NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: This is closed except by possible future invite. As the story progresses, there may be room for other characters.

IC: "The fact remains, ma'am. He's gone."

"He's dead! He was killed!"

"Yes, ma'am. He's probably dead."

"But have you followed this line of reasoning up? Is there any proof I can present?"

"I'm a fully qualified Technical Investigator, ma'am. His upload is nowhere to be found. I've followed it on an informational level - no monitoring entities, including Sara, the AI on-duty, saw any evidence of a copy. Technically, speaking, the pulses making up his personality at the time were simply scattered. There was no evidence of anything similiar being created in any of our networks, for days, Citizen Argentar. And there has been nothing."

M'dena Ptero Argentar was a rich woman. Worth enough to quite literally purchase her own worlds, she was not used to being contradicted.

"He was my bodyguard."

"I'm quite aware of that, Citizen. I've looked up all the appropriate data-entries, and there was no real impetus to murder him. However, his entire upload was deleted en-route to another body. Unless he had been convicted of some crime, fled, and had been killed by the AI on-duty.. in which case it would be available in the records. I'm quite sure he was killed deliberately. If it had been an accident, something of his data would've remained."

Technical Investigator Ald Meredan was not a rich man. His specialty was in the investigation and use of the neural networks that linked Cypria, but, what with the almost nil crime rate, most of his investigations ended up being in the nature of minor technical accidents. Restoring AI memory nodes, making sure warships had full access to the latest feelieporn, hardly an invigorating career.

But this was something new. Fascinating, almost. M'dena spoke to him.

"Investigator, I am expecting full government investigation into this matter!"

He sighed. "Ma'am, I'm a TI. I can't confirm that. The only man I outrank also happens to be the man who takes out my trash."

Her eyes narrowed. "Fine."

"Look, ma'am, I'll just contact Investigation and Crime, and-"

"I've already talked to Jel Aredan. He said we'd have to confirm the fact that it's a crime, and not a technical blip, first."

"Well, ma'am, I think I've just done that."

"So?"

He sighed, and hit a button on his desk. Some people used neural connections, but what with a man being killed while uploading, he was a bit wary of them right now.

He spoke. "Jel, I've got one Citizen Argentar here. She wants a full investigation into the murder of her bodyguard. I believe it's probably a case of murder."

Jel's weary voice met him. "Look, Ald. Let me tell you something."

A privacy screen shot up around his desk, triggered, no doubt, by a request of Jel's. It would block sound and sight getting out; or in, for that matter.

Jel spoke in a lowered voice. "This woman's been bothering our investigative team for some time, now. Let me give you some background. Her bodyguard had been receiving threats from her family for some time. The Argentar family is a rather wealthy little clan, and they thought she was involved with someone inappropriate. Her bodyguard, to be precise. I can't give you the records, you're not authorized, but take it on trust that he was being warned away from her. Don't you think it's more likely he uploaded himself away, along with a handsome subsidy from her family?"

Ald looked at him, curiously. "But how did he disappear?"

"My theory is that his upload was near a quantum entanglement node. We can't detect entangled data transfer, at least not to non-government nodes. He just upped and left, with money in his pocket, and probably a new ship of his own, to boot."

"And if that's not right? If he was murdered?"

"Look. His data just disappeared. Either it was entangled, or someone has the power to alter the neural nets and their uploads at will. If it's the former, my theory's right, the woman's pining after a lover who can't have her."

"If it's the latter?"

"If it's the latter, that person could walk right in and hack your mind. We wouldn't be having that conversation. If someone had that kind of power, this case would never get to investigation."

Ald sighed. "Suppose you're right."

"I think I am, in any case. Look, Ald. If any new data comes up - more definitive new data suggesting a murder, come to me. We'll get someone on it. But right now, it's just a woman who wants something she can't have, and wants the government to try and get it back for her. We've got important things to do."

The link closed.

Ald switched off the privacy screen. "I'm sorry, ma'am. New data has come to light - data you're not entitled to, hence the privacy screen, but rest assured I'm convinced. We'll only investigate the matter if some proper proof comes up."

"This is about my family, isn't it?"

Her eyes narrowed sharply.

"Ma'am, this is about-"

"Damn you! Just because my family thought.. something, doesn't mean I was involved with him! I've been followed in the last few weeks! He was telling me! And then he was killed! I'll be next!"

She trembled, fear and anger in equal parts.

Ald looked at her for a moment, nonplussed, and spoke.

"Citizen, I can refer you to an automated psycholo-"

"Go to hell!", she screamed at him, running out of his office.

The man who had just walked in to take out his garbage looked at him curiously.

"Not my woman, Hentry. Somebody else's problem, now."




A few hours later, in the pouring rain, a long way along Cypria, a tiny brass sign read "Private Inspector", the name above it obscured by a splash of mud.

One M'dena Ptero Argentar rapped on the door, quickly wiping the tears from her face.

