I am currently chowing down on what could be described as a sandwich but made and cooked in a bowl. Bread, cheeses, meats and sauces compose this dish in Motzart-ian harmony as I wait for Adoazze and her team to get out of a conference she pulled them into when she returned with Milrich.

Lock and Number 1 had went out earlier and grabbed us a long awaited dinner. It’s getting to be late afternoon at this point and so far we’ve just sat around. Lock and 1 filled me in with what was going on outside via paper notes and I filled them in on my fun times in lockup. Slowly the conversation moves from serious topics to more friendly subjects.

As Lock starts to joke about how Number 2 snores like a volcano erupting while Number 3 doesn't for some reason, Adoazze walks back into the main opened lobby room with the rest of her team and heads towards the desks.

“Ah, Adoazze. Come here often?” I ask her.

“More often than I’d like. We’ve decided that you and your clones will have full access to the records we have on hand and see if we can sort this sordid mess out. But until then, you will be remaining here.”

“Fine with me, just so long as it's a more comfortable bed this time.”

“No promises.” Adoazze replies with a smile.

We all sit down at the desks as we start to look through their systems, it don’t look at it but the city is very well surveilled. Crystal cameras on the outer wall and covering all the docks, cameras at every intersection and dead end. Also there are “Aerial” crystals that tracks if someone is flying above or on the rooftops. There are definite blind spots, sewers for example, but quite a lot is covered. Between the cameras and Guardsmen walking about it’s well patrolled.

I mention this as the tiny recording of the Anti-Michael we have committing the dead is all we have as right afterwards he slips into an alleyway and disappears. Could be a teleport, could be a Power like Locks Lightning Travel but for now we just can’t tell.

The recording we do have of him is carefully checked against any and all recordings of yours truly, you can see me enter and exit the city through the gates, my walking around, even the clones walking around. While those are being checked against my gait and depth of foot I do catch some movement in the shadows when either Koda, Wotjek or another newer Kage move out of the shadows but it's so minimal that it can easily be mistaken for the shadow of a bird flying overhead or trees moving in the wind.

I am handed a binder with some documents of myself, looks like they were building a profile and so far they don’t have much, under Powers they only have my Clones, nothing else thankfully. A Power like Mana Beast Uprising could definitely sway opinion against me. On the other side of things in my profile they mention that Earth is my planet of origin and that I can be belligerent, cheeky, somewhat manipulative and suspect.

Most of those notes were written shortly after my discussion with Taal by him so I can see that, I pass the binder back to Imi asking, “I was thinking, all the information and records you guys have must be stored somewhere. Where do you keep all of this?”

“Downstairs, we have a records room and it's almost fully Crystal stored, but we do end up using a lot of paper, thankfully we can access some information from the Crystals we have for storage.”

I know that feeling, I once worked at a company who told everyone internally that; “We are going paperless!” Then when I was up at the small head office I found they were printing almost constantly.

“Where are the other investigators, the ones doing the forensic work?”

“Upstairs, level 3. They have their own office space and everything. Bit jealous actually.”

“Yea, I was wondering why have your investigative teams in a large open room on the main floor, almost open to anyone?”

“Oh, does your world not do that? It gives our investigations good optics as told by one of my trainers. Gives the public a feeling that all eyes are on the cases we are working on.”

“Fancy that.” I reply before going over more documents with everyone, as Adoazze had asked forensics to go over everything with a fine toothed comb. We have a lot of documentation old and new to go through.

With that fine toothed comb we did find some discrepancies, some information was altered. Things like fingerprints, fibers, and other small details were added which for a time did point a finger at me. But these guys have a lot of forensics on their team upstairs and they quickly find that some of the details were entered by Guardsmen who were either not on duty or away from their desks when they were entered. No cameras caught who entered it but unlike outside there are not too many cameras in here. Just the main room and corridors.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Hours of this go by well into the evening, file after file after file. I’m liable to get a papercut at this rate, if I could get papercuts. Seriously these guys have everything,

Footprints between Myself and Clones (Same), Myself/Clones and Anti-Michael (Different)

Blood splatter (No Powers involved)

Population density (Who was nearby)

Sounds (Some form of noise cancellation Power was used)

Fingerprints (None, used gloves)

Fluids/hairs/fibers (None)

Murder weapon forensics (Pointed needle like object, similar to needles used by suspect; me.)

