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31_days2010-03-11 10:24 am
rose-of-pollux.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2010-03-11 10:24 am
[Mar 11] [Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego] Just a Job to Do, ch 2
Title: Just a Job to Do; Chapter 2: Where Were You After Midnight?
Day/Theme: March 11; Memoirs of an amnesiac
Series: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego
Character: the Dying Informant and company
Rating: PG-13
Crossposted to my journal and another comm.
The Techie was utterly puzzled and disturbed by these revelations.
“I… I don’t understand…” he said, looking at the damp shoes. “I certainly don’t remember going anywhere—I could’ve sworn I went right to sleep after I shut down my computer…” He attempted to retrace his steps. “I was wearing my pajamas, and just went straight here…” He crossed to his bunk, and looked back at the Informant helplessly.
The Informant was now worried, and the Techie was not happy about it—the last thing he wanted was for the boy to further burden himself.
“Let’s just forget it for now…” said the Techie. “Come on, we should get some breakfast…”
“You sure you’re alright, Techie…?” the Informant asked, softly.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he said, with a reassuring smile. It had to be nothing; even if he did sleepwalk last night, it had to be nothing—after all, in spite of wherever he went, he had made it back to bed safely.
The Informant returned his brother’s smile, and headed out the door, down the hall and stairway towards the mess hall. But as they went downstairs, the Techie sensed that the eyes of other agents were following him as he walked. The Techie was quickly becoming aware of whispers following him, which made him uneasy.
The Informant was aware of them, too, frowning. Had word spread about the Techie’s sleepwalking so quickly? He glared at two of the whisperers, who fell silent under his gaze. But the whispers resumed as soon as the Informant was out of earshot.
“Don’t let them bother you…” said the Informant, placing an arm around the Techie’s shoulders as his face started going red. “You know how they are; they always want to talk about some gossip.” He glared back at the whisperers. “It’s too bad it has to be at someone’s expense…”
The Techie wasn’t sure it was gossip that they were after; if it was just that, they’d probably be only laughing at his sleepwalking. But no one was laughing; their expressions were too serious for that.
And both of the agents noticed how chatter seemed to stop as they entered the mess hall, and as eyes turned to them—or, more precisely, to the Techie.
The Messenger, the Inspector, and the Rookie were staring at them, too, but for a different reason; the Messenger was beckoning them, a look of urgency on his face.
“Why are they all staring at me…?” the Techie asked. “So I sleepwalked and took a walk outside—what’s the big deal?”
“Sit down…” the Messenger advised. “Techie… something happened last night…”
The Techie yelped as another one of the rookie agents slapped him on the back of the head.
“Hey, Techie…” he sneered. “The next time you go out to settle a grudge, here’s a tip—keep in mind that ACME has security cams.”
The Rookie’s eyes narrowed.
“Leave him alone, Rael…” he ordered. Farfaro Rael, one of the newest rookies, shared Rookie Dormitory 3 with him. From the first days, Rael had been rubbing the Rookie the wrong way, even though the other rookies had quickly taken to him. This had branded the Rookie as unsociable towards the new guy, prompting the more seasoned Rookie to toss the matter aside and ignore Rael altogether. But now that Rael was daring to taunt the Techie, in the Rookie’s mind, this new guy was crossing the line.
But the Techie was more concerned with what Rael was saying.
“Grudge…?” he asked, his eyes wide. “I don’t understand--”
“Oh, sure—act dumb, and maybe no one will notice…” Rael sneered. “Oh, wait, I forgot—it’s not an act!”
“Rael, I’m warning you…!” the Rookie said.
“Why don’t you drop it, and tell Techie what he did last night,” said Rael. “Better yet, let him learn it from an impartial source.” He plopped a piece of newspaper in front of the Informant and the Techie.
The Inspector hissed, trying to grab the paper before the two could get a good look at it, but it was too late. The Informant and the Techie’s jaws dropped open at the story headline.
EMCA Agent Attacked by ACME Rival at South Street Seaport
Accompanying the story was a photograph taken by a witness of the two agents grappling near the water. The EMCA agent in the picture was unrecognizable, but the other person in the picture was clearly the Techie.
The story gave the full details—how the EMCA agent was minding his own business when the Techie apparently attacked him—first with just fists, but by the end of it, the EMCA agent was taken to the hospital with a stab wound and was still in intensive care. The article mentioned the Techie by name, as his identity had been determined from the photograph, and the upcoming trial was also mentioned, so as to give a clearly defined motive for the attack.
