Chapter 9
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-Federal Building, Boston
Olivia walked into a flurry of activity at the Federal Building. It was almost just as she'd left it less than forty eight hours ago, with agents on the phones still conducting interviews, and following up on leads that had been called in. Others were still working on the video feeds from the Hamburg Airport. It was almost all the same, except for her.
She looked at the world differently since she'd been here last. All the people in here, none of them, even Charlie, had seen the things she had seen and experienced in the last two days. It made her feel like an outsider, like they were all innocents somehow. And it wasn't like she could explain it to them either, the last thing she needed was psych eval on her record. Olivia pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind with determination. She could dwell on her changing world outlook when John's life wasn't hanging by a thread. Right now, she just needed to focus.
Olivia spied Agent Broyles speaking on his phone, with his back to her, looking out the window while he talked. She didn't really want to deal with him right now, so she snuck past him, through the chaotic mass of agents, to the workstations with the facial recognition software.
She had had called Charlie on her way in, informing him that she had a lead on the guy from the storage unit labs, and needed time with the facial software. When he'd asked how she had come by it, she had brushed him off telling him he was better off not knowing. He had acquiesced, but it wouldn't last forever. He was going to insist on knowing where the lead came from eventually. Charlie was her friend, one of the few she still had, so she thought she might be able to tell him, but now wasn't the time.
Life as an FBI agent had killed off almost all the friendships she'd had from college, between being on call practically twenty four hours a day, and the looks some of them had given her when they'd found out she was an agent, like she'd had a deadly disease. Olivia thought of her ex-roommate Beth, one of the few she still kept in contact with from Northwestern. She had left Olivia a few messages recently, wanting to find some time to get together. She made a mental note to return the calls after this was over.
Keeping her eye on Broyles, Olivia sat down at a free terminal, and logged herself in. She pulled up the facial software and began to build the man's face from the memory she'd seen of John's. The man's eyes had been wide set, and there had been a slight upturn to his nose. She tapped the keyboard, making adjustments to his cheekbones. Cycling through the various hair styles, she selected one that looked similar to the man's wavy brown hair and applied it to the face. It still wasn't quite right, but she was getting closer.
She felt someone sit down next to her and glanced over to see Charlie's serious face. "Hey Charlie, what's up?" She said, continuing to fine tune the image.
"So what's this about you being able to ID the perp from the storage facilities? I didn't think you got a good look at his face." he asked her from his perch on the edge of the desk.
Olivia considered what to say for a moment, she really hated lying. "Well, I may have seen him after all." She said diplomatically, keeping her eyes on the monitor. She almost had it, maybe a touch more along the eyebrows, she tapped a key, increasing the depth of the eyes. There, that was it. It was him, or as close as she could get.
"What do you mean you may have seen him? You mind telling me where?" There was confusion in his voice, along with a hint of worry. "My memory might not be as good as yours Liv, but I definitely remember your report stating that you were unable to identify the suspect."
Olivia sighed, "I told you not to ask me that Charlie." She sat back and looked up at him. "It's complicated. I promise when this is over, I'll tell you all about it and Dr. Bishop. But right now, this is him." She indicated the image on the screen, "That's the guy we're looking for. He looks like this."
Charlie looked at the face on the screen, and after a moment, he nodded his head. "Okay." He turned to the female agent at a terminal behind him. "Let's get this image in the system. This is our guy."
"Send it to my station, I'll put it through the database." the woman replied.
Olivia thought her name might be Theresa. She had seen her around the office before, but had never really been introduced.
Olivia transferred the file over, and watched as the program started comparing the image to those in the database. Images flickered by faster than the eye could follow, and trying to do so began to make her head hurt.
Rubbing her temples, Olivia looked away from the screen, trying to fight off the fatigue she could feel beginning to overwhelm her. She needed some coffee, she decided.
"Have you slept at all Liv?" Charlie asked her as they waited, concern evident in his voice until he added, "You look like crap." He was smiling now.
Olivia shot him an evil glare before replying, "Gee, thanks Charlie, you know exactly what a girl wants to hear. Your wife must love you very much." She kept her glare on him, until she couldn't hold it anymore, and she shook her head, smiling at him fondly. Charlie was one of a kind. He'd been watching out for her since the day she'd met him.
"There are no primary matches for criminal record." The agent said when the search was complete.
That can't be right, Olivia thought. I saw him there. He had to be in the system somewhere. The guy was a mass murderer, which wasn't something someone decides to do on whim.
"Cross check all state drivers license files with the image and send it to all local hospitals too." she instructed her.
