Ch. 9 - What Are We Missing?

The lab was quieter than usual, with its resident agent, Mouse, in deep focus over the lists of equipment. Her finger traced the lines her eyes skimmed down, only occasionally stopping, as she made a note onto a paper on the side in her neat small handwriting. Her brows were knitted together in concentration. She lifted the finished sheet onto a growing pile and pulled a new one under the light. Before she started on it though, she stretched her arms over her head, arching her back to relieve sore muscles. She moved her head in a semi circle too, for good measure, closing her eyes. Then she let her arms slowly fall back towards her sides, shaking them out in the process. A sudden shiver ran through her body, that feeling the normies called 'cat walking over your grave'.
Which, knowing cats, could be an accurate description. The critters definitely defy all human-known laws of everything, so why would they be governed by linearity of time of all things...
Mouse stilled. Something about that thought niggled in her mind.
Things that are not anchored in time. Seeing future.
She stood up with abruptness that launched her comfy desk chair to the other side of the room. She turned her eyes to the stack of papers, quickly pulling out the one on the bottom (surprisingly without scattering the rest of them all over).
"Kurwa mac!"
She tossed it back onto the desk, and grabbed a small amulet and her badge from the shelf by the door as she stalked out of her domain.
Even the straightest path through the HQ to Wolf's office took forever at a moment like this.
Unless, she supposed in her characteristic deadpan, you could open a portal. In which case you'd end up at his feet no matter where you intended to go in the first place.
As she ascended another set of stairs, she caught a glimpse of Eagle, half a floor above. Maybe she should call out to him, and brief both the remaining directors at once, but he disappeared out of her field of vision before she could, so she just pressed on.
"Come in, come in," Wolf's voice through the heavy door of his office sounded distracted.
"Mouse?" he indicated a chair across the desk from himself, but she shook her head and started without a preamble:
"Aniani. It's not on the lists. Neither of *them* are."
Her hand involuntarily sketched a triangle in the air at the word "them".
Wolf pierced her with his blue-eyed stare.
"It makes sense, of course," she continued, undeterred. "Which is why it only occurred to me now. Eventhough having even one fall into the wrong enemy's hands..."
"...would be worse even than losing Swan. Yes, my dear, you are entirely correct."
"Did she have it with her? Is there a way to know?" Mouse couldn't help but to start pacing, as her mind ran through various scenarios. To have one of her creations turned against her, against all of them... could be exactly Fate's twisted idea of poetic justice.
"She always carried it on her person. It is a remarkable piece of work," Wolf mused, his hand reaching into his pocket, possibly for Antandrök.
"Unless someone knows, what they are looking for, they will have a hard time discovering its true nature, much less its purpose."
Mouse shook her head, sadness and tiredness suddenly settling over her. She didn't have to speak her thoughts out loud, if anyone could fill the blanks in in this case, it would have been the director opposite her.
"Thank you for bringing it to my attention, Klara," he continued, his voice somehow softer with something close to pity. Although in his case it was most probably pure compassion. "It is indeed imperative, that we follow this trail, if we can."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"I don't suppose you have an easy way to track Aniani, or the others" he said, carefully omitting the last part.
She shook her head, her lips pulling into a thin line of disappointed determination.
"No. But the list might have a few items we might get better access to - or through. Unless someone is willfully blocking it."
"Anything in particular?"
She thought for a moment, recalling her notes.
"The Mailloche," she replied finally. "The little brooch Fox tried to smuggle in from Paris. It's an interesting and unique enhancer for productive magic. Its magical signature is well documented in our database, so if we augment the searches right, we have a good chance to pick it up whenever it surfaces."
Wolf nodded and shook his head almost at the same time, as if arguing with himself.
"Our systems are currently compromised so our surveillance network in any capacity will be more threadbare than we would like. But set up whatever you can with any of the departments. Grasping at straws is still better than outright drowning, after all."
It was Mouses's turn to nod. Before she left the office, she couldn't help but say:
"You should probably not use *it*. And warn Eagle, that neither should he."
She didn't wait for response as she let herself out and headed into the surveillance and electronics center - also known as AuxCon - of the HQ.

Security team Bravo came off duty in the late afternoon, handing the watch over to team Charlie. Raven noted the change as he passed through the lobby, nodding to the lead, known as Mongoose. All the guards saluted as he passed and he returned the gesture. It was evident they have resigned themselves to their new normal, standing at their assigned posts and quietly chatting to each other, while scanning their surroundings with keen eyes.
"Shouldn't you be headed home, Frog?" Raven asked the receptionist, who was typing something into her computer at furious speed.
She looked at him, her fingers never wavering or stopping in their flurry. There was something oddly nerve-racking about that.
"My urge to be useful in time of crisis trumps my usual desire for work-life balance, I guess," she shrugged with her voice, returning her eyes to whatever she was writing.
In most regular companies - even those belonging to the alphabet soup - such a statement could have been seen as preposterous, or presumptuous, coming from a mere receptionist. However, MORIA was anything if not irregular, so Thorne only nodded.
"Thank you. And good luck," he said, inclining his head towards the screen, and walked on.
*Raven, come in!* The scratchy sound of the ancient walkie-talkie that was now adorning his belt almost gave him a heart-attack. He picked the offending device up and pushed the button.
"Go for Raven, over."
*Need SITREP on Lioness, over.*
Thorne sighed. Of course, out of all of his agents, they need her.
"No contact from her team so far. Over."
*Prioritize establishing connection. We might need to pull her back. Over.*
"Roger, willco. Over and out."
He stuffed the walkie back into its slot on the belt and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
Trust me, Eagle, nobody wants her back more than me.
He shook the thought off and headed back to his office.
Raven finished the letter he was working on before he went down to the Security, and tossed it into the mail pipe. It disappeared with a satisfying whoosh.
This one was a map to a new dead drop location for one of his deep under agents. He'll find a new identity and quick exfil options in there, if/when needed.
Feats such as this were not easy, by any means, but at least with the long term stations, one could be fairly certain any message will find the recipient reasonably fast.
Of course with short term missions this was more of a pickle. Most of them would not be able to stay where they were long term, and if they did not find a way to let him know where to find them or how to reach them, it might be a long while before contact gets re-established. Especially if they for some reason decide they really don't want to be found.
He looked at the bank statement from the morning once again. There were no more pings so far, so either Lioness found cash somewhere, or...
Raven raked his hand through his hair again. Truth was, there were too many options to run through in his mind. So, no matter what Eagle said, this will have to wait its turn in the pipeline.
And with that he turned his attention to yet another map spread out on his desk.