FSE

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The two detectives make their way to the poorer part of the city, trying to see if maybe someone saw her from here or knew where she was living rather than simply have to rely on trying to get information from the market, especially with that tiger roaming around. As they get out, however, they notice that once again everyone seems to be doing everything in their power to avoid them, even without them making any remark about them being cops. Getting frustrated a bit at their lack of luck and debating just heading back and checking the morgue or something they find a somewhat spotted cat morph walking right up to them and stopping a few feet away.

"You've been tagged. You won't be finding anyone in this town helping you find out whatever you're looking for."

"What do you mean tagged?" Detective Ryan asks, looking to see if perhaps someone put something on them.

"That drum beat, I'm sure you've heard them start to use it around you. It's the beat from 'Beat the Tail Fly.' Means the Underground has marked you for being an annoyance and should be avoided if at all possible. Thankfully means they don't consider you a physical danger, but doesn't mean they don't consider you a nuisance. So tell me, which one was it, the tiger or the wolf?"

"The tiger?" Detective Matthiews says, remembering the one that approached them.

"Ah, John is the nice one and mainly just wants to keep people safe," the cat more leans back against the wall and pulls out a cigarette and sticks it in his mouth but doesn't seem to light it right away. "Be careful around Richard. Of their two enforcers he's the nastier. Name's Jack, by the way."

"If this underground group has us tagged, why are you talking to us?"

"Eh, you two don't seem to be all that bad from what I can tell. Never hurts to help out a fellow cop, if you know what I'm saying," he reaches into a pocket and pulls out a thin card and a lighter. He lights his cigarette, making sure that the card is facing the two detectives.

"Wouldn't it ruin your cover to be seen talking to us?"

"Oh, they know I'm undercover," Jack responds plainly. "If anything they'd probably prefer me turning you away since it means they don't have to deal with you anymore today. They got a hacker on their group, a weasel, I think. Finds out all sorts of things. They'll probably have you fully checked out in a day or two and then they may lift the tag. Else you'd only get any help if you can find somewhere their scouts aren't watching. As for me. Well the Underground is much more of a vigilante group than a terrorist organization, no matter what anyone tries to tell you. They feel the law has abandoned all morphs and so they take all matters of the law into their own hands. Their label of being a terrorist cell is simply the result of that. They place themselves as being the police, the judge and the executioner all in one. They will punish whoever violates their ideals and do whatever they feel is just, regardless of the law. As for me, well I'm in the narcotics division. My job is to try and get drugs off the streets. That coincides with their ideals so not only do they let me go about my business unhindered, but periodically one of their scouts will find me and drop me an envelope with information they've found out about shipments. I can then just relay this to my superiors and we can have the law handle things."

"And your superiors are okay with that?"

"Why wouldn't they be? I get more information on illegal activities without having to break the law. Nothing I'm given is actionable anyway without corroborating evidence, but it does give us enough to investigate. Usually their packets even go so far as to give us everything we need to have cause to act. The narcotics division is happy enough with the arrangement because they can show off to anyone just how much they're getting off the streets. The mayor is happy because he can point to say how tough his administration has been on illegal drugs. And the Underground is happy because it means that all they need to do to act on that is just give me a packet of information. Everyone's happy. Like I said, they're a vigilante group. All they care about is that the law is obeyed equally. Heck, grabbing one of them is easy enough. They don't actually ever put up a fight if you try to arrest them. If you have a warrant on one they'll even go so far as to hand them over. Not that you'll ever actually see them convicted for anything."

"Why's that, do they escape from jail?"

"Oh, not at all. They are completely compliant with the law. The thing is that to convict someone you need to have enough evidence to convince a jury of their peers. Not only is it almost impossible to find jurors in this town willing to convict them with their reputation but evidence has a habit of becoming unusable."

"What do you mean?"

