Chapter 40: Miss D, D for Danger

It wasn't exactly too difficult to come up for an excuse for Hong Fu to leave the department and go hunting on his own, as he almost immediately found the suspect out of the list of people. However, he is cautious to reveal all of that information at once, as he noted down a set of nineteen other suspects each with individual reasoning for their potential involvement in the attacks. Then, Hong Fu made a run for it and returned to the Western Park.

It was mere hours after the incident, and the police department has closed up the entire park, turning the usually lively and relaxing resort into a barren wasteland of sorts. As Hong Fu strolled along the quiet footpaths, listening to the sounds of his own foot paths, he is activating Probable and tracking down the exact next steps of the attacker after the attack. All of this would have been incredibly easy starting from a known point in space and time, and that's is the monument.

'Show me the paths.' Hong Fu murmured, as he gripped Probable in his grasp and took a few breaths. The artifact activated and glowed in response to his commands, the images of the past is shown. When probing what has happened in the path, instead of seeing multiple paths ranked in order of their probabilities in the form of a tree diagram, Hong Fu instead saw a clear image of one hundred percent, as what has happened is set in stone already regardless.

The short human girl dressed in a black cloak was here seven hours ago, and then she took a normal exit, leaving through the western side of the gate towards the outreaches of the city. Tracing after her joyous steps, Hong Fu followed suit and continued out through the empty park, across the restricted lines and onto the streets filled with curious bystanders, reporters and holograms.

The path she took was mostly straight forward, with a few deviations into darker alleys with few surveillance cameras. One other thing that Hong Fu noticed is the change in her gait patterns, as she alters the way she walks both in terms of her stance and her rhythm, an expert move designed to trick the motion analysis software. Beings at her height wearing black cloaks are actually common enough on Geb 4 with all of the Rockies around, and Hong Fu would have easily lost track of her if not for the help of Probable.

The buildings began more and more simple and regular as Hong Fu continued walking towards the outskirts of the city, as the Rocky Laborer Alliance's standard multipurpose building assembly dominated the design, and some of these buildings cannot be more than a month's old as the city continued to grow out like a plant. And finally, the terrorist made a turn into a unsuspecting low building that cannot look more than seven floors tall.

Cutting away from probing into the past, Hong Fu instead plotted out where she is at this very moment as he leaned against the side of the building and pretended to be resetting. Hong Fu needed to know if she is staying in the same place and plotting for another attack, or is she going to move away into another safe house. His artifact proved to be extremely useful, and the possibilities are split and flickering in between she being here and moving to another location. This means that she is also on the verge of deciding what to do.

Meaning that there isn't an awful lot of time for Hong Fu. Also, she is definitely going to be hostile against him, thankfully, Hong Fu managed to grab a set of personal protective equipment which invovled a light jacket wearing underneath his jacket and a small personalized shield generator tucked away at the back of his hip.

A small combat pistol is also hidden in the fur of his right forearm in typical Rocky fashion just in case he needed to quick draw. However, he intended to gain her attention without having to fight, and pulling out a gun is likely going to do the opposite of what he intended.

Going into the quiet building and ignoring the AI at the entrance, Hong Fu followed the information given by Probable and headed towards the right floor. Scanning around the empty corridor, Hong Fu spotted multiple rooms with small packages left at the front door. So the identity of a carrier may be something that he can use.

Tapping the side of the marble, Hong Fu made sure of the exact location of the girl before stepping in front of the right door. Ensuring that he isn't triggering any secret traps laid out which will end with him laying in a pool of blood, Hong Fu pressed the door bell. From the images of Probable, the girl is visibly startled by the introduction as she scrambles to turn off all of the holograms in front of her, kicking a box under her bed and hopped towards the doorway while reaching for a pistol attached to the side of her.

She walked towards the door with light feet and looked through the security feed on the wall. She didn't saying anything, and Hong Fu knew he'd better knock again and declare his intentions.

'I am here for a delivery.' Hong Fu started, 'but this delivery will have to be signed for.'

The pistol is in her hand, and it is obvious that she hasn't ordered anything. Hong Fu will have to choose his words carefully now.

'The delivery is for the bubblegum, but I come in peace.' Hong Fu said, suppressing his voice, 'Whatever you are doing, I want to help. I just wanted a chance to talk.'

With his every action and word, the paths of probabilities shifted from him getting shot in the head and the shield generator saving his life to the girl making a run for it.

'I can help you.' Hong Fu continued, dropping a bigger bomb to the girl than the one she left behind at the monument 'and you need all the help you can get when you are trying to kill artifact users.'

The doors slid open, and the little human girl appeared. She has long white hair despite her short stature and young appearance, and her eyebrows are faint, her cheeks red. Her eyes, however, are dark like obsidian gemstones. She has no expression on her face except for that of slight annoyance, and she reached out with a hand.

