The sound of the smartphone's alarm was still going as a slender hand would emerge from the pile of blankets and fumble around at the bedside table. A low groan also emerged as the hand failed to find its target, still feeling around until it ended up knocking the smartphone off the table and to the flood.
"God damnit..."
A sigh as the blankets unraveled to reveal brown hair tied back in a braid that reach to mid back of the girl previously wrapped up as she sat up in bed. A yawn escaped her as she blearily leaned over and reached for her phone. "It's too early for this," she mumbled as she picked up the cellular device and sat up, only to flop back on her mattress again. A flick of her thumb on the touchscreen set the alarm to snooze for another fifteen minutes, allowing the girl to roll onto her side, pull a comforter over herself, and doze back off.
When the alarm went off again, she sighed and finally pulled herself out of bed. Another yawn as she walked into her bathroom, pulling her braid out and starting the shower before peeling put of the oversized t-shirt and basketball shorts she had worn as sleep wear. As soon as the hot water hit her skin, she gave a tired sigh, letting the heat run over her before washing off.
Half an hour later, dried off and dressed again, the girl headed down the stairs to the main floor of the house. "Dad?" she called as she slipped her glasses on, not surprised at all to not get an answer. She headed for the kitchen, grabbing a sticky note from the refrigerator door and yawning again as she read. "'Busy night, won't be home until late. Order dinner, and make sure you get to school'." A snort as she crumpled up the sticky note and tossed it into the nearby trash bin. "Best see what's good on Grubhub when I get home," was muttered as she pulled out a few items from the fridge - fruits, yogurt, milk - and throwing them into the blender that was set aside on the counter, then grabbing a handful of ice from the freezer to add in before pressing the setting switch.
As the smoothie finished blending, the brunette rubbed her eyes. She pulled a large red mug out of the cabinet and poured the breakfast drink in before starting to gulp the mixture down. A few pauses, the mug and blender jar set in the sink once she was done, and with a flick of her hair, Shae Barker was slipping on shoes, grabbing her jacket and backpack from a set of hanger hooks, and retrieved her key ring from a rack mounted by the garage door.
Said garage opened up to allow her and her bicycle departure, a tap of the key fob in her pocket triggering the motor to lower the rolling door shut. Her feet now pedaling and pushing the bike up to speed, Shae turned down toward the main road, not willing to risk being late for the school day, even at the end of the week.
Within half an hour, she was pulling up to the bike rack that sat outside of Sego High School, taking just a minute to set up the bar lock before heading into the main quad area. Passing by a number of clusters groups of other students, Shae would ignore most on here way up the staggered stairwell leading up the main quad and toward her first class. It didn't help things as the first bell rang just as she crossed into the locker area, causing Shae to growl at the wretched timing. She prayed, as she hurried to gather her books, that the weekend was worth the aggravation.
The sun was still rising in the early morning as the clicking footsteps of well kept shoes against tile floor echoed through the main corridor of Tempus Research's main offices. The owner of those footsteps, a tall and broadly built blonde man dressed almost immaculately in a three piece yellow suit and wine red tie over the lavender shirt, would nod as security made sure he was cleared through the restricted entry into Tempus' deeper levels. After a three hours flight from Arizona to Los Angeles, he was wanting to get to work and resolve the issue facing them as soon as possible. That however, would depend on the cooperation of the local director of operations, Fulton Valkus.
"Inspector Lisker?"
His head turned as his named was called to him by the tall blonde woman dressed in black fatigues and sections of body armor, the same that all members of security wore this far into Tempus. Her own shoulders bore rank epaulets, denoting her position in the site security hierarchy. "I assume you must be Diane Sten, I reviewed your report this morning on the flight over."
A confirming nod. "Director Valkus wasn't very happy about me sending that in behind his back, but operational directives required it as soon as possible."
As he stepped into the elevator with Sten beside him, Oswald Lisker would sigh and lean against the back of the liftcar. "No, I'd imagine not. The theft of not one, but three relics such as the Guyver Units puts quite a mar on his already less than immaculate record." A pause as he considered some of the information he had read in said report. "I do have questions regarding the supervisor who went missing along with the units."
