Postmaster General
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Chapter 1-The Investigation of a Lifetime Begins
It was a cold December night; Dax Lester was sitting in his office reviewing case files from some co-workers and taking notes as he went. Light bounced off the snow on the ground, into the room through the blinds and gave a luminescent glow to the entire room. He sat in his police-issue uniform; a white, button-up shirt and khaki slacks. His crisp, orange hair and mustache, made less noticeable in the subtle ambiance. The sound of high-heels approaching the office door and a slight knock announced the arrival of a visitor.
“Come in!” he said, having to clear his throat a little. Dax watched the door as a shadowy silhouette drew close.
The door opened and the officer looked her up and down. She wore a cloak and hood, which spoke mysteriously to him. She looked oddly familiar but Lester couldn’t see enough of her face to be able to recognize her. In the eerie light it wasn't possible to see what she was hiding under the cloak.
“What can I do for ya?” he asked. The mysterious entity intrigued him; yet, police senses tingled in the back of his head. That was never a good thing.
“I need help!” she said as she wrung her hands. She began to pace, which made him a bit dizzy. “I know it’s late, but you’re the only one who can help me! Please you have to help! It’s URGENT” She was really laying the whole damsel-in-distress act on thick. Any moment now, Dax expected her hand to press against her forehead in despair.
“Wait a minute, ma’am. I need you to calm down first of all." An attempted smile trying to give her some reassurance, but this only made his mustache tickle my nose and brought on a sneeze, failing to uphold the supportive mood. Standing slowly, he moved around the cherrywood desk and held out his hand. "The name's Lester, Dax Lester. Can you tell me yours? Will ya do that for me?” The stale chewing gum smacking as he questioned.
“What? My name? Erm…. My name is…… not the important thing right now…" Her eyes darted between Dax and to the desk rapidly, making her seem even more suspicious. Was she avoiding his gaze for a reason? But perhaps whatever trauma she had just endured was the reason the woman was so frantic. "Please! There is no time for idle chit-chat! We must hurry!”
She was acting awfully peculiar, but this was no time for games. He needed the facts and needed them now. Quickly, he withdrew his Detective’s Notepad and began with the basics. “Oh but wait, what do I right down for witness’s name?” He thought to himself.
“Ok? Miss, I understand but I don’t know what to call you,” pressing even though the situation had become slightly awkward.
“Erm….*ahem* it is Anna……Anna Nomous.”
“Well that’s weird! A lot like anonymous, ya know?” Miss Nomous seemed to tense up at this, “But I’m sure you got that a lot in school so I’ll move on.” adding, afraid that he had hit a sensitive subject.
“Okay now that we got that out of the way, what is your situation?” Quite excited to get started on a real investigation. Thus far, the advent of his career had been issuing a parking citation to a local deviant named Cain S. Lupus. This started a feud between his gang and the police force that would stretch on indefinitely, but that is another story. This case would be the case that would assuredly earn me some respect on the force and hopefully get me closer to the police chief job that Dax was so yearning for. "Detective stuff always turns heads," he thought to himself.
The policeman had become lost in thought only to be brought back by Miss Nomous’s recounting. “Well, all I can say is that I saw a shadowy figure in the alleyway behind Tek’s Mechs today. I couldn’t really see what it was doing but I would just hate to see anyone get hurt! Especially with the uprising of those nasty groups, the Shadowscythe and the Canine-like biker group! He started to charge me, so I ran straight here! I was so scared.”
“Alright ma’am, Tek’s Mechs you say? Don't you worry," he said trying to console her, "Thanks for your assistance. I’ll get right on it, have no fear!”
Gathering some supplies, (Pepper spray, a bat-shaped boomerang, and shark repellant) Dax followed her out of the office, through the large, marble-floored entry hall, and parted in front of the police station. I headed towards the suspected mischief while Anna seemed to almost disappear……wait, she did disappear! "Weird," He speculated aloud.