“Come in, its open!” yelled T’voree as he continued to arrange the cards on the table before him. When Argentar entered the room, her senses would be assaulted with the smell of various drugs and chemical compounds. As she looked around, she would see a single desk, where the rooms sole visible occupant sat, and behind him a window. A lounge was on the other side of the room, though it had several gashes in its material and a deep stain which looked particularly nasty. “Please, sit.” He gestured to the seat across from him. She complied, moving to sit down.

He didn’t speak for a small bit, he seemed to be concerntrating very hard on the cards before him. After a minute of so he made a tisk sound and gathered all the cards into a single deck in one hand movement.

“Apologies for the wait Mrs…”

“Citizen Argentar.” She supplied him.

“Ah.” Was all he said, before bringing a data-pad across and then striking in several commands. “If you could just fill this in Mrs Argentar, we can get started.”

She filled out data-pad as he watched her, following her hand movements with a practiced eye. Once she was done, she turned it back to him and for the first time since she had entered he looked her in the eye.

“So Mrs Argentar,” he said, pushing the data-pad away. “What can I do for you?”

She spoke. "Citizen T’voree. I.. well, let me first say I've heard of your reputation. You're good. You take on cases nobody else does. I'm a member of the Argentar family, and I own a little shipping company of my own. I can pay you, rest assured."

Her voice quivered. "Two days ago, my bodyguard Jekk Mhot was assassinated. I know it. He uploaded. I had previously purchased for him a new cloning tank, and a new, more-capable body was awaiting him. His previous body had an uncurable genetic disease, and it was cheaper to get him a new body, which he had wanted in any case, instead of actually trying to cure his degenerative disease. He uploaded, and, en route.. he disappeared. He was deleted. Killed, I believe. I don't know how he was killed, or who killed him."

She took a deep breath. "Every government avenue of enquiry has been closed to me. No-one is willing to investigate it. The last man I went to see thought it was murder - someone contacted him, he threw up a privacy screen, and, after that, he was unwilling to talk further, and I left."

A sigh of exasperation, and she threw a credit chit down on the desk.

"Ten thousand credits. Right here and now. More than most make in a month. I know I can't bring him back. But I know that, if someone could kill my bodyguard like that.. they're probably planning to come after me next."

He listened, soaking in every word, and then once she was finished considered her for a long moment. As she spoke, his finger tapped a rhythm on the desk, following to something only he could hear. When she stopped talking, so did the fingers, but the eyes continued to stare at her.

“Very well, Mrs Argentar.” He almost muttered, turning the data-pad towards her. “Then thousand credits, plus expenses. I can tell already, this one is going to be costly, and if the governments blocking you, then I think we may be dealing with people who will be willing to scare my usual…sources away.” He pushed the data pad forward. Before rummaging around in his desk for a moment, withdrawing a small ellipsoid small enough to fit into her purse.

“This is a Personal Defence Drone.” He said as he rolled it across the desk to her. “It has a non-sentient AI, shields, a few micro-missiles, and most importantly it cannot be interfaced with unless you have a physical connection, which, unless its using this connector right here, will wake its AI. Give me your hand please.” As she complied he placed it in her outstretched hand, she would feel a slight warming sensation, and then a blue light scanned her features.

“There, should be configured to you.” He looked her in the eyes again. “Now Mrs Argentar, this is this is the most important part. No matter what happened, unless someone had a gun to your head, do not upload. We are dealing with someone or something that can take down anyone inside the network. To be safe I want you to purchase yourself a secure section from this man.” He handed her a card. “I have known him for a long time. He can be trusted.”

“Finally, before you go. I need you to give me a list of people Mr Mhot and yourself know, friends, family, workmates and any reason why anyone would want either of you dead.”

"Thank you. Though, if someone is out to get me.."

She gulped.

"I'm not sure it'll be enough."

A brief pause. "There's my family, for one. The Argentars. They always hated him, but never enough to kill him. They wanted a proper AI-run bodyguard system, so no-one could get to me, and.. well, he'd been involved in the business of the Kigger. The Kigger are my family's rivals - we both run shipping lanes out to Kostemetsia, and we're both planning on opening up new routes to the Oblivion Federation."

Another pause, longer this time. "There's also a friend of mine, Kedentri. He always hated Jekk, and I don't know why."

A shiver ran down her spine, as, for the fiftieth time today, she reminded herself not to connect to the neural nets.

"I will go see this.. man. Should I take a skimmer, or do you have private transport?"

“Skimmers should be fine,” he said his fingers tapping on the desk again. “Their safe, so long as there’re privately operated. But I don’t think the government ones are safe to fly regardless.” He grinned impishly as he stood up, grabbing a coat and hat off the rack, and opening a small compartment and pulling out a packet of some unidentifiable drug and a rather large looking Plasma Pistol. He touched Argentar’s arm and gestured to the door.

