The Gang of Five
Role Play => Random Role Play => Topic started by: Pterano on December 16, 2013, 02:03:13 AM
-
Vincent Rubio stormed out of the South California Council chambers in a huff. That had been most pointless! The Council was still in deliberation over the outbreak that had occurred on the east coast in New York City last week. It was all over the news, but what wasn't being reported on the mammals' news agencies was that the virus was targeting only humans. The Council had received intelligence that dinosaurs were completely unaffected by what was now being ruled a serious threat by the United States' Government.
Vincent's suspicions were immediately aroused, and he'd called upon the Council to consider the possibility that the Progressives were involved. But the Council's response was that the Progressives had been broken with the death of Raal, and posed no further threat with their leader gone. While Vincent had to admit that Raal seemed to exercise an almost hypnotic control over his followers thanks to his freakishly strong scent glands, the velociraptor wasn't entirely convinced they weren't involved. The councilors would "pass the information on" to the Grand Council, but for now, would only continue observing the situation.
The whole thing disgusted him, and reminded Vincent of why he hated being on the South California Council in the first place. They were just a bunch of talk, as usual, and no action. If only Vincent lived on the east coast... he'd be taking this case without anyone even asking him. But as it stood...
Pounding the pavement with his human guise's shoes, the velociraptor decided to maybe head to the store Heather Corrigan worked at, as he was in the neighborhood.
Making for the store now, Vincent suddenly paused in mid-step as his nostrils picked up a particular scent... not just any scent... a scent he thought he'd never smell again. It was herbs... a mixture of them all combined. Oregano, basil, cilantro... blended together, it was familiar to him... so familiar... it was a scent he'd never forget as long as he lived.
Whirling his head, he glanced around in a desperate fashion, trying to pinpoint its source, but that was useless in this crowd. It was nothing but humans and dinos in human guises on this street, and they all blended together and it was impossible to track down that sweet, sweet source. It was her... but where? Was it her? Was he just imaging it? He could no longer smell it, the scent having faded very quickly, and Vincent sighed, angry at himself for having deluded himself that he'd smelled her scent.
Figuring he was wasting his time using his eyes alone, and unable to detect the herbal concoction anymore, the PI turned on his heel and continued for the store. He really needed to stop thinking about her. She was dead... and nothing could bring her back.
Entering the store's front door now, the velociraptor PI looked around. Even if Heather couldn't pick up Vincent's Cuban cigar scent, she'd know his guise by now.
-
Another one? What the hell's going on?
Nicholas Chaseman slouched back in his chair, the fingers of one hand idly scratching at an armrest. Someone who didn't know him might have thought that he was slacking off, but his eyes were focused intently on the computer screen in front of him and a frown creased the brow of the thin, pale face he wore. Elizabeth Skyson, age 43. Dead.
He didn't need to contact the council again, he knew what the answer would be. He knew she was human, and he knew her symptoms would be the same as the others. So many had been affected by the virus that was working its way through New York, and in so little time...
And none of the victims have been dinosaurs. "This can't be a coincidence," he muttered under his breath. Why wouldn't the council take any action for this? All attempts he'd made to voice his concerns had been met with promises that they'd 'look into it'. Sure. Could it be The Progressives? They've gone dark ever since...
A cop walked past his desk and clapped him on the shoulder, startling him. "Hey Nicky, what're you looking at reports on that disease for? Ain't you coming to the party? Come on man, you finally caught the 'Alley Butcher', you don't need to work overtime anymore! Come celebrate with the rest of us!"
Nicky looked up at the cop and straightened in his seat. "Something about it just has me interested, that's all. You go ahead Johnson, maybe I'll come down to the party a little later," he lied.
"Alright, I hope you do. You don't give yourself enough credit." The cop sneezed and made a face. "I've been doing that all day. Hey, I hope it's not a bout of whatever's got New York by the balls!" he said, laughing as he walked away.
"Have fun." Nicky gave him a small smile, which vanished as he watched the cop leave. For the sake of everyone at the party, I hope that's just a cold. Sighing, the compsognathus turned his attention back to the computer, running a tongue over small, sharp teeth.
-
Heather stood at the cashier's office, pulling in the money from her customers. It was a boring job, every day being like the previous one, and the day before that day... Nevertheless, it was just the kind of job she always wanted to have. Heather didn't quite like the overload of requirements many jobs took for granted these days. The only skills her job required were advising people - mostly elderly women - and being friendly towards those. She was working thirty hours a week for five days. She was paid rather well since the clothing store was aiming at the upper society and running well.
Heather was already looking forward to attach the martial arts self defence course after the early shift she was usually working in would end. She went to both dinosaur and human courses since there might be lurking a danger behind every corner. One can't be careful enough...
Suddenly, sje picked an all too familiar scent... Vincent!
I sure do wonder why the heck he can't wait 'till my shift's ended... Must be something reeeeeaaaaaaaaaaally important.
-
Vincent could easily pick out Heather minding one of the registers in the store as she usually did. This store mostly catered to higher end elderly ladies, and held almost no interest for Vincent, as his parents didn't shop here, and he currently wasn't dating anyone.
But what they did have was water. In a small fridge sitting by the store's entrance were bottles of water, Pepsi, root beer, and iced tea. It was a smart marketing idea, and Vincent usually stopped in for a refreshing drink if he was in the area (which was every Tuesday, as he had his weekly Council meeting then).
Opening the fridge and taking a bottled water, he moved to stand in line at the counter, waiting patiently as the holiday shoppers filed by one at a time past Heather's station. Setting the water down in front of her when his turn came up, he flashed her a smile and dug around in his trench coat for his wallet. "Hey, Heather, how's work?" the PI asked as he tossed two dollars on the counter. "I was in the area... my weekly Council meeting." He made a face here, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "And you know how I just LOVE the endless debates about whether or not we should repaint the fleet of company cars black or green." he joked. They didn't REALLY talk about that stuff... at least not mostly, but Vincent could never resist cracking a joke at the Council's expense.
===================
"I sure hope he doesn't got whatever New York's got." a voice murmured at Nicky's side suddenly. The voice belonged to Dan Patterson, a brontosaur homicide detective. Patterson opted for an African-American guise that bore a passing resemblance to American actor Samuel E. Wright. Like Wright, Patterson opted for the bald approach, figuring his fake mustache was enough hair to apply for the times he had to reorder his guise every few years for the aging process.
Detective Patterson watched the cop who had been talking to Nicky head off, and looked over the compy's shoulder, reading the article his fellow detective had pulled up. The bronto was close friends with Vincent Rubio, and had contacts in most major Federal and local law enforcement agencies, making him a rather invaluable contact to the velociraptor. They would take a fishing trip once every two years due to both their schedules, but it was always a highlight for the two of them.
Patterson's latest service to Rubio had been putting him in contact with a deprogrammer who specialized in dangerous cults. The deprogrammer, Dr. Beaumont Beauregard, had been a fateful choice, as unknown to either Patterson or Rubio at the time, the good "doctor" had really been Raal, leader of the Progressives, in disguise. The situation had worked itself out, but Patterson made it a point to thoroughly ensure his contacts at the FBI checked out each and every person he'd refer to the PI from now on. Not that it would've mattered with Raal; he'd fooled everyone back then.
Having briefly glanced at Nicky's article, Dan placed a hand on the compy's shoulder and bent over to speak in a more discreet fashion to his fellow dino. "It's not public news yet but... the FBI's recovered what they're calling some sort of aerosol device in New York." he said in very soft tones, right in Nicky's ear. "A dino discovered it, and turned it over to our kind in the Bureau first. He'll be releasing it to the mammals later today or tomorrow." Dan muttered. "Initial analysis suggests it might've been used to distribute the virus... meaning this is no simple freak of nature mutation... but more like a terrorist attack. It was discovered in the ventilation system of one of their subway stations by maintenance, who promptly contacted the Bureau. That's all the info I have at the moment I'm afraid though... but since you've taken more than just a passing... interest in this recent occurrence, thought you'd like to know."
It was not known (to humans at least) that J. Edgar Hoover had been a dino, and thus, the Bureau ALWAYS maintained dinos in prominent positions in their upper echelon.
Dan had kept his tones low, not even looking at Nicky, but instead keeping his eyes directly in front of him, on the screen. To any other cop walking by, it would've simply looked like the two detectives were reading the news article and not conversing in hushed tones.
-
Nicky swallowed. He'd never held more than a passing conversation with Dan before, but he knew the brontosaur was well respected in the LAPD - this wasn't something he'd share if it wasn't good information. "An aerosol..." Nicky glanced back at Dan before returning his eyes to the screen. "If that's true and someone's actually designing this virus... making sure that it only works on their kind..." A cop trudged past the desk and Nicky stopped talking, leaning closer to the computer and folding his arms over the wooden surface. When the office door clunked shut behind the cop, he resumed his hushed tones.
"...Someone with that kind of know-how is a serious problem. The obvious assumption is that the 'Progressives' are making a new move, but have their actions ever been this... specialised before?" Nicky paused as a thought occurred to him. "Dan, you said it was found in the subway station? There isn't any surveillance footage of anyone suspicious messing around with the ventilation systems?"
-
Detective Patterson merely nodded twice in response to Nicky's first question. "In terms of technology? Never biological things but... from what I know from the guy who took them down, they were packing serious heat... enough weapons to start a small war... and had numerous labs set up for the creation of fake fossils, which was part of another one of their schemes. My guy said he saw rows upon rows of computers and laboratory equipment... so who knows?" Dan shrugged here now.
"Also, in regards the surveillance footage, nothing was flagged aside from maintenance workers last night. The only access to the ventilation systems is through the maintenance tunnels, and while the Bureau's conducting preliminary interviews with the staff now, I doubt they'll come up with anything. My hunch? Uniform was stolen, as was a key card, and viola. Goodbye suspect. It could've been anyone, from anywhere." he muttered now.
=======================
The Skylark Condominiums were one of the more affluent places to live in Westwood. They housed several prominent politicians and councilors, including Vincent Rubio. A parking lot surrounded the building, and two black vans pulled into the entrance, the words "Evolution Cleaners" emblazoned in white lettering on their side. One came to a stop in a space near the front entrance, its brake lights flashing, while the other circled around to the back.
A group of five men in coveralls stepped out, their leader carrying a clipboard close to his chest. Two carried duffel bags, a third wheeled a mop cart with him, and the fourth carried some brooms. Swinging open the double glass doors, their black shoes clicked on the marble foyer as they strode toward the square security desk in the middle of the floor.
The two guards on duty raised their heads, and one stood up from his chair and circled around from the desk. "Let me handle this." he told his partner, holding up his hand. He discreetly touched a bluetooth device on his belt that would broadcast a signal to the desk's main security system if not deactivated within 45 seconds. This would in turn trigger a silent alarm at the LAPD. He then undid the catch on his holster, keeping one hand on the butt of his sidearm but not drawing it. "Can I help you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Sure, Mac. Just cleaning the place!" the leader said, offering a friendly smile as he strode toward him.
"I don't think so. This building has its own cleaners, and you guys aren't it. I'm afraid you'll have to leave." the guard informed him.
"Really?" the leader lowered his clipboard slightly, as if gazing at an address. "Nah says this is the place. Skylark Condominiums." he stated, tapping a finger on the paper, but not lowering it enough for the guard to see.
"Sir, I'm sorry, but if you don't turn around and exit immediately, I'm going to have to-" he was cut off when the head cleaner suddenly lowered the clipboard all the way, pulling a 9mm silenced Glock pistol out from behind it and fired a shot right into the guard's throat. The guard toppled backward and before his body hit the floor, the assassin pivoted and fired off another quick round at the second guard, who was in the process of rising from his chair. The bullet's impact with his heart sent him reeling violently backwards, throwing the chair a few feet back on its wheels.
The first guard, still alive, tried to dig his pistol out, but was stopped by the assassin pumping another round into his forehead. Moving quickly over to him, the assassin bent down and checked the bluetooth device on the guard's belt. "Dammit!" he muttered, noticing it was on. "All right, let's go, people!" he called out to his comrades, who were busy letting in five more "cleaners" and locking the front doors. "Silent alarm's gone out. We've got 15 minutes tops to wrap this up!"
He grabbed hold of the first guard's body, and began dragging it behind the security desk while his companion with the mop began mopping up the blood on the floor. "OK, our targets are on the 8th floor. 8092 and 8096. Lewis, when we go up, send all elevators to that floor and then lock them down." the leader ordered. All these guys were dinos, and the one called Lewis pulled out a tablet from the duffel bag whilst the others began distributing automatic weapons amongst themselves. "Also, buzz the guys at the back in."
Lewis set to work, inserting a USB cable into the security computers and copying their protocols over to the tablet. He also pressed a button on the console, buzzing in the second assault team through the maintenance door in the back of the building, another ten guys streaming in from that direction, weapons at the ready. "Hey boss... the senator's goons are outside his place. I got two suits on the camera in the hallway in front." Lewis called over. The boss nodded once, and took a headset from one of his subordinates.
"What about Rubio's place?" he called over.
"Nothing on the cameras. Should be able to gain access without any problems." Lewis replied back, his voice slightly nasally as he finished copying the protocols over.
"Good... all right, let's head up. Feller, Mitchell, you two take Rubio's place. The rest of us will deal with the senator's security detail and take care of him. Stay in radio contact. We'll discuss the exit on the way up." All nodded, and together they began making their way towards the elevators.
-
The corner of Nicky's mouth creased slightly. "I suppose footage of someone planting the device would be too much to ask for," he said grimly, "Though in this case I guess it isn't surprising." Nicky swiveled in his chair to look at Dan. "If any of this equipment you just mentioned is still available, it might be worth our time to take a look. This guy of yours, is he..."
Nicky was interrupted by a high, insistent beeping noise coming from the computer. He turned his head to see a notification flashing on the screen: Alarm warning - Skylark Condominiums. Please respond. He groaned. "Damn it, not this again. I thought they fixed their alarm system?" Nicky sighed and stood up. "The chief'll probably get pissed if nobody checks it out." Looking around, he could see that he and Dan were the only ones left in the office. "Probably don't need to wait for backup, they'll only tell us it was another glitch." He picked up the holster containing his pistol from the desk and clipped it to the side of his belt, smoothing his suit jacket over it and straightening his tie.
Nicky looked up at Dan, who stood a clear head taller than him. "Want to come along?"
-
Outside Skylark Condominiums, a tall, wiry looking figure in a black duster coat paused, noticing the van outside and the dead security guards. Swearing to himself, the figure reached into his coat pockets, drawing a set of bladed tarot cards and ducking inside the building. His name was Cailan Sablewind, a Velociraptor, and founder of a small movement who believed that humans and saurians could coexist, and that saurians should abandon the masquerade of humankind, living as themselves. He had been on the run ever since he first made his ideal known, and, as of late, had moved into a luxurious condo that he had bought under an assumed name.
"Progressives...damn terrorists..."
He muttered to himself, making his way towards the stairs...
-
The bronto glanced at the screen to see... wait a minute. Skylark? The alarm had been tripped a few times... but it was mostly the fire alarm, not the general security alarm. It had maybe happened twice when they'd installed it. "Sure!" Dan said now, his gun already at his side. He whipped out his cell phone and nodded at Nicky. "Lead the way to your car!" he suggested, and speed dialed Vincent.
After a few rings, the velociraptor picked up. "Vincent! It's Dan. The security alarm's been tripped at Skylark. I'm heading over there to check it out. Just thought you should know!" he spoke hurriedly. "Yes... the security, not fire alarm." Dan added before hanging up. "What were you saying about this guy of mine?" the detective asked as he jogged to pull even with Nicky.
=====================
Vincent sighed as he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out, he shot Heather an apologetic look, saw it was Dan Patterson calling, and slid the answering button to the right. "Yeah?" he asked, listening to what Dan had to say, concern suddenly washing over his features. "What?" he asked, leaning forward a bit. "Not the fire alarm? Cause that's gone off a few times while they were installing it." Upon receiving confirmation it wasn't the fire alarm, Vincent got hung up on and glanced around.
OK his car was... six blocks away. Six blocks was a stroll in New York City, but in LA, that was a small marathon. The city was laid out in such a haphazard fashion to follow the terrain of the hills that it'd take him at least ten minutes to get there. Sighing, he turned back to Heather. "Heather I hate to ask but... can I borrow your car?" he inquired. "The stupid security alarm's gone off at my condo building, and while it's probably nothing... I want to make sure." he informed her.
=======================
The elevators all stopped on the 8th floor thanks to Lewis's control over them (he'd also deactivated the security desk and removed the DVD containing security footage of the assassins' violent entry into the building). Lewis tapped a few buttons on his iPad and the elevators were all locked down on the floor they were currently on. This would deter investigators and also keep civilians off this floor as well. The building supervisor might get some complaint calls, but by the time the super figured out no one was answering at the security desk, they'd be on their way out.
Five of them stayed behind to watch the foyer around the elevators and stairs. Ten headed for Senator Sebastian Morrow's suite, two made for Vincent Rubio's apartment, and the other three began patrolling the hallways, feigning cleaning as they kept an eye out for any civilians. As it was late afternoon, most who lived in the building were still at work, and wouldn't be around this time of day.
Rounding the corner, the ten divided into five, with five remaining behind and just out of sight as the leader led his strike team toward the two security guards outside Morrow's suite. "We got movement. Cleaners." one of the guards said into his lapel mic, but noticed something was off. They weren't moving like cleaners... they were moving like...
Whipping their guns out, the first guard got off a shot which downed one of the oncoming mercs before they were both dropped by a burst of gunfire. Charging forward now, Lewis's fingers danced over his iPad's surface, overriding the security lock on the door by the protocols he'd downloaded, and soon, all ten were pouring into the suite, the four guards inside just barely having enough time to draw their sidearms before they were swarmed by the strike team.
Down the hall, Feller and Mitchell approached Rubio's unguarded condo unit. The door was surprisingly unlocked, and Mitchell grinned as Feller nodded at him to open it, cradling his silenced HK MP5 in his arms. As the door slid open, Mitchell jerked his head up to gaze into the deepest, most verdant eyes he'd ever seen. Standing before him was a completely unguised female raptor.
"What the hell?!" Mitchell called out, raising his weapon, but was far too late. The raptor's tail whipped violently around, slamming into Mitchell's neck and snapping it as he was sent flying off down the hall to the side. Feller's MP5 raised rapidly but before he could fire, the raptor's foot connected with his face, sending him sprawling backwards against the far wall and knocking him out cold, his gun clattering uselessly on the floor beside him.
"What was that?" their leader's voice came over Feller's headset. "Feller? What happened? Booby-trap? Feller? Respond!"
The female raptor darted down the hallway now and made for the nearest stairway, leaving one of her victims dead and the other groaning as he struggled to regain consciousness. "We've lost contact with Feller and Mitchell. Bronson, Clarke, Pagoya, check it out!" the leader ordered, the three on patrol diverting from their routes to converge on Rubio's place now.
-
Karl walked out of an office building towards his car, a red tesla roadster. He had attended another meeting. He thought he would go ahead and head home. There wasn't another meeting till tomorrow. Some of the meetings could be interesting and some could be borring. He did his best to make it through the more boring ones. He wasn't sure he could do this full time, but several times a week, or a bit more, and he could stand it. Even the times when there was 2 meetings in one day. He preferred to do his writing, but helping to run the family main business and the sub companies they owned was important and not to bad of a chore so he was willing to do that. It could even be enjoyable at times and some elements of it was. Plus he had some benefits as well and not just the decent amount of money he had. He thought he'd go on home & eat there and decide what to do, likely spend part of the rest of the day writing, unless something came up.
He arrived and parked at his usual parking lot at the Skylark Condominiums. He started to walk towards the entrance. Seeing the black van & then the dead security guard he could see outside he took a quick picture with is cell phone making sure to get the license plate in the picture then ran back the short distance to his car and got in an drove off. He parked a 2 blocks away in another parking lot. First he used his cellphone to call the police to report what he saw and gave the information needed. Then he called his father to tell what he had seen.
"yea, some black van and at least 1 dead security guard, no way I'm going in there." Karl said.
"Quite right, stay at the house as long as you need." His dad said, from where he was working.
"Thanks, I'll be hanging out in the basement." Karl said. The basement was windowless and they sometimes hosted parties that were human disguise optional so dinos could take off their human diquise if they wanted. At all other times the family would sometimes hang out down there, again so they could go with no need to wear a human disguise.
He drove to their house, a mansion with start of the art security. After he had gotten entry to the property he drove over and parked his car in one of the covered garages and entered the house. Waving to the butler, also a dino, he went to the area where the secret entry to the basement was, closed when it wasn't hosting a party. It looked like a normal thing. Since it was in a windowless room he took off his human head part of his disguise and went the retina print match unlocked the door so he could go down to the basement. Once down he promptly took off the rest of his human disguise and hung it up in it's usual place. Then he want to turn on the large screen tv and a video game system to play a Mario game to unwind.
-
Nicky kept quiet as they walked through the entrance lobby, then spoke up once they were heading down the steps to the parking lot. "I was going to say, this person you're talking about sounds like he has experience in dealing with these guys, especially if he was the one who took them out. I don't suppose he'd be willing to lend a helping hand here?"
They reached his car. Nicky unlocked it and slid into the driver's seat, waiting for Dan to get in. "Given that we're the only non-mammals on homicide, and the Council is being... well, as helpful as the Council tends to be, our options are limited here." He pulled the car out of the parking lot and joined the main flow of traffic. Ahead of them, Skylark Condominiums rose high above the buildings crowding around it, its lights glowing in the waning afternoon light. If the traffic stayed consistently low, they'd be there in a few minutes.
-
Inside the Condos, Cailan opened the door leading out to the eight floor, where his condo was. As the female raptor dropped the two Progressives, he ducked behind a wall, observing for a moment before stepping around the corner, throwing cards held at the ready...
-
Heather was a bit annoyed that Vincent had shrugged her off like that but she knew he was just doing his job just like she did hers.
"Hmm..." she muttered. "Mind a woman driving? I'll be off in a few minutes anyway. I'm sure my boss doesn't mind."
"Maybe I'll even save your skin, who knows?" she mused.
-
The edges of Vincent's mouth creased into a smile, and he gave Heather a grateful look. "Thanks a mil, Heather! I'll owe you for this. And no, I don't mind you driving." he told her, patting her hand with his own as he opened up his water. Heather would know by now that Vincent was always good on his promises to others, and it usually meant offering a free service here and there somewhere down the road.
He patiently waited by the register, making funny comments about several customers after they'd already left and trying to make Heather laugh, which was probably terribly distracting. As his cell phone was in his trench coat pocket, he didn't immediately feel it vibrate, indicating he had a new text.
=====================
"Well he should be, though he doesn't typically work for free." Dan pointed out to Nicky. "He's a private eye, after all. But yes, he really helped break the Progressives earlier this year. They've been quiet ever since April from what I can tell. He didn't so much take Raal out as..." Dan paused here, wondering how to word this. "Well... someone he loved did. But in doing so, she took herself out as well." Dan commented, before their radio crackled to life.
"Attention all units in Westwood. Possible 11-60 in progress at Skylark Condominiums. Reports of shots fired inside. All units in Westwood, please respond. Repeat, possible 11-60 in progress at Skylark Condominiums. Reports of shots fired on the premises. All units in Westwood, please respond."
Dan looked at Nicky, his face deadly serious now. "I think our false alarm just became real." he said. This was extremely worrisome. Many prominent dinos lived in Skylark, including several councilors. Security was tight, but any system was prone to breaches from a determined attack...
"Better gun that engine." Dan commented. "Show me how compies drive at the Indy 500." he half-joked, pulling his sidearm out and pulling the slide back to load a bullet into the chamber. "Security's pretty good at Skylark, so whoever these guys are, they're pretty serious." he added. Grabbing his phone, he shot off a quick text to Vincent, letting him know the alert had been upgraded to shots fired.
=======================
Two more vans were pulling into Skylark's lot now, and driving around to the rear of the building. The deed had been done. Morrow's guards had attempted to cover the senator's retreat, but there was only one way in and out of these apartments, and two dead mercs and four dead guards later, dino Senator Morrow lay dead in his suite, his body armor no match for the lead assassin's MP7.
As the strike team was busy cleaning up their shell casings, mopping up spilled blood and bagging their deceased, "Uh, boss?" Lewis called out, an alert coming in on his iPad. "We've got trouble! External calls have been made! Police are on their way! Reporting shots fired!"
"Then let's get going! Bronson! You find Feller and Mitchell yet?" he snapped into his headset.
"Yeah boss!" Bronson replied. In the intervening few minutes since Morrow's place had been stormed to the last resistance being snuffed out, the female raptor had torn by Cailan on the stairs, paying him no mind whatsoever as she charged down the stairs, leaping from landing to landing, her prehensile tail being used as a spring to propel her down. She had smelled he was a dino, and wasn't concerned that he had seen her without her guise.
Bronson, Pagoya, and Clarke had arrived a few seconds later, and began working on reviving Feller. "Feller's down, Mitchell's dead." Bronson continued.
"What happened?" their leader asked.
"Not sure, we're bringing Feller 'round now." Bronson replied. "Mitchell's neck has been snapped. We don't have any body bags with us, boss, and I don't think we have time to clean Rubio's place."
"Forget it." their boss ordered. "We got our primary target anyway. Make your way to the elevators with Feller. Leave Mitchell. I'm not concerned about our identity anymore. It's about time people start to know."
"Right." Bronson murmured as Feller groaned and came around. "What happened?" Bronson demanded.
"Uggh..." Feller rubbed the back of his head. "Some crazy female raptor... no guise... was on the other side of Rubio's door. She tail-whipped Mitchell and kicked me back against the wall."
Bronson paused here, thinking. "You SURE it was female? You sure it wasn't Rubio?"
"Yes I'm sure!" Feller growled as he found his feet. "She wasn't wearing a guise. Perhaps you missed that part. I can TELL the difference between a naked male and female raptor!" he stated acidly.
"Fine. You get that boss? We're pulling out. Cops are on their way. Let's go!" he commanded, and Feller shook his head as he began following the others.
Their leader, a carnotaur by the name of Kauffman, narrowed his eyes as he left Senator Morrow's suite, turning this new information over in his head. Female raptor? It couldn't possible be that traitor, could it? Just thinking about her caused the bile to churn in his stomach. If only he had time... but no. They had to make their exit. There'd be time to hunt her down later.
-
As one of the Progressives rounded the corner, Cailan stepped out, slashing him across the chest with the fan of bladed cards, chuckling a little and rolling his neck.
"Well, well. What have we here. Progressives, trying to take more innocent lives? Sorry, but you aren't leaving here alive."
He chuckled coldly...
-
Nicky grimaced. "Damn. Sounds like they're going after some of the high-ups." He quickly glanced at Dan. "At least a bronto isn't behind the wheel." He shifted gear and slammed his foot on the accelerator, weaving the car in and out of the traffic, blaring the horn at any cars in his way. "I wish I'd had time to install the siren," he muttered.
After a few minutes, Nicky swerved off the exit that would take them to Skylark. "Looks like we're the first ones here..." he noted as the condominiums loomed in front of them, the car park empty aside from a few civilian cars and a conspicuous black van. He eyed it suspiciously as they drove past it then slammed the brakes, the car skidding to a halt in front of the lobby. Looking through the glass, he couldn't see anyone.
"Looks like nobody's home," he said grimly. "The guards should be here..." Nicky ran a hand through his messy black hair. "We have to go in. Are you ready?"
-
Bronson recoiled as he was hit in the chest by a sharp, stinging sensation, blood spraying out as he backed up. "Agh! What the...?" he backed up, and instinctively raised his MP5 to squeeze off a burst at his assailant.
"What the hell is this, amateur afternoon?" Feller asked angrily as he too took aim and fired in Cailin's direction. None of them seemed to register the Progressive title, though it was quite clear they were professionals. Pagoya and Clarke moved around behind them to get clear shots. When everyone in the building started fighting back, this wasn't what they'd signed up for.
Kauffman paused as he heard the Rubio team open fire somewhere down the hall. "Get the bodies to the balcony as planned." he ordered the guys carrying their three deceased. "You four, with me!" he motioned to four of his followers, and started moving down the hall in the gunfire's direction, prepping his MP7 as he did so. "Elevator detail, head in Bronson's direction!" he ordered the five guys watching the elevators to start moving to reinforce Bronson and Feller's outfits.
Behind them, Lewis opened another suite for the strike team, who moved in and through the currently unoccupied space to the rather prominent balcony that adjoined it. The team began setting up rappelling wires on the balustrade, and first attached the body bags to the wires before lowering them down to the vans below. While this was going on, Lewis reactivated some of the elevators, sending them to various destinations throughout the building.
======================
Nicky pulled up to practically the building's lobby, and Dan nodded over at him. "I can cover you while you check the doors." He didn't like the conspicuous absence of security guards behind the desk. Something was definitely wrong here. "This is car... Detective Nicholas Chaseman's car." Dan said into the radio, not knowing Nicky's car number. "Detectives Chaseman and Patterson on site at Skylark."
Popping open the passenger side door, the brontosaur detective hunkered down low behind it as cover while he aimed through the now open window at the double glass doors leading to the lobby, carefully sweeping with his eyes for any movement. "Whenever you're ready!" he called over to Nicky. "I got you!"
-
As Bronson opened fire, Cailan dodged to the side, rolling away and flicking a card out at Bronson's trigger hand. As the other three opened fire on him, he dove to the side, taking cover behind another corner as he drew more cards, chuckling to himself.
"Good...that's right...come on..."
He muttered to himself...
-
Nicky nodded at Dan and climbed out of the car, closing the door lightly behind him. He pulled his gun from the holster and held it at the ready as he steadily approached the double doors, half expecting a hail of bullets to cut him down any second. But he reached the doors unscathed, and through the glass the foyer appeared as quiet as the grave. There was a chill in the air, and his breath fogged up the glass as he peered in. Without turning around, Nicky help up an arm and indicated that it seemed safe enough to go in.
The doors opened soundlessly as he pushed his way through them, keeping his pistol trained on the ornate stairway leading up on the other side of the room. Nobody popped out to take a shot at him. Aside from two marble columns close to the entrance on either side of the square shaped room, there was very little cover. Nicky quickly crossed the room, the click of his shoes hitting the floor echoing eerily. He became aware of his heart pounding, and suddenly felt very uncomfortable in his human disguise.
As he neared the left hand column, his foot skidded and he almost toppled over. Swearing under his breath, he regained his footing and pressed his back against the marble pillar. From this angle, he could see shiny, wet patches on the floor. It's been cleaned? And recently too... Looks like something got spilled that someone didn't want anybody to notice... As his eyes scanned the room, something caught his attention - a hand poking out from the other side of the desk. Nicky gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the pistol.
He turned his head to look at Dan. As he waited for him to come in, he drew a finger across his throat and inclined his head towards the desk in the middle of the room, crudely signing 'body behind the desk'.
-
As the card sliced into Bronson's trigger hand, the merc let loose with a series of anguished profanities, wailing as he shook his hand violently and held it to try and stop the bleeding.
The others fired off a few more bursts from their silenced MP5s, but their assailant had taken cover behind a corner, so they ceased firing, and kept their guns trained on said corner should he poke his head out. "God... DAMMIT!" Bronson shouted, raising the back of his hand to his mouth. "Just poke your head out you punk! We got a nice surprise waitin' for ya!" he called out to Cailin.
