"Did you find something useful on your field trip?"
James and William were now back to their office station where several detectives like them sat in their own cubicles, scrolling through information that appeared on their desks in the form of strings of numbers and letters.
When they walked towards the area shared by only the two of them, they realised someone was already sitting in one of their seats like he owned the place.
"Why was I not briefed before you left on your trip to some potentially dangerous area without any backup?"
He was a huge man with a dark complexion and sturdy build. The man kept twirling the pen in his hand like it was a toy and asked without even looking up from his hand.
FIA
He pointed at the holographic words hovering over the desk and added, "Do you think this means Federal Investigation Agency or does it say James and Williams Private Investigation Department?"
Despite the commotion happening in their corner, no head turned in their direction. It was like what they were seeing was a regular routine of the day.
"Are you sure you want to discuss the details here, sir?" James, the tall blonde man with a carefree, spirited face and charming smile, chuckled without being slightly intimidated by his boss.
It was not that he did not respect the man or his post.
He did.
But despite their posts, the three of them were close enough to talk on first-name bases. They even shared dinner every Saturday night.
Jim Stevens. The Divisional Chief of the FIA, the head of the intelligence department in the South Federation.
The federation was a huge settlement with over Tens of thousands of kilometres from top to Bottom and left to right.
It naturally had several small sections that acted like cities and states.
There were five major Cities in the federation besides the smaller ones.
The North Federation, The South Federation, The East Federation and the West Federation.
Finally, the fifth one and the capital city of the Federation was called Utopia.
It was supposedly the heaven on earth in this Cursed world where all the luxuries, facilities and major powers of the world could be located.
It was the centrepiece of the last humans standing in the world.
"Follow me." Jim stared hard enough to make James embarrassed before standing up from the chair that creaked under his weight.
He led the two of them to his office at the far end of the hall from where he kept an eye on the whole department.
William jabbed his elbow in James’s side on their way back while signalling with hand signs.
’Why do you always have to be a smart ass? Can’t you see he is in a bad mood.’
James almost snorted out loud before signalling back. ’When is he not in a bad mood? I am starting to think he was born with that stone-cold look on his face. He must have been the one who slapped the doctors who delivered him and not the other way around.’
"Do you guys seriously think I cannot sense your movements just because my back is turned towards you?" Jim suddenly interrupted the chat before William could respond. They had reached the door to his office when the man turned around and stared blankly at them. "Grow up, will you? You are case officers of the FIA. Not some kids in college; sometimes I wonder why I even agreed to keep you guys on my team."
"Because we get the work done?" James asked cheekily as he slipped into the office right in front of the man. William followed after him with his head lowered in shame. He was ashamed by the actions of his partner.
"Fucking Hell." Jim rolled his eyes and took the seat behind his desk while the two officers sat opposite to him. "Now, tell me what you found out."
"Well, sir, we were following the lead collected by the Ministry of Federation Security (MFS) and came across some disturbing things." William started the report while waving his hand in the air, and several images appeared on the empty desk of the Divisional Chief.
Jim looked at the images of slaughter that had occurred in the abandoned warehouse and did not even blink.
It was like nothing could shake him.
"These were taken in a small town at the edge of the southern port where we had many cases of disappearance reported. Not only that but even the police officers in charge of investigating ended up disappearing as well."
"We had first sent one of the MFS’s men to check out the site of disappearance and collect evidence since it’s their department and we did not want to step on their toes, but when there was no response for 48 hours, we went in to check personally."
That was when the image of the man. Hanging upside down from the ceiling by a thick metallic chain appeared before Jim.
"Are you saying they killed one of our own?" Jim’s eyes flashed with killing intent, and suddenly the air in the room stilled. William and James found it harder to breathe.
They did not even have to answer the question as they knew it was not one.
When Jim finally reached the last image, his expression finally changed. His lips curled up in distaste, and he slammed his hand on the table. "Goddamn it!"
The two detectives did not seem surprised by his reaction. The image he was looking at was not any disturbing images from before. But it was the image of the sigil they found at the front of the warehouse.
"The Eye Of Kuber!" Jim spat coldly, circling his hands into a fist. "It’s those terrorist bastards again? Have we confirmed their involvement, or is someone pinning the blame on them?"
"The sigil is an original." James interjected from the side. "It is the signature move of The Children Of—"
"Don’t take their cursed name before me. It makes my blood recoil in disgust." Jim waved his hand with a huff and took out a cigarette from a drawer of his desk, and it lit up automatically the moment it touched his lips.
"It is perfectly functioning to keep the place and its contents hidden from anyone who is not at the Superpower stage. It is how they had been a step ahead of us in this investigation the whole time."
The meeting continued until Jim was read in on everything they had learnt. Once they were done, they formed a plan of action, going forward from here on.
"Is that a new assignment?" Just before the two of them were about to leave the office, Jim pushed a digital file across his table like swiping up on screen. James and Williams saw the notifications appear on their government-issued devices.
"As much as I want you guys to follow this terrorist group. Until there is no new intelligence, you will focus on building a cast against him."
While Jim was speaking, the two flipped through the file with the name etched on the top in bold letters.
It was the name of their new target.
Damian West. The Head Of the West Family Of the Southern Federation.