Chapter 92 - Twisting Shadows

It was late afternoon. Storm clouds gathered overhead as Finn walked through the large front doors of the Central Noga Police station. There was still a large crowd of people lined up and waiting for assistance. The atmosphere around the city was still clouded with worry and anxiety. Many people had lost their family, their homes, their employment. The vines were causing a lot of damage around the city. Despite the efforts to cut them down, each night they would grow back anew.

After making several inquiries, Finn found himself in the office of his former boss, Chief Kinpo Luan. It was a bit strange calling it ‘former’, since he had only been transferred out of the DVMP department yesterday. Even Anne treated him with friendly familiarity, gossiping with him about the hectic pace and high workload that the department was under.

He made polite small talk, gleaming little new information, until the Chief invited him into the office. After a brief greeting, Finn quickly summarized his findings to the Chief.

“The white maiden.” Chief Luan considered Finn’s verbal report carefully as he sat at his desk across from Finn. The door was closed for this private late afternoon meeting. “You realize that the police department officially does not recognize reports of spirits or mystical encounters. You’ve also come to me instead of reporting to Chief Fang’s 3P division.”

“I did initially report it to 3P, however they told me that you are currently acting chief of 3P.” Finn replied.

“That’s true. Chief Fang has taken up a temporary Head Chief role during this time of crisis.” Kinpo Luan sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, “When I agreed to help him out I didn’t think he’d be shunting his duties to me.”

The news of Chief Fang’s new position of ‘Head Chief’ was actually the hottest topic in the police. From Finn’s understanding of the history of the force, while there was precedence for having a sole person in charge, they hadn’t had a Head Chief for several hundred years. All of the Chiefs had tacitly given their approval of the appointment, but there was tension in the air that suggested that the move wasn’t unanimously supported. Another hot debate topic was regarding how long Chief Fang would keep the position for.

“You want to fulfill this white maiden’s request and bring the infected to her shrine to pray.” The overweight Chief frowned, “This kind of unusual request is not something we normally consider.”

“I understand.” Finn nodded, waiting patiently for Chief Luan’s thoughts.

A small curve pulled up the edge of Chief Luan’s mouth for a brief moment. Even though the police force did not officially recognize reports of mystical occurrences, it didn’t discourage them. After all, the lands around NianXing had many strange cults and cultures full of superstition. The police were typically the ones to investigate strange situations.

In this case, Chief Luan was aware that Finn had knowledge of the Exalted world, therefore the request could easily be taken at face value. That is, Finn found a mystical method of treating the Devileyes, and he was looking for official support. On the surface, he could be seen as a diligent police officer that was probably naive about mysticism. He was dutifully reporting what he’d learned, as per normal operational procedure.

However having worked with Finn for half a year, Chief Luan knew that Finn was adept at playing between the lines. Therefore he surmised that Finn wasn’t simply reporting to ask for support. He was reporting the existence of this mysterious entity and requesting support for investigation into its nature.

Furthermore, Chief Luan guessed that this request had something to do with whatever task Finn had been assigned on his new special task force. Chief Luan did not know what this task was, he could only make broad guesses.

“It has something to do with your reassignment, doesn’t it?” Chief Luan asked, then instantly retracted his question, “No, don’t answer that. I simply asked out of personal curiousity.”

The Chief shifted in his seat thoughtfully, then said, “Did you witness the recovery of this.. Char Char Zhao.. directly?”

Finn seemed distracted as he didn’t reply immediately. After a moment he seemed to process the Chief’s question as he nodded.

“I did.” Finn said. “I believe it to be genuine.”

“Then you have my permission to proceed.” Chief Luan said.

“Y-yes sir.” Finn’s voice faltered uncharacteristically as he seemed to be taken aback by the approval.

“Is there a problem?” Chief Luan asked.

“No, sir.” Finn said, with a slight hesitation in his voice.

Chief Luan pretended not to notice Finn’s hesitation as he picked up his spectacles from the desk and wore them. He started writing something down on a paper, “I assume you will need some personnel to see through this request of yours, as well as transportation for the patients. Here is an order of requisition for you for the transportation. I will arrange several officers to work under you on this assignment. I also recommend Officer Wren - you’re familiar with her - she is a Candidate that has some familiarity with mystical entities.”