"Bronson!" the shout came from Kauffman, who had rounded the corner behind the small team, his backup close on his heels. "What are you doing?"
"We were attacked by someone, sir! He's just around the corner!" Bronson shouted back crossly.
"Cop?"
"Who knows? Didn't look like one!" Bronson replied. "He's definitely one of our kind, though!"
"Well forget him! We gotta go!" Kauffman ordered.
"Right! You're lucky, ya hear me?" Bronson shouted.
"Shut up and move!" Kauffman ordered, raising his MP7 to train it down the hall. "We'll keep you covered!"
Bronson's team began backing away now, guns raised (though Bronson's not very effectively, as he was still in pain from the slicings he'd received) as they began pulling back towards the larger group, droplets of Bronson's blood dripping onto the floor as he moved.
==============================
Although Dan Patterson would never admit to this, he was just as nervous as his new compy partner (and in his mind, it was natural for compies to be skittish little creatures, but not brontos). As he entered the foyer, he noticed they were way too exposed here. Elevators on the right and left and directly ahead (all moving about, curiously), the main staircase in front, and two more doors leading to secondary stairs on either side of the foyer. Too many avenues of attack.
Like Nicky, he was feeling constricted in his human guise, wishing he could just strip it off and go stomping around as a natural brontosaur. He could do some serious damage with his tail after all... but that probably wouldn't go over too well with any of the human inhabitants here, to see a living, breathing brontosaur running around the lobby, much less a brontosaur with a gun.
Taking cover behind the pillar on the opposite side of the foyer from Nicky, he ran rapidly across the marble floor, his shoes sounding as loud as exploding bombs to his own ears as he charged towards the security desk and slid down onto one knee to take cover along its side. Sirens could be heard in the distance, and already, a few squad cars were only a few blocks away.
Peering cautiously over the edge of the desk, Dan saw the two dead security guards, and also noted the security desk seemed to be completely inactive, with no flashing lights or blinking monitors or anything to indicate life. "Two dead guards!" he whispered in hoarse tones over to Nicky. "Gunshot wounds!"
His heart nearly ripped itself out of both his dino AND guise chests when the secondary stairwell door opened behind Nicky. "LAPD! HANDS IN THE AIR!" he shouted as he rose to cover his partner.
The open door revealed a cringing woman dressed in green who immediately lifted her hands up. "Don't shoot!" she pleaded. Nicky was closer, and could pick up her scent better than Dan could. Lacking the typical human body odor, Nicky would pick up a slight trace of evergreen from her, indicating a dino under the guise. What kind was a bit harder to say. Her guise's skin was paler, but not ghostly by any means, and she had smooth black hair that flowed down to her shoulders. "They're all up on the eighth floor!" she told them. "I was just visiting a friend of mine who wasn't home... they're heavily armed..." she said softly.
"Check her out, Nicky!" Dan ordered, and kept behind the desk, his Smith & Wesson trained on the woman to cover his partner.
-
Cailan swore as he watched the Progressives retreat, ducking quickly back towards another set of stairways leading back towards the lobby. At this point, he figured the police were already on the way, and, if there were any saurians among them...well, he didn't feel like dealing with that right now. After all, as far as the Council were concerned, he was as much a threat as the Progressives, all for his radical ideas. As he made his way to the first floor, he heard the sounds of police shouting, and froze, sighing and fixing his hair before opening the door...
-
When the doors behind him thumped open, Nicky almost had a heart attack. "Jesus!" he gasped as he spun around to train his gun on her. He moved forward to follow Dan's order, keeping the barrel level with the woman's chest. As he approached, his nostrils caught a familiar scent. An Ornithomimus. She's one of us. "Keep your hands up," Nicky instructed as he reached her. He patted her down with one hand, and couldn't find a weapon or anything else suspicious. "All right, she's clean!" he called back to Dan, then put a hand on the disguised dinosaur's shoulder. "The rest of the police force is almost here. Can you hear the sirens?" he asked, trying to reassure the trembling female as he guided her quickly towards the double doors. Through the glass, he could see flashing lights as the police vehicles circled around to the entrance of the parking lot. He opened a door and pushed her lightly outside. "Go down and wait for them. Keep your hands up in the air, and when they come for you tell them what you just told us. Don't worry, they'll take care of you." He held his badge high up so the approaching officers could see it, then retreated back inside and joined Dan.
"Did you hear? Eighth floor, multiple perps. Heavily armed." He leaned over the desk to check the two bodies, noting their clean, precise gunshot wounds. "And it looks like they're professionals..." he added darkly. Just as he finished talking, he heard movement on the other side of the opposite stairway door. Nudging the brontosaur, he raised himself up and took aim.
-
The woman smiled slightly as Nicky patted her down, ready to unleash a massive amount of pheromones onto him that would leave his head spinning and his mind thinking it was back in the Jurassic. As it was though, she wasn't detained by him, which was exactly what she had been hoping for but hadn't been expecting. She was technically a murderer now, having snapped Mitchell's neck up on the eighth floor, but Detective Chaseman had no way of knowing that. She carried no weapon of course... she abhorred personal weapons and had an even bigger dislike for them now after what her former mentor and confidante had done... She also had no love for the dinos up on eight, and therefore had no qualms about killing them.
Relaxing, her smile grew as Nicky told her to surrender herself to the police outside. Not likely she thought. She had come here for a very specific purpose, and now that that purpose was complete, she was disappearing. She wasn't sure what kind of dino he'd pegged her as, but she was purposely emitting only a very weak scent for just such a purpose. While most dinos had absolutely no control over their own scent glands, she had perfected hers through years and years of training, which had started at a very young age. Not only that, this particular female raptor had a gift for it, which is why she'd been targeted as a youth. But it had all been a lie... a lie she was intending to correct with each passing day.
Detective Chaseman had fallen for her innocent girl act, and that was fine by her. She even threw in a few tremors for him as he escorted her to the front door. The cops were on their way in, so it was time to beat a hasty retreat. "Thank you so much, detective." she said graciously, giving his arm a grateful squeeze and watching as he turned back around to confer with his partner over the dead security guards.
Keeping her hands up for show, she walked purposefully out into the lot and towards the approaching cop cars, and then suddenly, dropped her hands and raced around for the rear of the building, vanishing from sight before the squad cars had screeched to a halt out front. In a few more seconds, she was inside her car and making for one of the side exits to the lot before the police had a chance to close those off. In another three minutes she was back on Westwood's main roads, and in another twenty she'd be just another anonymous car winding its way up to the Hollywood Hills. Circe sighed to herself as she sank deeper into her seat. She hated having to hide like this, but she had no choice. She'd been wanted when she'd last been "alive", but she'd also been a complete dupe for Raal and his organization as well without even realizing it. And now she was a fugitive... this life had to end at some point... it just had to. Maybe she'd turn herself in and explain things... but not yet... not until she saw... him again.
Detective Patterson was examining the bodies of the deceased guards now, and shaking his head as he pointed with a finger. "See that? Two shots to the neck and forehead... first one was most likely the neck. The second guard was hit in the heart... he never had much of a chance. You're right... these guys know what they're doing..." he trailed off as the stairwell door opened again, and he brought his Smith & Wesson back up rapidly, training it on the male guised dino exiting now. "LAPD! Let's see your hands!" Dan ordered, wondering how many were going to start pouring down the stairs now that they realized something was clearly wrong in the building. Didn't these people realize that it was safer to stay indoors?
Dan's nostrils picked up Cailan's scent though, and he relaxed, if only ever so slightly, still keeping his weapon trained on him. Even though this newcomer was a dino, Detective Patterson wasn't taking any chances.
===================
Up on the eighth floor, Kauffman and his team were busy readying wires for their exit off the balcony of the apartment they'd breached. It had been exactly ten minutes since their entrance into the building, and they were right on time, as far as the carnotaur was concerned. Anchoring their mechanized wires to the balustrades, the team began their rapid descent to the parking lot below. "Let's make this snappy, folks!" Kauffman ordered. "I'm allergic to sirens!" he commented as he could hear the police entering the front lot.
-
Cailan stepped out from the stairwell, hands raised in surrender. He had already scented the fact that the two cops were Dinos, and had resigned himself to the fact that this encounter was *not* going to end well.
"Yeah, yeah...I hear you. No need to shout."
He said coolly...
-
Nicky furrowed his brow. Something about the raptor who'd just emerged seemed familiar. Then it clicked. "I've seen him here before, the last time we had to come down when the security system buzzed for no reason," he muttered to his partner, "But that's not enough to determine if he lives here."
The man's placid demeanor made Nicky uneasy. "Something's up with him... he isn't a normal civilian." He raised his voice. "Come closer and keep your hands where we can see them!" Damn it, if anyone's still alive on the eighth floor we're wasting too much time down here...
-
Heather lead Vincent to her car and hurried to jump on. Navigating through the streets, she wondered what was happening this time. It sure seemed to be a priority A call, Vincent received.
"Hey Vincent," she called. "Mind telling me what that's all about?"
For some reason, she could already feel there was trouble with the Progressives again..
-
Vincent shook his head. "The security alarm's been tripped at the condo building I live at. It's probably nothing but... several prominent dinos live there, including some councilors." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and began fiddling with it, noting he had a new text from Dan. Opening it up, his face fell. "There's been shots fired at the building. I'm sure the police are there now but... you really sure you want to accompany me?" he asked, looking over at her. "I wouldn't want you getting in the middle of something, after all." he said with concern.
=============================
"You a resident?" Dan asked, approving of Nicky's order for Cailan to approach them. "I'm gonna need to see some ID." he commanded, starting to walk towards him now.
The police began entering the building, led by Lieutenant Culverhouse. "What's the situation, gentlemen? Detective Chaseman, who was that woman you sent out of the building?" he asked. "We couldn't get to her in time before she moved off. Was she clean?" he inquired. Lieutenant Culverhouse was an iguanodon, though none of the cops at his back were dinos.
Dan's face flicked for just an instant, but his eyes didn't leave Cailan. "She moved off?" he queried, confused all of a sudden. "Did you happen to get her name?" he asked his impromptu partner.
Before any further talk could pass between them however, gunfire could be heard coming from the building's rear. "We're taking fire from some black vans!" the radios crackled, and Dan stiffened.
"Jesus!" he uttered, listening now to the firefight taking place in the back of the building.
"All right... get some backup out there!" Culverhouse ordered. "Detective Chaseman, head up with a team and secure the eighth floor. Use extreme caution. Detective Patterson, clear this guy." he nodded at Cailan.
==========================
Two police cruisers had rounded the building to secure the flanks, but had been opened up on almost immediately by the retreating mercs. Kauffman poured rounds into the windshield of one of the cruisers as it swerved to avoid the oncoming fire, the cop in the passenger seat struggling to get a clear shot.
Peppering the police vehicles, the mercs quickly piled into the back of the vans which began roaring off, zooming for the side exit Circe had taken. The two police cruisers began a chase, though it was clear they were outgunned. They began requesting heavier support as they wove through the lot, having to keep a respectable distance as the vans tore into the main thoroughfares of Westwood.
The escape route had been carefully planned however, and only a few blocks away, a large semi-trailer suddenly started backing up into the main road, pulling out just after the vans had cleared it, and causing both cruisers to slam hard on the brakes to avoid a collision and try and pull around the trailer's back.
Taking advantage of the momentary delay, the vans shot right into a parking garage, screeched to a halt, and their occupants quickly exited and made their way to a series of SUVs where their coveralls were ditched and they piled into the new vehicles, which started quietly making their way out of the building's garage at the rear entrance.
-
Cailan sighed, walking over slowly and holding his hands up.
"Alright, alright. I can just tell you now that I am armed, sets of bladed tarot cards in the coat. I wouldn't want any surprises."
He said calmly, grinning a little...
-
Dan took the cards out and looked them over, studying their intricate design. "Interesting choice of weapon." he commented. "Are you a resident here?" he asked.
"Copy that." Lieutenant Culverhouse was saying into his radio. "Seems a good deal of the perps fled in those vans. We're trying to track their whereabouts now. If there are any on the eighth floor, I want them alive!" he ordered. "Clear this building! Let's get teams in here!" he shouted, taking charge of the floor.
-
Cailan nodded, pulling out one of his myriad false ID's, this one under the alias of "Fujita Gorobei".
"Yeah, I do. That's why I was here, actually. Came in, saw the guards were dead, and I panicked, wanted to make sure that they weren't trying to break into my place."
He said, smirking a little...
-
As Nicky moved past Cailan, leading a group of three human policeman, he noted the smirk on his face. "You seem oddly calm for someone who's neighbors were just attacked, Mr. Gorobei." As he made his way across, his eyes met Dan's for a second. Be careful around him. The elevators were still moving between floors at random, so Nicky cautiously approached the stairway and lead the way up, his gun covering each corner.
As they reached the eighth floor, the smell of gun powder and blood became stronger. The air was still, and apart from the footsteps of the police following behind him, softened by the stair's carpeting, he couldn't hear anything. Nearing the top, Nicky held his hand up. Stop. Taking a deep breath, he poked his head around the corner, taking a quick glance in both directions. When he looked to the right, his mouth tightened. The bodies of two guards lay sprawled in the corridor, riddled with bullets. Blood spray and bullet holes peppered the walls, and as Nicky's eyes followed them, he noticed a door just further down the corridor which was slightly ajar. "Damn..." Nicky muttered as he made out a gold name plaque on the door. Senator Morrow. This didn't look good.
"Two bodies. Guards. It looks like a move's been made on Senator Morrow," he whispered down to the police waiting behind him. "Keep alert, the perps could still be inside." He rounded the corner and approached the door. The bodies lay in a way which meant Nicky had to stick to the wall opposite the open door, exposing himself to any potential gunfire... But nothing happened. He signaled for his team to get in position, then raised his voice. "LAPD! Lay down your weapons!" They waited for several moments, but there was no sign of any life. He nodded to the policeman closest to the door and raised his pistol to cover him. The cop kicked the door the rest of the way in and charged inside, his shotgun ready. Nicky followed behind, the other two bringing up the rear. Bodies were strewn across the suite, all of them Morrow's guards. The Councillor himself lay on his side, his chest torn apart by automatic gunfire. Looks like his body armour wasn't enough.
Nicky turned to the three cops behind him. "You two, secure the rest of the suite. Check the bathrooms, the bedrooms. And be careful." He already knew the assassins would be gone - this was a professional hit, but it didn't hurt to be thorough. He turned to the third policeman, the youngest, who'd gone pale and kept staring at the bodies. "Get out of here. Radio this down to Culverhouse. Tell him Morrow's dead."
As the young cop hurried out, looking unwell, Nicky surveyed the scene around him. Whoever the hitmen were, six professional bodyguards weren't enough to stop them. "Goddamnit..." he muttered.
-
"Oh gee..." Heather gasped as she heard the bad news. "Well, in that case, I better stay safe in the car. Maybe that'll prove helpful later."
-
"And you didn't think to call the police?" Detective Patterson asked, pulling out his phone and photographing the ID. "Mr. Gorobei, I hope you appreciate that you're now a witness to this crime, and your statement will have to be taken." the brontosaur stated. He called a uniform over, and told him to run Cailan's name through the system... the assumed name of course.
"Are you sure?" Lieutenant Culverhouse was saying in the background. "Dammit... they were targeting Senator Morrow, from initial appearances." he said aloud, having received Nicky's preliminary report. Senator Morrow was also Councillor Morrow, one of the senior members of the South California Council. What exactly these mercenaries wanted with him Culverhouse didn't say, but he intended to find out. Sebastian Morrow was also newly elected to the United States Senate, but had been home for the holidays getting ready to see his family, according to the reports coming in from the precinct.
Dan waited patiently while the cop went off to the parking lot to run the name and number.
Out front, Heather's car pulled up to the condo building now, and Vincent pursed his lips. "This looks serious. Wait here... I'll be right back or tell you it's OK to come in." He opened the door before the car had fully stopped, and hopped out, jogging to the entrance, where he was stopped by a swarm of officers. "Look, I just need... can I get by?"
"Sorry sir, this is an active crime scene, I can't let you in." One officer said.
Vincent sighed. "Look, I live here... I'm a private investigator... call Detective Dan Patterson, he should be on the scene... he knows me..." Vincent insisted.
Sighing, the officer radioed for Dan, who responded back in the affirmative that Rubio was OK. Dan headed over to Culverhouse, who was attempting to stop Vincent from entering the building. "Sir... he helped break the Progressives... I mean really break them. Remember that case?" Dan muttered under his breath.
"Oh..."
"I'd like him to look at the scene, sir." Patterson continued.
Nodding, Culverhouse caved, and had Vincent granted access. The raptor PI turned around to Heather and motioned for her to join him now.
=================================
There was one detail that Nicky would notice on Senator Morrow's body. A piece of cardboard was on his chest, and written in blood were the words:
PROGRESS CANNOT BE STOPPED
It wasn't clear whose blood it was, and if it had been made on the spot or prefabricated, but the words glared at him with their red lettering, demanding attention. Other than that, the place appeared to have been cleaned. Blood was conspicuously absent, the only shell casings present belonged to the security detail, and scents of dinos lingered everywhere.
"Uh... detective?" the young cop that Nicky had sent away to radio in the status poked his head back into the door. "There's a dead body around the corner. I caught sight of him as I was heading back. He's dressed like a cleaner, but there's a silenced MP5 next to him. He's lying in front of an open apartment." the cop explained.
-
Cailan smirked a little, then shrugged.
"This isn't the first time I've had something like this happen. Let's just say I had a rough childhood. That and my run-ins with cops haven't always been so amiable."
He said blithely, though he knew that if his ID was run in the saurian database, he would be found out as a wanted man...
-
Nicky gave the young cop a nod. "Thanks. I'll head over to take a look now." The other two cops came back into the main room.
"There's nothing else. Whatever happened, it all went down in here," the older of the two reported.
"Alright. We'll still comb every room down, just to be sure." Nicky rubbed his jaw, then inclined his head down to Morrow's corpse, and the sign tied to it. "What do you make of that?"
The cops shrugged. "Looks like the work of a f***ing psychopath to me," the one holding the shotgun grunted.
"Hmn. Sounds like whoever did this isn't finished." Nicky sighed and started to make his way back out of the room. "Stay here and wait for the photographer. Don't let any of this get messed with, and don't touch the bodies." Stepping through the doorway, he made his way down the corridor in the direction the young cop had indicated. He turned the corner and there was the body of the supposed 'cleaner' sprawled on the floor, an MP5 laying a short distance away. The open door the cop had described belonged to a 'Vincent Rubio'. Nicky crouched down next to the body. The neck's broken... He sniffed. And he's a dinosaur. Who'd killed this guy? A human wouldn't have the strength to snap a dino's neck...
Nicky stood up. He was picking up another scent, and it seemed familiar. His eyes widened. "The dino from the stairway..." he whispered to himself. It seemed slightly different, but still recognisably hers. She ran away before the police could question her... What part did she play? Did she break his neck? He drew his gun again and started to step into the apartment.
-
As it was, Dan Patterson had every intention of running Cailan's ID through the dino database, but he didn't have access to that at the moment and would have to wait until he got back to the station.
Approaching now with Vincent and Heather, Dan shifted his attention once more to Cailan. "So... did you witness anything?" Dan asked, taking out a notepad now. "Get a good look at anyone?"
======================
Vincent's apartment was mostly tidy, though had some of the usual sloppiness of a bachelor pad. It was nowhere near as big as Senator Morrow's, but it was still spacious. It was mostly all white, with white walls and a while marble pillar here and there, and was completely built in the contemporary style (somewhat to the occupant's displeasure).
The most notable thing for Nicky though would be the scents. He would be picking up a Cuban cigar scent that lingered around, indicating it was most likely the owner's. There was something else too though... and it was heavy. It permeated the air like a freshly applied perfume, and it was nearly intoxicating. It was strong enough to make any dino's head swim.
It was an herbal mixture of basil, oregano, and cilantro, all noxiously sweet herbs that could inebriate a dino if chewed at large intervals. It seemed to be heaviest in the bedroom. Nothing seemed particularly out of place or disturbed in the apartment, though it was unusual that it had been unlocked.
Beside the bed, on a nightstand, there stood a solitary card, gift wrapped with a green bow affixed to its front. Vincent was scrawled in handwriting along the front, with no address, indicating it might have been dropped off or personally handed to the occupant, though it hadn't been opened.
-
Heather jumped out of her car and locked it. Eventually having arrived at the building, she scanned the room. "Whatever has happened is already over, eh?" she asked Vincent.
-
"It seems like it." Vincent nodded. He was in fact, very grateful for that, as he didn't want to put Heather in any real danger... and wasn't so keen on facing armed assailants himself. "Any leads on who did this?" he asked Dan now.
"Detective Nick Chaseman is handling the crime scene investigations upstairs, but from the information that's coming in, it seems Senator Morrow was the target." Dan replied, nodding towards the elevators, which had stopped once the security desk had been rebooted.
Vincent bit his lower lip. "I see..." Councillor Morrow was a senior member in south California... though Vincent couldn't think of any direct reason he'd be targeted. He hadn't started any new initiatives as of late in the South California Council, as far as Vincent could tell, and had only recently been elected to the US Senate. Why anyone would murder him was a mystery, as far as Vincent was concerned. There were far more... productive targets in the Council, at least as far as Vincent was concerned.
"Why don't you go on up? Talk to Detective Chaseman. Tell him about the..." Dan paused here, lowering his voice. "Well... what happened in March and April. I told him briefly about you."
Vincent nodded, and looked at Heather. "Come on... let's go up. I'll show you my place." he suggested, and strode over to the elevator now.
In a few minutes more, Vincent was nearing his apartment, noting the dead... was that a cleaner? He certainly didn't look like the cleaning staff the building employed. He had a sub-machine gun by his side, and was sprawled a few feet down the hall from his door, his head twisted at an odd angle, the neck clearly broken. "What the hell?" Vincent asked, noticing his door was open. He'd locked it on his way out... or so he'd thought.
Jogging forward, the first thing to hit him was the scent... that sickly sweet aroma of herbs that flooded his nostrils and caused his mind to soak it in in wonderful, poignant flashbacks. That voluptuous tail, those emerald scales, those deep wells of eyes. And that scent... it was her. She had been here! But... how was that even possible? He'd watched her plummet to her fiery death... but unless someone was burning an insane amount of herbs in his apartment (and he didn't smell smoke), it was her.
Realizing he'd closed his eyes during his daydream, Vincent slowly came back to reality as he looked around now. "Hello?" he asked, noticing what looked like another LAPD detective in here. "Detective Chaseman?" the PI inquired, stepping forward now with his hand out. "I'm the owner... Vincent, Vincent Rubio. Detective Patterson is a mutual friend. He suggested I talk to you about..." he looked around to make sure no cops or other mammals were present. "The Progressives." he said softly. "But before that... has someone broken in? I'm pretty sure I locked this place before I left this morning."
-
Cailan shook his head.
"I didn't get a good look at any of the assailants. Too many bullets flying and all. But I can tell you that one of them'll have a nasty scar on his chest, and another one on his hand."
He said calmly, grinning a little...
-
Nicky, who was just coming back out from the bedroom, started slightly at the sound of Vincent's voice. "Mr. Rubio," he said, making his way over to shake the raptor's hand. When Vincent mentioned the Progressives, Nicky met his eyes. Is this the 'guy' Dan mentioned? "I hope you don't mind - I decided to take a look around. To be honest, I was half expecting to find you in here and not in your current... healthy condition."
He nodded in response to Vincent's question and walked over to the door. "The door was already open... but as you can see, it wasn't forced. And," Nicky continued, leaning out of the doorway and indicating the body, "From the position he ended up in, it looks like he was thrown away from the door."
He looked up grimly at Vincent. "I don't want to alarm you, Mr. Rubio, but it looks like the people who attacked Morrow were also after you... but obviously, something went wrong. I think someone beat them here, someone who'd already let them-self in, and who was able enough to surprise and then fight off the assassins when they came for you."
Nicky paused. "There's a card left for you in the bedroom. I'm assuming you don't know about it, considering it's still in the envelope and wrapped with a bow. Do you know who might want to, ah, get your attention? If it helps, the writing on the front seemed feminine." He looked up at Vincent's face and studied his expression. It was a far shot, considering how easy it was for dinos to get new disguises, but if Vincent was involved with a woman who resembled the one who'd come down the stairway...
-
"Yeah well, for my sake, this is one of the few times I'm actually glad I was at a Council meeting." Vincent cracked wryly.
Vincent turned behind him to follow along with what Nicky was describing as to how this cleaner ended up in his position. The door wasn't forced... so how the hell did they get in? Or more correctly... did she get in? But he was getting ahead of himself. He didn't know if this was some sick joke on someone's part trying to make him think he was seeing ghosts... but then again... aside from Ernie... who knew about Circe? And more importantly, who knew about the relationship they'd had before her demise? Vincent could count only two... Ernie and Dan. Neither of them had ever gone to lengths like this to play a prank on him.
Vincent closed his eyes for a moment, trying to follow this. Hold on... they were targeting him? In addition to Morrow? And someone inside... had gotten the drop on them? Someone inside his supposedly locked apartment? This was getting creepy.
He twitched visibly as Nicky watched his face, asking his question about who might want to get his attention. A card with a bow? OK... when had he officially stepped into the Twilight Zone? Was it somewhere between Hollywood and Beverly Hills? He could honestly not remember a card being on his nightstand when he woke up this morning. Curiouser and curiouser...
"Ah... maybe." Vincent finally answered at long last, moving towards his bedroom. "But no one comes to mind." he lied. Hoo! That herbal aroma was heaviest in here... his head was practically swimming as he reached out for the card and took it, noticing the handwriting. What did hers look like again?
"Uh... Detective Chaseman, sorry, but I'm afraid I'm losing the plot here." the PI said as he came back out, tapping the card in his hand. "You said I was being targeted WITH Morrow? I'm sorry but I have next to nothing in common with that guy. I'm the most junior member on the Council, and he's one of the most senior... well was." Vincent corrected now. It was hard being senior anything when you were dead.
"I mean I have almost no say on anything they do, and if I even propose something, it has to meet with unanimous approval from the senior level Councillors. Councillor Morrow" Vincent talked freely here, as the cops hadn't come back in yet, "wasn't working on anything particularly... valuable either. I mean he was basically slogging through the year-end budget reports and wasn't on the oversight committee that's been appointed to investigate this new virus." Vincent explained, beginning to absent-mindedly undo the green bow on his card.
"So why would anyone target him, much less me? Well OK... me I guess I can sort of see, because of my knowledge about the Progressives, and while I confess, I do have some sensitive notes on them stored here, Councillor Morrow had nothing to do with any of that. I report directly to Councillor Irons on any matters regarding them. Councillor Morrow wasn't part of that process."
Vincent had pulled the card out now after clumsily ripping open the top of the envelope. More carefully unfolding the card itself, he began reading as he listened for Nicky's response. As he read, it became evident he was seeing specters, or the closest thing to them. His eyes grew wider as he read, and he looked incredibly insecure as his eyes descended down the page.
Vincent,
I hope this finds you well. I wish our first contact had been under more... agreeable circumstances, but you and I are in danger. I'm afraid our pasts are catching up with us, and are growing larger every day. I wish I could be telling you this to your face, so that I could once again gaze into your peaceful yet keen eyes. I've seen you recently; your eyes look so sad now, so defeated. I know how heavy your heart must be, but I hope to soon lift this burden and see you smile again. If you are interested in catching up, I cordially invite you to consider attending the 2013 Christmas Evening Gala at 6705 Vado Drive three nights from now. It's strictly dinos only... no guises, so please, check yours at the door. Bring Mr. Watson if you like, or any of your other friends who gate-crashed our last get-together. I promise you, there will be no fights atop gigantic falsified fossils this time.
I hope soon to embrace you, and once more feel your flesh against mine. But do behave yourself at this party; the guests will be watching, I assure you. Please take care of yourself until then, and be extremely careful... dangers are in places you might least expect, after all.
My love to you for the holidays, and a very Merry Christmas to you if you should choose not to attend in three nights.
C
Vincent had sniffled, his hands trembling a bit as he suddenly reached up and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry..." he apologized to Nicky now. "I just... the scent in here is rather strong." he delivered his none-too-convincing excuse.
==========================
"So you fought back?" Dan asked, frowning and nodding. "Very well. I'd like to get your statement if you please." he motioned for a cop to bring over the witness statement forms. "If you could just fill this out with everything you saw, heard, and witnessed, I would appreciate it very much. Also... contact information, if you please. Your ID has your address, but I'm going to need a phone number and email, if possible." the detective informed him, handing him the statement form.
-
Nicky nodded, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth for a split second. "I'm sure." It was true though, that scent was particularly powerful here in the bedroom. If the letter was indeed from a woman, then he could make a safe guess as to what was written in the letter. Why is Vincent lying to me? The expression on his face when Nicky had mentioned the letter was plain as day. He knows exactly who left it... who'd broken into his apartment, who'd killed the assassin outside. He knows the dinosaur who fooled me and escaped.
Nicky decided to come out with it. "Mr. Rubio, you don't need to lie to me. Detective Patterson told me about a contact... someone he knew that managed to fight back against the Progressives and win. You're the contact, aren't you? That's how you have all this information on them. You're the one who took them down." He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "I'm sure you know about the virus in New York, about how it only targets mammals. Something tells me this is all linked. I just need to work out what's going on. I think if you were open with me..."
He heard a faint sound behind him and turned to see a woman with long brown hair standing in the bedroom doorway. Though the sweet, perfume-like smell was overpowering, he could catch a faint scent to determine this was a dinosaur too. "Ma'am, I'm sorry but civilians aren't allowed here," he said quickly, making his way over to her. "This is a crime scene."
-
Heather was a little shocked at first as she had been walking up to the 8th floor. After all, she wasn't used to see dead persons lying around. Entering Vincent's room, she immediately knew something's wrong. Being adressed to leave by one of the policemen around, she replied.
"I'm here with Vincent, officer. He kinda outran me on the way from the ground level to the 8th floor hence I'm late." Heather picked up a feminine smell. Something oughtta be wrong...
-
Vincent was surprised at how perceptive this detective was. He could even give Dan Patterson a run for his money. Before he had a chance to answer though, Nicky was moving towards Heather, and Vincent immediately moved to intercede. "Oh! Detective Chaseman! That's my ride here today! She's Heather Corrigan... a friend." Vincent stated.
He looked at the letter in his hands, and sighed. "I'm sorry for being reticent." he apologized. "I just... Detective Chaseman... there are... certain people... I have to protect." He said now, treading carefully. "You're right... I'm not the raptor who so much brought them down as killed their leader... well... indirectly killed their leader. The person truly responsible for his death... is someone I myself thought dead." he said softly here, a twinge of sadness in his tones.
"I don't know how much you know..." he shook his head here. "But back in March when I started my investigation, my first actual social gathering with the Progressives was at a mansion in the Hollywood Hills... and there I met Circe, a female raptor who was kind of like their spokesperson. She was allegedly 96% pure dino... that was this stupid thing the Progressives were after. Trying to achieve 'pure' dinosaur by well... for lack of a better term forcing their converts to revert to the ways of our Ancestors. Anyway, she had this innate ability to completely control her scent and pheromones... she'd been taught how to do so by Raal, leader of the Progressives, who I thought was just a myth... someone who had died long ago. Her pheromones were so powerful... they could send you back in time... or THINK you had been sent back in time. You would fall subject to powerful hallucinations that she had full control over." he explained.
