Welcome To Purgatory

Why would this idiot’s attorney of all people watch us at the diner?

Billie tried to wrap her mind around this connection. Judging by the way she acted, the woman was definitely aware that a meeting was going to take place in Burgertory. She was there for a reason. It wasn’t the police documents that she was after, she was interested in what was going on at the table where the group sat.

Billie’s brows lowered in frustration. She found the woman intimidating and didn’t want anything to do with her. The fact that she could be after them, for whatever reason, unsettled her.

Billie sent a quick frustrated glance at the kid as he appeared to have suddenly materialised next to her.

She was planning to withhold any information about the woman until she got a more satisfactory answer out of these people, but the kid evidently didn’t care about her wishes or have the foresight to realise that talking about this might have not been the best idea.

Billie hadn’t even realised that he was able to spot the woman as well. She was under the impression that only her and Altier had been aware of her presence. Maybe Oswin saw something that they didn’t?

She didn’t want to let him talk about it so early. She needed to find a way to shut him up quickly.

But how?

John’s eyes were now locked at the kid, she couldn’t do anything…

As Oswin looked at Billie, she was staring directly in front of her with a blank expression, trying her best not to show how frustrated she was so that John wouldn’t suspect anything.

Billie didn’t have time to stop the kid when he began talking.

her eye twitched several times during his attempt at an explanation. Her expression became more and more pained as he went on.

He doesn’t know anything, does he? evidently, the kid wasn’t aware on any of the woman’s actions that made her so suspicious. The way he described it made her seem like just another customer at the diner that Oswin thought looked cool.

The way it was, Oswin’s explanation made things worse as it painted this woman as someone they didn’t need to be concerned about, not ideal if Billie wanted to find out anything about her. She needed to do something about this.

Now that the cat was out of the bag, Billie had no choice but to provide a clarification before the kid’s words got dismissed by John as unimportant. Her plan to drip-feed her knowledge to the broker in order to get as much information out of him as possible had failed as soon as Oswin started speaking.

Letting out a sigh, she spoke, cutting the kid off before he made them look even more dumb.

“This woman was watching us back at the diner. She had some kind of tablet. Got real mad when that waitress turned on the-” Billie paused for a second, thinking what the device from the diner could be called, “the thing that makes sound go away, and walked out.”

Suddenly, she remembered what Altier had told her back in the car.

“That guy…” she added, nodding towards the catwalk where Altier was standing (if he was still visible from her point of view) “…he saw her around the back of the diner… also watching him…”

Billie looked down for a brief moment, slightly embarrassed. She hadn’t spoken so much in a while, and it felt awkward to say something more than one short sentence at a time, it wasn’t something that she was very used to.

Now that I said so much, I have to ask him…

Billie looked up at John with a stern expression. “Why would someone like her be interested in… this?”

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John’s eyes narrowed as Oswin rambled on about the name of Pat’s restaurant, and was about to dismiss the boy when Billie finally spoke up.

John’s faze switched from Oswin to Billie, carefully studying her as she spoke. He listened to what she had to say, watching her face and body language as she did. Unlike the boy, she was able to properly communicate what she saw. Her report didn’t sit well with him.

“Altier!” John called, raising his voice so that Altier could hear him but kept his tone even so as not to make those around him think he was angry (he wasn’t)

“Leave the search to Bynari, I need everyone back here.” He said looking at everyone from the diner and Clarissa as he spoke.

“We have something to discuss.” He said, taking up his tablet as he waited for Altier to arrive. Looking to Gracie he asked, “is there anything you would like to add while we wait for Altier?”

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Oh what now? Make up your mind. Altier mentally grumbled.

“Whatever you say,” Altier responds back and reverses course. Once he’s back with the group, he crosses his arms and waits for whatever John wanted to tell them now.

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Seeing Altier approach, John thinks he can see the slight look of annoyance on his face. He dismisses it knowing that everyone here is probably feeling the same.

“We need to clear the air, and we need to do it now.” He says, placing his tablet down on a different workstation. Inputting a few commands, the surface of the workstation indicates that the tablet has synced with the workstation, allowing John to share files from his tablet. John turned the monitor around for all to see, and also mirrored the device to the big screen for those who were unable to see the computer monitor.

