~~~~~
Jacobi approached the set of double doors that led to Plough’s office and offered his employee badge to the scanner when prompted. He walked through the doors and was immediately assaulted by the stench of burnt tobacco, a smell that he’d affiliated with the goblin since he was small.
Gabgoblin sat behind a large wooden desk and rapidly jabbed the keyboard with his clawed fingers. He didn’t even glance up to look at who had entered his office, he just began speaking. “Took yer sweet time getting’ here, didn’t ya?” His voice was raspy and guttural.
“Sorry sir, I was looking over this month’s reports.”
Plough snatched the dead cigar stub from his cracked gray lips and waved Jacobi’s apology away. “N’ermind that.” He smashed the cigar butt into the large ornamental stone ash tray that sat beside his intercom then pointed to a small chip at the edge of his desk. “Everythin’ ye need to know is in there.”
Jacobi walked forward and picked the data-chip up from the desk. “Reconnaissance?”
“Yep.” Gabgoblin had returned to his typing.
Jacobi stepped back. “Is that all sir?”
“Yeah, yeah. Now git, I want as much information as possible as quickly as possible.”
“Yes sir.” Jacobi turned on his heels and quickly strode from the room.
~~~~~
Jacobi’s office was the only other office on the top floor of the building and as he walked down the long white hall that connected the two rooms, an uneasy feeling rose from deep within him.
The three floors beneath the executive floor were all dedicated to the Security Department and each of those three floors had separate elevators to ascend to the next floor so it was almost impossible to reach the top floor without being noticed by someone. Not to mention that in order to gain access to any room or elevator in the building one would have to present a valid Gabgoblin Employee access card. Security was tight, but Jacobi still got the feeling that he was being watched.
He reached his office, flashed his badge and shut the door as he quickly went to his desk.
“Great,” Jacobi thought to himself. “Did Gabgoblin find out about my plans? When I go investigate this job there’s going to be an ‘accident’ right?”
“Calm yourself, no one is here. Gabgoblin knows as much about the Outrunner as you do about the two people mentioned in that folder.” The voice of reason spoke up as Jacobi started to panic.
Jacobi took a deep breath. The voice of reason was rarely wrong. Jacobi set the chip on the data-port and the hologram floating above his desk switched to the mission ledger. His task was to locate and collect information on two “missing” workers from Gillian’s Junkyard, a large-scale operation on the south side of Titan City. According to the report filed by Gillian, an old friend of Gabgoblin’s, the two employees broke into his house and stole a certain object before disappearing without a trace. Jacobi scanned the various documents that were in the file. He found a roster of Gillian’s employees, it didn’t designate who were the missing two, but he memorized the names just in case he might need them.
Gabgoblin employees went “missing” all the time, Jacobi had always supposed that they had all gotten tired of being the tyrant's slaves and ran away. This was the first time that he had received orders to track down missing workers, was it a sign? Did Gabgoblin actually know about his plan to escape?
“Pure coincidence,” The voice of reason chimed in. “Look at all of the details, the workers aren’t important. Gabgoblin wants you to find this ‘certain object’ for him; it’s obviously something important to him.”
Jacobi re-read the paragraph. It was possible that Plough wanted the object, but why wouldn’t he just say so in the first place?
“It’s a secret.”
Jacobi considered this. He just needed to get through one more day of this slavery and until then he would act as normal. If it was an investigation that Gabgoblin wanted, it was an investigation that Gabgoblin would get.
Jacobi copied the information from the chip onto his handheld computer and walked across his office as the files downloaded.
He would start his investigation at the old residential district on the outskirts of Titan City. Once home to all Gabgoblin employees, the old residential district used to be a bustling neighborhood full of business and leisure, but it was abandoned for a new set of apartment buildings located closer to the heart of the city. Plough claims it was to improve employee quality of life, being closer to Headquarters and all, but Jacobi knew that it was moved closer so that the Security Department could keep a closer eye on Gabgoblin’s slaves.
