Chapter 5: Chapter 005- Criminally Insane

Arthur stood perfectly still as he waited, his current case files under his arm and his other hand holding them secure. He could see the wary expressions of the civilians around him but, as his training taught, he did not react to them. At that moment, Kelish spoke through their radio, “God, this feels awful,” she said, “How do you deal with it?” Arthur turned to his mentee, seeing how she ever so subtly fidgeted. It was to the point that he could notice, but he doubted any around them could say the same.

“I deal with it by remembering that we are feared because we are efficient. In a way, it’s the highest honor we could be given,” Arthur replied, “The metro’s about to get here, so remember what I taught you.”

Kelish sighed, though her body showed none of it, “I know, chin up, nose forwards, eyes scanning. I remember.” As she rehearsed the important etiquette lesson he taught her, the metro rose from the massive shaft in front of them. The metro, which was the colloquial term for the large-scale public transport that ran through the entire planet, was a giant box on a three-axis rail system, meaning that it could go from the planet’s core to the top of the tallest tower, then go back down to one of the thousands of bridges between spires and travel to another tower. It could even switch directions if bridges between towers crossed and made an intersection. The metro made traversal between the many centers of recreation, business, and housing easy, if a bit more time consuming than paying for the aerial bus, which were advanced dropships that ferried paying customers between spires; or at least that was what Exo had dug up.

Whatever the case of the transportation industry on Glamrodan V, the massive metro car, a shiny black box, soon slid to a stop before them, with each of the four massive doors sliding open to reveal their cargo of working men and women. Most of them wore suits, as they were in the Territory Management Bureau’s Spire, where the administration of the planet resided, and just as many were sluggish and tired. That changed as soon as they noticed Arthur and Kelish standing in front of the doors. Every single beaurocrat unconsciously backed away from the two as they walked into the building-sized metro car.

The interior of the metro cars were combinations between public parks and information age metro cars, which meant high-density seating, small, secluded seating areas, and plenty of greenery managed by machines built into the car. The walls were also made of one-way glass, giving a nice view of the outside world as they traveled.

Arthur led Kelish to a small seating area in the corner of the building-sized car, sitting down with collected calm. Kelish did the same, subtly glancing around, and visibly relaxing; though Arthur doubted that most others could notice, “So… where’re we going?” Kelish asked as passengers passed through the massive doors, “Heading to the crime scenes? Forensics labs? Some obscure lead you figured out with your years of Inquisitor training?”

“We’re heading to the League Guard Headquarters on this planet,” Arthur replied, “We need some more information before we head to any of the crime scenes. We need to know who was in the area, if any of the cameras were on in the area, stuff like that. For now, though, Exo, can you send Kelish a digital version of the files? I need to dig into these.

There was a pause, then Kelish ever so slightly recoiled, “Just sent it,” Exo said, “Do you require my assistance in analyzing these documents?”

“Maybe, but even if I don’, I won’t deny any help you can give me,” Arthur replied, taking the file in the crook of his arm and laying it across his lap, leaned back, “Can you also alert us when we are closing in on our destination, Exo?”

Exo’s waveform nodded and Arthur went back to his papers. They detailed each of the murders, called by the locals the ‘Vampiric slaughters,’ with gruesome pictures to match. Were he the man who defied a sector-famous pirate two years before, he would have gagged. But he was not that man. He was an Inquisitor, who stared death in the face, took the lives of those shortsighted enough to jeopardize civilization for their own selfish ends, and was not scared of some corpses.

The modus operandi of the killer seemed to be quite simple: enter the victim’s place of living, kill the victim, inject a certain substance into their body that rapidly mutated the DNA of the body, extract the blood of the victim, and leave. The file he received was far from as extensive as he wanted it to be, but duty called. He could work with it. 

He looked through the victims’ bios and discovered another interesting detail about them: none had living family and were all considered recluses in their housing blocks, which led to every body not being discovered for days after the victim’s death, when their absence at their places of work led to said bodies' discovery. 

Other than the bios of the victims, there was little else to really use. There were small details that stuck out, like the fact that two humans had been killed while each of the other victims were from different species, but he could not link that to much more than happenstance. Not before he had more data to draw from, at any rate.

As he closed the file on his lap, Exo’s waveform shifted across his helmet’s visor, “We are almost at our destination,” he said, “Though, I can see a commotion. Will there be a problem, Inquisitor Wan, Inquisitor Balak?”

Kelish looked over to Arthur, who shook his head ever so slightly, “No, it won’t be a problem. Do you have anything on what’s happening?” Arthur asked as he stood. Kelish followed, falling in behind him as they walked to the door closest to them. The other passengers of the metro shuffled away from them

“The problem is…” Exo trailed off as the door opened. Immediately, noise erupted into the metro car. Shouting, screaming, and chanting all hit the passengers like a wall, making them wince. All but Arthur and Kelish, who simply strode out onto the metro platform, “A protest has begun due to the seeming lack of response to the latest string of murders. The murder rate on Glamrodan V is one of the lowest of the entire League, and the six murders have been noticed by the populus.”

“I see,” Arthur replied, walking forward with a confident gait. Kelish followed, doing the same. Arthur always liked the Inquisitor’s Walk, as it was unofficially called by some less serious Inquisitors. There was a balance needed. An Inquisitor needed to look like they were walking down a catwalk, look like they were stalking some helpless prey animal, and simply walking to their next destination all at the same time. It was a careful balancing act that guaranteed that some parts would be emphasized for different Inquisitors. Arthur, in particular, leaned more into the efficiency aspect than the predator and fashion star aspect. Kelish was the exact opposite, with some sort of regal wrath just waiting to be unleashed with every step he took.

As Arthur expected, their appearance majorly dissuaded the crowd from going as far as they seemed to have been going before they arrived. The crowd, that seemed to be a sea of rage before, parted almost silently as the two Inquisitors arrived. It was a chain reaction. One person would fall silent, the person beside them noticing and turning to look as well. The same thing happened again and again until the entire protest or rally or riot was halted in its tracks, the fury of mob mentality quelled by the specter that haunted all living things.