The images that appeared on the screen were of Ian and the unknown woman (their files showing that they were out of date by at least six [6] months). Next were the files of several missing persons - five of which were the ones the group at the diner were tasked with retrieving. Those five making the total number of missing persons well over a hundred reported instances; the dates of the cases going back several years. Out of those, you can notice that ten [10] were in the past month. Most are tagged with the identifier “Unsolved” or “Pending Further Investigation”

Then you see four [4] files appear, images of men and women in their mid to late 20s their files redacted - all but names listed as “Alias” - and then files listed as “Pending Download”. These were of each of you.

“I showed you what I have. Now it’s your turn.” He says, his gaze scanning everyone in the room. “So, who wants to go first?” He asked.

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Billie didn’t react to the things displayed in any way up until the last couple of files came up on screen. Then a look of confused frustration appeared on her face, showing clearly that the broker’s worlds, along with what he was showing, weren’t making a particularly good impression on her.

How does any of this ‘clear the air’ in any way? There sure are a lot of missing persons cases… what a surprise, people go missing all over the world all the time. You sure got files on us, how scary… except you don’t show what’s in them, so how are we supposed to believe that you know anything about us?

Billie was starting to get visibly angry with the broker.

She stepped forward and walked up to John, eyeing him intensely from under the brim of her cap with a deadpan expression. She was clearly getting confrontational, but she had a reason to do so. Her presence had changed in the matter of seconds, she wasn’t trying to stay unnoticed anymore and instead came across as someone who wasn’t going to mess around or back off. She even seemingly got taller, now that she wasn’t slouching nearly as much.

“How does that clear anything up?” Billie spoke quietly and without much emotion in her voice, but her words still carried a lot of weight, clearly showing her outrage and frustration. “You made us steal police documents without telling us why, brought us here and showed some random files with no explanation and expect us to give you something in return? I don’t know who you are, what this place is, or what’s this whole… operation of yours is about… so why am I supposed to trust you?”

She paused for a moment, allowing her words to sink in.

“I got nothing to show you unless you give me a real reason to.”

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Oswin’s jaw dropped at the information Billie provided. But if that’s true… Then she was spying on us! Watching us the whole time! And- And she watched us from outside the diner, as well!

He was constantly veering back and forth between being overwhelmed and being excited by what was happening, either being so terrified by events that Billie became his crutch or being so emboldened by what was happening. It’s like a real life spy movie! I hope we get to go on a high-speed chase or, or we get a helicopter or-

Oswin’s enthusiasm melted away as Altier was called. Evidently this information did not have the same effect on John as it did for him. Perhaps something Billie had just said was concerning for him; unfortunate, then, that Oswin had spaced out thinking of all the cool hijinks that could occur and almost entirely missed the point of what she was saying.

Oswin turned towards the big screen, staring at the files as they appeared. Dozens of faces, names, IDs, detailed information about everyone involved, in high definition. It was almost too much info to take in at once.

However, Oswin’s mind had the ability to process information much faster than anyone else’s. Scanning through the faces and names presented to him as fast as he could, Oswin was certain of one thing: He didn’t recognize any of them.

Maybe some had been students at the college. Maybe he had met them or even spoken to some of them. He couldn’t tell. But the names, he had never seen the names written down, that he was sure of. Whoever these people were, they were complete mysteries to him.

…Then, just a moment before Billie began speaking, there was a strange click sound. Oswin’s eyes blinked afterwards on instinct, trying to hide the sound of his taking a picture of the screen. That could be useful later. I’m getting the impression Billie doesn’t trust these people either.

Oswin turned around in surprise, staring at Billie as she stood next to John and glowered heavily at him. His desire to back Billie up on her attempt at intimidation was weakening, as her approach seemed to shut John down pretty hard. But he didn’t want to leave her to fight by herself. He had to do something.

I only hope it’s something helpful.

“We agreed to work for you, no questions asked.” Oswin slipped his hands into his pockets as he spoke, keeping his sweater pinned between his forearm and his hip. “I… don’t like that, but it happened. I agreed to it.”

“But,” He turned his head to look at the screen again for a moment. “If this is supposed to be an explanation for… Everything I guess, it doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know any of these people, or anything about them. Well, I guess besides what’s written there, but I didn’t really look at it.”

