Project: TheirWorld - Chapter 012 - Part 2

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Troubles and Tragedy

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The Enclave

"... There are no words of consolation that we can offer friends and families looking for justice, other than this: We will catch them.” Chief Landau’s face then changed, silver eyes bright with a look of calm cruelty on her face as she spoke. “To those responsible, the guilty who may be watching this now know that the entirety of the EP will be looking for you. Watching you. Thousands of years of technology and skills will be used to track you down. And when we find you, know that thousands of years of the study of pain will serve as punish for each and every party guilty of these heinous crimes,” She finished, and the reporters were silent and motionless. Chief Landau nodded over to the bug man to her right.

Stepping forward, now standing as ease, Ultari Zi chittered, “Hail, citizens. I am Detective Ulatri Zi of the Homicide Department. I, my partner, and my hive have been working tirelessly to track down these criminals the passed many moons. I wish you to know this. Worms. I wish you all to know that we will not give up. We will not fail. Failure is not an option. Should we fail, the lives of my hive and I shall be forfeit. But my hive and I shall fight not for our sakes, but for the sakes of the citizens of the Enclave” he told them. Dassah shivered. The bug woman was a ‘Blee’ - one of the strangest, and frankly, most horrifying, creatures that Dassah knew of. It wasn’t actually because they were bugs - Dassah herself had no problems with bugs. Rather, it was because they were scavengers.

Blee were rare on the Enclave. They were a short lived race compared to many others, though they had a high breeding rate. The term ‘Blee’ was actually a reference only to the females or their species, the ‘blee-kai’lak-chak’. This was because each Blee functioned like a beehive. The Blee were the mothers, the queens. Their carapaces served as a fully functional hive, or ‘Kai’lak’, comprised of brainless workers, warriors, and fliers which answered to the will of their Blee. While Dassah liked them even less than she liked the garuli, she could see how they were incredibly useful in certain jobs - police investigation being one of them - though it fed her paranoia to think about the fact that the hive could function as a personal big brother - even if there were ways to ensure they couldn’t enter an area.

After Ultari Zi went over the procedures and transportation issues of the next week, she called Sai up to the front - which couldn’t have happened without Stella putting on a starry-eyed puppy face.

Dassah rolled her eyes as Sai introduced himself, and said, “I want everyone to know that that the VCU is serving as a consultant and operating behind the scenes to find any potential links and future threats. In general, all departments of the Enclave PD are on high alert, and only want the citizens to be safe. We want to remind you all that you can submit any complaints - including complaints about things in web-based communities, to the EPD at anytime. If friends, family, or co-workers have been missing for more than 24 hours, please report it, and we will get to you as soon as resources allow. Now, if you have any questions -”

“Detectives,” a reporter went before Sai could finish. Oh good. Yes. Do cut off the broken record. “Do you think that the surrounding cities should be worried?”

Sai gave an irritated looking smile as he answered, “At this point, all cities in the prefecture of Galiamori should be on alert, as -”

“Detective Sai - the EP has released that there is no known connection to the victims. Many of the victims have already been confirmed to be TheirWorld players. Since you are so heavily involved, is the VCU investigating a possible connection through TheirWorld?”

“I’m not at liberty to give any details about the investigation or the victims,” Sai said. “Please keep your questions centered around maintaining the safety of the citizens -”

“If there is a connection,” the same reporter pressed. “Shouldn’t the citizens know for their own safety. Detective?”

Chief Landau stepped forward and said, “It is better to live, than live in fear of imaginary creatures in the dark. The citizens should feel comfortable living their daily lives normally -”

“Speaking of creatures in the dark,” another reporter started. Chief Landau looked at him without emotion as he continued. “Recently, there have been reports that the vigilante, Jackal, has been spotted in Bris and Io, and other surrounding city hexes. Can the police make a statement about that? Could Jackal's appearance and the serial murders be connected?” Dassah blinked. Vigilante? Jackal?

“There is nothing to say on the matter,” Chief Landau said, looking straight at the man. “Justice should be left to the law. If we find Jackal in our city, we will arrest him, and he shall face a court of law....” The questioning continued for another twenty minutes before Bahena turned the TV off in annoyance.

“How did a press conference about serial murders devolve into a stupid conversation about wanna-be heroes,” Bahena growled.

“Who is Jackal?” Dassah asked.

Stella looked at her in surprise. “You don’t know about Jackal?” she asked. “I would have thought that it was right up your alley! Plus, isn’t he on the news a lot?”

“Not sure…” Dassah said, crossing her arms. The Enclave had a vigilante and she hadn’t noticed? How did that happen? She wondered.

“It doesn’t matter,” Bahena said, sitting at her desk. “Whatever he is doing, he’s doing it wrong. He’s obviously not proud of it, or he wouldn’t be wearing that mask.”

Dassah furrowed her brow, “Mask? Is he a valkyrian?”

“They suspect so,” Stella told her. “But the reality is, they don’t know. It’s strange - those who have seen him say that his mask is black.”

“...What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Dassah asked. “He painted it?”

“It’s a yet another mystery that has too little information,” Bahena shrugged. “But black masks have a very negative connotation in valkyrian culture. A black mask… It basically is saying that person is cursed - cursed in such a way that they are never to be accepted in society. That someone actually wears one is… well I suppose it is a form of bravery.”

Stella was chewing on the end of a pencil when she looked up suddenly and said, “Hey! Do you think Silver Hound will visit here?”

“What?” Dassah groaned. “Why on Earth would he?”

“Because - as Bahena said - we are so close to the crime scene! Obviously a university has to be a good target… Or! Maybe I could submit a ticket! And have him come to ‘save’ me!”

Bahena glared at her. “You do something that stupid and I will report you.”

Pouting, Stella started to whine about wanting to meet her idol - a headache that Dassah tuned out as she started to grade some papers. She had had quite enough person interaction already. Around two O’clock, they went to the safety seminar. As they were walking back to the office to get their things, Stella started to whine about the trip home again.

“Silver linings,” Dassah started, exasperated. “Trains going the opposite direction of Io will be running just fine.”

Stella thought about that for a moment, then her frown turned into a smile. “Hey, hey! If that’s the case -”

“No,” Dassah didn’t wait for Stella to finish.

“Let’s, the three of us, go get coffee!” the young woman continued, unfazed.

Dassah rolled her eyes, “Surely you aren’t thinking of torturing that stupid bat guy again, are you?”

“What this?” Bahena asked.

“Stupid,” Dassah said, but Stella was smiling. “And seriously, I want to go back home to TheirWorld..”

“Come on! We can have our meeting really quick - and, coffee!” Stella grabbed Dassah’s arm. “Pleease?”

“Fine,” Dassah conceded with a sigh. “Just for an hour, and then I’m out of there!”

“Yes!” Stella turned looked to Bahena - who looked very tired. “Bahenaaa?”

“... Only for an hour,” she agreed.

After getting their things, they headed out to the bat man’s coffee shop - but most happily for Dassah - the bat man never appeared, so all she had to deal with was the dinosaur woman, and the girl-child, who had then taken to pouting about the bat man’s absence.