Log:A Breach in the Case, Scene 22

A Breach in the Case 2018/03/11

22

How DID Rick Mason slip free of Operation Sundial's grasp?

That's probably a question best answered as a separate comic book arc. After all, Griffin and Indira both look toward the data panes just in time for Aridot to offer a pleasant little chirp. Quite unexpectedly, the facial reconstructions appear to have completed themselves. Several unfamiliar faces resolve into existence on the largest of the datapanes englobing Indira's desk.

One painfully familiar face, however, appears on the data pane. The dead body at the bottom of the picture is still little more than a silhouette, but the missing soldier in the image has been reconstructed from photographic artifacting. A black-haired man stares back at the remainder of Zero Division, his dark eyes just as "glazed over" as Breach's eyes. Just like the last time they saw him, the black-haired man is not Rick's identical twin.

Rather, he possesses a lot of physical characteristics in common with Rick Mason. There's a particular cast to his features, a peculiar way Rick and Black-Haired Breach are built that just makes you think of the other when looking at one of them. When our hero and heroines have a chance to really look at Blackie, they'll come to realize that he's wearing a uniform (and patches) identical to that on Our Boy Breach.

Griffin Freeman was wondering exactly that- wondering how Rick Mason wound up in that field when he first woke up. He turns away from the window and towards the main datapane at the sound of the friendly chime. He vanishes, reappearing across the room to look at Blackie straight on. He is quiet a long while while he tries to put the peices together in his head.

His glowing eyes trace each object in the photo, lingering on the patches of each man only to return to the indescribably familiar facial features of Rick's fraternal non-twin.

"Please tell me that isn't the guy that slipped away when we rescued Mason, is it? Because if it is, I get the feeling we're going to be drowning in immortals soon, Ambassador." He says leaning back against the wall and putting his chin between his thumb and index finger rubbing considerately. "Immortals are like wives, one is usually more than enough." Despite the joke, he looks deadly serious.

He doesn't tear his eyes off Rick's brother-in-patch.

"Its' uncanny..." He mumbles to himself.

Indira leans in the study the man on the ground. "Well....yes, his fur...mane? Er, hair is the same as the wild man's," Indira struggles with her english as she stairs in awe at the body.

Her glowing eyes drift down to the near twin's face again, trying to understand. "But...why would these men kill him? Is he even dead in this photo?" she asks. But what does death mean to Breach, anyway?

She lifts her fingers to point out the patches on the twin. "These symbols. They're the same. I...I don't understand this."

Indira leans in the study the man on the ground. "Well....yes, his fur...mane? Er, hair is the same as the wild man's," Indira struggles with her english as she stairs in awe at the body. "I think he did get away. Is it possible...he is Rick's offspring?"

"They're their SSIs. Shoulder Sleeve Insignias. They help identify headquarters and division personnel. It basically syas they're not only on the same team- they're in the same unit. Same missions. Same training. The whole nine, Ambassador." Griffin explains with his eyes still locked on Blackie.

"My question is how many more 'Deathless Soldiers' are their out there? Was it all the sarcophogi from the facility? Was it everyone we encountered in general? I mean, why wouldn't the commanders of the original product take the juice if it worked?" He takes a deep breath and lets out slowly. His stare is intense, but the situation calls for it. This is unprecedented.

"Maybe... but this is a bit too soon for it to be Rick's son. Brother. Cousin? There is no doubt there is something there." He says certainly.

Rick Mason ended up in that corn field by staggering through an abandoned laboratory and then climbing up a steel rung ladder built into generic, bare concrete walls. When he battered open the lightly rusted trap door at the top of the ladder well, Rick kind of half-flopped into a corn field. The real fun began when the farmer found him raiding the laundry room for something better fitting than his spandex boxer briefs and black compression socks.

It's a matter of public record. Griffin can probably find a couple of local news stories about Rick Mason's first day alive in a long time. At least two of them are even unbiased, well-written reporting.

All of the soldiers in the image wear the same uniform with shared patches. Breach and Blackie, however, have their patches in exactly the same locations on their identically fitted uniforms. It's like they didn't put their uniforms on by themselves. Their uniforms are too uniform, like they were put together and, perhaps, put on by someone who wasn't actually inside of the clothing being put on their bodies. What in the world happened is anybody's guess with the limited information that they have.

No doubt Indira's suggestion that Blackie is Rick's kid catches Griffin's attention. He's no expert in this, but he knows enough to know that Blackie and Breach are definitely not father and son. Or son and father. Griffin's pretty sure that they aren't any sort of close blood relation, after giving their images a solid looking over. Both men also appear to be approximately the same age, though Griffin detects none of the physical markers that are normal (or even unusual) indicators of shared ancestral traits.

