“Carol, Carol, Carol, wake up, wake up it’s ok.”
“Daniel….mmm good to see you’re doing be…wait…wait a minute you’re dead! How are you alive!?!” Said Carol lifting herself from my arms only to fall back down into them.
Looking at Carol what stood out to her was her short but not really boyish white hair. She was petite yet to make up for it her body was completely filled with body mods with even her own skin being the color green. Even her eyes were pitch black red pupils. Her outfit being that of pajamas with a white-colored shirt and pants with pink bunnies on them.
“Carol, I’ll explain to you later, but I need to know where my stuff is, what happened last night and where Judy and Gloria are?!?” I said frantically grabbing her arms lightly.
“I can tell you everything you want to know, but, but how are you here? You had…you had a…” Carol said stuttering over and over until I stopped her.
“Had a what?” I said breaking the loop she was on.
“You had a hole in you’re head, a bullet lodged straight in your brain, you were lifeless and we had to clean all the blood from you’re head, you died like any other human being should yet…here you are…alive, How?”
“Carol, I can explain, but not fully cause there’s not enough time, you see, I’m…I’m not human.”
“You’re not human…but…you look, act and bleed like one? How are you a Mortor…?” Carol said right before I interrupted her.
“I’m not a Mortor, Far from it, I don’t think I’m even a robot, the thing is I don’t know why or how but I’ve lived for hundreds of years, take whatever form I want, and I can’t die no matter how much I try, I keep coming back, now Carol, now that I’ve answered you’re question, please tell me, the answers to the questions I want to know, please.”
Carol looked dumbfounded as to what to say. If anything she looked calmer than when she saw me alive just a moment ago. Yet she could now keep herself balanced without needing assistance as she lifted herself from my arms.
“Daniel, I can’t answer you without sitting down, can you please follow me to the living room?” Said Carol motioning me to come to the living room.
“Sure thing Carol, sure thing.”
Looking at the hallway all I could notice was the broken glass with the carpet stained by the carrot juice she was about to drink.
Walking into the living room nothing had changed since the last time I was here. The same framed hologram photos, the walls still that refined blue color, and the various household items of the kind couple that lived there. The glass doors that led to the patio outside faced the side of the apartment not facing the city but rather the forcefield that showed the rest of the world.
A vast desert with various villages made up of broken smaller areas where the nomads lived. A place that was once populated by beautiful people who wanted to go about their lives in peace. Till the Mortor’s attacked for the billionth time. Only this time, they did more damage that could be fixed leading to places like Z city and various others like it.
Carol sitting down on the couch motioned me to come to sit on the couch next to her. To which I didn’t bother arguing as I plopped myself next to her. The first thing she did when I sat down grabbed my face and turn it violently.
“I may not be human but I can still feel pain and get sick you know…eek,” I said as she let go of my face.
“Well, from every part it seems, you look like you’re human, but still, that’s going to take some time to get used to…does Judy know?” Said Carol grabbing my hands, inspecting them as well.
“No, Judy doesn’t know but it looks like I got to tell her when I see her and everyone else who was there,” I said moving my hands away from her hands yet she only gripped tighter.
“And what would happen if I told people you’re little secret, would you come to kill me or Judy!?!” Said Carol throwing my hands violently off of her hands.
“No, no, I love you and Judy like family, I wouldn’t just up and hurt you guys like that, and I’m a little pissed that you would say that but, no, I wouldn’t hurt you if you hurt anyone, I’ d just change my name, identity, and body.”
“You can do that?” Asked Carol with a shocked expression as if I just said I could become a pony.
“Yeah, but I don’t feel like getting into it now, now please, Carol, please tell me the things I want to know, starting with what happened to me yesterday?”
“Well, what do you remember?”
“This large blue-haired man put a bag over my friend Chet’s head, I was…shot…and Gloria and Judy came to me, I then woke up, and now I’m here.”
“Well, then, this is going to be hard to say but…Judy’s bar was…burned down…our…establishment was…I just…so many people burned inside as they locked the door as someone had doused the building in gasoline.”
“Is Judy ok? Is Gloria ok? What happened to them?!?” I said with my hands shaking waiting for an answer.
“They made it out, there was a secret hatch that could only fit you, her, and Gloria, most of the employees made it through the hatch, well at least the ones that didn’t get stomped to death, but everyone else…burned…they…there’s nothing left of them except ash.”
“Ash? What color was the ash? Carol, please tell me what color was the ash?”
“I don’t know, I wasn’t there, I had just gotten off work at the library and came home to you’re dead corpse and Judy saying she had to go to the police, she should be here tomorrow…oh dear…I don’t know what to make of the situation.” Said Carol biting her fingernails with multiple single bites.
“I’m sorry Carol, but the division needs to hear about…this…J…Jason? Jaxon? Jennifer? There are so many names that start with J?” I said thinking of every face I could visualize my mind of everyone I had met with the letter J.