Now the old residential district was just a run-down block of apartment buildings. The slums, as they were often referred to, served as a safe haven for anyone who had come to Titan with dreams of making it big but lost it all before they could achieve their dreams.
Jacobi had never personally been to the slums, but he had heard rumors of Gabgoblin employees “disappearing” near the squalid neighborhoods. The same gossipers who told the stories of the abductions also told tales of a mysterious “anti-Gabgoblin” syndicate who operated out of the Titan City slums. Baseless rumors really. If such an organization truly existed Plough would certainly know about it, and in turn, Jacobi would too.
He reached the small closet in the back of the room and removed his Gabgoblin Industries garb and pulled a silvery-white spiralweave shirt over his head and followed by a pair of dark pants with a similar silver sheen.
When Jacobi first learned of spiralweave technology, a special cloth-like material woven from ultra-fine threads of Spiralium, he brought the information to Plough and told him of the benefits it would bring to his police force; protection greater than that of regular bullet-proof armor without the bulk and restraint of the traditional clothes, but Gabgoblin shot the idea down due to the high cost of the spiralweave technology.
“A unit saved is a unit earned!” The greedy tyrant liked to say. Shortly thereafter, when Jacobi was promoted to the goblin’s personal assistant, Gabgoblin gave him a set of spiralweave armor that looked like an every-day set of street clothes. “Yer gonna be in some dangerous situations sometimes. Ya might want to have this stuff with ya when ya are.”
If he was really going to take a trip to the slums he’d have to be extremely cautious. He pulled the head armor, a hat similar to a fedora, down over his hair and crouched down to a small chest hidden in the back of the closet. From the chest Jacobi pulled a small handgun and sling holster. He equipped the sling, checked the gun for rounds and confirmed that the safety was on before slipping it into the holster. He slid two extra clips into the opposite side of the sling and grabbed his dark-colored spiralweave coat to hide the weapon.
He had never fired the weapon outside of the shooting range, and he hoped to keep it that way, but the weight of the firearm on his side made him feel safe. He double checked his image in a mirror and made sure that his weapon was properly hidden before grabbing his P-COM from his desk exiting his office.
As soon as Jacobi walked into the white corridor the feeling of being watched returned. He glanced around but found nothing. He steeled his nerves and walked to the elevator at the end of the hall.
He didn’t think that Gabgoblin even had a clue that he had a plan to escape from Titan, but he wouldn’t slip up and give his boss any reason to suspect anything either. He reached the elevator and pushed the button. He hid his nervousness behind a flawless poker-face as he waited for the car to ascend.
The bell rang and the doors parted. Jacobi stepped into the car and began his descent through the maze that led to the ground level.
~~~~~
Jacobi walked down the crowded streets of Titan City a dry heat hung in the air and sweat started to bead on his brow as he stopped to wait for a traffic signal to change. He thought about taking a taxi to the slums, but quickly dismissed the idea. Anyone who would take a taxi that far out of central Titan City would draw attention and Jacobi knew
not to trust anyone, especially not a taxi driver.
The feeling of being watched had persisted throughout his entire journey down Gabgoblin Headquarters but had lessened once he merged with the crowd that filled the sidewalks. Every now and then Jacobi would steal a quick glance behind him but each time he did no one stood out to him. The voice of reason was also quiet, so Jacobi continued onward.
By the time Jacobi reached the outskirts of Titan City a steady stream of sweat had formed on his cheeks. The crowds were nearly gone this far away from the center of town and the empty streets seemed somewhat foreboding. Jacobi stood in the shade of an abandoned skyscraper and wiped the sweat from his face with the sleeve his jacket.
He waited in the shade for a few more minutes, watching the alley that he would take into the slums; no one came or went. The nagging feeling of being watched had disappeared. If someone had been watching him they had either lost him in the crowds or had given up the chase.
“Or they stepped up their game.” The voice of reason added.
“I thought no one was following me.” Jacobi thought back at the voice.
