked it off and took aim with the Mongoose. Two shots in the head
were enough to calm it down.
Aya reloaded and searched the room for anything she could use. She found
a small first aid kit, which she used to treat the minor injuries she'd
received. The last room for her to worry about was 205, which probably wouldn't
be too much of a problem. She hoped that the others would be all right.
As she opened the door to 205, something inside burst through the door,
throwing her to the ground. Before she could think, something had wrapped
around her and was dragging her inside. Aya looked straight into a face with
very large teeth. She pointed her gun as quickly as she could and fired once
before another appendage took the gun from her. She thought that the shot had
hit it in the mouth, but she wasn't sure. The creature was large enough to fill
half of the room. It had limbs like tentacles and hands with sharp claws. A
quick shot of Apobiosis caused the monster to drop her and her gun. She cast
Energy Shot, loaded her Maeda Specials, and fired away at the monster's
grinning, toothy face.
Five shots later, she had an empty gun, and the creature was still alive.
Aya tried reloading the gun. As she dropped the next six bullets into place,
the creature swiped at her with its tentacle. She was knocked against the wall
with enough force to leave a dent. A small trickle of blood ran down the back
of her head. She'd probably have a headache later on. She stood up and closed
the gun. A few quick shots rid her of the annoying tentacles and opened up her
target area very well. She opened fire relentlessly on the head, reloading only
when necessary. The beast fell easily to the Mongoose without its tentacles.
The final blast came in the form of an inferno from Aya. As it melted away, Aya
found a box of Maeda Specials in the remains, along with a cola and a pack of
riot grenade rounds. She picked all of them up and stopped. Had she just heard
something outside the door?
Doggett and Laura pushed open the door to the front office, the first room
that held NMC's, according to the little GPS gizmo that he had been issued. It
might have been just him, but he could have sworn that GPS was something
completely different than that. Doggett pulled the M4A1 up to the ready and
walked through the door. The overhead light was turned on, as it had been since
the hotel had first been overrun.
Doggett saw one of the creatures that Laura had described to him and
Scully as they walked through the door. He quickly took aim and fired at it in
the back. As it turned, he pumped three more shots into its chest, sending it
sprawling to the floor. Behind him, Laura fired her gun out the door behind
them. Doggett ran into the room and took aim at one of the two rabbit-looking
creatures. He fired a few quick shots and jumped out of the path of the other
one, who quickly lunged at him when it realized what was going on.
He heard a scream behind him from Laura. He shot the rabbit and ran to
her assistance. She had her arms pinned by one of those chameleon monsters, and
her legs were red from some deep wounds that the monster had given her. Doggett
took aim and fired three shots at it, drawing its attention from her to himself.
It began to disappear, and Doggett fired again. It was distracted, and phased
back in. He repeated this process three times, until it laid, melting, on top
of her.
"Do you think you can walk?" Doggett asked Laura. She groaned in
response, and he took that as a negative. He reached into the pocket of his
vest and took out one of the healing bottles that he had. He sprayed her leg
with it and picked her up onto his shoulder. He carried her out to the car,
where Scully stood, looking around alertly.
"That was quick," Scully said.
"Get her to the hospital," Doggett said. As he and Scully put Laura in
the back seat of the car, the sound of a large explosion rocked the second floor
of the motel. "Oh, great. Our expert just got herself blown up."
"Go check it out," Scully said as she sat down in the front seat of the
car. Doggett ran up the stairs as Scully drove away. He walked along the
pathway, noticing that his skin felt a bit warmer than it had a few moments
before. He chalked it up to the increased action and kept walking. He took his
place beside the doors one by one, and looked in quickly, aiming at nonexistent
monsters. As he came to room 205, his skin felt even hotter than it had a few
moments earlier. It was almost like he had a bad sunburn all over his body.
He ducked into the room and aimed his gun. As soon as he did, he
regretted it. The burning sensation in his body flashed to a high point, and he
saw fires begin to ignite on his body. He screamed and threw the gun away,
trying furiously to extinguish himself. A few moments later, the burning died
down, and Doggett held himself, looking up at Aya, who had her gun leveled at
him.
"All right, who are you really?" Aya asked.
"'Scuze me? I already told you who I am," Doggett said.
