Description: In the aftermath of the attack on the UN, Interpol Agent Daniel Little recuperates, but not before asking for one Maj. Charlie Nash to discuss suspicions that could lead both down a dangerous rabbit hole.
Well, it could have been worse.
Things always could be better, but what was worse was much more meaningful. It was much closer. When that attack came down on the UN, a lot of innocents were hurt. A lot of guards were killed. And one of the men on the resistance, Interpol Agent Daniel 'Jack' Little, had taken the front lines against the intruder. A kind of reaper, armed with arcane arts and a wicked scythe. Daniel took a stand.
And he ended up being flayed.
Not metaphorically flayed. Actually flayed. His skin was torn from his body. After surviving the encounter, when the reaper was... driven off? Daniel was rushed to the hospital. There, he had undergone surgery, having skin grafts put back on to bring him. Daniel himself was laying on a hospital bed, wrapped in bandages. He was grimaces, idly dealing with his phone. He was sending out emails. He was waiting for emails. It didn't matter that he just had some of his skin ripped off. There were problems here. Problems that stretched beyond the attack on the UN.
And he wanted to talk to someone he could trust.
One of those mails that had been sent out previously was apparently to one Major Charlie Nash, one of the other respondents to the UN attack by sheer force of coincidence. He had been there to discuss the new US Special Forces Martial Arts Program with several international big wigs with reassurances of international cooperation.
Of course, Testament crashing the scene put an end to that, in more ways than one. Not only were those day's meetings postponed, but the things that Testament had said left Charlie with an uneasy mind. That and a gaping hole in his side that he's still on medical leave for, much to his frustration.
It was a surprise to get a mail from Agent Little to visit him in the hospital, but it really shouldn't have been in retrospect. If the issues Testament had said were weighing on him, they likely weren't missed by Little either. Either way, a knock came at the door to Daniel's hospital room. "May I come in?"
Who wouldn't trust Major Charlie Nash.
Daniel Jack felt awkward asking for the presence of someone as distinguished as Charlie. But the fact of the matter that during that attack, there was Nightwolf, some strange girl with alien powers, himself, and Major Nash. And if there was anybody he wanted to talk about the attack with, especially for the implications of it, it was with Charlie. He was a man on the scene there, and unlike the other two active witnesses, he was part of the government. A flyboy, sure. But the military was a government service. As the blonde-haired officer enters, Daniel gives a feeble salute.
"Of course, Major."
Daniel Jack himself was topless, his chest bound up with blood-soaked bandages. It all looked worse than it was; there would be some bleeding with the process, as Daniel's healing ability was forcing the fluids to move about. As he withdraws his hand, he puts the phone on the bedside counter, motioning Charlie to come in. "Make sure you get the door, Major. I got some serious stuff to talk to you about."
"And its all about that attack."
His usual officer's uniform traded for casual fatigues due to his medical leave, Charlie still carries himself with the clear air of military as he walks in, permission to enter by the room's current occupant. Closing the door behind him, the Major slowly adjusts his glasses, looking over Daniel and frowning. The incident clearly did a number on the Interpol agent, but then again, it was hard to forget what happened that day for Charlie.
"I figured you wanted to talk about that when I got the message," the airman says, finding a chair opposite Daniel's bed and pulling it forward. Turning it around, back facing the foot of the bed, he sat down, leaning his arms over the top of the chair. "So what did you want to follow up with, Little?" he asks, direct and to the point. After all, this isn't a courtesy visit, and Charlie doesn't exactly know what details Daniel wants to lay out.
Daniel Jack nods firmly.
Charlie was a hero. Not just for the UN; he was one of the main reasons that the reaper had stopped from murdering everyone in that building. Not even Nightwolf would have been enough, or that strange girl. And Daniel... Daniel just talked. And was nearly killed for his efforts. But Charlie took a coup de grace for Daniel, and was able to shrug it off. Daniel was alive because of Charlie.
It made it hard for the detective to approach him like this.
"Charlie..." The detective begins. "Major Nash, I mean." He hastily corrects himself. This was business, not personal. "You know that strange man who attacked the UN? The one with the scythe, the reaper fellow. I have strong reason to believe that he is, that he is..." The detective lays back into his pillow. How could he describe this? Where could he begin? He tries to think back to how Nightwolf first explained it to him. And very slowly, he sits up, continuing.
"Have you ever heard of Darkstalkers?"
Charlie frowns. Darkstalkers. Also known officially in the military as 'Abberants'. Mostly handled as rumor until verified on a case by case basis, considering how easily prone to false alarms such reports can be. He doesn't even need to say anything for it to be clear that he's heard of them.
"If you're suggesting that the guy who attacked the UN is one, I can't confirm or deny on any kind of official basis. He didn't leave us much to go on aside from a handful of bodies and what he was raving about," Charlie says, adjusting his glasses again in a nervous tic. "Off the record? I have my suspicions, but only suspicions."
Daniel Jack didn't hear about the 'abberants.'
