A/N: Chapter has been edited.
Disclaimers from past chapters are implemented here.
Chapter 6
The US Marine
Interpol HQ
8.27 p.m.
While eating a burger and sitting at Thea's desk helping her type her daily mission report, both Geronimo and Trap went to interrogate Russell downstairs. We celebrated Russell's capture by having a light dinner at the bullpen.
"Done! Now I can finally eat my burger," squeaked Thea hungrily as she clicked on the "save" button and unwrapped her burger.
"How's your burger, Benjamin?" I asked.
"It tastes awesome! Where'd you even get this stuff anyway?" Replied Benjamin.
"These Malaysian-styled burgers are sold at a little stall two miles back. Here, these kind of burgers are called 'burger bakar'..." I informed. As the elevator doors opened, Geronimo and Trap came out and walked towards their own desks.
"Any luck with Russell?" I asked Geronimo as I took another bite of my burger.
"I'm afraid not. He said he was too traumatized and injured to give a statement. Especially when he hit those two cars and crashing into that barrier after the both of you EMP'd him," he answered as he sat down at his desk.
"Maybe it's because of the electromagnetic shock. The residue of the EMP must've hit his body and it went directly to his brain, damaging the hippocampus," I stated while my mouth was full (I know it's rude, don't be so judgy).
"He's being taken to the hospital for further treatment. Right now, there's nothing we can do until he recovers," said Trap as he sat down.
"Correction Trap; you and I have a summary report to write," said Geronimo. As he turned to Thea: "You on the other hand, can go back home with Danny since you're done with yours."
As we were given permission to go back to my quarters, we bid our farewells, we took the elevator downstairs and hopped into Ray.
We took the Federal Expressway back home but, because of a 3-car pile up had happened several miles ahead which Ray detected, we got stuck in traffic. Luckily, I had imported a few new tracks from the early 90s (FYI, I love the music from that era) into Ray's infotainment system. Thea however, her face expression looks like she dislikes my taste of music.
"Alright, I can't take this any longer. No offense Danny but, you really have a bad taste in music," complained Thea as the stereo started playing "Please Forgive Me" by Bryan Adams.
"Ooo...kay, some taken. But how come? This was a popular rock song," I replied.
"Rock song? Ugh... This song is too mushy to be a rock song," said Thea as the verse of the song started playing.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"Just listen to it! "It still feels like our first night together"? Oh come on..." She whined as the verse almost ended.
"But... The chorus is when you start to rock out," I said. As the chorus started, I sang along. "So if you're feelin' lonely, don't!"
"Okay, besides this horrible song, you have a really horrible singing voice," she whined again. Then, the unimaginable happened. She touched the stop button on Ray's pop-up infotainment screen in the middle of the chorus' climax!
"What are you doing?! That was the best part of the song!" I said as I glared at her.
"That song doesn't even suite you, me, or the moment. I'm looking for a track that suites the mood... and your voice," said Thea.
"Yeah? What track would that be?" I teased.
After a short pause, she asked Ray; "Ray, how are the stars tonight?"
"Despite the light pollution from the traffic and surrounding buildings, the stars are still visible. Especially Polaris (the North Star) and the M36645752 cluster," Ray answered.
"Danny, is there anything more that I don't know about Ray?" She asked.
"Let me guess, you wanna watch the stars don't you?" I replied.
"Yup."
"In that case, I've installed a roof that glides away, leaving a soundproof skylight. The window tints have adjustable brightness filters, just in case if you want autopilot to take over. The floors have cosmos-themed lighting, for that outer space feeling."
"Activate all of those, I haven't seen the stars in a while..."
"You got that Ray?" I asked for confirmation.
"Yes, sir!" Ray replied.
Thea chose a song from one of my favorite artists, OneRepublic. She touched the screen, the stereo started playing "Good Life". Before it did, the blinds turned on, followed by the floor lighting. Finally, Ray activated the autopilot and the roof split in half horizontally and glided away, revealing the night sky. We pulled the levers on the side of our seats to make them lie down. I sang along with my mild-deep voice and American accent (I can do other accents too) when the verse started.
(Intro Drum Solo)
Me: (starts to play air drums when the synths start playing)
Thea: (starts whistling when second intro played)
(Verse)
Me: Woke up in London yesterday,
Found myself in the city near Piccadilly
Don't really know how I got here
I got some pictures on my phone...
New names and numbers that I don't know,
Addresses to places like Abbey Road
Day turns to night, night turns to whatever we want,
We're young enough to say...
(Chorus)
Thea: Oh, this has gotta be the good life
This has gotta be a good life,
This could be really be a good life, good life
Together (with me as deep backup voice) : Say "Oh, got this feeling that you can't fight
Like this city is on fire tonight
This could really be a good life, a good, good life...
Oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh... (Shooting star passes by)
We finished the song and saw some constellations while seeing the stars. Orion especially.
About an hour later, we found ourselves getting sleepier and sleepier. The seats were to blame. It was in the most comfortable position for us to sleep in. That, and that the pile-up made us so bored and tired.
"*Yawn* I'm getting really tired," said Thea. "Ray, how many miles we have 'till we reach the pile-up?"
"Unfortunately Agent Stilton, we still have 5 more," answered Ray. "If traffic continues to keep up at this rate, we'll get to the mansion in about two hours."
She turned to me and asked: "What time time is it?
"9.07 p.m.," I answered. "It is getting pretty late."
"Well, I'm gonna turn in early. You should get some sleep too," suggested Thea.
"You go ahead. I'll turn in later."
"Okay. Good night..." Thea said as she rolled her body facing the door.
"Good night Thea..." I replied.
I got readjusted my seat to sitting position and turned on the passenger's holographic screen on the dashboard. I started to put commands into Ray's programming system to open up the Facebook app I downloaded. Oh, did I mention that it's powered by iOS? Heh, one of the advantages of being a software developer at Apple Incorporated. As I was saying, I was logging in (Ray has a built in network modem). As soon as I did, I saw a notification on the Messages button. I clicked on it and there was a message sent by a user named "Anonymous". Even the profile picture was a mask used in the Anonymous Group. The time stamp on the message said it was sent at 8 pm. The green dot was still there, which meant that the user is still online. His message read:
"DANIAL ARIF, WE HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOU"
With the use of my chip, I began to have a conversation with the anonymous user, asking questions in exchange for answers that might lead me somewhere. I replied:
"Yeah? What Message would that be?"
"WE WILL HAVE OUR REVENGE!"
