Chapter 13: 13. Task Force

Rise Lavinia

Hmph.

Rise lets out a light sigh while sitting at a large conference table—she's currently in the midst of listening to another debrief and update on her task force's current cases. She looks as if she's about to fall asleep.

We have so much work to do, we're running out of time. But I can't get any sleep at all—the victims are continuing to pile up, and I have to somehow convince my boss to allow my best friend's son join in the chase for a deranged serial killer.

What a pain!

She lets out another sigh, and rubs her eyes with her hand—just as she hears the Chief start speaking from the head of the table: "The police found another body this morning."

"Another?" The other officers voice their surprise.

"Yes, the victim is a twenty-two year old woman from the outskirts of ward seven," he responds. "Her name was Elle Marie... She was found in her apartment. Limbs detached, and her blood and innards were arranged in a similar pattern to the others—it's the same killer—same MO. It was like they wanted us to find the body..." He pauses, his eyes darkening.

"But why?" asks another officer.

"I don't know. Maybe they want someone to see it? Or maybe they're trying to scare us into stopping what we're doing," says the Chief, shaking her head. "Whatever the reason, whoever this person is, knows that they're making progress, and they're not afraid to show off their artistry. It's almost like they're mocking us, or taunting us..." She let out a vicious sneer at the word artistry.

"Maybe he's just getting bored with his killings," suggests a female officer.

"I doubt that," replies the Chief, "They wouldn't be able to kill like this without planning it. Besides, I think they're still trying to make a point."

Most of this information has become common to Rise. They've been trying to catch this particular killer for more than six months, and they've gotten nowhere. She's become more and more disheartened with every new victim added, and she's even willing to involve Fate if it could make the victims stop piling up.

Rise starts to tune out her surroundings, her eyes drift around the room, and at her fellow investigators. She knows that if she's going to involve Fate in the investigation, she's going to have to somehow convince her colleagues to go along with his involvement.

Now known as Special Investigative Task Force 1—sometimes abbreviated as STF. To Rise, it's a very...unique organization. When she first transferred into it, she truly believed that her career was over.

I screwed up! They've sent me to some dead end job to end my career!

Such thoughts continuously bounced around in Rise's mind. She eventually relented, and talked to Fate about her situation. Her cute former student is always there to help, even at a moments notice. Having talked it through with him, he gave Rise the hypothesis that the task force was created in an attempt to advance New Eden's investigative doctrine, and help nurture more decentralized investigative teams.

With that in mind—it made sense to Rise why they were such a contradictory group. On the one hand, funding clearly isn't an issue for the task force. They have an entire floor in a highly advanced police headquarters all to themselves—even though the task force currently has only ten active members.

Even with that idea in mind, Rise could only describe the task force with one word—contradictory. She has no idea who selected the task force's members, but she firmly believes they have brain damage. Because half of her colleagues are incredibly skilled and experienced investigators—all of whom have solved and worked on high profile cases—some of the most notorious cases in the country.

To RIse, they were amazing officers, but some of them are...

Ahem.

Just thinking about some of them, Rise can't help but let out a sigh, and feel annoyed.

The other half of her team is made up of complete beginners. They've never worked on anything important before, and most of them haven't even worked in law enforcement for more than a year, before being added to the task force.

"Rise, I hope you're not falling asleep again?" The Chief asks in a playful voice.

"Sorry, Chief!" Rise jumps as she's awakened from her thoughts.

"Oh, don't worry about it; I'm just teasing you," she responds with a laugh.

Rise feels relieved, and takes another look around the room. All of her colleagues look like they're tired, but they still look determined. She starts to look at each of them, one at a time.

At the head of the table, sits the Chief. Alexia Lynden; she's a middle aged woman, quite curvy, and she wears her dark hair just above her shoulders, styled neatly—professionally. Her face is composed, and she always seems to have a smile on her face. And she has a commanding presence. Rise considers her a dear friend, and has even met her two daughters. But she doesn't know her all that well.