“It’s just,” He looked back, glancing at Billie as he did so and realizing he needed to tighten up his delivery. “I’m not- I’m not saying it’s bad, but it doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s just photos. I don’t know what you want in exchange for that, but like… I have a couple photos from last year’s graduation at the college, if that works…”

He sighed internally. Clearly he didn’t have the guts to be mean about anything. At least, not without serious motivation; if somebody managed to hack him, perhaps he could raise his voice in response, but this was just an extremely unfair exchange of information. If John wanted something with more value than a few pictures of mostly drunk college kids, he would need to start explaining himself.

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Like some of the others, Altier had no idea how this was clearing up anything. It showed these people were collecting missing persons’ cases and little else. All that data collection and not a single soul found. What a waste.

Just as he opened his mouth to ask a question, Billie asked it for him. Though with more vitriol behind it than he would have done. Altier made no attempt to intercede and refocused on the screen. He looked through the missing persons, seeing if it was organized from oldest to newest, trying to determine who was the latest victim.

After Oswin gives his piece, Altier gives it a few seconds. Provided Gracie doesn’t say anything and there aren’t any real comments, he adds the following.

“You’re missing one.” Altier says matter of fact. Arms still crossed, missing person files reflecting off his shades.

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Seeing Billie’s demeanor change, John watched as her body language displayed anger and frustration. However, if she was trying to intimidate him; she failed.

He listened to Billie, taking in her words and studying her inflection as she spoke. He was about to respond to her when Oswin spoke up.

“The kid gets it.” John finally replies, returning Billie’s gaze, annoyance now evident on his face.

“You each accepted the job, knowing full well that there was a stipulation of ‘no questions asked’.” He voice grew cold as he spoke. “As for giving you a ‘real’ reason, I don’t owe you a [CENSORED] reason beyond that fact.” Glowering at her, he continued, “As for trust, that goes both ways - and right now all I see is an alcoholic with clear signs of PTSD, a kid that thinks they’re some super hacker, someone who looks like they rolled around in a painter’s van, a cybernetic kid that can’t stop clinging to you like some lost chick or falls apart at a moments notice; and one person that has shown themselves to have some form of professionalism.

If you don’t like that I suggest you leave the files, take your payment and walk away.” He said, tapping an icon on his tablet; the sound of the door leading to the airlock opening in reply.

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As Oswin was about to finish delivering his speech, Billie had to fight back the urge to shoot a frustrated glance at him. The kid’s words were actively undermining the effectiveness of what she had just said, which was becoming evident in the broker’s face. If it was his way of pressuring the man even further, it wasn’t working, evidently.

What the heck is he trying to achieve?

As John delivered his reply, Billie gave him a sharp accusatory look, as if saying ‘that was never a part of the deal, was it?’

Was he really trying to convince her that there was such a stipulation in the deal? Billie remembered what the broker said in the diner quite well, it’s hard to forget the words of someone who is speaking directly in your mind, and the words ‘no questions asked’ were indeed used by him, but in a completely different context. He never outright forbid them to ask questions about the job, he only said that they’d need to accept it first.

What did he say? ‘If you choose to walk away, there will be no questions asked?’ That’s a stipulation for turning down the offer, not accepting it, isn’t it? Who is he trying to fool here?

It was clear that the broker was getting angry at her instead of giving her answers. What was he trying to hide?

Billie looked down at her shoes as the broker made these accusatory remarks about each member of the group, completely obscuring her face from John’s view under the brim of her cap. He could probably interpret this gesture as a sign of defeat, when in reality Billie only got caught off guard by his claim that the kid was trying to cling to her at every given opportunity. The things the broker said about her didn’t have much of an impact on her, she knew very well that she had problems, however the revelation that she wasn’t the only one who thought that Oswin seemed to be so dependent on her startled Billie. Up until this point she chalked it up to her imagination, but how could she explain someone else imagining exactly the same thing?

However, this was a thought for the future Billie to deal with. Right now, she was getting increasingly frustrated with John’s blatant attempt at manipulation.

