"It's me." Cecianah nearly dropped the phone in surprise. What the heck? she thought wildly. He's supposed to be dead!

"Give me a second." she said, doing her best to keep her voice level. She walked to the bathroom and closed the door. "All right: What do you want?"

"To help you." said the voice on the phone. "You want to eradicate the force that tried to kill you today, right?"

"Yes…"

"Then it just so happens that we have similar goals. I can help you with that. Meet me in front of the café on Lawrence Street tomorrow at 3:30. Don't be late. And if you see anyone tailing you, let me know when you see me."

"Shouldn't I abort the meeting if someone is tailing me?"

"No. If you're being watched, the most important thing is that I know immediately. Can you make our meeting?"

Cecianah did some quick calculations. Lawrence Street was only a few blocks away from Ashford. If she hurried after the student council meeting ended, she should have enough time to get there.

"Yeah, I can."

"Good. See you in 17 hours."

"Wait! What's your name?"

The man on the phone paused. "I have had many names. However, I suppose that you could call me L.L."

"Okay. See you then… L.L."

L.L. hung up.

Cecianah hung up the phone and went back to her room. Raiko looked at her curiously. "Who was that?"

"No one."

"Fine then. Don't tell me."

"C'mon, Raiko. Don't be like that."

"You're right, I'm sorry." conceded Raiko. "But seriously, who was that?"

"Just… Just this guy." said Cecianah. You're not lying to her because you're trying to deceive her or you enjoy it. Cecianah told herself. You're doing it to protect her.

"Oooohh? A guy? What's he like?"

"Well… Enigmatic, frankly."

"Oh. I see."

"I bet you don't even know what that means." smiled Cecianah

"No, I don't." They both laughed. "Do you think you might go out with him?"

"Not really." replied Cecianah as she climbed into bed. "It's more of a business relationship."

"A business relationship? You mean, like a job?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Yes, you could thought Cecianah as she drifted off to sleep. And me and L.L. have our work cut out for us.

The next morning Kallen Kozuki woke up at 6 o'clock as usual, which was just early enough to eat some breakfast and see the kids off to school before going into the office. She went downstairs to find her husband fixing hash browns and eggs, wearing his "Real Men Cook" apron.

"Western food again?" she teased him as she sat down.

Gino stuck out his tongue at her. "What, you'd rather have fried squid?"

"Hey! Squid is good." Gino rolled his eyes but smiled.

Cecianah came downstairs at 6:30 sharp (as usual) ate her breakfast, got ready for the day, and spent her spare 15 minutes reviewing her notes from the previous few days. Raiko stumbled down the stairs around 6:45-ish, blearily ate her breakfast, noticed the time, ran back up the stairs, and barely got ready on time before rocketing back down in a desperate attempt to find her backpack and homework (all as usual). However, both girls were ready to leave by 7:15, their appointed leaving time.

"Have a good day, girls!" called Kallen as they left. "Okay mom!" they called back. Kallen in turn got ready to go to work, kissed her husband good-bye (he didn't have to go in until later) and went to catch the train to work. On the way there, Kallen reflected on how things had changed in the Black Knights over the years. What had started out as a rebel insurgency had eventually become a world-spanning security contractor that almost every nation on earth. Even Zero squad, the most elite forces in the Black Knights, had evolved from the most skilled fighting force in the world to a primarily morale-boosting squad, putting on air shows around the world for Black Knight members and their families. Even though they still trained for battle and were still probably some of the best fighting forces there were, Kallen preferred to be where the real action was, and thus had resigned her post as captain of Zero squad and had returned to the U.S.J., so that she could spend more time with her family. Kallen now commanded the internal security departments of the Black Knights, U.S.J. charter, and spent most of her time doing administrative work. Normally, Kallen would have hated this, but she still had the power to join in on regular cases, and enjoyed working with actual people instead of doing paperwork or holding meetings on how to increase things like "inter-departmental efficiency." Plus, it made her more popular with her subordinates, both direct and indirect, and that made it easier to give orders or get things done when she really needed them to.

Kallen sighed and looked at the paper she had brought from home about an incident that had caught her eye yesterday. It really was a perplexing case. Yesterday at about 12:58, a tour going through the Empress Nunnally vi Britannia International Wartime Memorial had entered the center of the garden there to find 6 bodies sprawled on the ground in pools of blood. Naturally, the crowd had panicked, but the tour guide managed to keep them there and had alerted the proper authorities, and the museum closed for the day without incident. However, the investigation was not going quite as smoothly. Kallen had decided yesterday that she would take on this case. She hoped poor Satoshi wouldn't take it too personally, but she needed to get out of the office and actually do something for a change.

A soon as she arrived, Kallen asked about any progress that had been made since yesterday. "Not much, ma'am." said Satoshi. "We took extensive photos of the positions of the bodies, since Doug wasn't available at the time. He'll be looking at them later today to deduce what he can. The autopsy for the bodies is also scheduled for today. And, uh, incidentally, ma'am… You know the sixth body? The one dressed all in black? It's disappeared. No one knows where it is."

