Eraldo. Danuve. L...
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Despite my widespread influence, it was my first time on a plane. I couldn't say I cared for it- the deafening shriek of customs was almost too much to bear, and the stewards made me sit with both feet on the floor in when riding the plane, which I found extremely uncomfortable. The whole journey was cramped and hot and dirty and brought back horrible memories. I did enjoy the take-off, though. I sat with my forehead pressed against the window, my breath steaming up the glass as I watched with wide eyes the world getting smaller and smaller below me. But then we went into the clouds, and there was nothing to see. Just endless, endless white oblivion. I didn't like looking at it. It felt as if I was staring into my own soul.
So I pulled down the window cover and sat and stared straight ahead. It was a long journey- ten hours and sixteen minutes precisely- and it lasted long into the night. I couldn't sleep, but that was nothing new. I watched as everyone around me fell into sleep. The man beside me snored obnoxiously loudly. His head was thrown back and his mouth hung wide open. His throat vibrated with the force of his deafening performance.
Watari had taken a different plane to a different airport on the opposite side of California. I was headed to Bakersfield, and the plan was that we would meet up in Los Angeles; all five of us.
You see, Watari had taken the liberty of recruiting three of my potential 'heirs' to assist me in the fight against the threat of bio-terrorism. He had described them and 'the finest of their ability', but I hadn't expected any less from him. He was the creator of L, after all.
I wasn't overly pleased about having to work with the people who could very well grow up to become me, L, but I did agree that they were necessary to the case. I couldn't very well turn up at the CIA claiming to be three different people. My three heirs would be my eyes, my ears, and most importantly, my face.
We met for the first time at a large hotel on the border of Los Angeles. It seemed Watari had already informed them of our plan, because they were all together in the same room and chatting about the case.
They went quiet when they saw me. I scrutinized them closely, though from habit my face was, likely as not, expressionless.
It was Watari who spoke first. "L," he said encouragingly. "These are the pupils I have chosen to assist you in this case. I shan't reveal their real names here, but at Wammy House they were known as X, Y and Z."
"Hello," I said. "I hope we can all work together in order to solve this case. For this, cooperation s necessary." I paused. "This means you do everything I say, understand?"
The three looked at each other, each with a different expression on their face. The youngest man's face portrayed sheer outrage, the young woman had one eyebrow raised, and the final man looked simply puzzled.
They weren't so bad once I began working with them. Each of them was undoubtedly brilliant, but in decidedly different ways.
Z was the oldest of the three, and looked like he was mixed-race, but I never asked. He was twenty-four, about two and a half years older than me, but he didn't make a big fuss about taking orders from 'a kid' like other people might have. In fact, out of the three he was the most willing to follow commands. He seemed to trust my ability far more than Y or X did.
Y was a woman. It might seem sexist, but I was surprised by that. She wasn't attractive by any means- her nose was too large, her hair was a plain, mousy brown that hung in a limp ponytail, and she had almost no upper-lip. I was glad of that; I didn't want any CIA operatives trying to 'score' with 'Danuve'. Y definitely wasn't what I expected her to be. She was uptight and matter-of-fact to a fault, so much so that one could label her as cold. She followed my orders with sharp sighs and sarcastic comments, but I knew she held even a grudging respect for me.
X was the youngest of the three- only seventeen years old- and I could tell he would be trouble from the start. He was the sort who would judge a person the moment he saw them, which left me with little chance of redemption. He answered every one of my requests with either a rude remark or an indignant 'why?'. Most of the time it felt as if I was babysitting, not working.
You might then wonder why I decided to stick with him throughout the case. The answer was simple: despite his obnoxious, childish behaviour, he was, by far, the most intelligent of the three heirs. He knew how to think outside the box, so much so that it almost seemed ridiculous. I knew then that he was the one who would play L. I knew that once a person started thinking ridiculously, it was then that they started thinking like a genius.
The case we had been assigned was simple. A terrorist group known as The Just War had threatened to release a lethal dose of Tuberculosis into the city's water supply as a protest against racism in America, unless the government released several 'freedom fighters' who they had imprisoned on the charge of terrorism. The FBI, with their advanced technology, had managed to track down their signals to somewhere in the east of Los Angeles- but the area was huge. It would take forever to thoroughly search the entire place. That was where we came in. It was our job to find them- through any means necessary.