I came here to get answers, not to get tricked by this guy who I know nothing about…

When Billie looked up at the broker again, a blank expression showed on her face and her eyes were cold as steel, showing unwavering determination. Whatever she was planning to do now, she wasn’t going to back away.

“The files stay with me then”, she stated bluntly, with little emotion in her voice, as she put her hands in her pockets, eyeing John intensely.

After a moment of consideration she added quietly, with salty notes present in her tone “I might drink too much… sometimes… but don’t think that I forgot what our deal was.” she didn’t feel like explaining to John how he was being untruthful, she was sure that he knew exactly what was wrong with his statement, and that he would be able to figure out what she was implying by himself.

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Oswin’s eyes seemed to double in size as both hands flew over his mouth, utterly aghast at the horrible word he just heard come out of John’s mouth. The last student that had let that one fly in his presence got his ears nearly wrung right off his head by the dean, and the incident had cemented the severity of this particular verbiage in his mechanical mind.

Regardless, before he could recover the broker continued, and it didn’t improve things as he went on.

The comments about Oswin made no sense to him. Chick? Falling apart? If he means the arms, that was deliberate. Anybody could see that. Unless this guy is just exceptionally dense or something.

He twitched to knock away the thought of the dean whispering in his ear to stop saying that about people. What if it’s true sometimes? I know there are people whose mental state is thicker than my mechanical skull; how is it a problem for me to say so?

Oswin raised his eyes at Billie’s resolution, as while he couldn’t see her face, it shone out of every pore in her skin with almost as much intensity as her eyes carried. But his expression changed when Billie mentioned her drinking.

Oh.

Oswin knew what the effects of alcohol were like. It meant wild emotions, impaired judgement… It meant a rowdy bunch of teenagers jeering at a little kid to go wandering where he knew well enough not to go. It meant pleasure, temporary and fleeting, or… or it meant grief, smothering repressed memories in poison until the heart or the liver gave out. It took his body from him, and now it was threatening to take his newest friend as well.

And these mean comments aren’t going to help her. She’ll probably just start drinking again to get over it. Any one of those could be her last.

If it had been John’s intention to smack the party down, he had failed abysmally. Oswin’s face set with his eyebrows knotted downwards; he had finally found the guts to be mean.

“You don’t have the files.” Oswin stepped forwards, walking up next to Billie, folding his arms as he did so. “You don’t have a good reason to get them. And you might want to check a mirror before you start judging others by appearance, sn-”

He sighed. It was a good thing he caught himself before he called John snot hat, as that likely wouldn’t be helping anybody. “You said you wanted trust. We’ve given you plenty - how about you start earning ours?”

We’re in a cold, underground facility, potentially trapped. Oswin shifted his weight slightly as he tried not to think about their predicament too hard. This guy can move people through walls and floors. And the only thing working in our favor is… uh…

Wait a minute… Where ARE those files??

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John hadn’t dealt with civilians in this manner for many years. The complete lack of understanding from this woman frustrated him. She was hired to do a job, failed to complete it and now was demanding a “reason” for her actions?

He wondered if she behaved this way with her previous employers.

Admittedly, her stubbornness had potential - Cass was the same way when her first met her. Giving himself a moment, he took a breath and calmed himself.

Pinching the top if his nose in an attempt to drive away a headache that he had ignored, he replied to her.

“You haven’t exactly finished the job, and you want me to explain everything in detail to you?”

The tone in his voice once again calm and collected - he wasn’t defeated by this, but he saw that if he continued in a heavy handed manner like this he’d end up having to escort the group from the facility. He didn’t feel like dealing with that hassle along with the security breach at hand.

Oswin’s attempt at protecting Billie only solidified his thoughts that the boy had some sort of separation disorder. Possibly had something to do with his prosthetics. That said, he was curious as to what Oswin was going to call him; the look on the boys artificial face was … humorous. John decided to ignore him and returned his focus back to Billie.

“Alright.” He said, leaning back against the workstation; having finally made up his mind to let this one slide. “What ‘exactly’ do you want to know?”

He looked over at Altier as he spoke, adding “And I haven’t forgotten that you said something was missing. If you want, I’ll answer your questions too.”