Fear. Fear of being on the wrong side of an Inquisitor.

The contradiction of the professional Inquisitor that only killed those going against the Technology Regulation Committee was not lost on Arthur, and likely not on any of the protesters around him either, but fear supplanted many things and reason was one of them. Arthur led Kelish forward through the crowds until they had reached their destination. Something Arthur noticed during his short time on Glamrodan V was that traditional building design did not really work when the entire space where the singular ‘building’ was supposed to be was entirely artificial.

Instead, the architects who made the ecumonopolis modeled the locations like the shops in malls, with the entire space sharing walls with other locations and only the front open to see. And their destination was a sight to behold. Hexagonal pillars holding up a massive metal awning before a row of tall windows that showed the front lobby of the heart of law enforcement on Glamrodan V. The League Guard Headquarters.

There was a group of guards standing in front of the headquarters’ front door, all covered in power armor-like riot armor, all holding batons and shields, and all suddenly much less brave in the face of the two sudden Inquisitors. Arthur, rather than engage with the frightened men and women, simply opted to walk past them. Kelish hesitated for a split second before following him into the building.

“Don’t hesitate next time,” Arthur said through their radio as they passed into the front lobby, “An observant spy could pick you out as the less experienced one between us and try to kill you first.”

“Well, I’m sorry that I’m not used to ignoring the god damn police, Arthur,” Kelish snapped back, not breaking her stride, “Some of us have only been doing this for a week.” Arthur ignored her complaints, as he had similar complaints when he first began his mentorship. Instead, he focused on the lobby he found himself in. The lobby was much less opulent than any of the Inquisitor locations, mostly due to the lack of Inquisitor-made art but less opulent nonetheless. Sitting at the front desk was a young human woman, giving him a forced smile, with hints of fear and discomfort beneath it.

“Good afternoon,” Arthur greeted, making sure that the local time lined up with astrodock time, “We came out here in response to a call from your superiors. Who is overseeing the ‘Vampiric slaughters’ and where are they?” he asked.

The woman blinked as Arthur wasted no time, giving the wary smile all the while, “D-Detective Juliana is overseeing the case, sir. She’s upstairs, third floor, second office! Is there anything else you wish me to assist with?” she asked shakily.

“No thank you,” Arthur replied, giving his voice a hint of a smile to calm the woman. He turned to the staircase at the end of the room, then glanced at the elevator next to it, and made his way over to the staircase and began his climb, “Another thing to remember about being an Inquisitor. If you can show off your physical prowess, even in the most minor of ways, do it. It will reflect good on both you and the Inquisition as a whole,” Arthur lectured to Kelish as they ascended.

Two flights of stairs that wrapped around the central corridor later and the pair had reached the third floor. The door to the floor opened to a nice, carpeted hallway with multiple doors on each side. There were signs above each door, which Arthur and Kelish used to find the second office room. The metal door was closed and locked with a digital lock, to which Arthur needed only to flash his comslate to unlock. The door unlocked with a heavy clunk, and Arthur led Kelish into the room.

The room beyond was exactly as Arthur expected, with densely clustered cubicles, cluttered desks, and a large number of investigators going about their daily business. In the instant before Arthur was noticed, he noticed that there was a tension in the air, one that he was almost certain was caused by the very string of murders they were taking care of. And likely the protest that just stopped not fifteen minutes before. 

As expected, as soon as they were noticed, the eyes of the room fell on the two Inquisitors. Arthur looked over the room, every man and woman clothed in robe-like overcoats, with the shield of the League Guard on their backs, and undersuits, giving them all a professional aura. Arthur did not know why they wore undersuits, since they were not in a station of any kind, but he chose not to ask; they could have wanted the armor for all he knew.

“We are here for the ‘Vampiric Slaughters.’ Who is the investigator leading this case?” he asked firmly. There was a moment of silence as they all glanced around, but the lead investigator seemed to be absent. Arthur looked around, switching off his helmet’s speakers, and spoke, “Exo, do you think you can get a read on who’s in charge of this case?” he asked.

“There should not be a problem, Inquisitor. She is about to turn a corner and enter the hallway you are in approximately seven seconds from now,” Exo replied. Arthur internally nodded, turning away-- Kelish followed him properly, as he taught her-- and they walked to the end of the hallway, where Arthur paused for a moment.

Kelish paused as well, and a human woman, with fiery red hair and piercing purple eyes, entered the hallway barely a moment later. She looked as if she were about to draw a gun when she saw them, but her eyes gazed upon their Regalia before her hand reached whatever gun she had. She stopped, locking up as she stared at the eye Regalia on Arthur’s head.

“Good afternoon, Detective Juliana. We were called out for a case that could be dealing with forbidden technology,” Arthur greeted, watching as the woman grew confused. He waited for her to move her hand away from her pistol, smiling behind his helmet when she did, “Thank you. Now, then, we may as well introduce ourselves. I am Inquisitor Wan, and this is Inquisitor Balak. Is there anywhere that is suitable for private discussion?” he asked.

Detective Juliana looked between them, nervous, “We have a conference room that is soundproofed and doesn’t have any electronic equipment, if that works, but other than that, there is nowhere else.”

“I see,” Arthur replied, “Then we will need to make use of that room. Please go and get any information the Guard has on the case; if you do not have access, I can use my authority to obtain it.”

She nodded, sidestepping them and walking to the office room where they looked originally. She came out a few moments later with a traditional paper file, a bundle of paper within, and a comslate, “I'm ready,” Detective Juliana said, giving a shaky smile, “But… the room you want to use is already being used.”

“By who and for what reason,” Arthur asked, turning off his speakers a moment later, “Exo, can you check as well, in case she doesn’t know enough?”

“I’m on it..”

Juliana looked down remorsefully, “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t have that level of clearance. I’m sure you do, though! If we go to a terminal, we can-”

“Inquisitor, your authority is being contested on this,” Exo cut in, Arthur putting up a finger to his radio and his index finger up to the detective, “I’m digging into it… and I’m in. Looks like there’s another case, a large-scale surge in gang activity in the maintenance shafts, and they’re trying to keep it under wraps to avoid mass panic and witch hunts.”

