Forgotten in the void

[Adrian Malprave]

Audio log: Coronado, Barrier Gate Station vicinity, Vindicator, 20th March

Franz Oberhauser: Greetings.
Adrian Malprave: Have you come to finish me off?
Franz Oberhauser: That is not the case.
Adrian Malprave: But where is Professor Scorpius himself?
Franz Oberhauser: He will be here shortly.
Vladimir Scorpius: Well that is a callsign I haven't seen in a while.
Adrian Malprave: Greetings, Professor Scorpius. I see you have received the message. Forgive me for the style. I was not sure who will get it and who will greet me. I was expecting that someone from the Professorship could even send an assassin.
Vladimir Scorpius: As cryptic as it was, there was only one notable transcription of the initials. I am happy to hear your voice again. Can't say I am happy to see your ugly face, though.
Adrian Malprave: Always had to compensate with the personality, sir!
Vladimir Scorpius: This is our Fixer, Mr. Oberhauser. I can't remember if you two have ever been acquainted in the past.
Adrian Malprave: Pleasure is mine, Mr. Oberhauser. Malprave, Adrian Malprave. But gentlemen, if you're not here to kill me, I suggest we relocate to a safe spot. I do have a message of utmost importance.
Vladimir Scorpius: We have enough assassins to cover all houses and find you wherever you're hiding. We just have never sent them as, unlike some others, you seemed capable of not causing any issues for us.
Adrian Malprave: Before we proceed, professor, I have to ask you something. Is Yoshida still the most influential figure in the Professorship?
Vladimir Scorpius: Yoshida is gone. Long live Professor Scorpius. *audible laughter*
Adrian Malprave: *sighs with relief* Then you will be definitely interested in what I bring, Professor.
Vladimir Scorpius: Alright, let's move to Ontario. If you haven't seen what became of it, you'll be surprised.
Adrian Malprave: I've heard what happened to Alberta. This kind of information made news even as far as Gallia. But as you can imagine, I did not want to take any risks. So besides an occasional visit to Tau-23 to supplement my Cardamine stockpiles, I have kept as low profile as possible, so nobody in the Professorship would think that I am worth the assassin's time.
Vladimir Scorpius: In our line of business, depending on your ego, that can either be a compliment or an insult. So what were you up to in Gallia?
Adrian Malprave: Hiding.
Vladimir Scorpius: From who or from what?
Adrian Malprave: Professor Scorpius, you know very well that I belonged to professor Hunter's coterie.
Vladimir Scorpius: So did I. She made me who I am in a sense.
Adrian Malprave: You cannot compare my tiny little figure with yourself and your own influence within the Inner Circle. When contacts from the internal network we used started to disappear one after another, I decided to not risk sudden pneumonia inflicted by stray blaster bolts or fatal asphyxia caused by the sudden decompression of my chamber. Professor Hunter was not responding, and I could not contact others as well, so I chose survival. There is nothing more to it, Professor.
Vladimir Scorpius: I had to disappear for some time too, but not for five years or so.
Adrian Malprave: I understand that you might not be willing to trust me.
Vladimir Scorpius: I am a cautious man. Ms. Hunter taught me that well. Her schemes were direct at least.
Adrian Malprave: As proof of my pure intentions, I will give you something valuable. Information that you can use any way you prefer.
Vladimir Scorpius: Can't ever refuse good intel.
Adrian Malprave: When I checked my ship hidden in a certain asteroid field, I found a message received about a year ago. A message on the channel used only by Professor Hunter to communicate with her proteges. The message came from a vector of... Alberta. It's coded, I cannot read it, but the designation of a sender is visible. It's called Sarcophagus.
Vladimir Scorpius: Can't put my mind to anything similar to that.
Adrian Malprave: I have no technical means to properly triangulate the source but I am pretty sure it's closer than Alberta was. This means that the transmission has been sent not from the system but outside of it, from an object moving at a sublight speed.
Vladimir Scorpius: Well that doesn't make it any easier unless we can plug it up into the Mactan Network, and check if it has any cross references with our own databases.
Adrian Malprave: I am sure we can figure this out. However, a question stands, professor. Do you really want to know what is inside it or bring it back?
Vladimir Scorpius: Of course, I want to know what's there. It's not my style to leave things unfinished.
Adrian Malprave: Then I offer my help in doing that if you're willing to take me back in.
Vladimir Scorpius: In the past, you have signed up with the Inner Circle, which means the moment you stray from the path of a Lane Hacker, you are a goner.
Adrian Malprave: Did I stray then?
Vladimir Scorpius: You will proceed to the isolation chambers and get checked on by our physicians, to see if you have not been exposed to anything foreign or otherwise threatening our safety. Only after they clear you and you finish your psychological evaluation, you will regain access to our networks fully. We wouldn't want a spy in our midst, now would we?
Adrian Malprave: No, we wouldn't, sir.
Vladimir Scorpius: Let's go then
Adrian Malprave: Releasing ship controls.
Vladimir Scorpius: Once you are cleared, you will get the latest orbital data on our stations' position.
Adrian Malprave: Understood, professor.
Vladimir Scorpius: Welcome home.

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