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His eyes wandered to the open letter sitting on his desk as he wrapped the bandage around and around. It had been several days since everyone had been sitting in the office reading it together as Myka drove off. To his surprise, she had not come back. Somewhere inside of him, he thought she would. He must not have been gifted with âvibesâ like Pete. He attached a safety pin to his wrappings and put both of his hands on the letter, fingering the edges and reading the lines addressed to him over and over again. She had to come back. He needed her, even if he hated to admit it.
A flash from his computer and a very familiar noise caught his attention. He swung around to face the computer and before he knew it, he got another âping,â and another and another. The number of them kept climbing and climbing until the âpingsâ stopped at 10. Overwhelmed, he fell back in the chair.
âCLAUDIA!â
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Life might be confusing. But guitarâlike math and technologyâwould always be as plain and simple as guitar.
In fact, no. Life was confusing. There was no confusion about that matter, for Claudia. The Warehouse was still the Warehouse. Todd was still gone. And now Myka had run out on them. For Claudia, it felt worse than that. It felt like Myka had run out on her. Yeah, she knew the whole team was hurting. No one knew how to respond to it. Artie had been even more irritable ever since the initial reading of the letter. Pete was justâŠlost. Yet Claudia felt personally abandoned. For the first time, she allowed herself to admitâif only to herselfâthat Myka had been the closest thing she had to a big sister. Myka had comforted her and given her advice and aid in times when it seemed like no one really cared. Now she was gone. Claudia felt betrayed.
Strumming harder, Claudia dropped her head, letting her red hair fall into her eyes. Looking out, past the streak of deep, plum purple amidst the ginger, Claudia found her eyes burning. She let her hands fall limp on the guitar and shut her eyes tight, refusing to let any tears seep through. She was done being a baby and crying about it. Myka was gone; that was her own damn choice.
âCLAUDIA!â
Her head snapped upright again at the sound of Artieâs voice booming from another part of the Warehouse. She quickly brushed any moisture from her eyes and lifted the guitar from her lap, setting it aside before leaping to her feet. Trotting toward the source of the grouchy alarm, Claudia found Artie sitting at the computer, staring dumbfounded at the screen, which was practically going berserk. It flashed like crazy and the âpingâ alarm continued to sound. It would sound ten times before pausing and sounding another ten times. She could do nothing but gawk at the screen, her eyes wide and her mouth ajar.
âThatâs not good.â
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In short, it was as though he was the outcast. Why everyone treated him so distantly, Alexei didn't know: it annoyed and disappointed him. What had he ever done? He had spent the first day here drifting around them, but they merely ignored him. So Alexei returned to his little room here, bitterly content to ignore them as well. In his mind he imagined them dependent on him for a mission, needing his skills--and perhaps he would just ignore them as well. The thought brought a cold smirk to his lips, but he pushed the thought out of his mind. They were probably adjusting to a total stranger 'infringing' on their privacy, and from what he had heard, they were also recovering from a former team member leaving them. Perhaps they were (in Alexei's mind) being rather rude about it, but what could he do?
It was at that moment that he heard someone shout the name Claudia--so loud that Alexei himself fumbled fruitlessly with the book as it fell to the ground. Annoyed but curious as to what was going on, Alexei stood up and walked towards where he had heard Arthur Nielsen's voice--in time to hear a number of pings, and then Claudia Donovan say, "That's not good."
"What, what is it?" Alexei asked, half expecting not to get an answer.
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In that instant, she realized that this curly, dark-haired mullet guyâs presence annoyed her greatly. The tone in which he had inquired, "What, what is it?" only confirmed his noobocity.
She felt the sudden urge to punch something. If this guy was Mrs. Fredericâs idea of a âreplacementâ for Myka, she had another thing coming. This guy would never measure up to Myka in any way shape or form. He didnât even know how the Warehouse worked. He had the tenacity to ask the most redundant question she had ever heard, and it even seemed as though he expected her to answer it.
