Light and the Mole

Link to article: Light and the Mole.

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**[[[grigori-karpin-s-author-page | More by this author]]]**

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[[=]]
++++ __Interview Room B, Site-θ__
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Lucretia stood in the corner of the interview room, her arms crossed.  She had finally gotten out of that orange jumpsuit and into a black short-sleeve button up shirt that was tucked into a pair of dark grey jeans.  Carlotta and Light both sat at a table with several files, a pitcher of water, and some paper cups in front of them.  They perked up when the door opened and security guards brought in Samuel Myers, executive assistant to Director Avery.  The two security guards sat him down in a chair across from Carlotta and Light.  

“Wait outside, gentlemen,” Light said.  The security guards exited the room and locked the door behind them.  

“Mr. Myers, hello.  My name is Director Sophia Light.  This is my colleague, Agent Deneb.”

“What’s she doing here?” Myers asked, looking at Lucretia.    

“Greetings, mouse man.”  Lucretia grinned maniacally at Myers.

“Oh, you’ve met Lucretia? Then you probably already know not to stare at her.”  Myers turned back to Light.  “That’s right, look at me.”

Myers looked straight into Light’s eyes, and asked: “Why am I here, Director?  What the hell made it necessary to have me dragged from my office?”

“We have something we’d like to talk to you about.”

“Yeah, I gathered.  But there are more respectful ways of getting my attention.  I might not be a director, but I //have// been with the Foundation for more than ten years.”  He laughed.  “Does Director Avery know I’m here?” 

“He’ll know soon enough.”

“Director Light, I know you’re having some issues with him, but this hardly seems like an appropriate course of action.  You think this gives you leverage?” Myers sneered these last words.

“I don’t need leverage, Samuel.  I need answers.”

“To what?”

Carlotta flipped open the file in front of her.  “Mr. Myers, you have a very interesting credit history.  Did you know that?”

He crossed his arms and leaned back against the chair.  “I’ve had financial problems for years, that’s none of your business.”  

Carlotta shook her head. “‘Financial problems’ is putting it lightly. You’ve been stuck in debt for the last //six// years, barely keeping yourself above water.”

“Before my mother passed, she amassed quite a few medical bills.  Insurance only covered half the procedures. It’s not a crime.”  He glared at Carlotta.

“But your credit rating has significantly improved of late, isn’t that true?”

“I came into some money.  The trust my mother set up finally matured and I was able to pay off most of the debts.  Again, what does this have to do with anything? It wasn’t a crime, so stop treating it that way”

“Over the last six months you’ve received disbursements from the trust in upwards of $600,000. Is that correct?”

“Yes, what of it?”

“That’s a hefty trust.  And it’s not even tapped out yet.”

“None of this is illegal or against any Foundation regulations!”  Myers slapped his palm down on the table loudly.  “I declared it at my most recent security check!”

“And you were flagged for a biannual review because of it.  Did you know that?”

Myers said nothing in response.  He scanned the room, moving from Light to Carlotta and even to Lucretia.  He reached for the pitcher of water and poured himself a cup – his hand shook as he poured.

“Have you heard of the company ‘Fieldstone Commercial Solutions,’ Mr. Myers?” Carlotta asked.

He paused to drink, then after a few moments he said, “Should I have?”

“There was a classified raid on their HQ by the UIU last week.  We didn’t get any paperwork from them until a few days ago, but something was flagged for our attention,” Carlotta said.

The door to the interview room opened violently, slamming against the wall.  James Avery was shaking in the doorway.  He glared at Light.  “What exactly are you doing?”

Light stood.  “Stop with the theatrics, James.  You can leave or you can sit quietly.  I will brook no interference.”

“Why didn’t you come to me if you had some problem with Samuel? This is ridiculous!”

“Director Avery, sit down and shut up or I will have you forcibly removed.”

“By whom? My own staff?” He laughed in a harsh manner.

“I have explicit authorization to perform an investigation of this Site, by order of the O5 Council.”  Light looked at the two-man security detail and said: “If you want to keep your jobs, you will follow my orders.”