"Anyway... long story short... I fell for her. Fell hard... too hard. It was such a stupid thing to do." Vincent confessed, shaking his head. "You should never become involved with the opposition, even if you ARE just hoping to use them to get information... but before I knew it, I was with her almost constantly as she showed me this island the Progressives had off Hawaii... which was really a secret training facility for their true purpose... training their converts for all out war with humanity. Now look... this makes Circe culpable... I know that... but you have to believe me, Detective Chaseman. She was a dupe. Raal had been using her the whole time without telling her any of this... she was fooled just like everyone else. When she found out..." he paused here, his voice faltering. "She killed both Raal and herself to save me... or so I thought." he said weakly.
"But she... or a very clever imposter... wrote this." he said, holding up the card, but not giving it to Nicky. "This strong aromatic scent filling my condo? That's her... or something incredibly like her." Vincent admitted. He hesitated again here, wondering how much he should reveal. "I have to admit... this is both very exciting... but very disturbing too. If she lived... Raal could've lived." Vincent stated flatly, giving the detective a grave look. Vincent felt his legs become wobbly, so he took a seat in one of his condo's plush chairs.
"There's a little more to this card but... if I tell you... I want the police to back off of her." he said seriously. "I'm sorry if this is obstruction... but I'll gladly be arrested in her place." he said softly. "Look... Circe was a lot of things... but she wasn't a terrorist... and she isn't an extremist. But I don't want you arresting her just yet, or at all if it can be avoided. I want... to learn the truth of what happened that day. I want to know if this recent virus outbreak is connected to them in any way. I will cooperate... but only if she gets immunity for now." Vincent stated resolutely, having found his resolve once more.
-
Nicky paused, his gaze flicking between Heather and Vincent. This Circe dinosaur sounded like a threat to him, a danger to the population - and the idea of not actively pursuing her made him ill at ease. But, for some reason, he felt like he could trust Vincent. And Dan seemed to feel the same way...
If it earns his cooperation...He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Alright, Mr. Rubio. While I'm looking into this whole... mess, I'll turn a blind eye to her. Hell, she did take out one of the bastards that killed Morrow." Nicky narrowed his eyes. "But if, during the investigation, I find evidence that links her to the virus in New York..." He trailed off, leaving the rest implied. "I'm trusting you on this. Do we have a deal?" He took a step forward to offer a hand to Vincent.
The compy looked at Heather, his hand still outstretched to the private detective. "And can I trust you to keep quiet about this? Not focusing on any potential suspects isn't exactly approved of."
-
Vincent rose, and grasped the compy's hand in his own, and gave it a firm shake. "Deal. But she wouldn't be behind this." he informed Nicky. "She would never do anything to harm humans... not willingly at least." he said. "She's not like that. She was as horrified as I was to learn what her cult stood for. I think someone else is behind this." he admitted now, then turned to face both Heather and the detective.
"Now then... she's suggesting I can meet her three nights from now, at a Christmas party in the Hollywood Hills. I don't know if she'll be there or not but... she indicated she would be. If you want to meet her and judge for yourself, I can take you there." he suggested, before breaking out into a slight smile. "Besides... might do us some good to get out of our guises for once. So what do you two say?" he asked, looking from Nicky to Heather. "You two ready to get your dino butts out of your guises and go stomping around the Hollywood Hills for a night?" he continued, his smile turning into a grin here.
-
Cailan made his way towards the group with a small chuckle, shaking his head a little.
"My, my. Fine mess this is, honestly. I think that the Progressives were after me, as well. You see, in a way, I am one of their targets as well. I apologize for lying to you, but, as I wasn't sure as to who you were, I had to take precautions."
He bowed low in a theatrical way, and, as he stood, grinned broadly.
"My name is Cailan Sablewind. You may have heard of me. Especially you, Mr. Rubio."
He said coolly...
-
Nicky blanched under his guise. It looked like something out there really wanted him to go to a party. But it'll help with the investigation... And he had to admit, it would be nice to get out of his suit.
"Alright then, it sounds like a good idea," he said, returning the velociraptor's grin with a small twitch at the corner of his mouth. "Since we're going to a party together, I guess you can start calling me Nicky."
When he saw Cailan appear in the next room behind Heather's shoulder, he swore under his breath. "What the hell happened to not letting people wander around crime scenes?" After Cailan introduced himself, he scowled. "I've heard of you." The expression on Nicky's face said clearly what he thought of Sablewind... or more specifically, what he thought of his rather outspoken ideals.
-
"And you can call me Vincent." the PI replied to Nicky, glad he'd agreed to go along. He was more interested in actually seeing if Circe had survived, and besides... a guiseless party! He couldn't possibly resist that! Not that he really minded the guise, but the thought of seeing her in the flesh again... it made his skin crawl.
He turned now, his smile vanishing as Cailan Sablewind bowed in front of him. "Yes... there isn't a member on the Council who hasn't." Vincent replied laconically. "You are one of the most wanted dinos in south California, and while I am not empowered to make an arrest, I AM seriously contemplating it." He glanced to Nicky now. "I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but he's an advocate of human-dinosaur relations, which as you know, are strictly forbidden in any form by our Grand Council. He also failed to execute the human family that had taken him in, and their whereabouts are currently unknown to us. Look..." he turned back to Cailan now.
"I don't have too many problems with the mammals... but there are obvious reasons we can't reveal ourselves to them." the raptor stated. "Movies like Jurassic Park, which was an abomination in my opinion, haven't helped humans' perceptions about us. They see us as feral monsters who died out long ago, and had our Ancestors chose instead to kill the humans early on as opposed to integrating with them, things might've been different... but we chose to hide. We TRIED revealing ourselves to them long ago... our Ancestors and theirs made contact. They butchered us however. And that antagonism... that enmity... it's led to why we do what do."
Now... back when he'd first met Circe, she'd told him the whole story of how the first Ancestors had been massacred by the humans, and how disguising themselves had diminished their true potential over the years. Most of it was Progressive crap, but Vincent had to admit... things hadn't started out well between the early humans and the Ancestors, and that had led directly to the guises they used today. Sure, Vincent wished things could be different... but they weren't. And they hadn't been for 65 million years now.
-
Cailan smirked a little, unfazed by the others contemptuous attitudes towards him.
"If that was truly the case, then why did my family not attempt to harm me or sell me out? Humans have changed, Rubio. They are far more accepting now. They are willing to listen to reason, to consider options besides violence. Sure, there are some who will still seek conflict, but now, people like that are a vast minority. If we came forward as friends, as peers, I think things could be different. Just imagine it. What if we didn't have to hide anymore? Just imagine think what we could do together. Human technology, with our own knowledge of the world...it could usher in a new golden age!"
He countered resolutely...
-
Heather listened to the conversation very closely. Cailan seemed strange to her but his view on the human-dinosaur relationship made her thoughtful. Thoughtful enough to pipe up.
"Well, what's so utterly wrong?" she wondered, adressing nobody in particular. "I know that revealing ourselves to the mammals might end in a chaos but if we act kind and explain things we could do it successfully, couldn't we?"
Everyone's attention was now directed at her. "I don't mind the guise, it's the hiding that is a bit annoying."
-
"Do you know that?" Nicky asked Heather, his attention focused on her. "Can you be sure? You can't pin this all on a maybe. Can you imagine how their lives would be turned upside-down if they found out about us? If it started a war, think about how many could die - both them and us..." Nicky shook his head. "It's not something I'm willing to risk."
He rounded on Cailan. "Vincent might not be able to arrest you, but I can - and I'm finding it hard to think of a reason why I shouldn't slap a pair of cuffs on you right now. At least there'd be one less problem to worry about."
-
Cailan stepped in front of Nicky, looking at him coldly.
"And simply killing anyone who might know anything about us is better to you? How does that make you any different than the Progressives? You all see humans as just vermin, as lessers, and yet you live in fear of them. The way I see it, you're all cowards who merely insist on clinging to an idea, not even considering for a moment what could be. Half the reason that people would be afraid of you is because you're nothing but murderers."
He said, turning on his heel and walking off.
-
Vincent could only shake his head at this. "But they haven't changed much. They fear what they don't understand. Yes... SOME humans that might not be true for... but they're the exception rather than the rule. Humans by and large fear what they don't understand. I mean look at how they treat their own individual ethnicities! Everyone is 'different' in their society; they aren't unified. We could TRY and approach them... but I'm with Detective Chaseman... far more likely we'd be captured for study, or a war would spark over it. We can't be initiators of that kind of widespread slaughter. We're different from the Progressives because we don't actively target humans for extermination in the belief that our own race is superior." Vincent pointed out here.
"Yes, humans who discover our secret must be killed, and that is distasteful, but it's preventing further bloodshed. I agree that walking around in hiding isn't completely natural, but the only other option is too risky right now. I'd LOVE to be able to walk around and have the sunlight play upon my natural hide... but the truth is, we don't live in a fairy tale, much as I wish we did. Ideals are nice... but that's all they are... ideals. While things may change with time, I don't think either society is ready for that."
Vincent sighed as Cailan began walking away, and he shook his head again. "I don't think he's a threat to exposing us but... he IS wanted by the Council." he told Nicky now. "While I'd love to debate the merits of guise or no guise all day, I'm afraid it's pointless at this time. Does it sadden me? You bet. But the fact of the matter is, prejudices still burn in BOTH our societies. It's sad but... it's just the way things are. You can do what you want with him... the Council won't tolerate a major breach after all... so someone's going to end up dead if things get pushed too far." Vincent said grimly.
Sighing heavily again, Vincent sank back down into his chair, and began rereading Circe's letter. Three nights from now. He wasn't sure he could wait that long, but he had to. He had no way of contacting her otherwise.
Looking up at Heather now, the velociraptor PI gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry if I got a bit defensive back there. This question has divided us ever since our Ancestors made first contact with the humans. I wish there WAS a way... but until we learn to stop judging each other for being white skinned, dark skinned, brontosaur, compsognathus, diplodocus, whatever, it's going to be difficult. Me for example... I usually have an aversion to compies." Vincent said, unaware Nicky was one. "To me they're small, annoying, usually dim-witted, and love to hear themselves talk... BUT..." he held up a finger now. "That's also letting my prejudices talk as well... not all of them are like that, and I SHOULDN'T get annoyed with them just because I've encountered more than a few that are like that. It's the same thing the humans do amongst each other. It's just sad we let things like this divide us when we're not so different from each other. All dinosaurs have scales, all humans have skin. Hell I like watching the Super Bowl as much as the mammal sitting on the bar stool next to me does. Maybe he's married and has kids, and I clearly don't, and maybe he's a bit loud and rambunctious, and I'm not, and maybe he goes to church and I don't because our Ancestors never had anything like human religion 65 million years ago, but hell... we still share the same space with each other when watching said Super Bowl... right?" he asked now, his face drawn.
-
Vincent's speech made Heather even more thoughtful. Like everyone else, she didn't like the Progressives and their aims... for obvious reasons. Vincent had a point in her view by claiming that the mammals weren't united. In fact, so Heather concluded, they, the dinosaurs that ruled the earth for more than 100 million years, would be considered a minority in the human society, no matter of race. Not to speak that even the dinosaurs weren't really united either.
In hindsight, Heather admitted that hiding was probably the better option. After all, it HAD worked all the time and some collateral damage, namely disposing of humans who knew about them, was quite acceptable and highly preferable over a war with millions of dead.
"I didn't take that into consideration..." Heather stated in a reply to Vincent and Nick. "I think you two are right then though I find it morally wrong to hide..." Thinking of her work in the shop she added. "Y'know... I'm working at a clothing store so I meet people and fellow dinosaurs all the time. For me, it doesn't make much of a difference whether somebody's human or dinosaur, actually. We behave very similar to them, we are about as clever and technologically advanced as they are and we have the same aims in life, don't we?"
-
"We're technically more advanced." Vincent smirked. "We could've had all this they have now 65 million years ago... we just elected not to. When the humans decided to build their society up, we followed suit, all part of our attempts at blending in." he explained. "And while our societies DO differ in some significant regards, we also have significant similarities. Mostly through our integration into their society but... over the millions of years, we've become more similar than dissimilar I think... it's just those last few miles we haven't been able to bridge. Humans like to see us as primitive and vicious hunters who would not hesitate to kill them openly if we existed. It's sad... I mean look at Jurassic Park. It's such hogwash, but that's how a lot of humans see us."
He shrugged here. "We haven't really done much to help that perception in Hollywood... though I have to admit, I kind of did like that Land Before Time series." Vincent commented mirthfully. "That was DEFINITELY made by dinos, and hopefully at least helped some children's perceptions out about us."
-
"Land Before Time? I've never heard of it." Nicky shook his head. "You're right, though. We are essentially the same... so imagine how you'd feel if it turned out people you thought you knew - maybe some of your best friends - were not only lying to you the entire time, but were a species that you'd been told all your life had died out millions of years ago?"
He looked at Heather. "Don't misunderstand me. I'd like nothing more than to walk around without a guise... but I think we've left it too late to show ourselves," he said, a little sadly. "Sablewind means well, but he's dangerous. I'm going to need to report his last known location to the council."
After a short pause, Nicky glanced up at Vincent with a small, wry smile. "Anyway, not to sound dim-witted, but it seems to me that staying here isn't really an option. Do you have anywhere else you can live until this gets sorted out?"
-
"The Land Before Time? Sounds familiar..." Heather exclaimed. "Guess I watched it as a toddler."
Turning to Nick, she said. "Oh no problem, I know you would. Everybody would like to walk around without their guise..." Heather sighed. "Anyway, what's wrong with Sablewind? Is he a criminal or what?"
So Vincent needed shelter??? Heather felt really sorry for the velociraptor. "He doesn't have to sleep on the street, or does he?" Then a concept popped up in her head, as crazy and awkward it seemed to her... She had a small flat in some skyscraper only a block away from the shop she was working at. If Vincent slept on the sofa... "Nope, that's a bad idea..." Even though Heather's heart pushed her to speak up and offer her crush shelter at hers, her senses told her the very opposite. "I won't ask him but if he asks me... I'll say yes."
-
Cailan sighed, standing outside the condos. Shaking his head, he looked down, growling and punching the wall hard enough to tear through his guise and drawing blood.
"Damnit... Who am I kidding. Maybe I am wrong... Maybe I should just give up...go back and submit myself to the council.. Let them kill me."
He said defeatedly, slumping against the wall dejectedly...
-
Vincent nodded at Nicky. "That's EXACTLY my point... we've been lying to the humans for millions of years, and if they suddenly found out that everything they've basically believed is a lie... that's my concern."
"As for Sablewind..." the raptor turned to Heather now. "He's been branded an outlaw by the Council for desiring to expose our secret to the humans. I'm not... opposed to the idea, but I think it needs to be done... gradually... carefully... extremely carefully."
He sighed now, closing his eyes. This was such a headache. "I don't... really have an alternate place to stay. There's the office... but my partner usually sleeps there. So I guess I'll have to get a hotel until this place stops becoming a crime scene. How long will that take, detective?" Vincent inquired.
He then thought of something... and turned to Heather. "Heather... I REALLY hate to impose on you... but... you don't think I could stay with you, do you?" he asked, looking over at her now. "I really don't want to stay in a hotel... and hopefully this won't be too long." he said apologetically.
-
"Right, if everything goes well it shouldn't take long," Nicky confirmed. "From what I can tell, none of Morrow's assassins were in here, only this 'Circe'." He paused. "Who may or may not be back from the dead. But if she's as... trustworthy as you say, then you should be able to move back here soon. I would like to make sure we're not overlooking anything first, though."
He waved a hand in the direction of the door. "The same goes for the corridor just outside. From first glance, I couldn't see anything unusual. Apart from the body and the gun, I suppose. Obviously, it looks like the majority of my investigation here will take place in the ex-Councilor's apartment, and that could take a while longer. At that point, I suppose you could move back here." He gave Vincent an inquisitive look that bordered on ghoulish. "Unless you're uncomfortable living just down the corridor from the scene of a multiple murder?"
"You might also want to consider the fact that the killers know that you live here... it might be for the best if you stay with your, ah, lady friend for a while longer." Nicky shrugged. "Your call."
-
"Is he capable of reading thoughts?!?" Heather thought. One part of her body burst in childish joy whereas the other part sweared.
"As long as you don't mind sleeping on my sofa, I could offer you my modest flat, Vincent," Heather said sweetly.
-
"All right..." Vincent nodded, listening to Nicky's explanation. "I suppose I can stay one night until the condo is cleared." He looked over at Heather now, catching the rather sweet tone of her voice.
"Uhhh..." he paused here, then nodded. "Sure." he relented, giving her a smile. "All right, Detective Chaseman... Nicky..." he caught Nicky's dim-witted comment, and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry... guess I didn't realize you were a compy." he apologized. "Then if there's nothing else... lead on, Heather." Vincent instructed. "Oh yes... here... my card." Vincent handed Nicky his PI's card with all his pertinent contact information on it. "Give me a call if you need anything." he informed him.
On the way out, Vincent noticed Cailan leaning against the side of the building. The raptor immediately noticed the torn guise, and sighed. "Hold on a minute, Heather." Vincent told her, and walked over to his fellow raptor. Cailan looked like he'd just gone three rounds with a mutant alligator and lost. "Look... Mr. Sablewind, I'm not going to report you to the Council... unless of course you did something drastic. I'm with you... I am... but I just don't think we can do it right now. It has to be done... carefully." he said now.
-
Cailan looked up at Vincent, shaking his head sadly.
"You don't have to hide me from them anymore. I did my part in things. Maybe it's time I stopped running."
He said bitterly...
-
Nicky took Vincent's card, and as the pair walked out he held it up to inspect it. Private Investigator... Might come in useful. He noted that Vincent's office wasn't too far from the LAPD headquarters, and slipped the card into his jacket. He took another glance around the room. There was a crease on the bed as if someone had been sitting there, waiting. You're a lucky guy, Vincent... or not, as the case may be. He straightened his tie and left the condo.
In the corridor, the photographer was crouched down, taking pictures of the corpse with the broken neck. The triceratops wearing the heavy-set, bearded guise glanced around as Nicky approached and stood up. "This guy really had a number done on him."
"That's one way of putting it, Frank. Have you been in Morrow's condo yet?"
"Yep, just finished taking my pictures. It's a bloodbath... without the blood. Weird. Not that I'm complaining, after the last crime scene we were at... Hey, Chaseman," Frank looked around to check the hall was clear and lowered his tone to a whisper. "Do you think this is some kind of attack on the Council? I saw the sign on the Councillor..."
"It's hard to say at the moment. But I'm looking into it. Is the body-squad on their way?" Culverhouse would have called an all-dino body retrieval team - it wouldn't do to have a mammal move one of the bodies and notice a tear in the guise. The bodies would then be transported to a specialist morgue, run by dinosaurs.
"You bet, they'll be here in a few minutes. Well, my work here is done. Don't overwork yourself Chaseman, you're looking tired." Frank made his way to the stairs, throwing a wave over his shoulder.
"Bye Frank." Nicky watched him leave, then made his way down to Morrow's condo. Yellow tape had been stretched across the corridor to form a barrier. He ducked under it and stood in the doorway. The other officers had cleared out, and aside from his dead companions he was alone. Nicky sighed, his eyes scanning the room.
-
"I won't hide you from them... but I won't report you either. I'm with you on this, OK? I just... feel we need to go about it cautiously. One step at a time. I'm not going to go about exacting the Council's justice... I don't believe you're a dangerous threat. Anyway... I just wanted to let you know that." the PI stated, and backed off now, giving him a nod and moving to rejoin Heather.
"OK... lead the way. I'm interested in seeing what kind of place you have." Vincent informed her with a smile.
======================
The room seemed to yaw in its emptiness back at Nicky. Such a mysterious murder... Morrow hadn't been involved in anything major on the Council, so why kill him? But as Nicky's eyes roamed the room, they would notice a picture frame lying face down. The back of the frame had been removed, indicating that the Councillor had possibly stored something secret in there, but whatever it was, the cleaners had cleaned it out. It was just an empty frame now, with the picture discarded on the floor. Councillor Morrow grinned into empty space, his hand resting on his son's shoulder, and his other arm around his beaming wife.
-
"Alright! Let's go then," Heather called and returned the smile. "It's nothing compared to your place though.." she added.
While she was walking down the stairs of the building, past Morrow's place, the hadrosaur considered how to word the question that she had on her mind... She would ask Vincent as soon as he would have gotten used to her little flat...
Eventually, they arrived at Heather's car and drove to Heather's place.
-
Exiting the car and looking up at the place, Vincent wasn't sure what he was getting into just yet, but it was in a nice neighborhood for starters. "I don't know if you have a guest bed, but I'll take the couch if not, or whatever you have, really." he stated, not too concerned about the accommodations she'd have. "Do you have a guise or no guise rule, or anything like that?" he asked. Some dinos were very particular about not wearing their guises inside their own home, so the PI just wanted to make sure he'd be following her house rules as best he could.
-
Heather chuckled insidely. "Well Vincent, I could offer you my bed and sleep on the couch myself of course... I wouldn't mind but the couch is really comfortable. I often fall asleep when watching TV."
Entering the door, she lead Vincent to the lift and pressed the button to order it.
"Ah crap, it's just on the top," she cursed. " Oh, regarding the guises... I don't have a rule. When I relax, I usually don't wear it at all; it's up to you, really. How do you do it at yout place?"
The lift arrived and they entered it.
-
As Nicky glanced around the room, he noticed the picture frame lying on the floor next to an overturned desk. He crouched down and picked it up, frowning as he turned it over in his hands. What was he hiding in here? The back looked like it had been cut open, something pulled out in a hurry. And why did they want to take it? The front gave no indication, it was just a typical family photo. His eyes hardened when his gaze passed over the wife and son in the photo. "Glad I'm not the one who has to break the news to them," he muttered.
Voices in the corridor announced the arrival of the body retrieval team. Nicky placed the photo back on the ground and stood back up. When the group of four guised dinos entered, they seemed almost disappointed. Nicky shrugged. "Sorry. Looks like they were kind enough to clean up the blood for you." He stepped out of the room as they prepared to do their job, rubbing his jaw as a thought occurred to him - maybe whoever had called in the crime had seen the perpetrators.
-
"I usually just keep my guise on... it's easier for me that way, as I don't often think about it." Vincent commented now. "However..." he paused to think a moment here as they rode on up. "I haven't washed my unguised body in quite some time... perhaps it's due for a bit of freshening up before this party." he commented. Dinos rarely had to bathe as often as humans did, and could often go a few weeks without anyone noticing, though thoughts of the upcoming party and Circe's possible appearance placed a new emphasis on his desire to clean himself up.
"If it's too much trouble I'll just stick to my guise." he concluded. "I really don't want to impose on you anymore than I already am." he stated, giving her a brief smile.
==============================
High atop the streets of LA, Kauffman walked into a rather plush office in the penthouse of the building. Green carpeting ran the length of the place, and a heavy mahogany desk stood at the far end, like a gate blocking access to the owner on the far side. Said owner sported gray hair though looked to be in his early 50s, but what did guises truly matter? The white Colonel Sanders style mustache he'd been sporting for years was gone, replaced with a clean-shaven countenance and piercing blue eyes. He bore a strong resemblance to Scott Glenn, and the guise was in fact partly modeled after the human actor.
"The CD's been recovered, sir." Kauffman said with confidence, holding out the disc that Senator Morrow had concealed in his family picture frame. "No problems retrieving it, though we did have to abandon Mitchell, deceased. Rubio's information was unobtainable due to the recovery team being attacked by a few dinos along the way... including a female raptor." He paused here as his boss reached out and grasped the disc in a gentle grip.
"None of that is of any consequence." The voice was soft, sincere, and warm. It almost didn't match the scenery, but there was a slight chill in it as well, betraying a darker intent underneath. "Rubio's information was only secondary... and killing Rubio was a bonus. Far better to watch him squirm over the next few weeks, wouldn't you say?" Kauffman merely nodded, but remained silent. "We're about to move into phase two, and with the destruction of this mess..." he waved the disc lightly, "we can proceed. I think I'll view it once before destroying it... I'm curious to see just what Councillor Morrow was thinking. There were no other copies, correct?"
Kauffman shook his head. "We did a thorough sweep, and I can say no copies remained in that apartment."
The older man nodded. "Good... good. As for the female... if it IS in fact my old protege... well... we'll deal with her in good time. The funds have been wired to your account. A job well done. You will leave now." Not you may leave or you can leave, but you will leave. Kauffman nodded once, turned on his heels, and strode out of the office. It was time to start broadening the operation...
-
Nicky made his way back down the stairs to the main foyer. By now, a large group of police were milling around. A few residents had arrived from their work, and were anxiously ganging up on a few officers, trying to understand what was happening. Through the double doors, he could see the lights of a few news teams hanging about in the parking lot, the reporters speaking into the cameras.
Spotting Dan across the hall, Nicky crossed the room, weaving his way across. When he reached the bronto, he had to raise his voice to be heard over the echoing din of worried voices. "Did we get the number of the first person to report this?"
(OOC: I'm a little confused about what time this is happening, is this later at night? If that's the case, I'll have Nicky call Karl over to the station the next morning)
-
Dan nodded, quickly flipping through his notepad, then signalling for a patrolman to wander over with an iPad. Scrolling through some of the screens, Dan finally tapped a finger on the correct note page, and handed it over to Nicky. "Here you go. That's the one." he said. "The first alarm was technically the one we received, but he's the first civi to call it in." Dan nodded, and looked around. "Morrow's place seemed pretty clean. Still don't know why he was targeted... neither the mammals nor us really know." he said in a much lowered voice. "But we'll be working on it. I think the chief is hinting this investigation is gonna be yours... you were the one to notice the alarm after all, hope you're OK with that. I think some... pressure was put on him from the deputy chief." Dan stated. Their Deputy Chief of Police was a dino, but the chief was human. Any dino cases the deputy chief usually delegated to dinos, and it seemed Nicky would be the one leading this case.
-
"Hmn." Nicky glanced up from the iPad at Dan. "Never trust a human to do a dino's job, right?" A quick, sardonic smile flickered across his face before he looked back down at the screen displaying the phone number. "Sure, it's no problem."
The patrolman made his way back over, and Nicky handed it back with a nod of thanks. "I think I'll head back to the station," he said as he fished around in his pockets for a pen and scrawled the phone number on the back of his hand. "You're right, Morrow's condo is clean... it might be the cleanest crime scene I've visited. These guys were pros - they collected their shell casings, cleaned up the blood..." Nicky finished writing and clicked the pen shut, simultaneously running a hand through his guise's hair in a gesture of thought. "Maybe the civilian saw something we can use. It's a slim chance... but never overlook the simplest path, right?"
-
"Jeez... first time I've seen that." Dan shook his head in disbelief. "These guys are sounding more professional the more I hear. Sounds like we'll pick up very little evidence... especially if they were just wearing guises anyway." he muttered. Guises left little trace evidence aside from fingerprints, and Dan doubted these guys were stupid enough to leave those behind. Any hairs would fail to be pinged in the system, if only because guises could change over time among professional criminals.
"Well all right... I'll finish up here, and see you later. If you talked to my guy, I hope he provided you with some good info and if not... he's willing to talk. I'll see if traffic cams got anything too on those vans." Dan stated, giving Nicky a nod and then a pat on the back as he headed towards Lieutenant Culverhouse to begin going over traffic cam footage as the LAPD began setting up mobile headquarters on site.
-
Nicky pushed his way out of the front doors. Immediately, a small horde of reporters surged towards him, wielding their microphones and cameras and firing questions at him. He ignored them and pushed his way through, making his way quickly down the small set of steps to his car. He climbed in and quickly hammered the 'lock' button on the door. When he turned the key to the engine, the clock on the dashboard glowed green. 4:30. Still enough time to call our witness in and see if they saw anything useful. He pulled away and headed up to the highway.
15 minutes later, he was letting himself back into the LAPD offices. Whereas not too long ago they'd been practically empty, a handful of exasperated officers now sat behind their desks, talking irritably into their phones. Many of them were holding their faces in their hands, the universal sign of defeat.
One particularly miserable looking cop hung up and looked at Nicky. "Culverhouse told some of us to come back here and stay with the phone lines, see if anyone calls with any info... You leading this again?"
Nicky nodded. "Anything useful so far?"
"Well, I just got a call from someone who's, you're gonna like this, a great god of the moon who teleported from Brazil and used his laser vision against Morrow."
"Hmn." Nicky frowned sympathetically. "Probably don't need to worry about that one. Keep at it, maybe we'll actually get a good call-in for once." He left the cop and returned to his desk and, glancing quickly at the number scrawled on his hand, typed it into the database.
A name came up. Karl Flyn. Mentally crossing his claws, Nicky picked up his phone and dialed the number.
-
Karl was on his tablet reclining back in the chair taking notes for ideas he had for the book he was working on, putting in various ideas as they came to him. He'd go over his ideas later and decide which ones to keep, alter, or save for future possibilities. He had some music playing quietly, where he could barely hear it.
He heard his cellphone ringing and picked it up answering it. "Hello." He answered.
-
"Ah, good afternoon. Mr. Flyn?" Nicky cleared his throat. "This is detective Chaseman with the LAPD. I have it on our records here that you made a call to the police earlier this afternoon, regarding something you saw outside Skylark Condominium. As I'm sure you've heard by now, there was an..." He searched for the right word to use. "An incident there while you made that call. Would it be possible for you to come down to the station to give a statement? Any information you could give us would be useful."
-
"Sure, I can come right down. not sure if I saw anything useful. I took a few pictures with my cellphone. I'll print them out, in case they can be of any help." Karl said. "I was sure something had happened. I'll be right down, Anyone I should ask for once I get to the police station or should I ask for you?" He said.
After he had finished with the call he turned off his cellphone and tablet. Then he took his cellphone over the pc and booted it up. While waiting he took out the micro sdhc card from his cellphone and put it into an adapter so he could print out the pictures he had taken.
He put on his guise while the computer was printing the pictures out. Making sure he had put on his guise right he took the pictures, shut the desktop off and put the card back into his cellphone. He then took his stuff and went to his car to drive down to the police station.
-
A short time later, Nicky was notified that he had a visitor. He made his way down to the lobby and noticed a young man with brown hair and green eyes standing on his own. As he approached, he caught the scent of a raptor. "Mr. Flyn, I'm detective Chaseman. Thanks for taking the time to come down here. If you could follow me..."
He led the way back up to the office, pulled a chair up for Karl and took a seat behind the desk. "Alright. Hey, are you a writer?" Nicky asked, trying to make him feel more at ease - witnesses always gave better answers if they didn't feel stressed. He'd often seen his neighbour's son reading some sort of fantasy book written by a 'Karl Flyn'.
-
"Hello. Nice to meet you." Karl said before following Nick to his office. He looked around the area a bit as they walked to Nicky's office. He thought he smelled that Nicky was a Compy. Not surprised that some dinos would be among the police and detectives. He had never seen the inside of a real police station, just those on tv.
He sat in the chair pulled out for him. He did his best to try to get comfortable. He nodded, smiling at the question. "Yes, I've had some books published. Not to many yet, but I've not been writing to long, about 3-4 years or so." He said.
