The rising sun shone down upon the waking city, casting an orange sparkle over the river to Torque's left and reflecting off the glass buildings skirting the roadside to her right, all coming together to create the perfect beam of light aimed directly into her slitted green eyes.
One hand sat on the steering wheel, the other wrapped around what was probably her fourth or fifth coffee this morning as she brought it up to her maw for another sip; her little caffeinated pick-me-up doing little to quell her mounting fatigue.
"Right turn up here." Terminal's voice rang out like a GPS from the seat next to her, eyes on her datapad as she took a sip of her own coffee.
She merged into the right lane, returning her cup to the holder before grabbing hold of the hand control by her side, gradually pushing it forward to bring them into a stop at the ensuing red light ahead.
The elerium engine settled into an idle hum as they finally came to a halt, allowing the city ambience a moment to settle in; the sound of the outside world challenged only by the shitty pop song playing on the radio. A second of impatient tapping passed before she sunk back down into the car seat with a hiss, grabbing her coffee for another sip as she turned her attention to the boardwalk skirting the roadside.
"You actually listen to this stuff?" Torque hissed, motioning to the radio.
"Nope," Terminal replied, her attention unwavering from the datapad. "I put it on just to annoy you."
"Yeah, well, it's working," she replied. "I'm changing it back."
She turned her attention to the radio as Terminal finally dropped her datapad to her lap, leaning her head back into the seat. "Aw, come on, you agreed to the terms—I buy the coffees, I get to put on whatever station I want."
"But pop music?"
"Yes, pop music," she replied. "Besides, this song's actually kinda catchy."
Torque deflated even further, a defeated hiss ringing out as Terminal began to hum along to the beat of the song.
"This one's sung by that Viper, isn't it? Tinka, or something," she mused out loud. "I swear, like one in three Vipers turn out to be pop-stars in this city."
"Yeah, I wonder why," she scoffed.
"You should've become a pop star!" she piqued up, shifting in the seat to face her. "I can see it now—Torque, up on the big stage, singing about…" She paused, eyes shifting to the radio as the song continued on. "...Liberating the planet… with love?"
"Yeah, sure, like I want to sit up on a stage getting ogled by a crowd of guys that definitely didn't come out to listen to the music," she replied. "No thank you."
"Oh, and just between us," she spoke up, "but I am like ninety percent sure Whisper listens to Tinka's music, like, all the time."
"Of course he does," she replied, knocking the stick into drive as the light finally clicked over to green. "That damn sleaze."
The rest of the ride continued on in relative silence, Torque's few sly attempts at switching the station over not once going unnoticed by Terminal's keen eye. It didn't take long before they pulled off onto Twelfth Avenue, the old corner bar slowly creeping into view from the opposite end of the street.
It had an almost superficially old-world look to it, constructed of what was mostly wood and stone, yet still donning the holographic displays over the few windows that skirted the streetside. They creeped past the front, a handful of both human and alien patrons sitting around the seats out the front, with a few more littered around the establishment within.
Torque turned off down Addison Drive, pulling around the side and turning into the small car park that sat in the lot out back; unkempt shrubbery skirting the garden beds, with a few loose vines creeping up the old brickwork that made up the back of the old inn.
She backed into the space closest to the building, turning the car off and allowing a moment for the silence to settle in, her eyes glancing over the sparsely populated carpark around her.
"Security camera," Torque pointed out, motioning to a pole by the streetside; a single white camera overlooking the entire parking lot sitting atop it.
"Five credits says it's not even working," Terminal chuckled.
"Would be just our luck," she hissed, crossing her arms to her chest as she eyed one of the 31PD's signature patrol cars pulling into the lot. "About time they decided to show."
"Guess it's only fair after we made them wait back at the docks," she replied, latching the datapad to her belt as she climbed from the car, leaving Torque a few seconds to wallow in the silence before climbing out after her.
The two goons had taken up the parking space opposite, climbing out in unison before gathering around to talk case details with the medic. Torque made her way towards the back entrance of the small bar, and in turn the others started trailing behind her, exchanging notes and discussing details like… well, detectives.
It all came to an abrupt halt as Torque slithered past the bollards and pushed through the glass doors beyond, the three behind her tucking their devices and notes away as they stepped into the warm establishment, hands on their belts and a certain authoritative look to their stride that briefly turned the heads of the few people littered around the bar.
"Run, Artie! The coppers have finally come to get you!" an older man sitting by the bar called out with a chuckle, a decade worth of wrinkles tucked away behind a yellowing beard, and a voice tainted with so much alcohol Torque could taste it from across the room.
A Sectoid peeked from the backroom tucked away behind the wooden bar, locking eyes with the four of them before leaning out for a look at the clock on the wall above him.
"Seven o'clock already, is it? You four sure are punctual," he said, before turning to the old guy slouched over the bar. "And just for the record—I'm pretty sure they're here to throw you into the drunk tank again, Ralph, you alcoholic bastard."
The two of them broke into a laughing fit that went on for a second too long before the Sectoid turned to wave them over, leaning up against the bar.
"Good morning—Agent Terminal, Chimera Squad," Terminal spoke up, her flippant personality all but gone and an air of professionalism in its place. Guess it was good to have at least someone taking care of all the professional talk. "I'm here with my partner on behalf of the 31PD. We've been looking to help with a case of theirs."
"It's a pleasure," the Sectoid replied. "You can call me Artie, owner of the finest corner bar City 31 has to offer."
"What, with this pisswater?" the old man said with a chuckle that was promptly drowned out in a swig of his glass.
"Agent Torque, said partner," Torque added as Artie turned to greet her. "And once you're done with all the pleasantries, I want to see your security cameras."
