Our heroes are beginning to learn that there is nowhere safe to turn. Soon the conspiracy will have caught up with them completely. And then... Well who knows what could happen.
"I think it's time for something of a change" Artemis said, not looking up from the Energy Matrix readings he was studying. "I want to go out for dinner."
Butler raised his head above his newspaper.
"That's new" He remarked. "You haven't gone out anywhere for the past 3 months."
"Hence why I said 'change'. Change is a fundamental constant of nature, it is probably about time I followed suit."
"Why do I not entirely believe that you want to go out to dinner as an innocent change of scenery?"
"Because you've known me my entire life, and you're used to these things happening."
"So you are planning something?"
"Yes Butler" Artemis replied. "I'm planning dinner."
Butler shook his head before going back to his newspaper, but Artemis didn't go back to his data. He just sat there.
"I can still feel it."
"Huh?" Butler said. This time he put the newspaper down completely.
"The Energy Matrix. I can still feel it, inside of me. It's only small, in the background. To a normal person it would be an inconceivable difference, but I can feel it."
"What does it feel like?"
"Indescribable, to an extent" Artemis smiled. "It puts me on edge, ever so slightly. I feel like somebody is trying to wind me up, just to watch me explode."
"I should tell Artemis Sr.." Butler said, starting to get up, but Artemis stopped him.
"Don't tell him, not now. He'd shut the entire experiment down. I'm close to a breakthrough here, I need to run the test again."
"Artemis, are you sure that is wise?" Butler asked, but nonetheless followed. "You've already been in there once today."
"I was only in for a short amount of time. I need to go in for longer, that way I can go deeper. I'm almost there, I can feel it."
Butler remembered the story Holly had told him about the attack on Haven, of Flower Kevoor. It had driven her mad, so much so that she believed her own hype. But more than that, it had brought her into a symbiotic relationship with the Matrix itself, where she was no longer Flower Kevoor, but a puppet of the Energy Matrix's design. If Holly had left out names whilst telling the tale, Butler was almost certain it was starting to apply to Artemis. Artemis is a genius, sure. But a genius without their own self control is no longer just a genius, they're a menace. And Butler wasn't going to let Artemis do that to himself.
Masek followed the path all the way back to where they started, at the Chamber, but he realised very quickly that he wasn't the only person there.
"We heard the gunshots" Cable said. "I tracked back here where I met up with Scarlett. We got to the chamber where we found these two jokers trying to break down the door."
Cable pointed to the floor infront of him, to the bodies of two dead people, both of whom had been armed with fully automatic assault rifles.
"They put up a fight. We had no choice."
"I spoke to Maxwell" Masek blurted out. He had wondered how he'd tell them, apparently just shouting it out did the trick.
"Maxwell?" Scarlett asked. "As in Wyatt Munroe's Corey Maxwell. The pain in the ass that once tried to set a bomb off inside this building. You spoke to him?"
"More like he spoke to me, and with a gun pointed at me too."
"But if Maxwell was here, that means Wyatt Munroe must be here too! Surely?"
"As Corey Maxwell was at pains to tell me, Wyatt Munroe is dead. The way he got angry when I suggested otherwise, I think he genuinely wants to believe Munroe is dead."
"What did he say?" Cable asked.
"Not much. Really not much. I was following the sound of the shots too, but as I was furthest away, my path took me into the Artefact room. The place was a mess, had been tossed from top to bottom. They were looking for something. I don't know if they got it- Maxwell certainly didn't have it- but I think they were looking for The Obelisk."
"That was a hefty piece of equipment, I remember it coming in. But if Maxwell hadn't taken it..."
As Cable spoke, Masek had been looking around the area. There had been something bothering him, but now he realised exactly what it was.
"Guys. Where's Jenna?"
"That's something else we needed to tell you" Scarlett said, somewhat tentatively. "We don't know."
"You don't know?" Masek asked. Both Cable and Scarlett looked at him with somewhat regretful expressions.
"No" Scarlett said. "We don't know. She wasn't here when we got here, and she hasn't turned up since. She wasn't in her section either."
"OK, so we don't know. But we can find out."
"How?" Cable asked.
"A little something from Artemis. After the problems with Wyatt Munroe infiltrating the FRA and then disappearing, myself and Artemis collectively decided that it was in the best interests of this organisation to make sure that it doesn't happen again. So, as a new protocol, every member of the Fairy Retrieval Agency- that would be us- has a tracking device implanted into our brains. That way we can't actually disappear, and any attempt to dispose of the device would kill us. It's as close to foolproof as you're ever going to get. We didn't tell you of course, we couldn't risk letting you know during the implementation process incase you were also double agents."
"Great" Cable said, not looking best pleased.
"But we can use it to track Jenna" Masek replied. "Which is entirely why we had them implanted."
Masek started to run off towards the tech unit, and everyone else followed. By the time Cable and Scarlett had caught up, Masek was already typing away on the keyboard, bringing up window after window of firewalls and protocol systems.
"This was never intended to be something anybody but us could access" He explained. "Emergency only, which is exactly what this is."
"This better work" Cable said, getting shifty. Masek could understand that he'd be the most nervous about trying to find her, for better or worse.
"Almost there" Masek said. He hit the enter key one last time, and a map popped onto the screen.
"Where is that?" Scarlett asked. "All I see is desert."
"Arizona" Masek said. "She's in Arizona. How the bloody hell did she get there?"
"I don't know" Cable said, "But I'm going to go and get her."
But as Cable went to leave, Masek grabbed his arm.
"This could be a trap. They could be trying to lure us out using Jenna as bait. We don't know what we would find if we teleported there."
"With the greatest of respect, I don't care. She's my girlfriend dammit, if she is in danger then I'm not just going to leave her!"
"Fine, but then we're coming with you."
"No" Cable said. "If it is a trap, I don't want to endanger your lives too."
"Tough luck. I'm your superior, and I say we're coming with you. Scarlett, prep the Chamber for a teleportation. Set the co-ordinates to X-45443, Y-01883, Arizona."
"Got it" Scarlett said, walking off towards the Chamber.
"We'll find her" Masek said. "I promise you that Cable. We'll find her."
Oh Jenna. Poor, sweet Jenna... Whatever could have happened to you?