Charlie: Well, I'm back. Meh, placed 4th at Progfest…oh well. It was pretty good for first timers and we're definitely taking first next year. Anyways. Thanks to all you who reviewed. I'm glad you're enjoying this. Well…enough talk. On with the next chapter. And I don't own Fire Emblem yaddayaddayadda…you know the drill.
The Khathlati Strain
Chapter 3: Conspiracy
Hector and Matthew left the conference together. Neither the usually cheerful thief nor the big Marquess was very happy.
"Damn it!" Hector said in frustration. "What the hell is going on in Khathelet!"
Matthew simply shrugged and continued walking. "One thing's for sure. This disease seems very suspicious."
"What?" Hector asked. "Suspicious? I thought it was an accident or something."
Matthew sighed and looked over at his Marquess. "Yes, it seemed like an accident…but I'm not so sure anymore."
"Say what?" Hector was confused.
"Look at it this way. Two months back, Bern sent messengers asking you to give them our latest technology or face the consequences because they felt that Lycia was becoming too powerful."
"Yes? And?" Hector asked, not quite comprehending.
"Well, think about it. A few weeks after you refused, the disease sprang up."
Hector realized what Matthew was implying. "Are you saying that Bern is behind this?"
"Well, it's very possible. If they were to attack, they would attack the Southern port cities. That gives them a sea route into Lycia so they wouldn't have to cross the mountains. And plus the Northern provinces all specialize in ballistics, no leader worth his name would send his forces through there. It's a self sustaining death trap up there."
"Point taken." Hector said. "Is it possible?"
"It's very likely." Matthew said. "But again, we're not sure."
"Okay, then we'll make sure." Hector said firmly. "I want you to go take tabs of the doctors who were in charge of this Bacterium Experiment that Khathelet claims to be responsible for this disease. If any one of them seems remotely connected to Bern, arrest him. We'll deal with war then."
Matthew saluted briefly. "Yes sir…"
Then he vanished into the shadows to do his bidding. Hector took a good look at where Matthew was and turned back. "Good Luck buddy…" He mumbled as he walked through a doorway into the throne room.
Matthew winced as he stepped into the sunlight. The bright morning sun was stinging his eyes. Pulling his cloak over his head to block the powerful rays, the thief picked out a horse from the stables. After checking his supplies, Matthew rode out of town, taking a Southern road, the once bustling road into the biological capital of Elibe, now as deserted as Dread Isle. Only a lone caravan of merchants was on the road. As Matthew rode past them, he noticed a poorly dressed, ragged man sitting in the back of one of the wagons with his bare, unshaven legs sticking out the back. His dress made him stick out from the well dressed merchants around him.
'Stowaway…' Matthew thought before riding full speed due South, towards the origin of the disease that is now known as the Khathlati Strain.
A lone man with long blonde hair walked out of the Araphen Morgue. He was dressed in the attire of a Bishop of St. Elimine. As he walked along the streets, clutching a bag of items, silent tears streaked down his cheeks. He had just collected the personal effects of his dearest friend who had died days earlier of a disease created by the enemies of St. Elimine, but he could not accept why such a fate had befallen his friend, who is by no means anything like the sinful creatures from Khathelet.
He cried silently as he walked the streets, before stopping in front of an orphanage. Quickly, he dried his tears and walked in.
"Welcome back Father Lucius!"
Scores of children greeted the Bishop with great enthusiasm. Lucius could do nothing but smile at the wave of innocent youth welcoming him back home. He sighed.
"Okay Children, back to your work. I have a few things to take care of." He said with a forced smile.
When the Children finally scattered and went about their work. Lucius made his way across the room towards his office. He sniffled a little, and coughed a few times.
'I must've caught the cold.' He thought, making a mental note to take some medicine later. He placed the bag gingerly into a safety box and locked it. He sighed and sank back into his chair, thinking of all the times he and Raven had spent traveling together. He let out a huge sneeze and decided to go take some medicine. When he got up to go get his medication, he noticed that he had lost weight and his muscles were starting to ache.
Lucius sighed. 'I must take better care of myself…' He said as he swallowed an spoonful of a foul smelling potion.
Matthew arrived in Khathelet a few days after he departed. He noticed that the streets were more deserted than they usually were. Sighing, he checked into an Inn for the night.
The next day, he approached the Minister of Science for help.
"The doctor's addresses you say?" The Minister asked after Matthew stated his intention. "Well, sure. But I feel that we have already caught the culprit, so there is no need for Ostia to intervene…but if you feel that you must…then be my guest."
Matthew nodded. "Just give me the records…"
The Minister got up and went over to his files. A while later, he returned with four sets of papers.
"Here." The Minister said, giving Matthew the records. "You want these three doctors." He said pointing to the top three sets. "The last doctor is dead."
"The disease?" Matthew asked.
"No, executed. We deduced that he was the culprit."
