Ivera Clue Rixy's Story

Demor let the detective work his magic, nodding along to the points he was making. The kid was smart for damn sure. No question about that in the slightest. At the question of whether or not she was hot, Demor let out a small chuckle. "Yes. I found her very attractive." he answered. His tail shifted, and so too did his sitting position while he leaned back on it more.

So it had to be someone who was local to the planet, and someone with enough power and know how to keep the Aschen IIA off of their tail. Or at least, far enough away from their tail to lose them - if only temporarily. Luckily for the Aschen, Demor wasn't going to just get reputable information, he was going to find her. He'd made it his mission. Idly he could sometimes feel the eyes of the IIA operative on him, watching him, but he ignored it, and focused on the here and and now.

"I've got some pictures if you'd be interested in meeting up... we could discuss payment as well. Assuming you operate like any other Private Investigator or Detective." Demor said as Ivera finished his half-rant half-deductions. "Though to be honest you've given me enough information for me to act on my own and find her myself." he said. Demor had a few ideas of what could be going on with Montrose's disappearance. A beautiful, high-ranking Aschen Officer? Many would kill to get their hands on her, many would do more to do worse to her. That made her valuable, and worth a lot of money...

Clearing his throat, he waited for Ivera's answer.

"Nah, I will take the case. This seems interesting, and also somewhat problematic down the line. Besides, it also seems rather concerning that someone is able to so easily kidnap someone off the streets like this" Ivera replied, as various moving and rummaging could be heard in the background. "That said, there is one thing of note. If you know this person, that means you were in contact with this Admiral at least once to make significant contact right? In that case, there might be more then one organization watching you right now. As for payment, that all depends on what happens and how well the investigation goes. Besides, you dont seem like someone native to Origin either, so we have a better chance if I handle it".

At the same time, the sound of wind could be heard on the other side of the phone, indicating he was outside, and maybe running.

"So, should we meet up at the scene of the crime, or before? Or do you want to focus on losing the people who are following you?"

"I really dont think anyone has followed him here, Ivera..."

"Nope, thats wrong Ixian. Something like this, he is absolutely being watched right at this moment. If you are where I think you are...use the secret back exit".

"...there is a secret back exit?"

"There is always a secret back exit, but this time I am not just referring to the employees entrance, nor the underground sewer access, nor the roof access. I mean the one they set up far in advance and concealed using both magic, tech, and just generally intelligent thinking for super VIPs like Royalty".

"I go here more then you....how do you...nevermind, its you. Of course you know this" Iviri replied, sighing and giving up on understanding how his brother knew all of this. He then turned towards Demor. "Well the good news is he is interested, so it should be fine. Just, dont be surprised if you dont always immediately get what he is saying".

Demor considered his options before shrugging. "I'll meet you at the VR Arcade she was last seen at. As for Secret Back Exit... You two can use it if you want. If I don't want to be followed, then they're not going to follow me." Demor was casual with his tone, but at the same time, he wasn't messing around. Despite his relaxed tone, his stance and body language dictated something else. As seen in the Grand Magic Games, he could easily and consistently move at speeds too fast for the human eye to comprehend, even when in dire circumstances such as low magic power, or even injuries to his body.

He rubbed Iviri's head affectionately as the boy stated that he wouldn't understand what his brother was saying sometimes, and smiled. "Don't worry about me, Iviri. I'll be alright." he smirked. "You two enjoy the baths... I'm off to meet your brother." he said, his tail stretching and bringing him to his feet, allowing him to walk away towards the locker-rooms where he could get dressed, and then walked out the front door. On one hand, it was smart to try and find a secret back door, but on the other hand, the Aschen likely knew where the VR Arcade was anyway, so they'd inevitably find him again anyway.

First, Demor went to his home, grabbing a picture or two of Montrose for Ivera to use in the investigation, before heading towards the Arcade in Questrios

"That is a bit contradictory, don't you think?" a voice called out, as its owner walked up to them. A boy with white hair and red eyes, although something about him made him feel more mature and wise then his age might imply. Then again, this was Origin, which had races such as Dwarves who were naturally short, although it was a safe bet he was not a dwarf. That said, his skin and appearance would certainly be considered as breathtaking and attractive, rivaling and surpassing Aschen levels.

