Chapter 9. Investigation.

The door opened. Thaum stopped meditating and greeted, “Hello, I can see that you have decided.”

She dropped a bag letting out a cute yip in surprise. She quickly closed the door behind her and gathered her groceries. “A little warning would be nice.”

Thaum shrugged, “should I have put a note on your door, intruder in here or something.”

She almost dropped her bag again when she took a good look at him, “you have your arm back!”

He wiggled his arm and fingers in response, “yea, I finally remembered where I left it.”

“no” she argued, “there isn’t a proper medical facility even in this entire sector, which means you have a ship with one. And I’ve read that it takes months sometimes to regrow a limb so it's a high-level facility. And there is no way such a large ship could be in the sector without everyone with a telescope knowing about it… who are you, who do you work for.”

Thaum said, “I’ve already said I work alone.” he chuckled, “what's wrong, getting cold feet.”

She eyed him as she put the groceries away, “running away with a ship captain is a dream of many girls, but running away with a man in some sort of shadowy organization is the opposite.”

Thaum shrugged, “Believe what you want. For now, why don’t you use those.. whatever they are to make us something to eat. Bringing a pile of books is one thing, but groceries no.”

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During the meal, Thaum learned a few things. First, her name was Alice. And second what she learned about the investigation of his work. Which was a surprising amount. With the chaos in the city, her boss also wanted to know too so she openly acted and compiled information. She sent various women to bring men that were in the investigation team back to the brothel. Some drinks and whoreing later they knew nearly as much as the lead investigator.

They had no idea which organization was responsible. Or even capable of this. The bodies were dropped in succession instead of all at the same time. Every single one of them, as if only a single person was responsible. However, it was impossible for someone to break through so many security systems completely unseen so swiftly.

The investigators settled on calling the organization “Phantom” and the individuals of said imaginary organization as ghosts. At least until they find out more.

The attack methods of phantom were also strange. The first person to die was the governor, a man who sleeps inside a high-tech barrier. Which was active and untouched. The investigators were still stumped on this one. They checked the logs and went through the entire system. It wasn’t off at any point nor hacked.

Phantom also killed the wives or mistresses of the men they killed. As long as they were nearby. The investigators researched each victim. The woman excluded they were all obviously corrupt. The investigators thought they had a preferred target, but upon researching other aristocrats. They found there were equally corrupt members still alive, and easier targets. They eventually figured out that Phantom was not targeting corrupt aristocrats, but ones where were screwing the working class over.

Phantom members also seem able to easily attack through safe rooms without setting off alarms. There was no residue on the inside of the holes so they couldn’t figure out the weapon used to make the hole. They did however find out that nitrogen was the method to kill after autopsies were performed.

They found one old man with his cane jammed into the hole. The tip broken. They found water in the hole entrances which gave them the idea of how the holes were sealed.

And these weren't the strangest deaths. They found the city security network set in a nonfunctional test mode. The guards inside the control room dead. But the coroners are still trying to puzzle out how they died. After the third autopsy, they could only say, “they died at the same time.”

When asked how they died the coroners swore, “they died of dead. I don’t fucking know. There is nothing wrong with these men, other than the decomposing which happened AFTER they died.”

Thaum finished his meal and thought, ‘so they have no means of sensing magic, or at least no one in the sector can if these off-world investigators are anything to go by’

Time ticked by, Alice was starting to fidget with nothing to do. Thaum was thinking. Just as she was finally going to say something Thaum said, “got a pen and paper.”

Alice said yes and went to get them. Thaum told her to write “don’t be evil” on a page and took it. He said, “I’ll be back” then left out the front door leaving her speechless.

Thaum found a dark corner and teleported. He appeared in a small, spartan room. There was a bed, a table with a console, and a small wardrobe. Thaum chucked the letter on the bed when the door suddenly burst open.

Thaum only had time to turn invisible before Wolfram came in with a custom-shortened laser rifle trained on the room. Apparently, this room wasn’t as bare as he thought, there was probably a sensor somewhere he missed. Not that he looked hard because that was not the point.