Chapter 2-Mmm...Tea
When he arrived at the alleyway behind Tek’s Mechs, it was cold; Dax crossed my arms to bulwark the elements, wishing that he had brought his black-leather jacket, but he had left in too much excitement to remember such a thing. The tall building was topped by a display case of an actual mecha, and the obelisk blocked the winter sun, making the passageway even colder and more ominous.
Guessing that he had come to the spot Anna had described, and he began searching for clues. There was nothing out of the ordinary. The dumpster was empty and he assumed that it must have been trash day. It smelled of old motor oil and rust. There was no one there, but the lonely silence made Lester wish there were. Snow stuck to parts of the sheet metal on the wall, apparently the only one here recently was the trash collector. He looked down and started to dig around at some stray rubble at his feet, a little bit of snow fell as he did so, which covered him in the freezing powder. After about thirty minutes of fruitless searching for footprints or mysterious signs of loitering, disappointment began to set in. The search was proving pointless. He was just about to head back when, "Wait, is that a sticky note?" He considered, slightly perplexed. It must have been under the snow that just detached from the wall. But the presence of the sticky note was quite the oddity.
Written in almost illegible, chicken-scratch handwriting:
You know what to do. Bring the package to the
Malt Tea Fountain to collect your pay.
Come alone.....or else!
"The Malt Tea Fountain?" The name sounded familiar. Remembering where, however, would require some serious pondering. And there was only one place to do that kind of thinking. So he set off.
Before long, the Galactic Doughnutary was in view. The diner-style pastry establishment of which Dax and the rest of the police force were a regular customer was a popular spot for many denizens of Soluna. The boothes were covered in crimson leather, the tables were a retro, checkered finish. The bar was occupied by some fellow policemen and patrons.
Dax ordered himself a couple sprinkled doughnuts and a cup of coffee before sitting down. Dax chose to sit alone at an empty booth in the corner around the side of the restaurant, electing the silence. Asking for help meant sharing credit, and Dax was in it for the glory, at least at that point in time.
"It must have been in those old case files. The only place I could think that I would have possibly seen that name before. But which case file was it…" Dax thought to himself
“I remember now!” he shouted in excitement, startling a few patrons surrounding him. It was in one of the deputy's reports after his nighttime patrol. In it, the responding officer had said that he saw lights and moving shadows near the fountain but when he investigated, there was nothing. Now Lester had it, a lead in the case! He wondered if he should call Miss Nomous but then remembered that she did not leave any contact information. A fact that was very perplexing but nothing could be done about it now. He made a mental note to make sure to request this information the next time he took a case. Before I leaving, he ordered himself a few more confections to go.
He raced back to the station and into his office to get the location of the fountain. This time, he remembered to grab his jacket and set off in his search. As he neared the beautifully crafted edifice, Dax slowed his pace to catch his breath. There was a sound of shuffling behind him. My hand raced to my belt and found the pepper spray there.
It was Duncan, a fellow police officer on the force. Dax waved him over.
"Duncan, what are you doing out here?" he questioned.
"Just making my rounds, what about you? I thought they had you on desk work?" He said with a smile. A rather burly man, he gave out a hearty chuckle and slapped Lester on the back, setting him off his balance with the unintentional force.
Dax recounted the events, trusting that Duncan would understand the situation. "Would you be willing to help me out with this?" he asked once he had brought Duncan up to speed.
Duncan began to answer, but was interrupted by sounds of yet another person making their way into the vicinity. Something told Dax that this individual was not friendly, and rather dexterously pulled the large man over behind a group of trash cans.
Chapter 3- Ambush!
It took a second for Dax to realize what had just happened. In the blink of an eye, a group of ninjas had surrounded the two. Duncan let out a grunt. I looked down to see a kunai had sliced through his left sleeve and blood began to soak through his shirt. Everything had become a blur in the rush of the attack; sounds meshed and light seemed faded. The lead shinobi was yelling at us, and the Lester's partner began to lose the color in his face. The attacker's shouts were unfamiliar. Dax couldn’t understand his accent.
Duncan let out a bellow of agony at the pain in his arm.