"No, you told me who you wanted to think that you are," Aya replied.
"I'll have to admit, you had me fooled with the whole X-Files thing. Your
partner gave you away, though, when she said that you knew about government
conspiracies."
"You think she meant *your* government conspiracy?!" Doggett wondered.
"Well, you do work for the government, and why would any other branch of
the FBI get called out here when MIST is sufficiently able to handle the
problem?" Aya replied. "Now, who are you working for?"
"We were telling the truth! When my partner mentioned government
conspiracies, she meant a completely different one!" Doggett said. "She and her
other partner were big into this whole government conspiracy about aliens and
men in black!"
"Yeah, I've heard better stories in the romance section," Aya said. "And
why were you toting that gun at me?"
"We thought you were in trouble!" Doggett replied. "What was the
explosion we heard?" He looked at the ground behind Aya, noticing the rather
large pile of goo that must have been a monster.
"You know what you just felt?" Aya asked. "Try that times fifty. That's
what you heard."
"Well, what caused it?" Doggett asked.
"The monster," Aya said. For some reason, he didn't believe her, but it
looked like he'd have plenty of time to find out the truth.
"And why didn't it effect you?" Doggett asked.
"Good question," Aya replied. She moved her gun from his face to its
holster for the time being. Doggett could tell fairly easily when he wasn't
being told something, it happened so often to him. He'd ferret the explanation
out of her later. Right then, he had other things to worry about.
"Laura was injured," Doggett said. "Scully's taking her to the doctor for
treatment."
"Hopefully, she'll get back soon," Aya said. "My car's got all our
equipment in it."
"Well, until she does get back, maybe we should finish cleaning this place
out," Doggett said.
"Give me a minute. I've got to make a phone call," Aya replied. She
picked up the hotel phone and dialed the number for the LA office. Pierce
picked up the line.
"Oh, hi, Aya! How're things going out there?"
"So far, about the same as always. We've already got two hunters down,
one permanently. I took down a big sucker just a couple of minutes ago.
Haven't seen anything like it, myself. And that's saying something."
"Cool! Sure you don't need any help out there?" Pierce asked.
"I already told you, I don't want you coming out here," Aya said. "You
already got hurt badly once, and I don't want to have to save you again. Now,
if you could pull up some information on two people for me."
"I can do that, Aya," Pierce said. "Who're the lucky contestants?"
"One John Doggett and one Dana Scully. They claim that they're Bureau
agents. Look up the claim for me, please."
"All right, should be no problem," Pierce said. "Oh, and that Kyle guy
dropped by the other day to take Eve out to the movies. Something bothers me
about him."
"You've been saying that for the past two months," Aya said. "So, unless
he didn't bring Eve back, just lay off the guy."
"All right, but let it not be said that I'm not cautious," Pierce replied.
"I'll call back a bit later, when I get a chance, about those ID's," Aya
replied.
"Be careful. We don't want our star hunter knocked out. Besides, this is
still your fight," Pierce said. Aya hung up the phone and turned to where
Doggett was still sitting down.
"Feel better?" she asked him.
"Yeah, the burning's died down for the most part," Doggett replied.
"It usually does. Mitochondria burn through energy pretty quickly when
they have to," Aya said. Doggett raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Never mind.
How much longer will it be until your partner gets back?"
"It may take a while," Doggett replied. "She's a doctor; she'll probably
want to help out when they get there."
"Give her a call and make sure she's on her way back here," Aya said.
Doggett took out his cell phone and dialed Scully's number. "I'm going to clean
out the first floor. How far did you get?"
"We finished the lobby and the parking lot had a few," Doggett replied.
"You think you'll be all right up here alone?" Aya asked.
"I'll be all right," Doggett replied. "Just close the door on your way
out." Aya walked onto the breezeway, closing the door behind her, and turned to
see a green-suited pawn golem soldier standing down the way from her.
She quickly drew her Mongoose and fired two shots straight into its chest,
sending it to the ground with a thud. She walked over to it as it twitched on
the ground and put a final shot into its head. "Well, this'll be fun," she
thought to herself as she reloaded the gun. As long as she didn't run into any
knights, she'd be perfectly happy.
End Chapter 2