"If you have a reputation of being able to find anyone, yet you cannot find your own admiral, then its a contradiction after all" Ivera concluded as he looked towards Demor, and then Kathryn, and then back at Demor. "My name is Ivera. Ivera Rixy. Detective. And I am guessing you are Demor, and you must be an agent of whatever secret Aschen organization is in charge of finding the admiral".

It wasn't really that hard of a deduction. Between her words, the fact she was talking with Demor about finding her, and what he knew Demor was trying to do, it could hardly be surprising he would come up with that answer.

"And in order to find where she went, one of the best ways to figure it out is why. There has no been any other cases so far, so we can probably rule out serial killer or whatever. And, if you are here questioning him, I am guessing its safe to figure greed...like holding her for ransom since it makes it highly unlikely they made a ransom call yet, so that is out of the question, unless she has some way to access and withdraw funds herself directly that has not been shut down yet. And while there could be others, the last main two would be hate or desire, for her looks".

He took a few steps toward, and then looked towards the VR Arcade.

"I already explained this to Demor before, but the chances of it being a hate crime are low. The people who did this needed to know the city, but as Origin has continued to remain excluded from intergalactic conflicts, the people of Origin have not had the encounters to form any real opinion about the Aschen. And any refugees would know know the city enough, or have the resources, to do this. Which leaves desire. Someone who went after her for her appearance, who knows the city, and of course had the resources to pull this off".

As Ivera refreshed Demor and informed Kathryn about this, he then added something.

"And using these constraints, there is something else we need to figure out. Who of the people who fit that criteria knew she was here, and especially if any of them or their subordinates came into direct contact with her or came into close enough proximity to observe her. Of course, there is also the possibility she was sold out by another Aschen, but I can get some facts or knowledge on this, we cannot risk commiting to any one theory and miss the actual truth. By the way, we know where the crime happened, but how did they get away from the scene? Has anyone figured that out yet? Also, we should see about getting the footage of any security cameras of the businesses around here, it could shed some light on the investigation as well, and I will want to oversee all the data anyways to form better theories and conclusions".

Demor was about to answer Kathryn's question when Ivera popped up out of no where and started his whole splurge on what could be going on, as well as any number of possibilities. Since he'd already talked to the male, most of it flew over Demor's head as stuff he'd heard before, but as Ivera finished his splurge, Demor paused again.

"Yeah, I'm Demor. I'd introduce everyone but I don't know your name." He nodded to Kathryn.

"Anyway.... if what you've said about the Imperial fleet being here and ready for war, then I suppose I too am willing to do anything to find her.... and find her quickly." he said calmly. There was an edge to his voice - the edge of a man who was willing to kill to accomplish his task, and had done so in past. With that out in the air, Demor turned his predatory Gaze towards Ivera once more. The boy was cute, in his own way, but was still only a boy. And with that being said, had the childish, annoying quirks that every boy had. Demor could tell that these upcoming moments working with him would likely stress his patience .

Looking to the VR Arcade, his tail twitched slowly to keep his balance as he shifted his weight to his hip slightly. "Let's quit wasting time then. I'd rather not see the Aschen invade because of one woman going missing. Admiral or otherwise." he stepped, and began to walk into the Arcade.

Kathryn pursed her lips slightly, suppose she didn't give them a name, and she casually raised her eyebrow at the boy, he was smart, but compared to her? An amateur, a child, and the faint spark of annoyance briefly crossed her expression for just a moment as she turned to Ivera.

"An agent of whatever secret Aschen organization, you're funny." Kathryn said, shrugging her shoulders. "Quite an accusation, I could be a concerned friend, I could be someone working with the Admiral, for all we know I could be a distraught family member trying to find their loved one."

