Omega

Chapter 3

"I saw him the other day briefly. I was on my way to meet Maya so...I..." With his official position Xiao was unsure how to navigate the question. Ervel, having gotten his answer waved his stumbling words away.

"Casey and Jane went down to where your new facility is being constructed. They were heading back when they ran into a new recruit who was tasked with security. Casey suddenly attacked him Jane was able to stop him, but.... Given the delicate nature of this situation, they have decided to hold him at your facility while they investigate the matter. No one wants to disrupt our new peace. He is in one of your quarantine labs. However, Jane is...irate. I need you to calm the situation." Xiao stood up and moved to the door.

Suddenly he stilled.

"Sir, have you seen Casey? "

"Not yet." a pained look flickered across Ervel's face.

Xiao closed the door and hurried over to his ocean lab. His mind raced and rushed in all directions as he made his way to Casey. Why such a similar situation? Why did both incidents occur near his lab? Was that significat? What was going on? Realizing that he needed more information he shut his mind down and focused on making it to Casey. Figuring out what happened to him could also free Maya. Not to mention if this was a threat to the city, they needed to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible.

He reached the lagoon where is facility was being built. He had not been inside of it since he mapped it out. The large biulding was nearly complete. It was built from the finest HD titanium and UHD titanium as its support beams. The lab and terminal system were complete although none of it was stocked. The bare rooms and minimal lighting gave the facility and empty and eerie feel. He walked down to the lower levels where the containment rooms were located. He had only included them in case they encountered any left over mutations from the Surge.

Jane was seated near the door with his legs kicked up. His face was unreadable. He simply looked relaxed and unbothered by Casey's situation. Xiao knew that was just the shell he presented. Deep down Jane was deeply disturbed. He stopped in front of Jane.

"Ervel told me to come down here. What happened?"

"Do you have the memory crystal of when you interrogated Maya?" Xiao nodded. Jane reached into his jacket and presented him with another.

"Compare it to this."

"How..." Xiao had a good idea how Jane got this away from the torture forces.

"I couldn't risk it going through all the red tape until it landed on your desk.

"Look who suddenly cares."

"I have always cared. Why do you think I came back.?" Jane's joking tone became instantly serious and XIao found himself shifting uncomfortably. He cleared his thoughts and headed to a terminal station.

What he saw was strikingly similar to Maya's. A bit of static and then a complete void of thought as the action commenced. Jane's interference seemed to interrupt the odd hold over Casey, but he still fought to complete the kill before Jane could get through to him. XIao slowed the relay like Casey had taught him. Sure enough he found a 'core scene' close to the static interruption. The Surge sigil in flames in the center of the old SHire's square.A pair of glasses and an old book lay on the street next to the burning sign. THey almsot appear to be what set fire to the Sigil. Xiao furrowed his brow and enhanced the image. The pair of glasses were the same as the ones in Maya's scene. Xaio searched but could find no other links in the scene. He put the image up for Jane to review it. Xiao was encouraged by the glasses showing up in both cores scenes but Jane seemed nonplussed.