INTERLUDE - FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC

Adelind— Azeris’ capital— was restless.

It was a simple statement. When she drove in the crowded streets, drivers were just a little more irritated than usual. Maybe they’d slam the horn for less or scream insults at others after rolling down their windows. The woman had really underestimated how the attack on the National Assembly had affected her fellow countrymen.

“Allfather, can this traffic move any slower? I want to take a piss so terribly.” The man next to her said while squirming his legs.

“You better not piss yourself in my car, Nick, or you’re paying for the cleaning.” She replied swiftly. “Try to think about something else, we’re almost there.”

“Come on, Angela, can we just stop for just a minute?”

Angela ignored him and kept her eyes on the road. She was unfamiliar with this part of the city. Manors and cottages surrounded her car, each one more extravagant than the last, clearly showing that this neighborhood was strictly out of her paygrade. The woman sighed as she made a turn to the right, going away from the city lake and making her way to a cul-de-sac.

“Well, look at that. I think that’s the biggest house we’ve seen so far. Is that a third floor?” Angela exclaimed as she got her makeup kit out of her bag.

“Yup. Think they’ll let me use their bathroom?” Nick asked, with a hint of desperation in his voice.

“Well, you look terrifying, so probably.” Angela said with a chuckle. She tied her dark brown hair into a ponytail and adjusted her suit.

“You hurt me so deeply.” Her friend said sarcastically. “Say, what do you think about coffee after this?” He asked as he adjusted his tie.

“Is Nicholas Riese asking me out on a date?”

“Could be a date, could be some coffee between friends. Up to you.”

The woman looked at herself in the rearview mirror as she reapplied her lipstick and some foundation. She stared at herself, her brown skin gleaming, full lips, perfect hair, and knew she was ready.

“Maybe, if you do well today.” Angela said as she got out of her car. “And you’re starting off pretty badly. You and your small bladder.” She added with a scoff.

She looked at her colleague get out of the car. Nicholas was huge, and it had taken her some time to get used to when they’d first met. She wasn’t sure about his actual height— it was something he was self-conscious about, but she was pretty sure he was seven feet, compared to her measly five feet eight.

“Alright, remember you knock, let him see you, and then I speak.”

“You’re the brain, I’m the muscle.” He replied with a nod.

“Zip it. You know you’re smart when you want to be, otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten this job.”

The duo made their way through the cottage’s green lawn and onto the porch. Nicholas rang the doorbell and Angela noticed his face go from carefree and neutral to completely serious. She promptly did the same. As the door’s peephole darkened, Angela grabbed her badge and shoved it in front of it.

A woman— probably in her fifties— opened the door.

“Is there an issue? I don’t understand.” She said, looking confused.

“We’re with the Terror Intelligence Agency, ma’am. I’m officer Angela Braun and this is my colleague, Nicholas Riese. Is your husband home?”

“M—my husband? Yes, just a second.” The woman said as she turned into the house. “Sugar, there are officers here to see you!” She screamed out.

Angela vaguely heard someone answer. She celebrated internally. The hardest part was already over.

“Please come in and sit in the living room while we wait.” The woman continued as she ushered them inside.

The entrance hall was long and the walls were adorned by old paintings. The floor was entirely carpeted, and suddenly Angela felt bad for the poor maid these people probably had who also most likely cleaned it every few days. She led the two officers into a living room larger than Angela’s entire apartment and sat them on an oversized cyan couch.

“Do you want any water officers? Or some lemonade?” The woman said as she turned off their flat-screen television.

“No, thank you.” Angela answered.

“Could I use your bathroom, miss?” Nicholas asked. Angela was surprised he had stopped himself from squirming.

“Of course! Right this way.” She said with a beamy smile. The two made their way back into the entrance hall.

Angela took this opportunity to examine the living room, but she found nothing of interest. Beauty magazines littered the low table, and she had also spotted a minibar.

Damn, that’s slick. She thought.

Surprisingly, Nicholas and the woman came back before her husband did, but he arrived just a few minutes later. Angela saw what had taken him so long now. The man had put on a suit and had cleaned himself up. He looked just like the picture in his file, he was skinny but had a beer gut that hid away his belt, and he was balding, with only a few hairs remaining that he had combed to the side.

“Officers.” He said as he nodded. “To what do I owe this sudden visit?” He asked, making sure to show his frustration.

“Sit with us, mister Müller. We just have a few questions regarding the Metahuman Salvation Army.” She replied calmly, not responding to his challenge.

“I know nothing about them. Now please leave, my son will be coming back from High School soon, and he has asthma. I don’t want you to stress him out.”

“I believe you can help us, sir. This is a matter of national security.” Nicholas interjected.

“Correct. It will only take a few minutes.” The woman added.

Müller hesitated, clearly not sure what to answer, but he took the bait. “Fine, but five minutes and you’re out of here.”

“How familiar are you with the attack on the fifth of July? Did it affect you in any way?” Angela asked, ignoring his demand.

The man visibly immediately relaxed and let out a small sigh of relief that the officers both caught.

“It was a terrible, terrible attack on our country. I was just five blocks away when it happened. I swear I heard the gunshots.” Müller said while shaking his head.

“Five blocks away, meaning you were on your way to work, correct?” Angela continued.

“Yes, I never stopped working at the office even after all of this success.”

