Saxon relegated himself to desk work for the two weeks. Even after Lya’s foot injury had healed, Saxon insisted on not heading out into the field. His injuries from his fight with Kenji were still pretty bad, so he needed time to recover, even if Lya was ready to go.

Whenever Lya insisted Saxon always blew her off. Saxon gave Lya the same spiel every time: that desk work was just as important as field work, that it wasn’t wise to be so hasty, and everything else Saxon was told to keep him on a leash when he was just a recruit.

Saxon didn’t believe any of what he was saying--in fact, Saxon was beginning to suspect his seniors didn’t believe any of it either and only told him this junk because they were lazy.

A benefit of staying on desk duty, however, was that Saxon was able to handle all the anonymous tips coming in. Kuri’s method was working well, too well. All the tips coming in genuinely felt like they were from real citizens of Backwater. Given what Kuri had told Saxon, it wasn’t impossible some of them actually were.

However, because of this, lots of the actionable information that would actually spark investigation was buried deep in the tips, requiring in-depth analysis. Naturally, anything more obvious would give away that these weren’t actual people, but Saxon wasn’t a fan of waiting any longer than he had to.

Unlike every other member of the FMPD Saxon knew the whole story. As a result, Saxon picked up on the hidden details in the tips much faster. Saxon was able to compile a convincing case for an investigation into the Chimera family far faster than any other member of the FMPD could’ve.

Saxon had never spent much time inside the office. Herman had handled most of Saxon’s reports, even after he was promoted to lieutenant. Saxon preferred to be out in the field, tracking down clues, because that’s where he felt like he was making real progress.

For the first time, Saxon felt like he was making real progress from his desk.

Additionally, Saxon and Lya spent a lot of time discussing any new cases that came in.

For Lya, she wanted Saxon’s help refining her thought process when approaching a new case. Desmond’s case had taught her that she was far too narrow-minded, so she wanted to improve.

For Saxon, this was his way of checking to see if the mastermind had made any new moves. If there were any cases where an avatar’s mythos behaved in a way that contradicted their mythos’ documented effects, or the myth itself, Saxon felt it was reasonable to suspect the mastermind had remanifested their mythos.

Strangely, none of the suspects in any of the cases showed signs of having their mythoi modified. There were easily over a hundred avatars on Midas’ list, so the sudden stop in the mastermind’s activity worried Saxon.

Although Saxon was the one processing them, any FMPD member could examine the anonymous tips regarding the Chimera family. Consequently, Saxon suspected that the mastermind learned that the FMPD was learning of the Chimera family, and so they were trying to lay low.

Luckily, if that was the case, then they were one step behind. Any attempts to hide the Chimera family’s activity would be pointless since Kenji had already compiled all the information they could ever need. Hiding now would be pointless.

Once 2 weeks had elapsed, Saxon had finally compiled enough evidence from Kuri’s tips to open an investigation into the Chimera family. He presented it to Herman, who agreed the evidence was there but was worried about whether or not Quinn would approve it.

Saxon’s theories were mostly supported but mostly didn’t cut it for Quinn. As a result, any idea Saxon puts forth to her is judged with a heavy bias. Herman and Saxon both agreed that it would be best for Herman to submit the request seeing as Quinn trusted his word far more than Saxon’s.

It wasn’t long after an investigation on the Chimera family was requested that Herman be called into Quinn’s office.

“Take a seat Herman,” Quinn said, as Herman entered her office.

“I’m assuming this is about the request I submitted,” Herman said, sitting down.

“It is,” Quinn answered. “I’ve gone over it, and I think it looks good. I’m permitting you to open an investigation into the Chimera family.”

Herman was taken aback. He had anticipated at least some level of resistance

“Who did you have in mind to lead this investigation?” Quinn asked.

Here came the difficult part. Herman had hoped he would have a little more to talk with Quinn before bringing up Saxon, but she had cut straight to the chase.

“Given the FMPD’s low presence in Backwater, I feel it would be best to minimize the number of people actively working the case,” Herman explained. “A sudden increase in the FMPD’s presence in Backwater would be suspicious. For that same reason keeping this case internal may be best to ensure it doesn’t leak.”

Although Herman wasn’t lying when he said this, his true intentions were to keep the investigation as quiet as possible, so the mastermind wouldn’t be able to alert Draumur of it.

“I understand that,” Quinn said, “however it still doesn’t answer my question.”

“Of course,” Herman acknowledged, taking a deep breath. “I think Saxon would be best to handle this case.”

Herman prepared himself for the worst, but Quinn simply nodded in agreement. “I agree that Saxon is a natural choice. However, if possible, I’d like Lya to join him.”

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Quinn was able to see through Herman’s poor attempt to hide his confusion. “Is something the matter?”

“I probably shouldn’t be saying this,” Herman said, “but why are you being so agreeable?”

Quinn narrowed her eyes. “And why wouldn’t I be? The evidence is there, you have a valid reason for keeping the investigation private, and Saxon compiled the request, so it makes sense he would helm the investigation.”

“How did you know Saxon compiled the request?” Herman asked.

“Because I’m not an idiot,” Quinn replied matter-of-factly. “I have eyes and ears. Saxon has spent more time at his desk in the past weeks than he has since he got here. Alex has also been complaining about how Saxon keeps asking for the transcripts of all the anonymous tips that come in.”