And in a moment of utter horror, the Techie realized why everyone was staring and whispering at him. Stricken speechless, he covered his mouth with his hand.
“This can’t be…!” he cried, after some time. “I was working late last night on the trial, and I went straight to bed! I had my pajamas on! I…”
The Messenger swallowed hard, glancing at the strands of seaweed on the Techie’s damp shoes that he had missed. “Techie… I’m not sure how to break it to you, but--”
“I’ll break it to him,” said Rael. “Techie, the ACME security cameras saw you going out and coming in—you were out of this building during the time this attack took place. Witnesses saw you and took your picture. It’s an open and shut case.” He smirked. “Oh, and Mr. Schwemphf wants a word with you, right now.”
The Techie’s heart hammered in his chest. With the case so clear-cut, the name “Schwemphf” was now, in his mind, synonymous with the word “fired.”
“But… But…” he stammered.
“The Chief is on her way here,” said the Messenger, trying to reassure him. “If we can just stall Schwemphf until then, she’ll be more understanding…”
“But I didn’t do it!” he cried. “You guys know I wouldn’t! I know I said I was furious with EMCA for what they did to the Informant, but… I’d never do a thing like this! You know me!”
“Of course we do,” said the Inspector. He swallowed hard, not, trying to carefully phrase his next words. “Your conscious mind would not let you do anything of the sort.”
The Techie stared at the Inspector’s words. Conscious… That was the key word in that sentence. And now he had to consider another, horrifying option as he glanced at his picture in the paper. He had been under a lot of stress from the preparations or the trial… And his unconscious mind was full of hatred towards EMCA because of the suffering that the Informant had endured…
He shuddered. Was it remotely possible that he had, in his sleep, attacked that EMCA agent because of his pent-up stress and rage?
“I’d start packing your bags if I were you, Techie…” Rael smirked. “I’m sure Schwemphf wants you out of here in an efficient manner.”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” said the Informant. “Whatever happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty’!?”
“The proof is right here, Dying Informant…” said Rael, pointing to the paper. “And in the security cameras. You really must’ve been sleeping like the dead if you didn’t hear him walk out last night.”
Rael’s words were a trigger that sent the Informant back to the horrible memories of when he was waylaid by the pier… thought dead by everyone… trapped for five weeks in the Home by the Sea…
The boy shuddered, burying his face in his hands.
“Little brother…!” the Techie said, softly. He glared at Rael. “How could you say that, when you know what he had been through!?”
“Whoa…!” said Rael, backing away. “Wow, Techie. Don’t send me to the hospital next, please!”
The Techie buried his face in his hand now, mumbling something unintelligible. This was a nightmare… a living nightmare that was unfolding more and more with each passing second…
“Uh-oh…” said the Messenger, suddenly. He froze, clutching his glass as Schwemphf entered the mess hall. He was scanning the room, clearly searching for the Techie.
“Get under the table or something…” said Messenger, hurriedly. “Just… hide or something.”
“Mr. Schwemphf!” Rael called. “The Techie is over here, Mr. Schwemphf!”
“Shut up!” the Informant snarled, snapping out of his own malaise to come to the defense of his surrogate brother. “He doesn’t deserve this--”
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!” Schwemphf roared, storming over to them.
“No…” the Techie moaned. “No… Please…” He shut his eyes and began to pray.
The Informant threw his arms around his brother as the Messenger, the Inspector, and the Rookie moved to stand between them and Schwemphf. A hush fell over the crowd in the mess hall, waiting to see the end result of this showdown.
“Look…!” said the Messenger, sounding as brave as he could. “You can’t fire Techie without getting all of the details! We’ll vouch for him--”
“Believe me, getting the details is exactly what I intend to do,” said Schwemphf. “And he is going to give them to me right now.”
“Right here…!?” the Techie asked.
“Well, of course not; we have protocols for these things…” He seized the Techie by the upper arm, pulling him away from the Informant. “We’re going to the interrogation room.”
“No!” the Techie cried. He looked to his brothers desperately for support, and that was exactly what he got, though it did nothing to sway Schwemphf.
“You can’t treat Techie like a criminal!” the Informant cried, vaulting over the table to try to pull the Techie back.