This must have been the cue for the assassins, for as soon as he seemed to regained control, they found themselves below a cloud of ninja as they lept into the air and vaulted towards the two policemen. Dax's first instinct: dodge what he could, endure what I couldn’t. The whole time, trying to protect his injured partner. After the initial attack, however, countering was not an option. He threw himself into the crowd and knocked a few down. Duncan was at his back, swinging my limp arm into another and laughing contently with a seeming bloodlust, crazed by whatever had been rubbed on the ninja's projectile. His blow connected with a masked face, then into the cloud of arms, thrusting their weapons in search for blood.
Dax removed his pepper spray from his belt, alternating between spraying at his offenders and trying to land punches.
The melee continued for some time. In the end, it was only Dax and the ninja leader. Duncan had collapsed under the pain in his arm. Lester was exhausted, but the assassin leader had yet to enter the fray. He let out a battle cry and Dax hobbled towards him raising a fist, ready to strike. The ninja's prowess was not to be out done. He threw Dax over his shoulder, making full use of his own momentum as the he bent over and guided Dax's soaring body into the ground. It was looking bleak. In a last ditch effort, Dax threw a snow-covered rock from the ground but as he did so, the ninja ducked and sliced his leg. A scream of pain rang out through the winter air.
He stopped to laugh and monologue; typical villain. Seizing the opportunity, Dax saw it and took advantage of it. Lester forced through the pain and swept his leg in time to catch his feet. The attacker was on the ground. Dax stood up and bashed him with both hands.
Finally, he was out. The blow had been enough to knock him unconscious Dax was injured, and Duncan was even worse. They needed medical attention. He hefted his fallen ally onto his shoulder, dragging the large man, his size and required effort magnified as dead weight. Dax fled and headed for Nurse Helia Quinn at the hospital. She was their only hope, whatever had been on the kunai that had pierced Duncan's arm, it was serious.
Chapter 4-Dawn of Prosthetics
There was a rush as the two police officers made the way towards the large white building, topped with pink-hued shingles. The large, red cross advertised the presence of help. The sun glared into Dax's eyes, reflecting off of the snow banks as Duncan grumbled in his unconsciousness. The pain of in his leg was overwhelming, but he had to get Duncan to help. It was vital.
A blurry silhouette of a woman was standing right inside the double glass doors. The doors were automated and slid open as the two injured approached them. The figure inside was Nurse Helia, and she was accompanied by multiple others in scrubs, rushing to take Duncan into a wheelchair.
“Officer, are you alright?” Helia's face came in to focus now, finally coming into view now that Dax could rest. He likened the hospital waiting room to heaven, the Angelic beauty and warm compassion were just a few of the good nurse's characteristics. With concern she pressed, "What happened?"
"Attacked..." Dax sputtered, catching his breath, trying to keep up his strength long enough to relay the occurrences.
She sighed. “I need you to remain calm, just rest.” She paused and forced Lester to lie back onto a gurney before continuing. “Let's get you all patched up. Then you can fill me in on the details.” She held Dax's hand as she said this, showing unique compassion that Dax knew could not be faked.
Finally feeling at ease, Dax laid his head back and slipped into a restful slumber
“What?!” A loud scream awoke him. “Replace it? What do you mean?”
Dax looked around. He was sharing a room with Duncan, who was in the bed beside him. Frantically flailing his arms around. Where his injured arm used to be there was now a cold steel appendage, with wires, plates, pistons and joints. Devastation set in.
“Now sir, I know this is a lot to take in, but this isn’t as bad as it may seem. You can do all the things you used to, and you can now use the arm’s superhuman strength and the metal is laser-proof! It really is top-of-the-line.” Nurse Helia was trying to make him see the bright side but it was too much to take in with the onset of such a life-changing fact.
Grief set in on Dax's heart. "A prosthetic?" He thought. "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have asked for help. It should have been me." The guilt-stricken officer stood up, making his way over to try and comfort Duncan.