"Agent Dunham! Come take a look at this."
Olivia looked over at one of the junior agents who had been going through the passenger list from the flight. He was holding a file in her direction, indicating it was the object of his exclamation. She went over to retrieve it, with Charlie in tow.
When she opened the file, she saw the face of the man from John's memory looking up at her. She stared for a moment, shocked at the sight.
The junior agent continued, "His name was Morgan Stieg. He was a passenger on Flight 627."
"I don't understand, how could he be a passenger?" She looked at Charlie, who took the file from her.
He looked at the photo, then flipped through the file quickly, looking for something. After a moment, he found what was he was looking for. She watched his eyes scan the page, before meeting her eyes.
"Liv, you're not going to believe this, but this is your guy."
"My guy?"
"Yeah, the one from the plane, insulin pen, briefcase, you remember? Looks like he was involved after all." He showed her the forensic reports on the insulin pen and the briefcase that had been inconclusive. "I don't see how he could have been at the storage facility though." He said, scratching the back of his neck. He was studying her, no doubt wondering about her lead she'd refused to tell him the source of.
"But I saw him there Charlie..." Olivia trailed off then, confused at the predicament this left them in. Clearly, the man couldn't have been in two places at once, especially when he was dead. She leafed through the file, trying to put the puzzle together in her mind, there was something obvious she was missing, she could feel it.
"Can you double check that this photo of Stieg matches the one he has on file for his driver's license?" She asked the agent who had given her the file.
"What are you thinking, Liv?" Charlie asked.
"Do we even know for sure that the body on the plane was his? Maybe somebody was using his identity." She replied, still not sure what her intuition was telling her.
She had seen the man at storage facility, or John had at least, and yet he was also on the plane, according to his passport photo. Logically, someone involved with the contagion had to have been using his identity, and it was their body on the plane, or...
The junior agent, Theresa, broke her train of thoughts with an excited gasp. "Hold on guys! You're not going to believe this! Morgan Stieg's emergency contact was his brother, Richard Stieg." She handed Olivia a photo, showing the same face from John's memory, also the same as his brother's.
The puzzle pieces clicked into place, forming the complete picture in her mind. Of course, she thought. It all makes sense now. "You're telling me that Richard Stieg, is Morgan Stieg's twin brother?"
The junior agent nodded. Olivia looked at Charlie, "What do you think?"
"I think that makes a whole lot more sense than a dead guy being in two places at once. What do we know about Richard Stieg?" He asked Theresa.
"Not a whole lot." She replied. "He had no current home address listed with the IRS. But there is a history of employment." She gave him a printout, showing the relevant information.
Charlie looked it over before handing it to Olivia. "Take a look at this, Liv." He pointed out one of the employers.
Olivia looked at what he was pointing to and exhaled. "Massive Dynamic? That can't be a coincidence, Charlie." She quickly looked over the rest of the file, memorizing any pertinent information.
He caught her eyes, reading her face. "I know what you're thinking Liv, you can't just-"
"I am, Charlie." Olivia cut in. "I'll let you fill in Broyles. Good work agents." she said to the others.
Grabbing her coat and keys, she rushed towards the exit, noticing Broyles watching her from the corner of her eye, but ignored him. He would stop her if he knew what she was planning. He could reprimand her later.
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The hour long flight from Boston to New York was uneventful, with the typical crowded airports making it take at least an hour longer than it should have. She had phoned Agent Farnsworth from a cab on her way through the city, briefing her on the latest developments concerning the Stieg brothers and to see if there had been any changes to John's condition, which there hadn't been.
"So I'm on my way to Massive Dynamic, to see if I can get some information on Stieg. What are the Bishops up to?" She was curious to see how the father and son were getting along.
Astrid laughed as she replied, "Walter found an old tv he had stashed in one of his storage closets. Right now he's searching for a cable to hook it up. The man is really strange, Agent Dunham, I don't think I've ever met anyone like him." Olivia could tell she was smiling.
"What about Peter? Are the two of them getting along ok?" Part of her still felt guilty for dragging Peter back here, and she wanted to make sure that he wasn't miserable being stuck there with Walter.
Astrid laughed again, "When they got back from getting their shakes, Peter dragged two chairs together and passed out on them in the office. He's been there ever since. It looks really uncomfortable."
Olivia smiled, picturing Peter slouched between two chairs, possibly drooling on himself. It made her want to giggle, imagining the sarcastic man waking up and finding his shirt soaked and neck with a crick in it. He would probably be grumpy, and she was glad she wasn't there to hear it. Looking out the window, she noticed the Massive Dynamic building looming ahead of them.
