J&L: Emissary of the Eldritch (1)

*Charing Cross Station*

The hubbub of bustling commuters fills the air, punctuated by the shrill whistles of   conductors and the sighing gasps of steam engines. Cutting through the background chatter are the urgent footsteps of a rushing lady.

American Woman: "Excuse me, oh I do beg your pardon sir, if I could just squeeze past... oh, where are they? Those two are always getting lost. Mercy me."

Replying from some distance away, an older American gentleman shouts.

American Man: "Sarah? Sarah my dear? Damn and blast this infernal crowd, I thought the English were supposed to be renowned for their queuing etiquette. Sarah, if you can hear me, meet me in our carriage!"

Sarah Phillips: "Daddy Whipple? I can't hear you. Oh dear, look. I'll meet you both aboard the train okay?"

Both parties struggle against the heaving crowd, before slipping into the relative quietness of their private carriage compartment.

Whipple Phillips: "My dear daughter, at last. I was afraid I'd lost you to the expanse of this sprawling city."

Sarah: "Indeed Daddy. I was afraid I'd never again find you once we were separated by that speeding horse cart. Say, where's little Howie?"

Whipple: "The boy remained with you, didn't he? He was holding your hand when last I saw you two."

Sarah: "He wriggled from my grasp and ran to you. You know what's he's been like, ever since his father was incarcerated. He rushes to you whenever he's scared. I saw him by your side just before that cart separated us!"

Whipple: "God-damn little... we have to find him, now. London is no place for a child with his... temperament."

Sarah: "Good heavens! My little boy, all alone in the big city. Little Howard! We need to alert the authorities."

Whipple: "First, we need to get off this locomotive lest we end up in the highlands of Scotland. Come along my dear, quickly now."

Sarah: "Who's that, father? There's a chap in fancy dress in the corridor."

Whipple: "Some kind of masked fellow, with an obfuscating hood. You there! Stand aside good sir, we've no time for your frivolity."

Masked Man: "The night is coming, so very soon."

Whipple: "I don't care. Now let us past, my grandson is missing and we must locate him posthaste."

Masked Man: "But sir, it's nearly All Hallow's Night. The dead shall rise to walk among the living. The Old Gods are returning, and we must herald their arrival."

Whipple: "Ah, pagan nonsense, as I suspected. Ignore his ravings, Sarah, we must find Howie at once."

Masked Man: "Yes, the child. Lost and adrift, cast out among the wolves. He must be found, for his blood will guide the way."

Whipple: "I've had quite enough of this.... Hey! Unhand me you gibbering brute!"

Masked Man: "His blood will guide the way, but his blood is your blood. You are also required."

Sarah tried to scream, to shout for help, but her cries where drowned out by the train's whistle, as the engine heaved its way from the platform, away from safety, and away from her lost son.

TW Casefiles: Brand Loyalty (13)

"Leave it out Devlin, you creep. We've already disrupted your supply of compliant humans." Ash boasted at the villain before us, sick of his attitude.

"My dear, sweet, girl... I'm hurt that you throw such accusations at me. I'm not a creep, I merely know what I like, and have the ambition to seek it out. Maybe I'm overly direct in my approach, but why delay when such beautiful bounty is in my grasp?" He said seductively, as he stood up, approaching Ash. His sensual tone was poisoned by his depraved intent, his words poured forth as toxic wasp honey.  At his utterance of 'grasp', he reached out a slimy hand to caress her cheek, tenderly. Ash turned her head, frozen with sheer disgust as Devlin traced the contours of her face.

For moment we were all too stunned in the face of obscenity to react. Dave and I stood, ashamed and shocked, while Ash was manhandled by this freak. I forced my reluctance away. However disgusted Devlin was making me feel, it had to be infinitely worse for Ashley. I had to act. I was about to tackle the creep when I saw Ash's eyes snap open, burning with raging determination. She reached up, clinging to Devlin's outstretched arm and catching him by surprise. With a twist and a crouch, she pulled his arm outwards and downwards, with all her might. To any other opponent, this would probably have ended up dislocating the offending limb. Not with Devlin though.