Despite the threatening reply, I didn't hesitate to have Ray to back trace the IP address.
"Ray, run a trace on this guy's IP address," I demanded.
"Right away, sir," he replied. I replied to Anonymous:
"Sounds more like a threat than a message to me. And what do you mean by 'we'?"
Ray got a hit on the continent Anonymous was in and informed me: "North America, isolating..."
"YOU KNOW VERY WELL THAT BY "WE" MEANS US"
Again, Ray got another hit; "United States, isolating..."
"Let me guess, you're one of The Technologists, correct?"
"VERY GOOD, MR ARIF."
"Who are you anyway?"
"THAT'S NONE OF YOUR CONCERN"
Ray got a hit again; "Eastern Seaboard, isolating..."
"So what are you trying to tell me, Mr Anonymous?"
"WE WILL HUNT YOU DOWN"
"OUR MASTER WILL HAVE HIS REVENGE!"
After that last sentence, Ray couldn't get a location of this "Anonymous" guy. He logged out before Ray could even pinpoint the exact location. A notification appeared at the top of the holographic display in the form of a banner. It read; "Trace incomplete".
"Trace incomplete," said Ray, "connection lost."
"Damn it!" I whispered. I took a screenshot of the conversation and saved it in the photo gallery. iCloud was enabled (yet untraceable), so that every iOS device I owned had the exact same photo.
I tried to sleep through the jam, but with all the honking going on outside, I just couldn't. Finally, I decided to hear some music to calm down my nerves. I put on my wireless headphones and paired them with Ray via Bluetooth. I tapped the "Music" app on the infotainment screen. I selected a calm and soothing song I could sleep to. Ray played Evanescense's band version of "My Immortal". I made the seat lie down and closed my eyes. The roof glided back into place, the floor lighting turned off but the window tints were still adjusted to dark.
We slept all the way to the mansion. With the clock showing half-past midnight, Ray woke us up when he parked at the front doorstep. We got out and thanked Ray for driving us home. We bid our good nights, and went straight for our bedrooms.
Arif Mansion
Sunday, 16 August, 2013.
8.57 a.m.
Thea's Perspective
I managed to wake up not as late as yesterday, but still a little late than Danny. It makes me wonder, how does he wake up 5 in the morning everyday? I guess I'll never know... But anyways, I was getting ready for the day ahead of me. Got dressed in my usual pink shirt with my black jacket over it, and a pair of black trousers. I equipped my SIG Sauer which I put on display on the mini-gun wall above the bedside table and took my badge. I headed out and walked down the stairs. J-Son greeted me on the way down.
"Good morning, Agent Stilton," said J-Son.
"Good morning, J-Son," I greeted.
"You look very lovely today," J-Son complemented.
"Thanks! You like my new jacket?" I asked.
"It certainly looks stunning on you," he replied.
I noticed that Danny wasn't anywhere in the house. So I asked; "Hmm... Hey J-Son, any idea where Danny is?"
"I thought you might ask me that," he said. "He's in the west yard."
"Thanks again, J-Son."
"My pleasure, Agent Stilton."
I stepped out of the house through the front door. The lawn surrounding the front yard was trimmed off, below average height. Then I heard a sound of a machine turning on, very much like a chainsaw or a lawn mower. I walked towards the noise and found out that it was Danny, tried to start his full-length chainsaw. He was about to trim one of the hedge trees surrounding the property. He wore a green forest camo tank top with tight black separate sleeves, a black pair of black trousers with neon green stripes, and a pair of work boots. Come to think of it, I think I have the same chainsaw as his back at New Mouse City which use for cutting down mid-sized trees in my past time there. It weighed at least 30 pounds. Who knew a 13 year old would have such strength.
"Finally, your up," he said as he pulled the starter chord.
"Trying to start the chainsaw, I see?" I replied.
"Yeah. I haven't used it in while. I thought I'd give it a spin. There's a cup of hot-melted cheddar and a plate of French toast on the round table. I'll join you after I finish...(pulls the starter chord again)...trimming this hedge tree."
I turned my head towards the mid-sized round table a few feet way from him. What perfect spot to have hot cheddar, under the shadow a big, shady tree. I walked slowly towards the table when I saw an M4 CQB on it. Sitting next to it was a Glock 18 machine pistol, and my cup of cheddar of course. I picked up the carbine rifle to take a look.
"Nice guns," I started as I looked at the gun's curves and edges.
"What? These? They're nothing actually. Just got 'em by doing some heavy lifting-"
"No, I wasn't not talking about those! I was talking about these," I said as he looked at me.
"Oh, those. Those are just airsoft guns I bought a few months ago," he said as he pulled the starter chord. Again. "Before I mowed the lawn, I was target practicing to see if my aim is still okay."
"And the result?"
"Scoresheet's under the Glock." I removed the machine pistol which weighted down the scoresheet. The middle circle of the bullseye was completely shot missing. Get it? It was shot until the circle was missing. It's not a joke, I'm just getting everything straight, just in case you don't understand.
"Looks like you still got it," I complemented.
"Thanks," Danny replied.
"You've got a good choice for attachments," I said as I took aim of the carbine. "An AN-PEQ-5 laser module, an EoTech 552 holographic sight, and a foregrip." I got so distracted by the M4, I completely forgot about my cup of cheddar.
"Well, what can I say... I'm a supercar AND weapons enthusiast."
I asked if he needed some help with his chainsaw because he's been on that thing for a while. "You need some help with that?"
"Yeah, I can't get this thing...(pulls the chord)...to start," he said. "Damn it! Why won't you start?!" I knew he was stressed because of the way he pulled that chord thrice, vigorously.
"Check the fuel tank, maybe it ran out of gas," I said as I got closer to him.
"Huh, why haven't I thought of that?" He put down the chainsaw and walked towards the gardening shed to picked up a red jerry can. He got back and inserted the nozzle into the fuel tank.
"That should do it," he said as he put the can away. He put his left hand on the carrying handle and pulled the chord again, this time, it finally started. He pulled the trigger on the chainsaw to rev up the two-stroke engine.
"HAHA! That's what I'm talkin' about!" He exclaimed after the success.
"Now if you'll excuse me, my cheddar's getting cold and I'd like to enjoy it before it freezes."
"Sorry if distracted you somehow!" He shouted over the revving of his chainsaw. He started trimming away the overgrown leaves and branches on the hedge tree, swinging the chainsaw blade up and down.
My Perspective
5 minutes later
"Finally, I'm done..." I said tiredly as I sat down the chair opposite of Thea, who re-melted her cheddar, sipping it.
