Marla grabbed Bernie by his armour and pulled him close.
"Seal off all the exits, I want statements from everyone. Someone here saw something. And I need it all done five Beats ago!"
-----
The red and black clad HUnewearl hopped nervously from foot to foot. Her head turning so fast at every little sound that her ponytail of red hair kept hitting her in the face. Her companion, a red and purple RAcaseal, did not seem to be as concerned. Their footsteps echoed throughout the creepy, empty chambers of the Ruins.
"Yummy, remind me, why we are doing this again?" Asked the HUnewearl.
"My name is not Yummy. It is Yum Kaax. Would you enjoy it if I called you 'Earring' or 'Air vent' instead of your proper designation, Aerin? But to answer your question, we are doing this for the money."
"Is it a lot of money Yummy?"
"My name is not Yummy. It is Yum Kaax. The client did not specify the amount of the reward." Replied Yum Kaax patiently.
"Great, I must have finally lost my mind. I'm down here in these very unpleasant Ruins, totally alone with the exception of an Android called Yummy. And we're here to find a new type of monster, one never seen before..."
Aerin stopped walking and stared at the piece of paper in her hand. There was a crude drawing of the monster they were looking for in bright yellow crayon.
"Also we are to capture it, not kill it." Added the RAcaseal.
"That's great. Remind me again why we are on a capture mission for the Millitary? I thought the Millitary hated us?"
"I believe that the client's exact words were: 'Because you are expendable'".
"Thanks for the confidence booster Yummy."
-----
Bernie approached Marla but waited until she had finished interviewing the Hunter she was with before speaking.
"I think I've got a witness, but I'm not sure."
"You're not sure? Did they see something or not?" She asked confused.
"Er... Well, the guy either saw something, or he didn't, or he saw something else..." Replied Bernie cryptically.
"I think you should show me."
-----
The first thing Marla noticed about the witness was that he wore civilian clothes and not any kind of Hunter's uniform or armour. This struck her as strange as she would have thought that BOC would not have let him in to the ceremony because his appearance was not threatening enough. Sometimes she could not figure that 'Droid out. The man seemed to be agitated for some reason, looking left and right like he was expecting a truck to try and run him over at any moment.
"Marla Decker, HCIU." Said Marla pointing to the badge on her beret. "I understand you saw something that can help our investigation?"
"I think you're mistaken. I didn't see anything. That poor girl was murdered and I would love to help but I don't know anything, sorry." The man said.
"What's your name?"
"Ceseno..." The man hesitated and his expression changed before he continued. "... Vraan. What's the hold up? I told your partner everything already." He said angrily.
"Oh, he's not my partner, we broke up a few months ago. I know you told him, but I would just like to confirm the details."
"Hmph. As I said before, out of the corner of my eye I saw someone on that rooftop over there..." Ceseno pointed at a low building opposite the stage. It was a book depository and was closed for today's ceremony as a precaution. "It was hard to make out any features from this distance but he was dressed in assassin clothes and had a bow."
Marla raised an eyebrow. Bows were relics from history, if a Hunter wanted to shoot arrows they would use a Linear Accelerator or modified Photon Launcher since they removed a lot of the skill requirements of such a primitive weapon.
"Anything else you can remember?" She asked him.
"Yes. After the lady was shot, the man climbed down from the green hill and got into a hovercar which left quickly."
Ceseno was now pointing at a different area, it was at a group of trees positioned in front of a department store that had also been closed for today.
""Er... Wait, the man got from the rooftop to those trees? How?"
"No, the man was always there. He was pointing something at the stage, it looked like a video camera. I remember this because it was strange why he would leave when the lady got shot. I woulda thought he would want to record something like that."
"Do you remember anything about the getaway vehicle?"
"What are you talking about now? What getaway vehicle? He fled to the back of the rooftop and disappeared from view."
"O... Kay." Said Marla uncertainly. "Is there anything else you can tell us?"
"I told you already. I didn't see anything."
"But what about the man on the roof?" Said Marla starting to get frustrated.
"He wasn't on the roof, he got into the car."
Marla pulled out her Varista and pressed it against Ceseno's temple.
"Okay! I know what your game is now. One of you better start talking and I don't want no crap about no vehicle or no rooftop. Talk!" She said virtually shouting.
Bernie grabbed Marla's arms and tried to restrain her.
"You can't shoot him! He maybe our only witness!"
Marla backed off.
"Okay, okay. I'll need a written statement. Bernie, get Sollah to handle this one. I need to do some scouting."
-----
Marla stood in the shade of the trees from the early afternoon sun. She had examined the rooftop of the Book Depository already and apart from some footprints there was no real evidence that anyone had been there. The spot where she stood now was much more interesting. There were some scorch-marks on the ground where two hover vehicles had taken off in a hurry. She also found evidence of Ceseno's 'green hill', a small amount of grass had been left scattered around the area. Marla activated her radio.
"Escher?"
"Squeek?"
"I need profiles on all the Hunters that use or are capable of using a bow or an arrow launching weapon of some kind. I'll also need all the information you can get me on the victim... And get me any video camera footage you can from the area. Surveillance, security cams, hidden peep cams, whatever."
"Squeek? SqueekSqueekSqueekSqueek."
"I don't care. Hack whatever servers you think necessary to get the info. You have full HCIU authorisation."
"Squeek!"
-----
Torrik glanced cautiously across the restaurant. Her table was on the street outside since it was such a nice day. She ate her beef risotto slowly, her attention almost entirely on the soldiers seated at the other end of the restaurant's open-air eating area. They were arguing over pizza slices but the four of them also kept a wary eye on her position at all times.