"It's unlikely someone is holding her for ransom, the Aschen Empire has a very strict policy when it comes to negotiating with terrorists, and enemies of the state, the short end of it is we don't pay up, I suppose someone could have a political agenda, but we have yet to receive any ransom calls, or anyone to take credit for the kidnapping. No activity in her financial accounts either." Kathryn added, shaking her head and deciding to finally introduce herself.

"Special Agent Kathryn Connors, Imperial Intelligence." She said, extending her hand. "The details of our investigation are classified, unfortunately I can't divulge anything based on what we've found."

Gesturing to the VR arcade, she cast a sidelong glance at Ivera. "I can't believe I'm entrusting the future of my career on a boy detective... You know about discretion, yes? Ensure you carry out this investigation with utmost discretion, if you can find her, your friend here doesn't get a live debut on Victory Square, this planet doesn't get glassed, and we can all live happily ever after. And of course, you will be compensated."

"Alright then, lets get to work" Ivera mentioned, as he turned around and entered the VR Arcade...

...and suddenly, the entire atmosphere around him changed as he stepped right up to the counter of the business manager.

"Oi! You there!"

The business manager, who seemed to be distracted by something on his monitor, suddenly had his attention caught by Ivera, whose accent had changed in an instant. Not just his accent, the very atmosphere around him. His typical facial expressions, physical movements, body language. In the instant it took him to turn around, it went from someone who seemed mature and wise for his age, to a different kind of maturity. A typical working man, or boy in this case. And Origin had no laws that prohibited people of certain ages from working, only laws that made sure all people were treated fairly at work with certain guarentees and rights.

"Yes?!"

The manager instinctively became nervous and defensive. Anyone who was trained in psychology would understand why, because along with the accent, the pitch and tone of Ivera's voice clearly indicated he had failed to do something, and given the way Ivera had set himself, he instinctively felt like it was a hardware or maintence or safety issue, or something like that.

"Iv been trying to get your attention for some time! Bloody hell, I am here to go over your systems and equipment? You got an email for it and confirmed. The post-incident inspection of your bloody tech!"

"But I don't rememb..."

"Well you bloody well did! Look!"

Ivera took out a phone, and opened up an App before showing the man the email in question.

"Well surely enough...I dont remember it, but it is small..."

Feeling the psychological pressure, he went and checked his emails, and...

"...well, surely enough, here it is. But...incident...?"

"About the whole collapse person? It got reported, either here, or by a neighbor, or passer by...whatever!"

"But then, why the equipment..."

"Its right there in the bloody email! Chex it! Along with needing to make bloody sure that something here did not cause the collapse, we need to make sure all the tech is up to date and properly installed! Or, do you want to be shut down and brought to court for improper standards!? And I need the room to ensure its done properly and impartially, so git!"

"Y-yes! Of course! Sorry, I guess with everything thats been happening, I was just....okay! I will leave you to it!"

"You cant bloody leave completely either! If there is something that I need explained, you better be nearby to stay completely! If needs be, one of these associates of mine can keep watch on you!" Ivera finished, sending him into a nervous state of panic to where he would not get in the way, or leave. In addition, Ivera manipulated his voice to get his panic at just the right levels to where his memory would be clearly, and on the off chance someone used memory blockers or such on him, would tend to wiggle them loose as well. With that, he left the counter, and gave Ivera full and complete access to all his systems.

If anyone knew of what he had been known to be capable, they would probably be able to understand now how Ivera was able to mentally cripple people. The fact he did that, without any supernatural powers or magic, was terrifying in its own right.

With that, he accessed the cameras. As for how he knew about the collapse, it was pretty clear to those who knew who he really was that he already had gained access to the computer, at least enough to plant that email and adjust date logs. With that, he rechecked all the security cameras. He checked to see how they were wiped, what happened exactly, and the order of events, and shared it with the other two.

As they could see, she seemed to come in, eating an ice cream, sat on a couch, and then suddenly collapsed. The owner seemed to be busy with a man in glasses at the time, and then two others came out and went towards her, but that was when the feeds ended. Then, they suddenly came back in with no one but the manager in view, and everything looking fine.

