Sieurs, Dames et Inconnus

[Ryummel]

[font=agency fb]"Beep! Beep! Beep...!" The constant sound of the alarm clock made Giroux to grab it and throw it violently against the wall. He got up from the bed and swallowed a few antidepressant pills. It was time to get back to work, this time checking the video/audio recordings in Angela’s apartment. He sighed deeply and stepped out of his personal room in Avallon Station.

“Colonel!” A lieutenant saluted Giroux when he entered the Counter-Intelligence Division chamber [color=#CCCCCC]“Here you have the data drive containing every minute of what happened in that house in the last three days.” Giroux just nodded at the lieutenant and picked up the data drive located on nearby table. Then, he connected it to one of the computers. “Lieutenant, wait outside.” He ordered. The recordings were strictly classified, only Giroux could take the first look and then, report it to the Marechal. He’d prefer somebody else doing this job, but orders were orders, and there wasn’t any other alternative to the Royal Navy for Giroux. ‘This mess will end soon, I know, I know…’.

He rewound the video recordings a few times, scanning every movement of Anje in the living room. As soon as Anje arrived to the apartment, she placed the pyramid shaped object on the mahogany table. Giroux frowned and rewound that part again. A decorative element? Probably.

The video reached the part where Anje sneaked out of her apartment. ‘Bunch of inepts, why didn’t the operatives notice her…?’ Giroux watched himself stepping into the apartment, registering the place. He shivered when he saw the part where he stared at the pyramidal object and didn’t move for a minute, like being in a trance. Giroux rewound that part again. He suddenly began to feel uncomfortable and paused the video. ‘What an idiocy, I think that day I forgot the pills…’. He resumed the video and jumped to the part where Anje came back from the meeting they had in the market. She sat in the coach in front of the mahogany table and stared at the pyramidal object.

Giroux sighed deeply when 15 minutes passed without Anje doing anything else, just staring at the object. Minute 19:09, 25:45, 49:23… nothing changed. ‘It must be a loop, come on, don’t tell me it’s been corrupted… Damn machines…’ He thought to himself. He rebooted the computer, and connected the data drive again, but he could watch the same scene. This time he watched the whole part. Now he was sure it wasn’t a loop, because from time to time Anje scratched her hair and looked briefly around the room, before looking back at the strange object. Giroux felt a shiver down his spine and suddenly he didn't feel irritated. This time he felt curious about what was going on with Angela, something was wrong, something that nobody could explain. Why meditating in front of that object? Why did Giroux feel in a trance when he stared at it? He took the data drive with him. It was time to report to the Grande Marechal.

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