CHAPTER 15: A CALL TO EVACUATE
The officers of the DEAD MEN met up for their postponed meeting. They waited patiently for Ragefish but her and Yepman were no-where to be found.
“Has anyone seen Yepman or Ragefish?” Redrum seemed mildly impatient. It was unlike Ragefish to be late to meetings, let alone post pone and miss them. BravoCastle and Hamstor exchanged glances and shrugged their shoulders.
“Something feels weird about this. Leatherface seemed extremely agitated. Do we know his whereabouts?” Rahk looked around the room and then held his gaze at Hamstor. He was unsure on how much he could trust him since Hamstor left OG to join the DEAD MEN. Hamstor had always sung the praise of OG and Rahk was unsure if he was sent to infiltrate the team. Everyone had been on edge on who they could trust.
“What about you? Where have you been lately? I noticed you’ve been making frequent visits to OG…” Rahk crossed his arms as his squinted his eyes peering at Hamstor who sat there mildly uneasy.
“Are you accusing me of something?” Hamstor sat up straight and cracked his neck. “…because if you are…just say it.” The tension was undeniable between the two. BravoCastle cleared his throat and attempted to break the awkward silence, “Hamstor is not alone. I have been visiting OG. We are trying to find an ally out of OG. We know there have been ups and downs. But I believe they are a friend. We just need to give it some more time…”
Redrum sat there starring into space. All he could do was lose himself in his thoughts.
*Its not like her to just…MISS one of our meetings. Not even a message.. It takes 5 seconds to send a transmission…*
BravoCastle stood up and addressed all DM officers present. “Well, Gentleman – we know that Yepman was investigating some unusual behavior patterns of Leatherface. He had been running tests. I feel concerned for the alliance. Leatherface was so aggressive with Phaera for no apparent reason. I witnessed the irrational behavior. It was like he was a different person…” BravoCastle saw the tension between Rahk and Hamstor was still high. He looked directly at Rahk. “Rahk, can you please tell me what your thoughts are on the matter?” Rahk broke his eye contact with Hamstor and responded.
“Yes, I agree. I admit, I am a newer officer. But it seems like Leatherface is highly emotional. I noticed he has been drinking an excessive amount of our redrum stash. I am fairly new to this unique technology – but from my past experience… I have seen people like Leather… go down a bad path.”
Hamstor refocused his attention and began to nod his head. Redrum stood up quickly and went over to the nearest drawer where he pulled out a tablet.
*It’s not like her to miss a meeting... something is wrong…*
Suddenly, Redrum began furiously coding into the tablet like no one had ever witnessed before. He looked up with concern and turned towards the officers.
“We have a problem… Lars – can you please give me the most recent log on schedule of the LAB….” Redrum placed the tablet down on the table as the officers looked around at one another slightly confused.
*”Recent log history has been deleted.”*
“Alright Lars, then I want you to pull up all the cameras in the LAB. I want visuals of every corner!” Redrum’s nerves were shot. He had hacked Ragefish’s message system. He saw she had written a draft near the time the meeting was postponed. It couldn’t be a coincidence. All cameras were pulled up on a screen in the officer’s room. Redrum saw a figure walk to the back of the LAB. He swiped to see a different vantage point, but it was too far back. He input a code which forced a command for Lars’s cam bots to slowly crawl near the back of the LAB where they had less visibility. The cam bots tiny mechanical legs scaled the ceiling wall undetected and in complete silence. It turned the corner to see Yepman and Ragefish locked behind the glass LAB door and what looked like their former officer Leatherface.
“What the fuck is that!” Hamstor had never seen anything like it. None of the officers had. Redrum began to survey the footage. He noticed an unusual device strapped to the glowing Leatherface like cyborg.
“We need to call an immediate evacuation of DM! I repeat call an immediate evacuation!” BravoCastle, Gloryhole, Rahk and the rest of the officers stood up and began to execute the orders. But Hamstor remained seated.
“And what about Fish! What about Yepman! What’s going on??! Why do we need an evacuation!?” Redrum and Hamstor remained in the officer’s quarters in a brief silence. Redrum had been thinking.
“Do you still have contact with the OG alliance?” Redrum looked into Hamstor’s eyes with the intensity of a worried father.
“Yes, I could message….” Before he finished his sentence, Redrum began his commands.
“Do it. Message them – we need back up…and we need it fast.”
Hamstor sent a transmission to OG. Redrum and Hamstor sat there in silence. Waiting for someone to answer.