'Why are you here?' She asked in a flat yet threatening tone.

'Like I said, I just wanted to talk.' Hong Fu said, his hands in his pocket and standing completely still, 'I have a weapon, but I do not intend to use it if you don't intend to kill me.'

'Keep your hand in your pocket and don't move it.' The girl said before glancing quickly in the corridor and moving aside, her right hand revealing the gun she has been holding in, 'come in.'

'Ah, I appreciate your hospitality.' Hong Fu said with a sly smile.

'It would have been easier to clean up if you are killed here.' She replied with an equally sly smile, and she is oddly adorable with that expression if not for the threat on Hong Fu's life.

The room is bare-boned, and the apartment complex looked like it has just been rented not too long ago with only the default set of furniture in place. She pointed towards a transparent table made of glass positioned in the middle of the living room and one of the two chairs located there.

'Sit.' She instructed, swing the gun around. The standard pistol looked comically large in her hand.

'How may I address you?' Hong Fu asked, following the instructions to the T and keeping his hand still in his pocket every step of teh way.

'You.' She replied, 'don't get too comfortable. Now, bring your hand out slowly one at a time and place it on the table.'

Hong Fu did as instructed, and she approached before swiping out the weapon tucked away in his fur and deactivating his shield generator in one fell swoop.

'Now, talk.' She said.

'I am an artifact user, just like you.' Hong Fu said off with the most spicy of news, cutting right to the case. He is not entirely worried about the fact that he no longer has access to Probable in his current state as he has already made preparations before hand to ensure this conversation stays between the two of them, plus any seasoned assassin would have done the exact same thing before hand regardless, 'And I am not the biggest fan of Brakagi, just like you.'

'Then why are you here? And how did you find me?' She asked, the hand holding the gun still steady as the barrel stared down at him.

'I am here to offer up an alliance.' Hong Fu said, looking down at the table which reflected the white lights coming down from the ceiling, 'I intend to collect evidence of Brakagi's involvement in the Phenomenon, and prevent him from doing anything similar ever again. Now, the way I have found you is thanks to my artifact.'

'You can do that?!' The girl seemed obviously upset that all of her best efforts amounted to nothing, 'al to kill you.'

'Precisely the opposite.' Hong Fu shook his head, 'I possess the exact power that will enable you to do whatever you needed to do. You need information on a lot of things, and that's what I can offer. However, I need to make sure your plans don't get in the way of my plan.'

'As expected.' The girl doesn't seem to enjoy saying more than four words at one time, but she at least bought in to Hong Fu's initial reasoning, 'give me information.'

'Not before I understood your objective.' Hong Fu said.

'You here as prisoner.'

'Do you think I will walk in here without a plan?' Hong Fu said, looking towards the windows outside, 'do you think I am willing to just risk my life for nothing? No artifact users are this stupid.'

'You threaten me?'

'I came here with a plan to work together, but it doesn't mean that I am working for you in a single bit. Now, do you want to take the deal, or not?'

'...' The girl blushed a little and looked to the side. Hong Fu wasn't expecting this reaction at the very least. She then bit onto her lips and turned and ran back into her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

'Huh?' Hong Fu tilted his head confused. Then, the sound of a holographic call came through, and it appeared the girl is talking to another being, rather intently. However, the sounds are muffled so Hong Fu couldn't quite make out the gist of the conversation beyond her exciting tone.

He didn't have to wait for too long for her return, and she looked like she has just went out running with how red her face is. Looking as if she is trying to hold back a big smile, she moved her feet and sat opposite Hong Fu before placing the gun on the table.

'I will...take the deal! Take the deal!'

'Then what was all that about?'

'Don't....Don't think about it!' She said, shaking her head violently as her long white hair danced around, 'I was hired to shake up the One Rock Government and people's trust in Brakagi, and it appeared our interests align, in trying to get rid of Brakagi.'

'Ok...' Hong Fu nodded, 'was that what the call was about?'

'....' She refused to answer and looked away, 'I am Miss D, D for danger.'

Is this for real now? Hong Fu felt like life has been a big joke. Isn't assassination supposed to be a serious bussiness? What's with the involvement of little girls and wacky nicknames?

Hong Fu lets out a loud chuckle, and Miss D blushed even harder. She slammed her fist on the table and demanded, 'Don't laugh! I will kill you!'

'I am sorry...' Hong Fu tried to hold it back, as the bizarre situation he found himself in is funnier the more he thought about it, what's the deal with cartoon-y villains in the post modern age? 'How old are you even?'

'I am twenty five!' She protested, 'I am not a girl! I am a woman!'