In fact, when Little brought him his experiences with Darkstalkers, he was railed into by the chief about messing up the documentation. But as far as Interpol knew, there were no supernaturals, and there were no Darkstalkers. At least, that was what he was told. And yet, the military had a classification?
Daniel's expression grows firm as Charlie continues.
What was on the record didn't matter. THe record for Daniel was that a nutjob with a scythe started killing people, and got away. That was official, and accurate. But off the record, when Charlie has his suspicions? That's when Daniel knows that he was on the same level with the right guy. "The kid was a Darkstalker, Charlie." He growls. "Off the record, of course. Normal people, even people as tough as Heihachi, don't just melt away. Or summon flesh-ripping blood skeletons. Yeah, that was a Darkstalker attack." He pauses a moment, trying to find the right words. "But... that was an artificial Darkstalker." He states cautiously. "I'm still off the record, but if what that kid was saying was true... that means somebody made him like that."
"And I have an idea of who."
Frowning, Charlie keeps his gaze level on Daniel, jaw set as the interpol agent continued with his own suspicions. Some of them were in line with what the major was concerned about, clearly. "The artificial part is what's giving me pause, Little. If someone is making things like that, then it might be classed as a whole different thing altogether. But you're right that if even a small bit of what that guy was saying is true, there's something rotten here."
Charlie's eyes narrow a bit behind his glasses when Daniel says he has an idea of 'who'. Again, he has his own suspcions, but he's keeping them close to the cuff enough right now. "What do you think?"
"The guy who attacked us was a kid."
That's how Daniel put it. "He didn't act like an adult. He acted like an angry teenager. I mean, artifical Darkstalker. Somebody turned that kid into that. And he hated them for it. They made him into a monster. Now you think to yourself, you are turned into a thing like that, and you have a chemical imbalance. You have the powers of a demigod now, and nothing can stop you. You are mad as hell at the people who made you that way... so you get revenge."
Daniel Jack pauses, looking Charlie right in the eyes.
"Now Major Nash. If you were getting revenge by attacking the UN, instead of raiding secret mad science labs in the jungle. Instead of turning up in the Arctic. Instead of ripping through corporate research facilities pushing the limits in biotechnology... you are instead attacking the United Nations for revenge, what does imply about your origin." The detective pauses.
"You know what I'm saying, Major Nash?"
Charlie's eyes narrowed a bit more, before his head turned downward, looking at his own arms while Daniel gave his theory. "Trust me, Little. You don't need to be a kid to go off the handle like that, especially if everything else you're saying about him is true enough."
He then looks back up to Daniel, looking him back in the eye. "That's a rabbit hole you're going to have to be careful going down, Little. We both are," he says. He doesn't say it outright, but the implications are there enough to share: The UN is making monsters. Or at least someone in the UN.
Daniel doesn't want to say it outright, either.
"Off the record, though." Agent Little adds half-heartedly. "But a hell of a record to keep off, isn't it. Especially since I was told that Darkstalkers are just hoaxes." The detective pauses bitterly, glancing at his bandages. "I'm going to go down that rabbit hole, though." A thought clearly passes over the man's face, as he furrows his brow.
"You shouldn't."
He adds, looking back up at the Major. "You got your own programs. You are practically a hero; you shouldn't throw away your career chasing rabbits."The agent states dryly, twitching his mustache. "But I know this. Whoever made that thing... didn't tell anyone about it. Didn't control him. Didn't even try to stop him. And above all, nearly caused the death of countless world leaders. Someone left us this mess to clean up, Major Nash."
"So I'm planning on cleaning it."
Shaking his head, Charlie starts to push himself up from the chair. "Not something I can overlook, Little. Things like these are what the Program is aimed at to begin with. Not to mention that with the parties involved, the Program might already be compromised directly because of it," he says, standing up and starting toward the door. "I'll leave you to start on it, Little, but whatever is involved is likely involving me too, so don't think you'll get to have all the fun."
He walks to the door, grimace hidden as he tries not to look TOO hobbled by the still healing hole in his side. "For now, focus on healing up. THat was still a number that man did on you after all."
Not something he would overlook.
The agent of Interpol mulls this. Major Nash was a paragon of the United States military. He knew that whatever Nash felt, was something he could count on. And yet, when he says he wanted this to involve him, he was wary. He knew Charlie could protect him from some of the brunt from the higher ups... but it wasn't worth it to bring Daniel to his level. Daniel was a nobody. Charlie was a somebody. Charlie had a future that would change the world.
Daniel was just a man looking for answers.
As Major Nash turns his back to leave, the detective settles in on his pillow. He needed to rest, that much is true. "It's not going to be fun though. At least, I hope it won't. Boring is safe, safe and predictable. If thing became fun, well." He pauses, as he looks at the bandages that cover his body.
"They might have to replace my skeleton next time."
Log created on 21:15:29 01/23/2015 by Charlie, and last modified on 22:06:41 01/24/2015.