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Marcello squinted her eyes, flicking her hand out to pan through the reports she had dug up, projected into the interface of her ARID glasses. Text scrolled across her vision, with some pictures to accompany in some cases, and she didn’t stop to take them in. If she closed her eyes, she could remember them from the brief glances she gave them. She tapped her lip with her other finger.
“Cooking pan found inside wall in Midbourne,” read one headline.
“Scientists baffled over Gravity Hills polarity,” read another.
“Man kidnapped, locked in room, disappears without a trace,” read yet another.
She had spent days pouring through reports such as that, soaking in the information within like a sponge. They came off as tabloid news postings, conspiracy theories, and crackpot stories that people might put out just to garner some attention… but it wasn’t as if she had much else to do. The Spinal Vibrational Implants that had been embedded into her back had been steadily encouraging her body to heal. Her damaged vertebrae had been steadily recovering, just not fast enough. While her mobility remained limited, she was off duty, and she couldn’t go too far on completely numb feet. So, she was stuck spending her days at home, bending her knees and dragging her feet along her bed to at least keep blood pumping to them, and trying to keep her meticulous, mystery-starved brain from shutting down.
And she was trying to stay away from the Lucia Light. The temptation to just zone out to an utterly delirious array of colours and patterns was stronger than ever. She could have forgotten time so easily, transporting her mind to some far-off place like that. Whenever she thought about that, a wave of hot shame washed over her. That was why nobody in the HDPD wanted to have anything to do with her. That was why they thought she was a nut-case. That’s why Terry was always regarded with such bile when people wondered why she kept her as a consult. Just as nutty as she was, they said.
No, she would have to simply deal with it like an adult.
A ring of her doorbell pulled her from her thoughts. She rolled over in bed and swung her legs over the edge to put her feet on her floor, and she pushed off to stand. The pins and needles in her feet shot up her calves and her knees buckled instantly. She collapsed to the floor in the dark of her room, her esca flickering on to light the way as she struggled to get back up again.
The lights flicked on, and Marcello hissed, clenching her eyes shut and shielding them with her hand. When she narrowly opened one eye, she saw Terry standing at the doorway holding a take-out bag.
The off-duty officer was looking good. Her salt and pepper hair was let loose down around her shoulders and styled in a soft wave. She wore her simple civilian clothing – a shirt, leggings, and bare feet. A handbag was slung over her shoulder, and she was looking well despite working herself so hard. She must have gotten some sleep. Marcello couldn’t say the same. She’d barely slept four hours in two days, and was looking quite the mess in her underwear on the floor like she was. Terry clicked her tongue and shook her head, stepping in to haul Marcello off the ground and support her like a professional to help her into her living room.
“You look like hell,” Terry said, “I thought you might be hungry after barreling into whatever your new obsession is.”
Marcello eyed the bag that Terry carried. It smelled of burgers and fries. Her stomach growled. “Starving.” She said, getting dropped onto her couch by the officer. She brushed herself off and tried to straighten herself out, blinking as she just then noticed her glasses were still projecting and the interface glove was still on. She clumsily went about deactivating ARID and removing the shades as Terry sat in beside her and unpackaged food for her.
“So, what is it?” Terry asked.
“What’s what?” Marcello blinked, tearing into a handful of French fries without hesitation or decorum. Flakes of potato spittled from her mouth when she spoke.
“Whatever you’re doing on your glasses there,” Terry laughed, wiping her cheek clean of crumbs and digging into her own burger.
Marcello continued to scarf down her food. “Remember Vor?” She muffled around her meal, “Reports from the Caduceus incident say that Eos had been stockpiling for a long time, and that they’d been preparing for the Inklings’ coming. They knew about them. Meaning there were Inklings on Earth before the invasion.”
Terry followed. “A scouting mission. Must have been where they picked Locksmouth for the drop-down.”
Marcello raised a finger, and Terry rolled her eyes. The angler swallowed her bite and smacked her lips. “Can you get me something from the fridge?” She asked and didn’t continue until she got an answer. Terry gave her a look and then stood to get her something to drink. Marcello continued to eat, yelling across the apartment at the Captain. “I’ve been looking up goofy stories about strange occurrences, and they pop up all over the globe,” She explained, “And it makes me think…”
“That Inklings did them?” Terry closed the fridge and returned to Marcello, handing her a can of soda.
“What other explanation can there be?” Marcello said, “If they’ve been spying on us, well they couldn’t have gone completely unnoticed. It’s either them, or we really need to consider what else is possible within this new scope.”
Terry shook her head. “Alright, you’re sounding crazy,” She said, “You need work.”
Marcello looked at her, offended. But then just nodded. “Yeah! I do!” She said indignantly. “I also need working legs!”
Terry laughed and smacked Marcello’s leg, making her thigh twitch and scatter her fries all over her carpet. They paused, then laughed, and Marcello quickly started picking them off the floor and popping them into her mouth, making Terry give her a concerned look. “… Yeah, anyway, that’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Mhm?”
Terry watched her consultant detective eat her food off the floor and began questioning her judgement. When Marcello sat back up, Terry was holding up her PET. “Missing persons,” She said as images of people scrolled across the screen, “After this whole back-and-forth between Locksmouth and here, people haven’t been coming home. I was thinking of sic’ing you on it before you go insane. You’ve got a chair, you can get you boots on the ground, and I have too much going on with the reconstruction and community efforts to be able to spare anyone. I need all hands, and yours aren’t filled. You bringing up this crazy Inkling stuff has pretty much convinced me that you’re taking this job whether you want it or not.”
Marcello grinned. “I love you,” She said, placing two of her gloved fingers over the PET’s display, beginning a transfer with her ARID interface, immediately putting the glasses on. “Missing people shouldn’t be too hard. Inked?”
“Some,” Terry said, “But not all. Do you have… some sort of fascination with Inklings that I need to know about?”
“They’re a mystery,” Marcello said, “And I don’t like leaving those unsolved.”