"Tsk. Looks like tampering..." Ivera said. However, as he looked through the systems, he found something else out. "Well now, look at this. The buffer for the camera, and the records of the VR machines themselves. They might have wiped the buffer of the cameras too, maybe, but a little known fact about VR machines is that they are designed to monitor the status of the people using them. However, even when they are deactivated or not in use, that function is not deactivated, in case they end up getting turned off as someone collapses in front of them. That means those sensors would have also recorded what was going on around them at the time of the crime. Because of that, if I check for when the crime happened...and get the data...its not faces, but we can get the heights, weights, builds of the people who came into contact and took her".

Ivera began extracting that information. As for the manager, he was still in a state of shock, and Ivera was talking softly, so he was not really aware of what was going on.

"We also need details from the manager. It would probably be okay if I did it, but id rather not go off script too much and possibly let him become aware, so either of you two want to try and take up the role of extracting information for him. Like who those people were, and who accessed this camera system. Oh right, lets see about running facial recognition on the people we do get glimpses of also".

The detective made such a suggestion while he also combed through the rest of the data, seeing if there were any other points of interest, or points that just seemed mundane but could be entirely relevant.

Demor narrowed his eyes as Ivera went further into his musings, almost going into auto pilot, and crossed his arms, his cloak settling to hide much of his body as he blinked slowly. He watched the security footage with interest. As Ivera began to mumble to himself, Demor stepped away, waiting for him to figure it out - best to let people who talk to themselves figure everything out by themselves, or at least burn out before offering help or any kind of input, Demor figured.

He looked to Kathryn idly. "Why are security cameras always so shitty? It seems like every feed I ever watch makes the suspects look like nothing more than a fuzzy grey mass of limbs." he stated. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Please tell me Aschen cameras are better?"

Demor found himself growing more interested in Aschen Culture beyond the haze of Xenophobia. He figured that if he could find a way to get past all of that, he could understand it better. Based on what little propaganda he'd been exposed to in his travels from his home to Origin, it seemed like a very closed off society on top of the Xenophobia. Very ridged and practical - at least, in their way of life.

That being said though, Demor wasn't much one for too many rules over his head. His time in the Fairy Tail Guild back on his old home saw to that - the freedom he gained from being apart of the Guild taught him that while some rules are important, too many are bothersome and ultimately lead to the downfall of others. That was his experience though.

Yawning, and showing off impressively sharp teeth, Demor leaned back against a wall, and continued to let Ivera do his thing.

Kathryn turned quietly to Demor, letting the boy carry on his investigation rather unimpeded. Kathryn watched the footage quietly, she saw the woman eating ice cream, and her face contorted slightly into a frown. "Sampling the local faire is against military protocol for exactly this reason." The IIA operative commented, peering closer at the screen, frustrated at the graininess of the footage.

"I'm going to need a copy of this footage." Kathryn added aloud.

"In the Empire, there are cameras everywhere, high definition cameras that are linked with our Extended Virtual Entity, or EVE. If a camera is tampered with, they send out an alert to the local police, and the offender is usually caught, and detained." Kathryn explained. "Every camera in the Empire, even the ones on personal telecommunications devices, computrons, ATMs, are linked to EVE, whom has access to the Central Registry, a database of all known Aschen citizens, and foreigners within the Empire. DNA, and Facial recognition, along with retinal scanning could identify everyone in this feed in real time."

The IIA Agent turned briefly to the manager, and then back to Demor. "If this happened in the Empire, we would know who everyone was in this feed, their movements would be able to be tracked through the city, and we would have apprehended them." Kathryn explained.

"The Living State, Big Brother knows everything, he sees all, and knows all, no one can commit a crime in the Empire, and escape the consequences; such a concept is impossible." Kathryn boasted, before centering her attention on the Manager.

"I can get him to talk, but we'll need to go somewhere a little more... private."

“Sounds culturally dead” Ivera commented as he copied all the data, although something the Aschen woman said caught his ear. “Wait, how do you know the ice cream was the cause? We have not had time to test it yet, that is unless you have been holding out on vital information. It’s possible she could have been subtly injected, or the culprit used a colorless, oderless gas that dissipates quickly while she walked by, or any number of methods”.

