Agents Of Scrutiny...

Whack! Whack! Whack!

Three sharp knocks on the door snapped me to attention. 

We weren't supposed to be sleeping anyway but after leaving the library, neither of us were in any condition mentally to question another person. 

The blanket that I had rolled up to create a barrier between us was now burritoed around Jan. He'd spent the first few hours upon arrival tinkering with my bracelet. 

"Surely you would like this thing to do something better than what it does." He'd said, plucking a tiny screwdriver from his utility belt.

I was standing inside the bathroom door toweling my hair. 

"You just can't keep your hands to yourself, can you?" I'd said though I didn't try to stop him. For years, I'd silently yearned for an upgrade. I grabbed my clothes from the floor to get dressed. When I returned from the bathroom, he was in the bed, face pointed at the ceiling, snoring so obnoxiously that the windows vibrated with each exhale. 

My bracelet was still on the table by the door, insides on display. Oh, he is so fixing this when he gets up. I had every intention of hitting the road as soon as we were both showered but instead I found my hands rolling up a blanket so that he couldn't suck the skin off my face with his snoring. 

Whack! Whack! Whack!

There it was again. I grabbed Jan's gun from its holster to peek out the window.

"I can hear you breathing."

Toy. I swung open the door.

"I was about to start kicking." She said, pushing past me. She noted Jan's still sleeping form. "Before you ask, finding you wasn't hard. I could hear his snores all the way on the other side of prohibition." 

She put her fist out. I bumped her knuckles. "What's that?" I asked, though it was a stupid question. 

"This is why I left you guys at the library." She held up the bow. "Judging by how quickly you've decided to play house with this one, I'm sure you managed without me just fine." She shrugged the quiver of arrows off her shoulders. 

Play house? "Really Toy?"

Her laughter stirred Jan. "Nice of you to join us, Sleeping Beauty." 

He sat up. His hair was in a tousled pile atop his scalp. "Ugh, I must be having a nightmare." 

She winked at him. "Nope, it's me." She sat the bow beside the quiver. "Juniper told me where you guys were going so I headed here." 

"What's up with the gear?" I ran a finger tip along the backside of one of the feathers. "Can you even shoot?"

"These were a gift from the chief of an Iroquois tribe. He insisted that I take them so I hauled them to headquarters to see if keeping them would disrupt the timeline." She shrugged. "Gillian said I could have them so I hightailed it out of there before she could change her mind."

"Hold up, you saw Gillian?" Gillian was the elusive mother of Luminous. The most I'd ever seen of her was the back of her heels at the end of a hallway once. 

"Now you know damn well…"

I tilted my head. This was important. 

Toilyn nodded. "Okay, okay… I saw her-esque. Her adjacent."

"Huh?"

"Her office door was open. I totally caught a glimpse of her leather jacket, it was red and rather form fitting might I add… That is, before Rurick shoved these at me. I

tried to get around her but she's not stupid. I'm sure she's used to agents trying to sneak a peek." She said, shaking her head. "Like it's completely unnatural to have an interest in your employer."

"Is that why you left us at the library?" 

"To roll up on Gillian?! Are you insane?!" She grinned. 

When my face didn't crack, hers softened. "Aw, you weren't worried, were you?" Now completely fascinated by her gear, anything to avoid my irritation, she continued:  "Oh! As Rurick was trying to get rid of me, I overheard some higher ups whispering about Alaska."

"The Alaska?" 

She nodded. First, she looked at Jan. Then, as if he couldn't hear, she lowered her voice. "But that's not all."

More elusive than Gillian herself, was Alaska. Whereas Gillian had sightings here and there, I didn't know anybody who had been anywhere near Luminous' sister site. What I did know was that allegedly, somewhere in Alaska was another base of operations. I was starting to think it was just an urban legend. "When she caught me watching them, Rurick gave me a package to take to the library like they don't have people for that."

Apparently you. You're people. "So?"

"I swear, it was like they didn't want me to hear what they were talking about."

She had to be kidding. "Um, we're not even allowed to know where Alaska is." 

"I hate to interrupt, but I'm still here." Jan said, clearing his throat a little too dramatically. When our heads turned, "What's Alaska?" 

Time for a subject change. "Did you open it?"

"Open what?"

I shot her a look. "Just my luck, Juniper would've seen my crimes all over my face." She said, catching on. "Since I brought her up, Juniper said y'all managed to scrape together a lead from that letter. A Dr. Carlito Patil if I remember correctly." 

As she was prattling on and on, I couldn't help but start combing my memories. No matter what, I was one hundred percent sure I'd never mentioned any of that to Juniper. Like I said, she just seemed to know everything about everybody. 

