#pdpo firewall

[mirkstrolls]

△Firewall, how do you feel about your ancestor?

that crazy fucker can burn in whatever hell she thinks is real

she is a toxic monstrosity and she needs to be stopped

also she tried to fucking kill me i am not exactly disposed to like her

[1/10, Firewall does not care who knows that she hates her ancestor]

[ladytrollfishes]

The Copy Cat Cultist: Hour Five

Sniffer goes to talk to the coffee lady who Munvit was friends with and learns more about the victim’s social network. Firewall, Download, and Virus continue interviewing the quads of the victims, none of whom seem to have solid alibis as the crime occurred very early in the morning. Neither Lugnio the swampdwelling oliveblood, Ascemi the yellowblooded barista, Diorxu the indigoblood party planner, or Seafti, Diorxu’s brownblooded assistant have good alibis. 

At the end of the hour, Seafti gives the officers a disturbing call. 

Sniffer

The park is bustling with the lunch hour. There are people everywhere enjoying their lunches in the fresh air, sitting on the benches under the statues, buying food and coffee from the carts that line the park. It's a fairly big park, and not the best kept, but it doesnt seem to have affected their popularity. It's more blue collar around here, the people populating the park are wearing factory uniforms and work clothes rather than the suits of the upper cities. There's lawns are starting to out grow their paths, the paint on the benches are wearing away. There's a cart selling hot chocolate and coffee on the corner.

Sniffer glances around the area, cringing hard and putting a hand to her head. It's way too loud her and it's driving her nuts. Too loud, too many people to potentially interact with. Too many people talking directly to her whether she wants to hear them or not. Wonderful. She grabs her notepad, checking her notes several times before she's able to focus on her own words. This job is a pain sometimes. Right. Find the lady who sells coffee and hot chocolate. Since there's a cart for it over that way, that would probably be the best place to start.

The cart lady smiles up at Sniffer as she approaches. She's got an open, friendly face, freckled. Her eyes are still grey, but you can see that her irises have a hint of brown to them. "Hi," she exclaims. "How can I help you?"

"Hello ma'am!" She exclaims, keeping her voice cheerful despite her badly worsening headache. "I actually had a question for you, if you don't mind." She clears her throat, wincing again. Ow, head. Ow, head. Ow. "Would you happen to know a troll named Munvit? He's red. I was told he might come here sometimes?"(edited)

The coffee lady's face stays the same as she blinks questioningly at Sniffer. "Um, no, I don't know anyone like that," she says. Munvit hadn't stopped by earlier that day like he usually did. And now some greyface was coming to look for him at her coffee stand? She doesn't like the sound of that. "I'm sorry you came out all this way."

If her first thought was that she doesn't know why he's missing, the odds are high that she's not involved in his murder. But still, anything she could find out would be helpful.

 "Are you sure? Maybe I'm at the wrong coffee stand." Sniffer knows she isn't. She proceeds to give the coffee lady a physical description of Munvit, minus the being dead of course, right down to what he was wearing. "Are you sure you haven't seen him?"

The anon gives her a good description of Munvit, including what he was wearing yesterday. The coffee lady stays smiling but there's an uncomfortable tinge to it now. "I'm really sorry," she says. "I don't think I can help you."

Sniffer sighs, quietly pulling out her badge. She didn't want to have to do this the hard way. "Ma'am, he's missing and very important to a case. We need to find out where he's been and who he's been talking to if we're going to have any hope of finding out what happened to him."

The coffee lady stiffens as the badge gets brought out. She was so insistent that she knew something- a very good tip? Perhaps some mind reading powers? She would be in very much trouble if she lied from here on out, of that she was very certain. 

 "I-" she stammers. "I mean, I've seen him around." She hesitates. If this lady was really a cop, then something must have happened. "Is he alright?"

"We don't know yet." She lies, feeling quite bad about it. But it may be in the best interest for this case right now to pretend like Munvit could still be alive. "We have reason to believe he could be alive still, but we're investigating. And anything you can share about him, who he was with, and what he was doing when you saw him last could help us significantly." A pause before she adds. "I'm only here for information."

She's lying. Munvit was a street rat. No one would take notice of his disappearance unless something had happened. And where would she have gotten Munvit's name? "I- I-" she hesitates. "He would come by every so often. He was a sweet kid. I gave him hot chocolate sometimes, especially when it was cold."

"When was the last time you saw him?" She asks, pulling out her notepad. Now they were getting somewhere. Poor kid, though. "Did he seem like something was bothering him?"

The coffee lady shakes her head. "Yesterday morning. He was upset about something, but he wasn't talking to me about it, not in any detail." She had thought it was maybe quadrant trouble- Sanzas often stopped by with him but she hadn't seen the two boys together in a few days. She's not sure she wants to bring Sanzas under the eye of the PDPO though.

"Was he alone?" She asks, raising an eyebrow. Something was bothering him? It could have just been the fight with Sanzas. But that's still a good note to jot down.

The coffee lady nods.

She nods back, making another note. "If I could have your name and where to contact you if I need further information, that would be lovely."

The Coffee lady grabs a napkin and scribbles her name and a handle on it. Eithie Oskizi. coffeeLady. "Here," she says. "Would you like some coffee as well?" If the cop was going to take up her time, then she might as well have a cup, really.

"Ah. If you're offering, sure." She's keeping a close eye on both Eithie's hands and what she can pick out of her thought stream as a safety measure. But honestly, she really could use the pick me up right about now. "That would be very nice, thank you."

Eithie pours Sniffer a cup of coffee and gives her a handful of sugar packets and cream. "That'll be five caegars," she says.

"Haha, that's fair." She pops the money down on the table, along with a bit extra for the tip. "Thank you very much for your time, ma'am." Hopefully you won't need to come knocking on her metaphorical front door again. Or literal, for that matter, Sniffer thinks as she takes the coffee.  She stops. "Ah, one more question, please. Which was was Munvit heading when you last saw him leave?"

Eithie points Sniffer in the direction of the city proper, towards the part of the city where Munvit's body was found.

"Thank you. Have a good day!" She calls out as she heads that way, taking out her communicator to relay her findings to the team.

While she's walking away from the park, Sniffer decides to take another peek through the files to see if the previous suspects had any relations to the area Munvit came from.

As she looks through, there's a few connections! The park is perhaps a ten minute walk from the bus stop where Munvit was found. Diorxu and Seafti's event planning agency is a couple blocks away and Ascemi's place of work is a short train trip over.

Sniffer clicks her tongue, flipping to a fresh page in her notebook to start making a diagram. The park is here, the bust stop is there.....She quickly draws a triangle between the most relevant places on her diagram. Now the next step, she thinks, is to figure out when everyone was working in comparison to the murder time. 

 She pulls up a map on her phone to compare her notes to. It's an indigo they need to watch out for, but unless the indigo was very sick and very weak (or very young), that doesn't line up with the profile they have of someone fairly weak pulling off the murder. Could the killer have possibly been another child? Or someone pulling the strings in the background? Something about these connections are making Sniffer nervous and she decides to message her team to share her thoughts.

Virus 

Lugnio Akioz is a marshtroll, living by the swamp and runs a ferry to take people through the forest. She can be found at the edge of town. She's an oliveblood, and the murdered yellowblood's former auspistice.

In rubber boots up to their knees, Virus wades through barely ankle high water and soft ground to get to Lugnio. The first spot they look is the pier where her ferry is supposed to be.

The pier sits out in front in the muck, empty. A small hut is built on a patch of dry land just as the marsh begins. Virus can see a face poke in from the window, and a large troll steps out. She's tall and heavyset, wearing marsh waders that come up halfway to her thigh. She's olive, clearly, wearing a vest that declares her hue. Her hair is in curls around her face with large square glasses. She raises an eyebrow when she sees virus coming, and points to a narrow strip of land near covered in marsh grass. "Ye missed the path there, stranger," she says.

Virus looks to where she's pointing, at their boots, and then at her. "Probably", they agree. Stepping up onto the path, they rummage for their badge to show it to Lugnio. "PDPO. No trouble, I just want to ask some questions about Drezum. Can I?"

Her eyes narrow from behind her her glasses, then sighs and gestures for them to step up. "Of course," she says. "I'm still waiting on the return ferry. Would you like some water?"

Virus taking off their mask would mean that she sees their cracked mouth corners - and that they would have to touch a strange glass. They'd rather not. 

"No", they tell her, "enough of that out here. But thanks." They step up, waiting for her cue to come inside or not. "I have a case file, but I don't understand it. Maybe you know more." A beat, and they crane their neck up at Lugnio to watch her more closely. "Why no struggle?"

She pushes the door open and gestures for them to come inside. "Wipe off your boots please," she says. It's a small office with a desk of paperwork and what are probably financial logs. There's a small, open air kitchen to the side where Lugnio pours herself a glass of water. She gestures towards the chair in front of her desk for V to sit in. She takes her glass back to the desk and takes a deep drink from it before she looks back up at V. 

"I'm sorry?" she says, like she has no idea what V is talking about.

Virus makes very sure to wipe their boots off properly, probably too sure to not be awkward. They sit when Lugnio invites them to, then sighs when she has no idea what they're talking about. 

"Night of their death, the body was found in an undisturbed hive. They wouldn't just let someone kill them, yes?" 'Pretty stupid', they don't add, but only with a lot of tongue biting.

Lugnio considers them for a moment before shaking her head. "No," she says. "They would have never laid down and died. They were an exceptionally proud person."

"Yeah. Weird, no?" They pull a thoughtful face under the mask. "Any idea about that? Did they have allergies, weaknesses, blind spots?"

Lugnio shakes her head. "Nothing of the sort," she says. "Only that they were a lowblood, and more susceptible than most to mind control. That is my theory."

"Hmmmmm." It's possible. "Did they have a feeling of being watched or followed?" Virus drums their fingers on their lap. They would've liked that glass of water, actually. "Or a regular schedule? Were they easy to predict? Alone a lot?"

Lugnio sighs. "I don't know about being followed or watched. Drezum had a delivery business that took them all over town. They were visible, but not regular, and most of their deliveries they made  alone."

"Then why at hive and not out in the open?" It's more to themself than to her. "...Anything else you think I have to know?"

"Why have you come, asking about a case that has been closed for three sweeps?" Lugnio asks. "I can't imagine I have anything to add that you don't already know.

"It's open again", they grumble. "Shit around here never stays quiet. So I'm just rolling everything back up. Who knows." Sniffing, they add: "Also with the other people. Clade of old victims and all that. There's that support group thing - do you go to that?"

Lugnio frowns, her eyebrows drawing in close as she eyes Virus up and down. "Did they catch the wrong troll?" she asks. "Someone else is dead? I did attend a few of them but it was not my sort of meeting. I prefer to deal with grief myself and my own quadrants. Drezum was not my only one."

"Is there ever a right troll?", they deadpan. "So no contact with anyone there? Don't think I would go either." Virus looks out the window and into the marsh land. "Did your other quadrants know them?"

Lugnio scratches her head. "I talked with Ascemi and Seafti for the most part," she says. "I thought Diorxu doted on them as a replacement for their moirail, and I did not want to be a part of that. They have gone on their own paths as I have mine. My other quadrants met Drezum, but they have not met the others who were involved in the investigation. Have you spoken with Niosno?"

"Ew." Virus makes a mental note here: Check Ascemi and Seafti to confirm. "Not yet. Why?"

Lugnio sighs and takes another long drink of water before she answers. "Niosno dislikes talking about this period of our lives. He adored Drezum. He Ascended about a sweep ago and refuses to stay in contact with me. I believe he prefers to pretend Drezum never existed, his heart was so broken."

"Damn." V considers this for a moment, decides they would do the same thing, and pushes it away. "Cold." "Can you give me contact info on your other quads? And another thing. What were you doing 3am this morning?"

Lugnio writes a couple names on the back of the business card. "Camrai is my matesprit. Skiori, my moirail." She wrinkles her nose as she looks Virus over. "Well. I was hive, asleep, like most people at that hour, I would assume. There was a murder then."

