Premonition

Chapter #25: The Investigation

***4pm, The same day***

As Keiji and Hella continued conversation, Keiji noticed the amount of police cars starting to thin. The police were starting to leave, and Keiji spoke up to Hella, interrupting their conversation.

“Sorry to interrupt Hella, but maybe we should head in now. I can see the police cars leaving,” Keiji said. Hella stopped talking and looked out the window. She nodded and began to make her way to the back of the van. Upon doing so, she reached into a compartment and pulled out a bag. Opening it, she did a check of its contents. Keiji looked onward and noticed many syringes and chemical agents inside the bag. As well, there was a compartment in the back of the bag for a laptop, which Hella turned on and did some work on before shutting it down.

“What’s all that for?” Keiji asked.

“This is my crime scene kit. I used it to inspect crime scenes on earth as well as now - being an ex-Mecha Warrior. It has a lot of chemical agents that allow you cross identify things found at a crime scene. As well, it contains a computer for an identity database. I have to be extremely careful with it because, much of its contents is flammable. The computer database is also very illegal, and is only allowed in the hands of the police….or a Mecha Warrior,” Hella said.

“Sounds like you came prepared, should I bring anything?” Keiji asked.

“Just bring your powers, we’ll need them just in case,” Hella said as she zipped up her crime scene kit and slung it over her shoulder. “Come on, let’s go.”

The two then exited their van and locked it, walking slowly to the abandoned brewery. It was only 4pm, but the lights in the station had dimmed, and it was now an orange hue in the sky rather than a stark blue. Keiji made a mental note that there must be something up with security in the station as the sky usually stayed blue until 6:00pm. It wasn’t until they reached the side door that Keiji knew he had thought correctly. Just before Keiji and Hella were about to enter, Hella swooped to Keiji side and motioned to him to take cover behind the corner of the wall. Keiji did so, and was thankful. Two police officers exited the side door just as Keiji and Hella hid themselves behind the corner wall.

“Precinct 14 here, we just finished locking up the crime scene,” said the officer into his radio.

“Precinct 14, stay advised, suspect Keiji Duranheim is still at large and might head back into the crime scene,” said a voice on the radio. “Orders from President Fox are to apprehend him on sight.”

“The building is locked up, no one’s getting inside, we’ll make our rounds later on tonight check on it,” said the officer.

“Precinct 14, ten-four,” said the voice on the radio. Just as the officers began walking away, Hella whispered to Keiji.

“If their orders are from President Fox himself, then word that you escaped must have reached station wide attention. We need to be careful from here on out Keiji, because the police are on the lookout for you now,” Hella whispered.

“Ok, let’s try and get this done as quick as possible, do your thing and I’ll keep watch with my powers,” Keiji said.

“Best to use it now, just in case,” Hella said. Keiji obliged. As he did so, he saw Hella pick the door and consequentially both of them walked inside. Next, he could see Hella pull out things from her bag and start working while Keiji waited near her. Keiji made sure there was no police for at least 30 seconds, and sure enough, there wasn’t. Finishing his vision, Keiji spoke up.

“Nothing except us inside the building…we’re clear. Can you really pick that lock though?” Keiji asked.

“Who do you think your talking too? I’m the weapon specialist of squad beta,” Hella said as she checked around the corner to see if the police were gone. Indeed, they were, and Hella walked up to the side door and began picking the lock. A couple of seconds later, Keiji heard a click, and the door swung wide open. Hurrying inside, Keiji pushed the door closed and surveyed the room. There was an area of the room sectioned off in yellow crime scene tape with displays of numbers staggered on the ground. Keiji presumed that it was evidence found by the police.

“Ok, I’ll keep watch near you, but I’ll also stay out of your way,” Keiji said took up a position near the right side of the crime scene.

“Thanks Keiji, I’ll work quickly,” Hella said as she unslung her bag, unzipped it, and pulled out various chemical agents and measuring tools. Finally getting to analyzing the scene, Hella took near about 10 minutes. During the time, Keiji continually used his powers at a staggered rate to check if they were safe. He saw nothing out of the ordinary for much of that time. Just as he was about to enter another vision, Hella called him over.

“Keiji come over here,” Hella said. “I need another pair of eyes on this.”

“Ok,” Keiji said. “What is it?”

“From my initial findings I can gather a few things. One: judging from the burn marks on the ground, I can surmise that the Mecha Warriors used some kind of machine to generate light waves. I tested the burn marks for scorching and types of radiation and got visible light. However, the machine must have been on high power, as to be able etch burn/scorch marks into the ground with just visible light is extremely lethal. Being exposed to that much light could blind someone. This is where I lead into my next finding. Jin must have been held down and forced to suffer from this light wave generation, as I have found secretion from his eyes. I tested the secretion for Jin’s DNA and got a match. The reason I surmise this, is because if someone were exposed to this amount of light wave radiation into their eyes, they would go blind. But we know Jin died. So, the only theory I have come up with at the moment is Jin Woo had NX7 in his system and died from the overexposure to light because of his oversensitivity to it. To prove this theory even more, I tested the secretion for the presence of NX7 and sure enough, it is present,” Hella explained thoroughly.

“You know Hella, I think I can help you. There is a machine on the station that provides that much light wave generation. I used to use it as a light levels analyzer to test out how types of light radiation would affect our ATP production. It’s called the Photonizer 5000. However, usually you need to sign out the machine because its on the fifth floor of the light levels building,” Keiji said.

“Interesting, so my guess is the Warriors got a hold of this machine and used it on Jin,” Hella said.

“I would agree with you. Do the warriors normally have that much backdoor access to the station’s systems?” Keiji asked.

“They do, President Fox gave us a lot of leeway in terms of security and access to items,” Hella said. “This photonizer 5000 is no different. The Mecha Warriors would easily have access to the fifth floor of the light levels building,” Hella said.

“Should we take proof and samples of our findings today?” Keiji said.

“Already done, I have a sample of the secretion and copy of its chemical analysis. In addition, I have photos of the burn/scorch marks that indicate the photonizer was being used,” Hella said.

“I’ve been using my powers since you started working and we’re in the clear, but we should head out soon,” Keiji said.

“I agree Keiji, just let me finish cleaning up my gear and we’ll be on our way,” Hella said.

“Ok,” Keiji said. Keiji waited for about 5 minutes before Hella slung her bag back on and signaled to Keiji she was ready to go. The two the exited the building, and Hella re-locked the side door. Together they trekked to the van, where they drove off from the grizzly crime scene, with more than enough evidence to help exonerate Keiji.