"Oh, straight into the action, this one, huh?" he replied. "Come on, how about something to drink first?"
"Sorry, not while we're on duty," Terminal replied with a professional smile, leaving Torque to bite her tongue and silently adhere to the medic's answer.
"It'll be something non-alcoholic, of course," he replied, motioning to the fridge behind him. "And on the house."
"Well, when you put it like that," she replied, glancing back at the group behind her as though looking for any objections.
"That's what I like to hear," he replied, grabbing three glass bottles from the top shelf before reaching down to grab another from the bottom, double-checking the Viper label as he brought all four to a rest on the counter.
"Hey, what about ol' Ralph?" the old guy piped up.
"Do you have the credits?"
"Oh, just throw it on my tab," he said, brushing him off.
"Sure thing, Ralph. It'll be the first item on the list once you clear off the rest of your credits owed."
"Yeah, I'm working on that, don't you worry."
"Like I haven't heard that before," he replied, turning back to the fridge to grab two more bottles from the top shelf; one going to the man and the other to his own hand. "You're lucky I like ya, you old bastard."
The woman handed Torque her bottle of red liquid before passing the rest on to the cops in the back, briefly clinking glasses with the cheery bar owner.
"Say, you don't mind if I ask for the case details, do you?" Artie spoke up. "I love myself a good mystery."
"It's a murder case, unfortunately," Terminal replied. "I'm not sure what you were told over the phone, but an Adder was found murdered just this morning. We believe this bar was the last place anyone saw her alive."
"How terrible," he sighed, briefly shaking his head. "I'll help in whatever way I can, though, officers, that much I can assure you."
"I'm glad to hear it," Terminal replied. "We need all the help we can get in this investigation."
Torque rolled her eyes, tuning out the world around her as she turned her attention to the bottle in her hands, idly reading over the label.
"My daughter-in-law is a Viper, y'know?" the so-called Ralph spoke up, grabbing her attention. "Well, technically not yet on account of the interspecies marriage laws being a bit iffy still, but my boy likes it when I treat them as though they're married."
She paid the group next to her a brief, side-long glance before returning her stare to the man slouched over the bar. "...Alright?"
"They've been together for... what... a few years now?" The stench of alcohol on his breath was even worse up close, and all Torque could really do was bite down on her tongue in a futile attempt to keep the smell away. "It's quite the story, actually. Dates back right around the end of the war."
"I genuinely couldn't care less."
"I think the year was 2036, and our resistance camps had just—"
"Can we see those cameras yet or what?" she spoke up, butting into the middle of the bar owner's conversation.
"Oh, sure thing. I doubt you all came here to chit-chat," he replied, turning his attention to Ralph. "Not scaring off my customers with your war stories again, are you, Ralph?"
"No, no way, I don't crack those out for at least another two beers."
They both broke into another chuckling fit before the Sectoid waved them around the side of the bar, stepping off towards the backroom he had emerged from not even a few minutes prior.
"Come, come, my office is back here," he said, leaving the four of them to circle around the bar and follow him inside.
The room beyond was something better called a storage room rather than an office; the walls lined with shelves of drinks and products, with a gentle chill radiating from the walk-in freezer sitting at the far end of the room. A single desk was tucked into the corner, an old computer buried beneath what looked like a decade worth of documents and junk.
Torque popped open the lid of her drink as she trailed the group into the ill-lit room, taking a quick sip and letting the liquid sit in her mouth for a moment as she tried to decide whether it was the best thing she's ever had, or the worse.
"Do you still have the security camera footage saved from Wednesday night?" Terminal spoke up, watching as the Sectoid took a seat in the creaky desk chair.
"I definitely do," he replied. "Everything up to last week should be archived."
"Let's see it then," Torque spoke up.
Artie pecked away at the keyboard with the efficiency of a blind Chryssalid, logging into his account before navigating to the bar's security cameras, and Torque finally determined the taste sat somewhere close to the worst.
He pulled up the live view from what was listed as six different cameras scattered throughout the building, clicking on the aptly labeled 'bar' before leaning back to allow the two agents a better look, one hand scrolling back through days worth of footage.
"Wednesday night, ten o'clock," Terminal said, flicking through the notes in her datapad.
The footage stopped with a click, the static fading away to reveal a bar packed to the brim with both human and alien patrons; most crowded around the bar, with the rest occupying the booths on the outskirts. The two of them scanned through the faces, a silent second passing them by before Torque finally laid eyes on a familiar face.
"That's the Viper," she said, tapping a talon to the yellow Viper in the booth by the back. "The one from the docks."
Both the Sectoid and the Hybrid were sitting with her, mouths moving with words that were drowned out in the surrounding ambiance.
"Go through the cameras, see if you can't find a better angle," Terminal added on, watching closely as Artie cycled through the different feeds. It was only on the fourth did they find a single camera angled towards the front doors, their little booth sitting only just within view in the bottom right corner of the frame.
"Now fast forward. Slowly."
The feed skipped ahead, the little figures flying across the screen in a blur before Torque interjected with the wave of a hand, motioning the Sectoid back from the keyboard as their Adder appeared by the bottom of the frame, sliding into the booth and sinking down into her hands without so much as a hello.
"Ten-twenty six—Adder arrives at the bar." Torque took a note on her datapad, and the cops behind followed. "Lines up with the story so far."
The footage rolled into fast-forward once more; the figures dancing across the screen as the bar only grew further crowded.
James appeared by the front doors and the footage slowed once more, the camera watching on as he made his way to the table with a big smile and outstretched hands that were promptly wrapped around the drunk, charging Sectoid.
