Takeshi hefted his backpack, as he stared out from his apartment window to see the vast expanse of Europe. His role here for now was over; it was time to go elsewhere. Though he was disappointed by Alice's leaving, he had expected the response, as sure as he was that Alice would eventually return to this place when everything went down-hill.
Taking a sip from his casket, he eyes a dot in the horizon; a plane bound for Paris. He had already hacked into the airport mainframe to kill some time, and he had quickly noticed a specific 3 names on this flight. He looked at the water the plane flew over, reminding himself of the expanse between Europe and America.
So... you came after all... is it because of Furi? he asked to himself. Then he picked up his keys once more, and walked out the door.
Sadow sits in the luxurious first class section of an airplane bound for Europe. He looks out the window with a wine glass in his hand. Sink sits across from him and checks his watch. Noticing it's time for his pain medication, he pulls out of his backpack some pills and takes them along with some water. Sadow says "I already apologized for his behaviour 8 times now. This Takeshi individual is not to be screwed around with." Sink looks away unforgivingly and Sadow sighs "Pout all you want then." Sink then glared at him with a single menacing eye "The motherfucker shot me. I will hold this against him to my grave."
In her hotel room in France, Alice sat quietly on a dining chair thinking about what had transpired the previous night at the meeting. She stayed completely still for about an hour until she decided to take a walk. Today she had a day off from the movie shooting and had nothing else scheduled for that day. She got up, touching one of the table lamps on her way, picked up her coat from the rack by the door and left the suite.
At that moment, upon reaching the elevator, she was greeted by the sight of a blonde man wearing an eyepatch and a white-haired individual wearing a white coat. Sadow looks down at her and says while smiling "Lost little girl?"
Alice stared at the pair for a moment, especially the one who has addressed her. She then without a sound stepped through the automatic doors, brushing passed the men and turned around. She took note of which button had been pressed and then herself pressed the one for the ground floor.
Sadow smiled at her as Sink simply walked past. They left the elevators and headed for their suite. Sadow ordered "Don't lock the door, Keiyou will be here in a moment."
Alice watched them until the moment the door closed shut. As the elevator once again began to move, she thought to herself, They were right, he did come... but of course I shouldn't be surprised at this point, everything I've been told so far has come to pass. For now though there's nothing to do but watch and wait. Alice then glowed blue for a moment before it receded. She walked out of the elevator very carefully as now her focus was split between the scene in front of her and that of a man relaxing within his hotel room and talking to his eye-patched associate.
Keiyou entered the room lugging hefty bags. she asks while heaving them onto a counter "Was it really necessary to bring so many portraits?" Sadow smiled at her "it makes me feel more at home with these here."
Sadow turned to Sink "Tommorow, we head for the new psychiatric hospital Furi was moved to. I suppose they thought it best that she be taken in to a REAL psych-ward instead of the C.I.A. HQ. Since she, apparently, always wanted to visit France, April Gamez granted her wish."
The next morning...[]
Sadow, Sink, and Keiyou drive in a black sedan toward their expected destination when an explosion in the center of the street causes Sink to swerve out of control and slam the car into a brick wall of a seemingly abandoned building.
The resulting inferno of flames continued to roar when Alice came walking down the road and towards the totaled vehicle. She watched as the blood trickled down the unconscious Sadow's face. As she did, Keiyou began to stir awake.
She mumbled as her hazy vision started to faze back to normal "What... happened...?"
"You crashed," Alice said right beside her.
Keiyou looks around and checks Sadow's unconcious body to see if he is alive. After confirming that he is she checks Sink's. Breathing a sigh of relief at having the same result, she looks at the little girl "Who are you?"
She ignored the question and said, "You should all get to a hospital. There's a car we can use parked just at the top of that hill. I can help you carry them if you wish."
Keiyou's face become stern and serious "I'll ask again, who are you?"
Alice sighed, "My name is Alice and I'm a contractor. I was told to watch and follow all of you. Now I don't think that it is a sensible idea to be dealing with such trivial matters for whether I'm your enemy or not for if we continue to hesitate your friends might die anyways."
Keiyou looked back at the unconcious Sadow with a worried glance and turned back to Alice. "Alright, I'll trust you. You get Sink up front and I'll carry Sadow." She then considered if it was a wise decision to be giving this girl their names.
