Corruption and Conversion

Chapter 4

"Omega you're a genius!" Tye shouts, jumping up from her place on the ground.

"I'll call you when I have some more information." She says over her shoulder, already out the door.

Tye ran past a few members, exchanging quick greetings. She flew down the stairs, feet barely touching the concrete.

Running over to The Wolves private garage, she plucked a black leather jacket off the shelves.

A black sport bike was parked in the corner of the garage under a blue tarp.

Tye was used to leaving it here, she didn't trust people at Fenrir not to steal it.

She didn't need a helmet, her mask acting as one.

She turned on the engine, the revving shaking Tye to her very core. She quickly mounted it, chest pressed to the bike as she began diving through the street's of The Outskirts.

Tye passed familiar alleys and stores as she rushed to the Third Wall.

It soon came into view, the bleak grey bricks stacked on atop the other so high they looked ready to touch the clouds.

She rode up to the gates flashing her ID to the guard seated lazily in the office by the road.

With a sluggish hand he green-lit her entrance.

Soon the gates had opened enough for Tye to slip past. She was underway again this time riding through the newly redone streets of The Middle, instead of the pothole and crack filled street-if it could even be called that-of The Outskirts.

Fenrir was the tallest building in The Middle, easily noticeable with it's one hundred and eleven stories, towering over the other buildings which topped out around fifty stories.

It was close to the Second Wall, the only thing dividing The Middle from the pristine, unnatural marble and granite of The Circle.

Tye pulled into the parking lot, praying that her bike would be there when she got back.

She quickly bolted inside, nodding a quick hello to Daro who managed the front desk.

"Plague" someone yelled, making said person stop dead in their tracks

Tye had hoped she could avoid her boss, Tahara, for a little while longer. Now that Tye had been seen by the woman's hawk-like eyes, she would be forced to write her report detailing the events of what happened at the gala.

Just putting them down on paper with Fenrir's insane detail policy would take a whole day, giving her no time to do the research she had come to do.

"Good morning Tahara ma'am." Tye said quickly, turning around and giving a short salute.

"It's a relief to see you were not harmed in last night's events."

"Ma'am?"

"It was broadcast over all the news channels non-stop all night. The entire Nuwa mansion has been burned to ash and no one has come forward with fatalities, not that it surprises me. Did you happen to see the culprit while you were there?" she asked, face not discernible from under her masks long dog-like snout. 

"I saw several suspicious characters during my time there, though I am not sure who is the true culprit. I was hoping to do some research in the archives on some of my main suspects, to see if any grudges were held ma'am." Tye explained.

She didn't know why she didn't tell Tahara about her true main suspects, she just had a gut feeling that it wasn't the right thing to do. Tahara had a habit of making something out of nothing, not having any documents on the main suspects would send her into a panic, not to mention Tye would be on the receiving end of the woman's anger.

"You have my permission to look through the archives. We already know very well what happened at the Nuwa mansion. I can have another operative do the report. I want you to focus on finding the culprit."

Culprits Tye's mind chimed. With a bow and a 'thank you ma'am' Tye was rushing through the grey halls of Fenrir. The archives were on the sixty ninth floor meaning she needed to take the elevator. After all the running yesterday, the last thing she needed was sixty nine flights of stairs too many.

Tye slipped into one of the ten elevator's on the main floor, furiously pressing the button to close the door before another obnoxious new operative got in there with her bombarding her with so many questions that her ears bled.

The elevator was not small, but it wasn't large either. Mahogany wood print lined the walls with a silver railing. They played the most niche music ever conceived, Tye wasn't sure how most people lasted for more than a minute with that hell speech assaulting their ears.

Not soon enough, she was at the floor she needed. The moment the doors had opened enough for her to slip out, she had already bolted down the hall.

The entrance to the archives was a set of unsuspecting double doors. It was another safety protocol, the doors making it look like a janitor's closet, not a hub for every person's profile and life choices.

It sometimes terrified Tye how much Fenrir knew about people, she had also seen some things she wished she could erase from her mind completely.

The archives were hundreds of computers lined up, ready for use. You had to have a Fenrir ID with the appropriate code to make them work.

Tye settled herself in the furthest corner for the doors, not wanting to be disturbed by anyone for the multiple hours she would probably spend looking.

She plugged in her headphones and got to working.

She first looked up anyone with the known aliases of her culprits, nothing. Next she tried face recognition-she didn't think this one would work, with only half a face-again nothing.

That was how her day progressed. Checking something, finding nothing. By the time it had reached the end of the day, Tye had tried every trick in and out of the book.

She wanted to rip those stupid mugshots with their stupid smiles that mocked her suffering.

Though it was useless, she found it quite therapeutic to practice her knife throwing with the Mad Hatter's face badly taped to a wooden board she had found in the next room over when looking for something to eat.

She thought it might be a good idea to call Omega and break to her the bad news, but before she could even dial her number, Tye's phone started ringing.

The screen showed an unknown number, but Tye thought nothing of it.

She was used to getting calls from unknown numbers, having a bad habit of deleting important contacts on accident and being too embarrassed to ask Tahara what the numbers were.

She answered the call, eyes widening, almost dropping the phone when she heard the voice at the other end.