"So uh... How have you been, Caitlyn?"
Normally, these words would be perceived as simple, friendly care. They were just a hopeless try to spark a conversation, though. Riven stiffened even so more when she never received a response. Sitting next to Caitlyn on the uber driver didn't make things easier. She glanced at the back seat where her companions were seated, sharing equally the same uncomfortable feelings as she did. Their expressions betrayed so. Caitlyn, on the other hand, chose to remain silent and expressionless, which was way more terrifying to her team than actually talking.
The uber vehicle rolled smoothly into the city's roads without human maintenance. Another miracle of the technological advance. The touchscreen showed then a precise map that informed them that they'd be arriving in their destination soon enough; more or less in eight minutes until the Downtown Police Station.
"Why are we going there in the first place?" Riven asked when the vehicle came to a stop in a red light.
"Weren't you told?" this was the first time any of them listened to Caitlyn's voice and they all jumped in utter surprise.
"No, we weren't." it was Shen's turn to speak. "All we know is to follow orders from you for now on, until further notice. We only know we are after a chrono-deviant."
"Which, apparently, doesn't make us any less clueless than we were before." Twisted Face sneered in pure sarcasm, crossing his arms.
Caitlyn let out a frustrating sign. As if all her troubles weren't enough, they assigned her a complete clueless team to work with her. It wasn't any of their fault, she knew well, but she couldn't help but feel infuriated.
"There's a fugitive named Ezreal." she began her explanation as she pressed a button on her uniform. A picture of a blonde, young man appeared on the touchscreen of the uber. "He somehow managed to retrieve an outgrown Pulsefire uniform and use it exclusively for his own advantage. That said, he has been collecting all sorts of technology in various dimensions, actions that unfortunately have caused catastrophic paradoxes. I've been on his tracks for a while now and each time I'm getting closer to him. My newest sources claimed he re-appeared on this dimension, which happens to be his initial. I was planning on continuing the investigation on my own, but apparently the Administration and the Board find it imperative that we work together on this case for faster results."
"That's absurd!" Riven exclaimed. "You're the best agent the Agency has! You don't need us!"
"As much as I'm flattered by your words, I must agree with the fact that I don't need you." Caitlyn spoke casually in her cold tone as the image of Ezreal dissapeared and the map resumed on the screen. "It's beyond me, however. We are here following orders. Do as I say and we'll be done in no time."
Twisted Fate huffed. "No need to explain yourself to us. It's obvious you're not excited about this partnership, and so are we."
"I appreciate the honesty." Caitlyn responded. "At least, there won't be any delusions that we are back at being partners."
A small uncomfortable silence followed before Riven spoke up again.
"Say, why are we heading to the Police?"
"Ezreal used to have a couple of connections here and there." Caitlyn replied. "One of them is a cop named Vi. I felt it was urgent that we spoke to her."
"Wait, the PROJECT cop? She is his acquaintance?" Riven's brows almost disappeared under her white hair.
"Vi is a what now?"
"A PROJECT." Riven nodded enthusiasticly. "It's been a couple of months since she's been assigned downtown. I've heard she used to work on Central - before she went PROJECT, I mean. She had a reputation for her hexetech gauntlets, self-made and all, used to beat the crap out of criminals."
»But that's not even the coolest part," Riven whispered enthusiasticly, like a child that was about to meet their hero. "No one knows how or when she became a PROJECT, not even the company themselves."
"Wait, is this for real?" Shen piped up. "I was under the impression it was just rumors."
Riven shook her head, smiling. "There was never an official announcement about a PROJECT addition to the police force, neither from the force themselves nor the company. They managed to cover it up and transfer her downtown where she'd draw less attention from the media. But no one has a single clue how she became one."
"That's great." Twisted Fate huffed again. "All we needed was yet another PROJECT out of control."
"Another?" Caitlyn furrowed her brows. "What do you mean «another»?"
"It all began eighteen months ago." Shen said and his façade became dark. "When a group of PROJECTS was exterminated during a mission. Only their leader survived, who also happened to be a PROJECT initial. She went deviant after that, seeking revenge from those who betrayed her. Soon after, more PROJECT initials went deviant too and escaped the corporation's control. As far as the public knows, there are only three PROJECT initials left completely faithful to the company but they are extremely dangerous."
"What happened to the deviants?" Caitlyn asked.
"They dissapeared. No one is aware of their whereabouts. Only the very first deviant is known for her activities around the city. She keeps herself busy by sabotaging PROJECT Inc."
"I've missed too much." Caitlyn muttered to herself, rubbing her forehead.
"And since we know absolutely nothing about Vi," Shen continued. "It's best if we don't put too much faith on her. We can't trust her. For all we know, she's either part of PROJECT Inc games or part of the deviants' plan. Tobias is right."
"I told you, my name is Twisted Fate! Why can't you get that right?" Twisted Fate exclaimed in annoyance and his partner just rolled his eyes.
Fortunately for the remaining passengers, they journey came to an end, prevention an imminent fight.
"I'll take care of the negotiations." Caitlyn stated as she stepped out of the car before anyone could react, staring over the police station with her piercing blue eyes. The Downtown Police Station wasn't a very impressing building itself. In fact, there wasn't any distinctive characteristics that separated it from the rest of the area's buildings, aside the neo sign which was only partly working, with only a few of the letters still illuminating. Progress wasn't smooth to every single part of the city.