“The Council sent you here to recruit new members of your team.  Site security is my purview,” Avery said.

Light produced a document that bore the seal of the O5 Council. “Here’s my authorization, do you want to read it? If so, sit down. Or leave.”

Avery snatched the document from her fingers.  The room was silent for a moment as he read.  “This just talks about investigating the emergency in Yellowstone. There’s nothing in this that allows you to witch hunt one of my employees!”

“I assure you, I’m within my legal authority.  Last chance, sit down or I’ll have Popescu escort you from the room.”  At this last she glared at the security detail over Avery’s shoulder.  They considered for a moment, then closed the door.

Avery looked behind him and then back at Light, the paper in his hands vibrating as his forearms tensed.  

“Look, if your assistant has nothing to hide then there’s nothing going to come of this.  We’re //just// asking some questions.  Take a seat,” Light said.

“Fine, get this over with.”  He sat down next to Myers, who looked to him with pleading eyes.

Light nodded. Carlotta pulled out a couple more documents and set them on the table. “Mr. Myers, did you know that Fieldstone Commercial Solutions doubles as an estate law firm in Connecticut?”

“No, I’ve never heard of them!”

“That’s strange, as the documents the UIU sent to us show that Fieldstone is the company that set up and administers your mother’s trust.  The trust which you are the sole beneficiary of.”

“Okay, so what?” Myers asked.

Light slammed the table. “‘So what’ is that this company is a //shell// company under the ownership of the Fifth Revelation Congregation, also in Connecticut!  Do you know who they are, Mr. Myers?”

“Director Avery, I demand representation, they’re trying to set me up for something!”

Avery looked at his assistant, then motioned for Carlotta to give him the documents.  A few moments passed. “What are you accusing my assistant of?”  His tone had lost its edge.

Light threw another document down on the table. “The Congregation is a known Fifthist nonprofit with ties to senators, hedge fund managers, and businesses up and down the East Coast.  Myers, can you explain this?”

“I... I... honestly, I barely know what Fifthism is! I’m not cleared for much!”

“That’s ridiculous, Myers,” Carlotta said. “You’ve got a clearance rating of Level-3 as a Site Director’s executive assistant.  You receive documents for the Director’s review all the time. You know what Fifthism is.”

Myers didn’t say anything.  Avery looked over the most recent documents showing the Congregation was on UIU, GOC and Foundation watch lists.  He looked at his assistant with narrowed eyes.  “Samuel, what is this?”

“I didn’t do anything wrong! My mother left me that money! She couldn’t use it before she died because she set up the trust before she even got sick.”

Carlotta closed the file.  “We have reason to believe the trust records were backdated.  From what we can tell, it was established less than a year ago.  We have you, Myers.  You have financial remuneration from a suspect organization connected to a GoI and you were in a position to revoke Director Light’s status here.  You know what communications from O5 looks like, all you had to do is fake the backtrail.  At this point you can cooperate or you can see just how 'cold not cruel' we can be.”

Myers looked at Light and Carlotta, then turned quickly to Avery, who wouldn’t meet his gaze.  

“Are you seriously going to let them steamroll me like this?” he asked, staring directly at Avery.  He had turned his chair towards his boss, his hand gripping the armrest tightly.

Avery still wouldn’t look at his assistant.  “I think it’s best you answer Director Light’s questions, Samuel.”  

Myers sighed, shaking his head.  “Fine.  If that’s the way you want it.  Ask your damn questions.”

Light spoke again: “Who else are you working with? I don’t believe for a second this was all y-”

A blinding flash of light and a horrendous sound exploded out of Myers’s mouth.  Light crashed backwards into the wall, her chair tipping over from the force of the sound.  Her head slammed into the wall as she fell.  She blacked out.
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An alarm blared, waking Light from the stupor.  She was on the floor, her face pressed against the linoleum tiles; she was bleeding from her ears a little.  She sat up, shook her head, and tried to clear the ringing pain in her skull.  Avery was unconscious on the floor.  Deneb was holding her ears with her head on the table.  Popescu was bent over retching in the corner. 