The arm gave with surprising ease, causing Ash to fall to the floor. She looked with bemusement at the fleshy glove in her clutches. With a yelp, she realized she was holding a skinned human arm and threw it to the ground in disgust. Devlin himself took a few steps backwards, also surprised by the damage. My eyes were drawn to the remnants of his torn arm. Where I expected to see a peeled collection of muscle and bone, I instead found a monstrous blue claw. Bizarrely, it was longer and thicker than the human arm it was contained inside. The skin was rough and hairless, a deep royal blue colour and it looked terrifically powerful. The clawed hand had three tubby fingers, ending in several inch long sharp points. He looked almost comical, completely lopsided as he was.

"Bitch!" He roared, ferociously. "You have no idea how difficult it was to aquire this skin suit." He was panting with anger now, heaving deep ragged breaths. The seam where his blue arm met his shoulder was glowing and the skin was beginning to bulge like air bubbles behind paint. "This disguise is worthless now." He sighed, reaching toward his forehead with his remaining human hand. A swipe of his thumb revealed a previously concealed zipper which he slowly drew back. From the new slit, more blue light poured forth. With an inhuman wiggle, the skin of the man known as Devlin fell to the ground like a discarded garment. Before us stood an eight foot tall alien oddly reminiscent of E.T. It had short stumpy legs supporting a bulbous, pear shaped torso. Its arms I've already described and its head sat atop an elongated neck. The face was chubby, like a baby, with a fanged smile and large blank eyes, three inches round, which disturbingly blinked horizontally.

While he was disrobing, I'd reached over and helped Ash up from the floor, and was hugging her for moral support. She was and remains the bravest person I've ever known.

"Wait a minute... I recognize you, baby blue!" I exclaimed, pointing at the monstrosity before us. "You're a Slitheen. I've seen you in the archives." I turned to my friends before adding "they have a history with invading Earth."

"Do not compare me to those green-skinned gangsters. The Slitheen are second rate criminals who bring shame on the more noble families of Raxocoricofallopitorious. While I share an unfortunate familial connection with the Slitheen, as extended cousins, the house of Jaggereen is above their petty schemes. I am Faratoth Del Quades Fel Fotch Jaggereen, and you will treat me with the dignity my house deserves." He yelled, his little tirade punctuated with sweeping gestures and measured intonations. All the while I struggled to resist pinching his chubby little cheeks and giggling. Despite his towering height, it felt like I was stood before a tiny Napoleon, raging against forces which outnumbered and outclassed him.

"I'm not seeing much difference to be honest. Kidnapping humans seems pretty criminal to me." I said, once Devlin had finished his rant.

"The Slitheen have no class, they're common thugs. I'm business-oriented, you see. I just supply demands in the market, and what the market really needs is cheap labour."

"Is that all this is about? All this scheming and planning, to get few slaves?!" I roared in anger.

"Not just a few slaves. It was to be an empire of control, farming a constant supply of willing workers, to be shipped across the galaxy. The human form is remarkably adaptable and resilient to a range of environments, you make a wonderful workforce, once you discount your trivial notions of identity." Faratoth explained, matter-of-factly.

"But what does the Nestene get out of all this?" Ash asked, freshly composed.

"What? Nothing, I merely chances upon the decaying remnants of a failed invasion when I first arrived. I used it to my advantage, like I did with that man's skin. It was expedient." he explained.

"Well, it doesn't matter. You've lost. There's three of us, one of you, and Devlin's company is in tatters." Dave said, finally finding the courage to get involved.

"You've hampered my method of procurement, yes... but there are always alternatives, once I've ended you brats. And I think our numbers are more evenly matched than you think." He said, bearing his fangs with a wide, sinister smile. One of his claws interacted with a nearby display as he continued. "Or did you forget one of you is still infected with plastic?"

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my head, and I collapsed to my knees. I screamed in agony as thoughts that were not my own filled my mind. I stared at Ash, at Dave, and was overcome by an urge to inflict pain. The sight of them brought out intense anger in me. I knew I needed them dead. I struggled to reassert control, but I felt like a prisoner, a passenger in somebody else's thoughts. Faratoth cackled malevolently, as I staggered towards my friends. I could see the fear in Ash's eyes, and a voice in my head liked it, relished it. Then, as soon as it had began, I felt such thoughts lift. There was a moment while my head felt fuzzy, like the fading remnants of a dying dream. Then I was back. I wheeled towards the Jaggereen again, renewed in my purpose.

