OOCS, Into A Wider Galaxy, Part 657

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Cats, Cops and C4

“So how long until something else happens?” Mei’Lan asks him as they climb into the police cruiser for the drive back.

“Well... the planet is thoroughly provoked so nonsense is on the rise, nonsense tends to happen in bundles, so yeah. There’s also an active mystery that may involve a second spire which usually kicks off nonsense and it’s a day ending in Y and the world is still turning. So all that together, especially the last two points, basically guarantees that something’s about to happen.” Chenk notes with a grin as she cackles. “By the way, how’s Modan? I haven’t seen him in a hot minute. Been drowning in paperwork and procedural business.”

“Well, I’ll spare you the details that you boys find yucky about other men.”

“Thank you.”

“And say that he’s been caught up in deep research. Particularly the Research and Development branch has effectively tried to kidnap him in order for his probability manipulation to be used to try and consistently create extremely unlikely compounds and results for them to be studied. They’re working on some form of advancement in the field of metallurgy at the moment but more than that is classified.”

“Likely Ghost Metal then. If they find a way to produce it faster or with less infrastructure required then it will be an even bigger blessing for The Undaunted.”

“That stuff is dangerous. It’s an even bigger Adept killer than Trytite ever was.”

“Appropriate seeing how it’s a meta-material with the primary component being trytite alloy.” Chenk notes as they reach the lip of the spire and begin a controlled climb at a proper safe speed and angle. “And it’s also understandable why no one developed it before us despite it being simple, if energy intensive and slow. Axiom is in everything, and anyone using it regularly would lose ghost metal in short order.”

“Ghost Metal. Blood Metal... Think there’s going to be a brain metal or a flesh metal?”

“You mean processor chips and repair totems?” Chenk asks as casually as he can and he makes a point of not looking as he hears Mei’Lan’s hand thump the window. He knows she’s staring. He can’t break. He won’t break.

“You’re smiling.” She says and he chuckles in response. “... Still... Yeah. Oh! How would a computer with a blood metal or ghost metal processor chip work?”

“No idea. One we’re working to destroy it and only study it in tiny, controlled amounts at most. The other is being used entirely for Anti-Adept armour and weapons.” Chenk replies.

“Still wild that blood metal is real.”

“Or that it seems to do terrible, terrible things to people psychologically while also being only producible from brutal murder.”

“That’s a bit of a downside.”

“Brutal, horrifying murder that effectively consists of torturing a person to death by turning the natural way they twist Axiom Against them so it grinds them down and leaves only a smear of blood and some tiny fragments of metal imbued with all the concentrated pain, hate, horror, fear and more that the victim underwent.”

“I get it.”

“Mere contact with blood metal re-traumatized one of the oldest and most dangerous groups of Axiom Adepts in the galaxy and forced four entities that can be described on terms similar to that of gods to cling to each other in sheer horror.”

“The point is made, blood metal is bad.”

“I’m glad we’ve had this talk.” Chenk notes and Mei’Lan scoffs. “What?”

“Are you in your twenties or your two thousands?”

“Yes.” He answers and she blinks before thinking and then sighing. “Not what I meant.”

“Eh, close enough.” He says as they pass the fifteenth level and his communicator goes off. “Damn near on cue.”

Mei’Lan’s hand is faster and she activates it for him. “Officer Barnabas here with Deputy Mei’Lan.”

“We need both of you on Level Eighty Four. Unknown assailant has aerosolized product and is firing from within the cloud. Plasma and Laser weaponry at vehicle grade is flashing out. Disrupted visuals are preventing proper target lock and any drone or camera with superior sensor ability are being treated as priority targets.”

“Copy that, ETA Five minutes. Commencing Dive.” Chenk says as he activates the sirens and tilts the nose of the Cruiser straight down and shoots directly down, veering to the side to avoid the slowly widening platforms of the spires as dozens of levels blur by. The acceleration takes them down faster and faster.