"Ten-forty four—James arrives at the bar," Terminal mused out loud. "It fits."
"Shame," Torque scoffed. "Kind of hoped he was the one I got to slap a pair of cuffs on."
"Let's just keep watching."
The Sectoid disappeared towards the crowded bar, leaving the rest of the group to mime out a conversation that quickly fell sour the further they rolled through the footage. The Viper raised from her seat, turning the heads of the few nearby tables as she started going off about something that wasn't picked up by the microphones.
But whatever it was, it ended as suddenly as it started; the Viper sinking back into her chair shortly before the Sectoid arrived with their drinks. Their Adder quickly snatched up her own, returning to her little corner of the booth as she took a sip.
"See that?" Torque spoke up, gradually pulling her head back from the screen once it dawned on her how close she had actually gotten to it. "Watch her reaction, she tasted something odd in that drink."
"Hm. Good catch." Terminal returned to her notes, pecking away at the screen. "Roll it back. Follow the Sectoid to the bar."
The bar owner followed her order in silence, rolling the footage back a few minutes before freezing on the Sectoid as he climbed from his seat. He hit play, cycling through the interior cameras as he tracked his movements across the building, finally settling on a single angle that only just caught him in the corner of the frame, weaving his way through the crowd.
He waved the bartender down, exchanging unheard words before swiping his wristchip and leaning back against the bar in wait, the nearby group of Hybrids quickly catching his eye.
A moment passed, then a moment more; the Sectoid's full attention now on the Hybrid women as the bartender finally slid the tray of drinks down beside him, just barely within view of the grainy camera. The Sectoid left his spot as he stumbled his way down towards the women, his previous spot by the bar quickly getting filled by customers of all shapes and sizes trying to squeeze their way in to place an order.
First a few humans blocked the view, followed by a Muton trying to squeeze her way in, then a Viper that raised herself up to wave a bartender over before the Sectoid finally returned from his little chit-chat, pushing through to swipe the tray of drinks before making his way back to his table of coworkers. There was no sure suspect; no clear shot of any swaps nor sleight of hand, and by the third replay, Torque couldn't help but let out a dejected hiss at what felt like yet another dead end hitting her square in the maw.
"Go back to the Adder. I want to see what happens after James gets assaulted."
The cameras trailed him back to the group, watching on as the Adder took that fatal sip. The snake next to her swapped with James, and for a moment their little get together seemed to cool off; the Sectoid slumped back asleep, and the Hybrid and the Viper engrossed in some sort of conversation.
A moment passed before the Adder suddenly stormed off, the next camera over providing a clear view of her as she rushed towards the bathrooms, leaving a rather dejected James in her wake. She emerged a moment later, slithering back over to the table and grabbing her handbag from the space below.
The few surrounding tables turned to listen in as an argument began to spark once more, the few closest people paying the scene a side-long glance. The Viper moved to grab her, but Ada flinched back before she could, sending her handbag flying to the ground below.
James climbed from his seat as she leant down to grab her things, the ambiance that laid the footage falling silent in an instant as the Adder snapped around with a slap that landed clean across his face.
"I said don't fucking touch me."
That much the cameras could pick out.
Just about every head in the bar snapped around, the few closest people taking a cautionary step back as the Adder climbed to her tail and made pace for the back doors without so much as a glance back.
The Viper was the first by James' side, followed by a small group of humans emerging from the onlookers to lend aid, breaking the crowd's stare and returning the room to some sense of normality, despite the tension still evidently high in the air.
"The Adder's car was found at the warehouse, right?" Terminal spoke up, peeking down at her notes. "Watch the way she moves. She seems to have deteriorated quite fast, and the warehouse was halfway across town. I doubt she'd have been able to drive over there by herself."
"Switch it to the carpark camera," Torque added, eyes unmoving from the screen.
The Sectoid pulled up another submenu, now cycling through the outdoor cameras before coming to a stop on the lone camera that overlooked the lot… a simple 'no connection' message backed by nothing but static where the footage should have been.
"Oh. That's odd," the Sectoid mused out loud. "Camera seems to be down."
"Of-fucking-course it is," Torque hissed.
Artie rewound the footage back through the few days prior, the timestamp in the corner tricking down before the camera finally got a picture… a whole two days before their Adder went missing.
He started the footage, playing out the camera's final moments overlooking the ill-lit parking lot basked in the city lights. The trees swayed in the gentle wind, a few cars passing on the street before the static suddenly kicked in with no sign as to what could have prompted it—and there was nothing but static, all throughout the Adder's disappearance and the next few days and nights thereafter.
"Did you know this camera was out?" Torque spoke up.
"Had no clue," he replied. "Maybe something knocked it, I'm not too sure."
"I saw the pole on the way in," Torque replied. "No way anything could have bumped the camera that high up. I'm going to go have a look."
She turned tail for the door, leaving the rest of the group to trail her out into the bar and through the glass doors out back. The car park was still as vacant as when they came in, the few self-driving cars that littered the early morning streets slowly trickling away in favour of the various early risers.
Her eyes eventually found their way to the security camera propped up on a pole in the corner of the lot, the lone camera that once watched over its domain now laying imperceptibly dormant.
"Should we fetch a ladder or something?" Terminal spoke up, speed-walking in Torque's shadow as she slithered further into the concrete wasteland.
Torque didn't respond, slithering to a stop by the base of the metal pole before giving it a brief glance and a push, sizing it up like a predator would its prey. And with a slithering start, she lunged, circling her body around the pole and sliding herself up with ease, reaching the camera up top in a matter of mere seconds.
"I mean, sure, you can fetch a ladder if you want," she called back down, her tail wrapped tight and keeping her locked in place.
