Masks XXVIII: Old School

by

Rodford Edmiston

Part Seven

The Commissioner's assistant was a detective with many years on the job. Lieutenant Danville knew when to just stand back and watch. Right now, he was watching a team of expert searchers methodically go through Harmody's apartment, one section at a time. They weren't having much luck, but were barely started on their exploration of the several rooms where the gangster had lived his solitary life for the past few years. They began with the desk where the computer had been. There was nothing behind the desk, or on the bottoms of the drawers, or inside the desk once those were removed. The searchers moved on.

However, as well as knowing how to watch, the detective also knew how to look. As the CSI team worked elsewhere in Harmody's den, something caught Lieutenant Danville's eye.

The veteran detective walked over to the shelves where Harmody had stored his music CDs. There, under P, was a particular jewel case. It looked perfectly normal. The detective pulled the case out, opened it, and smiled.

"Found it," said Danville, calmly, holding up the clearly labeled DVD.

* * *

Again, there was a meeting in the office of the Detroit Commissioner of Police. Again, Officer Magrum was present, dressed in his finest, with his boss. The Police Commissioner's mood was an odd mixture of anger, frustration and satisfaction. Magrum seemed bored.

"Why did you say that Harmody's exact words were 'It's on the dark side of the Moon'?" demanded the Police Commissioner of the apparently calm Magrum.

"Because that's what he said."

"We know, now, that he must have said 'It's in The Dark Side of the Moon.' Why?! Why did you swear it was something else?!"

"Because that doesn't make any sense!" said Magrum, almost shouting. He was only just starting to realize that he was in trouble. Except that he knew he had done nothing wrong! Of course, that lack of culpability didn't mean they wouldn't try to blame something on him. He'd been through that before!

"Yet that was exactly where we found it! In the CD case for the album The Dark Side of the Moon!"

"I don't know anything about that," said Magrum, defiantly, now more certain than ever that he was being blamed for something which wasn't his fault. "I told you what he said!"

"Only you didn't, did you?!" said the Commissioner, barely holding in his anger. "You just admitted that. Well, this is the last straw; you're fired, and I don't care how many people in Human Resources that upsets. For willfully lying as part of a police investigation. One which involves a murder. You'll probably face charges, too."

Magrum finally became excited, showing a mixture of anger and fear. Mainly anger.

"You can't do that! I told you what he said! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Already started the paperwork."

"Well, I'll take you down with me!"

He glared at the others in the room, including Captain Anders.

"All of you!"

He stormed out.

* * *

"He what?!" said Anders, back in the Commissioner's office the next day.

"He's making wild claims to the press about our SWAT teams acting as assassination squads," said Lieutenant Danville, looking both tired and as if he had eaten something which was severely disagreeing with him. "He also produced an old computer power supply while he was being interviewed, waved it around and claimed it was the hard drive from Harmody's computer. That the Detroit police had actually found the computer but weren't interested in what it contained, and in fact threw the computer away. That he subsequently managed to extract the 'hard drive' and read what was on it. He's claiming that the reason we didn't want to find it is that it has proof of his claims."

"I bet he picked the power supply because it was the biggest thing in whatever computer case he opened," said Anders, tiredly.

"Nothing he says is substantiated, of course," said the Commissioner, "and his accusations are outrageous. He's actually claiming that we - that is, members of the Detroit SWAT unit - killed - executed - a bunch of people. That he saw another SWAT team member shoot Victoria Peltior while she was helping us with the sniper at the old Packard plant, a few weeks back. He says he reported this but we 'lost' the report."

"We caught the guy who shot her," said Captain Anders, confused. "After Magrum himself shot the guy. A guy who was probably there specifically to shoot Peltior. Said shooter was later murdered to keep him from talking. He wasn't a SWAT team member or part of the police force or even from this area!"

"Yeah, but Magrum is claiming that the sniper was working for the city as a SWAT member, and that he - Magrum - was fired for shooting the guy to stop him from finishing off Peltior. Some of the local reporters have taken what he's saying as gospel and are 'investigating the claims.'"

"I bet that crazy bitch Candace Ornoth is one of them."

"No bet," said the Commissioner, with a tired sigh.