Profile on Murderer.

Profile on Me.

Profile on Alaline Feaph.

Autopsy… When I see the label of the report, I just stare at it for a few. Do I really want to know exactly and in detail how this person died? Someone who may be dead because of m…

Lock, who's sitting next to me sees my hesitation and my heavy breathing which I did not notice myself, grabs the binder and adds it to the ones he’s reading. Tunnel vision. As I feel my heart rate and adrenaline slow down I take a deep breath out and nod in thanks. Some of the others notice while others not so much, I stand up and stretch my legs a little before asking.

“Uh, random question but where’s the bathroom in this place?” I know in my discussions with Lock and 1 that they don’t know where the bathroom was either, we we’re planning to ask when they returned but we kinda got stuck into it.

“Milrich, can you show Michael the men's room?” Asks Adoazze.

“Come with me.” Milrich replies, getting up with the binder he is reading and walking me toward the front doors before turning and walking through a short curved tunnel. We pass a few doors on the left that appear to be locker rooms before arriving at a men's bathroom. The stalls are similar enough to Earths and thankfully the thrones are also very similar…

As I wash my hands and splash water on my face, Milrich is still waiting for me just outside out of view. I ask him, “Can I ask you something?”

“You just did. Go on.”

Rolling my eyes I ask “How do you deal with it, the bodies I mean…”

He pauses for a moment before I hear him breathing out and the rustling of papers;

“You don’t, each one has an effect on you. You do it long enough you do get jaded by it, and on top of it you also have to act like the Guardsmen people are expecting you to be. No need to let them see you panic.”

Softly he adds, “But at the same time, at those hours late at night, you definitely feel it. There are some in the tabloids who say that Guardsmen get paid too much for just walking around, but see a scene like that, and no amount of money per hour would be worth it.”

“What helps?” I ask.

“Most things, losing yourself in a hobby, a good book, talking with your lover, friend or therapist. But drink, food and medications… That’ll only get you into an early grave.”

By medications I think he means drugs of the illegal kind. “Thanks. You're a lot less; hard lined towards me. Does that mean you”

Interrupting he says, “I’m less hard lined as you put it because Master Naaf and Adoazze said to give you the benefit. So I will, simple as that.”

“You must have a lot of respect for them huh?”

“Yes.” He says before I hear the rustling of papers again and he is silent once more. I wipe the water from my face and leave, he follows me back to the desks where we silently get back to work.

After looking through more of the files I make a decision, I try to get my brain into a clinical/detached mode, when I was taught and attended first aid events I knew what I was doing, but nothing major ever happened with me. I was a damn white cloud, no major incidents or accidents happened and so I have gone through life without really seeing much of anything in person. Reaching over I grab the autopsy report, I take in a breath and open it.

Stab in lower spine, severing spinal column.

Stabs (x2) to the left upper chest.

Death from major blood loss.

Those are just the cliff notes, there are tons of more details and images in there but I mostly gloss over them. I look up and see Milrich watching me as I read. He looks away when he sees me.

I am about to continue reading when I hear footsteps coming from behind and see Adoazze and the others stand up. As I stand I see Master Naaf walking behind me, coming to a stop just behind my chair. Addressing the group he says,

“I’ve had a meeting with Master Carson, there has been a development recently which may tie into this case. As such we have agreed to share resources. Adoazze, your report?”

“He’s clean sir, nothing solid ties him to it.”

“In that case Michael, you are free to go. However, I would like to ask for your continued assistance with these cases. You can talk with Master Carson about it tomorrow if you wish, but for now if you want to return to your house then you are free to do so.”

Imi, who is standing behind her desk, moves over to me and takes off the Suppression Jacket. Instantly there is a flood of Interface windows that appear, Voice Chat messages, notifications, and more.

Feeling a bit better I push those to the side for a moment before saying, “Thank you sir, if it's OK with you I’d like to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

“Of course.”

I turn towards Adoazze’s team and say, “Thank you all, I know it's a kinda unusual situation but, thanks.”