"Doctor Barker?" Sten knit her brow as she tapped in a code on the presented keypad in the elevator, then tapped one of the buttons for the upper floors. "I'm not familiar with him all that much myself. He seems to be good friends with Professor Odagiri and was well regarded by most of the processing staff and researchers at Tempus." Again, Sten paused before looking briefly at the tablet previously kept in a hard case carrier strapped on via her leg and belt harness. widower, his wife was Cori Edwards, died twelve years ago. Father-in-law was Marcus Edwards, one of the Tempus archaeological researchers who discovered the Three Pines Relic ship in Utah."
A brow was raised as Lisker turned his head to focus his gaze on the tablet instead of its holder. "Doctor Edwards. I feel like I should know something about him, but it's just on the tip of my mind."
"It was twenty years ago, sir, well before most of us were brought in. The old downtown research center was abandoned and demolished a year or two earlier, just before the US data center cyberattack and archive loss."
The elevator jolted to a halt just as Lisker narrowed his eyes at the mention of that. Something was even more a red flag regarding the events described, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "I'll have to contact Central about that some time. In the meantime, I want all footage from last night up to when Professor Odagiri was found and the Units were discovered missing."
"Those were already forwarded to your temporary offices here, Inspector. I'll help you review them after you meet with Director Valkus."
The elevator doors opened up to a long and decorated office just as Sten said those words. At the far end was a desk, surrounded by half a dozen businesses suit attired men, was Fulton Valkus, his expression full of anxiety even as he very obviously faked the greeting smile that attempted to hold on his lips. "Ah, you must be Inspector Risker from Central."
"Lisker, actually." The man allowed himself the moment of amusement as he took the step out of the elevator, noting that Sten followed him a staggered few seconds later. "Oswald A. Lisker. And to be perfectly fair, Director, I know you don't want me here, so we don't need to pretend the pleasantries. I want to get this matter resolved just as quickly as you do."
Like a rock in water, the smile sank into a frown, and Valkus lowered himself in his seat. "Inspector, all die respect, I feel you being sent here was a waste of your time and unnecessarily expanded resources. We are more than capable-"
"The Council feels otherwise, Director Valkus."
Those dark eyes narrowed in annoyance as Valkus have a deep sigh, his forehead creasing at the interruption. The men around him stepped back nervously as they recognized his frustration at not being respected in what he saw as his dominion.
It did not miss Lisker either. He glanced back at Sten, who had cautiously stepped back toward the elevator, and gave a sigh as he concluded that he was hardly the first time that Valkus and his competency had been questioned. Fortunately for Lisker, Valkus was hardly the first branch director that he had been forced to judge. "Mister Valkus, I will remind you that I am here on authority of the Council, and I carry orders from Commander Guyot in particular regarding this incident."
That garnered a more fitting reaction from Valkus. His eyes widening in shock, shoulders tense. It was exactly what Lisker expected and preferred in his line of work. "Now, being I am not process optimized, that means you have little to no direct power over me, my actions, or any thing I report back to Arizona." The blonde man once more afforded himself a smile as he saw Valkus' frustration grow. "I was briefed on some of the less savory rumors about how you run the Los Angeles branch and Tempus, and this was specifically one of the reasons a non-Zoaform was sent."
He let his warnings sinking, observing as Valkus appeared to tense, then slump back into his seat. Satisfied, Lisker held his hand out in gesture for the rather anxious security agent behind him to hand over her tablet. A few tense silent seconds later, her felt the plastic casing placed in his waiting palm and brought the data device around to bring up numerous information windows regarding Tempus. "Now that we have those clarifications out of the way, I need all information your branch has on the units we recovered from the Timpanogos research site, and anything you may have regarding the Relic that was found in Three Pines twenty years ago."
The last instruction was one that made Valkus crease his brow in confusion. "I have to ask what a research file from almost a quarter of a century ago-"
"Sean Barker was married to Cori Edward's, the daughter of the research director at Three Pines." Lisker was quick to interject, once more referencing the records pulled up on said subject. "In fact, it seems to be that it was through Doctor Edwards and his connections that Barker came to be part of Tempus in the first place, a rare non-optimized supervisor." Eyes continued to scan down the dossier listed, and a brow would arc as Lisker noticed something that hadn't been mentioned by Sten preciously. "He has a daughter?" The inquisitive gaze rose to rest on Valkus, all but accusing him of the fault in not including valuable information. "Director Valkus, that is a very important piece of information if you had been previously aware of this. And if you hadn't been-"
"I will assume the fault there, Inspector."
