RPG: Biohazard (Page 2 of 3)

As Eva watched the two men rearrange their table to be back where it belonged, she glanced over at the four would-be rescuers of her uncle. She had initially thought they were his normal patrons: Louie, Ned, Todd and Nugget. But her assumption had been wrong. These guys looked to be CCP mercs, yet they were very twitchy at the mention of the company name.

Perhaps, like her, they’d been royally screwed over by the company. She looked over the faces as subtly as possible but she didn’t recognize any of them. For a moment she thought back to her strange encounter that had led her to Vinnie’s.

That man had seemed so familiar, yet she couldn’t put her finger on who he was or how she knew him. She blinked a few times before she realised she was being spoken to.

She returned her attention to the two men who were now seated at their table. She didn’t miss the fact that they sat facing the mercs. Clearly they didn’t trust having a gun to their back, nor did she for that matter. She moved to the chair on the side which gave her access to view the patrons in the café from the decorative mirrors.

“So have you guys got names?” she asked.

Eva looked at the card but she wasn't focussed on it. She was more intent on the fact that Gerric has supposedly commited murder. It was unthinkable. Gerric had been a lot of things but never a killer. That particular department had occasionally been in her job description.

The two men were almost out the door when Eva suddenly remembered something. She latched onto Cain's jacket sleeve as he collected his weapon from Vinnie. "Where did the murders take place?"

"All around, why do you ask?" Cain said cryptically.

"The last time I saw Gerric was when we were investigating CCP. We were attacked but I was knocked unconscious before I saw what happened to Gerric. I knew he wasn't dead because when I came to, he wasn't there and there was no evidence of a struggle." Eva said telling more than she meant to. The memories were rolling through her head with a renewed vigour.

"Perhaps he took a job with CCP," Cain said menacingly.

Eva raised a brow at that, "He hated CCP with a passion, the only way they'd recruit him is if they drugged him." As soon as the words were out of her mouth Eva suddenly had a revelation. She needed to find the strange man she'd run into earlier, she had a feeling he was the key to this mystery.

Cain and Leo look at one another.

"Thats my guess too. The only chance we've got is that the SF troops didnt get a good look at us, so their helmet cams dont have a visual of us.

"Good luck with that..." The one with the shotgun commented.

"Well if thats the case then we should get to know each other, and maybe stick together." Leo said.

Everyone looked at him and all had the same facial expression: No. Leo shrugged and Eva cut in.

"Relax boys. I'm Eva Adams. These two are Inspector Leo Hartigan and ex-Blade Runner Richard Cain." Eva said pointing at the two. The mercs looked at Cain with interest at learning of his ex-Blade Runner status. Eva motioned towards them to introduce themselves. One of them starts.

"This here is Matt Bor, next to him Thomas Holston, call him Tom. I'm Griggs McMillan, squad leader. We're whats left of Tebek Squad CCP Merc Corps before a platoon of SF troops got to us after the crash. That there is Zach, a street cop who saw the crash from his spinner flying overhead.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Not here....disappointing, but not a major issue. Roy stalked through Cain's office. He had broken in quietly, in hopes of surprising the ex-Blade Runner, but he had just left. Roy was growing a little impatient.

Roy DID find a file on Cain's desk that he and the Inspector were probably reviewing before leaving. It was given to him by Detective Giff apparently, from some notes written on the file. Giff was most likey Cain's connection into the detective force, which Roy had learned of after reading Cain's CCP file.

Leaving the office, Roy quietly closed the door and strode through the hallway as if he wasnt carrying several guns underneath his trenchcoat. He would pay Detective Giff a visit...

Decker knew it was bound to happen but he still wasn’t pleased at the emergency Board Meeting due to the incident. The Board always had to put their nose in even if they refused to acknowledge the dirty work that had to ensue because of their demands. Each of the members would act like flies were being swatted rather than human lives destroyed.

Not that killing worried Decker, it was the questions of how, when and where to dispose of the bodies. Over the years his numerous projects had often needed volunteers to administer doses to. If the side effects included death, well so be it.

Daria was stalking the room. As usual she was immaculately dressed. She showed no signs of distress other than the fact that she was pacing. Director, Ralph Peppers, wore his usual scowl. Nothing they ever did was right in his eyes. But then Peppers had been out of touch with the real world for decades.

“How did the subjects get loose?” Peppers asked for the umpteenth time.