“If that’s the case…” Arthur muttered, turning his speakers on a moment later, “We are going up there. If the current occupants of the room are not willing to cooperate, then they will be removed. Come on, then.” Arthur walked past Juliana without giving her a chance to react, smiling when he saw Kelish following him. The Detective rushed after them as they began to climb the stairs.

Juliana ran up beside him as he climbed, “Sir,” she panted, “I-I can’t do this! I could get fired for this!” she nearly cried, “What am I supposed to do then?” Her breath caught as he turned to her and a subtle tremor went through her body.

“I would recommend you for a position working with the Inquisition, if that were to come to pass,” Arthur replied, “But you are under my command at the moment, and that means that you cannot be punished for things I order you to do. Is that understood?” he asked. He wanted to think that the part about her impunity in following his orders stuck out to her more, but he knew that she likely honed in on the part about how he was her superior.

She nodded, another subtle tremor going through her, “Y-Yes sir…” she mumbled, falling silent as they walked. A minute later, Arthur threw open the doors to the meeting room Juliana told him about. He looked around at the stunned occupants of the room. They were of every species, size, or shape that could be expected. Some were Seekers, some were Humans, some were Meytvani, some were tall, some were short, some were fat, some were thin, but they all wore an overcoat and an undersuit, like Juliana.

“I am sorry to interrupt, but this room is needed for our investigation,” Arthur said, watching as the stunned men and women grew silent. There was an awkward pause, where he was sure one of them thought about yelling at him. Then, wordlessly, they all filed out of the room, taking every document they had with them. They did not seem so far into their discussion that they had begun putting things on the boards around the room, but he was fine with that. It meant that he would get to do his job sooner, “Exo,” he said, his helmet’s speakers off, “Do mind checking the room for anything with the sensor module?”

“Not a problem, Inquisitor,” Exo replied.

“Thanks.” Arthur then turned to his two companions, “We have work to do,” he said more to Juliana than to Kelish, “What can you tell us about the murders?”

Juliana nodded quickly, walking up to one of the magnet boards in the room. Arthur took a quick moment to look around the room, noticing how it was carpeted like the rest of the offices, how there were no windows in the room, and how there were no furnishings apart from the boards, the table, and the chairs around the table. As Juilana pinned the various documents onto the magnetic board, Arthur and Kelsih sat down at the table across from her, “So, these are the crime scenes,” Juliana said, pointing at the map of an housing block. That stuck out to Arthur; he looked through his files, but nothing suggested that every victim lived in the same area. “Along with that,” Juliana continued, “I made sure to map out every camera on the map. There aren’t many in that area-- not as many as I would like-- which meant that only one apartment had one facing the door. We were able to get this picture of the perpetrator,” she said as she pinned up another picture. It was of a person in a power armor-style astrosuit. They were either wearing one of the most bulky suits Arthur had ever seen, or the person wearing it was an Oni. 

The shot of the perpetrator was from far away, but that did not hamper the quality very much at all. One thing, though, caught Arthur’s eye. As he looked at the image, Kelish spoke to him through their radio, “Is it me, or is there something strange about a fully-armored anyone walking through the residential halls of a housing block and no one questioning it?” Kelish asked.

“Not exactly,” Arthur replied, “But you’re on the right track. Their armor is… exceedingly large, especially for any independent bounty hunters, astro construction contractors, or any other person who would need an astrosuit in their line of work like that.”

“Wait, why do non-bounty hunters wear their astrosuits?” Kelish shot back, “Bounty hunters are paranoid folk--”

“Unlike you,” Arthur joked, “You didn’t try to shoot me the instant you saw me.”

“There can be exceptions,” Kelish replied, “But do those other contractors really need their astrosuits?”

“Bounty hunters aren’t the only ones who are paranoid,” Arthur answered with a chuckle. He then turned his attention back to the board, where Juliana had been pinning up multiple pictures he had familiarized himself with during their ride to the headquarters. As she put up more pictures, he noticed that a few were not included in his files. One, however, stuck out to him. He stood, quietly walking over to the board and staring at the picture with a discerning eye. At some point, Juliana yelped as he appeared behind her, but he was far more interested in the picture. After a few more moments, he pointed at the picture, “What is this?” Arthur asked to Juliana.

The Detective, still slightly stunned, turned blankly to the picture he was pointing at. It was of a hallway, built with graffiti-covered metal, lined with doors, small plots of space for decoration, and one familiar figure wearing a familiar astrosuit. The camera was situated at an intersection in the hallways, with a hallway running perpendicular below the camera. “T-That’s the perpetrator, sir,” Juliana replied. Arthur turned to her and she almost toppled over from that alone. He did not know if his annoyance was leaking out through his Mind’s energy, but she could certainly feel it.

“I know that,” Arthur slowly said, “What I am curious about is this.” He pointed at the picture once again, and Juliana, hesitantly, leaned forward. At the edge of the image there was a shadow cast on the floor, barely noticeable between the dark metal of the floor, of a short figure. They were hiding around the corner, just out of the camera’s sight. He pointed to the shadow, “We have a witness. Do you have any other pictures from this camera?”

Juliana shook her head, staring at the shadow, “We don’t. The perpetrator shot the camera out just as they left the apartment, so we don’t know what happened from there,” she replied. Arthur nodded, turning to the other pictures on the board. There were nothing but pictures of the victims, their apartments, and their grisly states. As he looked across the apartments, he thought of something; he wondered where the housing block was in the spire.

“Juliana,” he asked, “Where is this housing block in relation to everything else?”

The Detective gave him an inquisitive look, oddly fitting despite her timidity during their dealings, and walked up to the map on the board, “Right here,” she said, pointing to a vague, blank area on the map, “Is where the metro stops. It’s quite nice for the residents, but that area is also home to the maintenance shafts. One of them runs beside the housing block as well, in fact. Why?”

