"OW! Farah, would you slow down? I'm nowhere near as fast as you!" Keele complained as he struggled to keep the security officer's pace.
Farah ignored him, all of her attention on the fire and panic ahead. At the edge of the scorched floor she crouched down to check on one of the people caught in the blast, but couldn't find a pulse. Cursing and starting toward the next one, her arm was jerked back by the wrist, the metal cuff around it digging into her skin. She glared at Keele, who was staying put and giving her a hard look.
"Keys, Farah. Get me out of these things." He said sternly, holding up his cuffed hand.
"You know I can't do that, you're under arrest. Now move!" She yanked on his arm, but he still refused to budge.
"Damn it, Farah! Think! Neither of us will be useful to these people if we're restricted like this!" He snapped back. "What do you think I'm going to do, use the chance to run away from you? Even if you didn't overrun and catch me again right away you know where I live and we're in a sealed complex! Where the hell would I go? Now take these damn things off so I can help!"
Farah stared at him for a moment. She'd known him a long time, and he might have been a weak, blunt, coward... but he usually did help whenever someone needed it. Even if his ideas weren't the first method of "helping" that came to most people's minds. "Fine, I need all the hands I can get." She took the keyring from her pocket and swiftly unlocked the cuff around his wrist.
It was barely off when he bolted down the corridor and away from the flaming shop. She was dumbstruck at his action a moment before screaming in frustration. "Damn you, Keele! Next time I catch you I am not going to be gentle!"
Turning back to the ruined shop, she hurried over to one of the fire extinguishers mounted on the wall, yanking it free and taking aim at the nearest burning section of floor. Nothing happened when she pulled the trigger. Staring at it for a second, she shook the nozzle and rapidly squeezed the handle in a vain attempt to get it to work.
"Come on, damn it! What's wrong with this thing?" She shouted, ready to bash it over something. "This fire has to be put out bef..." Blinking as a thought crossed her mind, she looked up. The lights were still out, but now that she thought about it, the fire suppression systems were on a separate generator. If they weren't coming on, and the manual extinguishers weren't working either... then...
"No way..." Farah mumbled, her voice shaking. As much as she didn't want to believe such a thing, it was the only possibility she could come up with. There was just no way everything could go this wrong by simple coincidence. "...my God, someone in the complex set this up."
"Not going to be gentle... she was gentle before? Could have fooled me." Keele grumbled to himself as he rounded the corner, the light from the small flashlight he always carried in his small tool kit bobbing up and down as he ran. Finally coming to his door, he slapped the open button and headed inside, coming to a dead stop just on the other side.
"What the hell?" He wondered, looking over his shoulder at the open door. If the power was out, it shouldn't have opened. Unless...
Going over to the wall console and pushing a couple buttons, the screen flickered to life. "The power is still on?" Keele grabbed his laptop off the table and the waterproof case for it that was hanging on his chair, mind racing as he darted out the door and back to where he'd parted with Farah. He'd have liked to just take care of the problem there, not to mention catch his breath, but unless Farah actually SAW him do something, she'd probably remain convinced he'd just run off.
Wheezing by the time he got back, he saw Farah trying to smother the fire with a blanket but only succeeding in both fanning the flames and igniting the cloth in her hands. Rolling his eyes at the display of Inferia's top-notch security force at work, he flipped open his laptop and began working his way into certain restricted areas of the Orbis Network.
"Keele?" Farah exclaimed after stomping out the flaming cloth she had been waving around. Rushing over, she pointed an accusing finger at him. "How the hell could you leave like that? You said you wanted to help!"
"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Keele asked, tapping a few buttons.
"Screwing around with your computer by the look of..." She stepped up beside him, taking one look at the screen and fumbling her words. "...wha... but... Keele! That's the security force's map! You're not supposed to have access to that!"
"Security's security needs some upgrades then." He said simply, pointing to the map. "I had to check this first. Look."
Farah examined it for a moment, not sure what he was getting at, then realized the section that was showing was in and around the shop that was still burning. On the outside were two dots, them. In the back room of the shop, trapped, were four more little dots. "There's still someone left alive in there? We have to-"
"No, you have to shut up. Now that I know they're in there, I also know not to trigger the air syphon. It may kill the flames faster, but it'd do the same to them, so..." Snatching the scorched cloth out of Farah's hand, he whipped it up over both of their heads and his laptop before pushing the button. There was a clicking sound from overhead, and the sprinkler system came to life.