"Well, that's not right..." he muttered, swiping ineffectually at the screen once more. "The control matrix must have degraded prematurely. But that shouldn't be unless you were exposed to microwaves, maybe a strong electrical current, but... ah.... it doesn't seem to matter.... you're angry, I get that... surely we can end this in a dignified way...." he rambled, blinking rapidly with fear. The three of us advanced on him, slowly, as he backed away clumsily. With a jolt, he fell back into his command chair, before flashing another smile.

"And, we're out if time. I'd love to stay for my well deserved punishment, but I've got a number of buyers to sweet talk. Gotta dash."

Before we could react, he was gone, disassembled by the blue haze of a transmat. There was a distant thrum of an engine firing, and one of the screens began to flash a warning.

"Damn, he's jumped to an escape pod." I said, rushing to the controls. "There must be lasers on this bucket. He's not getting away." I was determined to stop him, by any means. Luckily Ash was there to reign in my vengeful desires.

"Arven, there's a hold full of his slaves we need to rescue." she urged, compassionately.

"Yeah. After I stop this bastard." I replied, scanning the remaining controls.

"We don't have time. Look! He's overclocked the engines remotely. This whole place is going to blow, and we're locked out of those systems." I didn't want to listen. I wanted to make Faratoth pay, but damn if she wasn't right. We had a duty to save the others first. Or we'd be no better than Con and Frank. With a frustrated thump of the ship's dash, I turned to the input for the Nestene controller. It was remarkably easy to reverse the previous command issued, telling each of the controlled humans to retrace their steps and return through the teleporters.

"Come on." Ash said, dragging my arm. "We'd better make sure everyone leaves, then go ourselves."

Together, the three of us ran back to the cargo bay. Already, the crowd of slaves had already thinned, and it didn't take long for the last of the controlled humans to get out. Ash, Dave and I all boarded a pod and returned to the warehouse too. We rushed outside in time to see a distant explosion above us, appearing as little more than a surging star from this distance. With the destruction of the spacecraft, the Nestene infected humans were returning to normal without a control system to direct them. It'd take a day or two, but as I'd learned, the plastic would degrade in short order.

We'd defeated the villain, but he was still at large, and probably pretty pissed off. Not to mention Con and Frank who were now aware of us, and unlikely to be cooperative ongoing. But for now, we were alive, the city was safe and we'd had one hell of the long day. The consequences could wait until tomorrow, we'd earned a rest.

TW Casefiles: Brand Loyalty (12)

"Can you not just do what you're told? All you youngsters think you know what's best, so full of ideas and opinions and rash decisions. Just leave it to your experienced elders." Frank muttered, exasperated.

"Fresh ideas are better than blind faith and circular reasoning. Age doesn't guarantee wisdom, you know." I replied.

"See, you still don't get it. This isn't a debate, it's an order. You're not allowed an opinion until you wise up."

"Wise up? If the best you can do is insult me without refuting my points, you know you're in the wrong. Maybe you should wise up instead!" I yelled, whipping out my sonic with a flourish. I held it above my head, pointing upwards, as it emitted its characteristic warbling hum. Suddenly, the building's fire alarm activated, drowning out all other noise. The sprinkler system also began to rain water upon us. While Frank was distracted by my distraction, I swung the sonic towards the glass pane looking onto the auditorium. Below us, the crowds who had yet to receive their glasses were streaming out through any available exit.

Frank was raising his gun again to regain control of the situation when the door behind him was flung open. A number of security personnel were pouring in, looking for the source of the alarm. With a cheerful wave, I left Frank to deal with the guards as I ran towards the window, with Ash and Dave close behind.

"You can't expect us to jump that?!" Dave asked apprehensively.

"Not quite. But you still won't like it." I replied, reaching around the side of the hole as I grabbed hold of a banner.

"We slide!" I cried as I jumped, grasping the fabric loosely to control my descent. Ash followed my lead with only a moment's hesitation, letting out a whoop of exhilaration as she went. Dave was somewhat more reluctant, but not after considering the choice between Frank and a fall, he chose the latter. Unfortunately for him, the banner had already taken some strain, and ripped when he was only halfway down. The fall didn't do much more than bruise his ego, but he was still moody.

