Activated

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  The guy sighed, and indicated to the chairs in the corridor. “Shall we sit a moment?”

  They sat down, and he began right away. “You wanted to know about the Jane Doe?”

  Maya nodded expectantly.

  Jones mirrored her nodded and continued, “Her throat was slit and she bled out. We’ve tried running matches for blood type, DNA, fingerprints, and dental records… Nothing. It’s like she’s been erased from the system.”

  Maya looked down at her mocha, thinking out loud. “Or she was never in the system?”

  Jones looked confused.

  Maya noticed, and shifted her focus. “And if she’s not in the system, then it doesn’t matter who her DNA says she is, we can’t identify her.”

  He dipped his head, and moved his mocha for emphasis. “Correct. But you said you might have something,” he said, pointing one finger at her with the paper mug in his hand.

  “Yes,” she started. Maya scrambled to get to her bag and then swiveled in her seat, looking for somewhere to put her mocha down. He held out his other hand to hold it for her, and she gratefully handed it over.

  She continued talking while she pulled a printed photograph from her bag. “A picture of a person who went missing around the same time. The trouble is, and I think we should warn your colleagues… this missing person was a scientist at a facility that was dealing with lethal toxins. Not germs. But toxins.”

  The elderly man exhaled and shook his head, but his hand movements were now restrained by the mocha cups. He’d spent the last several weeks in the lab with that body.

  His eyes went up to the ceiling. “Okay. Let’s think this through. Those research grade things… they tend to work fast. It’s been two weeks, and the body is sealed in an evacuated tube, effectively frozen, to preserve any evidence.”

  He stood up, and handed Maya her mocha back, then started walking back towards the double doors of the morgue, away from what Maya guessed was the locker room.

  Maya started hurrying after him, battling to get her bag on her shoulder while carrying the mocha. “You don’t think there is a risk, then?” she called after him.

  “I didn’t say that,” he called back. ”But let’s go check it out. And if you have a picture, then maybe we can ID her and get some progress on this case.”

  They entered the morgue, and two “fresh” staff members turned in unison to look at them. They were just getting set up and reviewing case files on the morgue’s holo screen.

  “Sorry for the intrusion,” Dr Jones announced. “It seems we may have a hazardous material in our midst.”

  Jones briefly explained the situation to his two colleagues, who looked increasingly worried. Maya stood a few paces back, near the door, sipping her mocha casually, noticing their confused, furtive glances in her direction.

  She was fascinated when the two professionals suddenly found urgent matters they needed to attend to elsewhere in the building.

  “You’re not going to stop them?” Maya asked, after they’d left the lab.

  “Nah,” Doctor Jones walked tiredly through the lab over to another set of doors. “If we’re infected with anything, then we’ve already spread it wherever it’s going to go. And, honestly, I think we would have shown symptoms by now. However…” He took out some protective gear from a box on a table just before the doors.

  Maya plunked her mocha down on the desk next to the box as she stood next to the doctor.

  “Gloves and facial mask,” he said, handing a set first to Maya and then taking a set himself.

  They put them on, and he led her through to the storage area where they kept the bodies. He entered a code on a keypad on one of the lockers, and the airtight seal released with a pssssst, and then the drawer released outwards.

  Maya took the picture out of her bag.

  Jones pulled the drawer out a little, and then beckoned her over. He pulled back the cloth from over the woman’s face. Maya and Jones looked first at the woman, then at the picture and then at each other.

  “Looks like you’ve found your girl,” he said grimly, respectfully replacing the cloth and closing up the locker again.

  Maya nodded solemnly. “That’s her, alright.” She paused a moment. “So she bled out? Then what?”

  Jones had a sad look in his eye. “Police report said she was found in a garbage truck when it was emptied out at the dump.”

  Maya noticed his demeanor had shifted a little. This wasn’t just a job to him - he genuinely cared about these people and how they died. She caught herself wondering about him, and then pulled herself back to what she needed to get done.

  “Okay. Looks like I need to trace that location,” she said, making a note on her holo.

  Jones shifted back from the hint of melancholy she had noticed just a second ago. He closed and sealed the drawer again. “I’ll get the name of the detective on the case. He’ll probably be able to help you.”