“Müller Tech’s been going well right? I’ve invested in your company. The stock’s price has only been rising.”

“Ah, well, yes, it’s been a joy. I’ve donated millions to charities and the reconstruction efforts, too, of course. I’m glad you’ve also found success with my company.”

“I bet the shareholders are very pleased. This is off the record, of course, but… the Civil War was a blessing in disguise for you, right? Selling guns, planes, experimental technologies to both sides— it’s what propelled you to where you are now.” Angela said with a slight smile.

Müller was visibly bothered by this comment, but after a brief pause, he answered. “To tell you the truth, yes. It’s obvious to anyone who looks close enough.”

“It is. And, of course, that might have made a few people suspicious. So we looked into you.”

The sudden tonal shift from amicable and passive to accusatory bewildered the man, and he paled as he adjusted his collar.

“W—what do you mean, officer?”

“Müller Tech has been under investigation for weeks now. Do you recognize this picture?” Angela asked as she produced a picture on the table.

“No.”

The picture wasn’t him, of course. That would have been too easy.

“Did you know your Finance manager was having these meetings with MSA leaders, mister Müller?”

“I didn’t… I didn’t know…”

Bingo.

“Really?” Angela said as she showed a piece of paper. This time, it was a photocopy of an email exchanged between him and his CFO directly speaking about doing business with the MSA. “Is that not your email address?”

“Babe, go upstairs.” The man told his wife. His words were barely audible.

“But Ulrich—”

“I SAID GO UPSTAIRS!” Müller screamed.

Angela had her hand on her holster, but his wife just quietly nodded and ran. She would have said something, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“So, mister Müller?”

“I have no memory of ever sending that email.”

“That’s strange because our colleagues already questioned your CFO, your Finance Manager, and your Vice President, and they all said that you were the one who had the brilliant idea of selling weapons and ammunition to the MSA.”

“I think I’ve said enough. I want you out of here, and I’ll be calling a lawyer.”

Angela shook her head. “You misunderstand. We’re not the police, we are the TIA. We don’t have to leave, and we don’t have to let you call your lawyer.”

“You— you tyrants! I want you out! Out, out, out!” The man said, turning red with anger.

At this point, Nicholas got up and took a step toward him.

“No, please, you misunderstand! I’m innocent! They forced me to do it! The MSA threatened me!”

“Ulrich Müller, you are under arrest for conspiracy and treason against Azeris. Please cooperate, or we will have to use force.”

“You can’t do this to me! I’m— do you want money? I’m rich! I can give you whatever you want! Please.” He cried out as he frantically scuttled until his back was against the living room wall. He was drooling all over his suit.

“Add attempting to bribe a state official to that list.” Nicholas said. “Turn around so I can handcuff you. You’ll be coming with us.”

“You bastards… you’ll pay for this. You could be spending your limited time going after those metahuman scum, but you go after us good average people instead. If this is what Marshal Gessner thinks is right, I don’t want any part of this.”

Angela almost chuckled. The fact that this man spewed his racism after having attempted to do business with the very same people he called scum was too much. She disguised it as a cough instead.

“Bring him to the car, I’ll talk to his wife.” She said after regaining her composure. Her colleague nodded and left the house.

The woman walked up the carpeted stairs and called out for Miss Müller.

“I’m in the bathroom.”

The voice was more of a whimper. Angela followed it, traveling through the large second floor, and it took her a few seconds to locate the bathroom.

“Ah.”

Ulrich’s wife stood over the bright porcelain sink, wiping away her tears and snot. It was a sight to behold, the cheerful, smiling woman that had answered the doorbell was nowhere to be seen.

“Your husband was placed under arrest. He will be coming with us. Will you be okay taking care of your son, or do we need to call the local police?”

“I’m… alright. I— I just need to relax. This is nothing.”

Angela felt a pang of pity. “Listen, your husband will most likely be staying in prison his entire life. Maybe I’m wrong, but I get the feeling that things weren’t the best between you two. He shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.”

“I’m fine. It was my fault.”

“No, it wasn’t. It’s normal to worry about your partner. But like I said, he won’t be coming back, and his company will most likely be nationalized or destroyed. That’s all.”

The woman didn’t answer.

“Take care of your kid.”

Angela left the house and got back into the car. Ulrich Müller was yelling in the backseat about his rights, and Nicholas was massaging his forehead with his fingers.

“Sorry, Nick. That took a while.” She said as she settled into her seat and started undoing her ponytail.

“LET ME GO! LET ME GO RIGHT NOW!”

“Don’t worry about it. Good job out there, you’re always badass when you take charge.”

“Thmbk yo, bt yu d—”

“Don’t talk with your hair tie in your mouth, I can’t understand shit.”

“YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS! DO YOU THINK I’M THE ONLY ONE DOING THIS?”

The girl took her hair tie out of her mouth. “Thank you, but you did well too. Allfather, I wish we could just go in, arrest these guys and go out, but we have to present the evidence. Fucking rules, man.”

The girl inserted her key in the ignition lock and drove out of the cul-de-sac.

“Oh, and Nick?”

“Hm?”

“You’re on for that date. Are you free this weekend?”

Such were the more exciting parts of the life of a TIA officer. They were grunts— highly paid— their salary was on the higher end of average, especially in this economy, but Angela still loved her job, and she would protect her country from every threat.

Be it foreign or domestic.