"Hey Astrid, I'm pulling up to Massive Dynamic now, I'll get in touch with you later, hopefully after I've interviewed Bell." She said, ending the conversation and snapping the phone shut.
The Massive Dynamic Building was an intimidating structure that had dominated the New York skyline since the fall of the Twin Towers in 2001. She'd never been here before, she generally avoided New York in general if possible. It was always too crowded, too loud, and no place to park. Not that Boston much better, but it was her home at least. Still, she found herself in New York often enough due to her job, and she had no problems navigating the city. The cab pulled over at the main entrance. Olivia paid her tab, and got out, looking up at the dizzying height of the building. She hoped her answers were in there.
The lobby of the Massive Dynamic building was a huge open space, with high vaulted ceilings, and irregular shaped columns set at odd angles, with the Massive Dynamic slogan and other advertisements being projected onto the white walls, in a never-ending stream, racing around the perimeter of the space. They certainly did seem to do everything, judging by the sheer amount of technologies she observed floating by without repeats. The floor was a polished gray tile, with a large desk set at one corner of the room.
She made her way to the receptionist's desk. It was being manned by a woman in a tight black blouse, with a matching skirt. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, with dark lipstick accentuating her pale features, giving her a rather aristocratic look. She had headset over one ear, and sat in front of a large console, like a high-tech switchboard operator.
Pulling out her badge, she held it up before the woman. "Hi, I'm Agent Olivia Dunham, FBI. I would like to speak to William Bell, if possible."
If the woman was surprised, she hid it well, she merely raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow in question. "Do you have an appointment?" Her tone was bright and cheerful, in stark contrast to her severe look.
"No," Olivia said shaking her head, "but I was hoping to speak with him regardless." She gave the woman a tight smile, maintaining the eye contact between them.
The woman finally shrugged uncomfortably, her smile dropping for a moment. "Of course. I'll see if he's available."
She pressed a button on her console and spoke into her headset. "Ms. Sharp? There's an Olivia Dunham here to speak with Dr. Bell. She's with the FBI." She listened for a moment before responding again, "Of course, Ms. Sharp." She looked up at Olivia with that smile on her face again. "Ms. Sharp will see you now. This way please."
Leaving her desk, she led Olivia over to a door behind her desk. Set about shoulder height on the wall next to the door was rectangle pad. The receptionist placed her hand on it and a green light flashed under hand, ran the length of it from top to bottom, than back again. The door clicked open. Olivia had heard of hand scanners like this, but had never seen one in action before.
The door led to hallway with more white walls, and more advertisements running the length of them. Olivia wondered why they felt the need to have all their accomplishments so garishly announced on every surface, even in restricted areas. It spoke to her of a deep seated arrogance, one that went all the way to the top. The corridor had more strangely angled walls and windows that she just couldn't make sense of. If this was the future of interior design, it appeared she was going to be hanging out in the past.
Eventually, they reached a large office, where an older woman with short red hair was standing behind a desk waiting for them. Olivia put her age somewhere in her fifties, probably closer to sixty. She was dressed in black, and held herself with an air of authority.
"Hello Agent Dunham, I'm Nina Sharp, Executive Director." She sat down and indicated for Olivia to take the seat in front of the desk. "What can I do for you? I only have a few minutes to spare."
Olivia frowned, taking the seat. "I was hoping to speak to William Bell, actually."
"I'm afraid Dr. Bell is unavailable at this time." She said calmly, hands crossed on the table in front of her.
"Why? Where is he?" Olivia retorted, feeling her irritation starting to grow. Why couldn't anything be easy for once?
"He is unavailable." Nina repeated, not giving an inch. "You know, I thought I recognized your name, Agent Dunham. This isn't the first time you've tried to get access to Dr. Bell recently. Did our response to your first request not reach you?"
"Ms. Sharp, I'm investigating the occurrence on Flight 627, I know you've heard of it." Olivia said coldly. "Every single man, woman, and child on that plane died horrific deaths, deaths I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Our primary suspect, is a former employee of yours, Richard Stieg. I believe he may have used research from your company to develop a self-eradicating airborne toxin that caused said horrific deaths. We don't know why or for whom yet, but it appears he was willing to sacrifice his own brother to do so. Whatever killed those people on that plane was brought on board by him. So, do you want to talk to me now?" She met the other woman's gaze calmly.
Olivia could see that Nina Sharp was not a woman used to being balked, she tossed her head like a fractious horse before turning to her assistant.
