[[Authors Note: This chapter is extremely late, as was the last; getting these thoughts out of my head and into a word document takes time, but I definitely left this one too long. This chapter is really just unveiling the motives of our two intruders from the last chapter, and the realization that the CBO are smarter than everyone accounted them for dawns. I don't know how much I like this chapter; I mean, I hope you readers do, but it felt slow for me. Agh, I promise the next one will be better, and that the pace does pick up. Thank you guys for keeping up with me, and as always, I hope you enjoy :) ]]

CHAPTER {4} CONNECTION

"Every child loves dinosaurs. The rowdy ones favour the velociraptors and the calmer ones the brontosauruses. My son was one of the former. He had plush raptors and plastic raptors: he was even one for Halloween. But whilst being attacked by one, whilst seeing others attacked by one...he didn't seem to love them as much."

On the day of the Convergence, a tyrannosaurus-rex rampaged through the streets of central London. It was broadcasted on every news station until the following fortnight, accompanied with other unconfirmed reports being sent from all over the globe. There were cover up stories of course, though many anomaly openings were easier to brush under the mat than others. Some stories, like the ones used for the incursions far too large to be missed, made little sense; yet people would rather believe them than the idea that prehistoric creatures could become a threat in the 21st century. It was amazing what people would agree with, just to keep to the same laws of reality that they had always been happily confined to.

Matt Anderson had been the one to bring down the T-Rex (aided by an EMP that was designed for just the task he accomplished). Whilst on his way to the scene, a blonde teenage girl — Jenna, she had said her name was — ran in front of his car, crying for help. She said her friend was hurt; she really believed that hurt was the word to be used. Hurt is something you can come back from. Death is not. Matt knew from the moment he saw Jenna's friend (whom he assumed was called Lucy, as that was the name the girl had called as they ran down the staircase to where the injured teenager lay) that her creature-inflicted wounds were beyond helping. It would take a miracle to bring her back.

Jenna had needed that miracle; as did the red headed woman sitting opposite Matt, handcuffed to the table. She was sniffing, blinking furiously as to not let the tears overflow, as she recounted the phone call she received from rescue services; as she recalled how it felt as if her blood flow had stopped entirely when they removed the white sheet covering her daughters limp body so as to ID her. No one deserved to hear that their daughter was killed in the most absurd of ways, whilst doing something as innocent as shopping. No one deserved to lose anyone in such a way; in any way.

Matt handed the woman a handkerchief, not meeting her eye. Perhaps, had he of tried, he could have made that miracle.

"Well, I do think that's quite enough for today." Lester drawled, speaking to the male and female Conspiracy Buster Operatives responsible for the ARC's earlier break in. The woman, who told the room that she was known as Valerie Hinxman, had told her story — one that certainly decreased any angry thoughts circling around the room — and how they had managed to enter the building without the ID bio-tags that all employees wore (a plan that other CBO members had been devising for the past two months; and by the wide mispronunciations of all technological language in her explanation, was not a plan Valerie Hinxman should hold credit for) almost immediately after they began the interrogation. The man (unveiled as one Harrison Ley by his companion) was harder to get something out of, but after enough probing queries from James Lester and Matt — and after possibly getting tired of hearing Valerie answer said queries in long rambles that took up far too much of everyone's time — he eventually spoke up. He didn't speak in depth, but from what information was said, it was gathered that his business crashed due to damage to the building and stocks by creatures that came through 'time drifts'.

He had lost everything. Valerie Hinxman had lost everything. So they joined others in similar positions, and together they made something.

"Charges will be pressed, of course; breaking into private government facilities and threatening the safety of the employees are both extreme felonies. Not to mention wasting my time." Lester continued, as two of Becker's men began to assist the intruders out of the room. Matt followed them, though instead of leaving entirely stayed in the sector that all remaining team members had been listening from.

Connor left the conversation he was having with Abby and Becker — the latter of the two having left also to follow his men — and walked over to Matt, tapping him on the shoulder so as to get his attention. Before Matt had even turned around to face Connor, the team member had already began speaking; words that he had clearly revised over and over in his mind before this moment. "I get how they managed to crack the security codes and scanners. But those two somehow got past guards and other workers in the building from the entrance gates to the menagerie without being seen; and if they entered at four like they said, then that means it took a whole fifteen minutes for the alarms to be triggered."

"What are you saying — that they lied about how they got in here?"

"No, I'm saying that it only takes around five minutes to get from there to the menagerie, so —"

"So what were they doing the rest of the time." Matt finished for Connor, hitting his back as he walked past him, as if to say 'good job for noticing', and walked out of the door, still addressing the team as he did so.

"Jess, we need people searching in places that cameras or recorders might have been placed in. Ventilation systems, desks, shelves: everywhere. Connor, Abby and Emily help them." He turned around and nodded to the three who were still in the listening section as he spoke the last sentence, before walking back over to the ADD in the hub once they responded to his words. "Becker, speak to all your men who were on guard at the time. I want to know if they saw anything suspicious." Becker confirmed the order through the comms, and Matt could already see soldiers dispersing around the ARC, searching high or low for any bugs the CBO operatives could have employed.

He was now standing behind Jess, who had managed to get everything back online; though data recorded when the cameras had been sabotaged was irretrievable. The brunette had been going through the archives of all websites the CBO had accounts on, looking for anything that hinted at plans for the break in, or recent posts that concluded they did in fact have their own looking eye inside of the ARC. So far there was nothing that was too unusual; but there were still plenty more Facebook statuses and blog entries to leaf through.

Having directed everyone else, Matt bought out his own laptop and sat at the desk next to the ADD, opening up the folder of which he saved all video blogs uploaded by the CBO account into. He had watched each one at least once (with admittedly divided attention) and ticked the people in the video off for being people who believed things were much easier said than done. He now knew that that was an unsupported assumption to make.

The Conspiracy Buster Operation was no longer just a group of people with wireless connection
It was a group of people with a profound and internal connection.
They were no dinosaurs or future predators. But still, they were dangerous.