"I saved you a piece of French toast," she squeaked.
"Thanks," I replied. I took a bite of the toast and said: "So, did Geronimo send any updates on Russell's condition while I was busy?"
"Not yet. He's still working on the court order I asked him to get for you."
"About what? I asked as I munched on.
"After the car bombing the night Martinez and Russell broke into your house, I requested Geronimo to get an order from the World Court for you to carry and wield a fully-automatic weapon in public. The High Council is still in the process of approving it."
"Then they better make it quick, because last night when we were traveling home, I got this message in Facebook." I took out my iPhone from my pocket and opened up Photos, and showed her the screenshot of the conversation I took. She read the whole thing.
"This doesn't look good," she said worriedly as a response.
"Ya think?" I said as I finished my French toast.
"I'll have Benjamin to trace down the connection-"
"Don't bother. Ray already tried the same thing-but he logged out before Ray could even establish an exact location."
"I'll inform G and see what he can do to speed up the approval."
"Great idea..." I agreed.
"There's one thing that I don't get though..."
"What?"
"What do you think he meant by 'Our Master'?"
"I don't know. Maybe the leader of the group?"
"If that's true, what does he have against you?"
"It's either the chip he wants, or revenge-"
"Maybe both."
After a short pause, Thea's cellphone rang. I assumed that Geronimo was calling.
"Excuse me, Danny," she said as she took out her cellphone. She took a glance at the caller ID and announced who called; "It's Geronimo."
"So my guess was correct," I said to prove that I knew.
As she picked it up, she put it on loudspeaker greeted her brother; "What's up, G?"
"Thea, Russell has fully recovered and has been given permission to leave the hospital," Geronimo started. "Since he's in our custody, Benjamin and Trap are transporting him here for interrogation."
"What do you want us to do?" I interrupted.
"Ah, Danny. I see you're with Thea. I need you both to get down here. You might be of help to us."
"We're on our way," said Thea.
"Geronimo, wait! Before you hang up, could you enable FaceTime and video call Thea? I want to show you something." How do I know he uses an iPhone you ask? I saw him use it to text to his grandfather. Anyway, I unlocked my cellphone's screen which revealed the screenshot of the threat while Thea picked up Geronimo's video call.
"Can you see this?" I asked as I faced the photo to the front camera.
"I can," he replied. "Hold on, let me take a screenshot of it." He took it and minimized the FaceTime screen and went to Photos, to view the screenshot. He frowned. "When did you get this?" His tone was somewhat worried.
"Last night, while cruising our way home," I replied.
"This is one of the reasons you need to speed up the court order approval," Thea interrupted.
"I'll see what I can do," he replied.
"Is that all?" I asked.
"Yes. In the meanwhile, be safe. Arm yourselves with high-caliber weapons," he advised.
"Will do," replied Thea as she terminated the call. "C'mon, we gotta move."
"Just let me go freshen myself up," I asked as we walked to the front door.
"Okay, but make it quick," she said. "I'll be waiting in the living room."
The wall clock in my room had already pointed its hands at the 9.47 position when I entered it. I got showered and dressed as fast as I could. I wore a pair of dark blue slim fit Levi's jeans on the bottom, a slim fit black printed t-shirt that says "Im'ma Real Racer" with a long-sleeved black and white plaid shirt over it which I left unbuttoned and folded the sleeves folded all the way up to the half of my upper arms on the top, and a pair of red Converse sneakers accompanied by a pair of black socks for footwear. Don't try to guess or ask what I wear on the inside. After I combed my hair to make it look like Hawaii Five-0's Danny Williams' hair, I equipped my USP45 with its holster onto my belt and attached my ammo holder (which was designed me) to it that held the extra ammunition. It had a 5 hollow pockets, and two Velcro straps at the back. I added the spare ammo count to four mags, bringing a total of 48 rounds just in case anything ugly happens.
I ran down the stairs when I saw Thea watching CNN on my smart TV. She asked me; "We're all set?"
I turned to her and answered; "Yup. Let's roll!" She turned off the TV with a gesture of five fingers turning into a fist. As Thea followed behind me, we walked to the elevator. I put my eye in front of the retinal scanner and the elevator door opened. We both stepped in and went down into the garage.
We climbed into Thea's tornado red Dodge Charger and she started the 5.7L V8 HEMI engine. As always, the runway lights turned on, shining bright, white light. In the following sequence, the garage door opens, revealing the daylight. We drove off of the property and onto the street. The car screeched as it got of the curb and onto the asphalt. I made Thea stop by a roadside food stall that sells 'nasi lemak', a very popular dish in Malaysia. Trap wanted to taste some so he asked me to get some for him.
We took our usual route to the HQ, the wide, four-lane, Federal Expressway. Because of the other people had already gone to work as early as 6 am, the road was almost empty during that time. No heavy traffic whatsoever, which gave Thea an opportunity to speed like a FIA GT1 race car driver . Like I said before, it was totally fine for me. I just wished that I was doing that with MY cars. She overtook cars from the left side though, which is illegal in the country. I told her to do otherwise.
Interpol HQ
11.42 a.m.
We got into the building and went through a security check. We dropped everything we had in our pockets into a basket, including our weapons, ammunition and Trap's nasi lemak-and my belt. They went into an X-ray scanner like the ones at the airport while we were being searched with a metal detector. After the metal stuff had been checked out, we put everything back on, especially my belt before my pants fall off in front of Thea. I had been given an all-access visitor's pass by the security enforcer. I clipped it onto my shirt on the left chest pocket. We entered the elevator and elevated to the squad room floor.
As Thea and I exited the elevator, we saw that everyone was gathered at the bullpen, discussing about Russell. It was such a big deal to them, because they've finally got him in custody after being 10 whole years of being in Interpol's top 10 most wanted list.
"What?" I started as Thea and I approached their bullpen. "No celebration for the capture of one of Interpol's most wanted?"
They all looked at us and Benjamin started; "Hey Danny and Aunt Thea!" I waved back while Thea gave a two-fingered salute.
Geronimo continued; "Well, we were planing a dinner tonight. I thought that you might join in."
"I'd be more than happy to," I replied.
"So, how's Russell?" Thea interrupted.
"He's in the interrogation room, bandaged on his head," he answered. "We'll start interrogating him in 10 minutes."
I turned to Trap and said; "Hey, Trap! I've got your nasi lemak." I put it on his desk, accompanied with a plastic spoon.