He wondered if this is how they did investigations. It was pretty obvious she believed the ice cream did it, and while that was certainly plausible they had no ironclad proof that was the case. For all they knew, it could have been something she drank but then threw out before hand that took awhile to take effect, or any number of possible theories.

And as for what she said next...it just made him sigh. “I’m not sure why it would need to be private. Torture never reveals anything useful. Even if you use magic or psychic abilities, or technology, to probe his mind, the brain is a complex organism with various defense mechanisms. Through any of those methods, the information is extremely unreliable. Not only would he say, or his brain make up random crap, to make it stop, but artificial memories may be created that would throw us completely off, or multiple memories might get mixed up together from the trauma, again making it unreliable”.

Ivera copies the time codes as well, and then made a call. “Ixam, you free? I want you to take all this sound data I am sending you, and use echo-mapping to form three dimensional images of what happened for us and send it back. Also, mind telling Ixian the time codes I am sending you, tell him to hack into the Questrios City Traffic Control station he is waiting at and mark all vehicles that could be transporting an unconscious woman who left this area at the time of the crime, and trace where they went”.

Once the call, and some hushed small talk, was over, Ivera went over to the man, suddenly with the same body language and expressions from before. He grabbed the man’s wrist as well, and instilled psychological fear into him.

“Oi! There is some parts missing! I’m going to need you to tell me where your backs up, how to access the buffer, and who was here!”

“Wait! I don’t...”

“You want me to call the police?!”

“Wait wait!”

“Then tell me who so I can be done with you and go deal with them!”

And then, as if something almost clicked in his head, he began to tell Ivera something. Hoping that what he told him would get Ivera killed, but that was what Ivera wanted him to think after all.

As Kathryn went on to describe how things would have been different in the Aschen Empire, Demor leaned back against his tail, using it as a kick-stand as he listened to the Aschen woman speak, his eyes idly watching her body language and searching for something. From the look in his eyes, he wasn't doing it to check her out or anything like that - it was a passive thing he just did to pass the time: People Watch.

"Well... Maybe the Aschen should share their camera tech. Kinda gets old watching stupidly fuzzy Camera feeds when I'm trying to do something. Like watch videos of criminals getting their shit rocked by some good Samaritan because they were trying to rob a store. Those are always fun videos... but the camera records like a potato." he sighed. "As for this... "Big Brother" you're talking about... can't say I like the idea of being watched every second of every day by some creepy old dude. Or bunch of old dudes, however that works." he ran a hand through his hair, not taking his eyes off Kathryn.

"But hey, if that's how you guys like to live then so be it, I guess. Whatever gets you off." he shrugged, his arm disappearing behind his cloak to cross with the other one once more.

Those predatory eyes turned to look at the manager as he and Ivera continued to go back and forth. "Being hung upside-down by your ankles usually makes people talk.... I happen to have a tail strong enough to lift small cars - I can take him and make him talk too. But if you've got it handled, Ivera, then I'll just stick to talking with Kathryn~" he smirked. Beyond the xenophobia, he found Kathryn to actually be a pretty interesting woman, one he wouldn't mind getting to know better outside of a professional relationship founded on a mutual objective of finding another woman.

Taking in a deep breath before exhaling, and then yawning, Demor shook his head to wake up a bit, closing those eyes of his for a moment. Despite that, his guard was far from down - if there was one thing anyone who watched the Grand Magic Games would remember about Demor, it was that he was hard to sneak up on, and harder to beat in a fight. The Aschen agents didn't have much of a problem, but then again, he was flashbanged and in the shower. Not exactly the fairest odds.

He just hoped this investigation would hurry up - he was getting hungry.

"That information is classified." Kathryn replied bluntly, though she was specifically citing the health implant's readings prior to Amelia going unconscious, and then the implant's subsequently going offline. The implant registered a sharp spike in a powerful sedative around the time Amelia had began to eat the ice cream, so the IIA Agent deduced the ice cream would have had to be the cause, as a blatant violation of military policy was the only thing that would put the woman in such danger."