"You could say that", Virus deadpans, taking the card. "But that's all I can say. Are there any cameras around here? People who can confirm that?" Everyone is guilty until proven innocent. They can't let their sympathies get in the way of that.

"My moirail was hive with me," Lugnio says. "There are no cameras around my hive. I'm afraid to say."

Their moirail of all people. Virus sighs. "Anything else? Any emails with timestamps you sent, tv shows you watched, people you called?" Probably not at three in the morning.

Lugnio still looks calm as ever as she shakes her head. "No," she says. "I was asleep as would most of your suspects would be, I assume."

"Yes." Virus agrees. And, after a beat, "That's going to be a problem." As they get up, they take one last look around the hive to see if anything is suspicious, or if they maybe have an epiphany. "Call me if you remember anything else", they tell Lugnio, just as a distraction, before they slide her one of their business cards.

There's nothing unusual about the office. Lugnio accepts their business card and nods. "Of course, officer," she says. "Good luck."

"Thanks", they say, with the feeling that there's something vital that they're missing.

On the way out, Virus' phone rings. Caller ID shows that its Download.

"Yeah?", they grunt, after they've made sure that the door behind them is closed. That's all Download gets.

"Hey V," Download's voice comes in. "So we may have a slight problem. One of the interviewed witnesses is missing."

Download and Firewall

Ascemi Everra, you find is a barista in a little coffee shop in the city. They're a yellowblood, and the interview notes them as highly nervous. They were the deceased Izlato Crefex's moirail.

Firewall looks at the file dubiously, then back at the coffee shop's facade. "They're nervous, D," she says. "I'm going to scare the piss out of them if I'm not careful."

Download grins at her. "Then be careful you dolt. Smile a little, and don't make sudden movements. I'll soften you up a touch."

Firewall makes a dramatically pained face, then slides on a pair of moonglasses to hide her staticky psi-eyes. Shaking herself out slightly, she pushes the door open and stalks into the coffeeshop, scanning the staff for someone matching Ascemi's description.

There's actually quite a few people bobbing in and out of the coffee shop, business trolls and workers on their lunch breaks, grabbing a bite to eat. You don't get a second glance in the fuss. There's a small group of baristas working the orders, and you spot one that matches their description. They're a weedy little thing, with horns that curve around their head to the back. They've got a round face, and giant, round glasses that sit on a big nose, and they're busy mixing coffee in the back.

Firewall scowls and elbows her way to the front of the line. She drums her fingers sharply on the table to get attention, then signs, "Hello, we're here to speak to Ascemi Everra."

After a pause, she adds, "They're in no trouble."

Download pulls out his badge and flashes it towards the barista, and says. "Hi, we're Download and Firewall from the PDPO. We need to speak to Ascemi Everra." The barista glances back uneasily.

"Don't worry, they're not in trouble." The barista glances towards their coworker, whose calling out the name of a customer to step forward to accept their coffee. 

"Ascemi!" they say, and the two exchange a few quick words. Ascemi glances at the two cops nervously. "Hi," they say nervously. "Um, I need to get my manager real fast."

Firewall gestures acquiescence and tries to arrange her face into a softer, gentler expression. How well she fares is.... dubious. "We only want to talk," she says.

"Um," they say, and then dodges really quickly to the back. The barista in front holds a hand up, as if to prevent pursuit. "It's the lunch hour and we're busy," they say hastily. "We just need some... back up out here?"

"It's fine," Firewall says., craning her neck to watch Ascemi go. "We wouldn't want to... disrupt your..." She looks to Download for help, clearly floundering under her unaccustomed diplomacy. "Operation of business?"

"We wouldn't want to make this harder on anyone here," Download says. "We can wait." 

Ascemi comes hurrying out the back again, followed by a tealblood manager, short and nearly square shaped, with little round spectacles sitting on his nose. "If you would please step aside so business may continue?"

"Of course." Firewall attempts a pacifying smile. "We only want to question Ascemi about an old case they were involved in, if they wouldn't mind speaking to us." As Download translate this, she steps back from the counter, gesturing to a nearby table.

The  manager gives them a sharp look. "So they are not in trouble?" he asks. Download smiles down at him and shakes his head no. "We're simply here for a new perspective."

Ascemi takes off their apron as they come out from the back, nervously stepping around the two officers to sit down at the empty table. "Hello," they say, a slight waver in their voice. "What can I do to help you?"

Firewall sits down across from them, slumping a little in her seat to appear less imposing . "Would it make you more comfortable to have your manager stay with us? We want to talk to you about Izlato."

Ascemi glances behind the counter where their manager has taken their place in the working line and shakes their head. "It's fine," they say hesitantly. "Why do you want to know about Izlato? Did something happen?"

"We're taking another look into the case, in light of some new evidence." Firewall adjusts her glasses uncomfortably. "Did Izlato have any interest in or encounters with the occult in the nights before their death?"

Ascemi fiddles nervously with their lenses too. "No, they were very on the straight and narrow," they say. "They were studying for their Ascension exams when they were-" They look down. "You know. They were studying to be a legislacerator. They had hoped to work with the ISE."

"That must have been terrible for you." Firewall thinks about patting their hand, but decides nah, too much. "Did they notice anyone following them? Did you?"

Ascemi shakes their head no. "I don't think so," they say. "I know we were rails but they mostly took care of me instead of the other way around. I didn't notice anything strange, and I don't know if they would have told me if they did notice."

Firewall leans in a bit. "And their other quadrants? Can you tell me anything about them? Were you close as a clade?"

Ascemi shrinks back a little, as Firewall leans forward. 

"Um," they say. "Well. Izlato's ash, Delmei, they're dead now. It was a bus accident a sweep ago. Izlato's red, um-" They turn a little yellow as they rub the back of their neck. "She's scary. Somria never liked me. She Ascended, almost right after Izlato died."They smile hesitantly up at the two officers. "Well, neither of them liked me so much," they say. "Izlato sort  of kept me away from them."

Firewall leans back again and takes notes on her phone. "I see. And you haven't been in contact with her since?"

Ascemi shakes their head. "No. She's in space now primed to lead some Mirthful ship."

"Mirthful? Is she indigo, then?"

Ascemi nods. "She and Izlato were aiming to be partners within the ISE."

Firewall's eyebrows go up mildly and she glances sidelong at Download. "Interesting. Just a few more questions -- did you ever meet with the clade of the other victims? I understand there was some support group organized." She looks back at Download. "Say I want to hear what they think of the other trolls in that group, but like. Nicely."

"We understand that there was a sort of support group for the clades of the victims," Download says with a gentle smile. "Can you tell us how those meetings went?" Ascemi blinks owlishly up at you. 

"Oh," they say. "Yes. It was really just Diorxu and Seafti most of the time, and I came quite often. Lugnio too, sometimes? She didn't come very often too."

"It was nice, to talk to someone about it," Ascemi says. "Since Somria and Delmei didn't really like to talk about it. Seafti was devastated and Diorxu seemed just sort of lost."

"How long did you continue having these meetings? And what did you talk about?"

"Well, we had them all the way up until they caught the leader of the cult," Ascemi says. "And then we met up a couple times after that, before we stopped having them regularly. I still talk to Seafti sometimes though."

Firewall nods and tries to look understanding. "And this morning, where were you?"

"This morning?" Ascemi frowns, confused. "I was hive, getting ready for work."

"When did you arrive here?"

"Seven?" Ascemi asks, glancing between Download and Firewall, like an answer will suddenly appear on their faces.

Firewall raises her eyebrows again. "Is there anyone who can confirm your whereabouts at around three? It's very important."

"Um," Ascemi says, alarmed. "I was at hive, asleep. I live alone.""Am I- Am I a suspect? Handmaid, do you think I killed Izlato and the rest?"

"Of course not," says Firewall, but Download can probably tell from the way she's signing it that she's being completely insincere. "We have to ask everyone these routine questions for... administrative reasons."

Download repeats what she says but in a much more believable and charming way. "It's really just routine procedure," he says. "Don't worry, about it. But we may need to contact you later. Do you have a good number to do so?"Ascemi nods shakily, only half convinced, and gives you their number.

"Much obliged," says Firewall, with the slow, lazy gestures that are her version of a sarcastic drawl. "We'll leave you to deal with your work again now."

"Thank you," Ascemi says, and runs back for the safety of the counter, where their coworkers and managers all ask about what the heck is going on. "What do you think?" Download signs at Firewall.

"Seems shifty," she signs back. "Could just be normal shifty, though, not suspicious-shifty. No confirmation for the alibi, either."

Download simply shrugs. "Well it was very early in  the morning. Most people just aren't up then. Let's go."

Firewall nods and opens the door for him with a flourish.

Firewall's phone rings as she leaves the coffee shop. Neither Download nor Firewall recognize the number.

She fishes it out,  squints at the number. After confirming Download doesn't know who's calling, either, she answers the call, putting it on speakerphone but not immediately answering.

A thin shaky voice comes out the speakerphone. "Hello, Officer Firewall? It's Seafti, remember? The- the assistant?" Download pauses, glances up at Firewall, then leans over to speak into the receiver. 

"Hi Seafti, this is Officer Download. Firewall is right next to me." The next bit of words come out in a bit of a rush. "It's... It's Diorxu. They've  been acting kind of weird since I got back? I gave them the projector, but it was like it wasn't important anymore. They asked me to get some weird things and snapped at me when I asked questions and... I'm sorry to bother you but I thought I should... I should maybe call."

Firewall's eyebrows shoot up. "Tell her thanks," she signs rapidly. "Tell her she was right to let us know. Ask what Diorxu wanted her to get, and where they are now."

After Download translates, Seafti says, "A wig, a file, an envelope they had stashed in the bottom of a drawer... um, it was kind of thick but I'm not sure what was in it. Um, um. I'm at the wedding from earlier and I-" There's a crash through the sound on the phone. "Oh shit." is the last thing you hear before there's a short scream and a crunch, and the line goes dead.

Still holding the phone, Firewall looks at Download -- her eyes are wide as she signs (and mouths) the same words they just heard: "Oh shit." Then she swings into action, pulling up the address of the wedding. "We need to get over there," she signs. "We need to be over there ten minutes ago, but I'll take ASAP. Come on."

END HOUR FIVE

[pdpoofficial]

Case 1: The Fairy Figurine, Part 6

Firewall

You leave the office briskly and head for the archive. Your team's good at their jobs, and you're confident they'll turn something up, but for now, you really want a look at that figurine. At the evidence room desk, you show the attendant your badge. "Sergeant Firewall with the 77th," you say. "I'm here to see the evidence from this morning, the Miller case."

Narrator

"The Miller case?", the personell behind the desk asks, eyes wide. "Well, doesn't 77 already have that in their possession? Just ten minutes ago, Sniffer picked it up from here to get it analyzed again!"

Firewall

It's not impossible that Sniffer went and got the figurine for you, but... You narrow your eyes, and quickly tap out a text to her

FW: did you pick up the figurine from the evidence room

before turning back to the attendant. "Did she. Do you know where she's taking it?"

MM: What? I haven't touched it! Did someone else? FW: fuck.

Narrator

“...Well", the personell goes, increasingly nervous. "To you, I thought? ...She's going to return it, right? Because I'm on two strikes, and - " they adjust their hair. Three strikes, you're out. Whether that means culling or not depends on the gravity of the matter, and judging by the way they fidget, they suspect that this weighs heavy.

Firewall

The attendant looks jumpy as hell, and you don't blame them at all. "Look," you say with a sigh. "Did you actually see her, yourself, in person, come and get it? And are the security cams around here working?"

Narrator

"Yes!", they squeak, "I'm not lying, miss - they should have the footage in the cutting room! I can't actually go myself, but i can have someone else go and fetch it for you - " By this point, they're standing, looking about ready to bolt.

Firewall

"I don't think you're lying." God, the last thing you need right now is hysteria. "Just... stay here, okay. Don't panic. I'll go to the cutting room and see what's up there -- you go and check to make sure the figurine certainly isn't in the archive still. Check any other evidence you have from this case as well, please."

