Standing up momentarily, Audrey stretched his legs and shoulders after sitting in his chair all day before sitting right back down. Contrary to what one might think, field agents in the Intelligence Department aren't the most important component. It was scouring every source they could find for leads and then narrowing it down based on authenticity. From there, it would be decided what kind of investigative team they would send out. This was Audrey's job. He was one of many who browses internet forums and "supernatural sightings" websites in order to figure out where they might find a legitimate case. He didn't do deep web work, and quite frankly, he didn't want to. After a few years, however, he might be eligible for field work, yet, he wasn't certain if he wanted it. He had time.
Strange and stranger, there had been an increase in sightings of various sorts around Manchester, where Blackwood was killed and Sebastian was investigating. No sightings correlated with anything Sebastian himself could possibly have caused, although Audrey was lucky he was down there. He already had an agent in the field feeding him information.
Audrey wasn't sure if he should be glad or concerned. There were so many sightings appearing on these sites that it was concerning. He checked each and every one as quickly and thoroughly as he could. The whole team was. The media management department was suppressing as much as they could when things were confirmed. Occassionally, this would happen, but not this badly. These were all different kinds of creatures. Some could infect people. If that were to happen, they were going to have a rough time tracking them down.
It seemed like he was sending a report on potential case after case every five minutes, when in reality, it was simply that there were a lot of them. He didn't know how on earth they were going to take care of them all. He knew that the Manchester branch must have been swamped, but he really didn't feel like trading places any time soon. Surely, they could handle things, right?
He didn't know. If things got bad, he really didn't know. They might have to send the rest of the Phantomhives out before this was over, and Audrey didn't known if Ciel was completely well enough to do so. He hated it, but there wasn't much else he could do.
Most of these forums were filled with nonsense. The ones that the Media Management Department, also known as the "Cover-up Department," had already been through were even worse, but strategically so. These were just ordinary humans who didn't know better. A lot of them were telling "a friend of a friend" stories, while others gave personal encounters. Almost all were rubbish. Occasionally, one would pique his interest, however, and he would try his best to find similar stories or news reports that give it weight. It helped that Sebastian was on the ground to confirm these sightings.
"A werewolf ate my cousin's dog!" said one. Unlikely. Werewolves behave like normal humans even when they aren't in human shape. Then again, Ciel and Alois had informed him about a group of newbie lycanthropes in Gehenna that they had to take care of. They seemed to think that because they're werewolves, they had to act like beasts. Many were terminated.
"I was possessed by a demon the other day, I swear! It held me down and I couldn't move when I woke up!" said another. One person replied that it was probably a succubus. Unlikely. Incubi and succubi are very civil people who have a strict moral code about love and sex. They would never do that. Furthermore, demons sign contracts or straight up kill people and eat their souls. The fact that this person is alive shows that this is false. This person most likely just experienced sleep paralysis. They should see a sleep therapist, not visit a paranormal forum.
The reaper couldn't help but utter a sigh. It was a tedious job. It was necessary, though. It was better than hearing about things when it becomes too late. As he kept going, however, he found something more distressing. People were actually trading tips on how to defeat monsters, some going as far to claim that they were forming parties to go "hunting". This was bad. Audrey had to inform the boss.
"Dumbasses..." he grumbled under his breath while reaching for the phone at his station. "This isn't LARPing. You wanna die?"
His eyes kept skimming the page while he dialed the number. Absentmindedly, his pace slowed as his focus shifted from pressing buttons and fell back upon the screen in front of him. Those idiots. Those idiots! They had no idea what they were getting themselves into! No idea at all! Trained mercenaries who have studied the killing of dangerous supernatural forces die all the time from routine missions. Even his superior, Lieutenant Suyin Chu, had lost her leg in combat. Even the thought of ordinary civilians going into battle… It would be a bloodbath. They would be annihilated within moments. If not and only one of them was bitten, the results would still be catastrophic. Should one transform into a ghoul, the others will not understand and try to help their friend, only to be devoured. Imagine being trapped in a moving car with a ghoul? Imagine if they actually made it home. Whoever else lived with them would die. There were just so many ways for this to end in death. All of them ran through Audrey's mind like a raging river. This was bad.