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Billie side-eyed Oswin as he appeared next to her. She immediately had the urge to step away from him, but had to fight it in order to retain line of sight with the broker. After all, her conversation with him wasn’t over, even if she was starting to reach her limit in regards to how long of an interaction with another person she could handle at once.

And what was the kid getting at? Was he insinuating that Billie had the appearance of an alcoholic?

It’s that bad, huh?

If his point was ‘if she looks like a drunk, doesn’t mean that she is one’, then it wasn’t a very good point. Billie never tried to hide her drinking habits from anyone, so the case Oswin was trying to argue for had already been lost long before he said anything.

Billie had to admit to herself that this was the first useful thing the kid said so far. She was even a little surprised, as she didn’t expect him to have anywhere near such a level of understanding of this situation.

It was true that they had already shown a level of trust that no normal, rational person would have in a situation like this. No sane individual would follow the instructions from a suspicious message they received out of the blue, steal police documents for a hundred bucks and then bring them to a shady underground facility in the middle of nowhere operated by some unknown group. Any normal person would have contacted the authorities midway through, this hideout would have been raided, and the broker, along with his colleagues, would have been arrested and undoubtedly ended up facing some very serious charges.

Billie, along with the others, did none of that and followed the broker’s command. That was the absurd amount of trust they were dealing with here.

Billie listened to everything that John had to say and nodded shortly when he finally agreed to her terms.

When she spoke, she addressed his initial question first.

“You said that you’d give us info if we showed you commitment. I stole these files from the cops for you and we brought them to… whatever this place is… just because that was what you asked… if the cops found out, they would be going after us, not you. How is that not enough?” Billie was turning back to her normal self visually, starting to slouch and avoid eye contact once again, but her voice remained cold and slightly aggressive, even if the usual notes of uncertainty and insecurity returned to it.

After a short pause, she proceeded with responding to the man’s main question.

“I want to know who and what I stole these files for. I don’t care if it’s illegal, I don’t care what happens to me if the authorities find out about… all of this, but I need to know what I’m braking the law and potentially throwing my life away for. Who the heck are you people?”

Billie’s eyes met John’s once again. Depending on his answer, she’d have more things to say to him, but for now she could only wait for his response.

Billie threw a short glance at Altier. She was sure that he’d have things to ask as well, given the interest he had shown in the files earlier.

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John waited, listening to her as she spoke. Realizing all too late that she wasn’t being insubordinate. She was coming across as genuinely concerned, curious as to what she signed up for.

“Fair enough.” He replied, picking up his tablet once more. As he worked, the images on the big screen changed. The files shifted to the side, with several others taking their place. Tapping on the first file, it opens to reveal an image of John.

At first, the text was blacked out. But after a second, the digital ‘ink’ disappeared, allowing the group to see beneath the redaction filter.

Col. Johnathon Knight
United Mars Colonial Forces

101st Martian Pathfinders

The file continues, mentioning past engagements, medals and last known associates. The last line reads “STATUS: KIA”

He opens the file belonging to Cass. Her’s displays a similar report, including the KIA status.

He continues for several minutes, opening files of men and women you haven’t met (excluding the team you saw as you entered the facility); their backgrounds all showing some form of military service ranging from Earth, her colonies and Mars. They all have been reported Killed In Action (KIA)

Even Bynari’s file is on display - although there is no mention of military service in his report. He is listed as Deceased.

Giving the group time to look over the files, John breaks the silence. “I tend to forget what it’s like to be among the ‘living’, fearing repercussion from law enforcement or governments.” He said, looking at the group. “And no, I’m not implying we’re actually dead. Legally speaking, we all died years ago.”

Letting those words sink in, he continued. “I served with some of the best Mars has to offer. I met Cass after her colony was devastated back when ICON (the old United Nations) tried annexing Mars.” Looking to Oswin, he added. “You may be too young to know this, but Cass lived in the Olympus Mons colony, and was there when it was hit by orbital bombardment.” Looking to Altier, who should be old enough to recall the event he adds “Despite the reports, nukes were used in the attack. Most of her body was damaged in the blast; which is why - in my opinion, she has a soft spot for the kid.”

At this point, he stops to let them think it over and think of new questions.

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Gracie just stared….
I’m sorry, what?! How does- that wa-

She jumped a little at his coldness, as he began to chew Billie out, which, while she found some of the insults funny, but was it completely warranted?