Rise's eyes drift to the man sitting on her right. Her long time investigative partner, Kenzo Tsubasa. He was once her superior due to his age, but when he became a part of the task force, they were given equal status. He often wears his black hair loosely styled—he's sometimes clean cut—but he often looks disheveled.

And he's always infuriated her beyond belief. Rise had first suspected that he was up to something when she discovered that he always got the best intel, and that he was always involved in the most high profile investigations.

She knows that he's the kind of person that would blur the rules of the job, if it meant furthering their cause.

She can't help but dislike that part of him.

To Rise, the power afforded to her by the law is sacred. And to her, it's her duty to uphold it.

But Kenzo has no problems violating the rules, and will twist the law however he sees fit.

Rise couldn't help but feel relieved when she was transferred to the task force—she no longer had to be responsible for his actions. But then he joined the same task force a few weeks after her.

The female police officer that spoke to the Chief earlier is the next person in Rise's view. Aria Yukiko. She has long blonde hair, and emerald green eyes. Rise can't help but feel annoyed by her. On top of being a beauty, she's incredibly young. Too young for her position.

She shouldn't have been given this opportunity.

Aria's only real experience in law enforcement is the fact that she completed one year of training at a police academy. Aria worked as a patrol officer for a month, and she was recruited into the task force before turning twenty.

Does she deserve this position?

Is she ready?

At first, Rise couldn't accept her. The fact that she joined with so little experience made Rise feel like she was lessened because of it. But slowly, over time, Aria won over Rise's acknowledgement. She's a girl that's always energetic, happy, upbeat, and willing to help in whatever way she can. Her energy is infectious, and constantly raises morale—even during the awful days.

It's hard to dislike people like that—Rise knows that she's weak against those kind of people.

The next rookie member of the group is a young prodigy, Liliana Tamera. Like Aria, she's also twenty years old, but Rise can't help but respect her. At her young age, she's already completed her university degree in criminal justice.

She's really intelligent.

Liliana's similar to Rise in multiple ways, Rise can't even deny their similarities. Liliana is quite shy, and quiet, but she's incredibly book smart. Her deductive reasoning is an asset to the team, and her calm intelligence is useful when tensions are high.

But, Rise has a... personal problem with her.

Carefully, slowly, Rise looks Liliana up and down. She feels her chest tighten in discomfort.

Liliana's looks are the opposite of Rise's.

Rise knows that she's not a buxom woman, and she feels that her womanly charms are nonexistent—they never developed. She's flat as a board, and her height is minuscule. She's also rather skinny. She can't help but feel self conscious about her looks, especially since she'll be turning thirty within the next year.

While sneaking another glance at Liliana, Rise let's out a heavy sigh, trying to toss away her feelings of inferiority.

Liliana wears her black hair styled in a neat bob cut with a slight part, and she actually wears glasses that cover her brown eyes.

Seriously—who still wears glasses when it's so easy to fix eyesight nowadays?

Rise may feign ignorance, but she knows that Liliana wears them so that she always has access to a computer through their augmented reality function, but none of that is an issue for Rise. Her feelings of inferiority stems from something much simpler—her looks.

Liliana has the cute face of a sheltered bookworm—but her body is everything that Rise's is not. Where Rise's curves are nonexistent, Liliana's are large enough that she constantly wears tight clothing in an attempt to hide them—again, she's like Rise—they're both very self conscious about their looks, but for opposite reasons.

There's one final green rookie in the task force—Naoto Shun. He's a quiet young investigator fresh out of university, with messy brown hair. He's not very confident—that's about the extent of Rise's knowledge about him.

I don't like him, but I don't particularly dislike him—at least he's not annoying.

Rise looks to the four remaining task force members. All of them are distinguished investigators with impressive records. Currently, they're engaged in a heated debate over what to try next in their quest to catch their target.

