A figure cut through the gun metal grey sky of Pacifica, streaking over the massive towers and complexes, a soft rapidly-fading golden trail in its wake. He could best be described as Nordic. His tall muscular physique was apparent in the white bodysuit trimmed in gold he wore. He had long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, and was strikingly handsome. His eyes were steely blue but haunted, a sadness in them.
Paragon looked out over the sprawling metroplex. He always felt mixed emotions at these times. There was a grandeur to it, the seemingly endless streets and towering buildings. Even through the pall of smog the lights were visible, a pulsing grid marking the beat of the city. It was when you focused on the details that it got ugly. Dirt and debris crowding those glowing streets, homeless huddled in the shadows of the soaring towers. Have to focus on the goal at hand, he thought, looking ahead. Gencorp Towers lay ahead, a black crystal spire jutting above the others.
Detective Laurence sighed. Her coffee had gone cold. Still, she wasn't wasting it. It was real… natural stuff shipped up from South Am, and you never knew when Ivy was going to get pissy and call an embargo. Crazy green bitch probably thought the beans were her kids. Coffee was one of the few vices she allowed herself. Anyway back to the matter at hand. One corpse, one empty safe and no leads… well, no solid ones. Her "instinct" was buzzing on this one. The sooner she got into that room, the better. She was a dark woman. Lean and fit, the results of long hours in the Police gym. Her face was slim with large dark eyes that were slightly almond-shaped, hinting at the Nipponese in her blood. Then again there wasn't much that wasn't in her background. An ethnic milkshake she had a little Irish, Jewish, Native and Japanese as well as African. Some lucky fluke had filtered all that and left her with the best features of all of them giving her an exotic beauty. Even the conservative brown skirt/jacket suit, white blouse and hose couldn't take away from her sheer femininity.
Stepping up behind AJ she tapped the 'runner on the shoulder. He jumped, then tried to look over his shoulder, almost wrenching his VR rig off his head. "Oh… shit don't do that…" he slid the rig off and shook out his dark hair. Laurence was struck again by how young he was… 18 maybe, 20 at most. She smiled. "I know don"t interrupt you and your girlfriend…"
AJ blushed fiercely, his freckles standing out. "Lieutenant… "
She resisted the urge to muss his hair. "Sorry AJ, how's Forensics coming?" Taking another lukewarm sip, she sat on the edge of the console. As she crossed her legs, her skirt rode up a touch and AJ lost his train of thought. "Um… huh? oh yeah… they've swept the whole apartment… got some fiber traces… hair traces… most likely from the Lifeline personnel though."
Nodding, Laurence glanced over the hardcopy again. The deceased's life signs had bottomed out at 11:45 almost exactly. Lifeline had gotten there 10 minutes later, attempted to revive and failed. Tapping her lips with a single finger, she looked over the patterns again. He'd had a few peaks just before. Interrupted the thief that cleaned out the safe and died of fright? Very unlikely… Her boy had been a high level exec, stress came with turf, and despite his obsessive hypochondria, indicated by the sheer amount of medical exams and precautions in his background, he was healthy.
"AJ, look into the medscan records, I want you to look for the last few accesses or break ins if you can find them." He nodded, slipping into the rig. This MO matched up with a few other cases she had on record. Screamed meta involvement. This was going to be fun.
Her musing was interrupted by the proximity alarm. "Ahh… look like the big guy's here…" she muttered, well aware AJ was oblivious. She stepped to the rear of the van and out into the misting rain. Wind swept over the building roof, stirring her hair. Blinking rain out of her eyes, she watched Paragon settle to the roof. The other officers either looked blase or awed. Michelle just grinned and walked up to him.
"Sorry to pull you out in this weather… not that it gets much better." Paragon dwarfed the detective but her sheer force of presence made her seem equal in size.
He nodded. "You seemed urgent… but as I understand it this is a rather straightforward matter."
"It developed some curves." Michelle headed back to the command skimmer, motioning for Paragon to follow. "Seems our boy was head of R and D for Gencorp's Metagentics Division and had a few other shadow connections--not a big surprise for a suit but still… Plus the whole thing has the two you're looking for written all over it… Circe and Warp."
Paragon raised an eyebrow. "They did this?" He was both elated and perhaps disappointed. Warp had not seemed to be a murderer… Circe had much to answer for, however.
"Not sure yet but I have a… feeling." She winked. "Still hoping to get two volunteers for the Purgatory program?" He offered a slight distant smile.
"You know the answer to that question, the Program holds a lot of value to me and those two will make fine examples." Michelle paused, looking into his eyes. The intensity there was strong and perhaps a little frightening.
"Well… we'll get them for you… you can decide what to do with them." This guy is in charge of Meta affairs for the 'plex council, well at least he's driven, hope AJ didn't spill my damn coffee…