Dom wasn't big on philosophy. Nor was he a fan of psychology. If he was honest, he didn't really know the difference, he just knew he didn't like them. He'd never be able to explain or justify it, but he found solace in the idea that eight years ago, he died.
The idea was that the Dominic Rorke who had walked the Earth for the first 30 years or so had died on Earth - along with everyone else. That man had lived and learned, tried and failed. And now he was gone.
That man had nothing which Dom still had, and Dom couldn't at all relate to him anymore. So if he wasn't alive within Dom (or anyone else), where else could he be? The only feasible answer is that he died. Melted into the hordes of faceless dead. A failure too great, a game truly lost.
Dom was not a young man, but it still felt like he, the man he was now, had only been alive for those eight years. Any memories from before that were wrong. Not his own. More like stories he'd heard someplace than lived experience.
Throughout this short life, there was one centrepiece: He had been working with, against and around the Kodes for the entire run. They emerged in Plato's trial by fire birth and had remained ever since. A dark and sludgy pool where the runoff of Luna's crime converged. Dom's whole team was intimately familiar. Their timetables, grand plans and office politics. They were all you needed to study to understand the criminal action within Plato - And Vince still didn't understand them.
Dom was sitting with Vince now. They were in an idle ant, overlooking the Kodes' headquarters. The place was silent, no-one in or out for almost half an hour. Something was definitely up.
Their HQ was the worst kept secret imaginable. The police knew the place inside and out, Dom had scouted it many times, but he'd never actually been inside, of course.
The leaders of the 'gang' were a brother and sister duo whose active contribution began and ended at their last name. A couple of childish brats who made opportunistic use of the flimsy governance in Plato's early days. They smuggled in guns and drugs, giggling together as they snuck in contraband behind the teacher's back. Kodes was never genuine, just some morons' best guess at what an actual gang does based on films they'd seen.
And they persisted today, with the same, exhausting, bullshit. But there's the part that Vince doesn't understand. The Kodes only persist as successfully as they do because they're allowed to. It was one of the first actions taken by President Cast, and the first of many decisions that earned her Dom's respect.
They could be taken down in an afternoon, but what mess would replace them? They were the single keystone for all of the ugliness, so the cops saw everything. From petty to major, the police often knew something was coming before the perpetrators.
Further, kids were always gonna wander into something nasty. It seemed much better that they get tangled with an 'organisation' that employed about as many undercover informants as actual members. The Kodes siblings were complete idiots, and in their own way, they were keeping Plato safe. Dom smiled to himself, but Vince was still scowling.
"How long until we go and get a closer look?" Vince asked
"Right after I check in with Sasha and Esme." Dom replied.
Vince was by far the newest member of the team. When Dom started all those years ago, he had met and connected with the twins after only a few weeks. He'd met Neil a few years later. There'd been many other kind and genuine people who'd rotated in and out of their squad, but those four were at the core. Vince had joined a few months back, and had only been on Luna for a few weeks before that. He was still strongly rooted in the Terrestrial... Holding onto pride from a personal or collective history on Earth wouldn't have turned many heads on Luna - before last November. Nowadays, it certainly doesn't lead to amiability.
"Sasha, Esme. Report." There were a few seconds of silence, then Dom's earpiece buzzed to life and (probably) Esme replied.
"In vacuum now, only a few minutes from the pickup spot. Going radio silent until we're clear."
"Roger." Dom nodded to Vince, and they both climbed out of the ant.
Dom patted his right hip and felt the comfortable and familiar mass inside his holster. He was going to confirm whether Vince was ready but he was already strolling towards HQ.
The Kodes had established their homebase within a quiet part of Orange. It was one of the oldest areas of Plato, and the construction was quite tacky. Initially, the designers had just tried to copy what roads and buildings looked like on Earth, resulting in an uncanny dissonance. Eventually, they developed Plato's unique aesthetic. But the brick buildings on this street still carried an inherent unease.
Vince arrived first at the alleyway entrance and waited outside. He casually panned the street in each direction as Dom crossed the road. He arrived and stepped straight into the darkened brick tunnel which led to the back door entrance. He adjusted his gait as he transitioned from the Grip'd sidewalk onto the bare stone of the alleyway. As soon as he was out of sight, Dom unclipped the strap on his holster and rested his hand readily on the grip of his pistol. Vince followed immediately behind, guarding the rear.
The alley opened up into a small open-air area. Walled-off by tall chain link fences topped with barbed wire. They enclosed a square of concrete on which stood a large dumpster, the Kodes' back entrance and, presumably, their most intimidating guard. Dom looked upon the space having paused at the end of the tunnel. The fences were in terrible condition. They hung limp like wilted flowers, the barbed wire only running along half of their length. Large holes had been cut into most of them, with wide gaps where the fences met the brick walls of the surrounding buildings. Beyond the fences, was a dark and complex maze of unused space that no pedestrian was ever supposed to find themselves in.
