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Fathom's Phantoms Hubris

The Executive Deck of Sigma-Echo was one of the few areas of the station that didn't feel like it was in a losing battle with dirt and grime. The pristine halls were kept spotless by the dedicated effort of a cleaning crew that was double the rest of the outpost's entire janitorial staff put together. If there was any doubt in Surresh's mind that the DRC favored their executives over their common employees he realized that he would have had to have himself committed.

'Favored', in fact, was entirely too mild a word-- 'elevated' was more appropriate; DRC elevated its executives on the crumpled bodies of its employees. He wasn't about to start preaching against the vices of The Deep Recon Corporation... no... it's not like it would have done any benefit... especially not when he was currently pressed into service by them. It was a relationship of convenience however, so he really wasn't able to complain even if he had wanted to. He casually strolled by a seam in the hallway and paused so he could run his paw across the triple-reinforced blast doors; they certainly didn't spare any expense when it came to executive safety.

The Tiger stepped lightly as he passed several intersecting hallways, working diligently to bypass the small gatherings of crew interspersed here-and-there; they were apparently doing some kind of communication experiment. They were most likely the Geneticons in the employ of the station's Overseer; there were very few exceptions to the "No Gen Executives" policy the DRC (unofficially) held. Surresh smoothed out his fur, calming himself and clearing the less-than-professional thoughts from his mind as he approached the elevator that led to the bridge.

The access panel was decidedly designed for Human and Voljoi digits; they were a little too small for a paw but Surresh made due by extending a claw and selecting the code using it rather than a finger tip. He followed up by placing his palm against the scanner, remembering that he didn't have to worry about his entire paw fitting since it only read the center anyway. The biometric reader took all of five seconds to clear him.

Unlike most of the elevators on the lower decks and even some of the mid-station lifts, the Bridge Elevator was both swift and comfortable. The several hundred meters separating the Executive Deck and the Bridge passed in the blink of an eye and before Surresh knew it he had come to a stop. Glancing to his PCD he pressed a button on the side and watched as a series of numbers popped up: 2, 1, 2, 2, 4. A moment later the doors opened revealing two rather well dressed, rough-and-tumble-looking gents who had their weapons drawn and aimed at him. Dr. Makowi was not familiar with most pistols but he recognized stun guns when he saw them.

The Tiger slowly raised his paws. "I would be very upset if either of you gentlemen were so jumpy as to fire. Please tell me that you have some kind of safety mechanism in place to prevent an accidental discharge."

The two Humans glanced at one another. The light-skinned one looked confused. "A what?"

The tan guard countered. "Firing before you mean to... like what your girlfriend always complains about, Jenks."

Surrresh was no fighter but he also did not like having weapons aimed at him. The Tiger was naturally agile but had no real talent when it came to unarmed combat. What he DID have however was insight. Clearing his throat he announced in a formal tone: "Two, one, two, two, four."

The two guards glanced at him, the confusion obvious on their face. The light skinned guard, Jenks, by name apparently lacked any real eloquence as he simply asked "Huh?"

The Tiger smiled. "This event's calculation. Two of you, and one of me."

The other guard took a step forward. "What's with the two, two, f--"

Surresh didn't give him a chance to speak as he took two steps forward. While an altercation was not particularly his first choice it had been made very clear that he had to go for his second plan. The two guards were surprised by his sudden advance, taking a moment to react to his very aggressive move. By the time they had their weapons drawn the Tiger was passing between them and, by the fourth second he dropped to the ground. The stun guns discharged over his head and both men hit the floor just a moment after him. He stood up while they remained where they were, thoroughly unconscious.

The commotion did not go unnoticed and seconds later three more guards were in the hallway. Surresh offered a friendly smile, flicking his thumb across the button at the side of his PCD before raising his paws into the air. He was pleased when the device sounded off with a one, one, three, three. "I am unarmed."

The security team elected to search him anyway; one roughly secured his paws behind his back with a zip tie while the other kept her gun trained on him-- the third went to check on the two other guards. Once they determined he wasn't a threat the one with the zip tie gave him a push forward down the hall. "Alright... move it."

Surresh complied with the request but he was quick to add "There is no need for hostility. I assure you I have Bridge clearance. You should be able to verify authorization with a simple ID check. Surresh Makowi... I would be happy to wait while you pull it up."

