Location: MID Combat Training Room 4

Time: 10:45 AM, January 4th 2108

“If you think about it, we didn’t do anything wrong. You told us not to leave the building, and we didn’t.”

Alec, Kanon, and I stood back as Karen tried to convince Kalder of our innocence.

“I also requested you not cause a scene. If word got out that MID employees were engaged in unauthorized fights against a guest investigator the press would have a field day. Need I remind you that combat between augmenteds is illegal, unless proper safety precautions have been taken?”

Karen clicked her tongue and looked to the side.

“How’d he even find out? I even went to all the trouble of having those two use the stairs.”

How was that troubling for her?

“Alright, first of all, I highly doubt the Ministry Director has the free time to be watching elevator logs. And second of all, you gave yourself away by authorizing a duel through the building’s computer system. Even with how busy he is, there’s no way he could overlook you authorizing a duel with no regulations on augmentations, weapons or contact.” Alec said something that had clearly been on his mind since the start of the fight.

“Huh. Alec, you might actually be a little smart.” Karen seemed unsure of her words.

“Don’t sound so surprised when giving me a compliment.”

“Deputy Chief Kaldsen, Special Agent Alexander, how I found out is not the issue we’re meant to be discussing. Today of all days I don’t have time for-”

“Ministry Director Kaldsen, sir, we have a situation that requires immediate attention.”

A voice coming through the room’s speakers interrupted him. It wasn’t the computer's voice this time, it was an actual person. They probably scanned for Kalder’s location and synced into the room.

Kalder gave us all a once over while debating whether or not to listen to the emergency with us there. Karen was eagerly gesturing to him, telling him to respond.

“Yes, what’s the situation.”

“We just received a list of demands for the release of the Prime Minister’s daughter, Miss Oakley Oldridge.”

I felt my hands tense. Oakley had been taken hostage? By who?

“She’s been kidnapped? When? What do they want?”

“Well, that’s the thing, sir, we’ve already confirmed that Miss Oldridge is still at school. We've got eyes on her. Two girls have been taken hostage, but the kidnappers seem to have mistaken one of them for Miss Oldridge.”

“And the ones that were taken?”

“We’ve checked their files. Neither of them qualify for immediate intervention.”

“Do we have a suspect? Have you located footage of the kidnapping?”

“Yes, sir, we’ve been able to secure video of the incident. I’ll patch it through to your location.”

The display on the far wall activated. It was a shot of a decently crowded sidewalk. There were a few adults, but most of the people on the sidewalk were high school aged kids in uniforms. It was a uniform I had seen recently.

“Those kids are wearing Evergreen Academy uniforms. This must be security footage from the high school campus.” Karen recognized them as well. It makes sense that they’d be there. It wouldn’t be hard for anyone to figure out that Oakley goes to Evergreen.

One person in the footage really stood out. She was wearing an extravagant dress. She wasn’t a student and clearly not dressed like a teacher. Her pigtails bounced as she turned and smiled for the camera.

“Sara.”

I didn’t see her much at the amusement park, but I could instantly recognize her face, not to mention her obnoxious gait. She traded in her Little Red Riding Hood outfit for something just as ridiculous, but no matter how she moved everyone else in the footage seemed to be ignoring her completely, as if she wasn’t there.

Eventually Sara stopped walking in front of a closed door. It didn’t take long for the door to open and a girl to come walking out. Whoever she was, she walked right into Sara, who responded by swinging her body around and hitting the girl in the head with a closed fist. The girl collapsed. A normal hit like that couldn’t knock someone out, but with Sara’s augmentation it was more than possible.

Everyone else seemed to be carrying on with their business, completely ignoring what happened. Expect one. A blonde girl, another student with short hair came running up. It looked like she was talking to Sara, but there was no audio to go along with the video footage.

Sara waited for a moment before reaching into her dress pocket and pulling out a small handgun. Rather than the new girl, she pointed it at the unconscious one. She said something, and the new girl hoisted the unconscious one onto her shoulder. Sara started walking away, and the blonde girl followed her.

As they walked past the camera we finally got a good view of the girl that was being carried away.

“Olivia! That’s Olivia! They’ve taken Olivia!” I ended up shouting louder than I expected.

“What?” I'm not sure who responded to my outburst.

“The girl, the one they took. That’s Olivia. My sister. Karen, Kalder, even Alec, you’ve all met her. Don’t you recognize her?”

“Ah, yeah. Actually, I think I recognize the other girl too. Allison Liten. She’s the younger sister of a woman I know.” Karen recognized Olivia as well.

“Allison? I don’t care. This is about Olivia. We have to go save her. I can’t just leave her.”

“Deputy Chief Kaldsen, Take all of your subordinates back to the ARA office. None of them are permitted to leave the premises until I tell you otherwise.”

Kalder tried to turn and leave, but I found myself grabbing his shoulder.

“Did you think if you gave that order to Karen you wouldn’t have to deal with me? You afraid of what I might say? What I might do?”

As Kalder stared back at me I felt my soul freeze over.

“I gave Deputy Chief Kaldsen the order because that’s the chain of command. It’s not my job to watch over you, it’s hers. I don’t have the time to babysit.”

I lost the feeling in my hand as Kalder removed it from his shoulder.

“Even though they failed in their objective, their intent was clear. This is going to get more complicated, and unfortunately we’re probably going to need to rely on the ARA, but not yet. Return to the ARA office until you hear otherwise.”

Kalder left the room, and I didn’t try to stop him a second time. I wasn’t going to change his mind, so I’d just ignore him. After hearing him get on the elevator I decided to leave as well, but this time it was Karen blocking my path.

“Oliver, you heard him. You can’t just rush out there and try to do something. Take a minute to think.”

“Like I care about Kalder’s orders. I won’t let them have Olivia. I’ll kill every last one of them myself if that’s what it takes. And if I can’t do that, then I’ll listen to their demands. I’ll make sure they get whatever they wanted to trade for Oakley’s safety. I’ll get Olivia back. I’ll save her myself.”

“We all know I can’t let you do that, Oliver.”

“I assumed as much, but I don’t plan on letting you stop me.”

Karen and I were both siding with our siblings, but family had nothing to do with it. Karen was just following orders. In that moment her familial relationship with Kalder was irrelevant. I was the same. I didn’t care that Olivia was my sister. I was going to save Olivia because she was Oliva. Our last name never held any meaning to me. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. In the end, this was nothing more than a repudiation on family.