Sorry for the extended delay. New job had been kicking my butt.
Under scrutiny
Magda woke refreshed. She felt good for a change. Things made sense when she opened her eyes and she smiled at the ceiling of her quarters. She reached out with her mind to touch her companion and Ollie was there. The sentinel was subdued, but not unhappy. Something for which Magda was grateful for, but not certain why she was. The need to know faded with Ollie's mental touch.
Magda. Ollie said quietly. Did you sleep well?
I did, thank you, Ollie. Magda said quietly as she got up and started her stretches. This case is bothering me. Only a Tenno would know all the facts of Ariana's crimes.
A Tenno or a Tenno's companion. Ollie replied and Magda stilled in mid-strech.
Ollie. Magda sent back, careful to avoid chiding. Would the Queen of Cats allow any companion under her watch to do such, even if it is not in the literal definition of her role? The cop worked very hard to keep her tone neutral so as not to give offense, but she felt Ollie's sudden withdrawal anyway. Ollie. She wouldn't. You know that.
Considering that the Queen of Cats had once been simply Liriel, the companion of the Tenno who had committed the most prolific serial murders by anyone other than a High Orokin in recorded history? Not a chance! If Liriel found out who was doing it, said person would die. Period. Ariana hadn't really had a choice but to kill after what had happened to her and Liriel still loved her first companion. The Queen was pragmatic and vicious when she felt it needed. This would qualify. If the Queen of Cats stopped it, it would never happen again and also likely leave Magda and her cohorts a cold case. Stopping the murderer was one thing and after seeing these bodies, Magda would even agree that the Queen of Cats' often extreme methods would be justified. That said? No cop liked cases going cold. Especially murders. Double especially murders perhaps committed by a Tenno.
I do. The Sentinel was very quiet now and he spoke slowly, as if as he was just as afraid to give offense as Magda was.
What was wrong? This wasn't like Ollie! He had no problems speaking his mind. Hell, neither did Magda! That was one reason they got along so well. Magda shook her head as the thought vanished from her mind, but her worry did not.
"Have I given offense?" Magda asked as she strode out of her quarters towards the sentinel's charging station.
No. The sentinel said and then was quiet.
"Ollie, what is going on?" Magda asked bluntly. Then sentinel seemed to still in midair at its station and Magda had confirmation of her suspicions. Something was wrong. "This is not like you or me. I feel…. Both right and wrong." She admitted. "I feel… off, but also poised to do my duty." She mused, thinking hard. "Ollie?" She asked when the sentinel did not reply. "Is it something I did? Have I given offense?" She repeated.
No. Magda went utterly still. Ollie was crying! But before she could wrestle her shocked tongue to speech, Ollie spoke again. You did nothing wrong. You are having odd blackouts and I worried you were losing your sanity. I don't want you to be taken from me!
"Ollie, if I am a threat…" Magda started, feeling her words out with care, but the Sentinel actually interrupted her!
You are not! That was more like her partner. Decisive. You have been worried that with your odd memory blackouts, you might be the murderer! Magda jerked at that. The thought had been percolating back in the depths of her mind. You asked me to keep an eye on you and I have. There is more going on that you know, but I cannot explain. Please do not ask? Ollie asked, oddly angry now, but not with Magda.
"You know I trust you, Ollie." Magda reached out with a slow hand to caress the sentinel and it pushed into her hand as she stroked the warm metal. "You are right. I was actually worried that 'I' might be involved somehow. I have the means to carry out such and the knowledge of the ancient crimes. My mind has been oddly unsettled recently. I do not know what my motive might be to kill in such a horrific fashion, but if I was going insane…"
You are not going insane and you are not a murderer. Ollie's tone turned flat. You are a Warrior. You kill when you must, not for your own amusement. You do what you have to and I am your companion. I would not stay with a psychopath.
"It is appreciated." Magda said with a sigh. "So, you know what is going on but you cannot say. Orders probably." She mused anew and there was no reply. "You are much better at following such than I am. Ah well, back to the hunt. Venus?"
We have not heard anything from the others. Ollie said after a moment. That is unusual.
"Right." Magda gave herself a shake as she approached her warframe. "Ship? Best speed to Venus."
"On the way, Officer Magda." The ship's voice was as always, calm and unhurried. "It is out of character for them to be so long out of contact." Worry sang for a moment in the ship's voice, but he was responsible for her safety, so that made sense.
"They can take care of themselves, but yes." Magda mused as she moved to the lander section of her ship and started checking consoles. "It is out of character and against procedure. We always have to check in. Send a standard query to Laney while we transit and let me know about any abnormalities you detect."
Instead of responding, the ship's engines hummed as the Cephalon powered them. It would not take long for them to travel the distance between the planets. Tenno ships had been built for speed ever since the first ones had been designed.
Shall we go over what we have so far? Ollie asked and Magda nodded.