"Disappeared…? What do you mean?"

"Well, you see…" Satoshi went on to explain that workers at the morgue where the bodies were being stored had gone to get the bodies for the autopsy that morning. The five men in tan trench coats were still there, but the man in black was gone.

"Did the morgue have security of any kind?"

"Actually, they did, ma'am. Because we use this particular morgue to store bodies sensitive to court or anti-terrorist cases, the morgue is paid extras to keep the bodies secure. There's security officers and card systems at every entrance. The card systems keep track of who's in the building at what times and the guards make sure nobody without a card gets in."

"Then how did the body get out? And why would someone steal that particular body? Why not any of the others?"

"That's what everybody's asking, ma'am."

"Hmm… How long until Doug starts his analysis?"

"About an hour, ma'am."

"That's long enough. Let's go to the scene itself. I have a few questions I'd like to ask."

"Yes ma'am."

The morgue itself was a friendly-looking brick building whose appearance did little to mask the aura of death around it. Kallen marched straight through the doors and up to the front desk.

"Colonel Kallen Kozuki, Black Knights, U.S.J. charter. We have some questions we'd like to ask concerning the missing body." said Kallen to the nervous-looking secretary.

"Of course. What would you like to know?"

After asking the basic questions (when was the body discovered missing, did anyone see anything unusual, had they searched the entire building, ect.), Kallen moved on to what she'd really come here for. "This building has a system that records when the employees are here, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. But it's impossible that one of our own would-"

"Yes, I understand the sentiment. All the same, could you check the records for me? See if there was any unusual checking-in or checking-out times yesterday or today."

"All right. Just give me a few minutes…" the secretary brought up the records on her computer and scanned them quickly. "No unusual activity, except that Eli Ryan was a little late checking out last night, but that's all. And it's perfectly normal for there to be a few minutes of variability. I mean, it's not all that unusual-" Kallen held up her hand.

"Once, again, we understand the sentiment, but it's the only lead we have." Kallen turned around to face he room at large. "Does anyone know where we can find Eli Ryan!" she shouted to the room. To her surprise, there was a scuffling sound from the janitor's closet, then a rhythmic pounding and muffled shouts. The security guard raced over to unlock the closet, which revealed a tired, disheveled, and angry-looking man in his underwear.

"I'm Eli Ryan. And have I got some complaints!"

"What happened here?" asked Kallen amid the snickering of the other employees. The man went on to explain that he had been checking out for the day when someone had knocked him out from behind. When he had woken up, he was locked in the janitor's closet without his clothes.

"That was not funny, guys!" shouted Eli. Kallen looked over at Satoshi and he nodded, confirming that they were thinking the same thing. This seems too far and too suspicious to be an office prank. Their suspicions were confirmed when the burly, heavily mustached security officer spoke up.

"Wait, that's Eli Ryan?"

"It would appear so, yeah." said Kallen, since everyone else seemed too busy chatting about this amusing event to notice.

"But I thought Eli Ryan was the last person to leave last night."

"Yeah, he was."

"But that can't be right." continued the security guard. "Because the last person to leave last night looked nothing like that."

"Oh really? What did he look like?"

"He was dressed in normal clothes, but looked tall and skinny, like he was some sort of teenager. He was also wearing these big sunglasses."

"Any other distinguishing features?"

"Not really- Oh, that's right! He had black hair. And, well…"

"What?"

"Well, it's probably not worth mentioning, but… He kind of reminded me of someone famous. I just can't think of who."

Kallen thanked him and went over to the secretary, who was patting Eli on the back and blushing furiously. Kallen suddenly understood why she had fought so hard to shift blame away from him. "Here's our number." she said, thrusting a small piece of paper with the homicide department's number on it. "Call us if you find anything else… Unusual." The secretary nodded and took the paper from her.

On the ride back, Satoshi was quiet, but Kallen could tell he was rattled. And so was she, for that matter. Luckily, nobody at the morgue had the information that they had (except for the security guard, and Kallen didn't think he was capable of putting two and two together), so they could probably keep a tight lid on this thing. Even so, this whole situation was beyond creepy. The only conclusion that could be drawn from the evidence was that the body had gotten up, knocked out an employee, stolen his clothes, and then simply walked out of the morgue. But that couldn't be true; there was no possible way. Kallen was wondering what she would tell her superiors before she remembered that she was her superiors. There was no one higher to go too (or at least, no one higher that protocol demanded).

