It took nearly a week for 895G to muster up the gall to return to the site. He’d been attempting to research more about the strange sky, but the Head had given him two new investigations; one was about a gang of bandits that was growing in Eldern and moving eastward and the other was about a strange signal trying to access GreenHouse’s net at Iaeplor, ten clicks south of Tinyon.
He’d been investigating what crimes were caused by the bandits in Eldern when he chose to drive just a bit farther to visit the bunker. The Head’s words still echoed in 895G’s brain but he chose to finally continue pursuing his first case. He’d left in such a hurry the first time he’d visited that he knew there was a lot of evidence of their activities left, and 895G couldn’t access what the Patrollers had confiscated when they’d taken Indo and Petri into custody.
Shuffling through the trash, he found the bunker hatch reasonably easily since this was his third time coming to the location. His heart dropped when he lifted the hatch and saw the grey rock. It took a moment to register what he was seeing but it hit him that someone had poured concrete into the entrance until the entire bunker had been engulfed. When the news of his sudden loss of evidence set in, he grabbed a pipe iron from the nearest pile of trash and cracked the metal against the cement until the pipe snapped.
Breathing heavily, he screamed into the air from frustration and grabbed another pipe until that one snapped into two too. He started reaching for a third pipe when he noticed a set of tire tracks hidden under some discarded clothes. Using a newfound pipe, he shoved aside the piles of trash to reveal more of the tracks. He continued shoving aside trash for the next hour until he reached the edge of the landfill, where the tracks dissolved in the dust back towards the city of Eldern. He jumped into his vehicle in the hopes of finding where the tracks led but the wind had completely worn down any depression caused by the mystery truck. 895G already had a good idea who was behind the destruction of the bunker; the Head made it clear 895G shouldn’t be sticking his nose any further into Indo’s case.
Investigative spirit riling up, the Scout drove back to HQ and parked near the Pharmaceutical division rather than the Scout’s--he knew of one person who might reveal something about the strange pictures of the blue sky and canister from the old world. Flashing his ID, he gained access to the hospital ward and walked down the white hallways until he found the room he had been looking for. Two guards were posted outside the room as a precaution but as soon as they saw 895G’s rank they stepped aside and let him through.
Petri looked surprised when 895G strolled into the room and said nothing, offering the Scout a sad smile rather than a welcome. He looked worse for the wear; eyes sunken and dull, cheeks gaunt, and all the color seemed to have been drained from his face and for some reason, there was a bandage around his neck. Soundlessly, 895G grabbed a nearby stool and dragged it to the man’s bedside.
“I’ll cut right to the chase. What were you and Indo doing for twenty years in hiding?”
Petri shook his head and pointed to his neck. 895G didn’t know what to make of the motion so Petri made a writing motion in the air and the Scout handed him his notepad and pen.
I’ve already been silenced. Petri wrote and then opened his mouth as if to speak but nothing but a soft whoosh of air could be heard.
895G shuttered when he realized the doctors had removed Petri’s vocal cords and rubbed his own throat as if to make sure his were still there. Curiosity hit him like a wave when he weighed the reasons why GreenHouse silenced Petri. Petri was a lab rat and Indo’s assistant, so why remove his voice when he clearly had information to share about Indo?
“Alright, why was there a gas canister in your basement?” 895G questioned, whispering the inquiry so the guards outside couldn’t here.
Petri’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped and then furiously scribbled on the pad.
What did you read? Petri practically shoved the pad into 895G’s eyes for him to read.
“Just the warning label. What is so important on there that I needed to read?”
Who knows?
“The Head and whoever he told. Look, why was there a canister from the old world in your basement? Give me a straight answer.”
In this case, the less you know the better. If you know more, you...Petri flipped the page...might get yourself killed.
895G thought about pursuing the case more but didn’t want to waste time going back and forth pointlessly, so he changed the topic, pulling out one of the images he kept on his person off the oddly-colored sky.
“Tell me about these pictures.”
Petri picked up one of the images with a trembling hand and bit his lip as he pulled it closer to him, tears cresting in the corners of his eyes but never making the journey down his cheeks. Perking his ears, he went very still and in a flurry of motion scribbled something down on the notepad, ripped it out, and then shoved it and the image back into 895G’s palms. The Scout was about to retort and ask what the images meant but shoved the contents of his hands in his pockets when he saw the Head Scout stomp up to the room door.
