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Episode 134 |
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“It’s
important to have places like this. Once the spirit’s flown and the spark of
life has gone, then rituals of farewell are needed.” Traveler, Sandman Assif stared at his computer screen, at the same time
looking over an array of papers. There
was a harried knock on his door. “Come
in,” he called without looking up. Dr
Jones rushed in, panting with a worried look on his face. “What’s wrong?” Assif asked. “Emma’s body,” he said.
“It’s missing.” “Just what we need,” Jin said as he typed on his
computer, the rest of the Responders standing over his shoulder. “A new mystery.” “Just call up the video records,” Sarah snapped. Jin worked for a second more, a long list of videos
appearing on his screen. He selected the
third floor, then the medical bay.
“Here we go,” he said. He
clicked on the video and it brought up eight different angles of streaming
video, showing the medical examination room and the triage. “Alright, this is now,” he said, working
quickly. The video began to rewind,
jumping back to Sarah’s sweep through the room. “This is four hours ago,” he said. “Atkin, you said no one had entered since you left for
the debriefing, correct?” Alex asked. “Yeah, no one went in or out,” the doctor confirmed. “The
door records the number of times it’s been opened in a given day.” “So someone either walked through walls or fooled the
electrical system,” Jin proposed, fast-forwarding through the video. As he spoke, Sarah looked around, counting
heads. “Here we go!” Jin exclaimed, getting everyone’s
attention. He slowed the video,
showing the door opening. As soon as
it did, the screen went blurry, as if the camera itself was shaking
radically. “What the hell,” he said,
adjusting the controls. “What’s
causing that?” “It’s psychic,” Sarah said certainly. “How do you know?” Irene asked. “Because Jason isn’t here.” “Front door confirms,” Eliot said, rushing into Assif’s
office as he sat with Sarah and Alex.
“Jason exited the building thirty-five minutes ago. The camera across the street, which is on a
different power grid, detected him.” “What about the weight plate?” Alex asked. “The one on the sidewalk in front of the
front door.” “He has to have messed with it,” Eliot said. “It was showing that he weighed something
like a fifty-sixty kilos or so more.” “Which would be about how much Emma weighed,” Alex
said, looking up at him. Eliot’s face
went white. He looked down at his
papers, about to speak, then turned away and scampered off. Alex turned back to Assif. “Any idea what he’s doing?” “I was going to ask you two the same thing,” Assif
said. “Why would he take Emma’s body?” “Burial?” Sarah suggested. “Maybe this is some kind of weird
psychic-mystic thing.” Assif looked away, wringing his hands as he
thought. “Be that as it may, this is
too big a security risk, especially now.
We need him brought back, no matter what.” He sighed.
“Alex, assemble a team to pursue Jason and track him down. Emma, go down to Adam and have him
distribute anti-psi rounds to Jason’s team.” “What?” Alex asked.
“Anti-psi rounds?” “We have to be prepared, Alex,” Sarah said with a
reserved tone. “Jason and Emma were
very close. It’s possible that her
death…” She stopped. “I don’t want it to come to that, Alex, any more than
you do,” Assif said. “But we cannot
allow this, not right now.” Alex took a moment, then nodded. “Yes sir,” he said with reservation as he
stood. Isaiah knelt on the pavement, his eyes low to the
ground like a bloodhound. He stared
out into the horizon, where the sidewalk met the sky. Dressed in his black trench coat, he kept
his rifle hidden under the flaps of his coat as a handful of people walked to
the other side of the street to avoid where he and Irene hunted. “Tracking a psychic is like trying to use wrapping
paper to bundle up a liter of water,” Isaiah complained. “He’s not leaving a scent and it’s entirely
likely that any trail he leaves behind, he’ll cover with his mind.” “He’s a little semi-goth-looking guy carrying a dead
girl,” Irene asked. “How hard can that
be to track?” “When that little semi-goth-looking guy is a psychic?
Very.” Eliot stopped at the light in the big SUV, Lisa in the
seat next to him. They both looked at
the street corners about, seeing what they could see. “Any idea which way he might have gone?” Eliot
shook his head. “No, but remember,
we’re not just looking for him, we’re also looking for any signs of him. He’s carrying a dead body. Somebody ought to take notice.” Assif waited in his office, Dr Jones sitting across
from him. “This is taking entirely too
long,” the chief said with an agitated look.
He turned away and glanced out his window. “Why would he do this? Why would he do this now?” “Well, let’s apply some logic here,” Jones spoke
up. Assif turned to him with an
unamused look. “Jason, a psychic, took
Emma’s body, a mystic. What possible
reasons would he have to do that?” “Burial’s the only thing any of us have been able to think
of,” Assif said. “He certainly won’t
use her body for anything else, if that’s what you’re suggesting.” “Hardly,” Jones dismissed, standing up. “But again, I underline the whole ‘mystic’
and ‘psychic’ aspect of this equation.”
Assif paused, thinking. He
slowly turned to Dr Jones, getting it.
“Wherever Jason’s taking her body, it’s somewhere of mystical, or
psychic, importance. Maybe both.” He shrugged. “Now, that’s your area of expertise, but I
would begin thinking about where in “What place in The Eiffel tower dominated the quiet park. The grassy field around the tower,
separating it from the businesses and restaurants around it, was empty of
people, as if they simply did not notice the land beneath the tower. At the elevator station, several men sat
against the wall, asleep, unconsciously passing the night away. Eliot pulled up to the tower, looking up at the
top. “Hard to believe I’ve been here
this long and never been up there.” “I always wanted to see this thing,” Lisa said with a
smile, staring at the tower. Eliot clipped his earpiece on and pressed the
button. “Checking. Checking, one-two. This is Eliot. Am I transmitting?” “Transmitting loud and clear,” came Jin’s voice. “You and Lisa are the first
responders. Get up to the top of the
tower now. Sarah and Til are a few
minutes behind you. They’ll back you
up once you get there.” “What are my orders?” Eliot asked. “Take Jason?” “Locate him and isolate him if possible,” came Assif’s
voice. “Do not engage until Sarah
arrives and takes over.” “Understood,” Eliot said. He turned to Lisa as she attached her own
earpiece. “Ready?” he asked, opening
his door. “Ready,” she answered as certainly as she could,
sliding out the door. |
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