The woman walking beside him did not seem convinced. "No need. I have the full list memorized... you're not on it."

The Tiger kept his eyes forward and offered up a simple rebuttal in what he hoped would pass for a courteous tone. "Lists change. Perhaps you might consider checking again before you end up embarrassing yourself."

She didn't seem moved. "I'll take my chances."

when they arrived at the Bridge proper the Security Commander Vanessa 8J was called immediately over. She looked Surresh up and down, expression suggesting that she was trying to figure out whether she should be amused or displeased. In the end her comment combined a little of both. "You don't exactly look like the assassin typ, so I'll have to assume you have some other plan for being here."

The Tiger remained where he'd been stopped by his escort. "I came to see the Captain, if you please."

The female guard who had brought him to the Bridge rested a hand on his shoulder, "He says he's on the authorized list for Bridge Access."

Surresh nodded with deference and mild manner. "Indeed. Dr. Surresh Makowi. You are welcome to check the database... I doubt I'll be going anywhere in the meantime."

He followed up his comment with a smile. Commander Vanessa returned the smile, though it was apparently more for show than anything else. She pulled out an info tablet and began typing away at it. Although her eyes focused on the screen she seemed perfectly willing to continue their conversation. "How did you get an access code to the Bridge Elevator?"

The Tiger felt no reason to lie. "Captain Nida gave it to me."

The female officer to his left huffed. "I highly doubt that."

Commander Vanessa put away her tablet. "I don't. Please release Dr. Makowi, Cruse... he has Bridge clearance."

The woman, named 'Cruse' apparently, did a double take. Her lips moved but her voice failed to work so Surresh courteously offered up some conversation. "I apologize if you feel embarrassed but I do recall you saying you wanted to take your chances."

Officer Cruse still didn't bother commenting but at least the Tiger's input got her moving. A few seconds later she had the zip tie restraints off of him; he immediately rolled his shoulders and brought his paws around in front of himself so he could rub his wrists. Commander Vanessa waved Cruse away and motioned to one of the numerous side doors in the large central room. "That's Captain Nida's office."

Surresh offered her a warm smile in thanks and, after adjusting his glasses, glanced around the Bridge. "Hmm... to be honest this is my first time up here. Do you mind if I take a few moments to look around, Commander?"

The woman crossed her arms though it seemed more out of impatience than aggression. "You're cleared for the Bridge and Captain Nida's office... as long as you don't look around anywhere else then that's up to you."

He inclined his head respectfully. "Thank you... perhaps I will do just that later but, in the meantime I believe the Captain is expecting a meeting... so if you'll excuse me..."

With that the discussion came to an end. He moved decisively toward the Captain's office looking neither left nor right as he went. The Voljoi's office door opened a moment before he arrived and the short, gray skinned woman met him at the threshold, her all-black eyes staring up at him, "You're tardiness puts you right on time, Dr. Surresh."

The Tiger smiled. "And I suppose you would expect nothing but."

Pleasantries out of the way, Surresh followed the Captain into her quarters; he let the door close behind them. She touched a button on the control panel near her small, Voljoi-sized sofa and the lock indicator came on. Captain Nida motioned to a more traditionally sized recliner. "Would you care for something to drink?"

The question had the weight of a life-altering significance to it so Surresh immediately checked his PCD. "Two, one, two, three."

The Voljoi woman offered a plastic smile. "Two, one, two, three? And what was your second choice then, Doctor?"

The Tiger offered a much more natural one. "Yes please, I would love one... and I suppose you should pour another while you're at it."

Captain Nida pulled out three glasses and filled them all with a violet colored liquid; Voljoi spirits, the Tiger realized. He was not usually one for alcohol but, then again his calculations were rarely wrong. The woman slid him one of the drinks and took one for herself. "I was not attempting to hide him from you, you know."

Surresh took a sip of the aromatic, fruity liquor; it burned powerfully going down but in a surprisingly good way. "Of course not... I am far too informed for that to be of much use anyway..."

The woman took a sip from her own glass. "Indeed." the Tiger glanced around as he cradled his drink in his paw. "Where IS he?"

The sound of a toilet flushing from a side room answered the question readily enough. Captain Nida downed most of her drink in one go. "And what of the Private?"

