Since I have no one to dedicate this to yet, I wanna give a shoutout to my best friend, Faith, for always (and I mean always) telling and encouranging me to write and supporting me when I need it the most. =D Plus, she is also the editor that you guys should be paying billions to hire!!!
**
|| Nikki ||
Even though Erin is out on this one today, the Jackets agreed to continue our meeting with the President and just relay the important info to our friend the next day. At first, I was a bit guarded about Erin and Theo hanging out together without any of the Jackets watching over them, but then I forced myself to let go a bit. I couldn't keep Erin on a leash.
"Agent Denver, why did you call me here today? And where is Agent West?" the President asks all of us in her usual stern tone. She crosses her arms.
"Actually, the Jackets were wondering if we could get a closer look at the crime scene," Alicia answers nervously, fidgeting in her chair. The green glow of the plasma screens in Mission Control lights up our faces, giving our--especially the President's--faces an eerie glow.
"Well, I don't see why not," she says coolly. "But can someone tell me where Agent West is, before we continue?"
"She's on a date with Theo Greeves!" Hana exclaims. "Well, it isn't exactly a--"
"Yeah, President! They're hanging out as we speak," Alicia cuts in.
"Theo Greeves. I don't know why, but that name sounds familiar," the President muses aloud, and then adds, "Agent Williams, remind me to search our databases for 'Greeves'. For some reason, that name jogs my memory."
"Sure, ma'am," Sara says. We all share a look. Is Theo bad news? If so, should we call off his and Erin's sort-of date?
"Good. Now onto the case. When do you girls want to investigate?" the President asks.
"We were thinking tomorrow after school, maybe," Sara says. "Before Erin starts making different plans."
"Okay, are you fully equipped? Ear and mouth pieces? Weapons? Scanners? You may also want to bring along a glitcher or two in case the murderers work for a high-tech organization."
"Check, check, check, and noted, ma'am," I inform her. "When Erin gets back, we'll tell her to bring out our five latest glitchers."
"Excellent," the President says. "Agent Minami, do you want to bring along any weapons?"
"No need, ma'am. My only offense and defense are my fists and body," Hana answers. "If I were to wield a gun or sword, I might accidentally wound my colleauges."
"Good thought, Agent Minami." The President turns to the rest of us. "Suit up your wardrobe for tomorrow. Since you're going mid-afternoon till nighttime, might as well prepare a dark attire."
"Noted, ma'am," we say in unison. Alicia raises her hand. "Can we borrow our mission briefing hardrive?"
"What for, Agent Denver?"
"I need to double check our clues."
"Okay. Do you girls have any other questions or shall I call an end to this meeting?"
"No, ma'am, no questions," we answer.
"Good. I have an appointment in ten minutes. Agent Williams, kindly send out Car #2 for me ASAP." The President pushes back her chair, stands up, and then leaves promptly.
"That was... quick," Sara mutters when the door closes. "How important is her appointment anyway?"
She strides over to the Transportation Garage screen and taps the button for Car #2. "And she's out."
"Help me on this," Alicia calls from the main screen. "Without Erin around, things are becoming harder with these green screened stuff. And why can't I find the hard drive on the desktop? Did she install a hide window...?!"
"I think it's because you didn't even insert the USB," I deadpan, making a show of sliding the small, metal harddrive into its outlet. Sure enough, the icon pops up on the screen and Alicia huffs and clicks it. She opens the second image and maximizes it to fit the screen.
"So what, it's the blurred pic of a black-haired guy?" Sara asks, looking over her shoulder. Alicia shushes her and taps the zoom button twice so that it's zoomed in 50%. It does nothing to lessen the blurriness of the image, so I lean over her and click the 'Sharpen' button. Suddenly, everything becomes focused.
There's one thing I notice now about the picture that I didn't see before when the President showed it to us: I could see the rail of a balcony near the bottom of the image, which means that someone had to be taking the picture, and not a CCTV camera. But who?
"Hey, I think I can see numbers on the lower right hand corner," Sara says, pointing at a set of numbers; two digits on each side of a colon. "Alicia, focus."
"On it," Alicia says, and taps 'Sharpen' again and 'Focus' once. The numbers, 05:30, are startling red.
"I don't have to be a professional to infer that this is a time," Hana speaks up, tracing each digit. "Five thirty in the morning. Who would be up at such an hour?"
"The real question is, if the killers attacked at two in the morning, why does this picture say otherwise? Yeah, I mean the ambush couldn't have all happened in a minute, but the photo of the killer walking away should've been at two thirty, at the latest." Something is definitely up. Did the President just pick up a bad source, or are we onto something deeper?
Alicia minimizes the photo only to reopen the video clip of the news reporter in front of the dark alley. "I think I remember something important here."
We watch the vid until it's almost halfway done, and then she pauses it. "There, now listen."
"...a certain Mr. Nicolas Mark was walking home from work when suddenly three men in black attire--" The reporter's mouth is left half open.
"There. Did you hear that?" Alicia asks us.
"Yes. She said 'black attire'," Sara says in a whisper. She reopens the zoomed in and sharpened image of the black-haired guy running away from the dark alley. "This guy is in uniform. School uniform. The logo on his shoulder is too small for me to see, even with 300% zoom."
"I don't think we need any more proof that this guy is being framed, whoever he is, Shane Walker or not," I announce, my eyes noticing something haltingly odd about the picture.
"But this could just be one of the killers! Maybe there was a fourth," Sara says weakly. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions so fast."
"Just hear me out," I say, my eyes not leaving the screen. "If I remember correctly, the reporter said that Mr. Mark was found dead in the alley, meaning the killers didn't care to move him. We also know that the victim died of bullet wounds, not by the blade. If so," I pause, recollecting my thoughts.
"Why is there blood on his hands?"
YOU ARE READING
The S.H.A.N.E. Game (editing)
Action[ highest ranking: #43 Action ] Sara Williams, Hana Minami, Alicia Denver, Nikki Connor and Erin West – can you guess their acronym? – are not as girly and gentle as their names give away. They are the Maroon Jackets. They are the equivale...