The door was blown off its hinges. The two security guards were laying on the floor of the corridor.  “Fucking little…!”

Light keyed her communicator to a direct line to Site security. “Code red! Anomalous hostile loose in the Site, last seen near Interview Room B! Subject is capable of cognitohazardous speech!”

Security confirmed her report and the lights in the hall flashed red then white and the loudspeakers started blaring: "All non-security personnel are remanded to their stations and ordered to perform lockdown procedures.  This is not a drill."

Light placed a hand on Carlotta’s shoulder; the agent gave her a thumbs up.  Light looked over at Lucretia.  “Popescu, you alright?”

“Give me minute. Feel like insides on fire.”

“We don’t have a minute, you both armed?”

Carlotta nodded but Lucretia shook her head. “I am always ‘armed’.”

Light nodded. “We need to find him and neutralize him before he does serious damage.”

She looked at Avery on the floor, still unconscious. “And someone get a medic in here!”
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Light raced down the corridor towards the Site’s security section, Carlotta and Lucretia hot on her heels.  She burst through the door to Site security and saw two security officers, both hunched over monitors.  “What have you got?” Light asked.

One man looked up and said: “He was last seen in sub-basement B, headed east from the stairwell.”

“How is he moving around? Shouldn’t the stairs be locked down?”

“They are, Director, but he has some sort of override.”

“Put the facility into containment breach lockdown, no entry or exit without my authority or Level-5 authorization!”

“Yes, Director.”

“What’s on that level?”

“A containment wing for some of our more dangerous anomalies and the main maintenance sector.”

Light turned to the small armory and unlocked the case, pulling a Glock 9mm free from its mooring and sliding several magazines into her pockets.  She turned back to Lucretia and Deneb.  “We need to hunt him down.  We can’t let him near those anomalies.”

Lucretia slapped Carlotta on the arm.  “Oh look, a manhunt!  You favorite!”
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[[=]]
++++ __Site Subbasement B__
[[/=]]

Carlotta cleared the corridor outside the elevator and motioned for Lucretia and Light to follow.  She looked at the wall arrows with the words “maintenance sector” pointing to the right and “maximum security containment” pointing to the left.  She headed left down the corridor with Light and Lucretia hot on her heels.

They approached the first intersection and saw three corridors branching in different directions, each lined with various reinforced containment cell doors.

“Split up?” Lucretia said.

Light shook her head. “Bad idea, we don’t know what’s down here. Let’s stick together.”

Carlotta looked back with alarm at Light. “You don’t know what’s down here?”

“This isn’t my Site; I don’t have every anomaly memorized. I was here to recruit you all, and it’s been one emergency after another!”

Carlotta nodded and looked down each of the corridors.  Each appeared empty.  “We don’t know the extent of Myers’ abilities, so we’re going to have to clear the entire wing.”

“The priority is making sure nothing contained is loose. The whole base is on alert and looking for him.  So, we won’t really be able to rely on support,” Light said.  “Actually... where are the containment personnel for this level? There should be some here.”

All three looked at the empty security station at the corner of the intersection.  “Not a good sign,” Carlotta said.

“No,” Light agreed.

“What are we waiting for then? Come on, comrades.”  Lucretia had a wicked smile on her face when she said that last word. 

“Ok Natasha, left corridor first,” Carlotta said.

“Who is Natasha?”

Carlotta laughed.

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They found the first bodies at the end of the first corridor; three containment guards lay on the ground in various poses.  All three had bled profusely from the eyes and ears.

“Son of bitch. What is this guy?” Lucretia said.

Light and Carlotta checked the containment cells while Lucretia watched the hall. All four were secure.  “Next one, let’s go.  Eyes up, he could be anywhere,” Carlotta said.

She was in her element. Hunting can men was what UIU agents did.  Person of Interest investigations and profiling often led to manhunts. She ducked into the next corridor on the left and saw another body halfway down the hall.  She passed a containment cell on her right on the way to the body; the door opened and a scaly, gray fist hit her in the side, sending her sprawling.  Her gun went clattering away from her.

