SEAN'S HOUSE

"Y'know Tarry, I'm not into recon anymore; it's part of the reason I left the city", Sean said.

"I'm retired..", he added, as the atmosphere stilled at his speech.

"I'm sorry Tarry, I can't help you", he apologized.

"Hey Sean, you're joking right?", Gunther asked, getting up from his seat, as Sean looked away from his direction.

"Sean, this is Leo we're talking about..", he continued, grabbing him by the shirt.

"I'm sorry Gunther, I can't help", he refused, gently removing Gunther's hand from his shirt.

"Hey Sean, you seem to have forgotten four years ago..", a voice said, as Tarry raised his head.

"No Tarry! That was a different case, Sean retorted, moving towards him.

"How about eleven years ago? Huh? Was that different too?!", He asked, standing up to meet him.

"Have you forgotten the code?"

"No, I've—"

"It's Leo we're talking about..", Tarry said, as his voice turned sober.

"Have you forgotten our promise?", he asked, almost on the verge of tears.

"Did you forget the responsibility that we swore to—"

"It's alright Tarry, I get it.... Alright? I get it", Sean said, with an air of resignation, as the tense environment momentarily subsided.

"Now that we're all on the same page, could we get started?", Gunther said, interrupting the flooding emotions.

Thud!

Sean slammed his hand on the table.

"Follow me", he said to the duo.

Both Tarry and Gunther exchange glances; with Gunther giving Tarry a reassuring nod, as they follow Sean out of the room.

"The day is coming, we had better act fast..", Sean said, as he led them down a hallway in the building.

"Over here", he said, as he clicked a button on the wall.

Crk! Fsh—whirr..

The wall split open, revealing an elevator.

"And here I am, thinking this is just another normal home..", Tarry said with a chuckle.

"How wrong was I..", he added.

"I bet yours would be worse..", Sean chipped in with a fake frown, as they entered the elevator.

"I think yours is the height of it all", Tarry humored, as they all roared in laughter.

The elevator chimed after Sean pushed a button; its doors closed, as it started its descent.

Ting!

The elevator chimed again after a duration of a minute, opening its doors, as it ended its journey.

"That was fast", Tarry said, as they came out the elevator.

"Whiiiii....", Gunther whistled in amazement, as the room came into view.

Three large screens on the wall could be seen

"You sure you're retired?", he asked, turning around to look at Sean.

"Let's get started", he said, ignoring Gunther.

"As we all know...", he started.

"There could be thousands of people bearing the name Rector", he said.

"So first of all, you'll need to tell me the location of this particular event, and the period it supposedly occurred", he added.

"And if possible, some peculiarity tied to it..", he said.

"Peculiarity??", Tarry asked, flummoxed.

"Like a skin color or people present during the event, or something that could give us a strong clue leading to Mr Rector", Sean explained.

"If we did; we wouldn't have had to burn gas, just to come drink some cup of coffee", Gunther jumped in, with a blank expression; rubbing the side of his nostril.

Sean gave a squinted glare in response.

"It happened on Monday, give or take, at about 2 to 4 A.M in the morning; Route 9, Hunter street, 4th shop Alley", Tarry said, deciding to ignore the just occurred incident.

"Not really accurate on the time, but that could get us somewhere at least; right?", he asked.

"Hmm..."

"Guess we'll just have to make do with the information at hand", Sean said, with a resigned sigh.

"Route 9 you say..", as he said as he sat on a seat, as a holographic screen with a keypad appeared before him.

"Let's take a look at the surveillance cameras in the area", he said, tapping the keypad.

"Narrowing down the coordinates..."

"The assumed day and time..."

"AAnnd there we have it..", he said with one final click, turning around to face Tarry; as the big screens displayed his result.

"We got a total of twenty five people around that area that, at the allotted time you gave", Sean explained the display results.

"And out of that number, your Rector is among them", he added, standing from his seated position.

"But the computer isn't just going to tell us who Rector is",  he said, as he walked towards Tarry.