"Bloody typical." He moaned, massaging his rear.

"You can go first next time." I joked while Ash added "Fall on your head next time. It's the softer target."

We pushed our way, struggling upstream against the crowds rushing for an exit. I'd always thought running toward danger was a guaranteed way to meet with death, yet here we were. It was madness. It was lunacy. It was exhilarating. The panicked crowd was so densely packed, so thick that I was more concerned about being trampled than I was about Devlin killing us. We were barely making ground, until Ash pulled my arm sideways, toward the benches.

"Shortcut." She declared, hopping onto the raised surface. Dave and I followed her lead as we turned and sprinted towards the stage curtain. With a short hop, we managed to leap onto the stage, and worked our way into the 'preparation' area. Before us were about twenty-five glass tubes, big enough to fit a human, with a bunch of gubbins above each tube. It consisted of several horizontal concentric circles with a blue light glowing from between each ring. The central circles extended deeper into the tube chamber, with each subsequent ring slightly higher and shorter, approximating a conical structure. Teleporters.

"Time to find out where Devlin is taking his loyal customers." I said, fiddling with the control panel at the nearest teleport pod.

"Oh good. For a second I was afraid you'd want us to enter one of these contraptions." Dave said, visibly glowing with relief.

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting." I replied. I've never seen someone deflate so rapidly.

"What?! No way! Nope. It could lead anywhere."

"Well, only one way to find out. These are point-transfer tubes. Each one is quantum linked with a twin, and can only transfer matter between each linked pair."

"So you're saying there's no guarantee each pod even links to the same place? Each of these could be set to deliver Devlin's targets to a different world?" Ash asked, with concern.

"Theoretically, but I doubt it. Look at the scale Devlin is operating at. The volume of people he wanted to process. He wants to get people out of here as soon as they've worn the Specs. Easier to have a bunch of chambers here that can send them to a central processing hub, and sort it all out later, when everyone is more compliant."

"I hope you're right. But we don't have a choice, do we?" Ash asked, rhetorically. "If we're to do this, then let's do it together." With some trepidation, we each slid open a tube and squeezed inside. Point-transfers are the escalators of intergalactic transportation: one entry point, one exit, and bugger all input required to function. The pods were automated, merely closing the door triggered the transmat matrix. With a sudden 'fwoop' and the most terrible whole-body pins and needles sensation, we left the planet entirely.

Well, not entirely. That's an exaggeration. We were still in orbit after all, so technically we hadn't travelled very far. Still, the view would have been outstanding, if we had one. Turns out the pods had transported us to a sort of space barn, like a cow shed, but for humans. It was a large, sparse metallic room, with featureless and bland walls. One side of the room was lined with the corresponding teleportation devices from which we'd stumbled. One corner of the room had a large pile of straw spread out for what I feared was an excretory purpose, while the opposing corner was gutted with a water tap and a bucket of nutri-pellets, fed by an overhead dispenser. Occupying the majority of the room were several hundred humans, all standing still, arms rigidly by their sides, staring blankly into the distance. None of them seemed aware of our presence, or of each other. It was like we'd walked into a robotic showroom after close of business.

"So now we see Devlin's true scheme revealed... An avant-garde art installation using living subjects! Oh, the torment of our consumerism and it's destruction of self identity!" Dave yelled, rich with melodrama.

"No, it's clearly a captive audience to whom he can recite his poetry." replied Ash, laughing. We were all slightly giddy. Sure, several hundred lives were at stake, but on the other hand: We were on a spaceship. In space! This waste single greatest experience our little eyes has-been witnessed, even if it just looked like we were trapped in a box.

Setting aside my whimsy, I set about locating a door out of our communal prison. This turned out to be easier than I'd expected, all I needed to do was swipe at a control pad on the wall. The door wasn't even locked. Devlin was obviously convinced that none of his Nestene controlled cargo could rebel, and he hadn't counted on saboteurs  sneaking aboard. The layout of the ship we were in was very linear and practical. It was a transport vessel, with no attachments or extra features. Outside of the central cargo bay was a short corridor ending in a ladder to access the upper deck, while a number of service hatches lead off to the sides, presumably granting access to the engines and other critical systems. Given the limited nature of the vessel, I was fairly sure the ladder would lead straight to the bridge, and presumably to Devlin.