Daria faced Peppers, “As I said before, it’s still under investigation. I’m assuming we’ve had an insider tamper with the security measures taken to prevent such an occurrence-“

Decker cut in, “Rest assured, Director Peppers, we’re currently cleaning up as we speak. The culprit will be dealt with in the usual manner.”

Peppers raised his hand, “No, not this time. I want to speak to this culprit myself.”

To say Decker was surprised was an understatement. The Director never got his hands dirty, “To what end, sir?” he questioned politely.

Peppers turned on Decker with a dark look in his eyes, “Frankly, Mr Decker, I don’t think you’re cutting the mustard on this one. Too many slip ups have been occurring lately; perhaps you need some time off.”

Decker didn’t have to look up to see the satisfied grin on Daria’s face. “My apologies, but I am only as good as those who work with and around me,” Decker replied pointedly.

Clarence Moore, General Manager, spoke up. “We’re doing our best, Director Peppers. It just seems that there’s more adversary towards us now more than ever.”

“Why is that? We own the media, the police and hold influence over the important parts of the government. Shouldn’t we be guaranteed success?” Peppers questioned them as his eyes slid over each Board member.

Decker pointed out the obvious, “The bigger we get the easier it is for single entities to infiltrate our company. We have great security measures but these days people are desperate and will find loopholes to pass through that we may have over looked due to their obscure nature.”

“Then we should increase our security teams,” Moore interjected.

Peppers seemed to mull this over, he didn’t like parting with money unless he absolutely had to. After a few moments he replied, “Perhaps we’re best hiring an independent company to try and infiltrate our systems. That way we’ll know our weaknesses.”

Decker wasn’t pleased at the idea, but he wasn’t about to dissuade the Director.

Moore immediately congratulated the Director on the idea. Daria rolled her eyes subtly and Decker was inclined to agree with her response. The Board quickly voted on the motion and it was approved.

Decker wondered which security company they’d use. There’d be a number of bogus companies popping up at the chance to infiltrate CCP. Decker decided that perhaps it was time to speed up his plans.

"-Yeah, it's got some hefty recoil, but still managable." Zach carefully handed Matt's pistol back to him. "I like it, alot of people say it's overpowered and unnecessary, but it fits my needs." He didn't want to say anything about the cop's sidearm, it looked nice and was known for high accuracy, but the cartridge was a bit small for Matt's taste.

"Yep, get what you like." Zach held up his coffee mug. "Cheers."

Matt raised his mug also. "Cheers."

As if the night couldn't get more interesting, the front door slammed open. Matt instinctively grabbed the M6 off the table, chambered a round and leveled it at the the doorway.

A horribly deformed figure came stumbling in, hissing unnaturally. His eyes were darting back and fourth in a  psychotic motion at the restaurant patrons.

"You alright buddy?" Zach said cautiously.

Without warning, the 'man' leapt at the cop, blood was dripping off his face and hands. Zach quick-drew his P138 sidearm and fired into his legs and lower torso, as did everyone else, hitting the man innumerable times until 'he' dropped to a slashing, convulsive crawl across the black and white checkered tile. Griggs and Tom swiftly went to the man's left and right, shoving their boots hard on his back.

"What the hell...?!"

((Short post... If Val or anyone else wants to post this guy's fate, here's your window.))

Cain looked at the corpse on the floor, still pointing his PKD at it. This was beyond weird.

"What the hell was it? It came out of no where..." Matt asked, reloading

"It looks like a man who was infected with something, or affected by some kind of radiation and mutated. Could this have a possible connection to CCP's creatures?" Cain asked the group

"I dont think so. The SF trooper that one of the creatures attacked didn't mutate like this. Some else happened to this guy." Griggs answered

Cain walked out of the front door, blaster first, and looked around. There was nothing of interest in sight. Moving back in Cain addressed the group.

"I'm sure some people heard the sound of our guns, they've probably already called the cops. We should all get out of here. I'm sure Vinnie could explain how the thing came in and attacked, but theres going to be trouble if they find us here."

"We can hide out in Vinnie's basement." Matt said

"Alright, me and Leo are going to talk to Detective Giff, a guy we know in the force with some pull. We're going to tell him what happened and see if we can get to the bottom of it...and get all our names off CCP's hit-list." Cain says, holstering his PKD.

"Ok, if things get hairy then we might leave." Tom tells Cain.

"Which is probably what will happen. Its only a matter of time before CCP tracks us down." Matt says

"Lets exchange numbers to keep in touch." Griggs said, taking a cell phone from a pouch on his vest. The group exchanges some numbers and bid Cain and Leo farewell.