Terminal shifted her weight from one foot to the other, crossing her arms as she stared up at the skies with a smug smirk. "Didn't think you had it in you, Torque. Colour me impressed."
"Yeah, neither did I after being forced to do nothing but operation work for two years."
She wrapped a hand around the pole, leaving the other to dangle by her side as she leant back for a better overview of the camera. The first thing to catch her eye were the wires leading from the camera to the pole itself, the plastic covering pried off and the wires themselves cut clean in two.
"Well?" Terminal called out. "What do you see?"
"It's definitely been cut," she replied, swapping hands as she leant in for a closer look.
"Our guy must've had their eyes on our Adder for a while then," she replied, glancing down at her notes. "Camera went out three days ago, but god knows how long they've been keeping tabs on her to pull this off."
Torque circled her way back down the poll, finally returning her tail to solid ground before taking a moment to stretch her muscles.
"Would be pretty tough to get a ladder out here without someone noticing," she said.
"I don't know," Terminal replied. "You'd be surprised how invisible a yellow vest will make you."
"We actually had a few construction workers come by a few days ago," Artie spoke up as he paced over, briefly adjusting the flat clap resting atop his head. "A few Sectoid folk. They were checking the power lines, I think."
"Did you see any of them go near the cameras?" Terminal replied.
"No clue, I didn't pay them much mind."
"Case in point," Terminal smirked, giving the Viper next to her a brief nudge in the side. "I'll write it down anyway, you never know what might come of it."
The two cops approached from behind, and Terminal quietly broke away to go over the chicken scratch scrawled across her datapad screen, leaving Torque to silently watch the camera in a moment of thought.
"Is there anything else you need help with while you're here?" Artie spoke up, hands at a rest behind his back as he approached the four of them.
"Just a copy of that security camera footage," one of the cops replied. "But other than that, I think we're just about done here."
"That makes two of us then," Terminal said, turning to the snake beside her. "Unless you want to have a look at something else?"
For a moment Torque didn't respond, her eyes on the bar ahead but her mind somewhere else. She wanted to be struck down with that sudden realisation; to be hit with that feeling of finally watching all the puzzle pieces fall together into one. But with every lead she could muster came a multitude of cracks for it to trickle away through, and as much as hated to admit it, she had no real clue where to go next—well, where to go other than whatever place the wind brought them next.
It felt like they were just drifting without a purpose, throwing their badges around until something stuck, and she couldn't hate it anymore if she tried.
"Well, this whole thing was a waste of time," she finally hissed.
"At least you all got a free drink out of it," Artie chuckled, a friendly grin beaming across his face. "Feel free to come back anytime, though. Ten percent off for any law enforcement."
"I'll definitely be taking you up on that once I'm off duty," Terminal chuckled, before motioning Torque back towards her car. "I think we're about done here, though. It was nice meeting you, Artie—I just wish the circumstances could've been better."
"The pleasure's all mine," he replied. "Hope to see you around."
The two of them made their way back over to Torque's car, circling around to their respective doors before slinking into the vehicle in unison. Torque started the ignition, tuning the radio back to her go-to station before sinking back down into her seat, paying the woman next to her a side-long glance as she did the same.
"Man, I cannot get over how much leg room you have in these things," Terminal thought out loud, stretching the tips of her toes out against the back of the footwell. "Or tail room, I guess I should say."
The woman turned to meet her glare once the snake didn't answer, a smug grin creeping into the corners of her mouth the longer they stared.
"What?" Terminal chuckled. "Was it something I said?"
Torque finally broke the staring contest in favour of the world outside her window, letting out a long and exaggerated hiss. "Aren't you annoyed?"
"About?"
"This," she said, motioning to nothing in particular. "This entire investigation, I mean. It feels like we're going nowhere."
"We've only been out here… what, two hours?" she replied, backing herself up with a soft laugh. "We'll find something, Torque. Don't you worry."
"And if we don't?"
"Then I guess we hand the reins back over to the 31PD and call it a day."
A momentary silence followed as the two of them stared out their respective windows, before the medic returned her attention to the datapad in her lap, a soft blue glow lighting up the woman's face.
"Just like that?" Torque finally said.
"Just like that." Terminal replied, her voice indifferent.
A brief burst of static from the scanner below her car radio soured the air, grabbing their attention in unison as the voice of their department's resident Canadian reached out over the white noise. "Torque, come in. It's Whisper."
An exasperated groan fell from her maw as she grabbed the radio from its cradle, refusing to spare it even a smidge of what little enthusiasm she had left to give.
"What, Whisper?"
"Is Terminal there with you?"
"Yes, Terminal's here with me."
"Hi, Whisper!" she called out as the Viper tilted the radio her way.
"Alright, good," he replied, the static briefly seeping into the silence. "Uh, Detective Baker called in earlier, said he's working towards getting a search warrant for the apartment listed on the Adder's wristchip."
"And?" Torque replied.
"And he says it's going to take a few weeks before it gets approved."
"I sense a ' but' coming on," Terminal cooed.
"But," Whisper said, "because we're Chimera Squad, and because this case involves a terrorist, that technically grants us the legal right to search her apartment without a warrant. And because the 31PD are involved in this case, that also gives us the power to send anything taken in as evidence their way."
"Technically legal is my favourite type of legal," Torque replied.
"Good, because her apartment's going to be your next stop after you're done at the bar," he replied. "Standby for the address."
Terminal snapped to her datapad, swiping away her notes before pulling up a blank screen, motioning for Torque to give him the go ahead.
"Alright, read it out."
"1027 Flagstaff Drive, Apartment 330, Angler's Point."