“Yeah that would do it,” Herman acknowledged. “Saxon and I felt you might look at the report more objectively since Saxon’s track record with this kinda stuff isn’t the best.”

“You don’t think his track record is good?” Quinn asked. “Sure he’s wrong sometimes. A lot of the time actually. Being wrong is the worst thing a detective can do.

That being said, how far he can progress cases with such little to go off is remarkable. He squeezes water out of stone with the cases he takes on.”

“I don’t disagree,” Herman said. “It’s just I don’t think he thinks that’s your impression of him.”

“Of course, I don’t tell him all this, because when he is wrong, somebody needs to rub salt in the wound, so he doesn’t make the same mistake twice,” Quinn remarked. “Besides, you know better than anyone Saxon needs somebody to keep him in check.”

Herman slowly nodded his head, as far too many memories of him shutting down Saxon’s ideas raced through his mind. “So what made you give this one the green light?”

“You know the funny thing is, you weren’t too far off when you insinuated I wouldn’t have judged this request fairly had it come from Saxon,” Quinn noted. “As I said, I had seen Saxon working the tips for some time, so I had already prepared myself for a report. What did surprise me was when you were the one who submitted it.

Saxon’s probably the best detective the FMPD has, but he has always had a habit of doing things on his own. When I promoted you to lieutenant, I was worried that he would slowly fall back into his old habits.

If he had brought this to me himself, then I likely would’ve turned him down. But he didn’t submit the request, you did, which means Saxon is trying to let people help him.”

“Emphasis on trying,” Herman said.

“Improvement comes slowly, though it’s foolish not to encourage signs of it, when you see them,” Quinn remarked. “And I take you being here instead of him as just that.”

“You mentioned having Lya join him?” Herman asked.

“I did,” Quinn answered.

“Why?” Herman questioned.

“Well we can’t keep the girl locked in here forever,” Quinn said. “Lya’s a talented recruit and a valuable asset. We ought to use her.”

“But why pair her up with Saxon?” Herman asked.

“Because both have something valuable to teach the other,” Quinn answered. “For most members of the FMPD, the law acts like a straight jacket. It restricts them.

However, for Saxon, the law is like a guideline. It informs his actions, but he isn’t afraid to deviate from those guidelines when the situation calls for it. An understanding of the difference between what is lawful, and what is right, is a rare thing. It’s that knowledge that I hope Lya can learn from Saxon.”

“Okay, I get that,” Herman said, “but I don’t see what Lya could teach Saxon.”

“In that case, I don’t mean teach to be the passing of knowledge,” Quinn clarified. “Ever since you started working with Saxon, Herman you’ve been flawless. I feel that's the only reason Saxon relies on you.

On the other hand, despite her performance at the academy, Lya is far from flawless. She will fail. However, her potential for growth is immeasurable.

I want Saxon to observe Lya learn from her failures, and better herself. My hope is that in the process, Saxon will realize people can be relied on, in spite of their past mistakes.”

“And I’m the person who has to make sure they don’t rip each other apart,” Herman lamented.

“Do you want me to apologize?” Quinn asked.

“Well now it wouldn’t feel genuine,” Herman joked.

Herman and Quinn laughed briefly before Herman stood up. “Well, I’ll go tell them the good news.”

Herman exited Quinn’s office and began walking toward his own office. As he arrived, Herman opened the door to his office to see both Lya and Saxon sitting behind his desk staring at something on Herman’s computer.

“How is there nothing?” Saxon questioned aloud.

“I know,” Lya agreed. “I understand it’s his work computer, but still.”

“What are you two doing?” Herman asked, walking around to see that Saxon and Lya had opened nearly every folder on his work computer. “Ok enough of that.”

Herman interjected himself between Saxon and Lya, ripping the mouse from Saxon, and promptly closed all the open files. “I gave you my computer so Lya could look through the report on the Chimera family.”

“Yeah, but I finished that a while ago,” Lya replied.

“And then nobody was using it, so I thought I’d just invite myself to have a little look,” Saxon said.

Herman rubbed his eyes, and let out a heavy sigh. “So long as Lya understands the situation at hand.”

“Think I’ve got a general idea,” Lya said. “A member of the FMPD is altering mythoi, for reasons we don’t know, and we want to catch them.

While looking into leads Saxon came across this report by a member of the Killian family on the Chimera family, who are operating out of Backwater.

The leader of the Chimera family, Draumur Chimera, had his mythos altered by our mastermind, so in addition to shutting down the Chimera family itself, we want to question Draumur about the mastermind.”

“Yes, and in order for that to happen, you and Saxon are going to conduct an investigation to verify all the information in that report,” Herman replied. “Speaking of which, Quinn just gave the verdict.”

“And it is?” Saxon asked.

“Good to go,” Herman replied. “Said she would keep the investigation private too. Her only stipulation was that Lya accompany Saxon.”

“Which is why you let me on everything,” Lya remarked, “because you knew Quinn wouldn’t let Saxon work alone.”

“Everything is going just as planned,” Herman said.

“So far,” Saxon remarked.

“Well, when do we start lieutenant?” Lya asked.

“Right now,” Herman answered.

Lya shot out of her chair, excited to finally be out from behind her desk. “That’s the best answer you could’ve given.”

Saxon stood from his chair. “Alright, let’s get to work.”