Narrator

They breathe and calm themselves, apparently remembering that they're still a professional, even in situations like this. "Yes, miss. I'll inform you over email." A pause follows, in which they open and close their mouth again like they're trying to decide whether to say more. "...And could you do the same?"

Firewall

You don't like swapping information with people outside of your team, but you do appreciate the speed with which this one got back to formality. "Will do. I doubt this is your fault, and I'll mention such should I be asked. What's your handle?"

Narrator

A sigh of relief. "Thank you, miss. The handle is oddityLibrarian, written like it's spoken." They stand at attention now, the typical position fleet members take in front of a superior officer.

Firewall

You nod politely and turn on your heel. They'll relax eventually, but you're far more interested in the footage from the camera above the desk. The cutting room isn't too far of a walk, especially with your typical fast pace. You stride in with a scowl already building on your face, because, honestly, this is some bullshit. "Right," you announce. "Who's got the footage from the archive room for the last hour or so? I need to see it immediately."

Narrator

On the cue of Firewall storminng into the room, it's like a derailed train finally hits the wall it's been heading for. The room is in disarray, but as she raises her voice, all the activity stops at once. Arguments are dropped, coffee mugs are tilted, and an empty water bottle rolls across the floor towards Firewall's feet. Hesitant, one of the cutters points towards the one Sniffer spoke to not even ten minutes ago. "He has the footage", she says, and earns herself a glare, but no protest.

Firewall

It's like a madhouse in here, because of course. Leave computer nerds in each other's company for five minutes, honestly. You cross your arms and sweep your gaze across the room until someone speaks up. "Thank you," you say icily.  "Was that so outrageously hard? You can all get back to work now." You point to the indicated cutter as you stalk in his direction. "Except you. Queue up the footage for me on the double, man, this is an urgent investigation."

Narrator

His mouth agape, he looks like he's frozen for a moment - before the cutter hurries to his spot, offering his chair to Firewall instead of taking it himself. "Of course, miss. Please. And - the footage, the footage." He fumbles the plug once before managing to stick it in his neck properly, but once he does, the screen turns into a rapid fire of color as he navigates through. Then an image of the archive room pops up, the time being fifteen minutes prior. Through the door, a figure moves - or, it could be a figure. What the camera picks up, instead, in one specific troll shaped spot: Is static.

Firewall

Nonplussed, you sling yourself into the chair and squint at the screen. You're not sure who you're expecting to see -- who would impersonate Sniffer? Who would screw with an internal investigation? -- but you're looking forward to having an actual suspect at last. Except it's not an actual suspect. It's ... it's static. "What's this?" you ask the cutter, jabbing a nail at the screen. "Is it a filming error, have you seen it before, what?"

Narrator

"Um", goes the cutter, fisting their hands into their uniform. "I have once, miss? I don't think it's a filming error, I think the camera's working fine. I think it might be - think it might be a person?"

Firewall

"Well, if it's not an error, then yeah, it's a person. Someone with stealth psi, from the look of things." You drum your fingers on the desk. "Mine just shorts out the camera; this is far more focused than that. You said you'd seen it before?"

Narrator

"Once, miss." The cutter closes his eyes as he lets image after image flicker over the screen - then hums in dissatisfaction as the images flicker faster. There's a shift, and they flicker backwards, then forward again - "...what? I could've sworn - " A library pops up, with thousands of tiny images, too small on the screen to even really see. "...What the hell", the cutter states.

Firewall

You sit up straighter, leaning closer to the screen. "What's going on?"

Narrator

"I." The cutter makes eye contact with his colleague, who leans over to listen. "It's gone." "What?", the colleague interjects. "It can't be gone. This is high security, you donkey. Footage doesn't disappear."

Firewall

"People in the PDPO don't get murdered in the Chief's office either," you point out,. "We're getting all kinds of fun new experiences tonight. You both saw the missing footage at one point, right? Describe it to me. Where was it taken, when, what did you see?"

Narrator

"...We saw someone take a laptop once", the second cutter explains, hand running through her short hair. "Came in through the front door, greeted the receptionist, and then walked right out with it." "The receptionist told us later that it was Shift, but she was on vacation in Neuja at that time."

Firewall

"And they showed up as static on the film?" you ask. "When was this? What was on the laptop? Because that--" you nod to the computer-- "was supposedly one of my teammates, who I know wasn't anywhere near the archive then. And now important evidence in the Miller case is missing."

Narrator

"Two sweeps back?" "Two, yes.", the colleague confirms. "No one knows what was so special about that laptop. It belonged to a newbie who was culled two weeks later for incompetence - but it was literally just paper work, nothing ground breaking." "There's a rumor - ", the short haired one starts, but her colleague hushes her. "Don't start with that bullshit!"

Firewall

"Tell me," you say at once. "Any detail, however small, could help."

Narrator

"There was a rumor", she continues, triumphant, "that that newbie stumbled on someone being dirty, and that's why they were culled." "There's also a rumor he was watching pailing videos, and that his matesprit was Bugflick Black. Come on, dude." "I'm just saying!", she says.

Firewall

It takes you a moment to uncouple the term dirty with the concept of pailing videos, but you manage it at last. "...Okay," you say. "And now the file's not here? How much footage is missing?"

Narrator

"The entire night. It's like someone was in a hurry and just cut it out", the longer haired one states.

Firewall

"The whole night." You uncaptcha a pen and scrawl notes down on your hand. "Okay. Show me the archive room footage from tonight again. And--" You frown. "Is there somewhere you can download it to, or print it out frame-by-frame? I don't want this vanishing on us too."

Narrator

Images flicker over the screen again, and the scene starts anew. "I'll be saving it to a us-bug drive and my pan, miss." His colleague looks at him like he's crazy, but doesn't comment further.

Firewall

"Good," you say with a curt nod. "Okay, now let it play, I want to see as much of what happens as I can."

Narrator

On the screen, the door opens. A figure walks through, more troll shaped static than anything. The archivist interacts with them as if there's nothing odd, nods at their hand as they extend it, then lets them through to the archive. The screen switches to the proper camera - the figure picks up the figurine calmly, then walks back out with it. As it travels, static nips at its edges, but doesn't swallow it. Then the archivist gives the figure a nod, and they disappear out the door again. The rest of the footage goes as follows The figure disappears in the bathroom, puts the figure into another ball of static that they seem to strap to their back, then calmly makes their way down hallways and out of the main entrance.  The cameras outside still pick them up, but it's not long until they disappear into the crowd.

Firewall

"...Well, fuck." You slump back in your seat. "They're just fucking gone, I guess. But thank you. Kindly send me a copy of this footage, I... am likely to need it later, I suspect." You stand up briskly, rubbing your temples, and head for the door.

Narrator

Firewall barely gets to step a foot out the door before her tablet chimes, and the footage starts downloading onto it. On her way down the corridors, she passes the hallway leading to the interrogation rooms - where a troll is being led down in handcuffs. She mumbles something under her breath, movements erratic, until something seems to flip. "I can feel it", she shouts out, voice getting louder with every word, until it booms. "Something was here! Something was here!" It's followed by the immediate, unmistakable sound of a taser being activated, a scream - and then, utter chaos as she breaks her hand cuffs. She stares straight at Firewall, then fires a ball of light - something so quick, you would have missed it if you blink. And miss it she does - despite her efforts to dodge, and even despite her powers, the ball of light burns itself into her right shoulder, right at the point where muscle connects to bone. Thankfully, this was only the edge of the attack - the psionic is sloppy, and the rest of it lands in a wall behind Firewall. The psionic curses, but still decides to try her luck, running straight at our detective.

Firewall

The psionic attack burns agonizingly, but you have barely time to yell out your pain before the recently-escaped prisoner charges you. She's fast, but sloppy-crazy, and you side-step her initial rush. Once she's past you, you step forward, grab her arm with indigo-strength, and twist it up behind her back. You take hold of her other wrist with your right hand, ignoring the way your wound wrenches. "Stop," you say coldly. "You'll dislocate your shoulder. What was here? What do you know?"

Narrator

The psionic cries out, but isn't brazen enough to keep pushing as Firewall grips her. "Something!", she whimpers. "Something, something. Holy, maybe? Or touched by it." This close, it becomes apparent that there are tattooed white lines strewn across her freckled grey skin; lines that might be familiar to Firewall. Cultist symbols.

Firewall

Your grip tightens on her arms, and you twist her left one harder, hard enough to bruise. Cultists, again, and always. Cultists,  because the world seems like it will never be cleansed of them, like there will always be another hiding under some rock or in some dripping sewer. "There's nothing holy here," you say, voice clipped and icy. "There's none of the corruption you call holiness either. This is the PDPO, and we do not permit that here."

Narrator

This time, she cries out louder, tears starting to run down her cheeks. "I'm sorry", she weeps, "Sorry, sorry! I know there's no place for me in these walls, I know!" The two officers who had detained her take over from there, clipping a standard class-3 nullifier around her neck before they put her in handcuffs again. "Sorry", one of them says to Firewall, "that shouldn'tve happened. We'll take care of it." Leading her back down the hallway, it doesn't seem like they have to; all the fighting spirit the psionic seemed to have is gone.

Firewall

They haul the cultist away, and you can't respond to their apologies because you're too busy fighting the urge to tear said cultist's throat out with your bare hands. You grind your teeth, clap one hand over your aching shoulder, glance once more around the room for any trace of contamination, and go on your way.

[mirkstrolls]

△Firewall, if you had to save only one of your team and kill the rest, who would you pick, and why?

i pick you does that count

…

i would have to pick download because ive known him longest

but i would not let this situation happen in the first place

[10/10, don’t make her think about this]

[mirkstrolls]

New Troll On the Block!

She’s actually been here a while, but this is Firewall’s official intro post. You can find her at https://mirkstrolls.tumblr.com/ohshitthefuzz, and I’m going to be posting some stuff related to her today!

[mirkstrolls]

INKTOBER - DEFIANCE

[CODENAME: FIREWALL] 7.5 sweeps//14ish Earth years PDPO Headquarters, Malseka cw: attempted murder of a child

Above you, a humming white light. Brighter than any candle: you cannot remember any light so bright and clear since before the cult took you. They let you wash the blood off your hands before they put you in here, but you can still see it caked under your nails. In your nailbeds. The light makes it look black.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

You look up. The troll across from you is dressed in an iron-gray uniform, clean Imperial lines; not angry, her face, not hateful.

Pitying.

“We’ve been trailing your people for years. What do they call themselves? Children of the Redeemer? They’re crafty ones -- most of them fled when we turned up. Except the ones with you.”

Your hand creeps up to your neck, to the thick pad of bandages there. When the Imperials came, you were kneeling for the tattoo needle, hair pulled away from your neck so that Sister Nadloj could work. You barely noticed the commotion, until Sister Lorataga grabbed you by the arms, pulled you up--

“It wasn’t a murder-suicide,” says the Imperial. “They didn’t try to kill anyone else, not even the other children. What’s different about you?”

A knife at your throat, its bite a sharp and sudden pain -- your own indigo blood gushing out over your hands, down your shirt, matting your long hair--

The Imperial shifts in her seat. “You’re going to have to talk to us sometime,” she says.

Do you, though? You guess Sister Lorataga is dead, and everyone else they captured, otherwise they’d know that you don’t speak to anyone. And they took your notebook with the rest of the things you had on you.

“I understand you’ve indicated that you can’t speak out loud. My bosses say it’s just that you won’t.”

Of course. You pointed at your mouth and shook your head, covered your lips and your bandaged throat with your hands, you hadn’t even screamed when they pulled you out of Sister Lorataga’s grasp -- but leave it to the Imperials to think you’re lying. 

There’s a long stretch of silence: you feel her eyes on you, but keep your gaze on the metal table. Then she slides a pad of paper across to you. Lays a pen on top of it.

You look up warily.

“Look.” She flips her hair, looks, suddenly, only a few sweeps older than you. She’s leaning in now, trying to catch your eyes. “As far as I can tell, the cultists tried to kill you and then left you with us. So however special you were to them, you’re not now.”