Dr. Makowi leveled his gaze at her across the top of his glass as he took another sip then glanced at the Voljoi's terrarium; he had his calculation and she had her plants-- both were different aspects of the same Project. "You know what happened to him."

Captain Nida nodded slowly. "The mint has yellowed lately... I trust he didn't suffer?"

The Tiger shook his head. "It was over in an instant."

The Voljoi set her glass down. "Phantom?"

Surresh nodded, then looked up at the rhythmic clopping of a well-trained military horse. He smiled when he recognized the third member of their party: a tall, Shire Horse Stallion. "Ah... Major McGilvoy... so good to see you again."

The stallion was drying his hands off on a towel but his ears were up and attentive. "There be Phantoms here too? Who died?"

The Tiger smiled; it was good to have capable help, "Now that YOU'RE here? Nobody of significance."

* * * * * *

The chemical cocktail provided by Dr. Cortez was not an exact chemical duplication of HID... in fact, it didn't even seem to be close. Kenneth had over a year's worth of experience knowing how LHI's proprietary drug worked in his system and, aside from not dying, nothing that happened when he took the Cat's version was in any way similar. After taking HID the Bat had always felt calmed and relaxed but astute and ready to work. With the GOD it was more like the time Jen had introduced him to coffee-- he felt harried, spastic, and unfocused.

The largest difference, however, was that he began to feel certain emotions that he'd only ever experienced through others. Anger and frustration were near the forefront of those emotions; HID had worked to limit and impede adrenaline to make sure that he was always content and calm but, suddenly, after not having to deal with it during his fourteen months of life they seemed almost overwhelming and it took all his effort to keep them in check.

And then there was the matter of sex-- thoughts of sex, images of sex, impressions of sex, fantasies of sex-- the whole topic seemed inescapable, and his body was telling him that his prior year of being celibate and not caring was unnatural. At certain times of day it got especially bad, and he could tell he wasn't the only one. While Jen's Gens often used to bathe together to save time, it got to the point that Carol and Trudy had to take separate showers from the males in order to keep the peace... and Ken tried as often as not to take showers alone so he could deal with his own 'needs' himself.

They all knew there were certain things they were not supposed to do and the fact that the HID wasn't hiding those urges made it that much more difficult. Xavier and Oswald showered separately from the rest of them as often as possible; it made the Bat wonder if something else was going in between the two of them and the fact that they didn't seem as 'hard up' as the rest of the Gens just gave his theory that much more ammo for occupying his mind.

Of course, maybe that was just another side effect of not being on HID-- was he angry at the two of them, or was it just plain suspicion? ...or jealousy? Kenneth snorted; he had no reason to be jealous.... after all, when it came down to it, he had a larger run of the Executive Deck than any of them and he had learned that a paw was just fine at settling that itch in a pinch. The bat shook the unbecoming thought from his mind; even that was technically frowned upon by LHI-- his genetic material, after all, was copyrighted and not meant for 'distribution'.

It had been a strange past few days, but the Gens had managed. Of course, most of that had been due to Theo's expert guidance and Carol's unlimited support. The distraction of an experiment regarding their communicators had been a good one up until they'd been forced to call it off; Theo had taken ill and, not far behind him, so had Carol. Kenneth thankfully was able to spend more of his time worrying about them than his body-- both had chosen to forgo the new serum provided by Dr. Cortez and elected to go without. If his body was rebelling so unpleasantly with an alternative he couldn't imagine how they were dealing with nothing at all.

He and Gertrude had talked about that earlier in the evening after the Wolf and Doe were each put to bed. Neither had been feeling well and Ken had been worrying that they would ultimately end up like Nathan but the Mouse had reminded him that Theo hadn't grown up in The System. Theo's experiences had been in the real world as a real pup-child with real school and, unlike the rest of them his time as a youngster was at normal speed; she had confidence that he wouldn't deteriorate like other DDs would without HID.

She was a little more hesitant when Ken pointed out that Carol had spent time in The System but Trudy reminded him that the Doe had only spent her first few years in accelerated growth and that she was still far more naturally aged than the rest of them. It sounded sincere enough but the varied concerns continued to battle one another in the Bat's mind and so he had chosen his favorite pastime for dealing with a busy brain: he went for a walk. It made sense that he'd do better out in the halls alone so he could collect his thoughts without having to deal with anyone else.