Terminal gave a thumbs up, copying the address over into her navigation app before trailing along the route it returned.
"We'll be there in twenty minutes," Torque said.
"Be sure to keep me in the know. Whisper out."
The static fell silent with a beep as Torque returned the radio to its rightful place, turning to glance at Terminal.
"Should've told him we've still got an hour or two to go here," she chuckled. "Could've gone and had a drink at the bar. Maybe some breakfast."
Torque couldn't muster anything more than a simple huff, turning the ignition and taking a moment to listen to the elerium-powered engine as it sputtered to life.
"Let's just get to this apartment."
The short trip into Angler's Point was—much to the Viper's surprise—relatively quiet save for the usual songs drifting from her car speakers. But even then, the music had been left a notch lower than she was used to, allowing the orchestra of sounds that made up the outside world a chance to fill the still air.
The docks that skirted Anger's Point were surprisingly popular this time of the morning, with human and alien alike scouring the riverside in search of a quick meal. A few boats dotted the waters, stretching out as far as the city walls off in the distance, still blanketed in that early morning sea mist.
It was only upon their left turn from the main roads did the city's facade begin to slip away, revealing the true colours hiding beneath. The idle chatter that accompanied the docks faded, slowly replaced by the low drone of construction work and old industrial buildings nestled between cheap apartment blocks that seemed to stretch on forever.
The two of them ventured deeper, completely at the mercy of Terminal's GPS as it sent them down main roads and side-streets alike; what felt like nearly ten minutes of mindless weaving passing them by before they finally pulled up into the desolate parking lot of a rundown apartment building, a group of aliens loitering around a car in the parking space furthest paying the two a side-long glance as Torque pulled in to park.
"I was picturing something a little nicer," Terminal spoke up.
"I was picturing something a little worse."
Torque was the first to leave the warmth of her car, letting her tail pool out onto the concrete below as she rested her arms on the car door. The smell of smog and the sour scent of spent elerium cells from the older model cars laced the torn-up streets, with a hint of rain creeping in from over the horizon. She took a moment to glance up at the skies, tasting the air once more before turning back to the woman still sitting snug in the car. "Smells like rain."
"Aw, really?" she replied. "My weather app said there was only a fourteen percent chance."
"Well don't look at me. I'm not going to lend you an umbrella."
"Let's get in and out before the rain hits then, shall we?"
Terminal finally climbed from the car, and the two of them shut their doors in unison, a sharp beep echoing through the empty streets as Torque locked the sedan with a tap of her wristchip, followed by two more just to be sure as she met the glares of the alien gang sitting nearby.
The concrete footpath leading to the front lobby was all but cracked and faded, the vines seeping from the unkept garden beds that lined the building's base beginning their journey up over the faded brickwork. The building itself looked about as old as the city, lacking the usual modern makeover seen prominently in the more traveled parts of the district.
A gust of warm air washed over them as they pulled the sliding doors open, an older Muton sitting behind a window of hologlass and rudimentary iron bars raising his head from a magazine as they approached.
Torque pulled her badge and pressed it to the glass, allowing the Muton a moment to glance it over before speaking. "Agent Torque, Chimera Squad. We're looking for an apartment and you're going to tell us where it is."
He squinted at her ID for a few seconds before grabbing a pair of reading glasses from the desk below, sliding them onto his face before studying her badge for another painfully long moment.
"Alright," he finally said, his shallow eyes meeting her own.
"We're looking for Apartment 330," Terminal said, stepping forward to join her partner. "It's registered under an Adder, ID Chip…" She paused, flicking over her digital notes. "…02 490 385."
"Yeah, I know the drill," he replied, turning to the monitor on his desk before pecking away at the faded keyboard below.
Torque tucked her badge back away, crossing her arms before taking a glance back out through the glass doors and into the carpark beyond, double checking that some alien thug hasn't pulled the power cells from her car's engine block yet.
"Well?" she said, turning back to the Muton.
"Apartment 330, did you say? Yeah, it's registered under an 'Ada.' ID 024-whatever," he paused, clicked through a few menus. "Another Python's registered under the apartment too, though. An 'Eve.' ID... 04 122 435. Haven't seen her around lately, though. Don't think she lives here anymore."
The two agents shot each other a knowing glance before Torque reached into her vest, unfolding the small Polaroid before pressing it up to the window.
"This look like the Python?"
His desk chair creaked as he leant in for a closer look, raising his reading glasses to his face once more.
"Yeah, that's her," he said. "I recognise that smile from a mile away. Was probably one of the cheeriest aliens to ever come in here. That Adder friend of hers, though, she's a real bitch."
Terminal leant up to the window, jotting down the ID on the monitor before returning the datapad to her side. "We appreciate the information. As for that apartment, though…"
"Eh, floor three, just take the elevators over there," he replied, shooting a thumb to their right. "And, uh, just try to keep it down, please. The people living here don't enjoy listening to the cops rummaging through their next-door apartment for hours on end."
"Don't worry, we're just here to look around. We'll keep it quiet." Terminal shot him a smile as the two of them broke away towards the elevators, hitting the button and watching the numbers above slowly trickle down to the first floor. It wasn't long before a gentle ding echoed through the room, the metal doors opening to a less than spacious elevator, graffiti adorning most of the barren walls.
The two stepped inside, and Torque turned her attention to the panel off to the side, most of the numbers either flickering or outright unlit and the buttons themselves worn to the bone from years of talons and fingers brushing against it. She hit the button for the third floor, her attention falling to the 'maximum capacity' sign above noting for no more than twelve humans to be on board at once, with another plaque tacked on below giving the equivalent limit of six Vipers and three Mutons.