âItâs called a âping.â And itâs bad. In this case, really bad. Get the picture?â
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"Yeah, I guess you have to keep it simple for yourselves, eh?" he muttered in a voice full of venom. "Any more complicated and..." he trailed off, and his hand balled into a fist. "Right. I dunno what this ping is, or why everyone around here has some kind of bloody problem with me, but if I'm pissing you off somehow, then just say it, because I'm honestly getting annoyed with this crap. I didn't leave behind everything I had so I could come here and be treated like Public Enemy Number One, I did it because I was told my skills would be of use at last. So if someone would bother to tell me what the hell you all want out of me..." he shook his head as his angry tirade came to an end. I'm just beating my head against a stone slab. "Whatever. Back to your little ping, whatever it is."
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Claudia did nothing but state the obvious. That was definitely not what he needed her to do. He pushed the chair away from the desk and stood up. The first thing he needed was for Claudia to make the noise stop! He leaned against his desk trying to figure out what was going on when Alexei came in.
Alexei was Mrs. Fredric's replacement for Myka. He was not well liked and he knew it. The drama was not what Artie needed. What he needed was some time to think.
"Right now is not the time for this. Claudia, make it stop!"
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Nevertheless, Claudia leapt at the computer. Her fingers flew across the keys in a series of memorized commands. She quickly turned the alarm off, allowing both Artie and herself room to think clearly. Then, she routinely identified the first âpingâ; which came from the heart of Morocco. The next was in the countryside of Mongolia. The following were spread all throughout all seven continents. She tried to trace a pattern or connection between the locations, but nothing made sense.
Behind her, she could feel Artieâs tension rising. Claudia could tell that frankly, he was freaking out. And frankly, that scared the crap out of her. If Artie, the most experienced agent in the Warehouse was afraid, she knew that she should practically be suicidal.
Pings from Germany, Australia, Czech Republic, Portugal, Ireland, Brazil, Iceland, and India, all on top of the first two located in Morocco and Mongolia. What on earth could possibly have set ten artifacts off at the same time in such far-fetched places? That was far more than Claudia could even imagine the Warehouse team being able to handle. Even with Myka. This wasâŠsurreal.
âArtie?â Claudia regretted the tremble she found in her voice. She spun the chair around to face him, knowing well of the look of absolute fear on her face. âWhat do we do?â
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Of course, whatever it was, clear it was no good at all. He got that impression not only from Claudia's...er, explanation of it, but he could tell that Arthur Nielsen and Claudia were both very concerned. Looking at the screen, he could see a map with 'pings' from several locations across the world. Well, he had been told little, but from what he had been told (by Mrs Frederic, no one else could be arsed to bother explaining anything) those were probably 'artifacts'. What exactly artifacts were he was still trying to find out, but from Mrs Frederic's terse explanation they were important--and powerful. Unconsciously, his hand rose slightly to his other, twisted a simple gold ring around his finger before he turned as well to Arthur Nielsen, awaiting an explanation.
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He looked up at his two youngest members of the team. They were both giving him very questioning glances. He breathed in and out again.
"First, we calm down. It might not be that big of a deal."
He was trying to convince himself that the fact that ten popped up at once was merely a coincidence. It was hard to believe, but he had to put on a face for Claudia.
He looked at Alexei with slight sadness. The fact he didn't know what a 'ping' was seemed like it would be something that Pete would have to have a crack at. Myka might have made a comment about having not read the manual. Artie shook the sickening feeling away and informed Alexei what 'pings,' were:
"'Pings' are bad. They are used to track the activity of artifacts."
Brief and to the point, just how he liked it.