Hoping enough of the downpour was delayed by the cloth even though it was still dripping through, Keele closed his laptop and stowed it inside the case before it got a short circuit from the water. Lifting up the cloth for a look at the situation, the fires were still burning, but not for long. The swiveling heads and sensors of the sprinklers were obviously still in working order, since the nearest ones oriented on the fire and doused it with near-flawless precision.
Throwing the cover aside, Farah dashed forward and past the dying fires into the shop. Sighing at her reckless action, he glanced at the other people that appeared in the rapidly dying firelight. Half a dozen of them, all with uniforms like Farah's.
Keele scowled at the lot of them. "You're late. That means I get a free pizza, right?"
The youngest of them, a rookie with short black hair and equally short temper stepped forward, one hand on the grip of her weapon. "Anyone mind if I stun this guy?"
"Lana..." One of the others said warningly.
"Go ahead. It would prove how low the intelligence bar is for security personnel." Keele said, sloshing his foot through the building puddle of water they were standing in. "Use anything with electricity and we're all going to feel it."
She scowled, but Farah returning with the people that had been trapped in the back of the shop kept her from making a retort.
"Good to see someone made it out alright." One of the officers commented.
"Hardly alright. They need to be taken to the hospital right away. The back room was full of smoke and they've got some bad burns." Farah explained, a little calmer now that she knew someone had survived.
"We'll see to them, you should report to the Captain."
"Thanks." Farah nodded, turning to Keele. "Come on, you're still under arrest, remember?"
He sighed. "Don't remind me."
Keele rested his elbow on the desk, chin against his palm as the officer on the other side lectured about laws, hacking and some various other justice-loving drivel that he'd long since tuned out. If not for the tag labeled Bryenn on his chest, Keele wouldn't even have remembered the cop's name. As far as he was concerned, listening to this was cruel and unusual punishment for someone who had just helped put out a fire.
"Bry!" Farah shouted from a doorway on the other side of the room, getting the ranting officer's attention. "Take a breath. Keele, in here."
Rising and trying to recover the few IQ points he felt he lost after sitting through that with even feigned interest, Keele rubbed his forehead as he joined Farah in the other room. Stopping upon seeing what was waiting on the other side, he glanced at her. "Okay, no matter what I did, this is overkill."
Farah shook her head, grinning. "Nope, it's not. Just wait a second and you'll see."
Arching an eyebrow at her, he looked over the room. The Captain was in front of at least half a dozen other security officers, all watching him intently. "Wait for what, exactly? If you're going to dog-pile me, I got enough of that in elementary school, Farah. You should know that. Hell, most of the time you and Reid started it."
A few chuckles came from the group and Farah's face reddened. "W-Would you be serious? You've been-"
The lights dimmed and a monitor on the wall blinked to life. Every officer in the room fell silent and turned to it immediately, saluting the person onscreen. Keele just stared, not sure what to make of the display. Stepping into a part of the room the man on the monitor could see, Keele faced him and frowned.
"Who are you, then?"
"Keele! Show some respect!" Farah snapped.
He shot her a glare. "I'm not a cop and I've never seen him before in my life, so unless you give me a damn good reason I don't think I will."
Farah, and most of the other security members in the room, looked ready to attack him after that. The man onscreen, however, just laughed.
"Oh, don't worry about all that formal stuff. It's overrated anyway." He said, amusement in his voice. "It's not surprising you haven't heard of me, Keele Zeibel. I do my utmost to keep a low profile in spite of my position."
Giving him a curious look, Keele stepped forward. Even if he didn't recognize the face... that calm, professional voice. It was familiar, he just couldn't place it. "What position, and how do you know my name?"
"It's my job to know every resident of the Inferia Complex. I'm the one that oversees how things are run, what laws are put into effect and various other little things that help keep this place running smoothly." Brushing a stray long, blonde hair out of his face, he smiled. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Keele. My name is Rassius Luine."