Street worked thoughtfully in the lair. The doors swished open and Liam walked in. She didn't look up.
"Well, hello to you too." He said.
"Hey. I think I found something you might be interested in." She said. "The coroner's report hasn't officially been sent to Sandoval yet, but I found it. McHenry had a voice recorder embedded in his robes. It was turned on when someone went into the church. Listen to this."
For a few seconds there was nothing. Then, "How can I help you?"
"Who's he talking to?" Liam asked.
"That's the weird part. There's nothing else. Whoever he talked to either didn't talk or they were scrambling the voice recorder. But if they did, then we would've heard static, or at least the sound of a signal being disrupted."
Liam frowned. "Thanks. I'm going to the church, see what I can get."
"No problem.' Street said. "I'll global you if I get anything."
When Liam had arrived at the church, he pulled aside the yellow police tape and surveyed the interior. There was no blood where the outline was clearly marked. There was a large X in front of where Father McHenry's X was.
He pulled out his global and called Street.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"Do you know what weapon was used?" He asked her.
Street shook her head. "Not quite yet. I got into the coroner's reports. Not surprisingly, he died of a point blank shot to the chest. I can't ID the weapon though."
"Okay. I'm at the church right now. There's something odd about it, but I can't figure out what."
"Well, you should check underground. You never know what kind of underground resistance might be hiding there." She said with a smile.
"Thanks. I'll call you later." He said.
***
Renee shifted in her seat as her assistant's voice came on the line.
"Miss Palmer, I have a James Landon here to see you."
For a moment Renee didn't reply.
"Miss Palmer?"
She snapped out of her daze. "What?"
"Mr. Landon is here to see you."
Renee frowned. "Landon? Oh! Yes, send him in." She said. She groaned and scolded herself for forgetting her appointments.
A middle aged man walked in. his briefcase swinging beside him. He was dressed in a crisp gray suit, evidence of his wealth. He smiled politely and sat down as Renee cleared her desk and made sure she didn't have any important documents lying around.
"Don't worry, Renee. I'm not here for company secrets." He smiled.
She managed a smile back. "I'll believe it when I see it." She said.
"Landon Technologies has a new prototype ready." He announced proudly. His briefcase opened and he pulled out a file.
"Of the systematic bio enhancement program we'd been talking about?" She said, frowning. "I thought you shut that down after you split with the Taelons."
"Well, what can I say? You've cornered the joint venture market" He smiled tightly. "No, this is something else. I was hoping that we could do a partnership on it, since the technology itself is purely human. No Taelon technology."
Renee opened the file folder. She looked at the sheets and scanned the information.
She looked up. 'An android?" She said.
Landon nodded. "It's amazing. We need your processing chip for it to work, that's why I'm here. The neural matrix in this android is spectacular. It's-"
"James. Stop talking to me like you're an advertising agency. What's the truth?"
Landon sighed. "All right, Renee. This is what I'm thinking. These androids, they're smarter and stronger than half the volunteer forces. If we manufacture these and sell them to the Taelons, we'll make a killer profit and they won't need to implant humans.'
"You want to create a drone army?" Renee asked.
"What's the difference? The volunteers now are practically automaton and lifeless anyways. This way, no humans will have to become implanted and the Taelons will have a better way of security."
Renee leaned back. "I don't know. It sounds great from the outside, but these things always end up different."
"Think about it Renee." Landon said as he stood up. he leaned over and scooped up the papers. "You have my number."
And with that, he left. Renee closed her eyes and sighed.
Her global chirped. She opened her eyes wearily and stared at it. It kept beeping.
"Go away." She said.
"Go home." A voice said.
Renee looked up and saw Street standing at the door.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. "Go home and get some rest."
"I can't really do that." Renee said as Street walked to her desk and sat down.
"Liam's on the Mothership, Da'an needed him or something." She frowned. "Who was that guy?"
"Landon?" Renee asked. When Street looked confused, she went on. "Gray suit, fake smile?"
Street grinned. "That's him. Who is he?"
"Landon Technologies." He's the founder and owner. "And he's got it in for Doors. He's still bitter that we got to the Taelon co-venture area first."
"He looks familiar. News on the wire is that he's trying to build the perfect human." She shuddered. "He creeps me out. Anyone who tries to engineer the perfect fighting machine can't be good."
"It's the twisted version of helping humanity." Renee said. "So how is the dead Father?"
Street shrugged. "He's dead, what can I say?"
"The day is still young, why don't we take a walk." Renee said, looking outside. "It's a nice day."
***
Landon stormed into his office. Aida was sitting on the couch, flipping through a magazine.
He saw her sitting. "What the hell are you doing here?" He shouted.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Didn't I tell you to go home?" He asked.
"I was, but when I got there, there were these strange men. One of them was Ronald Sandoval." She said.
"Who?" Landon muttered.
"Ronald Sandoval, companion agent and former FBI Special Agent." She said.
"I don't like this." He said, shaking his head. He looked at Aida. "Go home."
"But you said-"
"Go home. And take care of our Mr. Sandoval." He said.
Aida nodded and went to leave.