A simple inquiry

Posted on Fri Mar 5th, 2021 @ 2:01am by Plexie El Plexuco & Civilian Reka Chítang

Mission: This Week's Special
Location: Security Office - Deck 6
Timeline: Morning after Riders on the Storm

The message came at 6 in the morning. The Cortex chiming inside Reka's modest apartment.

Slightly hungover from the night before, Reka was up and making breakfast for Emi, who was sitting in front of the feed watching toons over the cortex.

She looked up when the panel chimed.

"Ma!" Emi called and Reka went over to check the feed.

The message was framed by official government seals, and a repeating "OPEN IMMEDIATELY" flashing.

Reka frowned and tapped the feed to open the message.

The transmission continued as such:

Subject: Formal Inquiry

You have been identified as a person of interest in our ongoing investigation. You and your dependent are to report for questioning at 1015 hours to the security office on Deck 6. Your employer has been notified of your compulsory attendance. All inquires shall be directed to Major Black, Alliance Intelligence.

Reka read and reread the message. This wasn't good. She cleared it and quickly got the cartoons back on.

"What is it, Ma?" Emi asked, noticing her mother's strained expression.

"It's nothing. Watch your cartoons, we're just going to go see some security people a little later," Reka said forcing herself to relax. She hadn't done anything against the law in a long time, there was no point in worrying. It was likely something to do with her job or maybe he hanging out at the club. She was just a witness, nothing more. She took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Okay..." Emi said, giving her mother a highly skeptical look and then turning her back to her cartoons.

---

After breakfast and showers, Reka and her daughter arrived at the security office, almost a full 15 minutes early. She held fast to her daughters hand as she stepped in and went to the desk to check in.

"Yes, I'm Reka Chítang, I was asked to come in," she said, doing her best to not sound overly concerned.

The man working at the front desk looked annoyed. Two Alliance security troopers in full armor with sonic rifles watched the room. The reception officer tapped something on the screen in front of him. "Please take a seat. They will be with you shortly." he said with an unhelpful attitude of someone only doing their job.

The lobby to the office was full of people, many also with young children near Emi's age. She knew many of them from her group at the education center. a boy waved at her and holding his mother's arm stretched toward Emi. "Can you play?" he asked innocently. His mother pulled him back. "You heard them earlier, we are supposed to sit here and not talk to other children." She gave a grimaced smile to Reka mouthing the word 'sorry'.

Time passed slowly. A single monitor in the lobby was playing local news and advertisements from the Skyplex, nothing everyone sitting there hadn't seen a thousand times. Every now and then an officer appeared at the inner doors to the center and called for one of the people waiting. They would go through the doors. Reka had not seen anyone leave. The children in the room grew increasingly restless, and the parents tired of telling them they had to hold still. One parent walked up to the front desk and had a rather animated conversation with the officer. While she couldn't make out the words she clearly saw him shaking his head no and pointing back to the area they were all seated in.

The clock on her cortex showed an hour and twenty minutes had passed. Many people had been removed from the room, but new people arrived and were waiting restlessly. "Any one know what this is about?" a woman next to her asked. "I just got this weird wave this morning."

Reka looked around, but didn't say anything. Containing an antsy 8 year old was not easy, but something about the stress of the confined area had convinced Emi to sit beside her moth and color on a tablet. She didn't want to say anything, she didn't want to be caught talking when she wasn't supposed to. But after nearly an hour and a half of waiting, she was beginning to lose her patience.

"I got a weird wave too, something about an investigation and I should bring Emi," she replied at last, unable to contain herself anymore.

The woman hushed her voice conspiratorially. "Have you noticed that all the children are about the same age. I didn't hear of anything happening at the Education center. Christi didn't know of anything. Did Emi say anything?" she asked awkwardly before extending her hand over. "I'm Renli Xianchou, I saw you just started up at the center a couple weeks ago. My Christi is in Standard 3 with Emi but never had the chance to say hello."

"Emi didn't say anything," Reka said looking to her daughter, who was so focused on her machine she didn't notice her mother's concerned look. "You'd think anything at the Education Center would be handled there, not station security." She looked around and did recognize a couple of the other parents, having seen them when she dropped Emi off at the Education Center. "I'm Reka."

Renli smiled broadly at her. "When they are done with us, happy to compare notes. This is just too weird."

"Reka Chitang and child." the PA system called out. A purple belly guard opened the door to the inner security office.

"Looks like they picked your number. Good luck in there." Renli stated.

With a final glance back, Reka took her daughter by the hand and walked over to the security officer. "I'm-I'm Reka," she said, doing her best to keep calm.