  “Thanks,” she said.

  He left the room, peeling off his gloves and mask.

  Maya closed up her holo and followed him back through to the main morgue, picking up her mocha cup on the way. There was no way she was finishing what was left, toxins or no toxins. She found a trash bin, deposited the remains of her mocha, and popped the photo back into her bag.

  “Here you are…” Jones called over from the lab holo. “It’s Detective Antonio Rogers, in homicide. You can probably just reach him through the precinct switch board.”

  He walked over to her and she held out her holo for him to bump the details over. “I’ll let him know you’re going to be in touch. I need to pass on this information to him next… just as soon as we run some tox-screens on the body.”

  Maya checked the details and closed her holo again. “Excellent. I’ll call him this morning.” She looked up. “And thank you,” she said.

  He nodded, the sad compassionate look in his eyes again.

  “We’ll solve this,” she added, wishing there was more she could do for this dear man who had made justice for the dead his life’s work.

  She turned to leave, but then stopped. “What will happen to her?” she asked.

  Jones took a deep breath. “Well, now we have an ID, the investigation will continue. Her next of kin will be notified, and then, as long as she’s not toxic, she’ll be given back to her family for a service.”

  Maya nodded slowly. After a moment she mumbled her thanks again and left.

  Hotel Remona, New Versaille, 37 km East of Spire

  David Rek, scientist and murderer, was pacing the little hotel suite in frustration. His fists kept clenching and unclenching, like he was trying to find something to punch and then trying to talk himself out of it.

  “You said I could speak to my family. I’ve cooperated. I’ve done what you asked. Now let me speak to my wife,” he demanded.

  Erik, the Ogg, was firm. “Not until the boss gets here.” His jaw was set.

  Rek stopped and glared at him. Erik held his gaze.

  The pair became aware of thumping on the floorboards outside.

  Thump, thump-i-ty-thump.

  A slight hint of humming came through the door.

  They returned their attention to their standoff.

  As an Estarian, Rek stood a good few feet taller, but Erik had the black atmos jacket and the “bad guy look” about him. Plus he was built with a solid, low center of gravity, and probably fewer brain cells.

  Rek wondered about his chances against Erik, and then remembered his opponent’s weapon, tucked into his belt.

  Thump, thump-i-ty-thump. Thump, thump-i-ty-thump.

  More humming.

  Still playing the stare down, Erik started to falter.

  He turned his head without moving his eyes, and called out to the door, “Henry, it’s your turn to watch the prisoner.”

  There was a little gasp of excitement from outside the door, and a scuffling, as if someone were getting up.

  A moment later Henry fell into the room, brimming with
excitement. “Yay! My turn. My turn!”

  Erik had broken the stare, and now glared at Henry like it was his fault. “What were you doing out there?”

  Henry blinked, cocking one hip. “Nothing.”

  Erik narrowed his eyes. “You were dancing, weren’t you?”

  “No.” Henry replied flatly and looked off into the top corner of the room.

  Erik insisted. “We could hear you prancing around.”

  Henry’s eyes went down to the floor. “So?”

  “Here,” Erik said gruffly. He handed Henry the gun from his waistband. “Watch him. I’m going down to the lobby to watch for Miss Jessica,” he told Henry.

  Then he turned to David. “It’s set to full power, so don’t try anything stupid.” He paused for effect, and gave his most menacing glare up at the strapping Estarian. “Henry is trigger-happy, and not all there.” His expression changed, as if now confiding in him. He stepped in a little closer to Rek. “He thinks he’s in a computer game,” he whispered.

  The two adversaries turned their heads to look at Henry who was now casually swinging the gun on one finger, a dopey grin over is face.

  “So… what did you have for lunch?” Henry asked David, trying to make conversation.

  David looked at him, horrified that his captor would ask such a thing.

  Erik gave a knowing look. “See… not all there.” And with that he strode out of the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Rek and Henry alone.

  Aghast at both the situation and the imbeciles who were holding him, Rek strode over to the window, looking out for this Jessica woman who had been calling all the shots. If he could get a glimpse of her car or something, it might be a clue that he could use.

  If he ever got out of here alive.

  He spun around, his hands on the windowsill. Henry had taken a seat in a chair by the door, gun in hand and trained on him.