Eva decided it was best to stay with her uncle to explain what had happed when the CCP goons rolled up. The Police arrived first and the questions flew left, right and centre. The mutated body seemed to be evidence enough that the café had been under attack, justifying the need for fire power.

Both Eva and Vinnie left things vague about how many gunmen there were. It didn’t take long for CCP to send in their own investigator.

He looked like something out of the movies with his long trench coat and hat. Eva figured the guy was going for that particular look.

“So Ms Adams, Mr Curlenko you say a mutant came here and attacked the patrons of the café.” The investigator said awaiting confirmation.

Eva looked at him meaningfully, “And you are?”

“Hayden McKellar, Investigator for CCP’s Intelligence Department,” he answered.

Eva smiled wryly, it would only be a matter of time before McKellar figured out that she used to work for that particular department. “Yes Mr McKellar, this thing” Eva pointed at the body, “came in and attacked.”

“Did it speak?” McKellar asked.

Vinne shook his head, “Just hissed, then attacked.”

“Do you know where it came from?” McKellar continued.

Eva shrugged, “It just came through the door on its own accord. Why it did so, is anyone’s guess.”

“So who killed it?” McKellar said with a questioning look.

Vinnie spoke before Eva could, “Some random customer. He wasn’t a regular, so I don’t know his name.”

“Do you have any electronic payments we could use as a trace?” McKellar asked as he looked at the register on the bar.

Vinnie shook his head, “He skipped out as soon as he killed the creature. Mongrel owes me for his dinner.”

McKellar looked at Eva, “Could you give me a description?”

“Uh, he had brown hair, average height, average build and was wearing a maroon sweater. That’s all I really remember.” Eva said once again remaining vague.

“Did you notice what sort of weapon he was carrying?” McKellar queried.

Eva rubbed her chin, “No idea, I’m not that familiar with weapons these days. I think it was something newish.”

“All I know is it left a bloody big hole in my floor,” Vinnie said as he shook his head with dismay.

Eva looked out the window to see the Hazardous Substances team roll up. Looked as though CCP were about to clean up their mess. Eva felt a chill run down her spine, when CCP cleaned they tended to remove all evidence.

Once the shooting had begun, Cain made his way up the fire escape of the next building so he didnt run into any SWAT members.

When he reached the roof, he saw something completely different from what he expected. He had expected to see the SWAT team trying to take down one of the Project Cerebrus creatures. Instead he saw the team engaging Gerric on the opposite roof top. Apparently a murder had been called in and they caught Gerric at the scene. This would solve some problems for Cain...

Gerric quickly made short order of the SWAT team. The last member burst through the fire escape and yelled "FREEZE!". Gerric sprung at him, grabbed him by the throat and threw him AT the Hunter chopper. The body crashed through the windshield and the helicopter was sent wobbling through the buildings until it disappeared. All the SWAT members were now dead or unconscious.

Gerric walked slowly across the rooftop, the pitter-patter of light rain sounding off his trenchcoat. Cain stayed crouched behind a utility vent on the opposite building and watched him. Gerric bent and picked up his hat, shaking some water from the rain off it and placing it on his head.

Gerrice began walking towards the edge of the building, the edge that was 5 feet from Cain's building. Cain crouched a little more so Gerric didnt see him. Gerric jumped the short distance between their buildings and landed just in front of Cain, he continued walking. Cain waited for the right time, then stood up and leveled his PKD blaster at Gerric.

"Gerric..." Cain said calmly. he was debating whether or not to kill him outright. He might be too dangerous.

Gerric was surprised and froze momentarily. His orange goggles flared slightly, and then he turned and made a run for it. Cain didnt hesitate.

BANG-FIZZ-CRACK

Cain nailed him in the leg and it splintered. A blaster shot was much more serious than the common slug shot. Gerric stumbled and crashed onto the roof, his momentum sent him sliding forward until he came to a halt near the edge.

Cain walked up to Gerric, pointing his PKD at his head. Gerric was face down, and slowly flipped himself over. Cain looked at the charred leg he had shot at, and could only see the smoldering pant leg. Cain kept the PKD trained on his face, and was about to squeeze the trigger. Gerric looked at Cain, and Cain looked at Gerric.

"...and so now you kill me." Gerric said, the rain sliding down the orange goggles and seeping into his black skimask.

"Thats right." Cain answered, sure of himself.