"Well, even with Magrum making trouble, it was worth it," said Lieutenant Danville. He had, after all, come here to report directly to Commissioner after seeing for himself what had been found on the DVD. "That disc is turning out to be a gold mine of information about Kostinos' organization. Of course, the first thing we did was make copies and widely distribute them. We even sent one to the FBI.

"Unfortunately, the contents aren't sorted in any way. He just saved items to the disc as he got the information. Harmody had apparently been doing this since becoming a member of Kostinos' inner circle over a year ago, maybe as insurance. Still no idea why he turned against Kostinos. There's so much stuff it's taking our people a long time to work through it and figure out what's important."

"Good news, anyway," said the Commissioner. "I hate that Harmody died - and we're still checking on how it got out that he was about to inform on Conrad Kostinos - but at least we have that information. Good work."

"Well, Harmody did most of the work," said the computer guy who was there with Lieutenant Danville. He was a member of the Detroit Crime Scene Investigation team. He gave a careless shrug. "We're just reading what he put on that DVD. By the way, that disc was last written to just a week ago. Harmody didn't even encrypt anything on it. I guess he figured that whoever found it would either need to read it quickly if they were good guys or they would just destroy it if they were bad guys."

* * *

"People forget - or maybe never knew - that neutralizers depend on the Rukh-Benet Hypothesis, which goes back to the Thirties," said Vic, quietly, to her boss as they waited for the presentation in the auditorium of the Detroit Police Department's main building to begin. "Even though their explanations for what they described were proven wrong, the effect those two discovered still works to counter powers. Well, active ones. Their work also laid the foundation for regeneration tanks."

The topic had come up because of Drake mentioning that all the federal LEO offices in the Detroit area were about to be issued new neutralizers.

"I did not know that," said Drake.

"Yeah," said Vic, nodding. "The guy who taught us about neutralizers at Ramsey even had some of the original pieces of equipment used by Rukh. Though most of it can't be handled without protective gear, since it is still radioactive. They were a lot more casual about that stuff back then.

"Anyway, as soon as governments officially admitted that super powers existed, they started looking for a way to control them. They eagerly latched onto the work of Rukh, Benet and those who assisted them and followed up on what they did. Not realizing they would need another decade before the first working neutralizers would be produced, and that each of those units would take up a large room. Not unlike the computers of that era."

The murmur in the auditorium quieted as the Detroit Police Commissioner walked to the podium.

"Good afternoon. I have called this meeting to discuss a recent dangerous event involving a super. It appears that Trinity has returned. He was seen flying over downtown Detroit. Sometimes quite low."

Vic was shocked, and she could tell that Drake was, as well. The explanation given ahead of time for the briefing was that there had been some sort of super-related radiation incident, which was why the two of them were there. As well as reminding Vic about the work of Rukh and Benet.

Trinity was a former nuclear-powered hero, named after the first atomic weapon test. He was a scientist who was fatally irradiated in a critical mass accident and became basically an atomic zombie, as had at least two other supers of that era. His powers eventually drove him insane, and he later turned villain. One who had an unexplained antipathy for Detroit. Trinity was destroyed by a group of heroes in the early Sixties. All of those involved in his defeat suffered some degree of radiation poisoning as a result, two of them dying of super cancer a few years later. The location of that final battle - which fortunately had taken place in the desert near Jackass Flats - was still unhealthy for long visits.

The Commissioner had video and still images - some of the material showing signs of ionizing radiation damage - which he presented to the assembled law enforcement officers. Some of what he put on the big screen behind and above him showed overt property damage and injuries. Only a few showed the distinctive blue and black costume of Trinity, and none of those images were clear.

"Another radioactive android?!" said Drake, in a low voice, echoing what Vic and likely some others in the large room thought.

"When a mad scientist finally solves a problem he or she wants everyone to know," said Vic. She sighed. "Of course, sometimes they just want to make use of something they worked hard to achieve and finally figured out."

"I think the activities of this one are intended to divert our attention away from the Conrad Kostinos investigation," said Drake. "Ignoring the fact that all law enforcement agencies are already involved with multiple investigations at once."

