Only Hugh Mann

Chapter 1 - Sniffer

"So you're Hugh Mann?" he asked. He didn't seem bothered by the fact that he was tied to a metal chair with a bright light shining in his face. "The guy from the comic?"

"More or less." His captor rubbed the stubble on his squared jaw as he considered the prisoner. "How did you track me down?"

"More or less? What does that mean? Are you Hugh Mann or not?"

"It means it's about me, but that's not my name."

"So what is your name?"

Hugh Mann shook his head. "Once again, how did you track me down?"

"So the stuff in the comic really happened?"

"No. Not all of it. Some of it was grossly exaggerated." His eyes narrowed. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Bert Conrad. I'm a reporter."

Hugh's eyes widened in alarm. He glanced over his shoulder at a mirrored observation window and called out, "Did we check him for wires?"

"This is strictly off the record," Bert assured him. "I have no intention of publishing anything I find out here. I just wanted to know- "

"Are you from Titan, Bert?" There was a certain threat implicit in the question.

"Why would I be with Titan? Wouldn't Titan already know the truth?"

"If you only learn one thing from this conversation, learn this: Titan lies. Even to its own employees. No one who wasn't there has any idea what happened that day, and even some who were there have to guess at some of it." He glared at Bert. "And you still haven't answered my questions: How did you find me? And are you with Titan?"

"No, I'm not with Titan."

Hugh Mann raised a querious eyebrow in the direction of the mirrored observation window.

"He's telling the truth," a woman said over the intercom.

"Who are you working with?" Hugh asked.

"I came here on my own," Bert said.

"Why?"

"To find out the truth."

"How did you track me down?"

"It's what I do. I'm a reporter."

Hugh looked unconvinced. "But how did you track me down?"

Bert grinned. It was the type of expression you would expect from a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Guilt, but mingled with pride at some hidden factoid you'd missed. "You've heard of Sherlock Holmes."

It wasn't a question, so Hugh didn't bother responding.

"Well, it's a lot like that," Bert said. "It was all there. Every clue necessary. All it needed was someone to put the pieces together. You can't hide from the data trail." He locked eyes with Hugh Mann as a sneer played out on his lips. "I just... sniffed it out."

Hugh reacted instantly. "Lockdown!"

In moments, security locks slammed into place and a metal plate slid over the observation window. The doors were soundproof but Hugh knew a klaxon was resounding through the compound.

His captive seemed not at all bothered by the flurry of activity his words had caused. If anything, he looked mildly bemused.

Hugh eyeballed his captive with obvious irritation, rubbing his jaw. "I can't believe somebody let a sniffer walk through my front door. After all these years..." He turned toward his prisoner, eyes narrowed. "Why did you come?"

"I told you, Hugh. I want to know the truth about what happened that day."

"Who else knows you're here?"

Bert licked his lips. "No one else needs to know - "

Hugh struck quickly. Reaching out with telekinetic force, he plucked his prisoner off the ground, chair and all. Bert slammed into the far wall and bounced off. The prisoner cried out as he fell to the floor, landing on his side with one arm pinned painfully beneath the metal chair.

"Wait!" he cried. "No one needs to know, but I have made arrangements!"

"Arrangements?"

Bert nodded.

"What sort of arrangements?"

"Please, the chair is... The chair first. It hurts."

With a thought, Hugh Mann caused the other man to hover off the ground. A moment later, Bert's chair rested on all four metal legs.

"Better?" Hugh asked.

Bert nodded, still grimacing.

"What sort of arrangements?"

"If I don't return alive in two days, Titan will know what I know. It will be enough to allow them to find you and your precious Silo."

"He's telling the truth," the woman called over the intercom.

"Or he's fooling the lie detector's biometrics," Hugh shot back. "This is a sniffer, people! Use your heads."

"Look, I just want to know the truth about what happened that day. That's all."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"You seem familiar with my kind. You probably know what a sniffer is capable of. We can find out anything if we put our minds to it. And you probably know what we can do with the kind of information we can get." He scoffed. "Believe me when I say that I have an unbelievable amount of information on you and your associates. In the wrong hands, what I know..."

"I get it. You still didn't answer my question."

Bert sighed. "You should also know that a true mystery is a bit of an Achilles heel for my kind. We can't help ourselves. We have to know. I have to know the truth behind that comic."

"And the trail ends here," Hugh guessed.

"Why else would I come? I will exchange everything I know about you for the truth behind that comic. Every clue. Every bread crumb. You'll be able to erase the trail so utterly that no sniffer will be able to pick it up ever again. After you tell me, I will hand over the data I've collected and you will never see me again."

"Just like that?"

"Do we have a deal?"

Hugh Mann sighed. "Like I have a choice. What do you want to know?"

"Everything. Let's start with something simple: Did you write the comic?"

Hugh Mann's eyes narrowed again. "Maybe I better just tell you from the beginning. It'll make more sense that way."

"As you wish," Bert said.

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