NOVEL NEXT V1CH4 Did You Order The Code F?
A man wearing sunglasses and a dress shirt with the top couple of buttons undone was driving a convertible down the highway when he received a call.
“What’s the situation.” The man asked with an annoyed expression on his face.
“Agent Cole, you’re expected in Sunset City. You’re being reassigned.” the voice on the phone told the man now identified as Agent Cole.
“Why me? I’m just starting a two-week vacation and quite happy with my current position not in the sticks.” The man complained.
“You’re the most qualified person not running an office.” The voice on the phone said matter of factly.
“What about …” Agent Cole started before he was interrupted.
“I don’t want to hear it. You’ve been chosen. You’re expected. You have your first case as location head. Now go. Your sh*t will be at your new place by end of day.” The voice ordered in response.
“Ok, I’ll be there in about a day.” Agent Cole told the operator before hanging up.
“Damn!” He shouted into the air and slammed his hands on the steering wheel before making a u turn heading towards his new destination.
*About a day later*
Agent Cole walked up to the crime scene while tying his tie around his neck. He took in the scene: a body missing several major organs, a sidewalk covered in blood, a bunch of lights, and cops all around. The only witness was the victim who was now in the hospital.
“Alright give me some room.” Agent Cole told the cops who promptly backed up.
Agent Cole walked up to the puddle and put his hand on the dried blood. You see Agent Cole was an investigator for a secret branch of the FBI that handles “special” cases. These special cases primarily fell into one of several situations: monsters, mystic artifacts, and regular people who awakened special abilities.
Agent Cole was one of those people who had awakened a special ability, psychometry. This ability allowed him to read the psychic traces left at a site by living beings interacting with it, on the condition that they were not stronger than him. Which made him quite the investigator. The thing was, he never practiced with the ability due to arrogance and laziness. This led to him only seeing brief glimpses of the past. The only thing that he got from his ability was that the suspect was a large man obscured by black smoke.
The fact that the victim was missing all his heart, brain, tendons, ligaments, and joints led him to a frightening conclusion that he hoped he was wrong about. He would hold off judgement until he talked to the witness.
*Twenty Minutes Later at the Hospital*
“So, you don’t remember anything?” Agent Cole asked the bedbound woman skeptically.
“Sorry, it’s all just a blank. One minute I was walking home, the next I was lying in the street with a mutilated clown with nothing in between.” The woman said while visibly upset.
“Dammit.” Cole said frustrated at the lack of anything that would disprove his theory.
“Sorry!” The woman eked out.
“No, I’m sorry. That was completely inappropriate. I’ll leave you to your recovery.” Cole said before leaving the hospital room.
Out in the hallway Cole called the operator that handled communication between field agents and HQ.
“I have a suspected code F on my hands here.” Cole spoke into the phone.
“Are you sure?” The operator said losing her cool for the first time Cole could remember.
“It’s certainly starting to shape up to look that way” Cole sounding done with the fact that his first case as location head was so troublesome.
“Settle this issue as soon as possible. You know what can happen if a code F is left unchecked for too long.” The operator said with fear starting to slip into her tone.
“Consider it settled. Judging by how many parts he needed and their low quality, this code F seems to be an early one.” Cole assured the voice on the other end of the call.
“Good, call me when it’s done.” The voice said before ending the call.
“Well, there’s no reason that the suspect can’t be at a bar” Cole said to himself before heading out of the hospital and towards said location.
*Several Drinks Later*
“So, get this I’m on my vacation when I get called in. All those surfing plans gone in an instant.” Cole bemoaned to his drinking buddy.
“Oh, you poor baby.” Cole’s drinking buddy, a beauty with raven hair, blood red lips, and a matching dress, said with a sickly-sweet tone.
“I know right.” Cole said feeling so validated that he missed the mocking undertone of his company’s words.
“How about we go back to your hotel room, and I make it up to you.” The mysterious woman offered to the inebriated man.
“I’ll pay off our tab and we can go.” Cole said before flagging down the bartender.
The two eventually reached his new apartment after an ever so fun game of grab a**. Cole headed towards the bed while the woman closed the door behind them. After he heard the door close, he heard a squelch and then felt an intense pain in his back radiating towards his stomach. He looked down and saw a woman’s arm protruding from his stomach.
_
Diana Longfellow
“Sucks as much as riding the bus”
Grade D
_
The arm then left his abdomen and with it he lost his only support. He fell to the ground with a severed spine. The woman flipped him onto his back and straddled him. She leaned in for a kiss and then came back up. A trail of orange energy followed her. When she was done Agent Cole was a mummified corpse.
Cole missed all the signs foreshadowing his fate. The fact that a beautiful woman was interacting with his average looking inebriated self. The fact that he could not see any psychic imprints originating from his new friend, which only happened when dealing with a stronger soul than he had, and the abruptness of her offer.
With her meal completed the woman left her victim and exited the apartment building. While walking down the street she looked around and discovered a man walking with a cane surrounded by black smoke. She decided that he was not her problem. As for a potential witness, anyone with such proficiency with smoke manipulation was a predator just like her and as a result was unlikely to want any interaction with the police or MFBI. She barely paid him a glance before heading on her way, not noticing the spectator following her with his sixth sense as she walked away.
Current Equipment:
Head:
[]
Earrings:
[]
Necklace:
[]
Clothes:
[]
Rings:
[Black Smoke Ring]
Bracelets:
[]
Shoes:
[]
Armaments:
[Weaver’s First Armament]
[Sense Cane]
Storage:
[Various Essences]
[Murder Weapon: Axe]