"Brave heart lads." I said as I grasped the nearest rung and began climbing upwards. After a short distance, I pulled myself up onto the navigation deck, a small room with a central chair surrounded by holographic screens and displays, and lots of swipey interactive controls. Behind me was another door leading to the quarters for the ship's crew of one. In the command chair sat Devlin, one leg folded over the other, facing us and seemingly unarmed.

"Haven't you lot caused enough trouble yet?" He sneered, looking at us as if we were a particularly stubborn stain on his loafers.

TW Casefiles: Brand Loyalty (11)

"Some load of people here!" Dave said, surprised.

"It's the international launch of a revolutionary device that would put Steve Jobs to shame. What else did you expect?" Ash replied snappily, looking over the crowd.

"Still. Half these people aren't even here to get one. Devlin only offered a thousand pre-orders for the inaugural batch." Dave continued, deep in thought.

"Everyone likes a free concert." I joked, as I led us away from the crowd towards the neighbouring building, a concrete monolith lacking any of the style and history of the launch venue. "Right. As far as Devlin knows, there's only one entry point to the grounds, via the guarded gate, thanks to the perimeter fence. However, it and this distribution centre share a boundary. And, this place has no active security... not since it shut down during the crash."

"Arven, how do you know all this?" asked Ash, raising an eyebrow toward me.

"Well, I know a guy, old friend from school.  Used to come through here to sneak into music gigs during his college years. This whole section of fence on this side is bolted together, not welded,  so it's easy to slip through."

"Even if he's being honest, it was years ago. How do you know it'll still be open?"

"Cause I'm the friend." said Dave, strutting forward like a cat who's proud of the new foul mess it's hidden for its owner to find. "And I last used it two months back at a secret gig." Ash looked as if she was lining up a witty retort, before deciding it wasn't worth her effort.

We circled the distribution hub so we'd be hidden from the crowds as we approached the weak link in the fence. Dave was proved correct as we quickly found a section of the fence which was loose. A quick blast from my sonic screwdriver undid the few bolts holding up the charade. We were in. Ash half raised her hand in question.

"What's your plan for the cameras?"

"Dunno. They're new." Dave admitted with a shrug. "Any ideas, Arv?"

"Lucky I came prepared." I said, pulling something akin to a handgun from my longcoat. "Remote hacking tool. Fires a tiny projectile that patches itself into the security grid, giving us remote access to basic system controls, depending on the complexity of the systems in question, naturally." I explained quickly. With a well placed shot, I had enough control to interfere with the video feed. With a few swipes of my phone screen, I had the cameras between us and the building set to loop the previous 20 minutes repeatedly. That way, anyone monitoring the feed from the front of the building wouldn't notice a discrepancy. Taking advantage of an announcement from the main stage drawing all attention towards it, the three of us scurried into the venue.

As we made our way into a side door, we caught a section of the announcement from Devlin himself.
"... gracious support of our early adopters, who have been queuing here, to be the first to surf this wave, cresting into the future. We salute you! But look around... so many more have also come, to witness history unfold before them! How do we congratulate you? It us with great pleasure that I announce we are opening the TechSpecs up for general sale early. Tonight! We have ample stock on the premises, enough for all. Yes, as soon as we have processed the pre-orders, all of you may join the ranks of our connected future!"

"I hate that man with a distinct passion." said Ash, shuddering at her memories as we shut the door behind us. I gave her a silent hug of encouragement, before saying
"I think I speak for all of us when I say 'eww'."
Ash composed herself. "Whatever he's got planned, he's just doubled the number of units being distributed. That can't be good."

"Doesn't matter. We'll have him shut down before it becomes an issue. Err... which way do we go?" asked Dave as he looked around the long corridor we we standing in. Without a clear idea of the layout, we crept through the building, keeping as quiet as possible as we checked each room in turn. We seemed to be in what was usually the backstage area for the hosted performances. The adjacent rooms were a mix of storage space, canteens and green rooms. All disconcertingly empty. My heart was racing, pounding in my chest, as every opened door was a new chance to be discovered. Anxiously, I checked my phone. There were mere minutes until the hordes would be allowed to enter and Devlin's plan would be set in motion.