And that's probably the most unsettling thing about the two men looking alike. If you don't look closely, you could say they should be brothers or maybe cousins. When you look close, with a trained eye, you start to realize that the two men have very few family markers in common. Their features are broadly similar, the sort of similar that gets the wrong people arrested and interrogated by police for matching a description.

"How do we know their commanders didn't use it?" Indira counterpoints as she studies the miraculous similarities. "I wonder, if any of these other members were in those sarcophogai," she muses.

The ambassador still has trouble telling some humans apart. To her, the two look very similar. If not for the hair color, she probably couldn't tell the difference.

"He doesn't talk about that first day after he woke up in this time." Griffin notes. Though he really doesn't either, so it doesn't strike him as unusual and he didn't dig because that's not really his way either. As Griffin continues looking over the image he becomes more and more certain that the two men aren't directly related, but there is a pattern here even if he can't prove it. He begins looking for similar traits in the other agents assembled here, suspecting that maybe there is some kind of similarity between them all. Doppelgangers chosen on purpose perhaps? He can't prove that all- so he remains quiet on the matter for now. He can think of a number of useful things to do with two men that look that erringly familiar. Especially on old-style Black and White CC TV, which were probably still in use back then all over the place. "We don't know they didn't. They could still be running this whole Sundial operation. And that's the scary part- imagine what they've done with all this time..." He says quietly.

It doesn't really take a genius to see where Rick and Blackie diverge from the rest of the team. Neither of them has the fancy weaponry that the rest of the team is packing, plus they're the only team members with the telltale symptoms of scopolomine dosage. Presumably it doesn't hurt that they're the only two people in the image who look like anyone else in the photo. They're the only two people who look like one another. One of the soldiers is African-American. Two of the soldiers are Hispanic. A woman is on the team. None of the other soldiers have their uniforms in such perfect condition as Rick and Blackie. Indira is starting to realize just how little she truly knows of the man she entrusts her life to. She brings her hand to her chin, her finger curling as it rests against her lips as she contemplates the images, and Griffin's words. "All this time? Then it is my worry that we have only seen a small part of their operations." Her faintly luminous eyes drift to Griffin as her brow markings pull up with concern. "Do you think Rick will be safe?" "Safe?" Griffin says before laughing lightly. "Not a chance. But at least we know they probably won't kill him." Not seeing any pattern to match his original suspicion, Griffin Freeman is forced to move on. But his eyes linger on the picture still. He pauses a long moment before he turns back to the Ambassador. "We might want to call him back to base anyway... just in case." He looks worried.

Indira still thinks Rick and his dark-haired long lost relative are clones. Or really, just normal humans. She doesn't pick up on whatever it is Griffin sees. Her hand lowers from her chin as she becomes aware of Griffin's worry. And if he's worried about the undead Soldier, then perhaps there is something serious that she's missed. "Do you think he left the base? I thought he only left the office." She turns towards Aridot and thinks her command to call Rick. Who needs primitive Siri to make calls when ThoughtWare exists? Aridot handles the human communications array to make a call to Rick's phone. Indira hasn't so much as said a word.

"How can I help you, Ambassador?" Rick sounds unconcerned. Indira can hear traffic noises in the background. Who knows what Rick is doing outside on the street? Indira looks to Griffin as she hears the sound of outside traffic. Was Rick so upset that he really did leave his post. She gives Griffin one of those looks in the hopes that he can help with this situation. "Mr. Mason. We just wanted to check on you. Aridot uncovered more details, and Griffin expressed that it may not be safe for you to be....what did you say?" she asks Griffin.

Griffin Freeman fights the urge to say 'A danger to himself and others with his very unlucky existence?' He shrugs and speaks up, he is not made more concerned with with Rick's blaise attitude- its typical Masonry. "I'm just sayin' that it might be prudent for you to not be out wandering around when we are now aware of the existence of a drug that turns you into a zombie-soldier. No one wants to see that..." He tries his best to pad the words as best he can.

"I've been accused of being worse," grumbles Rick. The phone call ends a moment or two later. Aridot chirps as Rick's phone inexplicably sends a check-in from the front desk about thirty seconds after that. It would seem that Rick was getting some fresh air directly outside of the Starguard building. Indira's shoulders sag as Rick hangs up. "Well. That could have went better," she confesses in concern, her brow markings knit together. "I don't understand. Why would he hang up after being warned of danger?" she asks as she looks up at Griffin. The chirping noise gets her attention. She takes a moment to look at the holoscreen. "Oh! He's coming back. I wasn't sure if he'd return."

Griffin Freeman shrugs unhelpfully. "Could have gone worse, Ambassador." He says before adding, "He probably just doesn't like being leashed." He considers that he may have spoken too soon- afterall, Mason may very well stride into the room in a few moments with his revolver drawn. "Especially when he left to 'get some air'- some perspective I'd imagine."