Snippet #1252940

Citrine had shrugged and was making ready to depart when Onyx appeared. Technically, she was ranking agent here (given Vermillion's disciplinary issues and Onyx's newness to the organization), but his plan made sense, and she wasn't about to pull rank for its own sake; such a thing would be arrogance beyond her style.

It seemed, however, that a confrontation was brewing. Narrowing her eyes, Citrine leveled a liquid amber stare at Onyx. You forget that Azure is the most experienced agent alive, she replied, attempting to hold off a possible fight with reason. It is highly doubtful that any of us could take him on alone, especially not at the rate we have been operating for the past few weeks. Unless, perhaps, you have managed to do so?

Her point made, she turned to Vermillion, having observed his abrasive response (including the rather unflattering thought) and sighed internally. This is neither the time nor the place. I understand that losing Sable is difficult, believe me, I do. But that is the very reason we must abandon our internal squabbles and find her. Apparently, he understood this well enough, for he was soon off to do his investigations.

Following suit, Citrine hailed a cab, typing a message into her phone and showing it to the driver. Invading a civilian's head-space would likely not go over well. She arrived outside City Hall, the second-largest building in the Neo Elysium after LIMIT HQ, and slipped out after paying the driver for his trouble. Flashing her LIMIT ID was the only necessary action to gain her admission, and it was here that she would find the archives of residency of the city. The woman doubted very much that Azure would have bothered to register with the bureaucracy, but anything was worth a try.

What seemed like only a few minutes later but in truth amounted to an afternoon of painstaking records-searching later, Citrine's phone buzzed in her pocket, and she started sharply before withdrawing it. Reading the text message from Vermillion, she half-smiled and shook her head. Dinner did sound nice right about now; she hadn't eaten since her small breakfast that morning. She had a feeling nobody had informed Onyx of what was going on, so she sent him a message. Not much here, gone to meet V. Will update if we find anything. Good luck.

About half an hour later, she pulled up in front of the building her fellow agent had named, and stepped inside. Immediately, she felt the proximity of Sable, and her eyes widened at her extreme stroke of luck. Vermillion, seemingly oblivious of what he was doing, was apparently talking to Crimson. Deciding for the moment to play this as cool as possible, she opened a single psychic connection, allowing Vermillion only to hear her projected thought. Do not react to what I am about to tell you, she warned, making her own way casually over to an unoccupied table, looking for all the world as though she too was unaware that Crimson and the nearby Silver were traitors. The woman you speak to and the man with gray hair at that table are both with Azure now. Sable is upstairs, with someone I do not recognize, but doubtless has an engine of some kind as well. Be careful.