Chief was not happy when she found out that Carmen San Diego had "gotten away in the van accident" as Graham had told her. She was happy with the new phone, though.
"El Topo, huh?" Felix asked, putting the name into the database. "And le chevré. Wow, who knew an Olympic climber would call himself 'the goat.' Doesn't that seem a little below him?"
Devineaux popped a mint in his mouth, "I don't believe anything is below them. They kidnapped an agent and Ms. San Diego."
"It wouldn't be the first time an agent was taken from us," Zari reminded Devineaux, referring to his "interrogation" by V.I.L.E. around a year or so earlier.
Deveinaux winced. "I still believe it was a misunderstanding."
"Tell that to Agent Hawkins."
Graham would have commented, but he had been much quieter lately. It'd been around a week sense the van incident, and he was still thinking about everything that had happened.
The "Carmen San Diego Surveillance Squad" was sent back to Germany to deconstruct the new phone, which gave them mostly the same things, but with a few more locations, capers, and most importantly... a couple of images.
Felix clicked a button and pulled up a painting. It was drawn on old parchment, and only black ink. It had to be hundreds of years old. Using editing software, circles and notes written in French were digitally drawn on top, pointing out any tears or sensitive parts of the painting.
Zari leaned a little closer the the screen, "The Nine Dragons painting, by Chen Rong. It was made in China, year 1244."
"Do you think that's where V.I.L.E will strike next?" Devineaux asked.
"Most likely," Zari confirmed. She looked at Graham, "Don't you have a therapy session soon?"
"In about an hour, yeah," he responded. Zari nodded and looked back at the screen.
Indeed the faculty's wishes had been carried out. They weren't always long, but ACME had been trying to help Graham recall pieces of him memory. He'd met multitudes of agents, from multitudes of places, using multitudes of techniques. Alas, nothing worked.
"What's interesting though...." Felix said, reverting Graham's attention back to the screen, "And my French is a little rusty, but these notes seem to indicate that le chèvre will be collecting, not stealing."
"What?" Devineaux asked, taking a closer look. His eyes widened, "Oui! Right there."
He pointed to a specific note in digital writing that stated, "When you meet Lady Doksuo for pickup, do not put pressure on this side. The piece will be ruined if you do. -C. Cleo."
Graham frowned, "But who is Lady Doksuo?"
The group's thoughts were interrupted by a thick New York accent. "Aye-o Gumshoes! What work are you up to today?"
They turned to see faculty member Headroom, wearing a butter yellow dress shirt, a checkered tie, pink trousers, and leather sandals. He dawned his famous Elvis hairdo, and had switched his pink glasses for purple ones with orange lenses.
Graham would laugh, if this guy wasn't one of the most important people in ACME.
Zari and Devineaux straightened, Felix got up. "Sir."
Faculty member Headroom scowled at their formalities, but showed off his toothy grin again when Graham settled for a wave and, "Hey, Faculty Member Headroom. What's up?"
Rodger Headroom put his hands on his hips, "The sky. Duh."
Graham nodded, "Right, sir. Silly me."
"Yes, silly you. How's the phone coming, phone man?" Headroom asked.
Graham wasn't real good with the ACME database, luckily, Felix interrupted. "It's going along great, sir. We think we've figured out their next caper."
Rodger Headroom started jumping up and down in excitement, "Oooooooh. Tell me! Tell me tell me tell me tell me!"
Zari shifted, "Sir, I'm not sure if this is an appropriate time—"
"The Nine Dragons painting in China, sir," Deveinaux said, puffing out his chest, "And we think the operative le chevre will be picking it up from one Lady Doksuo."
Rodger Headrook clapped. "Good job, Devineaux! You were always one of my favorites."
Deveianux shot Zari a gloating grin, which was received with a glare. Felix opened his mouth to protest that Devineaux didn't do any of the work, but he didn't get a chance before faculty member Headroom spoke again, "Anyway, Gumshoes. You go do that. Also, gram cracker—"
"It's Graham, sir," Graham corrected.
"Graham, gram cracker, whatever. I just want to say good luck with Hayashi today, you're going to need it!" He smiled.
And with that, he walked off to the faculty lounge humming "Rockefeller Street".
An eery silence fell amongst the agents.
Graham had started to hear more about the faculty as he spent more time in ACME. He knew everything that was available about each of them through lunchroom gossip or "Get to Know your Boss" brochures. But the thing about Hayashi Ono, was that not much was available about her.
She usually resided in "ACME Headquarters Asia" in Kyoto, Japan, which coincidentally was where she was born. She joined ACME a year after Chief, for her unique amount of knowledge on V.I.L.E., and over the years the two retained a great friendship. When Chief became the leader of ACME, Hayashi was the first invited to join the faculty, followed by Rodger. And that's where all information ended.
Nothing about family, hobbies, favorite foods... She was just, a textbook mysterious boss.
ACME was an intelligence agency, and there was no intelligence on Hayashi Ono, one of the most important members. And that was slightly unnerving.
Graham spoke first. "That's.... comforting?"
"No, it's not," Zari stated, crossing her arms.
"I was trying to be an optimist," Graham pointed out, "I was just sent good luck by a faculty member!"
"Rodger Headroom," Felix reminded him.
"Well yeah, but—"
"The guy who blasts Elvis Presley on the microphone, and is more interested in solving a rubix cube than what V.I.L.E is up to?" Felix added.