Arthur did not answer, instead looking at the map, the pictures of the hallways he could glimpse through some of the windows of the photos, and each of the places the victims were found, “Why did the perpetrator go after these specific people?” he eventually asked, “There was no genetic link between them, which is common for those doing genetic experiments. None of them had any prosthetics, which excludes the possibility of the perpetrator wanting to create a cyborg. There was not very much exceptional about the victims, which precludes money from the motives. Then there is the post-mortem ‘procedures’ done on the victims’ bodies, which reinforces the chance of genetic experimentation being the main motive. They were not all from different species, but then again, none were exactly recognizable. All of it together, to me, means that we need more evidence. And our mystery observer can provide that to us.”

Juliana nodded, raising her hand shyly. Arthur nodded, gesturing to her. She nodded, “I… uh… went over some of the files and learned that they are technically different in genetics. Of the humans who were killed, one was an Oni while the other was a normal human,” she said, “So I think that there might be something important in that.”

Arthur narrowed his eyes at her, to which she flinched back again despite not being able to see his face. He allowed a second of frustration, as she had treated him like a hungry tiger the entire time and, last time he checked, he was not a savanna wraith, like the tales of the ancient tigers told.

“Are you telling me that such an important detail was left out of the reports?” Arthur asked. Juilana flinched, nodding, “In that case, it changes everything. If one was an Oni and one was a normal human, then that only increases the chances that we are dealing with a genetic researcher. There could be other reasons for this, but I can safely say that we are dealing with such a person. With that in mind, I am going to speak with my assistant,” Arthur said, putting a finger up to his helmet’s radio, “Exo, can you track the mystery observer from earlier? If you could even find their home, that would help.”

“I’m on it, Inquisitor,” Exo replied. A moment later, a file appeared on his helmet’s hud, “I found her. Heliana Geliar, Meytvani, currently committed to a relationship with Victoria Guamer. She lives in the area of the killings, a few houses down from where the picture was taken, in fact. She had been acting erratically as of when this picture was taken, and she has been observed walking the housing block, as if looking for the perpetrator. As of this morning, she has stopped her patrols, which I believe means that she has found something.”

“Alright, thanks Exo,” Arthur said, turning to Kelish, who he knew had been listening in on their conversation, and Juliana, “Our AI assistant found our witness. She has been acting abnormally as of late, but she has stopped her behavior this morning. We both believe that she has found something. There is no time to waste, we are leaving,” he said, stepping towards the door to leave.

Kelish stood and followed while Juilana looked around nervously, “Sir, what about the files?” she asked.

“Leave them. We can collect them later or let someone else do it. Lives may be at stake,” he replied, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. strode through the building, paying little heed to the nervous glances he received wherever he went. He and his group eventually found their way to the front of the building, the protestors he and Kelish had scared gone.

As they stood in front of the metro system, Juliana looked between Arthur and Kelish, “Um, Inquisitor Wan?” she began, “I was wondering, was what you said about recommending me to the Inquisition true?”

“Yes,” Arthur replied, no hesitation in his voice, “Though you will likely not become an Inquisitor, there are plenty of other positions available. Clerks, librarians, and sub-archivists are important to the functionality of the Inquisition, and you have shown yourself to have the skills necessary to succeed in such roles.”

She shifted on her feet for a moment, “A-Are you sure?” Arthur simply nodded, turning to the approaching metro car. Boarding the car was an experience that did not change from his first time doing so, which Arthur was not going to complain about. He led his group to another corner room and sat down on the bench, maintaining his posture since he was traveling with a non-Inquisitor. After the doors to the car closed and they began to move, Juliana tapped Arthur on the shoulder, “Sir, I’ll be able to call into headquarters if you need some information. I just wanted to let you know. I’ll also get priority messages; hopefully I’ll be able to take some of the workload off of your assistant…”

“Understood. In that case, make sure to be ready to use it. Pass any priority messages along as well, as it may have some bearing to our investigation.” Juliana nodded, turning to fiddle with her comslate as Arthur remained seated. After a moment, he spoke to Kelish, “Alright, you’ve seen the beginnings of an investigation. What have you learned so far?” he asked, knowing that his helmet’s speakers were off.

“Oh… Hmm…” she hummed, no change in her posture, much to Arthur’s pride, “Basically, we have ultimate authority. That’s one. We have to prioritize our mission over anything else. That’s two. Next… studying the details of the case is imperative. You knew most of what she told us, but the only things you didn't know were the things that weren’t in the files. So that picture of the perp and the fact that the book keepers screwed up were things that let you make connections. Other than that… it’s mostly logical deduction and your constant aura of having something more important to do, but you’re willing to be polite.”

“There is a reason for me doing that, you know,” Arthur replied, “Do you remember what that reason is?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s reputation,” Kelish answered, “I get it, you don’t need to drill it into my head any more than you have…” Arthur simply chuckled, keeping his body motionless. The rest of the metro ride was calm, with Arthur reviewing the files for any other details he may have missed. Looking at the corpses of the two humans, one was indeed much larger than normal, but he did notice that the angle that the picture was taken at obscured that fact.

After looking through the files once more, only one thing stuck out to him, and that was the fact that the perpetrator did not care whether or not the camera saw them when they were entering the victim’s apartment, but they went through the trouble of shooting the camera out when they left. It was by no means a smoking gun, but it was a detail he thought was important.

The trip was not long, though it traveled across one of the massive bridges that stretched between spires. The metro slid to a halt, the doors opened, and, with a glance at the map Arthur brought up to ensure that they were in the right place, the group exited the metro. Arthur could see an almost immediate difference in Juliana as they disembarked, still bathed in the wary gazes of the civilians around them. Before, she was shy, timid, almost a push over. Yet, after they began to walk the wide open boulevards of the H-0-BB minicity block, she seemed to grow taller with her straighter back, more confident with her wide stride, and sharper with her discerning eye. It was not at the point that she looked like an equal member of their odd little group-- even if Arthur would have liked for that to be the case-- but she appeared closer to the shy tour guide than the nervous maid or equivalent. He knew the reason for her slightly-shy behavior, of course, but he could tell that she was in her element, being out in the streets of the ecumonopolis.