"Uh oh," Terminal cooed from her corner of the box. "How much do you weigh again, Torque?"
"Bite your tongue," she hissed, slithering back in wait as the elevator bucked to life and began its slow journey upwards without so much as some elevator music to drown out the silence.
The metal doors eventually opened once more to reveal a long hall, two Hybrids down the far end taking a brief glance their way before disappearing into one of the nearby apartments.
Torque's right hand instinctively lowered to a rest on her pistol holster as the two of them made their way down the corridor, scanning each door as they passed. It didn't take long before they were face to face with the 330th apartment, and Torque couldn't help but finally slip the gun from her holster, readying it with both hands.
Terminal shot her a glance, a smug grin creeping across her face as though ready to call her something along the lines of overzealous, before the smile faded and she, too, drew her pistol and held it at the ready.
There was no telling if that so-called Eve was still here.
Torque briefly broke her grip to press her wristchip up to the reader by the door, initiating her security override. The reader chirped, and the mag-locks disengaged, the two agents giving each other a confirmative nod before Torque pressed the door open and slithered weapon first inside, iron sights scanning the small room she found herself in.
"Chimera Squad! If there's anyone in here, come out now or you're getting shot," Torque announced to the silence.
Terminal gave the Viper a tap on the shoulder, stepping up over her tail before motioning to the bathroom door on their right. Torque nodded, slithering in deeper to the cramped apartment before making her way over to the lone door sitting next to the couch. She grabbed the handle, pushing it open a crack before taking a moment to taste the surrounding air.
Nothing but dust, alcohol, and dirty dishes.
She threw the door open, pistol sweeping over every corner before she called the all clear, holstering her gun with a disappointed sigh.
"Can never be too safe, I guess," Terminal spoke up from the entry hall, holstering her own pistol as she made her way over to Torque. "Give me your wristchip for a second."
Torque motioned her wrist forward, and Terminal quickly scanned it, turning the screen away from the snake's curious eyes as she started swiping and tapping through whatever it was she had on there.
"Gonna tell me what you're doing or what?" she spoke up.
"Checking the apartment's log history," Terminal replied, flashing the screen to her partner. "It got downloaded to your wristchip when you used your security override on the door."
The screen bore a list of access logs dating back into the months, the vast majority showing nothing but Ada's chip as she came and went around the same time each day, with the occasional late night venture recorded in the early hours of the morning.
It was only four months back, though, did the Adder's schedule begin to change, with the addition of a certain 'Eve' intertwined throughout the list of occupants that came and went.
"Let's have a look around," Terminal spoke up, latching the datapad back onto her belt. "I'll start with the living room, you can check the bedroom."
"Fine by me," Torque replied, turning to the bedroom door behind her as Terminal got to work kicking through the trash that littered the living room.
She poked her head in, flicking on the light switch before giving the room a proper glance over. Old bottles of liquor and dirty clothes matching the physique of an Adder were littered across the carpeted floor and up over the unkept double bed that took up most of what little space there was.
To her right was a built-in closet, to her left a set of shelves littered with books and old boxes, what looked like a glass terrarium lit up with a warm orange glow sitting atop it. Her gaze lingered on the tank for a few seconds before she turned to the closet, hand on her holster as she slid the doors open, the clothes hanging within fluttering in the back draft before promptly falling still once more.
There were a few pairs of tops with tail socks to match strewn from the hangers above, a few boxes of random junk sitting below. She pulled out the first, rummaged through the contents, then slid it aside; wash, rinse, and repeat for the next few until something caught her eye—and it wasn't until the last box, tucked deep beneath all the rest and pushed back into the far reaches of the closet, did said something finally catch her eye.
She pulled the lid of the old cardboard box open, an old leather armguard donning the painted logo of the long-forgotten Grey Phoenix sitting front and centre atop the folded uniform she knew all too well. She pulled the faded leather top out first, holding it high to the light above before sitting it down on the carpet next to her tail, paying the rest of the gear inside a similar glance-over, from the headwear to the four-fingered gloves to the grungy tail sock, each piece of clothing more dirty then the last.
It wouldn't even surprise her if this thing's never seen a drop of soap its whole life
She packed all the pieces back into the box, bringing it to a rest on the foot of the bed as she slithered over for a look at the bookshelf. Self-help books with uncracked spines lined most of the top shelf, a few novels of both the old world and the new littered throughout the others, with the occasional empty bottle and box of junk intertwined throughout.
But her eyes quickly found their way higher, a curious itch in the tip of her tail as she raised herself up for a glance inside the terrarium sitting atop.
The tank itself was small, decorated with cheap plastic plants to make something of a jungle scene for whatever dwelled within. The heat lamp was still going strong, the water bowl all but dried up, and Torque ever so slowly leant in closer as she scanned through the foliage and under the little cave tucked away in the corner, the smallest grin ever so gradually forming on her maw as she finally caught the eyes of a small corn snake staring back at her.
Her attention briefly snapped back to the bedroom door before returning to the little enclosure once she was sure the coast was clear, her voice involuntarily raising a few octaves higher as she slid the glass door open.
"Hey there, little guy."
It poked its curious head out further as she slowly raised her hand forward, the warm light shining down over its orange scales as both their tongues darted out in unison.
"Aren't you weird, with your... lack of arms, and inability to talk."
The snake flicked its tongue over her scaled hand, slowly slithering up her forearm before she raised it to the air, meeting the creature eye-to-eye.
"At least you don't have to worry about hunting down a serial killer, I guess."
"Made a friend, have you?"