Understandably, it took awhile for Duncan to calm down. A while later, once the initial shock had set in, he attempted to converse more genuinely with Nurse Helia. “So you say this arm is laser-proof? Does it work well with energy blades as well?” Duncan was attempting to be more upbeat regarding the news. But it was a fight that he was losing, Dax could see the panic that still resided in his bright blue eyes.
“It is made to withstand the stress of your job. I should advise you, however, that it is not indestructible and you should not test its limits. But this should help out quite a bit in the field.” She looked at Duncan, then to Dax intently.
The nurses and technicians left the room, leaving Dax there with Duncan for the first time. He wanted to apologize to Duncan. To express his shame, but somehow it didn't seem enough to Lester. The minor cuts and bruises he had received seemed nothing compared what Duncan was now dealing with.
"I...er...I'm sorry Duncan. It should have been me. I shouldn't have asked for help."
"Nonsense," Duncan cut him off sternly. "We're lucky we survived the attack. I couldn't have let you take that on alone. The results would have been worse, I'm sure. Besides, didn't you hear all the features to this new arm? I'm anxious to try it out. Let's see how soon we can get released. I want to try it out in the field." He chortled slightly, and Dax couldn't help but chuckle himself. It was a lighter mood, and it seemed to raise both of their spirits at the thought of continuing the case.
Chapter 5-Road to Pay Back
The Malt Tea Fountain was in view again. The two officers had insisted on being released quickly, and after extensive reviews with the Chief, the two were allowed to continue their investigation. This time, they were issued batons, hopefully this would aid in any further danger. They were a little hesitant to return to this place of near demise but the inspiration for revenge and justice drove them to press on. There were still some kunai on the ground but all the bodies had been moved. Those fallen warriors had been revived, someone had been here, and by the looks of it, they were trying to hide what had happened. Either they were in a hurry, or they were coming back. Dax decided to find a place to hide should the latter have been the case and Duncan agreed that caution should be a priority. More altercations would need to be avoided if at all possible.
The winter wind was unforgiving, a light layer of snow had begun to cover the pair as they scanned the area. If something did not happen soon, they would have to press on before the square became featured with a pair of Cop-sicles. Sure enough, some obvious flunkies came from down an alleyway with a broom, dustpan, and trash bag. Their uniforms were two sizes too big and their general appearance let on that they were they must be the newest to the group. Dax could hear them complaining about the job. The distance in between the pair and Duncan and himself was just enough that Dax couldn’t make out everything they said. From the tone and body language of the two newcomers, Dax could tell that they were unhappy with the task set to them.
After enduring the complaints for a long while, for they were not the greatest of workers and loitered around for quite some time, they began heading back the way they came. This was their chance. Dax signaled to Duncan, who seemed to understand, and they silently followed them, quite gracefully for a heavy-set young man with a bionic arm.
Lester and Duncan snuck behind them for some distance until they stopped in the middle of a brick wall. "A secret entrance?Duncan mouthed to his partner. Child-like anticipation getting the best of the two. They crouched, ready to strike as soon as the minions opened the door. But no, one minion merely stopped to tie his shoe before continuing on. Dax lost my balance in surprise and fell on his rump. Once the disappointment had subsided, the policemen continued to follow after them. They had barely caught up to them in time to see them disappear down a stairway at the end of the walkway. Dax burst into a dead sprint with Duncan trailing slightly behind, ready to try out his new arm. Dax leapt gracefully down the stairway, taking a second to adjust his eyes to the darkness and wait for Duncan to clamber down the behind him. Near the bottom of the stairs I met up with the henchmen. In an instant, Dax was surprised to see Duncan rush forward and let his juggernaut fist meet the first lackie directly to the back of the head.
As the cold metal knuckles connected with the first crony, a crack wrang out and Dax followed in suit, grabbing the pepper spray and immediately ejecting it into his companions face. Before he could scream in agony, Lester twirled around and slammed him into the wall. By now, Dax was really starting to relish the combat. He gave Duncan a cheeky grin amazed at this new arm. They seemed unstoppable.