"Like I said, they have a hacker on their group. No one can prove they've done it but I think they frequently hack into the police database. If you have a case going against them you'll find that the data on the case becomes corrupted and physical data becomes tampered with. Possible they have an insider. But none of that affects me. I'm not here for them. I could care less about them, though I do make use of their code when it suits my needs. And so long as they aren't trying to get into the business of trafficking drugs my superiors don't really care. I mean, I'll report any crime they do in front of me, but that's about it."

"Hmm, sure, I guess. Though I guess while you're here perhaps you could help us," Detective Matthiews says in response to all of this information and pulls out the picture, "have you seen this morph around?"

"Oh," Jack says, recognition flashing over his eyes and one hand raising up to his mouth really quick. "Poor girl. That would be a girl name Alex. She's one of their more beloved scouts. Makes sense they'd flag you so quickly. Real sweet girl. Can't understand a word anyone says but real sweet girl. Oddly enough a singing voice like you'd never believe. Did you know that she was the one that came up with the signals in the first place?"

"She was?" Detective Ryan asks.

"Oh yes, she needed to be able to pass along information to others quickly and quietly and well when you have her condition, words don't work. But little drum beats from popular morph songs, well that she can do. And everyone can do it very easily without anyone not in the know any the wiser."

"I guess that's at least enough information to let us know to go ahead and head over to the station anyway. I may take a look at seeing how it is that they're able to tap into our systems like that. That doesn't seem like it should be at all legal and they should be brought down for that anyway. Thank you for the help," he waves as he starts heading in the direction of his car.

"Sure thing, feel free to stop by any time," he says before quickly realizing something and adding in, "unless you're doing something that will inhibit my ability to do my job. Then you can just bugger off. Also won't help you stage a sting against the Underground. Though if you're heading back to the station, can you do me a favor?"

"What's that?" Detective Ryan asks.

"Can you tell Mister Doneis that it's coming in on the east wing for me? I'll tell him in person eventually when it's time for me to check in, but I'm sure he'd much appreciate getting the information as early as possible."

"Eh, sure thing," Detective Matthiews waves again, not bothering to look back.

"I hope she's okay," the cat morph says solemnly before putting his cigarette into his mouth and taking a long inhale.

A few days later Alex starts making her way through the city, half starved but otherwise fine. She is still walking with a bit of a limp but that should heal itself as well soon enough, especially once she can have their doctor take a look at it. She would have gone in sooner but she was practically incapacitated with a fever from an infection from when she broke her leg onto the road. At first she was afraid of what it was, that perhaps they did get her, but when she saw the swelling on her leg and the fact all that happened was a fever and low appetite she just got through it as best she could, doing the best she could to at the very least staying hydrated even if she couldn't get any actual food. She can still feel a bit of the fever hovering over her but figured that it was best to report in rather than make them wait unnecessarily or at worst decide she's been compromised and send someone after her.

Alex ponders which of the other scouts likely took over her area. After having not checked in the territories should have been adjusted to not leave a lapse in coverage. To do otherwise would invite snatchers to simply target one of the scouts and then mop up as many as they can in the interim. But as the people seem calm enough and no signals being tapped out she can only imagine that things have been peaceful lately. As she walks through the city, having to take a few breaks here and there she sees a candy merchant that has a human yelling something or other at them. It doesn't seem like there's any real issue, but it is clearly upsetting the merchant.

Alex makes her way over to the stall and begins looking at the candies and acts completely oblivious to her own surroundings. She ends up casually bumping into the human, forcing him to go off on her. He turns and grabs her shoulder to try and yell at her and all she does is instantly curl up into a fetal position and cower away from him, protecting her head as best she can. He sees this and hesitates a moment before seeming to deflate. He turns and sees everyone else in the marketplace staring at him standing with his raised fist in front of a cowering morph and puts his arm down and walks away, muttering to himself as he goes about his business. The merchant watches him go, still a little rattled up but doesn't say anything as Alex stands up, making sure to still look cowed if he were to turn around again. The merchant doesn't say anything, but merely signs the words 'thanks' at her, causing her to nod in response. She looks over his store and grabs a few items from what he's offering and pays after he signs how much she owes. She nods again after paying and heads around the corner. There she sees a few morph children begging for food, their parents of the kids either away trying to find work or have abandoned them completely. But they look after themselves barely. Alex walks over to the one she knows is the leader of the kids and shows him the bag of candies and makes a deliberate motion of signing the word 'share' at him and then holding out the bag. He walks up to her respectfully and reaches out for the bag, but she doesn't quite let go right away, repeating the sign at him. Eventually he signs the word back to her and she lets go.