The first, a middle aged man with a short beard, and neat brown hair, George Rowen. From Rise's perspective, he's a serious investigator that takes all of his work very seriously. He's made this current case incredibly personal to himself—he oftentimes shows blatant hatred for anyone that would take the life of a civilian.

But he's a good man.

Avery Warrick, late twenties, clean cut black hair—astoundingly neat. Been involved with solving multiple high profile cases. Doesn't annoy Rise, but also doesn't add much during team conversations—not a great team player, but he tries.

I know what it's like, not being able to socialize well.

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Then there's Kristopher Maxwell, middle aged, black crew cut hair, usually quiet—but is always supportive of every task force member. The metaphorical glue of the task force. Unfailingly kind, and tries to befriend everyone.

He's a nice person to drink with.

If Rise thought about most of her colleagues...she's not that close to them. She's close to Kenzo, but that's only because they've been partners for years. She's friends with the Chief—but the final member of the task force is the only other person she currently considers to be a good friend.

Damian Wright. A very kind man in his forties, he has dark skin, and short buzz cut hair—most likely picked up from his time in the military. Rise met him when she was still just a rookie. He has a way of being completely resolute when it comes to protecting others, he helped Rise a lot at the start of her career, and she's even met his wife and kids.

He's a great investigator.

That's how Rise sees Damian.

As she finishes looking over everyone in the room, she turns back to the Chief, and gives a nod.

"Chief, do you think I can have a couple minutes—in private."

The Chief smiles softly, "Of course. Just give me five minutes. We can use my office if you want," she says kindly.

"ALRIGHT! QUIT YOUR BICKERING!" It's like a flip was suddenly switched. The moment she finished talking to Rise, she yells loud enough to drown out the argument taking place between some of the members. Their voices immediately become muted, and Rise hears silence fall across the room.

Everyone looks uncomfortable.

"We need to focus on catching the Painter, we can't afford distractions. Now get your asses moving or I swear I will personally fire every single one of you!"

Her words make Rise's heart skip a beat. This isn't like the Chief at all. She rarely ever yells.

This must be bad.

All the victims continuing to add up must be getting to her.

With a quick nod, Rise quickly stands up. She walks past the rest of the detectives without saying a word, heading towards the exit door.

The reason that Rise is so willing to bring Fate into the investigation is the same reason that the Chief yelled...desperation. Rise attended Fate's birthday party last month with Damian, and Kenzo, so that they could get to know each other better.  

If they could see Fate the same way that I do...They'd agree that he could possibly help.

Fate's always been a genius without comparison. That's how Rise's always seen him. As a young child, he'd rarely ever cry, or scream—he'd stare back at her with his blue eyes filled with the unmistakable glint of intelligence. His mind was always incredible.

She'd throw her knowledge at him, and he'd absorb it like a sponge—and he'd be able to effectively use the knowledge to actualize results.

The task force hasn't made any progress, and Rise knows it. The Painter. The code name was given to this killer because of the art he creates with his victims bodies, blood, and innards. And they had to give him a code name because they haven't made even the slightest bit of progress towards identifying him.

Rise believes that the killer is male based on their modus operandi, but there's absolutely zero proof.

Rise's desperate, and needs help. Painter has already murdered at least thirty confirmed people, and there's possibly a dozen more bodies that could possibly be linked to him.

It's painful for her to admit, but the task force has spent more than half a year trying to find the killer, and has turned up completely empty.

But Fate might be able to achieve what we can't.

And he wouldn't hesitate to put himself in danger to prevent future victims.

Rise has known Fate since he was born, and she knows that he would sacrifice anything for someone else. He's mature enough to handle this, she truly believes that. So even though he's just turned fourteen, and he's just completed middle school, she's willing to risk proposing her plan to the Chief.

***

After Rise enters Chief Lynden's office, they give each other cordial greetings, and Rise dives in—telling her all about her plan to involve a fourteen year old in the chase for one of the most brutal serial murderers New Eden has ever seen.

Lynden listens intently, nodding along with Rise's words as she tells her story. When she's done explaining herself, she waits patiently for the Chief to respond.