Watari put his 'persuasive' skills into action and got me a job on the task force as a junior operative with the name of Harry Simpson. The man who had occupied my place beforehand had been a family man and a good worker, ad the FBI were so surprised by his sudden, unexpected change of heart, and so desperate to fill his place as soon as possible that it was surprisingly easy for me to get on the force.
I didn't much like the man in charge, Will Carson. Of course, he had no idea that I was the one pulling the strings of L, Danuve and Eraldo Coil, so he obviously felt little need to treat me with respect. He was surprised that I was so young, but then I was used to that. The very first time we had met he had laughed and pinched my cheek and said he hoped I could keep up.
"I'll try," I had replied coldly, rubbing my smarting cheek.
It wasn't that he was a bad person, really. Just too set in his ways- the embodiment of everything that irritated me. In his opinion, the only people worth listening to were white American males over the age of thirty. It didn't matter if you had a masters degree in advanced physics or an IQ of one-hundred-and-fifty, because, at the end of it all, you were still black/foreign/female/too young. He must have hated going to L, Danuve and Eraldo for help. But, as I learned, he always, always put his country and his people first. And if I could help them, then so be it he would get down on his knees before me.
Despite his close-minded opinions, he still managed to treat X, Y and Z with sufficient respect. It was probably because he knew they were effectively his last chance. He only had a week before a potentially life-threatening disease was released into the water supply of millions of unsuspecting people across Los Angeles.
It was an interesting case. I enjoyed it, but not everyone did. X was especially unenthusiastic about it, and the whole detective business.
One evening when we were looking over our files, he told me something I don't think I'll ever be able to forget.
"I hate you."
I look up at him. "Do you," I said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, I do." X folded his arms defensively. "If it weren't for you I could be out there doing something, making something of myself. But instead I'm stuck here being forced to become someone I never wanted to be. You."
This seemed quite unfair. It wasn't as if I had literally strapped him to a chair and forced him to turn into L. I hadn't made anyone do anything.
But after this moment of indignation I began to take in what X had actually said, and began to identify with it myself. I was just a little boy when I had been taken in and transformed into this machine; my only purpose to serve others, never myself. I could have been anyone I wanted to be, but instead I was L. I was the first victim of Wammy House. But I knew for sure that I wouldn't be the last. X, Y and Z were evidence of that.
"You're not me," I told him, and it was the truth. He wasn't me, because I wasn't anyone. Not any more. Looking back now, maybe I never was.
X screwed up his snouted nose in annoyance and snatched up the last of the boiled sweets in the bowl on the table and stuffed them into his mouth. He glared at me, cheeks bulging. I just smiled.
X looked like he was about to make a rude remark when Wammy walked in from the kitchen, sipped tea while holding his mobile phone to his ear. He held the phone out to me.
"It's Y," he said. "She and Z have some news."
I held the phone to my ear with my thumb and forefinger. I could hear X tutting and see him rolling his eyes.
"Hello," I said.
"Harry, glad you're here," Y cut straight to the chase, using my undercover name though it wasn't really necessary. "Listen, I think we're on to something. Z's been visiting the biology and forensics department and we were looking at the records and found something interesting. The department has samples of nearly every disease and illness known, and since this case has started the research on how to prevent TB without noticeable side effects has shot up... But so has the research on how to make it. It's a tiny amount compared to the research on vaccines so no-one seems to have noticed it, but if you compare it to what it was before, the labs ability to create the disease has gone up by about one hundred and fifty per cent."
She told me the exact figures.
"One hundred and fifty two percent, Y," I corrected her.
"Whatever," Y brushed off. "Don't you see what I'm saying? I think..."
"You think there's a mole on the team."
"Exactly." Y sighed. "For a genius you sure catch on slowly!"
"I thought you would appreciate me letting you speak," I said innocently before hanging up.
So there was a double agent in our ranks. I couldn't say I didn't expect it. There was obviously some suspicion as to how such a small-time terrorist group had managed to acquire such a large amount of a disease that was in such rapid decline. It would also explain why Tuberculosis had been selected. It was simple enough to make, and not many people had vaccines against it since it had almost completely died out in developed areas such as L.A.
I put my phone down in the table.
"What did she say?" X demanded rudely.
"'Harry, gad you're here'," I provided obediently. "'Listen, I think we're on to something. Z's been visiting the biology and forensics department and we were looking at the records and-"
"For God's sake!" X snapped. "Y'know what? I don't even care. You can stick this case right up your obnoxious arse, Harry." He stood up, all set to storm out in a rage.