-
"I thought your name sounded familiar. Haven't had a chance to read them myself, but my neighbour assures me that they're, in fact, awesome." Nicky gave Karl a small smile. Judging from his guise the kid was only in his early 20's, a few years younger than himself. He isn't doing too bad for himself.
Nicky shifted in his chair. "Anyway, I'm sure you have other places you'd rather be so I'll get right to it. There was a shooting at Skylark involving Senator Morrow. As you can see -" he indicated the flustered cops rushing around, "- we're hard at work getting to the bottom of it. Your call was actually the very first we had, so there's a chance you saw something. If you could just tell me in as much detail as you can what you saw, it could really come in useful." He folded his arms and leaned forward on the desk. "You also mentioned some photos you took..."
-
Vincent had opted to just give in and shower, guiseless. The water ran down his green scales, forming rivulets that gushed down his body and swirled around the drain at his clawed feet. Resting his hands against the tiled walls, the raptor flexed the big claw on his right foot; there was no pain.
Sighing, he closed his eyes. That was the very claw she had been hanging onto when he'd been unable to save her... the very claw she'd willingly let go of to plummet to her fiery death... or so he thought. He'd been gazing into her eyes right up to the moment she'd let go, begging her to just hold on...
Feeling the steam playing about him and warming his body, the raptor's mind drifted even further back, to the hotel room on Maui. He'd been at a Luau that night, the slowly cooking pork filling his nostrils, and the banana leaves gradually eating away at his brain, causing his mind to spin in lazy carousels of pleasure while he'd been bugging Ernie about how long Ernie had last been with a female. Then all of a sudden it had hit him... the sweet smell of a nude female raptor striding directly toward him from across the hotel grounds. Never mind how she was evading the countless humans she was passing by; she'd gotten Vincent's attention and fast.
But that image had dissolved into a simple female dino in a guise, an employee of the hotel who'd informed him he'd had a phone call waiting for him in the lobby. After the call, Vincent's already cloudy mind had shifted its focus to this guised dino, and soon, they had been practically ripping each others' clothes off in the elevator on the way up to his room. He wasn't sure why he'd been so filled with lust that night (he didn't typically fall over himself to make out with a strange female after all), but by the time he'd gotten back to his room and had stretched his guiseless body out on his bed, closing his eyes while he waited for the female to freshen up in the bathroom, he was completely at her mercy.
Imagine his utter surprise and sweet shock then when the bathroom door finally opened, and emerging through the steam like a Hawaiian goddess arising from a volcano was Circe. Vincent had been struck speechless as her claw had pressed itself against his lips, shushing him as she'd begun whispering into his ear: Love me, Vincent. Love me tonight.
That had been their first (but not last) time, though the PI had later completely forgotten about it due to his heavily drugged state, and the intense amount of pheromones Circe had used on him that night. The memories of that deliciously delirious night had only come flooding back moments before Circe had taken the final plummet. She'd unlocked his mind and allowed him to recall every last sensual detail of it, and then she had let go... saving his life but giving up her own in order to kill her former mentor and leader.
It was only now that Vincent realized he was crying. Dammit! Pull yourself together! he chided himself. He was so vulnerable when thinking about her. Was she really alive, or was this just some sick joke someone was playing on him? He wanted to believe with all his heart that she was still out there... that she would be waiting for him at this gala three nights from now.
Straightening up, he practically began attacking his body as he scrubbed himself down, using one of Heather's wash cloths she'd lent him before he'd stepped into the shower. Sniffing, he shook his head. The past was the past... but it was so damn hard to forget sometimes. Passion had turned into memories, and memories now tore at his heart, jabbing that knife just a bit further down every time they were brought to the surface. "Come on Vincent..." he whispered, turning the water off now as he finished up. "Come on... let it go... stop thinking about it..."
Stepping out of the shower and reaching for a towel, the raptor began to dry himself off, his large claws clicking on the floor as he moved ever so slightly with each swipe of the towel over his body.
-
Karl smiled, "Thanks. I just write the sorts of stories I'd like to read. And attempt to improve when I can." He said.
He breathed in and exhaled slowly as he thought back to the time. Not sure what details may be important. At the mention of photos he reached into a pocket and took out the pictures he had made. "I took these, one of them is of the back and part of the side of the van, with the license plates. The others are of the entrance & lobby area a second or so after I got to the entrance." He said, unfolding the loosely folded pictures and put then on the desk. "Not sure if they would help any or not. Not high quality since I took them with my cellphone."
He paused before continuing. "I was going home like normal. parked my car and went to the entrance. Along the way I noticed the van near the entrance and was a bit suspicious why the van was there. Not like it was a postal, UPS, or some other vehicle like that, but some cleaning company the condo doesn't use. Then I got to the lobby I saw some heading towards the elevators in back. I saw the hand and arm of someone behind the desk. I quickly took out my cellphone and took a few quick pictures and thought it best to leave there before they noticed I was there. I thought to get one of the van back and bit of the side, once I was away from the entrance where they couldn't see me. Then I went to my car and drove a block away. Parked it to call the police since it looked like something was up. Then I called dad so I could stay at my parent's place till it was safe to return home." Karl said. "not sure if what I said or took pictures of are of any help." He said.
-
Nicky nodded when Karl had finished speaking. "That's okay, you did the right thing. Staying away from there was smart." He rubbed his jaw and sighed lightly. "So you didn't manage to catch a glimpse of anyone suspicious? Anyone at all?" He'd suspected as much, but it was hard not to feel a pang of disappointment. Then again, even if Karl had seen one of the gunmen - if the body outside Vincent's door was anything to go by, the team would consist of dinos, and swapping out their guise for a new look would be all too easy.
He reached forwards and slid the photos across the desk towards him. The first showed the side of a van, 'Evolution Cleaners' printed loudly in white against the black paintwork. As Karl had mentioned, the quality of the image wasn't perfect - it was grainy, and the windscreen of the van was tinted black. It was impossible to make out anyone behind the wheel.
The next two photos showed the foyer, slightly blurry as if Karl's hand had been trembling slightly when he's taken them. Nicky could just make out the hand of one of the dead security guards behind the desk... but again, none of the gunmen were in the shot.
Nicky rubbed the bridge of his nose dejectedly and flicked the fourth and final photograph to the front. It was the shot of the back of the van, again slightly blurry. He started to sigh again. "Well, you did all you could, Mr. Flyn. Thank..." His voice trailed off when he looked down and noticed the license plate. Nicky brought the picture up closer to his face. With the quality of the image, he couldn't see the numbers, but it was white with a colourful curve across the top... a rainbow? He only knew one type of license plate with a rainbow across the top. The plate is from Hawaii? It was obviously stolen and wouldn't link back to the van itself... but it was an odd choice. Nicky knew that in most cases, it was easier to obtain a stolen license plate from the same area.
He looked back up at Karl and smiled. "Thank you very much for coming down here, Mr. Flyn. I think these photographs could be useful for the case. I assume it's alright if I keep the pictures?"
-
"Sure, you can keep those. I still have the digital files on my cellphone, if you need more made. Not sure if I was able to help any but I hope I was able to at least a little." He said. "Looks like a mess, with the activity here." He said looking around at the activity around where they were. He started to get up to go. "Good luck on the case. I hope you find out who did it and those involved." He said.
-
Vincent stepped out of the bathroom, his natural raptor body guiseless as he was now dried off (he'd had to use two towels). Sighing a little, he plopped down onto Heather's sofa, spreading his arms out across the leather top. It was comfortable... but he could sleep anywhere really. If he could sleep in that sorry excuse for a bed he'd had on the Progressives' island, than he could sleep here no problem.
On that island, he'd had to build a bed out of twigs and feathers and leaves, part of the whole "getting in touch with your Ancestors" crap the Progressives believed in. Tapping his hands on the leather, the raptor picked up the TV remote and switched the television on. Might as well see what was on before bed.
He glanced at his guise, hanging up on a hook by the TV, and briefly considered slipping back into it, but then decided to just leave it for tonight. He'd change in the morning, and go natural tonight.
===========================
Approaching Nicky's desk now, Dan Patterson took off his coat and draped it behind his chair before he kept going towards Nicky's "station." "So think we got a hit on those traffic cams." the brontosaur said as he stopped by the compy's desk. "The vans turned into a parking garage, which of course had no security cameras EXCEPT at the entrance and exits, and three black SUVs drove out. Camera quality was too poor to get no more than a partial on the plates, and CSI only got smudged partials for fingerprints in the vans. Not surprising though... considering who our assailants were." Dan spoke guardedly.
Dino guises rarely left perfect prints, simply because they weren't real human skin and didn't secrete human oils capable of leaving perfect fingerprints behind. It was basically the same as a human wearing gloves, except guises could at least leave partials since a dino's sweat sometimes leaked through the skin. "So that's that..." the bronto glanced down at the photos Nicky had, and tapped the one with the plates. "Hawaii plates? How the hell's a van from Hawaii end up here?" he murmured. "Come to think of it... Vincent's investigation DID take him out to Hawaii." Dan stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Wonder if that means the good old Ps are involved. You get anything from either Morrow's or Rubio's places? What did Vincent think of it all?" he inquired.
-
Nicky leaned back in his chair and drummed his fingers against the desk. "Morrow's place was cleaned out pretty well, so there's not much to go on. CSI might find fingerprints somehwere but - " he locked eyes with Dan, " - we both know how unlikely that is. I did notice one thing though. Morrow had a family photo. The back was cut open. It looked like something had been hidden, and the assassins took it. Must have been something thin and concealable... like a piece of paper, or a disc. Maybe Morrow wasn't as uninvolved as we first thought. Either way, I'm sure there's something here... we just have to pick up on it."
He leaned forward. "Vincent's place... that was interesting." Nicky lowered his voice so only Dan could hear him. "Yeah, he told me about his history with the Progressives. You just said his investigations took him to Hawaii? It looks like things have started falling into place," he said, indicating the pictures Dan was holding. "We both think there could be a link between the Progressives and this new virus, and he's agreed to help... but only on one condition. I'm not sure how involved you were with all this before, but you probably remember a woman Vincent was... attached to? Circe? It seems she was waiting in his room earlier, when the whole business with Morrow happened. He wants her immune from arrest during the investigation until he can prove her innocence."
-
"Hmmm... I'll talk to the family and see if they knew what might be in that photo frame." Dan said thoughtfully now. "It's a long shot, but maybe he didn't keep secrets from his wife."
Dan's brow furrowed at the mention of Circe. "Circe? Far as I knew she died when Raal did." he said, remembering to hush his voice as he gazed down at the compy detective. "She's alive? He wants her immune?" Dan didn't like the sound of that. Not one bit. But it was Vincent, and he'd proven instrumental in cracking the Progressives' case... but still, something about that didn't bode well with the bronto. "There's only so much I can do for him on that front. If her name starts popping up... well she WAS complicit with the Progressives, and yes, I know about Vincent's claims that she was nothing but a dupe. Still... he was heavily involved with her, to my knowledge. He doesn't usually fall so hard for the females, but he fell for her harder than I've seen him fall before. If you run into her, use extreme caution." Dan warned.
"She's got pheromones that are off the charts from what Vincent told me, and I don't trust her. We never really got the chance to question her, and while she may have sacrificed herself to save Vincent's life, that doesn't clear her one hundred percent in my book either. I don't trust any of those two-timing 'get in touch with our Ancestors' whackjobs, and even if most of them were idiots taken in by the cult's false ideals, it's the ones who KNEW about the REAL goals that worry me. I'm still not sure if Circe was one of them or not. So be careful around her. Find out what you can, and use your judgment. If she's on the level, fine, but make sure you know that before trusting her." he said, pointing at Nicky now.
"Anyway, I gotta go. Briefing with the lieutenant soon. I'll keep you posted on my side of things." He clapped Nicky on the back, and moved by him to get the briefing rolling.
=========================
Three Nights Later
6705 Vado Drive was a large house nestled in the Hollywood Hills on a road that descended into a quiet, wooded area. Fryman Canyon Park was close by, and the area was relatively secluded. Who was hosting the party wasn't exactly clear, but dinos from all walks of life in LA would be present.
As Vincent pulled up to the place in his red 2013 Lincoln MKZ, the raptor let out a whistle at the sheer size of the place. It wasn't as large as that Greek style "palace" that Circe hosted her gatherings at earlier in the year, but this place was big enough that it would definitely give even some Hollywood actors envy.
The palatial residence stretched on into the woods, 25,000 square feet complete with a rotunda somewhere in the middle and multiple wings fanning out from the center. "Jeez... what do these people do?" he asked Heather as he pulled into the driveway which (was more like a parking lot). Stopping towards the front of the house, Vincent idled as a guised dino came around from behind a valet desk, all smiles as he motioned for them to exit their vehicle.
Opening his door, Vincent climbed out and was promptly handed a valet ticket by the dino. "Allow me, sir! When you're ready to leave, just present that ticket and your vehicle will be delivered to you no problem."
"Uh... thanks." Vincent nodded, glancing over at the parking lot. "Damn... and I thought I had a nice car." he mumbled, noticing his Lincoln was paled by the array of Bugattis, Maseratis, Bentleys, Aston Martins, and Lamborghinis present. He did see a few "normal" looking cars though, much to his relief. Vincent's Lincoln was new, but it was really the only thing he'd been saving for this past year. There was always someone better out there though...
Striding up to the front entrance, Vincent was pretty familiar with the drill of these places by now. "I might have to offer my services to some of these party-goers inside." Vincent half-joked to Heather as they walked over to the check-in desk. "I mean who out there wouldn't need a snoop job or a tail on a wayward lover?"
"Please check your guises here." said an unguised female compsognathus at the desk.
"Of course." Vincent responded, and promptly stepped into one of the dressing rooms to begin undoing the buttons, straps, and clamps that held his guise in place. One of these days, he'd really have to switch to those newer zipper models, but he was a fan of the older Nakitaras, and was still ordering from their catalog.
Having freed himself from his guise, Vincent stepped out of the booth in his natural state now, holding out his now empty "skin" for the compy to take. She fluidly draped it over a hanger, pressed a button, and the guise was soon zooming into a room somewhere deeper in the manor. She handed him another ticket, and Vincent immediately regretted not bringing any dino clothes to this gathering. Oh well... he'd just hang on to the stupid thing.
A few minutes more and they were in the main ballroom. White pillars stretched up to the ceiling, and dino servers on roller skates moved about the expanse with trays of goodies like banana and mint leaves, cilantro, basil, and oregano. Others had plates of assorted meats and hors-d'oeuvres, and Vincent was pleased that none of it was alive. The Progressives had served live snakes on platters at their parties, which Vincent had completely balked at.
"Well... this is nice." he said, looking around as Christmas music filled the air. Dinos were dancing, chatting, eating, and some were even playing a few card games around tables. He tried to catch a whiff of Circe, but alas, her herbal scent would be masked by the herbs floating about him. His stomach rumbled, and the temptation to reach out and grab a banana leaf was almost too much. But no... he couldn't flaunt his addiction in front of Heather.
Nevertheless, his hands started trembling as he caught the scents lingering about the room, and he grabbed onto them to stop the tremors whilst looking longingly at a tray of basil that drifted by him.
-
After Heather had unguised herself, wearing no dino clothes either, she followed Vincent to the actual party. Heather was familiar with parties like this one from the time she had been a teenie, but she had to admit that many things had improved since. Or maybe she had just been at the wrong locations all the time...
"Impressive..." she awed. "Have you ever been at such a party, Vincent?" she asked the velociraptor walking beside her.
Heather scanned the masses but how should she spot a fellow dinosaur she hadn't even met yet? She decided to leave that to Vincent and just enjoy the party like in her gool old times.
-
Nicky watched his car being driven away by the valet wistfully. He turned to face the huge house. He'd always had an aversion to parties. Gruesome crime scenes were no problem, but in a room full of people talking, laughing and having fun, he was totally lost. But if this can help the investigation... He shook his head and made his way up to the entrance.
The compy behind the desk smiled when he entered and motioned to the dressing rooms at her side. "Please check your guise here, sir."
"Sure." He stepped over, sneaking a quick glance as he passed her. Not bad. Behind the curtain, he stripped off the guise and folded it over his arm, sighing as the air hit his scales. The dark red and green stripes seemed odd after wearing the pale guise's skin. He rarely took off the guise, even at home - several mammalian children lived in the apartment building, and he wasn't willing to take the risk of them happening to catch a glimpse of him. He had to admit, it was nice to be out in the open. Clipping his watch back on his wrist, he tucked the valet ticket behind the metal links and stepped out, handing the guise to the receptionist. As his 'skin' was taken away, he tucked in the second ticket behind his watch too. It now looked like he was wearing some sort of bizarre bracelet, but at least his hands were free.
"Enjoy the party sir!" The female said.
Nicky nodded back, giving an unconvincing smile, and headed down the hall, following the signs that pointed to the ballroom. When he reached it, he stopped and eyed the huge, faceless, partying horde in front of him. His tail flicked as he scanned the dinos, but he couldn't pick up on anyone who looked familiar. Nicky stopped a waiter passing by and picked one of the carnivore treats, the meat calming his nerves slightly.
Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice. Through the crowd, he caught a glimpse of a velociraptor walking with a female companion. He recognised his walk. Vincent. And that must be Heather. He walked over, skirting his way through the room full of taller dinos until he reached the pair. "Nice to see you both again," he said, slotting himself next to them. "Looks like modest isn't a word that fits the host..."
-
Vincent nodded at Heather. "Yeah... I have. The Progressives used to have parties that were pretty similar to this." he confessed. "I was undercover at the time... though this seems to be more a party for guiseless dinos with money. Not that some of the Progressives didn't have money but... I'm just thankful none of the food is alive." he admitted, gulping as he remembered those snakes.
Glancing in the direction of one of the card games, Vincent briefly wondered if he could bait one of these rich pukes into betting the keys to his Bugatti Veyron, like Daniel Craig in Casino Royale. Unfortunately, Vincent doubted he had enough money to cover the bet, so that option was probably out.
The smell of mint on a passing tray was rather overpowering, and without realizing it, Vincent reached out and plucked a leaf from the skating server. Herbs were to dinos what alcohol was to humans. Whilst dinos could certainly get drunk on alcohol, they preferred to do it via herbs. Shoving it quickly into his mouth, the raptor began chewing as he noticed a compy approaching them.
"Oh no, not another compy!" Vincent said with mock exasperation, rolling his eyes in a dramatic fashion as he smirked at Heather. "Detective Chaseman, I presume?" he asked now, giving him a playful smile. "It's good to see you as well. I wish I knew who owned this house." he said, looking around. "Modest doesn't even begin to describe them. But whoever they are, I want their job."
He once more scanned the room, but was unable to pick out Circe... if she was even here. "You know, I'm gonna have to start offering my services to some of these dinos... I could really use a chunk of whatever they have." he joked. "As for Circe... no sign of her yet... but she's also good at masking her scent whenever she pleases. I hope she won't mind a cop being here, but she did say I could invite whomever I pleased. I'm also not a complete idiot when it comes to her either. Having... backup, is a good idea." he said, looking from Heather to Nicky.
-
Karl arrived in his cherry red Tesla Roadster. After the valet drove off with his car he put the ticket into an inner pocket of his vest that he had. He had brought it as some dino clothing he would wear. He always liked having pockets. His vest he had draped over one arm.
He smiled at the compy behind the desk as she smiled back. She motioned to the dressing rooms to her side. "Please check your guise here, sir."
"Ok." he said. He went into the dressing room and took off his human guise, putting it briefly on the floor as he put on his vest. Being a state of the art guise it was easy to get out of and into. The pockets were closed with velcro. Slightly annoying to put anything into or take out of the pockets but it made being pick pocketed very hard to do so he could live with that.
Once he had his vest on he picked up his guise and took it to be checked in, putting the ticket into the same pocket as the valet ticket. Easier to remember 1 pocket he had 2 tickets in then which pocket he had which ticket in.
He then walked into the main party are, getting some meat off of a tray one of the staff had. He avoided the plants and such. He prefer to keep a level head most of the time. He then looked around to see the different folks at the party, deciding if he wanted to just mingle first, then maybe go to the dancing area in a bit. He was sure he'd know some folks here, maybe some of his family and friends had arrived, and folks he knew from a business standpoint also.
-
"A good idea from a raptor? Makes a nice change," Nicky said sardonically. The waiter with the tray of herbs passed nearby, and he shook his head, preferring to keep a clear mind. He gazed around the room, but couldn't make out anyone suspicious. Without her guise on, though, Circe could be standing right next to him and he'd never know - and if she could mask her scent as Vincent pointed out... He was going to have to put his faith in Rubio to spot her, and trust that, if she took offense to him being there, she wouldn't try anything in such a crowded environment. Still, being so exposed made him anxious, and the fact he'd left his gun didn't help him feel any better...
"Back up? You think there's a chance this could turn violent?" His eyes passed over Karl standing alone across the room without recognition. "Is it safe for a civilian to be meeting her?" Nicky asked, bringing his attention back to the two standing with him and shooting a quick look at Heather.
-
"Nice..." Vincent rolled his eyes and shook his head at Nicky's first remark. Oh this interspecies rivalry was truly a fun affair. "As for violent? No... I don't think so." the raptor shook his head here thoughtfully. "She was never a violent dino. Seemed to be saddened by it in fact whenever it did occur. I just want backup because... how I might get around her." he commented now.
No sooner had he spoken than his nostrils filled with the intoxicating scent of basil and oregano. Closing his eyes, his mind floated upon it. It was much stronger than the plates of herbs, and Vincent just knew. It was her. Opening his eyes, the raptor felt time slow as he turned, trying to catch a glimpse of her.
It didn't take long. She was a short distance away, materializing through the crowd in all her green scaled glory. Her scales shone verdantly like millions of emeralds sparkling under the lights' glow. If possible, she looked even more radiant than the last time he'd seen her. But there was... something about her too. Remnants of scars? Had she had surgery?
She was smiling warmly, her eyes directly on his. Vincent felt his heart stop, gulping at her sheer beauty. She wasn't wearing anything save for a slim golden band around her waist, which held a small, egg-shaped emerald which draped over her front, covering her package in that sexy manner Vincent remembered from his stay on the Progressives' island. The only difference was that on the island, the emerald had been a pin. Here it was dangling from that band.
Without saying a word, she crossed swiftly over to him, wrapped her arms about his form, and pressed her lips against his in a deep, affectionate kiss. Vincent inhaled sharply, eyes widening, and then finally, he sank into it, giving in and holding her against him, kissing her back. It was like some wild dream that Vincent never thought would come true, and he still wasn't sure if this was some delirious hallucination or not. But she suddenly pushed him back just a tad, breaking the kiss. "Vincent, I did tell you to behave yourself." she said, giving him a wink now.
Vincent blinked, and flushed a tad, realizing he'd been "rising to the occasion", and quickly stayed close to her to conceal that. Circe gave him a knowing smirk, and brushed his leg surreptitiously with her tail. "It's good to see you again, Vincent." she said now.
"It's a spectacle I never thought I'd see again." he admitted. "How?" he asked.
"In due time, Vincent." she said, smiling at him again. She turned her eyes to Heather and Nicky now. "Pleasure to meet you." she introduced herself to Heather, wondering at Vincent's relationship to her. She didn't care though. She had said Vincent could bring whomever he pleased. "And Detective Chaseman, I presume?" she asked, nodding at Nicky. "It's nice to see you without your guise. I do thank you for graciously letting me go back at Skylark." she said, giving him a more coy smile now. "It's nice to see my innocent girl routine still works from time to time." she gave him a good-natured wink. "However... I'm sure you're not exactly... trusting of me. As a symbol of my good faith, I'm willing to cooperate with you fully." she informed him, clasping her hands in front of her, threading her fingers and claws together and letting them hang down to just above the emerald.
-
Even though Heather didn't like Circe from the very first moment she saw her, she had to admit that she was gorgeous, being female at that. However, when Cirse kissed Vincent, se felt some sort of wrath boiling in her veins. Vincent didn't know that Heather had a crush on him, luckily, and Heather didn't want him to discover that at that moment so she fought back her strong aversion against Vincent's love. Glaring at Circe grimly, she listened to what the female raptor had to announce.
-
Karl saw a few folks he knew and went over to where they were, grabbing a meat snack off an offered tray along the way. They greeted him and he waved back. It was a group of mixed species. He joined in the small talk they were doing.
-
Nicky crossed his arms as Vincent and Circe embraced, noting with a small degree of amusement Heather's sullen expression. Looks like you have some competition. As they broke apart, he inclined his head towards Vincent, eyes darting down for a second. "Looks like it might be a bit... late to back you up."
He brought his attention over to Circe when she addressed him, his gaze sharpening. She wasn't hard on the eyes, that much was for certain... but she seemed fully aware of it, and willing to flaunt what she had. That could be a dangerous combination. I can't let her distract me.
Nicky nodded when she offered her cooperation. "I'd appreciate that. And that was a nice trick back at Skylark," he admitted disgruntledly, still prickled at how easily she'd managed to deceive him. "Although now that I know about it, you'd need to pull something really spectacular for your act to work again." He shot a sly look over at Vincent, a smile flicking quickly across his face to let him know he didn't mean it.
"Vincent tells me you two go back a long way. Still keeping in touch with your... old friends?" he asked, scratching his elbow with his claws under his crossed arms.
-
"Uhhh..." Vincent flushed again at Nicky's crack at him, but Circe helped him out by raising her tail from his leg to in front of him to block the view until he settled down a bit. Vincent caught Nicky's look, and gave him a little shrug and a sheepish smile.
Circe nodded at Nicky's words on how she'd managed to trick him, smirking again. She didn't blame the detective. She was well practiced in making herself look innocent. She shook her head at his question. "No... I do not, detective. But to answer that question more fully... I'd need to answer Vincent's as well." She turned to look at him now. "Vincent... do you remember when Raal attempted to dump you into the La Brea Tar Pits?" she asked. He nodded. "How did you survive?" she pressed.
"I... used my tail." Vincent said, remembering the event, though he'd been heavily drugged at the time. "Slowly pulled myself out."
"That's right, your tail." she smiled at him, using her own appendage to brush along the front of his body.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Kind of hard to 'behave' if you keep flirting with me." he mumbled to her under his breath.
"Fair enough." she confessed, patting his belly now with her tail's tip before continuing. "Well I survived the same way, though I suffered burns." she explained now, indicating the scar traces she had on her body. "It was a long recovery... and that's why I didn't immediately inform you of my survival, Vincent." she told him. "I couldn't bear to let you see me in that state..." she said, her face falling here.
"But now... we can be together again." she added, reaching out and running her hand over his chest. "That is... if you still... desire that." she said more cautiously.
Vincent noticed Heather seemed to be a little... odd. He couldn't quite tell what was wrong... but would need to talk to her about that later if he had the chance. He thought about Circe's question a moment, then decided on the safer route. "More than you know." he admitted to her now honestly, staring at her sincerely. "But... I'm afraid you're going to have to earn the trust of... them." he nodded in Nicky and Heather's direction. "And though it pains me to say this... you... need to regain my trust as well, I'm sorry." he said sadly, closing his eyes and looking down.
"I understand." she said with sincerity and perhaps some regret. "To answer your question, detective, no, I don't associate with the Progressives anymore. And for good reason." she said. "They're more dangerous than ever before... or at least... Raal and his core group is. They betrayed my ideals a long time ago, and I haven't looked back since. Raal himself betrayed me... he betrayed... everything I used to see in him."
"Raal died..." Vincent said, not sounding like he believed his own words.
"I survived." Circe responded. "He did as well. I couldn't stop him back then... but that's a mistake I intend to fix." she said resolutely. "As part of regaining that trust, I'm prepared to present you with some information. The Progressives are behind this virus outbreak that's afflicting New York. Raal and his core followers have become even more violent than they were before. His resources have allowed him to manufacture this virus. His facility is located on the island I took you to earlier in the year, Vincent. Not only that, but Los Angeles is in danger, detective. Raal is planning on unleashing the virus on the city next." she said with grave seriousness. "He won't stop until humanity is wiped out. He's convinced that only extinction is the path the mammals must take, and he's prepared to see this nightmare through."
Vincent took the opportunity to move over to Heather, whilst keeping his ears on the conversation. "You all right?" he asked her in a low voice. Fortunately, he had "recovered" enough so that he was able to step out from behind Circe to do this.
-
Heather listened to the talk carefully. Obviously, somebody HAD to note that she was peeved.
"I... well you know..." Heather stammered as she was adressed by the PI. "I dunno why but I don't like her..." she muttered. Searching for a pretext to hide her true reasons as for why she strongly disliked Circe, she quickly had one in mind.
"I just can't trust her. I have a feeling she's up to no good, no matter that she's trying to assure she's not," the hadrosaur explained, continuing to glare at Circe who didn't seem to pay any atention to her anyway.
-
Nicky felt his heart skip a beat. "L.A's the next target?" he said, his voice a harsh whisper, sub-consciously rubbing his jaw. Damn it... if she's telling the truth, this is bad... Something in her expression told him she was telling the truth, but then again, that didn't mean much with this raptor. Given the sophistication of the virus being used in New York, he'd anticipated it would be used again - but to hear that the city he'd grown up in was the next target, all the mammals he knew...
"How do you know..." He trailed off as another piece of the puzzle fell into place. "Dan said Vincent's investigation took him to an island in Hawaii. The license plates on the vans outside Skylark were from Hawaii too... I guess Morrow's murder really is linked to it. Why Morrow? What was he hiding?" Nicky stepped closer to Circe. "What island is it?" he demanded, "We can't waste any time here."
-
"What, Circe?" Vincent asked now, motioning to her. "Well... I don't fully trust her myself... but I don't think she's malicious. She DID love me, you know." Vincent informed Heather. "Rather intensely... and it seems she still does. She didn't know Raal was playing her for a fool, or that he really intended to initiate genocide on the human race." the raptor PI explained now. "I WANT to trust her... really, I do. Everything in me is aching to do so... but I'm not an idiot either. I'm going to remain cautious." he reassured the hadrosaur.
Circe could see Nicky was starting to panic, and she calmly moved towards him, placing her hands on his shoulders and emitting a stronger dose of her herbal scent. Her eyes met his, and she spoke to him in even tones. "Detective Chaseman... I need you to relax." she said now. "I understand you're concerned about this... but getting worked up and panicking is going to help no one." she told him very smoothly, giving his shoulders a squeeze. "I need you to take a deep breath... and slow down. Please." she pleaded before releasing him.
"I know this is horrifying news... but please... calm yourself." she told him again. "I know because I've been following one of Raal's closer members. I should rephrase though... I don't know one hundred percent if L.A. is next but... the way he's been talking... it leaves little doubt in my mind." she said now. "Raal hates this city... for more reasons than one. Now... please calm down and I'll answer your other questions."
She herself took a deep breath, clearly concerned for his well-being as she composed herself. "I don't know what Morrow was hiding... nor why he was targeted. His murder was a shock to me. When I broke into Vincent's apartment the other day, I was simply leaving him that letter. I had no idea I'd run into a professional hit team that targeted the Councilor. I'm afraid I can't help you on that one. I know little of the Council's dealings, and even Raal rarely talked about them when I was with him." she explained slowly. "Doesn't Vincent know?" she inquired now.