That this was likely not the actual super known as
Trinity was something the Police Commissioner obviously knew. That was also something which he made clear. However, whether this was the original or a duplicate, a human super or an android, there was an associated radiation hazard which needed to be addressed. The Commissioner began going over a plan to contain that radiation hazard.

"Y'know, 'Nukula' never made another appearance after destroying that plane," mused Vic. "Neither did 'Afterglow,' following his appearance in that volcano. They could all be one android, reconfigured."

"A sex-changed, atomic android?" said Drake, sounding doubtful.

"Well, most androids don't have a sexual identity," said Vic, amused. "Or any real identity. Or real personality. Andrea Kenniman being an exception."

"Not long after appearing here, Trinity was spotted over Seattle," said the Commissioner, after finishing describing his plan of action for dealing with the menace. He gave exact times for Trinity's last appearance over Detroit, and when he was first noticed over Seattle. The interval between those times was not large. "He could be back here soon, or never show his face here again. We'll just have to wait and see."

After the meeting was dismissed, Vic and Drake continued discussing what they had learned on the way to his Bureau-issue car.

"Well, there aren't that many radioactive supers left to copy," said Vic, philosophically. "Whoever is behind these will soon either start repeating, or move on to something else."

"Trinity could supposedly travel at the speed of light," said Drake, thinking over that bit of information. "If that's not him... Even Evangeline 'Jet' McCartney, the fastest known flying super now active, would have had trouble making that trip in that short of a time. There could be two of them. If it is an android that fast, capturing it would be very difficult."

"Or maybe the inventor teleported it in some way," said Vic. "More likely, it could have just made a suborbital flight, not needing air."

"Yeah, even the aliens we have contact with don't have practical teleportation."

"The whole world - the whole universe - is waiting for Niven-style teleporter booths," said Vic, tiredly. "Anyway, I suspect this android - if it is an android - was built by somebody with a connection to those super combat islands. Someone who probably has a base in that area. Which is likely why it was seen in the northwest. It was heading home."

* * *

Vic - in armor - had just finished dealing with a very low-level super who had tried to rob a bank when she was confronted by reporter Candace Ornoth.

Vic was on her way back to her car, intending to drive to the police station where the perp was being taken, for the follow-up work. Ornoth and her camera operator stepped around the rear of a van, blocking Vic's path. Neatly ambushing the federal agent. Vic realized, belatedly, that the van bore the markings of the TV station Candace worked for.

"I am here on scene where super enforcer Vic Peltior just apprehended a super felon calling himself Nitrous. So, where is your partner today?"

"Partner?" said Vic, knowing better but letting herself be drawn in anyway.

"Lady Green. She's nowhere to be seen."

"She works for the city," said Vic, ignoring the rhyme. "I work for the federal government. We sometimes work together but we're not partners. I was only here because the cops on the scene realized the perp was a super and asked the Bureau for help. I helped arrest him because he was a threat to the public. Last I heard, Lady Green was working a bad traffic accident downtown."

"I wanted to get both of you together to talk about how the analysis of the Lightning Wire plane crash was changed," said the reporter, her tone implying that Lady Green's absence were somehow Vic's fault. "How do you justify taking the blame from someone knocking the plane out of the air, and instead declaring it an accident?!"

"That wasn't actually up to anyone local. We got new information, from a qualified aircraft accident investigator. His analysis surprised us, too, but he's an expert with an experienced crew. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

The reporter ignored the hint and actually moved closer.

"Lightning Wire chartered that plane because you and Lady Green impounded their bus!"

"No, we didn't. That was the Detroit Police."

"Don't try sophistry with me!" said Ornoth. "You work for them!"

Vic didn't think that what she had said counted as sophistry, even if the other's cause and effect statements had been true, which they weren't.

"No, I'm a federal agent. As I just told you. I don't work for the city. Talk to them."

"They said to talk to you!"

"That's typical," said Vic, with a tired sigh. "No. Lady Green and I were asked by the city to help the Detroit city and Michigan state police with the stop, because Lightning Wire's members were all supers."

"That's a lie! They were normal people!"

"Tell that to Lady Green, who got injured by one of them. Now, if you don't have anything real to talk about, I have work to do."

"What about the Detroit SWAT gunning for you?" Ornoth shouted to Vic's back. She was ignored.