“Silence!” Schwemphf ordered. “I demand answers—where were you last night!?”
“I don’t know!” the Techie cried. “I don’t remember hurting anyone, going out, or even changing from my pajamas to my day clothes!”
“Feigning amnesia is not going to work for me!” Schwemphf insisted, trying to force the Techie off towards the interrogation room.
The Recruiting Officer now ran into the room, forcing his way to where the commotion was taking place. The Inspector seized his shoulders.
“Where is the Chief!?” he hissed, glancing at the desperate scene.
“Just got off the subway—she’ll be here in less than five minutes,” the Recruiting Officer promised.
“We’ve got to stall him for that long, then…!” the Rookie said.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered,” said the Recruiting Officer. He ran towards Schwemphf, grabbing him by the other arm. “Mr. Schwemphf, Sir!? You can’t use the interrogation room—I have some Gumshoes in there questioning Sarah Nade; as you may remember, it was the Techie here who brought her in yesterday morning…”
“Oooh, excellent save…” the Messenger whispered, silently applauding the Recruiting Officer.
“Why did you send them in there now!?” Schwemphf asked, frustrated as the Techie sagged against the Informant in relief, who was standing right next to him on his other side.
“Well, gosh, Sir, I had no idea you were going to use it…” the Recruiting Officer lied. He actually had heard from one of the Gumshoes of Schwemphf’s plan and pulled his countermaneuver together in a matter of minutes.
“There’s an idea you should work on,” said the Messenger. “…sign-up times for the interrogation room. Why don’t you go ponder over that instead of terrorizing Techie here?”
Schwemphf just glared at the Messenger before trying to think of what to do next. “Regulations prohibit the interruptions of interrogations unless in the event of irreversible, unforeseen emergency procedure instigations….”
“Try saying that three times fast…” the Messenger deadpanned. He did not feel like making jokes at a time like this, but he was desperate to lighten the mood. It didn’t matter, though; Schwemphf ignored him
“Where else can I hold the questioning…?” Schwemphf wondered aloud.
“My office,” a new voice replied. “But I will handle this matter, Mr. Schwemphf!”
“Chief!” Schwemphf exclaimed.
“Not a moment too soon…” the Inspector sighed, wiping the sweat from his face.
The Rookie also sighed with relief, falling into his chair.
“Chief, I beg you, let me interrogate him,” said Schwemphf. “I’m certain I can get a confession from him--!”
“You sure as heck could get a confession from anyone—even if they haven’t done anything!” the Messenger retorted. “They’d be so desperate for you to leave them alone!”
“Chief--!” Schwemphf protested.
“Mr. Schwemphf,” said the Chief, sternly. “Sometimes, I do believe that you’re forgetting who’s in charge around here. I am your superior, and you only take over for me when I am absent. But now that I am here, when I say that this matter is mine, it means that you relinquish all of its responsibilities.”
“Yeah!” said the Informant. “You’re such a by-the-rules guy—why can’t you follow this rule!?”
Schwemphf didn’t reply the Informant, but he let the Techie go.
“Techie…” the Chief said, sternly but understandingly. “I need to see you in my office.”
The Techie nodded, hardly daring to believe that he somehow escaped the interrogation room.
“Would you rather eat first?” she went on.
“I’m not hungry…” he said, hoarsely.
“I understand…” the Chief said. She glanced at the others. “You may come as well.”
“What!?” sputtered Schwemphf. “Then I request to be a witness, too!”
The Chief just shook her head in dismissal. She couldn’t keep Schwemphf away, but she could control what he said.
The Recruiting Officer sighed, as well. “I gotta get back to the Gumshoes, but let me know how it goes…” he said. Things would be better with the Chief there, he knew.
The Rookie was about to follow the others as they headed out with the Chief and the Techie, but he paused as Rael clapped a hand on his shoulder.
“What do you want!?” he sneered.
“I want to know why you’re supporting him—it’s an open and shut case!” Rael said. “And besides… you’re one of the highest-ranking rookies; if he goes, you could be promoted to take his place.”
“I’d never give up on Techie just to hope for a promotion,” the Rookie insisted. He scowled as he heard the Chief’s door slam. “Great; now I can’t get in there. Thanks a lot, creep.”
Rael just sneered.
***********************************
“Now tell me, Techie…” said the Chief, softly. “What happened yesterday?”