“I mean…” *Her voice dropped to a mumble. They had a job…

It’s been too long since I last had one… is this how it goes nowadays?

“Wait wait wait wait wait. So, why in the world would you ever want a bunch of randos-” She pointed to herself and the others-
“If you have military training and connections WELL beyond ours? I mean…I guess it’s kinda not my business…but stiil. It’s a bit jarring, hearing that everyone here is a military personnel member, and *you * want…us. Now I’m not saying some certainly have benefits (I.E. Cowboy over there probably is a good example), but I’m just…well… a dysfunctional kid. How would that possibly prove to benefit you?”

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Oswin blinked for a moment.

…That worked? Like, actually?

Okay, THAT I can’t agree with you on. Oswin’s confidence started to visibly wither. If I get arrested the moment I step outside the college, I’m done for. No chance of me getting let out on my own again any time soon if that happens.

…On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t have jumped headfirst into this whole endeavor…

Oswin stared at the file for an uncomfortably long amount of time.

Kia? Like the car? How is that a status? Oh. His eyes darted to each of the files as they were revealed, focusing on the status portion and neglecting the rest almost entirely. They’re ALL Kia. Does Kia own them? Is that why they’re hiding?

The concept of being owned by some big faceless company was a deeply personal one for Oswin, and it made his anger dissipate faster than anything else could. Suddenly he was leaning towards sympathy for their cause which he entirely invented on his own.

Ouch.

Oswin tried to recover from visibly flinching like he had been punched in the stomach. That had to have been a dig - even if it was unintentional, it still hurt to hear. He pushed himself back up, hoping his little display hadn’t been noticed, when-

Oof ouch.

Oswin couldn’t hide how much it affected him to hear that. John’s tone in both statements had made it clear the Kia conspiracy was complete nonsense, and whatever he was referring to was something entirely separate to what Oswin had gone through. Perhaps, if he had bothered to actually read the profiles, he might have been able to ascertain it…

However, that wasn’t likely to occur now. Trying to hide his shameful expression by visibly obstructing it rather than changing it, Oswin turned around and slowly paced away, the arms that had been confidently crossed now positioned in more of a self-hug in the hopes it would alleviate some of his grief.

Oswin’s head made some slight motion to indicate he knew he was being addressed, but at the mention of Cass’s ‘soft spot’ for him, he abruptly turned and looked at John in surprise. He hadn’t seen any indication that she cared for his wellbeing any more than anyone else’s, outside of a couple of slight comments which were more concerning than insightful.

Maybe she said something when I wasn’t here? Grownups have that annoying habit of talking about me when I’m not around. I’m not a little kid, I’m thirteen; I can understand what they’re talking about just fine. Why do they have to hide it from me?

…Who the heck is Cowboy?

WAIT!! The rest of Gracie’s entire question flew through Oswin’s one ear and right out the other, swirling around as it exited his ear cavity after he sent it spinning by whipping his head towards Altier. Alt! Alter Ego! THAT’S his Alter Ego! His secret name is Cowboy!

His expression of surprised with a twinge of grief didn’t change, and he still wanted to ask a question of his own, but his mind was too busy being torn between feeling remorseful at his past and ogling the idea of Altier - or anyone, really - being a super secret master spy in disguise, codenamed Cowboy.

No wonder he’s been so quiet this whole time. He can’t afford to give up his act, and reveal his secret identity…

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Through the spiel, Altier kept to his arm crossed stance, staring at the screen. That is, until Billie threatened to leave with the files. Then his entire body turned to face her. Still in that same stance, but he was mentally readying himself.

If she tried to leave, would a tackle be best? No, she already proved herself to be quicker. Perhaps run over and grab the gun? Defenses seem to be off. But if they were turned back on, it might mistake him for an enemy. Why did she have to kept doing this?

With Oswin getting closer to her, again, Altier did consider tackling the boy instead. Perhaps he could get him to fall on her and pin her that way. Getting him to scream might distract Billie.

As he considered these things, somehow, the conversation started to deescalate. John brought up again that they yet to truly finish the job which, while true, was somewhat humorous. After all, he did give some of them payment already with those cards.