She snapped her eyes back to the bedroom door, meeting the smug smile of the medic leaning against the door frame, and she was sure her scales would have turned a dark shade of red by now if they were physically capable.
"What, no, of course not," she hissed. "I was just… you know… looking around…"
Her shit-eating grin only grew wider, the snake wrapped around the sleeve of her jacket exploring further.
"Right..."
"...I swear, if you mutter a single word of this to anyone back at the HQ…"
"Hey, hey, point taken." She raised her hands in a mock surrender, that smile still glued to her face. "It's just, who'd have thought that tough-girl Torque has a soft-spot for our terrestrial snakes."
"I do not," she hissed, returning the snake to its enclosure before practically slamming the glass door shut, as though trying to stuff away the evidence in some futile attempt to feign innocence. "Shouldn't you be out there looking around or something?"
"Oh, speaking of which," she replied, stifling a laugh as she stepped out of the room. "Come, have a look, I found something kinda interesting."
The medic disappeared into the next room over, leaving Torque to deflate with an annoyed hiss as she turned her attention back to the orange corn snake; its little forked tongue tasting the air above. For a moment she watched it, before following its gaze to the books piled atop the terrarium's mesh roof, a single brown notebook donning the logo of the ADC catching her eye.
"Well, what do we have here," she hissed under her breath, raising herself up a head higher as she pulled the book out from under the piles of paper, flicking through the first few pages before muttering a silent word of celebration.
This had to be it—her notebook full of personal thoughts, her incriminating evidence to lead her to a killer. Or at least, what she hoped was something to lead her to a killer.
She peered back up at the snake, briefly glancing over her shoulder before leaning in close, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Thanks, little guy."
She threw the notebook atop the Adder's GP uniform as she took the box to her hands, slithering out to meet her partner as she stared out the far windows in thought; the first drops of the coming rain tapping a gentle beat against the dusty glass.
The box landed on the coffee table with a bang, and Terminal turned, revealing an open binder taking up both her hands.
"Playing dress up now, are we?" she said, glancing down at the box.
"It's her GP uniform," Torque replied, grabbing the leather vest before holding it to the air. "Found it stashed away in her closet."
"Good find. There's bound to be a bit of DNA on that thing."
"What about you? What oh-so-significant find did you make?"
She slammed the binder shut without so much as a word, stepping back over to the table before offering the book her way. Torque took it from her hands, flicking open the first page and glancing over the Polaroids within; some of the city and what little wilderness laid beyond, most including the Adder and the Python—that permanent frown plastered across the Adder's face, and the cheery facade across the Python's.
And sitting front and centre on the first page, a single blank space, just the right size to fit the now crumpled photo in the breast pocket of Torque's combat vest.
"Seems our Python was a bit of a photographer," Torque said, thumbing through the pages.
"Think they were lovers?" Terminal replied, hands on her hips.
"Could be," she mused. "All the photos they took together, living in the same apartment, the double bed in their room... Lover's quarrel maybe?"
"It is someone the victim knows, nine times out of ten."
"Well hopefully this thing has some answers."
Terminal followed Torque's hands as she grabbed the notebook sitting atop the pile of clothes, flashing it to the medic like a badge of honour.
The front was bare, a simple logo for the City 31 Alien Detention Center in the top right corner with a few meaningless barcodes printed below. There was a simple white space in the middle, the name 'Ada' scrawled across it in black, messy marker.
"Here, give me a look," Terminal said, sliding the book from her hands before turning the cover over. "Seems she ripped the first few pages out."
"Yeah, I noticed."
"And look here, first entry's dated only two months ago."
"Was around the time that Python stopped showing up on the door's wristchip scanner."
Terminal fell silent as her eyes scanned across the pages, silently mouthing the words under her breath.
"Well?" Torque spoke up.
"Here, listen to this," she replied, slowly beginning to pace back and forth. "I fucked up, Eve. I fucked up. I fucked up. I fucked up. And I'm so fucking sorry."
"Bit melodramatic," Torque scoffed.
Terminal continued, acknowledging her with nothing but a small smirk that came as quickly as it went. "It's two in the morning. I've had too much to drink. And now here I am, spilling my heart out in that stupid book you've always encouraged me to use. Simply put, I want to change, Eve. I hate how I treat myself, I hate how I treated you. I just didn't know it until I pushed you far enough away that there's now no pulling your back."
Torque crossed her arms, sinking down into her coils as she listened on in silence.
"And I know you're probably never going to see this. I know you already moved into that new apartment. I know you've already deleted my number. But I want to better myself, Eve, and believe me, I'm going to try this time. That James guy from work asked if I wanted to tag along with a few co-workers for an evening at the bar, and I told him sure, I'll be there. And I was there. For the whole evening."
Terminal cleared her throat, fingers tracing along the words as she read.
"It was awkward, Eve. I didn't know how to respond to things, I didn't know how to talk. But I tried, Eve, and I'll keep trying. Just like you always told me to."
The page turned; the same drops of alcohol staining the pages, the same tears smearing the ink.
"I don't know what changed in you after that assault on the starport all those years ago, when I found you drowning in a pool of your own blood with who knows how many SMG rounds littered throughout your body. I don't know what made me stop. I don't know what made me drop my gun and help you. But then fucking Xel called for the ceasefire, and we consecutively said fuck it to Grey Phoenix and deserted before those damn Chimera Squad agents could finish us off. But I can tell you what changed in me, Eve—for the first time, I had another purpose in life. I had you. I just couldn't see it at the time."
The snake turned her attention to the world outside the apartment, to the raindrops shimmering beyond the smog-ridden skies, and Terminal continued on without so much as another breath.
