Winged Memories
The Golden Ostrich
"Stirring things up again?" Dastun asked as we stepped into his office.
"Just trying to do my job, same as you."
"My job doesn't require that I give you information."
"No, but the fact that you polished off a good half of my finest brandy last night dictates that you should," I said, watching in amusement as he cursed himself.
"Whadaya want?"
"Michael Seebach…heard from him recently?"
He frowned at me. "You had that assignment from the Paradigm Group ages ago…aren't you finished yet?"
"He popped up in a newer case…that letter was from him."
"Lemme check," he said grudgingly and began to flip through folders in a file cabinet. "According to this, he's been deceased for two months. His body was discovered outside of the city."
"Seebach is…not his other identity. You told me yourself that he was leading two lives. He gave one of them up."
"You're looking for the second one?"
"Yeah."
"We don't have any information on his double, at least as far as I know."
"Try looking under 'Schwarzwald'."
"Schwarzwald…" Dastun pulled out another standard manila folder. "He's that guy who went crazy in the red MegaDeus and tried to blow up the Dome, right? Disappeared after the damn thing got up and started walking on it's own."
"So he hasn't been heard from since?"
"Not that we're aware of…Paradigm had the MegaDeus hauled off to some laboratory underground somewhere and that was the end of the case."
I nodded and motioned to Dorothy that we were leaving. "If anything new comes up," I said as we walked through his door, "there's a bottle of scotch sitting on my shelf that you might interest you."
"It's only my opinion, but I don't think a man like Schwarzwald would give up so easily. The MegaDeus going berserk in the middle of the Dome has probably only pushed him to search further through those dusty scraps of memories scattered across the earth."
"They say his body was found."
"And whose body was that? The man you're looking for or the hollow shell that once held him prisoner?" Big Ear flipped his newspaper to the next side. "Again, I don't believe he'd simply accept defeat, especially with the tip of the iceberg now revealed to the public. Would you throw away half a lifetime of work because it backfired? I don't think even considered that a failure."
"His 'Leviathan' didn't accomplish much."
"Not on the surface, no. It was overpowered by a knight in shining armor come to rescue the maiden." He nodded at Dorothy and I felt my patience thinning. "But he did do something very important."
"What's that?"
"He brought people to realize what they desire without admitting it."
"Memories?"
"The denizens of Paradigm, for the most part, are content to live beneath these domes without question. Scraps of memory present themselves and they cast them to the side…you yourself believe this is the way to lead a happy life. Look at the foreigners slipping through the shadows as they search. They are not cheery. Why do you suppose that is?"
"What I want to know is where I can find him."
"Someone like him won't stay hidden for long…you youngsters need to learn patience."
"I have a job to complete," I say and place a fold of money on his table.
author's note: hmmm...not much to say...which is very unusual for me. More coming soon. Please R&R!