"Why?"

"...because you've murdered over 10 people."

"Those that I kill deserve to die."

"You dont know that. Even so, there are laws in this country. Theres a legal system people have the right to go through."

"They do not have the right to commit evil, hence they should lose their rights if they do so."

"And you're the one to take out their sentences? You're the one to decide them worthy of living or not? No human being has that right."

"Including you." Gerric says, referring to the fact that Cain was about to kill him

"And you."

Just then Gerric reaches up slowly, grabs hold of his skimask and slides it off his head. It reveals Gerric's metallic head, orange eyes, slit for a mouth...Gerric was a robot.

(DARK GREY, not green)

"I am no man."

Cain was shocked, needless to say. He reflected on how here he was once more, taking down a renegade robot. It seems he could never escape his Blade Runner status. However, Gerric did not retain the characteristics of the past renegade robots. He was coherent, and apparently had a craving for hard justice. And for one thing...he named himself.

"This is impossible, they fixed the glitches." Cain stated

"I am not a renegade as it is commonly known. My glitch did not cause me to become an insane killing machine. It caused me to...develop consciosness." Gerric answered

"That is impossible Gerric!"

"And yet, here I am..."

Cain thought for a moment. This was something new. He had to hold off on killing him, but he wasnt sure, so he stayed aiming at him.

"I've seen you, I saw you where I dealt with the rapist. You know why I do this." Gerric continued

"I'm not too sure about that. Even so, the way you deal with people isn't exactly virtuous."

"Neither is the way you are about to deal with me. You know I give justice where some escape it."

Cain thought again. He'd have to figure out a little more about Gerric before he decided what to do. Right now, he was too unsure. He lowered his blaster and extended his hand, letting out a low sigh.

Gerric looked at the hand, and looked at Cain. He took the hand and Cain helped him up.

"I'm glad you've seen the light." Gerric said, keeping his weight on his undamaged leg as he slipped on his skimask and put on his hat.

"Dont be so sure. Lets just say, youre up for evaluation, Gerric." Cain said, holstering his blaster.

"Of course, Detective...?"

"Private Investigator. Richard Cain." Cain said handing him his card. Gerric took it and looked at it.

"Interesting..." he said as he slipped it into a pocket.

"Why were the SWAT called here?" Cain asked as he walked towards the stair entrance. Gerric limped behind him. "Sorry about the leg by the way."

"Its fixable. They were called because of the remains of a man found in the building next to us. I saw an extremely odd creature leaving the building, and i sought to investigate. I know it sounds insane, but I saw it leaving the scene. The SWAT arrived, they shot first." Gerric answered. Cain showed no interest in his excuses for attacking the SWAT.

"Odd creature? How would you describe it?" Cain asked as they walked down the stairs.

"Dog like, walking on all fours. Extended cranium, long tail, claws, pinkish skin. Very viscous."

"Mhm...yeah I see you ran into one of the Project Cerebrus creatures that CCP accidently released into the city."

"Accidently?"

"Yes, six of them escaped during transport. All the witnesses, me, a detective friend of mine, a street cop and three CCP mercs are now being hunted as part of CCP's 'clean up'. No one was supposed to know about the bio-weapon."

"What do they intend to use the creatures for?"

"Its CCP, what do you think? Probably some take over scheme they've cooked up. We should get out of here before they realize whats happened here and show up. You got a place where you charge or something?" Cain asked, taking a shot at Gerric being a robot. Gerric was not amused.

"Its not far from here, the basement of an abandoned building. I'll show you."

Eva shook her head at her uncle, “They may be gone for now, but they’ll be back. They haven’t finished cleaning up the mess yet. It’s odd that they’d leave the cops to do that.”

Vinnie shrugged, “They probably got a more urgent call.”

Eva nodded, they both knew CCP had a number of sinister projects on the go. She headed back out to the dinner area, which was empty, and closed up the café.

“CCP will be back,” Vinnie commented as he looked out the window at the cops making their final notes.

“That’s a certainty,” Eva said as she looked at the men they’d hidden away. “I think it’s best we all leave once the coast is clear.”

-

Hayden McKellar had returned to his office at CCP after he’d finished his first round of questioning. He immediately logged onto his terminal to get some background information on those he’d questioned.

There was nothing particularly surprising until McKellar tried to bring up a file on Eva. Bold, red words shouted at him ‘ACCESS DENIED’. McKellar frowned and tried another angle to access the file but the same results came up.