The pair worked together to carry them to the car waiting for them. Keiyou's curiosity is peaked at how this little girl could get a vehicle out here when there was no one else present but she set that aside and focused on Sadow and Sink. Keiyou drove them all back into town and was heading to the hospital but Alice told her to drive to another more secluded location. They came to a old Persian mansion. The two carried them inside where a private doctor was waiting to treat their injuries.
Persian Mansion[]
Sadow awoke to a rich smell grazing through the air. He detected hints of Persian spice and possibly herbs from deserts. He looked around inquisitvely to see Keiyou looking down at him with a smile "Thank goodness you both are alive!"
"So you're awake," Alice says quietly from a near by armchair.
Sadow leans up carefully and asks "Who are you?"
She sighed, "My name is Alice and I'm a contractor. I work for an organization that instructed me to follow you as we received information that you may be targeted as you were yesterday. We have no interest in harming others unnecessarily, especially contractors. In fact, wish to prevent any and all attacks on contractors I was given the orders that I did. Our ultimate goal is a united contractor network that will support all of us."
Sadow smirked "If it's unity for Contractors world-wide that your after, you have our full-support. The name is Sadow. This is Keiyou-" She waves at Alice with a smile "-and Sink." He gestures to the bed next to him where Sink is still unconcious. "We are BEHEMOTH, an organization promoting unity for Contractors everywhere."
"I have been told that we would love for our two groups to one day join forces but this is not the ideal time as we are a small organization and are just setting ourselves up. As well, there seems to be a recent flurry of contractor activity at the moment, such as those that attacked you, and thus believe it to not be the most opportune time to engage in such affairs," Alice said as she sat stilly in her chair.
Sadow asked with a raised brow "Your a high ranking member I take it?"
Alice looked down with an unusually dower expression, "I don't know. The ranks have yet to be revealed. I think they are waiting for there to be more members. I am only saying what I have been told to say."
Sadow's brows narrowed in understanding "I see." He took into consideration the possibility of her lying to him but concluded that she had to be to telling the truth.
There was a long period of silence where neither party said nothing but then Alice said so softly that she was barely audible, "So what are you going to do now?"
Sadow breathed a deep sigh "I must find Furi. BEHEMOTH needs her."
"Furi?" Alice said curiously, "Who is that?"
Sadow smiled slyly at Alice "Our sister, who is canned up in a loony bin at the moment."
"You should be careful then. Those that bombed you before probably won't give up so easily." stated Alice.
Sadow smirked "Then they would best be prepared. BEHEMOTH's wrath is not easily appeased."
Looking at the man cooly, she was slightly bewildered by his unfounded confidence, "... If you would like, I could assist you. These same people also seem to be targetting me so it would be adventageous for me to work with you and increase our chances of stopping them. And from your perspective, I have quite a few connections in Europe that may prove valuable to you."
Sadow smiled at her "What a bright young lady you are." Keiyou smiled in agreement and Sadow continues "Thank you for the offer but I wouldn't want to endanger another Contractor, especially if they are your age. I will go alone."
Alice remained unchanged and continued to sit as she thus had nothing more to say to them.
Sadow turned to Keiyou "Watch over Sink. I'll return when I have Furi." He then got up and stretched, popping his back, and headed for the coat rack that kept his white coat. She looked worried but he reassured "Do not worry, with the love of my siblings as my ally, nothing can stand in my way." Keiyou smiled but in her thoughts floated a single sentence "But what about the love of someone who doesn't want to be a sibling...?"
As Sadow left the house Alice glowed blue for a moment as her contract was still active. Through her mind's eye she continued to follow her orders and kept watched on him.
Hidden operations[]
Meanwhile, a lone individual sat at a French coffee shop, holding a phone. "The operation was only mildly successful. The bomb struck the target, though there was an outsider who assisted them."
On the video screen provided on his phone, a blonde-haired woman sat at the other end, giving a sigh as she heard the news. "This is going too far, March 15."
"I know. I'll make sure to finish the job the next time they go out," March 15 promised. "My men are calculating the routes are we speak."
"Ok then," the woman answered. "I expect results the next time you call. Out."
The connection was cut and the phone's screen went black. March 15 closed his cell phone, placed euros on the table as a tip, and left. BEHEMOTH was developing into a wildcard. That needed to change, for the ultimate goals of IRIS.