The first priority was to take in their surroundings; they were now in a dark corridor lit by torches hanging in sconces on the walls. The two felled lackies were at the officer's feet and would be unconscious for quite awhile. It seemed as though there were only two options, either left, or right.
To head down the left hall, Proceed to Chapter 6.
To head down the right hall, Proceed to Chapter 7.
Chapter 6- The Coin Commands Left!
Quickly, Duncan set about to the kind of SPD problem solving they had learned in the academy: Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Mo! Left it was. The two carefully stepped over the comatose bodies and set on their way, being careful to hug the wall and watch behind them constantly.
As the two continued down the hall, there was a sound of voices reverberating from down a little further. They grew nearer, and soon they were able to make out two men in a room off to the right of their current hallway. The room turned out to be a locker room. Apparently, the two men were done working for the day and were casually talking about what they had planned for tonight. It was silently decided best to avoid them all together and continue down the passage.
The tunnel was a lot longer than expected. The pair passed room after room. Some filled with odd looking machinery and equipment, others were boardrooms and offices. Amazingly, they even passed a hangar full of rusty and beat-up, old mechs. This underground maze was quite extensive.
A ways further, Dax found a large door to the left. Through the keyhole, he could see a man and a woman talking. The man was cloaked in shadows, the only distinct characteristic that could be made out was his purple wardrobe. In fact, it reminded Dax a lot of the current Kingadent candidate, Slugwraith, but what would an upstanding politician be doing in a place like this? The detective decided it best to take a closer look but leave the politics to those who had time for it. The woman could be made out reasonably well; long hooded cloak, mysterious beauty and high heels. She looked very familiar, but from where? Dax slid over and allowed Duncan to take a look. He retracted after a second and mouthed questioningly to his partner, "Slugwraith?"
Dax shrugged, then pressed his eye back to the keyhole. He tried to open it quietly, but the door was locked. The two couldn't hear the conversation so they decided that a mental note of the encounter would suffice. They decided to retrace their steps to the entrance, and head right instead.
Chapter 7-Right is Always Right!
Dax proceeded down the hall, Duncan in close step behind him. Together they took care, making sure that there would be no surprises around any corner. The flooding sunlight that seeped in through the entranceway had been begun to be replaced with the luminescent glow of the moon and the dark hall relied solely on the light of the torches. A few snowflakes drifted their way inside. A shiver went up Dax's spine as they continued to search.
The unexplored corridor felt much more like a cavern than before. The walls slowly faded from brick to pure rock as the two continued along in silence. It seemed as though this wing of the underground labyrinth had been added after the rest of the building, in secret. Dax felt the beginning of a steady decline as the pathway began leading further down into the bowels of this underworld. Sensing a looming evil, Lester decided to stretch and prepare his pepper spray in one hand, the baton in the other, for immediate use and repulsion of attackers.
To his surprise, however, the hallway was punctuated by a small room which held a ladder leading to a turn valve in the ceiling. Duncan turned around to make sure they were alone, as Dax re-stashed his pepper spray, and climbed up to test the valve at the top of the ladder. It was locked with a pad lock. This was definitely an entrance that was not intended to be accessible by flunkies. Whoever was in charge here wanted to make sure no one was sneaking in or out, which one, Dax could not be sure.
The pad lock was no match for Duncan's new bionic appendage. They quickly traded positions and the metal arm twisted the valve with ease as the hydraulics in let out a low hiss and forced the port open. He carefully opened the lid to a sliver, trying to bring as little attention to himself as he could. He peered around for a moment, then beckoned back at Dax. Again they switched positions so that Dax could take a look. The realization of their current location both astounded and frightened him deeply.
"How could they have tunneled here?" He whispered to himself.
Chapter 8- Corporate Dealings
Dax couldn’t believe it. These dastardly villains had actually burrowed all the way into White Castle, home of the Kingadent! The mouth of the tunnel was hidden right behind the throne! This was preposterous, and a direct threat to his highness-in-chief. Action had to be taken; they needed to solve this mystery right away. But doing so would require one last piece to the puzzle, the leader of this organization. And finding this leader turned out to be an easier task than Dax had presumed.