“No one was following you at G.I. HQ…” The voice teased.
Worry flooded Jacobi’s thoughts. “Are they from Gabgoblin? Or somewhere else?”
The voice stayed quiet.
Jacobi glanced around. The streets were now completely empty and the shadows from the buildings started to grow longer, it would be dark soon.
“There’s no turning back now buddy.” Jacobi mumbled to himself as he pushed himself from the wall and headed straight to the alleyway.
A thick layer of dirt seemed to cover everything out in the slums and as soon as Jacobi entered the alley he could see footprints and judging by the amount of dust that had settled inside the prints, in this case very little, he knew that they were fresh. They were probably less than an hour old.
Three sets of feet walked into the slums. He wasn’t a detective like the ones from the novels he used to read, but he did have a keen eye and he determined that two of the three sets of prints belonged to males. One set was particularly large and Jacobi hoped that he wouldn’t have to confront the beast of a man that they belonged to. The size of the second shoe was slightly bigger than his shoe and the third set of footprints were rather tiny. Halfway through the alley the large set and the tiny set turned around and headed back out.
Jacobi looked back to the opening of the alley. No one was there. He followed the third set into the courtyard of an apartment complex.
Several pairs of tracks, Jacobi counted at least six, converged to the center of the yard where, apparently, a struggle took place.
Jacobi crouched down to examine odd scorch marks on the cement. The first thought that occurred to Jacobi was Tel’amin technology, but upon further inspection he decided it was from normal fire.
“A flame-thrower then?” Jacobi mumbled.
From what he could tell the three people had entered the alley, the man in the lead must have discovered the trap and sent his companions away while he acted as a distraction to whoever was waiting for them.
There wasn’t any blood and the stench of charred flesh was nowhere to be found. They must have knocked the man out and taken him hostage.
“Then what about-” Jacobi started to mumble when the feeling of being watched returned tenfold.
“He’s big…” The voice whispered and Jacobi dove to the side as a large shadow approached him from behind.
Jacobi drew the handgun and clicked they safety off, but before he could raise the gun to get his assailant in his sights a huge hand grabbed the gun and wretched it from his grip.
Jacobi beheld his attacker and terror loosened his control over his body. The man was easily ten feet tall. His hand was larger than Jacobi’s face and when he covered Jacobi’s mouth he also obscured Jacobi’s vision.
He felt the large man’s arm wrap around his midsection and pull him off of the ground. There was a whirl of motion and Jacobi felt dizzy. Then, suddenly, they stopped.
The giant removed his hand from Jacobi’s face and held a finger up to his lips. “Shh.”
Jacobi nodded; he feared that if he had screamed for help the giant would kill him. He looked around, the man had brought him back to the alley way that he had entered the slums through and they were hiding behind a dumpster.
“Don’t scream. I’m not going to hurt you.” The giant whispered, he couldn’t pronounce his “r’s” so “scream” sounded like “squeam” and “hurt” ended up sounding like “hut”.
Jacobi nodded once more. He didn’t know if he should believe the giant that was crouched down before him, but considering the frightening speed that the giant had displayed in disarming him, Jacobi wouldn’t stand a chance if he tried to run.
The giant was about to speak when he suddenly looked up over the trash bin. Jacobi focused his ears to try and hear what was happening. He overheard two men who had entered the courtyard.
“Where’d he go?”
“I dunno, he was here and now he’s gone.”
“He must have seen you; do you think he was with them?”
“I dunno he was lookin’ at the ground. Look a gun!”
Jacobi stopped listening when the giant ducked back down and once again put his finger to his lips. The giant looked behind them, as if judging the distance between the dumpster and the end of the alley.
“You go that way, I’ll check down here.” Jacobi heard as footsteps started in their direction. “Remember, the boss said shoot ‘em on sight.”
The second man grunted a reply.
The giant shuffled to his toes, he was getting ready to run.
The footsteps drew closer and slowed. Jacobi heard the “click” of the safety of a gun being switched off.