From this angle, Dom couldn't see the door nor the guard. With his palm still on the grip, he peeked around the corner. First there was nothing, and then he saw the door. It looked heavy, with multiple locks and covered in peeling red paint. He peeked further, then he saw the man lying down. Dom saw his feet, then his legs stretched straight, then the blood.
The pistol was in Dom's hand in one movement. He swung out of the alley and swept the space. Vince was close behind, also wielding his gun. The small area was empty, apart from the two of them, the dumpster, and the corpse.
"Jesus Christ." They said in unison.
He didn't seem to have any injuries from the neck down, his torso was covered in blood, but apparently untouched. His face was a mess of blood and bone. Dom could make out glimmers of white which he assumed were teeth. Vince knelt down closer and pressed his fingers into the man's neck.
"Dead. Blunt force."
"Guessin' from this." Dom said, kicking a bloodied sledgehammer towards Vince. Dom stared into the darkness beyond the fences, but it remained still.
"We going in?" Vince asked, his voice hushed.
Dom answered with action. Stepping over the body and studying the door, seeing if there was a way to open it. He was considering the bolts and locks when he noticed the obvious fact he'd overlooked. The door was already open. A thin crack of darkness separated the peeling paint of the door from the worn brick of the wall.
He turned back to Vince. He was patting the corpse down, flipping over the man's shirt to reveal an empty holster. Vince looked up and met Dom's eyes, then noticed the same oddity with the door. He quickly rose and took position on the other side of the entrance, his aim ready at chest height. Dom also raised his weapon. They waited for a few seconds, Dom strained his ears but there was no sound from the inside.
The door opened outwards so he couldn't just kick it. Instead, he stuck his right foot into the gap between the door and the wall. Then, after planting his left foot solid, swung out his right across the floor, pushing the door open with it.
The hinges moaned as the door came to rest, but neither Dom nor Vince fired, and no audible reaction came from within. Dom was looking at a wall, so Vince must be looking further down the corridor. There was a held moment of caution, and then Vince entered first, Dom close behind him. He gave a final wary look to the still darkness beyond the chain-link, then stepped across the threshold.
The smell at first seemed like rust, but it quickly resolved to blood. Just inside, another two bodies were slumped against the featureless brick walls. An exit wound was visible on one's head, the other had bled enough from his throat to cover the floor. Vince didn't bother checking if these two were still alive.
Above them a single strip of energy efficient lights droned. Painting the scene in a sickly pale hue. The duo continued down the corridor and the building remained silent. The corridor opened into some form of common room. There were two poker tables, several couches and a multitude of screens. As well as two more dead bodies.
Dom and Vince quickened their pace now, beyond the common room the apparent path of fighting led down another short corridor. Dom realised where it led, directly to the heart. The siblings' office. Outside the office was a small seating area, plastered with maps of Plato and degenerative cartoons and slogans. Sitting beside the door to the office was the Kodes' final line of defence. A broad and muscular bodyguard, with a gunshot to the back of his head.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
They prepared to breach the final door, then again noticed the same trick. It had been left open just the smallest amount. Vince kicked the door in and cleared the room, Dom just two steps behind. Inside, the room had been given a lot more care than the rest of the HQ. The walls were an extravagant white and silver that was trying to imitate marble. In the centre, a long, glossed table which might even be real wood. At either end, a man and woman sat. Slumped over. Heads down flat on the table. Between them, in the very centre, was a small, black rock.
Tentatively, Dom walked to the woman, then lifted up her head. Unsurprisingly, it was her. The sister. Her throat had been slashed. Vince was by the man and lifted him up. It was him. The brother. He'd been shot in the eye.
Vince pulled out his handheld and began to make frantic inputs. Dom trudged to the middle of the table and picked up the rock. It had an irregular shape and shone strangely in the light. It was slightly smaller than his fist.
"Don't touch it!" Vince whined. Outrage on his face.
"She can pull this off. You think she can't wear fucking gloves?" Dom snapped.
"Doesn't mean we don't do this properly." He said, then raised his handheld to his ear. "I need your best CSI guys at Kodes HQ. Now. I don't care about procedure or paperwork. I'll speak to Manning personally if I have to. Just get them here. Now."
Dom dropped the meteorite back onto the table and backed up from the scene until he hit a wall. He felt like his mind was on fire but no thought was going anywhere. Like desperately pedalling a bike on its lowest gear. He wanted to check if Sasha and Esme were okay but didn't want to distract. He wanted to surrender to some higher link on the chain of command. He wanted answers. He needed answers.