The purple belly didn't acknowledge her other than directing her through the double doors leading into the security center. Inside, the place was busier than usual. many officers were standing about, apparently displaced by well dressed official looking workers at the normal duty desks. Another purple belly motioned her forward and around to the right, near the holding cells. Several enclosed rooms were to the sides as Reka made her way down the hallway, Emi in tow. As she approached a door swung open. A woman with a rather severe look stood in front of her.

"Your Identification please." she said in a tone that was not overly polite.

Reka quickly dug in her purse and pulled out her ident card and Emi's as well. "H-here," she said holding them out at arms length. She was terrified and not doing a good job hiding it. It was busy and that meant something was going on, she only wished she knew what.

The woman took the cards and inserted them into her reader. "Miss Chitand, the Major will see you now. The child will have to come with me." she stated matter of factly, holding out her hand to take Emi's.

Emi looked up at her mother. "I don't wanna go, mommy," she said pouting. The stress of it all was getting to her as well.

Reka sighed and picked up her daughter. "It's okay, my little one, you're just gonna go with this nice lady for a little bit while mommy talks with this nice man here," she explained, doing her best to make it sound like there was no danger and that everything was fine. "Can you be a big girl for just a little bit? Then we can go to Jimmy's and get some nugs, okay?"

With the promise of nugs, Emi sniffed loudly and nodded.

Letting the woman take her child was no easy thing for Reka and the sinking feeling as she watched her little girl be led away was almost unbearable. She turned to see who she was supposed to talk to, her grief plainly visible on her face.

Inside the white sterile looking room was a minimal table behind which sat a powerful looking woman in full Alliance uniform regalia. The officer looked Reka over carefully and motioned for her to take the seat opposite the table. She looked down at her encyclopedia. "Ms. Chitang, I am Major Black, chief of staff to Minister Carnahan. Thank you for your compliance with us processing your dependant. We have some questions for you if you don't mind."

Reka took the seat, keeping her knees together as to sit slightly awkwardly, unable to relax. "Y-yeah, okay," she said taking a breath to try and force herself to relax.

"How long have you and the child lived on the station?" Major Black asked.

"Maybe a couple of months, around 6, I think?" Reka replied, her mind suddenly going blank.

"Five months, two weeks and three days." Major Black responded back. "Has the child been in your continuous care?"

"She has a sitter when I go to work and she goes to classes on the station, but aside from that she is always in my care," Reka replied, uncertain why she was being asked.

"Tell me of a meeting you had with a woman name Eponine and her daughter about six weeks ago." Major black turned her encyclopedia around toward Reka. The image of a stern, but attractive dark haired woman ten years older than Reka filled the screen.

Reka blinked and looked at the woman on the screen. She didn't recognize the woman at first, but a vague memory crossed her mind. "I think she came to the shop I work at, Ms. Lacy's Unmentionables, and after getting some undergarments asked about the school. I don't really remember what she asked about."

"Ms. Chitang, please think carefully." Major Black stated, her eyes narrowing. "What was Eponine asking about the school?"

Swallowing hard Reka did her best to focus. "I think she was asking about class times and the teachers," she offered hopefully, her tone far less than certain.

"What did you tell her specifically? Why do you think she was asking you?" Major Black asked.

"Well, I told her when the classes were and that Emi's teacher Mrs. Burtscolt seemed nice," Reka replied. She was to scared to think of why she was being asked any of this, all she could focus on was giving the right answers. "I thought she had a kid and was planning to enroll them in classes there."

Major Black nodded at the answer. "And did she join the classes? When was the last time you saw her? Did she ask for any specific favors from you? Did your child and hers interact?" the Major fired off in rapid succession.

"I don't recall seeing her again. I think if she did enroll her kid they were in a different class than my Emi," Reka replied nervously. "Her child wasn't with her when I saw her, so Emi never met them, at least as far as I know. I don't know who she plays with a recess."

The Major nodded as Reka made her statements. Her eyes stayed on the scrolling data coming in from sensors in the room as well as the transcripts of the interrogation of Emi. "I see. Would there be any opportunity for your child to meet with these people without your supervision?"

Reka shook her head. "She is in school mostly or in our apartment til I get off from work. There's no real place for a child Emi's age to meet up with anyone."

Shooting sharp eyes at Reka, the major interjected. "So you are saying there are times when your child is not properly watched over. And in one of these moments, however unlikely, it is possible your child met with these... 'fugitives'. And indeed there is a possibility that your child has remained in contact with these persons." The major had a distinct look of disapproval.

"I am going to need to hold both you and your child over for further questioning. The sergeant will show you to secondary holding." The major stated as she shuffled her papers into an orderly stack.

Reka's head collapsed into her hands on the table. A purple belly in full combat armor opened the door and stepped in. "Ma'am, please come with me." he stated. Resigned to whatever was going to happen she slowly stood and walked to the man while flashing the major a disappointed look. Hopefully she would see Emi soon.

The door closed as the Major called the soldiers to bring next person of interest in.