“We have injured! I repeat! Officers down!” His communicator rings out and Chenk cracks his neck from one side to the other as he begisn tensing muscles and seeming to shift in his seat as he prepares. Mei’Lan is smiling as Axiom begins outright singing around her.

Level Eighty Four has a large plume of pale pink glittering drugs in the air somewhat near the central spire. The cruiser is a blur as Chenk starts pouring Axiom into the framework and feels his brand start to hum against his arm. He’s pushing it a bit, but...

Plasma bolts splash against the cruiser and lasers fizzle against it. The brand starts warming up on his shoulder and he dodges the next set to give it some time to cool.

“Have fun.” Mei’Lan bids him before the Axiom around her nearly chimes and she vanishes.

He simply angles the cruiser and feels it crash against something. There is a minor plume of plasma and several lasers abruptly cut off mid beam as Mei’Lan finds them.

He brakes hard and veers around buildings. Several more laser cannons start and then fail to go off as they merely reveal their positions to Mei’Lan who’s already on the hunt and the remaining emplacements feel Chenks newly learned Car-Fu techniques as he promptly rams each one that reveals themselves.

“Officer Barnabas! Hostages!”

“Where!?”

“Leave the drug cloud! That’s their first demand!” The Dispatcher says and Chenk nods before soaring out. He then starts twisting Axiom in his right hand and gets it into just the right configuration. Then pulses it out hard. Mei’Lan reappears moments later.

“What?”

“Hostages.”

“Damn.” She mutters as they leave the cloud of drugs.

“Dispatch this is Officer Barnabas, in accordance to the demands of the hostage takers we have left the cloud of aersolized product.”

“Why are they setting off their product like this anyways? Isn’t this a lot of money gone?”

“Making drugs is easy, it’s the sourcing and selling of drugs that makes money.” Chenk says.

“Really?”

“Yes really. With chemical scanners being a thing and the balance of not getting a dangerous overdose, the actual production of dangerous drugs is the easy part. It’s making sure you don’t kill your customers after the long process of finding them. But once you have them...”

“Ah. So is that why almost every drug den we’ve ever hit?”

“Had more product than people per pound? Yes.” He says before rolling his shoulders. “It’s also why I’m getting more and more work. Chemical weapons were basically ignored until humans came around. After all, just use Axiom. There’s always more and they can’t stop you. But then all the games and media and entertainment showing how dangerous a chemical explosive or straight up gas weapon can be and it got people thinking. And not in ways anyone wants them to.”

“Lovely. And for all that chemical scanners can catch drugs. They’re not yet fully tuned to...”

“TNT, RDX and all the other fun treats from Earth. Thankfully most have settled on the more stable explosives for ease of transport and use. Thank god.” Chenk mutters.

“What do you get up to on the slow days?”

“Generally what chemicals to pour into a vat of something dangerous to nullify it. It slowed down a lot when I published a little cheat sheet for dealing with common chemical explosives, so I only get called out when things are delicate or need an Undaunted touch.” He says as he brings the cruiser to an area where many others are already parked. Directly outside the police cordon, and lowers it to the ground before exiting. “This is Officer Barnabas with Deputy Mei’lan an Empty Hand Master. We’ve taken out many of the turrets attacking our drones and vehicles. What’s this about hostages?”

“There’s a school in the area. We’ve received note that while the school has had it’s safety systems implemented and is not contaminated by the drugs, that there has already been numerous bombs placed along the foundations and hidden throughout the structure. They’re threatening to set them off if any police officers remain within the cloud.” A Lopen Police Woman states plainly.

“Damn. Do we have coordinates? Do we know if they have eyes inside the school? Number of bombs? Location? Potential yield?”

“All unknown.” The Officer says before reaching down to offer her hand. “Deputy Chief Slayn.”

“Officer Barnabas and Deputy Mei’Lan.” Chenk introduces himself and Mei’Lan.