* *
He didn't really notice when the CSI guys arrived.
"Okay, I've managed to get something off the cameras." Somebody was saying.
"Dom!" This one was Vince. "Get over here they've got something."
Dom cleared his mind with a shake and walked over to the small crowd of people surrounding a laptop. The woman operating it cleared a mess of windows from the screen and enlarged a single video file. It was footage from the Kodes' own security cameras.
"This is all there is in the storage. No audio." The woman said. "It's been doctored, or more accurately, it's been edited together."
The crowd leaned in closer.
The first camera was outside. It was pointed towards the chain-link fences, mounted to the wall just beside the back door. The security guard was pacing back and forth, entering and exiting the frame. The video cut to a new angle. This camera was mounted on the wall above the fence. It saw the whole of the outside space, as well as a small section of the dark, brick alleyway which led to the road.
The next cut took them inside. It was the other side of the back door, two men were smiling and talking. The camera looked down the whole length of the hallway.
Next, the common room. Two more men, sitting separately and watching screens.
Next, the seating area outside the office. The bodyguard had his hands crossed in front of him. He looked bored, and not much older than 20.
Finally, inside the office. The siblings were chatting and drinking from mugs. Dom knew their names of course, but had always preferred referring to them as simply: The Brother, and, The Sister.
The video cut back to the first. The guard strode from left to right, then from right to left. Over and over. It must have been at least 90 seconds. Dom focussed on the grainy black of the space beyond the fence. Convinced a shape would resolve from the void.
But she didn't come from the dark.
The guard was in the middle of the frame looking slightly downwards when she shot in from the right. She was already swinging the hammer, and he only looked up a few degrees before he was struck in the face. His head whipped backwards and they both flew out of frame to the left.
Cut. Now the full view of the outside. A full and clear shot of her. She was still wearing the suit. It was a deep and complete black, which made the shadows of the back alleys seem grey by comparison. She took a knife and pistol from the guard, his body still twitching as she worked.
She held the gun in her right hand and the knife in her left. She picked up the sledgehammer also in her left and banged it twice against the door before discarding it. Knife and pistol ready, she hid slightly to the side.
One of the men opened the door. Wide, not just a crack. Fucking amateurs. He noticed the body and approached. He probably didn't even see her before she lunged. She thrusted the knife from below, planting it deep in his throat. She barrelled through the door.
Cut. She fired once at the second man's head before he even had a chance to aim. His head spun. Dragging his body with it into a slow and macabre pirouette.
Cut. The men in the common room jolted to attention and started fumbling for their guns.
Cut. The muscle outside the office stirred and moved closer to the door he was guarding. He unholstered his pistol with slight professionalism.
Cut. Panic appeared on the sibling's faces. The brother grabbed a gun from under the table and the sister started barking something at the door.
Cut. Void Dancer was walking slowly down the corridor. Occasionally shooting into the common room to suppress fire. The light of the common room shone at the end of the corridor and the end of the camera's view. An awkward arm appeared and tried to blindfire back into the hallway. Before the bricks next to his hand exploded and the arm retreated. The two men were standing either side of the doorway where the corridor met the common room. Dom could tell because the idiots were standing with their feet poking beyond the wall. And if Dom knew where they were, so did she.
Cut. She threw her gun through the doorway and the morons followed it with their eyes. She burst from the corridor and seized the man on her left's gun with both hands. At the same time, she swept her leg up and kicked the other man's hand. His gun spiralled into the air - revolving around a strange centre of mass.
She wrenched the gun from the first man's grip and it went flying across the room. She landed a tough punch on his nose and he staggered backwards and tripped. The second man was charging with a forceful but clumsy punch. She easily dodged and stuck the knife between his ribs. His arms curled up in pain and he turned his back to her. She crossed her arms, placing one hand on his ear, the other on his jaw. In one swift movement she spun his head - and he slumped to the ground. As the first man recovered and was marching towards her. She caught the twirling pistol as it fell and fired a single, clean shot into his forehead.
Cut. Muscle was fully focussed. Aim trained and ready on the corridor she would surely approach from.
Cut. The siblings were shouting at the door, their mouths fluttering silently in the video.
Cut. Void Dancer strode out from the common room and towards the office.
Cut. She appeared from the hallway in front of muscle. Her steps were slight and calm - her head was slightly lowered.
Muscle squeezed the trigger three times but nothing fired. His gaze turned to the useless pistol in his hand and then she sprinted at him. She struck the gun from his hands and pinned him to the wall. Her left hand covered his mouth. Her right hand jabbed a gun hard under his chin. His eyes were wide with mortal fear, he raised his shaking hands above his head.
