First Steps Towards the Ending

Volume 2: Missing Report

"Huh, that's odd."

"What's up?" Zhen who happened to be passing by the office answered to Robin's sudden blurt. Robin waved her over. "Look at this." Zhen approached Robin who was staring at an open report page. "Oh, is this the job we sent Opportunities on?"

"Well, yeah. That's just the thing. They uploaded Forseti but the files are split in half and we got no report or even the bodycam footage that they promised for this job."

"You think they made it out okay?"

"Well they must've since they uploaded the files from Forseti. Despite being split, the upload was completed meaning this is the version they received."

"Maybe they got taken out midway through."

"Honestly, I find that kinda hard to believe."

"Why do you say that?"

"Here's some bodycam from a different mission. Check it." Robin replayed the video. The video started with the camera covered by Jacob's hands. He moved his hands away from the lense to reveal him and a large man in a clown mask standing in an alleyway. Robin spoke over the video. "The mission was to stop a deal between an Eadberht representative and the police." Watch the big dude."

Dave and Jacob rounded a corner where money was being exchanged between the officer and the representative. The cop, spotting the two with their masks must have caught wind of their infamy because he immediately dropped the money and pulled out his taser. He immediately tazed Dave who did little more than shudder a bit. He grabbed the doorknob of a nearby door and attempted to pull it off of its hinges. However the doorknob itself was just ripped through. He stared at it for a moment before throwing it at the officer. Shards of skull, blood, and brain painted the walls.

The representative took out his own firearm and attempted to shoot Dave. He missed and lost the ability to even hold his gun as fear took over his fingers as Dave ripped the remaining door out of its frame. The gun dropped and the representative's head painted the wall the same colors as the officer's. Jacob picked up the money from the transaction and the two left the scene. Jacob sighed. "That job was boring. You have any fun, Dave?" Dave shrugged. "It was a little fun." Jacob laughed. "Let's get something cooler next time." The video ended.

Robin turned back to Zhen. "See what I mean? I don't believe it is physically possible to kill whatever the fuck that guy is." Zhen gulped and nodded.

"Just the fact that guys like him exist scares me because it is very possible one of them works for Eadberht."

"Oh fuck don't make me think like that."

"Sorry. But if they did get taken out, we should probably be worrying." At this moment two more people entered the office. Dolon came in first with William coming in just behind him. "Worry about what, exactly?" He nervously asked. Robin showed Dolon and William the video and gave them the same explanation she had given Robin. Dolon scratched at his chin where some stubble had started to form.

"In just a month we've got monsters like that? Christ. So yer worried that these two're dead?"

Robin nodded. "More than that. If they did get put down, that means they were killed while they were making the report. Whoever got them probably got them while they were in hiding. In other words, they were either followed or exposed. They could have also been captured and tortured for information"

Dolon thought for a moment. His eyebrows furrowed. "There's one more thing we haven't considered yet." Robin took a deep breath. "Well fuck, let's hear it."

"That might not even be Forseti. It could be somethin' uploaded by someone tryin' to trick us." The thought brought everyone in the room to a fearful silence. If that was the case they were definitely either killed or tortured and if they ever came back they probably wouldn't be able to be trusted. William sighed. "One month and we have already gotten developments like this?" Zhen nodded.

"Well, yeah. None of us should've expected this to be a walk in the park. We decided on the name Bolders because we knew that that's what we would have to be if we kept this shit running."

"I agree with Zhen." Dolon said. "We should've been prepared for somethin' like this. For now, we know that Forseti could be more dangerous than we thought. These drones're our first priority for now."

Robin agreed. "According to what we found, Forseti is software, not drones. We should focus more on that." Dolon sighed. "Thanks for bein' a smartass, Robin. What would we do withoutcha." Robin started giggling but stopped short. "Wait a moment. That could be it." William jumped at Robin's sudden realization. "What would be it, exactly?"

Robin pulled up the files. "The files for Forseti are split in half. So maybe half of the data is in the drones. And that software might have been made to catch them. I looked it up and Forseti was like a god of justice. So maybe the software is supposed to be judge, jury, and executioner."

William looked back at the screen. "And you're saying that these drones are already out there?"

"They do, but are probably few and far between. We need to make sure they either stay that way, or stop existing altogether." Dolon pointed at the computer. "Can'tcha just use William's access to shut'em down?" Robin shook her head. "No can do. I tried that but these things operate on a whole different server. We would need to either hack it remotely, which would take months, even years, or hack it directly, which would take about a day." Dolon laughed.

"Well there ya have it! We hack it directly!"

"I don't think you know what that means. The servers are likely either hidden away in another location or inside E. Tech HQ. It's a suicide mission." The weight of the statement was felt by everyone in the room. They would need some huge miracle to get that information. Robin sighed. "Well, first off, we need to find out how these drones work, but for that, we'd need another dro‒" She was interrupted by the ding of an email notification on the computer. Confusion took over Robin. "Now who the fuck has this email address?"

William glanced it and recognition flashed across his face. "Robin, allow me." Robin conceded the computer to William who opened the email. It read:

I have your friend with me. Man by the name of Jacob. His friend was shot down by a drone and he was shot in the shoulder and in the thigh. He just woke up and asked me to contact the leaders of the Bolders. If you really are one of them, William, don't ignore me. I also have the drone that killed the big guy.

-Burrows.