Summary:Nick follows up on the lead from the Nightclub and they meet … Isis. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Nick has been working cases for long enough to have a feeling for when something is about to blow wide open and he is getting that feeling from the case they're working right now. They have almost everything they need. They have a name. They have a likely motive. All they need is a little bit of hard evidence and a couple locations and they can go to the police and get all this settled. They can watch everything play out on the evening news which is so far as Nick is concerned exactly the way these things should be watched.
That means that right now, despite the fact that dinner was about an hour ago and they really should have had some, Nick has dragged Isis out to Brooklyn to the Industry City courtyard, which is a riverside pseudo trendy industrial park with a lot of low-ish rent businesses and a penchent for having events in the eponymous courtyard.
No event tonight though. The lights have come on and most of these places are shut. The brick facade buildings with exposed piping and ductwork loom on either side. One of the upper floors of these buildings has been rented out by Lobo Technology and seems to be from the same division as Hadrick is operating. The reason they're interesting is because they seem to have been acquired around the same time as Lobo was making a lot of the suspicious biotech acquisitions and Nick is dying to get a look at what they've got there, legal or not.
"Tell me again why you gave me a sandwich and didn't let me have dinner?" Isis complains as they look at the courtyard from Nicks vehicle. Her tummy grumbles, just like she does. This is going to go well, Isis is hungry and that makes her a little a crabby.
"Is that where Hadrick works? He works late doesn't he? Are we going to speak to him? I can be very convincing when I need to be." One by one her claws extend from her fingers - much like Bagheera's in Disney's Jungle Book.
"Because we're working and that happens sometimes. I haven't had dinner either." Nick points out. Her tummy isn't the only thing that is grumbling. Isis herself has been doing it for at least forty five minutes. He looks up to the office window and checks his watch. The lights have been out for about fifteen minutes.
"As much as I would like to I don't think that he would tell us anything and he'd probably either call lawyers or tell us to get off the company property. No. I was waiting for everyone to look like they were gone and then I figured I'd ask you to climb up to the window, let yourself in and then let me in the front door."
Then they can look around. It SHOULD be simple. It sounds simple. But things are generally not simple that they do on this case. Even if they would be otherwise.
"But I'm *hungry*" Isis says for like the ninety ninth time. Isis is always hungry - well almost always.
She perks up a bit about doing something clandestine. "You *want* me to break in to the building?" She starts to move. Nick doesn't have to ask her twice - sitting still like this without a sunbeam is murder on the feline.
"Can I crack skulls if I find anybody?" She's hungry, crabby and spoiling for a fight.
Waiting just long enough for Nicks answer, Isis moves across the shadows of the parking lot and up the building. It's so easy for her - the way she was … engineered. Like a cat - surefooted and easy.
And there's a window. It's closed but that's easy to fix, the claws come out and she finds the latch … it should pop open anytime … now.
Nick sighs. Crabby Isis is crabby. "Yes just don't kill anyone." There shouldn't be anyone there, he hopes. This should be a quick operation. In and out. Lock the door on the way out. He puts on some gloves as he heads upstairs to wait by the door.
The window pops rather nicely - the latch doesn't even break - and Isis is able to step into the corner office. It's quite large and comfortable. Someone important must work here. Which is odd considering the location. One would think that real bigwigs would be in the swankier locales. Whatever the case the door is just over there and - Oh! Mints and little chocolates. A whole bowl of them by the reception area.
Oh. Nick is waiting. She can smell him.
Isis nose twitches as she enters the room. It's not just the mints and the chocolates she can smell. Someone has a *stash*… now where is it …
Oh right. Nick. He's waiting. Isis grabs the bowl from the desk and opens the door for Nick, stuffing her face as she does. "There's a stash in here …" she tells him.
Why … were they here again?
"A stash of what?" Nick steps inside the door and watches Isis scarf the office snacks. He hands her some wipes and a gloves, please use those Kitten, and then cants his head. Stash? Someone said stash?
"You found documents?" She said stash. Nick watches for a moment and then realizes it's food she smells. And yes there IS a very aromatic stash here.
Nick goes looking for documents while Isis… oh it's coming from over here. And it smells gooooooood.
Wait. It sounds like someone or something is… eating? Back here? Near one of the closets?
"Documents?" Isis blinks at Nick. She's come so far in the time she's been working with him but there are times she's more like a kitten then anything. "No. There's food, Nick!" She stares at the gloves and then at her claws and sighs dramatically.
She has to put the bowl of mints down to put them on.
And the mighty hunter is hunting!
Nose twitching, the aroma of the food nearly completely masks the other scent. The scent of someone else … hiding. "Hey Nick …" Isis says, stalking towards the closets. Are they eating the food she was going to take for herself?
How rude!
The door opens to reveal… Isis. Well, someone who looks very much like Isis. Same feline features. Actually same features in general. She's in a closet with a bucket of fried chicken. There's a collar on her neck and her hair is a bit messy. She's wearing office wear but clearly not very comfortable in it. And when Isis opens the door she blinks and hisses, showing fangs.
Nick is coming up behind her. "Isis I may have found something in- what do you have there?"
Isis blinks as the door opens. When Isis-clone hisses, so does Isis. It becomes a bit of a mexican standoff with the two women growling at each other, baring fangs and the *real* Isis bailing the faux-Isis up in the closet.
This is what Nick walks in on. "Nick. Look what I found. I found … me …" Nicks Kitten sounds rather put out and very confused. "And she's eating my food."
Isis bats at the other woman, much like a kitten would at another. She's not worried about the woman attacking her.
"She's got a collar on … what … what… who is she?"