"Now... I understand your desire to not waste time, but what is getting worked up over something going to do? Far better to have a clear head and calmed heart. The island is a smaller one off Maui. It used to only be accessible via hydrofoil, as the Progressives owned it, but it's fallen into 'disuse' as of late. However, I've determined it's actually serving as Raal's main bio lab for the west coast region. I managed to... relieve one of his operatives of that little piece of information. However... that island... was used to devolve dinosaurs as well. The one half of it was nothing but a pen for feral dinos, whom Raal was brainwashing into serving as his loyal army. I... didn't realize the extent of what he was doing back then. I was told that side of the island was radioactive... I promise you I had no idea the real secret Raal was keeping from me. With that said... I can't say if any of those feral dinos are still around or not. The Council helped deprogram many of the dinos the Progressives had taken in, but Raal's core group remained... and if they've gotten their hands on more wayward innocents off the streets... well... I'd hate to think of what he's doing to them." she said sadly, hanging her head.
"I was so blinded by his ideals back then... of wanting to get in touch with my Ancestors... become pure dinosaur. Erase the humans' contamination. But I DIDN'T want to do it via genocide." she said firmly, her face hardening as she raised her gaze again. "I didn't know he had planned such a thing. I simply wanted to become as close to my Ancestors as possible and live away from humans. Not... wipe them out so that our kind could once again rule the earth. No." she shook her head again.
-
"Hey Sam, glad to see you." Karl said as he walked over to a dino that he new that worked in one of his family's companies.
"Thought I'd see you here. How you doing?" Sam asked, a female dino.
"Doing ok. Finished my book and sent it off. There was some sort of thing that happened at the condo where I live. I'm staying over at my parent's place for a few days." Karl said. He was sure what happened at the condo would be on the news but he kept it vague since he didn't really know what was going on himself.
"Cool, staying in the swell basement, a great place for some for some of those parties." Sam said.
"It is." He said nodding, "Though I"ll be glad to go back home." He ate the rest of the meat appetizer he had. "Heard about the virus or what ever it is that is going around?" He asked.
"Only affects humans, I have indeed." She said nodding, sipping some liquid she had in a glass.
"I was wondering, could it be possible to make a virus or something to target a single species?" Karl asked. "I know someone who mentioned he heard the progressives were up to some nasty stuff, owned an island or something. And when I read about this virus online I thought about that. Maybe based on the 1914 influenza. "
"It is possible." Sam said pausing her sipping her non alchoholic drink. "You'd need to have the know how. The proper training, something like I and a few others have that you met. And the proper laboratory to do that. Not all that easy to come by." Sam said. "The key thing with the 1914 influenza is it was easy to spread from human to human and it could easily get deep into the lungs, both which made a lethal combination."
"Hmm, I suspected as much. We were one of the ones to help sequences a sample of the 1914 virus so it could be compared to that bird flu that was going around a few years back. "
"Yes, nasty thing. The bird flu lacked certain things that 1914 one had. With how easy it was to spread and the fact someone tracked the 1914 outbreak back to a certain spot in the UK, I wonder if the progressives were around then or if it was by pure chance a virus got those combinations by chance." Sam said.
"Yes. Though none of the companies we own who could do that are doing that. The closest is some coworkers of yours are working on, a way to make making the flu vaccine faster and cheaper to make." Karl said. By we he was meaning his family, including his grandparents.
Sam nodded, "Yes, instead of having to rely on chicken eggs all the time. Joe thinks he has an idea that may work. Just glad your family agreed to try it out." Sam said.
"if it works out it'll benefit many, if not it may lead accidentally to some other discovery. And if not then like Thomas Edison would say, we would have diffidently found out a way that does not work." Karl said.
-
As Circe grasped his shoulders and explained the situation, Nicky felt himself calming down. She's right. Come on, you have to think straight... He dug his claws into his palms and looked back at her. "Alright. I can't think of a reason why you'd be telling me this if you were still a part of it... So maybe I believe you. For now." His expression told her that he still didn't trust her completely.
Nicky shook his head. "No, Vincent doesn't know why Morrow was targeted either. It doesn't make any sense, but..." He paused and considered. Normally he wouldn't be so open about his cases to someone outside of the investigation - but it wasn't like Circe was just your run-of-the-mill raptor. "... But something was taken from Morrow's condo, and I'm betting that whatever it is was the reason he was killed. Thing is, there's nothing else there which can tell us what is was." Could it have been linked to whatever happened... is happening on that island?
He sighed. "The island does sound like the most likely place they'd set up the lab. And if we're going to stop the attack, that's what we'd need to target. But why do I feel like the Council won't be prepared to take the time to investigate it?" he asked, a touch of bitterness in his voice.
-
Circe shook her head. "Forget the Council for now. I CAN'T approach them... and they won't move without proof. The only way to get proof... is to go that island ourselves." she said, giving him a serious look. "I know its layout well... but it'll be dangerous... as it'll most likely be heavily guarded." she stated. "Of course... I wouldn't mind a good word being put in for me to the Council... if... you ever get the chance." she said suggestively, looking at him in profile now.
A slower dance suddenly began playing over the speakers, and Circe perked up upon hearing it, smiling as she recognized the tune. "I see our host has heard my request." she stated. "I'll give you the next dance if you want." she told Nicky, winking at him as she moved purposefully over to Vincent now.
"Vincent..." she said, looking at him longingly. "Might I have this dance?" she asked, giving him a slight bow.
Vincent blinked, and then smiled as he fell into her deep green eyes. "Of course." Vincent responded, and reached out for her hand, which she clasped, and led him towards the dance floor. "I'll be back!" he called over to Heather. He didn't of course even suspect the hadrosaur had a crush on him, otherwise, he might've been a bit more careful about accepting a dance with Circe, but as it was, he didn't know, and he found the raptor hard to resist.
As the dance began, Circe moved Vincent close to her and began to lead him over the floor, the PI following her for the moment. Circe gazed into his eyes, and gave him a smile. "I can't express in words how elated I am to be with you again, Vincent." she said, reaching up to stroke the side of his face.
He smiled back. "I... still can't believe it's really you. I'm... I'm happy but I'm also terrified... my heart is racing at a thousand miles a minute... pounding... I'm terrified I'm going to wake up, and realize this was nothing but a dream."
She gave him a sympathetic, almost pained look now. "I know what you're feeling, Vincent. I've felt the same way myself. I was terrified you'd be killed before I had a chance to see you again... but I assure you..." she reached behind him and pinched his rump, causing him to yelp. "This isn't a dream." she smirked now. "I'm real... and I've been waiting for you."
"I've... been waiting for you too... but... I thought you were dead so..." Vincent trailed off.
"You've looked so sad to me the times I've passed you in the street without you realizing. It pained me... but seeing the glow return to your eyes tonight... being close enough to feel your heart beat in your chest... it made the wait worth it. You can conquer your pain Vincent, because I'll be here to help you... I'll be here to love you." she said softly, caressing the side of his face again in an affectionate manner.
Vincent blinked, realizing he had tears in his eyes. "This isn't a dream, is it?" he asked, smiling widely at her.
"No, it's not." Circe shook her head, smiling gently as she leaned in to him now, bringing him right up against her as the music slowed even more. "Merry Christmas, Vincent." she whispered, planting her lips upon his once more in a deep, passionate kiss which he eagerly returned.
-
As Circe walked over to Vincent, Nicky ground his sharp teeth, deep in thought. It's true. If the Council wouldn't look into the virus itself, there isn't a hope in hell they'd consider this island. Going in ourselves is the only way, but if it's heavily guarded... He looked at the two raptors as they began dancing to the new music.
Dammit, she's got me over a barrel here... If the island was protected, which seemed likely, then the easiest way of gaining entry was to use insider's knowledge of the location - which Vincent and Circe possessed. The idea didn't make him comfortable. Placing such a large amount of trust, not only for his safety but that of the mammalian population of L.A, in two relative strangers (one of whom was an ex-member of a terrorist organisation, no less) wasn't something he was used to... and covert operations weren't his usual pastime either. But what choice did he have?
As he stood thinking, Nicky glanced at Heather standing on her own. Suddenly feeling a little bad for her, he carefully grabbed a small glass of champagne from one of the waiters skating past, and making his way over he offered it to her. "So... enjoying the party?" he asked, awkwardly noting that the two raptors had begun kissing in front of them.
-
If only glaring could kill...
Heather's mood dropped to a very low level. It wasn't the fact that Vincent and Circe were petting but the fact that Vincent wasn't paying her much attention at all that annoyed her deeply (although the fact that he was with Circe did bug her a lot, actually). It didn't help easing the suspiciousness she held against Vincents flame.
"Thanks, Nicky," Heather said as the compy offered her a glass of champagne, grabbing it and drinking from it. When she was asked if she was enjoying the party thus far, she, like Nicky, gazed at the pair of kissing dinosaurs.
"To answer your question, I don't," she stated. "Vincent completely ignores me!" As Nicky was about to say something, she added.
"I mean... he did ask me earlier if I was alright and such but even there he had his eyes on this Circe weirdo all the time." Heather sighed.
"It's your job to deal with people like Circe... do you trust her, Nicky?" she then asked.
-
Nicky considered for a moment. "I don't know what to think of her," he said finally. "Reappearing now, after all this time, just when this virus has broken out? I don't like it. But then again, why would she share all this information if she's in on it?" He shook his head. "I don't trust her. But I've got no choice... if we're going to deal with this we'll need to work together."
He shifted his weight. "Still, from what I've heard about Vincent it sounds like he isn't stupid and it looks like he's okay with her... Maybe a little more than okay... so I suppose I can put my reservations on hold for now." Nicky paused as he realised what he just said probably wasn't doing anything to make Heather feel better. "Sorry."
-
As the dance wound down, Circe embraced Vincent again, closing her eyes. They had moved well together, Vincent apparently well versed in dancing. They hadn't danced during their last encounters though, and this was their first time doing so. Walking back over to Nicky and Heather now, Circe glanced in the detective's direction. "Well... sorry about that. I couldn't pass up the opportunity I myself had created." she informed him. "Anyway, have I answered all your questions satisfactorily, detective? I believe I did offer you the next dance, if you so wanted it." she said, flashing him a smile.
Vincent shook his head at this, but was smiling as well. He noticed Heather seemed a bit... glum, though. She hadn't exactly answered his last question if she had been OK or not, and he'd really only gotten an indication that she didn't trust Circe from Heather. Wait... was she... jealous? But... why? As far as he knew, Heather didn't like him in that fashion so... was something more going on here?
"Are you feeling all right?" he asked with some concern. "You look... troubled. I think it's pretty clear at this point that something IS wrong." he said, moving over to her now. He noted she had a glass of champagne in her hand. Vincent didn't typically drink, but he certainly chewed herbs much more than he should. Speaking of which, he stopped a waiter, and placed an order. If Heather was drinking, he may as well give in to his own needs. "Excuse me, two basil leaves, folded, not torn." Vincent ordered. The waiter nodded, and moved off to one of the numerous bars around the ballroom.
-
"It's okay. I guess you're right," she replied a little sad. "I think I won't help you by holding a grudge against her but if she appears to fool us I'll kick her butt," Heather declared grimly, drinking a sip of her champagne.
When Vincent finally returned to Nicky and her, offering Nicky to have a dance with Circe, Heather was actually happy though she didn't exactly show that in company of Circe.
"Well, I was just... bored, y'know," she stated in a reply to Vincent's honest question. "I mean, you two kinda left Nicky and me behind but that's okay, really." Heather tried to look happy which worked very well since she had a sudden idea...
"You haven't seen her for a long time, believing her dead so I understand." Emptying her glass, she hoped that Vincent had swallowed her made up cover to hide her true feelings. She actually wanted to push them back and just enjoy the evening so she asked hiim.
"Well, since Nicky and Circe... have a dance, why don't we..." she said a little shyly. She was kinda shy anyway so she hoped that Vincent didn't notice how... excited she actually was. People having a crush on somebody tended to speak in such a excited but shy way after all as she reckoned.
-
"I... suppose you have," Nicky admitted to Circe. "Look, if you get us to the island safely, and don't try anything, then I'll have a word with the Council about you. Along with Vincent, I'm sure." His shoulders slumped. "You were being serious about the dance? Alright then, but don't expect anything flashy. It's been a while since my last dance lesson." If catching the dance instructor who murdered his pupil counts as a dance lesson. "If I tread on your foot, don't say I didn't warn you."
He took her hand and walked with her to the dance floor. True to his word, as they began dancing it became clear he wouldn't be winning an award any time soon. "You were lucky to get out of Skylark unharmed..." he started, in an attempt to save face. "And managing to take one of the bastards out was... actually pretty impressive."
-
Double-post :bang
-
"Thank you, detective Chaseman. I appreciate it." Circe told him gratefully in response to his words that he'd talk to the Council about her if she delivered on her end of the deal. She chuckled as she walked with him out to the dance floor. "Oh don't worry... I've suffered much worse than a foot that's been tread on in the past few months." she joked.
Vincent considered Heather's request now, finding it altogether suspicious, but not in a bad way. "You want to dance?" the raptor asked, nodding towards the floor. "OK... let's do it." He gave her a bow, took her hand, and moved beside Circe and Nicky now to keep up. A more traditional carol was playing now ("The First Noel", even though it had no significance for dinos whatsoever) compared to the definite love song (the Corrs' "Runaway") that Circe and Vincent had danced to, but even so, Vincent had to admit, the carol was a fine one to move to.
"So you were bored?" Vincent asked, raising his brow as he plucked his two basil leaves from the returning waiter and popped them in his mouth. The herb began to work its way through his bloodstream to his brain, starting to relax him and ease the anxiety he felt over the possibility of losing Circe again. "Are you sure there's nothing... else going on?" the PI pressed, wanting to see if his theory of Heather being jealous was correct. He started the dancing now, taking one of her hands and placing his other hand on her waist as they began to move over the smooth floor.
Circe could immediately tell that dancing was not Nicky's forte, but she didn't give him a hard time about it. She politely matched her movements to his own, and made sure to keep her tail away from the other dinos circling about them. She treated this dance very professionally, unlike the one she'd just done with Vincent, and while she was up against him, she wasn't mashing herself tightly to him, and avoided any flirtatious moves.
He mentioned Skylark, and she smiled. "Oh... I'm surprised you didn't arrest me for that." she commented, giving him a sly smile. "Though... I suppose you could argue it was self-defense. He was raising his gun and I reacted in the only way I could: tail-crack to the head. Whether I killed him or not, I didn't care at the time... I was only concerned with my own safety, and getting out of there unharmed, as you said." she explained. "You see, I have no love lost for my former comrades, and whatever they were planning for Vincent's apartment... well I couldn't let them simply get away with it. It was more a reaction than anything else."
"The use of my tail..." she brought it up so the tip was above her head, and waved it slightly. "Came from my journey towards Progress... or... whatever you want to call it now. While I still believe in the principle of Progress... I don't and never will agree with Raal's interpretation of it, and knowing basically his principles were just lies he fed me over the years... makes it worse." she confessed softly. "Creating an army of mindless slaves is not Progress, nor is using them to commit genocide. Despite my varying views on humanity throughout the years, I would never condone such actions against the humans. Raal's actions could lead to open war between us and the mammals if it was found out, and what would that solve?" she asked now.
-
Karl went to the dance floor to do some dancing. He picked of the dances that he knew that would fit in with the music they were playing. He had a good level of skill. He had studied some dancing while he was going to university, as well as some on the side along with martial arts. Including the human martial art Capoeira.
-
Heather took Vincents hand and placed her other hand on his waist as well. Dancing to the wonderful song they were playing, Heather desperately tried to think of an answer that would please Vincent's sudden curiosity. Even though she really would like to admit her love, the shyness and the fear of getting the brush off prevented her from being open towards Vincent.
"What do you mean?" Heather asked as innocently as she could. "There is nothing... else. As I said, I just felt a little left out, that's all."
Putting a smile on her face, she said.
"Let's just enjoy the evening now. I have pushed back my reservations against Circe and I will try to trust her even though my instincts tell me not to."
Heather pulled Vincent about an inch closer and concentrated on Vincents movements to adapt her movements to his.
-
"Mm-mm." Vincent playfully scolded, and moved Heather's hand to his shoulder from his waist. "That way, our arms aren't crisscrossed." he showed her. She said there was nothing else, but he wasn't so sure about that. He still felt that quite possibly Heather was jealous of Circe, but the only way that could occur was if Heather actually had feelings for him. But as far as he knew, she didn't.
He noted the hadrosaur brought him in closer... almost up against her now. "Why Ms. Corrigan... are you coming on to me?" he asked, raising a brow as he gave her a curious look. "You seem to like this rather... intimate dancing." he commented, not moving away from her, but not moving any closer just yet either.
-
"Conflict between mammals and us would lead to more death on both sides than I want to think about." Nicky shook his head. "I suppose I can see why you'd find it alluring to think about going back to how we used to be as a species. But we've evolved now, and trying to fight it is pointless. And if it means a future without mammals, I don't want to think about it. Besides, apart from all the secrecy I think we have it pretty good."
He looked at Circe as they moved. "Still, if what you just said is true... I suppose I don't have too much of a problem with you. It's psychopaths like Raal that need to be stopped." Nicky's jaw set firmly. "And that's exactly what's going to happen."
-
"I agree." Circe responded to his desire of stopping Raal. "But... you really consider this evolved?" she asked, motioning with a hand to the party. "I mean look at us, detective. We're holding a dinosaurs only party in secret in the Hollywood hills because we can't stroll down Vine Street without our guises. All because our Council millions of years ago decided to hide ourselves from the humans thanks to them first slaughtering us when we made contact. We offered them nothing but peace, and they forced us into hiding amongst them. I'm not saying the Council should've waged war on the humans but... you have to admit, that's a hell of a thing, choosing to integrate into a race that only offered you violence and mistrust." she said now, spinning with him as they moved by Vincent and Heather. She noted Heather seemed to be moving Vincent in kind of close... was it possible the hadrosaur liked Vincent too?
"Did you know..." Circe said, shifting her focus back to Nicky. "That our Ancestors had powerful scent glands? So powerful in fact, their pheromones could be detected from miles away. We haven't 'evolved' into not using them, we've lost the ability to do so thanks to our integration. I'm living proof that we can still get in touch with our latent abilities... I've learned through years and years of training how to control my pheromones, and now they're quite potent." She gave him another dose of that herbal smell which might've made his head spin for a brief second, but she kept it no longer than that, as she didn't want him zoning out and tripping over his own feet.
"I mean why should we have to hide our natural, beautiful bodies from them?" she asked now, her brow furrowing. "We were here first... and we were so far advanced, even back then, that we could've had all this and more... but we chose not to. We chose to live more simply. I just..." she sighed here, clearly frustrated. "I grew up desperately... desperately wanting to be human. So desperate, I even idolized a fellow dino who had cut off her tail and died just to try and be one of them. But when Raal took me in... he showed me that we're all beautiful. That we shouldn't try and erase what we are and forget our identities just to try and be them. We AREN'T them... we never WILL be them... so why try?" she asked him now.
There was sadness on her face however, a deep grief welling up in her eyes. "But his words were lies." she said, looking away from the compsognathus. "He didn't care about finding our true selves... well he did but... he also wanted to wipe out free will, and murder the mammals... something I can't..." her voice was weak now, faltering. "Something I could never do... I'm sorry. I'm not trying to change your views on our current society. I just... I don't even know what I want anymore." she said heavily, with resignation. "I want to stroll down Vine Street with the sun playing upon my scales, and not have to hide in fear over what the mammals would do to me. I want to see our culture thrive and not gradually slip away the more like them we become. Yes, I admit there are things in human society I like... but is it worth the loss of ourselves too?" she asked, looking sullen now. "I don't know... perhaps the loss of my parents at an early age has just made me a stupid and confused female with no sense of identity." she confessed, shrugging in a leaden fashion.
-
"You're not stupid," Nicky said. "And I don't think you're confused either. I can see where you're coming from - I mean, of course I'd like to walk down the street or go to work without having to worry about a human somehow seeing through my disguise. Hell, I'd love to just be able to shake hands with a human in my bare scales. But... I just don't think it's possible. They're not ready to learn about us. I'm not sure if they'll ever be. And if the only alternative is war..."
He paused for a moment, then continued. "I became a cop because I'm good at stopping people from killing other people. That goes for both species, humans and dinosaurs. If the only way to keep us from killing each other is to hide among them... then that's the way I think it has to be. Does that make me a coward? I don't care. Because at least we're alive, and so are they."
Looking down at Circe, he could see that she certainly seemed sincere about her feelings regarding not wanting to hurt humans. "Look, don't... don't blame yourself for whatever Raal's done. You aren'tlike him. At least, not so far as I can tell." The music was beginning to wind down. Nicky's mouth twitched in an almost-smile as he tried to lighten the mood. "At least you picked up how to control your pheromones. That could've come in handy a couple of times for me, I'm telling you."
-
Karl continued dancing to the music with the person he was with. He danced his best, while keeping his skill close to the one he was with, instead of showing off his skill. He listened to the music, letting that, and the person he was with, dictate his dance.
-
Circe had to admit, Nicky had a point about the alternative. War she could never contemplate, and so, guises were the only way to go to prevent that. But even so, it just made her feel lacking, having to constantly walk around as a human, hiding her true nature from the world. It felt wrong.
But she did smile upon him telling her she wasn't like Raal. "That's a relief." she replied, sighing a little. "I never... ever want to be like him." she said with disgust. "Not who he really was at his core, at least. Thank you for the little background on yourself, though. I do like learning about other dinos, and why they do what they do." she smiled here again.
"Oh, well I apparently had a natural proclivity for it that Raal recognized." she stated in response to his complimenting her on her pheromones. "I was gifted with naturally strong scent glands, but he taught me how to control them to perfection. But rest assured, I never used them with malicious intent. I only ever used them to enhance... pleasurable experiences." she said here, smirking in a knowing fashion.
"In fact, the first time I used them seriously was on Vincent. When he attended my lecture at the Progressives' manor, he first caught my eye sitting relatively close to the front of the group. He was dashing and handsome... a fine specimen of raptor if I ever saw one. I had fun teasing him during the lecture by calling on him to answer questions... and watching him fail miserably." she chortled, a wide smile on her face. "I knew right away what he was feeling towards me, and why he was feeling it. I just needed to look in his eyes, and I knew... I knew it all." she explained, glancing over in Vincent's direction as the dance wound down.
"If there's one thing I can be certain of right now... in this moment... in this time... it's that I love him." she said now, eyes moving back over to the PI. "I don't know what I want out of life, what I'm doing from now on, or what the future is going to bring, but I do know I love him. For now... it's enough for me." she sighed, but not in a forlorn manner. It didn't take a detective to see how she felt about Vincent; it was written all over her face.
-
"Hmn," Nicky said, following Circe's gaze to where Vincent and Heather were dancing. Might be a good idea to stick close to Vincent on this little trip... I don't know whether she cares if I die, but it's clear she wouldn't let anything happen to him...
The music wound down to a finish. Nicky stepped back and nodded his head. "Thanks for opening up to me. Some of that couldn't have been... easy to say. And I hope my dancing didn't embarrass you too much." Groups of dinos started to make their way off the dance floor, and were replaced by others as new music drifted on. He held out his hand. "Should we rejoin the others?"
-
"I'm not scared of my past." Circe shook her head here. "But yes... not all of it was easy to say. Your dancing was fine." she chuckled, and nodded at his final question. "Yes... let's." She walked him back off the dance floor now, Vincent bringing Heather back as well.
"That was fun." Vincent commented.
"Indeed." Circe agreed. "But I did enjoy our first dance, Vincent." she informed him, giving him a knowing look. Vincent was starting to feel the effects of the herbs, but as he sank into it, he merely relaxed, going with the intoxication, and letting it run through him. Circe frowned. "I hope now that I'm back, we can break you of your... habit, Vincent." she commented.
"Eh? Oh... well... had to dull the pain somehow, right?" the raptor PI shrugged.
"Right, well... down to business... from what I could glean from the dino I've been tailing, whatever is set to happen on that island is due to start January 2nd. I suggest we head to Hawaii before then." Circe explained.
"Hawaii on New Year's Eve? That's... going to be expensive." Vincent frowned here. "And how exactly are you surviving, Circe? Your cultists aren't exactly funding you anymore."
She snorted. "I've been... managing. Truth is, I was able to access my old account and siphon off some funds before the Council shut it down and appropriated the money. But I admit... I'm starting to run low. Most of the cash I had was used to pay for my surgery. I was hoping perhaps... until I find well... employment... you could help me out, Vincent?" Circe asked sweetly.
"Er... what now? I uh... I barely have enough for myself..." Vincent said hesitantly.
"I will repay you of course... in... more ways than one." she winked at him, rubbing her tail along one of his legs now.
He shuddered at her touch, but not in a negative way. "Do you at least have enough for your plane ticket?"
"Mm-hmm." she nodded. "Speaking of which... I was wondering... if I could stay at your place tonight, Vincent?" Circe asked in a more sultry voice now.
"Uh... well... I'd be fine with it... oh! But I DO have to take Heather home." he said, motioning to Heather now. "She rode with me, after all."
"Of course." Circe nodded, looking over at Heather. "Oh and... we'll need a boat. I'm afraid I can no longer provide you hydrofoil service over to the Progressives' island. I lost that right when I well... 'killed' Raal." she smirked. "I don't suppose the LAPD can lend us a fast cruiser, can they?" she half-joked as she turned to Nicky.
-
Karl got off of the dance floor with some of the other dancers. Not wanting to tire himself, but not being as fresh and untired as he was before he started dancing. He went to the area where some drinks were to get himself a non alcoholic drink.
-
Upon hearing that they needed a boat, Heather had a great idea. She remembered that guy in high school. He was two years below her but nonetheless they got along quite well. He had always been a bright guy and creative at that so it was no wonder that Karl was a successful fantasy book author. She was fairly sure he DID have a boat for occasional trips.
"You need a boat?" Heather piped up. "I might know somebody who does have a boat."
-
Nicky looked at Circe. "Sure. There might be a waiting list though, I think the bank robbers we lent it to last time are still using it." He paused as Heather spoke, then tilted his head. "Alright... well, who is he? Can he be trusted?" We can't just use anyone's boat... it's not like we want to broadcast what we're doing...
-
"Oh yeah, sure he can be trusted," Heather assured. "You might have heard his name already for he's a book author. Ever heard of Karl Flynn?" Heather scanned her listener's faces, noticing that Nicky's expression changed upon hearing the name. "We met back in our high school years and he's really funny. We went to a few party's in our young years. I wouldn't be surprised to meet him here, actually." Heather said. "Anyway, last time I saw him, he told me he has a boat for inspiring trips for his books... I might phone him tomorrow."
-
As the others conversed, a small chuckle interrupted.
"Well, dang. Looks like I missed the dancing. Ah, well. At least there's still food."
Cailan chuckled. Oddly, even out of his guise, he wore a trenchcoat similar to his guised forms...
-
Circe merely smiled at Nicky's reply, and turned her attention to Heather. "Does he have one in Hawaii?" she asked now. "We would preferably need a boat closer to the secret island." she continued. "This way, we can fly in, and oh... I don't think I need to remind anyone of this, but once we get to the island, it's best to leave our guises off. Humans weren't allowed on that place back then, and now I think they'd be even less welcome." she said.
"Yeah... might make it easier for us to pose as some of them, too. Any idea on security measures on the island?" Vincent asked.
Circe shook her head. "No... I would say the labs would be heavily guarded, however."
They heard a familiar voice behind them now, and both Vincent and Circe turned to see Cailan Sablewind, still wearing... well not his duster, but a trench coat that was similar to it. "Cailan! I thought we'd run into you here somewhere." Vincent said now.
"Ah yes... the raptor I passed on the stairs as I was leaving Vincent's condo. I really couldn't stop for a chat at that time." Circe said, recognizing his scent.
"How much did you hear?" Vincent inquired, figuring the raptor had been listening in for some time.
-
As much as Heather disliked to reply to Circe's direct question, she had to in order not to cause suspicion.
"I'm not sure where his boat is... it might have been Hawaii," Heather said, putting on a smile. "I'll call him tomorrow and ask him... or maybe I still have his number saved on my mobile... it's been a while since we exchanged numbers," she shrugged. "One way to find out..."
Heather tried to locate Karl while she was grabbing her mobile in case he was at the party as well which wasn't unlikely, knowing him...
-
Cailan shrugged.
"Honestly, not enough to really know the whole of what's going on. But enough to know you need a boat and some low-key access to an island."
He said lightly.
"Oh, and a bit of heavy flirting."
He chuckled, rolling his neck and idly curling his tail a little.
"Actually, I was hoping to run into you here. Figured that I could trust you, and tell you why I believe what I do."
He said, a bit more seriously...
-
"Alright, it's worth a try at least. See if you can reach him..." Nicky stopped talking when he heard Cailan's voice behind him.
He looked over his shoulder to where the others were looking, and crossed his arms when he saw who had appeared. Great... He already knows too much. He turned away from Heather as she was pulling out her cell phone and faced Cailan, a scowl on his face. He sighed inwardly when the dino explained why he'd come. "This should be good."
-
Circe smirked at the heavy flirting part. She nodded at Heather. "Yes... do try and locate him."
Vincent folded his arms over his chest, his face having flushed slightly at the flirting line, but he nodded and responded. "G-go ahead." he said, stammering a bit. "I'll let you explain yourself. You realize there could be Council members here too though... right? I haven't closely studied the guests." He stopped though, at least interested in what Cailan had to say.
-
Heather hadn't spotted Karl in the crowd though searching for only a few seconds wasn't exactly promising...
She looked at the screen of her Samsung smartphone, skimmed through her contact list and found what she was looking for. Touching Karls number, she held her phone close to her ear since the music was quite loud. Despite that, Heather recognized a ringing mobile out of the pool of sounds at the party left to her. She turned to where she heard the ringing mobile and she soon spotted a male velociraptor that looked quite familiar. She hadn't seen Karl unguised in a long time so she wasn't sure it was really him. Then she saw the raptor grabbing his mobile phone and answering a call... her call.
"Gotcha!" Heather cheered.
-
"Excuse me." He said to the folks he was talking to as he took out his cellphone and took a few steps away. He looked at the screen to see who was calling him after unlocking the screen. He was a bit surprised seeing a she had not called him in quite a while. He took out an ear piece and put that into his ear to receive the call so he could hear despite the sound of where he was, putting an earplug into his other ear to block out the sounds.
"Hello?" He asked.
-
Cailan smirked, shrugging his shoulders a little
"Yeah, I figured there would be. But who's to say that I didn't know a few of my friends would be here as well. Anyhow, worst case, I have an escape route set up."
He chuckled, taking a bite from a cookie he was holding...
-
Vincent nodded, not sure if he'd stop him if there WERE Council members here. He was still turning that over in his mind. "So... what's your big story, then?" the PI asked, patiently waiting for Cailan to go into his explanation.
-
"Hey Karl, long time no see eh?" Heather said, chuckling. She heard the music and the babbling of countless dinos in her phone as well so she definitely had spotted the right dino.
"I see you're at this party too, Karl. I'm just waving to you." Heather indeed waved to the velociraptor.
"Turn to the right... no the other right," Heather instructed. "Yeeeees, see me? I'm calling because you might be able to do me a favor. Mind coming over so we can speak face-to-face?"
-
Cailan sighed, nodding.
