Spes Novis

The Abyssal City - 5

"Rockwell sure loosened up once you started conjuring at him," Corey said with a chuckle. "We got a lot of good information out of him."

Veda nodded, holding tightly to the hand railing in the elevator tube. "I suppose it is the best way to get people to talk," she sighed. Veda looked exhausted. She hadn't shown it in the interrogation room, but the small display of magic must have done a number on her.

"Now we just need to apply it," Lavender added. "Which should be easier once we see what was tampered with in the databases."

The elevator stopped and opened up to yet another lobby with more receptionists and people milling about.

The group was directed to the central database, where they were reunited with the other members of the National Protection Unit. The unit deputy requested their reports, and Lavender provided a detailed explanation for Veda, since she seemed quite exhausted from the ordeal.

The deputy ran a hand through his hair and laughed, "So that's where Justice Proctor and Chavez went off to... I swear, we looked all over for them. If only someone had told us they were cleared, we could have saved the time. The other Justices passed with flying colors as well. All of them are mages and none of them had any incriminating evidence against them, but we have to take a better look at their staffs. Perhaps the moles in the High Mage Court are the clerks."

"Only one way to find out," Veda responded. "Time to do some digging." She turned and sat down next to their tech expert to begin helping.

"Well, we already started looking through the files and were surprised to find the database corrupted. It makes sense, though, if your Rockwell guy was messing around in here. There were a lot of files tampered with..." the tech expert said. "Housing records, personnel files, some data involving the UMR's knowledge of the Erie County... And interestingly enough, they didn't touch the files of the Mage Court. Instead they went for..." She squinted at the screen. "Documentation of terrorism and history of the Agents."

"They're definitely all connected somehow," Lavender murmured.

"I was able to restore everything and pour through some of the files, but some help would be greatly appreciated."

"Of course," Corey said, sitting down at one of the neighboring computers.

Lavender followed in suit, waiting for the tech expert to provide them access to the files. "How do we want to divide this up?"

"We're already checking the housing records and personnel files," the tech expert responded. "Dep and his group started looking into the Mage Court files, even though they were cleared. Just in case. You and Corey can take the history on terrorism and the agents. He could probably use a refresher."

Lavender glanced at her partner's deep brown eyes, which were practically rolling in his head. "I know. I know," Lavender replied sympathetically. "But you heard our local genius. Let's get to work." Lavender found the desired file on her own computer and began reading.

FileName: The Agents of the District of Columbia: From Salem to Modern Day

Status: Open

1692: Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, began having the visions that afflict young necromancers...

Wait that wasn't right. Was it? Lavender read the lines again. The story had always said that the girls turned in Tituba for being a witch. Not they were witches themselves. Lavender continued reading.

1692: ...Doctors could not diagnose the problem and the girls' conditions only worsened, accompanied by panicked bouts and violent outbursts. The girls expressed the cause to be witchcraft. The humans of the town, misunderstanding the root of the problem, began a witch-hunt. Afraid of facing punishment for their supernatural powers, the girls accused other witches of inflicting them with these visions. The witch-hunt evolved into a grand spectacle and witches repeatedly turned each other in to save their own skin...