The Techie swallowed hard. This wasn’t going to sound good, but he had to tell the truth.
“The past several days have been a bit of a blur…” he said. “The trial is coming up, closer and closer, and I’ve been working so hard on what I’m going to say, and all the other preparations…” He sighed. “To be honest, Chief, I forgot about how I was the one who brought in Sarah Nade yesterday morning until the Recruiting Officer reminded me of it.”
Schwemphf’s mustache twitched; he was clearly biting back something.
“Tell me about last night…” the Chief went on.
“The Informant went to sleep first in his bunk, and I was working more on the trial preparations on my laptop; I was in my pajamas. But then the Informant had a nightmare and I tried to talk him through it…”
“Oh, so that was you?” asked the Informant. “I thought I heard you talking to me…”
“After he calmed down, I decided to turn in myself…” said the Techie. He trembled. “I don’t remember anything else after that. I know the security cameras show me leaving, but… I don’t ever recall the time I got up and went. And I certainly can’t recall fighting by the pier and hurting that EMCA agent…!” A few tears escaped from his eyes, and the Chief handed him a tissue. “I woke up just a little while ago because the Informant was shaking me awake from a nightmare, and that was when I found out that I was in my day clothes, and that my shoes were wet and had seaweed on them…”
“A nightmare?” asked the Chief. “Could you tell me about it?”
“Well, I was…” The Techie trailed off, gasping as he realized that the dream was all about him running through New York and getting into a brawl with Dr. Mendoza. He shakily recounted what he could of the dream, and he knew he was in trouble when the faces of his brothers began to show despair. The Inspector’s words about his consciousness versus his subconscious returned, unbidden to him. Had he… had he actually sleepwalked, and ended up acting out his dream!? Was that how the EMCA agent got badly hurt!?
“What will you do, Chief?” asked Schwemphf, wanting to see some justice served.
“For the moment, I want to wait until more evidence comes in,” she said, much to the relief of the agents. She turned to the Informant. “I want you and you two…” She indicated the Inspector and the Messenger. “To keep an eye on Techie to make sure that…” She trailed off, trying to find the right words.
“We’ll look after him, Chief,” the Informant promised.
The Chief nodded in reply. “You may go return to whatever it is you wish to do.”
The four agents departed the office, not making eye contact with Schwemphf. Yes, the Techie was not proven guilty yet… But they still were far from relieved.
Day/Theme: March 11; Memoirs of an amnesiac
Series: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego
Character: the Dying Informant and company
Rating: PG-13
Crossposted to my journal and another comm.
The Techie was utterly puzzled and disturbed by these revelations.
“I… I don’t understand…” he said, looking at the damp shoes. “I certainly don’t remember going anywhere—I could’ve sworn I went right to sleep after I shut down my computer…” He attempted to retrace his steps. “I was wearing my pajamas, and just went straight here…” He crossed to his bunk, and looked back at the Informant helplessly.
The Informant was now worried, and the Techie was not happy about it—the last thing he wanted was for the boy to further burden himself.
“Let’s just forget it for now…” said the Techie. “Come on, we should get some breakfast…”
“You sure you’re alright, Techie…?” the Informant asked, softly.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he said, with a reassuring smile. It had to be nothing; even if he did sleepwalk last night, it had to be nothing—after all, in spite of wherever he went, he had made it back to bed safely.
The Informant returned his brother’s smile, and headed out the door, down the hall and stairway towards the mess hall. But as they went downstairs, the Techie sensed that the eyes of other agents were following him as he walked. The Techie was quickly becoming aware of whispers following him, which made him uneasy.
The Informant was aware of them, too, frowning. Had word spread about the Techie’s sleepwalking so quickly? He glared at two of the whisperers, who fell silent under his gaze. But the whispers resumed as soon as the Informant was out of earshot.
“Don’t let them bother you…” said the Informant, placing an arm around the Techie’s shoulders as his face started going red. “You know how they are; they always want to talk about some gossip.” He glared back at the whisperers. “It’s too bad it has to be at someone’s expense…”
The Techie wasn’t sure it was gossip that they were after; if it was just that, they’d probably be only laughing at his sleepwalking. But no one was laughing; their expressions were too serious for that.
And both of the agents noticed how chatter seemed to stop as they entered the mess hall, and as eyes turned to them—or, more precisely, to the Techie.