"... and then I came here, like I said."

Uh… I hadn't heard anything before that. 

"Which reminds me…" She stepped over the towels that I'd left on the floor. "Just in case you forgot to, I went ahead and did the groundwork for you. The good doctor has tenure at a college not far from Altura. He used to teach a Psychology course but after your assistant's untimely demise, he switched to a course on, get this, Luminous Corp!"

Jan visibly flinched at "assistant's untimely demise". As quickly as it appeared, he erased the pained look in his eyes. He all but bolted to the bathroom and slammed the door. 

I awaited the sound of running water before turning on her. "Really, Toy?" 

"What?" She flopped down on the now unoccupied bed. "Something I said?"

I caught her up to speed with Mavis and how Jan tied into the entire ordeal. She waited until I was done to speak: "So all of this could have been avoided is what I'm hearing."

"Toy, don't be an ass." I shook my head. "He's really struggling with this and I need him to keep it together." 

"I'm not trying to be an ass." She said, leaning back on the bed. "Some accountability could be the type of humble pie this guy could use a plate or seven of." 

"Do you want to be constantly reminded of your worst mistake?" I snapped. "To spend every day with the reminder that you made the wrong choice?! To know that no matter what you tell yourself, it's your fault?!"

"Whoa…" Toylin sat back up. "This isn't about you, Z." 

"I didn't say it was." 

"Uh huh." She nodded knowingly. To her credit, she didn't press the issue. Instead, she gestured towards my still mangled bracelet. "What happened there?"

"You really have to ask?" I replied, grateful for the tonal shift. 

"Is he, uh, going to... Ya know, put it back together?"

"I intended to last night." We hadn't heard the door reopen. Jan didn't look at either of us as he pulled the chair from beneath the table. "I finished it but I was so tired."

I threw all my best signals at Toilyn with my eyes. She tried to ignore me. Finally she sighed grudgingly: "Hey Jan, look, about earlier, I wasn't trying to be a jerk." 

"Some people just can't deny their natural talents." Jan muttered.

Toilyn cut her eyes at me. I shook my head quickly. What we didn't need in that tiny hotel room was a fist fight. 

I grappled for a subject change. "So um, what's it going to do when you get finished?" I averted my gaze from Toilyn's fourth eye roll. 

"I have no idea."

Of course he doesn't. I could almost hear Toilyn mouthing the words. He cleared his throat: "I was trying to put this…" He slipped a bottle from his utility belt. He held it up. "I'm attempting to put this tech into your bracelet."

"What does that tech do?" Toilyn beat me to it.

Jan shook the bottle before putting them away. "They're pills. They give me the ability to heal certain things and I can shoot from my hands."

"Shoot what?" I noticed that both of us were inching closer to Jan's freshly showered back. 

"Energy beams. They don't kill but they'll put a guy down." 

Toilyn scrunched up her nose. "Then why do you carry a gun?"

"To keep a guy down." He was still clicking the gears and springs back into place. "I have to take that pill everyday."

"What happens if you don't?" I pressed. 

"I almost died once so I'm leaning towards death. I would probably die." He weaved the lace back through the band. "I've never gone a full day. After that experience, I wasn't stupid enough to try it again." He held up the bracelet. "You won't have the same issue because I combined my tech with Luminous'."

Toilyn studied it while I was clasping it around my wrist. "We've got to get going." She said finally. "Dr. So and so doesn't know we're coming."

"Obviously." Jan stood up. 

"Guys…" I could see the argument coming. 

Toilyn typed the coordinates into her goggles then tilted them so that I could see. Jan typed the same into his remote. He disappeared before either of us.

She rolled her eyes. "He is so…"

"So what did they say about Alaska?"

She shrugged. "Whisper, whisper… Alaska… Whisper, whisper. I got nothing. As usual." 

"One day we're going to find out there is no base and Alaska is code for something else. Watch."  

"Could you imagine?" She reached up to tighten her ponytail. "Let's hurry up and catch up to your boyfriend."

Boyfriend?! I nodded at her new gear. "You bringing that?"

"Why?" She scanned my face. "Are you blushing?!" 

"Ugh, are you bringing that or not?"

"You are!" 

"Toy!"

She burst out laughing. "Oh, come on, I'm just messing with you, Z." Noting the aggravation carving its way through my expression, she snorted back her giggle and cleared her throat. "No, I doubt we'd keep the element of surprise with me dragging those around." She replied, pressing the sides of her goggles at the same time as I did. Within a blink, we were standing in an empty classroom. The first thing I noted was the lack of Jan. 