Kathryn let her gaze settle onto the boy, and she gave him a slight smile. "Culturally dead, sounds like something a xeno would say." She said, chuckling. "Those outside the Empire are always quick to judge our methods, but never understand them. Take our friend for example. You say torture is ineffective, and in some cases you may be right." Kathryn said, circling around them, a predatory gaze flickering in her eyes.

"But applied in the right ways, using the right techniques... torture can be an effective tool for both information extraction..." Kathryn said, running her hand along the counter. "Or the pleasure of the one performing the torture." She said with a grin.

"Take our friend for example." She said, looking towards the Manager, and approaching him. "Five minutes in the aurora chair, and I'd know more about this man than he would know about himself, I could ply him into a willing subject of the Emperor, who would divulge what he knows freely." She said, moving in close.

She moved quickly to grab him by the neck, her grip clenching quickly as she moved to pin him against the nearby wall, and her other hand moved to produce a rather wicked looking bowie knife, which she promptly held to his neck.

"You're going to tell me exactly what I want to know, or I'm going to gut you like a fish, right here, right now!" Kathryn hissed. "And then I'll find your family, anyone who ever so much as sold you a frakking bottle of water, and I'm going to make them disappear!"

Kathryn pushed the knife against the flesh, not hard enough to pierce the skin, but enough to cause pain. "Whose the man with the glasses, you have ten seconds!"

"Torture is never useful" Ivera straight out dismissed it. "Maybe, maybe you get something right. Buts its too prone to providing unreliable intel. Trust me, I know about torture" Ivera mentioned. He specifically recalled all the times he was tortured as a child. He remembered how he would say anything, make up any excuse, each and every time in hopes it would stop. How pleading and everything else, no matter what he said, would fail.

Simple fact was, he was a victim of it enough to know how people would do and say anything to get out of it. Lying was no exception. A person would spin whatever tale they wanted to get out of it, just like he had tried to do. Over and over again.

"And, it also causes reactions like that" Ivera pointed out as the man fainted...and pissed himself...as she threatened him. "Well, luckily he murmured something right before that happened".

Ivera had already put the fear of god into the man, but even so, he didn't break...not until he said that he would go and deal with them anyways.

"I cant help but notice it was only after I said I would deal with him. In other words, whoever it was seemed to be scary enough for him to be afraid. And scary enough to figure that if they went to him, they would kill us all. Apparently got paid in coin, and threatened".

Notably he said coin, as Origin had coin currency. Although, there was also electronic currency like credit cards and such, but that was getting off the main point.

"Seem like its a local crime group. Or suspected local crime group. No evidence yet, but no one wants to risk messing with them. Rumor has it the boss likes women" Ivera mentioned. "As for a location, he didn't say...however..."

As if he knew when it would happen, Ivera's phone began to ring. Ivera picked it up and put it on speaker.

"Well?"

"Traffic cameras seemed ot mysteriously go out around the time of the kidnapping".

"Buuut...knowing you Ixian, you found them again?"

"ATM camera was unreliable, but some businesses around the area got new security systems installed. Seemed like the influx of people to watch the Grand Magi Games also caused them to be worried about thieves coming to town, so a lot of people updated. ANd I have clocked one vehicle that seems to take a route. Took some tracing, but eventually...the occupants went to a casino. What case is this anyways? I know you dont do runaway spouses that just go off to gamble, so..."

"About that. Ixian. If I heard correctly, you were looking at acquiring money to buy the new Acron V-8 Sniper Rifle for your collection, right?"

"...you offering?"

"I am".

"Alright. I understand. I will do it".

"Cool. Just be ready just in case. And lets meet up for dinner later".

"Alright. Sent you the coordinates of where they went. And I want burgers!"

Ivera hung up, and looked at the other two.

"So we got a lead. Just be warned, there exists a possibility he may be waiting for someone like us. There also exists the possibility that he has friends monitoring police networks, and so on. A lot of possibilities exist, but like I said, to get away with a crime like this after the Grand Magi Games with so many people around, he would have to be local and powerful".