Gripping the phone tighter in his hand, he snapped himself out of it. Dialing the phone again, he contacted the office of his boss, although he probably could have gone in personally. It was just on the other side of the massive auditorium-like room. He didn't waste time with small-talk and got right to the point. He told her how people were trying to organise vigilante-style, thinking they were some hot-shot fantasy guild or some such nonsense. Much to his confusion, she hung up on him, but when he looked up toward her office the door swung open and the woman charged at him.
Nervously, he averted his gaze when she appeared behind him. Placing one hand on the back of his chair and the other on top of his desk, the woman peered at the screen. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes were focused.
"Document all of this." she ordered. "Especially the ones that give specific locations and times that people claim to be meeting at. I want all of it."
"Yes, Lieutenant." the man replied, getting right to work while the other wasted no time. She didn't ask to borrow his phone, but she picked it up anyway, informing Sir Integra of the situation. Then she would talk to the Manchester branch and see if they had anyone they could possibly dispatch to disband these groups or discourage them. Then, Media Management would take care of the forum once Audrey and the others had all of the information they could squeeze from it. In the meantime, the other department would launch some trolls to dish out some discouragement.
Meanwhile, Audrey scrambled to get his business together. Idiots. Idiots! Wooden stakes and daggers? That's a death sentence even for even those who are in peak physical condition to be fighting with! Training made a difference, but not by much. One would have to border on superhuman, like the Iron Maiden herself sitting at the top of this organization. These fools were posting pictures of their "gear." Certainly, some of it was useful. Holy water was, but they said that they got it off of the internet, so it could be just plain tap water in a jar for all anyone knew.
He documented all of this, taking screenshots and sending links to someone who could get an IP address from these amateurs. He started writing a report on who was meeting, where, and at what time. He felt silly writing down these nerds' usernames as their identities, but he would only have their true identities after he got information back from other operatives.
It might not be as exciting as being in the field or fighting, but this is where Audrey shined. Gathering information was his thing. He could do it faster than anyone in his department. He could get larger quantities, too. Some people kept ash trays on their desk, but he kept pixie sticks in his drawer. The reaper's eyes became glazed over as shut out anything else out. The sight somewhat frightened the others on his row, causing them to side eye him on occasion to make sure he hadn't completely lost it. Sure enough, in a couple hours' time, the printer was going crazy, printing only his information and his reports while he sent copies electronically to the appropriate places. The rest of his time would just be sorting them out and stapling together what he needed to before dropping them off at Lieutenant Chu's office. She was still on the phone when he finally did.
"This is what I have so far, but I'll keep looking around to see what I can find. I've sent information to the Media Management Department as well as to the Manchester branch." he said while the woman pressed her palm against the phone so she wouldn't be hear on the other end. Looking down at the stack, she raised her eyebrows and looked back up at him from over her glasses.
"Excellent work." Suyin replied. "Isn't it about time for you to clock out, though? You could work overtime, if you want."
"Oh, is it?" Audrey questioned, his serious expression faltering a bit. "I didn't even notice..."
"Go home and get some sleep. We're going to need you tomorrow. We're having the others on the night shift working on the same thing, but no one is as thorough and quick as you."
"R-really?"
"Don't let it go to your head. Just be here."
"Y-yes, ma'am!" the reaper swiftly replied while offering up a salute. Chu was firm, but he knew she didn't mean anything by her roughness. In fact, she offered him a smile as he left, expressing a rare moment of familiarity from the usually stern and serious woman.
With his skills, Audrey could have been promoted already, but he was too useful where he was. Chu knew this and so did Baines. It was for the same reason, however, that Audrey didn't really want to be removed from his spot. This is where he was needed. This is where he was most useful. A complement from his lieutenant was not to be taken lightly, as when they occurred, they were most definitely earned.