She then leaves with a bit of a smile on her muzzle as she hears him shouting something at the others and the sounds of a lot of motion behind her. But despite having a bit of a sweet tooth herself, she knows she needs much more substantial food to get her through the day, especially after her past few days. And so she limps down a few blocks and listens to the sounds of the streets. The street seems to be fairly quite this morning, which is nice, since it means she can take it a bit easy on her leg and not have to push herself to intervene. The people who pass give her a polite nod, some of them waving slightly at her as well. Even as things are she'll probably need a good sit once she makes it to the base. Unfortunately for her leg, her first stop is a few more blocks down the road to a food kitchen. It's a charity organization that most Morphs that can afford to will donate some money to. In return they provide free food and shelter to any Morph so long as they can afford to do so. Granted the food is not particularly great considering how many people they need to stretch it, but it does what it can. Alex does still have enough money on hand that she could simply go to a Morph restaurant and have her fill from much more rich cuisine but there's another reason she's heading to this particular one.

As she steps in the door the aroma of the stew they're currently making hits her strongly enough to cause her to pause. Though her appetite isn't yet back up to what it normally would be, she still hasn't had anything to eat in a couple of days. From the smell probably a beef stew. Standing at one of the serving stations is another fox morph, doing his best to keep up with the demand of all the people wanting food. Alex goes about getting into his line, making sure that she stays at the back of the line since she doesn't want to make anyone need to wait for food since they'll need to talk a bit, assuming he doesn't step away from the station to do so.

He does eventually see her and waves but doesn't break the line as his official job is still handling the serving line. However he does quickly tap out a code that gets quickly passed down the line and to her. It's one of their more common signals and one even normal people would use as well. Basically, it was just a signal saying that they'll need to be stepping away soon. It's a low priority signal and so no one leaves his line, but with the signal being put out there no one else tries to go into his line, which Alex appreciates since she is still very hungry. Once she gets close he nods at her before readying her bowl of the stew.

'Missed you," Ben signs at her when he has the chance to.

'Got grabbed. Hurt leg. Got sick,' She signs back.

'Are you okay?'

She shrugs as a response as he finishes pouring her bowl and hands it over before saying something to one of the others and starts walking around to go sit with her. She immediately begins to eat, though, not waiting for him to meet up at her at one of the tables. Ben sits down and watches her for a moment and doesn't being signing to her again until she's slowed down a bit.

'Black?' he signs at her to which she shakes her head.

'Got out before, hurt leg. Just got infection.'

'A couple of cops have been asking around for you.'

'They grabbed me. Do not know if they are them or not. Took me to a hospital. Got out when I saw a needle. Still Red.'

'Well that's most certainly good to hear,' Ben signs back at her compassionately, relief plain on his face. 'Have you been back to base yet?'

'Not yet, wanted food first and to check in with a handler.'

'Well you can always trust your favorite handler,' Ben laughs, or at least Alex is pretty sure that's what that sound he's making is. It sounds like a laugh but with sounds coming from peoples' mouths she can never be truly sure. She has made that error in the past. 'I'll be sure to let them know that you're on your way when I get a moment. Though why did the cops take you to the hospital in the first place?' Ben asks.

'Do not know. But had stopped a couple of grabbers from getting a little girl and they took out their anger on me. Kept going after I split my head too. Will need to check to see if they were doing it to get me treated or as an excuse to get me grabbed.'

'John has them on the watch list. But they haven't been back again since the undercover told them off. Anyway, I'll make sure to tell them you're on your way. Anything else you want me to let them know before you get there?'

'I want to see with my own hands if they are a grabber or not.'