"Sit down, X," I said, my tone instantly cold. X glared at me, and I glared right back. He looked surprised. I saw him swallow. His eyes flickered but I never broke eye contact once. Slowly, he sat back down. "Thank you," I said.
X huffed. "So, what did she say? And lets have this year, shall we?"
"There's a mole on the team," I told him emotionlessly. "Somebody is making the T.B., and I'm sure you know who for."
"Okay," X replied slowly and just as emotionlessly. The tension in the room was so thick you could suffocate on it, and I saw Watari clear his throat silently, obviously concerned. "Do you have any suspects?"
I smiled. "Why are you asking me? I'm just a junior. You're the detective, L."
X snorted. A smirk twisted his tanned face. "I think that our mole's likely to be in the forensics department. That way he'd have access to all those stupid microbes. He'll also be relatively high up on the team, and a long-time employee. It's the only way he'd be able to get away with it without having any questions asked. Plus the top guys must trust him, or else he would've been kept under surveillance and found out long ago."
"I see," I smiled. He really didn't need me, did he. "What makes you so sure it's a man?"
"He has a penis," X said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes. "Tom-ay-to, tom-ah-to. Whether it's male of female doesn't matter. It's just easier so say 'he'. Don't get all feminist on me."
"I wasn't planning on it," I told him. "Well, it looks like you know what you're doing. I'll leave you to it."
And I did. Most of my time I spent working with Z, the most unquestioning of the trio. Despite my irritating want to continue alongside X, he was simply too frustrating to be with for too long. He was too clever. He might even grow to be cleverer than me, and being with him reminded me of that. Besides my intelligence I had nothing, and when I was with X I couldn't feel different any more. I couldn't feel special. I couldn't feel like L. And when I wasn't L I wasn't anyone, so I couldn't work with X. We were too similar to ever get along.
On Tuesday, three days before the big day, Z and I found the mole.
When I brought it to attention, I found that X had dug him out a whole day earlier.
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Edit: Okay, what on earth? How come every time I write Tuberculosis my laptop automatically splits it into two words? I've fixed it now, so sorry for any confusion caused!
First of all, I know that I wrote that the crisis was in New York and not Los Angeles, but it's been so long since then, and I'd already written everything about L.A. And California before I realised my mistake. I will change the previous chapter to match this later, but I have a new laptop, and the internet often causes it to crash (it's not a very good laptop), which makes things difficult. I'm sure I will have a huge palaver in trying to upload this chapter!
And secondly...
I'm so sorry. I really, truly am. I didn't mean to leave it this long to update- it's been a long time, I know. Now you know how serious I was about this writers block! Plus school has really been piling the work on. I've discovered something about myself thanks to this chapter, though: something that I already had a sneaking suspicion of.
I can't write crime drama.
But, I'll do my best, and hopefully this case will be wrapped up next chapter! I've known for a long time how I want the case to end, but I won't spoil it for you! I'll just say it was inspired by David Bowie's 'Starman' song. As soon as I heard the chorus break out, I thought 'That part would be awesome in slow-motion with that music in the background!'. Too bad it's not a film and I can't add music or slow-mos!
But speaking of David Bowie, his music actually helped me to visualize this story a lot. That is pretty odd, because I don't really like his style of music- I prefer classic rock- but I'm the sort of person who'll listen to a song and make up little music videos in my head to go along with it. A few David Bowie songs remind me of this story. When I listened to some of his songs, L's face kept popping into my head for some reason.
It started with 'Life on Mars'. I began thinking of seeing everything that happened in L's life (in quick flashes, of course) to that song, ending with his death, and maybe it was just my awesome mind-music-video-making-powerz, but I just thought 'Wow, it really fits! So I listened to a few others, and while most of them I really didn't like, I thought 'Ashes To Ashes' went well with his alcohol phase, and as I said 'Starman' reminded me of this case, or at least the end. You'll have to wait for that, though! And the song 'Ziggy Stardust' is pretty much a description of L, if you take the idea of Ziggy being a guitar player as a metaphor...
Anyway, I'm blathering! I never write songfics, and I never will. I actually really hate them. But if I make a scene and then hear a song that I think fits really well to it, I want to tell people about it! If you're curious about any of the songs I mentioned, just youtube them. You might wonder what on earth I was smoking though!
Well, sorry for the enormous author's note- that's what happens when I take such a long break! I hope you will read and review, even though maybe I don't deserve it after abandoning you for so long. I promise I'll try to do better in future!