"Wouldn't hurt." The Tenno said with a sigh. "The web was the same material as the others. Deceased is a human male. Age, less than 20 standard years. Veiled."
None of the others were Veiled. Ollie said softly and Magda frowned but then nodded.
"No sign of Veils, true." Magda allowed. "But the bodies were all much older than this one. This poor kid died in the last few days. Do you think he was dropped there?"
I am not sure what to think. Ollie admitted after a moment. The body showed no signs of struggle. No wounds, defensive or otherwise. Magda nodded to that. In most murders, the victim had a chance to fight back, even if it was unable to ward off their attacker. Such often left what were called 'defensive wounds' on the victim. Blood and skin under fingernails, bruises, broken bones. Magda had seen many kinds of such wounds in her long service. The only oddity is the marks of DNA sampling and that was cleanly done. Not field work for sure.
"You mean the sampling was done in a lab?" Magda asked, confused for a moment and then she groaned. "This murderer is smart. They likely have a lair of some kind where they do this, maybe even with a lab." Such facilities would not be out of reach for a Tenno, even a solo operator. She slowly shook her head. "Or…" She mused and Ollie piped up again. They made a good team.
Or it might have been legitimate medical care in which case, there may be records! The Sentinel cop said swiftly and Magda nodded, a slow smile crossing her face. Maybe they had caught a break? Maybe. It was too soon to tell. I will get on that. If so, such sampling had to be recent not to be healed yet.
"Or whoever did this… grabbed him from wherever he was." Magda stilled at the implications. Then she shook her head. "No, any legitimate lab would have reported such."
Magda. Ollie said flatly enough that Magda stilled. He wasn't 'quite' chiding her, but it was close. You know how many people would hide such. The Corpus, most of the syndicates… Hell, even many factions within the Tenno would hide such, discounting the spetznatz since they are in custody.
"I hope and pray they are still in custody." Magda said with a wince as Ollie seemed to do the same in mid-air. "Some of the reasons for hiding such are even legitimate and within the law. But… yeah… Check the database and see if our John Doe was listed anywhere." Something went 'ping' as she finished talking and Magda went still. "No… Don't tell me!"
I got a match. Ollie said weakly. From Iriana's hospital!
"Ollie!" Magda snapped, her ire rising. She knew Iriana, and Iriana was busy doing something that even the cops did not have much information on. "There is no way Healer Iriana of all people is involved in such a mess or let any of her people be! She is Tenno, so she can and has killed, but like that? Not a chance in hell, even discounting her clan keeping such a close eye on her!"
I doubt she was told. Ollie said in very small tone.
"About?" Magda all but threw the word at the Sentinel who seemed abject now.
The DNA matches a patient known in their records as G.K. 198712. The sentinel said softly. They do not use names after all the security breaches there. That made sense, actually. There had been several incursion there by both renegade Tenno and others. Protecting their patients was part and parcel to any decent medical person, so privacy was paramount.
"Yeah." Magda deflated a bit and shook her head. "So, they treated him?"
They did but according to this record, failed to save him. He had a very rare genetic disorder that was mortal. He was sent to the hospital and they tried, but were not successful in saving him. Ollie said and Magda tensed right back up again.
"He died in their care." Magda said slowly.
Yes. Ollie said weakly. But that was three weeks ago! He would not have… um… kept for so long. Stasis?
Decomposition had a fairly standard progression in such cases. Magda and Ollie had seen far more bodies in far more states that was good for anyone's psyche.
"Yes, that makes sense. Some kind of stasis while whoever took him wherever to do that to him." Magda waved that away. "But if he was already dead…" She broke off and sighed deeply. "This just gets worse and worse."
Yes, it does. Magda, according to the record I found… Ollie said slowly. ...the body was claimed by a family member who lives on Venus.
"Fortuna?" Magda asked, dread rising.
Fortuna. Ollie said savagely.
"Ship, max speed to Venus and send a message to the team marked 'Urgent'! Include all this data. Everything we have!" Magda snapped as she ran towards her warframe. Better to be armed and ready for the worst case scenario. The ship's engines changed pitch and she felt a lurch as it transitioned from one part of the Void to another. "Was he Narmer at the hospital?" She scoffed even as she slid into her favored Nyx warframe. "No, not a chance. The hospital may say they will treat everyone, but Narmer was and is an exception."
Far too dangerous to allow any of Narmer's personnel in there, true. Deacons can follow anywhere any of their Veiled get to as we learned to our cost. Ollie said heavily. The cops had captured a Veiled Ostron and been trying to figure out how to get it off without killing the poor girl when the Deacon had teleported in and everything had gone to hell. Magda had held out the longest of the others, but in the end, she had been caught and Veiled just like them. She did not like remembering that. So, why Veil a corpse?