You hadn’t even thought to fight back, after the first cut. Sister Lorataga held you while Sister Nadloj stepped closer to finish you--

The Imperial’s talking again. “Our scans say you have some interesting psionics. We can help you train those. We can look after you. We can stop them from trying to kill you again. What do you owe them, really?”

Every member of the cult knows it’s better to be culled than to say anything to the Imperials. But your own blood is still on your hands. The glare of the overhead light might be pitiless and cold compared to the shifting candle-shadows of home, but it shows the entire room in sharp relief. You can see clearly for the first time in what feels like forever.

You look up, setting your jaw.  Picking up a pen, you write a few deliberate sentences on the pad, turn it back to face her.

I’m the Redeemer’s daughter. I don’t know why they wanted to kill me, but I know a lot. What do you want to know?

[mirkstrolls]

△ Firewall, what would you do if any of your team had a crush on you?

ha very funny none of them do

the only reason people think we are dating is because policy is to have teams living together

do not make it weird

they are my team which is a closer bond than quadrants anyway and i would not sacrifice that bond for a crush

[3/10, she hears this a lot, but still thinks it’s dumb >:/]

[mirkstrolls]

👜 for firewall!

also asked by @havesomefantrolls! 

Send me 👜 and a troll and I’ll tell you what’s in their sylladex!

Firewall carries very few things!

Her PDPO badge

A very slick, cutting-edge palmhusk that she keeps accidentally breaking. Indigo strength + tendency to punch things = a difficult life 

An indigo bandanna to tie her hair back with

Key to the hiveblock

Two pairs of sunglasses

A pack of cigarettes

A lighter

Random pebbles/bits of glass/bits of metal she’s picked up on the streets

Some random selfie Download took of the whole team, which she has meticulously printed out and put in a clear sleeve so it doesn’t get damaged

A stress ball shaped like a furby (specifically to bug virus)

A backup Bowie knife

[ladytrollfishes]

The Copy Cat Cultist: Hour 3

Installment #3: Sniffer talks to the street kid who tackled Virus. Virus does a deep dive into the previous case files. Download and Firewall contact the last surviving cultist- who has been helmed. 

SNIFFER

While the rest of the team was doing their own thing, Sniffer was standing in front of the door to the kid's hotel room. The trip there was hell, to say the least. At least there was only one person to contend with inside, she thought as she quietly knocked on the door.

There's a pause, then she can hear the kid's voice emanate from the room- "Who's there?" he shouts.

"It's me!" Wait. He won't know who 'me' is. "Sniffer! We spoke earlier?"

There's a pause, and the door nudges open. The kid from before floats up near the ceiling, cautiously peering over the door. Sniffer can hear his suspicion ease, and he lands, and opens the door wider.

"Do you have food?" he asks. "Ah!" That's right, food. She completely forgot about food. At the very least, she can offer up this granola bar she shoved in her inventory at some point. 

"It's not much, sorry." She says, apologetic as she steps inside and holds out the bar to him, shutting the door behind her. "I kind of forgot to grab anything before I left."

"Bring something better next time," he says, but Sniffer can hear him think eagerly about eating the granola and he tears it open accordingly. "Whaddaya want?"

"Excuse you!" She says, resisting the urge to stick out her tongue. She's a professional, damn it. "And, well," 

How does one talk to a child about dead quadrants and do it smoothly? Where is Download when you need him? Might as well just get it out and over with. "I need you to tell me more about Munvit."

"Oh," the kid says, and flops onto the pile in the room. Sniffer can see that he's had a bath since he's gotten the room. The police lady doesn't care about him, obviously. She wants to know everything about Munvit, but she hasn't even asked him what his name is.

Oops. Does Sniffer feel bad now? She feels very bad now. This kid doesn't really have too many people who care about him, she imagines. Luckily for her, the kid doesn't exactly know about the trick up her sleeve. "Speaking of-" She knees down to his level, smiling and holding out her hand. "I don't think I ever got your name.

The kid spits in his hand and shakes Sniffer's hand. It's a sign of bonding! He's doing it because he knows adults think it's gross and maybe she'll leave them alone. "I'm Sanzas." He says.

Sniffer makes a face, steeling her nerves before grabbing his hand and shaking it. Ew ew ew. "Nice to meet you, Sanzas. How's your leg, by the way?" She forces herself to smile despite her crawling skin.

It itches more than hurts, unless he touches it. "It's fine," he says, smirking at the forced smile on Sniffer's face.

"If you'd like it wrapped, let me know." Oh, this little shit. You know you walked right into that one. "Stop that." She says, a hint of humor in her voice before she sits on the edge of the pile proper to talk to him. 

 "Tell me about yourself." She gestures to him, deciding that maybe the roundabout way if getting information might be better than direct questioning. Sanzas definitely seems like the type to give you the runaround if he doesn't want to answer the question.

Sanzas scratches his head, unsure of what Sniffer wants to know or what to say. “I’m Sanzas aaand,” he says. “I like farts.”

That one earns a confused laugh from her. What even? Is this what pupas are normally like? 

"I'm glad to hear that!" She manages between giggles. "Tell me more about where you live." She suggests, narrowing it down for him.

Sanzas smiles a little before he forces it down to a frown. He thought she wanted to talk about Munvit, why did she want to know where he lived? It was small and rundown and in the swamp. “I dunno, it’s mine,” he says. “It’s a place.”

She nods, her brows furrowing together. Was it possible the new killer came from around that area? Maybe. Especially if they're not very strong like the senior officers suspect. 

"Did anything out of the ordinary happen there in the last few days?"

Sanzas squints at Sniffer, unsure of what she’s asking. “No,” he says. “Ain’t a lot of people in the swamp.”

She nods again, feeling the anxiety creeping in. She can speak just fine to adults. But kids from the swamp? S. O. S. Though the mention of not a lot of people hits her. There really would be nobody to find someone who died there. 

"I'd imagine not," She tucks her hair behind her ear. "I was thinking more, were there any strange trolls prowling around or something of the sort." Another pause. 

"Ah...how long were you and Munvit separated for after your fight?" Sanzas thinks for a second, but there’s been no one creeping where he’s been. “Three nights,” he says, kicking the back. Three nights. So that gives you a time frame between when he was last seen and when he was found.

"Can you tell me more about his other friends?" She's not going to ask if he even had other friends, but the thought does cross her mind all the same. If the place is that isolated, the answer is probably not very many.

“He talked with the coffee lady in the park lots,” Sanzas says, scratching his head. “She liked him and gave him hot chocolate sometimes.” 

There was a bunch of other pickpockets he’s run with too, but whatever Sanzas was, he’s not a snitch and he ain’t telling the police lady who else is running around stealing wallets.

Sniffer definitely is not about to inform him that he did, in fact, just tell her that. "Do you know the coffee lady's name?"

Sanzas shakes his head. “She’s always in Alestir Square Garden,” he says. “Sometimes on Freeman and Bolstic. But usually on Alestir.”

Sniffer pulls out her notepad and pen, jotting that down. If she's usually there and they're that close, maybe Munvit went to go visit her sometime during their separation? 

 "Who else did he talk to regularly? Anyone new?" Besides the obvious pickpocketing victim, of course. ...If he was a randomly picked target of someone he stole from, this case is going to get a whole lot harder to figure out.

Sanzas shakes his head. “Munvit doesn’t talk to new people easy,” he says. There was a bunch of new kids trying to take more turf down the block but Munvit wasn’t talking to them any, but maybe one of them killed him. It’d figure- start picking off the old gang and take up the old territory.

Another note in the pad. More turf, but Munvit didn't speak to them. That could be another angle to look into. There could be a chance of someone wanting to win a turf war and using the old case to make a statement. "Did you know any of those other kids personally?" What old gang? Sanzas shakes his head no. He’s crossed paths with a couple of them, but no real words exchanged except insults. 

"Hmm..." She taps her chin with her pen, eyes flicking over her notes as she thinks. "Another question..." Her voice drops slightly. This IS someone's quadrant she's talking about here. 

"Do you know anyone who was just particularly not fond of Munvit?" He was a lowblooded pickpocket, of course someone would want to hurt him and of course lots of people probably didn't like him. But a ritual killing? That's a different story. Narrowing down his list of enemies might serve you in the future, if any names on the list ever pop up further in the investigation.

Sanzas shrugs. Well. “There’s a shopkeeper who hates him,” he says. “She runs this corner shop he hangs around.” Sanzas pauses. No, Munvit won’t do that anymore. ‘Cause he’s dead. “Hanged around. He stole a bunch of stuff from her once. Dunno her name.”

“Also, Ashant doesn’t like him since he punched his pale crush in the face,” Sanzas lists off. He doesn’t like Ashant or the shopkeeper lady either. Sending the cops after them should cool their jets a little. If anyone did it it’s Polflo and her dudes.

More notes. More names. More leads to look into. Ashant, Polflo...She briefly wonders if maybe Download would know any of these names, despite not having lived down in that area for a while. And of course, there's more pangs at Sniffer's pumper. 

 "Hey." She says, putting the pen down and forcing herself to smile. She'd be halfway dead inside if anything happened to her team and she's not even quadded to any of them. "We're going to find who did this to him, okay? I promise." 

She starts to put a hand up then drops it. "I'm going to talk to my team for a bit. And when I come back, would you like anything in particular to eat?" The least she could do is bring him some food, right?

“Barbecue ribs,” Sanzas says immediately. “With a strawberry milk shake and bacon cheese fries.”

"Hey, strawberry shakes are my favorite too!" She laughs. "I know the best place to get one, too. I'll be back later today." She winks at him, waving as she approaches the door. "And-I probably don't need to tell you this, but it's my job. Keep the door locked and don't open it for anyone until I get back, okay?"

 She looks over her shoulder at him, watching him. "Okay,” he says and nods, bouncing on the pile. If he needs to leave he’s gonna leave. But this is pretty nice also.

"I'm serious. We need to-" No, no. You can't tell him that part. "Ah. Keep the door locked and stay inside or no shake for you, Sanzas." Sanzas groans loudly. 

“Fiiiiiine,” he says.The food would make it worth it.

She can't help but giggle. He's obnoxious, but kind of adorable. "See you soon." 

She steps into the hall and closes the door behind her, immediately pulling out her communicator when she takes a few steps down the hallway. She's got information to relay.

  VIRUS

There's a lot still unclear to Virus here. So while their teammates are out doing more exciting things, Virus sits down in the PDPO and shuffles through file after file. If they're honest, that's what they're good at anyways. First of all, and starting in hemo order, they want to see the individual cases. Mask pushed down and nursing a coffee, they stare at the first file.

The first file states that the first victim- Diafke Uksuso was a maroonblood who lived in the slums of Malseka. Their body was discovered on the outskirts of town by two teenagers looking for a quiet place to take mind honey. 

Uksuso had several neighbors who gave comments on their unpleasant personality and did not have close friends or quadrants.

Diafke was murdered with blunt force trauma, a blow to the head, and was taken to a flat area in the woods where their chest was broken open, a sigil was drawn in their blood and their heart was crushed. The case was assigned to a pair of other detectives first- Poppyseed, Disaster, Informer and Freelock, and then reassigned to Shadeeye's squad in Major crimes when the second body was discovered.

Virus takes several notes on this: Blunt trauma, ritual held in remote place, no one who would miss them. Then, solemn, they flip to the next victim

The next victim, Terrat Engate was discovered in an abandoned warehouse. The search for the body began after his moirail, Diorxu Ildoh, an indigoblood reported him missing and noted that their rail had been feeling like they had been followed for some time. Security footage recorded Terrat walking to the warehouse of his own apparent will followed by a hooded figure. Terrat was strangled on site, a sigil drawn in his blood, his chest opened and his heart crushed.

Virus takes notes again: Remote location, probably scope out victims for some time, which lines up with what Shadeeye and Steelwit reported. Possibility of mind control or  good liars. Then they flip to the next file.

Drezum Hielru was murdered in their hive. They were a fairly powerful psion and used it to make a deliver business that allowed them to live beyond what lowbloods usually have in Malseka. However, there was no signs of a psionic struggle. The door was not bashed in prior to discovery of the body, and the hive itself in a fair amount of order. Drezum was discovered by Khedes Zuskus, one of their regular customers, after a package wasn't delivered on time. 