Altier looked towards John but said nothing. It seems they didn’t really care. Typical. No different than the cops.

He listened to Billie’s questions, but Altier didn’t care who they were. All he wanted to know what it was they planned on doing with the files.

“He didn’t,” Altier says before John can respond. “Someone else contacted us and they only started getting our info after we accepted the job.”

He paused.

There were plenty of easy explanations for hiring random civilians. Easy fall guys, as Billie stated earlier. Or people with limited function, like the guy at the shop. That could easily be all of them… if so many things weren’t going wrong. The explosion of the warehouse, two hacks, a stolen earpiece - perhaps they were never the intended recipients.

“Are you a betting man colonel?”

Altier pauses just long enough to see the info broker’s reaction or answer and then continues.

“How much do you put on that other team not being compromised?”

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Seeing Altier join the conversation, he nodded. “You’re correct.” He said, replying to Altier.

Tapping on the screen once more, the files in the display switched again to four more - the people in them listed as KIA - the dates of their official “deaths” indicating that they were placed in this status less than a month ago.

  • 1 - Martian Pathfinder
  • 1 - ICON Army Ranger
  • 1 - Colonial Marine
  • 1 - Private Sector Starship Tech (Interstellar
    Navigation Specialist - Centauri Colonial
    Shipyards)

“I was expecting this group.” He said, not taking his eyes off of the display, carefully looking at their files for a moment before looking back to the group. “So, you can see my concern when the airlock defense alarms go off and the first thing I see is someone with full cybernetic prosthesis waving a dismembered arm in front of a defense turret, one additional person and not a single face I recognize.”

Looking over at Billie, he said “To answer your question in better detail, we’re an unofficial task force created by multiple agencies spanning Earth, Mars, and the colonies. We have no ‘Official’ name.” Looking over to Altier …

“I lost that rank when I lost my life. I appreciate the recognition but there is no need for that here. I never like being addressed by my rank anyway. Just call me John.” Then tapping the screen, the original files populated alongside the four files of the team he was expecting.

“And no, I’m not a betting man. I also don’t believe in ‘Coincidences’. You said something was missing - show me.” He replied before adding “And I apologize for my outburst a moment ago.”

John pondered the question for a moment, seeing that Altier also picked up on his suspicions. It wasn’t until he saw the group in the airlock that he realized something was wrong. Not wanting to alarm Cass and her team just before their mission, he quietly started a search using facial recognition AI to determine who these people were.

“It’s a thought that crossed my mind.” He finally replied. “But for now, that’s a bridge I’ll cross once I get to it. In the meantime, let’s focus on what you saw that I didn’t.”

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Billie was taken aback by the broker’s sudden change in demeanor. He went from harshly refusing to answer to her inquiry to immediately being cooperative after she repeated the same exact question, just with slightly different wording.

She cautiously turned her attention towards the screen. She leaned in towards it and adjusted her glasses to see the newly opened file better. All this staring at monitors was threatening to make her eyes hurt.

It took her a moment to fully process what she was seeing. If she were to trust the files that were being shown on screen one by one, then the broker, who was apparently called John, along with other individuals belonging to this group, weren’t just people with military backgrounds, they were dead people with military backgrounds.

Billie’s brows lowered as she stared at John in utmost disbelief as he went on with his explanation.

The background of these people certainly explained how they had access to such technology that no ordinary person possessed, or that Billie never even heard of; however it, in combination with other circumstances that she was aware of, created even more questions, most of which revolved around the validity of the claims that these people were associated with the military and held some sort of official power.

However, Billie didn’t need to know if these people were truly what they were making themselves out to be. The legality and legitimacy of this organization were ultimately unimportant to Billie. The fact that they certainly possessed the power and resources to aid her in her search was more enough. It was only a matter of finding a way to use them to her own benefit.

Mars, Earth’s colonies, orbital bombardments, nukes… all these concepts that John talked about seemed so alien to Billie. Naturally, she knew of their significance, as she used to hear countless stories about the times she wasn’t around for from her parents and grandparents, who were there to witness these events. However, Billie was someone who spent all her life in the city of Purgatory and its immediate surroundings, barely ever leaving this tiny area on Earth, so she could hardly conceive what the places and events the broker talked about were like.