"Oh wow! This'll taste awesome!" Exclaimed Trap. "How much do I owe ya?"
"Don't worry, it's on the house," I replied gladly.
"Thanks Danny!" He unwrapped the banana leaf which unveiled the rice and the sambal. He grabbed the spoon. "Umm... How do I eat this?"
I gave him a little giggle out the nostrils and explained; "You mix the rice with just a little bit of sambal. THEN you eat it."
"Alrighty then..." He started mixing a handful of sambal to the rice. Little does he know that a even a tiny splodge of it can make person's stomach to ache. Or in this case, a mouse.
"Uh... Are you sure you want to do that?"
"What? This thing ain't that spicy, isn't it?"
"Believe me, it is."
"Relax, I can take it. Besides, Benjamin says that the more sambal you add, the sweeter the rice."
"Benjamin?" I said as I turned my head towards him. He gave me a smile and gestured a finger over his mouth to keep me quiet.
I turned back to Trap. "I have to warn you, if you do this nobody will be able to understand what you're saying."
"Why not?"
"Because, your tongue would be numb all day."
"Ah baloney..."
"Suite yourself, don't say I didn't warn you..." I walked away towards Benjamin's desk. He was busy surfing the net on his Ben Pad, reading about the Hennessey Venom GT on Wikipedia.
"Let me guess, you deliberately got him to ask me to buy him nasi lemak and told him to add more sambal so you can get him back for the prank he pulled during the beginning of summer, right?" I asked Benjamin.
"You just read my mind, literally," replied Benjamin. Trap started to scarf down the food as if he was a hobo who hasn't eaten in weeks.
"Well, his mouth should explode in about... now." We turned our attention to Trap, whose face glowed red.
"AHHHHHH! MY MOUTH IS ON FIRE!" Trap screamed. He immediately unscrewed cap of the bottle of mineral water, gulping it. I chuckled while shaking my head, having my eyes closed. As for Benjamin, he burst into laughter, thumping his fist on his desk. Thea laughed normally while looking at Trap. Geronimo let out a little "hmph" and smiled.
As Benjamin stopped laughing and said to Trap while wiping away his tears; "Man, you should've seen your face..."
"You were red as Geronimo's tie..." Thea said as she stopped laughing.
"With smoke coming out of your ears," I added.
"Yeah, yeah... Whatever..." Trap responded as his face's fur returned to its natural color, bright orange and white.
Ten minutes went by. Geronimo decided to start the interrogation. We all went downstairs to watch.
Interrogation Room
11.52 a.m.
It was Thea's turn to interrogate again. Geronimo, Trap, Benjamin and myself watched in the next-door observation room. Russell was wounded on his head-he had a piece of cotton taped on the wound. I was really hoping she wouldn't involve any violence, like what happened with Fernando. Anyway, Trap and Benjamin started placing bets on what will happen in the interrogation.
"Twenty bucks if she starts slamming the table," Trap predicted.
"Thirty if she throws the table away," predicted Benjamin.
Out of the blue, Geronimo joined the betting; "Fifty if she interrogates in a calm orderly fashion and doesn't involveviolence."
Then they all looked at me awkwardly. I felt weird and asked; "What?"
Benjamin replied; "Aren't you going to bet?"
"Muslim here, remember?"
"Ah..."
Thea steps in the interrogation room, closing the door behind her. She brought a file in as well.
"So we meet again, Agent Stilton," started Russell in his British accent.
"Hello Russell," replied Thea as she walked towards the chair opposite of him, giving him a disgusted look on the way.
"This has been our second meeting in person, yes?" Russell continued. Thea kept quiet.
"Russell, Russell, Russell... We've finally got you after ten years. I just want to say thanks for sort of helping us take down some of the terrorist organizations you formerly worked with," said Thea as she sat in front of Russell, putting the file and her forearms on the table, twiddling her thumbs. "Tell me, how'd you pull it off?"
"If you must know, all it took me was just a name change, a disguise and a voice changing module on my neck every time the leader of the organization wants to see me," he answered. "For the record, haven't you been hunting me down for only 3 years... Probie?"
"For the record, it's ten years for the agency and I'm no longer a probationary officer."
"So you got promoted... Congratulations! So, to what pleasure do I owe you?"
"Information..." Thea replied while taking out a photo from the file. She showed the threatening message. "I want to know what this is all about."
He read and studied the photo carefully. "I've seen this before. This is one of The Technologist's methods of sending 'messages'."
"That's what I wanted to hear..."
"But, this is just the first level. They'll send a threat through any form of communication. Text, Facebook, email, mail, anything."
"How many levels are there?"
"Honestly, I don't really know. Unless the person in question surrenders his or herself or the equipment that they want, they'll keep raising it until it gets worse, and worse, and worse."
"What do they usually send as 'messages'?"
"Umm... Let me see," said Russell. I saw his eyes rolling to the right. "Right, there were car bombings, armed assaults, street fights, taking hostage of the people they love, car chases... Who knows what they might pull this time."
"In what order do they come?"
"They're random. But, they'll arrange them in order of intensity for special targets. The hostage taking maybe the most intense level."
"Hmm..."
"Is there anything more you want to ask me?"
"No. That'll be all. Thank you for your time."
"Hold on a minute. I just want to warn you, that they'll do anything-and I mean ANYTHING to get their hands on that chip. I had snooped around at their base and they're planning something huge with it."
"And your advice is?"
"Unless you and Danial in the other room there arm yourselves with carbine rifles, the both of you are in terrible danger." I was confounded. How'd he know my name? More important, how'd he know about the chip? Oh wait, I forgot he was a spy, working for The Technologists.
"Thanks again for your time."
"Send my regards to Danial." Thea got off her chair and exited the room. Russell looks right into my face from the other side of the one-way glass and gave me a two-fingered, wrist-flicking salute with a grin on his face. I looked at the group strangely, asking what was happening by using body language. They all replied with the usual shrugging and raised arms, with some head-shaking as a sign of un-acknowledgement.
Thea joined us in the observation room and asked; "You believe in this guy, Geronimo?"
"His eyes were looking to the right when he stated the form of the 'messages'," answered Geronimo seriously.
"He was recalling something from his mind. He was telling the truth," I interrupted.
"So, about the court order," Thea continued.
"I've spoken to the people at the World Court during the interrogation. I told them to let Danny use the best weapon type."
"Great. I'll see you back in the squad room," said Thea. Geronimo nodded and we both left.
At a few feet outside from the observation room, my enhanced hearing caught Geronimo saying to both Benjamin and Trap; "You two owe fifty dollars."