"Why don't you have your collar on? Why do you look like me?" And then she sees Nick. Her ears go flat and she backs up. She sets down the food and looks to the other Isis.
"Number Seven is good. Please don't replace me. Number seven is a good Kitten."
There's that empathy. Equal parts fear and trying to make Nick and Isis feel good about her.
Isis is wearing the pendant that Nick gave her. Not a collar like the faux-Isis is.
*Bat bat bat*
"Who's number seven? Ooooooh… that's you? Don't have designation like me? I'm Isis. I grew up with Icarus and Io." She came from the 'I' stream of experiments.
"Stop that!" Isis puts her mental blocks up and sends a wave of reassurance out. "We're not going to help you. I was just looking for food. I was hungry. Are you always hungry? What are you doing here? Why would we replace you?"
Seeing the way the other feline responds to Nick, Isis draws the werewolf forward. "This is Nick. He's my Alpha."
Oh good heavens.
"This one is Number Seven. Number seven doesn't want to disappear like Number Six." She's still worried and still broadcasting but Isis wave of reassurance seems to calm her a bit. Enough that she picks up a wing and offers it out while still staying at the back of the room. "Seven will share?"
Nick is still a bit gobsmacked. He manages to take the wing, take a bit and then offer it to Isis. She's hungry after all.
"Seven is… always hungry. Where are the others? Seven was waiting for them to come get her. She um…" She doesn't WANT to say she didn't want to share the food because that would be a bit… bad.
And it is bad. This is all kinds of bad. They CLONED Isis. Or… is it that Isis herself is a clone?
Isis doesn't reach for the chicken, lets Nick take it - despite being as hungry as she is. She only takes the piece from Nick when he gives it to her. "They all eat too much, don't they?" Isis says. She knows. She's snuck off often enough to eat at the Institute.
"How many of you, us, you … are there?" She doesn't like this, not at all. "And who are 'they'?" Isis sprawls on the floor, to try and make Seven feel a little more at ease.
Isis is a clone? She supposes that makes sense.
"Um… maybe? I… I don't know. I've only ever seen Six. And not for very long. They woke me up and told me Six had been a bad kitten. That they were going to take her away. That I would take her place as long as I was a good Kitten."
Nick growls. That's cruel. Especially if it's true. The growl just makes Seven cringe though.
"Seven has been good!" She protests hurriedly. "I even got all the filing done before I came to eat!! Please… don't…" She looks at Isis again.
And then blinks. "Why… do you have a name?"
Isis growls, that low feline growl she often gets when she's angry. "You're a good Kitten. Of course you are. You were doing the filing? Maybe you could help Nick find what we're looking for." These Isis' can read, at least. And they don't seem to be entirely feral.
"That's a good question. Why I have a name. If you help Nick, we'll take you for more food … and I can tell you. Would you like that?"
Isis … might be learning. Something.
"O-okay. I would like more food." She looks down at the bucket of chicken she's got. Yes, she's still going to be hungry even after all that. "What do you and Alpha want to find? Can… can I get a name if I am good?"
"We need the…" Nick looks to Isis and thinks. How does Isis file things. It's not a normal filing system to be sure. It WORKS, but Isis cat brain is unique.
"Where do you keep all of our business files, Isis? All the really important correspondence?"
That'll have communications about who they're talking to and what they're doing. "Oh and all the finance files too."
"You can have a name. You can choose your own if you want." Isis isn't happy and it's leaking through. She's not so chill though to share the bowl of mints she has. "Huh? Oh. That would be under Things Needing Attention. And Economy." It works, but sometimes you need Isis to decode it. "Can you get those? And we'll get Pizza. You like Pizza, right?"
"Can you get your file while you're there? You have one don't you?"
"We will get pizza yes. Can you get those files?"
"Yes. But if you want files you'll want to get the special files the keep in the safe right?"
Nick looks at Isis. "Yessssss… safe. Let's go get that from… the big office?"
Seven nods.
Nick moves back with Isis and it doesn't take long to find the safe. "Okay. Well that's all kinds of creepy. Thick you can slice the lock there, Isis? It's not a combo model, it has tumblers." And lock picking is not his forte. But they can be BROKEN with the right claws. Nick's are too big though.
"How are you doing Isis?" They'll have to get this one help, and they can, but… this is very unexpected.
"Oh. The safe. Well, I don't put all the important in there. That's where people look." Isis says. She peers at the lock and nods slowly "I think so…" Her claws extend from her fingers again, slicing the gloves that she's wearing. That done, she fiddles with the lock. "Ow …" One nail breaks and starts to bleed but she keeps going, she's got a lot more.
Eventually, she gets it though. "I've nearly got it…" That's the answer Nick gets. Did Isis deliberately misunderstand the question?
Maybe she did. This is deeply uncomfortable and it is very like Isis to… avoid the question if at all possible. When she gets it Nick opens the safe and takes the papers inside. "Come on. Lets make some copies and then put everything back. We want to put them off the scent for as long as possible. And then we can… get some Pizza… and go see some of the other mutants." The ones being sheltered around the city.
This is going to be an interesting night. But at least they got through it without fighting and without being caught.
More or less.
As for Isis herself? Well Nick is probably going to have to dig into that. But not here. Isis deserves a bit of privacy when he does that.
Isis probably did. She's very good at deflecting things.
When they put the papers back, they'll have to wipe blood off - hopefully they get it all.
"I want Pepperoni and garlic bread and churros." Isis says as they leave. Oh she knows Nick is going to dig into this. Maybe she can distract him for a bit.
Right now though. Pizza.