'Will do," Ben signs before standing up and putting a hand on Alex's shoulder for a moment before walking off, to go send a message to their base and then likely rejoin the line. Alex doesn't mind so much, but instead goes about eating the rest of her food in peace.

Once done, however, Alex frowns slightly and then stands up and heads to the door. She's certainly not thrilled about the prospect of returning to them, especially since she has no idea which of them are going to be there. They have a few bases stored around the city and periodically move around to avoid getting too much attention from the police or grabbers. Even still she does her best to try and make sure that no one is following her. Once certain she is walking the streets alone, she slips into an alleyway and then moves to a door hidden in the wall. The first level of defense for them. Once she enters there is another small room with a few pipes running along the wall and a water heater connected to them. If she looked she'd probably find where the air conditioner was held as well. This allows them to have some of their devices serviced for regular maintenance without letting them into the main base. Along the far wall there's a door with a panel. And Alex moves over to it and still a little anxious about her experiences she places her hand on it. A few seconds later the panel beeps and turns green. As soon as the panels turn green the door unlocks and opens itself slightly.

The moment she steps through the door she finds herself pulled into a hug by a fairly tall squirrel Morph. Angela was always somewhat partial towards her, though Alex could never really figure out how much of that was the fact that she was the only other female of the group. A few of the other scouts were admittedly also female morphs and they also had some female humans helping out where they could, but Alex was the only one of those that would go into the base on a regular basis. John would probably come by later if he doesn't just head off to his own job before then. Michael stares at her from a few feet away, having been aiming a gun at the door and with her having passed the Black test is currently putting his gun back into its holster. The fox morph stares at her in a calm, casual manner before the leader of their group coughs a moment to get Alex's attention.

'Noah's been waiting for you," he signs at her once she looks at him. 'He's refused to eat since he learned you were coming over today. Dylan will set up the computer once you have that done.'

And after that bit of information he turns and walks off without waiting for a response. One of their other handlers shows up and gives her a sidelong glance but makes no motion to her one way or another. And she doesn't really respond to them either. Not all of them are able to speak sign language nor is she able to understand any who can't. This little mouse morph can't understand her but does know the codes and the two would be polite to each other, they'd have no real reason not to be. But at the same time with no way to actually communicate they more or less just ignore the other when not hearing anything coming from one of their signals. Alex heads off into a side room, finding an otter staring off into space. Alex takes a deep breath and does the best she can to try and suppress the limp in her leg. She walks up to the otter and waves in front of his eyes, doing her best to smile for him. It takes him a little while to measure but eventually he slowly turns and faces him. She tries her best to give him the most cheerful greeting she can manage, eliciting a slow smile across his features.

Alex makes the gesture of eating. Noah likely doesn't understand sign language anymore, but the act of putting something into the mouth can be fairly easily understood. She hears a knock on the door and turning around sees that a bowl of a sort of dark grey sludge has been left just inside the door. She shrugs and walks as carefully as she can and leans down on her good leg to reach down and pick up the bowl. She cringes a bit when her other leg touches the ground again, though whether or not Noah noticed she couldn't tell. She makes her way back over to him and then sits down beside him. She hands over the bowl of slush and then waits silently. He stares at it a moment as if trying to remember what he was given before starting to move again. He starts to move as if about to just reach into the slurry with his bare hand but she stops him. She grabs the spoon attached to the back and then puts it in his hand.

Noah stares at the spoon for a moment before finally processing what it is he's holding and starts using the spoon to pick up some of the slush. While he's eating that somewhat foul looking if completely bland smelling substance she takes her attention away from the food and checks instead to see how well the otter has been taking care of himself. She reaches down to the side of their stool and pulls out a fur brush and gets to work at trying to tame the chaos that has become his hair. He's clearly had his hand in it, possibly with worry but it needs to be made presentable again and it's not like he'd have the wherewithal to actually do that for himself. Noah pauses for a moment when the brush first touches his fur, then has a brief smile and then goes back to slowly eating his food.