Bullpen, Squad Room
A few hours later
2.09 p.m.
After a few hours after the interrogation, Benjamin started to scroll through Fernando's financial activities. Right now, he's in year 2005 of Fernando's credit card statements. While that was going on, I was challenged by Thea to an arm wrestling contest. She told me that she had the idea after seeing me lifting my 30 pound chainsaw this morning. We got ourselves a chair and sat opposite of each other. Trap wanted to be the referee.
"Put 'em up," ordered Trap.
I took off my plaid shirt and hung it on the chair, leaving behind my black "Im'ma Real Racer" t-shirt. I rolled the right sleeve up to my shoulder, exposing my upper arm. Thea on the other hand, took off her black jacket, with only her short-sleeved pink polo shirt on. We sat down and put out elbows on the desk, and gripped each other's hands.
"Alright, I want a clean match. I don't wanna see or hear any whimpering, screaming or tap-outs. I'm looking at you Danny," he mocked.
"Can we just get this over with?" I said. Trap then puts his hand on ours and started to count down.
"Ready... 3,2,1... GO!" The moment he let go of our grip, we struggled to get each other's hands to touch down the desk.
"Great mother of cheese, you're pretty strong... for a female mouse," I commented while panting. Trap said my face turned red as his when he ate that sambal.
"You're not to bad yourself... for a 13 year old," she replied.
We both struggled for just a couple of seconds, when Thea showed signs of giving up. My hand was about to make her's to touch the desk.
"Giving up?" I asked teasingly.
"NEVER! I shall not lose to you, little boy!" She responded.
Meanwhile, I overheard Geronimo talking into the phone.
"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, he's right here, arm wrestling with my sister. Yes, she's strong. Uh huh. I'll tell him. Okay, thanks." I assumed that it was either good news or bad news. He continued; "I just got off the phone with the World Court."
"What'd they say?" Thea asked, grunting.
"Good news, they've approved the request I sent. They let the both of you use full auto weapons."
"Really?" It got me off guard, my biceps relaxed itself, giving Thea an advantage to push my arm in the opposite direction.
"Aaarrrggghh!" Thea screamed while fighting against my arm. Before I even know it, I heard a thump on my right side of the desk. I looked at back and saw that the back of my hand was already on the desk, indicating that I lost.
Thea let out a sigh of of relief and said while panting; "*Pant, pant* Like I said, I can't lose to a boy," she bragged.
"What? No fair! Geronimo distracted me," I whined.
"And the winner!" Trap announced while raising Thea's hand.
We put back on what we took off, and Geronimo continued; "Ahem, as I was saying, they've added conditions and restrictions the the weapons. In this case, you're given the freedom to use any pistol, machine pistol, SMG (submachine gun) and personal defense weapons (PDWs), nothing else. Some of the conditions are:
1. The magazine capacity should not be more than 50 rounds,
2. The ammunition type you should only use are fully-metal jacketed,
3. The rate of fire of your weapon must not be more than 1500 rounds per minute."
"What about attachments?" I asked.
"You can equip any attachment known to mice, or man in this case. No restrictions whatsoever," he replied.
"Awesome! I can finally test out the guns my dad inherited to me," I said enthusiastically.
Suddenly, the ringtone of Geronimo's iPhone sounded. It played the song "Crawling" from Linkin Park.
He picked up and answered; "This is Stilton..."
I overheard the caller's voice. It was Pandora. I couldn't quite make out what she said though, and I refused to use my enhanced hearing. You know why, privacy reasons.
"Uh huh. Yeah. I'll tell him. Mm-kay, bye." He hung up, turned to me and said; "That was Pandora. She needs your "technological and weaponry expertise" down at the garage."
I was confused. Why would she need that kind of knowledge?
So I asked; "Huh? What's she doing down there anyway?"
"She's investigating Russell's stolen Audi," he answered.
"Looks like she's found something important," I replied. "Later guys!"
I took the employee's elevator down. I scanned my badge where the buttons should be. Once the doors opened, I got in and the doors closed. It took me 4 floors before I got to the garage.
"You needed me, Pandora?" I asked as I exited the elevator. She was under the car, lying down on a mechanic's creeper. Not the Minecraft Creeper, the one mechanics use to rest on their backs when they go under cars. Anyway, she was wearing a deep blue mechanic jumpsuit.
"Yeah... There's something interesting stuff I found on Russell's car. But first, help me up," she squeaked as she rolled out from underneath the car. I grabbed her hand... paw I meant, and pulled her up to her feet-paws, I meant. Why do I always get these things mixed up?
"Well, I have to say that the car is durable when it comes to collision. Only some dents to the hood and bumper," she stated.
I was dumbfounded. Russell was traveling 170 miles an hour when he hit that civilian vehicle!
"Impossible! He hit two cars and a barrier at high speed," I denied.
"That's why you're here," she squeaked. "I wanted to know if this was made from a high-density material. I tried looking for it in our databases. No match."
"It could be, but all high density metal are heavy," I replied.
"I know, right? But that's not all. Watch this..." She walked towards the front end of the car and disassembled the hinges that held the hood together with the car. The. She lifted the hood right off and set it aside. My jaws dropped. I scratched my head in confusion.
"Okay... How?"
"I don't know - you tell me..."
"Let me have a look at that." I picked the hood up. I found that it was weightless. By weightless, I mean as light as a feather. "Well, this concludes it. It's made out of carbon fiber."
"But carbon fiber is as fragile as glass. How come this one's lightly damaged?"
"I don't know. But I think I've heard of something like this. It's called high-resistant carbon fiber. It's used in some new cars to avoid internal damage. If the hood is made out of this, this may imply on the car's other body panels."
"I think what's under the hood is why Russell installed this. Take a look at the engine." Both of us walked towards the engine bay. I took a peak and I couldn't believe my eyes.
I gaped and said; "What in the name of automotive engineering..." In that engine bay was the heart of an SRT Viper GTS. Also known as, the Viper V10. It had two mid-sized superchargers. I turned to Pandora and said; "What is this beast doing in the inside of a sports station wagon?"
"I'm not sure. But what I am sure of that this is how Russell escaped Fernando."
I stared at the twin-turbo 8.4 liter engine for a while. From the red-painted cylinder heads with the "Viper" initials etched on it, down to the exhaust system.
"This beast can generate up to 600 horsepower. With these two superchargers injecting air into the combustion chamber, it'll boost the power up to a 200 horsepower each, totaling over 900 horses of power output," I calculated. Then I saw a little bit of street-racing tech. A little piece of cable, branching towards each of the cylinders.