It surprised Lisker to hear Sten speak up to defend the older man. He turned his head back toward the security agent, observed her for a moment, then nodded and waved for her to step forward. "Miss Sten, explain please."
"I was the one who provided Director Valkus with Doctor Barker's profile, and I failed to brief him on any immediate relatives that Barker may have had. If you want, sir, we can contact our implant teams and have her detained if you think she might know where her father is."
With a sigh, Lisker handed her back the tablet before shaking his head. "No, she's a teenage girl, likely in high school, and given the mid morning time, she would be in the middle of a very public area." He paused a moment as of considering another option, but then shook his head again. "And Barker likely wouldn't inform her of anything for the very reason that it would put her in danger if he did." Again, a pause as Lisker mulled over his thoughts. "Observation only for now. No teams, just surveillance drones and tapping any CCTV nodes in their area. But it's not likely she'll know anything important."
Silence was Valkus' only reply. He sat at his desk, wordless. A quick gesture to the men gathered around him, and they hurried to the elevator behind Lisker, nervously glancing at the blonde man as they passed him. After a moment, Sten took the hint and joined them. It was just the two men remaining after the elevator shut and began its descent.
It was Valkus who broke the tense silence between them. "I am well aware of what happens to those who presume they are indispensable, Mister Lisker." Valkus paused as he leaned back, expression smoldering while he observed Lisker for any reaction or cues as to his thoughts. "Genzo Makishima and the dismantling of Max Pharmaceuticals is something we branch directors are more than familiar with since fifteen years ago."
"Before my time, sadly, but I'm glad we understand and agree upon the severity of this situation." Lisker didn't give much beyond his collected response before reaching to his tie and straightening it a bit. "The better we cooperate, Mister Valkus, the better it reflects on your operations record, and the faster I can close matters up and go back to Arizona."
With a smirk on his lips, Lisker would turn on his heel and step toward the elevator. His hand touched the call button, leaving him to wait even as he knew that Valkus was glaring at his back. No doubt, the branch director was going to find as many loopholes as he could into asserting his authority during this investigation and recovery. So long as they found the missing materials and got things locked up and away as needed, Valkus was entitled to keep his seat, so long as other kinds of liabilities didn't come up in the course of events.
The last bell rang for the day, signaling the end of the school week and the start of the weekend. Hundreds of teenagers would make their ways to lockers, back to other class buildings, some to the track fields and the quad, and most to the front gates and student parking lots.
After shoving her own books away in the small locker and snapping it and the combination lock shut, Shae Barker slipped her glasses off to rub them clean for a moment, made sure the lenses were clear, then slid them back on and made her way down the main quad walkway toward where her bike awaited. She still hadn't heard anything from her father regarding the evening, which meant, as usual, that he was going to be home late and out early.
"Shae! Hey, Shae!"
Halfway out the front gates to where her bike was waiting at the racks, the girl deftly turned on her heel to see the taller and somewhat husky Asian boy calling to her as he hurried to catch up. "Not gonna be a good weekend for the usual hangout, Tetsu." She spun back around as they neared the bike rack, pulling her keys from her jacket and kneeling down to fiddle with the bar lock she used for her bike. "Dad left a note that he's going to have a late night again, and I've got a biology report due Monday."
"Mom wanted me to invite you over for dinner tonight because she figured your dad was having to do a long weekend again." The husky boy gave a broad grin as he watched Shae slip her lock bar into her backpack. "We're having teriyaki salmon and tempura."
A sigh would escape under her breath even as the girl lightly smiled. "I'd love to...but I really need to get this report done for Mister Van Doozi's class, and I'm already cutting it close on my grades this year." Shae gave a faint grunt as she pulled her bike free of the rack, moving clear to the parking lot road and swinging a leg over the center bar. "Maybe if I get it finished before tomorrow, I can hop over for dinner then. Let Aunt Mizuki know I'm really sorry." A sigh again as she mounted the pedals, pushed into rotation, and slowly rode away onto the main road away from Sego High.
