Episode 20-5: Hartford's Caveman

Our premium D.A.C (Dimension Alteration Cube) rests in the palm of my hand as I swipe through the items we chose to bring along with us after our departure from HQ. Whatever this beast is, it has feet, colossal feet judging by the imprint it left in the dirt. I stop browsing when I find IsPup, maybe he can track this thing using only the limited trace evidence we have. I click on his icon, set the cube down, and watch IsPup slowly come out from the top as a tiny version of itself, then slowly expand to its actual size. He carries his own remote in his mouth, and I take it from him and turn it on. IsPup barks to life, circling around on his wheels and leaving tiny tire marks in the dirt.

"IsPup? That's not a tracking skill," Ira points out, "you're just cheating."

"Technically," I say, "it was my idea to bring him along and use him, ergo my skill to pick what gadget I'm going to need and effectively apply in situations counts as tracking." I stick my tongue out at her for good measure. I touch the interactive pad and put him in Detective Mode, then I use the attached camera and focus the lens on the footprint. IsPup recognizes what I'm pointing at, and rolls over to sniff at it. His little red lights blinking suddenly turn green without blinking; he's got a trail to follow. "Okay, boy, take us to Timmy."

IsPup flies out of the alley into the street, following something beyond footprints that we can no longer see. I'm not entirely sure how or what he's tracing, I'm just glad the technology works.

"Do you think that thing got pretty far?" I ask Clyde.

"Judging by its size, I'm guessing it could travel a great distance in a short amount of time. This could take hours to track."

"Or seconds," Ira says, "I'm not letting my guard down for one moment. Didn't you guys notice how easily it snuck up on us? The next time, it'll go for our throats."

IsPup continues down the sidewalk and then breaks off into the grass and down a small hill. There's no construction this way, so it's mostly just trees down here with a few ditches with water caused by the local domestics.

I force IsPup to slow its speed down so we can have a better chance of defending ourselves from an ambush. "Oh good, now it's got trees to play with."

Clyde feels his holster and whimpers at the lack of Conviction. "I have to admit, this is the first time I want to be seen by the public eye."

"So, do we have a plan, or are we just going to get thrashed with style this time?" Ira asks.

"Hey, did you see how far it flung me? I get points for that distance," I say.

Clyde raises a hand. "Guys, shut up. I'm willing to bet that this thing is somewhere here, go ahead and call for backup using these coordinates." IsPup slows his pace even more until eventually he just stops. He turns around and gives a robotic bark, then proceeds to automatically change shape to a cube and shuts itself off.

"Huh, what happened to IsPup?" I ask. "Even his controller turned off, the power button does nothing." I reach for the D.A.C. and suck IsPup back into it. "We'll have to take it to tech to fix later."

A frantic scream coming from behind us makes Ira and I aim our guns at the source, but to our surprise, it is not a creature from hell, but instead, an anthro cat wearing nothing charges at us in full sprint. We quickly remove our barrels from this man's vicinity, but he continues his death march with his hands raised and a wild look in his eyes. He goes for Ira first, but a frantic fool is no match for an agent of Ispio. She quickly roundhouse kicks the side of his head, and he falls heavy, still conscious. She gets on top of him, sitting crossed-legged on the center of his back.

"What in the world is this man doing all the way out here?" Clyde asks.

"Why is he naked?" I ask.

"Why attack the girl of the group? Do I look like an easy target?" Ira asks.

The man struggles underneath Ira's weight, but it does nothing to help him. As he frantically splashes about, I catch a glimpse of his hands. "Clyde," I say, "look at his fingers! He's got a ring on each hand. This one is definitely the one in our possession."

Clyde bends down to hold the man's attention. "Explain yourself, how did you get this ring? Did you...take it from us?"

"I'm tired! I'm sleepy!" he exclaims.

I breathe deeply. "We all are, what makes you so special?"

Clyde reaches for the man's hands. "I'm taking this ring, we'll need to cross-examine it to make sure it's the same one."

As his fingers pinch the metal, the cat bats him away. "No! You will not take anything!"

"You're not the one with the upper hand here. Swipe at me again, and I'll break your fingers."

"I don't wanna see that, so it'd be best to just let us have it. Okay?" I say. Clyde stomps on one hand, pinning it in place so he can easily remove the ring from the finger. The man continuously protests, but ultimately loses. We're going to need to bring this guy in, there are way too many questions we need to ask him.

The cat begins to breathe strangely, taking in short breaths of air through his nose in a concentrated manner. " I need that ring, and you need to stop following me."

Clyde gives the ring to me. "No can do, and you're coming with us. We need to have a talk, I'll even let you nap if you come with no fuss."

He doesn't respond, but he begins to push himself up from the ground, almost as if he is completely ignoring Ira's weight.

"Whoa!" Ira shouts, "Guys, his breakfast kicked in!" She quickly dismounts from his back and stands next to us. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Don't hurt him," I say, "we can't risk losing information or time. We need to subdue him."

Clyde steps forward. "Easy there, friend, attacking us isn't the smart move. Come quietly, we can sort this out together." The cat says nothing, but he does take a step closer.

"Is this one of those famous speed bumps I hear your plans come standard with?" Ira asks.

I try to answer, but I'm cut off by the cat screeching harshly and hurling his body at us.