“I have an investigations to run now, Mrs Argentar.” He said politely, “So I am afraid we must cut this meeting short. I wish you the best of luck. Stay in public site as much as possible, make whoever is trying to do this make it news worthy.” As she began to walk to the skimmer bays he moved the opposite direction towards his own private skimmer. He loved this machine, he thought as he approached it. The small vessel could fit maybe six people in it, and looked like a sleek, deep blue dart. As he approached the door opened for him, and the seat slid back for him to be able to comfortably sit before moving forward to the control panel. He flicked a few switches, and some music began to blare through the speakers as his ship began to move of its own accord.

His body itself was rather relaxed, with a quick hand movement the page of information from the data-pad came to his mind-link. On the side of his vision information regarding Mhot scrolled down in text form, and as it did he took important bits of information and put them on the other side of his vision, sorting what paths needed investigation, and what didn’t.

He wasn’t planning on following any of the leads she had given him yet. He needed to learn more about the victim, he needed to know what would be known. First stop he had to make was to the victim’s house. He needed to see how he lived, what sort of conditions, and with whom. For now that was his priority he thought to himself as the small craft shot off into the sky.

A skimmer. Hers was a grey little capsule, operated by antigrav. A small fusion plant meant it was unlikely to run out of power any time soon, and a glossy finish on the inside was actually the container three centimetres of near-liquid armour it sported. Able to fend off almost anything barring an orbital strike, her little skimmer was, of course, subordinated to House Argentar AI. They kept her safe, or so they said.

Then again, if this person could hack the 'nets, they would be able to take circumvent the AI. Better if she just piloted it alone. A single flick of a switch disabled the AI overwatch. If her family decided to investigate.. she winced. It would be better than dying.

The skimmer rose from the ground slowly, and spun off, barely making the speed of sound. Inertial dampeners kept her safe inside, and even a full-on collision with one of the 'formed mountains of Cypria would hurt her.

After a few minutes, it slowed, and she handled it safely to a stop.

The contact. She looked down at the card, and opened the door. A secure section. At least, that's what T'voree had told her. The sign actually read "Bric-a-brac", and, underneath in smaller letters, "Curiosities and miscellanies".

Selling secure sections was by no means illegal, it was just highly frowned upon. If your life wasn't open to the public at their request, it was suspicious, and, in a nation that prized openness, few would deal with someone who didn't share their lives with all and sundry. She rapped on the door, wishing rather desperately she'd had the good sense to go armed.

She had the drone, of course, but drones could be easily disabled, and non-sentient, non-linked drones were hardly capable of bringing down the wrath of the Authority on someone's head in an instant.

The door swung open-


In Jekk Mhot's apartment, there were no signs of an investigation. A calm, feminine voice rang out.

"Citizen Mhot no longer resides here. This residential small-complex is now under the ownership of Citizen Alken Argentar. I request that you leave, as Citizen Argentar is not in attendance."

It seemed to be little more than an automated message - to the trained eye, though, or at least to the expensive scanner, over fifteen tiny sensor-clumps dotted the room, most of them trained on the door. There was no carpet, merely a hard marble floor. Inside there were only two rooms. The first was a living space - a link to the 'nets, a VR console, an automated food unit, and, around both the corners of the house - out of view from the hallway, two turrets, both dangling from the ceiling. They were not emitting any great deal of energy, and so seemed to be inactive.

A door led into the second room, this door not so easily unlocked. The walls were sheathed in absorbent plasteel, and the door itself was the greatest emitter of power in the room - while one could not see it, it emitted radiation enough to be dangerous, should you choose to linger for more than a few hours.

All that remained to be seen was what T'voree decided to do.

As soon as the room spoke T’voree dropped a small ball-like object. It bounced back to about his chest level and emitted a stunning display of blue pinpoint lights. Every camera in the room was being fed a video of T’voree leaving and the room remaining undisturbed. As the device hid him, he moved to the wall and begun to tap it, listening to the sound the impact made. A slight blemish in the surface with a different sound on impact let him find the door. Moments later another device, shaped somewhat like a credit card was in his hand and run down the length of both sides of the door. The door came loose, and fell backwards away from him, landing on the inside of the room with a loud thump.

He stepped over the threshold, and begun to search the room.

It would surprise him. And this is, perhaps, what would serve as the clue. Inside the room there was nothing. A cursory search would reveal small indentations in the floor, perhaps from a bed or a desk. Yet the walls, the floor.. it seemed almost as if no-one had lived here, ever.

The room had, obviously, been deliberately emptied. That in itself was suspicious.

Outside, a siren wailed. The police had arrived.

He looked at the room for a few moments, considering the fact that everything seemed to have been carefully removed. He looked around, trying to find any hint, but he found nothing, every last molecule that was out of place had been removed.

“If you’ve got nothing to hide, why cover up?” he muttered as he left the room. Heaving the door up, he ran the card back up the way it came exactly. As he moved away the door stood upright and leaving the main room he clicked his fingers, causing the small sphere to fly into his hand.

He heard the sirens the second he stepped from the room, and frowned. They had come exceptionally quickly, as if someone had been watching, waiting for him to turn up. He had been in the room for all of five minutes, and for the sensors it had been less then half of one. So why had they come?