Khedes knocked down their door to discover the body an called the police. Drezum left behind a matesprit and an auspistice, Niosno Eiscax and Lugnio Akzioz.

Second instant of a missing struggle. Signs are increasingly pointing to mind control. Again, body wasn't left in a public place, unlike the current murder. Virus scribbles down the different contacts, also going back to do it for the other two files, then moves on from the yellowblood.

Crinix Dancio was kidnapped from their hive. The PDPO was lying in wait for the cultists that night thanks to Odddream's tips. There was a fight that resulted in a near even trade- PDPO captured Tildia Diammi, but Crinix was taken away. Crinix was found in a back alley not far from the crime scene. The theory was that Crinix was killed in the getaway car and a few cultists had left it to complete the ritual while the others drew the attention of the police. Crinix was strangled, barehanded, her chest carved open and her heart crushed. Crinix's matesprit, Seafti Istuye found the body while passing through to visit her matesprit.

Olive murder was a rush job due to intervention, but still not in a public place. Cult still tried to pull through after loss of personnel, so they probably don't need a high number of people for their rituals, or even a specific one. Possibility of a one-man-operation? Virus closes the file, tapping their fingers on the desk next to their cooling coffee. The alleyway doesn't make sense. It's like the killer wanted the PDPO to find the body. Then they move on to the next report.

This is Odddream's murder. Odddream had returned hive early to sleep and see if they could dream up any more hints. Steelwit was the first to go hive with a headache to find Odddream's body in their living room and a cultist's hand in Odddream's chest. 

Steelwit spotted two cultists in cloaks and masks, and when she arrived with her gun drawn, she fired and killed the one who had crushed Odddream's pumper. The remaining cultist fled out the back but a third cultist was waiting there and shattered Steelwit's knee. She shot the cultist who injured her in the side but they fled the scene. 

Steelwit was unable to move and her phone battery was dead so it wasn't until Shadeeye returned hive, late, that she was able to get mediculler help. Unfortunately her leg never recovered. Thanks to the injury Steelwit inflicted on the cultist, a patrol was able to identify the culprit and two cultists were caught. 

Steelwit came home early to find the victim, possibly suspicious. Virus pushes themself away from the table. The last puddle of their coffee is cold, but they still throw it back. 

Finding one of their squad members dead like that - With the empty mug in hand, they take a moment to just stare at the wall. And then they shake the images of their dead friends out of their head, because they're a fucking professional, and keep working the case. 

They'll have to see later if there's any footage of the fight between Steelwit and the cultists. Because if there isn't, she's a prime suspect. She even has the injury as an alibi; it's almost too perfect. They'll also have to see if there's a standard uniform for the cultists. Note: Cloaks and masks. Then they move on to the teal case.

With the information gathered from Tildia, with the additional two captured cultists, they learned there were 6 cultists left. Town hall discovered the missing files of the victims, and alerted PDPO which allowed them to arrest the cultist who was stealing files. Izlato Crefex was the final victim.

 PDPO had ID’d her as the next victim from the missing town hall files. However, she insisted on maintaining a normal schedule with police protection. 

Unfortunately she disappeared from her escort’s sight. Her body was found in a back alley in town. She was murdered on her way home from work. She was strangled, barehanded, her chest carved open and her heart crushed. There was a wound on her hand from the same knife that carved open her chest that the ME speculated was self defense.  

She was put on a sigil drawn in her own blood and found by the garbage people several hours later when they were doing their rounds. Izlato left behind three quads, ash, pale, and pitch. Tildia gives the name of the cult leader, Girrea Inrifa, a navyblood who served as an advisor in city hall, and arrests are made accordingly. 

The captured cultists turn on each other for offers of leniency and quick deaths as opposed to forever tortured and the final members of the cult are arrested and sentenced. 

DOWNLOAD AND FIREWALL Download looks at the slip of paper that has the helm's captain's contact info on it- "Keenfire, tumblingOdyssey" with the sale paper of the ship "The-Silent-Dive-Of-An-Owl's-Wings-As-It-Springs-Upon-It's-Prey" formerly Tildia Diammi, ex-cultist.

"Shall we?" he asks Firewall.

She nods briefly, then her lips quirk up as she signs, "Do you think they call it Silent? Bit ironic, that."

"Who knows?" DL shrugs and smiles back. "Maybe his pan nanny ensures it."

Firewall mimes laughing and marches over to the -- i presume the PDPO has some sort of video-call conference room -- to ring up the captain.

The call spends some time ringing, before a tanky tealblood picks up the call- their face is round, with tell-tale Rickshaw splotches over their ears and cheeks, and they blink nervously into the screen before coughing into their fist.

"This is Captain Keenfire speaking," they say in slightly accented Standard. "This is the- er, Policeradication Department for Peace and Order? How may I help you?"

Firewall gives them a pleasant smile, which would maybe be less worrying if she stopped showing off all her damn teeth while she does it. She starts signing. 

"Greetings, Captain Keenfire. We understand the helmsman of your ship was involved in a case of cultism and serial murder several sweeps ago, and we would just like to ensure it is still functioning properly."

Keenfire blinks surprised several times and looks back to where you presume the helmblock must be. 

 "I have noticed no such malfunctions!" they say. "When I purchased it on auction I was aware of it's history and so I've kept restrictions to a high standard, but it's been working splendidly as a helm for three sweeps now. Not a blip of malfunction."

"Is there anyway we can speak to the helm itself? I'd like to question it about its compatriots, if possible."

Keenfire hesitates then considers the request. "Well I suppose I could lower the restrictions to allow access to this an only this video channel," they say. "Yes, yes that should be possible. You're lucky we're docking at the moment." 

 Keenfire types for a moment, then the screen splits in two, one half to a security footage shot of the permahelm in Keenfire's ship, the other remaining on Keenfire's face. A tinny, mechanical voice comes from the console. "Fuck you."

"Fuck you too," Firewall signs amicably. "Did any of your cultist friends escape the raid three sweeps ago?

"Now, Dive," Keenfire says and fiddles with the keyboard some more. "That is not very pleasant. I am sorry officers, I have kept it on silent for so long I haven't turned on any of the profanity filters. I will fix that immediately."

"Knew I'd get one shot at that lol," the helm says. "Three sweeps of silence and I get one F bomb out. Anyway you know, I still don't see any eeny weeny teeny reason I should tell either of you a single thing."

"Not even for relaxed privileges? A meal of real food, perhaps?" Firewall taps her claws absently on a table for a moment.  "Or perhaps my forbearance in not demanding your immediate execution."

"Hey!" Keenfire squawks. "Dive is my property, and I paid good money for it! There is nothing dysfunctional in its ability to helm, and it's only though my goodwill that I am allowing you to speak to it at all. You have no papers requisitioning my ship, and I am currently quite a few lightyears away from Alternia as it is."

"Yeah what they said," the helm drawls. "Honestly, you'd probably be doing me a favor. I'd put my eyes out if i have to watch this pompous mother lover prance around naked in the mirror and gel their hair again."Keenfire turns bright blue and slams a key and shunts away the helm again.

Firewall briefly closes her eyes and inhales deeply. Down by her side, where the video doesn't catch it, she signs, THIS MOTHERFUCKER to Download.To Keenfire, she continues, "It's succeeding in baiting you, I see. Kindly bring it back."

Keenfire shakes their head and sniffs. "I see no reason why I should!" they exclaim. "Are you going to continue making threats you cannot enforce? You do not have a warrant and I am far outside your jurisdiction so you cannot force me to do anything. I will not sacrifice my helm for an investigation I care nothing for."

Download puts a hand on Firewall's shoulder and steps forward. "It's a very important case," he says. "We'd indebted to you if you gave us a hand."

Firewall is dying internally, but she shoots Download a grateful look. Diplomacy is nowhere near her strong suit

Download gives Keenfire his most charming smile. "We're obviously not going to requisition your helm, Captain," he says. "And any promises we can make to Dive will be made with your approval, since of course, it is your helm." 

Keenfire settles his ruffled feathers a tad and sniffs. "Of course," they say. "I'm not objecting to helping what I'm sure is a deserving cause, officers, but there is a limit to what I can give!" 

 "Of course of course," Download says. "This is such a key piece of information, honestly, any sacrifice you'd  make should be honored, right Firewall?" He glances towards her and nods. "Perhaps it'd even deserve a plaque."

"Oh by all means give the pompous asshole a plaque." Firewall keeps her face in a bland, polite smile. "Don't tell them I said that. Thanks for making nice."

"It's twenty caegars for a trophy," Download signs back. "It doesn't need to be official, we just need to get this guy to talk." 

 "A plaque would be appropriate," Download translates instead. Keenfire huffs. "I see what you're doing,"  they say. "I don't need a plaque, young man, but you cannot have my helm. What would you want to promise?"

Firewall pulls a face. "What does it want? And what is the captain willing to offer it?"

Download signs back a shrug instead of showing Keenfire exactly what he's thinking. "Well," he says out loud. "The helm did make a request regarding your habits in front of the mirror." Keenfire turns blue again.

"I do not want to hear a word about my 'mirror habits,'" Keenfire snaps back. "What I do in my own time is not any of your business or any of my helms. I am very close to hanging up, officers."

Firewall continues to die inside.She signs, awkwardly, "Sorry, Captain. We have been under a lot of stress lately. What does your helm want? And what would you be willing to give it?"

Keenfire sniffs. "How should I know what a helm wants?" he says. "I do not talk to it." "Perhaps," Download begins. "For a one time deal, your helm insults you for sixty seconds. We don't have to listen to it, but your helm gets sixty seconds to say whatever it wants before you shut it down again."

Keenfire hesitates. "Alright but I want the plaque."

"Tell him we'll get his damn plaque." Firewall smiles politely at Keenfire. "And then, like, shoot me in the head."

"You'd deserve nothing less," Download says. "Now can you bring back Dive? We have to ask it if it'll accept the terms." Keenfire takes a breath as if to steel themself for the oncoming barrage of insults, presses a button and the helm is back. 

"Yes," it says immediately. "I'll do it. I will take that deal. With profanity lifted." Keenfire nods stiffly. "Tell us what you know first," Download says. "Then the captain will lift the profanity filter."

Firewall nods her assent and motions for the helm to continue.

“Well,” the helm says. “You probably won’t like what I have to say.”“It’s still worth sixty seconds though. You just gotta put your head to it for a sec.”

Firewall irritably signs, "Get on with it."

“4 dictionaries, 3 anthologies, 5 religious, 5 kashi-hon, 35 fantasy, 6 love, 1 out-of-print, 8 wisdom, 12 epics, 1 radioplay, 7 bilingual, 4 yearbooks, 100 journals, 2 outsider, 1 historical, 5 non-fiction, 122 gothic, 4 apocalyptic, 2 liturgicals, 3 satires, 262 wordless, 7 outdoors, 12 remaindered, 1 textbook.”

The words flash across the screen as well. Keenfire blinks rapidly. “What was that?” They exclaim.

Download squints at the screen and quickly takes a screenshot.“I know what I said before, but I don’t wanna die,” the helm said. “So I’m not telling you more. That’s still worth sixty seconds yeah?”

"What." Firewall massages her temples. "Okay. Cryptic bullshit gets thirty seconds. Thirty seconds more for every clue you give us."

“Fine fine. Uhhhh what else do you wanna know? I don’t know jack about what’s going on back there,” the helm says.

“What if this is useless information?” Keenfire demands. “What if this cryptic mess is simply a cryptic mess?”

"That's possible, Captain," says Firewall. "But it's essential that we find out this information. Helm, can you tell us how many people were in your group total?"

“1”“2”“One, two?” Download asks.“Put it together jerk.”“Three? Twelve?”

"Gotta be twelve, three's too few."

“They only did get ten of them,” Download signs back.“Is that thirty more seconds or do I get ninety total?”

"Thirty for the library list before, thirty for the number, you're at sixty right now." Firewall rubs the back of her neck. "What entity did you serve? What were you trying to summon?"(edited)

“Cae’thergungnam”

"Ninety seconds. Does anything matter about the sacrifices besides their caste?"