"We need a strong clue Tarry; a skin color or height, or something Tarry, something I can work with..", he further said.

"The incident happened at safehouse 10, doesn't the camera cover that region?", Tarry asked.

"Oh yeah, the safeHOUSE!" Sean exclaimed in realization.

"Then again, have you forgotten we removed all surveillance on your safehouses", Sean pointed out, facepalming in resignation.

"Can't you just take images of those twenty, and compare them with data from the Identity Commission?", Gunther inquired.

"If this incident had occurred during the day, it could have been another story entirely, and that could work."

"But it being night, the best these surveys could do is, give the heat signatures of those present.."

"Soo..not so smart an idea for a night job", he replied with an unfriendly smile, as Gunther grunted at his speech.

"The only solution I can offer is; go back to the hospital, and just hope Leo is well enough to speak.."

"Otherwise, we'd just be working tirelessly, but aimlessly", he said.

Tarry stared at the ground, deep in thought, pondering over what Sean had just said.

"I really want to help, but you have to give me something I can work with", he said, wrapping his hand around Tarry's shoulder, talking in a low tone.

"And please, be careful of that snake", he added, referring to Gunther.

"Oh well, looks like we have to check in at the hospital today", Gunther said, approaching the duo.

"Why don't we go back, so I could ready a room for you both", Sean suggested, as Tarry grunted in approval.

"It's almost morning, and you both have a long day ahead", he added

"Nice turf you got here Sean..", Tarry said, casting one last look at the operations.

"Thanks", Sean replied, as they made way for the elevator, leaving the room behind.

....

RISING FORTE

Clak!

A chess piece thumped the board, as another chess piece was wiped from the board.

"You're losing, governor..", Sinco said, as he once more eliminated another chess piece from the board, as Mondéy played his turn.

Thud!

Sinco tried to make another move, but stopped halfway; slamming the chess piece at it's original position.

"Looks like it's time up..", he said smiling, as a continuous beeping sound emanated from his watch.

"Morning is alm—"

"WHat.. you scared of mornings?", Mondéy interrupted, visibly crossed.

"It's just four on the clock", he added, maintaining his bland look, with a trace amount of anger in them.

"What are you.. a vampire?", he continued in a low deep voice.

"Because with all that happened and has been happening, I'm ready to believe anything..", he said.

"I am a busy man, governor..", Sinco replied, returning the chess pieces and board back to the briefcase.

"Moreover, we can't have the man running the administration of the state, short of sleep", he added.

"Yeah I guess you're one to talk, after depriving me hours of it, over a stupid game of chess", Mondéy said, in an angry tone.

"Early hours of the morning are perfect for brainstorming", he replied standing to take his leave.

"It was fun having a game of chess with you", he said.

"Till next time governor ", he added, walking towards the door.

"Who do you think you are?!", Mondéy said in a menacing tone.

"You think you could just barge and leave as you like, after wasting my time with some game of chess", he spoke angrily, drawing out a cocked pistol from underneath the table, pointing it at Sinco.

"You must think I'm a joke right? Huh?" Mondéy asked, still pointing it at him.

"I would love to avoid conflict this morning, governor", Sinco said, tilting his head sideways to look at Mondéy behind him.

"You should get some sleep, you have a long day ahead", he added.

"Oh really?", Mondéy asked, chuckling oddly.

"Was that what all that sneaking into my house was all about?"

"What you didn't know was, the moment you entered this vicinity without an invitation, you were asking for trouble", he continued.

"I'm sorry, but I can't grant you your wish for no conflict", he added.

"Good morning governor", he said, opening the door to exit.

"BITCCHH!", He screamed, pressing hard at the trigger.

Sinco looked back in quick seconds, as his eyes shimmered bright red.

Bang!

Little whims of smoke sizzled up at Mondéy's location, as the pistol dropped to the floor with an exploded barrel.

"Have a wonderful day ahead, governor", he said with a nod, adjusting his hat as he left the room without a sound.

Thud..

Mondéy dropped to the floor in awe and exhaustion of the event that had just transpired.