The giant suddenly leapt forward and crashed into the dumpster. The metal bin went flying into the approaching man and he screamed as the dumpster crashed into him and sent him to the ground.
Before he knew what was going on Jacobi felt a large object collide with his stomach. All the air left him and his consciousness quickly faded.
The last thing he heard was a gunshot echoing in the alley.
~~~~~
Cool air caressed Jacobi and he felt his muscles contract as he shivered. Pain radiated from his stomach. He opened his eyes, not sure what to expect. A detention cell? A hospital room? Some decrepit room-turned-prison in the slums? A pool of his own blood and the overturned dumpster?
The answer, to his surprise, was none of the above.
His eyes shot wide open and he took in the view of his apartment in black and white, the color of the world was still lost in his unconsciousness.
“Jay!” The sound was muffled but Jacobi still knew who the voice belonged to.
Charlie jumped into his black and white world. A smile full of relief twisted the monkey’s face in a way that Jacobi had never seen before.
He turned his head and the world spun, his stomach churned and pain arched his back.
He panted as a cold sweat broke on his cheeks. The world slowed and focused. The giant sat on the ground with his legs crossed and his hand neatly folded in his lap, piles of books that cluttered the entirety of the apartment surrounded him. Beside him stood a small girl, long powder-blue hair hung all the way to her knees, black streaks marred her hair in an odd, almost floral, pattern and her bangs were cut just above her eyes. Judging by how she measured up to the couch she couldn’t have been much taller than five-foot-four, Jacobi dropped the estimate down by two inches after noticing the lip on the bottom of her large black boots. And despite the arid weather that visited Titan this time of year, the girl wore a heavy fur-lined coat that looked to be two sized too large, and to top it off a wool scarf was coiled about her neck. A blue skirt stuck out from the bottom of the coat, fell to the girl’s knees and then gave way to black leggings that led all the way into the tops of her boots. But even though most of her features were hidden behind her out-of-season clothe
s her face was un-obscured; her pale skin was flawlessly smooth and her features were set in an emotionless display that rivaled Jacobi’s own poker-face. Her brilliant blue eyes seemed to pierce Jacobi’s green eyes as she stared intently at him.
Jacobi realized that the color of the world had returned, as did the smells, sounds and feelings; his stomach pulsed in a constant rhythm of pain.
Jacobi noticed he must have been gawking at the girl and shook his head. “How did I get here? What happened? Who are you people?”
Charlie jumped up and down on the coffee table. “They busted in here, you were unconscious. I couldn’t do anything.”
“Somehow that seems odd coming from you, being a former breaker-and-enterer yourself and all...” The voice of reason snapped.
“Mister Myles,” The girl spoke at last. Her voice sounded as soft and smooth as her skin had looked. “My associate here saved you from being killed,” Jacobi remembered the gunshots he had heard and checked the source of his pain. There was no wound. Either the spiralweave armor had done its job or he wasn’t hit by a bullet. “He knocked you out and carried you here; we aren’t going to hurt you. We need your help.”
Jacobi straightened -or at least he tried to- pain rippled down his back once again and he hunched over, resting his elbows on his knees. “What would a kid want my help for?”
“A kid?” She sounded mad. Jacobi looked up to find her emotionless mask replaced with red-cheeked irritation. “I’ll have you know that I am older than you.” Her hand was hidden behind the large sleeve of her coat, but Jacobi could tell that she had jabbed her finger through the air as if to emphasize her words.
For some reason his heart fluttered at her angry outburst. However, her age was no surprise to Jacobi, he could tell by the mature air that she carried that she wasn’t a child; he was just testing the waters. “I see.” His words were unapologetic.
He had been kidnapped and now two strangers who had broken into his apartment were asking him for his help. “The nerve of some people.” The voice of reason spoke, it almost made Jacobi laugh but he caught himself and only let a tiny smile creased his lips.
“W-what’s so funny?” Her cheeks were starting to glow pink.