He shook his head in wonderment. As an Intelligence agent he should have access to almost all files. For this one to be blocked seemed extremely strange. Eva Adams seemed normal enough. Surely if CCP wanted her she’d already be in their custody.

McKellar tried again only to have his phone buzz. He answered it and noted the extension number. The voice on the end of the phone was cold, “You’re denied access to that file for a reason.”

McKellar swallowed. The caller hadn’t identified himself but McKellar was fairly certain that he was speaking to the Internal Security department. “I questioned the subject at a recent incident. I wanted to get some background.”

“What incident was Eva Adams present at?” The voice demanded coolly.

McKellar ran a finger beneath his collar, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. “A mutated man was found dead at a local café. I don’t have any results as yet but it looks as though the body may have been going through a transition stage before being killed.”

There was silence for a moment. “So what does Adams have to do with this?”

Closing his eyes, McKellar answered, “She witnessed the mutant being killed.”

“Witnessed or enacted?” came the answer.

“She says witnessed, others concur with her answer.” McKellar told.

“Don’t speak with her again,” the voice commanded.

“Why? She’s part of an investigation.” McKellar said trying to justify his requirements.

“The reasons are complicated and beyond your need to know,” came the cutting answer.

“Who is this?” McKellar demanded.

“Look up your directory, McKellar. Goodbye.” The voice said with a finality that chilled McKellar.

He immediately looked up the number and felt the blood drain from his face.

-

Decker ended the call and watched the security feed with amusement. It was obvious that McKellar had finally worked out that he’d been talking to: the CEO. “So this is what our Intelligence department has come to, no wonder it’s such a mess,” Decker commented to himself.

He looked at Eva’s file. He was the only person to have access. Sure she’d been a bad employee but there were further reasons as to why her file was sealed. Eva and her partner in crime Gerric, had been set on taking down CCP. The truth was they’d come closer to doing it than anyone realised.

Thankfully Decker had sent out one of his own personal squads to bring them in. Both had been unconscious when they’d arrived at CCP. Both of them had been administered with a certain experimental virus at the time. Gerric had been kept for observation while Eva had been replaced where she’d been taken from.

**I won’t say anymore until confirmed with Adeptus…**

Gerric and Cain had managed to get off of the roof unnoticed and grabbed a taxi, after replacing Gerric's balaclava. Gerric had Cain act like he was supporting him, and once in the cab, directed it to one of the older land-based districts, he gave him the adress of a small diner, then proceeded to an old building that looked to be condemned. He climbed over a fence and Cain followed, next was a small broken out window, Cain had a small amount of trouble maneuvering though this. Finally Gerric lifted a sewer grating and climbed down, unlocked a small metal door and entered. This was his home. An old forgotten bunker under an old empty building. This was his sanctuary, where he thought, repaired, readied himself and rested dispite his lack of need for it. This was his, and he had just shown its location to a stranger. If he needed to he would kill him to keep his secret. He would do so without hesitation. Whatever he needed to do.

((Just think of the place from V for Vendetta, but not so extravagant))

"We were around at the wrong time.  At least, I was."   Zach replied.  "I was on night-patrol overhead when it happened, so i'm a witness."

"Witness to what?" Eva looked slightly puzzled.

"We don't quite know.  Well, I don't really.  Griggs?"

"We mercs were, ah, running escort to one of CCP's pet projects.  Very hush-hush.  Along the way, the pet projects kinda got loose. The driver was killed, and a buncha SF's came outta the truck and ran for the hills.  Turns out their delivery was about six ceatures.  They were fast, strong, and real tough; took about a full clip of ammo apiece to bring one down.  The other five are still out there.  After we sort of cleaned up their mess, the SF's came back, and tried to eliminated all witnesses.  We didn't like that.  The other merc squad didn't make it, but we made sure that the SF's didn't either."

"Me, I just flew overhead, and happened to catch the breakout at the beginning.  One of the SF's spotted my spinner, and called it in."  Zach put in.

Eva just nodded, looking thoughtful.  Zach took the prime opportunity to devour more of the beef stew.  When this was all over, he'd make himself a regular to the place; the food here was fantastic!  As he chewed, light bulbs went on in his head.

"Hey, guys, I've got an idea.  I know a place, where, as I said earlier, I can get us a ride.  What if we rode up to CCP, and did some digging.  You know, for more info on those creatures or something.  Try to get some answers, or even just a couple more pieces for this messed up jigsaw puzzle. What do you say?"