The Raid

We set out for the lab early that morning, not afternoon as previously stated, in order to retain an element of surprise. The sun was just rising and hadn’t cleared the mountains yet, meaning the only difference between day and night was no stars. While doing a final check of my pack in case I’d missed something, I tossed the spare stick of insect repellent to Black and told him to use it if he went out, or he’d be eaten alive. Then it was off to Adam’s hotel to be once more greeted by a gun to the face.

I drove us to the point on the road closest to the lab, which was an hour and a half drive. Then it was a full three hours trudging uphill. Adam questioned the choice of wearing a T shirt and shorts in the mountains, but I told him I had a history of overheating on walks like this, to the point where I once went over the Hubert Pass in my underwear and there were warmer clothes in the pack for if the weather went south. At one point when he wasn’t looking I snapped this shot of him. The guy seems to have ‘posing dramatically’ as a hobby.

The lab slowly came into view. It looked exactly like the sort of thing a passing lost tramper wouldn’t care to notice which I suppose was the point; abandoned, locked looking hut buildings situated in what had once been a clearing but had overgrown inwards. The largest one even had ‘PADDOCK HUT’ carved into a lintel with peeling white paint. For a second I wondered if this was the right place, but of course it was; I’d looked at a list of huts built in this mountain range, and none of them had this name.

I hung back behind the trees. Adam went straight for the front door while I circled behind from the opposite direction and lost sight of him. I waited until the shouts, screams and shooting stopped, and then waited a good thirty minutes more before hefting a nearby rock and tossing it through a window. I cleared the remaining shards from the sill with the side of my taser and then climbed in, leaving the unwieldy hiking bag outside.

The room was filled with about three dead Proxies. Obviously Adam had been here on his swathe of destruction. In comparison to the outside, the inside was surprisingly well kept, albeit filled with the mess that tends to accumulate when people live together for any length of time. I searched the bodies for anything useful, but they had nothing. One last look around what was clearly a dorm, and I went on the hunt for some labs proper.

They were downstairs; I found an open trapdoor which lead to a series of interconnected basements, each white and sterile apart from the blood and quite obviously used. This was more like it; I made a beeline straight for the computer and booted it up. Guessing the password was stupidly easy, since someone with a poor memory had written it underneath the monitor where they thought nobody would look. I set the machine to transferring files while I looked at the emails. Thank god for Firefox and its memory.

These in particular caught my attention:

Rimu,

Helsingborg’s been compromised and the next destination is here. You need to start getting things ready for transport immediately.

You’ve also failed to give the requested genealogical data. I know you have it.

Totara

Totara,

You may have talked in a few of the right ears to get your position but as far as I’m concerned you’re a jumped up kid too big for his boots. Yes, I have the data. Here you fucking go. [There was a document attached to the email. Unfortunately all hell broke loose before I could read it.] Much good will it do you; I know what you’re after.

As for Sweden… well, that’s what security is for. Hunting accidents happen all time in the mountains.

Rimu

Rimu,

Then I leave the matter in your no doubt capable hands. You won’t hear from me again.

Totara

Neither of these codenames were familiar, on or offline, but you bet I’ll be on the lookout for any mention of them now.

I went to click on the attached file at the exact same moment a bullet decided to embed itself in the monitor. This didn’t do anything to the data itself, but did cause me to swear as glass shards embedded themselves in my face. I had to fight the urge to bring my hands up to it.

“Hands up!” someone yelled. Their tone brooked no argument, and I complied. A man pointing a pistol straight at me stood in the doorway; in his late forties by the looks of it, with mottled burn scars on his face, neck and hands. There was something oddly familiar about him that I couldn’t put my finger on. He nodded towards the computer. “The USB stick, take it out.”

I slowly took it out. I could see what was coming next.

“Toss it to me. No funny ideas.”

I tossed it in front of him. Keeping the gun trained on me, he stomped on it with spiked boots, crushing it to bits. I couldn’t help wincing.

“Now…” he said, and that’s when he was shot twice from behind, falling forward onto his face, revealing Adam in the doorway. I just stared at the man with two gaping holes all so suddenly in his chest.

“I told you it would be dangerous,” Adam said, lowering his gun.