"I have no idea. That makes no sense since Veils self destruct when the user perishes. Send a query to the hospital. See if they have any more records. I cannot see the residents there doing such a horrible thing to a corpse any more than I can see them allowing Narmer in." Magda settled herself in the frame as a matter of habit. She didn't actually need to stretch out every fingers and toe, but it made her feel a bit better, so she always did the same exercises. "This doesn't make any sense!"
Okay. Ollie said slowly, thinking hard. We have a recently dead kid who is taken from the hospital by his next of kin and then somehow winds up on Earth, Veiled, in a web like the others we have seen.
"Right." Magda was even more confused now. "All the bodies are on different planets, that means whoever is dropping them, dead or no, has access to travel. Rails or something like we use."
Could Narmer do it? Ollie asked and Magda paused.
"They could, but this is totally atypical for them." Magda said after a moment. "They have access to all the areas of the solar system and all the technologies that the various inhabitants have. Sentient, human, Grineer, Tenno. Yes, Narmer could kill people like this." She repeated. "But it makes no sense. They Veil people to serve their master, whoever it is now that Ballas is dead. Dead slaves are useless and the method of killing is horrific."
Maybe to spread fear? Ollie countered and Magda paused again, thinking hard.
"Maybe." Magda allowed. "But they have better ways of doing that. The Veil is just as frightening as the bodies we have seen, if not more so. Dead is dead even that way but living, breathing bodies with no will but Narmer are just as terrifying if not more so. I think it is more terrifying, to be honest. I fought you when you tried to free me. I just obeyed." Shame sang in her tone now.
She had. All of the cops had fought their companions when Laney had worked so hard to get them un-Veiled. None of the companions had used lethal force, and it was miracle that none of them had died because the cops in their Veils had used lethal force to defend themselves from being freed from Narmer's control.
It wasn't your fault, Magda. Ollie reassured her. I knew that then and I know it now. Let go of the regret, my friend. The responsibility lies with Narmer, not you.
"I am not sure I can." Magda admitted but then she nodded even as Ollie made noise of worry. "When this case is done, I will make an appointment to talk to someone. Maybe Brianna."
I will make an appointment for you. Ollie countered and Magda jerked at the iron in the sentinel's tone. He wasn't going to let her quibble. Magda smiled a bit sadly as she looked at the sentinel before bowing her head. When he got that stubborn, get out of his way!
"Then I will go to the one you schedule." Magda promised. "Right now, we have a crime to solve. This is far more complicated than even a serial killer though." She complained. "Iriana may not be at the hospital anymore, but I am sure she still keeps tabs on her people. What was the report we got about hospital staff recently?"
Two of the staff were taken while on vacation from there and eventually rescued. Ollie said quietly and Magda nodded, her memory jostled. It was quite a mess by all accounts when the Caretakers got involved.
"I could make sick jokes about that, but I know you are recording." Magda quipped but it wasn't really funny. One of the downsides to being a Tenno cop was being under surveillance all the time. After all the messes that had been made recently, including one that had involved an ill chosen order of arrest from the middle of a Tenno dojo and nearly sparked an open war between the cops and the clan in question, such had been demanded. It also made a certain amount of sense from an investigative standpoint. Even Tenno had issues remembering things on occasion and documented facts rarely lied. Magda fought a shiver as those words pulsed through her brain. She had heard them from a very scary individual who had appeared after that arrest and managed, somehow, to quell the mess. It had ended well, but seeing Grandmaster Sun in a courtroom had been one of the record books. No, Magda corrected her thoughts grimly. The Interrogator was just Tenno Sun now after things had happened that Magda was not cleared for. Something she was devoutly grateful for. Sun scared the hell out of her! "I read the short version. They were rescued and the ones who took them were stopped."
Apparently with the help of Parvos Granum. Ollie did not bother to hide his worry at that. Tenno getting involved in such high level Corpus politics was never an easy thought. Politics was often the bane of any cop's existence, but the Corpus took that to a whole new level with their single minded pursuit of Profit.
"Not our problem unless we get called in." Magda said firmly. "We have enough trouble as it is."
That we do. Ollie agreed. Do you want me to query the hospital for more information? If I make it formal, they will give us what they have.
"Eh…" Magda moaned a little. The last thing she needed was Iriana mad at her again! Neither time had really been Magda's fault since she was obeying instructions and careful to keep collateral damage down but Iriana had been very upset with Magda in particular. The Healer was a very good person, one of the best Magda had ever met. That said? When she got mad, anyone sane got out of her way. The healer was true Tenno, even if not a Warrior. Maybe scarier than a Warrior, to be honest! She had killed one foolish Tenno who was stupid enough to challenge blindly in her presence. Every single Tenno cop knew that guy had deserved it if anyone had, but still… "Keep it as respectful as you can, but yes. We need more information and they have to have something about who they treated."
Right. Ollie muttered. I don't want her mad at me either!
"Of course not." Magda started checking her weaponry. "We both know better!"
She hoped she would not need weapons, but right now? All she had was time to worry while en-route to Venus, so better use it productively.