"Right. You remember a few years ago how there was a big Raptor turf war? Well, I was part of that. Lots of dead, even more wounded, and it all came to one big final skirmish. The gang I ran with came out on top, but I got shot up pretty bad. Guise was wrecked, so I ditched it, went crawling off towards my "home". Heh. Didn't even make it halfway there before I collapsed on some sidewalk, damn near dead. Last thing I saw was a kid opening the door and running inside before I blacked out. Figured that was it for me."
He smiled a little wistfully before continuing.
"Guess someone up there was looking out for me, though, because next thing I know, I'm waking up in something like a hospital, with a guy loking at some screens, and that kid is dozing by the bed. Turns out, I had gone down in front of some at-home clinic. The kid has told his dad, and had talked him into saving my life. I mean...hell, that was the first time anyone had cared that much. So I stayed with them and they helped me get better. Hell, their daughter even went and got me this coat. Best years of my life that. They taught me a lot about humans, and I told them about us.until I was found out by another Saurian. They have me an ultimatum. Kill the family, or they would. I couldn't let that happen, so I told them to run. I told then how to spot any Saurians, and they adopted me. So that's why I want us to cooperate. Because that family could have silks me out, or left me to die, or anything else we feared, but they didn't. They let me live, showed me a while world I didn't even know... They were kinder to me than our own kind. So now you know."
He said resolutely...
-
"I'm sure they were great people," Nicky said flatly, "Still doesn't change the fact that a lot of humans out there wouldn't be as understanding." He reached out a hand and took a glass of champagne for himself from the tray of a passing waiter, gulping it down in an attempt to stem the headache that was already forming.
He tilted his head. "I'd have thought you'd be lying low after Skylark. I still haven't decided what I'm going to do now that I know where you're staying."
-
Circe shifted a bit uncomfortably at Cailan's story. He let himself be seen by humans? And what was worse... he let them live? Even if they HAD nursed him back to health... could they really be trusted to keep the secret forever? She had serious doubts about that...
She turned upon hearing Heather having located Karl. Ah... excellent! So the author was in fact here! They could meet him, soon, and see if he indeed had a boat. She turned her attention back to the conversation however, and noted Detective Chaseman's reservations. "I agree!" she spoke up now. "What happened... if they reveal our existence to others... it could have dire consequences..." she trailed off, her consternation evident.
Vincent seemed a bit more fascinated by the story, and looked over at Circe. "Well... that IS a clear violation of our laws but... I at least understand where he's coming from. While I have no doubt there are SOME humans who might treat us as equals..." he closed his eyes here.
"It's too much of a risk!" Circe argued back.
"I know... I'm not... disagreeing with you." Vincent said, reopening his eyes. "The Council I'm sure is already aware of it. I'm just saying I understand his viewpoints... I just don't think humanity as a whole is ready for us... to learn the truth of us."
Circe relaxed a bit now, and nodded. "It just seems so... unnatural, that's all. No offense." she said to Cailan. "They will probably never be ready to find out the truth."
"He... knows all that." Vincent cut in. "He might however be useful in infiltrating the island." the raptor PI said in lower tones.
Circe regarded him quizzically, and then sighed. "I'll trust your judgment on this, Vincent. I find it harder to deny you anything anymore. The one promise I made to myself was that no matter... I'd be by your side. No matter what. Please just... be careful. I can't lose you." she said, running her hand down his cheek.
He nodded at her. "I know... I feel... the same exact way, Circe." He turned to Cailan now. "How much did you hear what we were saying about the island?" he quizzed his fellow raptor.
-
"Yea, been a while. How are you doing?" He asked. When he heard she mention she was at the party too he looked around and then in another direction. Seeing her waving he waved in return.
"Sure, I can meet you." He said to her. "Sure, I'll be right over." He said. He put his cellphone stuff away, "Someone I knew from school wants to meet with me about something. See you later." he said to those he was with as he put away his cellphone stuff. He then walked over to where Heather was.
"Something you want or need?" He asked as he got close, looking at the other dinos she was with.
-
"Coool!" Heather managed to shout before she put her phone away to greet Karl in person.
"Yeah, I need something, well, we," Heather spoke. "See Karl, a good friend of mine, Vincent, and two other people - three, I mean - got involved into something, and so did I. We need to get to a certain island of Hawaii, unnoticed, I may add," Heather explained matter-of-factly. "I know you have a boat, Karl, and I know you like Hawaii so I ask you: Is your boat there at the moment? If so, could you... lend it to us?"
-
"Yes, it's there." Karl said pausing, "Though it's not a boat, more of a yacht really." He said, a bit embarrassed at admitting he owned a yacht and one in Hawaii. "I like to go there to do writing, get away from things. Stuff like that. Do you want to use it for a fun weekend with someone?" He asked her.
-
"What?" Nicky said in a low tone, looking sharply at Vincent. "You want to take Cailan with us? Traveling with a known criminal is a bad idea... It's different with Circe - according to you, everyone thinks she's dead. Being seen with him could be very bad for us..." Although... if he comes with us, at least I could keep an eye on him he thought, glancing at Cailan warily.
He was interrupted from his musing by a familiar voice speaking to Heather. He looked to the side and blinked when he placed the voice. "Mr. Flyn? He's your friend with the boat?" Nicky asked Heather in surprise. What are the chances...
-
Vincent lowered his voice and raised a claw to Cailan, indicating he should give them a minute. "Yeah well... we're gonna need some help on this one... and I doubt we can ask your LAPD human buddies to go raid an island infested with dinos!" he whispered sharply to Nicky. "We don't... really have a lot of options here. I understand his reputation and the... problems he can potentially bring but... who's really gonna know? Circe's not gonna say anything about us and him... and I doubt Heather would either. Which just leaves Mr. Flyn, if we can trust him, that is." Vincent outlined. He then straightened back up as Nicky obviously couldn't ignore Karl any longer, nor keep on whispering in his presence. The PI turned back to Cailan now, offering him a smile.
Circe had meanwhile shifted her attention to Karl. "Actually, no." she said, shaking her head. She didn't introduce herself just yet. "We need your boat for something a little more... clandestine." she said hesitantly. "I can't rightly borrow a fellow dino's property without first warning him some harm may come to it... but if you'd rather not know the details, you can accept the story that yes... we're simply borrowing it for a fun weekend." she offered him a wide smile here. "We will of course do everything in our power to ensure no harm does come to it but... as said, I'd rather not lie and have you find out for yourself later on in case something does happen. Oh and rest assured, it's nothing illegal." she informed him.
-
"Sounds like something important." he said, "Very important. As long as it's not illegal or immoral." He said. "I'd be glad to help. Not sure what i can do besides letting you use my yacht." He said, not sure what was going on, or about to go on as the case may more likely be.
-
"Ah, great you're going to offer us your yacht, Karl. Thanks a bunch buddy!" Heather exclaimed appreciatively, moving to the music a little.
"So, you're practising some Martial Arts, right? Least I remember you did that in our highschool years..." Heather said. "Never wrong to know how to defend oneself when you're going to a possibly dangerous place, right boys? And girl..."
-
Nicky cocked his head at Heather, a vexed expression on his face. Real subtle... "Yeah, it's certainly not a bad idea..." he said, fixing his attention back on Karl. "It is important, Mr. Flyn. We wouldn't be borrowing it if it wasn't. And you have my word that it's not for anything illegal, I wouldn't be involved if it was." Hopefully one of the others knows how to drive the yacht... I don't want another civilian involved...
-
Circe once more reassured Karl. "It's not illegal, I promise. And what do you mean, what can you do? You'd be surprised what our kind is truly capable of. We've been toned down a lot by living among humans, sure... but our potential is still there." she offered him a smile.
Vincent took on Heather's cue and began moving with the music a bit. "Yeah... it's not illegal. Just a little... investigative work." the PI said.
"Oh... well I think we've basically concluded business." Circe said, looking at a clock on the wall.
"Don't you want to stay and party some more?" Vincent asked, smiling at her.
"I'll do whatever you want to do, Vincent. I just thought we could continue our Christmas celebrations at your place." she suggested, rubbing his arm.
"Oh that's definitely in the cards... but I mean heck! It's a party! It's Christmas! There's no way I'm not leaving here without my head spinning!" Vincent declared.
Circe smirked now, and shook her head. "I can give you that same sensation tonight... without the herbs. I DID say we were going to break your habit. I have to do SOMETHING right for you after all."
"Yeah, yeah... but you already saved my life! I owe you!" Vincent responded.
"And I owe you for hiding myself from you for practically a year." Circe reminded him.
"OK... OK..." Vincent replied, taking her hands in his own now. "I'll hold ya to it. Speaking of which... who IS our host?" he asked now.
Circe smiled at this. "Oh... a former Progressive who was deprogrammed after the cult collapsed. You know how we had all those rich initiates and were able to fund our little enterprise? Well, unfortunately, Raal still has supporters like that, but this one's back on the straight and narrow." Circe informed him.
"Aha! I kind of suspected it had to be one of your old uh... converts." Circe suddenly started dancing a bit with Vincent again, though confined them to the area they were standing around. Vincent turned to look at Heather as he and Circe moved about though. "So... did you want to stay longer?" he asked, grabbing some bacon and popping it in his mouth. "I am your ride after all... so we can leave whenever you're ready. Oh and... Mr. Flyn? Could we get your contact info? I think we're gonna be in Hawaii around New Year's." the PI informed the author.
-
Karl nodded, "if you need it, sure, since it's not illegal. As for Marital arts yes. I practice a human type and also a raptor style. Thought it best to not limit myself to just one." He said.
He looked at Vincent. "Would you prefer my email, or phone number?" He asked.
-
"Phone, please." Vincent replied, smiling as he danced with Circe. "It'll be much quicker."
-
"Sure. I'll give it to you when you're done dancing." He said smiling.
"So when will you need it?" He asked turning to the others, "And you do know how to drive a yacht? It's not quite like with a car." He said smiling a bit.
-
"Oh, we're done." Circe said, slowing to a stop with a wide smile. "We were just messing around."
"Yeah... we should probably get going in all honesty. Heather, you ready?" Vincent asked her. "Oh and... we'll be needing the yacht around New Year's." the PI reiterated.
"Have I answered all your questions?" Circe asked Nicky, double checking with him just to be sure before they left the party.
-
Nicky gave a small shrug. "For now." I've got a feeling there'll be more questions before this is over. "I'll be seeing you at New Year's then," he nodded to Vincent.
He looked at Karl. "To answer your question Mr. Flyn, no, I don't know how to drive a yacht." Nicky's tail flicked uncomfortably. It was looking as if Karl was going to have to come with them, and the thought made him very uneasy.
-
"Oh yeah..." Vincent suddenly spoke up now. "Yeah I don't think I can either. I can steer a canoe but... I don't think that's the same thing." he confessed.
"Technically, Mr. Watson steered your canoe." Circe reminded him. "You just stood in the front like Christopher Columbus... wearing MY Hawaiian guise I might add." she broke into a wide smile here.
"Oh... yeah that's... that's right." Vincent nodded at this, giving a sheepish smile, his green scales flushing a bit.
-
"Guess I may be needed to drive the yacht. How will you be getting to Hawaii, by plane I presume? & you'll need it on new years day?" He asked.
-
"Probably the day after New Year's." Circe informed him.
"Yes... we'll be flying in." Vincent added. "Probably a day or so before New Year's... packed as I'm sure it'll be." he mumbled. "So, what's your number?"
-
Cailan sighed, jotting the date down in his notepad before turning.
"I can tell when I'm not needed or wanted. I'll be around. Assuming I don't end up on death row before then."
He said with a grim chuckle as he left the group...
-
"It'll be very packed around New Years." Karl said. "As well as prices sky rocketing. " He said to the group. Then to Vincent, "Thought I had already given it to you...." He said, slowly saying his phone number so Vincent would have enough time to write it down or something. "Or would you rather I write it down?" He asked.
-
"Oh, yes, yes I'm ready," Heather stammered, having woken up from a little daydream while still moving to the soft beats of the music that was currently playing.
"I'll have to see that my boss lets me have this short-term vacation... Might need to work overtime but I wouldn't mind," Heather said. "I like my job even though I don't earn a lot of money. Just enough to get along fine and save a few dollars every week."
-
Nicky sniffed. "I suppose I should get going too. The music in this place is giving me a headache." The crowd isn't doing me any favours eithers. He nodded at Karl. "Thanks again, Mr. Flyn. We really appreciate it. I hope it isn't too much of an inconvenience for you."
He swung his gaze to Vincent. "I still have your business card. If anything comes up, I'll give you a call. Otherwise, see you closer to the New Year. Let's hope Cailan won't be too much of a problem." Nicky glanced at Circe and Heather. "See you two soon. Good meeting you, Circe." As he made his way past Heather he turned his head slightly. "Good luck in the war for Vincent..." he whispered lightly, just loud enough so she'd be the only one to hear it.
Nicky made his way across the room to the exit, grimacing as a taller, inebriated Allosaurus stumbled over him, babbling drunkenly.
-
"I'm sure you'll get the time off... and if not... I guess I could try and run a job for one of these dinos here, and get some extra cash." he winked. "Anyway... let's get going. We need to buy plane tickets and... yeah!" Vincent exhaled, his heart starting to race at the thought of what was coming up tonight with Circe. It was still like some dream to him, as if he wasn't really here, but he knew it'd become so real tonight... so real, and yet... surreal as well. He'd be drinking in her intoxicating pheromones and finding himself back in the Jurassic, alone with her. It would be... beyond words.
Smiling, they headed for the exit, bidding their farewells to all gathered, reguised themselves, and headed for Vincent's car.
=================================
Vincent was jarred awake by a jolt that brought him out of the dream he'd been having. Yawning, he looked around the aircraft cabin and then out the window. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our final descent into Honolulu International Airport. We are pleased to announce that we're ten minutes ahead of schedule. Local temperature on the ground is a pleasant 70 degrees today, skies are partly cloudy and no rain is expected. On behalf of our flight crew, welcome to Hawaii."
Vincent looked over at Circe, nudging her as she was listening to music on headphones. It sounded like Laura Branigan's "Self-Control", but he couldn't be sure. "Hmmm?" Circe asked, lowering her headphones.
'We're landing. Quite frankly, I'm relieved. I was having a dream about..." he lowered his eyes.
"Is something wrong?" she asked him, frowning with concern.
"Yeah... it's just... I was dreaming about your death..." he said softly.
"My death as in when I didn't really die or in my death that hasn't happened yet?" she asked.
"No... the fire pit." Vincent told her.
She reached out, and rubbed his arm. "It was a dream... that's all. Let's just enjoy our New Year's and focus on getting the proof we need." she muttered.
He nodded, flinching a bit as they bumped onto the runway and the flaps were extended to slow the plane's rapid progress down the runway. As their bodies moved forward with the slowing of momentum, Vincent glanced out the window again at sunny Honolulu. Well... it was a lovely location, at least, and beautiful this time of year.
A few moments more and they were off the aircraft and in the terminal. "Now... I passed on word to the others that we'll be meeting at the resort in Maui tonight for a luau. We'll discuss plans there... but I haven't figured out hotel rooms, yet." Circe admitted as Vincent donned some shades. Heather was on their flight, and for all he knew, maybe Detective Chaseman had been as well.
"Oh... well there's three of us so..." Vincent trailed off, looking at the two females he was with.
Circe glanced at Heather, and then looked at Vincent with a "really?" look. "We're taking a ferry to Maui, but we've got plenty of time to catch it." she said, not commenting on the room.
Vincent had to admit, he felt a little foolish having even gotten himself into such a fix. Of course he'd room with Circe... after that night in his condo... it was pretty much a given, right?
-
As the plane touched down onto the runway, Nicky stared straight ahead at the back of the seat in front of him, the corners of his mouth turned down. Seated next to him was a mother, cooing at her baby, who'd been squalling loudly the entire flight.
"... and she is just the most hungry little monster out there! It's like, every two minutes she wants more, and then she starts right up again! Aren't you greedy? Aren't you?!" The woman prattled on.
"Hmn," Nicky said, stoney faced. His fingers were gripped talon-like on the arm rests.
"And isn't her voice beautiful? My little girl's going to be a singer one day, you just wait!" The baby paused to draw air into her apparently huge lungs, then promptly emptied them again in a deafening shriek.
"I'm sure she will," Nicky muttered. Please just let this end. The pilot's voice suddenly announced over the intercom that the flight had ended. Nicky unbuckled his seat belt and leaped up, the first passenger to do so. "Well, it was... nice talking to you," he said quickly to the woman, his eye twitching. He wasn't sure if she could actually hear him over the baby. "I'll keep an eye out in case she ever appears in the music charts..." So I know when to deafen myself. He spun around, rushing off the plane and into the terminal.
He rubbed a hand through his hair, looking around as his ears gradually stopped ringing. Spotting Vincent, Circe and Heather, he made his way over, undoing the top two buttons of his white shirt. "Well, here we are..." he said. The pale skin of his disguise looked positively unhealthy in this light.
-
Karl had come ahead a few days before the meeting. He got some supplies for some people to be on the yacht. he wasn't sure how long they would be on the yacht so he got a bit more then several days worth, as well as already having some mre's, in case anything happened, as well as making sure they had more then enough fresh water, various emergency supplies.
Then he started going through his checklist, going through it a second time to be sure he had gotten and not forgotten everything. The second time he went through it backwards.
His guise as a type with the skin with a special chemical type so it would tan a bit with enough exposure to sunlight, fading to a normal appearance with less then enough exposure. This was an improvement over the previous one where you had to apply a chemical to initiate that and had to do it periodically to maintain the tan appearance. The chemical had the look like regular sunscreen. But he liked this automatic type better.
-
"Ah, there you are, Detecti... uh... Nicky!" Vincent replied, remembering what the detective had told the PI to call him. "So I guess we're all here except Karl... and possibly Cailan, if he's showing up. Good thing you managed to catch our flight. Say... I've got an idea!" he said now, digging in his pocket for his phone. "Let's see if Karl can pick us up in his yacht and bring us over to the resort!" Bringing up his list of contacts, the raptor selected Karl and hit call, bringing up the phone to his ear to see if his fellow raptor was available.
-
Vincent finally hung up when it went to voicemail. "Oh well... he didn't answer. Let's just see about getting a ferry over to Maui, then. Karl knows we're meeting there, so we'll just meet him there." the guised raptor commented.
"And don't forget... luau tonight!" Circe exclaimed, walking ahead or the group now to head to baggage claim.
By that night, they were relaxing at their rather spacious resort on the Maui beachfront. The night was warm, and the smell of cooking pork wafted all around them. Blue lights dangled from lines overhead, and they had their own private table with which to discuss business that was away from the main party.
For Vincent, this whole scene brought back memories to his last stay here. Circe had a sense of humor, and had booked them into the same resort that he'd stayed at the previous time he'd traveled to the secret island. It was the location of their first night together, and he remembered it fondly (now that he was capable of doing so). Sitting at the table, Vincent looked out at the pounding surf as Circe set them to the job confronting them.
"OK... so I figure we can go ashore on the southern beach.... that was the public entry point before, and I'm betting it's since been closed off. We want to avoid the north for the moment... just in case any feral dinos are running around." she said grimly. Most of those dinos had been successfully deprogrammed, but there were rumors a few hadn't been... and that was Circe's main concern now, though she doubted the Council would've left them on the island. "We might need to hijack a Land Rover or vehicle of some kind... but the good thing is, we'll be guiseless, so we should in theory just be able to blend right in and act natural... like we're a part of the crew working the island." she informed them.
She tapped her finger on a map she'd drawn on the plane. "A road... or path rather, goes from the southern shores to the interior, where my former manor is located, along with the fossil labs. I'm willing to bet those labs are now manufacturing our virus. Clearance of some kind might be needed, so we'll have to figure on procuring some form of that at some point on the island. Did you bring your sidearm?" she asked of Nicky, turning to face him now.
-
"Of course." Nicky subtly brushed aside his beige jacket to show Circe the Beretta holstered on his side. "Call me paranoid, but I had a feeling that if there was ever a time I might need it, it was now." He frowned. "But it'd probably be a good idea if we could avoid having to use it. Don't want to draw attention to ourselves." Picking up his perspiring glass of beer and taking a sip, he leaned forwards in his chair to look at the map spread out on the table.
After a while, he nodded. "You're right. Going in from the south seems like the best plan of action. As for clearance..." Nicky drummed his fingers on the wooden surface. "Depending on how lax security is around the manor and labs themselves, would it be possible to pose as members of the security force?" He glanced between his three companions sitting around the table. "It's risky, but it would make it more likely for us to get that clearance... and maybe learn if there's been any changes to the place since the last time you've been there. We don't want to be walking in blind."
-
Once he was done Karl sat down to relax and check his cell phone. Seeing he had missed a call from Vincent he called him. He had not expected them to come quite so quick and had been busy getting things ready, getting supplies, checking the check list twice, and other things.
-
Circe noticed the gun. "Well, as much as I bear no love for my former comrades, I agree. The gun should only be the last resort... gunshots will bring others down on us... and Raal's minions were very well trained in firearms use, so there's that as well." she cautioned. "You know... I might be able to use my pheromones too..." she said thoughtfully. "I'm sure at least some of these dinos are brainwashed after all... if I could at least incapacitate them..." she suggested with a shrug.
She thought about his suggestion. "Members of the security? Well... we'd have to be convincing. It's not a bad idea... but I'm not intimately familiar with Raal's security these days. I'm sure they'd have to use some sort of card or some system to move around though. Maybe we'll get lucky and find some in the Land Rovers... or maybe... we'll have to take them from others." she looked around the table. "Hopefully that's something you're OK with doing, since it'll most likely mean initiating confrontation in some form or another. You better with your gun, or physical combat?" she asked Nicky now. "I also hear you're trained in some hand-to-hand fighting, is that right, Heather?" she turned to the hadrosaur.
Vincent nodded. "Yeah... oh!" he noticed his phone ringing. Karl? Well he was certainly late... he slid his finger across his phone's screen to answer the call. "Hey, Karl! We're already at the resort! You can come over if you want! We're having a luau!" he said, chuckling a bit as Circe nudged him.
-
"Oh yeah, I'll kick their butts faster than they can call truce!" Heather stated with a fierce smirk. Even though the hadrosaur didn't like to fight, she did if there was a good purpose or if she acted in self-defence. Or to show a certain fellow dinosaur that she was tougher than she looked like...
-
Nicky shrugged. "I can take care of myself." He didn't exactly possess herculean strength, but his smaller size meant he was quick, able to get in hits faster than most would expect. "Still, if it's a choice between the two, I'll take the gun." He looked at Heather. "Well, that's alright then. Sounds like you'll be doing all the butt kicking for me," he said sardonically.
When he overheard who Vincent was speaking to, Nicky drained his beer and raised his glass. "Tell him the next round's on me," he called over, a smile playing across his lips.
-
"Sounds like fun. Sorry I missed your call earlier, but I was getting some supplies, food, and emergency, as well as going over the check list twice, to be sure everything here is ready for guests who may stay for a day, or a few days." Karl said. "I'll be right over then." He said, "Should be there pretty quick."
-
"Well come over to the resort!" Vincent told Karl. "Next round's on Nicky! Detective Chaseman!" he added, in case Karl didn't get who Nicky was. "Bring your yacht too! We're gonna head over to the island tonight!" he stated.
"Right... so I guess that settles that." Circe murmured. "I can hold my own in a fight as well... so it seems we're covered." she looked around the table now, sipping a pina colada. "I'll make copies of this map in the hotel lobby, and pass them out to each of you... just in case... we get separated. Speaking of which... if we do... I think our rendezvous point should be my old manor." she suggested now.
-
"Be right there." Karl said as he drove/piloted the yacht over as close as he could to where the others were. That done he locked up and went over to where the others were. "Hope I didn't take to long." He said as he walked over to where the others were.
"Once this thing you are doing is over you heading back or going to hang around here for a day or 2 to have some fun and relax?" He asked.
-
Nicky nodded as Karl approached. "Good to see you again, Mr. Flyn." He paused, then added, "Karl." Pushing his chair aside to make more room at the table, he made eye contact with the waiter. As the man scurried over, he thought about Karl's question. "If everything goes well, I don't think I'll have much time to relax afterwards." Nicky glanced surreptitiously at the others. How much are we going to let him know?
The waiter reached their table, and Nicky ordered another round of drinks. He looked over at the young velociraptor. "Get what you want Karl, it's on me."
-
"Thanks." He said. He gave the waiter his order. "I just ask since I think I'll be around for a few days at least. Maybe start work on my next book, though I sent my most recent on e off not to long ago. So I'd not mind if some of you wanted to stay, after your business is finished.
-
"Stay? We might need to head back to warn the Council and present our evidence." Circe pointed out, then got up from the table. "As much as I'd love to stick around a few days... my timetable's going to be dictated by the Progressives' timetable. Anyway... I'm going to make copies of the map for you." she stated, and headed for the hotel.
Vincent caught Nicky's look. "So... I guess I should bring this up... what do you say guys? How much do we tell our new guest? And hey, you're buying this round, right?" Vincent grinned hopefully at Nicky.
-
Nicky sighed. "I suppose I did say so," he said, giving a small smile to show he didn't mean it and forking over the money.
As Circe left the table and made her way to the hotel, Nicky turned his attention to Karl. "Before we head out to the island, I can't let you set off before telling you that it might be dangerous. Actually, it's probably safe to assume that it will be dangerous. But we'll do everything we can to make sure you're as safe as possible."
-
"Dangerous? & I heard the progressives mentioned & the council evidence. Is this some sort of secret unofficial council mission or something?" Karl asked, assuming if it were some part of the government they'd have their own ship. He wondered what these folks were up to, or were planning to be up to. He looked at those present to see what they may say and their reactions.
-
"Um..." Vincent looked at the others now, and cleared his throat. "Well... good guess but no. We're not on Council business." he stated, tapping his thumbs together as he clasped his hands. "We're... trying to bring evidence to the Council of Progressive dealings, though." he admitted now. "It'll be dangerous, all right. We're heading to the island they used to operate out of... and still do, apparently. That's why we need your boat." He came clean with his fellow raptor now, but didn't say just what the Progressives were actually up to just yet.
-
"They are a nasty bunch, from what I've heard about them." Karl said, "A very nasty bunch, and I'm sure a lot of what they did doesn't make the news." He said shaking his head at what he had heard of the progressives.
-
"They are. And no, it doesn't." Nicky took another gulp of beer and looked out at the inky blackness of the sea horizon, the sounds of waves breaking on the beach drifting towards the group. After a moment, he looked back at Karl and rubbed a thumbnail across his glass. "Look, I'd understand if, knowing that there'd be... some degree of danger, you don't want to help us anymore. And that's fine, I'm sure we could find another way. But if you still want to, we'll need your word that you won't tell anyone about the details before we fill you in completely. For your safety, as well as ours."
-
Karl nodded, "I can understand, where the progressives are concerned that you do want to be extra careful and privacy. Sure, I won't tell anyone. Where the progressives are concerned great care has to be taken." he said, pausing to take a drink & shaking his head. "They can't see that they are identical to certain humans are and were though they see themselves as better then humans, from what I hear."
-
"Way better." Vincent commented as Circe returned with the maps, and handed out one each to Heather, Nicky, and Vincent. She had an extra one made, but didn't give it to Karl just yet, in case the group decided against it.
"Well the maps are ready. Is your boat nearby, Karl?" she asked. "I think I'm ready to get this operation rolling. Hopefully you haven't had too much to drink, detective." she gave Nicky a wry smile here.
"I'm ready... that pork smells good though..." Vincent said, standing up to stretch his arms over his head.
"Take some to go." Circe suggested.
-
Karl nodded, "It's nearby and ready to go. If you need speed it also has hydofoils." He said.
-
"Excellent!" Circe stated. "The faster, the better. Well then, let's get going!" she said, waving to the others. "Time's a-wasting!"
Later that night, as Karl's yacht cruised north of Maui, preparations were made to go ashore on the secret island. Circe and Vincent were dropping their guises now, as they'd be useless on the island. Circe's verdant scales glistened in the half-moon's light, her claws flexing as they were released from their bonds.
Vincent relaxed once he was out of his guise, letting the warm night air whip over his scales, and never thinking he'd be this happy to be a natural raptor again. Walking over to Karl, he spoke up. "So you got a small dinghy or skiff on this thing we can use to go ashore?" he asked, raising his voice to be heard over the wind and roar of the engine.
-
Heather had unguised as well after she had stepped onto Karl's yacht. She was standing a little off the others, watching the stars that were twinkling in a mysterious way. Earlier, she had studied the map she was handed and she tried to recall the most important land marks for she didn't want to look at it all the time. "While looking at the piece of paper, I might miss something important..." the hadrosaur thought. "Very dangerous place we're going to step our feet on... gotta be wary..."
-
Karl took off his guise, storing it in a small guise storing closet, or at least a small closet he used for that, once they were far enough out so they would not be seen & night had fallen. He nodded to the question. "I do, also I have a few inflatable rafts as well. The inflatable ones are the types that take up a small room. You pull a line and they rapidly inflate. Though I do have a skiff or life boat as well. I usually keep it covered so it is not effected by weather." He said. He was enjoying the feel of being out of his guise.
"Want to see where it is, or the inflatable ones?" He asked Vincent.
-
Nicky held onto the railing, feeling small pinpricks of cold over his scales as the boat rode over the waves, sending occasional gusts of sea spray across the deck. His nostrils tightened at the sharp smell of salt in the air. His disguise removed, he'd strapped his gun back onto his side where it was being tossed around in its holster as the boat shifted beneath him.
He looked over at Vincent and Karl. "We need something small and quiet!" he called over, the wind dampening his voice. "We have to assume they have some kind of lookout!" Nicky made his way over to them so he could lower his voice. "An inflatable should be good enough - the sea's not too rough."
-
"You're right... I didn't think about that." Vincent confessed, noting Nicky thought about things a bit differently than he did... but then again, as a PI, he really didn't have to worry about sophisticated defense systems on his snooping jobs. "Inflatable it is, then! I'll go take a look at them, and we'll inflate it when we get pretty close... which I think we are... at least according to the GPS." the raptor tapped a claw on the device's screen, noting the approaching island.
Turning to look Nicky over, he smirked. "If only you could walk around like that all the time. Think the humans would take to you?" he asked, pointing to the gun around the compy's waist. "All right... let's break out that raft." he said now, heading down from the bridge to the yacht's storage compartments. It didn't take too long to find what he was looking for, and he gingerly pulled it out, being careful not to puncture the thing with his claws. This was where being a raptor really had its disadvantages. He was careful to rest the raft in just his hands, and laid his claws out flat along its surface.
"Guess I should've done this before changing!" he said, tossing it down onto the deck. "Make sure you bring us in slow, Karl! Get as close as you can without running aground, and we'll let the raft take us the rest of the way in!"
Turning to Heather, he noticed the contemplative expression on her face. "You ready for this?" Vincent asked her.
-
"Sure," Karl said. "guess if you want quiet I should use one of the paddles." He said and got one of the oars, a modern type made of space age materials, so it was lighter then it looked but still strong. "Since this is quieter then an engine." He said holding up a paddle he had brought out.
-
Heather turned around. "Sure I'm ready! I'm always ready," she stated affirmatively, giving Vincent a sheepish grin. "As long as they aren't shooting at me with their guns, I'll be fine."
A thought suddenly came up in Heather's head. "If they'd take their anti-mammal and back-to-our-ancestors thingy serious, we wouldn't have to worry about that, right?"
