Read Or Dare
Chapter Fourteen
The day after Shane had his experience with the wild animals, he and Revy got together at the local bar for a drink
"There's an unofficial Exploration Club? And they want you to be their sponsor teacher?" Revy blinked.
"Yup," Shane sighed.
Revy burst out laughing.
"Oh sure yuck it up," Shane sighed.
"It is pretty funny," Revy grinned.
"Actually, I want you to pass these on to Miss Balalaika," Shane said as he passed some papers over to Revy.
"Huh?" Revy flipped through very detailed maps.
"The kids have mapped out a fair chunk of the 'abandoned' parts of the island. Might be useful," Shane explained.
"How good are these maps?" Revy had to ask.
"From what I can tell, really good," Shane said. He added, "With the weird shit we KNOW is under the island, it seems smart to map the surface too."
"Makes sense," Revy conceded. She waved to the bartender, "Rum!"
"Beer," Shane asked.
They got their drinks refilled, then Revy gazed at him thoughtfully.
"What?" Shane had to ask.
"So," Revy asked casually, "when are you going to take me to bed and ravage me?"
Shane nearly choked on his beer.
"Don't die on me damn it," Revy pounded him on the back.
"Gah," Shane gasped. After recovering a moment he said, "Aren't I supposed to woo you first?"
Revy looked at him blankly then snickered. "I think this is the first time I've heard ANYONE use woo in a sentence," she noted.
"Well...," Shane shrugged awkwardly.
Revy smiled slightly, "You're sweet. If nerdy."
"Guilty as charged," Shane admitted.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"These maps really are quite impressive," Balalaika noted admiringly.
"And school kids did these?" Rock blinked.
"Apparently," she said. Reluctantly Balalaika added, "I think our librarian is right. We need to investigate the ruins on the island better."
"Your troops?" Rock asked.
"Most of Hotel Moscow is committed to mercenary work," Balalaika admitted.
"We'll figure something out," Rock said.
"I heard back from Mr Chang in Roanapur, we know who sent Greenback Jane to spy on us," Balalaika said flatly.
"Is it someone we know?" Rock had to ask.
"Interestingly, no," Balalaika admitted, "it was a US multinational called SEARRS."
"Huh. Why are they interested in us?" Rock wondered. "The underground stuff?"
"The supposed 'Mr Smith' didn't know," Balalaika sounded annoyed, "just that he was to acquire as much information on the islands as he could."
"Or maybe to stage a raid," Rock mused.
Neither one noted that if there was a raid, things could get hairy.
Changing the subject Rock noted, "I THINK we figured out who those magic paper fighters in Ms Li's vision."
"Seriously?" Balalaika raised an eyebrow.
"The Paper Sisters Detective Agency," Rock said, "the ones who arrived with Nenene Sumerigawa. They're apparently very infamous in Hong Kong."
"And they... control paper?" Balalaika asked.
"Yes," Rock nodded as he explained, "they have different skills, but they can make paper do impossible things."
"Well, I've heard crazier," Balalaika conceded.
"Yeah," Rock agreed.
Balalaika casually leaned towards Rock, "I'd say we're done for business for now." Then she kissed him lingeringly.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Welcome back," Rin Asogi waved as Nancy walked in to the detective agency. "For someone back from days off, you look kind of ragged."
"The girlfriend had me running around a lot," Nancy said.
"I figured she wore you out in other ways," Mimi teased.
"Mimi," Rin scolded mildly.
Nancy smiled wryly. "I was just checking in if there's any work. Otherwise...," Nancy shrugged.
"Your timing is actually pretty good," Mimi admitted.
"Oh?" Nancy asked.
"Missing persons case," Rin frowned slightly.
"Huh. As I don't see a huge mobilization...?" Nancy noted.
"He's a grown adult. Family is just concerned because he hasn't called, and not been to work," Mimi told her.
Nancy nodded thoughtfully and asked, "What info have we got? What have we done so far?"
Mimi passed her a file as Rin said, "Called friends, called his work. He had no plans to go away and no one reported he was unhappy, either at his job or personally."
"Hmm," Nancy nodded. "Have we gotten into his apartment?"
"No," Mimi admitted, "Family hasn't got a key and the landlord is being a dick."
"Okay," Nancy agreed, "I'll start digging. Call me if anything else comes up though."
"Got it," Rin nodded.
'Okay, Sam Alexander,' Nancy thought as she left the office, 'let's see if we can find you.'
Nancy went to Sam's apartment, then checked the hallway for prying eyes. She slipped her lock picks from her pocket, and proceeded to skilfully pick the lock.
YES, Nancy could have just phased through the door. But where was the fun in that?
The apartment was lit by the afternoon light, and appeared neat and undisturbed. She casually walked through the living room, looking for anything unusual. Nothing leaped out, so she went through the kitchen, then looked in the bedroom.
"Jackpot. Also, what the FUCK?" Nancy muttered.
The one wall was COVERED with maps of the island. And bits of the tunnel system too. Nancy quickly took out her camera and photographed everything in highest resolution. There were also indications he'd been in various parts of the tunnels.
Part of Nancy REALLY wanted to take down the maps and bring them with her. But... there was no way to know if the cops were going to get involved. And all this might end up evidence, too.
Nancy slipped out, relocking the door.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Holy crap," Shane muttered as they went over the information later that evening.
"This is more mapping than we or Balalaika have," Yomiko noted.
"Yeah. At least a third of the island mapped out," Shane mused.
Nancy nodded, "Why was he doing this though?"
"One of those hobby explorers?" Yomiko offered.
"The mapping is really professional. And they were searching systematically," Shane said to them seriously.
Nancy's phone rang and she answered, "Wendy?"
"We did a search into Sam Alexander," Wendy said, "he's not real."
"What?" Nancy blinked.
Wendy continued seriously, "It's a really, really well constructed cover identity. It wasn't designed to hold up to serious investigation, though, and I spotted some holes."
"Huh. Do we know who he really is?' Nancy asked.
"I'm still digging," Wendy admitted, "I'll call back once we know more."
"Which still leaves him missing too," Nancy sighed.
To be continued...
Notes: It occurred to me that in ROD the TV, the Paper Sisters use their powers in public and in a huge way. (They use paper wings to stop a plane from crashing.) So it would almost have to be that they were publicly known...