As we turned a corner of the hallway, I felt Ash pull me back sharply. She leaned in close and whispered "Careful. There's a guard on patrol."

"Too late!" cried Dave from behind us. A second man had just emerged from the other end of the hall, pinning us in. The time for subtlety was over.

If you've ever confronted somebody, physically or otherwise, you'll be aware of the moment. Instantaneous, yet it feels like forever, like the moment of weightlessness before a fall, or a coin in mid toss. The moment is when you and your opponent size each other up. You both assess the other's strength, potential weaknesses, and resolve. With nothing more than a glance, you enter into the most intense staring contest, as whoever blinks first usually loses. The moment is the real life equivalent of an initiative roll. The moment is also bullshit if one party is a mind controlled slave operating on a basic logic structure.

Without a sentient mind behind the eyes, the complexities of the moment are lost to programmed responses and reactions. And these guards were not in their right minds as each was sporting a pair of TechSpecs. They were nothing more than husks puppeteered by the Nestene. To put it simply, they got the drop on us. The one from behind rushed towards Dave, his baton raised and swinging. Dave, a sound practitioner of percussive maintenance, rugby tackled his opponent to the floor before the guard had a chance to attack. The weapon fell, forgotten, to the side as the pair trashed about on the floor, locked in combat.

Meanwhile, I crouched as the other guard sprinted towards me. He held his club aloft, swinging it downwards over his head. I raised one arm to take the brunt of his blow, while my other reached for his nearest leg. With a sharp tug on his shin, he collapsed backwards to the ground while Ash followed up with a knee to the downed man's head, knocking him out cold.

"Good thing you took that martial arts course, or he could be seriously injured. We really need a more reliable means of a non-lethal take-down." I said, resuming a standing stance.

"Yeah. Definitely."  replied Ash with a nervous laugh. I'd later find out her 'course' consisted of a single free lesson followed by a Bruce Lee marathon. Behind us, Dave was still grappling with his foe. He'd pinned the guard down, kneeling over him with hands squeezing around the guard's throat. The guard flailed his arms about desperately, trying to push Dave off of him, or find some weapon. His grasping fingers found his discarded baton, which he swung wildly at Dave. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have a sufficient angle to put much force behind the strike. It just seemed to piss off Dave even more. With a final effort, Dave raised the man up by the shoulders slightly before slamming him back into the ground.

"Oh yeah. Leave me to fight by myself, while the two of ye team up on the easy one. I see how it is." Dave said through ragged breaths.

"Ah, to be fair... you didn't need help. You had him under control the whole time." I replied, laying praise onto his fragile ego.

"I see what you're doing. You're playing me... but I'll take what I can get." laughed Dave, brushing dust from his jacket.

"When you're both done measuring, we've got to hurry. The sounds of fighting will probably draw more guards. Or else it won't take long to notice the absence of a patrol." chided Ash.

"Nobody will have heard us. Listen. That background rumble? The gates have been opened. The crowds are pouring in. So the guards are busy enough right now." I replied.

"All the more reason to be quick. We're out of time."

Choosing urgency over secrecy, we rushed along the corridor, checking each branching doorway until we found one that seemed promising. The room was usually utilized as a control hub for the light and sound technicians, commanding a central view of the interior stage and overlooking the audience. Banks of control systems were arranged below the large window panels, but one terminal in particular seemed out of place. It resembled a free standing pedestal, with a tilted touch screen positioned at navel height, displaying a script that didn't resemble any Earth language as far as I could tell.

"This must be where Devlin oversees the operation." I said, busying myself trying to integrate my sonic with the screen. Meanwhile, Ash looked out of the window to the crowds below, eyes wide. Nearly a dozen rows of benches stretched from the near side of the auditorium to the stage. Each bench was lined with employees (presumably under Nestene influence), each with a stack of boxed TechSpecs, handing them over to an eager public at a terrific pace. These customers were then funneling onto the stage and directed through a curtain, out of sight. Several signs were dotted around the room, with font large enough to read from our elevated position, guiding patrons to a backstage "Orientation and Product Tutorial" area.

"Something isn't right..." Ash said, still gazing over the crowd. "The volume of people being processed, it's too high."