The Messenger, the Inspector, and the Rookie were staring at them, too, but for a different reason; the Messenger was beckoning them, a look of urgency on his face.
“Why are they all staring at me…?” the Techie asked. “So I sleepwalked and took a walk outside—what’s the big deal?”
“Sit down…” the Messenger advised. “Techie… something happened last night…”
The Techie yelped as another one of the rookie agents slapped him on the back of the head.
“Hey, Techie…” he sneered. “The next time you go out to settle a grudge, here’s a tip—keep in mind that ACME has security cams.”
The Rookie’s eyes narrowed.
“Leave him alone, Rael…” he ordered. Farfaro Rael, one of the newest rookies, shared Rookie Dormitory 3 with him. From the first days, Rael had been rubbing the Rookie the wrong way, even though the other rookies had quickly taken to him. This had branded the Rookie as unsociable towards the new guy, prompting the more seasoned Rookie to toss the matter aside and ignore Rael altogether. But now that Rael was daring to taunt the Techie, in the Rookie’s mind, this new guy was crossing the line.
But the Techie was more concerned with what Rael was saying.
“Grudge…?” he asked, his eyes wide. “I don’t understand--”
“Oh, sure—act dumb, and maybe no one will notice…” Rael sneered. “Oh, wait, I forgot—it’s not an act!”
“Rael, I’m warning you…!” the Rookie said.
“Why don’t you drop it, and tell Techie what he did last night,” said Rael. “Better yet, let him learn it from an impartial source.” He plopped a piece of newspaper in front of the Informant and the Techie.
The Inspector hissed, trying to grab the paper before the two could get a good look at it, but it was too late. The Informant and the Techie’s jaws dropped open at the story headline.
Accompanying the story was a photograph taken by a witness of the two agents grappling near the water. The EMCA agent in the picture was unrecognizable, but the other person in the picture was clearly the Techie.
The story gave the full details—how the EMCA agent was minding his own business when the Techie apparently attacked him—first with just fists, but by the end of it, the EMCA agent was taken to the hospital with a stab wound and was still in intensive care. The article mentioned the Techie by name, as his identity had been determined from the photograph, and the upcoming trial was also mentioned, so as to give a clearly defined motive for the attack.
And in a moment of utter horror, the Techie realized why everyone was staring and whispering at him. Stricken speechless, he covered his mouth with his hand.
“This can’t be…!” he cried, after some time. “I was working late last night on the trial, and I went straight to bed! I had my pajamas on! I…”
The Messenger swallowed hard, glancing at the strands of seaweed on the Techie’s damp shoes that he had missed. “Techie… I’m not sure how to break it to you, but--”
“I’ll break it to him,” said Rael. “Techie, the ACME security cameras saw you going out and coming in—you were out of this building during the time this attack took place. Witnesses saw you and took your picture. It’s an open and shut case.” He smirked. “Oh, and Mr. Schwemphf wants a word with you, right now.”
The Techie’s heart hammered in his chest. With the case so clear-cut, the name “Schwemphf” was now, in his mind, synonymous with the word “fired.”
“But… But…” he stammered.
“The Chief is on her way here,” said the Messenger, trying to reassure him. “If we can just stall Schwemphf until then, she’ll be more understanding…”
“But I didn’t do it!” he cried. “You guys know I wouldn’t! I know I said I was furious with EMCA for what they did to the Informant, but… I’d never do a thing like this! You know me!”
“Of course we do,” said the Inspector. He swallowed hard, not, trying to carefully phrase his next words. “Your conscious mind would not let you do anything of the sort.”
The Techie stared at the Inspector’s words. Conscious… That was the key word in that sentence. And now he had to consider another, horrifying option as he glanced at his picture in the paper. He had been under a lot of stress from the preparations or the trial… And his unconscious mind was full of hatred towards EMCA because of the suffering that the Informant had endured…
He shuddered. Was it remotely possible that he had, in his sleep, attacked that EMCA agent because of his pent-up stress and rage?
“I’d start packing your bags if I were you, Techie…” Rael smirked. “I’m sure Schwemphf wants you out of here in an efficient manner.”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” said the Informant. “Whatever happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty’!?”
“The proof is right here, Dying Informant…” said Rael, pointing to the paper. “And in the security cameras. You really must’ve been sleeping like the dead if you didn’t hear him walk out last night.”