“Thanks,” I said, watching the blood spread out on the floor and fighting the urge to do something. I asked him if he’d found any useful paperwork. He’d been busy, but the only paperwork he’d seen had dealt with the economics of the place. It looked like the only information on what they’d been doing here was on the computers. He expressed disappointment about the flash drive. I grinned, removed the floppy disk and CD and waved them in his face. Nobody expects those anymore.

The lights flickered, and suddenly you know who was right there in the room with us, and he was not happy. Where I was and what was happening conspired and suddenly I was eight and terrified again. I froze, but Adam didn’t. After shooting a couple of times, to no effect other than an even more pissed off Slender Man, he grabbed my upper arm and ran, pulling me along behind him like a flag. In the hallway between two buildings I managed to shake my head clear and start running under my own power. We performed what was quite possibly the quickest ladder climbing of all time and raced through the bush towards the car. Forget the hiking bag; everything in it could be replaced. Smoke started rising up through the trees, and I bet you anything that if we happened to go back there, anything even remotely of use would be gone.

Going downhill with less weight was significantly quicker than uphill with huge packs, but it was still an hour of scanning the treeline before I spotted the road and realized I’d left the headlights on. I practically collapsed onto the bonnet, panting for air. I can move very fast when I want to, but I don’t have the right sort of muscle to do so for extended lengths of time. My legs hated me.

Adam fiddled with the doorhandle and I tossed him the keys before going back to being draped over the car like a wet noodle. He revved the engine, and I reluctantly flowed into the passenger seat. He started driving for Christchurch, until I told him that we couldn’t very well leave Black stranded and he performed a U turn.

Black wasn’t in the hotel when I arrived, which did not do anything to help my already frayed nerves. After a moment of panic I remembered the tracker and located him by GPS. I packed up everything in the hotel, sorted things out at the front desk and found him at the lake front, staring out at the water. He was covered in bites.

With Black, Adam and everything else in tow, I drove to Christchurch without stopping. If anything happened on the way, I was too focused on the road in front of me to notice. So once again, I have a detective sleeping on my couch. I’ve tossed a tube of insect bite cream to Black, since I can tell telling him not to scratch them is going to be an exercise in futility, and now I’m going to bed.

The Meeting

I knocked on the door of Adam’s hotel room to find a gun pressed to my forehead. I’d expected him to be angry I ‘followed’ him, although technically since I arrived before him he followed me, but not this angry and after the initial shock I put my hands up and said so. He was immediately apologetic. It turns out he was expecting Proxy attack. A significant amount of the hotel staff turned out to have also had a similar experience and he’d been smothering any altercations with the police with hundred dollar bills for the employees and a flash of an FBI badge for the cops themselves. Which I couldn’t believe worked but wasn’t going to knock.

As part of this anti Proxy demeanour, he’d trapped the window with a flashbang, which I only found out when I pulled back the curtain. Thanks, mate. He also threw a grenade at me. I knew it wouldn’t be live but that doesn’t help the small bit of the brain that goes ‘ohshitgrenade’ regardless. I instinctively batted it away and then glared at him.

All in all, not a good start.

“So how did you find me?” he said.

"You've got a pretty distinctive getup. All I had to do was ask people "Hey, have you seen a bloke who looks like he walked out of a nineteen thirties detective novel go by?"" I replied.

I knew he probably had the coordinates already, but I couldn’t resist the chance to Sherlock Holmes it up. I laid out a map of the area I’d marked beforehand over the bed.

“Okay. The lab is definitely not within this radius." I pointed to the area surrounding the town that looked like a circle made to fit the mountain contours. "This is the distance that can be traveled in a night on foot."

"But, the lab must get its supplies from somewhere, since a self sufficient complex would take up enough land to get noticed. Thus it must be within this area, a certain distance from a road, any road." I pointed to a different section, marked in red.

“And they'd need a supply of fresh water, so they would be within this area, close enough to rivers to get water, yet far enough away to avoid flash floods." A third, this time blue.

“And of course, they are definitely somewhere in the Hunter Mountains according to you, so here are the places where these conditions overlap.” I took a marker from my pocket and circled five areas.