"Danielle," she said curtly after a moment, "please assemble everything we on Richard Stieg, for Agent Dunham here."
After the secretary left to retrieve the file on Stieg, Nina leaned back in her office chair studying her. Olivia kept the stoic smile on her face under Nina's scrutiny, unsure of the woman's intentions. They stared at each other in silence for several moments before Nina spoke.
"I remember this Richard Stieg." she recollected finally. "He was a promising young researcher working in our Weapon Systems Lab, until about three months ago, when he was caught trying to leave the premises with classified information. We terminated his employment immediately, and referred his name to the Justice Department. We've done our due diligence here, Agent Dunham. If you choose to drag our company and Dr. Bell's name into this matter, then you will be hearing from our attorneys." She announced this certainty with a smile on her face that never reached her eyes.
Olivia knew an end to a topic when she heard one. Changing the subject, she asked, "Ms. Sharp, how long have you worked for Dr. Bell?" She tried to keep her tone conversational, not wanting the women to feel as if she were being questioned again.
"Sixteen years." She smiled, a real smile this time, as if remembering a fond moment. "I owe Dr. Bell and Massive Dynamic my life, Agent Dunham, and that is not an exaggeration."
"In what way?" Olivia replied, interested in finding out anything thing she could on William Bell's character. Something that hadn't been filtered through Walter's eccentricity.
"I've been a runner most of my life." Nine responded, grabbing her right hand and massaging her wrist. "The '97 Boston Marathon, was when I first noticed a strange tiredness, I was barely able to finish the race, and the feeling persisted after that. About a week later, Dr. Bell noticed it as well, and insisted I go in for a CAT scan."
She paused then before continuing. Olivia noted that she could see the white in the knuckles of her left hand as her grasp on her wrist tightened.
Nina continued after a moment, "The diagnosis was cancer. It had spread so severely that my arm was amputated that same week."
She held her right arm up, the sleeve falling back to uncover her unblemished skin. Then she dug the fingers of her left hand into the skin her right arm just past her elbow, and peeled the skin back to her fingertips to reveal a prosthetic limb, of a sort that Olivia had never seen or heard of before.
It appeared to be made of polished glass, or a hard clear plastic that exposed the inner workings. Olivia could see the metal knuckled joints in the fingertips and grayish muscles and tendons running the length of her forearm. At the elbow was a large ball joint, allowing her forearm to swivel in a normal manner. Watching the fingers as they opened and closed was eerie, and Olivia felt her eyes widen involuntarily at the sight. The way it had been revealed was so unexpected, that she wasn't sure what to say or do.
After observing Olivia's reaction, Nina went on, "That first scanner that found my cancer was made by this company. The robotic assist tools that were used at my surgery, the drugs I took afterwards, were all developed and manufactured by Massive Dynamic. And my replacement limb was designed by Dr. Bell himself. So you see, Agent Dunham, why I take affront to such accusations against William or this company. I owe everything to them."
Olivia nodded, not sure what to say to that. What could she say?
The side door opened and her assistant returned, carrying a manilla file folder. She wordlessly handed it Nina, who opened it and glanced at the contents before handing it to Olivia.
"Here you are, Agent Dunham. Everything we have on Richard Stieg. Do you believe that Stieg may part of The Pattern?" She inquired.
The way she said pattern, like it had some special significance, confused Olivia. "I'm sorry, did you say part of the…pattern?" She hated having to ask for clarification, but it sounded like something important.
Nina seemed taken aback at her question. "Oh, I assumed you had clearance." She seemed embarrassed, and Olivia got the sense that it was for her own ignorance.
"Well…I'm cleared to know whatever you're cleared to know, Ms. Sharp." Olivia said, failing to hide the uncertainty in her voice. She felt her face growing hot, which stoked her anger. Another thing she hated was feeling left out.
"Apparently not." Nina replied dryly. "But, suffice to say, that we've reached the point where science and technology have advanced at such an exponential rate for so long, it may be way beyond our ability to regulate and control them. You should know what you're getting into, Agent Dunham. I would say this to my own daughter, be careful and good luck."
To Olivia's surprise, she detected a note of sincerity from the woman, and it reduced her irritation to a tolerable level. She had no idea what Nina was talking about, but it was definitely something she would be bringing up with Broyles.
