Template:Featured Articles/8-2020
Quentin was still sitting at his desk, flipping through the photos on his laptop with Sooraya arrived. There was plenty more evidence to go through, but he could not stop looking at the lynchings. He had always assumed the murderers were local, but thought they were an un-derground hate group. That they hid behind a church surprised him, even though he knew it shouldn't. "Turned up in an investigation of a missing kid," he answered, wearily rubbing his eyes. "Wasn't so random after all." Sooraya moved closer, her face still pale. "You mean there are more? What is going on here? The full picture..." She spoke, her voice trembling. "No idea if the exact people who lynched Kaori and Ray are the same ones who kidnapped this girl, but it's possible. But we figured it was the 'Church'"—the venom with which Quentin uttered that word could have melted through steel—"And now it seems they have a massive body count." "Church? What church?" Sooraya's eyes widened as the puzzle pieces clicked together. "Let me guess... the Church of Humanity?" The trembling in her voice didn't vanish, but on reaching that conclusion it was laced with a deep fury. "Yo, tone it down a bit," he said, grimacing and rubbing his temple to alleviate the sharp pain from Sooraya's ambient rage. "I don't know what we're going to do with this. I messaged you first 'cuz you knew them so you needed to know this. But now I've got to tell Lorna and the others. Then we'll figure out how to fuck 'em up." "Don't tell me you're feeling any different." Sooraya shot out, but she closed her eyes and focused on tamping down the rage as much as possible. Besides, she needed the clarity of thought to deal with this. "You said there were others? How many are we talking?" "Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of extrajudicial execution here. I just don't need the migraine that comes from other people. It hampers my efficacy." He went across the room to pour himself a cup of coffee. It had long since gone cold (who would brew a fresh pot in the middle of the day, anyway?), but he had not brought his vape pen today so it was the only cure to a telepathic headache. "I don't know how many others. I found a bunch of murders across the country they can take credit for. But I'm betting it's just the tip of the iceberg." "It's like history repeating itself..." Sooraya murmured to herself. "I wouldn't be surprised either. The way they did what they did with Kaori and Ray... they had to have done it before... Do you know if the authorities are going to get involved? What are XFI's next steps?" Quentin chugged his coffee, grimacing at the cool bitterness, before returning to his laptop. "I don't know. They're all still out gathering evidence. After that, guess it depends on who's there. Lorna and Alex might be restrained, but if it's me? Well, I'll gladly suffer the migraine that comes." "I might have another idea, but I need to talk it over with someone first." Sooraya said after a moment, thinking back to the things she had been planning with Alani. "I might need copies of the pictures though." "As long as you don't bring the police into it this time. Here." He dragged and dropped the photos into an email and sent it, then shut his laptop, setting it aside as if the machine were cursed. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Which gives you plenty of leeway." |
