Episode 20-3: Hartford's Caveman

Now, this is strictly against the rulebook. Units of the same quadrant are to never, under any circumstances, meet each other in person. We are all supposed to have anonymity from any other agents on the field for safety reasons, but here we are peering over another agent of Ispio laying still in the hospital bed. It's a male human, and he's in really bad shape. His partner, an anthro, female rabbit sits next to him grasping his hand gently. Her eyes are puffy from crying.

Clyde is the first to introduce us. "Hello, ma'am. My name is Clyde Barker, this is my partner, Troy Hearth."

"Hello," I say, waving a hand.

"It's awkward to meet you," she tells us, a small smile being forced onto her miserable mood. At least she still finds humor in dark times. "My name's Ira Reisser, and this dumb pile of bones is Jonah. Redman, by the way."

"Dumb pile of bones?" Clyde asks.

"Yes, a dumb pile of bones. Whatever it was that got him ripped off most of his skin, all because he had to investigate something strange going on in an alleyway. Nearly got himself killed, and he's just lucky I knew how to keep him alive long enough for Nivans to piece him back together."

"It looks like a close call," I comment.

"It was, I had to scoop him up and put him in a bucket to get him here," she jokes, but her voice gets caught in her throat, and newly formed tears dwell in the corner of her eyes. She sniffles and says, "Sorry, I don't mean to. We've been working together for so long now, you get attached, I'm sure you know what I mean."

I have to look away from her eyes, but Clyde keeps a stone-cold face. He asks her, "What do you know about the attack?"

She stares back at Jonah. "Nothing. We abandoned our car to take a short walk to a store we like. I get a little ahead of him and..."

"And?"

Her cheeks turn pink, and she can no longer look Clyde in the eye. "Well, I just tease him a little, try to get him to chase me. I shake my butt a bit and run away. I really thought he was right behind me."

"What store were you going to?"

"Dust Collector. It's an antique store that we frequent."

"I know the place," I say, "we can try the alleys around that area next."

Clyde directs his attention back to Ira. "Were you two running a mission in the city?"

She shakes her head.

"No? Just what exactly were you and your partner doing today? I assume it was your unit that called in the suspicious body?"

"Yes, that was us. It's our day off today, we were just hanging out, we didn't expect any of this."

Just suddenly, Jonah begins to stir in his bed, his eyes slowly creep open and his head swivels with the speed of a newborn baby. Ira is ecstatic but refrains from throwing herself on top of him in a painful hug, so instead, she continues to hold his hand and pet the top of it.

"Jonah! You're alive! I mean, I already knew that because the doctor told me! How are you feeling? Do you need water or food, I can get you more blankets if you're cold."

Jonah coughs violently and holds a hand up to shush his elated partner. "It's okay, Ira, I'm fine."

"Jonah," I say.

He looks at me, then at Clyde, then at me again. "Who are you? Where's the doctor?"

"I'm agent Hearth, and this here is agent Barker. I know this is quite soon for you, but do you have the strength in you to answer some questions?"

"Hearth and Barker? The Legendary Duo?"

"I prefer Barker and Hearth," Clyde mentions.

He groans in pain before continuing. "I know you, sometimes the office workers gossip about success rates. Now I can put a face to those stories."

"I'm rather flattered, agent Redman, but we're here to talk about you. I'll start by simply asking what happened."

He scratches the back of his head, tinting the tips of his fingers in a fresh coat of blood. "We were walking, Ira and I, to a place--"

"Heard it," Clyde interrupts, "what happened in the alleyway? What did you see?"

He pauses for a moment. "I--I don't know. It was dark, and whatever it was, it was fast. It made a strange, deep moan I'd never heard before, so naturally, I had to check it out. I was separated from my partner, a real rookie move on my part. Maybe it's better that it was just me who went to investigate."

Clyde frowns. "So you have no clue what you saw in that alley?"

"I'm afraid not, I'm sorry to say."

Clyde scratches his chin, thinking to himself about something. Maybe our next move? "How long are you scheduled to be incarcerated here?"

Jonah looks on with a lost face, he'd been unconscious the whole time. Ira answers for him. "The doctor said to make a full recovery with zero percent damage would take two days." Two days to come back from this amount of damage? What in the world is in that doctor's Miracle Serum? Can I lose a limb and he grows it back?

"Ira," Clyde says, "you're coming with us."

"What?" she asks concerningly. "I can't just leave my squad leader here on his own."

"I do believe he is in good hands. We need you to show us exactly where that attack happened, it'll save us time compared to checking the general vicinity."

She stands up, back straight and nose in the air. "With all due respect, agent Barker, this entire meeting is off the books. I can't just accompany another unit on a case that's not registered under my number."

I tug at Clyde's sleeve. "She's right, we can't go hijacking another agent from a different unit. That's highly inappropriate."

He grunts but keeps his eyes on Ira. "Then come with us to Adams so she can approve this action." Poor Ira looks around the room at everyone in confusion, disbelief, and perhaps some embarrassment for being put in the spotlight which gets more and more bright as each second ticks away. She loses her conservative stance in favor of one more timid and indecisive. Jonah reaches for her hand and grabs it gently.

"Go with them, Ira. It's worth a shot to work with another unit if it means taking that thing off the streets. Other folks aren't so lucky to have a doctor like ours."

She doesn't say anything, but her eyes get a fire as she nods. "Ok, I'll go," She grabs the phone on the table and hands it to Jonah. "Call me if you need anything, I'll make sure you get it. Promise?"

He smiles warmly at her and takes the phone into his hand. "Got it."

"Promise me!"

"I promise." He lets go of her hand, slowly sliding it off and falling limp by his side. She takes one last look at him before accompanying us to Carlotta's office.