“J? Why are you saying those names? Are those the people you think did it?” Said Carol biting even harder as blood oozed from her nail.
“Carol, I think…I think this is bigger than someone taking Chet and or burning down your guy’s bar, something doesn’t feel right…I need to go…Carol, if you so much as see anyone suspicious near you, call me, don’t hesitate to call me, you have my cell.” I said getting up from the couch and walking straight to the door before Carol spoke.
But right before I left I noticed everything that was in my pockets on the dining table. Grabbing everything I could see that nothing had been tampered with. But my phone had many messages that hadn’t been touched since last night. With all my gear in check and with a quick walk to the door the only thing that was stopping me was Carol’s voice.
“Daniel, before you go.” Said Carol right before I turned around to her.
“Yeah?”
“Please, don’t get us involved in anything bigger than the shit we’re already in, please.” Said Carol rubbing her arm up and down frantically.
“Carol, you might already be involved in something bigger than any of us realize, I’m sorry.” I said opening the door to the apartment.
CREEEEEK!
You are reading story Proto at novel35.com
CLACK!
The apartment halls looked empty. No one could be seen in the sight of anyone, yet three of the lights flickered. The bar was a building over from this apartment, everyone must have gotten scared from what happened yesterday and shut themselves inside. I would have done the same thing too, but, this whole situation requires deeper analysis.
What do I need to do?
Simple.
First, get a list of all the members of the divisions with a first name J. Second, inspect the ashes, the color of those ashes could decide who I’m dealing with. Third, get in contact with Judy, Gloria, and Jim, Jim must know something since he was outside the whole time.
Those are the only leads I have. But doing this and being a crime seeker is gonna be a pain. I just hope they didn’t call me for a job yet. Policy states if any part of the crew is not back within a week there assumed dead. A stupid policy but one that we had to live with this job.
One day had passed, six more to go until Chet would lose her job and less if she would be killed.
I need to make a quick call.
And fast.
RING! RING! RING!
“Dude, where the fuck have you been? Everyone was worried you died or something once we heard what happened at the bar, are you alright?”
“Hey Ana, I’m fine, but, Chet, she’s been taken…”
“The secretary…why…who would want her, she has a clean record for all we’ve dug up on her.”
“That’s the thing, I don’t know who or why they took her, I just know that whoever took her wanted her being taken to not be remembered and instead everyone talking about the bar fire.”
“Jeez, do you have any leads? Maybe the Division can hel…” Ana said right before being cut off.
“That’s the thing, Ana, we can’t.”
“Why not? She’s an employee here, so she covered…”
“Ana, Listen to me, there’s a mole, or someone working in the division that is tied to the people that took her, she told me right as she was taken that someone with the first letter J tried taking her.”
“Wow, ok, not what I was expecting to hear that…but…no offense, why are you trying to help her? Does she owe you something? Is she your girlfrienddddd.” Said Ana with a teasing nature.
“Ana now is not the time to be joking around!”
“Jeez, alright, I get it, pushed a button there didn’t I.”
“Ana.”
“Yeah?”
“I need a favor.”
“Which is?
“I need you a list of everyone's name starting with J that works in the division, not anyone in charge but the people who work as crime seekers.”
“All right, let me take a look, hm, says here there’s two, one named Jackson Willington and the other is a woman named Julia Choice, I’m gonna assume you’re going to need a way to contact them?” Ana said typing away at her keyboard.
“Yes, please send that information to me as soon as possible.”
“Sending it now, anything else you need princess?”
“No, that’s all, thanks, Ana.”
“Well they don’t call me Oracle for nothing, take care out there Daniel, and try to not get shot out there, the last thing I need is another crime seeker that isn’t a bonified asshole to die for dumb reasons, later gator.” Said Ana hanging up the phone.
As I entered the elevator downstairs and went down all I could think about was what could be happening to Chet. I just hoped that she wasn’t being tortured or dead. I didn’t if she had a weapon body mods on her to fight back. The only thing that I knew about her modifying her body was her being trans and getting the procedure done but besides that nothing else. I just hoped she at least had a hidden arm blade or one that worked like a chainsaw all things considered.
“Lobby.” Said the elevator as the doors opened.
The halls may have been empty but the lobby wasn’t. But by the looks of things, things were about to get ugly.
Ten men and women sat waiting in the lobby. The receptionist was gone leaving only the stained floors and dirty couches left for anyone to sit on. All these men and women wore nothing but the same hoodie and jeans outfits alongside chicken animal masks. It didn’t matter what they were wearing, for all of them held a weapon. Hammers, baseball bats, knives, crowbars, and wrenches. There was only one explanation as to why they were here as they all looked at me and came in my direction.
Someone had called the hotline, but maybe they weren’t here for me, right?
“Well look at what we have here, looks like we got a crime seeker, right on schedule.”
“Shit.”