CHAPTER 2

Harry was now back at HQ and was seating on a bench by the hallway trying to make sense of what happened. The dead biker's body had already been taking for identification but Harry didn't need an examiner to know that the arrow had the same poison on it.

"Joshua wants to see you" Lucy said as she saw him seating there.

"You must be like a trouble magnet" Joshua said as Harry took a seat in the office.

"Is that a compliment?" Harry said.

"No" Joshua replied. He was standing by the window, looking down at the street.

Harry looked round the office, it had a big TV screen and a well organised desk, other than these the office was almost empty except for the empty trash can.

"You still smoke?" Harry asked.

"Sometimes, why?"

"Nothing, just curious" Harry said.

"Any info on our friend?" Harry asked again.

"Oh yeah, about that Forensics just called....." He said walking back to his seat

".....they got nothing, no finger prints, no means of identification at all" he concluded after taking his seat.

"Why go through all that trouble of hiding who he is?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, but I bet no one is coming soon for that body" Joshua replied as he search through his drawer. Then he pulled out a lighter and a cigarette,Harry watched him lit it and took a few puffs after which he got up.

"Please try and keep someone alive next time" Joshua said.

Harry nodded and left, as he got to the lobby, he saw Lucy sitting down where he was a few minutes ago. He made to walk pass without acknowledging her but when he got close enough she stood and said

"Hell of a day, yeah?"

Harry didn't stop, but just kept walking.

"Hey, hold on" she said now walking fast to keep up with him.

"What next?" She asked

"Am going home, I've had a hell of day as you've already said" He replied without taking a glance at her. His face still emotionless as ever, his cold gaze hidden behind his glasses.

"But its just 3:43pm" she said

"More reason I need to go home" he replied as he pushed open the front door.

But Lucy wasn't buying it and continue following him. They had left Agent's HQ and been walking down the streets, few cars were packed by the road side and cars scarcely passed the road, street light stood on both side and people were moving around going by their daily activities.

"You're not seriously following me home, are you?" He asked realizing she had been silently following him.

"Yes, I know you're not going home. So its either am coming with you or I'll be following you" she replied.

Harry took one cold look at her, he noticed she wasn't wearing what she wore when they got attacked. She now had on a black long sleeve; which she folded the arms, and a blue jeans, with a pair of black boots.

"Alright then, take me to the archives" he said.

"The archives? What does that have to do with anything" She asked.

"I'll explain on the way, if we take a cab" he said.

She nodded, looking down at the street she luckily saw an incoming vehicle and waved for it to pull over.

The vehicle looked like a rust bucket from the exterior with the color of the car looking brownish due to rust, but the tires looked new. The cab stopped and they got in.

"The archives" Harry said after they got in.

As the cab began driving he reached into his pocket and brought out a folded paper, giving it to Lucy he said

"Read Carefully"

Lucy opened up the folded paper and saw it was a list of names on the top of the list was boldly writing H.O.P.E.

"I.....I...I don't understand" she said after glancing at it.

"Aren't you curious why someone, after killing an executive would risk his life to cover up loose ends only to end up being killed by another accomplice?" He asked,as he kept staring at the moving road; kids playing on the street, people talking and other activities happening.

"How did you know it was the dead biker that killed the executive" she asked.

"While you were with Joshua, Forensic department confirm the biker's knife as the murder's weapon" he said.

"So why are we going to archives?"

"Because, I have unfinished work" he said still staring out the window.

"I don't understand" she said.

"Don't worry, with time you will"

She wanted to ask him something else but decided not to.

"We're here" said the driver as he pulled up in an empty parking lot.

"Thanks" Harry said as he got down and paid the driver.

They were now in front of a cathedral; the gates had fallen down and so had all statues and crosses. The stained glasses had been painted black and a lot of wires were coming in from the ceiling and they came from different sources.

They walked pass the broken down fence and through the

Opened doors and were now standing in a somewhat odd looking café. They were computers mounted almost at every inch of space with people using them, the various wires that could be seen from outside were connected to multiple devices, some went to the CPU and some were power supplies.

"Good afternoon, how may I help you?" asked a short full bearded man, now standing in front of them.

"I need some information, to go" Harry replied.

"Do you have a flash drive or should I just write it down on paper?" asked the man.

"No,don't you have one of those android phones?"

"We do, but its pretty expensive these days"

"How much?" Harry asked.

"10 gold coins" replied the man.

Harry sighed realising he didn't have that amount on him.

"We'll give you 8 gold coins,12 bronze and 3 silver" Lucy said when she noticed the silent was getting longer.

The man thought for a while and then said

"Fine, what information do you want?"

"General Zed, District 5 and Amam" Harry said.

"What are you, an agent?" the man asked getting suspicious.