Arthur then turned his attention to the streets themselves. The only way to accurately describe them was to say that they were alive. The spaces were wide open, with entire skyscrapers visible from the ground. Walkways bridged between the sky scrapers, like strands of webbing in a spider’s nest. Unlike many other terrestrial-centric settlements, there were also Cilerien spaces, with massive tanks of water built like other buildings with floors and rooms, occupied by numerous of the aquatic species. Pipes connected the towers, with a massive pipe in the center of the street that let Cileriens to have their own public spaces. With all of the spaces and the immense pedestrian density in the main streets of the minicity, tens of thousands of people could be seen at once.

That did not do Arthur or Kelish any favors, as thousands of people saw them almost as soon as they left the metro station. The city seemed to quiet for a brief moment, then it returned to life, wary, but still active.

“Ignore it,” Arthur said to Kelish as he sensed a brief flicker of nervousness in her, “This happens everywhere we go when we’re in uniform. Don’t show any recognition of it, and it won’t become worse.”

Kelish sent a fleeting, almost ephemeral glance towards him before righting her gaze and continuing on, “You sound like you’ve gone through something similar,” she commented, “You don’t seem like the type of guy to ever be flustered.”

“Not now, anyway,” Arthur replied, “You may not remember much about me, Kelish, but I was just a scientist and engineer before you and I first met. If you can even call that ‘meeting.’ When I first donned this armor, I was a far different man. I almost stepped back when I was first treated like a menace. Compared to me, you’re doing very good for yourself.”

There was a moment of silence on their radio channel, “I couldn’t have done it without your help,” she said quietly.

Arthur smiled to himself, “You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re my student.” He really meant it. He had heard stories of incompitent students being killed because of massive mistakes brought about by inexperience. He did not want to lose a student, especially one that he grew so attached to, so he was happy Kelish could fend for herself on some level, “Either way, we’re getting close.”

He was right; they turned onto a side street, went down a flight of stairs, and passed through another few housing blocks before they reached the right area. Arthur paused and tapped his comslate a few times, pulling up the map of the housing block onto his hud. After a moment, he led them down three corridors, around two corners, and into a side alley. There, they found a little gathering area for the people who lived in the housing block. Arthur then wasted no time in walking up to one of the doors and knocking. No one answered, so he knocked again. A moment passed and he waited. The door was suddenly thrown open and a young Meyitvani woman, all three of her eyes wide, stared up at him.

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” Arthur greeted, “We are here to speak with Heliana Geliar. We have reason to believe that she has seen something that pertains to our investigation,” he said. He waited for a moment, watching her stunned face stare up at him, “May we come in?” he asked.

That seemed to snap the woman out of her confusion, “Y-Yes sir! Come in!” she said just a bit too loudly and whipped around, walking further into her home. Arthur did not wait, walking into the room behind the woman. The home was nice, with plenty of decoration, plenty of photos, and enough of a mess to show that it was lived in. After entering the living room, which had a couch, table, two armchairs, and an all purpose terminal, the woman whipped around, “Would you like to s-sit? Any refreshments?” she offered.

“No thank you,” Arthur replied, “We need to speak with Heliana, though. We have reason to believe that she knows something that can help us in our investigation.”

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The woman nodded, “Y-Yes sir, I’ll go get her right now! Please forgive her if she is not in the most stable state; she has had a bit of a scare recently,” she said, running off down a hallway to find Heliana.

With no one else apart from his group, Arthur simply stood there, waiting. After a moment, Juliana stepped towards the couch and sat down, sighing. Arthur turned to look at her and she looked back, somewhat defensively, “She offered…” the detective said weakly, “You weren’t going to use it…”

“No, I was not,” Arthur replied, “And they did offer.” He turned back to the hallway to see the two Meytvani women walking towards him, “You must be Heliana Geliar?” he asked the new woman.

She nodded shyly, “I… I am, sir. Are you here a-about the murders?” she asked.

“We are,” Arthur replied, “We have evidence that leads us to conclude that you saw the perpetrator three days ago. They were wearing very bulky power armor and they visited the victim’s house with it on. We have footage of the perpetrator when they entered the victim’s home, but not afterwards. Did you see anything that would lead them to destroy the cameras in the corridors?”

The woman was silent for a moment, then she shuddered, “Y-yes, sir. He had this big tank with him and he dragged it through the hallway… Out towards the maintenance corridors, away from the main streets… Sir.” She looked down as if she were expecting to be yelled at and shut her eyes.

“I see. In that case-”

“S-Sir,” Heliana interrupted, “I… I’ve seen something like it being mailed to someone around here!” she said, “I think he’s gonna be murdered and- and-” The woman sobbed a bit, shaking her head, “Please… I’m scared he’ll do it again… He’ll kill me…”

“It’s alright,” Arthur said, stepping up to the woman and kneeling down in front of her, “We have our reputation for a reason. Whoever did all of this will be imprisoned soon. You can count on it.” The woman looked at his helmet, swallowed a bit of spit, and blinked away the tears, “Get some rest; we can handle it from here if you tell us who received the package.”

She nodded, “Vierro Leon,” she said, “I-I need to lie down… and… sleep,” she trailed off, falling asleep onto Victoria Guamer’s, her girlfriend’s, shoulder.

“I’m sorry, sir, she hasn’t gotten a good night of rest for a long while… I’m going to put her to bed now,” Victoria said, “Do you want to stay for anything?”

“We have important business to attend to, ma’am,” Arthur said, “We will be leaving. Have a good day,” he said, walking towards the door. The others in his group took the hint, walking out behind him and shutting the door when they were all out. He tapped his radio, “Exo, map please.”

“On it,” Exo replied.

After a moment, Arthur walked down the hallway, turning his head to Juliana, “It seems like there is a bit more going on than expected,” Arthur said, “There is a high chance that the killer is receiving help from maintenance staff. There is not another housing block that connects with this one, so that is the only option.”