She hit the ground and spun.  Her view swung past the door from which the assault had come from.  A tall, gray-scaled humanoid crouched in the doorway and tensed to leap at her.  It had no eyes but had a long-curved beak lined with vicious-looking teeth.  Its feet were clawed like a bird’s.  It looked like three hundred pounds of reptilian muscle.  She looked around for her pistol and started scrambling towards it when the thing leapt.  

Lucretia caught the thing in mid-air, grasping its head with her hands.  Carlotta noticed that Lucretia’s fingers had sunk into the meat of the anomaly’s neck and head.  Lucretia’s mass had increased until her shirt was straining to contain her muscles.  Her eyes were bloodshot, and she gritted her teeth while straining with the entity.  

The reptilian humanoid reached blindly for Carlotta as Lucretia started slowly dragging it back to the containment cell.  Carlotta reached for her pistol and pointed it at the entity.  Unfortunately, as she fought with the reptilian entity, Lucretia was directly in the line of fire.  

Lucretia grunted and pulled the creature to the ground.  It was bleeding where her fingers had sunk into the flesh.  Carlotta saw Lucretia had grown talon-like appendages on each finger.  “You shit! Stay still!” Lucretia screamed at the struggling thing.  She got both the entity’s arms behind its back and wrapped one of her arms around the limbs in a double arm bar.  The muscles on her arm rippled and increased mass once more, struggling to hold the creature immobilized.  Lucretia used her free hand to grab the back of the thing’s head and slammed it against the concrete floor of the corridor.  

The entity immediately stopped struggling with such energy, disoriented by the strike to the skull.  Lucretia grunted again as she lifted the semi-limp entity and dragged it back into its containment cell.  It reached blindly behind itself and tried to latch onto her arm, cutting into her left bicep.  “Fuck!”  Lucretia threw the disoriented lizard thing’s form roughly into the unfurnished concrete cell.  She turned to Light and said, “How do we lock it u-”

Lucretia was interrupted by Light stepping around her through the doorway, pistol raised.  She pulled the trigger once, twice, three times until the entity stopped moving and lay still.   She exited the containment cell and keyed in a code on the door, sealing it.

Carlotta and Lucretia stared at her with their mouths agape.  Light shrugged.  “Not chancing it sneaking up on us again.”  She went to Carlotta and offered a hand.  Carlotta took the hand and rose.  “Are you injured, Agent?”

Carlotta shook her head. “I don’t think so, just knocked me on my ass.”

Lucretia shook her head and rotated her shoulders.  Her muscle mass reduced to its normal human state and the bony talons receded into her hands.  “How did thing get free?”

Light keyed on her communicator. “This is Director Light to Site security. Are you receiving?”

“Go ahead, Director.”

“We were just assaulted by an anomalous reptile humanoid in the containment sector of Subbasement B.”

“Do you need medical attention?”

“Not currently, but I need to know the containment status down here.  The cell appeared sealed but opened without warning.” 

“Hold a minute.” The sounds of keyboard clacking came through the communicator.  Carlotta approached the body of the containment guard on the floor.  She checked for a pulse, met Light’s eyes, and shook her head.  The security spoke up again through the communicator.  “All containment cells show as secure, but there’s a subroutine running that keys the cells open when Level-4 clearance biometrics are read by the system.”

“How the fuck did he do that?” Light said.

“We don’t know, Director.  But until we can check the subsystems and lock out the subroutine, I’d suggest vacating that area for your own safety.”

“God damn it.”  Light slid the communicator into a pocket and put her hands on her hips.

“Mouse man left traps. Little shit,” Lucretia said. 

Carlotta walked towards them. “How many containment staff down here usually?”

Light thought for a moment. “Usually four, I think – unless they call for reinforcements.  Which they didn’t.”