After taking her leave of Nina Sharp and Massive Dynamic, Olivia caught a cab back to airport and grabbed the first flight back to Boston. She went through the file as she waited in the terminal for her flight. There wasn't all that much there, just his employment application, the names of the projects he'd worked on, all of which were useless without knowing what they meant, some tax documents, and the account of his termination. The information he'd attempted to take looked like formulas for chemical compounds possibly, but she couldn't really make heads or tails of them. She'd have to have Walter take a look at them when she got back. Flipping through the tax documents again, she scanned them looking for anything that stood out, but found nothing that she didn't already know. Going back to the application, Olivia noticed something she'd overlooked before. The telephone number listed was not the same as the one that was no longer in service from the FBI file. It was a still a long shot, but at this point, she was out of leads.
Pulling out her cell phone, she dialed Charlie's number and waited for him to answer.
"What's up, Dunham?" Olivia heard his familiar voice and smiled.
"Hey Charlie, how's it going there?" she replied.
"We're in a holding pattern here. How did Massive Dynamic go? They didn't throw you out of the building did they?" he quipped, making her roll her eyes in amusement.
"Actually one of their executives, Nina Sharp, was surprisingly helpful. She gave me a file on Stieg. I may have found something in it."
"What have you got?" His voice was all business.
"I need you check out a phone number, see if it's still in use, and whether or not it's at the same address as it was in 2003 if it is. Stieg had it listed on his employment application as his contact number."
"Will do, Livvy. I'll let you know as soon I as I find out." Charlie said after she'd relayed him the number.
"Thanks, Charlie. You're the best."
"Watch yourself Dunham, or my wife will come after you." He replied in mock outrage.
She laughed, and ended the conversation, feeling good with her progress. Soon after, her flight was announced and she boarded, intending to catch an hour of sleep on the flight. As soon as she sat down and was buckled into her seat, she allowed the exhaustion to overwhelm her, and she was asleep before the plane taxied down the runway.
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Olivia was awakened from her light sleep by the vibration of her cell phone in her pocket. She grabbed it out of pure instinct before it could stop its buzzing. Checking the number she saw that it was Charlie, returning her call.
"Charlie, what did you find out?" She said in a rush as soon as she hit the talk button.
"Well hello to you too. Good news. That number's still active, same address since the nineties."
Olivia felt her pulse start to race. This was it! She could feel it. She swallowed before trying to reply in her normal tone of voice. "Charlie, have you sent anyone there yet? We can't scare him off it's the right place. Have you talked to Broyles, he-" She could her herself getting carried away from the adrenaline his news had supplied her with.
"Liv," Charlie interrupted, "There's a SWAT team standing by, as soon as you get back, we're going in."
"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath. "I'm gonna swing by the lab and pick up the Bishops on my way. I want Walter to hear what he has to say as soon as possible, if it is him."
There was a pause, before he spoke again, "Ok Liv, we'll be waiting to hear from you." He said before cutting the connection.
Olivia knew he was uncomfortable with her bringing the Bishops to a crime scene, and on a raid no less, but she couldn't waste any time with Stieg. Walter needed to hear what he had to say in real-time, any time wasted could be crucial. She dialed Peter's cell number, hoping he would be awake by now, it had been several hours after all.
"This is the Crazy House. How can I be of assistance?"
Olivia blinked, that was Peter's voice wasn't it? "Peter?"
"That's me." He replied, his tone mischievous. Apparently he hadn't woken up grumpy, or had recovered to his normal self already.
"Hi, it's…uhh" Olivia realized she wasn't sure whether to refer to herself as Olivia or Agent Dunham with him. Were they friends? She thought they might be, sort of, for the moment at least. "…it's me, Olivia."
"Yeah, I know. What can I do for you?" he said with a laugh.
She shook her head in resignation. He really is a pain in the ass, Olivia thought to herself, and not unkindly for the first time. "I'm getting ready to land at Logan. Then I'll be on my way to you. I think we may have located our suspect."
"Hold on sec, you found the guy?" His voice was incredulous. "The guy from your dreams? Wow…I don't believe it." He sounded dumbfounded.
He really had no faith at all in his father, Olivia realized. Was he expecting John to die? She couldn't exactly blame him for that though, if he was. He was in bad shape, and how could she expect anyone to believe what had happened in the tank. She still couldn't believe it, and it had happened to her.
"Well, I'm picking you both up. I need your father there when we question him, and get whatever information he needs so he can make the cure for John, and I need you there too, in case your father is…well…you know." She said uncomfortably at the end.
"Say no more, Olivia. We'll be waiting out front." Olivia could hear his smile through the phone.
Olivia ended the call as the plane started its descent into Logan. As she watched Boston rotate beneath her, she felt the seed of hope she'd been holding on to start to grow.
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