Matthew arched an eyebrow. "Really…and how do you figure that?"
The Minister proceeded to show Matthew the evidence one by one. "And that's how we know…" He said finishing.
Matthew listened thoughtfully. "Okay, so you're saying that there was no way he could possibly be framed?"
"Well, that's possible, but not likely."
Matthew held back his disbelief. How could a Minister of Science be so stupid? Matthew took the records and pointed to a name near the executed Scientist's name. "What about him? You said that someone was named as a Geneticist/Biochemist on the research records. Well, he's the only Geneticist/Biochemist on your squad."
The Ministered answered in an all knowing tone. "Yes, we've considered him, but then we discovered that he had resigned from the Institute well before the disease was present in the population. He couldn't have possibly done it."
"How long before did he resign?" Matthew asked.
"Umm, about 4-5 weeks. Why?"
"No reason, just checking." Matthew said. "Thank you Minister."
The Minister bid him good day and Matthew left the building. Under his arms, he held the three records of the living scientists, as well as one other record he had stolen on his way out.
"Hmm…" He thought out loud as he looked at the stolen record. "Dr. Brian W Wu… well it couldn't hurt to check."
Then he turned right at a smaller road and entered the residential areas. The first house he checked was the house of Dr. Wu. Not surprising, the house was empty and the furniture missing. The man had moved. Only a picture of him and his family remained hanging on the wall. Matthew took one look at him and sighed. He was a young man, tall with dark hair. He had a nice family and did not look anything like a madman who would release a dangerous disease. Sighing again, Matthew left the house, never noticing the crumpled piece of paper wedged in the doorway.
Three days later, the piece of paper was gone, along with the picture on the wall.
After three days and two dismal interviews with Dr. Liang and Dr. Pan, Matthew had yet to uncover any clues about the outbreak of the disease. Both men had seemed uneasy however, when Matthew brought up the executed Dr. Woo. Both had given half-assed answers about Dr. Woo's sanity before changing the subject. As expected, both men said that they didn't know a Dr. Brian Wu. When confronted about the possibility of a mistake, both men had denied, in a creepily similar manner. If Matthew ever doubted the possibility of a conspiracy, he no longer doubted it anymore. But still, all he had was circumstantial evidence.
But he still had hope. There was one scientist left on the list. Matthew just hoped that she would shed some light on the mystery. Little did he know, what lies beyond the front door of the last doctor would expose more than he cared to know.
A week later, Oswin delivered Matthew's report…
"Sir… Matthew reports that there definitely is a conspiracy."
Oswin and Hector were in the throne room of Castle Ostia. Both men were anxious to know what Matthew had to report, and unfortunately for Hector, Oswin had gotten to the messenger first. So he sat there unpatiently waiting for Oswin to read out the report
"Well, ain't that grand." Hector said. "Care to clarify?"
"Well, two of the scientists seemed evasive of his questions. They denied involvement with the release." Oswin continued.
"And?"
"Well, apparently Khathelet had executed a doctor weeks earlier."
"Yes, I got the report last night."
"Right, well, the same two scientists claimed that the executed scientist was going insane."
"That makes sense. But what about the third scientist? Did he interview her?"
Oswin read on and shook his head. "No…she was dead when he got to her house."
Hector cursed. "That's just great. Let me guess, the disease?"
Oswin turned white as he read the cause of death.
"Well?" Hector asked impatiently.
"No…" Oswin said. "She was murdered."
"WHAT!"
"That's why Matthew thinks that there's a conspiracy that's still alive. Dr. Jessica Nam was found dead with 29 fresh stab wounds in her back… nearly a week after the supposed culprit was executed."
Hector too went pale at this news. "…could…it be possible that she was murdered before the doctor was killed?"
Oswin read on. "No, Matthew said that the wounds were still bleeding when he entered. Dr. Nam was killed just minutes before Matthew arrived. And also, he checked her journal and work logs. She was alive up until the hour before Matthew found her."
Hector sighed. "…good grief…"
"And another thing…" Oswin went on. "Her journal entries after the disease surfaced were just as suspicious as the answers of the previous two doctors. She seemed to be hiding something…something dark."
Hector shook his head. "This is getting complicated."
"It gets worse sir." Oswin said.
"What?"
"Khathelet's records of where the three doctors worked before going to the Khathlati Biomedical Institute are very faulty, and Matthew claims it's very unreliable."
"Holy St. Elimine!" Hector roared. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON DOWN THERE!"
"And sir?"
"More good news?"
"Yes… Bern has been gathering forces along the Southern border. Araphen claims that the troops from Bern are within striking distance, and if they do strike, Araphen, Khathelet and possibly Caelin would definitely fall."
Hector paled greatly at this last piece of news. "What did we ever do to deserve this!"
Charlie: Well, doesn't it get better all the time? I really don't want to be Matthew right now. He's walking in a death hole. Anyways, please review!