-
"Actually..." Vincent said, giving Heather a serious look. "They're pretty good with their guns. Raal was training his more serious members how to shoot, military style. While the majority he simply brainwashed into becoming feral, his core supporters were all well trained. It's not going to be easy if we get into a shooting match with those guys." he stated.
The island was fast approaching now, and Vincent knew it would only be a matter of time before they were ashore. "OK... stand back everyone!" he said, and pulled the tab, letting the Zodiac inflate on the deck of the boat. "Yeah... oars from here on out." Picking up one of the oars, Vincent looked at Nicky. "Mind helping me heft this over the side?" he asked, grabbing the lines on one side of the raft now.
-
Nicky nodded and made his way over to the opposite side of the raft. Squatting down and taking hold of the lines on his side, he looked up at Vincent, blinking against the water droplets hitting his face. "Alright, you ready? Three... two... one... Lift!" The swaying of the boat didn't make it easy, but eventually the two managed to heave the raft up and over the side, landing with a weighty splash in the sea.
Looking between Karl and Vincent, Nicky grimaced, his needle-like teeth glinting in the moonlight. "I don't suppose this thing is claw proof?" In the distance, the dark shadow of the island loomed imposingly, growing as the boat crept closer.
-
((I totally heard John Barry's "The Island Speaks" from Dr. No playing as I wrote this post. XD Very menacing track indeed. :smile ))
"Probably not, but we'll just be careful." Vincent said grimly as he climbed into the raft gingerly from the yacht's ladder. "You can anchor us, right?" he asked Karl, looking up. Waiting for everyone else to climb in, Vincent took up an oar and began paddling, watching the dark mass get closer as they moved. He kept his feet up against the front of the raft and his claws flexed upward to avoid any punctures.
Up ahead, white breakers crashed against the beach, their phosphorescent tops being the only indication the sea ended. It was dark otherwise, the shore being dead with no indication of life save for the palm trees and lush vegetation further inland. Fortunately, their voyage was short. The beach was only a few hundred feet from the yacht, and by the time they started crashing through the breakers, Vincent jumped out and began dragging the raft towards the beach through the shallows. Grunting, he slid it up onto the sand. "OK! I guess I'll go hide this then!" he whispered loudly. "Nicky, you take everyone to the road! See if there's any vehicles at the dock!" He wanted Nicky to do this because the compy had the gun, and would be able to at least attack from a distance first if it came to that. "I'll catch up!" Vincent instructed.
Circe stepped out of the raft and onto terra firma, inhaling the sickly sweet aromas of the island as she closed her eyes. "Lead the way, detective. I trust you studied the map well enough?"
-
Karl nodded, "Sure I can." he said. He turned off the motor so that it would, hopefully, not be heard on the island. He then made sure that the yacht was properly anchored. It would not do to have it drift off who knows where by the time they were ready to return to it.
"We can wear some special gloves or put on claw caps, but for the short time we'd be wearing them it may not be worth the bother." he said. He got into the raft with an extra paddle, in case it was needed or someone lost theirs. He didn't have a gun, but he had made sure he wore one of his vests, since having pockets were handy at times. He had put in one of the flare guns into a pocket. With a few extra cartridges, and some basic survival tools. He doubted they would be needed, but they were small and light and didn't take up much room so he thought why not bring some just in case.
-
Nicky nodded to Vincent as he hopped out of the raft. "On it. We'll wait for you at the dock." As his feet hit the sand, he scanned their surroundings. There were no guards running across the beach towards them, and though the wind was swaying the vegetation further inland, it didn't look like anyone was lying in wait for them. So far, so good... Still squinting his eyes at the treeline, Nicky's mouth tightened at Circe's question. "Don't worry, I did my homework." He beckoned to Karl and Heather with a claw. "Let's go."
He jogged up towards the treeline and was soon pushing his way through the darkness of the greenery, the rumble of the waves dulling behind him. The air was warmer here, with a heavy, earthy smell. Branches overhead crackled - a spooked animal moving across the treetops. Leaves crunched underfoot as the compy crept through, eyes darting around cautiously. Soon, the vegetation thinned and they came across a rough road. To their left, it weaved haphazardly through the undergrowth, tire tracks forming little trenches in the mud, and curved off in the distance, disappearing from sight. Turning his head to follow the road's right hand path, Nicky saw that it continued a little further down until it reached a small, cleared patch of earth. Must lead down to the docks... Silver moonlight spilled across the makeshift parking lot, revealing that a lone, worn-looking land rover had been left there. It didn't look like anyone was hanging around.
Nicky turned a dry expression to Circe, Karl and Heather. "Looks like we've found our ride. Any bets that they were kind enough to leave us the keys?"
-
Vincent began covering up the raft with palm fronds, which were scattered numerously throughout the beach front. Laying them over the top and sides, he worked on concealing the craft in a little cove as best he could.
Meanwhile, several hundred yards away, Circe glanced about, smelling no dinos nearby, and darted out of the jungle, heading straight for the Land Rover. "Looks like we're in luck!" she smirked, opening the door and grabbing the keys off the driver's seat. "Seems they're getting careless, but they probably don't have too many visitors. You wanna drive?" she asked, holding the keys up for Nicky.
Down at the beach, Vincent had finished up, and began running towards where he remembered the road to be, sand flying about as he was careful to kick it around and cover his tracks as he moved.
-
Karl nodded, "I do hope they did." he said. Then smiling once he heard they had. He looked back in the direction Vincent was, "I do hope it doesn't take Vincent to long to catch up to us and nothing happens to him." he said. He looked back to see if Vincent was coming. "Great that they left keys. I guess they are more sloppy since they don't get visitors, or not many indeed. I do hope our good luck continues." he said.
He thought, "Hmm, we have to be sure that word of our being here doesn't spread to quickly. I'm sure we can do what we can to ensure word doesn't spread as much as we can." he said.
-
"Vincent's a pro at investigating so he should know how to move without being obvious," Heather spoke up in a response to Karl. "And yeah, I agree. I'd highly prefer NOT to be seen by anyone... at all."
Heather feared a physical fight but at the same time she somehow seeked to get into one... as long as there weren't any guns involved, that was...
-
Nicky met Circe's smirk with a tilt of his head. "And I didn't get you anything," he muttered, reaching out a claw as Circe tossed the keys over to him. Stepping around her, he eased himself into the driver's seat, the land rover's failing suspension causing the car to bounce a little, and felt a warm wetness against his tail. Grimacing, he reached down and, after hesitating for a second, pulled out the remains of a burst juice box. Nicky dropped it outside with a shudder. "Watch it, " he grumbled, "Whoever owns this doesn't know the meaning of hygiene..."
Once the others had let themselves in, he turned the key and the engine rumbled to life. Luckily, it was quieter than he'd been expecting. He left the headlights off for the time being - there was just enough moonlight to see by, and the less chance of being seen for the moment, the better.
"Alright, let's pick Vincent up and get this show on the road," Nicky said, starting to pull the vehicle forwards slowly towards the area of road the raptor would emerge.
-
"I would guess considering how the progressives act, hygiene is something they don't care about." Karl said as he got into his seat.
"I do hope Vincent is done with what he was doing and can go right away. The longer we are here the higher the chance we'll be discovered." Karl said.
-
As Nicky slowly pulled ahead, Vincent emerged from the jungle and ran over to them, opening the back door and sliding in. "Sorry! Raft is pretty well hidden though!" he exclaimed breathlessly. As they moved down the dirt road now in the Land Rover, the trip was just as bumpy as the last time Vincent remembered it. It was no smooth ride by any means, as the road was pockmarked and not paved.
"It'll be a mile or so ahead." Circe instructed Nicky, sitting next to him in the passenger seat while Vincent sat next to Heather and Karl. "Just drive... normally I guess. The road will branch ahead. One leads up to my former mansion, the other... deeper into the jungle, towards the labs. I recommend taking the latter for now when we get there." she suggested.
As they got closer, bright lights suddenly appeared through the treetops. "The hell?" Circe murmured. "This wasn't here last time..."
Floodlights shone around what looked like a massive pit which had been dug out of the center of the island. Unguised dinos of all descriptions scurried about its perimeter, gazing down and carrying out excavation work. It was truly colossal, big enough to easily swallow 50 Land Rovers and have plenty of room leftover. Dinos armed with FN SCARs patrolled the perimeter, and one particular iguanodon held up his hand and began walking towards their vehicle. "Halt!" he called.
"Mm... say we're part of security... or the dig team. You're a cop, think on your feet." Circe murmured as she rested her hand on the window and her head against that, looking away from the approaching iguanodon just in case.
He motioned for Nicky to roll down the window. "What are you doing here? Never seen you before." he pointed out.
-
Nicky rolled down his window, trying to make himself look as small and insignificant as possible. The cacophony of rumbling machinery and raised voices assaulted his ears. "Oh, hello sir," he said, plastering a smile over his face, his voice up-beat and out going. "Yeah, we haven't been here too long - we're part of the new team that's been brought in for the excavation... They told us it was a hell of a job, but when you see it up close..." Nicky whistled. He glanced back at the others in the car, catching a glimpse of an old magazine in the back seat as he did so. It was open on an advert for an electric toothbrush - The new model 18 Z Max... Try it now! "Biggest project we've ever done, right guys?"
Resting his elbow on the windowsill casually, he turned back and looked up at the iguanodon. "We were just bringing back a replacement for the 18 Z Max drill piece that broke. You know, just between us, I think the 20 Z is a better choice... more efficient, and it won't snap every time you look at it wrong." He chuckled and shared a knowing smile. "But hey, they don't pay me to run my mouth, right?"
-
((Totally pictured this playing for this scene. :DD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvjRSUOU_6A (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvjRSUOU_6A) ))
The guard looked at Nicky curiously, and it was clear he was lost a few sentences back when Nicky had mentioned the Z 18. "Uhhh... you brought the drill bit?" he asked now. "Well... OK. Get out then." He nodded with his head.
"We already unloaded it!" Vincent quickly cut in. "It's down at the docks. Too big for the Land Rover, but another team is handling it, don't worry."
"Oh... all right. Well... get moving then!" the igaunodon ordered again, motioning for them to exit.
Vincent needed no second urging, and quietly exited the vehicle. Circe did the same, keeping her back to the guard. The guard waited to make sure they were walking towards the excavation site, and then called out to them. "Halt! Why do you have a sidearm?" he asked, nodding at Nicky.
"Oh he's our security detail! That's why he was driving!" Vincent turned around now and smiled nervously. "Us workers can't wander around on our own, after all! He picked us up!"
"Oh... right." the guard nodded, and moved off now.
"Phew... right let's take a look at this thing." Vincent murmured, and approached the edge of the pit, which yawned before them. Whistling as he gazed down, the raptor's eyes were met with the blackest stone he'd ever seen. It was a massive stone slab, or... what looked like stone. Black as tar, it was strangely reflective, and had what appeared to be a giant 32-point compass rose emblazoned upon its top in highly decorative yellow and blue spikes that ended in sharp tips. "What... the hell?" Vincent breathed, confusion washing over his features. "What the hell is this?" He noticed as he looked further, that the ground around it had been dug out, and it wasn't just a slab... it was a massive rectangle of the stuff, extending down like a giant block as far as the eye could see. It's sheer scale was daunting, to say the least.
"I don't know..." Circe said, shaking her head slowly, entranced by the thing below them. "I've never seen it before in my life! I never even knew this was under the island!"
"I don't suppose any of you know what this is..." Vincent said, trailing off.
"Um... Vincent, dear? Perhaps it's best not to loiter. I suggest we head for the labs. Dinos are gonna start wondering why we're gawking and not working." Circe murmured.
-
"Yes, best to continue onto the labs and do why we're here. " Karl said, keeping things vague and wording it as best as he could so if any overheard their conversation it would not sound suspicious, "After all this is another department." He said indicting the digging going on vaguely with one hand.
-
Nicky stared down at the massive black slab, a frown creasing his face. "That symbol's got to mean something..." he muttered, crossing his arms as his eyes hovered over the shape printed on it's top. "You didn't know this was here?" Nicky asked, half-turning his head in Circe's direction. "How did Raal find out about it? And why take the time to dig it up? Sure, it looks... impressive but..." His voice trailed off. He hadn't known what to expect when they arrived, but this sure wasn't it. He hated to admit it to himself, but he was completely thrown by the situation.
Tearing his attention away, Nicky glanced around and saw that, as Circe had predicted, a few of the workers milling around had started to look curiously in their direction. "Right, let's get moving." He glanced around at the group and cocked an eyebrow. "Which one of us could fool a group of scientists that we know what we're talking about?"
-
"No..." Circe breathed, shaking her head. "I had no idea... and I'm not sure how Raal would know... he always spoke about the Ancestors but... this can't possibly have anything to do with them... can it?" she asked warily.
"You always spoke of how advanced they were... how they could build anything." Vincent said softly as they began wandering away from the pit. "Is that... one of theirs?"
"How can it be?" she asked. "I never thought they actually built stuff like that!" Circe insisted. "Just stories... and none about anything like that."
"Always suppose I could ask." Vincent tried, walking off.
"I wouldn't..." Circe cautioned but Vincent was already doing so.
"Hey! We're uh... new here!" He introduced himself to an allosaur, who narrowed his eyes at him, the hard hat he was wearing making him looking even more menacing.
"Yeah... clearly... this is a hard hat only area, bub!" the allosaur shot back.
"Oho, right! Well we aren't here for too long! Been tasked with taking some supplies to the lab guys! We just couldn't help but gawk at that thing over there... we're not on the dig team so... I thought the virus was the only thing we had going on..."
"Virus? Boy are you out of the loop!" the allosaur chuckled menacingly. "That 'thing' as you put it, will change everything. The mammals will go the way of our Ancestors once we get that thing in operation, rest assured! But if you aren't on the dig team, I can't say more than that, for security reasons. You know how it is."
"Right, right..." Vincent gulped, backing away. "That's... good to know."
"Say if you're lab guys... where's your badges?" the allosaur asked, suspiciously now.
"Oh uh... uh..." Vincent grinned nervously.
Circe sighed and stepped forward, unleashing a high dose of her pheromones as she leaned directly into the allosaurus, and as the bigger dino gasped and recoiled a bit, Circe reached out and put her arm on his back, pulling him gently in to her. A glazed, distant expression passed over his face now, accompanied by a dopey smile. Vincent knew that sensation well enough... he wasn't even standing at the dig site anymore... his mind had taken a trip back to the Jurassic. "There we go... now... you don't remember any of what just happened... it's gone from your mind like an early morning mist." Circe spoke softly and seductively into the allosaur's ear. "Do something useful... wander towards that waterfall in the distance, and gaze at it... lose yourself for ten minutes within its falling torrents... zone out... go on." she instructed, patting his back as he stepped forward in a daze, heading towards a waterfall only he could now see.
Circe smirked at this and Vincent smiled. "Waterfall?" he asked. "I don't see no waterfall."
"I could make you see it if you wanted." she informed him, slapping his back with her tail. "Anyway... I had to do something to erase his mind about that little incident. Let's go." she suggested, continuing on the path to the labs. She smirked at Nicky. "I bet you didn't fully believe me when I told you about my pheromones."
"Heh... wish I could do that..." Vincent murmured. "I'd be a REAL hit with the ladies, I bet." he joked.
"And why would you want to be, Mr. Rubio?" Circe chided him now.
"Uh... right. Oh! There's the labs!" he quickly interjected, pointing ahead. The laboratory building stretched ahead of them, long and sleek as it jutted out of the jungle like the prow of a ship. It was modern but somehow threatening at the same time.
"I don't suppose anyone brought a camera, did they?" Circe asked, suddenly thinking of it. "Not that we necessarily need photos, as all of us telling the Council what we saw should be sufficient for them to dispatch a spy plane out here but..."
"Greetings brothers and sisters!" A beaming ankylosaurus stood ahead of them now, grinning as they approached the building. "It's good to see new recruits about our fair island! What can I help you with, brothers and sisters?" he asked.
"Uh... the new lab guys! Reporting in!" Vincent spoke up.
"Fine, fine! Your badges, please?" the anky asked as he stepped forward.
Circe subtly tapped Nicky's backside with a bade she'd swiped off the allosaurus. She had noted it was a general permit or something. "Well you're our escort... escort." she muttered to him, holding it behind his back for him to take.
"I'm Ernie Carlson." Vincent introduced himself now. "Biochemist, and these are my colleagues, doctors..." he trailed off here, letting Karl, Circe, and Heather introduce themselves in whatever fashion they pleased.
"Well you're kinda cute." the anky complimented and interrupted Heather. "You free later tonight for some herb chewing down by the beach? I know this great little quiet spot we could go..." he began, giving her what he assumed was a charming look.
-
Karl stood fully erect. "I'm John Erickson." He said in a very good British Accent (different from his normal American accent) & using different body postures and language then he normally used. He had taken some drama classes in the time he went to university, for fun, including studding how to do accents. He thought it was fun and may help him in his writing. The character name he got from a 2 characters of a book a friend of his and he were co writing.
-
Nicky held up the pass that Circe had slipped to him, waving it in the anky's leering face. "Hey, keep your little friend to yourself... brother." He put it down and frowned at the larger dinosaur, tapping his gun pointedly with a claw. "Unless you want their security escort to report any advances that are keeping the staff from their work..."
-
Heather stared at the anky in disgust. "No thanks!" she stated. "I don't like herbs and I'm here for business!"
-
"Oh uh... sorry!" The anky said now, growing nervous as Nicky subtly threatened him. "I just thought you know... no harm in trying to have some fun every now and again, right?" he said sheepishly. His distracted state meant he only briefly glanced at the security badge that Nicky waved in front of him. "Yes... go on through." he waved now, more wanting to avoid Nicky reporting him than being concerned what the badge said, which was lucky, since it wasn't authorization for this area, and just a general security badge.
As they proceeded to enter the labs now, Circe could immediately tell this building had gone through an extensive overhaul. No longer were they designing and creating false fossils for paleontologists to discover. Instead, banks of computers whirred and hummed as unguised dinos sat in front of their screens and plugged away. Oddly enough, despite noticing some biology labs further ahead, it didn't look as if biology and virus manufacturing was the main thing going on here.
"Well this place has certainly gotten an upgrade." she muttered as they began walking down the rows of computers. Casually glancing at a few of the screens, Circe could see what looked like orthographic projections on the screens relating to that massive structure that was sitting outside. Words like "Crystallization" "Pillar" "Pandora" "Power Grid" and the like could be seen, but she had no idea about any of these.
She noticed that despite the dinos' fixation on their monitors, she was getting some... looks as she wandered by, being quite the attractive raptor and all. "Don't understand... current studies aren't matching up with previous data." she spoke up now, hoping the others would catch on. "We previously thought data on the virus would be more... abundant, but results aren't showing that."
"Oh! Right!" Vincent replied, nodding now and picking up on the code. Glancing up, Vincent almost choked as he saw a particular gray-scaled diplodocus standing up in a glassed in control room high above them conferring with some more dinos in front of computers. "It's...!" he began, and only nodded upward once before looking down and keeping his gaze away.
Circe's eyes darted upward, and a sudden fire came into them now and her face hardened. "Raal!" she hissed under her breath. Good thing his name was more a guttural dinosaur sound than it was a proper noun, and she was able to convey this quite well. She led the way towards the bio labs, but stopped short as they exited the bank of computers, and motioned with her tail for them to follow her off to the side of an adjoining hallway.
"Guys... that diplodocus up there... it's Raal. I'd never forget him." she murmured. "Whatever he's discussing... it can't be good. I thought we'd find proof of the virus and while there are some bio labs here... they aren't as big as I was expecting. Instead... it seems that thing they're digging up is the main focus here. We have to find out more about it... I think one of us should go up and try and either listen in on what Raal's saying or even try and approach him. It can't be myself or Vincent however... he knows both our faces. But whoever does this is gonna have to be extremely careful... his pheromones are even more powerful than mine... so don't give him any reason to suspect that you aren't who you say you are." she cautioned.
"Circe... I don't know... are you sure about this?" Vincent asked.
"You want to try chatting up one of the guys you see in front of the computers? There's too many of them... and Raal's only got a few up there in the control room with him. I think it's our only option." she insisted. "Besides... these guys all look like they're working on something different... who's to say they'd have the whole story?" she asked now.
-
"Hmm." Karl said, not sure what to do. "If it helps any I do have a small digital camera. I keep on on the yacht in case I'm here and want to take pictures of something. It's a small compact type since it's easier to carry around then a large one. And you can use interchangeable lenses for night shots, zoom, and the like. I like to have small gadgets in various pockets." He said in a low whisper, opening his vest to start to pull out the compact digital camera and a few interchangeable lenses with his other hand he kept in another nearby pocket. He put them back. "So what do you think we should do next? I've never done anything like this before."
-
Nicky shook his head at Karl. "The camera might be useful later, but if they see us using it here things could turn bad." He cocked his head. "Raal's up there... I'm with them, if one of us can catch what he's discussing, maybe we won't be wandering around in the dark here." Nicky paused and glanced around at the group. "I'm the 'one of us', aren't I?" He grimaced. "Oh, good. Alright, I'll see what I can do. Be back soon... I hope." He split off from the group and made his way for the stairwell leading up to the control room.
As he wound his way up, he could feel his heart thumping in his chest. Of course, he'd had to deal with some shady and downright scary people in his job... but this was something else altogether. Eventually, he reached the top and came to a closed metal door. He could faint electrical beeping on the other side, and muted voices, but nothing he could eavesdrop on. Taking a deep breath, Nicky knocked on the door.
-
"Yeah I'd say the main thing to take pictures of would be that... thing outside." Vincent said in a low voice. "In here there's too many dinos. They'd see us easily. Let's just keep a low profile... maybe check out the virus labs while Nicky goes up there?"
"Yes but someone's got to keep an eye on Nicky... just in case." Circe pointed out.
"Yeah... Karl, how about you stay here and wait for him?" Vincent suggested. "Circe, Heather, and I will check out the labs. Good luck, Nicky." Vincent placed a clawed hand on his shoulder now. "You get what you need, and get out. Don't prolong it any longer than you have to."
"He's a detective. I'm sure he'll be fine, dear." Circe reminded the PI.
"I know... I'm just nervous... didn't think I'd actually see Raal amongst the living." Vincent spoke up here. "But yeah, good luck." he reiterated again. As Nicky headed up to the control room, Vincent nodded at Heather and Circe. "Right... let's go check out these labs." he murmured, beginning to lead the way further down the hall.
As Nicky knocked, there was a pause, then the door swung open, and a stegosaur shushed him, motioning for the compy to quickly enter the room. Raal was on the far side, leaning over a computer worked by a coelophysis technician. "OK so last week we were discussing the shield generators that the Ancestors had installed in the Mojave Desert. They predicted that was the most likely spot for the next event to occur... well they were right. According to my our own findings, the resonance of that area is strong." His claw tapped the mouse and froze an image on the screen. "Now as we also discussed, the shield generators were enough to completely cancel out Pandora's signal... see?" he hit another button, and demonstrated. An image of that large, black device suddenly appeared, hovering over a circular array of crystal like boxes below it. A red box appeared on the screen saying "No Resonance."
"Please tell me you found a way around that. I haven't waited this long only only to be defeated by the Ancestors." Raal growled, his voice a very even baritone, though there were hints of anxiety underneath.
"Ah but we have!" the coelo stated, raising a claw. "By carefully analyzing the frequency emitted by the generators, we were able to determine that while Pandora's signal alone isn't strong enough to overcome said frequency... this... you're gonna like." He hit a few more buttons, and a wave appeared on the screen now, emanating from the black device. "By installing a device that emits a certain frequency of its own, combined with that emitted by Pandora... check it out." The monitor now showed the two frequencies overpowering the field coming from the circular array on the ground. "It should be enough to overload the generators and force their shutdown or destruction. Now this is all theoretical of course... we have no way to test it without actually well... testing it, but it should work."
A look of triumph passed over Raal's features now, and he beamed in a rather threatening, wicked fashion. "Excellent! This is precisely what I pay you for!" he exclaimed, slapping the coelo on the side of his arm. Straightening up, Raal noticed Nicky now. A curious look crossed the diplodocus's features. "And who are you?" he asked, noting the gun the detective carried. "Don't believe I've seen you here before, brother." he commented coolly.
Down below, Vincent stood outside the labs with Circe and Heather. They were able to look into them through the glass windows, and Vincent turned to the hadrosaur. "Heather, I don't suppose you were a biology major in school... were you?" he asked hopefully.
-
Nicky kept quiet as Raal and the coelo technician talked, keeping his expression neutral as he tried to listen and make sense of what they were saying. Pandora... Is that the name of that thing in the ground? He could just about see the screen in front of the coelo. Who were the Ancestors? What's going to happen in the Mojave Desert? And how was the black slab... Pandora, responsible for it? Nicky clenched his jaw. So many questions... this is bigger than we thought...
He blinked when Raal called over to him, interrupting his thoughts. Clearing his throat, he stepped forwards. "I try to keep my head down, sir," he said, "Being part of security and all. I figure it makes more sense for the science nerds to speak up, and for us dumb grunts to shut up and do what we're told." He offered a quick smile. "Speaking of which... I'm here because a member of the dig crew fancies himself a scientist, starting to ask questions and throw around theories. I was just wondering how much I should let him know? I figure that if we give him something, he'll keep his mouth shut and get back to work." Nicky held his breath, hoping that, with all the security and pass checking he'd seen, information was usually on a need to know basis.
-
"Biology? P.E. was my only strong subject in school," Heather replied, musing about her rather average school grades in certain subjects. "I was doing okay in biology but I don't think I remember much. Maybe our unfortunately small knowledge of biology will complement when we help each other. Or maybe Circe is a biology major?" Heather responded. She hoped Nicky was doing okay, albeit she didn't really know him that much. Being part of their team was seemingly enough to wake her motherly instincts...
-
Karl nodded, and looked for an unobtrusive place to wait for Nicky, crouching down so he'd not be seen by passerby. He had though of if found he'd rub one of his calf muscles, pretending he had overexercised it. A bit vague, but maybe believable. He hoped Nicky would not be long. He glanced in the direction where the others had gone in, hoping they as well as Nicky were all doing ok.
-
"Mmmm, just so." Raal responded, giving the compy a cadaverous smile. "Oh is he now?" Raal inquired. "Just tell him what we've been telling them all along. It will change everything, and lead to the mammals' extinction and the glorious revolution for our kind. It will mark our ascendancy as the new, dominant race on this planet. No more guises... no more hiding in fear... say when did you join us, brother? You must be new. I take it the path to Progress is one to your liking?" he asked, giving him another death-like smile.
"Me? No, no... I never made it past the Catholic school I started out at. Never went to college." Circe shook her head. "When Raal adopted me... that was it. He educated me... much to my regret." she murmured.
"All right well... it looks like a standard lab. Cultures and all that. Centrifuges... it's gotta be the virus." Vincent took out his phone, and pretended to be texting, but in reality, he was snapping a few photos. "Maybe someone else with a biology degree can tell us what's up." he stated. "I suppose we could always 'accidentally' knock one of those vials onto the floor and watch and see if the science dudes choke and die or not... but then again... it's not meant to affect our kind so... guess that wouldn't work." Vincent chuckled nervously here.
"You've seen too many movies, I think." Circe shook her head. "Anyway... I think we've seen enough here without actually entering the labs. Shall we head back?"
Vincent nodded, and began heading back down the hall to link up with Karl now. He noted Nicky wasn't present, but as Karl showed no signs of alarm, that was a good thing. "Must be working Raal for information." the PI suggested.
"Well I remember your methods of trying to get information out of me... attempting to seduce me didn't exactly work out too well for you." she smirked.
"Errr... well... I think I DID get stuff out of you... not much but some... stuff." Vincent defended himself.
"Oh yes, but I think we can make the case that I got far more 'out' of you than you did of me." she was still smirking playfully, and gave him a light pinch as they walked.
Vincent only murmured something inaudible in response, but smile all the same even as he dropped his head to look at the floor.
-
Oh god... he really is insane, Nicky thought. He grinned broadly. "I can't wait for that day, brother. And yes... I am fairly new. Is it that obvious?" Nicky chuckled then grew serious again. "In my... well, admittedly humble opinion, Progress is the only path for us. No, more than that - it's our duty. The mammals have been ruling this planet for too long. I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to see it," said, sighing regretfully.
Nicky paused then looked up at Raal. "Brother, I... I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I'm confused too. Why are we taking so much time with Pandora? Call me old fashioned, but aren't bombs and bullets the fastest way to get our message across?"
-
Raal smiled again in that cadaverous fashion as Nicky told him Progress was the only path. "It truly is, brother." he said, nodding. "Now then..." this time, the diplodocus gave out a deep, rumbling laugh at Nicky's question. "Bombs and bullets would spark a war leaving millions... perhaps even billions dead. No, no... it was something I initially thought would work, but I've since seen there's a much easier way. Pandora was the Ancestors' fail-safe, brother. But when they began to fear its very great power, they took steps to ensure it could never be used. You remember the Great Showers, yes? The cataclysm that led to our near extinction? Pandora can perform feats such as these... and the mammals won't stand a chance. They will die in great quantities, whereas our kind will be safe! We will be free to repopulate this planet, and any human survivors will be finished off by the virus and our squads, which will hunt them down! It'll be truly fantastic sport! Why start a war... when you can start the apocalypse?" Raal asked Nicky, grinning now in an eerie way.
-
Nicky returned Raal's grin by flashing his own teeth viciously. "Well, I suppose that kind of forward thinking is why you're in charge," he drawled. "I just hope I get to have some fun mopping up the stubborn ones who don't have the decency to die straight away." The virus is only the backup?! But... that's ridiculous, Pandora can't really be used to do what he said... it's just a rock... Even as he thought it, Nicky felt his mouth go dry, a manifestation of his self-doubt. He believed in following evidence... but deep down in his gut he'd felt something was different about it. And what had the coelo been saying? Pandora was giving out some kind of signal...
If I hang around much longer, it'll start to look suspicious - I need to get back to the others. "Well, I won't trouble you any longer, brother. Thank you for clearing that up," Nicky said, bowing his head and starting to back towards the door. "Although now, the wait for Pandora's justice is going to be even harder," he laughed.
-
"Of course. Just leave your name with Kaufman and he'll ensure you're part of the Human Hunters." Raal replied with a smile. "It will be coming faster than you know it!" Raal exclaimed rather joyously. Nicky had almost made it to the door when the diplodocus halted him. "Wait!" His nostrils started flaring now. "That scent you have about you... not your own... but it almost smells like..." He took a few steps towards him now, eyes narrowed. "Two scents in fact... not your own... they're vague but... they're ones I would never forget..."
The diplodocus was only a few feet from Nicky now, sniffing him out and studying him curiously. But then, he relaxed. Fortunately for Nicky, Circe had done extremely well in suppressing her scent, and only Vincent's lingered for any lengthy period of time. "I thought I picked up two scents... must've been just imaging things." he muttered. "You did say you only just arrived, after all. Still... why does it smell fresh?" It was fading by this point, as Nicky's own scent was slowly coming to the fore. "You haven't seen a green raptor with a red and black tail lately, have you?" Raal inquired.
"Sure is taking his time up there." Vincent chuckled.
"No... something's wrong..." Circe stated, stealing a brief glance upward at the room. "Raal is approaching him. Dammit! I was extra careful to suppress my scent! It must be you he's picking up on!" Circe exclaimed, looking at Vincent.