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âCalm down?! What do you mean âcalm downâ?? How the hell am I supposed to be calm when the biggest crisis the Warehouse may have ever seen is striking RIGHT NOW?? Artie! Myka is GONE!! Pete has turned into a freaking recluse!!! How are we supposed to do anything?? Least of all stay CALM!â
Leaping from the chair, Claudia stormed away from the computer, stopping in the corner of the room, her back to its two other occupants. Her arms crossed across her chest and open hand covered her mouth as she squeezed her eyes shut. She wanted to disappear, but she didnât dare run away. That would only cause Artie to be angrier with her than she already suspected him to be. She felt like a small child, incapable of doing anything that mattered. For the first time, she truly felt as though she might not be cut out for work in the Warehouse.
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He turned back to Claudia. "Panicking isn't going to make the situation any better, I imagine," he said, his voice, this time, devoid of the anger it had bourn the last time he had spoken to her. "If we calm down, we can consider the situation and find the most efficient way to deal with it. I may not know exactly how this Warehouse works, but that's only common sense." He didn't expect her to see reason, but at least it felt good to say it.
Turning back to Artie, Alexei continued to speak confidently. "Can you identify exactly what artifact each ping is? If so, we can decide which ones are most dangerous, and pursue those ones. Or," he crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall. "if you have a better suggestion, by all means..."
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âThe âpingâ doesnât tell you what the artifact is. That would be way too easy. It tells you a location. We generally send Pete and Myka out to find what it is and then stop it and collect it. However,â she turned her face forward again, âtheyâreâŠgone.â
Everything about this situation made Claudia feel like someone had wrenched her arm out of its socket and held it behind her back while she screamed, and no one heard. She couldnât stand how calm Alexei was about this. How dare he advise her to remain level-headed when he didnât even understand the magnitude of the situation. Maybe freaking out didnât help anything, but she didnât need him of all people to tell her that. It was her right to defy what Artie told her and then admit that he was wrong in the end. Alexei didnât have a part in that equation.
Running her hand through her hair, pushing her bangs out of her face, Claudia exhaled roughly through her mouth as she looked up at the ceiling. She knew she really couldnât be reacting any more immaturely than she was. But her pride wouldnât allow her change that. She hated the idea of the thoughts going through Alexeiâs head. How superior he must have thought he was. It made her flesh crawl. She wanted Artie to say something, anything to restore her integrity back to her.
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Mackenzie smiled as she approached her gate, only carrying a small backpack with a laptop and a few random tools. It was almost too easy. Within the hour she had boarded the plane and was on her way to South Dakota.
............................Several Hours later, in South Dakota.........................................
Mac walked to her modest black car, giant suitcase in tow. After tucking it in the trunk, she slid into the driver's seat and was on her way. With only coordinates and weak headlights, she set out on the desolate highway. She was completely focused on the road ahead, even though the sun was setting beautifully ahead of her. She had work to do.
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And yet this artifact, the ring of JRR Tolkien, remained invisible on the monitor, for had it not, a ping would have resounded directly above the Warehouse, directly over Alexei Sakhalin.
(I'm thinking perhaps the ring could be one of the artifacts--and yeah, it's basically the One Ring XD. It would drive the wearer to feel a need to cause destruction and dominate those around them, though it's up to Katryn if that is okay.))
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âThe âpingâ doesnât tell you what the artifact is. That would be way too easy. It tells you a location. We generally send Pete and Myka out to find what it is and then stop it and collect it. However, theyâreâŠgone.â
Artie shot his head up at the last sentence. Whatever the new guy was of no importance at this point. He focused on one word. They're.
"What do you mean "they're"? Where is Pete?"
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Mackenzie parked next to an old, but nice car. As she caught a glance of the license plate, she immediately recognized the car of Arthur Nielsen. It was so dark she couldn't even recognize the car she had already followed numerous times for intel. Mac jumped out of the car yet again, opening her trunk. She pulled the suitcase out and got into character. After taking a deep breath she beelined to the only door. She knocked franticly, hoping there was some sort of motion detector.
"HELP ME! PLEASE!" She cried out as she battered the door.
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