"Devlin knows how much people want his product. Anything that streamlines the Instagramming of food is going to sell like mad." Dave said with a shrug.

"That's the point. He's cramming so many people in, but expecting them all to squeeze out backstage? While helping people set up their glasses and synch with their phones? It's a bottleneck. He'd have to process the paid customers lightning fast to prevent a major violation of safe practice." Ash wondered. "What's really happening behind there?"

"I think I can help." I said while pocketing my sonic. "Devlin's little lectern here is acting as a relay, between his systems here, and a ship locked in geosynchronous orbit."

"Great. How do deal with an entire ship?" groaned Dave.

"I'm not done.  I've only been able to access some of the less encrypted files, but Devlin refers to a 'processing' occurring behind that curtain."

"That's not ominous." Ashley said, sarcastically.

"The best part? This schematic shows what's behind door number three. Teleporters! He's luring people in with the promise of wondrous technology, dominating them with Auton plastic, and beaming them to who knows where!" I explained. However, as I was so caught up in the moment, I failed to hear the sound of a door opening behind me. Just as I finished my explanation, a voice said from behind me
"You little whippets never listen, do ye? All the blooming same."

I spun around to face the mystery person while also jumping out of my skin with surprise. I can only imagine how graceful it must have looked, like a lame ostrich ignoring evolution and attempting to fly... from a frozen lake. Stood before us, brandishing a pistol, was Frank. Our favourite leopard print wearing Cork sailor and henchman.

TW Casefiles: Brand Loyalty (10)

When next I awoke, I found our surroundings to be significantly less stylish than the previous opulent office. In fact, I was in the passenger seat of a last millennium Nissan Micra, which smelled of wet dog fur and badly boiled cabbage, along with a hint of tobacco coming from the still smouldering cigarette butt pressed into a makeshift ashtray in the central console. A solitary tree-shaped air freshener hung pathetically from the rear view mirror, having long since given up it's struggle against the foul odour. Ash and Dave were sat behind me in the cramped rear of the car, also rousing themselves into consciousness. We appeared to be parked outside of a church, a few minutes stroll from the University. There was a small piece of folded paper tucked into the steering wheel, which I retrieved clumsily. It read (in a surprisingly floral script)

"Sorry lads, must dash. Plenty to do tonight to stop Devlin. Hope you heed the  boss' advice and leave this to those with the experience. I'd hate to have to turn your lights off, for good. (By which I mean kill, if it wasn't clear)

Best regards, Frank

P.S. Feel free to keep the car. Boss has bought me an upgrade, so she'd only be going for scrap anyway."

Understandably, Ash and Dave were confused and anxious about the hours missing from their day, and my brief meeting with "the Boss" had left me with more questions than answers. So, we abandoned Frank's car were it was parked and walked back to the Hub, where we hoped to find tea and answers, in that order. After I'd finished filling them both in, Ash was full of questions.

"So, what you're saying is, there's a local businessman who profiteers on the sale scavenged extraterrestrial tech, who tackles the same threats we'RE supposed to?"

"An alien black market mob boss is pissed with us. Great." Dave muttered into his mug.

"Who has the creepy guy, Frank, on his payroll as an enforcer..." Ash continued.

"I prefer the term 'Leopard Leather Larry' myself." Dave added.

"Well, you would." I replied.

"And he had us kidnapped just to warn us away from interfering, before having Frank dump us in a carpark? All that just to let us go?" 

"That's about it, yeah." I said, feeling weary.

"So, how soon until we crash his party and pay him back?" Dave asked, a spark of revenge burning in his eyes.

"I don't even know if he's an enemy." I replied, glumly. "Not really."

"Bullshit! He kidnapped us. He runs a black market!" shouted Dave.

"And, he sounds like a massive space racist. Spacist? Species-ist? Doesn't matter. He's a dick to aliens." Ash added.

"What he's doing, he's doing for the wrong reasons. But maybe he could be a useful ally, if only we could sand off the rough edges. He does have resources and experience with this whole defending the Earth thing." I wasn't even sure how I felt about him myself. Maybe I just wanted to always see the best in people. He also seemed better equipped than we were. He had us all captured and at his mercy without any effort. I'd failed to keep my team, my friends safe. I'd failed to do much of anything so far. Maybe he was the better option to defend the city?

