Sue checked in at the Guild desk located at the entrance to the government VR research labs. Perusing the activity boards she saw only one name was listed as being on the surface. She frowned, it was early evening but there should still be many more people listed there. She then chided herself for being stupid. The whole security blanket ban was in effect thus no missions. It would seem that you could earn a lot of trust by being the Hunter that killed Falz.
She shrugged and walked towards the rendezvous point. If she did solve this mystery, she would no doubt need that Hunter's assistance, it was always useful to have that kind of sheer power for backup. The lights were all on but the shops and other areas were closed, no Hunters equalled no business. It gave her the feel of walking into a trap and she shivered slightly despite not being cold. She was just glad that she always walked around fully armed.
She descended the ramp and saw that no one was there. Walking to the window the thought occurred to her that she might be early for whatever meeting was coming. Staring down at the blue-green globe beyond the window, she almost did not hear the voice quietly summoning her.
"Psst!"
She turned to see the source of the noise, the familiar sight of the FOnewm Hopkins hiding in the little alcove. She approached him.
"How long have you been standing there?" She asked.
He ignored her question. "Did you come here alone? Did anyone follow you?" His tone was hushed but urgent.
"Followed? No. What are you talking about?"
She was surprised when he grabbed her by the wrist. A jolt and she found herself in a familiar room. The circular room had no visible exits and was sparsely decorated with strange ornate objects. She had been here before a couple of times before.
"I do apologise for the secrecy, but it was quite necessary." Said Paganini, the mature FOnewm seated before her. He turned to face Hopkins.
"If you'll excuse us, me and the young lady have many important things to discuss."
"I did good didn't I?" Hopkins asked eagerly.
"Yes you did." Said Paganini as he placed a small object into Hopkins' hand.
Hopkins smiled and took a step back. He pressed a button on his forearm panel and vanished.
"A faithful lad but not the brightest star in the sky if you catch my drift. Unlike you of course."
Sue cocked her head to one side.
"I do apologise once more, I forget how direct Hunters would prefer me to be. I am hoping that you will listen to what I have to tell you before you pass any judgement."
With that Sue crossed her arms. "I make no promises." She said coldly.
"Of course not and I would not expect you to. I have followed you throughout your career as a Hunter and would say I know you better than any other person on this ship." He paused.
"Sue... I have something to tell you... I AM your father."
"WHAT?!" Shouted Sue incredulously.
"Sorry, sorry. I joke." Grinned Paganini. "I saw that line in a Holocast once and always wanted to try it on someone."
"I don't have time for these games." Sue fumed and turned as if to leave.
"You are searching for who is behind Kireek."
Sue stopped and turned back slowly. "Go on."
"You know me as a collector of Photon 'eccentricities' and occasionally data. Indeed when my sources told me of the secret research facility on Gal De Val Island I knew that I must get my hands on that information immediately. However the stringent qualification conditions required and tight security meant that agents loyal to me were unable to even set foot on the island. I was able to get around this by appealing to passing Hunters' sense of curiosity or greed."
"The tower data?"
"Yes, Doctor Osto had labs there but of more use to me was data from Doctor Graves, the photon engineer. It seems that the parasite cell 'D' was not the only strange material recovered from the Ruins. My spies in Doctor Montague's lab have only confirmed what I suspected, namely the discovery of a new photon type!"
"A new photon type?"
"Yes, much of our civilisation's technology is built upon the fourteen photon types. But scientists have always theorised that there maybe more photon types. Indeed the people of Pioneer One discovered this new kind of photon. Five years ago, they sent a encrypted transmission back to Coral about their findings. They knew they had discovered something but they did not have an understanding of it yet."
"So you knew about the Ruins for five years and you didn't tell anyone?"
"Please, you must understand that to admit to cracking military transmissions would make things uncomfortable for me. Besides, think about it for a half a Beat... I was not the only one that knew about it..."
"The military..." Said Sue breathlessly.
"You may have heard of W.O.R.K.S., the special ops division of the military. They had big plans for all of this, but lacked muscle, especially compared to our all-conquering Hunter. The death of Falz put a crimp on their plans, as if they could do a better job of stopping or containing Falz than Pioneer One's army."
"So how does Kireek fit into all this?" Asked Sue.