Rael’s words were a trigger that sent the Informant back to the horrible memories of when he was waylaid by the pier… thought dead by everyone… trapped for five weeks in the Home by the Sea…
The boy shuddered, burying his face in his hands.
“Little brother…!” the Techie said, softly. He glared at Rael. “How could you say that, when you know what he had been through!?”
“Whoa…!” said Rael, backing away. “Wow, Techie. Don’t send me to the hospital next, please!”
The Techie buried his face in his hand now, mumbling something unintelligible. This was a nightmare… a living nightmare that was unfolding more and more with each passing second…
“Uh-oh…” said the Messenger, suddenly. He froze, clutching his glass as Schwemphf entered the mess hall. He was scanning the room, clearly searching for the Techie.
“Get under the table or something…” said Messenger, hurriedly. “Just… hide or something.”
“Mr. Schwemphf!” Rael called. “The Techie is over here, Mr. Schwemphf!”
“Shut up!” the Informant snarled, snapping out of his own malaise to come to the defense of his surrogate brother. “He doesn’t deserve this--”
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!” Schwemphf roared, storming over to them.
“No…” the Techie moaned. “No… Please…” He shut his eyes and began to pray.
The Informant threw his arms around his brother as the Messenger, the Inspector, and the Rookie moved to stand between them and Schwemphf. A hush fell over the crowd in the mess hall, waiting to see the end result of this showdown.
“Look…!” said the Messenger, sounding as brave as he could. “You can’t fire Techie without getting all of the details! We’ll vouch for him--”
“Believe me, getting the details is exactly what I intend to do,” said Schwemphf. “And he is going to give them to me right now.”
“Right here…!?” the Techie asked.
“Well, of course not; we have protocols for these things…” He seized the Techie by the upper arm, pulling him away from the Informant. “We’re going to the interrogation room.”
“No!” the Techie cried. He looked to his brothers desperately for support, and that was exactly what he got, though it did nothing to sway Schwemphf.
“You can’t treat Techie like a criminal!” the Informant cried, vaulting over the table to try to pull the Techie back.
“Silence!” Schwemphf ordered. “I demand answers—where were you last night!?”
“I don’t know!” the Techie cried. “I don’t remember hurting anyone, going out, or even changing from my pajamas to my day clothes!”
“Feigning amnesia is not going to work for me!” Schwemphf insisted, trying to force the Techie off towards the interrogation room.
The Recruiting Officer now ran into the room, forcing his way to where the commotion was taking place. The Inspector seized his shoulders.
“Where is the Chief!?” he hissed, glancing at the desperate scene.
“Just got off the subway—she’ll be here in less than five minutes,” the Recruiting Officer promised.
“We’ve got to stall him for that long, then…!” the Rookie said.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered,” said the Recruiting Officer. He ran towards Schwemphf, grabbing him by the other arm. “Mr. Schwemphf, Sir!? You can’t use the interrogation room—I have some Gumshoes in there questioning Sarah Nade; as you may remember, it was the Techie here who brought her in yesterday morning…”
“Oooh, excellent save…” the Messenger whispered, silently applauding the Recruiting Officer.
“Why did you send them in there now!?” Schwemphf asked, frustrated as the Techie sagged against the Informant in relief, who was standing right next to him on his other side.
“Well, gosh, Sir, I had no idea you were going to use it…” the Recruiting Officer lied. He actually had heard from one of the Gumshoes of Schwemphf’s plan and pulled his countermaneuver together in a matter of minutes.
“There’s an idea you should work on,” said the Messenger. “…sign-up times for the interrogation room. Why don’t you go ponder over that instead of terrorizing Techie here?”
Schwemphf just glared at the Messenger before trying to think of what to do next. “Regulations prohibit the interruptions of interrogations unless in the event of irreversible, unforeseen emergency procedure instigations….”
“Try saying that three times fast…” the Messenger deadpanned. He did not feel like making jokes at a time like this, but he was desperate to lighten the mood. It didn’t matter, though; Schwemphf ignored him
“Where else can I hold the questioning…?” Schwemphf wondered aloud.
“My office,” a new voice replied. “But I will handle this matter, Mr. Schwemphf!”
“Chief!” Schwemphf exclaimed.
“Not a moment too soon…” the Inspector sighed, wiping the sweat from his face.
The Rookie also sighed with relief, falling into his chair.