Wolfram scanned the room. The sensors had just detected an intruder, but he saw none. He stalked to the barred window and peeked down to street level. Nothing. No tool marks no holes and no reason multiple sensors would falsely detect the same thing. He said “I know you are there”

Thaum smiled. He threw his voice to a different corner of a room, “no you are guessing”

Wolfram spun to the sound and sprayed the area with shots. Wispy smoke came from the holes as Wolfram felt around the floor for an invisible body with his foot. Thaum's smile fell. He muffled his sound and attacked.

Wolfram was caught by surprise. His gun was ripped away from him breaking his trigger finger in the process. He grunted in pain as he was easily lifted and thrown onto the bed. As if he were a pillow.

He reached for his thigh holster which was forcefully ripped apart then thrown away. The voice said, “the next weapon you go for is going up your ass. So make it a small one.”

Wolfram got up while looking around for a new weapon. “what do you want”

Thaum replied, “read the letter.”

Wolfram picked it up and muttered, “don’t be evil”

“yes. Don’t be evil. Keep the corruption to a reasonable level and I won’t have to appear again.”

Wolfram smirked, “and is this stupid message the entire reason you infiltrated a military base.”

“yes. And the only reason I even showed my presence is that I forgot to write that your daughter is already dead.”

Wolfram dove stait for his lazer rifle yelling, “STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE” He yelled some more, but Thaum had already left.

Thaum returned to the alley. Then went inside Alice’s house. “this is your last chance to back out and stay here. I just made sure your boss will be dead within the week. And Wolfram the planetary defense force leader will be taking over stabilizing the world. So staying here is a valid option”

Alice was in the middle of pacing around the small room stopped. She stood there motionless for several minutes. Until she asked, “every time I ask about who you are, you joke my question aside, so can I ask one question and get a truthful answer”

Thaum replied, “depends on the question, but you will at least know whether I’m being truthful or not.”

Alice let out a breath and stared into his eyes, “why did you kill the wives too?”

Thaum raised a brow, “that is what you want to know… Fine. First, it's for effect. No one gives a shit if a dozen powerful men die, the people rejoice and the rich move up a position or are down competition. but kill the woman too and people pay attention. And think about how that will affect the social dynamic amongst the tyrants. And second. I did it because they are guilty.--”

Alice interrupted, “they were guilty of nothing. Only marrying the wrong man”

Thaum laughed, “sure, in the beginning. But on whose suffering do they thrive. Simply put I don’t care if you are the doorman to the dungeon or the torturer.”

Alice argued, “they aren’t a corporation, they didn't agree to the evil things done by their other half, nor could they stop it. They are not at fault for something someone else has done.”

Thaum said, “on the battlefield do you not kill someone for simply being on the other side. They might not wear the uniform, but they are definitely part of the enemy, they are literately married to it. That is their choice.”

Alice said, “but what if they were forced to marry.”

Thaum replied, “then they were killed by their husbands putting them in the dangerous place by their side. Also if it makes you feel better I also killed the husbands of the female corrupt leaders.”

Alice took a few minutes to digest the argument. Thaum sat down comfortably. She didn’t agree with him. “So you don’t just randomly kill women. And why was effect higher on your list than their guilt.”

Thaum stretched and stood up. “in general I don’t kill anyone without a reason. And guilt was lower on the list of reasons because they had little of it. Enough to die sure. But I thought the effect was a greater reason this time”

“so you would still kill them if they weren’t guilty.”

Thaum thought for a moment, “yes, if the cause was just.”

“then what is a just cause for cold-blooded murder.”

Thaum looked her in the eye, “whatever I say it is" Thaum stood up and left for the door. "As fun as this ancient argument is, I'll pass on having it again. I will wait outside for five minutes and leave you with your thoughts. Make a decision and come out before then. or stay here and you will never see me again.” Thaum closed the door behind him. His interest in the women rapidly wilting.