“I’m glad you’re going through all this trouble, but it’s right here,” Adam pointed to one of the areas. I crossed the others out.

It turns out he purchased a pistol for me. He’d chosen it because it had a ‘medical and science symbol’ engraved on it, which turned out to be a caduceus and not the Rod of Asclepius. I made a joke about being mistaken for an Oathbreaker anyway. I don’t know how to use it, and while he offered to train me we don’t really have that sort of time, so it’s going to be gathering dust in my pack in lieu of my trusty taser.

Amongst other things, we decided we’d make a start tomorrow afternoon, and then I left.

Roadtrip Part Two

I’m fine. Sorry if I worried anyone with that last part; Slender Man was indeed there across the street, so I hurriedly typed that out in case… what? I went missing? Seems a little weird in hindsight, actually. In any case, I wrote it, slammed the laptop shut, locked the car, and the staring contest commenced. Needless to say, I lost. Several times.

It must have gone on for two, three hours. I was wondering if curtains for car windows had been invented when a truck passed by and he was gone without fanfare. I definitely wasn’t going to sleep after that, so I took the doctor’s journal out of the glovebox, leaned the seat back and started perusing it. It wasn’t the best material to read at night, but my other books were in the boot and I had absolutely no inclination to go out and get them. My laptop’s battery was also suddenly flat, which is why I hadn’t posted or commented until now. It’s currently charging from the hotel mains.

I must have fallen asleep at some point, since I woke up with the book on my face. And in a different location. This had less to do with teleportation and more to do with the fact I’d been towed.

I spent a decent part of the morning being friendly and apologetic, since I long ago learned that people don’t so much care about your actions as how you act about them, and I wanted to be on my way as fast as possible. I presented and filled out paperwork and paid the fine. I was told that they’d tried various ways to wake us up with no result, including banging heavily on the windows, so in the end they just moved the car with us in it.

I will say this about Queenstown; costly it may be, but I have never found a better Japanese restaurant than the one in the main mall. I’d forgotten what tendon tasted like. Black had teriyaki sushi, since I was starting to get used to the operandi of just buying him whatever he was looking at, or if he wasn’t looking at anything on the menu, whatever I was having. I also bought a pack of energy drinks, since I could tell I’d be needing them.

And off we went, before my wallet could be sucked out the car window.

The mountains are beautiful in the sunlight, if you ignore that everywhere is covered in bush. I stopped off in Gore for no reason other than to look at the giant trout sculpture, which I think bemused Black, and we were in Manapouri within two hours.

I drove down the main street and was hit by a wave of nostalgia. There’s a lot of memories embedded in this place, good and bad, and they all came back at once. Everything was smaller than I remembered but it was all still there; that loose plank in the school fence, there was the playground with the roundabout that never worked, there was that tree…

For a second I wondered if coming back here had been such a good idea.

I stopped at the hotel, sorted things out with reception and dropped off our stuff in our room. It was still afternoon and there was time to kill so I took Black on a tour of old haunts I don’t think he was very interested in, ending with having fish and chips on the lakefront. Then it was back to the hotel to unpack. If Adam is hitchhiking as well as walking I predict he’ll be here in a day or so. It’s kinda nice to be ahead of someone for a change.

Roadtrip Part One

Music! Funny thing, Black actually does have a resemblance to Johnny. Can’t wait for him to be lucid so I can tease him about it.

I woke up this morning to find Adam gone and a note on the dining table saying he’d left for Manapouri. A day earlier than expected, but this didn’t affect my plans overmuch.

“Black!” I called. “Time to start Operation Tortoise and Hare!”

I’d spent yesterday juryrigging up a device to keep the rats fed and watered, and I already have backpacks filled with things you need for travel under beds and in various closets, just in case, so it was simply a matter of loading up the car with two of those and anything else I thought we might need. We were out of the door by ten, the traps reset and the house locked behind us. The rain had stopped overnight, so it was warm and sunny, if still a little damp.

Driving was largely uneventful. The plains receded and eventually became foothills, then mountains. We stopped for lunch in Geraldine, and since Black wasn’t stating any particular preference, I bought him what he just happened to be staring at, which was a sandwich. He ate it without complaint.