“What about other paths, like taking down a hole in a wall and passing into another housing block?” Kelish asked, surprising Juilana since the Vikshe woman had not spoken much, if at all, up until then, “Would maintenance staff be needed in that case?”

“They would,” Arthur said, nodding, “The maintenance staff make sure that every home is not altered in an unauthorized way, so they would notice if something like that was happening. What is most likely is that the perpetrator has access to the maintenance tunnels that snake throughout the spire,” Arthur said.

Kelish nodded, then spoke to him using their radio, “Alright, I get that, but when’d you learn about all that?” she asked.

Arthur chuckled, “It was in the files Exo sent you,” Arthur said, “It was under local structure and engineering.”

“I needed to read that part? I was trying to memorize culture and case details,” she replied.

“If anything, you should stick to the architecture and engineering for your Unit,” Arthur said, “You’ll be using the environment to your advantage more often than local culture in your line of work.”

Kelish sighed, “Fine, I won’t learn about cool local culture,” she drawled, “Ruin all my fun, won’t you.”

“If you can learn the architecture and engineering specs of your assignment location, learning about culture is perfectly fine,” Arthur replied, taking a corner, “Just put the mission above personal enjoyment.”

Kelish gave an imperceptible nod and Arthur did the same back. After a few moments more of walking, Juliana stopped in her tracks. She reached into her coat and pulled out her comslate, which was blinking red. She turned to Arthur, “Inquisitor Wan, I am getting a call from headquarters.” She stared at him for a moment, and he simply gestured to her comslate. She nodded, tapping the screen and looking at it for a moment, then putting it back into her coat, “It’s about some of the gangs that run around here. They stick to some of the lower levels and they’ve been causing problems in the maintenance shafts… I don’t need to answer those calls, though.”

“In that case, we have places to be,” Arthur said as he quickly walked away. Juliana jogged to catch up while Kelish followed without any problems. He had a hunch, one that he felt like would mean a lot of violence to come. He rounded a corner and walked up to the third door on his right, knocking it quickly. He waited a moment, then knocked again. He waited a bit longer, then knocked for a third time. When there was no response, he tapped his comslate and put his finger up to his radio, “Exo, scan the area with the sensor module. Look for life signs.”

“Understood, Inquisitor,” Exo replied, zipping over to the sensor module on Arthur’s hud for a moment, “Bad news,. I’m getting echoes of life signs behind the door in front of you, but no life signs anywhere around us.”

Arthur nodded to Exo, raised his foot, and kicked the door in with a single, smooth motion. Juliana yelped, jumping back a bit, and staring at Arthur as he and Kelish walked into the apartment. He only needed to enter to find the victim.

He, if the name Heliana gave was referring to a male, was splayed out on the carpet of his own living room. His torso was a mess, with dozens upon dozens of tentacles sprouting from between the man’s ribs. His arms were even worse, covered in a thick, immovable exoskeleton and bleeding from blunt impacts with a heavy object. The man’s legs were mostly spared, receiving the relatively minor wound of being broken at the knee. In spite of the other injuries, the man’s face was worse.

He was a human, and a Kamaitachi, though that was hard to distinguish from all of the scales on his face. Normally, Kamaitachi were supposed to have short, ultra-thick fur on their arms and bodies, but the fur was all gone, with only the scales remaining on his face. Arthur approached the body as Kelish intermittently glanced at the deformed man and opened one of his eyes. They were reptilian, like a snake’s. Seeing the man’s eyes, Arthur felt for a moment longer, then growled, “He’s warm,” he said into their radio network, standing, “The perpetrator is close by. Let’s go. Exo, can you find them?”

“I can. They’re cutting their way through the hallways by destroying the cameras. I will put up a map,” Exo said. Arthur nodded, walking through the door, past the gagging Juliana, and broke into a full sprint down the hallway. He turned back a bit to see Kelish keeping pace with him, even with her heavier load.

“Kelish, ready your weapon. Shoot to kill,” he ordered, pulling out his own carbine. Kelish nodded, pulling her shotgun from its place on her pack. He turned his attention back to his hud and turned another corner. At the end of the hallway was a service door that led to the maintenance shafts. It was unopened, but Arthur could see the signs of recent and frequent use. He slammed into it, knocking the metal door over and stomping into the maintenance shaft beyond.

Behind the door, he found an eight-strong group of astrosuit-clad, beam gun-wielding men and women, all wearing some sort of symbol on their shoulders and all looking at him with surprise on their faces. He stared at them, waiting for them to make a move, when one of the men pointed at him, “It’s a Snooper! Shoot ‘em!” he shouted, raising his gun to fire at Arthur. Arthur fired twice into the man’s forehead and sent him sprawling backwards.

“Surrender and you will receive your punishment,” Arthur said. One of the women began to raise her gun when Arthur shot her in the head like she did to the man. “Final warning.” None of them moved. Arthur internally sighed and raised his gun. All hell broke loose as a half dozen beams were shot haphazardly towards him. A very loud bang slammed into his ears from somewhere behind him as Arthur shot multiple times at his opponents' heads.

A man fell with a cry, Arthur felt his arm heat up uncomfortably, likely from a grazing shot, and blood splattered on the side wall of the shaft. Arthur had just enough time to realign his shot when a dark blue blur shot past him and slammed into a man with a large beam gun-- likely a heavy beam gun that was used in emplacements. The man fell and Kelish smashed a shotgun barrel into his head, blowing gray matter across the floor. The others panicked at the sight and Arthur got off another shot, melting another woman’s brains.

Once the woman Arthur had just shot fell to the ground, there were only two left and they were about to raise their hands when Arthur shot them both in the heads in quick succession. The final man fell with a yell, bouncing once before coming to a stop. There was a moment of silence before Kelish turned to Arthur, huffing, “He was surrendering.”

“He attacked a pair of Inquisitors. He was in on whatever’s going on here. Criminals know that Inquisitors don’t have time to bring them in, and will only do it if they have the time, the reason, or the inclination to overlook the whole ‘working with forbidden technology’ thing. Besides that, they were working with our perp, who killed people,” Arthur said, stepping forward with Kelish falling in behind him, “If they acted calm, they could have either played it off or just given us where the perpetrator went.”

