Something Theorised

By


Ed woke up early. He had something to do, and he didn't want to waste any more time. Elizabeth was still in bed as he dressed, his cat laying on her stomach. She had arrived even later than usual, and had informed him about her brother being back in town -- something he had known long before she. It troubled him that he couldn't tell her about the Oracle possibly being her father, and her brother possibly being that shadow thing; though on the latter, he still wasn't as sure. Something had blocked him from telling her numerous times now, and the previous night was no exception.
            He kissed her goodbye and left the manse. Ian would have been up by now, but Ed found him nowhere -- either because he was still sleeping, or out around the premisses. He didn't want to look. He pulled out of the garage just in time for Connor to run up to his car and get in.
            "Were are we off to?" Connor asked and strapped up. Ed shrugged, which made Connor frustrated that he had to get up early for this. He said nothing, though.
            "CNet," Ed said after the Prime's massive rustic gates had closed. "Can you tell me again where you detected that energy?"
            "Displaying on your GPS now."
            "What the fuck is it doing there?" Connor asked, pointing at his pub's location on the built-in GPS. "It's still closed for "maintenance"," he added and looked out the window.
            "No idea, though I have my theories."
            "Which are?"
            "I detected not one, but two signatures," CNet answered after Ed had opted not to. "One, much more sporadic than the other. I chose not to inform Commander Erasmus due to his low energy levels." The AI added the last bit for clarification -- something Connor was prone to ask for.
            Connor nodded in acknowledgment. He still had no idea what Ed had theorised, but knew that they were now possibly one step closer to getting some answers.

Jacks jumped up at the sound of the door opening. Danny had said that she would need some time to develop the antidote, but he hadn't thought it to take this long. Bridget had come alone this morning, something Jacks had insisted they do not do. She smiled at him apologetically and handed him a brown McDonalds pack. He ate in silence while Bridget spoke to the doctor -- one that Jacks had a little talking to a few hours before.
            Just as he threw the empty cartons and brown pack into the dustbin, Danny ran into the room with a syringe in her hand. It was empty. Jacks, still swallowing the last bit of his burger, walked up to her and caught her as she nearly fell over. "You okay?"
            "Yes, yes. I, uhh..."
            "You couldn't get the cure working?" Jacks asked, his whole mood suddenly down.
            "No, it's just that I won't know if I'll be curing him, or making it worse. Without a viable test subject, I can't know for sure."
            Jacks let Danny go then paced up and down. A light flicked on in his head. "I'll be right back!" Jacks then hurried out the room, toward the morgue where he had the doctor he had a little talking to, put his buddy in a body-bag and into one of the massive freezers.
            He scurried around until he found a needle and a syringe, pulled the body out of the freezer and stuck it into the Ryland's arm. He got a decent blood sample, zipped the bag back up and pushed the body back into the freezer, and hurried back to De Beer's room with the sample in hand. Danny took it without question and hurried back to her laboratory.

The pub looked deserted, minus a couple of usuals that passed by, disappointed that they wouldn't be able to indulge in their favourite alcoholic beverages just yet. Ed parked the car in the same spot he always parked if Connor wasn't there, then got out. He had no weapons with him, which Connor found unusual but didn't bother questioning. He got his own magnum out of Ed's cubby-holder, though, and put it into his sling. He had a sling draped across his torso that could hold three different sidearms -- something Ed noticed only now.
            They walked up to the back entrance, Ed first. He seemed not to care about making noise at all, but Connor felt more on edge the longer they were there. The fact that Abigail had gone offline for two days now had him worried that this shadow thing may have gotten to her.
            Ed casually made his way down the two little steps and began inspecting the main bar area. Connor sighed and holstered his weapon. "What are we looking for?"
            "No idea," Ed answered truthfully as he went through a couple of files that lay strewn over the bar. "I think I know what it was looking for, though."
            "Yeah?"
            "You weren't at home, so it came to look for you here. Fortunately, it doesn't know where Prime is..."
            "Wait, it attacked Prime last night."
            Ed shook his head slightly and smiled up at Connor. "I have a little feeling this isn't the same one that announced its spectacular return last night."
            "Who could it be then? Wait, you don't mean?"
            "I don't. Yet."
            Connor shook his head and sighed. He had nothing more to say at that realisation. It kind of made sense, in a way, but he was no thinker or brooder. That was Ed and Ian's job, as indicated by their constant stargazing at night. It also made sense that Ed had come unarmed. She may not have been a friend to him, but she was no enemy either. "Oh Abby," the agent mumbled as he inspected another couple of documents on one of the other tables.

That night, Ed had spent more time with Elizabeth. He knew that Ian was probably out on the balcony, but figured that the man had to have some time on his own. Or at least, away from his company. Ed lay in the darkness and stared at the window. A couple of months ago, he would never have thought that he would be where he is now. Just as he had finally given up on the fact that the Agency would return, and as he finally got himself to start another manuscript and get some studying done, life had thrown them a lemon. Of course, being who they were, he and his friends had to take that lemon and squeeze every milliliter of it out on the pavement and throw dirt all over it. 

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