“Nope”

"Hundred-twenty seconds. Were there any secondary hideouts aside from the one the police raided?"

“No.”

"One hundred and eighty. Download, anything else to ask?"

“I think you’ve got it covered, boss,” Download signs. Keenfire sputters. “No one said anything about _a hundred and eighty seconds. Am I to stand here for a full three minutes and be insulted?”

"Well," says Firewall innocently, "you could always sit down."

Download snorts and translates it as is. “Don’t worry,” he says. “We’ll send you two plaques.” And signs off.

Firewall glances at him sideways, clearly suppressing a laugh. "Two entire plaques?"

Download grins back at her. “Two whole plaques.”

She laughs soundlessly. "Did you get all of the list the helm showed us? We'll need that later."

Download nods and pulls on the screenshot. “It’s obviously some sort of cipher.”

"Oh, yeah, for sure." She leans over his phone to get a closer look, brows knit.

“I wonder why he told us like this instead of just. Answering the question.”

"He said he didn't want to die. I assume that means he fears retaliation from the cultists -- or the entity itself."

“Eugh,” Download shudders. “That would.... suck.”“It’s probably not the cultists though- he’s out all the way in space.”

Firewall pulls a face. "Oh, gross, I don't want to deal with some horrorterror on top of its loyal fans. We're going to have to sit down and look at this cipher... but maybe we should check back in with the others, first?"

Download nods. “We should keep each other updated.”

END OF HOUR THREE

[ladytrollfishes]

The Copy Cat Cultist: Hour 4

Hour 4: Virus watches some security footage. Sniffer looks up information on Steelwit and Shadeeye. Firewall and Download find and speak with the quads of the deceased, Diorxu and Seafti. 

Virus sits down to comb through video footage from the bakery’s security camera. Not the most glamorous job but someone has to do it! After fast forwarding through several hours of footage, Virus spots something. There’s a figure in a suncloak, dragging something through the light of the sun. Who ever it is is hunched over, with their hood up. The cloak draped over their build so it’s difficult to pinpoint a physical build. Whatever they’re dragging is below the window, but you can assume quite easily that it’s the body. The figure moves slowly- it takes an entire minute for them to get past the window and disappears.

Virus sends this two-something-minutes footage to the clipboard their team shares, or however else they're collecting digital evidence and notes. In the notes section, they write: "alone?"

--

Sniffer rises from her chair, quietly scribbling more notes in her notepad. She's going to need a new one soon, if only for this case alone. If they're going to be looking into senior officers, she's going to need to go through some very specific channels. Which leaves her with one reasonable option that won't immediately get her demoted. And that option has her standing in front of the chief's door, knocking on it and waiting.

Through the door, she can hear the captain's voice say. "Come in!"

"Hello? Captain?" She says, smiling politely as she pokes her head in the door. "Do you have a moment?"

The captain looks up from their desk of paperwork and waves Sniffer on inside. "Yes," they say. "I could use a break from signing papers. What do you need?"

"Well." She claps her hands together, straightening her back. "It's about the copycat caste. The leads we've been given so far require me to look into Steelwit and Shadeeye. Requesting access to the files, please."

The captain raises an eye. "You think they're suspects?"

"Not necessarily!" She chuckles awkwardly. Stay professional, Sniffer. "But, we need to know everything we can about both the previous case and the trolls who worked on it as part of the investigation."

"That doesn't necessarily mean you're authorized for their personal files," the captain says. "They were both vetted by PDPO and are held to the same expectations and responsibilities as your squad." They sigh. "I realize they don't get along very well, but that's no reason for you to skirt regulations."

"No, it's-" Well, this is your captain you're talking about. "We've been given a lead that an indigo troll may be related to the current case. But we don't know who it may be or in what capacity. We're trying to cover our bases, Captain."

The Captain sighs. "Well I can't give you Shadeeye's file," they say. "He's ranked same as I am, but Steelwit I can give you something for. If you have something more pertinent that points to Shadeeye as a suspect or  a person of interest then I might be able to give you something for that."They type at their desk for a moment then a ping comes to your phone with the file requested

"I'll take what I can get." You nod politely, eyeing up your phone as it dings. "Thank you very much, Captain. I'll report back with any relevant findings as soon as possible." She steps outside of the chief's office, letting out a nervous breath she'd been holding as she looks over the file in her phone.

The file that contains Steelwit's personal information is thick. It details the known beginnings of her life when she applied for the PDPO academy through her career and so on and so forthWhat would you like to look at?

Since Steelwit's early life isn't necessarily the most important piece of information right now, Sniffer decides to page through to the case in question first.

The file contains a brief explanation of the multiple murders she investigated during the cultist murders, and pages of typed up reports she had written herself on what she did and how she did it, with all the accompanying paperwork that was submitted, including gunshot reports and her own eyewitness accounts. There's a mediculler's report on the damage to her knee that causes her limp at the end of that section, and a recommendation she no longer be allowed to take field missions. It seems to be in line with what the case file says.

Useful enough. Sniffer then decides to read through who was last interviewed on the case, particularly if the color indigo popped up.

The color Indigo does pop up. Diorxu Ildoh, Somria Ilvone are the two indigo trolls who had quads murdered. It also shows up in Steelwit's personnel file. She's indigo.(edited)

She hums quietly to herself, making a mental note of the names before closing the file. She'll comb over the rest of this after talking to her team for a bit.

--

Firewall is leaning on her desk when Download comes back in. She looks up, smiles, signs, "Captain agreed to put a detail on the kid. He's gonna be antsy about it, I'm sure, but at least we avoid him getting picked off by the cultists. Did you get anything from that address?"(edited)

“Got a hive address and a business address,” Download says. “And a party address. Diorxu Ildoh is an event planner now.”

"Huh. Let's do business first, then hive, then party. What's the caste and pronouns?"

“Diorxu is already at this party apparently,” he says. “But their assistant is not. This is one of the indigos.”

"All right, then party first., assistant later. An indigo party planner? That's..." Firewall pauses. "Interesting."

"We should definitely talk to their assistant too," Download says, frowning and flipping back through his notes. "Seafti  Istuye was also related to one of the murder victims."

"Istuye is the assistant? Or is this another person we're talking about?"

"The assistant."

"The moirail of one victim has an assistant related to another victim? That's suspicious as fuck, D."

Download shuffles their papers some more, then points at a name. "They're also quadded to Shadeeye.""I think Diorxu definitely is worth talking to."

Firewall straightens up and flips up the collar of her jacket. "For sure. This city isn't that small. Let's hit the road."

The party that they're investigating is a handfasting- a highblooded pale handfasting, between a navy and a teal. It takes place on the rooftops of one of the buildings in the center of town. The party itself is enormous- underneath the light of the twin moons, at least two hundred people are attending, talking, laughing, dancing, and drinking champagne. The dark floor is punctuated with round tables draped with white table cloths and blue ribbons. A live band plays from a small stage and there are people shimmying on the dance floor. The buffet table is long- and Download eyes it as they walk off into the room. A security guard holds out a hand to stop them, tall and broad, with navy eyes. "Are you on the invitation list?"

Firewall is already looking mildly ill at ease in this environment, but she squares up to the guard confidently enough. She holds up her badge so they can see it and motions to Download to speak for her. "I'm Sergeant Firewall of the PDPO. This is my associate and interpreter, Officer Download. We're here to speak to the party planner, not to disrupt your festivities."

The security guard pauses a moment. “You mean Diorxu Ildoh?” Download nods. The security guard touches her earpiece. “There’s a couple of cops here looking for Mx. Ildoh,” she says. There’s a couple of beats before she waves you onto the roof and points in the direction of the band. “They should be there, behind the band.”

Firewall nods, signs a quick thanks, and starts sliding her way through the crowd, keeping an eye out for an indigo standing behind the band.

You spot a tall indigo troll, an inch taller than Firewall but weedy as a reed, with corkscrew horns curling towards the sky. They’re dressed primly in a shirt and vest with coattails and their hair tucked into a low, glossy ponytail. They’ve got round spectacles sitting on their nose as they peer down at their clipboard before they grab a radio and speak into it. “Be ready on my signal,” they say, and look up at you when you approach. “Yes, officers?” They ask. “I have five minutes before I must coordinate an event, so please, can we keep this short?”

"I assume you know we're from the PDPO. We just need any information you can recall about the murder of your quadmate."

Diorxu drops their clipboard, the color draining from their face. “Shadeeye is dead?” They whisper.

Firewall pokerfaces, but knowing her as well as he does, Download can probably tell she's trying not to laugh. "No, I'm sorry -- Your late moirail, Terrat Engate. Murdered in the cultist killings some sweeps ago?"(edited)

Diorxu flushes a deep indigo and bends down to pick up their clipboard. "Well," they say, significantly more harshly. "You would have done well to specify. Why do you want to know about Terrat? It was so long ago, and the case was put to rest."

"We're performing an internal review," responds Firewall. "Did Terrat have any contact, however small, with the occult before their death?"

Diorxu shakes their head. "No, not that I was ever aware of," they say. "Terrat was always jumping into things beyond their paygrade, so I suppose it's possible. Just not likely."

"And how about yourself?" Firewall smiles innocently.(edited)

Diorxu draws themself up, indignant. “No. Now I’ve never heard of police officers conducting a review of a closed case before, and I am quadded to a policeradicator Captain. Now just what is going on?”

Firewall exchanges glances with Download and subtly signs "Busted!" Then, to Diorxu, "Mix, we can't answer any questions about our current investigation. We're just looking for any possible details that may not have been covered in the initial reports."(edited)

Diorxu blinks, then glances around the crowd, and leans in so they can't be heard. "Your current investigation," they say. "So it's open again? What's going on? What details are you looking for? I'd be very happy to help, of course, but this is hardly the place."

"You're right." Firewall smiles wider, but not any more nicely. "This isn't the place. But we do need to talk to you ASAP -- will we find you home tomorrow evening, or would you prefer to come with us now?"

Diorxu looks around at the party, then checks their watch. The music dies off, and the band stops playing and Diorxu hurriedly pulls a business card from a little plastic pouch on their clipboard and pushes it to Download. "I have things to take care of here," they say. "Please find me tomorrow at my hive at around 6. And here's my card." Diorxu steps around you to make it onto the stage. "Good evening everyone!" they cheer. "I hope you're having a wonderful time!!"

Firewall pockets the card, but doesn't leave yet, head cocked as she listens to Diorxu. "I want to get some context for them as a person," she explains to DL.

Download glances around the party. "Here?" he asks. "Or back with their assistant"

"Just this speech." Firewall points with her chin to Diorxu, on stage. "Once they're done, back to the assistant."

Diorxu waves to the crowd as they all cheer. "I hope this party is going amazing! I won't keep it from you long, but just so you know, you should look up!" they exclaim, throwing an arm to the open sky. 

"Because we're going to get some fireworks!!!" The party cheers again as bright rockets from the distance shoot up over the rooftops, exploding into pink diamond shapes while the blueblood couple hug each other from the middle of the dance floor. Diorxu gestures for the band to start up again and trots down the stairs, giving the both of you a quick smile, tucking their clipboard under their arm and walks off to shoot off a few more texts.

Firewall raises her eyebrows and gestures for Download to come with her as they leave the party. "Is the assistant at the business still?"(edited)

"Should be," he signs. "Should I make a call?"(edited)

"Nah, let's walk in unannounced."

Download laughs. "Sure."

Firewall grins back at him. "Maybe we'll catch them off guard! Or maybe we'll just be rude. I'm fine with either."

The event planning office is a small one with a handful of staff in the corner of a building. Firewall and Download get in pretty easily from the front and ride to the correct floor where a receptionist smiles at them from behind his desk. "How may I help you?"

Firewall leans her entire lanky indigo self on the desk -- just close enough to the receptionist to be a little disconcerting, but not close enough to actively threaten him. She signs, "Hi there. We're with the PDPO, we're looking for a Seafti Istuye, are they around?"