“Wait, where did they go?” Kelish asked, turning back towards the battlefield, “Are we even going the right way?”

“We are. They were guarding this direction,” Arthur replied, breaking into another sprint that Kelish, again, had no problem matching. After a moment, they reached a fork in the shaft and Arthur skidded to a stop, “Exo, tap into the Guard coms. I want to know where the ruckus that the gangs are causing is coming from.”

“Doing it… Done. The fighting is coming from your right. I suggest going left,” Exo replied.

“I was thinking similarly,” Arthur echoed, turning left and breaking off into a sprint, “Kelish, if you’re wondering why our perpetrator is this way, then consider why the gangs are doing what they’re doing. They are working with our perpetrator, as should be obvious by now.”

Kelish sighed, “How’s that obvious?”

“The insignia on their astrosuits,” Arthur replied, Kelish returning a nod after a moment, “They are making a distraction for the killer, and what kind of distraction is happening right where they don’t want anyone to be?”

“That’s… fair. Alright, let’s go!” Kelish replied, running a bit faster. Arthur smiled; she would be a fine Inquisitor yet.

They ran through the shafts, passing many forks in their path and turning away from where the fighting was. Eventually, they ended up in what looked like a miniature version of the metro station. Standing in the center of the room, right in front of an open platform, was a large armored figure, gun in hand and other hand pulling a large tank on a trolley. The figure turned behind them, stared at the sudden appearance of two Inquisitors, threw themself onto the platform, pressed a button, and began to rise at a breakneck pace.

“Dammit,” Arthur growled, “Exo, track them. Kelish… how would you like a field assessment?” He asked, turning to the woman. Despite not being able to see her face, Arthur had the distinct impression that she was a bit excited with the sudden turn in events.

 

*=====*

 

Kelish rocketed upwards, slamming her feet onto a titasteel wall and pushing herself into the passage that the platform peeled off into. After a moment, she laughed, making sure that her helmet’s speakers were off, “Damn, this is a blast!” she said into her radio, “Arthur, you gotta try this!”

“No thank you. I prefer being able to see the enemy when I need to,” Arthur replied, his half-sarcasm shining through like a beacon, “Do you have eyes on the perpetrator?” he asked.

“Yep,” Kelish replied, “I can probably catch ‘em if this goes on for much longer.”

“Kelish, shoot to kill. This one killed over half a dozen people. Don’t feel bad for them,” Arthur replied, with that fanatic, unquestioning tone of his, “With everything they’ve done, it’d be a miracle if they get life in a maximum security prison. The only way I see this ending is with them dead, so you might as well save the executioner the appointment.”

“Arthur…” Kelish began, then she sighed, “I get it. I won’t feel bad about this, but it feels wrong to be the judge, jury, and executioner on this. Am I the only one?” she asked as she kicked off another wall, landed onto the horizontal shaft, and broke off into a sprint.

“You aren’t, but most of the time, it’s when some of the others are not certain about the details of the case. This, though-”

“I get it,” Kelish cut in, “This one’s not even close to innocent. Understood.” She sighed to herself. She liked Arthur well enough-- the fact that he had inadvertently saved her notwithstanding-- but he was a bit too focused on his duties as an Inquisitor for her. She pondered if he might one day change, but she ignored the thought. She had other work to do.

With a final jump pack assisted leap, she landed onto the next stop on the platform’s circuit. The room was identical to the one she left Arthur at, save for the number that happened to be painted on the ceiling. “I have disabled any more movement from the platform, Inquisitor Balak. They are stuck for you,” Exo said from their radio network.

“Got it, thanks Exo,” she replied. She stopped her running and crept over to the still platform with a tense stride. She held her shotgun in front out in front of her, aiming at the person still on the platform. Once she got close enough, she switched her speakers on, “This is the end of the line. Come out with your hands up and I might be able to get you a life sentence in prison,” Kelish said, walking closer.

The person in the suit stared at her for a long moment, still armed and with one hand on the tank-laden trolly. The person shook their head, took a hand off of the trolly, reached up to their helmet, and pulled it off. The woman beneath was a human, more specifically, an Oni. She had blue skin, with white hair and a long, jagged scar across her cheek. After a moment, the woman scowled at Kelish, “You can’t, can you?” she asked, “You’ll just kill me as soon as I put the gun away.”

“I could kill you, even if the gun was in your hand, but there’s more going on here, isn’t there?” Kelish shot back, “Gangs that run wild when you go off to kill someone. Keys to and directions around the shafts that you should not have. A tank that is apparently so special that you need to destroy cameras to keep a secret. You’re a part of something larger, aren’t you?”

“No shit,” the woman spat, “Good thing we have such diligent Inquisitors to protect us from the ignorance that clouds our minds.”

“There’s no need to be rude,” Kelish replied, “You’re not helping your case when you say that. Just answer the questions. Why are you collecting blood?”

The woman looked at Kelish with a pitying expression. It was not what she expected, not at all, “You wouldn’t understand why I’m doing this. The point of it all is so far beyond your mind that it might as well be beyond the veil.”

“Just answer the question,” Kelish snapped, pointing the shotgun closer to the woman.

She just gave Kelish a stare, “Fine. You want the reason? I’ll tell you. It’s because the Uncle of the Great Gods is being hunted down and he needs an escape. And I was one of the ones who were given the task. Stop me, don’t, no matter what, He will be brought here, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it.”

Kelish just stared at the clearly criminally insane woman, “What the hell are you talking about? Is this just some sick religious ritual!?” she nearly shouted with anger.

The woman was not affected. At all. That gave Kelish some pause, “No. It is not religion. It’s the task we were given by higher powers. If you want to kill me, then do it now. Because that’s all you’re getting from me.” She dropped the handgun and bowed her head, closing her eyes. Kelish chewed her lip, thinking. She could kill the woman, but she was clearly mad, she clearly needed help.