The Bat stood in the hallway, letting Jen's suite door slide closed behind him. He took a deep breath and focused on the lingering discomfort he felt in the pit of his stomach. Ken looked to his PCD and the time stamp he'd stored; was it already time for another dose of GOD? He popped the second pouch from the right on his utility belt and pulled out the small plastic container Dr. Cortez had provided him. Shaking it, the Bat let a single pill fall into the palm of his paw; technically he was supposed to take two pills once a day but he found the inhibiting nature of the substitute drug to be too powerful for a full dose, and so he settled on a half dose twice a day. It had worked well enough so he stuck to it.

Putting the half-empty container back into its pouch, Kenneth latched it closed and headed off down the corridor at a jog; exercise helped him settle himself both physically and mentally. The Bat was on the clock so personal time wasn't exactly the top priority but he promised himself that he'd find Marco while he was out jogging and, since the Weasel hadn't checked in someone had to go remind him that the PCDs had limited range.

The Bat waited until he was a decent ways from the more occupied portions of the Executive Deck before he bothered calling out. "Marco? Hey Mark? Marcus?"

Kenneth had been jogging for almost twenty minutes until he found the Weasel but when he did the Bat realized that no amount of shouting would have gained him an answer. Slumped against the wall of a side corridor was Marcus; he had a hole in his head with a majority of its insides painting the hall; the bat vomited immediately. Looking up from his puddle of bile Ken froze in surprise and horror: drawn on Marcus' chest in what was presumably his own blood was a very distinct, very obvious number "3".

* * * * * *

Henry was not naturally optimistic; he found pessimism and expecting the worst usually meant that he would be positively surprised more often than he was off-guard against negative happenings. The loss of Marco however surprised even him. When Ken first returned to the apartment he was babbling so quickly that he made no sense. The Hyena offered to go with him when the Bat managed to clearly explain that he'd found Mark but nothing prepared Henry for what he saw when they arrived at what was clearly a murder scene.

In order to have any peace he had Ken stand watch; not only did it give him warning in case someone else showed up but it also removed the flighty Bat from the immediate area. Taking a deep breath, Henry pushed aside the thought that someone he knew was dead-- murdered... and he focused on the task in front of him. There was no doubt by the hole in the Weasel's head that he had been shot but one blaring question was why nobody in the area had reported the sound of a weapon discharge. The larger issue however was what had been written on Marcus' uniform in the Weasel's blood.

Ken started murmuring again at that point. "Three... there's a three on him."

Henry sighed. "I know, Ken... it could just be a coincidence."

The Bat edged closer but kept his back to the side passage. Kenneth started shaking. "It's a THREE, Henry. You know what the third LHI regulation is about Designer Domestics. Marcus is dead, and it's because of me."

Kneeling down to inspect the number written in blood the Hyena simply shook his head. "No... we're ALIVE because of you, Ken. Without the new stuff we'd all have been dead by now. But we're not. We're alive."

Ken began pacing, just out of view. "But that's a three. I mean... if it doesn't mean Mark was killed because he broke the third regulation, then what else could--"

Henry stood up and stalked over to the Bat, grabbing him by one shoulder. He gave his coworker a firm shake. "Think about it, Ken! Three could mean anything! How many people even know that DDs are required by regulation to take HID?"

Kenneth paused, fidgeting as the Hyena released him. Henry was relieved to see logic slowly chase away the Bat's unfounded concern. "Most of LHI... and... other DDs, I guess."

Henry nodded and crossed his arms. "And how many LHI employees are on board Sigma-Echo, do you suppose?"

Ken shrugged. "Just Jen, I think."

The Hyena nodded. "So, that leaves you, me, and the rest of Jen's Gens. If someone knew about the third regulation and the termination clause that comes with it, then that means it'd have to be Jen or one of us... so... did YOU kill Marcus?"

The question received a sputtering, double-take from the Bat. "W-wha?"

Henry's eyebrows furrowed. "Well it wasn't me so if you're saying Mark is dead because of Regulation Three that means an LHI Gen would be responsible for it since I'm sure as hell sure that Jen wouldn't... so if it wasn't you or me then all that leaves is Theo, Carol, Trudy, X, or Ozzy... so who is it? Who woulda killed Mark?"