Humor drained from Toilyn in an instant. "Where is he?!" She hissed like I had him shoved in my back pocket or something. 

"Definitely not in here." I replied, rushing to the door. I flung it open. Several students paused to look at us but other than that, we were practically invisible. 

"When I get my hands on him…" 

"Toy, what's your deal with Jan?"

"What do you mean?"

Really? I almost stuck my boot out to trip her. Almost. "Nothing. Nevermind."

"No, I want to hear this." 

"Just forget I brought it up." 

"Uh huh." She stopped abruptly. 

"What?" 

"Nothing." She pointed at the end of the hall. A wooden bar with large, gold letters marked the room as 202 Dr. Carlito Patil. "His classroom is right there." 

We fell in step behind a purple and red backpack until the carrier opened the door to the classroom. 

"Dammit."

Dammit was a fair assessment for the wall to wall seating. Each and every chair had a student clinging to Dr. Patil's every word, including one by a gigantic chalkboard which was occupied by Jan. He nodded at two empty seats to the left of him. We managed to maneuver around the classroom without calling too much attention to ourselves. Every once in a while, a student would grumble in protest as we bumped into the back of their chair. 

"Any questions so far?" Dr. Patil turned from his dry erase board. When he noticed Toilyn and I, his body went rigid. His eyes flashed a panicked brown to his students. They continued taking notes, unaware. He inhaled a huge breath in an attempt to compose himself. It was obvious that he hadn't counted on the object of his teachings to show up for a class. That would be like teaching a course on Paleontology only to have a T-Rex come crashing through the ceiling. Talking about something isn't the same as experiencing, though judging by the way his eyes panned frantically across us every few seconds, he probably would have preferred the T-Rex. 

"C-Class…" He tried after about fifteen minutes. "We're going to dismiss early." He spoke the words slowly, as if to give his students time to object. They were out of those chairs and gathering their things before he could change his mind. I watched the door, lest he decide to scramble out after them.

The entire time they were filing out, I didn't avert my gaze. When the final head was out the door, he moved to close it behind them. 

I was thinking it would be best if Jan were to speak first since his assistant might have mentioned him at the same time as his mouth was opening: "We need to ask you a few questions, Dr. Patil, if that's alright." 

Dr. Patil swung his eyes from Toilyn, to me, then stopped on Jan. "I know you two. You're Luminous, right?" Before we could get the words out, he continued: "Who are you?"

Jan's cheeks flushed a bright crimson. Apparently he'd forgotten that in this timeline, he was a nobody. "You knew my assistant, Mavis Crowley."

Dr. Patil shuffled behind his desk to sit down. A deafening silence crept across every surface in the room. We exchanged looks. Toilyn leaned forward first: "Did you know that his assistant passed shortly after agreeing to meet up with you?" 

Dr. Patil nodded. He looked like he could use a stiff drink. "I saw it on the news." He inhaled deeply. "So you're the inventor she was talking about. Her… Her boss." 

"Jan." Jan reminded him.

"She didn't call you that. She called you-"

"Look, Mavis left me a letter saying we were to meet up with you but I didn't get to read it until recently." Jan's voice slashed the rest of Dr. Patil's sentence in half.

I glanced at Toilyn to see if she'd caught that. Her eyes were still trained forward, intent. 

Dr. Patil opened the bottom drawer on his desk. I flinched to my bracelet at the same time as Toilyn. He pulled out a manila envelope. "I was going to give her this." A shaky hand held it upwards. "Please don't hurt me." 

Toilyn stood up. We followed her to the desk. The closer we became, the more unhinged his body seemed to become. He released the envelope with a slight YELP! 

"We aren't going to hurt you." Jan assured him. 

"I didn't mean you." 

"Who?" Toilyn pointed from me back to herself. "Us?" 

He nodded shakily. "I know what Luminous does." 

"So, teaching a stupid college course makes you an expert?" Toilyn chuckled. She sat down on his desk. "I barely know what Luminous does. Enlighten me." 

"Toy…" I shook my head. 

"What? He's the one with all the fancy degrees." Dr. Patil all but melted into his desk chair as she moved closer. "I'm seeking an expert's opinion." She leaned a little closer, her breath now able to flutter his hair. "So, by all means, what do you know about my occupation that I don't?"

"Toy…" I grabbed her shoulder to pull her away from him. "We aren't going to hurt you. Why do you think we would?"

