Retrograde

Chapter 11 • Awkward Questions

• Chapter Eleven •
Awkward Questions

After what happened with the Mnemosyne, Cael wanted to find some sort of normalcy. He asked Garver and Reena about the members of the Cipher and who all resided in the Drey. Cael wanted to know if there was any way he could view all of the current residents of the Drey. Garver presented him with a tablet with a database of the residents and their relevant information. Being able to take notes on them was more Cael's speed.

"I figured that we would need something like that so that we know who should and shouldn't be in the Drey," Garver explained as he sat across from Cael in the study, setting a familiar looking suitcase on the table. "Now we can cross-check with other sections of the Cipher if a member moves from one state to another. This database is part of a larger one."

Cael looked up from his writing to look over the suitcase. It was the same he had taken from his house after he had killed Clarice. "There's a lock on it. Did you get it open?"

Garver grinned, rubbing his hands together before opening the suitcase up. "Is grass green? Take a look." He turned the suitcase around, and Cael set aside the notepad, pen, and tablet that he was using. Inside of the suitcase, he found three empty placements where vials should be, and next to them were four more placements with full vials—it was the same liquid that Reena had shown him at the Ruins. Under that were three syringes filled with a clear liquid that Cael wasn't sure that he wanted to know about. And at the underside of the case was a scalpel, dagger, and an empty placement for a gun.

Cael took a deep breath as he ran his hand across the vials, and Garver interrupted his moment. "Do you think you could use those vials and turn the serum into a weapon for us? If you could, Treb and I could either re-purpose a gun with serum bullets or put together a gun that could shoot darts of it."

After pulling out a vial, Cael examined it. "I could try, but...I would need a test subject to make sure it works." He shifting in his seat uncomfortably, wondering if that would mean a slipping back into old ways that he didn't know he had, but for a different team. He was unsure that anyone would want to sign up for that, especially if they had history with the Syndicate via Pro-Oct. "And I would suggest the darts. If we wanted to injure them severely, I imagine a regular bullet to the head would work just as well."

Garver laughed. "A man kills his girlfriend and is suddenly hot and ready for a fatal blow." Cael returned the vial back to its place and closed the suitcase, a hard stare holding Garver hostage. Garver coughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Don't ever joke about that shit again. I did what I had to. It's over."

"I'm sorry, man. Wasn't thinking."

Cael nodded, tapping his knuckles on the suitcase and changing the subject. "I'll get on this as soon as I can. I just need to know where I'd be able to do the work. For right now..." He pulled his tablet and notepad towards him. "I need a favor. It's good that there is a database, but I'd like to talk personally with some of the successful test subjects and some of the Original Alusek. If the Mnemosyne doesn't help me remember everything, it would be good to know patterns. That way, I may be able to discern what I did in the first place so that I can reverse it somehow."

Garver nodded in understanding, leaning into the table and folding his hands together on the surface. "Got it. Do you have a list of people you'd like to speak to? I can let them know, no problem."