But she also killed over half a dozen people for her beliefs. It was as sick as it was sad. But something did not sit right with Kelish. The woman was so clearly faithful that someone would complete the ‘task’ that she was given. She needed more information, and brains blown to bits rarely helped with that. “No,” she said, stepping closer, “You’re under arrest. We’ll get what we need, one way or another.”

The woman just laughed, surrendering her hands when Kelish stepped closer, “Then that is just one more servant that He can claim when he arrives,” she laughed.

Kelish shook her head, took out the handcuffs she had brought along with her, and put them on the woman, “Arthur,” Kelish said into her radio, “Did you get that?” she asked. She had a feeling that Exo was watching, but she did not know to what degree.

“I did,” Arthur replied, “You should have disabled the perpetrator first, but this is a fine compromise. You did gather critical information. Information I have a feeling that the Archivists would love to go over. The only other complaint is your tone. You’re trying to be too friendly. Be harder with them. Don’t show weakness.”

“I got it. So, how close are you?” she asked. Just as she asked, a platform glided into the station noiselessly, stopping right behind the first one. On it, Arthur, his carbine propped up on his shoulder, and Juliana stood, “Nevermind,” Kelish said.

“No matter how many of you there are, I won’t tell you anything,” the woman said calmly. She was far too calm for what kind of position she was in at the moment. It was almost eerie, “So, Inquisitor, what will you do? Will you kill me here? Send me to one of your prisons?” she asked Arthur, “I’d love to know.”

“No, you will be of use to the Archivists,” Arthur said, “Time to go, Inquisitor Balak. Investigator Juliana, it was a pleasure working with you,” he said, offering a hand for Juliana to shake, “Make sure that the League Guard cleans up the gang activity; they are all complicit, but we have more important things to do than mediate gang wars. We will also likely be sending another Inquisitor to find the perpetrator’s lab.”

She took it and nodded, giving Arthur a smile, “Thank you, Inquisitor, I’ll make sure everything is set up,” she replied, “A-About that recommendation… Are you still sure?” she asked.

“I am,” Arthur said, with a little humor in his voice, “I will speak with the relevant clerks. Expect some sort of communication within the week. For now, though, we have work to do. If you could, please take care of the rest,” he said, stepping towards the second platform once more and switching to his radio, “Let’s go, Kelish. We’re going to have plenty of work to do.” As Kelish stepped onto the platform, he pressed the button to return to the first stop, “I’m calling my superior. Give your account, alright?” he asked.

Kelish nodded, gripping the Oni woman’s handcuffs tighter. After a moment, the familiar voice of a Seeker sounded through Kelish’s radio, “Inquisitors. I expect good news,” Arthur’s superior said.

“We do indeed have good news,” Arthur said, “We found and caught the perpetrator as they were escaping their seventh murder. Unfortunately…”

“Inquisitor, some things are beyond your control. Spit it out,” the Seeker said.

Arthur gave Kelish a look that gave her the impression that she was supposed to be speaking. After a moment of silence, Kelish just went with it, “Ma’am, I caught up to the perpetrator, but I believe that she is a madwoman. She ranted about great gods and tasks and it all being inevitable. I don’t know what she was talking about, but I arrested her just in case.”

There was a moment of silence from the radio before the Seeker’s voice returned, “Good work, Inquisitor Balak. I will be frank and say this: I have no idea what the woman is raving about either. But, what is certain is that she committed crimes with the assistance of forbidden technology. These cases are unfortunately common, but they are usually much easier to deal with. Though, an Investigation Unit Inquisitor is usually needed to find the distributor of the forbidden materials. 

“For now, bring the perpetrator to your Inquisition branch and return to Fortress Gamma. Exo, send me a copy of the conversation and I will see if anything else I have here lines up with your ordeal; if it did, then I can send you after them. I’ll send another Inquisitor to take care of the clean up for you. Now, you have your orders. Move out,” she said, cutting the connection. 

The following hour was a blur to Kelish. They walked through the streets of the city block, boarded the metro, took it to the Inquisitor’s Branch location, and stopped by the front desk. The Oni woman was docile throughout the entire trip, which suited Kelish just fine. She was confident in her physical strength, but she was not so confident as to challenge an Oni to a contest of direct physical strength. Especially considering that Vikshe were usually much less physically powerful than normal humans; they were more flexible and lithe, but that was beside the point.

“Inquisitors,” the Meytvani clerk at the front desk said, “Good work. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Yes, there is. During our mission, we worked with an Investigator named Juliana. I believe that she would be a good fit as a clerk,” Arthur replied, “Please look into her history to determine her compatibility with the Inquisition.”

The man behind the desk nodded, using his four-fingered hands to type on the keyboard at a rapid pace, “Ah, I found her. Working for the League Guard… Near-perfect track record… Good personality matrix… I’ll send it up the chain, sir. Did you tell her to expect a communication?” Arthur simply nodded, “Understood. I’ll add a request for  confirmation on her status when it is determined. Is there anything else?”

“No thank you. Have a good day,” Arthur replied, gesturing to the hallway past the front desk with his head to Kelish. They brought the woman to the gate after a long walk and waited for the wormhole to be opened, “Kelish,” Arthur said over their radio, “Good job this time. I’ve seen worse. God, have I seen worse. Just remember: don’t show weakness, and you’ll do fine. Let’s go,” he said, walking into the wormhole. Kelish followed after him with their prisoner in front of her.

As they walked back to Fortress Gamma, Kelish wondered how she could have done better. In hindsight, telling the mass murderer to surrender was probably a bad choice. It worked out in the end, but she was far from certain that she would not have been immediately shot at. She could have also helped Arthur during the investigation itself. Granted, that was far from her field of expertise, but nonetheless, they would be on more investigations than breach and clear missions; she needed to pull her weight. She knew that. She sighed, making sure her radio and speakers were off, and continued to walk. She had plenty of work to do, not just to improve herself, but also to get through to Arthur. One day, the line between right and wrong would be murky, and Kelish did not want to choose poorly when that day came.