"Jesus Christ, we're really going through with this?" Lyre rubbed his hands across his face as Truthteller was typing away at a laptop. "I feel that there should be other options to solve this."
Truthteller shook his head, "Unless you wanna waste our time finding more info on the kidnapping victims, who are most likely dead at this point, I would-" Truthteller was cut off by another detective opening the door to the room the two were talking in, "What is it?"
"I found something you two will want to see, two things actually." The detective dropped a stack of files onto the table in the room, "Firstly, do either of you know that reality television show Total Drama Island?" The detective asked.
"That one with the teenagers on an island? What does that have to do anything, Irwin?" Lyre replied, confused why Irwin was even bothering to bring this up in the first place.
Irwin browsed through the files he dropped on the table and pulled one out to show the other two, "Take a look at this," Irwin handed the two the file, "Chris McLean, the host of the original Total Drama seasons made an announcement that he was planning on doing a prison-themed season, with real criminals to boot. And if you check right where the season was supposed to take place you get..." Irwin pointed at a social media announcement from Chris that stated where the season would take place, "Hope's Lament."
"So that explains how people like Deena got there." Truthteller looked at the files, "I would assume after that the group we've encountered murdered Chris and took the prisoners hostage, or took Chris hostage as well. But that doesn't explain Hawkeye's sudden turn to betrayal the other day, it just explains how those people got kidnapped."
"That's what I thought. Until I found evidence that I believe they have some advanced method of brainwashing." Irwin replied as he grabbed another file, this one was a list of prison inmates at a specific prison, "I was looking through multiple prisons to see if anyone else went missing, and I found none other than one 'Matthew Matthews'."
"So he has a criminal past, so what of it?" Lyre shrugged.
Irwin shook his head, "He was arrested not too long ago, and checked into the prison only two weeks before the mass disappearance occurred. I asked the warden and multiple different guards and higher-ups if they had ever had a 'Matthew Matthews' at this prison, but they all said no. How could he have been at the prison and not been remembered by any guards or even the warden? There's some form of foul play going on, which means either those guards are working with the group, or they're being tricked somehow. That would give a much lighter explanation for Hawkeye's sudden t-" Irwin was interrupted by a phone in the room ringing.
Lyre grabbed the phone and answered, "Who is it?"
"Seven. Eight. Five. Nine. Two." A voice replied, it wasn't a voice he recognized, but he knew that code. The code the agency used for certain operatives, specifically soldiers, and that was none other than Hawkeye's...