Ken's response was much more emphatic. "None of us!"

The Hyena nodded, finding it strange that for once he had to be the optimist. "Damn right... and, besides, Marcus was the only one with a gun."

The Bat fidgeted. "Are you okay here? I think someone needs to go back and tell everyone... you know... what happened."

Henry nodded calmly. "Yea. I'll finish up here and then go try and find security."

Kenneth reached out to pat the Hyena on the shoulder. "Alright... don't stay out too long."

The Hyena sighed. "Sure... just go straight back, okay? The whole '3' thing probably isn't anything, but I think it'd be a better idea if we all keep to ourselves in the apartment until we get a chance to let Jen know about this."

Ken, ever the wanderlust-filled Bat, surprisingly didn't object. He disappeared quickly out into the hall leaving Henry to the unpleasant task of finishing the examination of the crime scene. Normally the Hyena would have left it to the security officers but since it WAS one of Jen's Gen, he realized that he'd have to find out as much as possible so he'd be able to report it back to her; he had a feeling she was going to be devastated and the best thing he could do to soften the blow was to get as much information as he could.

Henry gave the Weasel's corpse a quick review; he had no idea how long Marcus had been dead but for one of the first times in his life the Hyena was thankful that he had no sense of smell. The precursory examination revealed that Mark still had his gun but the Weasel's custom supply of HID substitute was missing; Henry's eyes were drawn back to the very clear three drawn onto the dead Gen's shirt... and that's when the Hyena noticed the clue: clinging to the dried blood was a single strand of fur.

Ever one to be prepared Henry pulled out a small first aid kit he always kept with him. From the kit he drew out a pair of tweezers (he had a thing against splinters) and carefully pulled the piece of fur off of the corpse. Despite being half covered in blood the strand was obvious white and all of Marcus' fur was roan, brown, or black. The fact that the fur had stuck to the blood and not Mark's uniform wasn't lost to the Hyena; perhaps the Weasel's killer WAS a Gen... and, since the station's crew all had DNA coding entered into Sigma-Echo's system it was possible that he was looking at a lead.

The Hyena glanced around the scene for any other possible evidence but after almost ten minutes of searching he came up empty. Henry concluded the investigation and headed out into the hallway, carefully checking to be sure the coast was clear; if there really WAS a murderer on the loose he wasn't about to go walking around without at least looking where he was going. Once he reassured himself that there was no gun-wielding Gen-killer nearby he made his way quickly to the Executive Deck's security control center. He was surprised to see that the door was open.

He placed his paw on the wall next to the entryway. "Hello?"

When he received no answer he slowly stepped inside; the entire room was empty. Henry's curiosity got the better of him for a few moments and he glanced at the numerous monitors revealing camera views of the various areas on Sigma-Echo's Executive Deck. He did a double-take when he saw a view of the lounge area within one of the public restrooms: Xavier and Ozzy-- both naked, with the former astride the latter. There was no mistaking what was going on between them. Shaking the view out of his head Henry reached across the control panel to turn the monitor off and focused instead on the multi-scanner attached to the input controls.

Henry was no tech expert, not like Simeon had been, but Simeon was dead so that meant the Hyena was to be his own resource. It took several tries before he managed to get the scanner to accept the fur and then, only once he had succeeded at presenting the non-bloody portion of it. He typed in a command to confirm the search and waited. The response that came back was concerning to say the least. He read the text aloud to himself, "Scan Complete. DNA Code identified: Gen Prime. Information restricted per International Copyright Laws."

Heart beating quickly the Hyena began to feel a little dizzy: had one of his coworkers actually done it? Had one of them killed Marco? If so, who? He quickly began punching in the access code that allowed him to check on the compatibility against any of Jen's Gens. The answer that was provided to him left him dazed. "Gen Prime. Information restricted per International Copyright Laws."

The answer wasn't confusing or even hazy. The code Henry had entered would allow him to confirm if the fur belonged to any of the Gen Primes that came to Sigma-Echo with Jen... which meant there was only other one possibility: there was another Designer Domestic on board Sigma-Echo... and THAT Geneticon was responsible for Marco's death. If that was the case, then the "3" DID have meaning... he and the rest of Jen's Gens were in grave danger.