"Just get me what I want will you?" Harry replied.

"Sure what ever" he said as he walked away.

"I almost forgot haggling is still a thing" Harry said to Lucy.

"You're welcome" she replied.

"Still, I don't have that sort of money with me"

"How much do you have?" She asked.

"8 gold pieces"

"Alright, I'll pay off the rest....but how does all this information relate to our case?" She asked.

"You'll find out soon" Harry replied with his eyes scanning for the short man.

They stood there for a few more minutes then Lucy broke the silence.

"What do you think this building was originally designed for?" she asked.

Harry took a moment to reflect on the question, then he said

"No one truly knows, some say it was meant to be a religious home, others say it was an art gallery. But as far as history goes, it was used as a refugee camp during the war"

"What do they do in a religious home?"

"I don't know, don't want to" Harry replied as he finally saw the man slowly approaching them.

"Here you go,one android phone complete with all your information, here's the cord and charger in case the battery dies" the man said as he handed the items to Harry.

Harry felt into his right pocket and brought out 8 gold pieces as Lucy checked her left to bring out the balance.

"Thanks for coming, have a great day" he replied as he gladly took the money and left.

As they left Harry scrolled through the phone, checking for the requested files.

"I heard you could once used that to make phone calls" Lucy said.

"Yeah, but during the war, someone found a way to drag down satellites from space, using them as weapons.....soon the only things that functioned required wires" Harry said as he continued scrolling.

"Look here" Harry said.

As Lucy turned he took a picture of her with the phone, the flash left her stunned for a second.

"What's that for?" she said smiling.

"So we don't have to go through this introduction again" he said as he kept the phone in his pocket.

Lucy looked at her wrist watch and said

"Its already 5pm, I got to go"

"Alright, good night" Harry replied.

"Won't you go sign out before heading home?" Lucy asked.

"No, I don't need to" Harry said and then started walking down the street.

"Okay, goodnight" she said, but Harry didn't reply as he had already backed her and didn't bother turning back.

Harry had walked almost 2 kilometers, past Geni street, the executive quarters and was now at Carpenter's valley. It was a noisy place by the edge of the district, there was always something being sawed in half or something being hammered.

Harry walked pass two Carpenter's shop and there an empty 3 storey building which had signs of having been recently caught up in flames stood by his right. By his left a building stood in between two bigger ones it had an address attached to the right wall, a few metres from the window, it read 'No. 34 Carpenter's valley'.

Harry bought out a single key from his back pocket and was about opening the door when he heard someone behind him yelled.

"Good evening neighbor".

Harry turned round only to meet an old lady probably in her 60's; she wore a white robe and had on her shoulder, a black scarf. She was holding on to a bicycle loaded with vegetables, Harry noticed this and wonder how at her age she was able to either paddle or roll the bicycle from the market to this place.

"Good evening" he replied with his casual look.

"I heard we had a new neighbor and I was passing by when I saw you trying to open the door, thought I come say 'hello'" she said as she drew a bit closer so as not to continue screaming. Harry on the other hand had finished unlocking the door and he then turned back to the woman and said

"Thank you for the warm welcome but as you can see I have things to do inside" pointing to the pitch darkness from inside the house and putting on a smile that looked like a grin, he made to go inside when she said

"Oohh, one last thing..."

"What?" Harry said with the smile disappearing almost immediately.

"....we are having a block party two days from now, I would like you to be there" she said putting on a lovely smile that exposed her marble white teeth.

"I'll try" Harry replied and quickly got in, shutting the door behind him before she could say another word.

He was now in the living room. It had no Tv, no radio, just one couch and a table. It was as if the room was stripped of anything identifying its owner; there were no pictures, no calendars, just a recorder and a flashlight connected to a socket. He took the recorder and went to his bedroom, the bedroom was messy; there were pills littered all over the floor and there was one calendar with dates marked till the very day they were in.

He took a pen that was lying on the window close to the calendar and marked out another day from the calendar with an 'X'

"20th January....." he said after turning on the recorder and seating on the bed.

"...I'm now in district 4, another executive's body has been found....our only lead was killed in front of my very eyes....shot down by an archer....oohh..and also Joshua is the head of district 4's Agency.....you've been assigned a partner and her name is Lucy, there's a picture of her in the phone......remember to take 2 pills from that one in the yellow cup and 2 again from the white cup....."

"...what else am I forgetting?......" he said as he tried to remember.

"....An old lady invited you to a party two days from today..and....all the files you might need for the next few months are in the phone, its pretty expensive so you might wanna be careful...also remember to buy toothpaste tomorrow...and go through the journal in the bag you're wearing for any other information" he ended the recording and fell back to the bed he laid there thinking, till a deep slumber finally ended all his thoughts.