"Mavis was worried she was being followed." He admitted though his position in the seat didn't relax. "She was asking too many questions. I warned her. She said our only hope was her boss, J-" He thought better of it and nodded at Jan. "You. She said that you were unraveling the secrets to time travel. I told her that Luminous already existed. That there was no need to figure out something that already existed." He sighed. "For weeks she was scrambling around, gathering as much information about them as she could. When her efforts barely scratched the surface, she came to me about you again. She said she knew if she could prove to you that she was right, you would help us." He sighed. "I set up the meeting. I told her to bring you to me. She said she was on it. The next time I heard about Mavis, her car was wrapped around a tree."

"Luminous had nothing to do with her death." I hated my job, but not that much. "That's not what we do." I assured him though he didn't appear convinced.

"Altura did this." Jan murmured. "You said it yourself. Before she started in on Luminous, she was sure she was being followed." He slammed his fist down on the desk. "I should have listened to her!"

"You're not the only one." Dr. Patil said quietly. "I told her she was being paranoid. That nobody was going to track her every move over a few books." 

"But it wasn't just a few books, was it?" Toilyn asked.

"No." Dr. Patil shook his head. "Altura has been conducting research on different pandemics throughout the ages. They started with the Spanish Flu." He paused. Though nobody posed the question, he continued: "I've never worked at Altura but Mavis used to be my student. I shouldn't have helped her. I have a wife. K-Kids. I have kids, a family." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I suggested that we meet up because of what's in that envelope."

We left him at his desk, still shaking his head, wiping at tears that were falling faster than he could brush them away. 

******

Toilyn busied herself displaying the contents of the envelope as Jan and I looked on. It was only four sheets of paper and a weird looking key. I reached across her at the same time as it slipped out. She picked up one of the papers and began reading. Jan moved to do the same. It was quiet for all of thirty seconds. His voice rose above our thoughts: "It says here that China obtained the patent to do the testing on Coronavirus." 

"Yeah, but that didn't happen in 1999." I said quickly. I held up the key. "I wonder what this goes to." It didn't look like a house key or anything typical that I could think of. 

"Wait a second, this says that Altura paid China millions in order to do testing." He handed me his paper. He tapped his finger on the middle paragraph. "See? Right there. It says that Altura bought the rights."

"I'm guessing in the original timeline, when Altura burned to a crisp, China decided to do what it wanted to do, but for whatever reason, they didn't move forward for years." I shrugged, accepting the paper. "It's crazy how Coronavirus got its start as just a strand of the common cold."

"In the wrong hands, it became a bomb." Toilyn mumbled absently. 

Jan and I glanced at one another. He looked as if he was about to say something then decided against it. He opened his mouth twice before grabbing the other piece of paper. 

I scanned the paper he'd given me. The majority was figures; the paper trail if you will. At the very bottom, something caught my eye: "Guys, listen to this: Altura's research was leading them towards human testing. Right here it says they were funding a nursing home as a front for testing."

Toilyn's head jerked up. "Uh uh. That sounds like you're trying to say that Altura was about to start testing on defenseless old people." 

"It wouldn't be was, Toy." I handed her the paper.

She didn't even look. Instead she balled it up and went to her quiver. "Let's go." She said angrily. "No more reading. I know all I need to know."

"Here's the address of the nursing home." Jan pointed at his paper. 

"Wait a minute! What if we missed something?!" I held up the key. "Did anybody see anything about this?"

"Girl, are you deaf? No more reading. We've got to stop these pieces of shit." She didn't state as much but I knew she was thinking of the only person who had her back when she spoke her truth: Her grandmother. "Grab everything because I doubt we'll be coming back here." 

"What about this?" Jan had gathered all the papers.

"Burn it."

******

"I didn't see this coming." 

The three of us stood in front of the abandoned building in shock. "What the hell, Jan? Did you get the coordinates right?"

"Don't look at me. You're the one who wanted to storm the castle… So where's the princess?"

"There's no way this is the place." I couldn't believe it. No, I wouldn't believe it. "But, we have to check it out anyway."

"Why? It looks like the big bad wolf has already been by. One more huff and puff and that roof is as good as gone." 

"Sounds good to me." Toilyn was already inserting an arrow in her bow. "Let's go."

Jan grumbled something unintelligible as he tightened the loops on his utility belt. He pulled his gun and fell in line behind Toilyn. Why we were following the one armed with a bow and arrow, I'll never know. She kicked the rickety gate open. 

"I don't think this is such a good idea." Jan murmured as Toilyn's boot was connecting with the door. It groaned in protest beneath the weight, but didn't budge. 

"Stand back."

Jan turned to keep an eye on our backs. I stepped out of the way but kept my attention on Toilyn, lest we find ourselves under fire. She threw her entire weight behind the next connect. The door swung off the hinges and landed on the inside. Again, nothing. 

