Everglow: Friend From Far Away

24 - Man In The Chair

It was almost dead silent in the office. There was no noise. The papers on the wooden desk sat still, the fan in the left corner across from the varnished wood bookshelf motionless. The room was still, save for a single well dressed man in a grey suit who sat in his chair, pen in his mouth. He held a stack of papers in front of him, attentively going over the information that they presented.

A quiet sound piqued the interest of the man as he sat there, alone in his office. Footsteps muffled by the soft carpet grew closer and closer, the sound of clothing ruffling as the agent approached the office soon became audible as well. Eventually, a man in a similar suit stood at the doorway to the office. He was dressed in a black suit and tie, glasses sitting on his nose and slick combed back hair adorned the top of his head.

The man in the chair paid the agent no mind, continuing to bury himself in his papers, until the agent made himself known. A slight knock on the wooden door was enough to raise the man's gaze from his work.

"Ehhm, sir?" The agent coughed, holding what appeared to be some sort of digital tablet in his hands. The man in the chair looked up at him, seemingly surprised at the agents willingness to invade the room in which he resided.

"What is it? These notes are rather important," he stated, smacking the sides of the papers onto the desk to neaten the pile.

"Sir I've got something I think you'll be very interested to see. Take a look at this," the agent exclaimed, an aura of excitement to his voice as he placed the tablet in front of the man.

Swiping his fingers across the screen, a video started to play on the device. It was relatively poor quality, but it was still possible to make out what was happening. The video looked to be shot from about chest height, it showed two people, including the person filming, dressed in police uniforms and approaching what looked to be a relatively mediocre house. Right before the person behind the camera was about to knock on the door, a muffled voice could be heard. It sounded like it was saying something along the lines of 'quickly, hide.' This seemed to agitate the officers who proceeded to draw both their weapons and kick the door in, revealing a young man lying with his back on the ground and an white alien with blue accents adorned by a purple cloak, turned to face the camera.

The agent paused the video, leaning further over the man's desk with a grin lining his mouth.

"We found one."

The man in the chair's eyes widened at the image as well as the agents words. A smile began to creep it's way across his mouth as well. He sat quiet for a few more moments, staring intently at the screen and the image of the alien that was plastered on it.

"Where did you find this? Are you sure it's reliable?" He questioned sternly.

"It was taken from the bodycam of a German police officer in Munich yesterday. They were responding to what they thought was a robbery. Instead they stumbled upon this asset which appeared to have been taking refuge in this house. It's about as reliable a source as we've ever gotten. Sir, this is an incredible breakthrough."

The man in the chair leaned back and pulled his pen from his mouth, twiddling his fingers. He pondered for a little bit about what he's just seen.

"You said this was from Germany? That was around where the last detection was wasn't it?"

The agent nodded slowly, his eyes wide open. "The last everglow was detected around the Munich area. It seems that this time we caught something a little bigger than just readings," the agent explained, pointing at the location of Munich on a world map that was hung on the wall.

"Where are they now? Do we have any leads?"

"Unfortunately no. They allegedly both escaped a police shootout and ran for the trees. They're currently being hunted down by a dog squadron but I wouldn't put my faith in the local police to find this thing."

The man sat back in his chair, twisting his tongue around inside his mouth, visibly contemplating what to do next. He twiddled his thumbs around before coming to a conclusion.

"I'm sure you're aware of how incredibly extraordinary a discovery like this is. How long until we can get agents on the field?"

"We have five agents already in place in Berlin, they can be ready and mobilized within the hour. I can get more agents on planes into Germany as soon as we're done here."

"Good, send out the A-O-O signal, let them know we're in business. What's the quickest we can get more assets in the field?"

"The closest is in Britain. That'll only be a few hours at maximum. They could be anywhere in Germany by that time however."

"Better anywhere in Germany than anywhere in the world. Conlith, this is the most important operation in the history of the organization. We cannot screw this up. This may be our only chance to procure an asset such as this. I want your best men on the ground ASAP."

The agent swiftly nodded, straightening his glasses on his nose.

"What about the kid? What do we know about him?" The man asked with a gruff voice, leaning back into his chair.

"Right now, not much. We know his name and where he lives. That's about it. However I've got a full report in the works now. It should be here soon."

"Good. What about the asset? What can you tell me about it?"

The agent let a small smile slip through his serious demeanor, "Well, so far this footage is all we have to go off of. From it we've been able to determine the asset is a class Epsilon. It appears docile until provoked, as the officer from Germany clearly demonstrated. It appears to be civilized, it wouldn't be sheltered with someone otherwise. Unfortunately, persuasion is out of the question when it comes to containment procedures."

"How so?"

"The creature only attacked when the officer pointed their weapon at the kid. This seems to suggest some sort of relationship is going on. Whether it's one purely for survival or if it's a friendship of some kind is unclear. But it seems to be strong enough that the asset risked being shot to protect him. I would recommend sleep or nerve agents when containing. Tranquilizing may be our best option. Although we have no references yet, from the video it appears the creature is female. The lack of a solid build means that overpowering it using brute strength may be a viable option. However it appears to be very agile and equipped with a set of retractable claws that could very well prove troublesome for a brute force approach which is why I recommend tranquilization,"

The man in the chair nodded at his recommendation, seemingly agreeing. He swiveled around in his chair to face the wall, showing his back to the agent.

"As soon as the report for the man comes back, get it to me ASAP. We need to know what kind of person we're dealing with and how we can work around him,"

The agent promptly nodded, turning his back and exiting the office, leaving the man in the chair by himself once more, pondering what to do next