"But it doesn't matter. Not anymore. I fucked up, and there's no changing that. I gave you shit about those photos you always took. I gave you shit for the way you smiled at humans and aliens alike. Then I went and gave you shit when you told me you got a job at that Snake Charmer club to rake us in more money, and I guess that was the final straw. And now you're gone, and I have no one to blame but myself."
She paused, turning the page over once more before continuing her idle pacing.
"This apartment isn't the same without your smile. My bed isn't as warm without you by my side. But maybe I can make up for it." A strike of ink, scribbling out the previous letters. "No. I will make up for it. If not for you, then for me. That much I can promise."
Terminal snapped the book closed, and in turn snapped Torque back to the world around her.
"Seems we finally have a suspect," Torque said.
"I mean… do we really, though?"
"What, like we have any better leads," she sneered. "I mean, we've got her wristchip ID, the name of her workplace, and a pretty damning reason to go after her considering she was former GP."
"I mean, I guess so… I'll see about getting an APB out so we can flag that wristchip of hers, then. See if we can't bring her in for questioning anytime soon," she said, turning towards the windows. "Then we can drop all this stuff off with the 31PD and, well, call it a day, I guess."
"What, and let the 31PD fuck up everything?" Torque spoke up, prompting the medic to turn back around.
"What do you suggest then?"
"Bringing her in ourselves, obviously," she replied. "She's our only lead at the moment. Don't want her slipping into hiding once she catches wind of those bumbling idiots snooping around."
"We've already given them more than enough," she replied. "Just the stuff we're sending over from here will cut weeks off their investigation. I'm sure they'll handle it, Torque."
"But she's Grey Phoenix, right? Isn't it our job?" she refuted, and Terminal's face visibly cringed at the mere mention, a long and sarcastic groan ringing out through the apartment.
"You're telling me this Python seems like a threat to anyone?" She grabbed the book of Polaroids, flipping to a random page before tapping a photo of Eve down by the riverside, coffee in hand and a smile on her yellow face.
"So let me get this straight," Torque spoke up. "I was woken up at five in the morning and called halfway across the city because some decaying corpse may have been related to a terrorist organisation that hasn't existed for two years? But now that we have an actual, living, breathing terrorist on our hands, you just want to leave it up to the 31PD?"
"I just want to call it a day," she sighed. "You've been running me around all morning. We've been to, what, three places already and it's not even lunchtime yet?"
"I just want to make sure we get her," Torque hissed, and Terminal let out yet another long and sarcastic sigh, bringing the album to a rest atop the Adder's old uniform before returning her attention to the Viper coiled in place.
"How about tonight?"
"Tonight?" Torque replied.
"Tonight," Terminal replied. "But first and foremost, you need to go home and get some rest. You can't keep pushing yourself like this. Especially on an empty stomach and, what, two hours of sleep?"
Torque rolled her eyes, turning her attention to the coming rain outside as she crossed her arms to her chest. "What, are you some sort of psychiatrist now? Medical work wasn't paying enough?"
"And something nice to wear." Terminal continued, ignoring Torque's little quip. "Something that doesn't scream cop."
"Something nice?" she scoffed. "I thought we were arresting her, not taking her out on a date."
"You said it yourself, Torque," she replied. "These former terrorist types are twitchy. If she catches wind of us coming, then she'd probably flee, go into hiding. So I say we plant a few of 31PD's finest around the perimeter of her workplace, go in undercover, and slap a pair of cuffs and a muzzle on her before she even knows what's happening."
"Been a while since I've been undercover," she mused. "Fine. Let's do that."
"Good, I'll get everything sorted when I get back to HQ… and then I think I'll go home for a nap myself," she replied, stepping back over towards the box sitting on the coffee table. "Let's get this all down to the car. I can give you a moment to say goodbye to your snake friend if you want."
A cocky smile spread across her face as she picked up the box, the look quickly fading as Torque took a sidelong glance at the bedroom door.
"Torque… you're going to say goodbye, right?"
Another moment of silence passed; another idle flick of the tongue. "Yeah, yeah... of course..."
Terminal stood by the back of Torque's car, boxes in hand and a less than pleased look on her face as she watched the Viper make room in the backseat for the little orange corn snake's terrarium.
"You really surprise me sometimes, Torque."
"What? It's evidence."
"It's a snake," she stated. "What, are we going to take a witness statement from it or something?"
"You never know."
She pushed the few boxes on her backseat as far across as they would go, throwing everything else down into the tailwell before nestling the snake's tank on the middle seat; its orange head peeking from its cave to get a lay of what probably felt like an earthquake in its little world.
She backed up from the car, taking a moment to observe her work before motioning for the box in Terminal's hand.
"You're actually going to take it?" she finally said, relinquishing the box of evidence to the Viper.
"Well, the cops aren't going to be here for weeks," she hissed. "Someone's got to take care of it."
"Do you even know how to look after a snake?"
"How hard could it be?" she sneered, diving back in to nestle the box next to the tank. "Just needs some heat, water, food—you know, just like me."
Terminal couldn't muster anything more than a simple shake of the head before stepping over to the passenger side door to escape the falling rain, watching from over her shoulder as Torque gave the boxes a few trying tugs before slamming the door shut, slithering around to the driver's side to join the medic inside.
For a moment they didn't say anything, the two of them meeting each other's glare before Terminal broke away for another look at the snake in the back seat, the look of disbelief on her face ever so slowly fading.
"So… are you going to name it?"
Torque turned the engine on, taking a moment to chew the woman's words over as she pulled out from the parking lot and onto the street beyond, the rain above ever so slowly picking up in intensity as she turned the windshield wipers on.
"I'm, uh… still working on that part."