The blonde man on the monitor continued to smile, but Keele didn't return the cheery expression. A deep frown was on his face, his brow furrowed as he wracked his memory. Why did this man's voice sound so familiar to him?
"I'm guessing you're curious as to why I've requested to speak with you?" Rassius asked.
Though it wasn't what was bothering him at the moment, that was probably because it had yet to cross his mind. Once said, Keele found himself just as interested about the answer to that. "For a start, yes."
Rassius' leaned forward slightly, apparently resting his arms on his desk though it was out of the picture's view. "Allow me to start with a question first. What do you know of Balir?"
Keele quirked an eyebrow at him. Sifting through his memory, something nagged at the back of his mind about the name. He thought he'd heard it before, but like Rassius' voice, he couldn't begin to place where it had come up. "Nothing comes to mind." He replied plainly.
"Balir is actually something of a mystery, even to myself. We are unaware if, at its core, it is an organization or a solitary individual. However, while the goal of Balir is unknown, we have learned first hand that it means trouble." Rassius explained, his expression turning serious. "The explosion you happened upon before arriving here? I have reason to believe Balir was behind it."
"What!" Farah exclaimed, bumping into Keele as she dashed up next to him. "Why the hell would-"
"Officer Orsted, restrain yourself!" A man behind Keele ordered loudly, most likely the Chief of the security force.
"There's no need for that, Chief. I quite understand her frustrations." Rassius said calmly, eyes drifting to her. "We know as much as we ever have, Officer Orsted. You know very well that most of the time, we have little to no warning about a target and even less explanation as to why something is chosen."
Keele was only half-listening after the second sentence, as it clicked something into place in his memory. Rassius' faint voice echoed in the back of his head from years ago. I quite understand her frustrations... it's a tragedy when something such as this happens. The voice, the same expression, even after so many years? No wonder he couldn't remember sooner. He glanced sideways at Farah, wondering if she made the connection as well. Probably not. She seemed to have done her damnedest to wipe the time from her mind.
He didn't. He couldn't. The flickering, staticy monitor they had been sitting in front of and voices coming from speakers as the sound wavered randomly from a novice hack job done in a short time. Farah going from his side to latched onto his shirt, sobbing. Then that voice. That damn voice delivering the news with such an even almost chipper tone, as if it didn't matter in the least.
"I felt I should deliver this news personally. After many hours of searching, we have recovered your son's body. However, it saddens me to inform you that the young Hershel will be unable to return to you. I am sorry for your loss." Rassius said, his voice giving no hint of any sadness what so ever.
Anger flashed through him at the memory and he interrupted whatever Rassius had been saying to Farah. "Fine. Balir is bad, I get that. Now why don't you get to the point and tell me what any of this has to do with me?" Oblivious to the looks the security team was now giving to his back, Rassius showed no sign of irritation at the outburst.
"Oh, of course. I've heard of your talent with computers and was hoping to convince you to work with the Inferian force to stop him."
"I can understand that, knowing some of the people you're unfortunate enough to have working for you." He commented, recalling the stun-happy rookie and slowpokes to respond, as well as the ranting one he had to suffer through to what felt like an eternity. "Really though, what reason do I have to help you? None."
"Keele, how can you say that?" Farah shouted, grabbing his shoulder and turning him to face her. "If Balir was responsible for that explosion, people are in danger! You already proved you could help by saving those people in the back, they would have suffocated or burned alive if you hadn't fixed the sprinkler system!"
"I didn't fix it, I just turned it on." He corrected her. "Besides, this is a security thing, and in case you've forgotten, I'm a 'troublemaker' or 'repeat offender' according to most people here. I really doubt they want to give someone like me access to their files. Not that I couldn't get to them now if I really wanted to have a look." He added with a smirk, if only to annoy the other officers in the room.
"Exactly, that's why we need your help! Even our best tech-heads have found nothing, but I bet you could get some new information easily." Farah told him.
A grin crossed his face, which made her scowl. "Most likely true, but if you're going for flattery you're going to have to do better than that."
"Don't start with me again, Keele."
"Yes, well, if helping fellow citizens of Inferia and sweet talking isn't enough to convince you, perhaps you'd do it to aid a friend of yours?" Rassius inquired.
"A friend?" He glanced from Rassius to Farah and back. "I don't know if I'd call someone who handcuffs me on a regular basis a friend."
Chuckling, he shook his head. "No, no... not Farah. I meant your other friend. Meredy, is it?"
Keele's full attention snapped to the monitor at that. "How do you know about her... and what does she have to do with any of this?"
"I research everyone I speak to personally. You and her have had contact almost daily, according to the communications records. I have a friend in the Celestian Complex myself, who keeps me informed of unusual happenings. Like, for example, a pair of girls going missing according to the security team over there recently. Ones named Meredy and Chat."
"W-what?" Keele stuttered, his blood running cold. Both of them? His mind was assaulted with questions and he couldn't choose which one to ask first.
Farah cut in and solved part of his dilemma. "Hold on, what do either of them have to do with this investigation? Balir's located in the Inferian Complex, isn't he? This can't be related."
Rassius nodded. "So I believe, yes, but our other half has been experiencing problems of its own as of late. While they've not come across the name Balir in their own investigations, they have heard about something called Shileska. A name just as unknown to them as Balir is to us."
"You think they're connected somehow?" The Chief asked.
"It's a possibility. Many have friends across the Complexes, it is not so far-fetched that Balir and this Shileska have formed an alliance of some sort. Of course, to what end, I cannot say. Though I feel it would not mean well for any of us." Rassius said, showing the slightest sign of frustration.
"How is anything I do here supposed to help Meredy?" Keele wondered, stepping toward the screen. "From what you're saying, this Shileska is responsible for Meredy's disappearance, not Balir."
"If they are connected, once we find Balir I'm certain you can use its communications network to trace Shileska. We'll inform Celestia's security to their location, they'll raid the place and recover your friends. Hopefully with them still in one piece, of course, but time is of the essence." He said, a grin crossing his face that gave Keele the sudden urge to punch the screen. "You will be joining the search, correct?"
"Like you have to ask." He snapped back, stalking over to the nearest surface and removing his laptop from its case. Within moments he was mashing keys furiously, attention fixed to the computer.
"Well then, good luck to all of you. I'll continue with my part of the investigation as well." Rassius said, the monitor flipping off and lights raising again.
"All right, first things first. We've gotta get you security clearance to access our files on Balir." The Chief said, gesturing for one of the Officers in the room to do just that.
"I don't think that will be necessary." Farah informed him, looking at Keele's monitor. He was already into the files they had on Balir, what few there were. "Looks like he was right, security's security does need a few upgrades."
xxx
Rassius sighed, leaning back in his chair and glancing to his right. The hooded man that had been there throughout the entire conversation leaned against the wall in silence, a guarded expression on his face. "Something wrong?"
"Shouldn't you have told him?" He asked, looking up. "If what we found out earlier is right..."
"It doesn't matter, really. I'd rather he not have the distraction." Rassius stated. "Besides, he's in the middle of the security station. If Balir really is targeting him, it'll have a hard time getting to him."
Crossing his arms, the man reluctantly nodded, not voicing his thought that no amount of guards could hold Balir back from someone it really wanted.