He also sent the location data to the two of them as well.

Demor rolled his eyes when the man they were questioning passed out, and a bolt of lightning sparked around his body in annoyance. He was about to grab the man and shock him awake before the smell of the piss made him scrunch up his nose, covering his nose with a part of his cloak, which now that he smelled it, also smelled pretty bad - he'd been through so much in that cloak, he hadn't noticed the smell. He'd wash it when he got back home.

Ivera's phone rang and the conversation that followed, with the reveal of where those people took Montrose, brought a small smirk to Demor's face. Tilting his head to either side, he let his neck crack audibly, and clenched his fists excitedly. A few more bolts of lightning sparked, and he let out a small chuckle. "It's about time. I was about to destroy half his arcade with a sneeze." he sighed, moving the back of his finger to rub at the bridge of his nose.

"So uh, where we going? The faster we get this done, the faster I can finish taking my shower." he shot Kathryn a glance, a playful, teasing scowl, but one that did entail his annoyance at the fact that two unknown people broke into his home in the middle of a shower, blinded him, collared him, tied him to a chair, and then bombarded him with questions about Montrose, a woman he'd met and flirted for a brief period a time.

Honestly he was more liable to destroy the building she was in accidentally than save her.

Kathryn made a face at the passed out man, before she shook her head. She had wanted to take him back to the ship, torture him for more Intel, but this kid seemed to have other ideas, and they were bringing results.

They were working with whispers, and faint leads, nothing concrete, that was until Ivera picked up the phone and began to talk. Kathryn simply waited, and watched quietly as the boy spoke to whoever was on the other end, occasionally she cast a sidelong glance at Demor, but kept her focus on the boy.

"We stay off the police networks." Kathryn replied. "No cops, I'll handle this my way." She said, briefly considering her next course of action.

"I need to report my findings to my superiors, but I can't risk whoever this is monitoring Aschen communications, so I'll have to go in person, back to the Command Carrier and report our findings directly to Admiral Nagala. The two of you should come with me, so we can fully brief her." Kathryn suggested.

"We'll need to scope out that casino, and make sure that it's not just a place they stopped. I want information on who owns the building, their financials, everything; and then we'll need to assemble a team to scope the place out." Kathryn said, stroking her chin.

"We'll hit them hard, but quiet, but first I need to know what kind of security they have."

"Sounds like a detour, but then again, whoever did this should have realized who he kidnapped and who he was after. Most likely, quite the force will be needed" he mentioned, but then he thought of something else. "You know, its also possible they are monitoring any Aschen ship traffic then. Also, you used the term 'scope' twice".

As he said that, he switched his phone to Ultra-Secure mode just to be safe. He then considered people he might want to bring in if needs by. He already had Ixian's support if needed thanks to that one offer. Ivera liked to plan ahead, have backup plans for his plans, and redundency never hurt. Which is why he also switched his second phone to Ultra-Secure, and then sent a single text out to some friends and associates.

And then, he went over to the office phone for the place, and dialed a number.

"Contact Ixian. Loop in. Pay off The Network, use all the eyes to confirm. Send the info to the usual place" he said with one line, and then hung up and walked back over. "Just to be safe, while we are busy, I just activated an information network. Never hurts to have redundent information. Or to have multiple plans".

Ivera didn't explain the whole system, since it would take awhile, but countless street urchins, to homeless people, to hackers, to people watchers, to even the everyday mailmen had just become sources of information essentially.

And maybe, just maybe, Ivera was a bit paranoid.

Kathryn gave Ivera a strange look when he mentioned she said the word 'scope' twice. That strange look quickly translated into a look of annoyance before she grimaced, and then spoke up.

"They can monitor Aschen ship traffic all they like, they won't find anything. Aschen communications are nearly impossible to intercept, and even more difficult to decode; we keep our ciphers a tightly guarded secret." Kathryn explained, as she reached into her dark overcoat pocket, and began fishing for a device of some kind.