The four Pulsefire agents entered the building and they were surprised by the chaos that thrived in there. To start with, the place itself cried out for renovations and upgrading. It had stuck in time, back in the days before the developments in technology. The elevators and probably all of the hexetech equipment was obsolete but no one seemed to care. They were probably so used to it that they didn't even need to ask for a change. There was also in the air the distinctive smell of smoke, a clear indicator that these people didn't give a damn about regulations.
"And these people are supposed to enforce the law? Tsk." Twisted Fate whispered as they passed on their way to the reception by a duo who were smoking casually, ignoring their existence.
"Excuse me." Caitlyn was the one to speak to the receptionist once they reached the front desk. "We are the agents sent by Timeline Protection. We're here to interrogate officer Vi."
The woman was probably somewhere in her middle fifties, dark hair, skin and eyes, a pair of eyes hidden behind hideous red glasses. She glanced at her over the skeleton and motioned towards the stairs.
"Second floor, third office on your left. You can't miss it." she said indifferently as she picked up the ringing phone.
"Thank you." Caitlyn nodded and motioned at her team to follow her lead towards the elevators. The four Pulsefire were a total disruption to the normal, quite environment of the station with all their advanced equipment but no one even turned their heads towards them, only those who were too curious. As if they were expecting them to show up. And they probably were. Not even when they stepped out of the elevator at the second floor did anyone flinch. As if they were invisible. The silent treatment had a very clear message; they weren't welcome there.
The receptionist was right when she pointed out that they couldn't miss Vi's office. Not because the cop herself was standing outside the office door talking to a colleague of hers, but because of the large, bronze sign plastered in short on the door that stated the name and the position of the enforcer. The pre-mentioned cop was standing imposing in front of her colleague in her dark suit and golden gauntlets, her short, blond hair left loose. Her mask was lifted upwards, rested on her forehead. Caitlyn found herself being somewhat magnetized by her imposture. She expected her to be more... Machine? She was surprised when she noticed how more of a human she looked when she turned to face them with her dark blue eyes.
"Hey, you must be the guys from the Agency." she recognized them with a smile. "A'right, I'll talk to ya later Lopez, as you see I'm quite busy right now." she addressed her colleague, who nodded in understanding and walked away, eyeing the new arrivals carefully from head to toe, the only actual attention they received. Vi opened the door of her office and motioned at them to follow inside. It wasn't anything special; just another narrow room with a simple desk and tones of paperwork piled up, covering almost every single corner of the office.
"My apologies for the mess. I'm not a tidy person." Vi chuckled as she pulled her chair over the desk for Caitlyn to seat. "Sorry guys but this is the best I can offer." she said apologetically to the rest of the crew.
"It's fine, really." Riven assured as she managed to find a surface on the desk that wasn't covered with papers to sit. Shen and Twisted Fate simply nodded as they both pressed their backs against the walls.
"Lieutenant Pierce informed me that you were willing to talk to me." Vi pointed with open arms. "I'm all ears."
Caitlyn pressed a button on her uniform and a hologram of Ezreal appeared shining bright, in contrast with the dark room. "Do you know this man?" she asked straight away.
"That's Ezreal." Vi stroke her chin. "Damn, are you after him?"
Caitlyn nodded affirmatively. "He's wanted for breaking several chrono-laws, including unauthorized use of disposed technology and theft, alongside being responsible for several unpleasant paradoxes."
Vi furrowed her brows, clearly processing the newest information. Caitlyn waited patiently, in case she had any more questions.
"What do I have to do with all this?" the PROJECT cop eventually asked.
"We are aware you and him are acquaintances."
"Friends, in fact." Vi corrected. "Though, I'm not sure what exactly is our relationship these days. You see, I haven't seen Ezreal in what? Two years?"
"What happened between you two?" Caitlyn continued after she closed the hologram.
"Nothing much. Two years ago, he announced that he was close to finishing another of his explanations that would bring in the surface «invaluable treasures». Not sure if he was talking literally or figuratively, but I haven't seen him ever since."
"How was your relationship before his disappearance?"
"Preety good actually. We had worked together in several cases back when I was still in central. Ezreal had always been an exuberant explorer, troublesome, foolhardy and impetuous, you know what I mean? He was zealous about exploring, always putting his nose where he shouldn't, to a point that it caused him tones of trouble with the law. He worked as my partner for a few months to avoid prison."
"Interesting," Caitlyn hummed. "And you said you haven't talked to him ever since he left two years ago?"
"Isn't that what I just said?"
"Did you know he was back in Piltover?"
Vi was obviously taken aback. She blinked several times, still not believing in her ears. "Wait, Ezreal is back in town?"
"It seems so."
"Is that why you are here? Because you believed that I helped him in?" Vi inquiried accusingly, loosing her cool tone.
"No one ever implied that." Caitlyn rushed to reassure her. "Considering your past, we thought he might have tried to reach out to you."
"Well, he hasn't, for that matter." Vi crossed her arms. "He wouldn't risk it, knowing that I'm a cop and everything. Though, I doubt it would be my authority to do anything about him, but still..."
The sound of a ring cut her sentence mid-air. A message was displayed on a holographic screen on her left arm and she raised it to read it better. She furrowed her brows.
"Nevermind what I said about Ezreal and the law." she growled. "A warrant was just given out"