If anything, she could only question how all of this had anything to do with the matters at hand.

Billie spent the next several moments staring at the screen with an absent expression, trying to ignore Gracie who chimed in and was Bombarding John with unnecessary questions that had already been answered before and Oswin who was still standing way too close to her for her comfort.

She only started paying attention to the conversation again after Altier spoke up, inquiring about the status of the group that was supposed to be here instead of them.

Surprising that we’re still alive, Billie thought. These people were surprisingly quick to let them go inside their secret hideout, even suspiciously so.

Unofficial, huh… I guess that explains why they couldn’t get these files through more legitimate means and had to get them stolen from the police…

What it didn’t explain, however, was why they needed to use such a crude method to get these documents. One would think that with the technology they possessed, they could have easily hacked into the police’s database and taken everything they needed…

Billie didn’t know what kind of special information Altier possessed, so she couldn’t comment on it, however, there was another thing she wanted to say.

“If you can’t get ahold of that original group, we’re the only option you have, correct? Solve these missing persons cases, was that the task you were supposed to give them? That’s why you need the files.”

Billie didn’t voice her main question, what she was getting at was obvious as day. Probably, everyone else would be wondering the same thing as well.

Do you want us to do the job?

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John glanced over at Billie and then to the rest of the group. He didn’t really have much of a choice. With the facility on lockdown until Bynari could secure the systems, he was unable to communicate with his superiors.

“That’s the thing, right now I don’t really have a way to locate that team. It’s puzzling how communications meant for them got routed to you…” as he spoke, he eyes went distant. Like a man staring at something a thousand yards away.

If the comms were compromised …

Following his thought process, he pulled up the footage of Billie grabbing the files once more.

The video began to play once more on the screen, the camera angle unable to show her face as she grabbed the files. He switched to another camera. This one too was unable to see her face, the image grainy; artifacting as the camera attempted to focus on her face.

Something wasn’t right. He had used Burgertory as an orientation point several times in the past. The angles of the cameras in the diner were typically perfect for this. That’s why he had everyone meet at that corner booth.

He stood silent as he moved through the multiple channels of security and hidden cameras in the diner. Not a single one was able to positively identify a single person in the diner.

Why?” He thought, and then his eyes grew wide as he noticed something missing.

Choosing an earlier time in the recordings, the camera angles changed - allowing him to see the faces of the police officers as they enter the diner at 7:00 AM. Several other enter, with no issue from the feed.

There!” he thought, narrowing his eyes as the cameras all suddenly shifted the angles and the faces in the diner became blurry and distorted.

7:30 AM …

Looking over to Oswin, he asked “Didn’t you say you saw Ian’s lawyer in the diner with you all?”

The footage paused after Gracie entered and took her seat in the corner booth. (Just after 7:45 AM).

The lawyer not present in the footage.

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The screen change drew Oswin’s attention once more, but it was just more confusion. The strange status of Kia was making less and less sense, as they definitely didn’t have cars on Mars. If they did, they’d be kicking up orange dust all the time, so they used hovercrafts. Like in Star Wars, obviously.

Huh??

Oswin blinked twice in confusion. You were expecting a group of Kia people from Mars, heard MY voice, and thought we were them?

Oswin looked at Billie with an even more confused expression.

…That’s obvious. I mean, anybody could’ve stolen those files, uhh miss what’s her name Crass I think it was, she could’ve done it. Obviously there’s way more adventuring involved than just picking up some papers. This was obviously a test.

…I better give her the benefit of the doubt. He faked an exhale. She probably has drank a lot of alcohol and can’t think straight. Might need her to go lie down for a little while, that always helped uncle Ellis when he-

“Huh?” Oswin snapped out of his train of thought. “Uhh, yeah. She was right over th-…”

Oswin slowly walked up to the larger screen, his lips parted, as he stared intensely at the empty booth. “B-But that- That’s not-” He looked back and forth between the screen and Billie, occasionally sending a glance at Altier as well. “I don’t- I saw her! She was right there, I- I almost bumped into her!”

“M-Move it forward a little!” Oswin made a vague gesture with his hand towards John, not turning his head at all as he hyper-focused on the spot where the attorney was supposed to be.

HAD to be.

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