“Second Commander, a word?”
By the way the Head growled the words, 895G knew he didn’t have a choice in the matter and didn’t even bother taking the time to take his notepad back from Petri--he had more at home anyway. He cautiously walked behind his commanding officer, past the guards at the door and down the hallway where the Head turned on his heels to face 895G.
“What in the hell were you thinking!” The Head screamed. “I thought I warned you about sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong! Imagine my surprise when my Second Commander is seen entering 021B’s hospital room without the proper clearance. And I repeat, what the hell were you thinking!”
“Sir, I was just following up leads on my first investigation, I don’t believe I’ve done anything wrong. I’m just trying to understand what Indo and Petri were doing for twenty years, that’s all.”
The Head’s jaw clenched and 895G saw fire in his eyes but his tone cooled down when he spoke again.
“What they’ve been doing for twenty years? That’s all your investigating?” The Head asked, clearly not falling for 895G’s deflection.
“Yes, sir. This is my first case as a Second Commander and I want to live up to the expectations expected of me, but if you don’t think I can complete this case in full completion then I’ll gladly hand the file over to you and you can catch up the next investigator about the contents of the bunker. I’m sure there are a lot of eager Scouts wanting to know more about Indo and what he’s been up to.”
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895G wanted to shrink up into a ball under the fierce glare of the Head’s eyes but his need to find out more about what made Petri so nervous about the canister drove him to stand his ground. He hoped the Head would keep him on the case in order to prevent more people getting involved in this case, but he was shooting in the dark and gambling this case on a hunch.
“Fine. You can stay on the case as long as you only investigate Indo and Petri’s actions and nothing else. Even if certain items are involved you will forget about them and not even include them in your report. I hope I don’t read about said certain items in reports otherwise the Second Commanding position might be vacant again.”
Not even waiting for 895G’s response, the Head spun around and marched down the hallway and disappeared around a corner. The Scout deflated and almost fell to his knees in relief; he’d stood up to the Head and not cried once! Smiling at his personal victory, he took a moment to calm his heartbeat and then walked to his apartment.
Taking a short breather there to change out of his dirtied uniform he emptied out his pockets and recovered the note Petri had shoved into his hand. It was crumpled and written quickly, but the words were legible.
12. 32
Trent’s Warehouse
895G had no idea what it meant but committed it to memory since it was important enough for Petri to give to him. Sitting at his table he debated about what his next move was. He had started his day attempting to chase down a group of bandits but now he was deeper in the mystery of the old world than ever before. Resolving himself he grabbed his coat and put on a new set of his uniform to visit the other person who would have answers.
He received odd glares from Patrollers walking down the hallway when he made it to the Patroller’s precinct and was stopped more than once on his way to the interrogation room.
“I see they promoted you too!”
A large hand clapped 895G on his back when he was about to reach his destination room and a familiar face greeted him; it was the Patroller that helped him create the plan to bombard the group that had held him hostage.
“Long time no see,” 895G politely replied, uncomfortable at the man’s familiarity with him.
“Second Commander? Looks like they’re giving them out to everyone these days! I should start telling my comrades that if they get themselves kidnapped they’ll get instantly promoted. Weren’t you Active Duty? That’s a big jump. I only made First Commander, and I did the majority of the work don’t you think? You should tell that Head of yours to promote me another step.” The Patroller said but something about his tone read that he was only partially joking.
“I’m currently working on my first case and would like to have a chance at asking Indo a few questions.” 895G started but was cut off by the Patroller.
“Are you saying we’re not doing our job?”
The Patroller’s smile vanished from his face and his eyes turned darker. Although this man wasn’t as intimidating as the Head, 895G was still afraid for his life.
“No! It’s just that I’m sure he’s giving you a hard time and maybe I can push Indo’s buttons a bit. You’re doing a fantastic job and I’ll talk with my superior about giving you a higher promotion since like you said, you did most of the work.”
895G’s words diffused the Patroller’s fuse and he slapped him on the back again.
“See that you do. I’ll call my boys out from interrogation and you can go in a minute.” The Patroller walked ahead of 895G and knocked on the door labeled “Interrogation 5.” Two other Patrollers came out within thirty seconds and 895G tried to hide his surprise when he saw their fists were bloodied.