“Chief, I beg you, let me interrogate him,” said Schwemphf. “I’m certain I can get a confession from him--!”
“You sure as heck could get a confession from anyone—even if they haven’t done anything!” the Messenger retorted. “They’d be so desperate for you to leave them alone!”
“Chief--!” Schwemphf protested.
“Mr. Schwemphf,” said the Chief, sternly. “Sometimes, I do believe that you’re forgetting who’s in charge around here. I am your superior, and you only take over for me when I am absent. But now that I am here, when I say that this matter is mine, it means that you relinquish all of its responsibilities.”
“Yeah!” said the Informant. “You’re such a by-the-rules guy—why can’t you follow this rule!?”
Schwemphf didn’t reply the Informant, but he let the Techie go.
“Techie…” the Chief said, sternly but understandingly. “I need to see you in my office.”
The Techie nodded, hardly daring to believe that he somehow escaped the interrogation room.
“Would you rather eat first?” she went on.
“I’m not hungry…” he said, hoarsely.
“I understand…” the Chief said. She glanced at the others. “You may come as well.”
“What!?” sputtered Schwemphf. “Then I request to be a witness, too!”
The Chief just shook her head in dismissal. She couldn’t keep Schwemphf away, but she could control what he said.
The Recruiting Officer sighed, as well. “I gotta get back to the Gumshoes, but let me know how it goes…” he said. Things would be better with the Chief there, he knew.
The Rookie was about to follow the others as they headed out with the Chief and the Techie, but he paused as Rael clapped a hand on his shoulder.
“What do you want!?” he sneered.
“I want to know why you’re supporting him—it’s an open and shut case!” Rael said. “And besides… you’re one of the highest-ranking rookies; if he goes, you could be promoted to take his place.”
“I’d never give up on Techie just to hope for a promotion,” the Rookie insisted. He scowled as he heard the Chief’s door slam. “Great; now I can’t get in there. Thanks a lot, creep.”
Rael just sneered.
“Now tell me, Techie…” said the Chief, softly. “What happened yesterday?”
The Techie swallowed hard. This wasn’t going to sound good, but he had to tell the truth.
“The past several days have been a bit of a blur…” he said. “The trial is coming up, closer and closer, and I’ve been working so hard on what I’m going to say, and all the other preparations…” He sighed. “To be honest, Chief, I forgot about how I was the one who brought in Sarah Nade yesterday morning until the Recruiting Officer reminded me of it.”
Schwemphf’s mustache twitched; he was clearly biting back something.
“Tell me about last night…” the Chief went on.
“The Informant went to sleep first in his bunk, and I was working more on the trial preparations on my laptop; I was in my pajamas. But then the Informant had a nightmare and I tried to talk him through it…”
“Oh, so that was you?” asked the Informant. “I thought I heard you talking to me…”
“After he calmed down, I decided to turn in myself…” said the Techie. He trembled. “I don’t remember anything else after that. I know the security cameras show me leaving, but… I don’t ever recall the time I got up and went. And I certainly can’t recall fighting by the pier and hurting that EMCA agent…!” A few tears escaped from his eyes, and the Chief handed him a tissue. “I woke up just a little while ago because the Informant was shaking me awake from a nightmare, and that was when I found out that I was in my day clothes, and that my shoes were wet and had seaweed on them…”
“A nightmare?” asked the Chief. “Could you tell me about it?”
“Well, I was…” The Techie trailed off, gasping as he realized that the dream was all about him running through New York and getting into a brawl with Dr. Mendoza. He shakily recounted what he could of the dream, and he knew he was in trouble when the faces of his brothers began to show despair. The Inspector’s words about his consciousness versus his subconscious returned, unbidden to him. Had he… had he actually sleepwalked, and ended up acting out his dream!? Was that how the EMCA agent got badly hurt!?
“What will you do, Chief?” asked Schwemphf, wanting to see some justice served.
“For the moment, I want to wait until more evidence comes in,” she said, much to the relief of the agents. She turned to the Informant. “I want you and you two…” She indicated the Inspector and the Messenger. “To keep an eye on Techie to make sure that…” She trailed off, trying to find the right words.
“We’ll look after him, Chief,” the Informant promised.
The Chief nodded in reply. “You may go return to whatever it is you wish to do.”
The four agents departed the office, not making eye contact with Schwemphf. Yes, the Techie was not proven guilty yet… But they still were far from relieved.