"Either way, we can't let him just bully us out of action. Do you really want to let him resolve the whole Devlin thing? We still don't know what the plan is for the Tech Specs." Ash urged, sensing my own defeated attitude.

"What's to stop a greed driven A-hole like him from using the Auton tech for his own ends?" Dave said, eager for payback.

I sat there for a moment, looking at my friends. They were so eager, so ready, so naive. We were little more than children, messing with forces beyond our control. I was a slave to my self doubt back then, it gnawed away at me constantly, wearing me down from the inside out. What started as genuine concern always morphed into defeatism and self pity, then self loathing. And yet, I found the sheer optimistic determination of my friends infectious. With them by my side, maybe, just maybe, we could prevail. Even if we failed, I'd sooner let them down trying, than by giving up so readily. I'd decided my course of action.

"Firstly, we need to run a trace on our mystery man." I said, resolutely, rolling my chair across the room with purpose. It only took a few minutes to find him in the Chamber of Commerce records.

"Got a match!" I called, to Ash and Dave who were stood over my shoulders.

"Cornelius 'Con' Barron, he runs a number of businesses ranging from transportation to metalwork, to industrial supply and support. He's got a lot of fingers in a lot of pies." said Ash, as she poured over the frankly invasive amount of data the Torchwood systems could access.

"All acting as a perfect cover for the smuggling and sale of dangerous technology, of course." Dave added.

"Look here, he's also something of a politician. Currently a city councillor, ex-mayor and he's chaired the Chamber for a stint. Non party affiliated, and with a bit of a hard-right leaning." I read aloud.

"Oh, he just gets more charming, doesn't he?" Ash commented angrily. "Anti climate change, anti immigration, bit of Euro bashing of course... yeah, we definitely don't want to be pals with this arsehole."

"Agreed" I said. "But let's just park Con for now and focus on Devlin. We lost a few hours thanks to Frank's propensity for violence. It's already 5pm, and the Tech Specs launch in a few hours!" Ash placed her arm over my shoulder, silently supporting me after my moment of hesitation. She could always tell exactly what I was thinking, yet she remained unyielding by my side.

"We need to be direct." She stated. "We don't have time for anything more covert. The press demo was a waste, we need to strike at Devlin's base of operations."

"Most of his manufacturing is done abroad. The Specs are shipped to his facility here, tested, then packaged, according to the website. Might be our best shot." said Dave.

"Whatever Devlin has planned, will be going down at the warehouse in the docks, where the Product Launch is scheduled for. There's already thousands of customers crowded around there, at ground zero of the product launch." Ash countered.

"We only have the time to check out one option." warned Dave, looking at me to cast the deciding vote. He was right, we didn't have time to waste, nor the numbers to split up and search both. I didn't want to risk sending one of us alone into danger, especially with Frank getting involved. My team needed their leader to step up and take charge.

"On balance, I think Ash is right on this one. If things go wrong, we stand the best chance of saving lives if we're at the launch itself." I decided. Dave shot me a withering stare, but said nothing. I knew how it much seem to him, siding with my girlfriend over him, but it was the right call. He'd get over it.

***

The warehouse in question was a  spacious three-story building, consisting of red brick and arrays of opaque glass. It had originally served as a Victorian textile factory, changing owners and occupations until it reached it's current state: an exclusive club / arena available for corporate events and music gigs that desire a certain 'dilapidated' vibe. Gigantic banners displaying DevlinTech logos covered the ancient stonework like bandages on a Pharaoh, while multicolored spotlights projected similar images onto the surrounding buildings and into the darkening sky. A ten-foot high metal fence topped with barbed spikes encircled the premises, leaving only a single gate as an entryway. This gate was shut, and patrolled by several private security guards. Outside this fence, a queue of eager gadget lovers snaked over and back, a thousand strong, all awaiting their chance to become an early adopter of the internet friendly glasses. Beyond the official queue was an even larger crowd of journalists and curious onlookers, with a horde of DevlinTech representatives ensuring the keeping the crowds under control. There was even a stage set up between the fence and the building, upon which Ed Sheeran was performing as we arrived to launch our daring plan. Above the stage, a timer counted down to the official launch, with just under an hour to go until the Auton infused specs were unleashed.