It's not actually true, you know. Said a little voice in her head. There is a power you know of that might… Just might be able to do this. Kallen gulped. She knew little about Lelouche's mysterious power, other than that it was called Geass and that he could use it to force anyone he wanted to obey him. She didn't even know how he got it or why it got out of control. But if it was possible that such powers existed, why not others? Say… The power to return from the dead? But even that doesn't make sense Kallen told herself, because even if he could come back, that man was full of bullet holes. She had seen the pictures herself. So how is it that-

"We're here ma'am." said Satoshi. Kallen was startled. They had arrived back at headquarters without her noticing it. She got up and followed Satoshi outside.

"Good timing. We're back just in time for the analysis. If we hurry-"

"Satoshi?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"What we saw and heard at the morgue… That's to remain confidential. I want you to write a report just in case anything happens to us, but it's to be top secret. And by the way, I want the inscription code on the report to have a TS-GS classification, got it?"

"I- I guess. I'm not familiar with GS-class files. I've never even heard of one."

Kallen laughed. "Be grateful you haven't Satoshi. Be grateful you haven't."

The word that Douglas Steinburg used to describe himself was "logical." The word that most of his colleagues used to describe him was not used in polite company. Verbally awkward, irritable and anti-social, Doug had developed a general disliking of humanity, which he felt unfairly judged him. In many ways he was right, but this was ironically caused by his feelings of being judged, not by his other shortcomings. Regardless of any social faults, he was a brilliant analyst, able to conclude things from evidence and photographs that nobody else had ever suspected.

Why is it that it always turns out that way? thought Kallen as she walked down to the analysis lab. Lelouche was a brilliant strategist, but viewed people as mere pawns. Suzaku was a tactical genius, but felt compelled to save every life but his own. Why can't someone be highly skilled and normal?

The session was already underway by the time Kallen got there. Doug had laid out several photos of the positions of the bodies and also had data on hair and blood samples taken from the bodies. He was staring at the photos, lost in thought. Then, without even acknowledging Kallen's presence, he began to speak.

"The evidence tells us three things: One, that the man in black was fired upon first by the other five men. This is supported by the position of his body and the rate at which his blood dried. Secondly, that the man on the very left stepped back and fired upon his comrades. This also supported by the position of the bodies, and the way that the bullets entered his body indicate that he killed himself after the other men."

"But why would he do that?" wondered Kallen aloud. Doug started. Apparently he hadn't noticed her.

"Well, I suspect the seventh person could tell you that." said Doug, regaining his composure.

"Mmm... Yes, I suppose so... Wait, what? What seventh person?"

"What do you mean 'what seventh person'?" said Doug, now becoming somewhat irritated. "The photos of her are right there."

"Doug" said Kallen, heart beating furiously from another unexpected turn yet trying to be calm, "I see 11 photos right there. All of them are of the same 6 dead bodies. If there's something you see that the rest of us don't, I need you to tell me. Now."

Doug looked a little taken aback. "I guess it's not really a photo of her, per se. It's just evidence that she was here."

"What evidence?"

"Do you see the pool of blood in pictures 5 and 7? Note how at the edge is somewhat smeared, whereas the rest of the pool mostly just stops. That's the edge of a footprint. You can also see where that bit off blood was wiped off on the ground."

"What the... You're right. I can't believe we never noticed it before. But how do you know it's a she?"

"You can see from the outline of the print the general shape of the shoe. It's a type of generic woman's flat, probably around size 9 and a half."

Kallen felt her blood run cold. "My daughters wear shoes like that. They're part of their school uniforms. And Ashford Academy was on a field trip to the museum yesterday... Do you think the surviving person was a student?"

Doug snorted. "Of course not. Whoever else was here, they obviously were very influential. It takes dedication to kill your comrades and then kill yourself on somebody else's orders, if that's what happened here. No schoolgirl commands power like that. Plus, these flats may be school-issue, but that's not all they're used for. I've seen plenty of women of various ages wearing them."

Kallen felt herself relax. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Yes, very curious she thought. Who is influential enough to command someone to kill themselves? Who has that kind of power? Kallen once again felt a chill. The power to command men to do things they normally never would... Power to control their very hearts and minds...

"Satoshi." called Kallen sharply.

"Y-yes, ma'am?"

"Lloyd Asplund is in town for the formal launch of the Gryphus, correct?"

"Correct, ma'am."

"Then the autopsy of the bodies is to stop immediately. I need you to contact him and ask for the files on his 'little hobby.' He'll know what I'm talking about. I'll also need somebody the examine the brains of the bodies using an EmgAM and compare them to the files provided by Mr. Asplund, ASAP."

"A-an EmgAM? But they're dead, it won't be able to pick up anything-"

"Satoshi, you aren't paid to question me. I need all that done as soon as possible. Now, are up to the task are do I need to get someone else?"

"Yes ma'am! Right away!"

Kallen turned away and headed to her desk, massaging her forehead. Today was supposed to be easy. Do a little investigating, stand in on an analysis, and try out her new machine. Things had already gone bad, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet.

Kallen had no idea how much worse it was going to get.