Damn. Hong Fu laughed ever louder.

After Hong Fu has finally recovered from his laughing streak, it's finally time to talk business. Obviously, Miss D isn't going to disclose both the details of her employer and the power of her artifact, and neither is Hong Fu willing to offer up all that he knew about it all. Rather, it's simply a piece of mind for the two of them to be aware of another playing in this fight.

'Terrorist attacks in this age...' Hong Fu finally got around to the immediately relevant topic at hand, 'it isn't going to work like in the ancient ages. If you want to attack an establishment, you have to do it through other means. Through information, through propaganda, through the masses.'

'Means to an end.' Miss D said with a wide grin on her face, 'less useful, still fun.'

'I am also part of the police department.' Hong Fu said, 'that's my cover, and my job would be stop you before you pull anything else stupid, which is why I recommend you change you strategy and instead go after certain information centers and record rooms. I will provide you with such information once I have obtained them.'

'Boring.' Miss D threw her hands up in the air, 'useful, but boring.'

'Deal with it.' Hong Fu leaned forward, 'that's the deal. I need someone to create scenes here for a distraction, but I don't want the entire thing crumbling down.'

'Hahahahaha.....' Miss D laughed frantically and pulled out a pack of nutty snacks from her pocket before popping it open. Peanuts.....Hong Fu immediately recognized the composition of the snacks, 'whatever, Rocky traitor. You already have my details.'

'I do indeed.' Hong Fu said, 'and you have mine. I look forward to our cooperation.'

'Yeah yeah...' Miss D waved it off and pointed her hand towards the door, 'I have more preparations. See yourself out.'

As Hong Fu left for the police department once again from the outskirts of the capital city, he wondered if he had made the right choice. Certainly, having an artifact user running around would be extremely helpful for his mission in gathering information on Brakagi, particularly proof of his involvement in the destruction of the Olympus system, though this is an extremely thin line to tread. Miss D might have been too wild of a card to control, and her rampage in the area might be counter-productive to his very own mission, or even directly oppose it at times.

Looking at the spying tabs he attached to the bottom of the seat and the table, Hong Fu ensured they have all been turned on and feeds right into his personal interface. With this, he should have a decent idea of Miss D's plans, if whatever he can see from Probable isn't enough.

On his personal interface, a message from Vindy is left on unread, as she and Jozzor has been training at the compounds on the outskirt of the city. Judging by the travel time, it seemed unlikely that Hong Fu can make it there on time. So instead he opted to perform his training and practice at home.

Vindy came back in less than hour as Hong Fu is just about half way through his calisthenics training session.

'How was your new job?' Vindy asked, as she dropped off her bags at the door and waved a hand towards him, 'found anything?'

'Nothing in particular.' Hong Fu lied, continuing what he was doing through the set as he pushes his body up and away in the single arm push up position, 'whoever did it was good.'

'Artifact user?'

'Very likely.' Hong Fu admitted, 'motives are unknown beyond the general displeasure with Brakagi, however.'

'Oh...' Vindy said, slightly disappointed by Hong Fu's downer mood. However, she is still happy to return to their own home after a day of work, especially when everything looks just fine in terms of Brakagi and Jozzor's behavior. If they really think of the decaying of Olympus B as a natural accident, Brakagi and Jozzor actually appeared to be the saviors of the people living in that system, capitalizing on the failures of the galactic government.

This is exactly how most of the public is thinking of the One Rock government too. Those that cast doubts are also coincidentally previously known as anti-Rocky racists, which drastically undermines their trustworthiness as the entire galaxy is placed in this false dichotomy. Either you are think Brakagi is the future of galactic leadership that can do no wrong, or you are a racist hater.

This is exactly the kind of atmosphere that is trying to be set up by Brakagi, and only a handful of people knows about it. Brakagi is a symbol right now, and the only way to tear down a symbol would be to expose its dirty side, while offering the herds a new symbol to latch onto. Hong Fu isn't stupid enough to say that Zero will act as a better symbol than Brakagi, but at least Zero is way more subtle with his influences in the underworld, compared to Brakagi who literally came to the scene swinging, hitting the GBI headquarters, overthrowing the previous Rocky regime and dropping a sun.

The more Hong Fu thinks about all of these situations, the more he realized that there may not be a pretty ending for whatever he is doing. There are truly no heroes and villains in this story, just people with clashing dreams and the will to see their dreams through.

'Hong Fu? Are you okay?' Vindy asked, placing a hand on his body and shaking him out of his thoughts, 'is everything really okay?'

'Yeah...hopefully.' Hong Fu said, giving her a smile before grabbing her and giving her a hug. She returned the gesture albeit being slightly confused by it.

'It will be okay...'