“He’s already neutralized the staff down here and left their bodies out for you to find.  With a trap that would trigger in response to your presence.  We’re going about this wrong.  Don’t think chasing him is the right move,” Carlotta said.

“What would you suggest?” Light asked.

Carlotta thought for a moment, and then spoke.  “Where’s he going?  That’s where we need to get, preferably before he does.”

Lucretia snorted.  “If can’t get out usual way, what’s he looking for?”

“Fuck.  The maintenance tunnels!” Light said.

“Tunnels?” Lucretia asked.

“He can’t get out through normal means, even if he’s messed with security protocols.  We have armed guards at each of the normal egress points.”

“Mouse man crawl through tunnels.  It fits.”
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Myers exited the maintenance access shaft, opening onto a shallow ravine next to the mountain containing Site-θ.  He made a theatrical show of drawing a deep breath.  Light snorted at this display.  She could see him on the external surveillance cameras, feeding into her tablet.  Behind her in the trees stood four security personnel.   They were across a bare, snowy field from Myers’ position just outside the maintenance shaft.  On her screen, he looked around and then started clambering up the side of the ravine.  

“Now,” she said quietly.  A rifle in one of the security officers’ hands roared.  As Myers crested the ravine’s edge, a puff of snow and dirt exploded centimeters from his face.  He slid back down and pressed his back against the slight incline.  She never took her eyes from the tablet as she yelled: “Myers, come out with your hands up and your mouth shut, or we //will// terminate!”

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Light was yelling towards the ravine with a squad of security sharpshooters backing her up.   Lucretia and Carlotta snuck through the bushes to the south of Myers’ suspected position.  Night had fallen, and the crisp winter air caused their breath to cloud as they moved through the brush.

A tree branch around face level snapped back into place after Carlotta moved ahead of Lucretia, nearly striking her.  “Hey, be watching it!” Lucretia whispered.

Carlotta shrugged, mouthed “Sorry” and continued duckwalking towards the traitor’s position.

Light was yelling again: “I’m getting sick of this, Myers! Five minutes, or I send them in with orders to shoot!”  From Lucretia’s position she could see Light looking their way, but knew they weren’t visible in the brush.  

Suddenly, a shadowy figure leapt from a nearby tree and descended into the ravine.  Carlotta said: “Oh god, what’s he doing now?”

Lucretia could just barely hear someone calling out from that direction.  “Now your time has come, felon! The [[span class="shadow"]]Specter[[/span]] has you at his mercy!”  Several gunshots rang out from inside the ravine, Myers screamed and then a burst of light and sound boomed.  [[span class="shadow"]]4494[[/span]] was sent flying before landing with a thud, causing a large poof of snow to cascade into the air.  

Carlotta looked at Lucretia and whispered, “You hit him.  I’ll cover.”  

Lucretia nodded.  “Da.  Then I take next flight into snow drift.”  

“Just go, I’ve got you.” 

Lucretia broke into a run towards the ravine, the snow crunching beneath her with each step.  She felt cool, even distant.  This was just another fight in the pits.  Just another person to put down.  Not even a person.  A thing.  

Myers rose to his feet.  Carlotta took a breath, held it, and coolly fired twice.  One of the bullets punched into Myers’ left knee.  Myers screamed and fell to the snow, clutching at his bloody leg.  Lucretia tried to pour on more speed, fighting with the snow-covered ground.

Lucretia was still racing towards his position when he thrust both his hands to the sky, his eyes cast towards the ground.  The stars above flared brightly for a moment and Carlotta gasped, her vision blurring.  A flaring pain erupted behind her eyes and she was falling to her knees on the wet, cold ground.  Lucretia felt the pull of the flaring light above her, but squeezed her eyes shut and continued running.  She could hear Light and the security team scream as she closed the distance on Myers.  

She took a chance, opened her eyes briefly and dove to the ground just as he raised his hands again.  A booming sound screeched in Lucretia’s ears and she felt the wave of force slide past her.  She pressed her body down and her face into the snow.

