Department H
1834 (A week after the Last Bullet)
Storm 01 sat alone on a table in the cafeteria in Department H, stabbing his fork continuously into the omelette-full plate in front of him. He was completely lost in his thought that he didn't notice when Rory came up to him.
"Hello?" She called out before sitting in an empty chair next to him. "Oh, hey, Rory." Storm 01 finally snapped out of his head.
"A penny for your thoughts."
He dropped the fork on the plate and leaned back on his chair. "I've just been thinking about the expedition we'll embark on soon," he revealed.
"What about it?" Rory asked.
"The whole mission depends on me. And it got me thinking, what if I mess it up?"
"Well, my mom used to say, 'don't dim yourself ineligible before even trying'. Plus, it doesn't solely depend on you, every member of the Storm squad has a part in it," Rory said.
Storm 01 stayed quiet for a while before replying. "I guess you are right." He glanced at his watch before speaking. "Speaking of, what about the note your mom left for you?"
"Oh that," she stopped. "I figured it was some kind of passcode to something she had, so when we went down to the Realm, I headed to her house to check around, you know, maybe I'll find something there. And I did find something, more questions," she added
Rory looked around before leaning close to Storm 01, shortening the volume of her voice. "When I arrived at the house, the State Police were already clearing the building..."
…
Rory stepped out of a cab and fixed her scarf. Her brows crooked as she saw two police vans parked outside the house and an officer standing in front of the door with his hand on his gun.
The house was a three-story building, and just like every other building in the Realm, it was designed to perfection. It had tall glass windows that revealed the inner part of the house.
Rory walked up to the officer. "Hi..."
The officer raised his left hand to stop her while tightening his grip on his gun. "Stay back."
Rory puts her hands up. She opened the oversuit she was wearing to reveal her Department H uniform. "I'm an agent of D.H., I'm here on orders," she explained.
Upon seeing the uniform, the police officer calmed down and dropped his hand. He moved out of the way, giving way for the Storm trooper to pass.
Rory entered through the automated doors. More officers were moving around with boxes in their hands, not paying her any mind. She scanned the room until her eyes found two officers that were in one corner of the room, exchanging words. She looked at their badges and confirmed that one of them, a man who looked in his late twenties with dark blue undercut hair, was a higher-ranking officer before walking up to them.
As she approached them, she glanced at the dark blue-haired man's chest before speaking. "Hello, officer Hugbord," she greeted.
The said name and his companion both turned to look at Rory with confusion in their eyes. "Who the hell are you? And how did you get in here?" Hugbord questioned.
"I'm Agent Storm 10, and also the daughter of the previous owner of this building, which means the present owner, by inheritance. So I'd like to know what the Police Department is doing in my building." She furrowed and slipped her hands into her pocket.
Hugbord slipped his hand into his hair and turned to his companion. "Well, err... We didn't just come here on our own accord, we have orders from up top to clear this building of any official papers and digital files, 'Winter Weir-related'" the officer revealed.
"You should see Miss Havishma for the house files," the officer added.
"Miss Havishma?" The officer nods yes before walking away.
Rory climbed up some flight of stairs to the third floor as the elevator was already occupied. She use to live in the house before she joined the D.H. and surprisingly, she still remembered her way around.
She stopped in front of a door that used to be her mom's room. Unlike the other doors in the house that were automated, the room used a passcode to be unlocked. She stared at the door before pressing in a code, she gasped as the door slid open. She set the passcode with her mom years ago and Rory thought after she left, her mother would have changed it.
Rory smiled before walking into the room. She had been in the room many times and it was still the way it was the last time she was there. She walked up to the nightstand near the bed and picked up a photo of her mother, holding baby Rory in her hands with a huge smile on her face. Rory smiled and traced her thumb over the photo. Her mind began to trail back to the moments she spent with her mom. She quickly shook it off and dropped the photo back on the nightstand.
She walked up to a closet and pulled it open, but it was empty, the officers already got there before her.
…
"My mom had a laptop which she kept in a vault, in the closest. But when I checked, it was gone, the officers already bypassed the security," Rory narrated to Storm 01.
"But it doesn't make any sense," Storm 01 started. "Why would Miss Havishma have the papers to the house? Shouldn't it be with the State House?" He questioned.
Rory shrugged. "I thought so too. And I think she was the one who ordered the Police Department and now has the laptop."
"Probably has some useful information in it..."
"It doesn't," Rory chipped. "It was for her personal use. She had a separate one for work in her workroom."
"So,"
"I'm guessing it has something Miss Havishma doesn't want to be known. And the note my mom had you give to me must be the code to unlock it," she stated.
Rory covered her annoyed expression with a smile. "It's just a theory, I'm not about to raise a finger at MISS HAVISHMA without having enough information." She pulled his tray and begin stuffing the omelette into her mouth.
"She might have already gotten through the security and trashed whatever she wants."
"Maybe, but I have a plan of my own."
...
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