“Yes, the chemical expert of the spire. We’re speaking to the staff inside the school. They’re going to deactivate their own security cameras in case it’s been compromised. They just need to finished searching the school themselves.”

“That might not be enough ma’am, besides. What if the bombs are set off?”

“We have to risk it. The cloud of drugs is being constantly renewed and the only demand we’ve received is to stay the hell out and away. This isn’t a negotiation, this is a stalling tactic.”

“Redirect the winds maybe? Blow the drugs into an evacuated area and expose them?” Mei’Lan offers.

“Their current threat is that if anyone touches their cloud in any way they’ll kill the whole school. So that’s out.”

“But the winds may turn regardless.”

“Hence why we need to take a risk. The woman with her finger on the trigger is unstable at best and can be set off by forces beyond our control. We need her disarmed, immediately.”

“I’ll watch the winds and keep them from disturbing the cloud. Buy you time.” Mei’Lan offers.

“Perfect. Officer Barnabas, how are you stealth and disarming abilities?”

“Adequate, exceptional if I have someplace I can store equipment if needed.”

“Good, the van there has a woman who’s just waiting to open a portal for you. It will lead into the vice principal’s office.”

“That’s high up, there may be sensor there.”

“There could be sensors anywhere. But she’s right next to a higher priority office in the form of the principal. She’s also a noted neat freak with a near compulsive drive for order and cleanliness. She basically sweeps it for anything twice daily.”

“Really?”

“It’s to the degree she keeps a number of skirts and jackets for students to wear over any stained clothing they may have.”

“Hunh. Well, hopefully my using it as temporary storage and staging ground won’t drive her to violence.” Chenk says.

“Head over now. We’re not sure what she can see, so you’ll be in a contained area. When you give us the go, we’re going in hard. But stay in contact. For the love of all goddesses, stay in contact.”

“Yes ma’am.” He says and starts walking to the nearby van. He’s gestured inside by a Muffis Officer with khutha bands worked over her curling horns.

“Okay good to have you I’m... oh... oh whoa that is a scent and a half.” She begins before getting distracted. Before Chenk can say anything she slaps herself in the face. “Sorry about that. I have an earpiece here for you and a bevy of equipment. Do you need anything?”

“I have all my bomb disposal equipment in an expanded pocket, up to and including concentrated forms of counter chemicals that will reduce liquid explosives to an inert chemical mess.” Chenk says patting his thigh where the cargo pocket in question is.

“Good man.” She says handing over the earpiece he slips into place and taps active. “It has a micro-camera and microphone it it, everything we need to coordinate. Are you read?”

“Always. Open the portal.” He tells her and she nods. She reaches up to the top of the van and grabs onto a handle that is doing duty as a Khutha Totem and the bands on her horns begin glowing pale blue. A hole tears itself open in the air and expands. The edges of the portal are ragged and rough and show a small office with a terrified Lette woman inside.

“Vice Principal?” He asks and she nods. “I am Officer Barnabas, bomb disposal expert. Do I have permission to enter?”

“Yes. Please.” She answers and he steps through the portal. It closes behind him. He instantly starts looking around the room and it is flawlessly organized, clean enough to perform surgery in and everything is at right angles and precise distances. Leaving his stuff in here is going to drive the poor woman insane. The little nameplate on her desk says Vice Principal Harssk.

“Ma’am I am going to do a sweep for monitoring devices, then proceed to do the same for the other offices. Once I know this area is secure I am going to be systematically going through the school to find everything. If I encounter more unusual detection methodologies I will be using this place to store gear to circumnavigate things such as metal and radio detectors. I this understood?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Initial sweep of the room is clear. I will do a more thorough one now and get to work.” He says as he draws on the Axiom and his eyes start nearly glowing as he starts to look for certain wavelengths. He begins gesturing to certain places and asking about different things in the office. Several picture frames of family or graduating classes are hooked up to networks, her on desk communicator, the sensors on the door and temperature controls. Nothing else is giving out signals. The room is clear.

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