Myers screamed again when [[span class="shadow"]]4494[[/span]] slid around Lucretia and slammed into him.  Lucretia shook the snow from her short black hair.  Light and her team were down.  Carlotta was on her knees, hands covering her eyes.  

Myers said something that made Lucretia’s vision double and sent [[span class="shadow"]]4494[[/span]] crashing to the snow with a shocked cry. He slipped on his injured leg and screamed out in pain.  Lucretia’s breaths were ragged, but she rose to close the last ten meters to his kneeling form.  He glared at her.  The skin of her fists hardened, encased with rock-hard bone as she crossed the last meter.  

Myers opened his mouth, but she knocked him into the snow, causing him to let out a grunt rather than another cognitohazard.  She desperately held her hands over his mouth but could see the raging hatred in his eyes.  He weakly raised a hand towards her own face, the hand starting to glow like the stars had.  Lucretia, lacking a better option, brought down both her fists on his skull.  

There was a sickening //crack//.  

Myers coughed once, then lay still, his head bleeding profusely above the eyes.  His lungs gave out a weak rattle and he stopped breathing a moment later.  Lucretia stared at the bloody pulp she had made of his skull, then at her hands which were still hardened with bone and bloody from their work.

She was breathing hard and fast when she heard footsteps in the snow behind her.  She snapped around with her fist raised, only to find Carlotta rubbing her bloodshot eyes.  

“Good job, Lucy!” 

Lucretia narrowed her gaze.  “Nothing is good crushing a man’s skull with your hands,” she growled.  

She turned and stalked off towards the entrance of the Site.  Light was approaching the body with her security team.  She turned to follow Lucretia, but Carlotta waved her off.  

Light approached and gazed at Myers’ ruined face.  “Well, looks like our mole is caught.” She turned to look over at [[span class="shadow"]]4494[[/span]] and found him rising from where he fell, dusting snow from his long, flowing coat.  “Are you alright over there?”  

“The [[span class="shadow"]]Specter[[/span]] is never better than when Evil is vanquished!”

Light looked up at the frigid winter night.  “I think this is going to work out just fine.”

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[[=]]
++++ __Medical Center, Sub-Basement A__
[[/=]]

Light opened the door to Avery’s recovery room; he was laid out with his head down on the pillows.  Avery noticed her and nodded.  He reached for the pitcher of water that was sitting on the rotating table above the bed.  His hands started shaking while trying to pour.  Light reached out and held the cup for him.  Avery sighed and let her take the pitcher.  

“Well, I guess you get to say, ‘I told you so.’  But just once, and make it quick,” he said.

Light sat in the visitors chair.  “I’m not your enemy, Avery.  I’m only interested in the wellbeing of everyone at this Site.”

“I’m not your enemy either, you know?  I just don’t know about this project of yours.”

“Popescu, [[span class="shadow"]]4494[[/span]] and Deneb handled the take down competently.  Especially for a brand-new team.”  Light smiled.

“I’ll never get used to how your voice changes when you reference //that// anomaly.  And maybe you’re right about them.  I notice you didn’t mobilize the bird this evening.”

“Your assistant had introduced enough chaos for my tastes,” Light said.

“Samuel has been with me for four years. I can’t believe he was a… traitor.”  Avery squeezed his eyes shut as he said the last bit.

“Who can we really trust in this line of work?”

He was silent for a few moments before taking a long drink from his cup.  He put the cup down and lowered his head to the pillow.  Light nodded, and began walking to the door but stopped when Avery said, “Sophia?

“Yes?”

“Can I trust you?” Avery asked.

“I promise, we’ll get to the bottom of what’s going on here. The stakes are too high to worry about egos.”

He nodded and closed his eyes but asked her another question.

“Do you think he was the only mole?”

Light considered for a moment, then said “Honestly, I don’t know.”
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**[[[resurrection-new-faces-hub | Resurrection – New Faces]]]**
[[size 80%]]**[[[jolly-cooperation | << Jolly Cooperation]]]** | **Light and the Mole** | **[[[gomboc  | Gömböc >>]]]**  [[/size]]
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Light and the Mole

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