The Arkham Plan booklet was tucked into the backpack I brought to work every day. As the backpack went through the usual scanner to check for weapons, I found myself tapping my foot at a high speed. I wasn't sure how carrying that booklet would be incriminating against me, but Oswald had been pretty clear that he didn't want anyone knowing that Gordon had it.
"Why are you nervous, Sydney?"
I jumped at the sound of Ed's voice directly behind me in line. I turned and looked up at where he was tilting his head and frowning slightly at me. I shrugged and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Ed."
Now Ed fully frowned, an odd sight on his usual cheerful and friendly face. "Don't insult me, Sydney. I thought we were friends; friends trust each other."
I couldn't tell Ed about the full extent of the Arkham Plan, not without dragging him into Oswald's plan to rise to power. I also couldn't lie to Ed, because he was definitely smart enough to tell if I was lying. My backpack made it through the security scanner and I bit back my exhale of relief. I picked it up and waited for Ed's own bag to get checked and cleared.
Ed rejoined me at the door heading into the station and I had finally come up with a decent answer for him. "At night they come without being fetched. By day they are lost without being stolen."
"Doubts and fears." Ed answered the riddle without even a pause. I blinked at that and smiled at the fact that he could figure it out that fast. But Ed now just looked concerned. "What on earth are you afraid of?" He looked genuine in his concern, and the sight of it sent a stab of guilt into my chest.
"A lot of things actually," I said vaguely. "But right now I think it's all of these vigilantes who've been coming out." Ed's concerned look vanished and he gave me a smile.
"These vigilantes have only been going after corrupt people. You're not a bad person, Sydney. I'd stop worrying if I were you." Ed said. I almost made the comment that just because you told someone not to worry didn't mean that they'd stop worrying. But I didn't just nodding and allowing Ed to take the lead towards the offices in the back.
As I passed Gordon's desk, I saw the box of evidence already sitting there. Probably from whatever case he was working on right now. I lagged a little behind, pulling the booklet out of my backpack. Ed didn't notice me no longer right behind him and it gave the perfect opportunity to slip the booklet into the evidence box without him seeing. I quickly caught up with Ed right before he turned around to check if I was still there.
The next day, I was still clueless as to why Oswald had wanted me to give Gordon the Arkham Plan booklet. But Tuesday morning Mayor James gave an announcement, telling the city about how he would be combining the two different plans for the Arkham district. Considering that the asylum would be renovated and the other sections of the district destroyed, I couldn't tell if Oswald's rise to power was going to run smoothly or not.
I kind of wanted him to show up and explain everything that was going on on his side. But another side of me was already dreading the next time I'd see him limping around.
Kristin, during my recent entanglement with Oswald, didn't appear to notice a single thing off with me. I found it amusing that the person I work the closest with didn't notice a single thing, while Ed had been able to see my nervousness that first day. I remembered how Oswald had unintentionally made me think about every relationship I had with the people here in the G.C.P.D. And that kind of drove in the message that Ed was the only friend I had here at work.
"He was very charming." Kristin was telling me for the seventeenth time. She kept on reliving that dinner with Flass, and she didn't seem to think that nothing was wrong. She had wondered where I had gone to for a few minutes there, but I just told her that I had gone to the bathroom and she had accepted it.
I mumbled some random answer, something barely audible but Kristin agreed with me and continued on her story despite the facts that I had already heard it and had been there.
The door burst open and although I couldn't see past the filing cabinets I was going through, I knew it wasn't Ed just by the way the door opened. Bullock came around the corner and glanced at me once before charging towards me.
"I need a file on a drug called Viper." Bullock said. I frowned slightly and started towards the V section.
"Does it have another name?" I asked, running my fingers through the various files and paperwork.
"If I did I would've told you by now." He snapped. I turned my head and glared at him.
"No need to get pissed off at me just because a file doesn't exist." I retorted. Bullock glared back at me until he finally decided to leave, huffing about no files on a drug called Viper. Kristin, who had been sitting in her desk through this whole exchange, blinked at where Bullock disappeared to and then turned to me.
"Have you even heard of a drug named Viper?" She asked.
I shook my head ."Must be something new."
My prediction came true the very next morning as I walked into work. The police station was crammed with the drug users being corralled into the holding cells. It was taking at least four cops per user to get them into the cells. I stopped and stared at the chaos, not sure what to think for a good long moment.
"Sydney!" Ed's voice snapped me out of the lull and I found him standing on the second set of stairs. I walked over and stood beside him right as two cops started dragging a girl towards the Captain's office. The girl's skin had turned white and the veins underneath her skin were pulsing gray against their skin.
The girl made eye contact with me and Ed right before lunging at the pair of us. Ed's hand was suddenly on my shoulder and yanking me back and out of the way. I bumped into his chest as the girl passed. I nodded up to Ed. "Thank you."
"Quite alright, Sydney. Didn't want you to get run over." Ed replied, staring out at the barely controlled chaos surrounding us. "I have to tell the captain and detectives what the drug does. I'll tell you too, afterwards."
I nodded, grateful for not being let out of the loop. "Once again, thank you, Ed." He left me to go tell the captain, Bullock, and Gordon what this new drug, Viper did. I left the noisy area for my cramped and crowded office, where Kristin was already going over paperwork.
"It's madness out there." Kristin said. I could only nod to agree with her. I got to work, trying to ignore the sounds of screaming and fighting above our heads. Kristin and I would exchange looks every now and then, silently agreeing that this mess was indeed mad.
Ed showed up about ten minutes later to tell me about the drug. He straightened considerably when he saw that Kristin was in the room as well, and although he was telling me about the drug, he would often turn to Kristin to see if she was listening and paying attention to him.
What Ed was saying made me nervous. The drug used and burned calcium in the human body to create its super strength. But then when there no more calcium to burn, the bones crumbled, collapsed the lungs, and the users died right after. Kristin shuddered but I could see that Ed was quite excited with this new drug.
"It's exciting, isn't it?" Ed asked, looking between us. "A brand new drug that has never been seen before?"
"Yeah, Nygma, it's really something." Kristin said sarcastically. Ed frowned slightly, but quickly wiped that off of his face to smile kindly at Kristin. I glanced between the two of them and cleared my throat. Ed turned to me.
"Is there a cure?" I asked.
"Nope." Ed replied.
I blinked. "Well, do they have an idea as to who did it?"
Ed shook his head. "All they have is a list of companies and factories who used to make the stuff." He excused himself and left, leaving me and Kristin frowning after him. I looked back at my files but couldn't put my energy into really looking at them. Did this drug have anything to do with Oswald?
It made some sort of sense; right after he tells me about this master plan of his, this drug breaks out to the public. But, according to Ed, whoever made this drug had some intense science know-how. Something about Oswald told me that he wasn't a science genius. Still, it wouldn't hurt to go and make sure.
"Are you okay, Sydney?" Kristin asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked at her and saw that she had a look of concern on her face. "You're face is pale. And you've been staring into space for a while now."
"I'm fine. Just a little freaked out by what's going on up there." I looked up right as a big crash sounded from above. Kristin flinched while I remained to stay still. I made up my mind to go back to that Italian restaurant to pay a visit to Oswald.
