The Anarchist

15. A Lead

They can see the smoke long before they can see the weather station. The dark column must be visible to most of the city, so high up does it rise. As the group crests the final ridge before the road descends towards the coastline, they see the wreckage; a crumbled mess of snapped bricks, bent steel, and disintegrated cement, bordered by a now-redundant chain-link fence. In the distance off to the left, lonely harbour cranes rise out of the haze, long arms lifted up like the necks of giant beasts wandering off into wilds.

Eirian gasps.

"There's nothing left of it," she says, unable to look away.

Miyoshi takes the car down the ridge and along the beach road leading up to the remains of the weather station. The car crawls up to the open gate, but Watkins spots something. He tells Miyoshi to stop and gets out of the car. He winces. The wound in his leg is really starting to hurt. Even through the bandages, he can feel a burning, stabbing pain emanating from it. He shakes it off. There's no time. He limps to the gate and takes a look. A chain hangs from one side of the gate, with a padlock still attached. Watkins examines it. There is a clear, clean gap in the curve of the lock's arm right near the point where it enters the mechanism. He gets back into the car and comments, "The lock was cut."

Miyoshi nods knowingly. "Look like boltcutters to you?" she asks.

Watkins nods, and Miyoshi simply says, "Right" and parks the car on the edge of a ring of police and fire department vehicles, lights all long extinguished. The rubble is piled like grey sand, and the rescue workers are all scouring it for survivors.

"Better let me talk to 'em," Miyoshi says as they get out of the car. She approaches one of the police on the sidelines and presents him with her badge and Watkins and Eirian's papers. She explains that she's here on Arnold's orders and asks him to brief her on the situation in a relatively formal fashion, which in her case means that she does not use any foul language.

"Got the call last night," the officer answers. "People reported an explosion in the area and said that they saw some kind of van leaving the general area, and told us to come and check it out. We found it like this already. No survivors. All staff on duty were crushed."

"No survivors? You mean, like, at all?"

The man gives her a cold stare.

"That's what I said."

Miyoshi prods the man further.

"Have you found anything so far?"

"Nothing worth sayin' Jack about, 'cept the bodies. You're welcome to look around, but don't touch. This is our crime scene. We don't want some rando and her lackeys contaminating it."

They set about examining the wreckage. Eirian elects not to do too much, remaining near the car and gazing out back the way they came. She seems to be particularly keen on avoiding looking at the wreckage, and while Watkins feels like he should say something, he decides against it, feeling like he, in his fumbling way, would probably only make things worse. Miyoshi networks with the other officers and joins in the search for more evidence, but she seems uneasy. It is for good reason. Shifty glares are passed the way of the three newcomers from every corner of the scene. There is a strange air about this whole operation, almost as if these police are genuinely irked that someone else has come here.

Watkins, meanwhile, examines the rubble closely, and some gears begin turning in his head.

The destruction is total. Only fragments of the original structure remain. Some chunks lie on top of the almost powdered piles of cement and bricks, while others poke out from beneath it. Watkins scans for whatever details he can find, but very little is of use here. Still, he remembers something that Wilson once told him: "The only time when you think there is nothing to work with is when you aren't thinking enough." He decides to stop looking at what is here, and instead pictures what was here.