She withdrew a small sleek looking cellular phone like device, almost like a flip phone, and then she opened it, clicking the device once with her index finger, it made an audible chirp.

"Connors here, let me get Actual..." Kathryn said into the communicator, which used a highly classified subspace frequency to transmit in real time over long distances.

There was a pause as Kathryn waited, at least three minutes or so lapsed before the person on the other end picked up.

"I have two to Bifrost back." Connors said, though this time she was speaking the Aschen language of Anquietas, which was a fluid language.

"One has possible intel on the location of our target, the other..." She said, looking to Demor. "Is a witness." She kept her words foreign to Ivera and Demor, but more for ease of communication with the Admiral.

"Very good, prepare the hub." Kathryn said, clicking the phone again, and then folding it shut.

She looked to Ivera.

"Is there somewhere outdoors that is also private, My superiors wish to brief with you two. We'll be traveling via the Bifrost."

Things were moving quickly for Demor, and he didn't necessarily mind that. If it meant that they found the woman quickly, and he was left alone, he was all for it. He noticed the occasional glance by Kathryn, while his eyes held a predatory gaze over both of his impromptu companions.

He let Ivera and Kathryn do much of the talking, listening to their conversations and processing all the information. Soon after, Kathryn began to speak in another language, and then back to Ivera. Once done, he straightened his back, and cleared his throat to speak again.

"I don't suppose you wouldn't rather have me burst in there, grab our missing admiral, and bust out? I'm more than capable of doing it inside of five minutes." he offered. Granted, it might ruin his chances of ever getting with Montrose or any other Aschen woman, for that matter. Then again it might also increase his chances.

"Up to you... but I suppose... if your superiors really want to talk to me... I'm not exactly sure I'm going to be given much of a choice, huh?" he asked, looking to Kathryn.

"Note to self.... try not to get involved in Aschen affairs too much in the future...." he mumbled to himself in Draconian, a language as far-away sounding from Aschen Anquietas as possible, with its gutteral, growling sounds reminiscent of ancient barbaric and Polynesian languages. Turning his gaze back to Ivera, he waited for his answer to Kathryn's last statement of a private outdoors area.

"Ha. Impossible is just another level of difficulty. After what I have seen, I have learned not to consider things impossible. After all, the very atmosphere of Origin has elements people once believed to be impossible" Ivera mentioned, thinking about all the weird weather they had, and the broadcast towers needed to make normal communications long distance.

And when Demor mentioned busting in...

"As much as a few of my brothers would love that solution, I would not recommend busting into a possibly fortified enemy compound, filled with who knows how many defenses and enemies, wielding who knows what kind of magic and technology" Ivera told him. "Plus, who knows what sort of traps have been set. No, you need some special card to play to throw everything into chaos first".

Ivera knew all about that, as he kept multiples of those on hand at all times.

"Oh, as for empty spaces, I suppose there could be an open lot, though people might be watching through the windows. I would say down by the beach there might be a place, but a few Eldritch Horrors have been popping in and out of existence around there, and spacial configurations are even more distorted then normal. Oh, I suppose one of the rooftops of the nearby buildings would be possible also, if that works".

"Ha. Impossible is just another level of difficulty. After what I have seen, I have learned not to consider things impossible. After all, the very atmosphere of Origin has elements people once believed to be impossible" Ivera mentioned, thinking about all the weird weather they had, and the broadcast towers needed to make normal communications long distance.

And when Demor mentioned busting in...

"As much as a few of my brothers would love that solution, I would not recommend busting into a possibly fortified enemy compound, filled with who knows how many defenses and enemies, wielding who knows what kind of magic and technology" Ivera told him. "Plus, who knows what sort of traps have been set. No, you need some special card to play to throw everything into chaos first".

Ivera knew all about that, as he kept multiples of those on hand at all times.

"Oh, as for empty spaces, I suppose there could be an open lot, though people might be watching through the windows. I would say down by the beach there might be a place, but a few Eldritch Horrors have been popping in and out of existence around there, and spacial configurations are even more distorted then normal. Oh, I suppose one of the rooftops of the nearby buildings would be possible also, if that works".