"Rise? Have you had a psych eval recently?" Lynden asks bluntly. Her voice sounds concerned, worried.

"No, ma'am. Why does that matter?"

"Because you're clearly mentally unstable." She replies with a soft chuckle.

Rise feels her cheeks flush red at the comment. She knows how absurd she sounds, but she still believes in Fate.

"I-I know how stupid I sound. I do. And I'm sorry, but please hear me out," Rise begs desperately. "Just listen to me."

"Fine..." Lynden agrees reluctantly. "What is your proposal exactly?"

Rise takes a deep breath, then begins again. This time, she speaks slowly and carefully, making sure to explain everything in detail.

"Fate is...amazing. I don't mean this as some sick delusion of believing he's a genius—he truly is...unique. In a positive sense. He absorbs information better than anyone I've ever met, and he uses that knowledge to do things that no human should be capable of doing. You see, the thing is, I believe that Fate may be able to catch our murderer, because of his unique ability to comprehend complex concepts easily. If he were to join the task force, I think that he'd be able to understand what makes this killer tick. Maybe even predict his actions before they happen—it sounds like a lot, but I believe that at the very least—he'll pick up on something we missed. He's the kind of genius that could find trails that are invisible to regular people."

The Chief started off with an icy glare—but progressively shifted. Rise said every word without stuttering—without misspeaking, because she truly believes every word. Even if it seems impossible.

Lynden sits silently for several long moments, thinking.

After giving her whole speech, Rise's anxiety starts acting up. She's never been a confident person—quite the opposite. She managed to overcome her usual social ineptitude while giving her pitch, but now, she begins fidgeting under the scrutiny.

"You realize who his mother is, yes? Do you have any idea what kind of storm we'd cause if we did this—"

"I already asked Mayumi for her permission, she said that so long as Fate wanted to—she'd allow it, she even gave me a signed document with her consent." Rise quickly jumped back in to the conversation, hoping to stop Lynden from speaking further.

"Mayumi...? Oh, right...of course...you know her too...right?"

Rise nods.

"So you're asking us to take a teenage boy, and essentially use him to find the worst butcher of the decade?" Lynden's voice is cold and harsh. Her expression remains unreadable.

Rise's shoulders slump. She knew that she was going to receive a hard time from Lynden regarding this plan. But she didn't expect it to go down like this.

"Yes." Rise answers honestly. "Please just let me finish. Please trust me, Chief. I've known Fate since he was born. He's brilliant, and unlike anyone else I've ever met. I know he can do this. He's even helped me solve a cold case before. He won't hesitate to put himself in harm's way to save others, he's strong. I promise you that."

Lynden stares at Rise for another few seconds before responding. After a brief pause, she sighs deeply.

"That's exactly what I don't want to happen. I don't want to be responsible for getting a child hurt during an investigation."

Rise clenches her fists, and readies herself to continue arguing, but before she can, Lynden continues.

"Alright, alright, fine. I'll approve it. I'm trusting you, Rise. I really am. Just...don't fuck up. Understand?"

"Y-yes Ma'am," Rise manages to squeak out after clearing her throat nervously.

"You said he's on summer break, yes? You can bring him here starting tomorrow. I'll get him an internship. But I want him nowhere near any kind of danger—he's not an investigator, he's a teenager. I want that sicko behind bars—and I want no more victims—but I won't allow a child to be sacrificed to achieve that."

Rise nods enthusiastically, she's practically bouncing with joy "Thank you! Thank you! We won't let you down!"

"Also, you're the one that gets to break the news to everyone about our newest...member? Good luck explaining your plan to everyone—and getting them to go along with it." Lynden's smirk sends a chill up Rise's back.

Rise winces slightly at the mention of telling everyone.

She forgot that part. She wasn't expecting to make it this far.

It's clear that Lynden isn't fond of Rise's idea either—which means that it's probably going to be a real challenge, convincing everyone to accept Fate into the task force.

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