“He’s all yours. No one will blame you if you need to let out some steam. Cameras are already off.” The Patroller gave 895G a wink and the Scout shuttered, getting into the room as quickly as he could.
His mouth went agape when he saw Indo sitting in a solitary chair in the center of the room with his legs and arms bound to it. Indo’s face was completely unrecognizable from the discolored mounds of swelling covering his face and blood was dripping down from his hair, mouth, and nose, dying his shirt permanently red. Some parts were dry and crusty while others were fresh, showing that the ‘interrogating’ the Patrollers were doing had been going on since Indo had been admitted.
“Like what you see?” Indo cracked, his voice raw and worn. “If you’re here to use me as a punching bag, I’m afraid the gentlemen that just left already did but I’m sure you can find some part of me they haven’t pulverized if you look hard.”
895G didn’t know what to say. He’d come in wanting answers but the weight in his stomach created by guilt ate his words. For some reason, he recalled the robot’s voice the night they had let him go: “At least you didn’t get tortured, right?” Looking at Indo now beaten and bloody showed 895G what could have easily happened to him but never did.
“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to do something? At least those two talked and didn’t just stand there like a dumbshit.”
895G walked over and stood in front of Indo trying to come up with the right words.
“At least your legs work. Do your arms? Or maybe your mouth? Seriously man, do something!” Indo screamed at the Scout.
“Petri is alive and healthy.” 895G squeaked out.
Indo went silent, shock clearly written on his face, but he quickly recovered.
“So what? You come here just to tell me something that’s probably a lie? I’m not stupid and I’m not falling for that.” His voice crackled with emotion but he tried hiding it by clearing his throat.
“I spoke with him earlier today. He gave me this note,” 895G whispered to Indo and subtly checked where the cameras were just in case they were secretly on.
Indo didn’t even try hiding his slack-jaw emotion this time, glancing from the note to 895G and back to the note.
“So you know about the canister? And you’re not dead, so you were either smart and didn’t tell anyone you saw it or you didn’t see the important part. Which is it?”
“Didn’t read the important part,” 895G confessed.
“You’re still alive, so that’s a positive sign, and if you want to keep living you should just stop whatever you think you’re doing. I’m sure your commander wants you to find out what we’ve been up to but if you go down that path you will die. I’m not telling you any more than that, you’ll have to go to that place to find out more yourself. Your death will not be on my hands no matter how badly I want it.”
895G felt like he was simply going through the same steps he had with Petri but with a longer road. Indo liked to talk it seemed but didn’t give any useful information, so he went ahead and continued to see if he could continue his line of questioning like he had before.
“What about these?” 895G held up the images of the blue sky.
Indo smiled mischievously though it was difficult to tell under the deformations from the beatings.
“That was the old world, before GreenHouse. We’ve all been raised to glorify this company, and I did for thirty years, but they were the real culprits of our entire world turning to shit.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that a centuries ago, this world looked like that.” Indo used his head to motion at the picture. “But the GreenHouse came into the picture. I’d love to go into a detailed history of GreenHouse but I’m sure our time will be cut short by those lovely people standing outside the door. It’s on you to go to the location and find out more on your own. You should go now before they start getting suspicious. Wipe some of my blood on your knuckles to pretend you’ve been punching me, or just punch me.”
895G opted for the less violent option and was about to walk out the door when Indo’s voice stopped him.
“Thank you for telling me Petri was alive.”
895G turned and saw tears leaking from the cracks of Indo’s eyes and a slight smile was painted on the canvas of snot and blood that was his face. The guilty feeling in the Scout’s gut twisted and he fought back tears of his own knowing he was the reason the two were separated. Not wanting to overstay his welcome at the Patroller’s vicinity he left the room.
Although he had wanted to head straight home, the Patrollers drew him into a quick conversation and 895G had to proudly boast at the beating he had given Indo and how he felt a lot better after reallying laying into him. He cut off their growing conversation by telling them he was going to talk to the higher ups to see if everyone could get a promotion for doing such great word and they finally let him go.
He power-walked all the way back to his apartment, wondering when his life would ever get back to normal. 895G had thought his life had gotten too complicated for his liking when he was taken captive, but now he felt like he had accidently stepped in a rabbit’s hole and he was still falling.