Plague Rising

File #1

In my head, this all begins with the song Everybody Knows by Sigrid. I do love making my own soundtracks. I was making my way, in one of my signature eccentric outfits, to the Detective Bureau to speak with good old Angela Mowery!

It has been months since we stopped Dr. Rowe's attempt to blanket Philly in Life's Blood like the Santa Clarita Valley, and while I did accept the victory, I could not accept the idea that that was the end of it. There was something else to be seen here. What was Rowe so afraid of? Why was it so easy to defeat him? I don't do loose ends or plot holes. What am I missing? Whatever it is, I can't do it alone. Especially if I'm on a crappy retailer's full-time payroll.

I sauntered into the Bureau with a confident smile as the desk sergeant rolled her eyes.

"You don't give up, do you?" The officer mused.

"Too stubborn for that." I smiled wide as I continued to the back to see Detective Mowery. I approached her desk, ignoring the looks I was getting from the other cops in the building, half of whom were mixed between glad and tired to see me. I quietly approached Mowery's desk, leaning over her shoulder to see her writing up a report on a boring old B&E. She seemed to sense my presence and turned her head.

"Hijo de puta!" She tried to stifle herself. "Jay... you cannot keep showing up here."

"You know I won't give up." I mused, walking over and taking a seat across from her desk. "Too many unanswered questions."

"Jay, we've been through this, Rowe is beaten. He's in a federal penitentiary for his crimes. Game over." Angela insisted.

"It was too easy. He's a master evader." I explained. "Plus, we picked him up in a diner a block away! Why would he stick around to be affected by his own bomb?"

"You're generalizing!"

"He didn't even have a breather or anything to protect himself! I'm telling you, he wanted to get caught." I pushed even further. I had put a lot of thought into this lately and as we all know by now, I don't believe in coincidence. I already don't trust when one thing doesn't line up but this is far too many things misaligned into a kaleidoscope of false information.

"Why? Why would he want to be put in a federal pen?" Mowery raised her brow at me.

"That's what I want us to investigate. Get the team back together." I pushed.

"Jay, I realize it's hard to go back to the retail thing when you got a taste of your dream job, but that would be a waste of resources. There are very clear and present crimes to address every day, like this one." She pointed to the report on her computer.

"Oh, a B&E at a dollar store that any state official could look into?" I sighed. "You are wasted on such a minuscule case, if you can even call it an actual case."

"Why are you afraid?" I asked. Mowery narrowed her eyes at me. "Why are you fighting so hard against the fact that this isn't over?"

"It is over!" Mowery slammed her fist on the desk. "It is, Jay. You may not like it, God knows why, but the case is closed. Syntec is done on the East Coast. There. Is. Nothing. Else."

"We'll see." I was no longer smiling. "When something occurs, you know where to find me." I got up and left the Bureau.

Upon getting into the Cumulous, I found myself humming a familiar little tune. The same song that mysterious voice sang the day I received that message from Rowe when he was sent running from his own facility. 'Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit'. It had been stuck in my head ever since Rowe's arrest. He wanted to be captured because he wanted to be in a highly secure location with loads of security to protect him from the thing that escaped Site 72. As I said, I was working on this for a while.

Upon getting home, I entered the house. Inside, JJ came bounding to me as he always does and Kumori was spread out in her favorite seat on the couch next to Jo. They were watching reruns of Triple G on Food Network.

"Hey, Tiger." Jo waved. "Any luck with Angie?"

"Not yet, but I think I get why she's burying her head so far down in the dirt." I said, removing my coat and flopping on the couch. "She's clinging to the idea that she's brought down Rowe and Syntec so she can feel like she's avenged whoever she lost to them. She's afraid of feeling like she hasn't succeeded."

"Sounds like you when you don't feel like you've done enough in a day." Jo poked my cheek.

I brushed off the little quip and joined Jo for the rest of my day off. I couldn't help but fuss in the back of my mind though. I needed to know more. Something was rising in the shadows. Something that even Syntec fears. And if Syntec of all entities fears this 'Plague', as Rowe called it, then we are all in the most unimaginable form of danger...

Little did I know just how right I was. Buckle up. Because this account of the events of us versus Syntec is no longer subjective... it's going to be far worse.