  Henry was an idiot. If he wasn’t holding a gun, Rek could have overpowered him any time.

  But, then. They still had people watching his family. One wrong move, and all it would take would be a call to their colleagues, and that would be game over.

  He turned back to the window, and churned the possibilities a number of times in his mind.

  A few moments passed, and Henry piped up again. “You know, tomorrow I could bring some clothes in, and we could play dress up.”

  Rek straightened up and turned around. Maybe this was an opportunity. “How about you do that?” he said, playing along.

  Henry’s face brightened with sudden enthusiasm. “I can bring some makeup, too!”

  Rek forced himself to smile. “Yes!” he said, with all the faux-enthusiasm he could muster.

  Henry bounced his hands together, the gun waving in all directions.

  Rek saw his chance. “Hey, you know… Oh,” he paused.

  Henry stopped, intrigued. “What?” he asked, suspending his excitement.

  Rek continued slowly, and as casually as he could. “Well, if I had my holo I could…”

  Henry shut down, and trained the gun back on him. “No. No holo. You’re trying to be clever with me.”

  Rek gave up instantly, and turned back to the window.

  After two weeks in this living hell, having murdered his colleague and stolen a vial of enough toxin to wipe out the city, he was exhausted. He wasn’t going to pretend. Fuck trying to regain Henry’s trust. There was going to have to be another way.

  Just then he noticed a black car pull up outside the hotel. The tall, glamorous woman they called Miss Jessica had arrived. He looked back around the room, searching for a weapon, or something he could use to get himself out of there. He even briefly considered taking her hostage.

  There was nothing.

  His shoulders slumped, and Henry continued humming away to himself.

  All Rek wanted was to keep his family safe and go home to them…

  He sat in the upright armchair by the window, opposite the door. He tried to look relaxed but noncompliant. Inside, he could feel the tension rising in his chest. He shifted awkwardly in his seat, trying to level out his breathing and calm his mind.

  A few minutes later, Miss Jessica finally entered the room.

  She was glamorous, but also commanding. It was no wonder these goons were in awe of her.

  Her long red hair dulled some of the glow from her blue skin, and waved around her face like something out of a mystical book of sorcerers.

  Erik physically pulled at Henry, dragging him out of the room by his sleeve.

  Rek started making his case immediately. “I did what you asked,” he began, firm and demanding. “A deal is a deal.”

  Miss Jessica shook her head, her hair bouncing gently as she did so. “Our deal isn’t quite done yet,” she told him. “You’ve still got one more task to perform.”

  She wafted gracefully over to the bed and dropped her purse. Taking off her coat, she turned to look at him, holding his gaze.

  If he hadn’t known the horror of what she actually wanted him to do, he might have assumed she was trying to seduce him.

  He swallowed hard.

  She perched on the bed. “The device. The one you designed for us. We’ve had two made, and they’re being filled tonight.”

  He didn’t move. He just stayed in the chair, watching her. He may as well have been tied up.

  She continued issuing the order. “Your task is to go with Henrik to the lab and collect the loaded devices. Then you will be taken to where they are to be deployed; your job is to arm the device and deploy it into the water supply, as per the design.”

  She casually held his gaze knowing he had no choice but to agree.

  Rek shifted in his seat again, now looking anywhere he could but at her.

  Finally he spoke. “And if I do this, you will take me to my family, and let me get them out of town before this toxin gets through the system?”

  She nodded her head once. “I will,” she promised.

  His mind was already made up. “Okay. I’ll do it,” he told her.

  She reached over for her coat. “Good,” she said, sealing the deal with the word.

  She paused, a slight smirk on one corner of her lips. “Obviously I don’t need to remind you what is at stake.” Picking up her bag and coat, she turned to the door. “You’ll leave for the lab in an hour.”

  With that, she opened the door to step out.

  The two Oggs had been leaning against it with their ears against the wood trying to hear. With the door now gone, they lost their balance and landed in a heap at her feet.

  “Ansans Ari,” one said.

  “Get your elbow out of my –“

  “You fucking half-wit!”

  “Farðu til helvítis-”

  Jessica raised her eyes to the ceiling as she stepped over them, and made her way down the hall.