"I personally like Rodger Headroom," Graham retorted, "though he is a little....."
"Insane?" Zari suggested.
"Crazy?" Felix said.
"Wacky is the word I was going to use, but sure," Graham grumbled.
"I like the esteemed Faculty Member Headroom, too," Devineaux huffed.
"We all like him, it's just.... how did that man make faculty?" Zari asked, shaking her head.
No reply.
"As for what he said, it.... could be a different Hayashi," Felix tried to say.
"Oh? What other Hayashis do you know?" Devineaux asked.
The group just shrugged.
"Okay, so I might be doomed. But when have we not been?" Graham asked, trying once again to lighten the mood.
His three fellow agents just shot each other quick glances.
"What ever you say, mon amie," Deveinaux murmured.
...
An hour later, Graham was standing in front of two, dark wooden doors. The silver handles were curved and turned into two "s" shapes. The frame was a light quartz. The words "Faculty Member Hayashi Ono" were displayed in gold letters on the door.
Graham took a deep breath, and after a little hesitation, unlocked and opened the door, closing it behind him.
Faculty member Hayashi Ono's office was mature, sophisticated, and elegant, a reflection of her general personality, it seemed.
From a speaker in the corner he could hear the faint melody of classical piano. The back wall was made up of two, large windows with translucent, white curtains covering them. The walls were a light lavender color, which matched surprisingly well with the cherrywood floor, which was decorated by a tan dimate sisal rug. A few traditional Japanese paintings decorated the side walls, along with a dart board on the inside of the door. The desk was glass, providing a great view to the black leather chair where Miss Ono would sit. Two flags, one ACME the other Japanese stood on either side of the desk, slightly mimicking a presidential or royal set up. Most interestingly however, was the origami.
Lining the walls were shelves and shelves of origami animals, buildings, and other creations. He saw a purple kangaroo and a pink koala in a tree. He smiled at the Australian animal representation.
Maybe that was her missing hobby, Graham thought, origami and stuff.
However, Hayashi Ono was noticeably not there.
"Uh, hello?" Graham called into the emptiness.
No answer, just a faint breeze.
He called again, "Faculty member Ono? Hello?"
He sat down on a light wooden chair across from the desk. That's when he jumped back. "Gah!"
"You're early, Mr. Hawkins," Hologram Hayashi Ono spoke, hardly acknowledging Graham, and not even looking at him.
"Uh, my apologies, miss," he stated, straightening.
Her hologram blinked as it motioned to the nearly barren glass desk, except for stacks of different colored and patterned origami papers. "Take a piece of paper, Hawkins."
He took a light blue one.
"So," she said, still not looking at him, "What really happened last week in the van incident?"
Graham was shocked, "Excuse me, Miss?"
"You heard me, Hawkins. Don't make me ask again."
Graham was on edge, "I don't know what you're talking about, m'am. I've said all you need to know already."
She gave a cold chuckle, clearly unconvinced.
"Sure. Carmen San Diego just 'happens' to break out of handcuffs, while she was unarmed and in mild disarray, and then proceeds to jump out of a moving vehicle, defeat four V.I.L.E. agents, and then get away, right under the nose of an armed ACME agent. She may be a woman of many talents, but I doubt she can preform miracles," Faculty Member Ono stated, picking up a piece of paper from her side of the hologram, and folding it. She morphed it into a small kangaroo.
Graham looked at his unfolded piece of paper. He suddenly felt embarrassed. He was a proud Australian, but he couldn't make a kangaroo origami figure. Shame on him.
"So, are you going to tell me, Hawkins?" Ono asked again.
Graham sighed. He realized he didn't have a choice.
He told her about the van ride. About his argument with Carmen, and how it had boiled into a high speed ACME-V.I.L.E. stand off before he just let Carmen go in the end.
When his story was over, Hayashi Ono remained unfazed. In fact, she nodded.
"Good."
Graham raised an eyebrow, "What? How is that good?"
"It's good because it shows that with a proper push, you will not lie to authority. Therefore," she folded another piece of paper into a crane, "I can confirm that I made the right decision, and that I've likely saved you a lot of heartache."
Graham tilted his head, "Ma'am?"
Hologram Hayashi Ono finally looked at him, straight in the eyes.
"I'm removing you from the 'Carmen San Diego Surveillance Squad,' Hawkins. You will not go to China with Deveinaux and Zari to secure the Nine Dragons painting. You are to be given a new assignment."
Graham felt the blood drain from his face.
...
Hayashi, No.
That being said, I'm going to get to do more with the faculty now. I'm excited. Especially about Hayashi. This'll be fun.
Rodger will be great to work with too, I noticed he was the more likable of two. (Which is kind of the point, for reasons you'll see as the story progresses.)
To any who don't know, after a long run of inconsistency (in part because I neve believed anyone would read this) I'm aiming to post in Fridays, so expect another of these next week.
However, this was a really REALLY short chapter, and the next one... I think is even shorter. So, I'm considering posting the next chapter a little early, so that you'd get two chapters in a week.
We'll see.
Also, COVER CHANGE! I may go back to the old one... we'll see.
That being said, thank you again SO much for all the support you all give me and this CS AU!
I always sound like a robot when I express thanks, I know that. But it's difficult to out into words how much it actually means.
So, thanks for reading!
See y'all again, soon.