"The cables attached to the cylinders - what are they exactly?" Pandora asked. I turned on my X-Ray vision to see what she saw.
"I don't know-but my x-ray vision tells me that they lead to the trunk," I answered.
"Let's go take a look then..." Pandora opened up the trunk from the driver's seat while I scampered to the boot. She soon followed afterwards and stood beside me.
"Gloves," I requested while handing out my right hand. She took out a pair out of her left abdominal pocket of her jumpsuit and handed them over to me. I put them on. "Let's see what's under here..." I said. I lifted up the lid and again, as I took a look what was under, I was speechless. Totally mindblown.
"Whoa, I never saw that coming," said Pandora. Three tanks of nitrous oxide, sitting in the middle of the trunk-each tank containing 1.5 liters of that substance. "Another reason why Fernando was eating Russell's dust."
"With this much nitrous, he can speed up to 219 mph for 6 seconds per tank.
"Meaning that he can't use them all at once?"
"Yup. If he does, the V10 will overheat-risking to have a blown engine."
After quite a silence, Pandora squeaked; "Oh-before I forget, there's another thing I want to show you."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Remember the 16 .50 cal slugs we pulled out off Fernando's Mitsubishi the other day?" She spoke as she walked slowly to the driver's seat.
"What about 'em?" I said while taking off the gloves.
"Watch this..."
She sat in the driver's seat, but I didn't really know exactly what she did in there. Then, out of nowhere, four muzzle-like objects (two on each side) appeared on the RS6's rear bumper-just under the outer taillight. They look awfully familiar. The part of the bumper where the muzzles came out slid aside.
"Alright, what are these?" I asked.
"First, you might wanna step away," she answered.
"Why should I?"
"Because... I matched the .50 cal slugs to these. They're custom-made heavy machine guns, Danny."
"Whoa!" I quickly slid myself to the driver's side, to avoid being shot. I turned on my X-ray vision so I can see the feed system and how it's operated. "According to my X-ray vision, these are belt-fed and recoil-operated," I said. I joined Pandora, standing beside her while she sat inside the cockpit. I said to her; "What did you do to activate those?"
"The infotainment system, of course. There's a custom app which let's the driver activate the weapon system. I'm pretty sure this isn't Audi's," she squeaked as she tapped on an icon labeled 'weapon system'. "I also found this custom function which enables the projection of a heads up display on the windshield." She pressed a button on the screen, enabling the HUD. The background of each display is colored light blue. It displayed:
1. The speed and rev-counter (with the numbers inside the rev-counter, positioned at the right-bottom corner of driver's side of the windshield)
2. Body armor integrity (positioned on the bottom of the windshield)
3. Ammunition count (which is currently 0/300 rounds, positioned on top-right corner of the windshield)
4. Nitrous gauge (placed around the rev-counter)
5. Mini-map with compass (placed on the left-bottom corner of the windshield)
6. Turbo gauge (a little circle placed beside the rev-counter)
7. Weapons (placed on top-left corner. Equipped: rear machine guns. Unequipped: front machine guns, EMP, spikes strips)
"You see the thumb rests on the steering wheel? They're actually the triggers for the machine guns, touch-activated. So if I do this, it should fire the machine guns," she said as she demonstrated and put her thumbs on the the thumb rests. The ammunition count blinked red every time Pandora tries to fire. Just like my father's Panamera, I thought to myself.
"To change weapons, just slide your index finger on the right side of the wheel for the next weapon, and slide on the left side for the previous weapon," she squeaked as she demonstrated. Just like my dad's Panamera, I thought to myself again.
"Could you do me a favor Danny?" Pandora asked me.
"Sure, what do I have to do?" I answered.
"First, you don't have any pictures of supercars on your cellphone by any chance?"
"Actually, I do."
"Good. Now just stand in front of the car and pick out a photo of any car. Make sure to keep a distance."
"Okay..." I did what she told me to do. I walked away a few feet and picked an image of my favorite supercar in the world, the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. Then, Pandora started snapping a photo of me with her DSLR camera through the windshield. She asked me to come back afterwards.
"Come look at this," she said. I stared at the picture, feeling shocked. The HUD displayed the info of the Bugatti.
"Whoa, augmented reality display..." I said.
"I know right. Projecting optical illusional information on a flat surface so it seems that you're looking at it at a distance," she explained. She was right, the augmented reality display displays the information using optical illusions so that it looks like you're looking at an the displayed info at a distance. For instance, remember in the 2012 Need For Speed Most Wanted they made an objective display a few miles way from the car? That's what it looked like.
But one question remains, how does Russell have all the technology that my dad and I do?
"I'm not feeling very amazed though. Rather questioned," I said.
"How come?" Pandora asked.
"The-the-the machine guns, the EMP, the-the HUD-" I stammered. "I have all this tech at home, in my garage. This is all MY vehicle tech! Now why would Russell have all this if it isn't known by any other people in the world?"
"A mole, maybe?"
"I'd thought you might say that. So did Thea..."
"Then we need to find out who it is."
"And fast. If all my inventions are leaked to The Technologists, I'm done for..."
Pandora gave me a pat on the back and said; "Don't worry Danny. We all got your back."
"That... actually made me feel good. It even cheered me up a little bit."
"Good to hear. Let's go back up the squad room and tell everyone about this."
"You already photographed all of this? The guns? The light hood?"
"Yup."
"Then let's move-"
"Hold on a minute-let me take off this jumpsuit..." She crawled out of the car (well, she didn't actually crawl out of the car, just showing a way of getting out) and unstrapped the Velcro belt. I stopped her as she got her hand on the zipper.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa! Are you sure you want to do that HERE?" I said while pointing towards the floor.
"What? I'm wearing clothes under this jumpsuit Danny. Why in the name of Gouda would I do this if I wasn't wearing anything on the inside? Geez, don't be silly Danny," she responded. My face turned red from embarrassment.
Pandora crawled out of the jumpsuit, looking relived (maybe because of her body heat being trapped inside, making her uncomfortable). She took out the memory card out of the DSLR camera she used to take the pictures. We got into the elevator after Pandora scanned her eyes. We got in and discussed about the Russell's Glock that Thea picked up after the pursuit.
"Oh yeah, about Russell's gun..." I started.
"Well, I tried to find the owner by tapping in the serial number into Glock's purchasing records..." She answered.
"And the result?"
"I couldn't because the numbers were filed off. Sooo... There's no way of telling if the gun was stolen or not."