They stayed for a few seconds. Muscle unable to do anything but stare at the unmoving, featureless, black face. His eyebrows lowered and his eyes seemed to ask 'What do you want?' In some kind of response, she pushed with her left hand. Forcing his gaze towards the door to the office. She held him there for a few more seconds.
Then, she pulled him from the wall and had him face the door. She rotated herself behind him, pushing the gun hard into the back of his head. Her slender frame was completely hidden behind his. She pushed him forward and he approached the door. He said something out loud.
Cut. Inside, the siblings looked at each other. Then the sister went to open the door. At the same time, her brother took a few steps back and lowered his gun. The sister pulled the door open slightly and then it burst fully open. Muscle flew through. Blood gushing from his head. The Kodes patriarch traced his path with his aim, neglecting the real danger. By the time he realised, Void Dancer already had his sister in a chokehold.
Her left arm was around her throat, the knife pressed into her cheek. Her right hand still held the pistol, and it was aimed directly at him.
He pointed his gun at both women. Barking unheard words in rage that didn't even begin to mask the truth of the terror in his eyes. Void Dancer did not move.
After a few moments the rage subsided. His hand was rattling so vigorously with fear that even if he did fire he wouldn't hit anything. His sister started to cry.
Again, Void Dancer did not move, and he seemingly got the message. He tossed the gun to the side and held his hands open and high. Dom couldn't read lips, but he might've said 'Okay, now we talk?'
Void Dancer did not move. Then without any apparent provocation, she plunged the knife deep into her hostage's neck. In a slow and tedious motion she gauged a cut from ear to ear that must have been at least three inches deep.
The sister fell forwards but Void Dancer caught her hair. The wound blossomed into a crimson scarf in the low gravity. She weakly brought up her hands and scratched at her face. Painting herself red with her own blood. Void Dancer waited until her arms fell limp at her sides before dropping her to the ground.
The brother was gone. He fell to his knees slowly. His mouth hung open and his eyes didn't blink. The look of a human mind that had shut down in the face of overwhelming adversity. The child's play gangster was stripped away and the terrified little boy at the core was revealed.
Again, she waited for several moments. Then strode across the room, pushed her pistol hard into his eye socket, and fired. His corpse twisted and crumpled onto the floor. The recording lingered on the unchanging scene for several seconds, then finally ended.
Nobody said anything. A mutual agreement to prolong the silence. As long as the silence remained, they wouldn't have to talk about it. Wouldn't have to face it...
Vince spoke first.
"We need more men on this. Now." The crowd started to dissipate, some beginning to tap out inputs on handhelds. "Interview every undercover officer we've got. Try and get some kind of timeline..."
He continued on. Saying to figure out who'd messed with Muscles' ammo, to I.D all of the dead, and so on. Dom said nothing. He had no interest in showing off and winning favour with the military boys. Instead, he retreated to a corner and watched. His chest felt hollow, and his mind was spinning.
His earpiece chimed and Neil interrupted his sulking.
"Dom. We've got a new upload. I've verified it's from the same place as the first so it's genuine. It's a slaughter at Kodes HQ from their own security cameras... It's everywhere."
"That's what we've just found on their own system... do you think-"
"Yep." Neil interrupted. "They probably set it up so that your viewing of the file triggered the upload. I'll head over there now, could be useful in tracking down their location."
"Okay." Was all Dom could say. The hollowness evolved into a subtle sickness, and he felt the remaining energy drain from his body. He glanced at his handheld and saw that the twins were no longer radio silent.
"Sasha, Esme, report." The silence before the response felt longer this time.
"Just finished up here." Esme said. Her voice had the recognisable slant that came from wearing a space helmet. "Their shipment arrived but it's been looted. The two Kodes boys that were sent out to get it have been killed. Both GSW."
"Do we know what was stolen?"
"Well, it's been picked clean. Guns mostly, rifles and long-range vacuum stuff. What's the situation at HQ?"
"Bad. Get back to the station now. That's an order."
"Shit... um- okay."
"Roger." Her twin responded, and the connection went dead.
Dom sank backwards and rested his head against the wall. He wondered why this low feeling had taken over his body; and then a bolt of shame struck through him when he realised what it was. He was grieving. The Kodes were moronic. Their refusal to grow up had gotten dozens of people hurt, and some killed. But he still felt for them. Those two, the centrepiece of his eight years of life. They were gone. Suddenly and forever. Swallowed into the pitch black shadow that now loomed over Plato.
Maybe he shouldn't be ashamed. Maybe some form of human connection is inevitable no matter what. Maybe this was healthy. Dom didn't know, he fucking hated philosophy.
He closed his eyes and unclenched his jaw. All of a sudden, this particular puzzle had gotten a lot less fun.