Finn recovered his composure briefly as he considered Chief Luan’s proposal. “Yes, Chief. The assistance is much appreciated.”

Chief Luan nodded, handing Finn the paper. “Pass this to Anne. She will help you with the arrangements.”

Finn nodded, standing up and saluting.

“You have a bright future.” Chief Luan said, “Come to me if you need anything else.”

Chief Luan’s eyes narrowed as he noticed Finn pause. The young officer’s eyes were fixated on the corner behind Luan. The senior officer turned, but didn’t see anything.

“S..sorry.” Finn muttered, “I was distracted by a thought.”

“You are dismissed.” Chief Luan said, suppressing a frown. The younger officer was clearly disturbed by something. Sweat gathered at his temples and he was trembling slightly.

Finn saluted again and left the room.

~

Finn managed to keep his composure as he handed the written note to Anne. She started processing it, pulling out the official forms that would allow him to requisition the carriages. The receptionist was completely unaware of Finn’s disturbed state of mind.

His heart was beating fast as he constantly scanned the corners of the room. Without a doubt, something was wrong. In the Chief’s office, an increasingly foreboding feeling had weighed down on his mind. Like he was being watched. He heard strange whispers and dry, coughing laughter, muffled as if coming from another room.

In the shadows and corners of rooms strange, twisting shapes curled about at the corner of his vision. They were like coils of tendrils with thorns and complicated patterns that bloomed and faded. He heard skittering sounds in the walls. All of these sensations would disappear when he focused on them. They were so subtle that he didn’t know if there was actually something wrong or if he was just imagining things.

“Finn? Finn, is everything alright?”

He snapped out of his thoughts as he saw the concerned look of Anne looking up at him from her desk. “Yes, sorry. I was thinking about something.”

“Here are the requisition forms.” Anne said, holding out some papers to him, “I’ll also arrange you to meet officer Wren, Tham and Yates. When is a good time?”

“Tomorrow morning.” Finn said, “I’ll need to make arrangements tonight.”

“Alright.”

“Thanks, Anne.” Finn took the papers and left the room.

He quickly left down the hallway, heading down the stairs.

“Finn!” A familiar voice called out to him. Finn looked over to see a young female officer with black hair tied into a bun. Her name was Minnie Kim, she was one of the mid-rank officers who somehow had taken a liking to him even from the beginning. He didn’t trust her - she was always too friendly with him. She would always gossip about the latest news to him when she delivered her reports for him to file. Though he’d tried to keep his distance she never took the hint. He had no idea why she always acted so chummy with him, but his best guess was that she had learned that he had close connections with several of the Chiefs and wanted to hear some juicy stories.

“Officer Kim” He replied formally, politely returning her smile. He didn’t stop walking towards the exit as he put an air of urgency into his stride.

“I told you, you can call me Minnie.” The friendly officer pouted in jest. She didn’t seem to clue in that he was not interested in talking as she walked up alongside him, “What are you doing later? I heard you’re not in the DVMP anymore.”

“I got transferred out.” Finn said.

“Which department?” Minnie smiled, then said with a somewhat secretive tone, “I did too.”

“Special services.” Finn said, using the ‘code word’ that the police used when they weren’t allowed to disclose information.

“Me too!” Minnie’s eyes widened as her voice hushed down. She sided up uncomfortably close to Finn as she said softly, “Does it have to do with Chief Yun?”

Finn’s eyes narrowed as he heard the words, annoyance turning into caution. The serious look in her eyes clearly imparted that she was referring to something serious. She knew that Chief Yun had died? The news of Chief Yun’s death had not been publicized, how could a mid-rank officer like Minnie know about it?

Furthermore, she was a gossip, but he didn’t expect her to divulge such a secret so easily. From his understanding of her she was dutiful and serious about her status as a police officer, she wouldn’t normally be so free about this kind of classified information. Warning bells went off in his mind as he instantly grew suspicious. At the same time, the whispers in his mind seemed to grow more intense as he saw curling black forms twisting in the shadows around the room. His body tensed up as he suppressed a reaction.

Upon seeing Finn’s cold reaction to the news Minnie’s smile only grew wider.

“I knew it!” She whispered, “You must be part of the investigation too!”

“Come with me.” Finn made a flash decision as he grabbed Minnie’s arm and changed directions to head back towards the staircases. A look of surprise overtook Minnie’s expression as she complied without resistance.