"Oh..."
The elevator stopped on our floor. We scampered out to the bullpen to tell the gang about Russell's car.
"Yo guys! We're done with Russell's car," I shouted over the squad room while jogging to the bullpen.
"You're never gonna believe what we found," shouted Pandora.
As we both arrived at the bullpen, I asked Pandora for her camera and took out the memory card.
"Put this on the plasma for me," I demanded. He slid it into a memory card reader and pulled the images we took from it.
Pandora grabbed and started; "It all starts with this..."
We explained to the whole team about Russell's car and hinted the theory that we had a mole amongst us or the people I'm close to. We took about 15 minutes.
"So, if Danny's tech isn't exposed to anyone else except us, who leaked it to him (Russell)?" Pandora asked rhetorically.
"This means we have a mole amongst us," Geronimo squeaked.
"Exactly," Pandora agreed.
"And we need to find and catch that mole fast," concluded Trap.
"Before anymore of his tech gets leaked to any of The Technologists scum-" Thea continued.
"And before any of the leaked tech gets reverse-engineered and eventually used against me," I interrupted.
"Talk about getting beaten by your own hand..." Thea said.
"I'll try and interrogate Russell tonight. Thea, Danny, you two can go home. You've done a lot for us today," squeaked Geronimo.
"Well, so much for that celebratory dinner we were gonna have... Anyways, you're welcome," I said.
As usual, we said good bye to each other and took the elevator back down. We hopped into Thea's Charger and zoomed off home. We made a stop to a pizza place a few minutes to home to get ourselves lunch.
As we arrived at the front gates the M4-wielding guards greeted us as our vehicle was being scanned. After the spike strips retracted themselves into the ground, Thea drove onto the courtyard and headed straight for the garage door. She took a precaution and drove slowly to avoid her car getting dirty. We entered the garage with Jason giving us the "welcome back" greeting as the cars tire touch the turntable (we heard him because the windows aren't soundproof). We greeted him back and rode the elevator back up to the living room.
Thea's Perspective
Arif Mansion
3.06 p.m.
Ugh! Finding a way to the armory and the underground shooting range was a total disaster! There was a whole lot different rooms in the underground level. I walked through every twist and turn in the hallway until I finally gave up and asked J-Son for some help. Anyway, I was busy in the underground shooting range, shooting the silhouette of person with a Brügger and Thomet MP9 I borrowed from Danny (every shot I took of the 30 round magazine ended up piercing the head). I equipped it with a few attachments:
1. An EOTech XPS2-Z2(TM) holographic sight on the top rail
2. A foldable shoulder stock
3. An extended 30-round magazine
4. A sling belt for carrying
When I was finally satisfied of my weapon and aiming skills, I went back upstairs with the submachine gun.
I rode the elevator back up to the living room and found Danny in front of his 90-inch Smart TV. What looked like a small briefcase was sitting beside him. He held a DUAL SHOCK(TM) 3 controller in his hands, playing Forza Motorsport 3 on a first-release PlayStation 3. You know, the giant, bulky ones from 2006. He was about to play a time trial round.
I interrupted; "You do know that there's a slimmer model of that thing?"
"I do. Just wanted to breakout this old thing," he replied. He sounded sad for some reason. "Besides, the PS4 is coming soon. Enjoying your MP9?"
"Yup. The most accurate B&T has ever built. Thanks for letting me use it."
"Your welcome..."
"What gun did you choose?" He picked up the briefcase and showed it to me. He held the handle and flicked his arm. I was amazed that the briefcase was actually a foldable SMG.
"The Magpul FMG-9... Accurate, compact, concealable, and the most innovative weapon Magpul has ever built."
I squeaked after a moment of silence; "Forza 3?"
"Yeah..." He replied as he put down the unfolded SMG and started the time trial race.
I watched him race against a ghost car at Circuit de La Sarthe. Also known as, Le Mans. The nameplate above the ghost car says "Roy". Danny chose to race Roy in a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. The race started, both were in a head to head battle. I watched them pass the Dunlop Bridge, cornering through the chicanes and entering the Mulsanne Straight. Roy's ghost and Danny where neck and neck until he braked. It almost looked like he refused to even try and win the race. The same thing happened during the second straight, after the roundabout. In the third straight, he surpassed the ghost. But he slowed down and decelerated, letting Roy pass. His eyes turned red, same with his cheeks and nose. It looked like he was about to cry.
"Danny, you look miserable," I started softly. "You even sounded sad after I came out of the elevator." I walked closer to the sofa, putting my gun on the glass coffee table in front of me and sat beside him. I said to him; "C'mon, tell me what's going on."
He breathed in, clearing his throat and then breathed out. He gulped down some saliva and explained; "Back when my family was still alive-uh, my dad bought me this PS3 when my mom's cupcake business was starting to sell. We used to play with each other during the weekends. We had lots of fun during that time." He sobbed a little bit. Then he continued; "It was a tragedy when I lost him along with my sister and mother. I was devastated. After it all happened, I just couldn't touch the console for for two years. That is, until January. That's when I realized that we used to play a racing game, Forza 3. I meddled around, when I found his ghost. Literally. Ironic isn't it?" I smiled. He went on; "I continued playing in the weekends like we used to ever since. I started a race against his ghost, with me driving what I'm driving now, and him driving the Veyron Grand Sport. He lead the race until the Mulsanne Straight. I managed to catch up to him and surpassed his ghost due to my top speed advantage. I lead the whole race after that with the ghost staying half a second behind me. When we were both at the Ford Chicanes, I just realized something. I can't win. I braked right in front of the finish line. My front bumper almost went over it. I watched my dad's ghost, speeding through me and crossing the finish line."
I interrupted the story and asked; "Why'd you do it?"
"Because, I didn't want to get his ghost deleted. It reminds me that although he's gone, his ghost will still remain-racing on the track."
The story touched my heart. I started shedding tears but I quickly wiped them away.
He started crying as he said; "It really brakes my heart when I try to overtake him...(sobs heavily) I keep telling myself to stay behind, so I can see him..." Tears began flowing onto his cheeks as he closed his eyes. "Dad, why did you have to go?"
I pulled his head close to my shoulder and started to comfort him. "Their, their. It's alright... You've got me by your side," I squeaked. I gave him a gentle kiss on his head and wrapped my arm around his shoulder, hugging him tightly. We starred at the TV for a long time before Danny resumed racing his father's ghost.
Geronimo's Perspective
Interpol HQ-Interrogation Room
7.58 p.m.