"Well I... can't control it!" Vincent protested.
"Most of our kind can't..." Circe murmured. "Hopefully he can wiggle his way out of this..." she trailed off, moving her eyes upward again to indirectly glance in Nicky's direction.
-
Nicky stared up at Raal as his nostrils flared, forcing his face into a neutral expression. He felt his heart skip a beat when the diplodocus mentioned a raptor with a red and black tail. Vincent... He swallowed, then scrunched his eyes, scratching his snout thoughtfully. "Not since I've been at the island..." He snapped his claws. "I do remember a green raptor now you mention it! Met her a few days before coming here. Can't remember what colour the tail was, but..." He leered up at Raal. "She was a real wild fire, if you get my meaning... Damned if I can remember her name though."
Nicky furrowed his brow. "You picked up her scent? Do you know her, brother?" He shrugged. "I'm not surprised, I think she got around a bit."
-
Raal's face wrinkled a bit in disappointment and possibly disgust. "Er... no... the raptor I'm thinking of is male... an old enemy of mine... n-never mind then!" he declared, waving his hand dismissively. "You're free to go." He turned his back on the compy now, and seemed disinterested in the matter.
-
Karl exhaled quietly, "Good, looks like he convinced him or got out of it. It did look like it could have gotten bad for him there for a moment." He said. He was glad Nicky had gotten out of whatever it was he was in, unless that Raal guy just wanted to give him some orders or something.
"Guess there's no time for you to teach him how to suppress his sent now. Imagine if that Raal guy leaves that room and walks around any area we've been through." He said, thinking he'd smell Vincent's scent for sure then.
-
Nicky nodded, a smirk playing across his lips. "Yes sir. Thank you." He sauntered out the door, closed it behind him... and leaned back against it, the smirk falling from his face like a tonne of bricks. He exhaled, a trembling breath to match his shaking claws, which he balled into fists. He'd interrogated a lot of criminals during his line of work, but he'd never met someone who'd radiated pure evil like Raal. And it came so close to going wrong...
He took a number of deep breaths to steady himself, willed his claws to stop shaking. When he'd managed to get a grip on himself, he proceeded back down the stairs. Reaching the main room at the bottom, he could only see Karl standing on his own. Nicky made his way over, then spoke in a low tone to the younger dinosaur. "Where are the others? This is even worse than we thought..."
-
"They went over to the labs that way." Karl said pointing in the direction the others had gone in.
"That Raal person really exudes evil. I could see it when we first saw him." He said shaking his head. "Not to mention the progressive way of thinking that dinosaurs are the rightful rulers of the earth except for the extension event at the end of the cretaceous is flawed. If not for an extinction event in the triassic the archosaurs, who we dinosaurs are descended from, would not have risen to the prominence our ancestors did since the synapsids that were the dominant life form in the early triassic would have stayed dominant. Their survivors evolved into mammals, thus if you look at it that way mammals as the descendants of synapsids could say they have a greater claim to the earth then we dinosaurs do. Though I think there is enough room for everyone." Karl said.
-
Nicky paused. "Right," he said finally. Putting a claw on Karl's shoulder, he started to lead the raptor over to where he'd said the others had gone. "I couldn't get everything out of him, but..." He sighed. "Maybe it's better if I say when we're all together." Looking ahead, he could see the other three starting to head back towards him. Nicky stopped then subtly nodded his head in a come here gesture.
"It's bad," he said quietly when they arrived. Looking at Vincent, Nicky gave a slight grimace. "And Raal caught a scent of you... we're going to need to be extra careful."
-
"He did?" Vincent asked, raising his brows in surprise. "Damn... even worse than I thought... well better in terms of his nose but... worse in terms of us." he stammered. "Anyway, I take it you managed to talk your way out of it?"
"So... what's he planning? Find anything out about that thing outside?" Circe pressed eagerly, eyes locked on Nicky for the present.
-
Nicky looked at Vincent. "Just about." The corner of his mouth twitched. "It just so happens I met a floozie before coming to the island who bears a striking resemblance to you."
He nodded grimly at Circe's question. "They're calling it Pandora. They think that it's some kind of relic made a long, long time ago, something that can cause meteor showers... I don't know, earthquakes, disasters that they're hoping they can use to wipe out the mammals. The virus... it's just a backup. This thing, Pandora, that's his main plan, what he wants to use to kill the humans." Nicky frowned. "I couldn't get exactly how they think it works, but from what I could tell, they think it's emitting some sort of signal, and that's what gives it its power. And somehow, the signal's pointing them to the Mojave Desert, that's where they think the... 'next event' is going to happen. I also caught something about having to boost Pandora's signal to get around some kind of shield in the Mojave, something made by the... the Ancestors?"
Nicky shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know what to think... I've never dealt with anything like this before. It sounds like crap but... I've got a bad feeling about it."
-
Heather was relieved to see Nicky return.
"So let me get this straight..." she then announced. "This Raal dude has a thing called Pandora, right? We don't know what it is but we know where it is, but then again we can only guess its power." Heather paused and took a deep breath. "Sounds like the world's in big trouble and they don't even know about that..."
Turning to Nicky she spoke: "Say Nicky, how'd you escape Raal even though he caught Vincent's scent?"
-
Nicky cleared his throat. "Well, I..." He looked away and tried to maintain a modicum of dignity. "I mentioned a certain encounter I may have had with an attractive woman who had green scales and, uh..." his eyes flicked awkwardly towards Vincent, "Maybe a red and black tail." He crossed his arms defensively. "You know, it was very complicated, and I think we should just leave it there."
"So what do you all think?" Nicky asked, looking between them. "If they're using something to boost Pandora's signal, we could try and get to that... although that would probably just delay whatever they have planned..." He paused. "And that's if we're working under the assumption that there actually is something going on with that rock, and they aren't just insane."
-
"That may work, doing something so they can't boost the signal, or block it. If it is a device of the ancients how did they have access to such technology and not keep it. If it is related to the cretaceous extinction event it may have the ability to bring in or manipulate asteroids or something similar. Though that would mess up the entire ecology, causing intensive cloud cover, darkness, very cold temperatures." Karl said.
"I do wonder if there is some way the 2 of you can cover or hide your scent. What happens if that Raal person walks outside and smells one of your scents or both, or goes by any area we've been walking around in." Karl said looking at Vincent & Circe.
-
Circe listened carefully to what Nicky described, her eyes going wide a bit. "Well... I'd heard stories about Pandora... but from Raal and some independent research I did. It was designed as a last resort doomsday device allegedly, but its power was too great, so the Ancestors sealed it away somewhere... as for the device you mentioned in the Mojave, I'd heard stories about that place as well." she continued. "The Ancestors had determined the most likely place Pandora could be used with optimum efficiency, so had built a series of shielding devices to cancel out Pandora's signal and render it useless. That place I know exists, though I've never been there, and it should be fairly common knowledge to the councils as well. If so, then the thing outside could very well be Pandora." she said with a level of concern.
"You said they were trying to boost its signal?" Circe asked now. "I suppose we would have to determine how they were planning on doing this but no..." she shook her head here. "It can't be the Great Showers. If it was, then the Ancestors were responsible for wiping their own kind out... it wouldn't make any sense. Something's... off about this. Because meteor showers would indeed make the planet very uninhabitable for a time. They would need some substantial method of surviving such an event themselves if they plan to use it. I think perhaps Pandora does something else... something not related to meteors" the female raptor mused aloud.
"Good cover story. But no, I can't mask my scent." It was Vincent's turn to shake his head here. "Most dinos aren't even aware that pheromones can be controlled... that knowledge has been long lost over time, and Circe's really the only one that can do it."
"And it took me years and years of training." Circe added. "We'll just have to hope we can get out of here in time before Raal catches on. To be honest, I'm surprised he bought your cover story at all, since scents are very specific to each dino." she explained. "I suppose we should count ourselves lucky he didn't detain you. I want another look at this Pandora though..." she said thoughtfully, trailing off with narrowed eyes.
Suddenly, Nicky's cell phone rang on his belt, vibrating from the incoming call. If he looked, the detective would've seen a number he didn't recognize...
-
Nicky nodded at Circe. "Me too. Maybe there's something we missed about it the first time..." The ringing of his cell phone startled him. Several dinosaurs working around them looked up, and one particularly disgruntled looking iguanodon raised a finger and shushed him. "Sorry brother," Nicky apologized, stepping closer to the group and unclipping his phone. When he snapped it open, a frown creased his brow as he read the number. What number's this?
He hit the answer button and cautiously raised the cell phone up to his ear. "...Hello?"
-
"Yes, hello, Detective Chaseman?" came a male voice on the other end. "You don't know me, but I heard you were the detective working on the Senator Morrow case, yes? When I heard he'd been killed... it shocked me, quite frankly. Do you have any leads on who might be behind it? You see it's just... I need to make sure he wasn't killed for a certain reason... and if it was that reason... if I would be next." the voice said with some agitation evident.
-
Nicky gritted his teeth as he looked around at the others, perplexed. He spoke quietly into the phone. "I... can't just talk about these, ah, things to a member of the public," Nicky said, eyes flicking around to make sure nobody was listening in. He frowned. "Who is this? And why would you be in any danger?" I need to make sure he wasn't killed for a certain reason... and if it was that reason... if I would be next... "What do you know?" Nicky asked tersely.
-
"I understand." was the response. "But you are a detective, and the public is supposed to come to you guys with tips and things that would help the investigation. My name is Tom Benton and I teach political theory and science. I was in... contact with Senator Morrow up until he died. He was working with me on a project... but is there someplace we can perhaps meet? I would be willing to come to LA to divulge what I know and file a report... but you must understand, detective... the implications of what I would tell you... I would ask you to please be discreet... I just feel terrible he was murdered, and would like to help you get to the bottom of it, if possible."
-
"Hmm, I guess we have to decide what to do next." Karl said quietly. "That is the question we have to decide." He said, still talking quietly, both so other dinos not apart of their group could hear them and also so Nicky could focus on his conversation on his cell call.
-
Nicky thought back. Tom Benton... In the days before coming to the island, when he'd been looking into Senator Morrow, this Benton's name hadn't come up. He remembered the mysterious item that had been cut out from behind the picture frame, and taken by the assassins. If Benton and Morrow had in fact been working on a something... was that related?
The compy rubbed his snout. This wasn't exactly an opportunity he could let slip away, but what about the activity on this island? He sighed. "When would you be able to arrive at LA?"
-
"I could arrive tomorrow night, or whenever is convenient for you, detective." Benton responded. "I live in Colorado, so I'd need about a two to three hour flight window, but other than that, I can be in Los Angeles whenever is convenient for you."
"I think we're gonna head outside and look at that Pandora thing again." Vincent said softly to Karl. "Circe might know a bit more about it than we do if she looks it over."
-
Karl nodded, "We just have to be careful not to arouse suspicion or things will go very bad. Also we can't spend to much time or else that Raal person will eventually exit and he may smell Vincent's scent in the areas we have been." He said. "I wonder if there is a place we can hide and look over the thing outside or get some good shots with a zoom lense." He said.
-
Nicky shook his head slightly. "No. Tomorrow night won't be possible." I need to make sure I've found as much as possible about what this island's hiding first... but I can't leave it too long, especially if he really is in danger... He breathed out. "Two days. Come to LA in two days, Mr. Benton. I'll be there as soon as I can. We can meet at the airport." Nicky paused. "And until then, Mr. Benton, please be careful."
-
"Very well... two days..." Benton responded. "I suppose I'll be as careful as I can be." he replied, then hung up.
"What was that about?" Vincent asked. Circe was keeping an eye on Raal up in the control room. For now, he seemed to be absorbed in one of the computer screens, but she knew that could change at any time.
"Let's talk while we walk." she suggested, tapping Vincent and Nicky to indicate they should start moving.
-
Nicky looked at his phone for a second before clipping it back onto his belt. "Well... it looks like I might have a new lead to work with," he said, responding to Circe's tap and starting to walk. "Tom Benton. Seems he and Morrow were working together on some kind of project... Something that Benton thinks was responsible for Morrow's death, and might put him in danger."
He looked sideways at Vincent and Circe, keeping his voice to a low murmur. "Sounds like it's important. I'm meeting him back in LA in two days, so I have until then to find out as much as I can about what's going on here." Nicky rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, what do you all think about this... Pandora? Think there could be anything to it?"
-
"I wonder if the name Pandora is one that that Raal made up, or if it's a translation of the name the ancients gave it. Humans have a Greek myth concerning Pandora that I'm sure you've heard of. I doubt it refers to the handheld gaming console that is Linux based." Karl said. " All I can think of, using my imagination is it may bring in asteroids from the asteroid belt. Cause mammals to go crazy and fight each other. Kill mammal life. Cause nuclear winter, or sever cold, cloud cover, or something else. Do the rest of you have any ideas or know of someone who may have knowledge of ancient stuff like Pandora? and if we want to get pictures." He asked, still speaking in a low tone of voice, looking at the others.
-
"You got a lead?" Vincent asked with interest, rocking his head back a bit here, then remembering to keep his voice down as they walked past the computer guys. "Huh... Benton? Never heard of him. How about you?" Vincent quietly asked Circe, but she shook her head.
"Never. I don't even know if he's one of our kind or a mammal." she murmured.
"Two days?" she continued. "We have to be out of here before then. Like... tonight I would say. No way I'm sleeping in the jungle tonight."
"I thought you liked getting in touch with your Ancestors." Vincent smirked as he mumbled back.
"Yeah well... times change. You want to risk spending the night where ferals might be roaming around?" she inquired.
"Uhhh... right..." Vincent agreed as they exited back out into the warm night air. "Well then... let's see what we can see." he suggested, and led the way back down the path to Pandora's dig site, the light's becoming brighter the closer they got, flooding that clearing with their incandescence.
Circe responded to the questions the others had with a shrug. "I've only heard stories about it... no confirmation if it was true or not. I'm not sure on its capabilities, but I'd like a closer look all the same." she stated, approaching the well-lit area with the others now.
Walking up to the rim of the pit, Circe gazed down and noticed a gantry that actually led into the structure. She hadn't see it earlier, because they had been on the other side of Pandora before. Pointing it out subtly, she spoke in low tones. "What do you make of that? Think this thing is worth checking out from the inside?" she inquired, not looking directly at any of them, but at the gantry itself.
-
Nicky joined Circe at the pit's edge and stared down. After a while, he frowned and inclined his head slightly. A passageway led inside? Just what was this thing? "I'd say it's worth a shot. Maybe there's something inside that could tell us... something about what it can do." Nicked glanced at the others. "We can't deal in half measures. Whatever's in there, I think we need to take the chance and see what it is."
-
"We can try. Though we'll have to be very careful." Karl said, looking around them. "We don't want to be caught here or do anything suspicious." He said, then he got an idea, "Should one of us be taking pictures of this thing?" He asked looking to see what parts could be taken a picture of. "The outside and inside, if there is an inside." He said.
-
"Should I take pictures, Karl?" Heather piped up, having been rather quiet since Vincent had been *almost* discovered by Raal. She was afraid of getting caught by some progressive dino but nonetheless she approved the idea of investigating the thing they were standing in front of. "I think if we don't try we'll never find out if we would have discovered anything useful so let's investigate a little more. Who knows... maybe it'll be for vain, maybe it'll be a complete success," she spoke.
-
Karl nodded, "if you want." He said as he took out his digital camera. "You want the zoom lens?" He asked. He had a zoom lens for it and one for low light conditions. "It's a good basic camera, but not on an expert or professional would likely use." He said to Heather.
-
Nodding, Vincent gulped, and led the way down towards the gantry. It didn't look as if there were any guards on duty at the entrance to Pandora, and heading inside seemed to be an easy task. Walking down the metal stairs, they could see Pandora's black surface was glossy, almost like obsidian, and shone brilliantly in the light. Vincent whistled. "Certainly an imposing edifice." he commented, noting how far down the structure went into the ground. Its sheer size was beyond anything he'd ever seen... the Empire State Building looked like it could fit in here two or three times comfortably.
Entering the square door, Vincent let out another whistle as they were surrounded by crystal on all sides of them. Deep hues of reds, purples, pinks and greens could be seen within the crystal, which seemed to stretch on infinitely into the depths of Pandora. A walkway was carved through the crystal, heading on ahead of them. "Well... wasn't expecting this... just what the hell are we dealing with here?" Vincent asked softly, looking all around him. Above, below, left and right it was all crystal, quite the contrast to Pandora's exterior. "You ever see anything like this?" he asked no one in particular.
-
Karl walked with the group looking around at the crystals. "the only thing similar is in the 70's superman movie. Krypton and Superman's Fortress of Solitude." He said, "Just off the top of my head."
-
"Something tells me we're not going to bump into Superman down here," Nicky muttered, looking around at the crystalline corridor. He could feel the massive weight of Pandora pressing down on them from above, and it left him feeling distinctly uncomfortable. He turned to Karl and Heather. "Get some photos. If we describe this when we get back, I'm not sure they'd believe us. I'm not sure I'd believe us."
Walking further down, he made his way to Vincent and Circe. "Getting in was a little easy, don't you think?" he asked, running a claw along one of the crystals alongside them. It made a grating sound which traveled down the corridor, and he stopped. "Considering this is leading right into their ace-in-the-hole... We should be careful." Squinting down the corridor, Nicky couldn't see where it ended. "On the other hand, I've got a feeling we're going to want to see what's at the end," he grunted, looking between the two.
-
Heather took several photos for the sake of documenting the inner structure of Pandora. "If it wasn't a dangerous thing, I'd love to visit this place more often..." she mused, being pretty fascinated by all the colours and such.
"Oh no, never seen anything like that before," Heather then spoke in a reply to Vincent. "And I reckon nobody did 'cept the guys that build it. I doubt anybody would believe us without the photos, and even with them I'm sure folks won't believe it too easily... Anyway, this is a good cam, Karl. Bet the photos will look ingredible."
-
Karl smiled, "I hope they do. That may help whatever you want to do with them. It's supposed to be an hd capable camera." He said.
He looked around at the area around them. "I wonder if they were doing some sort of crystal based technology, if such a thing is even possible." he said. He had no idea of what such a technology may be like.
-
"Yes... getting in WAS too easy..." Vincent muttered now in response to Nicky's assertion. "Maybe... I dunno... we gotta be careful but yes... we should see what's further inside." He nodded.
"But I can't imagine this crystal is any form of constructed technology." Circe replied to Karl's speculation. "It doesn't seem possible. It almost seems as if... this outer black shell was constructed around the crystal... and this crystal seems more natural to me." she commented, tapping it with her hand.
They began heading forward, their footsteps and claws scratching and reverberating rather eerily throughout the corridors. They deeper they moved into Pandora, the more they gradually became aware of a humming sound. It played off the walls, throaty and growing louder the further they went, until it was quite noticeable. The hues seemed to get brighter in here too, though the crystal's overall color was going from white to blue, almost like ice, as they suddenly came upon a three way fork in the tunnel.
"Great... who knows how far this place goes? Well... should we split up, or stay together?" Vincent asked, looking from one corridor to the next.
-
"Great, a fork..." Heather thought sardonically.
"Well, I dunno..." Heather spoke in response to Vincent. "If we don't split up, we might not find anything because it'd simply take too much time to discover everything and such... Though if we do split up and get discovered..." She didn't finish the thought for it scared her. Whoever spotted her would be armed with a gun likely so fighting wasn't an option, neither was escaping. "Let's just say I'd feel much better with you guys around in that case," she eventually continued. "So yeah, I'm as split in opinion as that bloody path is split in three forks..."
-
Nicky frowned and rubbed his snout. "We're definitely getting close to something..." The incessant humming was starting to give him a headache, making it hard to think. Looking between the three paths, he sighed and turned to the others.
"I think we need to split up. It'll be more dangerous, but whatever's down there," he gestured further down into the structure, "We need to see what it is, and Heather's right. If we take this one at a time, it could take too long. We've been in danger from the moment we stepped on this island - there's too much at stake here for us to lose our nerve now." He looked between the others to see what they thought.
-
"No, you're right." Vincent nodded at the detective. "We gotta learn as much about this place as we can. We need to split up. So there are five of us... meaning if we go in pairs... someone's gotta go alone." Vincent looked at Nicky here, as the only dino among them carrying a gun.
"So, what will the pairs be? And who's going where?" Circe asked, looking around at the group, and not wanting to butt in just yet with her own suggestions.
-
"That is a good question. If it'll help any I could also take some pictures with my cellphone. They won't be as good quality as the digital camera though." He said. "Do any of you have preferences on who you want to go with?" He asked looking at the others present. He also took out his cellphone in case he would need to take some pictures.
"Maybe we can find out what the humming is about." he said.
-
Nicky caught Vincent's look, and he nodded. "Alright. I'll be on my own." He gestured. "I'll take the middle path. And yes, Karl. If you can take pictures, do it. You too, Heather. We'll need as much evidence to bring back as we can."
He looked at the group. "Since Karl and Heather are civilians, maybe each of you should go with one of them," Nicky suggested, glancing at Vincent and Circe.
-
Karl nodded, "Good idea." he said. He turned on his cellphone and started the camera app so he could take pictures. "This'll give us at least 2 who can take pictures. One of them being a good quality camera." He said. He looked at Vincent and Circe. "So who'll go with who. Same gender or different genders, or random choice?" He asked.
-
"Good idea." Vincent said, nodding, at Nicky's suggestion. Much as he wanted to go with Circe, he knew the civvies should go with more experienced dinos. "OK then, Karl, you're with me. Circe, take Heather down the right corridor. We'll go left. Detective Chaseman is going straight, so that's that settled." Vincent stated, dividing up the teams.
Well, this'll be interesting Circe thought to herself as she looked at Heather and nodded her over. "So..." she began as she headed off with the hadrosaur. "I sense some... lingering hostility about you. Is there something going on between you and Vincent?" she asked, cutting right to the chase as they could see a metal staircase up ahead of them. It was the first construct they'd come to since arriving in here that wasn't made out of crystal.
-
"Crap!" Heather was suddenly forced to face Circe's oh so direct question. "What'll I tell her? What'll she do if I tell her the truth?" Heather decided that it would be best to tell her the truth but blur the fact that she was actually REALLY pissed of.
"Well yeah, I have a sort of crush on Vincent. Back when I met him - that was when my bicycle was stolen - we were attacked by some punks for no reason and... well, I kicked their lazy butts and so did Vincent. He was quite impressed and we kept contact and slowly a friendship was build up." Heather paused for a short moment, reconsidering how she'd say the next sentences. "Of course, Vincent was very lonely after he had *seemingly* lost you. I don't know if he likes me just as a friend or if there's more. We never spoke about such a thing because I never dare to direct such a question at him and he's often busied or on herbs... Now that it turned out you're alive and kicking, my chances are basically not existing anymore since he undoubtedly still loves you deeply." Heather tried hard not to sound like she was talking about a disgusting bug whenever she adressed Circe. "So yeah, I was a little pissed off but I'm fine really. Don't worry about me and let's just continue our research before we get caught..."
"Now will she take the bait?"
-
Karl held out his cellphone, "Shall we go side by side, or should one of us go first?" He asked. He looked for anything that looked like it should be taken a picture of. "If we do get into trouble do you have a gun or do you prefer to fight with your natural weapons?" He asked. Best to know preferences before combat starts. "If it matters I've studied some martial arts. Both Capoeira and a variant designed for our kind." he said, thinking it best to let it be known some basic capabilities of each in case a fight got started they'd know each one's capabilities. Maybe not important but he thought it would not hurt knowing, or at least not hurt Vincent knowing some of his.
-
"I don't usually carry a gun, but I'll take point." Vincent offered, stepping out in front. "I usually just rely on my claws when I'm deguised. Guns are something I've never really gotten used to." the PI confessed. The hum was getting heavier the further down this corridor they went. "Wonder if it's an engine or something we'll find up here." he commented, listening to the thrum that seemed to surround them now.
Circe paused in mid-step as Heather admitted her feelings for Vincent. Well... that was confirmation of something she'd suspected. "You... do like him?" she asked, as if confused as they reached the metal stairs. Now it was Circe's turn to wonder how to respond. She never suspected she'd have competition for Vincent, so she decided to play a cautious hand. "So... he was lonely without me... I see. If you had to give it your best guess... would you say he did become interested in you over time? I mean did you go on like... dates with him and all that?" she pressed. She knew of Vincent's bad herbal addiction, and how sad he'd seemed in recent months.
"And my final question... if you started to like him... why not just tell him that?" she asked, turning around at the base of the stairs to look directly at Heather now.
-
Karl listened then nodded, "it could be that, or maybe a generator, or perhaps something else." He said listening to the sound and wondering what it could be.
-
Alone now, Nicky continued down the central passageway, his steps slow and cautious. The further he progressed, the louder and more pervasive the hum became, setting his teeth on edge. At least we're getting closer to it. Whatever it is. It may have also just been an impression but the pressure seemed to be building, the crystal walls feeling as though their immense weight was pressing down on the compy, choking him.
Clenching his jaw and shaking his head to try and focus, Nicky tightened his grip on the gun and edged forwards.
-
"I wonder what we'll find down here." Karl said, keeping alert and looking around, wondering if the sound was normally there all the time, or just recently.
-
As Nicky approached what looked like the end of the center tunnel, he could see that it dramatically opened up to reveal a cavern of pink and green crystals encasing the space on all sides. A bigger looking red T-rex stood ahead of him, barking orders to a crew of various dinos that were in the process of working on what looked vaguely like the upper torse of a human, with the bottom half tapering down to a point. It just hovered off the ground mysteriously, and was a metallic silver in color.
It was about twice as tall as the T-rex, and very bulky in appearance. "That's it! Make sure that laser's mounted on there correctly! DON'T drop it!" he commanded in an annoyed voice. But his nostrils flared upon detecting the scent of an unknown dino approaching behind him. The tyranosaur had a gun strapped around his waist, but didn't draw it as he swiveled around, yellow eyes narrowing as he saw Nicky. "The hell are you?" he asked, snorting. Behind him, the dinos paused in installing what must've been the laser as they looked in Nicky's direction.
Vincent paused as they came to a giant hole in the corridor... or more precisely, a pool at the bottom of the hole. The humming seemed to be emanating from the pool, which glowed brightly with a golden color before fading back to light blue after a few seconds, repeating this process over and over again. The fluid was thick and looked viscous, like oil, but wasn't colored like oil. Its properties didn't allow the two raptors to see what was below the surface with any real clarity.
A walkway extended along its perimeter, and was ringed by a metal railing to keep dinos from falling into the depths below. "What do you make of this?" Vincent asked, peering down to study the pool.
-
Karl made sure he to take some pictures of the hallway. He paused half a second or a second to turn around to take a picture of the way they had come. Then the way ahead. As they walked he took a shot of the wall on each side, then the floor and ceiling, thinking that such pictures may be useless but who knows what they may want to use later.
As they came to the hole, that he saw was really a pool, he took a quick picture of the area. He looked at the pool as he stood next to Vincent.
"Hmm, it could be some sort of lubricant, or maybe something used to keep something cool, like they use in reactors and heavy water and the cooling rods." He said. "Also possibly some power source like a battery, or waste product from whatever the device does." he said, not sure if any of his guesses were correct or all wrong. He looked at vincent, "Do you have any ideas or guesses what it may be?" He asked.
-
Nicky felt his breath catch as suddenly the tunnel opened up and he stepped through into a large cavern. His eyes panned across to the bizarre object hovering off the floor, to the group of workers milling around it, making various adjustments. What the... hell is that thing?! Some kind of robot? Why make it look human?
Before he could put anymore thought to it, the T-Rex who appeared to be in charge of the operation called across to him. Arranging his expression into an impatient sneer, the compy strode confidently forwards, making straight for the dinosaur who looked as though he could pound him into the ground without batting an eyelid. "Random security inspection," Nicky drawled, flashing the pass Circe had given him a while ago, just quickly enough so the T-Rex couldn't get a good look at it. "Under brother Raal's orders." He paced around the hovering object, keeping his face neutral as if he'd seen this thing a hundred times before. After a moment, Nicky turned back to the T-Rex and tilted his head slightly. "Ah, yes... I was asked to pass on the message that Brother Raal is extremely pleased with your work. Your leadership skills are, as he put it, exemplary. You, on the other hand..." He looked across to a random member of the work team who was staring at him, darkening his expression. "Consider this your final warning. Work harder from now on or... I won't be held responsible for the consequences," he sneered.
After another moment of pacing around the human-shaped object, Nicky made a show of nodding to himself, as if satisfied, then looked back at the T-Rex. "Brother Raal would also like an update on when this work is expected to be complete. Time is of the essence... as you well know."
-
Karl took more pictures of the area as best as he could, including of the strange fluid. He wondered what all this was for, including the liquid. He had said what his immediate ideas were. As he looked at the fluid from where he was and took pictures he still had no ideas. He shrugged. He guessed they'd figure it out eventually. Maybe they needed more clues, or maybe information that the others may have.
-
(Well unfortunately I can't wait forever for Ducky123 to post, so to be fair to Vincent, who'd like to join this RP, I'm going to move it along.)
Snorting, the T-Rex glared down at this upstart compy. "Hey! It'll be done in a matter of moments! The anti-intruder system just needs a final upgrade and it'll be complete! He doesn't need to worry! Once it comes online... this fortress will be impenetrable." the bigger dino bragged.
As it was, it did appear as if they were uploading a computer program to this device, and in another five minutes, it would be complete. A bank of computers ran lines out to the mechanical creature, and the T-Rex wandered back over to them to check on the progress.
"It's... probably a power source..." Vincent commented, studying it intently. "But I think we should get back. There's nothing but this circular catwalk here and well... no way to progress. Plus I don't like this. The longer we're in this thing, the greater a chance we have of getting caught so... let's... move along..." he suggested, the raptor beginning to back away now from that glowing, viscous liquid with a growing unease rising in his belly.
-
Karl nodded agreeing, he wasn't sure if staying in the area was a smart thing to do. "Yes, and if they activate something while we're in here it may not be comfortable. There may be lighting or something in here." said to Viincent as he glanced down at the liquid before he started to move along the walkway towards the way they had come.
-
Heather was glad to see that Circe's initial reaction wasn't aggression but actually curiosity. As much as she held a grudge towards Circe, Heather couldn't help but answer her questions truthfully.
"Well, I am rather fond of Vincent like I said," she replied carefully. "I can't tell if he has had any interest in me... or actually still has now that you've showed up again, but I'm pretty sure he noticed my interest in him." Heather sighed. "We haven't been dating, don't worry," she added with some irony.
"Hmm yes, so why don't I just tell Vincent what I feel towards him?" Circe's question made Heather thoughtful. Of course she could admit her feelings - that was if Vincent hadn't figured out already anyway, but due to her rather shy nature it was just not the kind of thing she'd do. Heather had feared a conversation like this would come one day so she had an answer ready.
"Sure, I could tell him. Though I didn't. I knew he was still sad about your apparent death and clearly not in any mood for a new relationship. Besides, like i said, I just didn't know if he had any feelings for me whatsoever. I didn't want to threaten our friendship by going too far, y'know?"
(about time I wrote this post, huh? :oops )
-
Karl continued to move along the walkway. "I do hope the others are fairing as well or better then we are." he said. he had never done anything like this before. Though he assumed at least some of the others had done this sort of stuff or were maybe fully use to it. Dangerous stuff, but someone had to be doing what they were doing.