The receptionist leans back a little, as Firewall leans in, with his eyes flickering to the side. "Oh," he says. "She just left, but you might be able to catch her. The little brownblood with the horns that look like flowers."

"Thanks." Firewall winks cheekily. "You're a peach." She spins on her heel and strides back out of the business, scanning the hallway for Seafti. Brownblooded, small, horns like flowers? She's not quite sure who to look for, or how to tell if anyone's just gotten into the elevator.

You catch a glimpse of Seafti, with a box full of cables and a projector in her arms phase straight through the door without pausing to open it. Psi, perhaps. She's walking at a brisk pace, nearly running and turns a corner almost as soon as you see her.

Firewall frantically waves at Download, signing CALL TO HER, CALL TO HER. She stomps loudly once, gives that up as a bad idea, and lopes down the hall and around the corner after Seafti.(edited)

Download runs after Firewall and Seafti, waving at her and shouting out, "Seafti! Seafti Istuye!" Seafti glances behind her to see who's calling after her, and when she sees two tall trolls, an indigo and an anon calling for her by name, she bolts. And she doesn't bolt down the street, she bolts into the building, phasing through walls with her psi.

Firewall's face is a picture of Are you kidding me right now.  She bursts through the door that, as best as she can tell, corresponds to the room Seafti has just phased into

Seafti sees her as Firewall bursts back into the building and whirls back around, phasing through the wall again. Download whips out his badge and flashes it at her. "We're police!" he exclaims. "We just want to ask you some questions!"!roll 2d6

@Download rolled 6. (4 + 2 = 6)

Nevermind, Download doesn't get the badge out before Seafti drops the projector and peppersprays him.

Download doesn't react like he should, which is yelling and screaming, but now he can't see. Seafti turns and runs away from his grasping.(edited)"We are the police!" he yells. "We're not going to hurt you! We're just asking questions!"

Seafti turns around, hesitantly at Download waving his badge blindly around, her hands flying to her face in horror. "Ohmigod I'm so so so sorry!"

Firewall follows Seafti out more conventionally, just in time to catch her coming back to apologize. She storms over, signing furiously,."What did you do?" She puts a hand on Download's shoulder, shaking it gently. "Can you see," she signs with the hand against his arm. "Is it hurting, or just bothering you?"

Firewall signs against him and Download feels around for her shoulder. "I can't see," he whines plaintively. "She doused me in pepper spray. I can taste the capuscin." Seafti shrinks  back from Firewall's fury and stutters out another apology. "Is he- is he okay?""I'm fine," he says. "I just have to clear out the ports."(edited)

Firewall smiles briefly, bumping her shoulder against his. Then she fishes out her phone and starts typing furiously. Eventually, the phone begins to spit her words out in an electronic voice: "Download fix your ports please. Are you--" and here Firewall gestures at Seafti-- "Seafti Istuye. We are with the PDPO we just want to talk to you for a few minutes. No need to get so excited."

Download gives a thumbs up. "I'm going to go find a bathroom," he says. "I'm sure you can handle this without me." He puts a hand against the side of the building and trails it back to the entrance door of the office building. Seafti chuckles nervously, then bends down to pick up the projector and looks it over for signs of cracking and tucks the box back close to her chest.

"Sorry about that, miss," she says. "I have to  get this to my boss in the next-" she checks her watch. "Fifteen minutes, please, and I really can't miss the bus... I don't know maybe you can walk with me to the bus?"

"I can certainly try we actually just spoke to your boss I believe if your boss is Diorxu." Firewall falls into step with the girl, gives her a -- surprisingly genuine, for Firewall -- smile. "We're looking into the cult killings a few sweeps back."

Seafti blinks in surprise. "Oh!" she exclaims. "Did something happen? I thought- I thought the case was closed." She looks down at the projector again, checks her watch, and starts off at a bit of a trot for the stop. Firewall's legs are a lot longer than this girl's- she really shouldn't have a problem keeping up.

Yeah, the situation is certainly going to be  Firewall strolling and this girl scurrying. Firewall is trying to watch Seafti and her phone and the sidewalk all at once, though, so she's not as impatient with the pace as she would usually be. 

"The case is closed and has been however recently new evidence has come to light." Firewall pauses a moment, fingers hovering above her keyboard, before continuing. "We're following up with everyone connected to the case in hopes of reconciling that information."

"Oh," she says. "New information? Like... like there are more cultists around? Who haven't been caught?"

"For security reasons I obviously cannot discuss the information with you in public." Firewall ducks neatly around the pole of a street light. "For now I will ask you were quadranted to Crinix Dancio correct."

Seafti nods. "I was."

"I am sorry for your loss but was Crinix in any way affiliated with or contacted by the occult in the nights before their death." Firewall frowns, allowing a pause in the electronic speech. "Also did you begin working for Diorxu Ildoh before or after the attack did Crinix know them at all?"

Seafti shakes her head. "No, she never was," she says. "Crinix was really good to me, you know? She helped me a lot with bills and things and since she's higher on the hemospectrum she gave me some safety." 

Seafti sighs, and looks into the distance. "I was having a really rough time after I stumbled on her body and everything, so Diorxu gave me the job. I met them because they were reaching out to the other people who lost quads to the cultists."

"Were they now." Another pause, as Firewall opens a note program to enter this information for later, then switches back to text-to-voice. "How did they contact you and what sort of bad time were you having are you in contact with any other quadrants of the deceased?"

Seafti scratches her head, as though trying to remember. "Well, Diorxu was basically camped out in the police station at that time. They'd stay in the lobby if anything just to be there when news hit. They were there when I came in to be interviewed." She stops and looks at Firewall. 

"I was having a bad time because I stumbled across the- the desecrated body of my matesprit," she gestures at the ground, as if there was still a body lying there. "So yeah. I also met the others, but we didn't talk so often since they'd lean on their clade. Lugnio and Ascemi dropped by more often than the rest and Ascemi still calls sometimes."

Firewall jots this down. "Your contribution has been noted thank you we will be in touch if needed." She hesitates. "I am sorry to bring back painful memories but it must be done."

Seafti nods. "Right. Diorxu has my contact information if you need it. Please let me know if you need anything."

Firewall gives a casual salute and pivots away, pondering

[ladytrollfishes]

Inktober 7th, Blood

Download | Malseka | 12 sweeps, 24 years | 3899 words | tw: GORE. MESSY MURDEROUS GORE. 

------

The lights pulse through the bar, spinning purple, blue and green, bright as the music is loud. You can barely hear the people speaking right next to you, and it's only when the attractive strangers press their lips against your ears that you even hear what they're saying. This stranger in particular is very attractive, his hair cut in tousled bangs that frame his deep set jade eyes. His horns sit at the top of his head in an smooth and easy curve. His fangs too, are an attractive curl from their lip and he even sprang for a gold tooth cap and a cascade of matching earrings.

"Your costume is amazing," he says, fangs just brushing your cheek. "The best I've ever seen. Is that genuinely from the 3rd Empress' reign?"  

It's not, you know a very good costumer- but you appreciate the compliments. You're dressed well, in a waist coat and cloak, with silver lapel pins and your eyes set for camouflage, yellow sclera, jade irises with a slit for a pupil. You flash a smile back, give him a sidelong glance and press your cheek back against the stranger, who isn't exactly a slouch in the costume department either, dressed up in coattails and dripping in jewelry.

"Maybe," you say. His cheek against yours feels too cold to be jade, but it's a rainbowdrinker party- every other person's got jade contacts in. "It's on the label but I'm not taking my clothes off here."

You pull back to wink at him and he actually covers his face to blush. Adorable. He doesn't back off though- he reaches for you, putting his hands on your hips and stepping in closer. He's just an inch shorter than you, and you watch pleased, as the multicolored lights illuminate a kind of wide-eyed hunger.

"What's your name?" he asks in your ear and pulls back to watch you react. You toss your hair behind your shoulder, and lean back in.

"Let's let this stay... anonymous," you say. "Is that alright with you?"

"Y-yeah!" Your handsome stranger blushes and grins, showing off those lovely teeth and you lean in to put your mouth to his.

A tryst in a club isn't anything new to you- a troll has his needs, and untangling Gordio's knot sounds more appealing than bringing quads into your life as a PDPO officer. You've never liked anyone enough to try, nor were you eager to show off your profession in a club that had a fair stream of revenue coming from the sale of white angel in the bathrooms. You've come to their drinker parties every so often, but never while you were on the job, so technically, it doesn't count. You're pretty sure.

Your stranger is a pretty good kisser too. He's careful not to let his fangs get in the way and leans into it as you nibble on his lip. Then- "Ow!"

You draw blood. He pulls back, shocked, and you have to laugh, careful to keep it sheepish.

"Sorry," you say, sheepishly. "Got too enthusiastic."

Your immunity to illness only counts for things that you eat, drink, and breathe. If you're going to sleep with a stranger you may as well make sure he's not diseased.

"What's a drinker party without drinking a little blood?" you say with a grin and lick your teeth clean. He watches you do so and you can tell he's not opposed to the sight, even as he holds up a finger, sucking on his lips.

You swallow the blood. The rush of information is a familiar one. It always takes you a while for you to sort everything out, but something stands out right away. He is jade, despite the temperature of his skin. His blood oxygen content is close to zero, with a fatal dose of potassium, as well as an overproduction of hormones not usually found in a troll's body, but a rainbowdrinker worm.

Goddammit. At least it doesn't have venereal disease, but it’s probably bled people dry with the mouth you were just kissing.

"C'mere," the drinker says, leaning in and putting a hand to the back of your head, and you have to force yourself to lean back in, unless you want it to catch onto the fact that you've caught on. The curve of its fangs against your lips doesn't seem as charming as it did five minutes ago. You can still taste the tang of blood in its mouth that reminds you that you're kissing a walking corpse.

"What's wrong?" it asks, pulling back, a concerned look on his face. Great, a gentleman rainbowdrinker now that you’re obviously not into it anymore.

You make a face.

“I feel bad about biting you,” you say instead, with a sidelong glance. “It’s just embarrassing.”

“You said it yourself,” the drinker replies, its head tilted in towards yours. “What’s a drinker party without drinking a little blood?”

Now it’s using your words against you, and you laugh it off like you mean it. It’s much less funny when you weren’t the one drinking blood. What would Virus say if they found your body here? You had your gun and badge, you weren’t stupid, but a bullet wouldn’t stop a drinker for very long.

“Let’s get some drinks,” you say instead. “It’ll take the edge off.”

To you, alcohol’s just a number and a process you can outline in your head so you don’t hesitate in ordering a large number of shots and insisting the drinker take as many of them as it can. You take a couple along with it, before you excuse yourself to the bathroom to call the first person who picks up.

You’re dialing Firewall as you walk into the lowblood bathroom. Drugs get sold in the highblood bathroom, and you’re not calling your squad from there. The lowblood one, however, did usually have at least two couples hooking up, but that was definitely a lesser evil.

There’s moaning coming from a stall when you walk in, but it’s otherwise empty. There’s three stalls and a small window up high you could probably fit through, even though you’re sure you could build a troll out of the grime in here.

Your phone stops dialing and you hear Firewall’s voice click through.

“D?” she says. You could practically melt with relief.

“Oh good,” you say, like you’re not about to panic. “Remember how I said I was going to a drinker party tonight?”

“Yes. What’s wrong?”

“Well. There’s a drinker here,” you whisper. “And I’m pretty sure it wants to drink my blood.”

“Where are you?” she asks. “I’m getting the team and coming over.”

“I’m in the bathroom,” you say. “It hasn’t caught on to the fact that I’ve caught on.”

There’s a pause.

“Then how do you know it’s a drinker?”

“I drank its blood, obviously.”

“How did-” there’s another pause on the line. “Download?” Firewall says slowly. “Did you seduce an actual drinker at a fake drinker party?”

You huff impatiently.

“Is that really the most important thing right now?” you snap, “Just tell me you’re on the way so I can climb out the bathroom window.”

Firewall lets out a bark of laughter and you roll your eyes.