I headed towards the interrogation room to squeeze more information out of Russell. I wanted to know everything he knows. By everything, I mean EVERYTHING. I brought along a tray with a plate of steak served with gravy and a side of coleslaw, and a glass of orange juice on it. Since Russell never ate anything after lunch, it will be inhuman of me (considering that I'm a mouse) if I didn't bring him any food.
I stepped in. Russell was reclining on the chair, sleeping like a log. The light from the lamp above shone on the table, and the room was silent. Only the sound of the air coming out of the air-conditioning system and Russell's snoring. Considering that I'm a gentle mouse, I decided to put down Russell's dinner on the table and tapped him on the shoulder to wake him up.
"Russell," I squeaked while tapping his shoulder. "Russell, wake up." He yawned and stretched his arms in the air, followed by rubbing him the palm of his hands.
"*Inhales deeply and moans* What time is it...?" He asked tiredly.
"It's a minute before eight in the evening," I answered as I checked my watch. "Hungry?"
"Starving..."
"Here, I brought in some food." I slid the tray in front of him.
"Mmm... Steak! My favorite..." He picked up the silverware and started to cut the meat piece by piece, putting them into his mouth.
"You're not eating?" He asked while chewing.
"No, no. I've already had dinner."
Russell started; "Oh god, what a bloody nightmare I had! I dreamt that I was in a town full of zombies-" I cut him off because it would be a waste of time listening to that story.
"Russell, I apologize but, as much as I like to hear your story, I really don't have the time."
"Then what are you here for?"
"I'm here to dig out more information from you."
"*Sighs through nostrils* The Technologists?" I gave him a nod and he continued; "What do you want to know?"
"Everything, starting from their base of operations."
"In that case, they've got bases all over the world. From Alaska, to Timbuktu. One main-base in every country, one sub-base in every state of that country. Their head-base is situated somewhere in America, but I'm not really sure exactly where, though."
"What about manpower?"
"Shockingly, for only 10 years they've recruited over 16 million people worldwide. All the physically fit people sit on the bottom of the organization. They're the goons of The Technologists, sent out to send messages by terrorizing targets' homes, beating up the target, and other things that goons are supposed to do. Men like me, sit in the middle part of the organization. Working inside, going on undercover missions, inspecting weapons and other stuff like that. Weak people however, work in the upper section of the organization. They sit in front of the computer screen, inventing new tech and weapons of mass destruction... Etc., etc."
"What weapons do they use?"
"Everything. From derringer pistols to SMGs, assault rifles to LMGs (light machine guns), grenade launchers to RPGs... Last I've heard, they acquired fifty RPG-7 rocket launchers, thirty M134 Vulcan miniguns, and ten M202 FLASH launchers that shoot 66mm incendiary rockets from an illegal arms dealer."
"What type of vehicles do they commandeer?" I visualized everything what Russell said next.
"They've got advanced vehicles. They travel by air, land, and sea. They've stolen 5, I repeat, x5 bloody military Black Hawks, thousands bloody of Audis, and hundreds of jet skis and dinghies. Better watch out for their air support, those Black Hawks are equipped with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles and belt-fed machine guns."
"Land vehicles?"
"There's only one manufacturer they're interested in: Audi. They get their Audis by three ways: (while counting out with fingers) one, they steal any black Audi they see. They're very picky and will only steel high-performance, new-generation Audis. Two, they hire a car thief to steel the cars for them, and pay them after pulling off the job. And three, they send demands to a car theft syndicate and buying the cars from them for half the price.
"Do they modify them in any way?"
"Yes. They're tricked out and bloody fast. While in pursuit, they have heat levels so they can save the powerful cars for special occasions. Level 1, they deploy cars like the TTS and RS3, equipped with light weapons and light body armor. At level 2, they deploy lightly armed and armored TT RSs and S4s equipped with medium machine guns, and a jammer. Level 3 cars which includes my car such as the S5 and RS5, the S6 and RS6, the S7 and RS7. They're equipped with medium body armor, medium machine guns, jammers and protective glass. Level 4 is the level where you should start looking out for yourself. They deploy heavily-armored Audi S8s, armed with heavy machine guns, an EMP and a jammer. Level 5 is the last and most intense level. This is where you need to brace yourself because heavily armored Audi R8 V10s with .50 cal heavy machine guns, EMPs and jammers will start to engage on you. The drivers and pilots of this level are highly trained."
"What do you mean, pilots?"
"I forgot to mention that the one of the Black Hawks they stole will be chasing after you as well."
"Technology?"
"Everything is military spec when it comes to technology. Hundreds of supercomputers used in hacking, system hijacking and other stuff. They've weaponized the vehicles with HUDs and other techie stuff that I don't really know much about."
"What have they done recently involving their technology?"
"Last I've heard, they've managed to hijack a US governmental imagery satellite without detection. It's not tested yet though."
"Lastly, how do they gather intel?"
"That's pretty easy actually... There are tiers to the intel-gathering organization. The lowest tier are the spies that go out in the field. The second tier, consist of people who disguises as normal people in public and follow the target around, such as myself. The highest tier are the moles, staying close to the target and gathering trust as well as intel."
"You worked alone?"
"No, I had a partner but he's been missing for weeks. I was assigned to a new partner, his name was Martinez I think."
"I need the name of your old partner."
"He was a former US Marine, his name was Malcolm Calico."
"That's all I needed to know..." I got up and thanked Russell for his cooperation. He stopped me as I opened the door.
"WAIT! Don't you want to know about the boss?"
"No... I don't."
"What do you mean, no?"
"I already know about him..."
"How?"
"He... killed by best friend..." I walked out and headed towards the elevator.
I got back upstairs to the squad room to consult Benjamin. I needed him to search the name Malcolm Calico in the US Marine Corps' database.
"Benjamin, I need you to search a man named "Malcolm Calico" in the US Marine Corps' database."
"On it," he responded. He started typing on his keyboard. All I heard from his computer was an error alert. "Uncle G, I couldn't access any detailed information."
"Why not?"
"Because it's classified. Only people from the Corps and NCIS can access it."
"That won't be a problem then..."
"You know a person at NCIS?"
"The director to be exact. I'll phone him right now." I sat down at my desk and picked up the receiver and dialed the director, Leon Vance. His secretary picked up. She told me to wait as she redirected me to director. After I was redirected, I had a talk with him to get his agents to let us access Calico's information.
Haha! Another chapter ended! NCIS crossover coming up in next chapter!