Dax quickly closed the door and climbed back down into the tunnel. A silent conversation was conducted between Duncan and himself before they began back down the tunnel. A shadowy visage blocked the way out. From what he could make out, whoever this was they were armed. Duncan grumbled in a mixture of delight and anxiety at the thought of fighting another ninja. But Dax was completely caught off guard when the mysterious figure moved closer, revealing her identity. It was Anna!
“Anna! What are you doing here? Do you have another lead to the case? Come to think of it, how did you find me?” He was instantly flooded with questions. Nothing about this current situation made sense. Anna no longer had the sense of helpless damsel. She now gave off an aura of a completely different nature; femme fatale.
Anna began, “You really aren’t the brightest energy blade on the rack are you, Dax?”
He stuttered in confusion. “Excuse me? I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
“Of course you don’t!” She sneered. “I’ve had you following my bread trail from the second I stepped foot into your office!”
“It is the duty of all SPD Officers to help those in need, whenever they may ask” he blindly recited. The Police force motto seemed like a perfect defense for this prod.
“You still don’t get it do you?” Anna smiled. “Okay, I’m going to spell a few things out for you,” she said as she drew her blade and clutched the hilt. “First of all, my name is not Anna, it is Maria 3. Second, I am no damsel in distress; I am an emissary to my master. And his plan is to cause terrible destruction and own whatever is left!”
Here, Dax paused, looked at Duncan for support and then back to Maria. Was she really spouting off with a monologue? Yet another typical villain. As Maria 3 continued, Dax readied himself for a fight, which he was sure would follow soon after this rant of hers.
Sure enough, Maria had just finished explaining how her boss is going to organize all sorts of groups into a combined force; when she thrusted the blade to Dax's left. He saw it just in time and stepped to the right. The attack was quick; she had retracted the blade and began another swipe in a blink of an eye. This time, Dax hadn't had enough time to move. Duncan stuck his mechanical arm out and took the downward slash directly on my forearm. He had been quick, remarkably so for one so large. His agility had been surprising on multiple counts this night.
Dax stepped back to assess any damage. Making sure that there was no unknown injury he had sustained. Then he tried to survey Duncan's arm. There was no damage! The arm really was miraculous; time to get down and dirty. It was Dax's turn now. Maria knocked Duncan back, and Dax jumped in quickly, brandishing his baton with a berserker-like battle cry, “Leeeeerrrrooooy Jenkins!”
With a quick jab, he was able to knock the katana out of her hand. Then with his free hand, he pushed her against the wall.
Lester's desired effect was to scare her into submission. It worked. Sort of. Maria 3 twitched for a second, and then she started speaking in a higher pitched voice. Her body gave a sudden jerk before emitting a black smoke from her ears. All movement stopped. And her body went limp, falling to the ground with a strangely metallic clank.
A sudden notion caused Dax to look down at his boot. It was wet, there was a puddle of black liquid pooling on the floor. It was motor oil, she was no human, but in fact, an android!
Here was his answer, whoever had sent Maria to my office, was behind all of this. But why even involve the police at all? Dax was baffled by this mastermind. But understanding his plan was not necessarily part of the job, only to stop it. He looked around Maria’s person for any signs as to who may have been behind this. The only insignia I could find was on her arm, a tattoo of sorts with the icon of Evilcorp. They couldn’t be behind it could they? Dax waved at Duncan, pointing to the insignia before racing out of the tunnel, back up to the Fountain Square.
A meeting with the head of Evilcorp was in order. And Dax was intent on bringing him in.
Chapter 9- The Waiting Room Game
Dax explained all the pieces to the puzzle that he and Duncan now found themselves in, then explained what the next move would be: confront Ebilcorp. Duncan decided it would be best for him to make his way back to the police station to inform the Chief of the latest events. Meanwhile, Dax was to make a beeline to Ebilcorp headquarters, which resided on the outskirts of Soluna.