“We’re coming,” she says. “But you need to stick with it. Don’t get bitten but if you get lost then it’ll go after other people. Stall. You’re on the job now. We’ll be there in twenty.”

You shut your phone and take a deep breath.

“Great,” you say to yourself. “Just great.”

All you have to do now is stall out a drinker who wants to get into your pants for twenty minutes. You can do that.

You walk out of the bathroom, straightening your waistcoat, glancing at the crowd for the drinker. You find it about where you left it, next to the bar, taking another shot. It looks, glum almost, staring into the bottom of the empty shot glass. Half of the dozen you ordered still stand full on at the bar. It didn’t drink very much while you were gone.

“Well who pissed in your whiskey,” you say with a smile, sliding back next to it. It glances up at you, sullenly.

“What,” it says, and presses up in close to you, hands on your shoulders till you can smell the alcohol in its breath. It’s not wasted, but it’s definitely drunk. “If I told you, rainbowdrinkers are real. And not just this fake bullshit either.”

It waves a hand at the crowd of partiers, dismissive. You lean back, and it lets go but steps forward to keep up with you.

“It’s not easy,” it says. “Living a life like this? I’m just trying to get by.”

He’s figured it out, somehow. It doesn’t take you long to realize. And now you’re in the arms of a monster.

“Um,”  you say, putting a hand on its shoulders, holding it arm’s length. “How much did you drink? Everyone knows drinkers aren’t actually real.”

It puts a hand over yours and holds it tight.

“It?” the drinker says, staring plaintively into your eyes. “That’s just hurtful. I heard you in the bathroom. Who did you call?”

Well, that’s not good.

“No one,” you say firmly, as you try to yank your hand away from it, but it’s got a good grip you can’t quite pull free. “You’re imagining things.”

“So if drinker’s aren’t real,” it says, raising your hand so that it bares your wrist next to his teeth. Your pumper throbs. “Then you won’t mind if I do this.”

Well. Shit.

You reach over the bar with your free hand, grab a bottle of whiskey by the neck and slam it into its face. It goes stumbling into a knot of people as the cries go up, a gash of dark blood oozing out of its forehead.

“How drunk are you bro!” someone yells, as the bartender leans over to seize you by the scruff of your cloak and tries to punch you in the head. You drop the whiskey, parry the blow, then press your thumb to the back of her knuckle and twist her grip off of you. She yelps as you shove her back behind her bar.

“PDPO!” you shout, pulling your firearm and take a shot at the ceiling. It’s too crowded for anyone to figure out what’s going on so the best thing is to get everyone out. You take your badge and hold it up so everyone knows you’re not to be messed with.

You lock eyes with the bartender as you point at the drinker.

“This man is under arrest for violation of Clause 3!” you shout. The “weirdness” clause. “He’s dangerous! Get everyone out!”

The bartender stares at you with wide eyes, looking at your badge, then your gun, then running off behind the bar. The information spreads like a slow ripple, those close enough to hear you yell starting to push and shove as far away from you as possible.

The drinker stares back at you, the blood oozing out of its head too slow for anything that’s alive. You can’t just shoot now, not at this range. If you kill anyone else here with a PDPO bullet, you’re going to need to justify it with a lot of paperwork, and the bullet will penetrate its body and hit whoever is behind it. But at the same time you can’t let it hide and run in the crowd, and at the very least, you are between it and the door.

It hesitates, then leaps over the bar, and tries to run past you. You level the gun and shoot three times, catching it in the side as it trips and falls to the floor. Bottles of expensive alcohol shatter behind it. Three bullets left. You were always bad at ammunition economy.

“Don’t move!” you shout as you lean over the bar, ignoring the wet sticky press of spilled alcohol against your very expensive costume. “Just- just stay down!”

The drinker snarls, jade blood oozing from the single shot you landed in its side. It picks itself up, and you see hunger in its eyes again, but not the kind you liked.

“Oh shit,” you mutter, as the drinker lunges at you, tumbling over the counter to the floor. “Shit shit shit.” You turn and run into the crowd, spinning behind the fleeing customers. You just pretend to be a drinker. You hate, hate, hate, dealing with actual drinkers. And you hate doing it alone.

Virus could have stolen someone’s psi and thrown it somewhere useless. Firewall could break a drinker in half, and Sniffer was a better shot than you were. And they all had more blood to lose than you.

Someone shrieks, loud, then a horrified gasp from the crowd. People start moving faster. You glance behind you, but all you can see is the backs of heads, so you shove your way to the bar again. You hook your heel on the brace of a bar stool and boost yourself up so you can see- the drinker’s taken someone from the crowd and is feeding off of him.

The victim’s dead either way. You take another couple of shots. You hit them both- the victim in the stomach- a swell of brown blood spurts over the drinker, but you hit the drinker too- who howls in pain and laps desperately at the blood you’ve spilled. One bullet left. You just need to hit the grub.

The drinker growls up at you, and lunges, obviously upset that you’ve interrupted its meal. You turn and run, pelting away from obvious, bloody death.

At least the club is almost empty now, though the lights still blare and the speakers shake the ground.

You run, for the stage, trying to think of some way you can pin down the angry drinker and kill it for good. The curtains maybe? You glance backwards, but the drinker is gaining on you. You wish you were a good enough shot to aim for a knee.

Before you can even think of trying to trap the drinker you need more distance. Can you lose a drinker that’s tracking your scent? No. Probably not. What you needed was a door that locked one way, preferably.

You dive into the wings of the stage, knocking lights and microphones behind you as you spot a door, slightly ajar. You throw it open and dive in, shutting it behind you. It’s dark, but you throw yourself forward, and crash into a wall. Several somethings fall on top of you and your gun goes off in the dark. A shower of drywall dust and mold lands on you, making you choke, coughing.

Great. You ran into a closet, and you wasted your last bullet.

A loud thump into the door scares you into another shelf, and another cascade of somethings. The drinker’s caught on, but in its enraged state, it’s having a little bit of trouble with doorknobs. A little bit of luck at least. You feel around for a light, and flick it on as the drinker throws itself into the door.

It’s a closet of cleaning supplies, bottles of cleaner, brooms, sponges, dust masks. Things absolutely useless for fighting drinkers. Well, maybe if you were lucky, the door would hold until the rest of your squad comes.

A hand smashes through the wooden door like it’s made of toothpicks and nearly misses grabbing your hair. You screech, jerking back from the door as you start looking for options in the mess of janiterrorist equipment.

There’s bottle of bleach- you look wildly around and find a bottle of glass cleaner with a high ammonia content. The drinker shoves another hand through the door and starts tearing through it as you do your best unscrew the caps of the cleaners without spilling too much. You untie your cape, throw a pile of sponges in it, and douse it with both cleaners.

You take a deep breath. Chloramine gas, at about 730 parts per million, wafting off the sponge. If drinkers could get drunk off of alcohol, breathing this in should be like getting stabbed in the lungs. You grab the corners of your cape to form a pillow of poison

The door splinters above you, the top half of the door just destroyed, as the drinker reaches in. You shove your cape in its face and the reaction is immediate. It chokes, coughing and wheezing and reeling backwards. It grabs your arms and sends you flying, stronger than a jade had any right to be. You hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of you, but you roll back to your feet, watching the drinker wretch and cough.

You look around for another weapon to use- there’s a pile of metal poles used for scaffolding, a clipboard on a black stand and a row of microphones wire hanging on the wall. You grab the cord and tie a loop at the end. If the drinker was in such a state it couldn’t deal with a door knob, you think it won’t deal too well with a slip knot either.

You’re not going to tie yourself to the drinker- that’s just asking to get thrown again. You hastily tie the other end of the rope to a curtain rail. The drinker snarls at you as you approach, but it’s still doubled over and wheezing. You’re careful to scoot around it, so that it’s between you and the curtain rail. You hesitate. Even if it’s poisoned and wounded, you don’t want to get actually bit.

It’s all the drinker needs apparently, because it lunges towards you, sensing weakness. It’s still a lot faster than you- your back hits the ground as you try to bring the loop of wire around the drinker’s head- it pulls taught against it’s horn, but it’s not enough to keep it from sinking its fangs into your forearm.

You shriek as yellow blood spurts from the wound and into the mouth of the drinker. It holds you tight enough to hurt as it tries to suck you dry. A curious sense of floatiness enters you. Drinker bites had sedatives in them, didn’t they? So this is what drugs felt like. Some part of you is tempted to lean into it, the soft feeling of not fighting anymore. The much smarter part tells you that you’ll die then, eaten by a monster because you were too stupid to fight.

Your arm feels like lead as you wrestle it to the drinker’s face and you stick a finger in its eye. It howls and lets go, rolling around on the ground, clutching its face and you stagger to your feet, holding your arm. At least your head is clearer now.

You stagger to the closet again and reach for a broom. You snap the head of the broom off and the pole splinters to an agreeable point. You needed to kill this stupid drinker before it killed you.

It’s staggers to its feet and in your direction. It’ll want blood to heal, and you don’t want it touching yours. You grab the wire still attached to its horn and step on it. The drinker stumbles at the tug and you smash the pole into its face, sending it careening to the ground. You pause, just a moment to catch your breath, and then you plunge the pole into the belly of the drinker.

It shrieks and kicks out at you- grabbing the pole. You jerk the tip around in its bowels, hoping to stab that goddamn worm, when it snaps the pole at its stomach, and this time the point is less agreeable. It’ll be good for a bludgeon and little else, so you take a couple cracks at its face, mangling its attractive face, breaking its nose and knocking out its teeth. Its hands fly up to its face and you tackle it, pulling out your impromptu wooden stake and stabbing into his bowels again and again.

Jade blood oozes all over your hands as the drinker howls, grabbing your hand and pulling it towards its mouth, but you did knock out all of its fangs. It still bites down on your fingers hard enough to draw blood so you toss the stake and stick your hand into the wound and start pulling. It’s not hard to find the worm, not after it’s eaten the host’s organs, but it’s hard to find the strength to pull it out. You’ve wounded it, you’re sure, you just need it to die. But you’re exhausted, alone, and a drinker is weakly, for a drinker, nibbling on your fingers.

You think about what Virus would say if they ever found out you died like this, and you feel up the drinker worm until you find a wound and dig your fingers in. You get your feet braced up against the drinker’s ribcage and you tear the worm in half.

The drinker shudders, and with a soft little “ow,” finally dies.

You stare at its body for a moment, pry your fingers from the drinker’s jaw, then lay down on the stage, staring up at the rope pulleys and set pieces hanging from the stage ceiling. You should probably get something to wrap your arm, but you’re tired enough that you’ll just rest for a bit. How long has it been since you called Firewall? When were they going to get here?

You wake up to Sniffer shaking your shoulder.

“Oh my goodness, Download!” she exclaims when your eyes flutter open. She jerks forward, but stops herself from throwing her body on top of yours. “Let me help with your arm.” She pulls out a first aid kit and starts cutting your sleeve away from the wound.

The house lights are on, and music is no longer shaking the floor. How long have you been asleep? The rest of your team stands over you, poking at the wreckage from your fight.

“I told you not to get bit, D,” Firewall says, sardonic, but you can see the worry in her eyes.

“You wore that to a drinker fight?” Virus says, leaning over you. “That could have ended up in the evidence pictures you know.”

“It’s ugly now,” you say, as you try to push yourself upright to look at your clothes. Your voice sounds weak. Sniffer pushes you back down with a stern look. “It looked quite nice before I fought a drinker all by myself. What took you guys so long?”

“There was a traffic jam after a nearly packed nightclub evacuated into the streets,” Firewall says. “D, I told you to stall, not fight a rainbowdrinker one on one.”

It’s all you can do to shrug.

“You’re probably in shock,” Sniffer scolds. “Close your eyes to get some rest and we’ll get you to a mediculler. I can tell people what you want to say.”

You oblige. You’re exhausted and woozy, but your team should know about the chloramine cloak so they can take the proper measures to clean it up. Oh and since technically you’re here on duty now, you should let them know about the white angel in the highblood bathroom.

“There’s what?” Sniffer exclaims.   

You groan and let your head loll against the floor. Well you definitely can’t come back here anymore.