The way home was unusually backed up for mid-afternoon as Shae rode down and turned the corner at the primary intersection about a mile from the school. She could see a number of her classmates on the city transit buses as she pedaled by, amused at the irony of their weekends getting stalled. Another turn off to a side road, and Shae took the chance to pick up her pace as she swung by one of the smaller parks.
Another half an hour passed before she pulled up to her home, standing up on the pedals of her bike and swinging her right leg over the center to hop off while still in motion. Her left hand fished into her jacket, found her keys and the garage fob, and pressed down the soft rubber button to trigger the garage door open. Once her bike was tucked away in its usual place, Shae tapped the garage switched mounted by the onner door and headed inside with a sigh of relief and resignation.
Her father still wasn't home. Two days now of his late nights and early to leave mornings. With the sense of another night alone before the, Shae threw her backpack onto the couch, slipped her jacket off to have it join said backpack, and flopped into her usual spot in the oversized beanbag that dominated one corner of the living room. A deep breath came as she reached over to the nearby table and grabbed the remote to turn on the TV. "I'm not in a rush to start the slog right now," she muttered to herself as she flipped through the channels, then pressed the menu button and pulled up a streaming app instead. Moments later, she had the J-pop intro to an anime series blaring from the stereo speaks while she slumped into the beanbag and tried to relax.
After a few more minutes, Shae pulled her smartphone from her pocket, tapping the screen and opening one of a few takeout apps she had loaded on. Her amber-hazel eyes scanned over the suggested fast food chains, some smaller local places, and then after a couple pages, the girl tapped onto one of the locations listed, put her choices in, and ran the charge. "Greek sounds good," she mused as she turned her attentions back to her show. Her phone buzzed as the food app notified her of expected delivery time, allowing Shae to take a moment to pulled her glasses off and clean the lenses again.
When the doorbell rang, Shae took her time pulling herself out of the beansack, rubbing one eye with a finger under her glasses. Her dinner had been set nearly in a takeout bag at the door step, leaving her to sigh, picking up, and shut the door behind her as she tapped at her phone and left a tip for the driver.
With her rear planted back in her beansack, Shae opened the styrofoam takeout boxes to reveal a gyro stuffed with lamb and vegetables, slices of the same meat on the side, rice, and a sizable salad. She took a large bite of the gyro, allowing herself a happy groan before setting the pita wrap back in the box and getting up to fetch herself a drink. Once retrieved, the girl planted herself in front of her meal and the TV, then continued to dig into her food.
It was once she had finished eating and was dozing off in the beansack that Shae jolted awake to hear her phone giving an emergency alert. Frantically, she reached for the device, trying to turn on the screen and find out what the alert was for. "'Don't forget the date'."
A perplexed blink was her response. Shae wasn't quite sure what the cryptic message was supposed to mean, nor what reason it had broadcast via the emergency alert tone for. She felt a tickle at the back of her neck, a sense she was being watched now, causing the girl to look over at the open blinds and the window behind them. No one was there, but she still was on edge now.
Another such alert broke the silence. Shae muttered to herself as she tapped the screen to see what was listed this time. "'They are watching. Hide in the safety of knowledge'." If this was someone's idea of a prank, it wasn't coming off as a very amusing one to Shae. She tossed her phone aside and laid back in the bean chair, then groaned as she saw the time. "'Safety of knowledge'. May as well work on this report in dad's office." With a sigh, Shae pulled herself to her feet and grabbed her backpack from its resting place on the couch. A series of thumps trailed her as she hurried up the staircase, heading for the room at the back of the second floor. She grabbed the handle and pushed down, frowning as she realized the door was deadbolted.
"Dad almost never locks this," she muttered under her breath as she slumped her shoulders and sighed. "When did he come home and lock it?"
Defeated for the moment, Shae headed back down the second floor hall to her own bedroom, now dropping her backpack to the ground and throwing herself onto the half-made bed with a grunt. "Why did dad have to pull an all-weekend stint at the labs now?" she groaned as she buried her face into her pillow. After a moment of resignation, Shae turned herself over, now on her back as she pulled her phone out and tapped on the web browser app. A few keywords entered, searches run, and Shae pulled herself up to sit cross legged on her bed. She wasn't in the mood for tackling her class report now, and with her father still not home, there wasn't much she could do. That, plus how exhausted she was, meant she was going to just get a head start on sleep at this point.