The corporation building had an enormous entry hall with a lone desk at the adjacent wall to the door. The Detective approached and was greeted, with some astonishment, by Maria! After recovering from his initial surprise, Dax jumped back and assumed a battle stance, ready to take her on again.
“Excuse me, may I help you?” Maria responded in an innocent, monotonous voice.
“Erm…I want to see your boss.” Dax demanded, slightly taken aback by her civility.
“I’m sorry, but you may only meet Mr. Z by appointment.” She answered quickly.
“Alright, may I make an appointment then?”
“No,” She answered sheepishly, “no one ever has appointments with Mr. Z. He is a very busy man…err person. He doesn’t have time to waste!”
Dax was showered in discouragement. This lengthy and risky investigation was so close to being complete, and was now held up because he couldn't make his way to this Mr. Z. Dax thanked her, turned around and proceeded back out the door. He began to devise a scheme of how to sneak by her, but then was reminded of a desire of his. “Maria, why did you not just attack me? Did you have a change of heart since the last encounter we shared?”
“I’m sorry; I do not believe we have met before. I was built with advanced facial recognition features, so it is impossible for us to have met previously.” She replied coolly, as if the response had been programmed into her android circuit board.
Dax turned abruptly out the building perplexed. How is it that they could not have met? They had indeed encountered each other, and on multiple occasions! Duncan was proof of that. Lester didn't understand, but he could not let that get in the way of the mission now.
Back inside, Maria sat unmoving. Her robotic eyes were glazed over, waiting only to respond to the next visitor, when ever that would be. Little did she expect the explosion that soon occurred.
Chapter 10-Dead-End Lead
Pieces of the shattered wall and glass from the door propelled through the air as Dax forced my way through the door. Leading with his recently acquired baton, he ran through the wall back into the building lobby. When the dust settled, Maria came into view. She had not moved. This sort of spontaneous explosion could not warrant a preset reaction, which is what Dax had started to expect all of her responses were. Now was the time to take advantage of this assumption. He continued his momentum and crashed the desk she sat behind.
Still, the woman showed no sign of realization. Maria sat, upright and composed, just as she had when Dax had first entered. Deciding to ignore the unhelpful assistant, he moved toward the wall behind her, where a single door stood. Dax grasped the knob and turned it, but found that the door was merely for display. That the door did not open, but was only meant for looks.
Dax brandished his baton once again, and struck the wall. The wall sunk beneath the force of the blow, tearing a whole with surprise ease. Dax peered through the new gash to investigate the hidden area. To his amazement, the rest of the building was completely empty. It had not been furnished; there were not even walls, just the floor and pillars. Dax ran to the stairs and ascended to the second floor, it was same as the first floor, completely empty. The third floor bared no difference, as well. Dax climbed all the way to the top of the building, floor after floor. He was astounded; there was no way that this whole building was empty. The skyscraper contained nothing but a lobby on the first floor? The officer had to get to the bottom of this, starting quite literally with heading back down to the lobby. There, Maria sat, still unmoving in her same spot. Turning her head as Dax re-entered through the hole he had created earlier.
“What is this, the entire building is empty!?”
“Excuse me, may I help you?” She responded.
“Can you hear me? I asked why this entire skyscraper stands here, but there is nothing occupying any of these rooms!” Dax's voice rose to a flare. He was beginning to get angry.
“I’m sorry, but you may only meet Mr. Z by appointment.” She answered. Her responses were familiar, and Dax guessed at what her next answer would be.
Lester instigated to test his theory, “Will you make me a sandwich?” knowing this absurd question would unveil the universal answer that this version of Maria had been programmed to feed to any visitors.
“No,” She answered, to Dax's dismay, “no one ever has appointments with Mr. Z. He is a very busy man…err person. He doesn’t have time to waste!”
Patience was wearing thin. He could see it would be a waste of time to stay there any longer. Dax left with a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach; the feeling of disappointment. But, the lead he had lost here could still be put in the case file. The investigation would have to continue later. For now, it seemed Maria’s owner, Mr. Z., would elude Justice's grasp.
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