"Is this how you guys always do this kind of stuff?" Jan came through the door, still backwards. "I mean…"

"Shhhh!" Toilyn said quickly. "Do you hear that, Z?"

I heard it. Unlike when we found Jan, there were so many holes in the foundation that the hallway was well lit. To the untrained ear, we were alone but buildings have a language all of their own. Murmurs warning us of the presence of inhabitants by the squeaks of feet attempting to sneak across the linoleum sounded on the other side of the wall. In the busyness of daylight, such sounds would go unheard, but this was an abandoned building. Allegedly. 

Before we could react, the wall to the left of us caved, Jan threw himself in front of me as the ceiling crashed on top of us. 

"Jan?! Z?!"

I could hear Toilyn but I couldn't move. Jan was across me, pining me in place. I didn't know if anything was broken but that was the least of my concerns. "Jan?" I whispered. I needed him to be alive. Please, PLEASE let him be alive. "Jan? Jan?!" My voice sounded so far away. "Jan?!" My eyes had not produced so much as a shadow of a tear since 2011 in my own timeline but they were pouring now. It wasn't even the pain that was ripping through my head that was hurting me. "Jan?!"

"Z? Z?! I can hear you!" I could hear Toilyn frantically attempting to free us. "Keep talking so I can get this right." 

"Toy! Jan's unconscious!" I strained beneath his weight. 

"I can't move!"

"Hold on! I've got you!" 

I could see a few lights above us as Toilyn was throwing rubble. "We shouldn't have come here! This is my fault!"

"This isn't about fault, Toy! We should have known with the timeline change that this was a possibility! This is on both of us."

"And me." 

"Jan?!" If I could move, I would have hugged him. 

"Shit." He coughed. "What the hell happened?"

"Toy?! Jan's alive!"

"And probably deaf after that." He said. 

"Something's wrong. I don't hear Toilyn anymore." Moreover, I couldn't hear anything. "I can't get to my bracelet."

"Luckily, I don't need a bracelet." He shifted a little. The debris glowed a soft blue before exploding into the air. It landed around us like a crime scene outline. 

He jumped up and offered me a hand. I threw my arms around him. He returned my embrace before: "Do you hear that?! Something's going on!"

Toylin. Without thinking, I all but tossed Jan aside. The stairs struggled to support our weight but I didn't care. As my foot hit the top step, all the adrenaline faded from me.  Against the wall was a face I hadn't seen in ages. Brie pushed herself back then whirled around, landing a kick in Toilyn's stomach. She stumbled backwards before lunging at Brie's middle. They landed on the floor, not far from the hole that almost crushed Jan and I. Toilyn jumped to her feet and grabbed a handful of Brie's hair. Brie screamed and flailed her arms in an attempt to latch on to Toilyn.

"I should have done this a long time ago." She sneered, leaning over Brie. It was damn near inaudible from those stairs, but to me, the words were echoing through my ears. To me, she was shouting.

Her hands still tangled in Brie's hair, she dragged her to the hole. 

"Let her go, Toilyn!" Jan cried out. 

She kept dragging. Brie's screams filled every nook and cranny in the room. Jan aimed his gun at Toilyn. "Please don't make me shoot you." He pleaded. "Do something, Z!" 

It was as if something clicked in place. Toilyn's eyes widened in realization at the sight of me still frozen on the top step. "Z?" Her grip loosened. 

"Please don't." It was all I could string together. "Please."

That was all Brie needed. She swept a kick beneath Toilyn's boots. Toilyn's eyes flashed surprise a split second before stumbling backwards.

"Toy!!!" I screamed. Her body disappeared. I listened for the connect. Sprinkles of dust fluttered through the opening. "Oh my God!" 

Brie's eyes raked across me coldly. Jan rushed at her but his legs were still aching. There was no way he would reach her in time before…

I was right. With a simple wink, she slapped her hand against her headset. 

Jan barely stopped in time. "Dammit, she got away!" 

"Is she- Is Toilyn-" I was beside Jan now, whose eyes were downward. 

"Look, her chest is rising and falling." He jumped down and landed to the left of her. Due to his legs, he almost lost his footing in the debris. He limped to her side to kneel down. "Toilyn? Toilyn, can you hear me? It's me, Jan." He patted her cheek softly. First the right, then the left. He braced himself long enough to place his hands on her chest. "Come on Toilyn…"

I rushed to the stairs. Unlike Jan, I wasn't in denial about the pain I was in. I reached the bottom step just as Toilyn was sitting up. She shook her head groggily. "I'm… I'm okay… I think."

Jan snapped his fingers in front of her face. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two and three broken ones if you don't back up." 

"Good." He smiled and stood up. "She… She's…" His legs buckled. "Fine."