It was just after sunset by the time we arrived, and I realized one thing I’d managed to overlook; Queenstown. In the ski season. While I suppose it isn’t as bad as it could be - the school holidays are when things get really busy - what vacancies there were were expensive. As was dinner. The place deserves to be called the Tourist Trap Capital of New Zealand. In the end I’ve opted for sleeping in the car, uncomfortable as that’s going to be. I’d retrieved the blankets and pillows from the boot and Black has the back seat. After a little tossing and turning he’s currently out like a light, the lucky sod.

In case you’re wondering how I’m posting this, it turns out if you park close enough to the library you can still pick up the free wifi. It’s only one bar, but it’s enough.

heshere

Noir

So I have a detective sleeping on my couch.

He arrived at Lyttelton tonight. I wasn't expecting him to come by ship, but I rented a car and was at the docks holding a sign with his name written on it, purely because that's what they do in the movies. He was pretty easy to spot with his trademark hat and coat, and I waved him over.

Me: Hey, you Noir?
Adam: And you must be the one they call Med.
Me: That I am. The car's over this way.

We shook hands and I started driving him to my place, just as it started to upgrade from drizzle to rain. On the way we talked. I offered him a room, but he preferred the couch, which was fine by me. I joked that things would be weird with two Blacks around.

Me: So why are you here in good ol' Godzone? A place to avoid the heat, or on business?
Adam: It was the only boat leaving that night.

It was pretty much obvious that was a lie.

Me: Good, I'd hate for something to be going on right under my nose, so to speak.
Adam: Yes, that would suck. You wouldn't happen to have a map, would you?
Me: Oh, has Google crashed? Yeah, I have maps. Bushwalking tracks, that sort of thing.
 Adam: Google? Oh, that internet thing.

I couldn't help thinking 'oh, you poor man' for a split second.

Adam:Good, I need to find my wa- Just would like to know the area.

He really is a terrible liar. I sighed.

Me: Okay then. I've got a few that'd do you well, got some things marked on there that aren't on the official maps. Don't get excited though, it's nothing classified. Just things like hot springs and glow worm caves and good fishing sites. Places to camp, whether the water's undrinkable, that sort of thing.
Adam: Anything in the Hunter Mountains?
Me: Oh, I don't know. Another lab, maybe? On my turf? ... Yes, my maps cover those too. You're in luck, they're probably the most comprehensive I have. I grew up around there.
Adam: Med, I am going to level considering the fact that New Zealand is your home. Yes, another Lab House is in the mountains, I am going to be going there... alone.
Me: Hell no.

He paused for a bit.

Adam: Look, if it wasn't so dangerous then I'd let you go senza problema but it is very dangerous and I don't want to be responsible for your death or injuries.
Me: Ha, when has the possibility of death or injury stopped me? Look. I know the area. I know labs. I can help. I'm not asking you to involve me in a firefight, just to let me search the place when you're done.
Adam: No.
Me: Fine! Fine.

I may have driven faster and braked harder than strictly necessary when going up the driveway. I deactivated the traps on the door with my iPhone, unlocked it, and checked on Black. He hadn't spontaneously combusted while I was gone, so I asked Adam what drink he wanted and then went and got  the maps.

I walked into the lounge with both to find Adam and Black reading paperwork. It was a list of names; some of the patients that the doctor whose journal Adam held had worked on, so I don't think much damage was done, but I still asked Adam not to give Black any more things to read. Then I set about spreading the maps all over the coffee table and getting them to line up.

Adam: Always this frantic here?
Me: Don't always have visitors. These past two weeks have been a surprise. Got it. Here is where we are, and here are the Hunter Mountains. Closest town, unless you count Monowai as a town, which I don't, is Manapouri.
Adam: Hmm.

He started writing in his own journal, a black leather thing.

Me: It's a full day's drive, maybe two. You're probably going to have to stop in Queenstown. Do you have a car, Mister Alone?

He said he'd walk.We discussed what he'd need and what the town was like, he tricked me into drinking vodka from his hip flask, I managed to stop him getting Black to drink from it, and he gave me the doctor's journal for study.

That's everything up to date. Time for bed. He's leaving for the lab house in a few days, which should give me enough time to prepare.